"I wish I was her." Karen smiled, "Don't get to carried away my boy.", she said then giggled.

A tear rolled down Izumi's cheek, "He is such a dedicated person, thinking of his lovers' happiness in the brink of death.", though he was a guy, he had a soft spot for people who loves sincerely.

"Wah! Are you actually crying?"

"I'm sorry.", he composed himself and wiped away his tears, "How much is it?"

"You're really going to buy it?", Karen asked, "It's not cheap."

"It doesn't matter; I'll buy it no matter what."

"Well, it costs ¥ 70,000…"

Izumi's jaw dropped, "Se..se..seventy thousand?!"

Karen nodded, "Yes, well it's an antique and the diamonds are real. But since you were so moved with my story, I'll give you a friendly discount."

Izumi's eyes sparkled, "Yes, of course. A friendly discount! We're friends ne?"

"Aren't you a student from Kyukyoku?", Karen asked.

Izumi nodded, "Yes, I'm actually in my first year."

"That's good then.", she smiled, "I'll sell it for ¥5000, if you show me a picture of the Elique."

Izumi raised an eyebrow, "Why? Are you planning to harm her in any way?"

Karen shook her head, "Of course not! It's because my shop is known to have anything and everything you need. And people are asking if I have a picture of the Elique, or maybe action figures."

Izumi chuckled, "Really? People ask for that kind of merchandise?"

Karen nodded, "Yeah, mostly are students from Kyukyoku and Zannin, some are just random students.", she rummaged through her bag and handed over a piece of paper to Izumi, "See, it's a picture of her, but half of her face is covered."

"How did you get this?", he asked.

"One of the regulars here, requested a life-sized figure of her, but I can't work with these as my basis.", she replied.

Izumi thought for a while, "So, all you need is a picture?"

Karen nodded, "Yes, I've been challenging myself if I can replicate someone so beautiful.", she kept on imagining things and smiling, "All the fame is mine, if that happens."

Izumi handed a photo, "Here, but it's a photo from when she was in middle-school."

Karen immediately grabbed the photo and looked at Izumi suspiciously, "Are you a stalker?"

Izumi shook his head while waving his hands, "No, I'm not a stalker."

"Then why do you have a picture of her?'

Izumi sighed, "I'm her childhood friend, and we've known each other since we were kids."

"JACKPOT!", she exclaimed, "Can you tell me more about her? Like her waist line, bust line! Anything!"

"How indecent!", Izumi said as he turned away and blushed.

"Are you with her?", she asked enthusiastically.

Izumi nodded, "Yeah, she's waiting for me by the pet shop."

Karen jumped around, "You can have the necklace and earrings for ¥3000 and a bonus of hmm….", she looked around her shop, "Some Icarius Dust, just introduce me to her. It'll be an honor, if the Elique knows of my existence."

"Uhh, sure.", Izumi kept on nodding, "But, what is Icarius Dust?"

"Ah, you can use it to transport to anywhere you like.", she started fixing her make-up, "And it can also make you invisible, to activate it, you have to read the chants included inside the bag."

"Ah, thank you.", he handed over the money to Karen, "Thank you for being so kind to me, Karen-san."

"No, thank you!", she smiled from ear to ear, "Thanks to you, I'll be able to meet the Elique."

Both of them rushed outside, Izumi dropped by the ice cream parlor he saw earlier to purchase some ice cream for Ryouko. As soon as he bought the ice cream, Karen dragged him to the pet shop.

"Hurry up! She might leave.", Karen protested.

"No, she won't."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"I told her so.", he said while pointing to the direction where Ryouko was sitting. There were two guys talking to her, but she stood there not saying a word.

"Aren't you the Elique? Are you all alone? We can accompany you if you want.", the guys said.

Ryouko raised her head and stared at them for a while then looked away.

The guys chuckled, "How cute! Are you shy?"

Izumi cleared his throat, "Ehem! Excuse me!", he said as he handed the ice cream to Ryouko.

Ryouko sprang to her feet, "Wah! Ice cream, finally I can have my ice cream!", she took the ice cream and started to eat it.

Izumi glared at the guys, "I think your business is done here.", as soon as he finished his sentence, the guys left.

Karen was holding a piece of paper and a pen and jumping around, "Oh my fucking god, it's really her. In person it's really really her.", she kept on saying.

Ryouko who was engrossed with her ice cream pointed her finger to Karen and looked at Izumi, "Who is she?", she asked, "Ah, Mi-chan is she going to steal my precious ice cream?"

Izumi giggled, "No, she won't. She's a lady I met a while ago, her name is Karen-san."

Karen bowed, "I'm Karen, it's so nice to meet you.", she said.

Ryouko bowed as well, "It's nice to meet you too, I'm Yamada Ryouko.", she said as she extended her hand over to her.

Karen's pupils widened, "OH MY GLOB. A handshake? A handshake from the Elique. Kyaaaaaaaa!", she took Ryouko's hand, "I'm never ever going to wash this hand.", she said as she jumped around everywhere.

"What's happening to her?"

Izumi blinked a few times, "Uhh..", he stammered, "She's a fan of yours apparently, and she wanted to meet you personally."

Ryouko bowed, "I'm honored."

Karen tried to compose herself, "Can I hug you?"

Ryouko nodded, "It's okay with me.", as soon as Ryouko said okay, Karen immediately clung onto her and hugged her tight.

"I'm never going to take a bath again.", she exclaimed.

"Vampire.", Ryouko mumbled.

"Eh?", Izumi asked.

"Karen-san is a vampire.", Ryouko replied.

Karen nodded, "Yes, I am."

Izumi's jaw dropped as he started to walk away, "Please don't kill me!"

"I won't kill you, I only eat Blood Fairies.", she said.

"But, Ryou-chan, how did you know?", Izumi asked.

"I sensed it.", she replied as she continued in eating her ice cream, "Mi-chan buy me more ice cream ne?", she said cutely.

"No, that's enough for today."

Karen hit Izumi's shoulder, "Buy, Yamada-san more ice cream."

Ryouko nodded, "Yes, buy Yamada-san more ice cream."

"Yah! I'll buy you some more on your birthday. That's enough for today."

"That's a promise okay?"

Izumi nodded, "Yes, I promise."

Karen covered her mouth with her hand, "Omo. The necklace is for…"

Izumi signaled her to stay quiet and nodded.

"You like her?", Karen mouthed without saying a word.

Izumi shrugged his shoulders and turned away as he started to blush.

Karen smiled, "I should go now, it was really nice meeting you, Yamada-san."

Ryouko, "Same to you, let's meet again someday."

"Of course!", Karen exclaimed as she walked away and disappeared in the crowd.

Ryouko stared at Izumi, "Are you flirting with another woman just because your girlfriend isn't here?", she kept a straight face and continued in eating her ice cream, "I didn't know you had a thing for big breast."

"EH?!", Izumi exclaimed as he started to blush, "It's not like that, she helped me look for an ice cream parlor. I'm not a pervert!"

"Ah, is that so? Such a smart person, knowing where to find my oh so precious ice cream."

"You really are crazy for ice cream.", Izumi said while staring at her as if judging her.

"What? You want to steal my ice cream ne?", Ryouko backed away from him, "Get away from me and ice cream-kun, or else I don't know what I might do to you."

Izumi chuckled, "Fine, fine, I won't steal Ice cream-kun from you."

"That's good, or else I won't talk to you ever again.", Ryouko finished her ice cream, "Let's get back to school ne?"

"Ah, sure. Let's get going then."

They were on their way back to school and Izumi started to ask her various things.

"So, about Eniishi-senpai..", he cleared his throat, "Are you going to date him?"

"I don't know.", she replied.

"How could you not know?", he said looking a bit agitated, "I mean, it's your feeling we're talking about here."

Ryouko shook her head, "I really don't know.", she scratched her head, "If I confess and he accepts my feelings, what comes after that?"

"Well, you go on dates, spend holidays together, you do everything together.", Izumi replied.

Ryouko sighed, "That's too much stress for me."

"It's not stressful, if you like a person you'll always have this urge to always be by their side.", Izumi explained further, "Being together won't be a necessity anymore, it will be something that both of you would want."

Ryouko grinned, "You sure know a lot of things about love."

"It's not like I know everything, it's you that doesn't know anything.", he argued.

Ryouko smiled, "Maybe you're right, but as my best friend…", she said while pointing her finger at Izumi, " You should've taught me about love, weren't you worried that I would turn homo or an old maiden, just because I'm clueless about love?"

"Geez, why are you blaming me?"

"Hmph.", Ryouko started sulking, "To make up for it you should buy me an ice cream!"

Izumi hit her with his bag, "Don't go and make me feel guilty for an ice cream."

Ryouko laughed, "You should have seen your face, priceless.", both of them started laughing, when a group of their males classmates approached them.

"Ah, there's Ryouko-san!", Mochi said, their class clown, "Ryouko-san, you didn't tell us you have a sister."

"She's like smoking hot!", Yuta added, another classmate of Ryouko and Izumi.

Ryouko frowned, "I have a sister? No, I don't remember having one."

"Yes you do! She totally looks like you.", Kaoru argued, another classmate of theirs.

"She really doesn't have one.", Izumi said trying to convince Mochi, Yuta and Kaoru.

Ryouko thought hard, "So, you say she looks like me?"

"Yes!", the three said in unison, "Like a clone or something."

Ryouko gasped, "Ah! Maybe it's mom!", she said, "Where did you see her?", as soon as they pointed where they saw her she dashed off.

"Ah, maybe it is indeed Yamada-obbasan.", Izumi said.

Mochi got down to his knees and he started sobbing, "She's married?! Why is life so selfish? Why can't we be together? WHY?"

Izumi laughed, "Well, she is married, in a way."

"What do you mean in a way?", Kaoru asked.

"Well, Ryou-chan's father left about 4 years or 5 years ago.", Izumi said, "And he never came back."

Mochi stood up, "So, you're saying I have a chance?"

Izumi chuckled, "Well, good luck with that.", he said as he started to walk off.

"Yah! Are you indirectly calling me ugly and unattractive?!", Mochi asked angrily.

Izumi sighed, "Ryou-chan is her daughter, which makes auntie her mother right?"

"Are you trying to tell me I'm an idiot now?", Mochi was getting more infuriated.

"Chill out, man.", Izumi said, "You see, Ryou-chan is nice and extremely blunt. But, auntie on the other hand is friendly, clumsy and extremely extremely extremely rude, when it comes to matters about Ryou-chan, but all in all she's really nice."

Keiko was at the front of the Main Building surrounded by students pestering her with questions.

"Nee-chan! Nee-chan! Are you Ryouko-chan's older sister?", the girls kept on asking, "You're so pretty! Are you attending university right now?"

"Nee-sama! Please take care of us!", the boys told her as they handed some flowers to her, "Your sister is very lovely and so are you!"

Keiko smiled with joy, "Waaaa~ Even at this time and age I'm still popular as ever.", she open her arms wide, "Come here my little pets!", she was about to snuggle with them when she heard Ryouko's voice.

"Mom! Mom! Over here!", Ryouko called from a distance.

Keiko's eyes glistened in delight, "Oh, there's my lovely daughter.", she ran up to her and they hugged each other.

"Daughter?!", the students said unison.

Ryouko nodded, "Yeah, she's my mom."

Keiko giggled, "They thought I'm your older sister. Hihihi. I'm honored. Such cute children.", she said as she pinched a student's cheek, "So squishy."

"What is the commotion here?", Kazuhiko, the school principal asked and then he noticed Keiko, "Well, if it isn't Keiko-san, welcome back to Kyukyoku."

"You know each other?", Ryouko asked.

"Yeah, we were… uhh… friends! Yes, we were classmates and friends before.", Keiko explained as she stammered.

"But, isn't Kazuhiko-sensei 50 years old?", Ryouko asked.

Kazuhiko started laughing, "You told Ryouko-san that I'm 50 years old?"

Keiko sighed, "Yes, I did. But, it was only a joke, I didn't expect to meet you here or something like that."

Kazuhiko smirked, "Did your mom also tell you that we used to be lovers?", Kazuhiko asked as he turned to Keiko.

Ryouko shook her head, "Nope, not a word.", she said with a straight face.

Keiko hit Kazuhiko, 'Yah! Don't bring up ancient stuff, that was ages ago."

"Aren't you surprised, Ryouko-san?", Kazuhiko asked.

Ryouko nodded, "Yes I am."

Keiko patted Kazuhiko's shoulder, "She might not look like it, but she's really shocked deep down inside."

Ryouko pouted, "Okka-san, why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, there was one time I told you a story about a guy I dated before your dad right? The guy that I was talking about is Kazuhiko.", Keiko replied.

"Ah, the one who confessed to you through the school broadcasting room?", Ryouko asked, just then Kazuhiko instantly blushed, "Yeah, I remember that story. It quite sad though, that you and that guy broke up."

Kazuhiko scratched his head and looked away, "You told her about my confession? Ah~ I'm so embarrassed."

"That happened a long time ago.", Keiko said, "But, it's really weird. How come you're not married? You were pretty popular back then."

Kazuhiko smiled, "I'm just waiting for the right person to come."

"Could it be you're still in love with me?", Keiko asked, "Oh my God. In this time and age, someone still likes me!"

Kazuhiko laughed, "You never change do you? You're still so cheerful and lively."

"You're the one to talk, you haven't changed either.", Keiko smiled. They kept on chatting, well more like flirting; they were flashing each other smiles, and were looking into each other's eyes. It was as if they were in another world, completely unaware of their surroundings.

"You guys are so lovey-dovey.", Ryouko commented making the two come back to their senses.

Kazuhiko blushed, "Uhh, I should go. Ummm, I know this amazing place that makes delicious crepes."

"Kazuhiko-sensei.", Ryouko stared at him, "Please pick her up at 5 p.m. and bring her back before 12 midnight."

"Eh?", Keiko protested, "I'm… I didn't even.."

"I'll see you later then ne?", Kazuhiko asked, and Keiko nodded. He smiled from ear to ear and then he headed back to the building.

"Wow. I'm jealous, my mom has a date.", Ryouko teased.

"Am I not too old for dates?", she said as she sighed deeply, "Ah~ I feel like I'm cheating on Souichirou."

Ryouko nodded, "Yes, you are. I'm going to tell him you cheated.", she said with a sad tone in her voice. "I'll definitely tell him someday, somehow, ne?"

Keiko hugged her tightly, "Yes, of course.", and then she stared at a distance, "Someday, somehow, we'll see him again."

"Are you twins?", a familiar voice asked.

"Ah, Eniishi-senpai, it's you.", Ryouko said as she turned around, "I'd like you to meet my mom, Yamada Keiko."

Eniishi bowed, "It's certainly a pleasure to meet you Yamada-san, I am Eniishi Ryosuke."

Keiko smiled and looked at Ryouko, "Ahhh… Eniishi-kun is it? It's nice to meet you.", she kept on smiling and winked at Ryouko.

Ryouko started to turn red, "Eniishi-senpai is…"

"Ryouko-chan, I told you, you can call me Ryosuke.", Eniishi said before Ryouko could finish her sentence.

Ryouko nodded in agreement, "Ryosuke-senpai accompanied me during the fireworks festival, and he has been showing me around school too."

"Oh, is that all?", Keiko asked trying to tease her daughter.

"I also told her I love her, Yamada-san.", Eniishi said straightforwardly.

"EH?!", Keiko said as she widened her eyes in misbelief.

"Ah, yeah. He did say he loves or likes me. Either of the two.", Ryouko said.

"Listen to me, Eniishi-kun. If you plan to court or date or even marry my daughter, you have to go through me. I don't care even if you're fucking drop dead gorgeous or nice to my daughter.", Keiko said as she smirked, "If you ever try to kiss her or touch her without her permission, you may as well start to hide. Because I will track you down 'till the ends of the Earth and I will kick your sorry little butt. Got that?"

Ryosuke nodded, "Yes, of course.", he smiled, "With all due respect, I think to be able to love a someone deeply and sincerely, one must learn to respect the other person. I assure you that my love for your daughter is true and pure."

Keiko widened her eyes, "Usually, guys would run off to someplace, after I say those things."

Ryouko smiled, "Ryosuke-senpai, you're really weird.", she started poking his face with her finger, "You should've run off somewhere, and yet you just stayed here, even after mom said those things."

"I guess that's how much I like you.", Ryosuke said making Ryouko blush a bit.

"This guy is serious business.", Keiko thought to herself.

"Auntie! Auntie!", Izumi called out to Keiko.

Upon seeing him Keiko ran towards him and gave him a hug, "Ah, you look so handsome in your school uniform. You're a man now, I missed you so much kiddo."

"I missed you too, Yamada-obbasan.", Izumi said in reply, "What brings you here."

"Since, my Ryoukochii's birthday is coming up, I came here to celebrate with her.", Keiko said, "You should come and celebrate with us."

Izumi nodded, "Of course, I've never missed any of her birthday celebrations."

"It's sad though, your mother and father couldn't be here.", Keiko said.

"They went on vacation; they told me beforehand that they won't visit me for quite some time."

"So, anything new with you kiddo?", Keiko asked.

"He's going out with Himiko-chan!", Ryouko blurted out.

"EH?!", Keiko said in misbelieve, "You're going out with that bratty little girl, who always picks a fight with my Ryoukochii?!"

"Ah…eh…", Izumi stammered, "Well, she's a changed person and…."

"But, you told me you like my Ryoukochii!"