Mystery Pov.

"I'm so glad I got this dress instead of that tight, pink one. It made me seem so revealing. I don't want that."

"I would." My girlfriend gave bonk on the head before we shared a laugh. We'd been going out for a while now, a touch longer than Dan and Runo had been together. We'd been friends for as long as I could remember. "Kidding, Bakubabe. Well, kind of kidding... Anyway, want to grab something to bite?"

"Fine, but... Race you to that restaurant over there! The one called "Tu et moi"."Oh man. The restaurant totally suited her; decorated with tons of pink and red hearts, and lace like designs all over the walls. Only she would ever be able to force me there. "You're carrying the bags. Ready. Set. Go!"

She dashed away, squealing in the rain like a maniac. I ran after her, making sure none of her newly bought dresses got any water on them. Who knows how she would have reacted if her dresses were ruined.

We had only gotten within a 20m from "Tu et Moi" when she came to a halt so suddenly I almost crashed into her. Her gray eyes were wide with surprise, as she stared off across the street. My eyes followed to where she was looking.

I could feel my jaw drop when I saw Shun and Alice standing in the rain with only inches of space between them. Julie called out to them, "OMG! What are you two doing here?"


Alice Pov.

I hadn't expected to see anyone who wasn't a stranger to me in Paris. I most certainly didn't expect Julie and Billy, our cute Australian couple, to be there.

They crossed the street and came over to Shun and I, their faces lit with smiles. Despite the rain and the tension between Shun and I, I couldn't help but grin back. Before I could even utter a greeting, Julie grabbed us both. "We are going to chill once we get out of the rain before I get more soaked and get my hair messed up! Let's go to that restaurant called "Tu et Moi"! GOT IT?"

Everyone other than Julie was able to tell Shun had no desire whatsoever to go to 'Tu et Moi', which Billy told us was a restaurant he and Julie were about to go to. It was the total opposite of Shun; it was totally cute and fluffy, exactly like Julie. Shun was about to protest, when Billy stopped him and said, "Dude, honestly. I don't know what you two were doing, and I know you're all antisocial, but come with us so we can have some man time."

Even having some "man time" with Billy didn't seem to tempt Shun. His facial expression was a cross between slightly disgusted and bored. I wasn't too surprised; the two weren't that close anyways.

"Come on, can we hurry up and go puh-lease?" Julie asked irritably, as she wasn't one with all the patience in the world. Though I was still annoyed with Shun, I gave him a look telling him he better come. He sighed and nodded in defeat, though his lips were sealed in annoyance.


Shun Pov.

Yeah, it was 'nice' reuniting with a two brawlers that we hadn't seen for years. It was 'nice' talking about their relationship in a restaurant Cupid barfed all over. It was totally 'nice' listening to their overdone sweet talk and overly cheerful voices. It was 'nice' forcing myself to eat just to be polite. Not.

All I wanted to do was apologize to Alice for being an idiot at the cafe we'd gone to for breakfast. Unfortunately, doing so in front of Julie and Billy probably wasn't the best idea. So the whole time I just stayed shut up, sipping some "herbal love" tea with some French dessert. Boy, does this make me feel manly. My 'father' would be proud.

I ignored most of their conversation, and they took my lack of interest just fine. Billy and Julie only saw me as the "Antisocial Ventus Ninja Dude", and Alice was still upset with me. I had my chin rested on my palm when something Julie asked sparked my interest.

"So... Enough about me and my honey's stuff." She said, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. "What about you two? Are you two dating?"

"WHAT?" Alice and I said at once. Her face was beet red, and I wasn't surprised if mine was as well. We glanced at each other and quickly turned away. Alice answered for the both of us. "No we're not. We're just-"

"Friends? Yeah, I guess I could see that since you two aren't talking and being romantic...Oh." Julie said. I thought she had understood that Alice and I were just friends, but I was wrong by a long shot. "Are you two friends with benefits? That could explain why you guys are 'awkward' in public..."

"Julie! That is gross! I told you, Shun and I are justfriends..."

"Fine fine... Though I wouldn't mind being friends with benefits with Ninja hot-shot over here..." Julie said, giving me a funny look. Billy's mouth was dropped open, and his eyes were equally as wide. "I'm kidding Billy! Don't worry hun. I love you like an Oreo cookie loves milk. Anyway, back to Shun and Alice. If you two aren't here as a couple or whatever, what are you doing in France together?"

"Well, Alice's grandfather is here for some scientific discovery, and I'm here to visit family." I quickly answered. I knew Alice wasn't stupid enough to tell her the whole situation about my quest to find my father, but I didn't want to take chances. Besides, it wasn't all a lie. I technically was looking for 'family', and Alice's grandfather was away for a scientific discovery.

Julie was biting her lip while eying me carefully. I put on a blank expression, trying to hard not to give away my lie. Finally, she bought it and said. "Okie dokie artichoke... Though I have to admit that's pretty dull."

"Bakubabe, all we've done in France so far is shopping... we probably haven't done anything much more exciting than them." Billy muttered, rolling his eyes. Julie narrowed her eyes at him, her gray eyes cutting into his blue ones. He flinched by her deathly look, and added. "But I guess we're going to the Eiffel Tower today... would you two want to come with us?"


Alice Pov.

"...Would you two want to come with us?"

Even behind Shun's emotionless mask, it was clear to me he didn't want to spend another minute with those two. In any other case I would have told Billy and Julie some random excuse, just because Shun didn't want to.

I weighed my options. It wasn't like I would go to the Eiffel Tower with Shun while there was tension between us. And it would give us something to do, instead of walking around the rain. True, I wasn't really in the mood to listen to their nonstop talking, no matter how much I liked them both. And it'd use up time to find Shun's 'father', or the next riddle...Whatever. It's 'hopeless' to Shun, anyway.

"Sounds good. Why not we go now?" Shun's face fell, giving me a satisfied smirk. Sweet.


Wow. haven't updated in almost a week. sorry, i was really busy.

I don't have much to say this time. lol. I've got this contestshipping (pokemon) idea that I have, and it's titanic related, but I'm not sure whether i should put this story on hold and work on that or if i should just keep writing this and do that one when i'm finished this or when i have the time. Leave a review :)!