Hi! Me again! I just finished this chapter…it's hot off the notebook! LOL! ^_^ just a bit of note here. Sendoh won't be Rukawa's rival, don't worry. He's just a cameo. well, please review it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER 6- A Shopping We Will Go

            AT THE MALL

            "You call this few?" Rukawa asked as he tried to balance the stacks of boxes he was carrying and at the same time trying to follow her. "The least you can do is slow down," he called out to the hurrying Minako.

            The girl stopped and turned to face him. "You're right," she conceded. "Here, let me help." She took a box from the ones he was carrying, the smallest box on top. "A lot of help that'll do," he muttered.

            They went inside a café and Rukawa plopped down the seat. "Next time I offer my assistance to anyone, please don't hesitate to slap me," he said, plopping his elbow on the table. "Oh, but you're doing very well!" she exclaimed, mischief lighting her eyes. "You've become quite the damper gentleman." She motioned for the waitress and placed their orders. "By the way," she said. "Sensei told me that your make-up exam would be next week. We'll both try our best, right?"

            Just before he answered, they heard a deep voice call out Rukawa's name with wry humour. She saw her companion's brows furrow and his eyes glared. Turning, she saw a tall boy with big spiked hair, his eyes so different from Rukawa's. The boy waved and looked at her. "Hello, there," he greeted. "I'm Akira Sendoh from Ryonan High."

            "Minako Aino," she said, blushing, as she shook hands with Sendoh. She excused herself from the table and went to the ladies' room.

            Rukawa eyed the smiling guy in front of him. Sendoh spoke first. "Well, I'll be," he drawled. "Ice prince himself found a girlfriend. And a pretty one at that."

            "She's not my girlfriend. Go away," Rukawa quietly growled. Sendoh snickered and offered him a teasing smile. "That's good," Akira said. "Means she's available…for me." Then he turned and walked away.

            When Minako returned, she noted Rukawa's glum expression. "Hey, what's the problem?" she asked, touching his arm. "Nothing," he answered. Then he saw her looking hesitantly over his shoulders. "What?"

            "Well," she started as she shifted her look to him. "I've been noticing those 3 girls even when we were shopping. They were following us and taking pictures."

            He already knew who those 3 were, all too well. "They're just trying to irritate me," he told her. She shook her head and disagreed. "No way. Their shirts spell out RUKAWA and they've got bandannas tied on their foreheads saying, 'Love me, Rukawa'."

            "Just ignore them," he ordered her. The waitress came with their ice cream. Rukawa dove in unceremoniously and Mina just watched him for a while. All of a sudden, he stopped and gave a grunt before his head dropped on the table.

            "Oh, my gosh! What happened?" cried Minako. She started to stand up but Kaede spoke, his voice muffled.

            "Brainfreeze," he mumbled. "Darn you, Rukawa," she cursed as she gave him a small slap on his forearm. "You're trying to give me a heart attack! You gobble up your food then suddenly, you drop dead on the table!"

            "I wonder," he started, mostly to himself.          

            "What?"

            "You accuse me of trying to run you over…with a BIKE, dissing you, trying to kill you thru basketball, and now, giving you a heart attack. What'll it be next?" he said then took another bite of his ice cream.

            "I did no such thing!" denied Mina. "Yeah, and Sakuragi isn't a redheaded monkey," he retorted. He saw her stare at him, and then she burst out laughing.

            What's wrong with this girl? One time she's fuming mad and then she's laughing her head off the next!

            By the time she stopped, she had tears in her eyes. "I never would have thought it possible, not even in a million years, that YOU," she emphasized, pointing a finger at him, "…would make me laugh!"

             He just snorted and she wasn't bothered by his reaction. He always did that- the snorting and grunting. And instead of being put off, she got even more interested. "Hey, Rukawa."

             The boy stopped eating and slowly looked at her. What could she want now? Last time she had that gleam in her eyes, she made me a shopping slave.

            "I'd just like to ask," she started and was quickly accompanied by his frustrated sigh. "Why are you so quiet? So anti-social? You're not a super hero by night by any chance, are you?"

            "Anti-social? I'm right here with you, aren't I?" he said then resumed eating. "Oh come on! You know what I mean! Let's make the most out of this 'bonding session'," coaxed the blonde girl across him.   

            He stopped again and put the spoon down, a earnest expression on his face. "You really wanna know?"

            Minako nodded vigorously and leaned forward.

            "Well," Rukawa began with a whisper. "You better find out for your self."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

by this time, I don't know what to say. Well, maybe except for please review. And thanks for everyone who wrote in their reviews! You guys are the greatest! ---jd_anney