The Way We Were

(A/N) Ok, thank you all for your reviews! Hope all of you liked the first chapter. I was inspired a bit ago to hurry and write this chapter, so that is what I am doing at the moment. So lets see, Jin and Xiaoyu started talking and are acquaintances now. What does fate have in store for them in this chapter now? Let's find out!!

Chapter 2: Alone no More

Xiaoyu stretched her arms out high giving a loud yawn. She shook her head back and forth letting her hair fall from their ponytails. She let her hair down then began to walk to her mirror and picked up her brush. She looked to herself and smiled brightly.

"Great, today is going to be a wonderful day!" she shouted with excitement. She walked to her bathroom, removing her pajamas and stood climbed into the bathtub. She set the shower on letting the warm water hit her face. She looked up to the ceiling and sighed softly. "Thank God it's Saturday," she chuckled and began to wash her hair.

Miharu was walking down the street and then had found Jin standing alone on the corner of the street as if he were waiting for someone. She was interested in what he was doing there alone so she approached him. She poked his shoulder and looked into his eyes.

"Hey Jin," she said with a bright smile, "what are you doing there all alone?" Jin looked over to her and gave an innocent smile as well.

"I'm just walking around...why?" Miharu shook her head,

"No reason. I was just curious that's all." She waved goodbye to him and headed towards Xiaoyu's house and reached in her purse. She pulled out a key to the apartment and then made her way in. She walked into her room and set her purse down. "Xiao! Guess who I talked to." She said with eagerness in her voice. Xiaoyu had come out of the shower with her towel in her hair and in only her bra and underwear.

"Umm...let me guess, Jin?" She asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Lucky guess," Xiaoyu said with a sly grin on her face. She reached over to her dressers and pulled out a pink and black shirt with a black skirt. She dressed herself then put her hair back up in her pigtails. "So, how is he?" She asked Miharu in a slightly low voice.

"Well, he seems alright I suppose. I saw him on the corner, just standing there...I asked him what he was doing, but he just said he was walking around." Xiaoyu laughed and put on her make up.

"And you believed him?" Miharu nodded. Xiaoyu shook her head putting on her ankle sox and black shoes then looked back to Miharu who had an almost confused look on her face. "I don't know Jin all that well, but I'm sure he's got something on his mind." Miharu nudged her playfully,

"Or someone." She said with a wink. Xiaoyu pushed her onto the floor and laughed

"I don't think so Miharu. We're only friends..." Her face turned red as she said that. Miharu laughed rubbing the back of her head and smirked,

"Xiao, who said that someone was you?" She laughed and then put her arms in front of her face. "Don't hurt me don't hurt me!" She whined. Xiaoyu pushed her on the bed and stuck out her tongue.

"Meanie!" she said clenching her fist. "You know, Jin and I.... talk a bit." She crossed her arms and then grabbed her stuffed panda purse. "I've got to go out for a while today anyway. Wanna come?" Miharu looked down a bit sad.

"Uh, Xiao, that's what I came here to talk to you about. My family and I are going to China...my uncle is getting married." Xiaoyu turned to look over to Miharu and gasped.

"What!? No way, you're not leaving me here! Not all by myself!" She grabbed her arm, "take me with you! Please, please!" Miharu smiled at that and then shook her head.

"Xiao, It'll only be for a little bit. I promise, I'll be back by next month." Xiaoyu sighed knowing that her friend was going to leave her for an entire month. She nodded and then gave Miharu a tight hug. "I'll write every day, send lots and lots of e-mails, pictures, and every one's love." Xiaoyu smiled and then wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Tell my parents that I miss them alright? Tell them that I'm doing well in school and that they don't have to worry about me." Miharu nodded.

"I will do just that. Bye Xiao, see you in a month." With that, she looked once around the room and left. Xiaoyu watched from the doorway as Miharu caught the cab and was headed towards the airport. A soft sigh left her lips as she looked down then headed out of the house. "Guess I'm going shopping.... alone today..." She walked out to town and kicked her feet, kicking some rocks about this way and that. "It's boring to shop alone... I don't think I even want to go now." She walked with her head down and put her hands in her pocket. She had bumped into Jin and then shook her head rubbing her forehead. "Oh Jin! It's you!" She smiled brightly and backed up a bit to look at him. Jin gave her a friendly smile and nodded,

"Yes, I'm here." He stood there with her, looking about, not sure what to talk about. Jin was always a quiet person. Once people started to open up with him, he would take time to open up as well, but many haven't truly opened to him, none like Xiaoyu. "Hm, this is one of the first times I have seen you alone, where is your friend?"

"Oh Miharu?" She looked over to him then pouted sighing sadly, "she went off to China. I told her to tell my family I miss them." Jin understood Xiaoyu's loneliness. He looked down to her and saw her innocently sad face.

'I want to comfort her...but, I don't know how. What if she thinks that I'm here to take advantage of her? I don't want that!' Jin thought to himself. He slowly lift his hand up reaching out towards her, and then placed it on her shoulder. He sighed with relief as he had gotten that far. He felt a bit nervous, actually making some real physical contact with her. Xiaoyu felt his warm hand on her shoulder and smiled looking up to him. That warm smile was all Jin needed to feel like he had done something right. "Well, you know, if you ever need anything. You can come to me."

"Thank you Jin, that means a lot to me," she said with a nod. She placed her hand over his and then looked about. "You...think you might want to go shopping with me?" She asked in an almost shy voice. Jin looked to her then thought about it. He had never went shopping with a girl before. He didn't know how they shopped.

"Sure, why not?" He slowly moved his hand away, feeling his face become hot and brighten up slightly because she had touched him. She hopped up gleefully and then grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Perfect! I've got to go buy some clothes, so you can definitely come with me!" She headed off towards a mall that sold virtually everything. "The Tokyo mall! This is Miharu's and my favorite place to shop! You'll love it here Jin." Jin looked at the huge mall and then looked back to Xiaoyu.

"What...have I gotten myself into?" He said in a weary voice. Xiaoyu pouted and pulled his sleeve,

"That isn't positive thinking Mr. Kazama." She chuckled and then smirked. Jin looked to her and then back to the mall and opened the door for her letting her in before him. She bowed with delight and gratitude and headed into the mall looking at all the stores. "Oh my God!" She exclaimed as she saw all the cute clothes in the stores. "I'm in heaven!" She grabbed his arm again, heading out to the different stores. Two hours had passed and they virtually investigated every store on the first floor. Xiaoyu walked to the food court with only two bags, as for Jin, who walked behind her with 50 bags in each hand and one hanging from his mouth.

"dun yuu fink fis es tu muff?" Xiaoyu tilt her head and took the bag out of his mouth.

"Run that by me again..." She said chuckling. Jin moved his jaw about and then set the bags down.

"I said, don't you think this is too much?" They sat there at the food court, relaxing and Xiaoyu looked over to him.

"hmm...let me think about that." She teased him, taking her sweet time to answer then leaned over, inches from his face. "No." Jin's face became a bright red as he looked over her features. Her stunning Asian eyes, the way her bangs cutely framed her face, her button nose, and her petal soft kissable lips. As these thoughts ran through his mind, he began to blush even more. He looked away and then sat back with a smirk on his face.

Xiaoyu had watched him pull away from her. She was surprised by him, and surprised herself. She was thinking about Jin, about her own slightly cruel intentions. She had wanted a kiss from him, and it was beginning to shake her a bit. She sat back then thought about it, they were close enough to actually kiss. But why was she thinking about that? She shouldn't be. They are just friends...nothing more. She laughed a bit at her own thoughts and sat across from him. "Hey Jin, let's call it a day huh? I'm a bit worn out from all of this shopping." Jin gave her a slight nod and picked up the bags heading out to the front of the building. It was already getting dark outside. Xiaoyu took her bags from Jin then smiled up at him. "Thanks for coming with me Jin. It meant a lot to me."

"Hey, it's no big deal. I liked spending the day with you," he said with a generous smile. Xiaoyu waved goodbye and began heading home with all of her bags. She looked up to her apartment and then sighed, reaching out for her key and opened the door. She set her bags down and collapsed on her bed hugging her pillow tightly. "Jin... thanks for being here with me..."

Jin finally arrived home and sat down on his couch. He looked out the window and watched the sky change colors from a dark red to violet as evening set in. He walked to the window looking out to the stars. He was amazed at how much attention he received from her. It was almost unreal. Xiaoyu was unlike any other girl he had met. She was energetic and cheerful. He smiled as he thought to himself. "She's a pretty special girl, that Xiaoyu...."

The night was peaceful. It was about 9 pm when Xiaoyu had gotten a call from Julia. She stretched out and yawned answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"Ling, it's me...Julia." Xiaoyu sat back on her bed and started to paint he toenails.

"Ah, hey Jules, what's up?" She asked. Julia's voice was sad and worried. She spoke in a soft voice and sounded as though she were crying.

"Kojiro...Kojiro and I are fighting again." Xiaoyu sighed. She loved Julia as an older sister, she really did...it was just she didn't know how to help her all the time.

"Oh, I'm sorry Jules. What's wrong? What happened?" They began to talk about her problem. Xiaoyu had no idea how to soothe her. There was a lot she didn't know how to do. She did her best to comfort her and then gave a slight bit of enthusiasm. "Hey, listen. Kojiro loves ya, you just have to give him some time. The school carnival is in about two weeks. Why don't you two go? You can talk things over there and have a good time. No one can stay mad at anyone at the carnival." Julia smiled on the other side of the phone. She knew Xiaoyu had a good heart.

"Alright Ling. I'll do that. Thanks." The two of them hung up with each other and finally, Xiaoyu felt as if she had done something right. She lay down on her bed and looked to the ceiling.

"Maybe I should invite Jin to go with me. I think he'll like that. I'll ask him tomorrow...that is, if I see him tomorrow." She thought about it to herself. Sure they were friends, but how good of friends were they? Could she just go over to his house? These kinds of questions burned in her mind. "Oh who cares, Ill go there tomorrow and make it look like an accident!" she said laughing. She turned out the light and closed her eyes. "Tomorrow, I'll ask about the carnival."

(A/N) End of Chapter two..lol I know, it's pretty lame. But this is just a friendship starting out. Wait until later chapters where things start to heat up. LOL so, how was this chapter? Any more interesting? I'll try to make the others better! Thank you for the review I hope to write more ASAP. I wanna please all you fans! Ah, and for a sneak preview of next chapter, Xiaoyu goes to Jin's house for the first time and gets her self into some "suggestive situations" lol. Meanwhile, she tries to ask Jin out to the carnival and they argue weather it is a date or not. And why is Hworang Stalking Julia and telling Kojiro lies? Find out in chapter 3, Ulterior Motives. Till next time! Keep on reviewing!

P.S. You're ideas will be taken into consideration