Memo: Hey people! Thank you so much for the messages, especially you Lilikoifish and pinoykengumi7. And thanks for the tip about Kenshin not speaking in first person (And yes, Yahiko got the gi he wanted)! Pinoykengumi7, this chapter is dedicated to you for the BIG TWIST (And there will be more twists that my twisted mind can come up with throughout the story)! Oh, and if you guys can, please tell me how I can set up my homepage thing. You know the place where you click on a user and then there's all this stuff that you can write on? Yeah...Please tell me how to do that! I'm still kind of new to this all. Ha ha. Anyway, chapter nine is up!

Chapter Nine: Let The Games Begin

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Tsubame asked as she followed me to this place called Skate Zone, which is a skate park/ice rink/arcade thing all in one building. The last time I've been here was when I was around eleven, which was three years ago. So the place is basically different than I last remembered. Probably because I always exaggerated on my stories when I tell Kenshin or Sano about a cool trick I did. There surely isn't some weird guy dressed up as a freaky animal thing that chases you during birthday parties so they could give you a crappy balloon and I don't see a place where you could get icecream. The last story I told them was that I fell and my icecream hit the dork that was on that costume. I don't know how I got that though...It must've been during one of Sora's birthday parties.

Anyway, we both saw Riku, Sora, and Tidus and next to them were Serina and her two friends, Ichigo and Botan. Now, I don't really see why every other girl hates them. I have nothing against them at all and partly because Riku is good friends with them. But from what I heard, Serina had been having this major crush on me since the day Riku introduced us...Which was about a year ago or something. I could tell that she did because she cheered extra hard when I scored a point during a basketball game (yes, she is the head cheerleader) and she always tries to talk to me. But ever since Tsubame and I have been "dating", she kinda laid low and stopped talking to me. What Tidus told me is that she's the leader of my fan club at school and started another club thing about killing Tsubame. Right...Like I'm supposed to believe that...

"Hi Yahiko! I'm so glad that you're here!" Serina said in a highly cheerful voice. She was grinning madly from ear to ear. Her two friends excitedly waved 'Hi' to me, completely ignoring Tsubame, who I saw in the corner of my eye, giving them one of her not-very-happy looks.

"Hey girls. Cool...Looks like you made it too..." I said casually with a smile on my face. Ichigo squealed and I was trying hard not to look too annoyed at her. Okay, okay, I admit I think they really do have a fan club about me at school...And sometimes they could get really annoying. But what do they expect me to do? It's not like I didn't ask them to make me a fan club or anything, even if it's flattering. But being crazy enough to do that is a little creepy...Making a fan club about a guy from school and all...

"Hey Tsubame! Nice to see you again! Had fun at the carnival with Yahiko?" Sora winked as she blushed madly and nodded her head. Yeah...Sora caught us holding hands while we watched the fireworks and he still makes fun of that to this minute. At the mention of Tsubame's name, Serina finally noticed her and surprisingly, gave a rather cold look towards her that Tsubame seemed oblivious of.

"You two went to the carnival yesterday?" she asked, practically demanding to know.

"Yeah. It was me, Yahiko, Sora, Riku, Tsubame, Misako, Yumi, and Keiko. You know, Tsubame's friends."

"Tsubame has friends?" she asked more to herself than anyone else. I narrowed my eyes slightly at her and I saw Tsubame doing the same. Seeing that she said it out loud, she quickly changed the subject. "What did you guys do?"

"Eh...Won these stupid stuffed animals, ride rollercoasters, Haunted Mansion, dance, fireworks...Stuff like that..." Riku shrugged.

"Yeah! You should've seen how Yahiko and Tsubame were dancing! They were like this close," Sora said, putting his hands together and parted them slightly. "And she was leaning on him and he was leaning on her and they were like that for like the whole song and they about to kiss until we came along and yeah!"

"I was not gonna kiss her!" I yelled angrily, feeling my cheeks turn red. This only made the guys laugh harder. Tsubame tried to shrink away and bowed her head to hide her blush while rubbing her arm. Serina and her friends didn't look too happy about the news either.

"Don't forget, Sora. They were holding hands while watching the fireworks..." Tidus laughed in a sing-song voice. God...If only I had a kantana or something to just beat the day lights out of them. I held up my fist and clenched it tightly, resisting the urge to punch them as I closed my eyes and thought of a happy place. It couldn't be done because everywhere I went, Tsubame was there...And fireworks. But luckily, the two of them kept quiet as they clearly saw I was holding in my anger.

Riku smirked; just imagining what would happen if I did release that anger. Sora and Tidus probably would've got ran over by a car as I chased them down the streets. Tsubame put a hand on my shoulder and mumbled, "Calm down Yahiko..." Like a reflex, I slowly relaxed at her touch and the sound of her voice. I didn't notice Serina and her friends giving her dirty looks. Serina was especially fuming with anger.

"Is that true Yahiko? Did you really go to the festival with...her...?" she asked, almost in disgust. I beamed brightly and nodded with a big smile on my face. It's fun making Serina jealous. Probably because she creeps me out most of the day.

"Of course I did. We're dating and I love her more than anything in the world!" I said as I took Tsubame's hand in mine and I kissed her lightly on the cheek. Serina's jaw dropped to the floor, Ichigo screamed, Botan fainted, the guys laughed, and Tsubame was beet red. I couldn't resist a smile as I tried to hold back my laughter.

"Nice one!" Sora said as he and Tidus both gave me a high-five. We all laughed and we all walked inside. As soon as we did, we were close to the ice-skating rink and we went inside. We rented our skates and put them on. Tsubame and I were the first ones ready because Serina and her crew were still picking on what kind of skates they wanted to wear and the guys were in the middle of an arm wrestling contest with Riku against Sora. So I took Tsubame's hand and slowly ditched the others without them knowing. Then we went inside the ice-skating rink.

Tsubame shivered. "It's cold..." she stated as she wrapped her arms around herself, still shaking.

I laughed at this. "What do you expect? The beach? Come here..." I said as I pulled her close to me and hugged her from behind. Her body tensed up in surprise, but then she sighed and relaxed. Her scent smelled like jasmine or any other kind of pretty flower. Her body was soft and getting slowly warmer. I held on to her like this until the guys finally came.

"I knew we'd find you here...Hope we didn't interrupt anything..." Riku smirked as I let go of her. I could feel my cheeks burning, but I tried to hide it, especially because Sora and Tidus came in with the girls following right behind them. With those guys around, who knows what could happen.

"C'mon Yahiko! I'll race you!" Tidus said as he started off ahead of me.

"Hey! Come back here!" I yelled as I skated as fast as I can to catch up with Tidus, who was much faster than me. Little did I know that I made a big mistake to leave Tsubame all by herself with Serina, Botan, and Ichigo.

"Ow..." Tsubame groaned as she carefully pulled herself up from the ice. She was freezing cold and she was surprised that Yahiko was able to stand the coldness without his jacket. She declined to take his jacket since she already was wearing a sweater, but he insisted and he is now skating circles around her with just his black shirt with white words that said Got Milk?

This wasn't the first time Tsubame fell flat on her butt and she wasn't very proud of that fact. As soon as she got up, she lost her balance and fell again. Yahiko laughed and for the hundredth time that day, he offered a hand to help her up. As soon as she regained her balance, he whispered in her ear, "Maybe I should re-teach you how to skate again. It's the same thing as roller-blading, except that it's kinda slippier...But still...' he said as she blushed lightly. He guided her to the middle of the ice rink, him skating backwards. Then they went near the side and skated around there a few times.

"I can't believe that out of all the girls that he could've picked, it had to be that good-for-nothing Tsubame Sanjo girl. I mean, the girl hardly talks and is a total loner. Why would he want to date her?" Serina asked, more to herself than her two friends who nodded in unison while sending stares of doom to Tsubame and Yahiko. Especially at Tsubame, who was blushing every time she almost fell on Yahiko. But luckily, Yahiko was strong enough to keep his balance and catch her before she fell.

"Like, I know huh? I mean, he could be dating you Serina! You and Yahiko would make, like, the bestest couple eva..." Ichigo said with a frilly giggle. Botan nodded her head with a wide smile.

"We have to do something to her..." Botan said. Suddenly, Serina was struck with an idea. A genius, but evil idea. Botan and Ichigo were getting concerned with their friend who was smirking wildly at herself and her eyes never leaving Tsubame.

"I have an idea..." she said as she motioned her friends to come closer to hear her plan. As soon as she finished explaining it, all three of them laughed together an evil laugh.

Riku, who was nearby just took a quick glance at the laughing trio and shook his head. "Girls..." he muttered under his breath before leaving them alone in their insane world.

Serina looked over at Tsubame, the evil smile still on her face. "Let the games begin..."

"I'm so sorry Yahiko..." she mumbled for the umpteenth time that day as I assured her that it was all fine. I totally understood that this was her first time doing this and this was a little different than just roller-blading down the streets. I remembered that I use to fall all the time before I finally got the hang of it. She was hanging onto my shoulders for support as she tried to skate forward. Eventually she was getting a little better at it, even if she doesn't think she is.

"You know...You're actually pretty good at this..." I stated as she looked up at me with confusion. "I mean, when I first started this, I could hardly move. But you already pretty much knew how to do that. So I bet in no time you'll be better than me!" She laughed at this, saying that would never happen. We were in the middle of the ice-rink again and the whole place was pretty much deserted. With the exception of a few people discluding the gang, it was pretty empty.

Suddenly, the music started playing a slow song. I recognized the song right away. It was the one that we were dancing on during the festival. I looked at her and nervousness tingled my body. I could sense that she was feeling pretty nervous too. It was then when I realized how close we were to each other. My hands somehow wrapped around her waist and hers around my neck. Her face was slowly moving closer to mine. I closed my eyes. She was about to kiss me...

"Oops! Sorry! My bad..." Serina said as we both fell on the ice cold floor. I sighed and helped her up, seeing Tsubame's eyes narrow slightly into a small glare. I pulled her up and leaned close to her ear, telling her not to worry about her.

She nodded, trying to hold in her anger by ignoring Serina who was, once again, skating around us like a vulture awaiting its prey. Taking her hand in mine, we both skated near the edge of the rink as I lead her while occasionally checking behind me to see how she's doing. She was doing really good and eventually got the hang of it as she constantly looked down to see if she was going to trip on something or slip and fall again. A small smile tugged on my lips as I led her around the rink.

Suddenly, I felt a tight grip on my shoulder as I sank back onto the icey ground...Hard...

I turned and saw Tsubame also on the ground, her hand still on my shoulder as support and behind her was Serina, who was smirking down at her.

"Serina! What the hell do you think you're doing?" I snapped as she turned her attention to me, looking surprised. I got up and helped Tsubame up quickly after. Then I sent a harsh glare at her. "Why are you picking on Tsubame? This isn't the first time you did this and I'm so damn sick of it!"

"Yahiko...Whatever makes you say that I am? I'm merely at the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm completely innocent..." she said, making a pouty lip.

"Liar..."

"Yahiko, please. I'm all right, really. Just...Don't fight...You can just forget about her..." Tsubame interrupted.

"No way. It's not all right! I'm not letting her hurt you Tsubame."

"Yahiko, please...I don't want to fight with you..." Tsubame begged quietly as she turned her head, hiding her tears.

Guilt washed over me, eating inside me. I put my hands on her shoulders. "Tsubame...Look at me...Please?" I cooed gently as she slowly gazed upon my eyes. I wiped away her tears with my thumb softly and let my hand rest against her cheek as she sighed, closing her eyes. Then, we both turned when we heard Sora calling out our names.

"C'mon guys! Time to eat!" he hollered as a grin spreaded across my face, beaming brightly at the sound of food. Then, taking her hand again, we went out of the rink and into the food court.

"Hey...Where did my pepperoni pizza go?" Riku asked, eyeing everyone at the table suspiciously.

"Yahiko ate it. I saw him..." Tidus said, pointing an accusing finger at his friend, who was chewing the tip of one pizza and holding another in his hand.

"What? No I didn't!" he mumbled, being careful not to drop any cheezy part of his pizza.

"You're such a pig, you know that? What slice is that one?" Riku asked, pointing at the one on his hand.

"This?" he asked, holding up one pizza as he swallowed his food. "That's my fourth one. I'm eating my third one right now!"

"Hey! No fair! Give me that piece! I only had two slices!" Sora said, reaching over to grab Yahiko's pizza as Yahiko leaned his chair away from him.

"No way! This is mine!" he said as he took a big bite on his third pizza and holding the other one away from Sora's reach.

"Are you going to eat anything Serina?" Riku asked as she made a slightly disgusted face and shoved her half-eaten pizza aside.

"No way! It'll ruin my perfect figure..."

Suddenly, Yahiko started coughing and choking on a piece of pepperoni, Tidus spitted out the Pepsi that he was drinking and spit it all over Sora's clothes, who was sitting directly in front of him while Riku stared at her with wide eyes. The table became awkwardly quiet and Serina was getting angrier by the second.

Seeing this, Ichigo said, "But you're figure is all ready totally perfect!"

"Yeah!" Botan added as both girls forced a smile at her.

Satisfied, Serina smiled and watched the guys continue as if nothing happened, sneering a little at me.

"Aw...Hey Tsubame? Are you gonna eat that?" Sora asked, staring hungrily at my un-touched plate of pizza after giving up his attempt to take one of Yahiko's.

"Go ahead. I'm not that hungry..." I said, pushing the plate towards him as he hastily thanked me and gobbled up the pizza.

Soon enough, both Yahiko and Sora were having a little eating competition as they both stuffed breadsticks down their throats. In the end, Yahiko won as he stood up, obviously proud of himself as Sora sunk back in his chair, defeated.

Everyone had to laugh at this as Yahiko sat back down and swallowed his food. Then he smirked and wiped the bread crumbs from his mouth with the back of his wrist. "So...Now that I won, what's my prize?" he teased as Sora gave him a playful glare.

Riku looked around with his chin resting between his index finger and his thumb. He eyed every person in the table carefully, thinking up of a good plan. When his eyes suddenly landed on me, a wide smirk spreaded across his face as mischief glistened through his eyes.

"Why won't Tsubame give you a kiss? You know...On the lips..." he smiled. I squirmed slightly as everyone looked from him, to Yahiko, to me, and back. Yumi gave me a look, screaming "Don't do it."

"I...uh..."

"What's wrong? Don't be shy, now Tsubame! After all...He is your boyfriend, right?"

"Yeah...but-"

"She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to," Yahiko interrupted. I drew out a breath, thankful that he got the message that I really didn't want to kiss him...Especially right in front of everyone like Serina, Ichigo, and Botan.

"Yahiko no baka! Don't be stupid! You know you want to..."

"Just drop it, all right?" Yahiko said and with that, he got up from the table and walked off. A few seconds later, Sora followed him. The whole table seemed to be in an awkward silence.

The things that Yumi told me at the library filled my mind again. He doesn't really like you Tsubame...He's just using you! He lied to you! You can't kiss him Tsubame...You can't allow him to do something like that...You can't fall in love with him...

Tsubame sighed and looked towards the direction Yahiko and Sora ran off to with her friends' words still filling her mind. It's too bad that it's too late...I love Yahiko...

Keiko walked towards the direction the boys went. She couldn't stand the silence any longer. Just a few seconds ago, she excused herself to go to the girls' bathroom. No one else seemed to care, so she just left, even if she didn't really need to go. She had to get this whole situation straight. Tsubame said that during that day in the library, Yahiko told her that Yumi misunderstood what they were talking about. And during the festival, it was plain to see that Yahiko really liked Tsubame. Though, even she had to admit that Yahiko seemed pretty...tensed. Did he really make a deal with his friends like Yumi said?

She was about to turn a corner, when she suddenly heard some familiar voices near the boys bathroom. Looking for a hiding spot where she couldn't be seen but would be able to hear, she quickly hid herself and listened to the conversation.

"Come on man...Talk to me..." Pleaded Sora's voice quietly. Keiko inched herself a little closer to hear. "What happened today, huh? If you'd just let Tsubame kiss you on the lips, it'll be all over. You won't have to deal with her anymore."

Keiko let out a small gasp, but still kept close. So Yumi was right! She inched just a little more to hear what he had to say.

"I still need her Sora. If I just dump her tomorrow, then I'll never be able memorize all my lines for the play. And I have to admit that practicing with Tsubame is a big help because she's the other main character."

"So you don't like her all along huh? You're still in the bet?"

"Of course. I'd never drop out! I won't let Riku win."

"And the whole thing at the festival..."

"I didn't want her to get suspicious. She thinks that I like her. If I just stopped talking to her, then she'd think that I'm up to something. Her friends are already suspicious as it is and they'll be telling her that I'm just using her. So I thought that if I stay with her the whole day and pretend that I like her, then they won't think that I'm doing this whole bet thing."

"Ooh...You're good...I have to say, I thought that you were really falling for that baka onna (stupid girl). No wonder you got Prince Charming. You're really good..."

"Heh heh..." he and Sora did their handshake thing while they laugh. And Keiko heard enough.

She quickly backed away from the place, with all the color drained from her face. Her heart was beating faster and faster and all she could feel was pity for her best friend and hatred for the guy that was hurting her friend's heart. She tried not to cry or show any signs of overhearing the guys' conversation. But all she could think about was "Poor Tsubame. Yahiko's playing a game with your heart..."