The next day, Pirika tried her best to avoid Tao Ren as much as she could. But fate kept pushing her towards him. First, they collided into each other in the hallway. Then, they were paired up in Chemistry. Third, her tight group of friends (who happened to be avid Ren- worshippers) pushed her towards him and she ended up having to apologize for crushing his baby toe. Finally, at the end of the day, just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she slipped. And who should be there to catch her but the king of cool, Tao Ren. "Can't fight fate," he smirked. "Nani? What kind of fate is there to fight?" Pirika asked innocently, despite how hard her heart knocked against her ribcage. "Whatever. Ma…deyo!" he said, letting go of her. "Go where?" she inquired. "I'll treat you to lunch today. You're not in a hurry to go home, are you?" he asked. Pirika thought of HoroHoro and chewed on her bottom lip. "Well… HoroHoro might be starving…" she murmured. Tao Ren laughed. "Who cares? We'll get a doggy bag for him. Do you mind hurrying up?" he urged. Pirika shrugged. Poor onii-chan. Oh well, even if she DID choose to go home, she wasn't in the mood to cook anyway.
"This is yummy!" Pirika exclaimed, awkwardly clutching at her chopsticks and stabbing the pao (bun) with it. Tao Ren smiled. "Wo zhi dao ni yi ding hui xi huan de," he said in Chinese. Confusion was written clearly on Pirika's face. Not that she was an ignoramus, but just that she didn't KNOW Chinese. "I said I knew you would like it," he explained. She giggled. "It sounded like Greek to me." She admitted, this time poking an innocent chee cheong fun (rice and flour based flavored strips, lathered in sauce. Sorry, I'm bad at descriptions) and bringing it to her mouth. "Teach me a Chinese phrase," she begged, after gulping down the strip of chee cheong fun. Tao Ren smirked. "Say wo xiang fu qian," he ordered, and she did so. He started laughing. Pirika blushed. Was her pronunciation really that horrible? She asked him so and he shook his head. "You just said you wanted to pay the bill. You're welcome to do so." He stated. Pirika fumed. Idiot… he just tricked her into footing the bill…
After their meal, (which Ren eventually paid half for) they proceeded to window shop at the nearby mall, due to Pirika's sudden urge to browse for "cute stuff". "Hey Ren… why don't we watch a movie?" she suggested. He seemed to consider it for a while, and then nodded. "Sure. Which one do you want to see?" he asked. " Um…" Pirika thought about the available choices. There was Memoirs Of A Geisha. She'd read the book; and if the movie was as good as the novel, then she'd most definitely want to watch it. She put that movie as choice number one on her mental movie list. Number two was an action movie Tao Ren might enjoy. It was, according to the poster, Jet Li's last action movie. So that would be a good reason why they should watch it. The other movies weren't suitable for them to watch. "How about your chick flick?" Tao Ren teased. Pirika frowned at him. "It is NOT a chick flick! How could you insult it like that? It's a beautifully tragic yet romantic story…" she told him dreamily. He shrugged. "I'm fine with it." She smiled. "Great! Let's go!"
2 hours later, they emerged from the cinema hall, Pirika desperately wiping at her tears. Tao Ren was laughing. "It was so girly," he moaned, though with a grin on his face. Pirika hiccupped. " No, it was not. It was romantic. If only I could meet a guy like the Chairman…" she mused, whilst mopping up the last of her tears. Tao Ren snorted. " Who is so much older than her? Pirika, you're not that desperate, are you?" he questioned. Pirika blushed. "Well, um… I meant his personality. Geez, you have a perverted mind," she huffed, making it seem as though he were the one with an unsuitable way of thinking. Ren's jaw dropped in protest. "Buh… But I never s…said so!" he stuttered adorably, a streak of red across his cheeks. Pirika grinned.
Soon, they reached her house. "HoroHoro must be… oh my gosh! We forgot to get a takeaway! He must be dead by now… oh great, it's already 5 pm…" She hurriedly opened the door, and saw not an unconscious but in fact, a contented HoroHoro sitting on the couch. " Yo! Can't believe you're so cruel as to let your brother starve. Never mind, Tamao offered to cook for me. She's in the kitchen now, making some soba. Help yourselves to some gyoza!" He gestured to the plate of Japanese dumplings on the coffee table. Pirika heaved a sigh of relief, and Tao Ren brushed past her to help himself to one. "Nice," he commented, once it was down his throat. "I'm going to check on Tamao," Pirika announced, and disappeared into the kitchen. HoroHoro nudged Tao Ren's elbow, acting almost chummy with him although he hated the almighty Tao. "So," he hissed in a low but audible (not to Pirika) volume, "you like my onei-chan?" Tao Ren shifted uncomfortably. " Don't understand what you're implying," he muttered under his breath. " You're in serious denial," HoroHoro sang, and cheerily reached for another gyoza.
"Don't tell Pirika," commanded Ren, glaring at HoroHoro. HoroHoro chuckled. "Yeah, right. She wouldn't believe me. Anyway, not as if she'll jump for joy upon hearing It." He told Tao Ren. Ren arched his right eyebrow. "Why not?" he asked. "Because she doesn't like you," HoroHoro bluntly replied. The almighty Tao was speechless for once. She…didn't like… him? His mind took minutes to register this fact. He could have said more, but left it at that.
"Soba ready!" yelled Pirika and Tamao in unison, appearing with plates of cold soba. Tao Ren cast a look at the cerulean- haired girl. Did she really not like him?