Recap

"This extra power or sickness didn't start till we were hot and cold and there were ? eggs. Last time we fought them the cold people couldn't charanari and then we feel weak. The hot people could charanari and they are completely exhausted from using three times as much power, and then we have Rei and Aarin."
-Rima

We (Leo and Nade) hopped out of the fountain, grabbed our shoes, and ran bare-footed. I felt an amazing rush go through me. This is what it's like to misbehave, and I like the feeling of it
-Nade's POV

"It's working Mr. Valentine. The hot subjects used triple the amount of power than they originally use. They could barely stand after that."
-Lulu

Chapter 24 Love is in the Air but Not for Poor Rei

*Rima's POV*

I could tell Rei was beyond frustrated. She asked me to help her right an real love song since the other one didn't turn out the way she wanted. She loved the lyrics I gave her but it took a wrong turn from a love song.

"Why can't I do this!? I can write lyrics easily. Why am I having writers block?" she thought out loud as she fell back on her bed. The others thought it would be fun to look around. We were now in Arizona but I didn't really care. It was too hot for my liking.

"Rima, why can't I do this?" she asked.

"Well, to right the best love song, you have to be in love," I said.

"I know that Rima, but I still can't do it. I can't force love. I really like Aarin but I don't know. We see each other all the time and I love that but he's my best friend. He's always been my best friend," she said.

"Why do you need a love song anyway?" I asked.

"Utau accidentally told me that Aarin made a love song about me. I feel like I have to make one too," she said.

"You said it yourself, you can't force love," I said.

"I know! Aarin deserves better than this," she said.

"Don't say that!" I yelled. My tone seemed to snap her back from her thoughts.

"Listen here! Don't get all depressed that you take a bit longer to love someone. We're young and it's okay to take it slow. We don't have to grow up yet," I said.

"Rima," she said. She stood up and hugged me.

"I knew you were my favorite cousin," she said.

"You can't say that anymore now that I will be having a sister soon," I pointed out.

"Then I better say it while I can," she said. Her and I laughed. What we said wasn't very funny but we couldn't help it.

"We haven't been able to have quality time in a while," she said.

"Yeah," I said.

"Rima, are you mad that I'm going home after this tour?" she asked. She looked at me with a concerned look.

"No. I admit that it will be weird to not have a roommate. After two years of it I got used to it. Now I'll have to have an alarm clock and a machine that can tame my hair. I will miss you but I'm glad too." She looked at me confused and a little hurt.

"That came out wrong. I'm glad you get to be with auntie and uncle again. You didn't get to see them for a really really long time. Even when my parents fought, I don't know if I could do it. We're still kids and we need the comfort of home. I would miss my room, my friends, my neighborhood, my everything. It took a long of strength to do what you did for me. You dropped everything to help me. I'll never be able to thank you enough," I said. I saw tears form in her eyes.

"Now I don't want to go," she cried as she hugged me close.

"Rei?"

"It was really hard for me to decide. It may have been the hardest decision of my life but now I'm having regrets," she said.

"Rei, go home to your mama and papa. You can always visit us on weekends and holidays," I said.

"You're right," she said as she let go of me and wiped the tears from her face. There was a ring.

"Mama is calling me," I said as I looked at the caller id.

"Answer it," she said.

"Hello."

"Rima, how are you?"

"I'm fine mama."

"Good. Is anyone in the room with you?"

"Rei is."

"Perfect! Put me on speakerphone." I did as I was told.

"You're on speaker mama," I said. Rei looked at me confused. I gave her a shrug.

"Hi Rei," mama said.

"Hi auntie. How is everything back home in Japan?" Rei asked.

"The same as how you left it," she said.

"Hi girls," papa said.

"Hi papa," I said.

"We have some news for you," papa said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We finally came up with a name for the baby," mama said. I could tell she was excited.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Her name will be Yukiko Mashiro," papa said.

"Rare child," Kusukusu said.

"I like it," I said.

"We're relieved. We wanted to make sure you liked the name too," mama said. There was a knock on the door.

"Mama, we have to go. I love you. I love you too papa," I said.

"We love you too," they both said.

"I'll call you before bed," I said.

"We'll be waiting," papa said.

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Come in," Rei said. Nagi came into the room.

"I thought you'd be here," he said.

"Yeah, guess what? My little sister has a name now," I said as I walked up to him. For some reason I had this light feeling. It felt great.

"What's her name?"

"Yukiko Mashiro."

"That sounds great and it rhymes too," he said. I gave him a big smile.

"You seem really excited Rima," Rei said.

"I never thought in a million years that I would has a little sister. My parents didn't really seem to be in a loving and caring mood so I always thought a sibling was out of the question. Everything changed so fast. I always wanted a little sister," I said. Rei smiled at me.

"You're shining with happiness," Temari said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, you look super happy," Rhythm said.

"That's because she is," Kusukusu said.

"Rima, I was going to see if you would want to go on a date right now," Nagi said.

"I would but-" I looked at Rei.

"Go ahead. I'm done brainstorming today," Rei said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you kids have fun," she said.

"We will," Rima said as she grabbed Nagi's hand and dragged him out of the room.

*Rei's POV*

"She's so happy," Angel said.

"Yeah," I said with a sigh.

"Are you alright Rei?" Jazlynn asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. We need to get started on the love song," I said.

"But you told Rima you were done today," Jazlynn said.

"I did that so she could go on her date."

"Why don't you go get some inspiration?" Angel suggested.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Go on a date with Aarin. Who knows how long it's been since you had a date with just the two of you," Angel said.

"You're right," I said.

"What are you doing just sitting here? Go get your man and have a good time," Jazlynn said.

"I am," I said as I picked up my phone.

*Nade's POV*

"Nade look at these," Tadase said as he pointed. Him and I decided to go to the aquarium. We don't really know why. It was big but it wasn't a rare thing to find. Although today was nice. Tadase would point to a fish and tell me all he knew about it. I never noticed how smart he is.

"What kind of fish is that?" I asked.

"It's a clown fish," he said.

"Oh like the Nemo movie," I said.

"Exactly," he said.

"Look it's a sea-horse," I said as I pointed to it.

"Sea-horse men have the babies instead of the women," Tadase said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes."

"That's odd," I said. He laughed at my response.

"What's so funny?" We looked to see Blue and Leo behind us.

"Sea-horse boys have babies instead of girls," I answered.

"You totally made that up."

"No I didn't. Tadase told me," I said.

"That loser. He's so PG. I don't know why you're dating him," Leo said.

"Leo!" Blue scolded. I noticed Tadase blush. Why is he just taking the insult? He needs to say something.

"Leave him alone!"

"What are you gonna do? Does blondie over here need to have his girlfriend defend him?"

"I'm not his girlfriend and he doesn't need me to. I choose to. He's my friend. If you don't have anything good to say then leave," I said.

"You know Nade. I thought you were pretty cool considering the fun we had last night," he said as he stepped forward. I took a step back. I felt the cool glass of the aquarium on my back.

" I thought you like being bad. You thought it was fun," he said as he put his on the glass one both sides of my head. He had me trapped.

"I thought you liked to have fun," he whispered.

"Nade," Tadase said.

"It's alright Tadase," I said.

"What do you say princess? Take a stroll with me?" The thought of another night like the one they had before made me excited. I wanted to feel the adrenaline rush again. I want to be carefree.

"Do it!" Where did that voice come from?

"Do it! You know you want to be rebellious." I think I'm going crazy.

"I'm hanging out with Tadase. You'll have to wait till later," I said. Why did I say that? I really want to go with him. Why am I holding back? Say yes!

"Are you sure about that? You look like you really want to go," he said. I looked at Tadase and then back at Leo.

"I don't want to hold you back Nade. You can go if you want," Tadase said.

"But we have to use the buddy system," I said.

"I'll hang out with Tadase. He can teach me some Japanese culture," Blue said.

"Really? You wouldn't mind?"

"Go ahead," Tadase said. I turned back to Leo.

"Alright."

"I knew you'd agree," he said. He grabbed my hand and lead me out of the aquarium.

*Nagi's POV*

"Nagi, it's hot. Can we go somewhere that has air conditioning?" Rima asked.

"Alright but one picture first," I said.

"Fine." I took her to see the grand canyon. She thought it was fascinating on how big it was but the heat got to her after a few minutes. I asked a random tourist if he would take our picture with my phone. He said he would. Rima and I stood by the canyon. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders while she wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Say cheese," the guy said and then took the picture.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said as he gave me my phone back.

"Nagi, can walk around?" she asked.

"I thought you were hot."

"I am but I want to look around. This will probably be the only time I'm here so I want to see everything," she said.

"Alright." I took her hand and we walked around.

*Nade's POV*

"What did you want to do?" I asked.

"I don't know. I just wanted to hang with you."

"Why?"

"Because you're cool."

"Me? Cool?"

"When you break out of that good girl shell you're awesome. I don't know why you do it more often."

"Well my family is known for being mature and well-mannered."

"Japan is totally different from America. You've got a lot to learn," he said.

"What would I have to learn?"

"Number one, everyone here is rude. It's rare to find a super nice person," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and we cuss all the time."

"Why?"

"Cause we can. We have rules called amendments. The first one is freedom of speech," he said.

"I wish we had that in Japan," I thought out loud.

"I don't know if you noticed but you're in America right now. You can yell cuss words if you want."

"That wouldn't be lady-like of me."

"Number two, girls usually aren't lady-like here. They are on certain occasions when it's needed but not all the time."

"So I could cuss?"

"Yeah, do it." I squeezed his hand.

"I don't think-"

"Don't think, just do." He squeezed my hand back.

"Damn!" I instantly looked around to see if I was going to be scolded. I got a few odd looks but no one said anything. I smiled at him.

"That's a good start. I think you'll blend in fine," he said.

*Rima's POV*

"The grass is more comfy than it looks," I said as I lied down on the grass in a park. Nagi lied down next to me.

"Did I wear you out?" he asked.

"I'm so tired," I said as I snuggled up to him.

"We walked for hours. I'm surprised you agreed to it," he said.

"I guess I had a bunch of energy today," I said.

"Maybe it was the news about your sister," he said.

"Maybe." We lied there in silence. His arm wrapped around my waist while my head was on his chest while one hand was on his stomach. I could feel a bit of muscle through his shirt. Nagi was very lean. I never thought of him as muscular.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"Uhhhh... you don't get to know," I said as I suddenly became embarrassed. He laughed as my cheeks turned pink.

"Tell me," he said.

"I was thinking about your..."

"My...?"

"Muscles," I whispered.

"My muscles?"

"Yeah, I never noticed them before," I said. He kissed me forehead.

"I'm not like Kukai," he said.

"No, you're lean. It's just odd that I never noticed it before," I said.

"It's probably from all the basketball and dancing I've done before this stupid thing," he said as he lifted his boot up and then put it back down.

"Nagi, can we just stay here in this moment?"

"I wish," he said.

"We should take a picture to remember it," I said. I grabbed my phone and held it up to take a picture of us. I smiled but right before I pressed the button Nagi kissed my cheek. I looked at the picture. It was amazing. I had a big smile on my face. Nagi had his eyes closed. His hair was in his face a bit as he was kissing my cheek.

"Perfect," he said. I looked up at him. He looked down at me. I leaned in and kissed him. He pulled me closer to him to deepen the kiss. After a minute or two I had to pull away to breathe. Nagi didn't stop though. He kissed my cheek, my jaw, and down to my neck. It was weird but I liked it. After a bit he kissed back up my neck and back to my lips. We had never gone this far before. It was new and I like it. I wanted to do the same for him but I didn't know what I was doing. I began to follow by example. I started with his cheek, his jaw, and finally his neck. The beeping of a phone quickly stopped me. I pulled away a bit as my cheeks grew red.

"Hello?" Nagi answered his phone. I noticed the pink on his cheeks too.

"Alright."

"Yes, thanks for telling me Tadase."

"No I'm fine. Promise.

"Alright Bye."

"What did Tadase want?" I asked.

"Nade and Leo are hanging out. Nade really wanted to go with him. Tadase just wanted to let me know," he said.

"Do you want to head back and see if they are back at the hotel?" I asked.

"Yeah that would be-" He seemed to be staring at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Don't be mad," he said.

*Rei's POV*

"I give up! I went on a date with Aarin. It was a great date but I just can't get inspiration for this love song," I said to my charas.

"Why don't you take a break?" Angel suggested.

"How about a nice hot shower? That always makes me feel relaxed," Jazlynn added.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer," I said. I went into the bathroom. I turned the knob and felt the water until it was nice and warm. I took off my shirt and pants leaving me in my tank top and underwear.

"You still have the necklace Nami gave you?" Angel said.

"Yeah, it's part of my pre-concert ritual so I always wear it. It's kind of like a good luck charm. I know Aarin wears his too," I said.

"Enough talk! Get in that shower!" Jazlynn said.

*Rima's POV*

We made it back to the hotel after a fifteen minute walk.

"Anyone here?" I called down the hall. Rei came out of her room in a tank top and shorts. SHe had her hair wrapped up in a towel.

"It's just me, Tadase, Blue, and Aarin that I know of. I just got out of the shower and Aarin's been in his room," she said.

"Did Nade or Leo stop by before your shower?" Nagi asked.

"Not that I know of. I was out for about an hour with Aarin. They might've been back around that time but I don't know," she said. Nagi sighed.

"What's wrong with those two?" Rei asked.

"Nothing, we just don't trust Nade hanging out with Leo. He seems like a bad influence," Nagi said. The door opened to show Utau, Yaya, Amu, Kukai, Kairi, and Ikuto stepped inside.

"That mall was so much fun!" Yaya cheered.

"I agree. We should go some other time," Utau said.

"Please don't take us with you next time," Kukai said.

"Who else will carry our stuff?" Utau asked. The door opened again. Nade and Leo stepped in. They were laughing about something that only those two knew about.

"Nade," Nagi said.

"Yes Nagihiko?"

"I don't want you hanging out with him anymore," he said.

"Why?" she asked. Everyone had stopped talking and were now focused on the twins.

"He's a bad influence."

"He's misunderstood."

"You're defending him. We don't know him."

"You don't know him. I know him," she said.

"What could you possibly know about him? You met the guy about a month ago," Nagi said.

"I know enough!" Nade began to yell.

"Woah! Woah! Let's calm down. Listen man, I understand the overprotective brother thing. She's your sister and you don't want a big, bad boy around her. I assure you that I never did anything she didn't feel comfortable with. I may be a jerk but I do respect her." Leo said.

"Leo?" Nade said shocked.

"How am I to trust I guy that flirts with any girl he sees?" Nagi said.

"I only do that when I don't like a particular girl. I may have lost points when I tried to hit on your girl."

"How do I know you won't do anything to her?"

"Nagihiko!" Nade scolded.

"Says the guy with the hickey on his neck" Nagi covered up his neck while Leo smirked."

"I'd bet money that your girl has a matching one," he said. Everyone looked at me. Luckily my shirt covered it up. Nagi said not to get mad. I didn't care at first but now I was worried. Was what we did bad? It didn't seem like it.

"Leo stop! Leave Rima out of it." Nade said. She then looked at Nagi.

"I know you are looking out for me but I can handle myself." Nagi grabbed my hand and lead me into our room.

"What's a hickey?" we heard Yaya ask.

"That's another thing Kairi can explain to you," Rei said. The door closed making it hard to hear the others. I looked up at Nagi. He looked really pissed. I've never seen him like this.

"Come on. Lie on the bed," I said.

"Why?" he asked giving me a confused look. The anger seemed to leave him.

"I'm going to help you relax," I said. He raised an eyebrow.

"Please. I'm trying to help you," I said. He let go of my hand and lied on the bed.

"Flip over on your stomach," I said. He did as he was told. I got on the bed and sat on his lower back. My legs were at his sides.

"Rima what are you-"

"Shhh. Relaxing time," I said. I began to massage his shoulders.

"Where did you learn this?" he asked.

"Rei taught me." I noticed that he began to relax.

"You're really good at it," he said.

"If you ever need to relax then you should come to me," I said.

"I will for now on," he said as he buried his face further in the pillow. Once I was done I got off him and lied beside him. He turned on to his side facing me.

"I think I went too far," he said.

"I think you let your emotions get the best of you. It's ok Nagi. It happens to everyone," I said. He gave me a light peck.

"I'm sorry about the hickey," he said. He looked down at the pillow and had a line of pink on his cheeks.

"It's ok. It didn't really hurt. It felt sort of good," I said. I knew my cheeks were pink.

"Really? I didn't really know what I was doing," he admitted.

"Me too," I said. We both laughed.

"Rima, can we just lay here for now?"

"Yes we can."

*Nade's POV*

I walked up to Leo's door and knocked.

"Come in." I opened the door to see Leo on his bed. He seemed to be writing something.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey." I was nervous. What would he think of me?

"Still thinking about the drama?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry for what my brother said. He was just-"

"Don't worry about it Princess. I get it," he said.

"Well bye," I said.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I thought you didn't want to hang out with me anymore."

"Why? You're still you," he said. I walked up to his bed and sat on the edge.

"What are you doing?"

"Writing lyrics. Blue usually does it but she's a bit pissed at me for ditching her and making her hang with blondie."

"Tadase is not bad."

"I know he's too good. Blue didn't mind him. It was the fact he was a stranger," he said.

"Can I read your lyrics?"

"I usually wouldn't care but these are special lyrics," he said.

"What makes them so special?"

"Their about a certain person."

"Who?" He set his lyrics down and sat up.

"How about a pretty girl that's sitting on my bed."

"You're writing a song about me?" I felt my face get a bit warmer.

"Of course princess." He was so close. What do I do?

"Kiss him!" For once I didn't question the voice. I began to lean in. I noticed him do the same. His lips touched mine. I never kissed a boy before. All I could hope for was that I wasn't terrible at it. We pulled away for a second. I then quickly leaned back in. I deepened the kiss. he fell back on his bed. I was next to him. He had an arm around my waist and the other on my cheek. My arms were around his neck. The sound of the door opening stopped us. We broke apart.

"Sorry I was just getting my hairbrush," Blue said as she quickly came in to get it and then she quickly left.

Nagi: I'm not happy about the end of this chapter

Rima: we can't do anything about it

Nagi: If both my legs worked properly-

Rima: *distracts Nagi by kissing him*

Rei: it seems Nade wasn't the only Fujisaki getting lip action in this chapter

Rima and Nagi: *blush*

Rei: also why am I excluded from the love

Rima: Who knows. The author is evil

Rei: T-T

Rima: Anyway Question #26! Do you prefer Leo X Nade or Tadase X Nade

Tadase: I don't like the first one

Nagi: I agree

Rima: The question isn't for you to answer

Rei: Reiview please. See what I did there. I put my name in review

Rima, Nagi, and Tadase: *sweatdrops*