(I didn't have access to the internet…so I'm doing this now. This doesn't fell like a 'T' story, does it? Should I change it to a children's story?)

(How's the story so far? I hope I didn't make any mistake. In any case, ENJOY!)

(Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me. They belong to the rightful author, Watase Yuu)

The sun was so bright and I was so terribly happy that day. The wind blew sakura petals from the tree and made the park just so much more beautiful than it already is. I wasn't wearing anything special. Just a tee-shirt and jeans. My hair was just like it always was-in pigtails. From a distance I heard loud laughing. People were grouped together. I wondered what the attraction was. I went over and pushed my way to the front. It turned out the main attraction was the person who I was waiting for- Shiki in his royal guard uniform. "H-hi, Hikari…" he said weakly.

***LATER***

"Why didn't you tell me you didn't have any normal clothes? Minus the ones you had three years ago which had "magically" shrunk," I lectured.

"I told you I was sorry. And besides, I had half of mind to come naked."

I guessed that was a signal to stop. I sighed and continued to walk around the city. "Yo! Hika-chan!" A voice from behind called out. Shiki and I turned and saw Mori in his 'I'm-going-to-hug-you' stance. I wasn't sure what was holding him back. He stood still. "…Shiki!!!"

He hugged Shiki and rubbed his cheek against Shiki's. Shiki had a small smile on his face while Mori was pretending to cry. "Where have you been, buddy? It's been hell with those two girls!"

"Excuse me?" I demanded.

"Opps! Let me correct that: It's been hell with this blue-haired crybaby," he said pointing at me.

Shiki was laughing. I slapped both of them. "If you two are going to make fun of me, fine. Just don't do it in front of my face. Especially you, black haired monkey," I told both of them.

Mori looked as if his heart was stabbed. "Hika-chan, that hurts so much. I, Mori, who has dedicated his life to you for the last three years in place of Shiki, have now been declared a monkey."

Shiki smiled. "Thanks, man. But does that mean you've been dating Hikari?" Shiki asked with glaring eyes and a dark aura around him.

"Oh no no no no, Shiki. Mori has already found the love of his life. She's cute, has long silky hair, and wears a ponytail and she's right behind you." I said.

Shiki turned around and saw Mikan with tons of bags in her hand. It seemed like she was shopping around town. "Oh! Hello, Hikari. Hello, Mori! Hello, Mr. Armor Man."

Mori and I laughed our hearts out. Three years had passed since Mikan saw Shiki and she called him Armor Man. Shiki smiled. "Mikan, you're eyes have gotten worse haven't they? Use your glasses," Shiki advised.

Mori and I stopped laughing. "Mikan wears glasses?" we both said at the same time.

Mikan dropped her bags and searched her pockets. She took out a case and opened it. She took out her glasses and wore them. "Oh, Shiki! Are you back from Hawaii already?"

"HAWAII?!" I shouted.

"Yes. I told Mikan I was going there before I left. Didn't she say anything?"

"Dude, when you want a message passed on, never tell Mikan to do it," Mori said. "Isn't that right Hika…?" he tried to talk to me but I wasn't beside him anymore.

"You told her but you didn't tell me?" I whispered to Shiki.

"But you knew where I really was. I didn't need to tell you I was inside the book."

"Yeah, well… I could play along, you know?

"…Hikari, I-"

"Shiki! Why are you in that suit of armor? Halloween was months ago," Mikan asked.

Shiki looked at his armor. Then at Mikan. Then at his armor again. "Um…I wasn't here during Halloween so I thought I should get into the spirit and celebrate it…even if it was months ago," he said with a nervous laugh.

Silence. Shiki moved closer to me and whispered, "Do you think they believed me?"

I looked at Mori and Mikan who were talking to each other about something. "I'm…not sure..," I whispered back to him.

Mori came towards Shiki and me. He had a serious look. 'Uh oh! He doesn't believe it,' I thought.

His serious face suddenly turned into an extremely happy one. He put his arm around Shiki. "Why didn't you tell us? We could've joined in the fun too."

My mouth was wide open with disbelief. An excuse as lame as that actually worked. Then it hit me. "Wait…what do you mean by 'joining in the fun'?"

Mori had a huge smile. "You tell me, Hikari," he cackled.

***************************

"FORGET IT, MORI! NO WAY AM I WEARING THIS!" I shouted in rage as I was pointing to my attire.

Mikan, as always, had a sugary sweet smile on her face. Mori blew a low whistle. Shiki just stood there as if he was shocked. Mori bowed. "My dearest princess, how lovely you look this fine evening. Come. Your prince is waiting," he held his hand out.

Mori had brought us all to his house which was a ten minute walk from my place. Strangely enough, he had this kind of medieval kind of princess attire or something. He had forced me to wear it… with Mikan's help. It was pink and full of frills. The top left my shoulders bare and the skirt was covering my feet. I even had a fake plastic crown on my head. But I wasn't at all feeling as elegant as I should have.

I put on an annoyed face. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Mori jerked his thumb to his back, pointing at Shiki. Shiki's blushing face was even redder now. I felt my cheeks heat up. I wanted nothing better than to shout at Mori but something inside stopped me. I looked at Shiki. He shrugged. "What will you two dress in?"

Mori took out a picture out of nowhere. It showed a picture of a samurai holding a katana looking deadly yet graceful. "I think this suits me best," he boasted.

"No. No. No, my dear friend. I believe this is more suitable," I showed him a picture of a donkey in my phone.

Mori snorted. "Ha!" he laughed. "You are merely jealous of me, my dearest princess."

"What about me?" Mikan asked.

Mori stared and bit his lip, trying to think of something suitable. I took the opportunity to escape with Shiki. I grabbed his hand and exited the house so quick that Shiki didn't have time to say anything.

Once we were out, we ran just a little further. We stopped near a clothing store. "Wow… what a coincidence…" Shiki said.

"Coincidence… yeah…" I said weakly.

We entered the store and saw all kinds of clothing. From headwear like hats and caps to footwear like shoes and flip flops. There was a small TV on the top left corner of the store, above the cashier. There was also various CDs and fashion magazines. The loud music that seemed to be coming from small speakers in the ceiling was keeping everyone entertained. Shiki's mouth was wide opened with amazement. "Was there a shop like this three years ago?"

"Yeah. It's been here since before I was born. Didn't you know about it?" I asked

He shook his head. He looked like a caveman who just entered the twenty first century. It was kind of cute seeing him so amazed. 'Cute? Get your head together, Hikari. This guy with you is from a book. Not a real human… Just a character…'

I guess I really didn't want to believe that. For years, Shiki and I had always been together as friends. Friends? Maybe it was more than that. Maybe I wanted him to be with me not just as a friend but as a… "Hikari, you coming?" Shiki called from a clothes rack.

'Think about it later. Just enjoy your time with Shiki right now,' I reminded myself and went to where Shiki was.

Shiki was holding a pile of clothes. It seemed like mixture of short sleeved, long sleeved, jackets, vests, tank tops and hooded, but there was one itsy bitsy little problem. "Shiki, don't you want to grab something to cover your legs too? You wouldn't want to go around in your underwear, would you?" I advised.

Shiki stared at is pile of shirts. He must have felt embarrassed because his cheeks turned to a shed of pink. He grabbed a pair of jeans and chose a shirt that he liked before entering the dressing room. When he exited, you wouldn't have mistaken him as a crown prince from ancient China. His golden hair and blue eyes might make people mistaken him as a foreigner but definitely not a prince. "Great! Now to pay for the entire thing," I said. "Where's the price tag?"

Shiki looked at his clothes, searching for the label. When he bowed down to search for the price of his jeans, I could clearly see the price tag on the collar of the shirt at the back. I laughed. I laughed even harder when Shiki asked why.

Soon after paying for Shiki's clothes, we exited the shop and headed towards my home. I was, unfortunately, still in the costume of a medieval princess so I was sticking out like a sore thumb. When we arrived at my house, I called out to see if there was anyone in the house. "I'm in the kitchen!" It was dad's voice.

I told Shiki to wait in the living room while I went to my room to change. But as soon as I put on my shirt, I heard a shout from downstairs. I didn't waste a second as I exited the room and went down the stairs. "What happened?!" I asked

Dad was staring at Shiki who was standing on the couch. Their faces could easily be described. Dad's face was full of shock and surprise while Shiki's was alert and full of concentration. I ran to my father and pulled his shirt. "Dad! What's wrong? Don't you recognize him? That's Shiki! Shiki! Remember?"

"I recognize him but what's he doing here?" he asked me while his eyes were still on Shiki. "Didn't we leave him in the book two years ago?"

"We did, but now he's here," I said as I forced him to look at me. "Let me explain."

My father was staring at my face but it seemed that he couldn't help but look down. He told me once that he hated to see me so stubborn I figured that this must be one of those times. "Let me explain. I might not be able to do it so well but let me try," I said softly.

My dad looked hesitant, but he smiled and nodded. "But…I hope that you're not planning on explaining with what you have on," he said.

I wondered what he meant. I looked down and realized that I had nothing on but a shirt and my underwear. I turned to Shiki who was trying to look away but kept glancing over to me. I ran away with my cheeks feeling so hot.

***Shiki's point of view***

Hikari exited the room trying to cover her underwear with her shirt. A part of me felt relieved because I didn't have to see Hikari so embarrassed. The other felt disappointed since I couldn't see her like that again. I hit my head. 'What am I thinking? Bad Shiki! BAD!'

Mr. Sukunami was still in shock. I would too if I saw my daughter scolding me in a shirt and underwear in front of a guest. I called out his name and it caught his attention. "Oh. I'm sorry, Shiki. Would you like something to drink?" he asked politely.

I told him not to trouble himself but he went and prepared some tea anyway. I was doing nothing but looking around some pictures for amusement. One particularly caught my eye. It was a picture of Hikari with Mikan, about five, waving and smiling in a park background. "Shiki?"

I turned and saw Hikari, now with trousers on, still blushing from the incident earlier. "Sh-Shiki…did my father do anything…to you?" she asked but she seemed to be hesitating.

I smiled and assured her that her father was fairly kind just as he used to be three years ago. She looked sullen when I said that. I might be at fault so I felt horrible.

***Hikari's point of view***

"Hikari, are you all right? Did I say anything wrong?" Shiki seemed worried.

I guess I wasn't thinking. Call it impulse or reflex or whatever but I just suddenly hugged him. "H-Hikari?" his voice was surprised.

"Let me hold you like this… Just a little while longer…" I said softly.

I couldn't bear the pain of being without him the last three years. I missed his voice, his face, his protection. All I wanted was for him to be with me again, but…

I pushed him away and apologized for the sudden movement. I realized that I've been selfish. How could I want something like this when he has his duties as a prince and for his country? I felt like I relied on him too much. "Shi-"

His arms embraced me. He ruffled my hair softly and held me so tightly. I felt his heart beat so fast and loudly. I tried to push him away. "Shiki!"

I failed as he held me even tighter than before. "Hikari…I'm sorry," he said softly. "I left you alone…all alone for three years. You must've suffered so badly."

I felt surprised. I wanted to push him away again but my hands were trembling. 'Why can't I do it? Why is he doing this? Let go! Let me go!' I thought furiously.

"Why? Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong!" I said, realizing my voice was cracking.

He whispered my name over and over again. His soft voice made me feel weak. His touch made me feel terrible. Even so, I felt safe. I didn't know why, but I felt so safe. I cried for the first time in front of someone for so long. I can't even remember when I cried in front of mom, or dad, or even Mikan. "I promise… I won't leave you ever again," he said. "Never…"

I cried for so long in front of him. I didn't even realize that my father was staring at us until he told me that night. When Shiki left, I felt a little self-conscious and kept whispering, "I promise…I won't leave you too…"

(Sixth chapter. I wonder when I'll finish this.)

(Next chapter is…um…I'll need to think about this. Honestly, I'm making things up as I go. *giggles* See you! =3)