Author's Note: I… can not use words to explain how sorry I am for the late update. I have excuses, each of which is valid and reasonable, but I will not present them, because I feel as if I failed as the author of this story. If any of you readers are still out there, please comment. I send my love.

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon, the characters, or a dating show.

Shuu felt her wrenching herself away from him, running as he yelled her name.

There would be tears.

She refused to let herself cry.

Haruka bumped in to many people, muttering light 'excuse me's and rushing away as fast as possible. The more distance she put between Satoshi's group and herself would be for the better. She couldn't stand having her heart being ripped in to several little pieces, and the worst part was knowing that she had brought this on to herself.

Shuu bumped in to many people, shoving them out of his path as indiscreetly as possible while growling 'excuse me.' His heart thumped hard, and it wasn't just from the exercise. He thought about why she was running. Why was she running away?

He thought past all the time he had spent with Haruka recently. Oh, that was right; she was on a bachelorette show. As the bachelorette. He thought of how he took it in when he first found out. It still made his blood rush and his head steam when he thought of how she had said that she did actually want a date, more or less. Had she really meant that?

Satoshi and the rest were running right behind him. They were prevented from pushing past Shuu by all the crowds. All the better for Shuu. If he could lose track of Satoshi and his gang, then he'd be able to find Haruka much faster and comfort her without interference. He felt weight on his elbow and turned around to see Satoshi holding it huffing, "Let's make sure not to lose track of one another."

She sat quietly, with her back to the windows, in a fast food restaurant. With her facing this way, they wouldn't be able to find her. She'd find a pay phone. She'd call Michael Finn to come pick her up. She hadn't thought of it before; she had her common sense blinded by Shuu. Another reason for them to steer clear of one another. Another match thrown in to the fire.

Haruka had her reasons as to why she did not believe keeping his company would be a good idea—it was just that she couldn't stay away. Having Shuu near her made her feel special, in a way she just couldn't describe. The closest way she could put it was as him being her drug, and that didn't even clearly state her thoughts upon him. Having to think of leaving him, leaving her childhood friend, made her torn, but she could accept reality. It even appealed greatly to the brain, since not to the heart. She didn't want what was best for her. She wanted, no, she needed what was best for the people she cared for. That alone could let her live her quiet and peaceful life, living with only herself, and, if she ever traveled back, her pokemon. She wondered how her pokemon were. On the boundaries, they had forced her to leave her pokemon in the care of others as she traveled. How were her pokemon doing? She missed them all so much. Shuu had left all of his pokemon as well. As Satoshi, Takashi, and Kasumi had all probably done. Why wouldn't they let the pokemons outside in to the western, anyways? They wouldn't cause harm. They really wouldn't.

Someone's cell phone started ringing. It snapped her out of her thoughts as she looked around for a clock. It had been at least twenty minutes. She turned around standing up; they probably had no chance of finding her, she might as well go find a pay phone.

He had run straight in to Shuu. Why had the green haired boy stopped moving? Looking up, he saw Shuu gazing in to a window of a building. Looking up at the sign, Satoshi found out it was a fast food building. "This is no time to get hungry! We have to go find Haruka, Shuu!" he yelled, quite ironically, at Shuu. Shuu swiveled around and yelled back, "We've already found her! That brunette over there is her!" Satoshi peered in to the window, following Shuu's pointing finger, and found a brunette. The brunette was sitting in a position as to where the face couldn't be seen. She also seemed to just be sitting there in thought. "If you're saying that that's Haruka because she's a brunette, why can't that girl be Haruka?" he yelled pointing at a random brunette girl in front. "You can just tell that she's Haruka by the way her hair is! I don't know; it's different!" "No, it's not!" "Trust me, that girl is Haruka!" "How would you know?!"

At the moment, Shuu glanced toward the girl. The girl was getting up and turning around. Blue eyes met green.

Satoshi saw that it really was Haruka. More so, he saw that intense stare at Shuu.

Any suggestions people? Please comment! Suggestions, flames, and/or praise are welcomed with open arms! opens arms