Chapter 7

Love is Complicated

I lay in bed the next morning, feeling nauseous and weak from the incident yesterday. I turn over to notice Mai isn't by my side, meaning that she must have woke up early. I roll back to look at the ceiling for a bit while trying to regain my strength. Oh, I don't feel so good . . .

"Reo~" a cheerful voice says.

Mai peeks over my head with a smile on her face.

"What do you want?" I ask, bluntly, turning my head away to hide my blush.

"Aw, I just wanted to say good morning."

"W-well, you should do it when I'm fully awake. Besides, don't you have breakfast to make?"

"Already done." Mai holds out a tray with a plate of pancakes and juice as proof.

"Why did you bring a tray?" I ask.

"Oh, since you're too tired to walk around yet, I thought maybe I would bring the food to you for a while."

My face goes hot when she says this, so I remain looking away from her. Mai just smiles, cuts a piece of a pancake and holds it near my mouth.

"Here, say, 'Ahh'"

"I-I can eat it myself, you know."

"Oh, come on. At least, let me feed you once in a while," Mai teases.

I mumble something as I hold my mouth open for her. She feeds the pancake to me with glee. After I swallow it, I open my mouth again, signalling her to feed me more. So she does. After feeding me a few more, I slump back in my bed.

"Is it yummy?" she asks.

"Mm-hmm," I reply softly. "Thanks."

There is a few minutes of silence until Mai puts the tray aside and climbs into bed with me.

"Are you feeling alright?" she says, worriedly.

"A little. I'm still a little nauseous from yesterday."

"Do you still have the ring?"

"Mm-hmm." I show it to her as proof. Mai recovered the ring just in time before Matsuri could get her hands on it again. Fortunately, she had to leave early because her father was picking her up. So, that gave Mai a chance to get the ring and for us to get out of the water park to take me home.

"Thank goodness. Matsuri really wants you that badly, doesn't she?"

"Yes. I can't believe she was in love with me this whole time and both of us were unaware of it."

"Well, let's make sure she never falls in love with you ever again. We'll keep proving to her that we're a better couple than she thinks we are and then she'll think twice about messing with us."

I nod in agreement as I shift my head to the side. I really hope we can remain together and get Matsuri out of our lives for good.

**Mai's P.O.V**

I leave the apartment with Reo resting for a while. I still can't understand why that would happen. I remember after Reo tackled us, I was so focused on the ring being in one piece that I didn't pay attention to what's going on. Maybe Matsuri pushed her in to get even with me. Or maybe Reo just fell in there by mistake. I don't know. But, all I know is that Matsuri is trouble and I need to figure out how to get her back. Why does she always have to ruin everything? I may need to talk to Yuuna-san and Kaede-san about this situation and tell them about what happened. I'm still a little stressed about the whole Matsuri thing and it needs to end so that Reo and I can get on with our lives without someone trying to ruin it. So, I dial Yuuna-san's number and wait for an answer.

Ring! Ring! Click!

"Hello?" Yuuna-san says on the other line.

"Hi," I say. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. And you?"

"Not so good. I in a bit of a problem right now, so can you and Kaede-san meet me at the coffee shop in a few minutes?"

"Sure, but what sort of problem?"

I hesitate before answering, "It's about Matsuri."

"What!?"

Both Yuuna-san and Kaede-san gasp in surprise. I had told them what happened from when Matsuri and I unexpectedly met and tried compete each other on spending time with Reo more to when Matsuri tried to get rid of Reo's engagement ring and how she fell into the water and I saved her.

"That seems very serious," Yuuna-san says with her eyes filled with worry.

"Is Reo-san going to be alright?" Kaede-san asks.

"She's tired," I reply. "So she's resting at the apartment for a while."

Yuuna-san gives me a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry you had to though this, Mai-san. And I'm sorry for Reo-san as well."

"So, what are you going to do?" Kaede-san asks.

I let out a soft sigh. "I don't know. It seems that we can't keep Matsuri from separating us no matter what we do."

"Did you try using my advice?" Yuuna-san asks.

"I tried, but like I said earlier, I had no idea Matsuri would be here as well."

"Hmm . . . then we've got a big problem."

"That's not good," Kaede-san says. "How will you ever spend your time with Reo-san now if Matsuri-san is just going to pop up out of nowhere and try to take her away from you?"

"That's just what we're trying to figure out," I say sadly. "So far, we've got nothing."

All of us sigh in disappointment. This is going to take a while before we actually figure out what to do so that Reo and I can remain together. We stay silent for at least a minute until Yuuna-san speaks up.

"I'm afraid that you just have to do your best on spending as much time with Reo-san as possible," she says, sadly. "And if Matsuri-san does show up, you just keep doing what you're doing to try to separate her from Reo-san."

"You can do this, Mai-san," Kaede-san encourages me. "Don't let her stop you from keeping your relationship close."

I finally smile at them. I can always count on them for advice whenever I needed it. "Thanks, you guys. I'm feeling a little better now."

"That's good," Kaede-san says.

"We wish you both luck," Yuuna-san says, smiling back.

"Thanks."

After having a fun time with Yuuna-san and Kaede-san, all of us part ways and I'm on my way back to the apartment to see how Reo is doing. Their advice helped me realize that Matsuri can't stop me from spending more time with Reo and I need to be strong. No more backing down. I have to not only do this for Reo, but for myself as well. Besides, Matsuri may not know what it means to be good girlfriends anyway.

When I'm halfway to the apartment, I stop in my tracks and my eyes widen at a familiar long silver haired girl walking by. She also stops and glares at me, probably recognizing me right away.

"You again?" she hisses.

I let out a heavy sigh. Does she have to show up everywhere I go? "Look, I don't have time to talk with you. I have to see if Reo is okay."

"Oh, it will just be a minute," she says, flipping her hair.

I clench my fists in anger. "What do you want?"

"I only want one thing: Reo-sama." She points her index finger at me. "I already have some plans with her tomorrow afternoon, so you can't have her this time."

"Well, consider it canceled. Because you're never going to have my Reo."

"Oh, yes I will. Face it, Mai-sama. You can't stop me from being with the one I desire. I told you: Reo-sama will and forever be mine, no matter what you do."

I put my hands on my hips as I glare at her. "I beg to differ. You don't even know her address."

A smirk suddenly comes on her face. "Do I?" She holds out her phone and shows me a map where Reo's apartment is. "I already have it."

My eyes widen in shock. "Wh-What? How!? I didn't think you'd-"

"One of my friends told me her address," Matsuri says. "She actually lives in the same apartment as her, so it gave me a perfect chance to snatch Reo away from you once you're gone."

I can't believe it. I didn't think she would even know Reo's address in the first place and thought Reo would be safe. But now . . . Reo is in danger!

"I tried to warn you, Mai-sama," she says. "But you never listen."

"W-well, even if you know her address, you still can't have her!" I shout. "I live in her room now, so it's impossible to take her away from me now!"

"Oh, dear me. I'm so scared. You can't stay in the apartment forever, you know. Somehow, you have to come out, so staying in there would be lame." She turns her back to me with her hair flowing gracefully with her. "Now then, if you don't mind, I'm making plans for our wonderful date tomorrow afternoon. You're a worthy opponent, Mai-sama. But now, I'm doing things my way. This is a start of a competition." She starts to walk a few steps forward when she stops again. "Oh, and one more thing: you must not let Reo-sama know any of this, like me knowing her address. This is just a surprise. You'd better think about what you're doing, Mai-sama. Because I always win. Always." With that, she finally walks off.

I, however, grit my teeth while continuing to clench my fists in anger. Worthy opponent, huh? Well, if she wants competition, she's got one. But . . . what is she going to do once she has Reo? Will she try to rape her again? Will she make out with her? So many questions form in my head that I just couldn't process all of it. Putting my hand on my head, I slowly make my way back to the apartment.

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! You guys rock my world! I promise, I'll finish the story soon. Don't worry!

I thought about not putting Matsuri in there, but since you all wanted more chaos between her and Mai, I thought I'd put her in there for you guys. :) And also, to be honest, this might be a boring chapter, to me at least. Anyways, I apologize again for the late update. I had sort of a writer's block for a while, and then I typed this, like in 2 days.

Lastly, the story's going to get even better in later chapters because I've got a plan up my sleeve. *evil grin* heh, heh, heh. So, stay tuned, you guys!

Until then, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review. ;)