Author's Note: I want to thank those people who took their time to read and review my story. It really meant a lot! Thanks again!

Before I go on with the chapter, I would like to give credit to the movie 'Just Like Heaven' starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. Some parts of this fiction were inspired by that movie, which includes Botan being a ghost and her not having some of her memories. But I will try my best to stray from the exact plot of the movie.

Well, without further ado, I give you the third chapter!

Standard disclaimers apply here.

"…" – Talking

'…' – Thoughts

Chapter 3 Perfect Meeting

Humiliation is part of life. Every human being has experienced their own fair share of shame, and sadly, only a few are able to actually forget it and move on. Shuuichi is no exception to this rule. Often envisioned as being 'almost perfect' by many people he knew (and knows him), he too has some embarrassing stories to tell, but chose not to for obvious reasons. Just when he thought nothing would be able to embarrass him, here comes a stranger to prove him wrong. For the record, this incident gets to be at the number one spot of his most embarrassing moment list.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…!" he heard her chant in a high-speed pace as she shut her eyes tightly. As if it were not enough, she brought up her hands to cover her closed eyes before turning around to exit the shower room. He swore he saw her blush.

Seeing this as a chance to redeem himself, Shuuichi quickly grabbed his bath robe nearby. Securing the robe on his body, he stepped out of the stall and headed towards the direction of girl. He saw the kimono-clad girl pace around his room, with her head facing the floor and her hands by her chest, clutching tightly the hem of the sleeves of her kimono. Her reddened face, which he could partially see, was contemplative, as if assessing the damage she just did.

Not knowing how to react, the young man slowly walked a little bit closer, yet maintaining a significant distance between them.

"Who are you?" he demanded in a monotonous voice.

Her head shot up, eyes making contact with his. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I-I did not mean to… The d-door was open a-and I wanted t-to thank… A-and I thought you were a-a… but apparently, y-you were not…" she said, making incoherent words, as she blushed even more.

"Who are you?" he repeated calmly.

"I-I'm," she stopped for a second, searching her mind for an answer, "Botan."

'I think…' she wanted to add. Her mind was really blurry right now, and nothing seemed to register. She was confused. This man in front of her had no idea of who she was. The look on his face confirmed her notion. But if he didn't know her, how come she woke up in this place? How did she end up sleeping on his porch with him not knowing? She started to dig deeper in the recesses of her mind.

Still, nothing.

A voice brought her back to reality, "How'd you get in here?"

"Look, I'm sorry for interrupting you in your… um… private moment… I-I didn't really mean it. I swear! It's just that--" she was cut off by the young man in front of her repeating his previous question.

"Um, you see, I woke up in your porch a while ago. I was curious as to who brought me here. Seeing that the front door was open, I-I sort of let myself in and took the initiative to find you—" she started to explain but was then again cut off.

"Don't you know that what you did was trespassing? And if you're not aware, trespassing is against the law," Shuuichi said, now with a little bit of emotion that showed his irritation. The nerve of the girl to tell him she woke up on his porch when he knew for a fact that no one was within sight when he left the damned place. "Is this some sort of scam to rob people's houses when they are at their most vulnerable not to mention indecent state?" he continued in an accusing tone.

She stood there dumbfounded, 'How dare he accuse me of such thing!' And to think that she was about to thank him! Trespassing, sure she knew that she did enter the house without the owner's, namely this arrogant guy, permission. He can attack her with that. But accusing her of conning him and instigating a dishonest act was more than enough to set her temper. She told him her side of the story, and yet he did not believe her.

"Are you saying that I am a thief!" she asked, her eyes no longer apologetic. Her face was still red, no longer caused by embarrassment, but anger. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I did not come here to rob you. I'm better than that. And as for barging in on your private time, I did not intend to do that, too," Botan said, crossing her arms on her chest. "Besides, it's not my fault you look like a girl!" she finished with her right brow raised.

"Are you insulting me?" he asked, venom dripping with every word.

"Well, you started it! I had been accused of many things in the past, but never in my entire life have I been accused of abusing other's vulnerability! How dare you judge me, you don't even know me!" she shot back, eyes now blazing with anger.

"Don't you think I'm the victim here? You were the one who trespassed. In fact, you're still doing it right now. I don't know you, yet you entered my house without permission. Don't I get the right to be suspicious?" he asked, emerald eyes mirroring the same emotions Botan had right now.

She had nothing to say to that. She just stood there, eyes indignant. She locked eyes with him, showing the fury she felt, letting it answer for her.

"Well, I'm waiting," he said, he taunted.

Seeing that she was being cornered by this sly fox (she decided a while ago that he was a fox, manipulative and crafty), her eyes softened as if indicating surrender. Feeling an intense sensation of guilt sweep through her body, she took in a deep breath and released it after a few seconds. She slumped down her shoulders, relaxing her body from its previous rigid position. She closed her eyes momentarily, thinking of a good answer.

"I said I was sorry…" she said silently, almost a whisper. She opened her purple eyes, now teary after being mentally tortured by this person.

Seeing her eyes with tears ready to fall any minute, Shuuichi knew that he had been too harsh on her. He wanted to say sorry too, but his damned pride prevented him from doing so. He turned around, his back facing her, as he assessed the current situation. Not wanting guilt to gnaw his insides, he let out a loud sigh before talking to her again.

"The damage has already been done. Just leave. I'm not saying I forgive you, but I might consider it when you step out of my house. Don't make me resort to calling the cops because I will not hesitate doing so," he said. He hoped he did not sound too harsh. When he turned around to face her again, he saw that she was already gone.

And he didn't even hear her leave.

'Great…' he muttered as he started flipping through the pages of his project proposal. Due to the notorious shower incident, he was now behind his schedule. And he hated it when his schedule was messed up. Now, with his work load piling up, he can't help but be a little frustrated. Add to that, the image of the teary eyed face of the girl he had a shouting match with haunted his mind.

Never in his entire life did he wish for any girl to cry at his expense. In his younger years, he managed to make one woman cry – his mother. The pain was too much to handle, and with that, he swore he would not make another female shed tears for him. More than ever, his mind was in turmoil.

He knew deep inside that he shouldn't have shouted at the girl. And he knew from the moment he looked straight at her eyes that she was no criminal. 'She said she was sorry, didn't she? Why didn't I just forgive her and save myself from this guilt trip I'm having right now?' Somehow, he knew the answer to that. His ego was bruised when she said he looked like a girl. Yep, he can really be shallow at times.

'Damn, I can't work like this!' he let out a frustrated sigh, leaning his head backwards to release the stress that was starting to build up. He stared at the ceiling, clearing his mind from any thoughts. But she was still there.

'Well, its no use crying over spilled milk,' he thought as he stood up and walked towards the veranda. 'As much as I want to apologize to her, she's already gone.' He was now leaning at the railings, staring at the horizon. He noticed dark clouds starting to form that signaled the coming of a storm. This was one of the pains of living by the beach. Strong storms can really be dangerous, especially when its winds can easily knock down his house.

He was about to enter his room, when a familiar shade of blue and pink entered his line of vision. The girl whom he had a shouting match with a while ago was still there, sitting on the sand not far from where his house was. 'What was her name again? Was it Brenda?' he was thoughtful for a minute, hacking his brain for her name. 'I think it was Botan. Yeah, that's got to be it,' he thought snapping his fingers in self-agreement.

'Why is she still here?' he asked himself, not knowing whether to be thankful or be pissed of by her presence. He thought for a minute, pondering whether to go to her or just let her be. Man, having a self-conflict was really giving him a headache. Her teary image popped in his mind again, bringing up feelings that of guilt. He sighed for what seemed like the nth time that day and grabbed a sweater ready to face Botan once again.

Remembering her temper, he braced himself for what may be another shouting match.

Shuuichi slowly walked towards her sitting form, her head buried on her knees. In truth, he didn't know what to say. Hell, he didn't even know why he was standing here outside with a storm threatening to approach.

"Why are you here?" he finally asked, slightly detached. He saw her head shot up, eyes once again blazing. He had a feeling that his question didn't come out right.

"You told me to leave your house, didn't you? Well, as you can see, I am no longer in your house," she said as she stood up, facing him at eye level. "And as far as I am concerned, this sand is not part of your property, so technically, I'm not trespassing." It's crystal clear that she was still fumed about the incident earlier that day.

'What am I doing here again? Yeah, I was about to apologize' Shuuichi thought as he found himself about to forget the whole apologizing thing. 'But why on earth does this woman have to be so stubborn?'

He breathed in a hefty amount of air, at the same time, swallowing his pride. "Look, I apologize for being rash earlier. It's just that, it was the first time I had been put in that kind of situation. And to tell you the truth, I didn't quite know how to react to that," he finished putting on a tender smile hoping to melt her anger.

Botan's mind screamed of millions of rebuttals, but something distracted her – his smile. She realized that it was the first time she saw him smile. A perfect image worthy enough to be remembered. Her hand itched to do something, but she didn't know what. So, she just stood there, not saying anything, it was starting to scare her companion.

'Did I manage to anger her, AGAIN?' he asked. Shuuichi felt winds starting to build up, and he remembered the ominous cloud he saw earlier. "Look, I know that you must still be upset, but there's a storm coming," he said, his head motioning her to look towards the horizon, "You can stay at my place, at least for the time being. You can go on ahead to wherever you are set to as soon as it is safe for you to travel."

She ran his words in her head, analyzing each word. 'Go on to where I was set to? I don't even know where I was headed before I met this guy,' she realized parts and pieces of her memory was lost. All she could remember was her name and the dreadful feeling of being hunted down. Her head was now spinning, too much thinking made her dizzy.

"Okay, thank you very much," she said with a weak smile. She decided to take the young man's offer, sensing that with a little rest, her memory will eventually return to her. With that, the young man led her to his home.

When they reached the front porch, about to enter the house, she called his attention, "Thank you again for your great offer, I really appreciate it." She was fidgeting again, and surprisingly, he found it cute. "And I'm really sorry about earlier, for trespassing and insulting you…" she said sincerely.

"Look, let's put that all behind us. And I really don't want to be your enemy, you might not notice it, but your scream can really kill, not to mention bust anyone's eardrums within a 50-mile radius," he joked, lightening the mood, "Besides, I think I prefer being your friend." He heard her giggle, it was refreshing.

"I think we started off on the wrong foot. Do you mind if we start all over again without any awkward situations?" he asked, a smile once again brightening his face.

"I would like that," she replied returning his smile. Her head now seemed to clear, any doubts and worries temporarily erased.

He extended his left hand to her, "Hi! I'm Shuuichi Minamino, nice meeting you." He nodded a little indicating it was her turn. She giggled before replying, "Hello, I'm Botan… uh… Just Botan. It's nice meeting you, too," she was about to reach for his hand when something definitely out of place happened.

Her hand went through his.

Author's Note: Well, another chapter finished! I think it was a little boring… But don't worry, I promise the next chapter will be better. There will be an explanation of Botan's current state by a resident psychic. If you were wondering about the significance of the amethyst necklace that Shuuichi found, it would also be revealed on the next chapter. Also, the identity of this fiction's bad guy will be revealed later on, the fifth or sixth chapter.

I'm sorry if Shuuichi acted a little violently towards Botan, I just wanted it to be a realistic. I think that no matter how gentlemanly a person is, when somebody, and a stranger at that, walks in on him while in the shower, his reaction will be somewhat similar to that of Shuuichi's. I hope you guys understand.

Again, please review!