Chapter Two

I woke to the beeping of my alarm clock and I sleepily rose my hand to turn it off.

With my hand still on the alarm clock, I slowly rose my head and blinked two times. I slowly stood up from my bed and grabbed a wash cloth and headed towards the bathroom. I wasn't expecting anyone there, of course. But then again, I'd never really experienced a morning with Shinji.

I opened the door and what caught my eyes chased away any drowsiness I had in my systems. There was Shinji brushing his teeth, in nothing but his boxers. He saw me just standing there and said, "Oh, you're up."

I couldn't help it, I screamed.

He dropped his toothbrush instantly and slammed his hands over his ears. "God Woman!" He screamed, "What've I told you about screaming." He started walking towards me to make me stop, but I threw my wash cloth at him, which he caught with ease, and screamed, "Don't come near me!"

I kept backing up until I was out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind me. I sat on a chair, waiting for my face to cool down.

"Calm down Hikari." I told myself, "You've just seen a guy in his boxers. It's okay, at least he was wearing something."

I felt my heart racing again as the bathroom door creaked open and I turned around in the chair so he couldn't see me.

"Geez." He said, "By the time you're gone, I'm going to be deaf." "Do you wear only that when you go to sleep?" I asked him, my face getting hotter and hotter. "Yeah." He said, "I don't get what the problem is, at least I'm wearing something. Anyways, it gets hot." "Yeah, well, you don't see me wearing my undergarments when going to bed!" I said accusingly, "Now hurry up and put something on!"

"Fine fine." He said in a careless way. "Good." I sighed. I turned around, hoping he'd have something on by then.

But when I saw he was still in his boxers I yelped and turned around again. "Go put something on!" I said in a voice that was obviously not mine. "Then go and make breakfast." He said. "What am I now? Your maid?" I asked. "Kinda." he scoffed.

"While you go change, I'll make breakfast." I said. When I was sure that he left, I hesitantly looked over my shoulder and sighed in relief.

Now I had to make breakfast. That wasn't very hard. I used to cook sometimes at home. But if I cooked, I'd hardly have enough time to get ready for school. I huffed. We needed to plan something out.

I made eggs. To keep breakfast quick. Although it seemed like a lifetime waiting for the eggs to fry, it was quicker than Shinji. I put them on separate plates and left them on the table.

I quickly walked to the bathroom, washed my face and brushed my teeth and walked out to see if Shinji had eaten yet. When I did, the eggs were finished and there was no sight of him anywhere. 'He must've already left.' I thought. We had agreed to go at different times to avoid all suspicion.

I sloppily put on my uniform, scarfed down my eggs and ran out the door, but not before turning off the lights and locking the door behind me. Now I know how my mom felt.

School wasn't that far away. I had to give credit to my mom. She had picked out a good place. And everything would've been perfect if not for that one boy.

I made it past the gates just as the bell rang. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to class though. Ugh. Thanks a lot Shinji.

I barely made it to class, but got a long and tedious lecture on being punctual anyways.

"You're not usually this late." My friend Haruka whispered, her gaze still focused on the teacher. I would've loved to say, 'Well, I usually don't live with a guy either.' but, sadly I couldn't. Instead, I said, "I had a hold- up this morning."

Haruka didn't say anything and class passed by slower than usual. I didn't understand anything the teacher said. When had we learned all of this? This was bad. I was going to have to ask Haruka for everything again later.

When class was dismissed, I had a huge headache and whatever went in one ear went out the other.

"Hikari." Haruka called, waving her hand to catch my attention. "Yes?" I asked, coming back to reality. "Is it just me or is it coincidence that Satoshi and Kasumi are absent from school on the same day?" I shrugged.

"Knowing them, they probably got a heat stroke on the way to school." I said, "I can't believe we have one more day before Summer Break." "Yeah." Haruka agreed, "My brain needs a break. And since you have your own place now, we can go over any time!"

I froze.

"And we can do anything we want." Haruka continued, "Can I come over today?" "No!" I said loudly. She looked taken aback. "Why?" She asked. "I'm still… unpacking." I said, trying to lie as casually as I could without showing any panic. I was never good during these situations.

"Then what about tomorrow?" Haruka asked. "What do you think I am, a robot?" I asked, "I'm just a girl, it takes a while to get everything ready. What about a nice pool instead? It's Summer anyways."

"Well, a pool does sound nice." She said, thoughtfully, "Especially in this weather. When was the last time it's been this hot anyways?" I shrugged and we continued to our next class.

The next class drawled on slower (if possible) than our first class. And again, I didn't get anything the teacher said. It was the last day of school before Summer break. Why couldn't the teachers give us a break?

I only managed to catch what the teacher had said last. Which included Summer Homework. Did they not get the meaning of Break? Or Holiday perhaps?

"I wish they'd give us one day of break." Haruka whined after class. I was silently agreeing with her of course. "And I was planning to play everyday." She continued. Then suddenly, she stopped, "And maybe experience some Summer romance."

I smirked as I saw her gaze stop at a certain green- headed boy. "It's not very hard." I said, "You walk up to him and confess." "It's not easy." She said defensively, "He's a girl magnet. He's covered by them every second of the day!"

"It's just like you Haruka," I giggled, "to choose to fall in love with the school's play boy." "It's not love." She said, blushing madly, "It's a school crush." "Yeah." I said, "Let's go with that."

"What about you?" She asked, trying to change the subject, "There has to be someone you like." I pretended to think for a moment. "Nope." I said. "Well then," She said, looking around, "What about Shinji?" I choked on the air I was breathing in. "Excuse me?" I gasped out.

"Yeah." Haruka said, "He's extremely popular too. I wouldn't really call him cute, but he's cool. Something that attracts equal amount of girls Shuu has." "I'd rather throw myself in a pit of starving vipers." I said. "Why?" She asked, looking rather offended for some reason, "You don't know him." I snorted.

"Suit yourself." She huffed, "Then what are you going to be doing the whole Summer?" "Shopping." I said, it was extremely obvious, "I need new accessories anyways." "Really?" She asked, "I thought you were going to get a Summer Job, you know, now that you're going to be living alone, you probably have to buy food and pay rent." "My mom's sending money every time I need some." I said, "She's really making sure I take care of myself."

There was a moment of silence where we tried to find another topic to talk about.

"So when are we going swimming?" Haruka asked. I shrugged. "We'll have to talk to Kasumi about it." I said. "Are you kidding?" She scoffed, "Kasumi gets enough of the swimming pool. She's on the swim team for god sakes!"

I shrugged and we headed towards the next class. And the next class, and the next class. Until finally school was over, replaced by Summer Vacation.

I stretched my arms in front of me as the dismissing bell rang.

"Ugh." Haruka said behind me making a face, "My backpack's about to explode it's filled with so much summer homework." "So is mine." I groaned, "This strap is cutting my blood circulation because my bag is so heavy."

"Well, I'm going to head over to Kasumi's house." Haruka said, "I want to make sure she's alright. You want to come to?" "Why not?" I asked. Of course that was a big mistake. When I had answered, I had no idea how hot it would be.

"Are you alright Hikari?" Haruka asked worriedly, "You're sweating bullets!" "It's so hot." I said between pants. "Well, duh. It's summer silly." She giggled.

Was it me or did it seem like we'd been walking for hours.

"You know what?" I said, "I think I'm just going to head home." "Oh, but we're almost there!" She encouraged, "It's farther getting to your new place than getting to Kasumi's anyways, you might as well just rest over at her house." "Yeah, but as they say," I said, "All your good work will be rewarded."

And so I turned around and headed towards the apartment.

Unfortunately, Haruka had been right. Getting back was way further than getting from the school to Kasumi's house. And I was ready to faint when I finally made it.

I didn't have the strength to unlock the door so I knocked.

Shinji opened the door and I could barely see him rolling his eyes.

"You have a key you know." He said in a monotone voice. I smiled goofily. "Heh." I said, "you're hair looks weird. Did you know it was purple?" He gave me a strange look. "What happened to you?" He asked. "Nothing." I said, "Nothing. I'm fine. Why is it so hot?" I took one step forward and I started falling. I would've hit the floor, but Shinji had caught my arm just in time.

"Hey, Annoying girl, are you usually this clumsy?" He asked. "My stomach feels weird." I moaned. I wrapped my arms around my body as my stomach flip flopped. And not in a good way either.

"Don't go on the carpet!" He shouted. I felt him dragging me somewhere. Wherever it was, it wasn't making me feel any better. "Do it in there." He said turning my head so it was facing the toilet.

Whatever came out of my mouth. It didn't taste good. God! What had I eaten for lunch? I was too tired to think, too tired to raise my head after I finished. And everything went black.

AN. God! It was so embarassing typing "boxers." I was just going to have him topless, but I decided it wasn't embarassing enough. It's three in the morning and I'm soooo tired! This chapter must've been so disappointing. I know. It's because of lack of sleep. It was kind of a filler I guess you could say. I'm really looking forward to the next chapter though. I have so many fun ideas. Well, I'm going to go to sleep.

Kahmelion