Chapter Nine

Hikari's POV

No one could be more like the Energizer Bunny.

He just kept on going on and on.

We could ditch him. But he's so fast he'd catch us anyways.

I don't know why he kept following us. It's not like we treated him very nicely anyways. We meaning Shinji. What was his problem with the guy? Although he could get abnormally annoying, he was a sweet guy. At least he was keeping his promise. But, I can't help asking myself, how I got into this situation.

A Few Days Ago

"How could they do this!?" I screeched. Haruka slapped her hands over her ears, "This is not fair! It's only the first week of school! We shouldn't be having tests!" "I think you're only upset because you didn't get a good grade." Kasumi said smugly. "Be quiet." I snapped, "I made a fair enough grade." "A 60's actually pretty bad," Haruka said, "compared to what I got." Which was a perfect 100, like usual.

"This sucks!" I whined, "There goes another reason for Shinji to tease me." "Shinji?" Kasumi asked. My eyes widened in realization to what I had just said.

"I- I mean…" I stuttered, "He tutors me." At least I wasn't lying. "Does he?" Kasumi asked. "Yes." I said with more confidence this time, "So you watch out Kasumi, I'll win that bet for sure."

I had turned to face Kasumi around that time so I hadn't been looking at where I was going, so I accidentally bumped into some unknown person. I flew back and landed on my bottom.

"Ouch." I muttered as I rubbed a tender spot.

"Sorry." I heard a exhilarated voice say as I pushed myself up, "I was going so fast, couldn't stop." "Oh, that's fine." I said to the blond in front of me, "I'm Hikari." "Oh, I know." He said quickly, "I'm Jun, I'm the reporter at our school."

"Ah!" Kasumi cried, whilst pointing an accusing finger at him, "You mean, you're the little brat that wrote that lie about my class cheating in the school festival last year?!" "I wouldn't so much call it a lie than a rumor." He replied with a shrug "So you had to post it on the paper?!" She asked in a disbelieved voice. "Anything interesting I hear goes right on the paper." He said with a definite nod.

I'm sure he caught Kasumi's 'I- Want- To- Throttle- You' look, but ignored it. Most likely because he was given one of those glares almost everyday.

"Now, I'm in a bit of a hurry so I really must be going now." He said, running ahead already, "Good bye children!" And with a wave, he disappeared around a corner.

"Did he just call us children?" Haruka asked, infuriated. She had enough of the immaturity calling from her brother, she didn't need any more. I should know. The many times I've seen them together.

"I hate people like him so much." Kasumi said through clenched teeth, "The kind that spreads stuff that aren't true, without even thinking about how they would feel." "It's kind of his job," I reasoned, a bit stunned by his inhuman speed, "as a journalist and all." "No one notices, but we all do it." Haruka said with a hint of thoughtfulness.

"Hey, it's freedom of press." I said, shrugging. "Isn't that in America?" Haruka asked. "Yeah, but we do it here too." I said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And the whole conversation drifted through different topics as we failed to stay on track.

"This is stupid." I huffed as I flipped through all my notes back at home. Just in case one of my teachers sprang a pop quiz tomorrow. "Or maybe you're just stupid." Shinji said in his annoyingly monotone voice. "Why do we even bother learning about history?" I continued, ignoring his usual insult I had grown used to, "We have a few wars, a few hundred thousand people die. Big whoop."

I knew the look Shinji was aiming at me. It was the look where he had a come back but decided against voicing because he thought it wasn't worth it.

"Have I told you how much I hated the periodic table?" I asked him angrily. "No and even if you have, I wouldn't care." He said, picking up one of his freakishly thick medical books.

"Here, test me." I said with fierce determination as I shoved my notes on top of the page he was reading.

He heaved a sigh as he repositioned himself into a more comfortable position and said in a bored voice, "Name all the noble gases." My eyes rolled to the ceiling as I concentrated hard. "Um. Neon, Helium, Radon, Argon, Krypton, and something that starts with an X." "Xenon." He said. "Nobody cares!" I snapped.

He tossed the notes back towards me. "I'm going to sleep." He said while getting up, "You can stay up all night for all I care, just keep your voice level to a minimum." I stared hard at my notes, not really concentrating as he walked into his room. Glad to say he didn't slam the door. He'd stopped doing that after two weeks or so after I moved in.

I slammed down the loose papers on the ground and let out an irritated sigh. These things just didn't cooperate with my brain.

I quickly stood up, ready to go to bed, when there was a knock on the door. More like non- stop pounding. I felt a scowl on my face. Who would come knocking (or pounding) at this ungodly hour?

I opened the door a bit, and was quite surprised to find who was outside.

"Hey Gramps! Mom told me- Oh." From his facial expression, I could tell he was just as surprised to find me staring at him. "Hi Hikari!" Jun said cheerfully, and quite loudly, "I didn't know you lived here. My grandpa happens to live here. But I guess I got the wrong door. Do you live here by yourself, or what? …" And he just kept on going and going.

I could see his mouth moving, but I couldn't quite make out what he was saying. My head was spinning and I couldn't think clearly, which made me forget who didn't enjoy loud noises besides me. Especially at this time of night.

I heard a door behind me creak open, and before I could motion a "no" to him, Shinji said in an irritated voice, "Didn't I tell you to keep it down?…" "Shinji Ikari?" Jun asked, as though he was unsure of the person standing before him.

Shinji groaned. "Oh-" "We need to have a long talk." I said, interrupting him as I dragged Jun in by his collar.

"What's going on?" Jun asked, sounding extremely interested, "Is there something going on between you two?" I felt my face heat up as I managed stutter, "Wh- what? N- no! I- I mean. M-me and him? Him and m-me?" "You're not joking?" Shinji scoffed. "Okay, okay." Jun said hastily as he brought his hands up defensively, "I get it, nothing between you two. So, exactly why are you in his house? Or why are you in her house?"

"And why should we tell you?" Shinji asked rudely. "Shinji!" I warned, "But, he's right, why should we tell you?" "I'm not going to spread it if that's what you mean." Jun said.

I looked at him unsurely, "Yeah, no offense, but we don't exactly spill our guts to any stranger. Especially if that stranger happens to be a journalist for a school paper with over two hundred readers." "Hey, I've had my fair share of rules, and I know for a fact that if I were in the same situation you two were in, I wouldn't want it spilling out." He replied, "So you can trust me."

"All you need to know is what you've just seen, so get out." Shinji said with a glare. Well, when was he not glaring at someone?

"So you two coincidentally got offered to rent an open room?" Jun summarized after I explained what was happening.

"That's what I mean." I said. "Well, you two are in quite a problem." Jun said, looking distant, "A very interesting problem." "Jun?…" I asked suspiciously. "Nothing. It's not that." He said quickly, "Isn't it a bit awkward?" "What?" I asked, confused by the sudden change of topic.

"I mean, you know, Shinji's a guy, you're a girl." He said. "Really? I've never noticed." I said sarcastically. "I mean," Jun continued, "usually, people of the opposite sex don't usually live in the same house unless there's something serious between them, or they share the same blood."

"Are you implying that we do inappropriate things when alone?" I asked, my voice going octaves higher while doing so. "No! Ew! Gross!" Jun exclaimed, "That's disgusting!"

"Yeah, yeah. Now get out!" Shinji shouted, dragging him out by the same collar I used to drag him in.

"And stay out!" And with that, he slammed the door in his face before Jun had any time to complain. "I'm going to bed." He said. I barely caught what he said since his head was down and his hair was covering his face.

I jumped a bit as he slammed the door to his room. While I was brushing my teeth, I swallowed down a yawn. I could see my eyes drooping on my reflection in the mirror, yet when I lay in bed, I was wide awake.

Many things ran through my head as a blinked in a daze.

How Jun would act tomorrow, for one thing. Surely he'd keep his word.

I tossed to my side, still thinking. What if he let slip something? Then what? What if everyone found out? How would everyone react?

I'd never been one with a religion, but at that moment, I could help but pray to dear ole' god up there. Please, please have Jun keep his big, fat mouth shut just this once. I prayed. Do this one favor, and I promise you can do whatever you want with my life.

After an awkward moment of silence where I had nothing to think about, I got up for a cool, refreshing cup of chocolate milk.

I could feel a tingling on the sweet side of my tongue just waiting for the sweet cocoa flavor.

Unconsciously, I started humming a nursery tune while picking out a curly straw. Because who doesn't like curly straws?

As I sat on one of the dining table chairs, watching the milk twist up each of the curls of the straw, I heard a door creak open, again.

"What are you doing up?" Shinji asked, in his usual tone. "I couldn't sleep." I said, not bothering to pull a smart remark, "What are you doing up?" "None of your business." He said coolly.

I heard the fridge door open and I turned around to see Shinji taking out a small ice cream tub.

I felt my mouth getting filled with saliva and I whined, "I want some ice cream." He glared at my high- pitched voice, but none- the- less, sat down and shoved the tub between the two of us.

This came as quite a surprise for me, because usually, he would've said, "Tough luck" or "Not my problem." But I didn't hesitate over the mystery for too long because, hey, I had my ice cream.

"Mmm." I said, licking my lips after the first bite, "Coffee." And I took a sip out of my chocolate milk, "Remind me to buy more tomorrow on the way back from school." "No chance." He said, "That'd mean that someone would catch us talking to each other, which would raise suspicions."

"What's your problem?" I asked him, "We're just talking. Everyone talks. Just because girls fawn over you doesn't mean it'd hurt if we were caught talking to each other." "Girls fawn over me?" He asked. "Never mind." I said quickly, shoving another spoon full of coffee ice cream into my mouth.

Of course. How would he know? That so many girls out there in the world prefer cool, and cold types. I didn't know why this thought made my heart start pumping maniacally.

"Did you hear me?" Shinji asked, breaking me out of my thoughts, "I told you to remove your spoon." I quickly retracted my spoon from the ice cream tub. Though this resulted in what little coffee ice cream I had on my spoon to flick upwards and land on Shinji.

I chuckled lightly. "Oops?" I said, sounding like a question.

He sighed.

"Did you know that ever since you moved in, my life has gotten a lot more complicated?" He asked, glaring at me fiercely. "Yeah, I tend to have that affect on people's lives." I said with a sigh of my own.

I felt something cold and wet land on my nose and I lightly cleaned it off with the tip of my index finger.

"Are you trying to start an ice cream fight?" I asked, challenging him subtlety. "First a water fight, now an ice cream fight." He said shaking his head, though not in the way an amused person would, "I'm getting tired of this."

I scowled, and flicked a little bit of melted ice cream at his face which he wiped off his face wearily. I didn't want him to go and leave me here alone. I couldn't believe I was saying this but, things were a bit more fun when he was around. Plus, I wasn't very excited to shift back into my worry wart phase.

"Are you going to keep on eating that, because I'm going back to sleep." He said, pointing at the ice cream. I shoved that and my spoon towards him to show him that I was done.

"How can you not be worried about what'll happen tomorrow? We barely know the guy?" I blurted out. But I didn't exactly regret asking it.

"He's not going to say anything." He said confidently, though his voice barely showed it, "Would you?" "But he's a journalist." I argued, "He said himself, that whatever interesting he finds out goes on the paper. What would people think if we're found out. I'd hate to even think about the things people would say behind our-"

My ranting came to a stop as Shinji shoved a spoon full of ice cream into my mouth.

"Stop worrying Annoying Girl." He said with a firm look, "He's not going to say anything."

The roof of my mouth burned, but I didn't care, because at that moment, I felt quite numb. He was staring at me intently and I could feel my face heating up, which made the ice cream melt faster.

"Now go to sleep." Shinji said, ruining the moment.

I blinked a few times, trying to figure out what just happened. Why, exactly, my heart was thumping very loudly. Unknowingly, I put my hand over my chest.

"Hey." Shinji said, thumping me lightly on the head, "Go to bed, we have school tomorrow. It's not going to be my fault if you're late for school.

I just obeyed him and stood up in a daze, heading toward my bedroom door.

Although I was feeling quite awake as I slowly dragged my feet to my bed, when my head hit the pillow, I could feel my brain slowing down, and my eyelids drooping, and soon I was consumed by sleep.

OoOoOoOo

I woke up just as my alarm clock started beeping.

I looked at the clock and said in an incredulous tone, "Hey, I'm not late."

But, of course, Shinji was up before me. Actually, up and out before me, since he'd already left for school. No question he'd tell me to wake up earlier when I got home, just to cook him breakfast.

After a slightly unfrozen waffle (just how I liked it) I skipped off the school, feeling unusually happy. Why had I been so sullen yesterday night? How could this warm feeling have gone away for one second?

"Hey, Hikari!" Kasumi shouted, waving at me from the other end of the street. I put on one of my brightest smiles and waved back at her. "Hey, Kasumi!" I shouted back, "I didn't know you took this route!"

After looking both ways down the street, looking for any bypassing cars, she ran towards me and said, "I don't usually take this way, but I just wanted to do some exploring since I had time. I didn't know you came from this way." "Yeah, my apartment is just around the bend." I said cheerily.

She looked at me suspiciously.

"What?" I asked. "You seem strangely happy today." She said, eyes narrowed, "Why?" "I don't know." I said with a cheerful shrug, "What? A girl can't be happy for a day?"

We chatted animatedly as we walked to school. At this point, I was sure nothing would ruin my day. Even Shinji's insults.

"Hi, Kasumi, Hikari." Haruka said with her usual morning smile, "Hikari, you seem unusually happy today." "Doesn't she?" Kasumi asked. "I just feel happy it's all." I said, "Unless this warm feeling in my chest isn't called happiness."

"Well, there are many emotions that include a warm feeling in you chest." Haruka said thoughtfully, as she did with many statements. "There's happiness, contentment, pride, love." My smile faltered as my heart pounded louder as this particular emotion was listed, though I didn't know why.

"Well, it can't be love." I said, skipping ahead of the two, "Because there is not one boy in my life." I heard Haruka cough slightly as I said this, but I ignored it.

"Hey, you three! Long time no see!" We all turned our heads to see Satoshi running towards us. "Hi, Satoshi." I said, "Where've you been the whole summer?" "What do you mean where've I been? Where've you been?"

"Changing clothes, eating, taking showers, studying, sleeping. The usual." I said casually. "Cool, so have I." He said brightly.

"Well, hiya girls! And guy." I bright voice shouted from behind me. I turned around and saw Jun rushing up towards us. And suddenly, I remembered why I had been upset yesterday. My optimism dropped and I could practically see the dark aura of worry around me.

"Hey, these are you're friends, right?" He asked, pointing to Haruka, Kasumi, and Satoshi. "Yes." I said slowly. "Good." He sighed, "Because I wanted to talk about the Shinji thing and I didn't want to be alone with you when I did. That would've been a bit awkward."

Suddenly, I felt the urge to hit my head against something. Hard.

"What Shinji thing?" Kasumi asked, "Is there something you're keeping from us?" "You mean the guy with the unusual purple hair?" Satoshi asked. If it weren't for the serious situation I was in, I would've agreed with Satoshi that Shinji's hair was indeed a bit unusual for purple, but since I was on the verge of being found out…

"Yeah, didn't you know about Shinji and Hikari?" Jun asked, surprised. Could this boy get any stupider?! Beside me, I heard Haruka groan.

"Shinji and Hikari are going out?" Kasumi asked, her eyes wide. "They are?" Satoshi asked incredulously.

"No, I meant the same room thing." Jun said, "Didn't she tell you? I thought they were you're friends Hikari." At that moment, I wanted to take his head and slam it on the ground, but there were so many witnesses.

God?

I didn't mean so literally to do anything you wanted to do with my life.

AN. Wow. I finally got this finished after, what? Two weeks? I'm not very content with this chapter. I tried to lead the ice cream part to an ikarishipping part, but I think I failed at it. It's four in the morning right now, and there's only one thing that's keeping me awake: COFFEE ICE CREAM! It's really good. I can't stop eating. I finally managed to squeeze in Satoshi. Not saying I couldn't have in the last eight chapters, but, ideas kept running through my head and I kept forgetting to add him. Very lucky I was watching a Pokemon couple video at the moment. And one more thing before I end this. Who doesn't like Curly Straws? Seriously. Anyone who objects, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Kahmelion