So sorry it took so long! The holidays, tuition, Neopets and a Tsubasa Character Guide distracted me. To make up for it, I make the story extra long. Please review after enjoying it!

Chapter 3

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hold on there!" Sano said, still on the telephone. "Are you telling me Ai had a new boyfriend?!"

"Yep…" Ueki sighed. "She does…"

At the other side of the line Sano grinned said loudly, "Congratulations, pal! Now we're even! Rinko and I are together since last week and now…" he paused for a while, realizing something and continued, this time saying it more slowly and softly. "You… and Ai are… together now… Darn it!!!"

"What?! 'You and I are together now?!' NOOOO! But you and Rinko are… are… NOOOOO! I don't want a gay relationship with you!!! I thought we're buddies, not a yaoi couple!!! AAAAAAARGH!!!"

"Calm down, Ueki! We're not a yaoi couple…" Sano was trying to calm him down while rubbing his temporarily deaf ear. A large sweatdrop had formed behind his head. "Yaoi couples are something that fans come up with guy characters from some TV shows. It doesn't happen in real life… Just now, when I said Ai, it's as in Mori's name, not I as in me…"

"Oh! OK!" Ueki was relieved. "Eh, Sano! How come you said 'darn it' just now? Aren't you supposed to be glad about it? And besides… Ai's in love with another guy…" Disappointment can be heard clearly in his voice.

"No, when I said 'darn it' it's because I lost a bet to Rin… WHAT?! That's incredible! Somebody else is in love with her?!"

"Sano, what are you talking about?" Another familiar voice, this time feminine, can be heard on Sano's side. "And, who's on the other side of the line?"

Rinko? Ueki thought.

"It's Ueki. We're discussing about Ai's new guy…" Sano said to Rinko.

Oh! You're just talking to… Ai's new guy?! Are you serious?!" The tone of her voice had just changed from calm and relaxed to excitement and extreme happiness like that of fangirls when they meet their favourite celebrities. "Oh my god! Oh my god! Let me speak to him!"

Oh, boy Ueki thought, this time with a large sweatdrop behind his head.

"Hi, Ueki-kun! Oh my god! Congratulations!!! I knew it that you and Ai-chan will be together! Yay!!! That means I win the bet!"

So… she and Sano made a bet on Ai and me eh? He thought, annoyed. He spoke. "Actually… Ai's not in love with me. She's in love with some other guy named Natsume Atatakai…"

"… You two make such good… HUH?!" It's clear that she didn't really paid attention to him. "Another guy?!" She paused for a while, shocked to have heard that. Ueki thought she was feeling sorry for him, but he was very mistaken. "That's just make the whole thing even better! What does he look like? Did she dump you? Are you jealous?!" She was more excited.

Her chatter was interrupted by a loud 'toot' sound along with some rumblings and screeching.

"Is that a train?" he said, confused and a little bit startled by the noise. He can hear the announcer telling where the train is moving.

"Yes, it is! We're on our way to pick up Hideyoshi-kun and go to your town. But, forget about that! Tell me, are you jealous?!" He can hear people boarding the train.

"How come you didn't tell me earlier that you guys are coming here today?"

"Don't change the subject! I'm dying to know, are you jealous?!"

"N-N-No… No, I'm not." A blush appeared on his face.

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Ye-es you do!" Sano had joined his girlfriend.

"No! I'm not!"

"Yes, you do! Yes, you do! Yes, you do!" They began chanting.

"No, I-"

"Kosuke!" His sister interrupted him.

Yes! Thank you, sis!!! He cheered in his thought. "Sorry, my sister called me, talk to you later!" He hung up.

He thought his sister was in the kitchen or the living room, asking him to help her with the chores but, when he turned around, it turned out that she was directly behind him. She was standing there, her arms crossed and an amused smile on her face.

"You like her, don't you?" She asked.

"Oh no! Not you too!" he said, not expecting his sister to know about it. "How long did you… have you been standing there? And, have you been eaves-dropping on me?!"

"First of all, I've been standing here since you've picked up the phone. Secondly, yes, I've been eaves-dropping on you. And third, do you like her?"

"Who?" he bluntly asked (even at the most serious of times he can be like this).

"I think you know who…"

"Um… Britney Spears?"

"Err… Have you been listening to me? I've been asking you whether you really like Ai-chan or not and, no, not just as friends you know, I'm asking something other than just frie-"

"A classmates? Yeah, she's a really nice-" he interrupted.

"No, not that! I'm-asking-if-you-love-her!" She talked very fast to avoid from being interrupted again.

"N-No! I'm not in love with her!" he said. Shoot! Stupid fast-talk!! He continued in his head.

"Ha! Don't try to lie to me, little bro! I've been living here with you since you were a baby! Besides, I can tell by that look on your face that you're lying to me." She said triumphantly. "And don't try to give me those 'Shojo eyes' of yours, I'm immune to it by now!"

Drat! He was just about to do it to his older sister.

"Now, tell me, are you in love with her?" She edged closer to him.

By then, Ueki felt even more trapped than he was with his two friends. Out of desperation, he shouted while pointing towards the window, 'Look! Harry Potter is kissing Lord Voldemort!!!"

"Really?!" His sister quickly lost interest in him and looked out of the window, her eyes sparkling with interest.

Now's my chance! Without wasting any time, he ran towards the door and out of his apartment. He ran until he was sure that his sister couldn't find him in his hiding-place… which was at the next town, in front of the nursing school hostel, up on a tree. He knew that the hostel was one of the places that his sister will NEVER visit during the holidays. (The place was practically deserted, except for some birds and butterflies).

He also knew that his sister had very sharp hearing so, he stayed in the tree for two hours… then only he remembered that his sister WILL never find him there. He climbed down the tree and when he was just about to go away, he spotted a telephone booth near the hostel.

He was really curious. If Ai's together with that Atatakai fellow, shouldn't they be going on dates once in a while? He thought as he reached for the phone and putting his 100-Yen coin into the coin slot. Yeah… so, if I know when they're going out then, I can protect her if that guy tries to do anything bad to her! He punched in her number and waited for somebody to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" Ai answered the telephone.

"Hi, Ai!"

"Hi, Ueki!"

"Yeah, Ai. I talked to Sano and the others and we decided to go to an amusement park next week. We haven't decided when to go there yet. So, when can you come?" He lied.

"Well, I'm free next week. I can go there almost any day, except for the day after tomorrow, that is. I have a date with Natsume-chan from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.

Now she's using affectionate terms on him? This is bad…He thought as he continued. "OK… How about Tuesday then? It's just the day after tomorrow after the day after tomorrow and all of us can meet up in front of your house."

"OK, as long as it doesn't interrupt my date with Natsume-chan…" He can hear her daydreaming voice. "Hey, do you want to know where we're going? We're going to the zoo, then to the café, the movies and the park, where I know that we will have a wonderful time…"

Wow, she's really love-struck! She doesn't even know what she's talking about! This is even worse!!! He thought and answered. "Oh, Ok. See you, then."

"All right…" They hung up.

"Oh no!" Ueki mumbled as he walked back towards his town. "They're dating this Sunday! What am I gonna do?! She's been babbling on and on about their date that she doesn't even realize that she told me the places and time of their date…" He suddenly realized something himself. "Places and time of their date?! That's it!" He walked to his apartment and began planning, even though he doesn't even know what to do.

When he arrived at the apartment, his sister told him that Rinko, Sano and Hideyoshi were at the train station. So, he had to walk all the way to the train station, pick them up and since they had cancelled their bookings, Ueki had to drop off Rinko at Ai's house and explain to her that he forgot to tell her that Rinko will be sleeping over at her house. Then only will the boys return to Ueki's apartment with Ueki having a giant bump on his head.

Yeah, I know the last part seemed rushed. Sorry for that. I want to finish this chapter as quickly as I can. (Laughs nervously)