A/N: I'm leaving on Wednesday. It's gonna be about two weeks. There will be no updates during that time, since I will have little, if any, access to a computer. But I'll keep writing in my notebook, and hopefully I'll update when I get back.

Anyway, from the pole results, I've decided that I will write Rima Enchanted next. The first three chapters are already posted. Go take a look at them, if you're interested.

Also, a huge thanks to Shadow Host for ideas!

Enjoy!

The Million Dollar Bet

Day Eleven and Day Twelve

"You got part of the shell in there again," said Nagihiko, fishing it out of the bowl with half of the egg shell. "You have to do it like this." He cracked an egg on the side of the bowl and poured its contents in. Rima sighed in aggravation. Setting the next egg on the counter he turned to look her in the eye. "What?"

"Why do you have to be so perfect?" she said.

"What do you mean?"

"You're so perfect! You're good at cooking, and dancing, and basketball, you get good grades, you're polite, and hot, and always giving advice…" Rima listed. Nagihiko raised an eyebrow.

"I'm hot?" he asked somewhat teasingly. Rima's face turned bright red.

"… Very, very hot," she confirmed.

"That's a matter of opinion," he replied, grinning. It was true, but that's only if people wanted to be technical. "And I'm not perfect."

"In what way are you not perfect?" Rima crossed her arms.

"I cross-dressed, remember?" his grin faded.

"Yeah, and you were great at that, too!" she exclaimed, "See, you're perfect!"

"There are other ways that I'm not perfect," Nagihiko retorted.

"Like what? What are you not good at?"

"I'm not as good at gags as you are," he said, avoiding the question slightly, "And it's up to you to decide whether or not I'm good at kissing."

"That…" Rima began, her blush becoming redder, "Well, I haven't ever kissed anyone else, so how would I know?"

"Exactly. So for all either of us know, I could be very bad at it," Nagihiko put out. There was a short silence, and Rima stared at the ground.

"I… I like your kisses," she stated quietly. Grinning once again, he was about to say something, but a loud noise caught both of their attention.

"YAAAYYYYAAAAA'SS HUUUUNNNGRRRRYYYYY!" a hyper girl yelled as she came running down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Is breakfast ready yet?" she asked a frowning Rima.

"No."

"What's taking you so long?" Yaya whined. Her eyes darted between the two of them, and a most disturbing look came across her face. "Yaya can leave, if Nagi-kun and Rima-tan want her to."

Nagihiko sweat-dropped. "Its fine, Yaya. I'm trying to teach Rima how to crack eggs without getting pieces of the shell in the bowl."

~During lunch~

"What's that, Yaya?" Amu asked, gesturing to the object in said girl's hands.

"Oh, it's just some candy Yaya found," she replied, pulling a bit of the plastic away to remove one of the cylinder-shaped, colorfully wrapped items.

"What kind of candy is that?" Tadase asked, "I've never seen it before."

"Umm…." Yaya picked up the package and read the label. "Ground blooms." She began unwrapping it.

"Ground blooms…." Utau said, thoughtfully. "Why does that sound so familiar?" There was a moment of silence, then suddenly, almost everyone spoke at the same time.

"Wait, Yaya!"

"Don't eat that!"

"Stop!"

Etcetera.

Yaya drew the 'candy' away from her face, before she'd even put it in her mouth. "Why can't Yaya eat it?"

"They're not candy," Ikuto said.

"What are they, then?"

"Explosives," Utau replied.

"What?"

"Fireworks," Nagihiko explained, "Those aren't candy: they're fireworks."

"Eeek!" Yaya threw the whole package over her shoulder, into the kitchen. "Yaya was just about to eat fireworks!"

"Please don't tell me you left the stove on, Rima-chan," Amu gulped. Rima nodded.

A silence ensued, but it didn't last for long. Zapping, popping, sizzling, buzzing, and exploding sounds erupted from the kitchen, and colorful sparks spewed into the dining room. Everyone yelled, covered their heads, and leapt for shelter. They all ended up under the table.

It took a while for the explosions to subside, and when they did, it was very cautiously that the group emerged from their hiding place, and even more cautiously that they entered the kitchen.

The kitchen looked as if a battle had just ended in there: one that involved bombs. Little flaming bits of the fireworks lay all over the floor, and a few on the counters. The pot of boiling water that had been left on the stove was overturned on the floor, and a huge, steaming puddle was soaking the ground. Black spots where the fireworks had touched were covering the place.

"Wow," Kukai stated.

"Yeah," Nagi agreed, "I didn't think those little things could do that much damage."

"Yaya's sorry!" wailed Yaya.

"It's okay, Yaya: you didn't know," Amu said. Rima hung her head.

"I shouldn't have left the stove on," she said.

"Well, you didn't know that Yaya would throw a bunch of fireworks in there, either, so it's not your fault," Utau pointed out. Amu nodded in agreement.

"Standing around here talking about who's at fault isn't getting this place cleaned up," said Ikuto. And with that, they got to cleaning. When they were done, there was still some damage that wouldn't be easily fixed, and the stove was broken. But at least there were no flaming pieces of explosives lying around.

~Sometime after dinner, in the girl's room~

"I call Utau!" Yaya exclaimed.

"No," Utau objected. "I already called Amu."

"What!" Rima exclaimed. "That makes me stuck with Yaya!"

"Does Rima-tan not like Yaya?" Yaya asked, sadly.

"It's not that," Rima said, "It's just you're probably going to poke me in the eye and blind me!"

"It is called a blind makeover," Amu pointed out.

"Yes, but the person doing it is supposed to be blind, not the person receiving it," Rima argued.

"Yaya's not going to blind anyone!" Yaya yelled.

"Fine, I'll go with Yaya," Amu sighed, going into 'cooln'spicy' mode. Yaya cheered and put a blindfold on the pinkette. Rima was also blindfolded, and the two of them got to work. When they were done, they switched so that Utau and Yaya were blindfolded, putting makeup on Amu and Rima.

Kukai, an innocent bystander, was walking innocently down the hall, when he heard giggling, squealing, and screaming come from the girl's room. He couldn't help but wonder what the heck was going on, so he walked over there. The door was open, and when he peered in, what he saw nearly made him scream.

The four beautiful girls that had once been in that room had been transformed into… something else. They were gathered around a hand-held mirror, looking at themselves. Yaya looked up and saw the confused boy in the doorway.

"Hi, Kukai!" she said. The other girls looked up, and Rima began laughing even harder than she had been before, probably at the expression on his face.

"Ummm…." Kukai began, backing away slowly, "I think… I'll just leave you to… whatever you are doing, and go… uh… somewhere!"

He fled.

Girls could be creepy.

~Even later~

Rima was sitting on her bed, reading gag manga. The sun had already gone down, and the girls had thoroughly washed their faces, and no longer looked like creeps. She was really quite satisfied, having had equal parts adventure and laughter in the day, but felt that there was still something that could make it even better. That something knocked on the door, and she ran to open it, dropping her manga on the ground

"Nagihiko!" she said happily as she wrapped her arms around the boy standing in the hall.

"Hey, Rima-chan," he said, returning the hug. When they pulled apart, he took her hand. "Come with me."

They went down the stairs, out the front door, and into the yard. Nagihiko pointed upward, and Rima caught her breath as her eyes followed his hand.

"I've never seen them so clear before," she commented, and he nodded.

"That's because we live in the city, and it's so bright there at night."

"You can even see the Milky Way!"

"Yeah. And each one of those stars is thousands of stars put together. And a lot of them are a whole lot bigger than our sun."

"How long would it take to travel there?" Rima turned to Nagihiko. He smirked.

"Planning on taking a trip to the stars, Rima?"

She was about to retort, but caught herself and said something else instead. "Only if you'll come with me."

"Nah," he replied, "I wouldn't let you go in the first place."

"Why not?"

"Don't you think it would be boring? Besides, it would take too long. Traveling at the speed of light, you still wouldn't be back after several years."

"They're really that far away?"

"Yep," Nagihiko said, putting his arm around Rima's waist. "Want to camp under the stars tonight, Rima-chan?"

She looked up at him, smiling, and nodded.

So, after Rima explained to Utau, Amu, and Yaya, they dragged a bunch of covers outside and stretched them out on the lawn. Rima and Nagihiko lay there, under the night sky, gazing at the stars. It wasn't long before they were both asleep.

~Early in the morning~

A sharp pain in Rima's scalp told her that her hair was being tugged at—or, more likely, since she was on the ground, someone was stepping on it. However, she was able to ignore this and didn't even open her eyes. She fell asleep again, despite the early-morning sunlight seeping through her eyelids.

Rima awoke a second time when she felt something warm and wet against her cheek. She was going to ignore it, but it didn't go away, and she heard snuffling noises being projected directly into her ear. Her hair was tugged on again, and she heard panting, like a dog.

Rima's eyes opened. Right next to her head, sitting on her hair, outlined in the light of the sun, was a dog.

It was, in fact, a puppy; a little blond lab puppy. It had big brown eyes and a button nose, and when it yawned, its long pink tongue curled and then began hanging out of its mouth as it panted. Its floppy, golden ears perked upward, and its tiny tail swished back and forth, as Rima gazed at it.

A faint chuckling sound came from beside her, and she turned to see Nagihiko wide awake, watching the girl and the dog.

"Two of the cutest things I've ever seen are right here in front of me," he said. Rima glared, crossing her arms.

"Fujisaki Nagihiko! Are you comparing me to a dog?" she demanded. Nagi sat up and held his hands up in defense.

"Nothing of the sort!"

"Oh yeah?" Rima challenged, still glaring, "Prove it."

Nagihiko sweat-dropped, and thought for a moment, staring at the puppy as it looked between the two, tail wagging. Now why'd I have to go and say that? Of all the stupid messes to get myself into.

There was a silence, and eventually, the puppy whimpered. "I see you have nothing to say for yourse—mph!" Nagihiko had cut her off with a kiss.

"I wouldn't do that to the dog," he said, picking the puppy in question up. Rima seemed satisfied with this answer. "I wonder where he came from?"

"Well, none of us really know what's beyond this yard," Rima pointed out. "There might be neighbors."

"Yeah," Nagihiko said, stroking the dog's head. "He doesn't have a collar."

"Lots of people don't put collars on their dogs," said Rima. The puppy wiggled out of Nagihiko's hands and bounded into Rima's lap. It began to chew on one of her caramel-colored curls, and she sat bolt upright. "Hey!" she exclaimed, trying to pull her hair out of its mouth. The dog only pulled back, starting a game of tug-o'-war.

"He thinks you're playing with him," Nagihiko said. Rima glared as she managed to pry her hair from the puppy's mouth.

"He is a she," she said, giving the dog an evil look as it stared at her innocently.

~Right before breakfast~

"She's so cute!" Yaya exclaimed, picking up the puppy, which happily licked her face. "Where'd you find her?" Yaya's excited, eager eyes turned to Rima, who crossed her arms and turned her nose away.

Nagihiko chuckled, "We found her in the front yard. She doesn't have a collar or anything. She and Rima got into a fight over Rima's hair."

"Who won?" Yaya asked, giggling.

"I did, of course," Rima scoffed.

"What's her name?" Amu asked, petting the puppy's head hesitantly as it squirmed in Yaya's arms.

"She doesn't have one," said Nagihiko.

"What are you guys—hey, where'd that dog come from?" Kukai asked, entering the room.

Rima sighed in aggravation, "We found it in the front yard and it wouldn't go away, so we brought it inside."

Utau and Tadase walked in just in time to hear this. Kukai took the puppy from Yaya and placed it on the ground, where he promptly started playing with it. Tadase joined him.

"Did you guys name her?" asked Utau. Nagihiko shook his head.

"Yaya wants to name her! Yaya thinks her name should be Cocoa!"

"Why Cocoa?" Amu enquired.

"Besides," Kukai put out, "She's blond."

"Oh," Yaya said, and thought for a moment. "Her name should be Caramel!"

"That's too long," Tadase objected, "You need something that's easier to call."

"Twix!"

"That doesn't…"

"Snickers!"

"Well…"

"Milky Way!"

"Too long, again."

"Licorice!"

"She's blond."

"So is Tadase," Yaya pointed out.

"Yeah, but Tadase's name isn't 'Licorice'," Utau said, holding back laughter. Tadase looked slightly annoyed.

"Let's call her Jiji," said Amu. And thus, the puppy was named 'Jiji".

Kukai, Tadase, and Yaya were all playing on the floor with Jiji when Ikuto came down the stairs. The puppy saw him and immediately bolted from their grasps, running to the cat-boy.

Ikuto saw the blond missile coming toward him, and immediately ran away. However, Jiji was full of energy and chased him into the kitchen, where he climbed onto the island counter and stood there, watching the puppy bark up at him.

By now, mostly everyone else was doubled over, laughing. Ikuto let out a pitiful "nyaaa!" but no one came to his rescue.

Eventually, when she'd calmed her laughter enough, Amu wiped tears from her eyes and picked Jiji up, letting the poor, tormented Ikuto climb off of the counter.

However, this didn't prevent the puppy from following him around all day. And that was exactly what she did.

A/N: I thought this chapter was kind of choppy. Sorry. I kind of cut it into a bunch of pieces, and it doesn't flow very well. Also, I over-exaggerated on some things, mostly just to make them funnier. I don't think Ground Blooms would really do that much damage, but I can't say for sure, since I haven't ever set them off in my kitchen. Also, I don't think Kukai would be that freaked from seeing the girl's after they did blind makeovers. Haha. Anyway, I hope you got a few laughs out of this.

Leave me a review, onegai!

Arigato!