N's POV

Touko is so cute and sweet. No wonder Lillipup wants to be her friend. I'm glad I'm her friend. I hope we can become best friends then more. Wait, what? More? Why did I think that? Did I maybe mean that I want to become best friends forever? Oh, whatever. I better take Touko back home before her mom begins to worry. I gently picked Touko up, doing my best not to wake her. I carried her all the way to her house. "Oh, Natural? Was Touko with you this whole time?" Mrs. White said.

"Only for a few hours. We were watching TV, and she fell asleep. She hasn't eaten anything, so when she wakes up she might be hungry" I said.

"Thank you" Mrs. White said, taking Touko from me.

"No problem" I said before slipping out the door. I walked back home and went upstairs. I poked my head into the Pokémon Infirmary and saw Lillipup sleeping. I smiled to myself and went to my bedroom. I wasn't that hungry, so I might as well just go to bed.

In the morning…

"N? Do you want to play with me and Cheren? Bianca is leaving town for a few days. She won't be here to play. So wanna play?" Touko asked me, batting her eyelashes. I sighed.

"Fine" I mumbled.

"Yay, we're playing house again. I'm the mommy. Lillipup's the puppy. Cheren's the daddy and you can be…the teenage son. Okay?" Touko announced.

"Whatever" I said. "Where are we playing it at?"

"We're going to just play in the woods. Cheren is waiting for us there" Touko said. I stood up from my spot on the ground with Lillipup. We started off towards the woods. I followed Touko as we dodged trees and bushes. We came to a large clearing. "This is where I found Lillipup" Touko stated. I scanned the area. Cheren was sitting under a tree with his eyes closed.

"Cheren! We're here" Touko shouted. Cheren's eyes shot open. He looked at me. Was he glaring at me? Touko ran up to him and wrapped her arms around one of his. She pulled him up off the ground. His face started to turn pink. He looked down at Touko with a kind gaze. Touko stared back at him with a smile on her face. My blood started to boil. Why did I feel so mad? I had to get rid of this feeling.

"Mom, can I have a car?" I said while walking up to Touko, beginning the game.

"I don't know. What do you think, honey?" Touko said while turning to Cheren. He crossed his arms. Touko still held onto him.

"No" Cheren said.

"Why not?" I whined.

"N, don't question your father. He knows what's best" Touko said, siding with Cheren. Touko stood on her tippy toes and pecked Cheren on the cheek. His eyes grew wide. His face turned a bright shade of red while Touko's had a light shade of pink. I clenched and unclenched my fists.

"Can N have a car now?" Touko asked Cheren with a smirk on her face.

"S-S-Sure" Cheren stuttered.

"There you got permission to get one. Now go run along and buy one" Touko said happily. I nodded my head and walked away gloomily. Why was I feeling like this? Am I jealous of Cheren? Yeah, I am. He's taking away my one and only friend. I sat down in front of a tree and pouted. The sun beating down on me felt nice. I felt my eyes drift shut, and I fell asleep.

"Is he dead?"

"No, I don't think so. He's breathing."

"Look he's moving."

"Maybe, he's coming to." I groaned as I sat up. I rubbed my head and opened my eyes. Cheren and Touko were crouching down in front of me.

"Oh no, I left my fate in the hands of eight year olds" I moaned. "What if I died and nobody knew what to do?"

"For your information, I'm nine years old" Cheren said offensively.

"Huh? Sorry. How long was I out for?" I asked.

"About three hours" Cheren said while looking at his watch.

"Really?" I asked in amazement.

"Are you feeling okay, N? Are you getting enough sleep at night? You're not staying up to play video games all night, are you?" Touko questioned with her hands on her hips. Her eyebrows furrowed in agitation. The look on her face was so adorable. I took a mental picture.

"No, I'm fine and I have been getting enough sleep. I guess the sun just felt so good today" I replied. I stood up and brushed the dirt and leaves off my pants. "We better get back to Nuvema Town. It's lunch time."

"Okay" Touko said. She started to walk away, Cheren holding her hand. I about died on the spot. I ran to catch up to her. I walked on her left side with Cheren on her right. She looked up at me and grabbed my hand. I smiled to myself. We reached Touko's house in a few minutes. Cheren let go of her hand and told her that he should go home. Touko let go of my hand and went inside. I was about to follow but I felt a tug on the back of my shirt. I turned around to see Cheren standing there with his eyes closed and arms crossed. He let out a sigh.

"Look, N. You don't have to be so protective of Touko or jealous of me. I know that you like her. I'm not going to steal her away from you. She likes you too much for me to make her forget about you" Cheren said.

"What are you taking about?" I said. For a nine year old, he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

"I know you don't like me hanging out with Touko. But she is my friend too; you have to let me be with her once and a while. Okay? Well, see ya" Cheren said with a wave of his hand. Did I just get a talk from a nine year old? Did he say I liked Touko? What did he mean by that? Does he know about feelings that I don't even know about? Does he mean that I love Touko? That's impossible, right? I'm way too old for her. She's only eight. Does she even know what love is? Why am I asking myself so many questions anyway? My brain and heart hurt. I sighed and walked into Touko's house.

"Ah, there you are Natural. I was wondering when you were going to come in" Mrs. White said. "I made some sandwiches."

"They look good" I complimented. I sat down at the table and took a triangle from the plate. I took a bite and the flavors danced in my mouth. "This is delicious. What is it?"

"Ummm, peanut butter and jelly" Mrs. White said.

"I really like it" I said.

"You never had a PB&J before?" Touko questioned with her cheeks stuffed full. How can she get any cuter? Wait, why did I just think that? Touko's blue eyes shone with happiness, and her chestnut hair blew around from the fan overhead. She was really pretty. Why did I think that too? Oh man, Cheren has my mind really messed up.

"I-I-I need some air!" I shouted before standing up and running out the door. I didn't stop outside though, I kept running. I ran past my house and back into the woods. I ran all the way back to that tree that Touko found me at. I collapsed on the ground in front of it. I was so confused and didn't know what to do. I rested my back on the tree and just cried.

The next day…

My eyes fluttered open. Sun shone into my eyes making me squint. Where was I? Oh, that's right. I'm in the forest. Is it already the next day? Must be. I better get back home. I stood up and stretched. I drowsily walked back home. I entered the house and walked straight upstairs to the Pokémon Infirmary. I heard a giggling coming from inside the room. I glanced past the doorway and saw Touko playing fetch with Lillipup. The smile on Touko's face made my heart flutter. Maybe, I did love Touko. I know. I should observe her and my feelings for the whole day and see how I feel. Maybe then I can decide if I love her or not. "Hi, Touko" I said. She jumped at my voice.

"N?!" she squeaked. She turned around and looked at me.

"I didn't know you were here. I'm sorry for coming into your house without permission. I just really wanted to see Lillipup" Touko said shamefully.

"It's okay. Your welcome anytime, whether I'm here or not" I said.

"Really? Thank you!" she shouted. She jumped up and ran up to me. Touko wrapped me in a hug. The skin she touched burned. My stomach got butterflies. If that wasn't a sign that I loved her, I don't know what would be. I love Touko. What is wrong with me? Loving Touko is so wrong, but so right. I hugged her back. "I love you! I love you! I love you!" she chanted. I fainted.

"N? N?"

"Huh? What happened?" I asked. I sat up from my spot on the ground. Pain shot through the back of my head. I grabbed it and groaned.

"Are you okay?"

"No" I moaned. I looked up to see Cheren, Touko, and Mrs. White looking at me.

"I think you should go to the hospital" Mrs. White said.

"No, I'll be fine" I grunted. I hoisted myself up and a wave of nausea hit me. I grabbed my head again and groaned. I fell to the ground and landed on my butt.

"If you won't go to the hospital, then you need to get to bed. I think that you're dehydrated. See?" Mrs. White said. She pinched some skin on my hand, and it stood up, a sign of dehydration.

"Okay" I said. I crawled to my room and climbed into bed.

"Touko and I will make you some soup. Cheren can watch you" Mrs. White said. She grabbed Touko's hand and went downstairs. I heard cupboard doors open along with the fridge door. I looked at Cheren. He sat on a chair I had in the corner of the room.

"You were right" I mumbled.

"What?" he said.

"You were right" I said a little louder. I started to cough. My throat felt dry.

"About what?" Cheren asked.

"That I love Touko" I said. Cheren's eyes grew wide, and he practically fell out of his chair.

"What are you talking about?" he whisper-shouted.

"Yesterday, you said that you knew I loved Touko. You said that I should share her and not get jealous" I reminded him.

"That is not what I meant. I meant that you liked her, like a brother. You wanted to protect her and keep her safe. I didn't mean that you loved her" Cheren whispered to me harshly.

"Oh" I said.

"Arceus, N! It's only been a few days since you meet Touko. This is not good" Cheren mumbled running his hand through his hair. "You need to stop loving her. She is only eight years old, and how old are you again?"

"Nineteen."

"Exactly, it will never work out. Now, just try to ignore your feelings or something. I don't trust you. I don't know what type of person you are. You might kidnap her and use her for your own pleasure" the raven haired boy hissed.

"What are you talking about? I would never do that. Besides, how do you know all of this? You're only nine."

"Books and TV. I'm not a baby. I am way more educated than I should be. I am grade levels above my friends but that's not the point" he yelled at me.

"I don't know if I can forget about these feelings. They're just there."

"Just try" he pleaded. "I don't want you or Touko to get hurt in the end. I may not like you, but you are a decent guy."

"I'll try" I promised. Just as me and Cheren stopped talking, Mrs. White and Touko walked in the bedroom. Mrs. White carried a try with soup on it and Touko carried a glass of water. She could be my own little nurse. Stop it, N! Get a hold of yourself! Forget about Touko. She's just a little girl. This is going to be hard.

A/N: Sorry if the story is going too fast. Have you seen the anime Itazura Na Kiss? That short series technically blows through years of the characters' lives in like a period of two episodes. Review.