Taiga looked as Ami looked at the bear and smiled. She then hugged the bear, pressing it against her chest, and looked back at Ryuuji.

"Thank you."

Taiga looked from Ami to Ryuuji and saw him smile. She unnoticeably looked down, thinking about it, and then looked back up to face them.

"Excuse me. I need to go to the restroom."

Ami and Ryuuji looked down at her to see her back. She then walked away to the restrooms near the video gaming area. Ryuuji watched her walk away, feeling guilty about what he did. After a few moments, he felt a slight sting on his nose as if a certain someone had flicked it.

"What was that for?" he asked, facing Ami.

His expression settled when he saw Ami's serious face. Her face was enough to remind him he did wrong to Taiga, however, her face soon turned guilty, and she quickly looked down to hide it. Ryuuji looked to where Taiga had vanished to.

"Ryuuji."

"Yeah?" Ryuuji wondered, facing Ami.

"You told me that you took a walk in my shoes, right?"

"Mm-mm," Ryuuji nodded.

Ami secretly formed a small smirk.

"I have to apologize. I haven't done the same. Your shoes…do not really fit me. I tried to put them on, but I always seem to stumble ever now and then."

She grabbed her store bag she had been carrying her newly purchased dress in and gently placed the bear inside. She then handed the bag to Ryuuji.

"Here. Hold this. I'll get Taiga."

Ryuuji did what he was told and saw Ami walking off. He figured to wait at the crane machines until they got back.

Taiga sat on the toilet seat, looking at her feet. She would casually, but slowly, rotate her right foot. She had a pouted face on as she talked to herself silently.

"Stupid God of Broken Hearts. Why hasn't my prayer come true?"

She tightened her fists together.

"Why am I here anyway? I should be at home, watching television…"

Her face softened.

"…that way, it wouldn't hurt this bad."

She sat there, bringing her feet closer to her as she wrapped her hands firmly around them. She continued to stare off, not looking at anything in particular. She lightly sighed.

"Maybe…I should just accept these feelings…but it-it isn't supposed to be this way. I'm supposed to fall in love with Kitamura…not him. Why can't I be one of those girls whose first crush is on the man they be together with? Why does it have to be him?"

Taiga softly hit herself on this head with her first.

"Stupid," she said and then hit herself on the head again. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

"Taiga."

Taiga looked up upon hearing her name. She gritted her teeth at first, but she soon relaxed and looked down.

"What do you want?"

"I came to get you."

"Why?"

"Huh? What do you mean why?"

Taiga wearily brushed her hair with her right hand.

"Just leave me alone, Stupidchi."

Ami loudly sighed and face-palmed her face.

"Seriously, you act like a child… C'mon, Taiga. Ryuuji's waiting for us?"

"Why did you even invite me?"

Ami opened her mouth, but she quickly closed it. To tell Taiga she was a victim in a dating game between Ryuuji, Hakuoh, and her was just too cruel. Though they had their quarrels, Ami had developed a girlish friendship between Taiga and her. It was stronger than her friendships with her model friends and came second to her friendship with Ryuuji. However, she owed it to Taiga to tell her. The bathroom had no security cameras or anything that allowed to be recorded. She was in the clear of Hakuoh's hawk eyes. She sighed.

"Taiga, listen. The reason I brought you here-"

She stopped herself as she heard the door opened. A female janitor walked in. Dressed in janitorial uniform, the janitor worked under the Fujita business. The janitor faced Ami and gave her an eerie smile. Ami quickly realized it was one of Hakuoh's servants. She slightly narrowed her eyes her frustration and clenched her fists. She faced back at the stall Taiga was in after hearing her voice.

"Are you still there, Stupidchi?"

"…Yeah. I'm sorry… I got side-tracked."

Ami gently bit her under-lip, thinking of what to say. After a couple of seconds had elapsed, she found the words to finish her statement.

"The reason I brought you here was so that you can spend time with Ryuuji. I know that ever since our arrangement, I have spent a lot of time with him. I just figured that the three of us could hang out."

Taiga looked up and got to her feet. She unlocked the stall and opened it. She greeted Ami dully.

"But why drag me along? Obviously, this is a…a… A DATE!"

Ami took a step back, stunned by the swift change of sadness to anger.

"He picks you out a dress, you sometimes manage to touch his shoulder like if you were begging, you wanted a photo of you two, play games with each other, you make sure he's not hurt, and he gives you a present!"

Taiga panted a bit, recovering from her rant.

"I let you two horny dogs get too close."

Ami took in what Taiga said and stared blankly at her, not responding. Taiga got annoyed by her silence and preceded in leaving. As she walked Ami, the blue-haired girl whispered so lowly only Taiga heard.

"So, are you giving up on him?"

Ami's words stopped Taiga. She looked down, knowing the meaning of Ami's words. Though it could merely be interpreted by giving up on a friend, seeing no hope for the friend, Taiga viewed it as if she was giving up on chasing Ryuuji. Well, that was her wish anyways. Back then, when she first became somewhat friends with Ryuuji, she viewed him as worthless, unfit, and the lowest of the low. Falling in love with him was something she would avoid. However…things change.

"I'm going to wait outside," said Ami.

Ami started to walk and soon stopped when Taiga grasped her arm. Ami looked back to see Taiga's narrowed eyes.

"I'll go too…but after all this, you must come clean."

"…Clean with what?"

"About you and Ryuuji actually being a couple."

Ryuuji looked down at the bags as he waited. He saw the head of the bear he gave to Ami. He then looked up and stared at a security camera in the area. He gritted his teeth.

That guy Hakuoh… He must be having fun with all this. Forcing Taiga to come was just the icing on the cake to create this tension. And I know what his final review on the date is going to be. People like him don't really enjoy losing.

"Ryuuji."

He looked back down to see Taiga and Ami approaching him. He smiled.

"Hey," said Ryuuji. "You two want to grab something to eat? I was thinking of a cake shop."

During the time waiting for the two girls, he had received a text message from Hakuoh. There was a cake shop across from the mall that Fujita owned. The cakes were somewhat inexpensive and tasted great. Ryuuji knew of the place, since on good days, his mother would sometimes bring leftover cake when she went with her friends on the few times they went out.

"There's a cake shop?" wondered Ami.

"Yeah, it's across the street. Apparently, their cakes are really good."

Ami thought about it and grabbed her phone from her purse. It looked like she had received one new text message from Hakuoh. Without opening it, she figured the cake shop idea was from that bastard. She happily nodded.

"That's a good idea. It has been a while since I have real sweets like cake."

Taiga looked up at her and grunted.

"Says the Stupidchi who has been eating a lot of sweets from the convenience store."

A snap of irritation was heard between the third of them. Taiga crossed her arms and smiled.

"I could go for some cake. It's been a while since Ryuuji gave me real sweets."

"Huh? I gave you some peach juice the other day."

"It's like what I just said: real sweets."

"Well, you need to eat healthy, not just ramen and frozen dinners."

Ami just smiled, feeling jealous about how Ryuuji cared about Taiga's health. She glanced over at him, remembering that the only dinners that were any good for her came from him. Her relatives were too busy to cook on the weekdays, and her cooking skills were far worse than any housewife. After the winter break, Ryuuji was the first one to take notice she was not eating heathy and offered her some pork. At first, she put the packs of meat away, knowing well she could not cook. During the week though, Ryuuji's kindness got the best of her and when her aunt was on her day off, she offered to help to make lunch and dinner. It just took Ryuuji, the man she wanted to be with, to change her attitude. She noticed Ryuuji looking back at her with a smile and slightly blushed.

"So, let's go."

Ryuuji lead the way as they walked out of the arcade. The eyes of Hakuoh never left them, even after they exited the mall.