[Disclaimer] I do not own Eye shield 21 or Garasu no Kamen! All credit goes to the awesome creators.

[Author Note] Here's the fourth chapter. Sorry about any typos and other writing errors.

(Chapter Four – Time of Consoling)

When the two stopped hugging, they looked at each other again. "Do you feel any better?" asked the boy in anxiety. She nodded happily in response, feeling as though nothing bad happened to her at all.

"Yes, I feel wonderful!" she shouted. He was sort of surprised at her sudden change of mood, but she was happy and that's all that really matters.

"I'm glad, Kitajima, very glad!" he said back happily. Something right then and there caught his attention; it was the man who was staring at them. Sena stared back at him, giving him some sort of an irritated look. He didn't like the feel of this guy looking at them like this. "Who's that guy over there?" he asked Maya, exasperation in his voice.

She turned her head to see who he was talking about and she seen Masumi standing there. When the man seen her looking his way, he turned around and started to walk away. "Oh, that's Masumi," she answered, sounding like she didn't feel comfortable seeing or talking about him.

"Is he a friend?" Sena asked.

Maya shook her head quickly as she replied back in a fearful sounding tone of voice, "No! No, he isn't anywhere near a friend to me."

He didn't like the tension he was feeling at this moment, was this guy an enemy of hers? Did he hit or abuse her in anyway at all? Of course, he couldn't ask her such things, not yet. "Kitajima, are you doing anything at the moment? Do you have somewhere you have to go or something?" he asked her. His question seemed to of took her by surprise.

"No… Why do you ask?" asked Maya.

He started to smile at her as he responded, "Do you mind if I take you out to get some ice-cream?" Her heart raced with contentment when he asked her this, she couldn't get the smile from off of her face even if she tried to.

"You'd really do that for me?" her voice couldn't sound anymore stunned the way she said this.

"Of course I would. Are you up for it?" was his response.

"Yes, yes I am!" replied the happy brunette.

He started to walk away as he said, "Then to the ice-cream we go." She laughed at his comment as she began to walk beside him. On their way to get the ice-cream, they had so much fun talking to each other. They laughed together and never seemed to of ran out of things to talk about. They got along so much, so much that it seemed kind of scary. They both also got to know more about each other.

Sena found out that she was thirteen and Maya found out that he was fifteen. Maya never had this much fun in a while, Sena felt the same way. They eventually made it to the ice-cream store and got what they wanted. After eating it, they ordered more, and after that they left. Sena paid for everything.

"I never ate so much ice-cream before," laughed Maya as she had her hands on her stomach.

"Me neither," chuckled Sena.

"Thanks for taking me out like this, Kobayakawa," she said in a soft, content tone.

"You're welcome," he said back to her. Then something just popped inside of her mind, something she wanted to ask him.

"Um, Kobayakawa, isn't this sort of like a date?" Her cheeks now flushing pink, his face heating up and changing color itself; they both now started to feel very nervous.

"I guess it is like one, huh?" replied a startled Sena, his hand now scratching the back of his head. They both kept walking, but no one was saying anything, and right when someone was about to speak, they both spoke at the same time. They stopped and tried again, but the same thing happened, which made them both laugh. "You go first," said the boy with a smile.

"No, you go first," she replied smiling back at him.

"Well, okay," Sena responded sounding as nervous as can be. He chuckled nervously as he began to say, "I was just going to say that, well, uh, if it was a date… I couldn't have chosen a better person to have that date with." Such a ballsy move Sena made saying that, but he was just being honest. He did like Maya very much, and he grew to like her very quickly. In the back of his mind he knew he was in love with her, she was his dream girl. Maya's heart fluttered violently at his remark. Did he really say that to her?

"Y-You really mean that?" she asked in incredulity.

"Yeah," he timidly replied, trying to avoid eye contact. She was so touched by his words; she didn't know how to respond to him. Since she didn't really know what to say, she decided to listen to her heart and let it decide what she should say.

"I feel the same way, Kobayakawa," were her words, and it felt like it just slipped out of her mouth, which sort of surprised her. When she said that, he started to feel very warm inside. He then started to look at her, their eyes meeting and locking in place. They couldn't turn away from each other and they couldn't talk either.

Sena then bumped into a telephone pole, which snapped them both out of their daze. "Ouch!" he yelled while holding his face.

"Kobayakawa, are you okay?" she asked him agitatedly.

"Yeah, I'm okay. It was my fault for walking into a telephone pole in the first place," he laughed, making her calm down and smile at him. Soon enough, he walked her back to her house. They walked up to her front door and she turned around to face him.

"Thanks again, Kobayakawa," she said.

"Oh, it's nothing," he responded as he began to rub the back of his head.

Maya then put her arms behind her back, looked around a little, and then asked bashfully, "Could I go see you at your big game tomorrow? It's the least I can do since you came to see me. Besides, I would love to see you play."

"O-Of course! The game starts at seven o'clock! It's a-at that big stadium around these parts of town. You can't miss it." He sounded so panicky when he spoke.

She then softly smiled as she said back to him, "I'll be there." He returned the gentle expression, not saying anything to her. She then gently kissed him on the cheek; the tender and warm feel of her smooth, soft lips brushing against his cheek was the most amazing thing he has ever felt.

She kind of felt like her body moved on its own. After a few seconds later when she stopped kissing him, what she has just done began to dawn onto her. She then blushed madly as she said, "Good-bye, Kobayakawa." After that being said, she opened the door, walked inside of the house, and then shut it.

Sena just stood there with his mouth open, feeling like the greatest thing has just happened to him. He then started to walk away while touching the right side of his face. "Kitajima," he whispered to himself, a bright smile on his face, an immense feeling of joy inside of his heart.

Okay then… shall we continue? I don't know.