Disclaimer!

ARISA manga? "Nope, don't own it"

ARISA characters? "Nope, don't own them either."

ARISA fanfic? "Oh, yeah definitely. Thanks for reading!"

Ariah: "Hi everyone! Ariah here! I just finished re-reading ARISA and oh-my-lord, you guys were so right about how out of character I've started to make Akira (Manabe) and Tsubasa! Not gonna lie, it's sort of hard to make them all lovey-dovey so soon y'know? Like, can you even imagine Tsubasa being head-over-heels for someone?! (Er- actually that's sort of a lie, since I can totally see it happening...) A-anyways! So I'm back with another chapter! Did you wait long? Are you starting to lose interest? Omg, don't lose interest, we must continue to push this ship! Those waves aren't gonna take them anywhere if we don't push them first!"

Ariah: "So here I am trying my hand at third-person point of view just like you guys asked~"

Manabe stared blankly at Tsubasa. What did she just say? Tonight?

"I'm sure Shizuka would love to see the fireworks with the us!" Tsubasa added, staring down at the package with excitement in her eyes. "Maybe I'll invite the guys too, they DID say they wanted to see Shizuka again! Though… I'd rather they not get TOO close.."

'Oh...' Manabe thought, averting his eyes. 'Of course she would want to invite everyone else...what was I thinking?'

"So, sound good to you?" Tsubasa asked, finally looking up at him. "I mean, coming from the guy who didn't want to do celebrations in the first place, I'd better get this done and over with before you change your mind."

Manabe sighed and turned back around towards the door.

"Do whatever you want," He replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I'm gonna go see if there's anything in the fridge we can snack on…"

Tsubasa watches as Manabe leaves the room and she frowns to herself.

"Honestly...what made him change his mind..?" She asked herself, reaching over to give the back of her head a small scratch. "Oh well, better call everyone up!"

Meanwhile…

Manabe was standing frozen in thought in the hallway, his back leaned up against the wall.

"How stupid…" He thought, running his fingers through his hair. "...Of course I don't like her that way, what was I thinking? We're just friends. Even if I DID like her, I'd have to be a masochist to even attempt to 'like' such a dense girl like her. The more I tell myself that she's not just a friend to me, the more strange thoughts I'll get…"

"Manabe!"

Tsubasa's voice pulled Manabe out of his thoughts, and he glanced over at the blonde haired female, whom was now standing in front of him.

"You feeling okay?" She sighed, placing a hand on her hip. "Anyways, so we're meeting at the mountain later, you're in charge of bringing Shizuka, okay?"

"Sure." He replied, pushing himself off of the wall.

"Alright then, I'll catch you later!" And with that, Tsubasa dashes down the stairs and out the door, leaving Manabe to think back on his thoughts.

"Yeah…." He muttered back, hearing the door slam. "...See you later…"

"Hey, aren't you going to invite Arisa too?" Takeru asked, turning his head towards Tsubasa. "I thought for sure she'd be the first person you were going to invite…"

Tsubasa shrugged her shoulders.

"I was going to, but after thinking about it, Arisa would be happier if Midori was there with her." She told him, her green eyes focusing straight on the trees in front of them. "Besides…I'm sure from this high up, Arisa would be able to see the fireworks."

Suddenly, there were loud bickering voices coming from the side and Tsubasa huffed out a sigh. Her head turned towards the other guys, whom at this point were now looking as though they were going to kill the living daylights out of the firecrackers, and she frowned.

"Put that lighter down! We've still gotta wait for Shizuka (and Manabe) to show up!" She barked, standing up and stomping her foot down onto the bench she was seated on earlier. "If any of you even dares to touch that, you're in for a-!"

"Tsubasa!"

The blonde turned towards the familiar voice and immediately her face brightened up.

"Shizuka!" She exclaimed, running over to greet her. "You're walking! How awesome is that?!"

"Oh…" Quietly, Tsubasa's eyes trailed down to where Shizuka's arms linked with Manabes, and she stopped herself momentarily from getting any closer. For a moment, her smile had disappeared. "S-So you're not quite there yet, but you're doing great so far! Keep it up, Shizuka!"

And just like that, it came back again, but not as strong as it had been before.

Shizuka smiled. "Thanks Tsubasa, though I've still got a long way to go.." She tried to say, but eventually the rest of the guys had walked over and began praising her as well.

"Isn't this basically the same 'friendship' crew you gathered last time you kidnapped Shizuka?" Manabe asked Tsubasa, after they had all settled down and began lighting their own little sparklers. "And why choose this place again…? You'll burn the trees."

"Chill out, you'll ruin the fun." Tsubasa frowned, swinging her lit sparkler towards him. "You're the only one not doing anything anyway. Just look how much fun Shizuka is having, you've really gotta learn from her and get that stupid frown off your face."

Frowning, Manabe turned his head away and muttered out a "Shut up" before walking over to join the rest of the guys.

Left by herself, Tsubasa glanced over at Shizuka and sighed.

"Come on, Tsubasa…" She muttered to herself. "...you've gotta learn from Shizuka too…this isn't like you at all.."

"Hey! This place over here is all clear!" One of the guys shouted, signaling the rest of the group over towards the open space. "We're lighting the big ones next!"

Hearing this, Tsubasa stood up from her spot and took in a deep breath before going to join them.

'I want to at least enjoy myself for today...'

"Hey hold on, I wanna do it!" She exclaimed, waving her arms in the air. "Shizuka, wanna help me?"

"Sure!"

Afterwards, Tsubasa and Manabe walk together to take Shizuka home. By this time it had gotten pretty late, and Shizuka had gotten pretty tired from all of the exercise she had been doing. Tsubasa had offered to carry her, but she insisted that Manabe should carry her since she was afraid Tsubasa would get tired from carrying her all the way back.

"Well, alright then," Tsubasa agreed, nodding her head. "If you get too heavy, it'll be Manabe's back that gets killed, not mine."

Shizuka frowns. "I know I'm heavy but that's going too far!"

"I'm joking!" Tsubasa laughed. "You're as light as a feather! Right, Manabe?"

The blonde elbows him slightly on the side as he's carrying Shizuka, and he nods his head.

"Yeah, you aren't heavy at all." Manabe replies, looking off into the distance.

'Not as heavy as Tsubasa anyway...'

"But boy, that was fun!" Tsubasa grinned, stretching her arms upwards towards the night sky. "We've really got to let loose like that sometimes, you know what I mean?"

"I think you just have too much energy…" Manabe replied, letting out a sigh. Hearing this, Shizuka laughs to herself.

"But it really WAS fun though. It'd be nice to do something like this again." Shizuka says, a peaceful look in her eyes. "I haven't done something like that since the first time you introduced me to your friends...I still don't think it was the greatest way for you to do things though…"

"S-seriously?" Tsubasa groaned. "Not you TOO…"

A moment of laughter passed through the girls, and after a while of walking, Tsubasa turned around to face Shizuka and Manabe.

"Well then, I gotta go see Arisa." She says, waving to them as she continues to walk backwards. "Make sure Shizuka gets back safely!"

"Huh? Hey, wait, Tsubasa!"

The two watch as Tsubasa turns around and goes off into a sprint.

"...She's always doing things at her own pace, isn't she?" Shizuka asks, and Manabe shrugs his shoulders.

"Well whatever, let's get you back before I get in trouble for keeping you out for too long…"

Manabe takes one last look towards the direction that Tsubasa had gone, and lets out a sigh before he starts walking again.

'You idiot...even I know that the Prez's house isn't that way...where the hell are you going?'

Ariah: "Well... I was going to make the chapter longer, but... man, my writing sucks! Like do you not see this? I'm getting rusty.. Ugh... nevermind, let me know what you guys think. Should I go back to first person, or stick to third person?"