"Oh, hello again, boy." My dad said as he opened the door.
"Hello to you too, sir." Ikki said as he smiled. The fact that my dad liked him still surprised me.
"Yeah, I ran into him at the shop." I held up the bag and realized that I'd left my consoles, games and movies at Ikki's.
"Well, come in. Don't dawdle." Dad said as he stepped to the side, allowing us in.
"So, where to next then?" I asked my mom. She had just set the last bag on top of the stack in the hall.
"We were thinking of Iceland, to admire the geysers."
"Oh, that's beautiful." Ikki said.
"Hello again, Ikki, was it?" My mom said, noticing him only now.
"Yes indeed, m'am."
"Well, I agree with him. From what I've seen on tv, it's beautiful."
"You know, Alice, you can come too if you want." Dad said as he stood beside my mom. This was rare. They usually just went by themselves without dragging me into it.
"That's quite alright, I'll just stay here and guard the house."
"Told you she didn't want to." My dad said to my mom, walking over to me and patting my shoulder. "She's the world's greatest watch dog. A rottweiler doesn't compare." He was proud, but it sounded slightly degrading.
"Thanks, dad."
"Well then, looks like the cab's arrived." Mom said as she looked out the window. "Be safe, sweetie, don't set the house on fire."
"I won't, mom. Have fun you two."

Before I knew it, they'd gotten into the cab and had driven off to their next adventure.
"You're more like a watch puppy if you ask me." Ikki said as he petted my head.
"I'm much more dangerous than a puppy, you know."
"I know." We stood on the pavement for a moment, silent, before I turned around and started walking back.
"Why didn't you go too? I mean, it's not every day you get an opportunity like that." Ikki said as he closed the door behind him.
"I think you're forgetting the fact that I have to go to school again soon."
"That's not it. You could care less about school." I turned to him in surprise, that was kind of blunt of him, not that it was untrue.
"Things are fine the way they are now. I don't really need a change of scenery that badly." I paused and smiled. "Plus, I still have to help you with your situation, don't I?" His eyes widened in surprise. He practically dashed forward and embraced me, kissing me fiercely. I couldn't do anything but comply, my body nor my mind would allow me to do anything else and it's not as if I really wanted to anyway.
"Thank you so much."
"You're very welcome."

I woke up to a text early the next morning.

You forgot your things here, I'll bring them by today ;)

I smiled, then sighed.
"Now I have to get dressed…" After I'd dragged myself out of bed, I turned on the water heater and went out to get the mail. When I opened the mailbox, however, mail wasn't the only thing I found. There was a trash mixture in it that smelt so horrific I had to step back in order not the throw up. I cursed a few times, extracted my mail from the mess and went back in to get some cleaning supplies.
"What happened here?" I came back out to find Ikki quizically looking at the mess in my mailbox.
"Vandals. You know, scum of the streets. Lowlives. The worst of the worst." I had a feeling they were right there listening, so I wasn't going to hold back. Ikki, pretending to be clueless, eyed me curiously.
"Let me help."

After helping me clean up the mess, we were sitting in front of the tv with tea in our hands to warm ourselves back up. It'd gotten eerily cold outside.
"Do you get that more often? You didn't seem very impressed." Ikki asked slightly worried.
"It's the first time, but I may have gotten on the wrong side of some people, so I don't doubt it will happen again." I lazily stretched my legs and yawned.
"Will you be okay though?"
"Do you even need to ask that? You've seen what I'm capable of."
"But still…"
"Look, you don't need to worry about it. I'll be perfectly fine." I stood up, put my cup on the table and quickly checked my laptop. "Are you free tonight?" He seemed surprised by my question, but nodded.
"Yeah, why?"
"It's time to put my plan into action."
"And I still can't know what it is?" I shook my head.
"Still a surprise." He drank the last bit of his tea and stood up.
"I should get going. Can't afford to be late for work."
"Sure, thanks for bringing my stuff."
"No problem and thank you for the tea." He gave me a hug, got his coat and bag, and left for the café.

I texted him with the details of the surprise location later that day and went there myself. I'd seen it in an advertisement on a website, it would be the perfect setting to help Ikki with his troubles.
"I've been here before." Ikki said as he looked around.
"Well that's also a way to greet someone." I grinned. He laughed and nodded, smiling.
"Hello, Alice." I blushed and averted my eyes.
"Yeah, hi to you too." I halted at a cliff and leaned on the fence, staring up at the night sky.
"So, what's the surprise, actually?" Ikki asked.
"You're going to counter-wish your wish." He pulled up a brow at me, so I explained.
"You said you didn't want all the attention anymore, right?" He nodded.
"So I figured, why not come up here, wait for a falling star and just make a counter wish."
"That actually sounds quite logical, I can't believe I hadn't thought of that…"
"Well, good for you that you know someone as brilliant as me." The sarcasm was very well audible, but he nodded.
"Exceptionally good for me."

We sat down and patiently waited for the meteor shower to begin.
"It's starting." Ikki noted upon seeing the first.
"But falling stars are pretty rare. This is just space debris hitting earth"S atmosphere."
"Let's just pretend they're stars." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Time for a wish." We sat in silence as he made his wish and I couldn't resist the urge to make one myself.

"I wonder if that'll work." I said as he turned to me.
"I think it will." He put his arm around me and pulled me closer. "Don't be so sceptical."

After a while, he stood up and stretched out.
"I'll go get us something to drink. What do you want?"
"Anything's fine, thanks." I watched him go and felt quite pleased for a moment. He was one of the nicest guys I'd ever met and to think that he liked me was something that I couldn't wrap my mind around. That moment disappeared when I heard footsteps behind me and I, upon standing to look, saw the crazy fans. They weren't limited to three this time, their numbers were far greater and I felt threatened, especially with that cliff behind me.
"Did you enjoy our little gift this morning?"
"Of course I did, I love trash. That's why I like talking to you guys so much."
"Regardless of that," the fancy one stepped out of the crowd, "you ignored our warnings. It's about time you faced the consequences." Seeing how that was an actual threat, I began to really fear for my life due to my not too strategic position. They had me surrounded and I had no means of escaping.
"Girls." They took out baseball bats and weapons of the like. I looked down the cliff side over my shoulder and did some math, the survival rate of me falling was quite high, but I would rather not risk it if possible. The fancy one smiled.
"Let's teach her some manners." They all charged at me and I tried to defend myself as best as I could against the girls, but I was no match for their combined strength. Within seconds, the fence had broken behind me and I was standing on the very edge of the cliff, beaten, bruised and bleeding as I struggled to keep my balance. The fancy one walked up to me and, with a last smile, gave me a little push. I toppled over the edge and closed my eyes, waiting for the end.