Location: Out on the street
Time frame: Monday afternoon
Point of View: Sakura

Li's place, it was not far; it was only a couple of blocks away from where we had run into each other. It took us no longer than five minutes to reach the building to his residence. But even then, it hadn't been close enough for us to escape from being completely saturated and chilled to the bone.

Panting, shivering, and dripping all over, we trudged into the apartment building's elevator lobby. The door shut behind me, but not before allowing one more hit of cold wind come through, sending a deeper shiver through me.

"That's some crazy weather," Li commented, seemingly more to himself than to me. Nonetheless, I nodded in agreement—not that he had seen: his attention was on his hands at the moment, vigorously rubbing them together and blowing at them.

A brief moment later, he turned to address me. "My apartment is—"

He suddenly stopped. I frowned in curiosity. His eyes widened then they briefly flicked downwards, seemingly distracted by something in the said direction. Then—although seemingly still distracted—he continued again:

"...on the third floor. We should make our way up there." His voice was low on the last part; my frown of curiosity turned into a frown of worry. Judging from where his eyes flicked to, it had something to do with my appearance.

Following the path his eyes had previously travelled, I scrolled down to examine my appearance. The next thing I found myself doing was gasp in shock before throwing my arms around my chest. Heat surged to my face as I began to feel extreme embarrassment.

What Li had seen, or was seeing—what was clearly visible were the orange lace panties and matching bra I put on this morning. The rain had completely gone through my dress—so much that it was now offering Li a free view of my underwear! I stood there, frozen and not breathing for a moment.

An image of me digging myself a deep hole appeared in my mind...

AHHH! Pause. AHHH...! Pause. AHHH! I cried. This was so mortifying!

"I'm sure I can find something up at my apartment for you to get changed into. Should we head up?" he entered.

I turned to him: he was calm and cool, and was being very diplomatic about it; he didn't show—or rather it seemed he didn't let show—any discomfort until his eyes betrayed him, now darting everywhere.

I nodded and headed towards the elevator. Li followed behind, and my only thought during this time was on the view of my backside and how much of it Li was able to see. No doubt the view was just as revealing.

I closed my eyes, taking an internal, steadying sigh. Why of all things, did this have to happen to me? Why did Li have to witness this humiliation of mine? I mean, it wouldn't have been any less humiliating had he been elsewhere or if he were someone else, but it just seemed to me that he always saw me at my worst.

Li pushed the button and a short moment later the elevator sent out a sharp ding before the door opened to receive us. I nestled myself in a corner, just opposite the control panel: the adjoining walls seemed to give me a sense of extra protection for some reason. Li settled alongside me, situating himself about a foot away after entering the floor on the control panel. He settled his gaze at the elevator door and I maintained my attention on its position indicator, neither of us speaking during our short journey up.

Then the doors slid open. As if I hadn't been humiliated enough, it was just my luck to have people waiting on the other side of the door—what were the chances of having that many people waiting for an elevator in an apartment building? I was thinking not very likely; but there they were, three pairs of eyes, all wide and directed at me and my half-naked appearance.

This just had to be a joke and it was all on me.

Li quickly moved to cover me, standing in front of my frozen body. He took hold of one of my arms that was behind him and began leading me out of the elevator. We made our way past the awaiting group with me following closely behind, his height providing full coverage of my front. Then presumably making sure they didn't get a view of my backside, he moved me around to face him in a full embrace. Although I appreciate that he was trying to shield my back from their gazes, I didn't find this action particularly necessary.

We were basically chest to chest, and normally by now I'd feel indignant with such a sudden and inappropriate action, but I soon found it to be rather pleasant. The embrace—as much as I didn't want to admit it—felt nice around me: he felt warm and the arm around my waist felt pleasurably strong. With that, I felt myself grow warm. But then suddenly the heat dissipated as his beating heart caught my attention.

It's not normal to be able to feel someone's heart beat right...? I thought with curiosity. Or was it? I knew it was a silly question, but I couldn't find an explanation to why Li's heart was beating like that.

"Whoa did you see her?" a male voice whispered just as we cleared the group.

And just like that my embarrassment was revived. My ears perked up more to the next bit before heating up again. "You can see her underwear," he finished.

Then another followed, this time an elderly, female voice: "Oh my, is that what they're wearing these days? My, my..."

"It's the rain...!" internally I cried. "This is not how I usually dress!"

I suppose from this point on, whenever I bumped into these people (and I cringe at this point) I'd be known to them as: 'the one without clothes' or maybe 'the naked one'?

This day just gets better and better.

Then suddenly my attention was returned to Li as I felt a hand slide around my waist before cold air was felt. He had released me from his grasp and was now walking down the hallway without me. Again, I found this strange. For as long as I remember, he always stayed close, but this time, he left me trailing behind, without waiting for me or saying a word. Something about his aura felt odd too—maybe it was his surprisingly calm expression that he was sporting. It didn't at all match the anxiety he was obviously feeling when his heart thumped against my chest back there... Why was I able to feel it beat like that?

Seeing Li suddenly stop at an apartment three doors down, I picked up my speed, storing my thoughts away. He took out a set of keys to his apartment and began unlocking the door to it. Apparently, we've arrived at his place.

"I'll get you a towel," he said upon my arrival; and again, he disappeared around a corner, before I managed to articulate a—"Thanks."

I made my way into the apartment. A narrow hallway containing a bathroom, lavatory (both on my right), and a bedroom (which I could just see behind the semi-closed door and the only door on my left) led into a generous space, making up the apartment's living, dining, and kitchen. This space was filled with some pretty new appliances and modern furnishings: notably, a contemporary sofa and lounge table in front of a flat-panel television in the lounging area. Scanning the walls, they sported a beige colour, a couple of traditional Chinese paintings, a medium-height bookshelf, and this ornate sword in a glass case (it looked like a family heirloom) which I had found interesting.

This is a really nice apartment with some really nice things, I thought.

Still fascinated by the apartment's features, I was drawn to the balcony. Walking over, I stared out the large glass doors that separated it from the lounge. The view at the moment was not that great: dark clouds still loomed over us as did the pouring rain, but I'd imagine on a sunny day, with the open air and the view that overlooked the quiet suburban streets, it would offer quite a nice setting for relaxing. I'm surprised Li didn't make more use of the space. The only thing he had out on the balcony was a clothes rack. If this balcony had been mine, it'd be decorated into my own personal, peaceful retreat with a deckchair and table, surrounded by a few of my favourite plants around the edges.

But then this wasn't mine; and I'd imagine something like this wouldn't be mine for quite some time yet. This type of apartment, with the amount of space this one-room apartment was offering, was something I could only wish to have after graduating from university; and that was only possible after getting a good, steady job for a couple of years. Somehow though, Li had managed to afford it even before he graduated from high school.

Li's footsteps entered my ears and I turned to face him. "You've got a great apartment," I thought to compliment, truly impressed. He offered me a smile (maybe out of modesty?—I couldn't tell) before handing me a towel; I thanked him and began to pat myself dry with it.

"I'll take a look in my room and see if I can find something for you to get changed into."

Suddenly feeling some of my embarrassment return, my eyes reflexively flicked to myself before hugging the towel close; then nodded.

"Do you want to use the shower?" he asked.

I never thought about taking a shower. The plan was to get out of the rain, get changed, and then ask Li for a ride home—oh how I so wanted to get home: the whole situation with the see-through dress, being in Li's apartment, and feeling incredibly uncomfortable and unaccustomed to whatever this was stressed me out. But somewhere between the reasoning of him being so hospitable, watching him move to flick on a switch at the wall whilst patiently waiting for my answer, and my being rude for borrowing and wearing his clothes whilst wet and covered in sweat—somehow, it resulted in an acceptance:

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

"The bathroom's just behind me, around the corner (he was now standing in front of the hallway)," he said. "The clothes should be waiting outside the bathroom door when you're finished with your shower."

Again, I nodded. It would seem my mind wasn't functioning properly—I wasn't able to say no to him at all this afternoon.

The spray of the showerhead was warm and soothing; there was just nothing like it after a cold and rainy day. Unlike the frigid rain that seemed intent on slapping me cold, the shower welcomed me into its embrace, nursing my ice-blue skin back to a rosy-pink with caressing warmth and relief. Had I been permitted to, I probably would've stayed in the shower forever and ran the tanks out—but a little voice in my head stopped me, telling me that I was not only being wasteful, but I was also a guest. So short moments after feeling cleansed, I forced myself out and retrieved the roughly folded stack of clothes Li had left outside.

In the stack, he had left me very common items from a guy's wardrobe: a pair of (khaki) pants and a white shirt. The last thing I ever expected to find was a girl's dress. Yet, that was exactly what I found.

Sitting at the top of the stack was a white cotton eyelet dress (I know this material because Tomoyo used a lot of the same trimming for her own designs), with subtle floral embroidery and neck ties. For a moment I held it in front of me, wondering what a dress like this was doing in Li's wardrobe. But noticing goose bumps form on my barely clad body—wearing only my underwear and having not turned on heating to settle them down—I released the thought and tried on the dress first.

To my surprise, the dress turned out to be a pretty good fit; it was only let down by the inch slack at the waist—but otherwise, the dress would've been a perfect fit. Still, credit had to go to Li for coming up with such a good substitute; I just hoped that the girl who owned the dress, whoever she was, didn't mind Li lending it to me.

Ready to leave, I draped the spare clothes from Li's pile over my arm then grabbed my damp dress and headed out of the bathroom. As I made my way down the short hallway, the fresh, sweet scent of the bathroom dissipated into an inviting fragrant aroma of another kind: food. Li was apparently in the kitchen making something. When I entered the main area, Li was by the sink, cleaning up, washing and stacking dishes; a small pot steaming away on the stove was left of him; and just to the right of him, an empty porcelain bowl and soup spoon sat. It seems while I was taking my shower, Li had been preparing an afternoon snack for himself.

He turned around to greet me, having sensed my approach, and looked to speak. But interestingly he lay silent. His lips were slightly apart; his gaze was fixed and at me. I stood in my place saying nothing as I tried to decipher the gaze. I knew this time it had nothing to do with my baring my underwear since I did just get into dry clothes. I double checked nonetheless.

"Wh-what is it?" I asked, my voice coming out more timid than I had expected. I was feeling self-conscious under his gaze, not to mention strangely warm.

Seconds passed before I saw movement. He shook his head then cleared his throat. "It's nothing." I breathed as he eased his still gaze, feeling myself begin to cool. He continued, asking, "How was the shower?"

"It was great."

"Good."

He tended to his dishes again.

"The dress looks good on you," he spoke up a second later. "I'm glad it fits."

The dress—was that what he was staring at?

I studied him briefly; but I found nothing that provided me an answer to the question.

"Yeah, it fits real well—thanks for lending it to me," I replied.

"No problem."

Upon the mention of the dress, I had expected for him to explain how such a dress had made it into his wardrobe—after all it is an unusual article of clothing to have in a guy's wardrobe. But it seems he wasn't going to speak of it.

"Is it alright if I leave these (Li's clothes from the stack) on the sofa?" I asked, walking over to the lounge.

"Uh. There's a plastic bag there, too, for your dress," he informed.

"Thanks."

Moving back to take my original position behind him, curiosity got the better of me: I decided to ask him about the dress myself—

"Does the dress belong to a friend of yours?"

Maybe to a girlfriend...? I found myself completing in my head. I'll admit, I was curious if he had one. I've never seen him with anyone at school, but maybe he had someone I didn't know about, maybe someone from back home; maybe they shared a long distance relationship, occasionally sharing his room and his wardrobe too—

Internally, I shook my head to stop myself from trailing off further—and none of this was any of my business.

"Uh. Jinwei's," he replied. I made a conscious note to store the name in my mind. "I was supposed to include it in the package I was sending her today, but I guess I missed one."

I wasn't sure what to make of the information or what to say, so all I said was—"Oh."

"She won't mind," he replied, having obviously read something into my answer. "In fact, you can probably keep it."

"Keep it?"

Now I was confused—I wasn't sure if he was being serious or something else. There was a smile on him that suggested that maybe it was an inside joke that I didn't share, but then his tone was kind of in between so it was hard to tell. But then he continued again, and it was then it occurred to me that he really was being serious.

"Uh—her wardrobe's probably full of them," he said, just as he finished washing the last item in the sink, placing it in the dish rack. "I'm sure she won't even miss it," his tone conveying more seriousness. He moved to the stove to check on the food before turning off the element. "And if she minds—well I'm sure I'll come up with ways to make up for it."

And again, I was a little confused as his tone had returned to the previous one. Still, whatever he had meant by the last part, my interpretation was not a wholesome one. For the second time today, my head was in the gutter, twisting his words to mean other things—even I was surprised at my own preoccupation with this subject of him and Jinwei at the moment. I knew I had no basis, but the more he spoke of her, the more I leaned towards the idea that maybe Li was in a long distant relationship with this girl. Although he had not once referred to her as his girlfriend, I didn't want to be the cause of a fight between them over the gesture. I moved to say,

"I can have it cleaned and—" But he shook his head, halting me in my speech—

"You don't need to." He walked along the kitchen area, towards a hand towel that was by the oven then dried his hands with it. "I'll call Jinwei and let her know."

"She won't mind?"

He smiled. "Like I said, her wardrobe's probably full of them." His smile then shortened—his expression a little more serious; eyes soft, but direct. "But no, when I explain what happened today, she'll understand. I'm sure. Really—you can keep it," he said, extending a smile to me again.

"In that case..." Hesitation took hold of me one last time. "Please tell her I said thanks."

He nodded. "If you feel cold, (he flicked his gaze to the sofa) there's a jacket you can borrow. You can return it to me any time."

I didn't feel cold at the moment—Li's apartment was wonderfully warm, but I was sure it was a different story outside.

"Thanks."

"Are you hungry?"

I stopped and thought about the sudden question. Now that he brought it to my attention, I did feel a bit empty in the stomach. All that running and perspiration must have burned a small hole in it.

"A little," I replied. Li began to transfer all of the pot's contents—noodles and soup—into a bowl. "Is that for me?" I asked, seeing only enough noodles for one.

"Yeah..."

He cooked for me?

"Do you need to be home soon?"

"No—well, yeah kind of, but I'm not in a hurry." Li looked at me, confused. I tried to clear myself up. "It's just that I have a little homework to catch up on. With the things going on with the fashion magazine lately, I've kind of fallen behind a bit."

"Do you need any help?"

Quickly I shook my head. With all the things he's already done for me today, I didn't want him to think I needed more help. Not only that, my falling behind was really my own fault. Had I restrained myself from replying to every text Kansuke sent and spending a great chunk of my time doing so, I probably wouldn't be in such a position. But when it came to him, I just couldn't restrain myself.

"No; nothing I can't handle," I answered. "I just need to buckle down a bit and get it done."

A short moment later, he finished transferring the noodles to the bowl. He made his way towards the small dining table situated behind the sofa in the living area. He placed the bowl down along with a soup spoon and a pair of chopsticks. I followed to stand next to him.

"What about you?" I asked, wondering whether he was going to eat as well.

"I'm alright," he said. "While you eat, I'll try to be quick with my shower—then I'll drop you off."

"I don't want you to hurry because of me; so it's really no hurry."

"I won't be long," he maintained.

He took his leave and I was left to eat the noodle soup (it was a ramen served in a pork broth with a few slices of the meat, seaweed, and a sprinkle of spring onions). I had only taken a few soup-spoons of the flavoursome afternoon snack before Li returned.

He stood beside the sofa, scratching his head, back-turned.

Curious, I cocked my head. "Is everything okay?"

"Uh—just that I seem to have misplaced my keys."

"Have you tried the door?—sometimes I forget and leave them there." I suggested. This has happened to me before: consecutive nights cramming for my exams fizzle my brain and leaves me absentminded.

"Uh—tried there." He chortled, still scratching his head. "I think this is the first time I've forgotten where I left them."

Suddenly, a muffled polyphonic ring tone resonated through the apartment. It was the ring of my cell phone. I pushed myself up from my chair to head over to the lounge table that was ahead of me, to where I had left my tote handbag.

Kansuke... I just remembered that I had yet to reply to Kansuke—maybe it was him calling. With that thought, I walked faster.

I looked at the screen. It was indeed Kansuke. I had noticed that there was an envelope on the header bar indicating that I had messages waiting—I hope they weren't from him. He might think I was ignoring him.

"Kansuke," I answered.

"Hey, babe, what happened? I've been texting you."

"Sorry, Kansuke, I would have text you back, but I was caught in the rain."

Li, who was over by the kitchen bench searching for his keys, disappeared back down the hallway.

"About tonight..." He was referring to our previous text conversation about going out tonight. "It looks like something's come up..."

"Oh." I was disappointed. I've been looking forward to going out with him; it was going to be our first date—well, unofficially anyway.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, curious as to what might have come up.

"Yeah—no worries, babe."

Kansuke's tone was the same casual tone he normally used, but it didn't keep me from suspecting that maybe Hisa was what had come up. He said to me, in not so many words, that he and Hisa were nothing more than friends—in fact, it was a one way thing and it was Hisa who approached him most of the time—not anything else. Still, I couldn't help but think that they were more than that, in spite of what he said.

I shook my head. Maybe this was paranoia and insecurity taking hold of me.

"I guess we'll go out some other time then." I replied back, trying not to sound too disappointed. Hearing it, I think I failed.

"How about tomorrow?"

With that my spirits lifted. I quickly agreed, "Sure—after school?"

"How about we grab some food around six and a movie, then?"

"Sounds great!" My stomach was doing somersaults at this moment. "Okay. See you at school tomorrow!"

"I look forward to it. Later, babe."

I returned the phone to my bag, satisfied at how the conversation turned out.

"You look happy."

I looked up to see Li standing overhead, in the midst of collecting the spare clothes I had left on the sofa after my shower. Apparently, he had come back to get them.

I nodded before I returned to the bowl of ramen on the dining table.

"Was that... Ashida?" Li asked. There was a curious tone as he said Kansuke's name. From the frown he sported, I summed up his tone and frown as distaste towards him.

I've come to realise that Li wasn't the biggest fan of Kansuke and nor was Li Kansuke's. Last week they had yet another confrontation—in the hallway this time—and it was much tenser than the one in calculus class. I remember seeing both looking as if they were about to kill each other. I don't know what fuelled it though.

"Yeah, it was," I answered cautiously. I took my seat back in front of my ramen, stirring the soup a bit as I wondered if I should query about their mutual dislike.

"What's... between you and Kansuke?" deciding I would.

I watched him place his keys and wallet on the lounge table (I suppose he found them) before turning to answer me. His voice calm and controlled, he responded, "I think you should ask him that."

I had; and he said that Li got on his nerves. I don't know—to me, it didn't appear as simple as he had put it. Maybe Kansuke has a complex with Li. I can't understand why he would though. Kansuke has everything: he's tall, good-looking, and popular; and Li—well, he does have some good qualities too, but he couldn't possibly match up to Kansuke.

"I know you like the guy..." Li began again. I felt myself grow warm from embarrassment—was I that obvious? "But if my opinion's worth anything, I think he's a—"

He paused. The frown which he had not lost since ending my phone call with Kansuke softened.

"Just try not to get hurt."

Then he left the room, leaving me to contemplate his words of warning.

For a short while, I heeded to Li's warnings and stayed weary of Kansuke—after all, Li questioned what I had also questioned in my mind. But not only have two weeks passed with no suspicious finds, it was now three weeks into my count and I've still yet to find anything. There were occasions when I caught Hisa—the one I was most concerned about—standing close and chatting up Kansuke, but I've put those down to her desperate attempts to grab his attention. Try as she may, but against me she has no chance!

Furthermore, Kansuke and I have already gone out on two unofficial dates in the last two or so weeks: the first, a dinner and movie; and the second, at the beach—both of which went incredibly well. Now, tonight, it was our third date. Although this was yet another unlabelled outing, a kiss at the end of tonight would stamp and seal it as an official date—in my books anyway. Everything looks to be on track and going well.

This was a Saturday night and we had decided on going to the arcade to play some games before heading to an adjacent hangout place for some evening drinks. I'll admit this was not really a choice we made jointly, but more Kansuke's choice. It was my way of paying him back for allowing me to pick where we went the last two dates and for making him sit through a chick-flick on the first. I thought it'd only be fair that he had the next choice. The arcade actually provided great entertainment and—although one might not expect it to—it provided great opportunities for close contact (as you will find out soon).

Half an hour playing video games, racing virtual cars, and playing air hockey, we moved onto a game of pool. Kansuke had already sunk three of his balls; I, however, had yet to sink one. Pool was not a game I was very good at. Something about the angles and trying to aim a long stick at little balls didn't come very naturally to me.

Standing at the head of the table, I eyed a solid yellow ball, wondering how to pocket it. It sat not too far from two of my other balls which blocked the path to the corner pocket. Another ball sat behind it and it blocked the bottom centre pocket, so the only pocket I could aim for was the centre above it. The only problem was that the angle needed to pocket the yellow ball was a strange one. I had no idea how to position my cue.

"Are you going for the yellow one?" Kansuke asked from the opposite side of the table. I nodded. "Come here," Kansuke said.

He guided me by the waist, towards the corner of the table before he hovered over me. His hand pushed my stomach back, encouraging me to lean down closer to the table, before taking my wrist and guiding a few practice swings of the cue.

With each passing second we remained in the intimate position, the warmer I became and the harder my heart thumped. I felt so hot and lightheaded that I almost felt like collapsing from the intensity. Then, feeling his breath around my neck—that did it; I crumbled and lost stability.

"Sakura," I heard Kansuke call, his voice a little muffled. "Are you alright?"

"What happened?" I asked, still a little disorientated.

"I think you fainted."

"Really?"

"Only for a few seconds." He expressed a couple of chuckles. "I think that's enough of this game, don't you?—How about we head outside and get some air, eh?"

I nodded. He guided me back upright by the shoulders. We were only inches apart and the heat within me began to rise. His lips looked incredibly tasty and were so close I could have easily kissed them, but I decided to save it for a more romantic setting. The thought of sharing our first kiss with little kids and sounds of gaming machines around us sounded less than appealing. But I couldn't help to wonder what it felt like. Maybe like being in heaven?—or close to it. With that, I felt myself swoon again, but luckily a loud siren-like noise from one of the gaming machines jolted me out of it.

We moved outside. A crisp, cool, but a refreshing breeze blew against my warm body. The stars hadn't come out to play yet, as it was still early—just a short time after peak dining, but the entire day donning relatively clear skies, I was sure it was going to be a sparkling night later (definitely 'sparkling' if I had anything to do with it!). It would seem a lot of people had taken the pleasant atmosphere outside too as I saw many diners taking their food and drinks outside, laughing and talking whilst they shared a meal together.

Drawing in their energy, I smiled before taking hold of Kansuke's arm, linking mine with his. Then I rested my head on his shoulder as we walked, closing my eyes to focus solely on the feel of him.

"Tired?" Kansuke asked.

"Nope, just enjoying the night with you," I replied, craning my head to meet his eyes—his beautiful blue eyes that sparkled like shiny glass globes.

He unlinked his arm from mine to wrap it around my waist. "I hope not, I wouldn't want you to fall asleep on me—not just yet anyway."

"I won't."—there was a lot more I wanted before that happened too.

"Good."

Then I went back to take my previous position, my head on his shoulders, and we walked in comfortable silence. I smiled contently to myself. This was how things were supposed to be: me and Kansuke in each other's arms, and no one else.

But a moment later, that peace was disturbed when I heard a loud cell phone ring coming from Kansuke's jacket. He released me from his embrace and reached for it.

"Wait right here, babe."

I watched Kansuke head down the footpath, cellphone in the ear, no signs of stopping.

It must be a very private call if he was walking that far...

Very soon I felt like an idiot standing in the middle of the footpath alone. I decided to spend the next couple of moments strolling aimlessly, blankly looking into shop windows. But the activity quickly became dull and I sought for one of the walls of the arcade we had not long ago left to take my wait.

"Kinomoto," a voice from behind called for me.

I turned around: "Li—hi," I said, surprised.

"Night out?" he asked.

"Yeah. What about you?"

He lifted up a plastic bag with takeaway trays. The corners of his lips curling up slightly, he responded, "Getting dinner."

"You're having dinner quite late," I observed. "It's almost eight."

"Uh."

"Long day at work?"

He nodded, smiling, "Something like that."

A negligible silence followed.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Li began again.

I hesitated on revealing the person I was waiting for, but in the end, I decided that it didn't matter what I did: when Kansuke and I officially start going out, he was going to see a lot more of us together, regardless.

I nodded. "Mm. Kansuke."

His expression dropped and it was not hard to see that he disapproved—not unexpected. He's been giving me looks—frowns of disapproval for quite some time now: in the school hallway, in class—just any time I was with Kansuke. I mean, I don't blame him for not liking Kansuke. But at the same time, I wish he wouldn't send me those looks every time I was around him or at the mention of him.

"Well," he said after a few long awkward silences, "Have a good evening."

I returned the gesture: "Thanks, you too."

Li began to take his departure, but he halted his steps and stayed there for a few moments, back facing me. I cocked my head, frowning in curiosity. Then he turned around.

"You know what?" he began. His eyes twitched—"Why doyou go out with him?" He had said it with gritted teeth.

His sudden change of temperament had caught me off guard as I asked, "Kansuke?"

"Yeah."

It didn't take me long to find my bearings again. I responded, "I think he's... great."

He continued to stand before me with eyes that seemed to want to say more, but was not saying. More moments passed before Li resumed. This time, his tone was calmer as he stated more than questioned,

"He's still with that Yamamoto, you know that?"—Yamamoto, being Yamamoto Hisa.

I didn't know where he was going with it or what his intentions were in saying so. But controlling the slight irritation I was beginning to feel, I corrected him—

"Kansuke and Hisa are only friends; there's nothing between them."

"And you are certain about that?"

I narrowed my eyes. I was starting to think that I was right. He definitely had something to say. And it had something to do with Kansuke again.

I encouraged him to speed it along, get out whatever it was that he wanted to say rather than beat around the bushes:

"Li, if there is something you want to say, just say it. I already know you don't like Kansuke. So what kind of negative thoughts do you have about Kansuke that you want to say to me?"

"Fine. This guy is no good for you."

"No good?"

"He doesn't care about you. How can I get you to see that?"

"That's a bit harsh don't you think?—to say he doesn't care about me."

He shook his head. "No, I'm just saying that this guy is not to be trusted. He thinks with his tool."

I felt more offended than before he spoke those words: he was telling me that Kansuke liked me only because he wanted to get it on with me?

It didn't matter. As far as I was concerned, Li was digging himself a hole. He was ruining this night by being here and bringing this up on what was supposed to be my perfect date with Kansuke.

"Look, are you intentionally trying to hurt me, intentionally trying to ruin my night by saying such things, Li?" I said, speaking my thoughts aloud.

"No. I'm just trying to protect you."

"I don't need protection."

"You're blinded by him. What is it?—looks?—popularity?"

I looked away to remove myself from his presence for a moment. He was infuriating. Regaining strength, I began again—

"Obviously you believe it. I'm a shallow girl. You got me." I sneered as I went onto a different train of thought. "You're always looking for a chance to push Kansuke down aren't you, Li?"

"I'm not looking for a chance; I'm telling you the truth—"

I rolled my eyes. "You think I don't notice your looks—your glares when you think I don't notice? Maybe you're just jealous because he's the whole package—of course Hisa and the school's female population are swooning over him. He's everything—unlike you, Loner."

I saw Li's expression flinch at the backward reference, and instantly I regretted it. I didn't mean to say it; it was anger talking; it just came out. I looked to apologise, but pride got in the way. Instead, I shook it off:

"Whatever—I don't care."

I added, "Besides, who I choose to go out with is none of your business."

Upon this, silence took place.

I was slightly out of breath after all that, so I took this peacetime to catch it. Li appeared to be running something through his head during this time: his face was slightly angled away from me, frown still on him, and eyes downcast. I followed the look curiously before Li's takeaway trays caught my attention.

I inwardly sighed. Why did Li have to care so much about this that he was willing to see his dinner go cold?

"Yes it is," entered Li's voice suddenly, contrastingly calm.

"How?"

He closed the space between us; extended a hand: he chose to show me rather than tell me; then cupped my face. Closer he came. I could feel his warm breath on me, his lips hovering above mine; but I didn't move—I was frozen. Strangely, my heart was thumping intensely.

Then he captured my lips; he kissed me.

I lay there continuing to be stunned, but it didn't take me long to submit to his advances: the world around me—the sounds of passing cars, the people, the wind—all these fell away as the sensuous movements of his lips took me into another. Sensations of flight, lightheadedness, and shock permeated.

He released me moments later. Slowly, I fluttered my eyes open. His brown eyes were soft and looking intently at me:

"I'm just focused on one girl in that female population," he said in a soft voice. His gaze dropped momentarily. He smiled. "And I like you, Sakura. That's why it is my business."

He... likes me?

"What's going on here?"

It was Kansuke's voice; he had returned.

Instantly, I moved away to create space and distance between Li and me. I returned to Kansuke's side, linking my arm with his, in an attempt to diffuse any potential confrontations between the two men.

"Nothing—Li and I were just talking," I replied—"talking about how he was about to head home for dinner."

And then I felt Kansuke wrap his arm around me, pulling me in.

The air became thick as tension built. Kansuke wouldn't take his gaze off of Li, and neither was Li willing to take his gaze of off him. I was anxious for I sensed another confrontation. I hoped desperately for it to not intensify.

A good while longer before Li moved his gaze onto me: it was direct and unmoving; and quickly I grew uncomfortable under it.

Li finally looked away (to my relief), followed by a jerk of the head—a shake—before he took his leave past me: "Yeah. See ya."

"Good riddance." Kansuke muttered after his leave.

I made no response.

About an hour later, night had finally fallen. Kansuke and I had walked around for a bit, talking about random things—schoolmates, sports, and other weekend plans. Several times he complimented me on my appearance, and normally, I would've been ecstatic, but I was preoccupied the entire time, unable to give Kansuke my full attention with the events that happened earlier in the evening still in my mind.

Now, as we sat side by side on a sidewalk bench, underneath twinkling stars, and sharing a drink (yes, one drink between the two of us), Li still continues to be on my mind. He's confused me; made me think about him. I was so preoccupied with Li that I didn't even notice Kansuke had already finished the drink and was coming back from having thrown it out.

"What's wrong, babe?" he asked, standing over me.

"It's nothing, Kansuke. Everything's great." I gave him the most cheerful smile I could muster.

"Really? You've been real quiet since I took that call. You're not mad at me for leaving you all alone, are you?"

Well, the truth was, I hadn't even given it a thought—as I said, my mind had been on Li. But with the mention of it, I did wonder who it was that had held him up for so long.

"No of course not," I said, deciding to not concern myself over the fleeting thought. Too much was in my head at the moment.

"Good."

He took the seat next to me; then looked at me. "It's kind of cold isn't it?"

Somewhat—I hadn't really noticed. Nonetheless, I replied, "I suppose so."

"I can change that."

Then, to my surprise, his lips crashed into mine.