Hello everyone and welcome to my first one-shot. First up, a few "important" things.

- I'm still working on my first story. Please forgive me for the delay. Note: the story's coming to an end, thus, short chapters are nearly impossible. Happy, Itssupereffective? :p
- This is a one shot advanceshipping contest entry. The story is not (unlikely) to continue after this.
- This is AU, an Alternate Universe story, meaning.. well, you can hear just by reading that.
- There is no such things as Pokémon in here, and that includes Pikachu.. Even though there's a small reference of him *hint hint*
- Yes.. It's one heck of a one shot, being over 13000 words. I apologise!

And lastly: I do not, in any way, own Ash, May or anything at all connected to Pokémon. All I own is this story (and a few pokémon cards).

Well, enjoy, and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Summary: It's May's 14th birthday, and she only has one wish. One simple yet almost impossible wish. With exams coming up, love rivals and her family also moving out.. Will her wish come true?

"Happy birthday, May!"

A beautiful young brown haired girl with nothing but a pajamas on her slowly opened her eyes and moaned, feeling slightly irritated over that her beauty sleep had been interrupted. It didn't take long before she instantly changed her mood after seeing her family in front of her, all of them smiling brightly as they stood there in her messed up room with a huge cake in front of them.

"What.. what..?"

May Maple tried her best not to look too happy, but it was impossible. Yes, it was her 14th birthday, and even though it was pretty obvious, she never expected her family to be able to execute this with all that was coming up that day.

An awkward silence started where May just sat there, gazing at her family and the cake, not really knowing what else to do.

"Eheh, sweety.." her father started and laughed sheepishly as he tried not to drop the huge cake he was holding. "Do you mind..? It's heavy, this cake.."

"Heavy?"

May's mother, Caroline, raised her eyebrow and quickly glanced at her husband, causing her strange brown hair with zigzags by the end of it to bounce softly.

"Honey, have you lost weight?"

"Wait, wha- Excuse me?"

Norman, the man in the house obviously felt offended by this, despite not knowing exactly what she meant with that.

"Yes.." Caroline continued and pouted, putting her hands on her hips. "You look so skinny and weak.."

Norman's pride was falling apart, to the point of him not being able to speak.. all while May could only silently giggle as her brother quickly snatched the cake away incase their father would drop it without knowing.

"I have muscles! Huge muscles! See?"

While Norman started showing off his decent biceps, May and her little brother Max couldn't help but chuckle as they saw Caroline shake her head with disappointment.

"Darling.. that's a cake, you know? Look, Max's holding it now!"

"But he's SITTING DOWN!"

Their conversation went on for quite a while longer, and the young boy with a green shirt, simple brown shorts and glasses took this opportunity to congratulate his sister, something he found hard to do.

"Well.." he started and faced his sister, gaining her attention. "Ha.. Happy Birthday, May!"

Once again, May got caught off guard, but this time she recovered much faster, replying with a huge smile.

"Thank you, Max!"

Feeling extremely happy over her brother's rare congratulation, the beautiful brown haired couldn't help but take him into a tight hug, now catching him off guard instead.

"He.. hey, HEY I'M GONNA DROP THE CAK-"

Hm.. too bright.. is it sunny outside today? Maybe.. the yellow one?

The brunette girl sighed and put down the two skirts she was currently holding before dropping onto her bed.

"Jeez.. who knew it could be so hard to pick out clothes?"

A loud thud could be heard followed by a few screams, breaking the young girl's thoughts.

"MAX!"

Well, it didn't take much thought to get an idea of what had just happened. Despite being so clumsy, her family was still very kind, offering to clean up the cake she had ruined and even pack the last stuff for her since it was her birthday.

If only they could celebrate her birthday everyday..

Giggling at her silly thought, May let out a deep sigh before getting up from the bed, gazing at the mirror right in front of her. The corners of her small room could be seen in the reflection along with a few plushies and pink school equipment. More important, though, was a certain girl in the middle, still wearing that white pajamas with pink stars since last night. Her sapphire eyes seemed to be filled with different kinds of emotions, her silky brown hair adding a special aura to that as they slowly swayed in the air by any small movement.

Sigh.. why did her classmates tell her that her hair looked like an upside-down V? That.. that was preposterous!

Not too long after that, the girl realized that she had gotten upset over pretty much nothing. Hm..

Taking a quick look at the mirror again, May came to the conclusion that she had gotten her looks from her mother and her father's personality. Well, all except for his stupidness..

With nothing else to think or debate about, all she could do now was to go back into picking what outfit she would wear for today's special day.

Her date with Ash. Ash Ketchum.

Alright, it wasn't exactly an official date or so.. it was just their first time spending a day out, alone.

Heh, well it sure does sounds like a date..

"I'm.. going out on a date with ASH!"

Unlike with all other times where she squeeled about this boy, she never noticed herself blushing madly, or that she was starting to have non-pure thoughts. After a few minutes of intense daydreaming with her plushies on the bed, May decided that she would pick out her outfit for sure this time.

Why.. why was it so hard? She wasn't rich. She didn't have many outfits.

So why?

Simple. She was going out with Ash. What if she screwed up? What if he didn't like what if saw? What.. maybe.. what if he thinks she's ugly?

Her cheery mood was instantly shattered, but it was soon replaced with a determined face and a will of iron.

This was perhaps her last day with Ash. Her last chance. And she would make the best of it.

Not too far away from the strange brown haired girl stood a young boy at the age of 14, waiting for a certain someone to arrive at his current spot. The boy, who was wearing his usual cap over his jet black hair let out a deep sigh and glanced at the giant clock plastered on the glasswindow just above him.

12.05 .. sigh.

"It's stupid.." the boy silently muttered for himself and and adjusted his red/black cap with a weird symbol in the middle. "She told me to be here at 11.00.. Not to mention it's getting hotter by the second."

Realizing that the strongly shining sun would eventually make him faint, the young man decided to withdraw into the giant mall, liking the idea of their awesome air conditioners covering the whole area. Luckily enough for him there was a café with seats right by the entrance, so spotting May while she frantically looked around for him wouldn't be too hard from there.

"Ah.. Talk about being 'cool'."

The boy grinned for himself, somehow feeling like a genius for that single sentence before dropping his head with a sigh. Instead of making ridiculous jokes and comments, the boy took the opportunity to think about his current situation before that certain someone would arrive.

His name was Ash Ketchum, 14 years old, living in Costrial Town, just next to Kando City where he was now. Being the typical boy he was, he did not care about what clothes he wore, and so came with his usual outfit: a blue hoodie with dark blue sleeves and simple, thin grey pants. Just like with his cap, the lower part of his hoodie had a strange looking symbol, something he had no idea of what it resembled.. nonetheless, he was starting to regret his choice of clothes for today, now thinking about changing into shorts and a t-shirt. Oh well. It's not like he could change anything right now.

Besides, it was very cool in there, heh.

"Hello. What would you like to get."

Startled by an unfamiliar voice coming from behind, Ash quickly turned around to see quite a sight.

"Um.. I'm sorry?" Ash barely managed to get out.

In front him stood a girl he had never seen before, (obviously) holding a small notebook in her hand and a pen with her other, looking quite bored with her lazy emerald eyes.

Ash couldn't help but glance at her clothes which pretty much resembled a maid's outfit, the only difference being in different colors as to match the company logo which consisted of pink and white.

In other words: in front of him stood a very cute and very tired girl, with blonde hair put up in a ponytail, emerald eyes and a maid outfit in interesting colors.

After, and only after Ash had inspected her did she lower her gaze, wondering why their costumer hadn't replied yet.

The reaction from when she had first seen Ash was something he couldn't exactly describe.. but it would be enough for people to understand if he told them that she gasped and dropped whatever she was holding.

Ash, despite being confused, was kind enough to pick up the notebook and the pencil before handing them over to the stunned young girl.

"Here.." Ash got out with slight hesitation and a smile. "I'm sorry if I stared too much."

"St.. stared..?"

"Ugh, never mind, ehehe.." Ash replied, taking that chance to cover himself. "Anyways.. can I help you, miss?"

"MISS? Do I really look that old?"

"N-no, I was just.. I'm sorry, won't happen again. I just don't know your name yet."

"It's Rina." the girl simply replied and giggled. "Also, I should be the one asking you that. What can I get for you, mister..?"

"Mister?" Ash muttered and sweatdropped, causing the girl to giggle again. "Well, what do you recommend?"

"Oh I don't know, what do you like..?"

Gulp.

"HAH, you should've seen your face!"

"Very funny."

"I know!" the girl, Rina got out and winked. "Anyways, I really recommend the lemondrink, it's really hot and getting one of those will totally fix that.. temporarily."

"I.. I guess.. Well, please, can I get one of those?"

"Of course! I'll be back in a min!"

And with that, the girl quickly sprinted back into the caféteria, not giving a damn about the people asking for her assistance on her way there.

"Now that's a girl you don't meet everyday.." Ash whispered for himself and chuckled. "Jeez, I knew girls took time, but this is just WAY over the line."

Bleh.

With nothing to do other than to wait for May and his drink, respectively, Ash thought that a quick look around the mall couldn't hurt. With that, Ash got up from his seat to start his own tour, hoping that he would return before his drink.

Which he did not.

"HEY, there you are!"

Ash had spent nearly 10 minutes looking around the pretty large mall, extremely surprised over what products and services were offered. In his simple town, there wasn't much high tech stuff like this.

But he liked it that way.

As he returned to the caféteria by the mall's entrance, he noticed much to his dismay that his seat had been taken, but he could only blame himself for that. Before he could think of much else, the girl from before was now right in front of him, pretty much pressing her face against his. If he hadn't backed away during that surprise attack, who knows what could've happened.

"Where were you?'!" she got out irritated, somehow looking cute despite that.

Hm.. she reminded him very much about May.

"I was just.. taking a quick look around the mall, that's all." Ash answered and straightened his back, ignoring the fact over that a certain part of her body could be seen due to how she was standing and the maid outfit.

"A look around?" Rina asked and raised her eyebrow before standing straight up herself. "Why?"

"It's amazing, you know?" Ash got out and chuckled, still shocked over the weird stuff you could buy. "There's so many different stores for toys, food and cellphones that fit in your pocket!"

"Yeah? What, you haven't seen those yet?"

"Nope!" Ash stated rather proudly and chuckled. "I'm surprised, actually, I've been here a few times but never even seen this mall."

"Eh? What do you mean with that?"

"Oh, I just realized I haven't introduced myself." Ash said and chuckled, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm Ash Ketchum. I'm from the town not too far away from here, so I'm new to the high tech stuff. Sorry for being hyper about this place."

"Oh, how did I not think of that? I was just surprised since there aren't many handsome and kind boys around here.."

"Heh, really? Well you should come by and visit my town sometime, pretty much everyone there is nice with the exception of one or two people.."

"That's, that's a great idea!"

Rina started to daydream about how she would meet people like Ash, feeling like she was in paradise.. thus, she never noticed Ash slowly slip past her. Well, that was until he accidentally bumped into her shoulder on his way, shattering her daydreaming.

"H-Hey, where are you going?" Rina asked and crossed her arms. "You haven't forgotten your drink, have you?"

"W-who cares, I've got.. stuff.. to.. do.." Ash stammered as he walked backwards towards the entrance of the mall. "You can have it! I'll be back in a few mins and pay for it!"

With that, Ash tried to escape from the huge mall with many stores but got stopped before he even had taken five steps.

"Oh no you don't!" Rina exclaimed as she grabbed his hoodie from behind, nearly choking him as he stopped. "You ordered a drink, and a drink you'll get!"

"I see.." Ash muttered and coughed once the girl had let go of his hoodie. "Fine, but there are no seats left?"

"Jeez.. Just come with me to the caféteria!"

"Eh?"

Before Ash could protest against that, the girl grabbed his hand and quickly dragged him towards the caféteria, wanting him to stay and wait for her just outside. Ash, knowing that he would eventually stumble upon this girl later with May, decided that it was no use trying to escape. Instead, he leaned himself with his back against the small caféteria, which was basically only a small booth in their regular pink and white colors.

If it hadn't been for those strange choice of colors, it would've looked more like a hot dog stand. Inside a high tech mall like this one. With maids serving drinks.

Hm, now that he thought of it, it sounded pretty cool.

Letting out a sigh, Ash got tired of watching the many people enjoy their cold drinks by the tables, and now decided to glance over the desk of the booth. It was a very small booth, but he assumed that it was enough for them since they only served drinks and a few cookies for that. He wasn't able to see Rina behind the counter, so he could only guess that she had gone to the storage.. Wherever that was. Amazing how they could fit everything in that small booth.

Letting out another sigh, one of many just that day, Ash now decided to glance at the mall's second floor above him. Hm. The actual mall itself was pretty huge, being in the center of city. It was large enough for around 20 stores, Ash only being able to see less than half of them on his little sightseeing. Not to mention he never went upstairs. Well, he would have a chance at that once May got there.

May. Where in the world was she? Because of her being late, he had to stand there and watch his surroundings. How interesting.

Ah.. Thank god for air conditioners. He couldn't really see where they were, or how they even looked like, but since he was in such a high tech place.. As long as it worked out, he didn't have to think too much of it.

Even though it was around lunch time on a wednesday, the place was packed. People everywhere, couples, families and even some children skipping school skimmed the mall for something useful to buy. Now that he thought of it, he had to ask May about why she had to skip school for this day. And what the purpose of it was.

"And there you go~"

Ash turned around and nearly dropped his jaw once he saw the awesome drink on the counter: a lemon drink indeed, but this one was pimped with an umbrella, lots of ice and lemon. Not to mention a small cupcake next to it, all of it put on a simple plate just for him.

"Nehehe, that will be a dollar!"

"A.. dollar?" Ash asked, incredibly stunned. "Not more? This looks like something really luxurious, I hardly believe it's only a dollar."

"Well, why do you think we have so many customers?" Rina replied and put her hands on her hips as she let out a proud chuckle.

"Heh, right." Ash got out and chuckled for himself. "Hey, mind if I ask a question?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Do.. you have an extra seat or something? I don't want to be rude, but my legs are kinda killing me, and all of the seats are taken.."

Rina pouted and seemed to be thinking hard about it before raising her hand, pointing at the young boy's wondering face.

"Get in here!"

"Ex.. cuse me?"

"Yup! Jump over the counter!"

"Eh?"

Ash Ketchum was a very clever boy, having the best grades in his class. He was also one of the more famous boys in his school, mostly because of his kindness and his appearance.

Another thing he was famous for was his denseness regarding many things, this situation being a clear example of that.

"Oh, OH, are you sure? Wait.. so everytime you get a drink for customers, you JUMP over the counter?"

"Nope, there's a door around the back, stupid!"

"Ah! Well, why can't I go around the back..?"

"Eh? Are you a girl? Jump over already!"

"But my legs are-"

"Ah, so you are a girl? Oh, I thought I was conversing with a handsome boy, but instead I'm talking with a crossdresser who's-"

The sound of Ash's sneakers hitting the floor of the booth made Rina screech in surprise, interrupting whatever she was about to say.

"Heh, you were saying..?" Ash stated and smiled, ignoring his feet screaming for rest.

"Finally.. Well, there's a chair there in the corner.."

Truth to what Rina said, there was a small chair out of wood in the corner of the small booth, much to Ash's relief. Without hesitation, Ash brought it to Rina before sitting down, letting out a sigh of relief as his feet slowly but surely started to fade away with the pain.

"Naw.."

"Hm? What is it?" Ash asked, wondering why she was looking sad.

"I thought you were about to say something like.. like you didn't need to sit down. But I guess you're a girl after all~"

"Hmpf. Don't you got customers to serve or something?"

"Nope? If they need anything they just call-"

"RINA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

"Crap, CRAP, HIDE!"

Ash could only hear the screams of an angry woman, her location being somewhere to his left where he couldn't see her because of the booth. Before he could ask what was going on, though, he was pushed to the ground by Rina.

"Ow! What are you-"

"RINA!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am?" Rina quickly replied and straightened her posture.

"What are- What the hell is this?"

Ash only needed to glance at Rina to understand that she was in trouble, and that the woman she was talking to was probably the manager of this caféteria.

"It's.. it's.." Rina stuttered, even gulping as she couldn't figure out anything to say.

"What's with the umbrella? What's with so much ice? What's with the cake? IS THAT MY CAKE?"

"Y-Yes it is, ma'am!"

Even though Ash couldn't see the woman, he could easily tell that she wasn't someone fit to be a manager. Not wanting to give Rina more trouble, Ash hid himself better behind the counter, hoping to stay undetected.

"Hm. It looks pretty."

"T-Thank you!" Rina replied and did her best to smile politely.

"Serve it to someone. Charge 15 dollars for it."

"Will do, ma'am!"

"I'm off to see my husband. I trust you and Arlana will take care of this until closing time, hm?"

"Of course!"

"Very well. Goodbye."

What the.. that woman has a husband? Poor him. He must've agreed to marry just to save himself from getting crushed by her.

After a minute or two, Rina let out a deep sigh and even shivered for some reason.

"Eh. Are you alright?" Ash whispered, afraid that that woman might still be there.

Rina let out a short scream, apparently she had forgotten that Ash was lying there.

"Yes, I'm fine. Of course I am. Why wouldn't I..?"

"Well, you just seemed to get owned by that-"

"Sh! I have customers to serve. Put your dollar on the counter and enjoy the drink. I'll take the money later."

With that said, Rina jumped over the counter to help out some needing customers, most of them wanting the exact same thing that was on the counter. Unfortunately, that was something Rina had improvised, and it wasn't something she was allowed to make, not to mention its low price.

"Stupid Ash.." Rina muttered as she wrote down a customer's order.

"Excuse me? Did you say something?" the customer wondered, thinking that Rina would tell him that they were out of drinks.

"No, not at all! I'll be right back with your drink! Please excuse me."

"Stupid Ash.." Rina muttered again on her way back, loud enough for that customer to hear her. "I'm so asking him out as a penalty."

Instead of seeing Ash in the booth when she got back, all she could see was the lemon drink, a half eaten cupcake, a note and a 20 dollar bill.

The young boy once again adjusted his cap so that it would shield him better from the sunrays, already regretting his choice of going outside of the mall. What bugged him the most, though, was the fact that there was still no sign of May.

Maybe he got the location wrong? No impossible. 'The huge mall in the city', there couldn't be any else.

Maybe she got here before him, and left? Nah, he was here around 20 minutes before the decided time. Besides, she wouldn't just leave like that.

Damn it.. if only he had a cellphone. His mother offered him two weeks ago once she had found out why Ash was so eager to leave the house everyday after school.

Ash could live without a cellphone. May wouldn't last two hours.

Speaking of which.. he could just go into the mall and get one? They can't possibly be that expensive, right? Well, it was decided then, as soon as May arrived, he would buy a cellphone. With her help, it shouldn't be a problem getting used to it.

Jeez.. was it this hot yesterday?

Since it was almost in the middle of the day, the sun stood right above, reminding him of the dessert.. even though it looked nothing like it.

Only now did Ash actually check out the surroundings, since he was too busy looking out for May earlier.

He had to admit it was beautiful. Not only that, but the weather was amazing, if only it wasn't so hot..

The young boy was sitting pretty much outside of the mall on a bench. It was a simple bench made out of wood, which Ash thought was strange considering everything inside of the mall was high tech with automatic doors, roll stairs and so many screens showing product commercials. Not too far away from where he was sitting was also a pretty fountain made out of stone, surrounded by many other wooden benches as well. Everything had a sort of calm feeling, with the place being filled with flowers, bushes, trees and smooth grass on the stone paths around the mall.

Just like with inside the mall, the outside of it was packed as well. But this time, the people outside were mostly families and children, enjoying the sweet days of summer.

It was surprising, really, how they didn't even once complain about the heat.. Maybe it was only him?

Disregarding that possibility, Ash now stood up, trying to somehow get less hot from that. Luckily enough for him, a few strong breezes flew by, allowing him to get a few precious seconds without gasping because of the heat.

"There you are!"

"Hm? May?"

Ash turned around with a huge smile, relieved that he didn't have to suffer out in the heat or wait any longer for his very slow friend.

Well, he had to do just that, since the girl that called out didn't aim it for him.

"Ugh.. Why me? And now me legs started hurting again, too.."

Thus, Ash went back to the bench he was sitting on before glancing at the clock. Unbelievable. It was nearly 1pm. Knowing that it would probably take another while before May would finally arrive, Ash lay down on the bench, wanting to think through about him, May and why she called him out on this particular day.

Was it something important? Well, it had to be, since both of them were skipping school. Whatever it was, he couldn't really figure it out. Besides, they had only known each other for around 3 weeks.

And yet it felt like 3 years..

Ash chuckled quietly for himself before covering his eyes with his cap as he lay there peacefully on the bench like a homeless man.

They met 3 weeks ago, outside of his school back in his town. He could still remember it pretty clearly.. well obviously, it was only 3 weeks ago. May had apparently gotten into a fight with her brother, both of them arguing about May's grades in school. Her grades weren't exactly on top, more like one of the worst in class..

And that hadn't changed. Heh.

Ash is one of those persons who can't stand to watch others cry. Because of that, he convinced May to go back home and do her best to study into her second chance of the exams. It took a while to do that, but eventually he got successful, one of the reasons being him threatening to tutor in case she wouldn't study by herself. They both laughed it off, and off she went. Only after that did Ash realize how cute she was..

Yawn. He was getting tired. So ti.. red..

"Ash! What are you daydreaming about?"

"Eh? No, I'm just.. planning out when to study and so. The exams are coming up soon."

"Hm? That's like months away!"

The most cheerful girl in class put her hands on her hips and sighed, for some reason, this was expected. The girl flicked her blue hair out of her eyes before jumping in front of Ash, who seemed to be daydreaming about something else other than just homework.

"Ash!" the girl got out and giggled. "Wanna head somewhere after school?"

"Eh?" Ash stuttered, taking his eyes off the clear skies outside the small classroom. "Yah, sure, why not? Only for today, though. I've got lots of studying to do."

"Great!" the girl replied and chuckled madly, gaining the class's attention.

"DAWN! GET BACK TO WORK!"

"Ah, yes, sir!"

Dawn went back to her seat and her books, the same with the rest of the class. Ash would have normally done the same, but this time he decided to stare out of the windows again for some reason.

For the first time since.. never, he thought that school was boring. Nothing ever happened here. Not even in his town. Things seemed to be too calm. It's not like he wanted crimes and chaos, he just wanted.. something.

Like that cute girl he met yesterday. He wondered how her exams went. Sigh.

Noticing that his evil teacher was glaring at him, Ash quickly went back to work. He worked ineffectively, though, only finishing around 10 math problems, whereas he could've done more than double if he was concentrated.

And that was the problem. He wasn't concentrated. He wondered why.

When he was sure that his evil teacher was back reading his book without any cover, Ash glanced at the clock. Class and eventually the school day would end in a few minutes, cool. The other students in class didn't think the same as Ash, and for once, they wished that school could last longer so that they could study for their huge exam coming up. Pretty much everyone in class were reading their books like crazy, some of them finishing math problems just like Ash. Dawn was the only one in the whole school to have a smile plastered over her face as she studied.. not a surprise, really.

So calm. So quiet. So boring. He would fall asleep anytime. His eyes felt heavy, his stomach was screaming for food and-

Knock knock.

Two extremely quiet knocks could be heard, both of them echoing through the normal sized classroom filled with studying people. Even though they were so small, exactly everyone in the room snapped the sound up, all of them trying to look for its source. The source was a young brown haired girl, standing by the room's door, having an embarrassed smile on her pretty face.

"Eh.. hi?"

It didn't get much easier for the girl as she saw all of those unfamiliar faces, staring at her like she was an alien.

The girl frowned and was about to run out of the school out of embarrassment, but found what she was looking for.

"Ash!"

Even the teacher had to raise his eyebrow over this interesting situation, not to mention that the girl had already grabbed the boys hand, dragging him out of the room.

Ah yes.. The start of their strange relationship. It turned out that May had searched for him for quite some time, only having Ash's school name as help. He could still clearly remember her blushing face as she asked for his assistance. It was unexpected, but of course, he happily agreed to help her because "she was so stupid".

And yes, the awkward moment where he asked her where they would study together.. her reply being: "where do you think..?"

He wasn't sure, but he probably blushed madly there.

Ugh.. why did he have to wake up? Who knew sleeping on benches could be so relaxing..

That was only the start of their weird relationship, though. Despite not living in the same city, their homes were just around 10 minutes of walk away. Besides, Ash didn't mind going through the wonderful nature on the way and learning more about the city's culture and new technology. It wasn't exactly new, the technology, it was more like his own town didn't want to use "silly" things like heavy cellphones.

After having a very long conversation with May's father, Norman, Ash was allowed to tutor May until her exams, but not without her brother Max in the same room watching. He could understand why and respected that, but he never understood why May seemed to frown upon that decision.

For every day since then, Ash had gone to May's house and helped her with her weak subjects such as biology and chemistry. May's parents strongly suggested that Ash would skip helping her on weekends to concentrate on his own studies, but he simply told them that he had it under control. Which he also had.

Now, he had to admit, May was stupid. She really was, both in and outside of school subjects. But she was also highly intelligent.. somehow, being able to spot things nobody else could. That was pretty unique. Moments like these, moments where he could learn more about her and not her studying capabilities rarely showed up. Examples of these moments would be when Max had to take a shower, which took an awful lot of time.. Ash couldn't remember these times too good, but he had a good picture of what happened one day.

May accidentally fell over Ash and pushed him onto her bed while they were talking about his private life, which he still believes wasn't an accident.

Jeez, was somebody.. Shaking his sleeping body or something?

Only now did something click in Ash's mind. They had been seeing each other everyday for around 3 weeks. But they had never been alone, and they had always been doing homework. This was probably some sort thank you for helping her with her exams.

Or a punishment, in case she failed her exams..

The boy shivered, and finally, he woke up from his rest on the bench.

"Jeez, wake up, fattie!"

"Ugh.. my eyes.."

Ash removed his cap but immediately regretted it afterwards, the sun rays blinding his poor eyes instantly.

"Crap.." he muttered and rubbed his eyes.

It took a minute or two for his eyes to adjust, and when they did, he expected to see May stand in front of him.. that was not the case.

Instead, in front of him stood the strange girl still in her white/pink maid outfit.

"Hm? Finally awake?" she muttered and crossed her arms before lowering herself, her face a few inches from his. "I never realized it took MINUTES to wake a boy like you up, Ash."

"Rina.." Ash muttered and got sat straight up, still rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be inside in the café?"

"My friend just came.. but that's not important!" Rina exclaimed before raising her arm to point at his poor face, just like before. "You didn't finish your cake!"

…

"Yeah? What, am I forced to or something?" Ash countered and yawned before leaning back on the bench, feeling much better than before.

"No, it's not like you can cause I finished it.." Rina answered, nearly whispering those last words. "But, why is your town's name in this note?'!"

"Hm? Oh that, well, that is the name of my town, yes.." Ash started and sighed. "You said you wanted to meet nice people, right? Just head there, and you'll meet plenty. Now can you please stop blocking the sun? It suddenly got colder for some reason.."

Ash shivered, it seemed that he had only slept for a few minutes.. Still, the sun was shining significantly less, allowing him to survive much better out in the open.

A short 'hmpf' could be heard, followed up by the sound of Rina sitting down on the bench with irritation written all over her face.

"Hm? What now?" Ash wondered and sweatdropped. "You need something?"

"Perhaps." Rina replied and crossed her arms, not looking at the boy. "You.. you still haven't told me your cellphone number yet."

Woah. Talk about being brave.

"I.. don't have a phone, sorry."

"Eh? Now that's harsh, if you didn't want to give me your number you could've just said it, jerk.."

"No, I'm serious, I don't have a phone."

"Ser.. seriously?"

"Yup. Or else I wouldn't be here, waiting."

"S-Stop lying! I know you have a phone! Now tell me befor-"

"Ash?"

For once, Ash was actually lucky. A sweet voice had just saved him from getting sexually harassed, by a blonde girl in a maid dress.

Both Ash and Rina stopped with whatever they were doing to stare at the girl who had called out for the boy. The girl was wearing a simple red t-shirt, dark blue shorts and a white skirt. Along with that, she had red and yellow sneakers, a red bandana on her chocolate brown hair and a small yellow "purse" strapped around her waist. Just like with Ash's cap and lower part of his hoodie, May's bandana also had that strange symbol, but instead it was white.

"Well hi there, May. That took much longer than expected." Ash greeted and sighed, but was still extremely happy that she had finally arrived. "New clothes, I see?"

May didn't immediately reply and instead watched Rina, from top to toe. Who was she?

That didn't matter. She was cute. She was around the same age. That ends up with her being a threat.

"Who is this?" May instead asked and blinked a few times out of confusion.

"Hm? Oh, this is Rina. She works in the café inside, hence her maid outfit." Ash replied, now understanding why she asked in the first place.

"Hm, who is this, Ash?" Rina now asked, causing the boy to sigh.

"This is May, my fri-"

"I'm his girlfriend."

The time was around 3pm. The sun was still up, although not shining so brightly, and the weather forecasts for that day promised rain-free weather for days on. Around this time, many people in Kando City were still in school or work. Those who weren't, were doing pretty slow and calm things such as taking a walk, buying gifts or feeding birds around the beautiful lake.

For two certain teens, this was not the case.

Ash constantly tried to figure out something to do, something to say.. Anything at all to break the tension between him and his friend.

Or his girlfriend. Or w.. what? He was so confused.

After May's blunt statement of who she was for him, May had forcefully grabbed his hand before dragging him away from the mall and the blonde café worker.

And there they were, walking alone, in one of many of the calm parks in Kando City. Trees surrounded the two young teens, along with a few wild animals running here and there. To their sides was a pretty large lake, being the playground for many birds and home for some fishes. Besides from a few elder people on the other side of the lake feeding birds, there weren't anyone around.

It had been quite a while, so Ash couldn't take it anymore.

"Uhm, Ma-"

"Y-YES?"

May immediately stopped after that strange outburst, and it was only logical for Ash to do the same.

"Uhm.. Are you alright, May?"

"I'm.. totally fine!"

Even though Ash could only see the back of May, it was obvious that she wasn't fine. Heck, she was even shaking slightly.

Letting out a deep sigh, Ash did something he thought would calm her down a bit.

"If something's bothering you.." Ash started and put his hands on her shoulders, causing her to screech in surprise. "Then tell me. I can help with so much stuff other than school work, you know."

"Who.. who was that girl, Ash?"

"Hm?"

Ash let go of her shoulders, allowing her to completely turn around.

Never had he seen such worry in her eyes.

"Ah, her. Her name is Rina." Ash started, knowing that it wouldn't be a problem if he explained everything. "She works in the café inside. Their theme is having their workers dress as maids.. well you saw it yourself. I was outside waiting for you, and then she came, wanting to visit my town. I said fine, and gave her my town name."

"Town name..?"

"Yes. A note saying "Costrial Town". Nothing more, nothing less. But it seemed like she wanted to get my number after that.."

May got upset, but almost instantly felt relieved.

Ash doesn't have a cellphone.

"Heh, well I don't have a cellphone so it didn't work I guess." Ash said and chuckled. "Well, now that that's fixed.. May I ask why we're out here, alone, May?"

Eh.. She would look like a fool. Not that she already wasn't, she just wasn't prepared for that kind of question..

"Who cares, we're here, and we're alone! Let's have some fun for once, Ash!"

Ash raised his eyebrow.. What was up with her, today? Usually she's only this hyped whenever it was dinner time back at her place.

Once again, before Ash could complain, talk or let alone react, he was already getting dragged by May, about to have one of his greatest days in his life.

Time had flown by fast indeed. May had dragged him pretty much all over the small city, showing him everything she was proud of. Their museum, their history, their burger bar and of course the many parks and playgrounds. Obviously, that wasn't all they did. May showed him the gaming arcade, which was something Ash highly liked. Along with that, they also ate lots of unhealthy stuff, played soccer with some kids and gazed at the moon as it was shining brightly. All in all, they just had fun.

Something Ash hadn't had in a very, very long time. And never once did he notice May's attempts at making a move on him..

As both of them lay there on the soft grass, still gazing at the moon, Ash thought of how fun this day had been. If it weren't for a bird dropping its "waste" on his precious cap, it would have been a perfect day. No doubt. Well, he could look over that little accident..

Now that he thought of it, if he knew that they could've had so much fun, he would've skipped their studying days. C'mon, what would you choose? Studying for 3 weeks in a row, or having sick fun with this weird girl?

Hm. School is important. It's her future. It probably would've ended badly if they chilled for 3 weeks before her exams.

While Ash couldn't stop thinking about how awesome the day had been, he never noticed May scoot closer, eventually lying right next to him. He also never noticed that she rested her head on his shoulder.. if he noticed or not, she didn't exactly care. As long as he would let her..

"Ash..?" May whispered, hoping to be able to gain courage to ask him what she thought of all day.

Unfortunately, that had to wait for a bit since Ash only now noticed that she was right next to him.. Thus, making him scream in surprise, almost jumping up from the ground.

"Jeez, are you a ninja or something, when did you get here?" Ash asked all upset and watched May as she giggled, happy that he didn't accidentally slap her or something.

"You were dreaming of girls.. That's why you never noticed me, Ash." May slyly told him and gave him a wink.

For the first time in a very long time, Ash blushed. The reason? No idea.

Maybe it was because he was actually thinking about girls.. Or a girl.

Maybe it was because he never noticed her sneak up on him.

Maybe it was because he felt humiliated.

Or maybe, it was because of her sitting there under the moonlight, her giggle making him forget about anything else.

"Hmpf, very funny.." Ash muttered and sighed. "What's the clock, May?"

"You tell me, you have a cellphone now!"

Oh right. During their little "sightseeing", May got a cellphone for him. She never told him the price for it, though, since Ash would freak out and eventually try his best to pay back.

Bringing up the very small and strange thing from his pocket, the small screen showed him that the clock was already showing 9pm. They had pretty much spent the whole day having fun.. Amazing.

"It's 9pm. Are you sure the clock's right?" Ash asked, not fully trusting this thing that may be faulty.

"It is right, I had the phone seller set it up for us before we bought it."

"You mean before you bought it. I still have to pay you back for it, how much was it, anyways?"

"I don't know~"

Ah, May is lying again. How sweet.

After she had told Ash her little lie, she once again lay down, wanting to gaze at the many stars over the dark blue sky. Ash had gotten a little bored with that after staring for so long, and instead gazed around him. They were out in a huge grass field. Only, and only if you tried hard enough, it was possible to see many trees which was the forest they had both gone through an hour before.

Knowing that gazing at both the stars and some boring trees wasn't exactly fun, Ash now instead gazed at something far more interesting.. May.

Even though it was very dark for a summer evening, the moon was shining unusually bright, giving them enough light to navigate without any other light sources. Because of that, he could see May very clearly.. Her face, her hair, her body and her-

Whoops. May had apparently noticed where his eyes were, and she wasn't too fond of it.

"I swear my eyes happened to be there when you turned around, May." Ash tried with a whisper, laughing sheepishly. "I was only staring at you and your eyes. For some reason they shine more than the stars."

May blushed, Ash chuckled. May blushed for feeling strangely beautiful, and Ash chuckled only with relief, happy that May wouldn't kill him. Yet.

Ash didn't even realize what his little "getaway" line meant for May.. so he never knew that that particular line would trigger all of her feelings that had been suppressed during that whole day.

"Ash.." May started, causing Ash to immediately stop chuckling. "I have something to tell you."

"Hm? What is it?" Ash started and then grinned. "Ready to tell me you failed your exam?"

Ash barely managed to dodge a slap from the irritated girl as he chuckled, feeling somewhat proud over his little joke.

"No.. It's not that. And I passed it by the way, thank you.."

"Heh, no problem. Well, what is it? It's getting late you know, we should get back soon."

"I.. I know.."

May sighed and frowned, trying to get her courage by looking at the twinkling stars once more. Ash, feeling that something important was up, decided not to joke around anymore and instead lay down himself, joining her with the stargazing.

"It's my birthday, Ash."

"WHAT?"

May still lay there, not moving at all, while Ash did the opposite, immediately flying up from the grass and stared at the crazy girl.

"Oh my god, are you serious? Why haven't you told me yet? Is this why we went out? Shit, I have to get you a present!"

"Nonono, Ash, it's fine. This was my birthday gift from you, you could say.."

"Don't be ridiculous, I have to get you something. Anything."

"Well.."

May twisted her body a bit, not sure how to get her feelings forth. Meanwhile, Ash was feeling stupid for not coming up with anything to give to the birthday child.

"There's one thing."

"Yes, good!" Ash said and sighed. "What is it? Anything, I can get it for you. Anything at all."

"It's not something you can get me like that, Ash.."

"Hm? You want me to rob a bank?"

And once again, Ash evaded one of May's incoming attack, only now he saved himself from getting a ninja kick to the face.

"No, stupid.." May replied and silently giggled, something she didn't think she could do during a situation like that. "It's.. I want you to do something for me."

"Alright! What is it? Anything at all, I mean, except for helping you cheat on your exams.."

Ash grinned and prepared for another incoming ninja kick, but none came. She just lay there, still, quietly.. still gazing at the moon and the stars. Alright, this was the point where Ash knew something serious was up. It was her birthday, and she didn't look too happy. He was starting to think that he was the cause of that.

"I'm sorry, May. I won't interrupt you anymore." Ash apologized and lay back down on the grass. "And, happy birthday, May. You really deserve it, after all of that hard work."

"Thank you, Ash.."

She barely even whispered that.

"No.. no problem, May." Ash replied and took a deep breath. "Well, thought of what you would like me to do?"

"I want you to promise me something."

"Really? That's all?" Ash asked, genuinely surprised over her choice of getting anything she wanted. "Well, it's your birthday.. What is it then, May?"

"I.. I just have to tell you something else, first."

"I see.. Well, I'm all ears."

May took a deep sigh, this would be tough.

"No, never mind.." May said, not being able to decide what to do first. "Promise me something, Ash."

"Anything.. May."

And another deep breath. She really wondered how this would turn out.

Before she would say anything else, the girl turned around to her side, staring at the boy's worried face. The boy did the same, and only for a split second did all of his worries disappear as he stared into her sad eyes.

"Promise me.." May started with a whisper. "That you'll stay with me."

Ash's eyes shot up, this would be interesting.

Or would it?

"I'll always stay by your side, May."

May smiled. So did Ash.

Something that wouldn't last for long.

Now came the hard part. Thus, May couldn't stand to see Ash in the eyes.. instead, she escaped by staring at the dark sky.

"I'm moving out of town."

Gasp.

Minutes passed by where none of them said a word, or any movement at all.

They just lay there peacefully together, both of them wondering what to do next.

Ash knew something like this was coming.

"We're moving because my dad found a better job from my uncle. More than three times better salary."

"How.." Ash started and gulped. "How far away?"

"Two days with train."

Sigh.

"Why haven't you told me?"

"I wanted to.. concentrate on our studying."

Lies. And he knew it.

"When did you guys decide on this?"

"Only a few days ago.."

May was about to tear up. And there was nothing Ash could do about it.

But, May thought, it would be fine. Everything would be fine, because of the promise.

"Ash." May started and grabbed his left arm as he tried to figure out what to do. "It'll be fine, right? Because you promised. That you'll be with me forever. Right, right?"

No reply. He could only watch in horror as May slowly but surely broke down.

"Ash? What do you say? Will you come with me? Will you keep your promise?"

No answer. May feared that this would happen, and so did Ash.. only now, he had no idea what to do.

He couldn't just leave his mother. Even though they had it pretty good, it would be hard for his mother to find a job in a large city when she only had experience with gardening and such.

But.. Watching May like this, he had to do something. Besides, he had so much fun with her.. May had shown him that studying could be fun. Not to mention that they did stuff other than that as well..

But what was there to do? This was incredibly hard. Choose to "run" away with May, have all sorts of fun with her, leaving his mother at the same time. Or, he could stay, and waste his life on boring exams.

It would be pretty obvious to pick the first choice, but his mother was his all. He couldn't just leave her.

"May.." Ash started, deciding to try and explain why he isn't planning on following her. "You know I can't just leave my mother. Leaving town and my school is one thing, but my mother.."

"So you're leaving me instead?" May countered, her voice cracking up. "No.. you're, you're letting me go?"

"I.. It's not like I want to do it, May. I have to stay with my mother."

"You are letting me go."

"I.."

There was nothing more to be said from Ash. He couldn't do anything, and it wasn't like May could just stay here with him.

After all, he was just a regular boy who had helped her with her homework.

May, knowing that nothing else could be done, immediately broke down.

She knew this would happen, sooner or later.

Ash opened his mouth to try and comfort her, but before he could do that, May had already gotten up from the grass, covering her face with her hands. Ash was about to witness something he would never, ever forget.

May crying, running away from him.

To make it all worse, May said three, simple words.

Three simple words that meant so much.

"I hate you."

Tears and tears. They never seemed to stop. But eventually, they would have to. Her mother also told her one time to drink lots of water after crying much, or else her body would get dehydrated. How silly.

Tick. Tock. Tick.

Can't time stop?

Glancing at her clock on her small table next to her bed, May could see that it was closing in on 10pm. They would have to leave soon.

Letting out a deep sigh, May hugged her one of her soft plushy dolls tightly before laying down on her bed, wanting to escape from time.

From reality.

From Ash.

May closed her eyes and pinched herself.

Today was her birthday. She was supposed to be happy. She couldn't think of him. She couldn't think of how evil he was. How selfish he was.

How handsome he was.

How cute he was.

How.. kind he was.

"May?"

Caroline's worried face could be seen poking inside of May's small room, breaking the little girl's thoughts.

"We've packed everything and are ready to go.. Are you done? Forgot anything? We don't want mommy's sister to find something and send it to us later, right?"

"Right."

May immediately got up from bed and shoved her last doll into her awfully large bag that contained most of her stuff that she couldn't sleep without.

Caroline nodded and smiled, happy that her daughter wasn't all gone like minutes before.

"Hey, mom?"

"Hm?"

Caroline stopped just before leaving the room, wondering what her daughter wanted.

"I'm sorry.. for shouting at you like that, before."

Yup. When May had gotten home, her family almost panicked seeing her like a total mess: tears running down her face, hands shaking from the strong winds on her way back and her irritation level being on top.

"It's fine, May. All I ask for is that you'll come and talk to me about this later.. Alright?"

"I will.. just, don't let dad know."

"I'm afraid that's too late, sweetie.." Caroline muttered and frowned. "He already promised himself that next time he set eyes on that boy.. ehm, let's not get into that, shall we?"

May also frowned, she didn't exactly want Ash to get hurt in any way. Well, she didn't know what she wanted at all, now..

"Well.. Take a good look at your room, May. You won't be seeing it for a long, long while."

And stared at the room she did, before the two of them, along with a tired young brother and a raging dad, left the house to head towards the train station.

Five times five is twenty-five. Multiply that by ten, and you'll get twohundred.. twohundred..

The young boy with the newly washed cap threw his pen at the wall in front of him, not being able to properly study for his exams.

What was bothering him?

He was alone, in his classroom.

It was quiet.

The weather was perfect.

Hm, it was obvious what was disturbing him.

"Ash?"

"Hm?"

Ash slowly raised his head from his desk, feeling all exhausted to even care about the cheerful girl approaching him.

"Oh. 'Sup, Dawn?" he briefly said and yawned.

"Hmpf, hello to you too, Ash." Dawn replied and crossed her arms. "What's the matter? You usually never stay after school."

"I just.. felt like it I guess."

"My ass." Dawn whispered and giggled. "What is it? You know you can tell me."

To further prove what she was meaning, the girl took a seat right in front of the boy, resting her head on her hands that were on Ash's desk.

She looked a lot like May.

Or maybe it was just his mind playing a game on him?

"I.. kinda had a fight with May, well I don't know."

"Did she.. hurt you?"

"What? No, not at all. It's more like the other way around.."

Dawn had thought that this was her chance. But, after thinking through it carefully.. that was not the case. She didn't have a chance. She never would.

"Well, I don't want to intrude on your private life.." Dawn lied, trying her best not to take advantage of the situation. "But, school's over, even for you."

The conversation didn't last for much longer than that, Dawn already being on her way out of the classroom.

"So." Dawn started as she opened the door.

Holding the door up, Dawn stopped, not turning around.

Ash was probably going nuts or something. It looked like Dawn was shaking.. madly.

"School's over for today, Ash." Dawn started, still not turning around. "You can't study, and you don't want to be with me-"

Silence.

"So.. What are you going to do now?"

"May. I want to get this clear now. Honey, please."

May sighed and told her father, for the last time, that she wasn't in the mood to talk about it. She already had a lot on her mind, talking about it would only make it worse.

"Darling.. she doesn't want to talk about it right now." Caroline started, stepping in for her daughter. "I think she'll be ready sometime tomorrow. C'mon, let it go. It's her birthday."

"Hmpf, fine." Norman blurted out and crossed his arms. "Just remember; when and if I ever see that boy.. he's gonna get a taste of my strength.. that includes Max."

"I'm totally in with that." Max stated proudly and adjusted his backpack. "May, you're gonna be safe with us around."

"Eheh, thank you, Max."

"Attention." a voice could be heard, slightly robotic sounding. "The 11.30 train will arrive in 5 minutes. Please make sure you've got your tickets ready and available for the train conductor once you board the train."

Ah. Nearly midnight. She was so tired. So tired. All she wanted to do was to get in the train, put down her stuff and immediately jump on her bed. Assuming the beds on the train were good, that is.

May was the only one in the family who was sitting down on the bench as they were waiting for the train in the subway. In fact, she was the only one of all people there who was sitting down. That wasn't exactly that surprising since there were only a few people there, about to board the incoming train. After all, who would ride a train around midnight on a wednesday?

"Man, I can't believe we're going to be in this train for two days straight." Max complained and stretched a bit, his legs still sleepy from their long taxi drive here to the subway.

"Don't be silly, boy." Norman got out and chuckled. "Of course we'll have a few breaks every now and then in between cities."

"Ah, oh, cool!"

That had been the only conversation until the train had come, the rest of their waiting time being filled with nothing but awkward silence.

The train wasn't exactly wide as May had first thought it would be, but it was definitely long, probably being able to host around a hundred people.. plus beds, caféteria, bathrooms and such. Impressive. It seems like paying that extra money would pay off.

The train had now completely stopped before its doors opened, allowing the passengers to enter and show their tickets to a few train conductors standing at almost each door.

"Please watch your step, and have your tickets ready." that voice could be heard again with a soothing 'pling'. "Have a pleasant evening."

May's father had showed all of their tickets to the nice young train conductor, and it didn't take too long before they were shown to their private booths in the train. Because they had payed for the best class, every one of them had gotten a separate booth, with the exception of Norman and Caroline sharing the same booth since the last one would be on another part of the train. Even though they had their own booths, they were basically next to each other, allowing them to stay in contact fairly easily.

The booth wasn't exactly that large either, but what could you expect? It was great, better than having to sleep in a sitting position for many hours. The booth was small, as said, having a small yet comfortable bed on the end of the room near the window that showed nothing but dark trees quickly flashing by. A small bathroom was also existent, new toothbrushes and a few towels also being inside of that small room.

Ugh. Too bad there was no shower.

May quickly put her two bags on the floor and took off her shoes before jumping onto the amazingly comfortable bed.

Ah. Perfect. All she could do now was to just lay there, peacefully, and think about nothing. Nothing at all. Just lie there, resting, sleeping..

Hmpf. Yeah right.

No matter how much she turned around in her bed, whether it was left or right, up or down, it was no use.

No matter how much she tried to escape from it, it was no use. Ash would always pop up in her mind.

Always.

The girl sighed and stared at the roof of the train, its color being brown for some reason, which was strange considering it was mostly made out of metal or so.

"Ash, I hate you."

Right after she had whispered that, a bang from underneath could be heard, followed with a short "ow."

Of course, the young girl was extremely frightened of this and immediately jumped out of bed, grabbing her small bag as a weapon.

"Who.. WHO'S THERE?" she screamed, her adrenaline pumping.

What was coming next, was something she wouldn't forget. Ever.

"Ow, my head.."

The boy she wanted to see so badly..

The boy she wanted to kill so badly..

The boy she wanted to kiss so badly..

The boy she despised..

The boy she loved stood right in front of him, rubbing his head.

May stood there, speechless, watching him as he kept on rubbing his head like this situation wasn't strange, at all.

"Heh." Ash started once his head stopped hurting. "Hey?"

"What.. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING UNDER MY BED? WHAT.. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Ash immediately leaped forwards and put a hand on May's mouth, stopping her from gaining any more attention.

"Sh! Stop screaming! I bet that reached like the whole train or something." Ash whispered, thinking that it would somehow help.

"May? May? Did something happen?"

"Shit."

The unlocked door of May's booth immediately flew open, soon revealing a stressed father worried about his daughter.

His worries was put to rest, though, once he saw his innocent daughter sit on the edge of the bed, tightly holding her small doll resembling some sort of yellow mouse with a lightning shaped tail and red spots on its cheeks.

"Ah, I thought something happened May.." Norman started and sighed, but then realized why he got there in the first place. "Wait, why were you screaming?"

"HEHEHE, no, it's just.. this doll is SO cute, dad!"

To show him what she meant, the girl violently hugged the poor doll to the point of almost pushing its insides out if the eyes.

"Heh, good to know.." Norman whispered and sweatdropped. "Well, we're right next door, so if you need anything, let me know."

"Will do, dad!"

Norman smiled happily and slowly closed the door, glad that everything was fine. But, before he entered his own booth, he thought he had seen a cap with a strange symbol on the floor.

"MAY!" Norman screamed as he opened the door. "Whose cap was that?"

"What cap?"

Ugh. Maybe he was getting paranoid? There was no cap. Just his sweet little daughter.

"I'm sorry, May. Have a good night. I won't disturb you anymore."

And with that, her father left the room, never once realizing that there was a young boy hiding under his daughter's bed.

"Alright, Ash, you've got 10 seconds to explain yourself."

May stood by the window, leaning herself against it, still very shocked about the situation. Ash, on the other hand, somehow thought it was all hilarious, especially how her dad almost caught him.

"Well, I figured that I would very much like to go with you.." Ash whispered and scratched the back of his head.

"But.. what about your mother?" May asked, still very confused.

Ash lit up before digging into his pockets, soon bringing forth a familiar object.

"You know, I still got that phone!" Ash happily said and showed up his cellphone. "You know, they're amazing! In just a few clicks and under a few seconds, I can get my mom on the line and talk to her, directly! If I ever knew this existed I would've gotten one as soon as I could, I mean, just look at the screen! It's so.. BRIGHT! Not to mention-"

The boy was so into his new phone that he never saw May run towards him, pushing him down on the bed.

Just like when they once studied together in her room.

Only this time, Ash had a faint suspicion of what was going on.

May was lying on top of him, Ash being under, not giving a damn about his phone that almost broke when he had dropped it on the floor.

They spent a few seconds just lying there, staring into each others' eyes.

Maybe she should.. maybe.. perhaps?

No, she wasn't sure of how he felt. Yet.

May broke the eye staring contest by flipping to the side, now lying next to Ash on small bed somehow without falling off.

"Why did you come, Ash?" May whispered, staring at the ceiling once more. "It's so much trouble with all of this.."

"Well.." Ash said lowly, too confused to be whispering. "I keep my promises. And it was your birthday wish, I had to keep it, right?"

Like one time before that day, May blushed, feeling extremely embarrassed with the whole situation.

"How.. did you get on?"

"I payed, duh? Jeez, May, I knew you were stupid but you can't possibly be this-"

A quick poke on his chin immediately made him stop.

"Sh. I'm not stupid.." May complained and pouted.

"Heh, yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

May giggled, and so did Ash. Well, more like chuckled.

"Ash..?"

"Y.. yeah?"

"You know.. you promised me another thing yesterday.."

May's blush was getting heavier, but Ash really had no idea what she was talking about.

"Hm? I did? What are you talking about?"

"You.." May started and turned away from Ash, it was simply too embarrassing for her. "You promised me that you would give me a kiss.."

"WHAT? I NEVER PROMISED ANYTHING LIKE THAT!"

"So.." May started and turned back around, using her effective move "puppy-eyes" against his confused ones. "You're not gonna keep your promise..? Sheesh, I thougt you were a man, Ash.. You even said you kept your promises.."

"H-Hey, I never promised anything like th-"

"Lalala~"

May turned around once more and giggled quietly, it would be funny to see how Ash would react, and what his actions would be.

Never could she imagine that he would slowly turn her around and bring her into her first kiss.

His first kiss.

Their first kiss.

But certainly not their last.

The passionate kiss ended after a quite a while, both of them trying not to scream out with joy.

It was true that this was a day she would never forget.

Because, it was the day that she had her first kiss, the day her and Ash got together, and the day where Ash accidentally farted during that night on the train.

But, most important of all, it was the day where Ash had kept his promise.

"How'd you like that birthday gift?" Ash whispered and grinned.

May could only smile back, knowing that words could not act as a reply to that question.

Instead, she winked once to make him confused.. before she brought him in for their second kiss.

She was happy, and so was Ash. They would keep on being happy, together.

After that second intense kiss, all May could do was to stare at her future husband with a huge grin, her sapphire eyes sparkling along with the moonlight that somehow made its way through the window.

Her wish had come true.

"You know.." May started again, panting from their intense kiss. "My birthday is still for a few more minutes.."

"Heh, so?"

"Well? I want another birthday gift.."

"Hmhm.." Ash got out and sighed with a smile. "And what could that be, stupid?"

"Become my boyfriend."

"Done." Ash replied quickly, without hesitation.

May lit up once more. She could never even imagine something like this coming true.

"Well, we'll just have to seal that promise with another kiss, right?" May asked and blushed lightly.

"Anything you say, stupid." Ash said and grinned for himself.

With that, the two of them were about to start their third sweet kiss. Both of them closed their eyes and squeezed each others' hands before slowly moving in, their faces and lips only being inches away from each other.

"Hey, May.. Dad wants me to check up on you for some reason."

The two teens immediately stopped, their eyes wide open.

No, Max.. it couldn't be.

The door opened up.

It was too late.

"Hey, May? What're you-"

So, so awkward.

"Holy shi- DAAAD!"