Mi-chan finally found the ice cream and sent her twin the message, before realizing that she had somehow seemed to lose her.
*Shimatta!*
She ran through the store, back to where she and Neko were supposed to meet, but her sister wasn't there. Her next course of action was simply to call her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko discarded the cellophane around the rose as they walked through the park that was located just a block over from the grocery store. She liked the rose itself, she didn't need the wrapping around it. She knew she'd just have to be careful about the thorns. It wasn't like the thornless rose that Night Angel had thrown.
She and Jasper sat down on a bench to talk, but no sooner had they sat, than Neko's watch went off.
She jumped half a mile. "Ano�." She stared at it a moment trying to figure out what had made it go off, before remembering that it served as a communicator as well. She opened it. "Hello?"
"Where the hell are you?" demanded Mi-chan's itty-bitty image on the face of her watch.
"Oh, Mi-chan!" Neko had totally forgotten to tell her she was coming here with Jasper. Her happiness at getting the watch to work vanished completely at the sight of Mi-chan's angry expression. "I- I-" Leaving without telling Mi-chan was probably not the smartest thing she'd ever done, especially with Jasper who Mi-chan despised. "I left the store. I'm sorry," she whispered.
"I didn't mean to get you in trouble," Jasper apologized to Neko quietly. "Here, I'll take you back."
But despite his hushed voice, Mi-chan didn't miss his presence. "Is that Jasper-san?!" she charged, her eyes narrowing viciously.
"Yes," Neko admitted. "Don't be mad at him. I wanted to talk-"
But Mi-chan had stopped listening. "Get away from him!"
"Demo, Mi-chan-"
"No, Neko-chan. You can't start hanging out with Jasper-san! You don't know anything about him!"
"I don't know anything about anything!" Neko couldn't believe how unreasonable Mi-chan was being, especially considering Jasper was totally within hearing range. "But I know enough! He's Jasper-kun. And-" She glanced at him. "And he's my friend. And I like him. So don't tell me I can't be with him, please!"
"Look, just come back to the store. We'll talk about this when you're away from him."
"No."
Mi-chan's jaw almost hit the floor. "Nani?"
"You can't tell me who I can or cannot be friends with, Mi-chan! I might not remember anything, but I'm not a little kid. I can make my own judgments about people. And I'm going to spend time with Jasper-kun!"
And with that she hung up on her twin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan stared at her blank watch. "What the-?"
She immediately called Neko back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko stared at her closed watch. It began to beep, but still she just stared.
"Are you going to answer?" Jasper asked cautiously.
"Iie, she'll just yell at me."
Jasper was pretty sure that Mi-chan wasn't as mad at Neko as concerned that she was with him. But it was obvious that Neko thought she was in trouble.
But more than that, Jasper knew she was a little in shock from having hung up on Mi-chan. "Neko-chan." She turned her pale face to him. "Answer your communicator. I don't want to cause problems between you and your sister."
She shook her head. "She'll forgive me," she whispered, not as confident as her words were. "Mi-chan wants to help me. She wouldn't�."
Unwilling to voice her fear that Mi-chan might hate her, she let her voice trail off. But Jasper knew that unlike everyone else in Mi-chan's book (except maybe Jian-wa), Mi-chan would never hold anything against Neko for any great length of time. Still, he didn't want Neko to spend the rest of their time together worrying about her relationship with Mi-chan.
"Neko-chan, if you're worried about it, it's okay, I'll just take you back to the store. I knew she doesn't like me� I'm fine with that."
"She shouldn't be so stubborn," argued the girl who refused to even listen to the one who was once her fianc�e. "She has no reason to be so mean to you."
Mi-chan had great reason to hate him, he reflected. "She's just looking out for you. And maybe she's right�." He stood up. "I don't want to stand between you and Mi-chan. I'll take you back."
It was killing him to say it. He had been overjoyed that Neko had agreed to come with him. But her happiness was important. And he knew that in the long run, she'd be happier if she reconciled with Mi-chan and just stayed away from him. Just like he knew it'd be better if she retained her relationship with Tenshi.
No, this was best. He'd just take her back to Mi-chan and let her continue figuring out who she was� without him to get in the way.
He started back in the direction of the grocery store, expecting her to follow him. But to his surprise, without warning she grasped onto his arm.
"Onegai, Jasper-kun, don't leave me! You're one of the two people I trust! I couldn't stand to lose another friend! Onegai!" she cried into the arm she hugged so tightly.
Jasper stared at her. She had figured out his thoughts, knew what he was planning to do. He took her in his arms. "Okay, Hime-chan, I'll stay with you," he promised. He couldn't ignore her plea. She was his princess, and he was falling for her more with every passing second. "I'll do anything for you," he said under his breath.
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