Sunnie was sitting at an outdoor cafe with her friends one afternoon. With her were Windie and Cloudie (as usual) and also her new friends Wayne, Mike and Jenna.

"What should we do with the animal?" Mike asked as he looked over at Sunnie drumming her fingers against the table.
Sunnie looked at him, "We have to get rid of her," she told them.
Jenna sighed and sipped her drink. She then turned to Sunnie, "Sunnie, I still don't understand what your problem with her is," she admitted.
Cloudie crossed her arms, "She's annoying," she spat.
"Aren't you tired of bullying her? Gosh, it's been over 10 years! When will you stop?" Wayne asked, "Pets seems like a nice girl."

Sunnie's face darkened and she shot him a sharp glare. "Say that again and you can leave this school," she threatened, "I'll admit that when we were kids I didn't have a real reason but now... now I do."
"And what's that?" Jenna asked with a raised brow, "Your crush on Sam isn't enough."
"Who likes him?" she spat in response.
"Hey, speaking of the devil!" Windie exclaimed as she pointed at Pets who was walking with Sam, Rainie and Evan (and of course Jiro). "Look who's here!"

The group looked at them before noticing Evan. Sunnie's eyes narrowed on Evan, "Why is she so close to Evan?" she barked, "She's going to pass some random disease and fleas to him!"
Windie scrunched up her face on disgust, "If it wasn't because of the animal's brother, they wouldn't have become friends," she said in disgust, "And he would have become one of us."
Jenna sighed, "I guess this is the part where you start scheming to separate them."
"Of course, you didn't meet her yesterday," Wayne chimed with a smile.
"Well I agree with Sunnie, I hate that animal," Mike announced as he clicked his tongue.

"Thanks for coming out with me, guys," Pets told Rainie and Sam, "I don't usually go out to the city so I would have gotten Evan and Jiro lost," she admitted sheepishly.
Rainie smiled, "We know, that's why we came to protect Evan," she responded with a laugh.
"What about me?" Jiro asked with a pout, "No one wants to protect me?"
"I'll protect you," Pets replied as she rolled her eyes.
"Jiro, why do you need Pets to protect you when it should be the other way around?" Sam teased, "Don't tell me you're actually a girl?"
Evan chuckled at them, "The three of you are always talking to Jiro," he said, "Who is he?" he asked, "I know he's your best friend Pets, but I've never seen him before."

"A loser who is their imaginary friend," Sunnie sneered as she approached them with her friends behind her.
"Imaginary friend?" Evan repeated but before he could say anything more, Sunnie pushed her way into their group and put her arm around his.
"Crazy right? These fellas are so childish to the point that they're mad!" she laughed before pointing at Pets, "That animal is the one who started this nonsense because she was a loner!" she exclaimed before dramatically before pointing at Rainie, "This weirdo believed her and left us - but she was never a true member of the flock," she sneered and then turned to Sam. She smiled at him before speaking to Evan, "And Sam here just pities these two loonies so just plays along."

Pets glared angrily at Sunnie, "Take that back," she snarled, "How dare you insult us?"
Sam crossed his arms, "Sunnie, we don't appreciate you chatting . Please leave, you're not wanted here," he told her sternly.
Evan nodded in agreement before pulling his arm free from Sunnie, "Stop being immature," he told her, "Leave Pets and her friends alone, okay? There's no worth in bullying them. If they have an imaginary friend then let them be, you have no right to get involved in their business."
Sunnie's eyes widened in anger. No one had told her off like that before - no one dared to except Evan.

She glared at him with fury and embarassment. "Evan, I wanted to give you a chance to be with the normal people," she hissed, "But I guess you want to make an enemy out of us."
Evan smirked, "Sure. Bring it," he dared.
"It's on then," she snapped before stomping away to her friends.


Sunnie flipped through Pets' artpad one day when Pets had gone to buy some lunch with her friends. Sunnie's face was plain and emotionless as she stared at the drawing of the boy who only Pets could see. She admitted to herself that Pets really did have amazing skills and they got better with ever new drawing of Jiro, but she didn't like her sketches. She hated them.

"How dare you joke around with that face," she hissed with a cold glare.
 

...

The next day at school, Pets found paint spilt all over her desk. That same day, powdered paint was poured over her whilst she was in the restroom cubicle. Everyday that week continued like this. One day it was a bucket of water falling on her, another day it was being pushed down the stairs. Today it was a cyclist who splashed through a puddle of mud, coating her in a fresh layer of mud.

Pets sighed as she looked down at her muddied clothes.
"Sunnie must be behind this," Jiro muttered as he glared daggers at the cyclist, "How immature can she get?"
Evan, who was walking home with the two of them, sighed. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault," he said to Pets before reaching into his pocket and bringing out a packet of tissues.
Pets shook her head with a smile, "It's not your fault, Evan," she denied, "Sunnie has always been like this since we were kids," she admitted.
"If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be doing this to you," he retorted as he started to wipe her clothes.
"She has nothing better to do than pick on Pets, she really gets on my nerves! She needs a taste of her own medicine," Jiro growled through clenched teeth, "If only I could get revenge for you!"

Pets smiled over at Jiro as she started to wipe away the mud on her sleeve. "Getting revenge wouldn't make things any better, Jiro. It would just make things go back and forth between us. It's better to be the bigger person and ignore her," she told him.
Jiro's face fell, "So you just want to accept it? For how long do you plan to endure it all? It's been nearly 13 damn years!" he exclaimed angrily.
"I appreciate your concern, but I'm really fine just letting things be," Pets confessed with a reassuring smile which made Jiro frown.

He didn't want the most important person to him suffer like this but there was nothing he could do. It hurt him to see her like that. He then looked at Evan - could he be the one to protect Pets? Sam was still somewhat friends with Sunnie so he couldn't fight Pets' battle and nor could Rainie because she was a victim of the bullying every now and then. Jiro had seen how Evan and Pets had become good friends over the past few weeks and now he was hoping that Evan would protect her for him... but then again, he wanted to be the one to protect Pets. He'd been with her for so long, so many years, so many memories - so of course it'd make sense as to why he wanted to protect her.

"But I can't," he whispered sadly, "I will never be able to." He clenched his fist and lowered his gaze.

Pets saw Jiro step away and tilted her head in worry. "Jiro?" she called out in concern. Evan stared at her as she worried about a nonexistent being. His face fell and he felt his heart tighten for some reason. He then turned to Pets and unexpectedly cupped her cheek with one hand.

Jiro looked up in time to see him. His eyes widened in shock and he could only stare as he leaned into her face. Evan lifted a tissue and then dabbed it gently across her face, "You've got some mud here," he mumbled as their faces were inches apart.
Pets blinked continuously as her heart pounded. She could feel her cheeks start warming up at the closeness of their faces and she was so caught off guard that she began to stutter when he moved back.

Jiro bit his lip and looked down at his feet, pretending he didn't see how Pets' cheeks had become tinted in pink. He pretended that he didn't feel sad at that moment. He pretended that he didn't feel disconnected to her as she focused on Evan. He pretended that he couldn't feel a distance that he feared would grow between them. He pretended like he had no emotions of his own.

Evan stepped back and cracked a smile at her. Pets 
instantly shifted her gaze - she had never been so close to a guy before, a guy that wasn't Jiro that is.

Suddenly, thunder pounded in the sky, striking the thickening grey clouds. In seconds, the clouds gave way, showering down stones of water on the world below, soaking everyone.

Jiro looked up only to have water splatter all over his face. He shook his head dry and then hurried closer to Pets. He opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted when Evan stepped between them and pulled up an umbrella. Only caring about Pets, Evan held the umbrella over the two of them and smiled down at her.

"I'll walk you home," he told her and Pets nodded gratefully. The two then began to walk, leaving Jiro standing there in the rain. Worries flew around in his mind at that moment. Did Pets forget about him? Was he going to be replaced by Evan? Was he just over thinking?


A 9 year old Pets was star gazing with Jiro and Genie. The three were admiring the stars in awe.

Pets pointed at a star with a big smile, "Genie! I feel like I see that star everywhere," she said and Genie gave her a look of puzzlement.
"How do you know it's the same star?" she inquired.
Pets giggled before staring up at the star, "Because it feels really special! I don't know why but I know it's the same star because that's the only star that makes me feel this way."
Jiro chuckled, "Pets your making no sense," he told her.
Genie smiled, "Maybe it's your guardian star," she said, "A star that watches over you and is your own personal star."

"Then Jiro is that star!" Pets burst out, causing Jiro's eyes to widen in surprise. "He's always there for me and he's always with me," she explained.
Genie smiled at the young girl, "Maybe he is your guardian star. A star that lights up the darkness in your life."


Jiro stared at the back of Pets as she walked. "Am I still your guardian star?" he asked in a hurt and quiet whisper.

Suddenly, Pets turned around and looked at him in confusion. "Jiro! Why are you just standing there? You're going to become a drenched chicken!" she laughed as she gestured him over.

A small smile then curled onto his lips. "I'm not your guardian star," he uttered in a quiet voice as he gazed at her smiling face:

"You are my guardian star."