credits: Icicle

credits: iamcrystalball

credits: trpplr_c

Bullet entered the café restaurant and scanned the place. As soon as he saw the two important ladies in his life, a wide smile curved on his lips. He walked towards them and stood by the table, opening his arms wide.

“Who missed me?!”

“I did!” Namee shrieked.

“Who missed me?”

“I did!” Namee even raised her hand as she beamed at him. She then shot to her feet and threw herself towards Bullet who hugged her back while chuckling. Dara can only shake her head while watching the two goofballs. It was Saturday and it has been a week since she last visited him at his house; a week after her conversation with Jiro in the tub.

Jiro seemed to be lost in his own thoughts a lot recently – staring silently at nothing in particular as he stood in her balcony while smoking a cigarette. Oftentimes, she catches him looking at her with an unreadable expression. She knew it’s about Riko and honestly, she’s scared to pry on the subject.

Riko took days off at school using health problems as an excuse. It worries her that Riko tried to harm herself because of Jiro, which might also be because of her too. Her conscience can’t bear the thought of someone ending her life because of her that’s why even if it pains her, she tries to understand the situation, hoping that everything will be settled.

Dara’s eyebrows were mashed together because of the troubling thoughts. She took a bite at her pizza before throwing it unceremoniously on her plate.

“Stop frowning at the poor pizza. You’re hurting its feelings”, Bullet mused and pinched her nose lightly, startling her. “Hey munchkin”, he drawled and winked at her. Dara laughed at his flirty display and watched as he sat across Namee and her on the table.

“So! What’s new? And no, I don’t want to hear about your Jiro”, he said pointedly at Dara.

“My Jiro?” Dara questioned somberly, making the two look at her.

“Trouble in paradise?” Namee asked.

“Hey, hey, hey. No talking about that guy. Have respect on the food in front of us”, Bullet said dramatically, disgust written on his face. “Say sorry to the pizza.”

“Sorry pizza”, the two girls said obediently.

“Good. Now, let me try this again. What’s up?”

“I’m pregnant!” Namee blurted out and giggled while covering .

“That’s good news!” Bullet exclaimed, ignoring Dara’s shocked gasp. Her eyes widened in an impossibly huge size while gawking at her friend. She knew Namee is crazy, but not THAT crazy! How can she be so reckless? How can she have let this happen?! They’re only in their third year of college, for Pete’s sake!

“Who’s the father?” Bullet asked excitedly while Dara gasped once again. Why is the idiot not even slightly dumbfounded by Namee’s revelation?

“He’s a third year student like us! And he’s from the Black Dragons!”

“Hmm… There are a lot of third years in Black Dragons but the ones you had interaction with are Bonsai and Picaro. So, it’s Picaro?”

“Yes!”

“Wow! That’s cool”

“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Dara exclaimed in exasperation, but the two just kept on going.

“So, what are your plans now?” Bullet asked while grinning.

“Oh, it’s simple. I don’t want to live in the Rostelli mansion and I’m quite attached to Little China Town so we need to have a house there. With a garden of course!”

A house? A garden? Dara is slowly losing her mind as she stared incredulously at her friend. She wants to cry, or slap Namee back to her sanity, or yell. She might also want to hit Bullet’s head in the process. And yell some more.

What is wrong with them? Pregnant? Namee is pregnant?

“Now, now. You’re forgetting a very important thing”, Bullet wagged his forefinger at Namee. “I need to talk to the young lad first, yeah?”

“Oh! Of course”, Namee smiled. “But don’t be too harsh on him. He’s the father of my child after all.”

“NAMEE!” Dara pounded the table, startling her two friends and possibly the other customers; but embarrassing herself is the least of her worries right now.

She stared at Namee’s stunned face, her eyes bulging in panic. “How can you be pregnant?” She whispered in a shaky voice. “This can’t be happening! Oh my God! What will you do now? Have you talked to Picaro? Are you okay? Have you been to the doctor? ANSWER ME!”

“I’m not pregnant, silly”, Namee said with a deadpan expression. Dara looked at her and shifted her gaze to Bullet who nonchalantly grabbed a slice of pizza.

“You’re not?” Dara breathed out the question as she gazed at Namee once again.

“Of course not”, Namee assured her.

“It was just a joke. Seriously, munchkin, keep up with the conversation, will you?” Bullet said while smiling at her.

W-What?

The two chuckled while eyeing her stunned face.

“You really thought that was true?” Bullet asked in amusement.

“I was just kidding, Dara. Don’t you know me by now?” Namee explained in between chuckles.

The whole conversation is a joke? She twitched her lips in annoyance and glared at Bullet and Namee. The urge to murder the two is strong. “That is not funny!” She hissed.

“Yes it was! You should’ve seen your face. Damn, it was epic!” Namee teased. “This can’t be happening! Oh my God!” She screeched in a high-pitched voice, mimicking Dara. “Hulk smash!” She pounded the table just like what Dara did earlier.

“Very cute”, Dara mumbled.

“Anyway, Picaro and I are starting to date”, Namee announced.

Dara would have been elated with the news but she’s still scarred with the pregnancy prank. “Great. Why don’t you two start making babies?” She said.

“Oh, we will. Hey now, cheer up”, Namee cooed. “Bullet and I didn’t plan to prank you. I just blurted it out as a joke and Bullet played along.”

Bullet chuckled and high-fived with Namee. They are made in a frightening part of heaven, these two.

“I was really scared and worried for you”, Dara murmured. “And you! How dare you?!” She snarled at Bullet, who raised both his hands in surrender while grinning at her. “So, anyway. You and Picaro are going out? Are you two a couple now?”

“I’m sure we’ll get there”, Namee said happily. “We’re dating and we will just see how it goes. Just like you and Jiro.”

“Hey”, Bullet complained at the mention of Jiros’ name. “Language, woman. I’m deeply hurt.”

“Sorry. You know we both love you, right?” Namee reached for his cheek and patted it gently. “Are you okay now?”

He rolled his eyes at her and leaned back on his seat. “Of course. I’m a man!” He growled and pounded his chest. He then shifted his gaze at Dara and smiled genuinely.

“Good”, Namee mumbled. “Good”, she repeated, and Dara knew Namee is greatly relieved. She is too. Bullet is back with them and despite his feelings for her, he didn’t let it ruin what the three of them have. He is indeed a strong guy, just like she thought.

***

“Okay, it’s not as pathetic as it sounds”, Bonsai reasoned while standing in front of their leader as they hang out at their turf. His mohawk hairstyle, which is an additional source of his height, is not standing proudly unlike before.

“It’s far more pathetic than it sounds”, Picaro interjected, ignoring the short man’s glare. Clearly, Bonsai is not too ecstatic that he’s not letting him tell the fabricated story he practiced a while ago to save his manly ego.

“Are you not going to shut up?” Bonsai said in a threatening tone.

Picaro exhaled wearily and shoved his hands in his pockets, deciding that it will be best to just explain later after Bonsai spits out the garbage of a story that he made up and that no one is going to believe anyway.

Just as what their leader instructed them to do, Picaro and Bonsai tailed the student who recently received the X mark in his locker. But they were a bit late when the student and his gang mates were attacked in an alley near InterSAT’s east gate. The masked attackers fled when they saw them and Bonsai ran after one of the masked attackers while Picaro helped the victims. The moment Bonsai was left alone without Picaro’s supervision is the time when everything went wrong.

“What happened to you?” Jiro frowned in confusion and studied Bonsa’s sorry state – bruised face, wounds and cuts in his arms, messed up and torn shirt. “You said you chased one of the attackers. Did you get beaten up?”

“I didn’t get beaten up!” Bonsai exclaimed, absolutely mortified that their leader will utter such incredulity.

“Then what the happened to you? You look like ”, Jiro asked again.

“The culprit ran in the…zoo. So I followed him. Then…then… I was chased by a… tiger.”

“A tiger?”

“A zebra!”

“A….zebra”, Jiro deadpanned.

“Yeah. The striped animal.”

“Uh-huh.”

“God”, Picaro facepalmed himself, unable to stand it any longer. Bonsai is never a good liar. “Just tell him the truth and stop embarrassing yourself!”

Bonsai groaned. Picaro knew that his gang mate is disappointed that he failed the ‘mission’ that their leader entrusted them with. Despite being a goofball, Bonsai has a strong sense of responsibility and he feels like he failed the entire gang for letting the guy slip away in an embarrassing way.

Seeing that Bonsai has no plans of talking, Picaro explained what really happened. “The attacker that he chased went to the woods and Bonsai followed him. When I found Bonsai, he was at the bottom of a pit because he slipped and rolled to the bottom, which is w