CHAPTER 18

 

 After that incident in the mall where they had almost drowned in the sea of fans, the JUMPs didn’t risk going there without their disguises anymore, no matter how ridiculous those disguises might look.

 

 Instead of going to the mall, Yuto and Keito asked Mia out to the marketplace. Mia didn’t agree at first but the two were just so insistent that she finally gave in.

 

 The three met up in the lobby of the hotel. They waited for the driver silently and got inside the van as soon as the vehicle parked on the front of the hotel.

 

 The van dropped them off at the parking lot in St. Augustine Church at 2 in the afternoon. The driver said that he’d be coming back after a couple of hours to pick the three teenagers up. Given such little time, Yuto ran off towards the direction of the main market, leaving Keito and Mia behind.

 

 “Ano…” Keito said as he stared at Yuto who stopped in front of a candle stall, “…about last night…”

 

 “Nani?” Mia asked, then she saw where Keito was looking at. almost fell open. “You didn’t tell him about that, right?”

 

 Keito just lowered his head. Apparently, Mia understood what he meant.

 

 “EHH???” she said as she looked over Yuto, who was now approaching them.

 

 “Oi,” the tall guy said, “we’ll run out of time. Ikuzo. Ne?” he then walked again.

 

 “Chotto.” Mia said, grabbing Yuto’s forearm which pretty much hit Keito with jealousy in the face. “Did Keito tell you about…about…”

 

 Mia couldn’t say his name. It’s not like she’s acting or just making it dramatic. She just couldn’t. Even just the sound of his name in her mind makes her heart feel in pain, as if it’s getting dipped in boiling Tabasco sauce.

 

 “Justin.” Yuto finished, “Hai. Keito did tell me. Look Mia-chan, gomen nasai for making Keito tell that to me. It’s just that I saw the two of--”

 

 “Are we going or not?” Keito interrupted, saving Yuto from slipping.

 

 It would be fine if Yuto would only say ‘It’s just that I saw the two of you together last night.’ But Keito knew better. He knew that Yuto might say ‘...and I felt jealous so I wringed the truth from him’. Having Yuto say that would count as an accidental confession… and Keito didn’t want to drive the guy into a wall and call him a traitor just like Yuto did last night.

 

 “Yes. Go. We better go. That sounds nice.” Yuto said with a nervous smile.

 

  Mia blinked. What was Yuto about to say? She felt confusion tugging in her gut but she managed to ignore it.

 

 The three of them went to the main market.

 

 Having Yuto around with her in this place last time was fun. Now with Keito too, it was even more fun.

 

 Keito, just like Yuto last time, turned his head from left to right with every step he took. He also played with the jumping fishes in some vendor’s container until the fish would drop back down, DEAD. Poor vendor, Mia decided to pay him for the inconvenience they had brought. After the fish thing, Mia bought clothes for the three of them. Again, that’s just like last time.

 

 They then went to Jollibee, oh goodness gracious, Jollibee again. Yeah, it’s Mia’s favorite food chain too but man, going there like three times a week made her feel like she wanted to fly already. She’d had enough with chickens…though she still ate her food, thinking it would be rude not to, especially in front of these two guys, who really enjoyed chomping on their fried birds. They didn’t go to the convenience store for ice cream anymore because they’ve already eaten strawberry sundaes for dessert in Jollibee.

 

 “Nani sore?” Yuto asked as he pointed towards an old woman barbecuing something. Mia led the two guys there.

 

 Keito took a stick of the ‘barbecue’ and ate it in a single chomp, obviously he still isn’t full from what he ate earlier. “Oishi! Nani kore??” he said as he took another one.

 

 “Chicken intestines.” Mia replied.

 

 Keito almost choked. Yuto laughed, amused of seeing his friend choking over a charred stick of chicken intestines.

 

 “Oh come on,” Mia said, “They’re clean.” She took a bite. “Clean.”

 

 Keito somehow recovered from his choking without any drink then ate again. Yuto also took a stick. “Umaiii..” they both said.

 

 Mia thanked the lady vendor and paid for what they ate. She also bought three cans of pineapple juice from the stall just beside the barbecue lady.

 

 She handed the guys their drinks. Once they had finished drinking, Yuto ran straight off towards the arcade. Mia and Keito also ran just to catch up.

 

 They enjoyed themselves in the arcade, sometimes even talking with the other people there. The three played the ball-shooting game and Mia had the highest points, making Yuto and Keito feel a bit ashamed. They played gun shooting games, Mia won. Played Tekken, Keito and Yuto taking turns, Mia won. Played car driving games, Mia won. Man, she was so sugoi.

 

 They had so much fun in the arcade that they lost track of time. It’s already 4:25. They ran in their way to the church’s parking lot.

 

 Apparently their driver had arrived earlier than they thought because his feet were sticking out of the driver’s window, not a sight you would want to see in a church area. Thankfully, his shoes are on.

 

 The driver woke up after several hard bangs on the windshield and on the driver’s door.

 

 Yuto and Keito offered to fetch Mia to her house but the girl wouldn’t agree.

 

 “When you find out where my house is, you’ll just disturb me.” She said, not caring for the other guys’ feelings.

 

 “Ouch.” Keito said.

 

 “Oh come on, you know it’s true.” She said as she walked away and hailed a tricycle outside the church gates.

 

 “Oh, right. And I hope you would join in the intramurals at school. It’d be great to see you guys play basketball. Ja!” Mia said then she went inside the tricycle and the ride started to move away, Keito and Yuto weren’t able to reply.

 

 “Intramurals…Basketball.” Keito muttered.

 

 Yuto looked at him. Obviously, they were thinking of the same thing.

 

 “He’ll join in, right?” Yuto asked.

 

 Keito smiled. Yes, they really were thinking about the same thing: They’re joining a team opposing his.

 

                                                CHAPTER END

 

      Hi minna! If you don't understand who 'he' is, well, it's that JUSTIN.

Anyways, I'm so sorry for not updating in two days. School's starting next week so an advanced GOMEN from me. :)

 

Please comment.  

Keito or Yuto? Or Justin? Who do you want Mia to end up with? Message me. (Just asking though, haha, I've already made up my mind that she's going to end up with--------) :P