Jiro was in the hospital, Genie was with him all day, Aaron and Gui Gui walked around together in the schoolyard. It was break.
“I know Genie wants to help Jiro, but she shouldn’t skip school,” Gui Gui said worried.
“Are you tired of bringing their homework to them every day?” Aaron asked teasing.
“No, not that way – okay, maybe a little, but I mean, it’s bad enough that Jiro skips so many lessons, Genie doesn’t have to do it too.” Gui Gui frowned, but then laughed.
“They really can’t be separated, right?” she said. Aaron nodded, and smiled back at her.
He could feel his mobile phone vibrate in his pocket. He had got a text message.
‘I can see you. –XG’
Aaron’s smile disappeared. He looked around, but couldn’t see Xiao Gui anywhere.
“What’s wrong?” Gui Gui asked.
“Nothing…” Aaron said. Would Xiao Gui really tell Gui Gui, that Aaron was the reason of her sister’s death? Maybe he should tell her himself before Xiao Gui got the change. He pushed the thought away as soon as he had got it – he knew he couldn’t make himself do that.
But how would Gui Gui react if she knew the truth? They weren’t lovers officially, but Aaron knew he couldn’t live without Gui Gui. She brightened up his day like no strawberries could, with her cute smile and happy talking. She was also clever… Maybe she would understand it? But he couldn’t dare to hope so.
“Gui Gui… Between me and Xiao Gui, who would you choose?” Aaron heard himself ask.
“What?” Gui Gui asked surprised. Aaron kept silent.
“Uhm… Why – why do you ask?” she said, and looked at him with big eyes.
“Just if… You found out that I had done something really terrible, would you then be with Xiao Gui?” Aaron looked at his feet.
“I can’t imagine what you could’ve done that would make me love you less – I mean…” she immediately blushed like she had said something she didn’t mean to. Aaron looked surprised at her.
“I mean, Xiao Gui seems just to be evil, so…”
And Xiao Gui was standing just in front of them.
“Gui Gui, may I talk to you? It’s about our homework,” he said, and smiled a friendly smile that they had never seen before.
“Uhm… okay…” Gui Gui said surprised. Xiao Gui dragged her away from Aaron, and sent him a sly gaze. Aaron glared angry after him.

Gui Gui returned to the classroom after the break, where Aaron already sat down.
“Hello,” she said. Her expression was hard to read, but it didn’t seem like Xiao Gui had told her anything yet.
“What did he want?” Aaron asked, a bit angrier than he wanted.
“Just some help with the math homework… He can be pretty nice when he wants to, I think, but he’s still got some mean undertones,” she said thoughtful. “I still don’t think really well about him.”
Aaron was a bit more relieved when the lesson started. Xiao Gui was late for class as always.

After school, Aaron and Gui Gui went to visit Jiro (and Genie, who could now be mentioned as resident at the hospital). Jiro sat up in the bed when they came in, but they couldn’t see Genie.
“Heeey!” Jiro waved at them, and smiled happily.
“Genie just went to get some tea, take a chair,” he continued, and pointed at some chairs next to his bed. Aaron and Gui Gu smiled, and sat down.
“How are you feeling?” Gui Gui asked, and laid her hand on his forehead to take his temperature.
“Really well, actually,” Jiro answered.
“Sounds good,” Aaron said, still a bit in his own thoughts. Would Xiao Gui really take action of his threatens?
Genie came in with a tray with tea, but was about to drop it all when she saw Gui Gui and Aaron.
“Omg, you’re here!” she said, and quickly sat down the tray on the table next to Jiro’s bed.
“We’ve been waiting for you all day!”
“Well, unlike some others, we go to school,” Gui Gui said, and laughed.
“But do you know what? That nasty guy Xiao Gui actually wanted to talk to me today! He asked me about some homework stuff…”
“He’s probably just too lazy to do it himself, I meet those guys all the time,” Genie said, and shook her head. Aaron and Jiro, who were outsiders in the girl-talk that now continued, started to chat with each other.
“Did we get much homework?” Jiro asked, and frowned.
“You don’t have to do it, since you’re sick,” Aaron said, and smiled.
“I’ve made some drawings!” Jiro exclaimed (he had fast forgotten the homework-topic) and took out some papers from the drawer under his table. He gave the big bunch to Aaron, who looked through them.
There were mainly drawings of dogs, cats and rabbits, together and separately. They all had beautiful backgrounds, and all the shadows were laid perfectly. It was like the rabbit could jump out of the picture and into one’s arms.
Aaron stopped at one specific picture, that didn’t show a rabbit, cat or dog. When Jiro saw what drawing Aaron looked at, he got nervous.
“Uhm, that is nothing special, you don’t have to look at that,” he said, but Aaron hold the drawing so that Jiro couldn’t take it away from him.
“Jiro – should I show this piece of paper to Genie?” Aaron said with a roguish smile.
“No! No Aaron, please don’t!” He tried to grab the paper.
“It’s good that you experiment with drawing things that happened in real life, but there must be a reason why you chose you and Genie’s kissing moment when we played Truth or Dare at the summer camp…” Aaron continued teasing.
“Aarooon!” Jiro said with indignation.
“What?” Genie said, who had got interested in their conversation.
“Nothing!!” Jiro said.
“What about the summer camp?” Gui Gui asked.
“Jiro painted a picture of us all when we played Truth or Dare, but he doesn’t want me to show it to you,” Aaron said, and hided the picture behind his back. Jiro drew a sigh of relieve.
“Ah, come on, Jiro! You can show it to us, I can’t imagine that you could’ve drawn a bad picture,” Genie said, and quickly snapped the picture from Aaron before he got to notice it.
Gui Gui also looked at the picture.
It was one of the few with colors on, and the fire was so realistic that you could nearly feel the heat. It was the scene of Genie kissing Jiro, and Aaron and Gui Gui sat next to them on the picture and laughed.
Genie blushed, Gui Gui suppressed a giggle and exchanged glances with Aaron, and Jiro had frozen in a movement to take the drawing.
“I’ll go get some tea – Aaron, don’t you also want some?” Gui Gui asked.
“Of course,” he answered, and they left Genie and Jiro alone. When they came on distance from the ward, Gui Gui finally burst out in laughter.
“That was brilliant! They just needed that push,” she said through her laughter that almost gave her tears in her eyes.
Aaron couldn’t help but laughing with her.
“He actually caused it himself, it was him who gave me the picture,” Aaron said.
“His… expression…” Gui Gui nearly couldn’t talk because of laughter cramps.
When Gui Gui was able to breathe again, they walked to the cafeteria at the hospital to buy some tea.
They stayed away for a long time, and when they got back to the ward, Genie had fallen asleep in her chair while Jiro held her hand. Jiro looked at them when they came in, and mimed to them to keep silent.
“She’s been awake all night,” he whispered when they got closer.
“She needs some sleep.”
Aaron nodded, and Gui Gui smirked.
“So… how did it end?” she asked Jiro. He looked away.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, but it didn’t sound convincing.
“Really? I know you too well Jiro, you can’t hide it,” she said.
“Okay, okay – but I’ll only tell Aaron!” he said.
“Hey, I’m your cousin! Why can’t you tell me?” she asked a bit offended.
“You’re a girl,” Jiro said.
“Wow, nice spotted,” she said, but got up and walked out of the room, and winked at Aaron on her way out.
“Well…?” Aaron said.
“Uhm…” Jiro said hesitating, and his gaze wandered to Genie, who slept peacely.
“Did you kiss her?” Aaron asked patient.
Jiro nodded. Aaron smiled, and hit him lightly on the shoulder.
“You don’t have to be shy!” he said.
“It’s your entire fault,” Jiro said, but still didn’t sound like he really meant it.
“If you insist, I will take the honor.”
“But, Aaron?” Jiro now got his innocent little-boy face on again.
“What?” Aaron said.
“What about you and Gui Gui?”
Aaron didn’t want to answer the question, and didn’t have to as Gui Gui came in again.
“We can stop the man-to-man-talk now, I’m bored outside,” she said, and yawned dramatizing.
“Maybe I should leave now, I have a lot of homework, and then you two can chat,” Aaron said, and got up. They said goodbye, and he walked out.
On the way out, Aaron got a message on his mobile with only one word.
‘Tomorrow.’

***
Sorry for the long wait!
I’ve just started school again, and last weekend I was at a birthday party, so couldn’t write there either :S But now the chapter is here!
Hope you like the chapter; please please please write a comment!
- Blitz