Yuko's eyes snapped open. Slowly, she sat up and looked around her bedroom. Then, for no real reason, she stared at her shaking, clammy hand. She swung her legs out of bed. It had been a while since she had that dream.

It had been almost two weeks since summer vacation started. Ren had gone off to training camp for track and field club last week. Yuko spent her days so far lazing about and doing homework.

But after her dream, she remembered something. So, without wasting any time, she picked up her phone, and called Takiyo. After five rings, he hadn't picked up, so after the beep, Yuko said, "Hey, Takiyo-kun. It's me. Um...call me back when you get time." Then she dropped her phone and rolled over in bed.

So she had to go there again. It wasn't a pain. It was an obligation.

***

"I'm home!" Takiyo called as he walked into the house.

"Welcome back." Mr. Hamasaki said, without looking up from his newspaper.

"Oh, welcome home, Takiyo." Mrs. Hamasaki said pleasantly, entering the living room from the kitchen, wiping a plate with a cloth.

"One minute, Ka-san. I need to charge my phone. I forgot to last night and now it's dead." Takiyo said, dashing up the stairs.

(Note: 'Ka-san' is a way of addressing one's mother. The standard way is 'Oka-san'.)

He plugged in his phone, and when the screen lit up, he saw:

You have one new message.

Takiyo shrugged and decided to check it later.

When he did, he saw it was a voice mail from Yuko.

"Hey, Takiyo-kun. It's me. Um...call me back when you get time."

He dialed her number and held the phone up to his ear, waiting. She picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"Oh hey, Takiyo-kun! Did you get my voice mail?"

"No, I'm just calling you because I missed you so much."

"Aw... Wait! I heard sarcasm!"

"Of course I did, dimwit. Anyway, what did you want?"

"How's your homework coming along?"

Takiyo noticed that Yuko was panting slightly while speaking. He asked her in return, "What are you doing right now?"

"Oh, I'm at the gymnasium. I'm practicing gymnastics."

"Oh, I see. Then I'll call you later?"

"Huh, no it's fine. I'm just stretching."

"Oh, okay. So what did you want?"

"Um..."

At the other end, Yuko was performing the splits and stretching. She stopped, and picked the phone off the floor. She took a deep breath.

"Uh... I wanted to invite you out for some shopping."

"Shopping?"

"Yes, shopping."

"Eh? Ask Muranaka."

"He's at training camp, remember?"

"Kaneshiro, then."

"She's busy. She's going out with her friends."

"Mm... Why do I have to come along, anyway?"

"Um... It's important."

"What are you shopping for that's so important?"

"Um, nothing important."

"You just said-"

"Yes, I know what I said! Just listen. After we're done shopping, we're going somewhere important."

"Where?"

"I'll tell you later! Just...are you gonna come? Please?"

"Mm...."

"Pretty please?"

"Erm...."

"Pretty please with a-"

"If you finish that sentence, I'm going to puke."

"Are you coming?"

"Ah...fine. When?"

"Um... tomorrow."

"Oh, okay."

"We'll meet up at the station near school, okay?"

"Ah sure. Later."

"Yeah, later!"

Yuko dropped the call and exhaled. "I did it..." She muttered.

"Yuko-chi!"

(Note: '-chi' is a cutesy mispronunciation of '-chan'. It is a more childish honorific, but is often used between very close friends and family.)

"Ah, I'm coming!" Yuko said, quickly getting up.

Let's do this.

***

"Nishikawa! Hey, Nishikawa, over here!" Takiyo yelled, waving to get Yuko's attention. She roamed around, quite lost. She heard Takiyo, spotted him, and ran over.

"Hi, Takiyo-kun!" Yuko said brightly. She was wearing a light pink, buttoned cardigan and a striped skirt, with Ugg boots. Takiyo was also wearing a cardigan, only light blue with a horizontal blue stripe and brown trousers.

"Hello."

"So dull... Did you sleep well?"

"The only person who sleeps more than me is my dad." Takiyo replied. "And ironically he has a night-shift. As a result, he's sleeping half the day."

"Oh really? I never knew." Yuko said.

"Anyway, where are we going?" Takiyo asked.

"Shopping~!" Yuko replied. "Then we're going to have lunch, then we're gonna go somewhere."

"Nice to see you have everything planned out." Takiyo said. "Shall we board the train then?"

"Hm, no. It's the next one." Yuko said. Takiyo got this weird feeling as though she was very nervous and distracted. He was about to ask her about it, but seeing the look on her face, decided against it. Maybe it was just because she was in public.

By the time they got on the train, the silence was starting to get uncomfortable. Yuko seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Was this really the effect of her being in public? Takiyo pulled out his phone and started browsing through it. The train slowly got more and more crowded. He repeatedly looked up to check if they had arrived at their station yet.

After sometime, when the space had gotten exceptionally tight, and Takiyo ensured that Yuko was still next to him. They still had one more station to go. He was getting really bored.

Suddenly, somebody grabbed his hand. Very tightly. Takiyo looked down at it and realised it was Yuko. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she held a very tight grip on his hand. So tight that her fingernails had started to dig into his skin, and Yuko was one of those people who didn't like to grow out her nails.

"Nishikawa?" Takiyo asked. What's up with her? he wondered.

Yuko just shook her head, and looked highly uncomfortable. Takiyo scanned her, and when his eyes reached her lower body, he found the reason.

Ah. A groper.

He put his phone in his pocket, reached over and grabbed the hand of the culprit. Raising it up, he saw the shocked look on the man's face.

"What do you think you're doing?" Takiyo asked. He didn't mean to, but it seemed as though Takiyo's stare had unnerved the man. He looked very freaked out.

Takiyo dropped the groper's hand and took Yuko by the shoulders. He positioned her so that he was behind her, then went back to his phone, acting as though nothing had happened. His left hand was still on Yuko's shoulder, and the cramped space caused him to hold his phone against Yuko's head.

Yuko was surprised at how calmly Takiyo had handled the situation. She was relieved, and gripped her hand bag tightly. She felt the need to apologize, but then she thought Takiyo would just get mad if she did.

The rest of the trip passed without any disturbances. They arrived at the station, and Takiyo pushed their way out. They came out near a shopping district.

"So, Nishikawa. What did you need?" Takiyo asked, taking a deep breath.

Yuko shook her head, then went back to her normal self. "Ah, yes! Let's go!"

Seriously, what was up with her today?

Author's note
Just giving you guys a heads-up, but majority of the summer vacation is dedicated to Yuko.