Strawberry Penguin [ 27- 24th November 2012 ]

[caiyunki]

[9] - Love and to be love


Risa kept his eyes tightly shut as he pressed his lips on Ai's lips, with his hands feeling the heated cheeks of Ai. That action was an act of fear, in fear that the suddenness of the kiss will result in his own abuse. His eyelids twitched a little after some moments. The warmth he felt on his fingers was still there - meaning, Ai was still there, yet to move back, yet to reject.


'Why? Why didn't I feel angry at all? Why didn't I push him away? Why am I feeling this way again? Just like that night. . . Why is my heart racing at this speed. . . ' Ai thought in her mind as she trembled. ' I hate this feeling. . . ' Ai continued in her mind as her body continued to tremble on its own.   


Risa opened his eyes slightly and peeked through the small window, only to find himself facing a Ai, with her eyes closed, eyebrows twitching uncontrollably. Risa pulled away from the kiss the moment he felt the lips on his were trembling.  The sudden action cause Ai to flip her eyes open abruptly, coming into an intense eye to eye contact with Risa. Risa gulped nervously at the contact. Instinctively, Risa took a step back further away from Ai and dodged Risa's stare.


'Don't go away . . ' Ai feared honestly from the bottom of her heart.


He looked down shyly on the ground, refusing to look at Ai at her eyes. 'Why didn't she push me away? Why didn't she hit me? Why was she trembling? Was it that I had violated her personal space and she was uncomfortable about it? Did I scared her? But I thought she - she may - But I can be wrong . . . Wh-y? ' Risa thought in his mind in confusion. He closed his eyes tightly, in fear that there might be a chance of a delayed violence from Ai.


His hands were kept at his back, with his right grabbing onto his left. Suddenly, soft tender fingers came creeping onto his upper hands, causing Risa to look up in surprise at Ai. The soft touch tightened into a slight grip, pulling Risa towards to the direction of its owner.


"Why?" Ai asked quietly as she looked earnestly into Risa's eyes.


 "I - " Risa shied away from her stare, with extra butterflies flying around in his stomach. "I - I'm - afraid - that - that you - you would - would be - be mad - at me -  and - and - hit - hit me - for - for - kiss - kissing you - you this - this - way . . " Risa stuttered nervously."So - I - I wanted - wanted - to - get - get - away from - from - you . . ."


Risa expected something he least expected. Ai began to giggle uncontrollably. Risa looked up from the ground and saw the smile and laughter he never thought he would see from Ai in the whole of his life. Ai removed her hand from Risa's arm and covered her mouth, continuing with her uncensored giggled. 'That was not my question.' Ai thought silently in her mind. "Baka."Ai scolded mercilessly before slapping a light palm on Risa's forehead.


"Ba-ka?" Risa repeated after Ai. He held his hand to his forehead where Ai had slapped previously while staring at Ai. "I - " Risa stuttered again, only to come in realisation what was Ai's question bringing into.


Ai showed Risa one of her playful smile, yet something that Risa had never seen before. 


Risa took a step closer to Ai again as he slipped his hands onto Ai's, grabbing onto both of Ai's wrist with his both hands. "I - I think I - I - li-ke no... no ...  love you . . . " Risa stuttered again as he felt the gush of warm blood running up his face, flushing his cheeks with a tomato red.


Ai felt the same heat growing at her cheeks. 'Why didn't I felt irked by that confession. This felt different from the way I felt when Miki first confessed to me. . . I don't have the urge to run away from Penguin. I don't have the fear for this love. Is this what it means by falling in love? That this is a mutual feeling between us?' Ai thought silently in her mind, bringing the atmosphere into a complete silence.


Risa kept staring at Ai, still unable to read the clues Ai displayed unknowingly through her subconscious actions. Instead, he took the silence of the atmosphere in the wrong way. He took a further more steps backward away from Ai and released his grip on Ai's arm. "I - didn't mean to steal that kiss from you. . . I - I didn't know what - what had came onto me. . I - I - I " Risa could not find the right words to express his thoughts, leading to his stuttering .


Ai was shock at the sudden lost of contact on her wrist when Risa pulled his hands away. As she watched Risa trying to explain for his actions, Ai knew that he had took the silence wrongly. Without having a third thought, Ai tiptoed and leaned forward towards Risa and silenced his explanations with a gentle kiss on his lips before pulling herself back to her heel. Ai bit her lower lips nervously as she smiled sheepishly. "Think only?"  Ai uttered almost inaudibly, looking slightly away from Risa's shocked demure.


Risa could not react to what he had just experienced. 'Did she just kissed me again? Without alcohol? Does that means that she likes me too?' Risa was dazed in his own thoughts that he did not feel the pair of rather gentle eyes starting earnestly at him, waiting for him to snap out of his shocking revelation.


"You think only?" Ai asked again, this time round in a slightly louder voice as she waited patiently for Risa to return. And he finally did.


"No." Risa answered hurriedly, frantically trying to hold AI's hands back to himself. "Not think. Is - is I know I - I - I . . . " Risa blushed even more. He could not find the same courage he had before to speak out his honest thoughts from the bottom of his heart.


"It's enough." Ai interrupted, saving Risa from his lack of words. She looked away shyly from Risa, knowing that she was as equally red as the red penguin before her. "Me too. . . " 


Before she knew it, she felt Risa's hands reaching for the back of her head, tilting her head slightly upwards before pulling her in to his lips. The touch brought her heart racing to another level. As Risa right hand slipped from her head down to her waist, pulling Ai even closer to Risa's body, Ai felt an unexplainable wave of ease, calming her heart slightly.


Though the two were enjoying the moment, something Risa least expected happened. "Ouch!" Risa cried out suddenly, causing the intimate contact on the lips to break. Risa backed away slightly and looked at Ai with confusion. He used his right hand and rubbed the back of his head lightly.


Ai panted heavily, trying to catch some breath while returning the gaze Risa gave. "Baka. " Ai scolded lightly. "I can't breathe." Ai continued pouting her lips like a duck lips.


A sheepish smile ran across Risa's face. The shy rub on the back of his head continued as he peeked bashfully at Ai. Ai returned her shy gaze and they shared the contact for a while, before breaking down into an uncontrollable giggle altogether. With that, Ai sank into Risa's embrace, lying onto his shoulder .


"Let's get together, shall we?" Risa regained his suave prince momentum, confessing first time with 100 percent consciousness about his actions.


------------------------------------------------


"General, are you sure that this is where General Takahashi family is staying?" Kanon asked with doubt as they stopped before the said residence.


"This is what the palace had recorded down in the records book." Hitomi answered as they both got off of the horse.


They were both dazed by what they had saw. A rundown mansion that were covered with frost of ice. It was obvious to them that the place had been vacant for years due to the lack of maintenance of the place. Hitomi stopped a passerby. "What happen to the Takahashi family?" Hitomi questioned.


"Ever since the General passed away at the borders during a mission, the whole family crashed. His wife had ran away with her lover, the servants had stole the gold of the family and had ran away soon after that." The passerby replied and tried to proceed back to his way, only to be stopped by Hitomi again.


"Do you happen to know anything about the General's child?"


"You meant the daughter of the family? I heard from the other peasants that the nanny had brought the daughter back to her own hometown."


"Do you happen to know what's the nanny name or where is her hometown?" Hitomi continued asking.


"Not that I can remember. But the nanny's hometown is out of this country. It's at the Land of Strawberry.  . . "





SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!!!!
Was being distracted from writing :X

@ rndmnwierd : Sorry for leaving such a cliffhanger. . . but leaving a teaser for you. . .next chapter will be a nice chapter  hehehe Yupps, i made that myself hehehe. Penguin hugging Strawberry hehehe

@ arisa03 : hehee, i updated!! heheh

@ risa_ai : That's my favourite moment too, Penguin throwin strawberry. hehehe.



A short chapter this time round. . .
but I promise the next chapter will be long. but it will too be a long wait, since i'm flying back to college in a few days time . . .:X
But whatever I am able to manage, I will try to update as soon as I am able to. . .^.^

De wa, until the next chapter

[arisa03]

asdpasdosad FINALLY TOGETHER! ;A;!! Thank you for the updated! m(_ _)m Take care in your flight back Cai-san! Next chapter will be a nice chapter... I can't wait! But of course I can ;A;!

I look forward to your next update! *jumps giddily onto her bed*

EDIT: so many kisses! They've like kissed five times now or more? maannn the next morning is going to be so awesome LOL. ajjasjjsjssjsjs No matter what happens, they're for each other anyway. LOL.

[Shiawase_Honoo]

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You made my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But...at the end....Oh...

[risa_ai]

Cayun~ THAT WAS THE DEFINATION OF PERFECT! Don't rush, take your time, cos your updates are the best~

[rndmnwierd]

Yay! So happy Risa wasn't rejected! (Like Ai could resist him anyways, lol) So, you'd think things would get more simple for them, but I'm guessing that's not the case

[arisa03]

I don't remember how many times I've re-read so I thought I'd just reply again. OTL.

[caiyunki]

[10] - Birthday Surprise (1)


"Strawberry. . . " Risa whispered softly into Ai's ears as he sneaked behind Ai and wrapped his hands tightly around Ai's waist, before he snuggled his chin into Ai's shoulder.


"Yes, Penguin?" Ai responded in a rather cutesy voice.


"I'm hungry. . . Is there anything to eat?"Risa acted like a spoiled child as he asked, blowing light breathe playfully into  the side of Ai's neck, sending a wave of chilling sensation down Ai's spine.


"Stop that. . ." Ai whined as she tried to pull her neck away from Risa. But the grip on her waist tightened, locking her in no way out. "It's ticklish. . . Stop that. . . " Ai whined again.


Risa did not follow what Ai had requested him of. Instead, his fingers began to make their way around the side of Ai's waist and began to do their work, tickling the waist, resulting in the uncontrollable giggling of Ai to echoed throughout the kitchen.


"It's ticklish. . . Don't do that. . . " Ai begged in the mist of her laughter.
 

"Feed me something. . . " Risa continued demanding from Ai as he began to stop his fingers at work.


"There you go . . . " Ai picked up a piece of strawberry she had just sliced from her chopping board and began to tease Risa with it, pulling it further away from Risa's mouth when Risa pulled in closer to reach for the strawberry.


"You little strawberry . . .  " Risa grunted teasingly as he reached one hand for the hand that was holding on the strawberry , trying to fix it in position, before leaning in again for the strawberry. Just as the strawberry was about to be savoured by Risa, pang of reality finally hit him.


"Itai!" Risa groaned loudly as he shot up from his sleeping position on his bed, with his right hand covering the top of his head. "Who's that?" Risa demanded as he looked to his right and left, in search for the offender who had just gave him a smack on the top of the head when he was still sound asleep.


"Wake up, pig!" Ai snigged jokingly as she stood up from her position, at the side where Risa's head was at previously."The sun is getting on your backside, pig. It's time for you to wake up." Ai continued.


Risa yawned tiredly as he ruffled his hair rowdily. "Let me sleep in today. . . " Risa whined like a little child. With that, Risa attempted to make a heavy dive back into the think mattress. Like said, it was only an attempt to. Before ge could do what he desired to, the firm grip on his shoulder had put that action to an halt.


"Wake up!" Came the firm voice ordering. "There's a lot of work to be done in the fields today. "Ai continued, Pushing Risa's weight off her hands, causing the poor prince to stumble forward and hit his nose on the soft mattress. "And that includes giving Ouji his routine walk in the mountain and his weekly bath." Ai finished as she began to stride away from Risa.


"Why do I have to do that" Risa whined as he refused to agree to Ai. "The selfish prince belongs to you. And it would be your chore to do it." Risa reasoned. "Furthermore, he's a gift from that stupid Miki." Risa continued mumbling in an inaudible voice.


"What did you just say? Ai turned back abruptly, asking.


"You can hear me?" Risa asked in utter shock, ignoring the question raised by Ai. With the volume that he went, he had never expect anyone to hear it, furthermore an Ai who was already at a distance away from him.


"Are you jealous?" Ai ignore Risa's attempt for clearance, and went on asking, with a slight playful grin running across her face.


"I- I - I am not." Risa lied while stuttering.


"Are you sure??" Ai taunted, raising her right eyebrow a little while her left eye winked. She took baby steps back to where Risa was. When she reached the 'bed', Ai kneeled down onto the mattress and headed for the retreating Penguin before her.


Risa was trying to retreat away from Ai while seated down, thus losing to the speed Ai was going. "I - I - I'm sure. . . " Risa stuttered again.


"Really?" Ai fooled around with an raised eyebrow as she sat herself on her knees, straddled across Risa's thighs. She pulled her face close to Risa's, so close that she could actually feel the Risa's nervous breath on her nose. Ai goggled a little when she realised Risa was trying to hold his breath back. 'He's really cute. . . . ' Ai thought in her mind. 'And it's uncommon these days to find a guy who blushes when embarrassed. . . He's really something .. . '


Risa, who had his breath stolen by the mere to zero distance between Ai and him, finally gave in to his real feelings. "Yes! I'm jealous! So what?"Risa shouted before diving down into the mattress, wanting to increase the distance between them so that Ai would not discover the greenness he felt for the wealthy suitor of Ai. In simple words, he is embarrassed to have Ai found out that he is jealous of Miki. A playful smile sneaked across Ai's face as when Risa confessed to his real feelings but it remained unnoticed to the penguin as he was already on his back on the bed. "It's not like you will -" The impact of Risa's sudden dive caused Ai to loss her balance on her knees and fall forward, onto the firm chest of Risa and of course, lips to lips.


Risa felt his body heat raised at the sudden contact. His eyes were wide open staring unbelievingly at Ai, whose face was as equally crimson as his own face. Instinctively, Risa brought his loose hands up and placed them on Ai's waist, tightening them up as he embraced Ai.


"Ah. . . " An awkward third voice broke the heated atmosphere among the two. Ai pushed Risa away from her, supporting her own weight up by pushing her palm against Risa's chest and stood up back to her feets immediately. "What happened?" Erina continued asking, in complete oblivious situation about what had just happened.


"Nothing. . ." Ai answered quickly while Risa scrambled nervously back onto his feet.


"Nothing?" Erina tilted her head slightly as she repeated Ai's answer.


"This stupid Penguin was peeking at me again. . . " Ai added quickly, covering up the line she had just made before slamming a harsh push at the back of Risa's head, causing the poor prince to fall back onto his bed, on his knees.


Erina said nothing in response, in trusting of her sister with everything she told her. "I'm going to wash up." Erina stated tiredly before giving Ai her wake up smile. She then made her way to the toilet, leaving Ai and Risa all alone in the living room once again.


"What's that for?" Risa whined as he sat on his ankles, looking up at Ai. "Why don't you tell Erina we are together now.  . .  She's your sister, isn't that so? Why are you keeping it from her?" Risa continued.


"The time is not right yet." Ai answered rather ambiguously before slapping Risa on the top of his head again.


That had finally gotten onto Risa's nerve. He stood up speedily and came to a face to face contact with Ai. "Can I request you of one thing?" Risa asked in a soft tone, an opposing action as compared to his previous ones.


"Yeah?" Ai shied away slightly.


"Can you not hit my head?" Risa asked with his pleading eyes. "It hurts. . . "


"That . . . " Ai went into silence. It had became so much of a habit to abuse the younger penguin that she was not ready to give away this authority. "It's difficult for me to . . . " Ai broke her lips and spoke softly.  " It's .  . . It's . . . a way to show my love. . . " Ai continued in an almost inaudible voice.


Risa backed away slightly at that sentence. 'Now that she had said that. . . it seemed so true. . . Her violence was her way to show her love. . . Look at the way she treats Erina from time to time. . . though she may seem violent, but . . . they were not mean in any other way. . . Since she had never expressed her violence to that stupid Miki in any other ways, does that means that he's not my competition at all?' The seriously thinking face changed into a slight smirk, successfully earning him another faithful slap on the head. "Itai!" Risa cried out to Ai, only to find Ai pulling her hands back to herself immediately, with a remorseful expression painted on her face.


"I didn't mean to do it - I just can't " Ai tried to explain, but was unsure where should she start from. "It just came to me when I saw you smirking over there. I - " Ai stuttered. And silence sat in for a moment.


"If that's the case. . . I'll just let it be . . " Risa gave in, resulting in an overjoyed Ai who went straight into his embrace. "But just for today. . . Can you not hit my head? Just for today . . ." Risa added on quickly.


"Why today?" Ai looked up from Risa's embrace.


"It's my birthday today." Risa explained.


Ai pushed Risa away immediately. The smile turned into a pout as she rested her hands on her waist. "Why didn't you tell me earlier!" Ai grunted cutely.


"It doesn't matters, isn't that so? As long as I don't get hit by you today, it's my best celebration already. . . " Risa explained quickly.  "I'll get to my work now." Risa finished with a smile, giving a light pat on Ai forehead as the latter continued to pout like a spoilt child.


After Risa had brushed past her, Ai immediately turned back and rushed back into her room and slammed her door after her, successfully catching Risa's and Erina's, who was standing at the main door, attention.


"What happened to Ai-nee again?" Erina walked up to where Risa stood and stopped beside him.


Risa shrugged his shoulders lightly in response.


"I guess it's just the days for her is here." Erina suggested an answer for her own question. Risa turned around and looked queerly at the youngest girl. "Ah, you won't want to know what's that. . ." Erina added on quickly before changing the topic they were discussing about. "What do you need to do today, Penguin? I guess Ai-nee had allocated your work for today, isn't that so?" Erina guessed.


Risa nodded his head in response. "Walk Ouji, Bath Ouji, and as usual, irrigation of the fields." Risa recounted as he counted on his fingers.


"Ai-nee asked you to walk Ouji again? Didn't she know about how Ouji bullies you during the walk?" Erina asked curiously. "I wonder why Ouji always likes to urinate on your feet. . .hmmmm. . . " Erina went into silence.


"Must be that stupid Miki taught him so. . " Risa mumbled under his breath, still sore about the fact that he was always stinted with the ammonia smell after walking Ouji. That was in such a hush tone that it was remained unheard to Erina.


"Anyway, Penguin, can I ask you something?" Erina continued.


"About ?"


"Ai-nee. . . "


"What about your sister?" Risa perked into interest upon the mention of Ai.


"Did you notice the slight bruises on Ai-nee's neck? Do you know what's that?" Erina asked airheadedly. Risa immediately flushed into tomato red upon hearing that. Memories from that night came flashing back into his mind.


"Don't you know how to kiss properly?" Ai scolded Risa as she panted heavily, trying to catch her breath. "I still need to breathe. . . That's not the way people kiss. . ." Ai continued.


"I'm - I didn't mean it. . . It's my first time to actually . . . you know . . . Initiate a kiss. . . " Risa looked down on his feet and explained. "I'm out of breathe too . . .And you don't seemed experienced too . . .since you thought that Miki took your first kiss when I was the one. . . " Risa continued in a quiet voice. That alone had earned him a rightful smack on the head. "Ouch. I'm sorry. . ." Risa apologised immediately. "There must be a way to work out this, isn't that so?"


"So we don't kiss?" Ai suggested.


"That's not what I meant!" Risa added on explaining immediately. "I mean. . . " Risa came into silence as he reached ahead for Ai and positioned his face at Ai's neck, tickling the older with the tip of his tongue before planting soft kiss on Ai's neck.


"Hee hee. . ." Ai giggled uncontrollably. "That's tickles. . "


Risa pulled himself back, coming back into an eye contact with Ai. "This will solve the problem of not being to breath, isn't that so?" Risa smiled mischievously.


"I had asked Ai-nee about it before. . . " Erina continued with her story, not knowing Risa was out in his own world. "She asked me to ask you about it. . ." Erina finished.


"EH?!" Risa finally snapped out of his own world.


"So do you know what's that? You should know about it right? Since Ai-nee wanted me to ask you . . ." Erina continued, still as oblivious as who she is all these time.


"That's - that's . . . " Risa began stuttering. He was up against the wall now. With Ai's desire to keep the relationship a secret to Erina right now, Risa is lost for solutions to explain the situation. "How to say. . . hmmm.. . . Your sister lies to eat strawberry, isn't that so?"


"Erina likes them too as well. . ."


"That's different" Risa argued. "Since your sister likes to eat strawberries. . . So she had someone to plant some on her neck as well?"Risa explained.


Erina furrowed her eyebrows at the explanation. It was getting her to be more confused rather than to understand. "What -" Before Erina could voice out her confusion, the impact of the sudden flunking open of door caught the attention of both. Erina and Risa spunk their head towards the direction of Ai's room and had their jaws dropped onto the ground.


"What's that face for?" Ai asked rather offensively, taking the reaction from the two in the bad way. Ai looked down at herself once again to check her outfit.


"Where are you going today, Ai-nee?" Erina snapped out of her surprise and closed her jaw by pushing it upward.


"Nowhere?" Ai responded. "Why?"


"Why are you so dressed up then?" Erina continued questioning.


"What is wrong with my dressing? I don't think there's anything wrong with it. . ." Ai checked herself up once again.


Erina walked up to Ai. "There's nothing wrong with it. . .It's just that Ai-nee, you never wear skirt at all, let alone a dress, what's more to work in the fields. . . " Erina explained. Ai was dressed in a simple spaghetti top white dress, with the length stopping at her mid thigh, revealing the skin that was always been covered up by the khakis Ai always wore. "I never knew you have these, Ai-nee, when did you get them?"


"This was a gift from Miki." Ai whispered softly into Erina's ear.


"Ah. . . I see. . ."


While the sisters were indulged in their own conversation, Risa, on the other hand, had not moved an inch ever since Ai had gotten out of her room. He was amazed by the beauty of the angel who stood right before her. The pureness that the white dress bring out of Ai struck Risa so badly. He had never knew Ai's beauty this way. It was her difference from the ladies Risa met in all his life in the palace that had attracted Risa to fall in love with such a commoner. 'She's gorgeous . . .Just like a princess . . . '


"Enough of that scorning, Erina. . ." Ai returned playfully. "I'm going off to the fields now. . " With that, Ai brushed past Risa, winking at him lightly before heading towards the door. But Risa had missed the wink. He was still stuck in his own world. The image of the angel Ai had not got out of his mind.


"Penguin?" Erina returned to Risa's side and called out. But Risa did not hear the call. "Penguin?" Erina called out the second time and had gotten the same response from Risa. At her final call, Erina had decided to use her sister's favourite weapon. "Penguin?!" Erina slapped Risa's upper arm, pulling the prince back to the reality. "What are you still day dreaming over here?"


That was when Risa realised Ai was gone. "Eh? Where had she gone?" Risa blurted out unknowingly.


"Ai-nee? She had gone out to the fields." Erina informed effortlessly.


"Ah. . .she's gone. . " Risa continued downheartedly.


"Shouldn't you be walking Ouji now? He's going to make a din if you don't get him going . . ."Erina concerned. "I'm going to change now. . " With that, Erina returns back into her room.


While Erina returned to her room, Risa headed towards the kitchen aimlessly, took the leash and reached for the Ouji who was waiting impatiently at the door. "Let's go, selfish prince." Risa hooked the leash on its collar and opened the front door. The moment he stood out of the house, a warm hand sneaked around his mouth and covered it, muffling any sound that came out of it.


"Keep quiet and follow me . ." Came a low voice echoing into Risa's ears. With that, together with Ouji, without knowing who was the stranger who had just muffled him, Risa was being dragged out of the cottage area, out of the fields and towards the wide far away mountains.






UPDATE!!!!!!!
and I had decided to split this chapt into two so that I can share it earlier to everyone heheheh


@ arisa03 : Thanks! I'm back all in one piece heheh Woah ..  you counted how many times they kissed. . .I had lost count of them when I wrote it ;X heheh and thanks for the second comment ^.^ heheheh hopefully this chapter will bring you back to read it upteem times again hehehe

@ Shiawase_Honoo : You MADE my day too!!! I'm glad you like this chapter!! hehe Oh. . . the end . . .hmmm. . . Read on read on heheh

@ risa_ai : hehehhe. thanks!! hehehe. (you gotten my name wrong though. . .but we are even now ) hehehe

@ rndmnweird : Who will be able to resist our little prince Gaki . . .Hmmmm. . . *wink* You had gotten to know me well ar. . . HEHEHEHHE

[risa_ai]

I wanna call you cayun~ it's cuter. Don't mind?
Takagaki raburabu~ I'll be waiting for the next awesome update! Ja ne~

[rndmnwierd]

I'm guessing Ai has a birthday surprise for the prince brat, especially since Ouji didn't seem threatened. Hmm, makes me wonder, when I Risa going to come clean about who he really is?

[arisa03]

OMG jdjdjdjhdhs YOU UPDATED! My day has been made ;______; ////


Ai-chan you little... Wait wait that makes that sentence a bit redundant.... Ai-chan that troll. . Poor Risa. Awwww, but I wonder what will this Birthday Surprise be. Hoho~ Ai-chan are you trying yo give the poor perverted Risa a heart attack!? Looking forward tothe next chapteeerr~

And welcome back~ and yes I would definitely read this many many times now if you'll excuse me as I re-read again...

[alwaysYou]

Hello! Miss baka caiyunki.

Love the planting strawberry on strawberry part. Hahahaha. Love such penguin. Shy yet can be daring at times. More strawberry penguin action! Cant wait to read more lovely lovely stuff in the next chp. Penguin birthday rite. I'm sure miss baka caiyunki wont disappointed. Hee hee HEEEEEE

*off to my ailand* you know its hard to comment thru phone huh   

[caiyunki]

[11 ] - Birthday surprise (2)


An unexplainable fear grew within Risa as he was continually being dragged away from the cottage. "Who are you?" Risa kept asking repeatedly through his muffled lips as he was dragged away from the Ikuta's residential area and towards the direction of the mountains, the area where sits the borders between the Land of Strawberry and the Land of Penguin. It was where Risa had came from right at the start, and too, where Risa had met the sisters, or rather, Ai in a rather weird situation. 'Could it be some assassin from the Land of Penguin who had managed to track me all the way from the Land of Penguin to here, the Land of Strawberry?' A worrying thought flashed within Risa's mind. 'I need to try to get away. . . Before my life is endangered. .  .' Risa continued in his mind. Before Risa could make his strike back, the hand that were wrapped over his lips released its grip and turned Risa around hastily.


"Happy Birthday, Penguin!" The attacker greeted with a wide smile, sending Risa into a whirl of unexplainable emotions. To think that he had worried about an abductor who may be out for his life, or as a bait in an act to overthrown his father kingdom, it all turn out to be a rather harmless lady (well, she's harmless except for her violence tendencies), surprising him with a genuine wide smile, wishing him a happy birthday.


"It's you?" Risa retorted in a slight harsh tone.


"Who else were you expecting?" Ai tilted her head. She could not understand the reason from Risa's sudden anger.


"You got me there, do you know that? And you could have place yourself in a huge danger by doing that, do you know that?" Risa continued his scolding.


"What danger?" Ai asked.


Risa took a few more deep breath, trying to calm himself down from the burning anger at Ai's reckless behaviour.


Ai waited for a long while, but was still unable to receive her answer from Risa, regarding the type of danger she may had faced from her actions.  And when she did not, she pouted. "Not that I had not told you I was going to do that. . . " Ai continued her argument. "Remember that wink that I had gave you at home?" Ai reminded. "I thought you would infer from that it would be a sign for you to prepare yourself for something unexpected. "Ai continued as she crossed her arms slightly. "And look at Ouji. . . " Ai added on. "He did not act offensively to me, which means that the person who cupped your mouth is someone he knew. Baka!"


It was Ai's turn to get angry at the Penguin. She had spent that short amount of time she had between the time she knew about Risa's birthday and the time she had finished changing to think of a birthday surprise for the Penguin, only to be scolded by Risa about her actions. She felt that her actions was not being appreciated. Ai turned around from Risa and attempted to move away from him. That was only until Risa's grip on her wrist tightened and pulled her back that Ai turned to face Risa again.


"I don't mean that, strawberry . . . It's just . . . " Risa tried to explain, but nothing could came out. "I'm sorry. .  ." Risa lowered his voice and apologised. "I didn't meant to shout at you like that. . . "


"I'm sorry too. . .  " Ai lowered down her tone as well. Risa pulled Ai closely into his embrace, resting his hands on Ai's waist while Ai rested her chin on Risa's shoulder. That was something positive when your partner is just slightly taller that you. "Happy Birthday to you again. . . " Ai continued, whispering into Risa's ears.


"Thank you. . . " Risa whispered back. The tug on the leash broke the hug, pulling Risa all the way forward, causing the poor Penguin to fall forward and landed his nose onto the hand ground. "Ouch . . . " Risa hissed silently, releasing his grip from the leash and rubbed this nose gently.


"Are you alright?" Ai rushed hurriedly forward to Risa as she helped the Penguin up. Risa nodded his head in response before shaking it again, hoping that action would shake away the intriguing pain he felt at the tip of his nose. Ai reached forward to touch Risa's nose, only to have Risa inched back a little, wincing in pain. "You don't look alright to me . ."


"I'm alright. . . " Risa insisted. He supported himself of the ground by pushing himself up onto feet. Ai followed suit immediately.


"Are you sure?" Ai asked again.


"I'm sure." Risa assured.


Once Ai ensured that Risa was fine from the fall, she began to look around her surrounding, only find Ouji missing. "Eh? Where's Ouji?" Ai finally realised. She looked around her surrounding again, but was still unable to find any trace of the ball of brown fur.


"He went for his own walk." Risa answered effortlessly.


"Hmmm?" Ai turned around at looked queerly at Risa.


"He always does that." Risa explained, rubbing his nose lightly again. "He always struggled me off whenever I bring him for his walk." Risa continued. " He will be back when he's satisfied. . . " Risa finished to Ai before continuing silently to himself. "As expected from a selfish prince you see. . . "


"Are you sure?" Ai doubted.


Risa nodded his head firmly. "So. . . Why did you bring me to the mountains?" Risa continued asking, changing the topic.


"Well . . . It's your birthday . . . " Ai trailed off into silence.


"What does my birthday has to do with coming to the mountain?" Risa asked again, not fully understanding Ai's sentence.


"I thought we should spend some time alone. . . I actually thought we can make a visit to the market place. . .But I'm reluctant to leave Erina alone at home when we are out . . .so . . ."Ai attempted to explain, but was silenced off by the finger that pressed on her lips.


"It's alright. . . " Risa interrupted. "This is enough. . . Thank you, strawberry. .  ." The unintended word slipped out of Risa's lip.


"Strawberry?" Ai titled her head slightly.


Risa smile mischievously at Ai before making his stance to escape. "Yes, my strawberry." With that, Risa took a step forward made his dash for his life.


"Stupid Penguin!" Ai grunted cutely before she made her chase after the playful Penguin. "I'm going to get you! Since when I am a strawberry and since when do I belong to you?" Ai continued ranting after Risa.


"Since the night you kissed me!" Risa shouted in response.

"You were the one who kissed me!"


"Nope you were!"


"You were!"


"You were!"


And the lovers tiff continued, until the duo reached the waterfall spring where they first met each other. Risa stood running the moment he saw the waterfall, in a rather abrupt way, giving no time for Ai to brake and stop, thus causing Ai to collide into Risa's back. 'That's where I saw her absolutely naked. .  .' Risa thought in his mind as he dazed, unaware that Ai had just knocked into him.


"Ita- Warn me before you stop!" Ai cried out loudly. When she realised Risa was not responding to her in anyway, the memory of Risa staring at her naked body came flashing back into her mind. She raised her hand up high. "Stop your perverted thoughts!" Ai pouted and brought her hands down, wanting to give Risa a faithful slap on the top of his head. Before the contact was made, a firm grip made its way around Ai's uprisen wrist.


"Remember our agreement?" Risa smirk slightly. He was brought back to his senses when Ai shouted at his back.


The pout on Ai's face deepens. "Whatever." Ai pretended to be cool about her angry and tried to wriggled her wrist out of Risa's grip as she looked away from Risa's taunting eyes.


Risa changed his gripped to the other hand and slipped his right hand around Ai's left hand. "Once I got hold of this hand, I'm not going to let it go anymore. . . ." Risa said suddenly.


---------------------------------------------------------------


"I wonder where Ai-nee had gone. . ." Erina grumbled to herself as she was squatted on the ground, removing the weeds that her growing beside the strawberry plant. "I wonder how do one even plant strawberries on the neck. . . " Erina continued. "I wonder if they are edible and whether are they delicious or not. . . " Ridiculous thoughts about Risa's pervious explanation kept ranging in her mind. "I wonder what time will Penguin be coming back from the walk. . ." Erina continued mumbling. 'It's just feels so weird not seeing Penguin working in front of me. . . The way he wipes away his perspire while trying to clear the weeds is the most captivating part of him  . . . Erina thought in her mind.


Erina looked up from her work, hoping she would catch a view of Risa returning from the walk with Ouji. But she did not. Instead, she saw a young boy, riding on a horse, slowly advancing towards the direction of her house. 'Who's that?' Erina thought curiously in her mind. She stood up from her squatting position, allowing the young boy to take notice of her. Instead of the house, the young boy started to head towards where Erina stood.


"STOP!" Erina cried out loud immediately!" The young boy tightened his grip on the horse, halting the horse in its galloping.  "You are going to kill my harvest by doing that!" Erina continued. She stomped towards where the young man stopped. "Do you understand?"


"I'm sorry for that . . .But I haven't realised about that. . . " The young boy apologised. He climbed off the horseback and came before Erina, only to find the Erina so much taller than him. To be truthful, he felt inferior about it. "My name is Suzuki Kanon and I have a few questions for you . . ." Kanon trailed off.


"What?" Erina answered rather rudely.


"Have you worked with the Takahashi's family who was the chief general of the Land of Penguin?" Kanon questioned.


"What are you talking about? Takahashi? General? Land of Penguin? What are all these?" Erina returned the question. She had not understand any of the single thing mentioned by Kanon.


"Are you sure? We have received news that the family who used to work with general Takahashi lived around in this town. . . " Kanon insisted.


"I don't know what are you talking about. Will you please leave?" Erina became offensive, something her sister had trained her to be, since she was always left alone to work in the fields.


"But -"


Without giving Kanon another chance to explain for himself, Erina picked up the nearest stone to her and began attacking Kanon with it. Without no other choices, Kanon hopped back onto his horse and ride away, escaping from Erina's sudden violence. 'Wait a minute!' Kanon finally realised. 'That girl. . . she looked barely 15. . . how would she know about something that happened more than 23 years ago?' Kanon finally realised the mistake he had made.


"Kanon!" Hitomi, on his horse, came over and met up with Kanon. "Is there any information from your side?"


Kanon shook his head immediately. 'There's no way I can allow General Yoshizawa to know that I had screwed up my interview . . .


"Alright. . .let's go down to the next village then . .. "


----------------------------------------------------------------


"This is the first time I held your hands this way . . ." Risa spoke as he brought Ai's hand to himself and rested their hands on his thigh. The duo were now seated on the down facing the down pouring waterfall, much to Ai's dismay due to the fact that she was dressed in a white short length dress. Though that, Risa still managed to convince Ai to sit down. "For a lady, your hands are definitely big. . . " Risa commented.


"That's for sure. . . I have been working in the strawberry farm ever since I'm 5 years old. . . " Ai explained quietly.


"I heard from Erina that you are 11 years old older than her. . . "Risa continued the conversation. "Is she your real blood sister?"


"What do you mean?" Ai asked, in a slightly offensive way.


"Well . . .You two don't really look alike. . . And the height difference is a little. . .Erina is so much taller than you.. . " Risa explained.


"Of course she is my real blood sister. . . " Ai answered rather quietly. She did not like where the conversation was going. So she had decided to change the topic. "Your hands are really small for a guy. . . And smooth too. .  .Are you from a rich family? From the way you react when you first came, you looked like one. . . " Ai continued.


"I - I -" Risa stumbled. His identity could well be exposed.


*Worh Worh*


The yelping from saved Risa from his pinch. Risa felt Ai's hands pulling away from his.


"Ouji! What happened to you?" Ai exclaimed in surprised. There came Ouji running through the plants, all covered with a layer of dark brown mud. "What have you gotten yourself into?" Ai continued to baby talk the little prince.


*Worh Worh*


"Ne, Penguin!" Ai turned over to face Risa. "Give Ouji his bath right now. . ."


"Eh? Now? Like here?"


"Yah? It's not like no one had bathe over here before. . .I -" Before Ai could finish her sentence, a gush of blood came gushing up to her cheeks, flushing her cheeks with a tomato red.


"Oh . Okay . . ." Risa dare not deny Ai's order. So he bent down and picked Ouji up before heading towards the waterfall spring. Believe it or not, the prince Penguin was dealing with hated the water. Getting the dog clean was way more difficult than getting Ai to compromise to quit hitting him for the day. With Ouji running all around the shallow waters, it did not take more than 2 minutes for Risa to be completely drench, with trials of squawky water from the mud off Ouji tracing down his temple.


On the other hand, Ai was totally enjoying what she was seeing - Risa getting drenched from Ouji. To her, it was an amazing thing to witness as Ouji was never that rough with her, when Ai bathe him.


"Can you quit laughing?" Risa retorted in disagreement. "I would rather you give some help over here." Risa shot. 


"Nah. . . This will be my birthday present to you instead. . . A bathing session with Ouji." Ai joked.


Risa looked up at Ai. "You must be kidding, are you?"


"No I'm not. . ." Ai giggled.


Risa rolled up his wet sleeves in huge displeasure. "Say it again? I should have a better birthday present that this, shouldn't I?" Risa threatened playfully. He allowed Ouji to get away from him and narrowed her eyes at Ai.


"What are you going to do?" Ai found Risa's nestling his eagle's eyes at her.


"What do you think?" Risa answered. Without giving Ai chance to react, Risa made his dive for Ai. Ai was prepared too. She too had made her way to escape. Though Ai was fast, Risa was determined to get Ai this time round. Ai's waist was the first thing Risa reached for. And when he succeeded, he pulled Ai closed to his drenched clothes and body, transferring some of the water onto Ai's white dress.


"Ah! It's cold!" Ai squeaked, hoping that would get Risa to release her from his grip.


"No way." It seems like Risa had knew Ai's intention and broke the bubble straight. The two of the struggled, with Ai trying to wriggle out of Risa's grip, and Risa tightening his grip on Ai's waist. It took them no time to fall down onto the ground, or rather the shallow waters of the waterfall spring, with Risa falling back first. The water splatter from the impact drenched Ai's white dress, making them translucent under the sun light. Taking the chance of the fall, Risa swift over and hovered over Ai.


"I deserve a better birthday present, shouldn't I?" Risa grunt in a rather low and sexy voice.


"Maybe you do. . . But only after you get off me. . " Ai answered.


Risa shook his head, disagreeing to what Ai had just said. Instead he leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Ai's wet lips. A single drip of water dripped down of Risa's wet hair and onto Ai's face. Risa did not dare to stay long on Ai's face, remembering what had happened from their previous kisses. So he moved towards Ai's neck and planted soft kiss onto Ai's neck. That was when Risa realised the translucency of Ai dress. He broke the contact and look down at Ai's body before turning back into Ai's eyes.


"You look really pretty this way." Risa teased. Ai broke the eye contact and looked away from Risa as she felt a scotching heat growing on her cheeks. "You are embarrassed, aren't you?" Risa teased again. When he realised Ai had no intention to push him away or to scold him, he was beginning to like his birthday more and more. At least he can have more control in the relationship on this day. As Risa bent down again and planted another kiss on Ai's neck, Ai turned her head upright back.


"Happy Birthday, Penguin." Ai whispered into Risa's ears, sending a tickling sensation down Risa's spine.


"Thank you. . . " Risa mumbled against Ai's skin on her neck. Ai wrapped her hands around Risa's waist and traced her fingers slowly up his spine. Risa giggled slightly before planting another kiss on Ai's neck. The two fallen into their own world that they actually forgotten the fact that they are in the wilderness and that there was a third party around. They were enjoying the heated moment though their clothes were pressing cold on them. That was only until the third party had decided to interrupt the fun.


"Hmmmm~~" Came a whining voice echoing into their ears. Ai flunk her eyes wide open and turn around, only to find Ouji seated at a distance away, with traces of water that Ouji had shook off his body absorbed into the ground, shivering in coldness. "Hmmm~~" Ouji whined again.


"Ouji!" Ai pushed Risa off her. "You're cold?" Ai asked the puppy, while Risa sat in the shallow waters, looking at Ouji with displeasure. "Let's get back, shall we?" Ai turned around to Risa and suggested. "Ouji might catch a cold. . . " Ai commented as she hugged Ouji close to a chest.


Risa shot a killer dagger stare at the panting Ouji, who looked really happy that he had interrupted their moment. He stood up from the waters and took off the outer layer of his clothes before wrapping them around Ai's shoulder. "Though they are wet, at least you are more covered up. I don't want to you catch a cold." Risa explained thoughtfully. 'Remind me to slaughter him if I had the chance to .. . Risa reminded himself as they began to move away from the waterfall spring and towards the direction that leads to the Ikuta cottage.






@ risa_ai : I don't mind though. . hehehe

@ rndmnwierd : You read the clues HEHEHEH  hmmmm. . . . i wonder too . . .but. . . he's safe . . . .at least for now heheh

@ arisa03 : heheheh. Hopefully you had enjoyed this chapter  hehehh

@ alwaysYou : And woah! You finally commented. :)heheheh hahah. and in your debut comment, you had scolded me baka twice . .  *Twitch* hahahhahaha You expected this, didn't you?? hehehe. . .and I don't know how difficult it is to comment through phone. . .so i want MOAR ~~ hehehe JkJK. just as and when you feel like it HEHEH



Yupps. . .I'm moving forward! the plot heheheh

till the next chapter then heheh

and YEAH! This made my 100th post HEHEHEH ^.^

[risa_ai]

YES! FAST UPDATE!! And i'm first~ lovely takagaki rabu rabu, but what's zukki doing? O.o oh noes.

[rndmnwierd]

Birthday, yay yay! Takagaki make-out scene is the best present ever! Too bad Ouji interrupted before things could really get steamy, lol.

And Kanon makes another appearance, it seems like they would get skipped over... But it also makes me wonder, when will Risa come clean to Ai?

[arisa03]

Fjfjfjfhd UPDAAAATTTTEEEE. I've read it three times already but didn't have time to reply. Ddkddkdj I wonder how would Erina react to weat AiGaki LOL. Troll Ouji, I look forward to this slaughtering you speak of Risa. LOL I wonder how would they react to Miki... And Zukki you derp. LOL Yossie will scold you like the boss she is.

And too bad Risa didn't get all hot and steamy that would've been sexeh. LOL. I wonder if the day would come that Risa would not be able to control his very manly hormones against a very sexy occassionally naked Ai-chan. LOL

[kawaii beam]

ok past few days i've just been too lazy to comment^^; so now that i have motivation here we go~

based off of this last chapter, "kidnapper" ai-chan is epic and her reason for wanting to go to the mountian for alone time is just adorable~ ;3; plus wet takagaki is ubber hott poor slefish prince lol all he wants to do is be risa's strawberry block XDDDD is that so wrong? lol

overall im loving this so far and im sorry that i dont comment enough ;3; but i am reading cant wait for next chappy~

[caiyunki]

[12] - Two sick birds leading to . . . .


"AH CHOO~" Risa sneezed really loudly as he sat up on his bed, covering his mouth and nose to minimise the noise he was creating. A wave of heaviness fell upon his head, causing Risa to collapse back onto his bed. He pulled the blanket up to his shoulders and trembled at the gush of coldness he felt. Yet, it was no longer than a 5 minutes that he felt a gush of growing heat radiating out from his stomach and up his chest and neck. Without giving a second thought, Risa kicked the layer of blanket away from his body. "AH CHOO~~" Then he sneezed again. Like a blind man moving around without his walking stick, Risa felt his fingers all over at bed, searching for the presence of the blanket he had forsaken just moments ago. "This is so cold. . ." Risa mumbled through his shivering teeth. That did not last either. After he had let off yet another sneeze that was muffled by the blanket, it was pulled off his body again.


"I think I am - " There he sneezed again. "am getting a cold soon . .  "


"Good morning!" Came a greeting echoing throughout the small living room. "Eh? Penguin you are still asleep?" Erina continued asking when she saw Risa still in bed, struggling to find his blanket back to himself. "I think it's better for you to get up before Ai-nee wakes up and starts yelling at you to work again." Erina continued.


"Hmmm . . . " Risa replied groggily. He attempted to get himself off his bed, only to find his world turning when he stood up on his feet. He tracked a few steps away from the bed and towards the main entrance as his target. Before he could make his way out of the house to the toilet, he collapse onto the ground, with a very loud thud sounding as his head hit the ground.


"Penguin?" Erina quickly rushed forward to the now unconscious penguin. As she made to his side, he found Risa shivering, with treads of cold sweat forming and dripping down his temple. "Penguin?" Erina patted gently on Risa's cheek, hoping that would wake him up a little. But it did not. So the seeming frail yet muscularly strong 14 year old began to carry Risa up by his armpit from the front just like one would carry a toddler and rested his chin on her shoulder, close to her neck. With that, Erina supported half of Risa's weight on her and began to make her way back to his bed. After Erina had returned Risa back into bed gently, she brushed his fringe away from his forehead and ran her hand on it, only to pull it back away immediately. "You are running a fever, Penguin!" Erina cried out. "It's hot enough to cook an egg on it." Erina continued in panic. 


Erina stood up back to her feet and place a single on the bottom of her lips, brushing her dry lips nervously. "What should I do now?" Erina mumbled nervously to herself. "What does Ai-nee always do when I'm running a fever?" Erina asked herself as she paced around the bed. "Water? Hydration?" A suggestion from the back of her mind came. With that in her mind, Erina ran into the kitchen and fetched a glass of water before returning back to Risa. Tilting the glass a little, Erina attempted to feed Risa the water, only to them slipping out of lips and traced down the side of his face, soaking a little part of the mattress wet. "Ah, this is not right!" Erina exclaimed in frustration. "Wait, I need something to cool down his temperature first.


With that, Erina rushed out of the house and into the toilet, grabbed a face towel from the racks and a medium sized metal tub filled with water to it brim before bringing it back to the house. In her haste and panic, she tripped over the legs of the wooden couch and lost her grip on the metal tub. The metal tub flew forward, with its contents spilling out of it and towards where Risa was lying, before landing onto the ground with a consecutive bangs. "Ah!" Erina exclaimed in surprise, closed her eyes and brought her hands to her ears as the tumbling echoed. She peeked one eye open, wanting to check what was the outcome, only to find Risa, lying all wet and drenched by the water that had landed on him. "Oh MY!" Erina exclaimed. She rushed forward and attempted to dry Risa by the small face towel she had in her possession. "He's running a fever. The last desirable thing that is to happen is to have him wet." Erina mumbled to herself nervously. "What should I do? His clothes are wet too. I - I can't just -" Erina hesitated when her hands stopped at the buttons of Risa's top.


"What happened? What's up with that din so early in the morning." A really weak and tired voice which had croaked repeatedly throughout the sentence echoed throughout the living room.


"Ai-nee!" Erina shot up to her feet immediately upon hearing her sister's voice. Not wasting another moment, Erina raced to her sister at her full speed and tugged her on her arm. "Ai-nee, Penguin is running a really high fever and I don't know what should I do."


"He is?" Ai brushed away Erina's hand away immediately upon the contact was made. She did not want to let Erina to know that she was too running a fever as well. With Erina leading the way, Ai followed slowly behind Erina, countering the heavy spells she was encountering to the back of her head. Ai shook her head lightly upon discovering the conditions Risa was in. Ai tapped her hand lightly on Erina's shoulder. "Go grab a change set of clothing with a bath towel for him to me first. After that, fill the tub half full with water and add some ice into in. Get a new small towel and bring them to me." Ai ordered softly. When Erina was gone, Ai kneeled down beside the mattress and began to wipe Risa's face dry with the face towel Erina had left on his face earlier on.


"I'm sorry .  . . If you had not passed me your jacket, you wouldn't had fallen sick from the cold . . . Even you gave me yours, I still caught the bug. . . " Ai whispered softly to Risa, touching the sides of Risa's face gently. Her hands stopped when she heard Erina stomping back into the living room. "I can't find any dry clothing for Penguin except for the ones that he wore when we first found him. . . " Erina showed Ai the clothes she found as she spoke. "The rest are still wet from the laundry last night. . . " Erina continued.


"It's alright, that will do. . . Since he's having a fever right now, It would be better if he's all covered up." Ai replied weakly.


"Okay." Erina passed over the clothes and towel Ai had asked. Then she picked up the metal tub from the floor and disappeared out of the main door and into the toilet.


"I'll change you now. . . " Ai spoke to no one in particular. Flipping Risa around, Ai placed the bath towel opened and flat on the area where Risa laid, creating a barrier between Risa and the wet mattress before going on to strip Risa out of his wet clothing and changed the dried ones on him.


When Erina returned from the toilet, she saw Ai panting beside Risa, all done with the change of clothes. She hurried herself into the kitchen and took the ice from the freeze, popped them into the water before returning to Ai again. "There you go, Ai-nee. . ." Erina placed the basin beside Ai and handed the towel to her before she settled herself comfortably beside Ai.


Ai folded the towel into a single strip before dapping it into the cold water, wet the towel thoroughly and took it out, squeezing the excess water out of it and placed it onto Risa's scotching forehead.


"How long do you leave the towel over there?" Erina asked curiously as she watched Ai dealing with a feverish Risa.


"You have to change the towel every 5 minutes until the fever is down." Ai croaked, causing Erina to stare at her curiously.


"Ai-nee, you looked a little pale. . . Are you not feeling well as well?" Erina finally realised.


Ai shook her head lightly, lying a little about her conditions. "I'm well. It's just that my voice croaks frequently when I just woke up. It will get better as the day goes by." Ai continued, wanting to reassure her 'wellness' condition to Erina by speaking more.


"Are you sure?" Erina did not buy Ai's story. Instead, she reached her hand for Ai's forehead, only to be pushed away by Ai's fast reaction.


"I'm sure, Erina. . . " Ai tried to smile. She picked the now slightly warm towel off the Penguin's forehead and washed it, making it cold again before placing it back onto his forehead. And as she did, her heavy spells won her over. As she leaned forward, the heaviness of her head intensified such that she fell forward onto Penguin chest. It took her no longer than a second to fall into an unconscious state.


"Ai-nee?" Erina shook Ai's shoulder gently. Seizing the chance, Erina checked Ai's temperature, only find Ai having the same fever as the Penguin was having. "Eh? I can't handle it when it's the both of you, Ai-nee. . ." Erina whined a little. Erina returned back to her room in rush, where she brought out her letter pigeon, a gift from Miki, and her writing materials. On the paper she wrote ' Miki-nii, Ai-nee is down with a fever, Help needed ! ' . Rolling the paper up into a tube and tied it onto the leg of the pigeon, Erina brought it up to the front door before setting it off, sending out her SOS to someone she knew will come. After she did, she return back to the hut, where she bent down and carried Ai up and returned Ai back to her bed in her own room.


----------------------------------------------


"What happened to Ai?" Miki burst into the hut shouted, asking, only to find the living room empty. "Erina?" Miki called out again.


"Yes?" Erina came rushing out of Ai's room and greeted Miki. "Why are you so fast? It's only an hour? It's a three hour trip from here to Miki-nee's mansion." Erina curious.


"You told me Ai was sick. That's why I rushed the whole of my life to reach here as early as I could." Miki explained in a hurry. He brushed past Erina and went straight into Ai's room, with Erina following behind him. "How is Ai? Is she feeling better yet?" Miki asked while turning his head slightly, looking at Erina through the corner of his eyes.


When the two had disappeared into Ai's room, over at where Risa was, the Penguin's eyes twitched a little. Movements of the eye could be observe from the movement of the eyelid. The eyes struggled to open and when they did, they shut close immediately due to the blinding light that had strike on the sensitive cones of the eyes. 'What happened?' Risa tried to recall what had happen but nothing had came back to him. He sat up slowly, groaning lightly as his sore muscles ached painfully. When he looked down at himself, he realised he was not wearing what he wore last night and it was the outfit where he hid his royal badge in it. 'Who changed me?!' Risa thought worriedly as he patted on his left chest and sigh in relieve when he felt the badge still intact in its original position. The fever he had was all gone. Now, he just felt a little headache and experiencing some aching muscles.


Back in the room, Erina was updating Ai's condition to Miki. "The fever went away a little, but still feverish. . . And she had not wake up once since she hit the bricks moments ago. . ."


"How did she even got herself so sick?" Miki asked as he held only Ai's limp hand gently, stroking it lightly while fixing his eyes straight on Ai's face.


"It's probably from yesterday. . . " Erina trailed off.


"What happened yesterday?" Miki turned around and looked curiously at Erina.


"Penguin told me that Ai-nee almost drowned at the nearby waterfall spring and he had went in to save her when the both of them came back with their clothes all drenched. Probably they had gotten the cold when walking back in their wet clothing?" Erina suggested. "Penguin was running a fever this morning too. . . but it was being taken care off already. . ." Erina continued.


"Why didn't you inform me about this? Ai almost drowning?" Miki confronted, ignoring what Erina had just continued.


"Ai-nee say she's fine and there is no need to inform and trouble Miki-nii. . . " Erina pouted lightly.


"But still. . . " Miki insisted.


"I will inform you the next time then?" Erina complied.


"That's better. . . "


Silence persisted for a short moment before Erina spoke up again. "Miki-nii, can I ask you something?"


"Yes?" Miki looked back at Erina.


"What do one meant by planting strawberries on one's neck?" Erina asked innocently, the question she had yet to receive an answer to, from both Ai and Risa.


Miki eye's shot wide open when he heard the question. "Who taught you that?" Miki demanded, knowing that was another way of describing planting love bits on one's neck.


"Pen- guin?" Erina answered. "I was asking him about the bruises on Ai-nee's neck these days. . . and he said that someone had planted strawberries there as Ai-nee loves strawberries . . ." Erina continued, in total lost as she could not understand Miki's anger at all.


"What?" Without wasting a spare second, Miki released Ai's hand and stomped out of the room, into the living, where he saw Risa, seating on his bed, gingerly rubbing his forehead with his right hand. Miki went straight up to the prince and dragged him onto his feet by his collar. "Come with me!" Without giving Risa a change to refuse or oppose, Miki dragged Risa right out of the hut and towards the back shed, where he slammed Risa heavily onto wooden wall, locking Risa's movement by pressing his lower arm against his shoulder blade.


"ARGH!" Risa grunted in pain. "My head. . . " He brought his right hand up and rubbed the back of his head gently. "What do you want? I just recovered from my fever for your information. I have no time and energy to keep you entertained." Risa continued.


"You brat! " Miki cursed. "What kind of inappropriate things are you doing to MY Ai?!" Miki confronted.


"What are you talking about?" Risa shouted back, though without much strength.


"Don't pretend that you knew nothing. In that house, you are the only stranger there. Say, what's up with the love bits on Ai's neck. Did you plant it there?" Miki denied Risa questions and confronted again. He narrowed his eyes and stared sternly at Risa.


"First of all. . . She's not yours. . . She's mine, get your facts right, Miki." Risa spoke seriously, suddenly.


"So is this your real face?" Miki smirked.


"She never said she was yours. She never told you she likes you." Risa continued.


"What do you know? I have known her for years, and you? Bare half a year. To what qualifications you have to snatch Ai from me."


"To the fact that she had never shown you her true self. . . " Risa taunted.


--------------------------------------


"Erina?" Ai groaned out lightly. The vision of her sister blurred before her eyes as she blinked her eyes repeatedly.


"Ai-nee, you are up!" Erina exclaimed out in gladness.


"How long have I been out?" Ai asked as she rubbed her forehead.


"An hour?"


"How's Penguin?" Ai concerned as she tried to get off the bed, only to be stopped by Erina.


"Ai-nee you should rest more in bed, your fever hasn't gone down much. . ." Erina explained. "Penguin's fever had already went back to normal. . .You don't have to worry much about him." Slight redness went across Erina's cheek upon the mention of Risa's nickname.


"Thank goodness." Ai muttered under her breath as she closed her eyes. It was no longer than 10 seconds that her eyes were opened again. "I think I heard Miki in my sleep. . . .Was. . . was he here?" Erina nodded her head like it was nothing. "And where is he now?" Ai continued asking.


"He ran out of the room the moment I asked him about how you got these bruises on your neck . . ." Erina answered ingenuously.


"What?" Ai sat up straight on her bed. She immediately proceed to get off her bed and rush out of her room. "Stay indoors, Erina." Ai ordered before rushing out of the house. Once out of the hut, she heard sounds of fight echoing from her back shed. "Penguin. . . " Ai muttered worriedly. She was absolutely worried about the safety of Risa because she knew, Miki was a black belt holder, who had won various competitions, not just within the town they stay in, but too competitions that were held across the whole land of strawberry, inter-land competitions as well. This is why the Fujimoto Family is so rich in this rather poor town. 'You better be alive, Penguin. . . '







@ risa_ai : zukki is looking for their lady Takahashi Ai heheh

@ rndmnwierd : HEHEHE. . . that adds a reason to why Penguin dislike the dog ;X hahahah When will Risa get clear with Ai . . . .HMMMM. . . .heheheh

@ arisa03 : hahahahha. . .thanks for reading it so many times . . . I don't think it will happen, since if Risa slaughter the dog, the penguin gets slaughtered as well :X hahahah

@ kawaii beam : Heheheh. It's alright to me ^.^ as long as there are ppl reading, I'm a happy woman heheh





I cut this chapter shorter than I had planned. . . . I do have the parts I had cut written, but i'm still not satisfied with them . . .So I am going to edit them when I wake up the next morning so the next update should be fast! Look OUT! jheheh

De wa . . .Until the next chapter then heheheh

[rndmnwierd]

AH~! Miki Risa confrontation!! I wonder what state Ai will find them in and if she will be too terribly upset at Risa for his claim on her.

[arisa03]

I wonder if Ai would be able to finally turn down Miki now. Didn't Risa study fencing though? What if his royal badge falls out?! Dkdkdkdkdk update soon Cai-san! Replying on phone is so hard. OTL. ;____; Ai-chan fight for Penguinnnnnn. I just read it twice now before commenting ;A;

[risa_ai]

Fast update! Quickly! I wanna know what happens to poor penguin!