JapanxReader:What is Love? (Chapter Five)

You didn't have a dream that night, just one of those nights where you close your eyes for a few minutes and next thing you know the birds are outside singing in chorus to another beautiful morning.

You hadn't opened your eyes just yet, despite being already awake, you didn't feel like it. It was strange though, it felt like there was someone in front of you or something. One of those feelings you get where you feel as if another's presence was around you, it was one of those feelings. Those feelings are most often illusions though, so you didn't trust then too much. The thing was nagging at you though, so you forced your eyes open slowly. To your surprise, you found Kiku sitting in front of you next to the couch. He was looking at you with an odd look in his eyes that you couldn't quite place. Had he been watching you sleep?

He realized you were awake and immediately turned red.

"Ah! Uh, g-good morning! I-I was just wondering why you were asleep on the couch, that's all..." He stammered, rubbing the back of his neck. You rubbed your eyes a little, a small habit you tended do when you woke up.

"I was talking to Yao on the phone last night and fell asleep here." You explained to him as you sat up on the couch and stretched out.

"Ah, so that's why..." He trailed off while glancing at the wall. He snapped back to reality quickly. "I was just about to make breakfast, anything you'd like?"

"An omelet sounds good right now." You suggested, saying the first thing that came to mind. He smiled and got up, heading to the kitchen to make me one.

Breakfast felt different today, as in the mood. You tried talking to Kiku a bit, but he was being oddly spacey, and was avoiding eye contact with you again. Eventually you just gave up talking and you both ate in silence. It was really getting to you how unusual he was acting, and the silent felt so strained and thick you were starting to feel restless. You just wished something would happen to break it somehow.

Both of you jumped as a loud banging on the front door erupted suddenly, breaking the silence like you had hoped.

"Hey Kiku! You in there? You should answer the door! Answer it now!!" A loud, obnoxious voice shouted excitedly behind the closed door.

Kiku let out an agitated sigh. "What's he doing here at this hour?"

The voice behind the door kept shouting repeatedly until Kiku was over to it, opening it up to answer the newcomer. You trailed after him but stopped at the hall door way and peeked out from it like you had yesterday to see who had been causing the ruckus. You couldn't see who it was though, because Kiku was in the way, but you could hear their conversation easily.

"What do you need? And please don't cause a commotion outside my house, it will disturb the neighbors." Kiku answered the mystery person.

"Arthur said there was a cute girl living here, I want to meet her! Let me in dude!"  The voice responded enthusiastically. From the sound of their voice you could tell it was yet another man. So he had only come here to see you? He was friends with Arthur too? Arthur said you were cute?

"Um..." Kiku seemed unsure of what to do. He turned his head to look at you, silently asking you your decision. You were massively curious to see who this guy was, so you walked over to the door and peeked out from behind Kikus back to see who the stranger was.

It was another blonde guy, a little younger looking than Kiku, despite also being a couple inches taller than you and him. He wore a pair of glasses over bright blue eyes and had a strange part of his hair curling upwards from his forehead, like a cowlick. He saw you right away, his eyes widening a little in surprise.

"Is that her?" He questioned, pointing at you. "She IS cute!"

You couldn't understand why everyone was saying you were cute, you always looked this way. You tentatively stepped out from behind Kiku so that he could see you better.
The man looked you up and down before extending his hand, grinning like an idiot. "Hey there! I'm Alfred Jones!"

"Hello, I'm _____ ______, it's nice to meet you." You introduced yourself to him as well. You took his hand and he shook it vigorously.

"Yeesh, so polite! I guess that's what happens when you're around Kiku all the time!" He laughed before releasing your hand again. You gave a shy smile, taking an unconscious step back. He defiantly seemed like a good person, but he was a bit loud. He stopped laughing after a moment and looked you directly in the eyes.

"Dude, you've gotta give me your number! You got a cellphone?" He asked you suddenly, taking out his own.

"No, I don't have one." You replied. He seemed shocked at this.

"What?! You don't have a cellphone?! How do talk to other people?!" He exclaimed, clearly dumbfounded.

"I use the home phone here."

"You mean you call them?"

"Yes, isn't that what you're supposed to do?"

Alfred looked utterly baffled by now. You weren't sure why, you were fine without a cellphone. He turned to Kiku.

"Dude, you need to get her a phone!" He demanded. Kiku was the surprised one now.

"I do?" He repeated, confused.

"Yes! Go to the store and buy her one!"

"Now?"

"Yes, now! Lets go!" He grabbed Kikus arm and attempted to pull him outside.

"Wait, why do we need to go now? And let go of me!" He questioned, yanking his arm out from Alfred's grip.

"'Cause we're going to get _____ a cellphone!" The blonde retorted. "Come on man, you have one! Isn't it only fair that she should get one too?"

"But she seems fine without on-"

"Doesn't matter, she's getting one anyways! I'll help get it, so lets go!" He countered, then grabbed your arm this time and easily dragged you away. Kiku sighed in defeat and followed behind you.

You all took Alfred's car and drove to the city to get you a phone, with Alfred driving. It was the first time in a long while that you'd rode with someone other than Kiku driving, so you were a little freaked out because Alfred was a much faster and a bit of a reckless driver compared to him.

You finally got to the city after 30 minutes of Alfred's hasty driving, which was much too long for you. All three of you went to a phone store and you walked around behind the two men with you while they argued over a choice of a phone for you. Kiku ended up winning the argument, getting you a simple flip phone with unlimited texts and calls. It was small, fitting perfectly in the palm of your hand, but cute, with a metallic white outer layer and a single blue, vertical stripe down the middle. You added Kikus, Yaos, and Alfred's numbers in your contacts after Kiku and Alfred had payed for it, then slide it into your pants pocket, smiling at how nicely it fit. Suddenly your stomach let out a very loud rumble, sending Alfred into a of laughter at the sudden noise. You looked down at the floor from embarrassment, honestly surprised that you hadn't realized you were so hungry. Alfred had interrupted you both in the middle of breakfast though, and you hadn't eaten much before he had gotten there, so you guessed it made sense that you were starving.

"Maybe we should get something to eat." Kiku suggested, trying hard to keep from laughing too. You headed back out to Alfred's car again, the two them arguing again over where to eat. Alfred won this time and you all ended up at a nearby McDonald's, at which Alfred apparently worked part-time at. All of you took your orders quickly, then you and Kiku found a place to sit at while Alfred hung around chatting with a co-worker that was on break.

"Do you like it?" Kiku asked you after you'd settled down at a spot. You gave him a puzzled look. "Your new phone, do you like it?" He repeated while gesturing to the pocket it was being kept in.

"Oh, yes. It's very cute." You answered quietly with an assuring smile. A light pink dusted his cheeks as he gave a shy smile back.

"That's good." He commented, then going quiet again. You felt really happy that he had actually spoke to you again, even if he still wasn't looking you in the eyes. Not directly anyways.

Alfred reappeared again with the food, sitting himself down in the seat beside you for some reason. He almost immediately started chatting to Kiku about stuff like comics and video games as you ate, Kiku being only slightly interested at most points. You half-listened to them as you filled yourself with the fast food while including comments about whatever subject they were discussing at necessary times.

At some point Alfred started going on about a new game that had just come out recently. You didn't catch the name of it, but it certainly seemed to obtain Kikus interest a lot. They decided to go buy it so they could try it out sometime, which meant taking yet another trip somewhere in the city.

The closest place that they sold it at was at a super-regional shopping mall in the area, one of those malls that was one huge building with thousands of different stores inside. You'd heard of them before, but you never expected them to be so huge. Of course, just looking at pictures if them isn't as accurate as seeing one in real life. You got inside at last and you let out a gasp in awe. It looked much, much bigger on the inside, the ceiling seemed to be hundreds of feet away above you, and there were still two more floors in the place! There were dozens of people all around, rushing from place to place in large and small groups, and stores lined up side by side all along the wall. You were feeling so excited to actually be in a mall like this, yet extremely frightened from all the strangers and overwhelming amount of stores everywhere.

"Here," Kiku tapped your shoulder to gain your attention, then handed you a 20 dollar bill when you'd faced him. "You may go get whatever you'd like from any store. We'll meet you over there in about 30 minutes, does that sound alright to you?"

He was pointing over towards an area with many tables and chairs around, as if designed as a place to just hang out with friends. You nodded and waved goodbye to them as they ran off to the store the game was sold at, watching them until they disappeared into the crowd. You immediately regretted not just following them, because now you were feeling a bit lonely and even more frightened than before. Stuffing the 20 in your pocket, you headed left, eyeing every store you passed by to see if any interested you. Soon enough you came across a small clothing store full of many unique items that caught your attention. You headed inside, the person at the cash register greeting you briefly as you walked in and began browsing the racks and shelves.

There were defiantly lots of cool things inside, and it was hard to narrow down exactly what you liked the most. In the end you found yourself trying to decide between two shirts you really liked, a red, and rather tight-looking shirt with the words 'Keep calm and carry on' printed in white across it, and another that was black with an interesting pattern on it that looked like claw marks or something, and you only had enough money for one of them.

"This one would look good on you, it would show off your nice figure, no?" A voice behind you spoke up, making you jump. A hand was reaching past your head pointing at the red shirt you held. You followed the hand upwards with your eyes to the person it was attached to. A fairly tall man stood behind you, his hair blonde, long, and wavy, reaching to his shoulders in length. His eyes were a beautiful blue hue and his smile was very flirtatious. He wore a white tank top with a sleeveless, faded blue vest that was buttoned up to about midway on his chest over top it, a pair of ripped up skinny jeans, and some expensive-looking brown boots. Needless to say, he defiantly stuck out, in a good way too.

"Oh, um, thank you." You responded shyly to the man, putting the black shirt back up. Black really wasn't your color anyways.

"No problem, you seemed like you were having troubles deciding, so I thought I'd help." He stated, flashing you another smile. He extended his hand to you. "My name is Francis Bonnefoy, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you as well, my name is _____ ______." You introduced yourself yet again today, lightly taking his offered hand. He tightened his grip around your hand slightly and pulled it forward, planting a feathery kiss onto it. You felt yourself blush at the unexpected gesture.

"Such a beautiful name for a lovely girl such as yourself." Francis commented before releasing your hand with that smile of his. You weren't sure how to respond, so you just stayed silent. He didn't seem to mind your silence, which was good because you did like him, he was just a bit too straightforward for you.

You headed off towards the cash register with your shirt in hand, noting Francis following close behind you, and payed for it quickly, then left the store to go roam some more.

"So where are we going?" Francis sounded behind you, surprising you a little that he was still there.

"'We'?" You repeated, shooting him a puzzled look.

"Oui, we've become friends, correct? I want to spend some time with my new friend~!" He answered innocently. You gave out a small sigh.

"Well, I'm not too sure what to do right now anyways. I've got to meet up with some friends in about," I paused to glance at the time. "20 minutes. I don't have anymore money either, so..."

"Ah, I am also meeting up with some friends of my own soon, perhaps you could join us! I'm sure they'd love to meet you~!" He suggested as he quickly caught up to your side instead of trailing behind you.

"Hmm...alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt..." You replied hesitantly after a moment of thought. He seemed happy about this and began to lead the way to where he was to meet his friends.

Coincidentally, You both ended up at the place that Kiku had said you, him and Alfred would meet at, which was probably a good thing because then you wouldn't have to go and search for the spot again. You and Francis sat down at a table and chatted away for a good few minutes, just getting to know one another. He really was a very nice man, even if he was straightforward and rather flirtatious.

"Hey Francis! You didn't tell us you were bringing a girl along with you!"

"You're going to introduce her to the awesome me, right?"

You turned around to see two men, a Spaniard and an albino. The Spaniard looked fairly a average, dark brown hair and bright green eyes that stood out nicely against his tan-like skin. The albino, however, was a rather unique looking guy, with pale skin and strange white hair and red colored eyes. He was also wearing a white shirt with a warning sign printed on it that had 'May contain awesome' printed on it in red. Both of them held milkshakes, the albino man holding an extra third one, and the Spaniard carrying two shopping bags in one hand full of who knows what.

"Ah, there they are! Those are my friends I was telling you about." Francis told you before turning to them and waving them over. They had already been doing so though, reaching your table shortly and sitting down in the last two empty chairs. The albino set down the third milkshake he had and pushed it over to Francis, then turned to you along with the other man.

"So what's your name?" The white haired man asked, resting his chin on the palm of his hand.

"My name is _____ ______, it's nice to meet you." You introduced for the third time today. You sure were meeting all sorts if people today.

"Aw, she so polite! How cute~!" The Spaniard exclaimed, a smile spreading across his face. The other man just laughed.

"I'm the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt! Lucky of you to run into me today, ain't it?" Gilbert greeted, snickering.

"I'm Antonio Carriedo, it's nice to meet you too!" Antonio introduced as well, still smiling. After greetings and such they all started chatting with you, talking about all sorts of things and even flirting with you a bit. From your conversations, you were able to learn that Gilbert and Francis defiantly seemed perverted to a certain extent, Gilbert was extremely narcissist, and Antonio was just a really nice, cheerful guy. All of them were very nice and very interesting though to say the least.

"_____-san?" A voice sounded behind your seat. You turned around to see Kiku standing behind you holding a shopping bag. You had completely lost track of the time while talking to the trio of men.

"Hello Kiku." you greeted, giving him a smile.

"What are you-"

"Oy, Kiku! You never told me you knew such a cute girl!" Gilbert interrupted him with another snicker. You hadn't known that any of them knew Kiku, though you never mentioned him in your discussion.

"Are you two dating?" Francis piped up after Gilbert. Kikus face lit up red at his words.

"No, Kikus just a friend." I answered his question simply, with Kiku nodding in agreement afterwards. The three just gave you strange looks, like disbelief or something similar to that, looks in which you just ignored.

"Where's Alfred?" you asked Kiku, noting that the blonde was no where around.

"He's still at the comic store trying to decide which comic he wants. It was 30 minutes already so I figured I'd come get you." He explained, his blush steadily going down.

"Well thank you." You commented, picking up your bag and standing up to leave. You noticed the other guys had gone oddly quiet, and looked over at them. All three were eyeing you and Kiku with mischievous grins planted on their faces.

"Say Kiku, come here will you?" Francis said to Kiku, gesturing for him to come over to them. Kiku hesitated for a moment but did so. The trio looked at you first, then got up and hustled over further away, dragging Kiku along, so that you were out of earshot, then huddled around Kiku slightly. They were talking to him about something, and after a bit Kiku seemed to freak out a little. They argued over something for awhile, though you couldn't tell what about from where you stood. Eventually they seemed to be done, giving Kiku smiles and pats on the back, while he turned away from them and quickly walked back towards your direction. You noticed that his face was a deep scarlet now, even extending to his ears. What had they said to him?

"Let's go..." He mumbled when he got to you, barely audible. He was avoiding all eye contact with you again too. You gave a slight nod as he brushed past you to lead to where Alfred was, and was about to follow after him when you felt a hand on your shoulder stop you gently. You turned back around, Kiku not noticing you stop, to see Francis directly behind you, holding a small slip of paper.

"If you ever need help with your love life, give me a call, okay?" He whispered with a smile, as if trying not to be heard by anyone but you. "Or you could just call to chat, I don't mind either way~!"

you gave him a puzzled look but nodded anyways, putting the paper inside your pocket. He gave you another sweet smile and patted your shoulder before releasing you again, joining his friends once again. You waved goodbye to them, them doing the same towards you with smiles and grins, before turning back and running off to catch up to Kiku.

~~~~~

Not much else happened afterwards. The two if you picked up Alfred, who had at least 15 comic books in his bag because that was all he could afford, and he took you and Kiku home. You were personally glad to be back home again, you'd spent just about enough time in the city for you. Once inside, you headed straight for the couch and flopped down onto its surface face down. You heard Kikus footsteps moving your direction then stop beside where you were.

"Tired?" He asked quietly. You turned your head to the side to face him, giving a small nod. You were absolutely exhausted, to the point that you could probably fall asleep right then if you wanted to. You had spent most of the day at the mall, and as a result you hadn't been able to take a nap all day. It was just after 6:00 pm though, so you had to stay awake for supper unless you wanted to end up waking up in the middle of the night starving to death. Kiku smiled at you a little and reached into his bag, pulling out something from inside it.

"Here, I got this for you." He said, handing you a manga. It was the next book in the series you had been reading currently, which you had absolutely loved. You gave him a smile of appreciation, then sat up and took the book out of his hand.

"Thank you." You replied softly while opening it and scanning the pages briefly.

"I got the rest of the series for you as well. There's not much of it left though." He mentioned as he sat down on the couch next to you. You gave him another 'Thank you', turning the book around in your hands. You couldn't help but wonder why he went through the trouble of getting them for you in the first place.

Kiku went off to make some supper afterwards while you began reading the new manga in your hands. It was really good too, you had been wanting to read the next one but Kiku didn't own it, so you'd thought you'd just never be able to finish the series. Guess you were proven wrong though.

It was hard to concentrate on the book though, because of how tired you were, and you were pretty sure you fell asleep at some point while reading, because the next thing you remembered was faintly feeling Kiku trying to shake you awake gently. Your eyelids were too heavy with sleep though, so you couldn't open them up. You were too tired to anyways. He stopped after awhile, just watching you you figured, before standing up and walking off somewhere. You heard his footsteps heading back over to you after a bit, and rested something warm over your form. You could only assume it was a blanket from its warmth and soft texture. A small tinking sounded from what you guessed was your plate of food as Kiku picked it up, taking it away then coming back to the living room area.

"Goodnight _____-chan." he whispered from near the stairs, before heading upstairs to his room for the night.