Render Me Defenseless [Shou : alice nine.]

Just like I said I would, I slept most of the day. Now, I would've slept all day, but Daisuke woke me up at around three o'clock when he started pounding on my front door.

I stumbled over to the front door and slowly opened it. "Daisuke, what do you want?"

"Well, I'd like to know how you're date went last night," he answered as pushed the front door open and walked inside.

"It was horrible," I muttered as I closed the door and followed him into the living room. He told me to sit down on the couch, and I did so.

Daisuke gave me a sad smile and said, "What happened, Rina-chan? Was he a jerk?"

I shook my head. "No...But I was. I ruined Izumi's date, and she probably hates me right now -- I mean, I actually threatened someone, Daisuke!"

"Wow, I wish I was there to get that on video!"

I rolled my eyes. "It was terrible. I was terrible."

"How did your date react?"

I shrugged. "He didn't seem too bothered by it."

"Did he bring you home?" he asked.

"Well, he followed me home..."

Daisuke smirked and raised his eyebrows up and down suggestively. "Maybe he likes you...Are you gonna go out with him again?"

"Nope. I don't have time for relationships, and I really don't want one."

"So you're gonna stay single you're whole life?"

"Maybe."

"How tragic -- So who is this guy that you went out with anyway?"

"Nobody," I said casually, "just some guy."

"Was Izumi's date really the sexiest man on the face of the earth?" he asked, trying not to laugh.

I shrugged. "To some, I suppose he would be."

Like I was going to tell him who they were -- I wasn't that stupid. Knowing Daisuke, he would probably demand some kind of meeting with them and try to get an interview for his stupid documentary.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Daisuke asked, finally changing the subject.

"Nothing. I'll probably just sit around and watch TV."

"Can I hang out with you?"

"Sure -- But you have to turn that camera off."

"Ah, fine," he pouted as he turned off his precious camera and sat next to me on the couch. "It's just you and me, Monkey."

"Monkey?" I cocked an eyebrow at his new nickname for me.

"Yeah, I'm gonna call you 'Monkey' from now on. I think it's cute."

"Alright, then I'm gonna call you 'Dumbass' from now on, okay?" I joked.

"Fine with me, Monkey."

I rolled my eyes and turned on the television.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We watched TV together for nearly three hours, but at six the phone started ringing. And for some reason, I got the feeling that my fun was about to be cut short.

I answered the phone with an annoyed tone, "This better be good."

"I should be pissed at you right now, you know." It was Izumi.

"Look, Izumi, I'm really sorry about last night --"

"Don't worry about it. Besides, the night ended well...But now you owe me another favor."

"What?"

"We're going bowling tonight and you're coming."

"Why do you still need me? There's no need for you to be nervous anymore, you know."

Out the corner of my eye, I saw Daisuke's hand coming towards me as he poked my head with his pointer finger. "Who's on the phone?"

"Izumi," I answered, pushing his hand away.

"Look, I'm not the one that wants you to come..."

"What do you mean? Who wants me there?"

"I want you there," Daisuke joked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Shut up," I hissed.

"Shou wants you wants you to come. Now don't ask me why because I don't know. Maybe he likes you and wants to see you again..."

"Shou wants me to come?"

"Who's Shou?" Daisuke questioned as he leaned in and rested his head on my shoulder. "Is he the lover-boy?"

I pushed his head off my shoulder. "Shut up, Dumbass."

"Who's there with you?"

"Daisuke. And he's being really annoying."

"Oh -- So you'll come then?"

"Yeah, I guess..." I replied.

"Okay, meet us at the bowling ally at seven."

"Okay, I'll see you then. Bye." I hung up the phone and looked at Daisuke. "I have to go bowling..."

"Is lover-boy gonna be there?" he asked with a dorky grin on his face. "Oh, can I come too? Can I, can I?"

"I don't care," I said. "But you can't bring the camera -- Deal?"

"Hn. Fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh, I don't have anything to wear!" I whined as I stood in front of my closet with a bath towel wrapped around my body.

"Why don't you just wear that?" Daisuke joked, appearing in my doorway with a bag of chips.

"Very funny -- And don't eat my chips!"

Daisuke laughed and put another chip into his mouth. "Why do you care anyway? I thought you didn't like this Shou guy...You don't want a relationship, remember?"

"I'm not interested in him," I growled. "But I am going out, so I would like to look at least half decent."

"Uh-huh..." Daisuke put another chip in his mouth and walked away, closing the door behind him.

I finally decided on a long black tank top and a pair of faded jeans. As for my hair, I just left it down because I wasn't in the mood to do anything with it.

Just as I finished getting ready, I heard the doorbell ring. Who could that be? I wondered as I went to answer the door.

"If it’s a big, muscular guy with dark sunglasses, then I'm not here and you do not know me," Daisuke called out from the kitchen.

"Yeah, okay," I said as I opened the door. It wasn't a big, muscular guy with sunglasses; it was Shou. "Shou, what are you doing here?"

"I came to get you," he said with a smile.

"But...But...I thought I was supposed to meet you guys there," I said with a slight stutter. Hey, I wasn't expecting him to show up. I was very surprised.

Daisuke walked of the kitchen, and when he saw Shou, his jaw dropped. "Whoa...Lover-boy is that Shou? Wow, you really hit the jackpot, Monkey."

I cringed at his words.

Daisuke walked over and immediately introduced himself. "I'm Daisuke, Rina's close, personal friend and neighbor."

"Uh, nice to meet you, I'm Shou --"

"Vocalist for alice nine, and Rina's future boyfriend," Daisuke interrupted and, in return, received punch on the shoulder from me. "What? It's true, Rina-chan."

"No, it's not!" I growled.

"We'll see, won't we, Monkey?" he said with a smirk, and then turned his attention back to Shou. "You know, I'm currently filming a documentary..." he trailed off as he took a step towards the living room, the current location of his video camera.

"Touch that camera and I'll cut your hand off," I threatened.

Daisuke stopped dead in his tracks and chuckled nervously. "I wasn't going to."

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Shou, who had a look of sheer amusement on his face.

"Okay, are you ready to go?" Shou asked me.

I nodded my head. "Daisuke's coming too, by the way..."

"Yep, and just so you know, I'm practically a bowling expert!" he said, beaming with arrogance.

"My god, you're an idiot," I muttered, slapping my hand to my forehead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cab was a bit of an issue. There was room for only two in the back seat, which meant somebody had to ride up front with the driver.

"I'll sit in the front," I declared as I started to get into the front seat.

"Nonsense," Daisuke said, pulling me away. "I'll sit in the front. You can sit with Shou." He had a devilish smirk on his face, that sneaky little...

I mouth the words 'I hate you' to him and got into the back with Shou. I stayed as far away from him as I possibly could, and I tried my best to avoid conversation.

"So, are you good at bowling?" Shou asked, breaking the silence between us.

I shook my head, but I didn't say a word and I didn’t look at him either.

"This will be Rina's first time bowling," Daisuke chimed in.

"You've never bowled before?" Shou questioned.

I shook my head again. I thought that if I kept doing this, he would eventually get annoyed and stop talking to me. But I thought wrong.

"So, Izumi told me that you moved here a few months ago..."

I nodded my head.

"Where did you move from?"

I froze. I couldn't answer that question with a simple head nod or head shake.

"Yeah, I got you," Shou laughed.

"America," I answered quietly. But I still refused to look at him.

"Why are you looking away from me? Am I that ugly?" He asked with a hint of humor in his voice.

I slowly turned my head around so I was looking him right in the eye. "Happy now?"

"Yes, very."

And as soon as those words left his mouth, I turned away from him again.

"Aww...and here I thought we were making progress," Shou said with a laugh. "Okay, I'll leave you alone..."

And then the awkward silence returned. Every once in a while, I would glance over at him, only to find him staring back at me, and I would immediately look away.

"It's awful quiet back there..." Daisuke said in a loud, obnoxious voice. "Are you two making out?"

My eyes widened and I felt my cheeks begin to heat up.

"Daisuke, shut up!"