One Saturday afternoon, I decided to ride my bicycle outside. The weather was sunny so it was the perfect time to cycle around our residential area.

“The sun is high but the wind is cold. As expected to the month of November,” I commented with a smile as the breeze went past through me. Then, I saw an angry kid around the age of six.

“Hey! I said come down already, Robin!” he shouted. His vision was on top of the tree before him. Out of curiosity, I stopped and looked above. There, a white cat can be found on a branch.

“Your cat won’t come down?” I asked after I approached the boy.

He looked at me with a glare and responded, “Yeah. That stubborn cat, I’ll show him who’s the real boss when he comes down.”

“That’s why he doesn’t want to,” I retorted and looked back to the cat. “Can’t you climb it?”

“Huh?” he reacted with a click of his tongue. “Are you an idiot? This tree is more than three meters, you know!”

What an attitude! Kids these days are really…

Suddenly, a big cargo truck went past us at a moderate speed. The words ‘JZA Express’ was written on its side.

“Robin!” the kid exclaimed in shock.

“What?” I asked and looked back on top of the three. But the cat was nowhere to be found.

“Moron, he’s now on top of the truck!”

“Don’t call me moron!” I exclaimedin irritation and looked back at the truck several meters away. There, the cat was on top of its white container.

“Robin! Oh no! What should we do?” he asked, now with tears on his eyes.

“Jeez! I’ll go get him back!” I yelled and rode my bike once again. Then, I pedaled at an amazing speed to catch up to the truck. Because there were only a few vehicles on the road, I decided to use it instead of the usual pavement.

“Hey! Slow down, kid!” an old lady yelled and I passed her in an instant.

“Noted!” I responded and looked at the truck around five meters ahead of me. On top was the cat with his claws clawed to the container so he won’t fall due to the vehicle's acceleration.

“Time to use my secret move, Dancing Technique!” I shouted and stood up from the saddle. Then, I pedaled as hard as I could while I swung the handlebar sideways. After a few seconds, I managed to line up with the truck.

“Hey! Driver! Stop! A cat is on top of your cargo!” I yelled on top of my lungs. But to my surprise, the driver had headphones so he didn’t hear a thing from me.

“You’re kidding me!” I complained and lost speed. When I fully stopped, exhaustion took over me and sweat dripped from my body.

I can’t…pedal anymore.

“Switch!” someone suddenly said and lifted me in ease. Then, she placed me on the carrier behind my bike and she sat down on the saddle.

“Rosa?” I exclaimed in shock. In front of me was Rosa, in her usual uniform. “What are you doing here?”

“Just passing by,” she said with a smile and looked at me. “You’re exhausted, right? Then, I’ll bike for you!”

Then, she pedaled my bike and accelerated at an insane rate.

“Woah!” I reacted and hugged her thin waist. The surroundings almost became a blur because of our speed. “You’re amazing Rosa! You’re so fast!”

“Save that for later when we retrieved the cat,” she responded and accelerated even further. She turned the pedal so fast you would wonder if her legs were made of steel. Then, after a minute, we lined up with the truck again.

“What now? The driver can’t hear us!” I informed her.

“I’ll make you fly!” Rosa announced with a confident grin.

“You’ll what?” I reacted with widened eyes. “How?”

“You’ll see it later! But more importantly, once I launch you through the air, grab the cat no matter what happens. Leave the rest to me after that!”

“Are you sure that is safe?” I asked, nervous.

“You’re a man, aren’t you? Then, you can do it!” she replied with a smile.

Is this the right time to bring up one’s gender?

Then, Rosa turned left and the cement stairs rocked us up and down as we ascended it.

“R-Ros-sa? W-Why a-are w-we go-ing u-p-p the p-park?”

"Shut up! You're gonna bite your tongue!" she responded while she danced the bicycle, unaffected by the motion.

Wait. The road will also turn left later so…is this a shortcut?

Then, we arrived at the elevated park and zoomed towards the playground area. A long slide came into our view and Rosa pedaled towards it.

You’re kidding me.

“When we reach the top, let go of me!”

Seriously?!

Then, she drove up the slide and hit the brakes after reaching the top. Then, I got launched through the air and saw the truck a meter before and below me. I was headed across it but the way I got launched, I won’t land on top of it. I’ll barely overpass it and fall down to the pavement.

“What a day!” I complained with a shout and steeled my nerves with a grit of my teeth. Then, before I passed the truck, I managed to grab the cat. “I did it!”

Then, I realized. I was falling down towards the asphalt road, with a cat on my arms and a head that will soon explode.

At least…I hugged Rosa. What an amazing life. Goodbye, cruel world.

After I accepted my fate, I closed my eyes, only to feel a soft cushion after I landed.

Huh?

I immediately opened my eyes but nothing close to a cushion came to my sight. I was only seated on the road. Then, a car stopped behind me and horned.

“Sorry!” I apologized and ran towards the pavement. Then, the car continued its drive. “What happened?”

I looked at every part of my body but I didn’t spot an injury. Then, I turned my gaze to the area where I landed and saw a white handkerchief.

“Van!” Rosa called on my bike and stopped before me. Then, she gave me a smile and asked, “See? You can do it if you believe, right?”

I immediately looked at the cat on my arms and it meowed at me. Then, I gazed at Rosa and gave her a smile.

“Yeah. I can…and I did. Thank you, Rosa.”

♦ Bella’s Point-of-View ♦

The day was Friday. Neko and Van had errands to do so only Prince and I met at the playground.

“It’s rare that only the two of us are here,” Prince said as we both sat on the swing.

“Yeah,” I agreed with a smile and looked at the blue sky.

Going back to being a grade-schooler sure is peaceful. There’s no problem to consider, bills to pay, love life to…wait. Love life?

I immediately looked at Prince with widened eyes. As for him, he returned it with a gentle smile.

I completely forgot! I have to make him fall for me! I got focused too much on helping him build confidence!

“Uhmm…Prince, want to go somewhere?” I asked with a smile.

“Somewhere?” he repeated with a curious expression.

I stood up and grabbed his hand. Then, I said, “Let’s ride the bus before it gets late.”

“Rosa?” he reacted with a surprised face and I pulled him into a run.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

At exactly 5 pm, we arrived in front of the mall. Even though it was a weekday, lots of people were gathered there. In fact, it was even crowded compared to the usual weekend.

“Why are there so many people here?” I asked curiously.

“Didn’t you hear the news? Kiriko Sakuraba is here today,” Prince informed me with a slightly surprised look.

“Kiriko? Who’s that?”

“She’s a famous singer in Japan and currently on her world tour.”

“I see,” I responded and looked back to the crowd. “Are you interested? We can go and take a look.”

As his answer, he shook his head and gave me a smile.

“Let’s explore instead. I’m not good with the crowd, you see,” he continued shyly.

“Okay then,” I responded with a smile and we entered the building. But what welcomed us was an even more huge crowd.

“This is kinda amazing,” I commented with a slight astonished look.

“That’s how famous she is,” Prince continued.

Then, a horde of people came from behind us and their wave took Prince with them.

“Wh-what?” Prince reacted with a baffled expression and raised his hand while being swayed by the crowd.

“Prince!” I called as I parted through the different people in front of me. I advanced towards him and drew out my hand.

“Rosa!” he followed and grabbed my hand. After a few seconds, the mob finally dispersed.

“Should we walk hand in hand?” I asked with a smile.

He then nodded with slightly red cheeks.

As all kids would decide, we immediately went to the Toy Shop. There, Prince’s eyes shone brightly while looking at the different toys lined up on the shelves.

“Boyblade, Carmorphers, Uekimon, Digimal, and even Ne-Gi-Oh! These stocks weren’t here when we visited here last time!” he exclaimed and ran around the place. Then, he grabbed a green cat mask like what Nek was wearing. But its design was different. The cat’s eyes were on tears and the mouth was open in a smile. “It’s Neko Green!”

“Now that I think about it, Van doesn’t have a mask yet, right?”

“Should we buy it?” Prince asked in excitement.

“Let’s do that. I’m sure Van will be happy,” I said with a smile.

After we bought the mask, we decided to roam around the mall. Because the crowd was gathered in the show area, only a few could be found around the shops.

“Prince, want to eat something?” I asked as we walked.

“Ice cream,” he replied with a big smile.

“Then, let’s get one,” I said and we went towards an Ice Cream Parlor.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

“You’re really adventurous, aren’t you, Rosa?” Prince commented after we sat down on the food court of the Mall.

“Really?” I asked with a muddled look on my popsicle. I ordered the parlor’s new product, the ‘creepy pumpkin popsicle’. It was the store’s specialty for November though in appearance, it was only an orange popsicle. As for Prince, he ordered a cone topped with one scoop of strawberry and one scoop of chocolate ice cream.

“Yeah. I don’t even know what that tastes like so I won’t even consider buying it. Especially the way they named it,” Prince continued with a repelled smile.

“You’ll never know until you try,” I said with a smile and licked my ice lolly. Then, a balanced taste of sweetness and sourness with the hint of a pumpkin’s flavor enveloped my buds.

“How is it?” Prince asked curiously.

“There’s some sort of weird bitter taste but other than that, it’s something you can call a sweet and sour treat. It’s delicious,” I commented with a smirk.

“Really?” he reacted, surprised. “Maybe I should’ve bought that too after all.”

“Then, have the courage to get out of your comfort zone next time,” I advised and continued licking the ice cream. Then, Prince also did to same to his.

I held the popsicle vertically and licked it from bottom to top. I repeated it multiple times and brushed my hair over an ear to prevent the strands from touching the ice cream. Before I knew it, the people seated in the food court gazed at me. A high school couple even stopped on their tracks.

“Why the hell are you getting red because of a grade-schooler?” one irritated girl punched a guy she was crossed arms with. Then, she dragged the guy away and everyone around looked away.

Then, after a second, I became surprised and realized what I did.

Sh*t. I did it again unconsciously! Wanda already warned me about this and I completely forgot it!

Before, my best friend Wanda pointed out that whenever I eat a popsicle, I looked like I was giving a head to a guy. I didn’t believe it at first but immediately embarrassed myself when I did it in the classroom.

I immediately looked at Prince and saw him giving me a puzzled expression.

“Did I do something strange?” I asked with a forced grin.

“No,” he answered. “But the way you’re licking the popsicle…is kinda dramatic?” Prince continued and tilted his head in question.

Thank goodness I was with a grade-schooler.

Then, he smiled and tasted of his ice cream. “Delicious.”

But because of how he chomped it, the cream had spread all over his mouth.

“Jeez, you really are a kid, aren’t you?” I muttered and brought out my handkerchief. I then wiped it clean. It made him blush a little.

“Thanks, Rosa,” he said with a shy smile.

“Anyway, can we go to a certain place after this?” I asked with a smile.

“Well, sure,” he replied with a nod.

After we finished eating our ice cream, we went to the rooftop of the mall and found no one there. Only the orange sky and the cool breeze welcomed us.

“Everything looks tiny here,” Prince commented with a smile as he looked at the scenery below us. Compared to the present time, the buildings and houses were few and the green fields conquered most of the area.

“The truth is...I already like someone else so...I’m having a hard time falling for you so...I’m very sorry...”

Because of the place’s familiarity, Prince’s rejection came back to my mind.

“Rosa?” Prince called with a worried face and my shoulders twitched.

“W-What is it?” I asked with a forced smile.

“Well, you look sad.”

“Me? Of course not,” I disagreed and averted my gaze to the orange sky. Then, I made a serious face and asked, “Prince…can I ask you a question?”

“What is it?” he asked with a curious look.

“Do you have a crush on someone right now?”

After I said my question, the cold wind hit us. Our hair swayed for a moment but stopped when the breeze vanished.

“I don’t have one,” he answered with a gentle smile.

Surprised, I looked at him and asked, “Even a girl in your class?”

As his reply, he shook his head. Then, he looked back to the horizon and continued, “I don’t want to love a girl yet.”

“But why?”

“I mean, isn’t loving another girl means you’ll have another Mom but younger?” he asked like that was the most natural thing in the world.

“What?” I muttered, confused.

“And my Mom is really annoying so right now, it takes all my effort in showing my love to her. That’s why I’ll pass on that,” he explained shyly.

After I heard that, I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Is it that weird?” Prince asked, worried.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s not so don’t worry,” I followed with a smile.

Seriously? I got rejected twice and now’s because of his mom? Now I look like an idiot for thinking about love life with a grade-schooler.

"But why did you ask that all of a sudden?" he questioned me, clueless.

I walked away and stopped after a couple of steps. Because I didn’t turn back, Prince called my name.

“Rosa?”

Then, I faced him with a warm smile and said, “No particular reason. Let’s go?”

“Sure,” he said with a cheerful smile and jogged towards me.

Well, it’s not like I need to rush things. As for now, I have to help him overcome his weakness. Because I’m sure that he can...and he will. Though I wonder if Prince still has a mother complex in the present time.