Pool Party!!! Let the Stress drown away!!!

Calvin was a little more than just worried. Did something happen to Ashlyn while he was, not paying the most attention to her? Calvin then looked as two girls came up to the door, which he questioned a bit. Did, they do something to her? Calvin could swear he could feel himself start to seethe with anger, but he quickly calmed down almost as fast. His, mindset of seeing the best in everyone started to kick in to overdrive, which is good cause he did not want to have a outburst here, especially at two, nine year old looking girls. He did a little sigh when one of them walked into the girls changing room. He then smiled at the one who who was till outside as she bombarded him with loads of questions. He slowly nodded as she spoke, trying to make sure he heard every single question. Once she was done, he tried his best to answer them. "I, like the pool, and Ashlyn wanted to come here. My name is Calvin Hobbes," He stopped at the third question and smiled, just quietly putting a finger to his mouth, then put it back down. "And lastly, thanks. Both of them mean a lot to me. So, did you, just meet Ashlyn?" He asked her, every once in a while looking from the door to the girl.

Ashlyn was, actually not in one of the stalls, and poked Hitomi on the shoulder. Once Hitomi turned around Ashlyn would put a finger up to her own mouth, and motioned for Hitomi to follow him somewhere different. Once they were a few feet away she turned around and seemed, rather happy. "I'm fine! But, if I could just get something that can keep Calvin and that, other girl apart for like, ever, it should be fine." Ashlyn told her, cupping her chin, thinking on ways to make that an reality.

"It's fine, not like water would make me melt or anything."
Waving her hand dismissively. Yume smiled at the guy wagging his tail. He looked sort of cute that way. Reminded her of her older brother's dog at home.
"Great jump, though."
She was genuinely impressed by how many flips he could do in the air before landing in the water. She had never seen someone jump like that.

Hikari tilted her head and had a questioning expression on her face, thinking first of what Calvin said, rather than his question. "Huh? You know Ashlyn too? Wait a sec, Hobbes? Hobbes... Hobbes! Ashlyn is your sister! Hitomi is my sister! She went to talk to Ashlyn. Hey, my sister is talking to your sister, hehe, Oh, yeah, uh, well we did just meet Ashlyn. I saw her in the pool and we talked, and now we're friends. <3" Hikari giggled, proud of herself for being able to figure out Calvin was Ashlyn's brother. She didn't however, put the fact that Calvin was the one Ashlyn was talking about liking earlier.

Hikari then got a random thought as she often does. "Ooh, ooh, hey, can you pick me up and spin me in the air like you did Franky? Oh, Hi Franky! Hey, do you like Calvin?"

Meanwhile, in the Girl's changing room, Hitomi was feeling slightly confused at Ashlyn's intentions. She raised her hands in question. "Wow, wow, I don't know what you are thinking, but are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, I understand how you're feeling right now, but, instead of trying to attack Franky, why not speak to her first? It's always good to know all sides of the story." Hitomi really didn't want to cross Franky, and not just because she scared her, but also because she didn't want to start any unnecessary conflict. Hitomi just hoped Ashlyn would be reasonable in this situation.
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Franky wasn't very fond of sitting back and watching from the sidelines. She was the one in the middle of the hot and dangerous war zone, why stop that now? Franky pushed herself up over the edge of the pool and stood up once she was on the concrete. She shook her wet hair out of her face and started to slowly and calmly walk towards Calvin. Once she got directly behind Calvin Hikari gave away her presence with a greeting followed by a question, which she then answered. "I do Hikari." She then hugged Calvin from behind before he was able to try and turn around. She rested her chin on his shoulder a bit as she spoke a little quieter near Calvin's ear.

"Maybe even more than he knows..." Franky said sounding like she was speaking truthfully. After all, Franky never thought of Calvin like she did earlier. Even though she knew Calvin was nothing like that, it had to mean something for her imagining it right? I mean... she has thought about stuff "worse" than that before, but never with anyone she really knew. "So, what are you two talking about out here? Has something happened? Tell me Calvin, pretty please with a cherry on top." Franky said in her slightly whinny teasing voice.
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Chicory looked up towards Juro's voice in surprise. 'He's... blind... he was born blind like me?' After she thought this she felt her head being patted and listened to Juro-kun's explanation. She made a little squeak noise when he first patted her head but relaxed after that. She then started to think about what Juro-kun said about "seeing" people. He did just what she did... only she doubted he had her ability to read vibration waves. She started to feel kind of happy as he patted her head, like a little puppy being petted by his master.

'He's, so gentle. Not like anyone else I've met before...' Chicory then took her hand and placed it on Juro's chest gently, moving it down slightly to look for his heart vibrations. She then took her ear and put it to his heart, placing her other hand on his shoulder. She closed her eyes as she concentrated on his heartbeat, reading it, trying to feel, to see Juro-kun. 'Bum Bump...Bum Bump...Bum Bump...' She smiled as she heard the beat of his heart. "Juro-kun... I, I want to see you too..." Chicory said moving her hands from his chest and shoulder to his face as she lifted her head from his heart.

"I can... feel vibrations that other people don't notice. And, in a way, this lets me see what is around me. By doing this, I can see what your face looks like." She focused on every little twitch of muscle and movement of Juro's and was able to "see" or rather feel what his face looked like. Chicory smiled as she saw his face. He was rather handsome and she liked his spikey hair too. Although she wasn't about to reveal that information to Juro. She then ran her fingers down Juro's arms and grabbed his hands to lead them to her face.

"I've never done this with someone before... cause everyone else already knows what I look like...but I want you to know too...Juro-kun" She held her soft hands on his as his hands touched her face, she giggled a little as they touched her skin. "It tickles... I know I might not be that pretty... but... I want you to see me... cause, I trust you, Juro-kun..." Chicory blushed as she spoke to Juro, she could feel the heat from his hands warming her face... His fingers shifting on her skin... and she could smell the chlorine on her own hands from when she was in the pool, but she was concentrating more on the scent of Juro's skin. She felt like one of those girls in her novels she read all the time... does that mean that...

Juro was surprised at first at the actions of his friend, but quickly accepted it and let her do as she wished with a smile. He stayed respectfully silent as she talked, and didn't even flinch when she was feeling his face. He was glad to do anything to help Chicory out, and letting her see what he looked like by groping his face was no exception. "Vibrations? hmm,  that's pretty amazing Chicory."

He was slightly surprised and grew nervous when she grabbed his arms, he never had the best experiences with that, but then she said something about wanting him to know what she looked like? He understood when she put his hands on her face. He blushed at the amount of trust she was showing and how familiar she was allowing him to be, but he shook it off and started to feel her face. He was amazingly gentle as his fingers practically glided across her face, putting as little pressure on her face as he possibly could. He removed his hands from her face and gently placed them on her shoulder before speaking with a smile. "Well thanks Chicory, but you really don't need to worry. You look great! I'm sure you dazzle plenty of boys (and girls) with your looks." He said enthusiastically, not having to feign his opinion.

(( Sorry that I accidentally posted out of order! I was just distracted and anxious to post. It won't happen again! ^_^' ))

Ashlyn shook her head rather rapidly. "Nononono. Attacking is out of the question. Besides, that could just end in pain and suffering. All I gotta do, is either somehow get Calvin to never see her again. Or, bad talk Calvin to, Franky, was it? Thus, making her lose all focus and feelings for Calvin. Yeah, genius plan." Ashlyn told herself and Hitomi.

Calvin smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Ashlyn is indeed my sister. And sure I c-" But before he could finish his sentence, he heard the girl mention Franky. And when she did, a whole lot of thoughts went through his head. the biggest one was that he felt bad for leaving Franky behind, so was going to turn around until he felt someone hug him from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder. He felt his head get just a little bit red and a little bit hot. He heard her say that she did like him, though, in his mind she was just teasing him again. Until he heard the second part of her message. "Uh, what exactly does that mean?" Calvin asked her, rather, confused. Until he heard her start to whine a bit, which made him say, "I'm, actually not sure. Hey, scuse me miss, what exactly happened to Ashlyn?"

Yume was a bit confused by the response. His tail wagged faster was all that she really saw. And he waved off her compliment like it was nothing. She slid from the edge back into the water, pushing away from the edge. Spreading her arms wide in a slow swimming movement. Imagining she was flying, forgetting she even had a conversation a few seconds ago.

Hitomi was unsure how to react to this situation really. She was glad she wasn't planning violence, but trying to bring people apart like that? It just wasn't right in Hitomi's opinion. A sweat drop appeared on the back of her head as she listened to Ashlyn's "plan." Hitomi could only pray Ashlyn would listen to reason. "Ashlyn... you can't toy with people's lives... it's just not right. I understand your feelings for Calvin but... is it really necessary to get involved like that? Why not just try to get Franky to understand how you feel and maybe, tell Calvin too. I mean... I understand love between siblings, Hikari and I are twins, we are always together. I love her more than anything and would protect her with my life. If you really love Calvin then tell him the truth. In the end you'll always be family and he will always love you."

Hitomi was honestly doing her best to resolve this situation peacefully, but this was just a little out of her experience. That kind of love between siblings... was it really something you could admit so easily? Hitomi started to try and understand by putting herself into the situation. If she felt that way about Hikari, would she tell her? And how would Hitomi react to such information? If she were to accept something like that then what... a vision appeared in Hitomi's head that caused her to blush for a second before shaking her head to make the thought go away. Such things... Hikari isn't ready for these kinds of situations... Hitomi was starting to see she wasn't either...ugh, why did she always get into these situations?

Hikari meanwhile, was outside watching the two love birds interact, and smiling all the while. They were so cute! Hikari loved to see things like this, all so romantic! When Calvin asked what happened to Ashlyn, Hikari placed her finger on her chin. Trying to actually figure out what did happen. "Umm, well, let me think... well, Ashlyn, Hitomi and me were talking about a crush Ashlyn had... but out of nowhere she swam away really fast, and then Hitomi swam after her, and I followed Hitomi, then we got here and Hitomi went in there, then we started talking, then Franky came and now we are talking about what happened to Ashlyn... What happened to Ashlyn?"

Poor Hikari just realized that she didn't even know what was happening. People running away without saying anything, it was all very confusing. But then Hikari realized something, Hitomi was smart and usually knew about things Hikari didn't. Maybe she could tell Calvin what happened. "Oh! Wait, Hitomi might know what happened. Maybe that's why she followed Ashlyn in there." Hikari smiled at the too, feeling like she was doing good being helpful.
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A hidden blush came upon Franky's face when Calvin asked her what she meant. Her grin got a little bigger too, but the question was dodged when he asked Hikari what happened to Ashlyn... which Franky guessed was the girl Hitomi went in after. As Franky heard what Hikari said she started to try to figure out the situation. So they were discussing a crush Ashlyn had... then she suddenly runs with no warning... so what triggered her to run off like that? Franky thought back to everyone she knew was at the pool. As far as she knew there were only two boys in the pool, that could possibly be her crush. The dude with the tail, which she doubted was the guy... then there was the one who ran after that girl... come to think of it, what was going on there? One mystery at a time Franky. Okay...

So tail boy was dismissed from the equation because he clearly was interested in the blonde over yander. That other guy was nowhere to be found, and for all he knew he was together with that girl. But this didn't add up... and unless Ashlyn was into girls she didn't know any other boys at the pool she could have a crush on... except... Franky shifted her eyes to look at Calvin's face. Then she remembered the whole situation with the necklace... then did that mean? No... well, actually, it wasn't so hard to believe... after all it's happened before, but... then that means...

Franky suddenly lifted her head and ruffled Calvin's hair before heading to the door. "Well, we won't find anything out standing here. And since this is a girl's only section, I guess it's up to me to find out what's what. Don't miss me too long Cal!" Franky said before she suddenly went through the door and entered the changing room. She had to know for sure, after all, proof is needed before you can say something is true.

Franky looked around to see Hitomi talking to a girl that looked older than Hitomi, but younger than Franky. She walked over to the pair before speaking out. "Hello girls, I hear there are some rotten kids trying to figure out a mystery, so I figured I'd be Sherlock and come see what I can figure out." Franky looked over at Hitomi, and then at Ashlyn. "So ladies, who wants to tell Auntie Franky what's up?"
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Chicory couldn't help but feel embarrassed by Juro's words. Chicory always considered herself very plain. She didn't put on makeup like a lot of other girl's do. She didn't exactly dress to impress people either... yet Juro-kun says she is pretty... was she really that pretty? She couldn't be that pretty right? But, Juro-kun wouldn't lie to her, right? He didn't seem like that, and Chicory could usually tell when someone was being dishonest. There was something in their tone, movements, and body that changed when people lied. None of these happened with Juro even once.

Chicory smiled sweetly at Juro and moved in to hug his chest. "If you say I'm pretty Juro-kun... then, I believe you." She said holding herself close to him. Juro had made her feel so happy. He probably didn't truely realize how happy, after all, he was the first person in this city she wasn't afraid to talk to or embarrass. Chicory then thought of something, something she was hesitant to ask but knew she could ask if it was Juro-kun.

She released Juro from the hug and took a step back, her face getting slowly redder as time passed. She gulped before taking in a deep breathe and prepared to speak. "J-Juro-kun... I-I, wanted to ask you..." She placed her right hand over her chest. "...would you... would you have me as your weapon!?" She asked with a little more enthusiasm, staying confident Juro would answer her truthfully either way.

Juro hugged Chicory back a little when she hugged him, but was quick to release as soon as there was as sign that she wanted to stop it. He stayed silent until she asked her question, which surprised him not only because of the setting, but also because of the enthusiasm she asked it with. It only took a second for him to respond though, with even more enthusiasm. "Of course Chicory! I would be honored to have you as a weapon!" He exclaimed in excitement as he stepped forward and gave her a maybe-too-tight hug. "Not only is your weapon form sweet but you're great too! How could I refuse?"

Ashlyn cupped her chin a bit as she listened to Hitomi. Occasionally, she would throw in a "Uh-huh" and a "mmhmm" but truthfully, she had ADD and listening was way too hard because of it. Ashlyn then looked at Hitomi and opened her mouth to say something before she heard the door open and saw the girl from earlier walk in. Ashlyn just looked at Franky for a bit and opened her mouth, but almost as quickly closed ii. She had to pick what to do, and, the choice actually came rather naturally for her. "Oh nothing. So, quick question. Do you, really like Calvin? Or do you just like his freckles. Because that has happened before." Ashlyn asked for, her own personal reasons.

Calvin scoffed a bit at what she said. "I'll try not to." he said, sounding rather sarcastic. But, is it weird deep down he actually, rather meant it? Calvin just tried to shake that off as he looked down at Hikari and smiled at her. "You still want me to spin you around a bit?" He asked her.

Yume eventually floated in the pool on her back, looking up at the clear sky. There was a lot of noise coming from the place where she last saw Calvin. She wondered if she should actually figure out what was going on. She looked like she spaced out while staring up.