"Hey Mikan, can you run some errands for me and buy these things in the market?" Mikan's mother stated.

"Sure, Mom." she said as she took the list of paper from her Mom's hands.

Her violet eyes looked at the lists of things that her mother wanted her to buy, then a yawn escaped her lips as her mother noticed this.

"Are you still tired? It seems like you didn't have a good sleep last night." her Mom said as she gave her daughter the money to buy the things in the list.

"No, I'm fine. It's nothing." she said as she walked upstairs to change her sleepwear and wear something decent since she is going out.

Mikan went downstairs as she walked towards the door and put on her shoes.

"Mom, I'm off!" she yelled from the front door as she stood up and twisted the doorknob and pushed it open.

    "Okay, sweetie!" her mother yelled back as Mikan walked out of the house.

    ♛♛♛

She went to market to buy the things listed in the paper, after making sure that she has everything in place, she walked out of the market and walked downtown.

Maybe I should go home now... she thought while walking.

Then something caught her eye as she walked towards the banner that was stationed near the shop.

Book sale - all books are now 70% OFF! Buy now!

"Seventy percent off?!" she gasped as while staring at the banner. "It wouldn't hurt if I detour a bit..."

Mikan entered the shop with grocery bags in hand, lots of books were placed in different shelves and tables. She walked towards the Love Story section and looked for a good book to buy.

"Wow...each book is really interesting to read..." she murmured, scanning the books.

Until a single book title caught her eyes as she stopped and stared at the book for a momentarily.

R o m e o a n d J u l i e t
Written by William Shakespeare

"I want to buy this." she muttered as she extended her hand to grab the book in the shelf.

She grabbed the book and walked towards the counter to buy it. After purchasing the book, she went home right away to read the book that she bought.

    ♛♛♛

After reading the book for two days long, she finally finished the story. It was a very well written and very descriptive, it was also tear-jerking and heart-wrenching. Even so, she has come to adore the tragic love story of two lovers who died at the end.

"Oh, my...it's already 2 o'clock. I still have classes tomorrow..." she mumbled while looking at the wall clock.

    Then her phone buzzed as she grabbed it and looked at the screen to see that she has a new text message.

    From: Kise Ryota

    Sakura-chii, are you awake? I can't sleep...Insomnia always strikes and ruin my beauty sleep. ('༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ')

    Then she tapped her keyboard and replied back to her text buddy that would always call or message her in late nights.

    To: Kise Ryota

    Yes, I'm still awake. You have an insomnia again? Why don't you try drinking some hot milk, sleeping beauty, haha. ╰(*'︶'*)╯♡

    From: Kise Ryota

    Milk? Okey, I'll try drinking. （╹◡╹）♡ Will it make me sleepy?

    To: Kise Ryota

    Maybe? That works for me when I can't sleep at night. (๑･̑◡･̑๑)

    Kise didn't replied after that as Mikan stood up from her swivel chair as she puts the book inside her school bag and zipped it close.

    She plopped on her mattress as she was waiting for Kise to reply her message, few minutes of waiting, her phone buzzed as she read his text.

    From: Kise Ryota

    Your right, I'm getting a little bit sleepy. (●'ω｀●) I'm gonna be Zzz...later mwahaha.

    To: Kise Ryota

    See? Milk really works. I hope you get your beauty sleep. ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

    From: Kise Ryota

    Beauty sleep? Gah! \(//∇//)\ Staph it, I'm getting embarrassed!!!

    To: Kise Ryota

    Don't be, Sleeping Beauty. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

    From: Kise Ryota

    Stop teasing me! (⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎) 

    To: Kise Ryota

    I'm going to sleep now, we still have classes tomorrow. Goodnight, Kise-kun. (*'▽'*)

    From: Kise Ryota

    Okay. Night night! I'll see you in my dreams (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))♡

    After the last message that Kise sent, a smile formed her lips as a blush spread on her cheeks. She put her phone beneath her pillow as she lays down and stared at the ceiling above.

    "How dorky..." she muttered before closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

♛♛♛

    The following day, everything was normal, nothing peculiar as the classes went like a breeze. It was already lunch time as Mikan went to the library after eating her food, Satsuki had something to do today so she was all alone by herself.

    In the library, of course, it was quiet there. Some were studying and others were just reading. She pulled a chair from the table and sat down.

    "Hello, Sakura-san." a voice said.

    Mikan gasped as she abruptly stood up from her chair, her face turned white as sheets. She felt like she was going to have an heart attack.

    "KUROKO-KUN?!" she shrieked.

    Then the people inside the library hissed her to keep quiet as she covered her mouth and sat down on the chair.

    "What are you doing here?!" she whispered to him.

    "I was here first." he simply stated.

    "Oh, is that right? I didn't notice you even though your sitting right in front of me..." she said.

    "It's fine, I have a low presence and people don't really notice me that much." he blankly says.

    "I'm really sorry..." a sweat trickled down her forehead.

    "It's okay." he replied as he turned back his attention to his book.

    Mikan noticed that he was holding a book in hand, it had a beige color and a very simple design, it was also a hardbound. He was reading a novel, silently yet seriously.

    "Hey, what are you reading?" she asked him.

    He lifts his head from the book and faced her. "Oh, this?" he closed the book and showed it to her.

    "The title of the story is The Black Goat's Egg, it's all about a young man and his mother who was a serial killer. The protagonist was disgusted with her mother's cruel actions, but he discovered that he has the impulses within him too."

    Mikan somehow found the book kind of creepy. "Is it horror?"

    "Yes, it is. It focuses on graphic descriptions of violence, as well as an exploration of the protagonist's mental." he said.

    "So...you like that kind of genre? Violence and gore?" she asked.

    "I wouldn't say that I like it, it's just that I was amazed by the author's writing skills–it's very descriptive." he answered.

    "I see...I'm actually into love story novels." she said as she zipped open her bag and grabbed a book.

    "Have you read Romeo and Juliet?" she asked him while showing him the book cover.

    "Romeo and Juliet? No, I haven't. But they both died in the end, right?"

    "Yeah, they did. It's a very interesting story, it took me two days to finish reading. By the way, how did you know that they died in the end?"

    "Spoilers."

    Mikan sweat dropped. "Oh, I see. Honestly speaking, I hate spoilers. It dampers the fun in reading."

    Kuroko nodded in agreement. "I actually hate spoilers, too."

    "But I would love to read that book someday." he added.

♛♛♛

    "Kise-kun, are you going to do something after practice?" Mikan asked as she was in the gym, handing the blonde boy a bottled water.

    "Hm? Nothing really...why?" he asked as he twisted the cap open and drunk the water.

    "I just found out what to give Kuroko-kun!" she excitedly says.

    Then Kise stopped drinking half-way as he wiped away the water from his lips. "Really? What is it?"

    "A book. I'm going to buy it later in the book sale, can you come with me?"

    "Of course, I did said that I'll help you look for a gift...but you already have a gift to give him and I wasn't able to do anything."

    "T-That's not true, you helped me a lot in thinking how to thank him!"

    "Sakura-chii...your so kind to me!"

    Mikan waited for the practice to be over as Kise hurriedly changed into his school uniform and ran towards to her who was seating on the bleachers.

    "Let's go, Sakura-chii!" he had a wide grin on his face.

    She stood up from the bleachers and grabbed her bag. "Sure!"

    They walked downtown to the shop which is a book sale that Mikan went into the other day, she searched for the book in each shelves.

    "Now that I think about it, Kuroko-chii is always reading a book!" Kise stated.

    "Yeah, he told me that he wanted to read a book earlier." Mikan said as she finally found the book that she was looking for.

    She grabbed it from the shelves as the blonde's eyes widened. "He wanted to read Romeo and Juliet?"

    "Yes." she simply answered as she walked towards the counter and purchased the book.

    "I didn't know that Kuroko-chii is into romance novels."

    "He isn't really into romance, he just wanted to read this story because it seems interesting."

    They walked out of the shop as they walked through the town while talking to each other and laughing. Until Mikan stopped for a moment as Kise stopped in his tracks as well.

    "Can you wait for awhile? There is something I want to check inside." she told him.

    "Sure." he smiled as she walked inside the shop.

    He waited outside the shop for her return, it didn't took for awhile as she finally came out.

    "Here!" she said, handing him a keychain.

    "What's this...?" he asked as he grabbed the keychain from her hand.

    Kise stared at the keychain, it was a cute little blue bear accessory with a yellow star attached into it. It had a beady eyes, blushy cheeks, and a smiley face. It was very adorable.

    "It's a bear keychain. I wanted to say thank you for helping me to find a gift for Kuroko-kun." she stated.

    Then she grabbed another bear keychain that matches his, it was color pink and also has a star attached to it.

    "I also bought one, now we have matching ones." she smiled.

    She grabbed her cellphone and hang the keychain on it, she showed it to Kise the bear attached on the device.

    "See? Isn't it cute?" she asked

    "Y-Yeah..." he stated.

    Mikan realized that she did another annoying thing again, it was clear that Kise didn't liked the bear keychain.

    "I-I'm sorry...bear keychains are annoying, aren't they? You don't have to use it..."

Kise shook his head as he turned to her and flashed a smile. "They're not annoying, you just surprised me. That's all."

He grabbed his phone and hang the bear keychain on it, this made her surprisingly relieved to the fact that he wasn't annoyed.

"Now we match." he said.

♛♛♛

The next day, Mikan went to the library. She looked around for a blue haired guy, but it seems like she can't see him. Maybe he didn't went to the library today.

Sighing, she sat down on a chair with a glum look showing in her face.

"Where is Kuroko-kun...?" she muttered.

"I am here."

Mikan jumped from her seat as she stood up and saw Kuroko who was holding a book in his hands while looking at her.

"KUROKO-KUN?!" she shouted.

Then everyone in the library hissed her to be quiet as she sat down on the chair, embarrassed. Why is this happening to her again?

"How long have you been here?" she whispered to him.

"I've been here after I ate my lunch." he replied plainly.

Then she placed the book on top of the table and pushed it towards Kuroko, he looked up from his book and to see Mikan offering him a romance novel.

"Here, please take this." she said.

It was a Romeo and Juliet book that she bought with Kise the other day, Kuroko's eyes widened momentarily as she was offering him this book.

"For me?" he asked, his eyes still pinned on the book cover.

"Yes. You said you wanted to read it someday, so I bought you one!" she happily stated.

"Just because of that?" he said, unbelievingly surprised.

"I-I also wanted to thank you for saving me back then when I was about to lose consciousness at the train station...I didn't know how to thank you so I just bought this book for you."

He grabbed the book as he flipped it open, he saw the introduction of the book as his eyes silently read it. It was an English verse but was translated in Japanese verse.

"Thank you." he said.

"Your welcome." she replied.

He lift his head from the book as he turned to face her. "It seem to be abrupt, but can we exchange email address?"

Blood rushed to Mikan's face as she began to blush furiously. "W-What?"

"I have everyone else's email address in the basketball team except yours...well, it's okay if you don't want to." he stated.

Oh, so that's why...? What am I getting my hopes up to? she thought.

"Sure...but my email is somewhat lame." she whispered the last sentence.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"N-Nothing!" she stated.

They exchanged emails with each other as Kuroko's email address is now register in Mikan's contact, she stared at his profile on her screen while smiling to herself.

I finally have your email address.

"I finally have your email address."

Then she blinked as she began to panic afterwards, did I just said that out loud?! she thought.

"U-Uh...I'm sorry, it's nothing like that...it's just, um—"

"You two, can you get out of the library and talk somewhere else? You're disturbing the other students who are reading their books."

The librarian walked up to them, slightly pissed by their constant voice that keep echoing through out the library. She can't stand their noises anymore.

"Yes, Ma'm." Kuroko said.

"I'm sorry..." Mikan stated.

They walked out of the library as they begun walking through the hallways.

"I'm sorry, Kuroko-kun...because of me, we were send out of the library. It was because I was too noisy..." she apologized.

"It's fine, Sakura-san. No need to apologize." he said as he lift his face from his book and turned to her.

If only I didn't overreact... she thought, grieving.

"You get embarrassed really easily, don't you?"

Mikan lowered her head down as a blush spread across her cheeks, she slowly nodded from his statement. Then he chuckled, making her blush even more.

"That's quite cute."