[center][h1][color=black]T[/color]OTSUKA [color=black]R[/color]YUSEI
[color=black]戸[/color]塚 [color=black]竜[/color]星[/h1][/center]
[hr][right][color=gray]introduce a little pickle juice. upset the established order.
and everything becomes chaos.[/color][/right][hr]

[indent]Even when she was leaving him alone, the Ariyoshi girl managed to make Ryusei feel bad. He definitely [i]shouldn't[/i] have felt guilty about her hasty retreat, considering she had butted her way into his not-a-date. Plus, Shiori had been the one to tell her off. But the way her constant, sweet smile faded, in part because of his own dourness, it bothered him. Was it always going to be like this? As nice as they were to look at, the more time he spent with the opposite sex, the more they drove him up a wall. The phrase `girl-crazy` took on a whole new meaning when you spent the better part of an afternoon being teased by them, whether they realized they were doing it or not. But ruminating over things wasn't going to do him any good; this was supposed to be a fun, relaxing outing. 

[color=c0c0c0]"It's fine,"[/color] The teen finally piped, waving his hand as if to banish the notion that he held anything against Ariyoshi, [color=c0c0c0]"She probably just saw an opportunity and took it. I know I would. Especially with you all dressed up like that."[/color] 

The comments their host had made were almost certainly warranted, if only to maintain karmic balance, as Ryusei easily fell back into his now almost habitual teasing of the redhead across from him. Really, it was their classmate's fault. If she hadn't decided to put him on blast like that, then he wouldn't have to wrest control of the situation back by trying to fluster his terminally grumpy companion. Of course, he had already tested his karma once that day...

[color=c0c0c0]"... You do look nice though. I meant what I said back at your place."[/color]

No need to invite more retribution.[/indent]