The Scarf
By Laura Schiller
Series: Shugo Chara
Copyright: Peach Pit
Amu fidgeted on her dainty white chair in the Royal Garden, watching Tadase survey the pile of brightly wrapped birthday gifts under the little plastic Christmas tree they'd set up. Which one would he open first? The suspense was stretching her out like a rubber band.
He reached out and picked up one with shining pink-and-golden wrapping and a curly golden ribbon, more elaborate than any of the others..
"Is this yours, Hinamori-san?" he inquired.
Snap! went the rubber band. Amu nodded. Her mother had wrapped it, but she was embarrassed to admit as much.
"I think I'll save it for last," said Tadase, smiling. "It looks great."
"She would give him something fancy," remarked Yaya, in an audible whisper. "Open Yaya's first, Tadase-kun!" she added loudly. "Pretty please?"
Yaya's lumpy red package turned out to be a fluffy brown teddy bear and three lollipops.
"Pepe-chan helped me pick them out," said Yaya, beaming with pride.
Tadase picked up the bear, adjusted the red bow it was wearing, and set it down next to him on the table. "Thank you very much, Yuiki-san," he said smoothly, with not a trace of hesitation, even though a teddy bear did not strike Amu as a suitable present for a boy his age at all.
So it went on. Kukai's gift was a new video game; Nagihiko's, a gift card for a sporting-goods store; Rima's, the complete DVD collection of her favorite gag comedy show. Even Kairi had mailed over a history of the royal family of Great Britain, a heavy tome which Kukai jokingly asked to borrow for weight-lifting.
Amu found it hard to pay attention to her own presents, both the ones she gave and those she received. Nagihiko gave her a hairclip that looked like a spray of cherry blossoms; Kairi, in his enormous and probably very expensive Chrismas package, had somehow made room for a rather embarrassing collection of Japanese love poetry just for her. But she couldn't get up her usual level of enthusiasm, not even when Yaya presented her with an all-you-can-eat discount card for an ice-cream parlor.
Her gift for Tadase haunted her – When will he open it? Will he like it? Isn't it too presumptuous of me to give him something like that, as if I were his mother or his girlfriend? – Tadase picked up her gift, carefully slipped off the golden ribbon, unpeeled the Scotch tape and put the wrapping aside. He lifted of the lid of the white cardboard box and pulled out a woolly scarf.
It was dark red and slightly lumpy, with a few holes that you could poke your little finger through, and about twice as long as Tadase's arm. Amu's fingers got tired again just looking at it, and all the holes and lumps were so glaringly obvious that she wanted to snatch it out of Tadase's hand, run to a department store and buy him something decent instead. She threw a defiant glare around the room, daring everyone to laugh.
Nobody did; in fact, Yaya was looking noticeably starry-eyed and Nagihiko, for whatever reason, heaved a sigh and frowned at his new basketball shirt.
"You...made this yourself, Hinamori-san?" Tadase asked, feeling the thick wool with his hands and looking down at it with an unreadable expression.
"Yeah," said Amu gruffly, hiding behind her 'cool and spicy' act. "I just tossed it together. No big deal."
"You can knit, Amu-chi? That is so cool!" Yaya snatched up the scarf and rubbed it against her face, crooning happily over the softness of the wool.
Rima glanced at the scarf, then at Nagihiko, then hid her face behind a glossy new volume of Ranma ½.
Once Yaya had relinquished the scarf, Tadase arranged it around his neck and smiled at Amu. "It's warm, cozy, and the perfect length. Thank you, Hinamori-san."
Warm and cozy, indeed. Tadase's voice made her think of hot chocolate on a cold winter's night, and the room seemed to heat up by several degrees. Or was that because she was blushing?
"Um, uh...you're welcome, Tadase-kun."
"This is for you," handing her a small, sparkling silver bag. Inside was a cell phone charm, an equal-armed silver cross with a sparkling stone at each end: pink, blue, green and yellow. "I saw that in a shop and...I thought of you," said Tadase, pausing awkwardly. Was there a slight pink glow on his face or was that from the red lights on the tree?
"Tadase-kun...it's beautiful!"
Yaya narrowed her eyes at Amu and Tadase, as they stood there bathed in light from the glittering tree. "There they go with the lovey-dovey atmosphere again," she muttered, exchanging knowing looks with Rima.
()
Later on, however, Amu's euphoric mood had gone, leaving her almost as anxious as before. Walking home through the cold, but sunny afternoon, she pulled out her cellphone to text Rima and get a second opinion.
did u see how he reacted?! does he like the scarf???
who?
tadasekun!!
sure he liked it
Amu scowled and typed even faster. She could just see Rima's emtionless face in front of her; for a best friend and confidante, Rima was taking a very phlegmatic view of the subject.
u no how he is! always polite & never says what he thinks! hed smile and say thks even if he h8s the scarf!
Tadase's gentlemanly manners were one of the best – and worst – things about him. Amu loved how polite he was, of course, but how was she supposed to tell what he was thinking? How did she know whether he was kind to her because he thought he should be, or because he genuinely liked her?
Amu was just about to hit 'send' and step onto the zebra stripes at an intersection when several things happened at once.
"Watch out!" someone screamed behind her.
Somebody grabbed Amu by the back of her collar and yanked her backwards.
She squeaked as her cell phone fell out of her hands.
A heavy truck came roaring past, honking angrily, inches away from where she had been about to walk.
Tadase pushed her around to face him, grabbed her by the shoulders, and shook her so her teeth rattled. "Are you nuts?" he shouted. "Can't you look where you're going? That bus could've run you over!"
Amu was speechless; her head whirled. Tadase getting her out of trouble was one thing; he'd done it before. But shouting at her?
And then, to complete Amu's bewilderment, Tadase swept her into his arms. Her nose tickled from the scarf he was wearing – her own Christmas present from just now – and she was so warm...please don't let go...
Once he did let go, however, he was beet-red and almost incoherent.
"I – um – Hinamori-san – so sorry – I, um, didn't mean to...it was just..." He took a deep breath and shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts so he could formulate a straight sentence. "I didn't mean to yell at you, but I thought you were...I was scared. Please don't text people while you're walking, it's dangerous!"
He said that all jumbled up ine breath, but she understood.
"I know," she said, sounding out of breath, as she bent down to pick up the cell phone. "Bad habit...oops!"
Tadase got to the phone first, and they bumped heads. He frowned down at the display screen, then handed the phone to her as they both got up. The little cross charm was still whole, Amu noted with a thankful sigh as she switched the phone off and put it in her pocket.
"Take care, Hinamori-san," said Tadase. "And for the record – I really do like the scarf."
They waved to each other as they went down separate streets. Amu's cell phone remained safely in her pocket, as did the happy glow in her eyes.