Serena couldn't wait to rip open the letter from the studio, but she made herself hurry up the stairs to the third floor apartment she shared with Mina. She hadn't been this anxious since she'd opened the letter accepting her to university for the next fall, but this time she wasn't scared as well.
She burst into the apartment to find it empty, as usual for the time of afternoon when Mina was at her job at the boutique. Serena took a bouncy seat onto the sofa, giggling and sifting through the mail.
"My letter from the Super Couple Love Note Show studio," she said with a smile, passing on it to see the next envelope. "Phone bill. Ugh. Letter from Sammy. Another ..." She frowned, looking at the envelope identical to hers from the TV studio. "Another letter from Love Note? For Mina?"
She looked around the small apartment that was too warm in the early summer heat, making sure her roommate was indeed gone. "Mina never told me she was trying out for the show, too. I wonder who with. Probably Andrew." She shrugged, setting the other mail aside to open her own. "Darien and I can take them. We can take on anyone."
Her fingers flew over the seal and pulled out the letter inside, a smile coming to her lips as she saw the letterhead's pink double heart logo. "'Dear Serena Tsukino and Darien Chiba,'" she read aloud, unable to not sigh dreamily at the combination, "'congratulations, your love letter submission has won you a spot on the next Super Couple Love Note Show being filled in two weeks.'"
"Yes!" She leaped to her feet and gave a squeal that made Mrs. Tamaki upstairs pound her cane on the ceiling. "Sorry, Mrs. Tamaki!"
Her fingers tightened on the letter as Serena sat back down on the sofa. She read on, smile plastered on her face. "'You and six other lucky couples will be competing for $50,000 and assorted other glamorous prizes. This will be a competition testing your athletic abilities and resourcefulness as well as your compatibility and dedication as a super couple. Please complete the enclosed forms and send them to our contestant liaison department. We look forward to seeing you in two weeks. May the best couple win.'" She wiggled on the sofa, suppressing a squeal. "We're in! Oh, this is so perfect for us!"
Again Mrs. Tamaki's cane from upstairs.
"Hey, what's all the hollering about?" Mina said as she walked in the front door and saw Serena on the sofa. "I heard you all the way down the hall."
Serena got to her feet and waved the letter. "Darien and I got on the Super Couple Love Note Show!"
"Ooh, really? Show me." Mina dropped her bag on the sofa and took a closer look at the acceptance letter Serena bobbled before her face. "Hey, congratulations, Serena!"
Serena put her hands on her hips, a wry smile twisting her lips. "You didn't tell me you tried out, too, Mina. Who?"
Mina shrugged, smiling and blushing as she spied the letter on the sofa. "Andrew. As friends," she added quickly as Serena arched a suggestive eyebrow. "I need the tuition money."
"You were able to write a good enough love letter about Andrew to get you onto the show, but you expect me to believe you're just friends? Not likely, Mina."
The other blonde woman shrugged, smiling more. "It was easy to write."
"Ha! I knew it," Serena said, watching Mina open the letter.
"If only he did," Mina mumbled, her eyes moving across the studio stationery, a smile growing on her lips. "We're in, too! Serena, we're going, too!"
This time the cane was followed by a "Hush down there!"
"Sorry, Mrs. Tamaki!" Serena and Mina chorused. They looked to each other.
"Darien's probably with Andrew now at the coffee shop," Serena said. "Let's go tell them."
The Daily Grind coffee shop was six blocks away from the apartment building, on one of Tokyo's less traveled streets, a perfect spot for meeting, as it was close to the university Serena was to attend that fall, and not too far from the medical building where Darien was doing most of his labs that summer and into the next semester with classes.
The shop traffic was thinning as Serena and Mina entered, the crowd heading out to early evening events farther downtown. They found Darien and Andrew in the usual booth, Darien's back to them. Serena smoothed her pink skirt and crept up behind him, planting a soft kiss on the nape of his neck, one of her favorite spots.
"Hi, handsome," she said in a low voice as he turned to see her, grinning at the scent of sunflowers pervading her kiss.
"Hi, Serena." He glanced to Mina as she reached the table. He stood up and let Serena slide into the booth.
"Hi, Mina," Andrew said, smiling and standing to let her take a seat on the booth bench. He looked from her to Serena, wondering at their giggling faces, and then to Darien. "Something's up, Chiba."
Darien nodded. He set his arm along the back of the booth, feeling Serena move closer. "What's up?"
She looked up at him, watching the inquisitiveness in his eyes. "You remember the Super Couple Love Note Show we saw a few weeks ago? When Rei was over with that guy -- Chad -- from the temple."
He nodded slowly, signaling to a server. "What about it? Did they cancel that hokey show?"
Serena gave him a mock shove, which he absorbed, grinning wider as he drank the last of his coffee. "No, Darien, we got accepted onto it! We're going to be on the next season!"
"What?" He gulped the swallow and looked to her. "Accepted?"
She pulled out the letter and showed it to him. He read it slowly several times as she smiled at Mina.
Andrew chuckled, pointing at Darien. "Good timing, eh, Chiba?"
"Shut up, Andrew," Darien mumbled, eyes on the letter.
Mina frowned at them both. "What's he so grumpy about?"
Andrew sighed, and then stood up, nodding to Mina. "Let's go find a table to ourselves, what do you say?"
Mina smiled as Serena gave her a nod.
"Sure. Hey, good luck with Mr. Grumpypants here," she said, following Andrew across the shop.
Serena turned to Darien, who'd grown oddly quiet. "You're not upset about it, are you, Darien? Don't you remember? Last White Day? You said it was okay then."
He nodded as the server came up to their table. "The usual?" he asked Serena.
She nodded, uneasiness slipping over her.
"A double mocha iced with extra cream," he told the server, "and another coffee."
Serena watched the woman leave, and then put her hand on Darien's arm on the table, her fingers pressing into his bare skin. "You said it was okay."
He nodded, sighing. "I remember now, Serena."
She tried to laugh. "You don't sound too happy, Darien."
He looked to her for a long moment, finally smiling a bit at her eager face. "Listen, Serena, I think --"
"Don't," she said, voice dropping, smile disappearing completely. "I don't want to hear anything bad."
He took her hand in his, looking to the small fingers in his palm, feeling them nervous in his grip. "You have your first year of college coming up this fall, and you need to concentrate on that."
"Stop right there," she said stoutly. "If you're going to lecture me about this show distracting me from my studies, you're wrong." Her fingers tightened in his. "It's only for the summer, and if we win it could help pay for our tuition."
He nodded, but not in agreement. "That's all fine, but I was concentrating on your first semester, Serena. College is a big step, a lot to keep in focus. I was thinking maybe we should cool it for a while. We'll both be busy, and --"
Her hand jerked in his, eyes widening. "You're breaking up with me?"
He looked around at the other people at the few tables occupied, avoiding looking at Andrew and Mina. "Not for good; just kind of take it easy for a while, Serena. There'll be a lot of new people in your life, and you might think twice about us." He cleared his throat. "It happens."
She shook her head, trying to pull her hand away, but he only held it firmer. "It won't happen to us."
He smiled at the pout she tried to keep from her lips. "We'll still be friends, Serena. Just not as tight, not a couple."
"But I want to be a couple, Darien," she said softly. She looked to his empty coffee cup. "Have you met someone else? Is that the real reason why?"
"No. No one else." He tapped the letter with his finger. "I don't think this would be such a good idea."
She looked to it, frowning at the words there. "Why break up now? We'd have all summer together before school started."
He nodded slowly. "I didn't want to do it just before school started. You've got enough new stuff going on this fall, and breaking up then would be harder."
She sat back in the booth, feeling his hand rest with hers on his thigh. "Why at all, Darien?"
He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "We'd still be friends, Serena. We could still hang out, but just take it easy for a while."
She shook her head, looking up as he remained near. "Would we get back together, for real, more than friends?"
"I guess, if you still want to later." He shrugged. "Let's give it until next Christmas, and --"
"Christmas!" she said as the server brought their order and gave them an odd look before leaving. "That's so far away, Darien."
"Hey, you can still call me and tell me anything, Serena," he said gently, guilt hinting his tone. "We'll break-up now, just be friends, and you'll transition into college, and then we'll see. Nothing permanent. It'll be better."
"I don't see how it can be better if were apart, Darien," she murmured, looking without interest at her coffee mounded with whipped cream.
"Do you know how hard it would be to manage new classes, new instructors, a horde of new classmates, and a relationship?" He shook his head. "I've seen a lot of couples break-up and absolutely hate each other because they're so stressed about everything. Or they drop out of classes, or both."
She nodded, fighting the tears that threatened her eyes. She swallowed and took a deep breath. "I can't stop you from breaking-up with me, Darien, but I think it's wrong." She focused on the letter, a few of the words catching her eye. "Well," she said, refusing to cry, "if we're truly just friends, and it's only temporary, then there'd be no harm in still doing this."
He looked from her to the letter, shaking his head. "I don't think so, Serena."
"Why not? If we're only friends, then we're only friends." She looked to Andrew and Mina, their heads leaning over the letter on the table before them. "Mina and Andrew are just friends, and they're entering the show together."
Darien's attention shot to the other couple. "I don't know, Serena..."
"Why not?" She attempted a smile, trying to accept his ideology. "I've seen other people who were friends enter. We can fake being a couple for a few weeks, can't we? Just for the cameras."
He studied the wounded expression she was bravely trying to hide with a smile. "I suppose."
"It can still be fun, and you said we could still hang out together." She sighed, smiling more fully up at him. "We could still have some fun together, Darien."
He nodded, grinning at her. "I guess so."
"Good."
