A/N: Ah...Another holiday is upon us. This means that well...I'm in another fluffy mood! And everyone has been so loyal lately to Nightmares of the Past and Present and Christmas Mistletoe was a successful fluff so well, another holiday fluff! And what is the next holiday? Valentines day of course! A small note is to be made here. As you all know, Mina and Hikari are Japanese. The reason why Mina is confused by the chocolate is that she was taught by Hikari that she is supposed to receive a white ribbon from a boy who likes her. Just a small note to make before going on,
Valentine Bunny
Mina sat in her room staring outside the window. She watched quietly as snow floated down from the sky like feathers and landed on the ground. She smiled and rested her arms on the windowsill and laid her head on her arms. Hikari opened the door and stepped in. On her neck she wore a white ribbon with a huge smile on her face.
The violet reploid looked to her young charge and eyed the ribbon on her neck. "Hikari? What's with the white ribbon?" she asked her, pointing at the ribbon with a confused look.
"It's St. White's day Mina-chan!" Hikari grinned widely. "Did you get a white ribbon from X yet?" she asked her.
"Am I supposed to?" she asked back. "What's a white ribbon for?" Mina turned on her chair and faced Hikari.
Hikari frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "If the boy you like ties a white ribbon on you, it means your love will last forever and will never disappear! Who wouldn't want that?"
Mina was suddenly alarmed. "And who gave you that ribbon!?" she demanded.
Hikari smiled. "Actually, Douglas felt sorry for me being the only child here with no other children my age. He gave me the ribbon to cheer me up." she explained. "He's a really cool guy."
"So...if a boy ties a white ribbon on you...it means your love will be last forever and...never disappear?" Mina stood up and walked over to the door. "Well, X won't find me if I'm in here." she commented before leaving.
X walked through the hallways of the HQ looking at a card. In one hand was a bouquet of roses and in the other hand was a box of chocolates. He hummed a small tune to himself as he thought about Mina. It was Alia who had told him about Valentine's Day. "They were kind of expensive..." he noted as he looked at the gifts. "But as Alia said...She's worth it right?"
He was so cheerful and confident, he whistled lightly as he walked through the hallways. He paused as Mina walked by him. "Hi X! Bye X!" she called to him as she passed.
X, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the violet reploid, turned around and nearly dropped everything. He juggled the box of chocolates and bouquet of flowers, trying not to drop them. X finally caught a hold of the gifts, holding the bouquet in his hands, balancing the box of chocolates on his foot and holding the card in his mouth. "Mina!?" he asked with his mouth full, startled and nearly losing his balance.
Mina stopped and looked back. She smiled and winked. "I look forward to seeing a white ribbon X!" she told him and continued down the hallway.
"A white ribbon!?" X stared after her as she disappeared around the corner. "What white ribbon? What is she talking about?"
"Mina and I are from Japan remember X?"
Startled again, everything fell as X was surprised by Hikari. A rose petal fell on his nose as he looked over to the child. "What do you mean? What do white ribbons and being from Japan have to do with everything? It's Valentine's day remember? That's chocolates and roses! That's what Alia told me!"
"Mina only understands St. White's Day X. It's when a boy ties a white ribbon on a girl he likes. Doing that means that the love that they share will last forever and always be true." explained Hikari.
"Hm, I see. Miss Hikari, have you told anyone else about this?" asked X, his brow raised in curiosity.
"Oh..." There was a pause in between the answer as a hallway full of reploids stampeded past them. X noticed in the chaos that they all carried white ribbons. "I thought it wouldn't be fair if I lied so I said the truth to everyone who asked..."
"Oh...son...of...a..." X whispered, cursing under his breath. "Where can I find a white ribbon!?"
Hikari looked up to him and grinned, holding up an extra white ribbon. "Thought you'd never ask." she replied to him with a huge grin that matched his.
"Missed me! Oh, I'm sorry. Am I that hard to catch?"
Mina found it hard to find peace and quiet in HQ that day. The other reploids had somehow figured out about the white ribbon rule with her. Her main mission right now was to keep herself free of being tied to another guy until X managed to find her. "What's taking him so long...?" she wondered to herself.
The violet reploid ran outside. She looked back at HQ and sighed in relief. Finally, she was free of it all! Mina turned to walk away only to be greeted by a sight of more reploids with white ribbons. "Oh come on, you can't be telling me I'm the only girl around here!?" she screamed before running. "Who the hell told all of you!? Hikari!?"
Of course it had to be Hikari! It was against her programming to harm the young girl but it was all Mina could think of doing at the moment! She looked to the forest. There was the answer! She'd lose them in there, that's for sure! Resting briefly to restore needed strength, Mina ran to the forest.
"Mina! Mina!" X stepped out of HQ. He looked around, seeing reploids scattered around. He frowned and walked towards to the forest. He was looking down at the ground as he walked and didn't notice the reploid standing in front of him. X bumped into him and quickly muttered "Sorry about that."
The reploid grabbed a hold of X's shoulder tightly. X, startled, looked up at him. The reploid was taller than him, almost seven feet. He wore black armor and grey shoulder pads. A scar was on his right cheek. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked X.
X looked to the reploid's hand. His shoulders slumped in dismay, there was a white ribbon in his hand. He looked up to the reploid. "I'm going where you're arriving second." X replied, choosing his fighting words carefully.
"Oh...so...When the top Irregular Hunter says that, it's supposed to be true?" asked the reploid. "Name's Baron. I'll be the one that kicks your sorry ass and ties the ribbon round Mina's neck. Now if you'll excuse me."
X watched the huge reploid walk towards the forest. He frowned and sprinted ahead of him. "It's a contest then!" X shouted back with a smirk. "First one to reach Mina and ties the ribbon is the winner! The loser will promise to never speak to her again!"
"It seems as though X has started a contest! Now dear reader, how is this all going to end?"
Hikari sat at a table, a microphone in her hand. She looked over at a crimson red reploid. Hikari was startled but quickly regained composure. "Zero! I didn't know you were guest staring in this fanfiction! A Valentine one at that!"
Zero smirked and held a microphone as well. "I can't deny the fans my presence. As well, any lady at HQ who find themselves single can always look me up." he winked at the camera held by Douglas.
"So, Zero. You know X better than any of us here! Will he win this contest?" asked Hikari.
Zero folded his arms across his chest in thought. "X is in love for the first time in his life. The new emotion startled him and arose his curiousity. If you ask me, X is not gonna let an opportunity like this slide."
The crimson reploid stood up and walked over to the window. He looked outside, noticing that Mina was now out of the forest and waiting for X to come back. She had heard the news from a fellow reploid. The rest had learned about it as well and new it was futile to keep pursuing Mina if Baron was after her.
"X! You son of a...You better win or I'm gonna chase after you and kick your ass!" he shouted.
"I wonder what that noise was?
X looked up to the sky, only seeing the tops of trees. Shaking his head with a sigh, X dismissed the noise and continued on. He didn't want to shout Mina's name If he did and Mina answered, Baron can easily find her by following her voice. He kept himself quiet for now.
Someting cold and wet fell on his nose. It was snow. X remembered the time he and Mina had sat down beside each other, looking over Dopplertown. He remembered how frightened she was of storms when they were on a reconaissance mission. Both times he had held her, almost...protectively? Love makes people do strange things after all.
He stopped. Looking down, he saw a white bunny. He smiled and bent down to pet it. The bunny had no qualms about it and let X scratch it's ears. X enjoyed the break he got from all of the walking he had done so far. He even ignored the sound of feet crunching snow behind him. X thought it was Mina sneaking up on him. He turned to look only to recieve a shot to his left side.
X yelped out, startled. He held the bunny in his right arm as he glared at Baron who had done the sneaking. "Baron you...you cheating..."
Baron's eyes weren't focussed on X. Instead, they were looking at the ribbon X held in his other hand. With great speed, he delivered a heel kick to X's stomache. Still holding the bunny away from harm, X bit his lip trying to ignore the pain spreading through his body. He looked to his left; Baron stood there. To his front and back; trees. To his right; a cliff. Not good...
Baron delivered the final kick before X could even stand up. Now...all he could feel was open air as he fell.
"X..."
Mina paced in front of the forest. She was worried. If only she had not fled into the forest...he wouldn't be in there! Not to mention the snow was getting worse. Alia walked out and placed a hand on the short reploid's shoulder. "Come inside Mina, he'll be fine. You won't be if you stand out here in this blizzard.
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I have to stay. It's my duty."
Turquoise eyes opened. X sat up and grunted in pain. He had twisted his foot during the fall. Going back wouldn't prove to be a fun trip. The bunny sat still beside him, thankful that the azure hunter had protected him. X smiled in relief and looked to his left hand. His eyes widened. The ribbon!? Where was the ribbon!?
X stood up, stumbling. There was no sign of it anywhere. He remembered the foolish bet he had made. Now he'll never be able to talk to Mina again! The thought of that wasn't quite worse than death (even in death he wouldn't see Mina) but it was definitely worse than fighting eight mavericks in a row. X looked down to the bunny who looked up to him with wide eyes. That's when X realized something. The bunny was white...
"Maybe...just maybe..." he picked the bunny up. "We're giving you a new home."
Mina fought off Baron's demand. He kept trying to tie her with the white ribbon. "I refuse!" she yelled at him. "I want to see X! Not you! I don't care about some stupid bet!"
The bigger reploid tried his luck again. A chakram grazed his right arm. Mina had attacked!
"I won't say this again! Go away!" she shouted.
"Mina look!"
Alia pointed toward the forest. An azure figure was seen slowly stumbling through the snow. Mina's face lit up with a smile. She then gasped in horror as the figure dropped to its knees. Ignoring Baron's protests, she ran through the snow to the other reploid.
"X..." she whispered lightly.
X looked up to her, his face red from the cold. Mina saw that he held something close to his chest. He revealed it to be the white bunny he had found. "It...It may not be a white ribbon..." he confessed, looking back down at it. "...but...will it do?"
Mina kneeled down in front of him. She took the bunny into her arms and cradled it. "Oh X...Of course it will do! Anything you give me will do! I'm sorry I got this whole thing mixed around..."
X looked back up at her. Mina smiled again. "But I'm happy you did this for me X...I don't know ho-"
Mina was suddenly cut off. X had pulled her close and suddenly kissed her. She was shocked but closed her eyes happily. Mina had dreamed this moment would happen. She had seen humans practice this interaction and felt jealous. When they pulled away, X and Mina stared at each other.
"That...was so gross." Mina commented after an awkward silence.
X nodded. "Agreed...How do humans cope with that?" he asked her.
Mina shrugged. "Who knows. I didn't know what to do! I was afraid our noses would bump into each other."
"Same here..." X replied, struggling to stand up. Mina stood up and helped him up.
"Need a hand back to base?" she asked him.
"How about a hug first?" he asked back. "I'm comfortable with that at least."
Mina smiled and nodded. She helped X with his balance as they hugged each other tightly. Mina felt X kiss the top of her forehead and she responded with one on his cheek. They were comfortable with that at least.
You know...that kiss wasn't so bad...Mina thought as they walked back, her one free hand reaching for X's.
I didn't see any cooties Zero told me about...It actually felt good and not sick., confirmed X in his mind. His hand reached for Mina's as well.
I'm not telling him/her...that's for sure! They both thought at the same time, hands held tightly together.
One day later
"ACHOOO!"
Sitting on a couch huddled in their own blankets, X and Mina shivered constantly and coughed randomly. "Id's all your fauld!" Mina glared at X. "You kissed be wed you were sick!" she pointed her finger for emphasis.
"You didn'd pull away! I'm nod the one do blame!" X responded back, just as harsh.
Hikari stood beside Alia, a bowl of chicken soup in her hand. "They're already acting like a married couple." she noted.
"I just wish they would both grow up..." Alia sighed as she brought in more medicine.
