This is a Highschool Debut short story that I randomly came up with one night after reading most of Highschool Debut on the internet. It's short, but pretty cute. Enjoy!

Hide and Seek

It was the first day of summer vacation. The weather couldn't be any more perfect. It was warm, yet not blazing hot. The humidity wasn't even that high that day. The sun was out and the birds were singing. Bees and butterflies busily flew around the earth, gathering nectar from flowers. The sky was as blue as it could get. Green covered the earth.

With a basket in hand, Haruna quickly ran down the sidewalk. She was late, very late. She was supposed to meet Yoh at the park at two. Now it was two-thirty. "He might not even be there anymore." She mumbled hopelessly as she rounded the corner. After she had turned the corner, she ran into the park.

She searched for the pond where Yoh had promised to meet. She looked around. She spotted his back as he stood with his hands in his pant's pockets. "Yoh!" She called with a cheery smile on her face. Yoh turned around. But instead of that pearly white smile that Haruna wanted to see, he had a frown on his face. When she reached him, she panted and asked, "What's wrong, Yoh?"

"You…" He muttered. He clenched his fist and raised it up. Haruna flinched this that he would hit her. She should have known better, right? For he did not hit her, he only took the mustard color sunhat off her head. "What are you doing wearing this ugly hat? It doesn't even match your outfit!"

She smiled simply. "Oh, Mom gave me that hat to wear. She told me that I might get sunburn and it's a good luck charm, too!"

"A good luck charm?" He asked, almost like he was interested, as he spun the hat around his finger.

"Yeah, Mom met Dad in this hat. And she experienced lots of happy moments with it!" Haruna explained with a dreamy expression on her face.

Yoh smirked. "Well, if it's a good luck charm, then just holding onto it would be fine, right? You don't need to wear it, right?"

"Hmm… You're right! You such a genius, Yoh!" She exclaimed as she snatched the hat away and stuffed it in her basket.

Yoh stomach gurgled. "Let's eat that lunch now." He told her as he took the basket from her.

"Huh? Okay."

He dragged her over to a small tree and sat underneath it. He opened the basket, but as he did so, Haruna snatched it from him. "Let me do that." She told him.

"Okay." He said as he rested his elbow on his knee and leaned his face into his hand. He watched her remove numerous of items: sandwiches, drinks, cupcakes, potato chips, plates, napkins, fruit, pudding, and finally, spoons. "You brought a feast." He commented.

"Huh? You think so? Well, I didn't know what exactly to bring so I just made a bunch of stuff."

He took a half of a cut sandwich. "You made all this? Yourself?" He asked as he went to take a bite.

"Yup! Well, Asami helped me a little. But I did most of it." She told him as she blushed.

Yoh took a bite out of the sandwich and chewed it. He swallowed. "It's very good." He told her.

"I'm glad." She said as she smiled.

The two of them ate lunch with much laughter and fun. By the time they were done, Yoh and Haruna couldn't eat another bite.

"Uh, I ate too much." Yoh complained as he lay down next to Haruna under the tree. They both looked up at the leafy branches.

"Me too." Haruna added.

Yoh leaned on his side and looked over Haruna. She blushed a bit at him as she smiled softly. He placed a hand on her stomach and with his other hand; he played with the locks of her short brown hair (which was now a few inches longer than he remembered it). He tickled her stomach a bit.

"Yoh…" She said in a giggle.

He blushed a bit as he caressed the crook of her neck and head. He leaned forward and kissed her earlobe.

Warmth shot through Haruna like bolts of lightning. Her face grew red, but a smile was on her lips. He leaned back a bit and gently rubbed his thumb on her cheek. "You're really pretty…" He whispered as a blush grew on his face.

Haruna could only smile. Yoh leaned back in and kissed her nose. "Really pretty," he muttered. Her smile grew even wider.

"Who are you and where have you taken my Yoh?" Yoh never did stuff like this. He was always so embarrassed to do anything. Well, except the day on her birthday.

He gave her a blank look as he drew back a little bit. "What? It is me, Haruna." He explained.

"I know. I was only kidding."

He sighed and completely got off of her. She sat up and looked at his back. "Yoh?"

He didn't answer.

"Yoh?"

He narrowed his eyes and still didn't answer.

"Yoh, why don't we play a game?"

He turned and looked at her weirdly. "It better not be baseball or softball."

"It's not." She smiled. "Why don't we play hide-and-go-seek?"

He raised an eyebrow. "A kid's game? That's even worse. I won't play."

She practically attacked him and gave him the puppy-eye look. "Please, Yoh! I love that game! Pretty please! With sprinkles, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and a cherry on top!"

How could he not give into that overly cute saying and those big, sorrowful eyes? He sighed. "All right, but only two rounds. You can go first; then, I'll go. After that we'll head back home."

"Yippee!" She exclaimed and hugged him. She let go off him and stood up. "Yoh, close your eyes and count to a thousand!"

"A thousand?!"

"Okay, not a thousand. One hundred fifty!" She told him and turned around. She ran away.

"Okay…" he closed his eyes, "One. Two. Three. Four…"

Haruna searched many places to hide in the park. First, she tried a plastic play tunnel in the kid's playground area. "Too easy." Then, she tried to hide in a wooden play fort in the playground. "He would see me for sure." After that, she hid under a bench, under a table, behind a tree, behind a rock, next to some old woman, who was feeding birds bread, next to a lone vending machine, in an almost empty wire wastebasket, and in a bush. Until finally finding the perfect hiding spot: in a hollow tree.

It was really the perfect hiding spot for it was big inside, but it was difficult to fit into the small opening. Inside it was dark and moist. She could fit perfectly if she scrunched up her legs to her chest like a ball.

"Ready or not! Here I come!" She heard Yoh's annoyed and monotone voice call out. She snickered quietly. He would never find her here! She heard his footsteps growing closer. She stopped snickering and held her breath. He looked in the bush next to her tree. "She's not here." He muttered sadly. Then, he walked right over to her tree. She saw his white, red, and black sneakers. She backed up into the wall of the tree. Suddenly, his sneakers moved away as he walked away.

"That was close." She whispered as she let her breath go. She looked up to see a big, brown, hairy spider with all eight eyes looking at her. Her eyes grew wide as she saw it slowly climb down its web. She screamed and climbed out of her hiding place as quickly as she could. She ran in the direction were she saw Yoh's feet walk off. She saw him as he turned wondering just why she was screaming and crying. She jumped on top of him. "Yoh!!" She cried.

"What's wrong––"

"A spider! A long, hairy, nasty spider!!" She explained as tears slid down her cheeks.

"You mean like the one on your head?" He asked her as he pointed.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed and shook her head.

Yoh began to snicker. The snickering grew louder and louder until it was a full-hearted laugh.

"Is it off? Is it off?" Haruna asked desperitly. "What's so funny?" She demanded.

"There was never a spider." He managed to say in between laughs. He was laughing so hard that he had to hold his stomach for it hurt him.

"Eh? You lied? I can't believe you, Yoh! You know how afraid of spiders I am!" She told him as she hit his arm.

"I know sorry." He said as his laughter died down. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "I. Found. You."

It finally dawned on Haruna that they were still playing hide-and-go-seek. "Eh! You're right." She pouted. "Awe. And I found the perfect hiding spot, too!"

"Except for the spider." He reminded her.

"Yeah, except for that."

"All right. It's my turn." He told her as he walked off.

"Oh, right." She closed her eyes and began to count, "One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six…."

Yoh searched for the perfect spot. He looked at many possibilities: hiding in the men's bathroom, under a picnic table, and in a hollow log. But turned them all down. Instead, he shinnied up the nearest tree as he heard Haruna call, "Ready or not! Here I come!" in a loud voice.

He leaned his back on the trunk of the tree as he sat on the branch. He sighed. "She'll never find me here." He whispered. He saw her approach the tree that he was hiding but she wasn't looking up at him. Rather, she was looking around the ground. She wouldn't find him up here. He relaxed and put his hands behind his neck.

Then suddenly, a little grey face popped up in front of his. It was a squirrel. "Squirrel…" He muttered. "Squirrel, squirrel, squirrel." He slowly moved away from the squirrel. He was at the edge of the think, strong branch and the squirrel was following him. "Go away, squirrel." He whispered. It wouldn't listen. He moved back a little and his foot slipped off the branch and down he fell. "Ah."

He landed on something hard yet soft at the same time. "Yoh?!" The thing gasped as it tried to get up.

"Haruna?" He slid off her. "I'm sorry…" As Haruna stood up, he saw the same squirrel on top of her head. He pointed at it with a shaky finger. "Squirrel, squirrel, squirrel, squirrel."

Haruna looked up at the squirrel. "Awe! It's so cute!" She took it off her head and petted it. It seemed to like her a lot. She held it up to Yoh's face. "Isn't it cute?"

"Squirrel, squirrel. You're holding a squirrel!"

Haruna had set the squirrel down and it had run away. "Yoh, are you afraid of squirrels?" She asked with a cocky grin.

"…"

"Hahahah! Yoh is afraid of squirrels! Yoh is afraid of squirrels! "She taunted as she spun around him.

He stood up and brushed himself up. He blushed. "I am not."

"Don't deny it! You know you are." She told him as she looked him in the eyes.

He pointed at her head and said, "There's a spider on your head."

"Ah! Where!" She gasped as she brushed her hair wildly.

"Stupid." He whispered. He grabbed her wrist and led her back to the picnic spot. There was never any spider to begin with, but Yoh was indeed afraid of squirrels. However, he wouldn't let anybody, not even his girlfriend, know that.