She sighed, walking aimlessly down her empty street. Her parents and little sister were gone again, off to some convention or something. They always left her alone, because they thought she was independent and sassy, and didn't need anyone. They almost looked up to her more than they considered her their daughter. Her little sister, Ami, was their adorable little angel. Her parents were at Ami's beck and call, and frankly, it made Amu sick.
Amu was their first-born, and she had always heard that parents tended to love their oldest child more than the younger one. Evidently that's not true, she thought sardonically, thinking of her own life. Ami had big, doe-like brown eyes, with light auburn hair done up in cute little pigtails. She was about 9 years old now, and dressed in sweet girly colours like pink and yellow. Amu, on the other hand, had silky soft light pink hair, and bright gold eyes that were guarded and cold around other people. She wore a lot of blacks and reds paired with whites and dark pinks. Her hair usually had at least one of her signature red X clips, holding up two half-ponytails or even just one.
Amu was only 16, yet her parents were leaving her every weekend to go gallivanting with her little sister, the adorable kid singer who loved to cover the songs of Hoshina Utau, the biggest female idol in Amu's small Japanese city.
Amu kept walking, not caring where her feet led her. She was thinking about the stupid Guardians, the select group of students at her high school, who ran almost everything. Sure, they were nice and all, but if you did something they didn't like, you were blacklisted immediately. Amu was one such person. Everyone stayed away from her, even the teachers. They didn't even say anything when she added her own touches to the school uniform. Rather than buttoning up her black blazer, she left it open, and pinned a solid red band around her arm to match the red plaid tie above her white collared shirt. Two black belts hung on her hips above her red plaid skirt, and she wore matching legwarmers over her black boots.
But in any case, seeing as today was a Sunday, Amu was wearing a knee-length lacy black skirt with a white tank top covered in mock blood splatters, and elbow-length fingerless gloves that matched her skirt. Her nails were done in black with a design similar to that on her tank top, and she wore black combat boots over ripped black fishnet stockings. Around her neck was a black ribbon edged in lace, and a jet-encrusted cross hung from it. Her earrings matched the cross on her necklace. In her hair she wore a black headband with a red X on it, to keep with the motif of her usual X clips.
She had ended up in the park while she was lost in her thoughts. She sat down on a random bench and stared blankly at the people passing by. She remembered that one person who seemed to at least partially understand what was going on in her life. His name was Ikuto, and he had navy blue hair and eyes. Like her, he dressed mostly in black and white, but with hints of navy blue, which was his favourite colour. He was older than her by 6 years, but it never really mattered to either of them; particularly when he looked her in the eyes.
He made her heart flutter, as cliché as that sounded. He had the strangest way of appearing out of nowhere, and he was just so perverted sometimes (Amu liked to call him perverted cat-eared cosplay boy, since he was just so cat-like at times), but he was really the only one who knew that the Amu everyone else knew was a lie.
"Hey there, strawberry," a husky voice said in her ear. She shrieked and spun around, even though she knew exactly who it was.
"Ikuto, YOU JERK!" Amu screamed. She didn't really mean it. She never meant it. But this was part of their little game. Around Ikuto, she could be herself.
He jumped down from the tree he was hanging from and sat down next to her.
"What are you thinking about, Amu-koi?" Ikuto asked in his velvety voice, although his eyes became serious.
Amu looked at him with her serious golden eyes.
"Everything. Just everything." Her eyes started to well up with tears. Amu was tired of having to pretend to be someone she wasn't. Her facade was slowly constricting her.
Ikuto's eyes softened, and he moved closer to wrap his arms around the distressed girl.
He nuzzled her hair like a cat, inhaling her strawberry scent; that and her hair colour were the reasons why he called her "strawberry".
She hugged him to her, making the distance between them even smaller. Tears ran down her cheeks, wetting his black button-down shirt, but he didn't care.
He knew exactly why she was crying. It was the same thing every time: her fucked-up parents who cared only about her little sister, constantly brushing off his beloved Amu, and those damn Guardians, who made her life miserable by declaring her an outcast. All she did was turn down the King's offer to join the Guardians (who were named after special card suits, like King, Queen, Ace, and Jack), and that dumb Tadase (or Tadagay, as Ikuto tended to call him) made her school life a living hell. Tadagay didn't even deserve to be the King. His eyes darkened as he thought of all the people who distressed Amu. Even though his parents both left for different reasons, he still had Utau, his 18 year old sister (who was in fact the famous idol Amu's kid sister liked so much), and his cat, Yoru. Even though Utau was famous and all, she still cared about him at least, regardless of her being annoying.
Something suddenly occurred to him.
"Ne, Amu, you know what day it is?" he asked, as her tears slowly stopped.
"No?" She replied, confused.
"It's Valentine's Day, and since we're spending it together, it has to mean something," he said, with a rare smile.
Amu stared up at him with big eyes, trying to comprehend what just came out of his mouth.
It hit her like one of Ami's toys during one of her little sister's tantrums.
She looked down for a minute, and her hair blocked her face.
Before too long, she looked back up, and her eyes were filled with a different expression; something Ikuto had seen before, but was never as prominent as it was now.
"You remember what you told me that one time?" She whispered. "That you'd make me fall in love with you?"
"I know, Amu. I know." He rested his forehead on hers.
She looked into his eyes again, and saw the emotion that was most likely reflected in her own.
"Aishiteru," she whispered, and gave a small smile. I love you.
He smiled back, and whispered the same.
Their lips touched, for a fleeting moment.
But it was the best moment of their lives.