I don't own Kaleido Star. Do enjoy.

Leon Oswald was a man of principle. There was absolutely nothing more annoying to him than a person who skipped on their duties solely because they weren't up to it. As such, he kept to his routine and his goals vigorously-from his career ambitions to the food he ate. It was safe to say that he would rather put up with May's habit of screaming her moves out than deter from his schedule.

Waking up was not an exception. In exactly seven AM he got up, opened the windows to get some fresh air in and started the day with a cold shower and a gallon of coffee.

"Hurry, hurry, we'll be late!" somebody was calling

"I'm almost…aaaaah!"

"Dear God, hurry it up back there! They'll leave without us!"

"I said I was COMING!"

"The plane isn't going to wait for you, May…"

"There, I'm here!"


"Hey, guys, are you sure we shouldn't…"


"Oh, leave the idiots behind! Layla-san made it perfectly clear that she only takes the ones who are ready for her."

He slowly sat up in bed and blinked owlishly-did he just hear anything?

Oh, well…Leon swung his feet down and walked to the window. Briskly, he threw the curtains aside and opened it widely. The sun still hid behind the horizon, but the moon and stars had already faded away into the steel gray of the winter sky. Despite the warm climate and the sea, the February morning was cold and crisp, but Leon probably wouldn't have been impressed even if the dormitories were buried under snow.

However, as he went through his routine, he couldn't help feeling strange. He knew that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Well, not like he couldn't deal with anything unexpected, but it was irritating as hell…It wasn't until he went out into the hallway that he got some clue as to what was happening.

First, it was the crunching. Then, it was him feeling the strange texture under his feet. In the end, he slowly looked down as realization dawned on him and…

"This WAS NOT in the arrangement we had, God…" he hissed and punched the wall in frustration.

Because Leon Oswald, the God of Death of Kaledio Stage, the man who prided himself with his ability to foresee things…had just found himself buried alive under a mountain of Valentine's day cards.

Mia and Anna nearly jumped with excitement as they watched the plane take off. For some time, they had been worried that there would be an opportunity for them to go to their one day's vacation-so crowded was the airport with lovers who were heading for their surprise trip to Paris or New York or the Caribbean. The island Layla-san had chosen for them to go wasn't as well-known, but since she was the heiress to the Hamilton empire, arranging a flight for a place in the middle of the Pacific Ocean was just about as hard as snapping one's fingers.

May snorted and tried to focus on her magazine. It wouldn't take more than an hour for them to land on the little bit of Paradise Layla had promised them as a compensation for their lonely Valentine's Day, and she felt like it would take a millennia with those two on board. The young woman had dismissed the idea of catching up on her beauty sleep long ago, but maybe, just maybe, if she put earplugs on…Ah, who was she kidding?! Even if she did manage to block out the sounds of girls imagining meeting hot guys in some remote island (then again, nice guys were such a rarity they had to be kept in a resort), she would eventually end up pondering over her own miserable love life.

You really should work on your reflexes, the young woman leered inwardly, Sora's beaten you to that as well.

Indeed, the Kaleido Star, and undoubtedly the best one ever, Naegino Sora, who was supposed to be twice more excited about their new adventure than anybody else, was staring silently at the window, deep in thought. It didn't take a genius to figure out her musings, although May couldn't decide whether she felt bad about leaving Ken (who had been VERY enthusiastic about the trip) behind, or Leon (who had no idea of its existence).

Maybe Ken. Even though the boy was too forward, Sora was too kind to kill his hopes. If I were her, May mused, I would've told him how I felt as soon as possible. The faster the better, a clean break heals faster. Then again, she considered after a few minutes, if I was in love with Leon Oswald, I would be more careful with what I'm saying.

It wasn't really his fault, she sighed inwardly. Ken was kind-hearted, hard-working and devoted; everything a girl would dream of…But the thing was…well, if she had to be honest about it…

May fidgeted in her seat, feeling strangely uncomfortable with this. It was new for her, but being honest about the situation, even in her mind, made her feel bad for Ken. The boy's only problem was that he was…that he wasn't…well…Leon. Ken was the kind of man a girl would settle down with, the kind of man that would spoil her rotten and ask nothing but her love. Almost like a dog, he would never tell her that she was fat or that he didn't like something about her. He'd never give his full opinion, and he would never take up the initiative. He wasn't boring but…he had it in him to make girls uncomfortable.

Not that Leon didn't make people uncomfortable. He could kill a woman with a glare at fifty paces and sent a town into the Ice Age if he wanted, but he was exciting. He left no question about his authority and wasn't afraid to speak his opinion. If he only showed something of his feelings, even a remote interest to the members of the fair sex, he would have the whole female population crawling in his feet. Unfortunately, the man was just about as unreachable as the Olympus summit for Ancient Greeks.

No wonder Sora was brooding over this, May thought sadly. She wasn't very sure about her colleague's feelings for her dark partner, but if she told Ken she couldn't love him like he wanted her to, the suspicion would inevitably turn towards Leon. Suspicion turned into gossip, gossip turned into a rumor, and rumor would eventually get to him, and if the Grim Reaper heard about this, he would…Well, strained professional relationship was the least that would happen.

While May was musing over the inner thoughts of Sora, Leon had managed to dig himself out of the apartment, only to find that the dorms were absolutely empty. Since it was Valentine's (thousand accursed) day, all the crew had gone to town or back home to lovers and friends to enjoy the holiday. Kalos, of course, had hurried to give his employees a day off, before going off to his beach house with Sarah. Even the ones still single had gone off somewhere, leaving Leon deserted with a ton of cards and chocolate.

How could've he forgotten this day? He always had it underline with black on the calendar, and took a week off exclusively to go climbing mountains in South America or walk through the Valley of Death, or hide in Delhi-any remote, wild place would do, for as long as he was away from the avalanches of greeting cards and creepy fans. His phone wouldn't bother him, he would enjoy a well-earned rest, and when he came back, the cleaning service would've taken care of all those pink, fluffy monstrosities they sent him. He was a lone man, after all-eating all that chocolate wasn't in his physical abilities.

Leon found a few cardboard boxes and came back to his room to clean up the mess. Let's see, letters that began with anything between "Honey!" and "My slave" went into the to-be-shred-for-confetti box, the three best-written ones would be answered politely, the downright creepy ones were roughly shred and tossed into the first box. Toys went in the charity box, half the chocolates as well, the other half goes to the cafeteria as soon as the cook is back, and video tapes…well, he could ask if they could be recycled or Ken could try putting them to good use.

Why did he forget? He had never been too busy to run from Valentine's Day before. Maybe he had been hoping for something different this time, since it was a year of changes…

And speaking of changes, where had Sora gone? His partner was probably the only person whom he could tolerate on his day, and she had to disappear somewhere? If her friends weren't seeing someone, he would've guessed that they would've dragged her along with them to…to wherever the singles went, but he had heard that Anna was seeing the assistant-animal-tamer, and that there were sparks flying between Mia and one of Ken's friends, so…well, on the other hand, women DID like to play hard to get. Leon grabbed the videos and headed to the operator's rooms, where he would leave them with a note to Ken to see if he could do anything with them…

And speaking of that boy, was he with the rest of the lot, pestering Sora? Leon's pace slowed somehow, but didn't falter. Even if he was with Sora and her friends right now, the chances that he would have to guts to confess to her were just about as big as May turning into a genteel, sweet and feeling lady.

It was a cruel way of thinking, he knew, but…But what? It was the truth? Sora was an open person, but that didn't mean that he could read her easily. For all he knew, she probably loved Ken, but didn't feel confident enough to confess to him. It didn't seem very probable, because she would've noticed long ago that he liked her as well, but he'd seen worse.

To his surprise, the operator's room was unlocked and some of the screens were working. However, as soon as he saw the figure sleeping on the controls, he figured it out. Leaving the videos on the desk, he walked over and nudged the boy until he woke up.

Ken stretched slowly, working off the kinks in his neck. Then he looked up at the other occupant of the room and leapt three feet in the air.

"Leon-san! What are you doing here?!" his eyes gained the size of dinner plates as he turned around in a desperate attempt to figure out what had happened "What time is it?!"

"Ten thirty AM." Leon replied courtly, enjoying the look of horror on the boy's face.

"Ten thirty?! And today is…the fourteenth!" Ken erupted from his chair and made a wild dash for the door, only to trip over some cables and slam head first into the wall. "I'm late."

"Yes, you are." Leon pulled him by the collar and sat him on a chair "I would've told you so, but you beat me to it."

"What did you beat him to, Ken?" a voice rang from the hallway and both turned to see Yuri Killian walk through the door, coat in hand, sunglasses perched on his head "I'd like to hear how you finally managed to beat the almighty Leon Oswald."

"I stayed up all night making plans for Sora and me, and now I ended up sleeping in…" Ken mumbled miserably, looking down at his feet.

"Well, I'm sure you can catch up on her." Yuri laughed "Come to think about it, shouldn't you guys be practicing right now, Leon? Kalos wants to put up Midsummer Night's dream on the 24th and you don't even have a routine set up."

"We would, if he hadn't given the whole cast the day off." Leon grumbled, carefully hiding his smirk. Obviously, there was another person who forgot what day it was.

"And I can't catch up on her, she's in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!"

You could hear a pin drop. Yuri stared at his colleagues, incredulous, as the information was slowly processed in his brain. Let's see, a day off in the middle of the winter season, plus a trip to the Pacific Ocean, plus a surprisingly empty building, plus a miserable Ken adds up to….Oh, shit.

"Please, don't tell me it's Valentine's Day…" the blond winced.

"So why hasn't Layla killed you yet, I wonder." Leon smirked.

Ken, apparently had the answer to that question.

Last evening, Layla had called to tell Sora that she was going on a day's vacation on the Pacific and she was taking along everyone who came. Since only the ones still single didn't have any plans for it, the trip had turned into one big cruise for loners.

"And I was going to take Sora on a real date." Ken whimpered "How could've I slept in like that!"

"I highly doubt that Layla could arrange for a trip on Valentine's Day in less than eight hours." Leon said calmly "She'd go through a lot of trouble on the airport, at least."

"No. If Layla decided it, then they're already there." Yuri sighed, as he beat his head on the wall.

The day passed differently for both sides. Layla, Sora, May, Anna and Mia decided to take a long walk through the shopping district before sitting down to eat in a small restaurant by the seaside. Yuri and Ken, having nothing to do, came to help Leon clean his room up. Not exactly what you'd call an equally well spent day.

"Alright, I have a hard one for you!" May yelled as they were heading towards the airport "Who's the best hunk in Kaleido stage?!"

"Oh, come on, May!" Anna exclaimed "You know it's Leon! Tell her it's Leon, Mia!"

"Urgh…" the girl sighed "I'm not sure, Anna. I like Aaron-kun better, he's nice."

"Being nice doesn't make him the best hunk." Her friend waved her finger accusingly at her "I like my little lion-tamer, and still I think Leon is a hunk. Right, Layla-san?"

"I wouldn't know." The latter said "I could say that Leon-san is attractive, but on the other hand, I don't lie. Especially since I'm in a relationship with another man, a man I find extremely handsome."

"Yeah, but still…when it comes to the hunk factor, Leon wins hands down."

How much they all changed, the blond thought. A few years back, they wouldn't have dared talk back to her, let alone address her in such a friendly manner. Thanks to Sora, that had changed…and she really liked that.

And since they were on the subject…Layla turned around to look at the young Kaleido Star. She was walking a few paces behind them, staring out at the sea, a pensive frown on her face. "Sora…" she called. The girl's head snapped up as she looked at her, blinking owlishly. "Are you alright? You haven't said a word."

"Oh…yes…I'm fine, Layla-san." Sora beamed "I was just…deep in thought."

"We couldn't have waited for Ken." Her friend consoled her "And you can bring him gifts."

"Yeah but…I was just wondering…he's all alone there. I hope he'll be fine."

In cape Mary, a few pounds of pink paper were carefully shred in confetti, and a dozen or so tapes were thoroughly erased. The floor was finally clean and Leon surprised everyone with a suggestion for them to have a drink together.

Since going to a bar was out of the question, due to a threat of getting stampeded by a herd of lovesick women, the three settled around Leon's kitchen table to enjoy some whiskey. Yuri brought up the question whether it was a good idea to start off this early, but their 'host' merely asked him if he wanted to face Layla's wrath sober or not.

As it turned out, getting drunk wasn't the first thing that happened. Leon had bought a glass of fine alcohol, which was to be savored carefully, without haste. Ken, of course, fell under the table pretty much after his first sip, but Leon and Yuri stood their ground as they drank in thoughtful silence.

"I can't believe I forgot it was Valentine's day." The blond sighed "I knew something was wrong last night, but I was too tired to dig into it."

"You shouldn't be such a chicken about it." Leon rolled his eyes "What's the worst she could to? Go on the rampage for a while?"

"No. Too messy. When she's mad at someone, she does it with class." Didn't he just know it?! She was SO good at silent treatment.

"Well, I think you ought to apologize immediately." Ken called from somewhere under the table. Both men stared at it curiously, before going back to their own drinks.

"You know, Leon…" Yuri said after a pause "I think you should've been more careful with his drink. He's got a condition, after all."

"He's fine. I put more water in his glass than alcohol." Came the detached reply.

"Ok, but you guys can't deny that Leon is hot." May persisted. Mia and Anna took a seat next to her on a bench and watched their colleague pace around, waxing eloquent about her former partner's qualities. They weren't really that much interested in what she wanted to say, but Layla and Sora had fallen behind and it wouldn't be a good idea to lose sight of them.

Despite the cold season, it was a beautiful, sunny day in the North Pacific. The island Layla had taken them was literally an epitome of a Paradise on earth. A village still untouched by the construction madness, clean air, great food and a beach that went on forever…The only thing that ruined the perfect day was their own lousy love lives.

"Dear God, you're still at men?" Layla asked as she and Sora finally caught up with them

"No, May is still on Leon." Mia shook her head, before turning towards her colleague "You know, there are other men out there."

"Yeah, but Leon is the only one who could qualify as 'cool', from everyone else."

Shaking her head, Layla couldn't help but agree. Yuri was smart, handsome, ambitious and rich enough not to chase after her for her money…and that mostly summed it up. The guy was too much of a coward for her taste, although she couldn't deny that he could be adventurous, provided she made him believe it was his idea.

"Well, I think cool doesn't suit him." Sora spoke up, startling for a second her friends. They really had seldom heard her voice today, May marveled, before pressing her to explain. "I mean…He's handsome and all, but I also think he's very kind. If only he would open up more…"

"I suppose all the men have faults." Mia said, while trying to figure out what got Sora in such a wistful mode.

Everyone around her nodded compassionately, even May. It was so hard to find the right guy sometimes…

Just then, Mia looked up and exclaimed.

"Hey, guys, what's that! I don't remember seeing this before." Slowly, four heads turned around to see what she was pointing out. Little did they know they were looking at something that would change their lives forever.

Meanwhile, Ken had managed to scramble on a chair and he was getting more and more coherent. Leon and Yuri had exhausted the subject of raving girlfriends (the list had been strangely short), and were now contemplating the walls in silence.

"Say, Leon-kun…" Ken managed "You didn't talk much about your girlfriend. Is she that scary when she's mad at you?"

"I don't have a girlfriend."

"A court reply…" Yuri commented slyly "Could it be you don't wish to speak of it? Or perhaps she is too gorgeous for us to handle?"

"It's neither. I simply have no girlfriend to speak of." Leon said, ignoring the looks the other two were giving him.

"How strange." Yuri smiled "Given your amazing good looks, one would think you have at least two."

"Unlike you, Killian, I don't need to get ridiculous just for an ego boost. And even if I had a girlfriend, you would be the last person I would discuss her with."

"You sure have respect for women." Ken gave in and slurred "Hey, Leon, are you perhaps gay?"

Deadly silence.

"He's drunk." Leon said, finishing his glass in one gulp.

"Absolutely." Yuri followed his example. "But still, you can't blame him. All the evidence points towards this. You're young, you're good-looking, and you have the opportunity. It's either this, or you're afraid of love.'

"Who would've thought…" Ken mumbled "The high and mighty Leon Oswald is actually a hopeless romantic who's looking for the right girl."

Leon glared at him. "I'd watch my tongue if I were you. You're not that drunk."

Yuri sighed as he watched his younger companion literally shrink to the size of a teardrop, before turning towards Leon. "But it is true, isn't it? There are so many pretty girls around you, it's pretty suspicious you haven't hooked up with one of them."

"Just because I'm good looking doesn't mean I have a low dating standard." The silver-haired man snapped "All women want is handsome, rich and famous. After a while, it becomes bothersome. And if it drags me down, I'm better off without it. I simply have no desire for a girlfriend at present."

"That is what I'd call a romantic notion." Yuri ignored the daggers Leon glared at him and continued "Ok, let's play along. Even if you've no desire for a girlfriend, what kind of girl would change that? You have some standards, don't you?"

The Frenchman frowned, as if the conversation had suddenly turned into something extremely annoying. Ken and Yuri weren't the type of guys he'd imagine as his buddies, even in his wildest dreams, let alone discuss something like that with them. However…they were drinking together, so…just to play along…

"The normal kind." He answered courtly. But why, at the thought of normal, did he suddenly have a vision with warm brown eyes and strikingly pink hair?

Suddenly, he remembered when he had seen Yuri and Sora perform the Angel's Act on the Circus Festival. It hadn't been the great performance it was supposed to be, but…she had looked beautiful. Hair in disarray, face wet with tears, eyes darkened and shiny, body…he stopped at the eyes. What had he felt back then? Disapproval? Condescension? He was definitely angry, that the man who practically killed his sister was now using her act to win. He was sad, because they hadn't done it. And…he had given Sora the credit she deserved-she had taken it farther than he had ever been able to get it.

Had this been the first time he grew to appreciate her, Leon wondered. Afterwards, he had seen Sophie whenever Sora went, and he hadn't had a doubt that she was the one to be his partner. After all the fights she and May went through to show him who deserved to compete with him…Perhaps they had seen it wrong all the time. Perhaps it hadn't been up to HIM to decide who his partner would be-it had been up to SORA to choose him as her partner.

"Normal covers just about everything." Yuri argued.

"There are plenty of normal girls in Kaleido stage. Why don't you prove us you're not gay and go out on a date with someone. And I mean like a real, serious date. Not a one night stand."

Leon shot the boy a glance. "You're really not the one to talk. If we have to be certain, it would be much easier for you to find a date than myself, and yet you're single."

"Then I'll find a date as well. I'll start a real relationship. I'll get over my fears and ask the girl of my dreams out!" Ken proclaimed, bolting up. However, that proved a little too much for him, as he fell right back on his chair with a groan.

"Don't mind him." Yuri shook his head "If this is how you feel, you should just wait for that right girl to appear."

"Afraid of a little competition, Killian?" Leon grinned

"No, just…careful."

"You guys picked on me all day because I don't have a girlfriend. Come to think of it, maybe Ken here has a point. Since all three of us are three feet under when it comes to relationships, maybe we should use this Valentine's day failure to fix things."

"Yeah? So what is the goal?" Yuri asked

"Getting girlfriends." Ken clarified "And go on a date with them by the end of the week."

"And there aren't any 'off limits' in this challenge." Leon said, intercepting Yuri's upcoming comment "You lost the good graces of your current girlfriend, Killian, it's only fair to let others try their luck. If she really likes you, you have nothing to worry about."

A/N-So share your thoughts. Did you like it? Should I continue?