Unlucky Valentine

It was evening before Valentine's Day, and Amu was running around the kitchen, humming happily. The chocolates were ready, and with some help from her mom (a lot of it, actually) they turned out to be pretty good. The girl wiped her hands with a kitchen towel and put the ready product into the fridge until morning. Tomorrow she'll pack it nicely and tie the box with a ribbon, especially bought for the occasion. Amu yawned and started to untie the apron behind her back, when a tiny voice squeaked into her ear: "Finished, desu?" The girl turned her head and saw Suu hovering in front of her.

"Yup, I'm finished. Were you all waiting for me?" - said Amu, putting the apron away and heading to her room.

"No, desu" - Suu rubbed her eyes sleepily - "Ran and Miki are already asleep, but I wanted to ask how the chocolates turned out, desu..."

"Pretty good, though I failed to do it right the first time"

"You didn't want any help from me today, desu..." - Suu sounded a little hurt.

"Yeah, I wanted to try my best" - Amu gave Suu an apologetic smile - "But I ended up getting help from my mom..."

"Your mom was very happy when you asked her for help, desu"

"She was too happy! It's embarrassing when mom's so hyper!"

Suu giggled, knowing that Amu wasn't being honest.

"The chocolates are finished, and all is well, desu!" - she sang in an undertone, so as not to awake her fellow charas. Amu sighed, thinking that it's not exactly true. Making chocolates wasn't easy, but the hardest part was yet to come. Tomorrow she'll give the chocolates to Tadase-kun. But how should Amu do this? Just give it to him casually, in front of everyone? No way, that's too embarrassing! Amu shook her head. She can't do it in front of other people, even if it's just the Guardians! Changing into her pajamas, the girl thought that she'll have to catch a moment alone with Tadase-kun.

"Good night, Amu-chan" - and with a little yawn Suu hid in her egg.

"Good night, Suu"

The next day was very bright and sunny, as though the sun itself wished to encourage the young girls to confess their love. Of course, Amu had nothing to confess. In fact, the whole school was aware of her affection towards the "prince", ever since that little incident. The girl shook her head vigorously, trying to chase away the memory of that embarrassing moment. She mustn't think about it! She'll just act normal, until she'll get the chance to give away the chocolates. And then...and then...well, whatever happens, happens. But when Amu said "Good morning" to her female friends at the school gate, acting normal became a lot more difficult. Yaya hung on Amu's neck with than annoying knowing smirk and even Rima's face was stiller than usual, as she tried her best not to smile.

"It's Valentine's Day, Amu-chi~!" - sang Yaya

"I know, you don't have to remind me!" - Amu retorted with her typical stubborn tone.

"So...The chocolates are in here?" - and before Amu realized it her school bag was already in Yaya's hands.

"Give it back!" - Amu tried to snatch it away, but Yaya was surprisingly agile this morning.

"So un-lady like..." - commented Rima, watching her chase the pig-tailed girl. But it seems the luck was on Amu's side today - running around, Yaya tripped and the bag flew out of her hands. With and incredible jump Amu leaped and caught her bag. Only after landing did she realize that she actually chara-changed with Ran.

"Thanks" - she breathed heavily to her sporty chara.

"No problem!" - Ran waived her pompons, doing a little cheerleading dance in front of Amu's face - "Great catch! Y-O-U G-O!!"

"Wow!" - the sound of this person's voice made Amu freeze on the spot - "You're so energetic today, Hinamori-san!"

Tadase-kun just arrived and was standing right behind her. Amu felt her face turn red as a tomato. No doubt he saw her running around after Yaya like an idiot, and that little stunt just now...Ah! The girl wished she could just disappear right here and right now! But luckily her stubbornness kicked in and she turned to him saying:

"No, it's just Yaya being a spoiled baby so early in the morning."

"Aa~a, Amu-chi, you're so mean!!"

"Amu, we're going to be late for classes" - suddenly interrupted them Rima, heading towards the school building. The others hurried after her with Yaya still pouting. When Amu got to her class the first thing she did was to check on the box with the chocolates. But her luck must have been spent on that jump - Amu didn't close the box well enough and after all that running and tossing the chocolates have been scattered all around the bag. Seeing her hard work ruined like that, the girl felt on the verge of tears. She couldn't help letting out a little cry. "No!" A few heads immediately turned to her and Amu hastily closed the bag.

"The chocolates?" - Rima was standing beside her. Amu nodded miserably. - "Let me see" - demanded the blonde. Amu opened the bag again; Rima fished out one of the chocolates and inspected it closely.

"It seems to be okay" - she concluded at last, holding out the candy to her friend - "You can pack them again..."

And so the Valentine's day wasn't ruined after all. Rima helped Amu pick out the chocolates that were still okay and rearrange them inside the box. Two of the candies were squished and the ribbon got dirty, but Rima generously offered the one that she had. In the end the gift looked even better than before, and Amu thought that she'll definitely buy something for Rima as a thanks.

Amu figured that during the recesses there wouldn't be enough time to present her gift to Tadase-kun, so she had to wait until the end of the day. The girl was inattentive during the classes. Instead she wondered, whether she wanted for the school day to end as soon as possible, or not. Amu looked forward to seeing the expression Tadase-kun would have upon receiving the chocolates, and wondered what he would say. These thoughts also made the girl so nervous that she hardly took any notes. At long last the lessons were over and Amu together with Rima headed to the green house for the Guardians' meeting. They almost reached it when the girl realized that she forgot the box of chocolates inside her desk, where she put it for safekeeping. Amu cursed herself for stupidity. No, forgetting her gift in class is even beyond stupidity, she told herself angrily as she was running back to the school building.

"What's wrong, weren't we going to meet with everyone?" - Miki poked her head out of the little bag on Amu's side.

"I forgot them in class" - breathed out Amu, running as fast as she could.

"The chocolates, desu?!" - gasped Suu, also sticking her head out. Amu only nodded, she was too out of breath to talk. Ran flew out of the bag and said, trying to calm her down:

"Don't worry, nobody would take them!"

But she was wrong. The goddess of luck has forsaken Amu for good today, because when the girl finally got to the class her desk was empty. Amu felt her heart sinking. She was going to slump on the chair when suddenly a naughty little voice behind her said:

"Looking for this, nya?"

Amu turned on her heels and saw Yoru sitting on the window-still. Under him was her box of chocolates.

"Give it back!" - yelled Ran angrily, dashing at him. Yoru stuck his tongue out to her and, holding the box by the ribbon, rose to the air. Ran jumped, trying to snatch away the chocolates, but missed. Laughing, Yoru flew out the window, Ran, Miki and Suu on his tail. Amu had to take the stairs. Running with all her might yet again, the girl felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She couldn't stop them. Could this day get any worse?! Angry at herself, Amu wiped them with her sleeve and ran out of the building. The charas weren't too far away. It seems Yoru only wanted to tease her and her charas, and not to steal the chocolates. He was skillfully evading the attacks of Ran, Miki and Suu, but not trying to run away. Still, with each of Yoru's maneuvers the box in his paws was dangerously swaying, and the tie on the ribbon getting looser and looser. "Stop it, Yoru!" - cried Amu, catching up with them - "Please! The box will open, and-" The girl didn't even finish her sentence as the cover flew open and all the candies poured down on the ground like a brown hail. The charas, including Yoru, all gasped at once. Amu felt her knees buckle. She sat on the ground, her tears now completely unstoppable. The girl hid her head in her knees and wept like a baby. She didn't care about being seen anymore. It turned out that this day could get even worse, and now Amu reached the lowest point. Through her sobs the girl could hear Ran's angry voice, shouting at Yoru, and him muttering miserably "I-I'm s-sorry, nya...". Suu and Miki hovered a few inches above her head, trying to console her, but right now nothing could. The charas fell silent, and Amu cried, and cried, and cried...until suddenly she heard someone's voice above her:

"Why are you crying like a little kid?"

Amu didn't have to raise her head, she recognized the owner of the voice immediately, and he was the last person the girl wanted to see right now. Amu sobbed one last time and said, trying to sound as cross as possible:

"Go away! It's all your fault!"

There was a short pause in which Ikuto looked around, examining the scene.

"Yoru..." - his voice sounded colder than usual - "What were you doing?"

"I-I just took that box of her, nya, I thought it'd be funny" - answered Yoru uneasily - "But the ribbon broke and the candies all fell on the ground, ny-A!" - with a flick of a finger Ikuto send his chara flying. There was silence again, interrupted only by the sound of Ikuto's footsteps. Judging by sound, he was just walking around, as Amu still sat with her head down. After a few moments the girl felt a whiff of wind and something touched her shoulder. She finally raised her head and glanced to her side, only to find Ikuto sitting next to her, close enough to make her blush. In his hand he was holding a few of the chocolates. Amu hastily moved away:

"What do you want?!"

Ikuto didn't answer. He was looking at the chocolates she made. This made Amu feel like there was a swarm of butterflies flying around in her belly. That's what she always felt whenever she bumped into this guy, and it was so different from the warm feeling the girl got from looking at Tadase-kun.

"Why did you pick them up, they're dirty!" - somehow, her voice sounded less angry than she intended.

"Hmmm, you made these?" - said Ikuto instead of answering Amu's question - "Not bad for a kid..."

Amu knew he was teasing her, but she felt so miserable that she didn't respond. So they just both sat there quietly for a while, the girl staring blankly in front of her, and the boy still examining the sweets in his hand. At last Amu snapped:

"Stop staring at it already! Just throw it away or eat it, I don't care either way!"

"Oh, I can?"

"What?!"

"Eat it"

The girl turned to Ikuto, frowning. He wasn't laughing; there wasn't even a smile on his face. Amu felt her cheeks turn hot. She shrugged angrily:

"Whatever!"

But as he picked one and was about to eat it, the girl added:

"B-but you should eat the round ones, they're the ones with chocolate cream filling. All the other are with vanilla-" - Amu cut herself short, surprised at her own words. A sly smile appeared on Ikuto's face:

"You made them for that chibi king, didn't you?"

"Of course I did!"

"Then you should've made them all with vanilla filling. Why the chocolate cream?"

Amu froze for a second and then quickly rose from the ground, trying to remember. Ikuto rose after her, staring at her with that annoying smirk of his. She didn't want to admit it, but Ikuto was right. Why did she make two kinds? What was she thinking at that time? Nothing came to her mind.

"B-because making them all the same would be boring, that's why!" - Amu sat on the nearest bench. Why is she answering his questions anyway?! Why wouldn't he just go away and leave her alone?! But instead Ikuto sat beside her again.

"Maybe you were thinking of someone other than the king, as you were making them" - and with a chuckle, the boy threw the round chocolate into his mouth. The butterflies in Amu's belly went crazy. She wanted to retore with something nasty, but couldn't think of anything.

"As if!"

The girl frowned and looked away. After all that running and crying she was tired. Amu let her head rest against the back of the bench and looked at the sky. It was so serene, and almost made her wish that she was part of it, always peaceful, always far from all the earthly worries. No Valentine's Days, no chocolates, no butterflies in the stomach, no stray cats with sly smiles that make your heart beat faster...

Startled, Amu opened her eyes. She couldn't believe she fell asleep on the bench, with that guy around! But looking to the side the girl found herself to be alone. Ikuto disappeared, just like always. Well, it's better this way, thought Amu, standing up and stretching a little. Her Valentine's Day was ruined, but somehow she didn't feel that miserable anymore. Amu yawned, licked her lips and wondered, why was there a taste of chocolate on them, if she never ate any?...

The End