Cupid Day
It was Valentines Day; a day for couples to give each other tokens of their love. This day was crucial for many girls at Ashford Academy, or at any school for that matter. If they were in a relationship they expected to be showered in gifts from their boyfriends. If the girl was single, the day could go one several ways. One, they would sulk the whole day because they didn't have a boyfriend. Two, they would wait around and see if their crush would give them something or ask them to be 'their valentine'. Or three, just act like today was any other day. For Kikuhana, Jei and Hatone, it was option number three. The three best friends sat in the student counsel room together. Hatone was the youngest of the group being 17, Kikuhana was 18 and Jei, who was a student teacher, was 19. All three of them were single every Valentines Day, but that didn't mean they didn't have valentines. Yes, every year they were each others valentines. They bought different colored bears holding a heart for each other. The bears looked identical, but were different colors; one was white, one was light blue and the other was pink. The girls would trade off with whoever brought the candy. This year it was Hatone's turn. She bought a large, red-heart shaped box with a bow that was filled with an assortment of chocolate truffles. The girls held their toys in their laps as they shared the chocolate, talking and laughing. The microphone made a slight screeching sound before Milly's voice was on the over-head speakers, echoing through every room and hallway.
"Everyone please gather in the courtyard for an important announcement!"
The three girls exchanged glances in a brief moment of silence. Jei was the first to stand up.
"She said it's important." Jei repeated, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"This is Milly we're talking about; she threw a welcome party for a cat! There's no way this is really important." Kikuhana protested.
"Still, she's the student counsel president." Hatone added. On that note, the trio left for the courtyard to see what the 'important' announcement was. Every student and few teachers gathered outside in the courtyard. Milly stepped out on the balcony. She was holding two heart-shaped plush hats, one blue and one pink. She had a headset on with the microphone angled towards her mouth.
"As you all know, today is Valentines Day, one of my most favorite holidays!" Milly chirped. "So, I decided we could all play a game! As you can see, I have two hats. The blue one is for the boys and the pink one is for the girls." She placed the pink heart ontop of her head. "The rules of this game are: Whoever takes the other person's hat and they ware each others hat for the rest of the day, they're boyfriend and girlfriend!" The announcement caused commotion in the crowd. Kikuhana, Jei and Hatone all wore the same stupid-fied, blushing expression. Milly wouldn't let a single soul leave the courtyard unless they had a hat. The 'heart hats' weren't the most fashionable accessory in the world, but everyone was forced to ware them. Back inside the school most students tried to act normal. Kiku, Jei and Hatone were having mini panic attacks. They didn't know if there were any boys at the school that would try and get their hats. And even if they did, how did they know they would like them? Their first class went by without any drama; although, each of the girls got a few smiles and winks from some of their boys in their class. Jei, Hatone and Kiku had been getting books out of their lockers for their next class. Hatone glanced down the hall when she saw Naruto wearing a pink hat. She stood on her toes to see the girl and saw Hinata next to him wearing a blue hat. They were talking to two other students. Naruto smiled big and had his arm hooked around Hinata, petting her long hair. Hinata, being as shy as she was, blushed but smiled; leaning her head close to Naruto. Hatone quickly pulled on Kiku's and Jei's arms.
"Look! Look!" She squealed as she pointed to the new couple.
"Naruto and Hinata?" Kiku smiled.
"I know!" Hatone shouted with glee. Jei laughed at the redhead's expression.
Throughout the day, more and more relationships formed, Outside by the fountain Sasuke accepted Sakura's 'heart' which had just about made her the happiest girl in the school. Sasuke had one hand in his pocket and wore the signature 'Uchiha half smile'. During lunch in the cafeteria at the teacher's table Anko, the P.E teacher, snuck up behind Iruka, one of the Literature teachers and stole his hat. Lunch was barley over by the time Kikuhana and Jei started teasing Hatone.
"Just bravely walk up to him and snatch his hat right off his head! I mean come on; I don't think Milly could've made it easier." Kiku grinned playfully.
"She probably made this whole event for you after she saw how hopelessly in lov-" Jei was cut off by Hatone waving her arms in the air. "Like you two don't have your eye on anyone here." Hatone turned the subject matter on her friends.
"Maybe." Jei answered.
"No," Kiku replied flatly. Jei and Hatone turned their attention to Kikuhana.
"Lies!" They said simultaneously.
"What? I don't like anyone at this school." Kiku folded her arms in defense. Jei and Hatone glanced at each other before looking back at Kiku smirking.
"Oh, we'll find out who it is," Hatone began.
"And then when we do…WE'LL MAKE YOU TAKE HIS HAT AND DECLARE YOUR LOVE!" Jei shouted dramatically as she shook Kiku by the shoulders. Hatone then looked at the clock and realized that they were going to be late for art class.
"Um, guys?" Hatone interrupted. "Class starts in three minutes." Jei and Kiku's eyes grew big before all three of them scrambled to their lockers. Jei stopped and hit her head against the locker.
"I just remembered, I have a class to teach." Jei said out loud before grabbing the proper books and sprinting down the hall. Hatone and Kiku followed Jei to make sure she was heading for the right class. As Jei rounded the corner she ran into someone, making her books fly out of her hands and scatter all over the floor. "Oh come on!" Jei complained before snatching up her books off the floor. She noticed one book was missing and looked around for it.
"Excuse me," a voice called. Jei looked up to the figure in front of her and saw that it was Kakashi, a math teacher.
"Oh, Mr. Hatake." She blushed. He was holding the book she was looking for and gave it back to her. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to run into you like that!" Jei was skilled at hiding what she was really feeling, but it was easy to tell she was actually embarrassed by the situation.
"Don't worry about it." Kakashi smiled under his mask. Just as Jei was about to leave, Kakashi called her again. She turned around to see Kakashi holding a pink heart hat. She felt the top of her head and noticed her hat was missing. "You dropped this too," Kakashi told her. Jei walked back to him to retrieve the hat. Kakashi took the blue hat off of his head and placed it on Jei's head. "Because I have your hat, it would make since if you had mine." Kakashi said to her. "It looks like I'm your boyfriend now." Kakashi smiled. Jei blushed and stared in surprise at everything that just happened. Hatone and Kikuhana, who had been watching the whole time, were squealing with excitement.
After the class, school was finished for the day. Jei decided that she would spend the rest of the school day with her friends. As they made their way outside, Hatone spotted Itachi nearby a tree. She kept thinking about what happened with Jei and Kakashi, which started to give her confidence. Hatone started to make her way to the Uchiha, but almost immediately got cold feet. She didn't know how to approach him, but she didn't want to back out. Hatone fixed her eyes on the tree branch Itachi was next too.
"It's worth a shot…" Hatone muttered. In a matter of minutes, Hatone found herself up in the tree on the branch right above Itachi's head. She leaned as far down on the branch as she could, trying to grab Itachi's hat. She could just barley touch the tip of her fingers to the fabric of the hat, but she couldn't grip it. The branch beneath the one she was on would work. She would have been able to grab the hat, but that branch was too narrow and wouldn't be able to support her. "Come on… come on…!" she whispered to herself as she leaned a little further. She gripped the top of the hat with the tips of her fingers. Got it! She thought happily. In that very moment, she slipped and fell out of the tree. Itachi, with his fast reflexes, stretched his arms out and caught the falling girl. Hatone stared at Itachi with wide eyes and a face hot with embarrassment.
"Oh—hi." She blinked. Itachi arched an eyebrow slightly.
"What were you doing up in that tree?" He asked as he placed her back on her feet. Hatone felt too ashamed to answer, afraid he might think she was some stalker.
"I um….was kind of trying…. To take your hat…" Hatone confessed as she looked away. Itachi chuckled a bit.
"All you had to do was ask," he told her as he switched their hats. "I was thinking about taking your hat anyway." He added. Hatone looked back at him with surprised eyes and a pink face. Itachi smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek.
Kikuhana smiled at her two friends with their new boyfriends before sitting down in the shaded area under a tree. Lelouch came by and saw her.
"Mind if I join you?" Lelouch asked Kiku. She smiled at him and patted the ground next to herself. Lelouch sat down beside her and followed her gaze.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Nothing much. Just… happy for my friends." Kiku answered with a slight smile.
"Are you wishing that was you?" Lelouch asked, glancing at her.
"Oh, I don't know." She yawned a bit. "I'm fine like this for now." Kiku closed her eyes and rested her head against Lelouch's shoulder, starting to fall asleep. Lelouch looked down at her as he took her hat off and replaced it with his hat. He held her hat in his lap.
"Weather it's for a day or permanently, I'm yours." Lelouch spoke softly with a faint smile.
