Her room was a mess. She was a mess.

She sniffled.

Being a beautiful girl had its perks, and being a model on top of that simply meant that she was being paid to be beautiful. Going to exotic locales, being shown in magazine spreads, wearing the most recent in fashion trends, fans, she had it all. In fact, even if she weren't a model, she was plenty sure that everything and everyone around her were but putty for her to mold around her finger, with but two exceptions.

The grinding, growling box before her was one of them.

"Stupid…air conditioning…" she sniffled again, careful to dab the two-ply tissue paper against her upper lip after blowing her nose. Her hitting the AC unit only seemed to make it growl even louder, as if angered by her harsh treatment.

One of the first rules of modeling: never have a runny nose while in makeup…or at least, not where anyone could see.

Shivering all the while, she stalked around the apartment wearing her heavy blankets as a makeshift cloak, shivering despite feeling a bit of perspiration from her body heat being caught within the thick material.

--

Making her way through the school, Ami reciprocated the waves and greetings from the students and teachers passing by, trying her best not to hunch her back in order to keep up appearances.

A particular group of girls made an effort to talk to her as they did everyday since Ami had first began attending the school, to which she had deftly brushed off while being polite all the while as she continued ahead toward P.E. class.

Under any normal circumstances, Ami would have taken a sick day in order to compose herself after that horrid air conditioning debacle—something that was easily fixed with help from her Aunt, though not before it had taken its toll.

She sniffed while rounding the corner of the now empty hallway, carefully dabbing a handkerchief under her nose.

Thanks in part to her regular trips out of country for her modeling; Ami had a number of exams that had been rescheduled. However, now that the end of the semester was approaching soon, there was no longer any way they could be pushed back; nor were there any photo shoots for at least two months when the spring fashion season began.

And so, with three exams completed one after another, Ami relished the chance to try against what was the second exception to her otherwise perfect mastery of everything and everyone around her.

"Takasu! Takasu!" She called with a short jog toward him. Looking up from what appeared to be organizing and sorting gym equipment, Ami smiled when the boy's gaze unconsciously led his eyes below her neckline, before quickly jolting to meet her eyes in an attempt to hide that fact.

It only served to add to her confidence, as his cheeks were flush with the smallest hint of red as he returned to whatever it was he was doing.

"Y-yo, Ami…" Takasu seemed even more engaged in organizing than he did a moment ago.

Seeing that she had already gotten a positive reaction so quickly from her gym uniform, Ami decided to allow a moment's reprieve before she continued her attack. "So, Takasu, where's Taiga today?" Although she didn't really care for wherever that pipsqueak was in the same way that she had made it sound, it was important to know the chances of being ambushed and kept from her fun.

"She's sick, today. Mild Flu. Her doctor said that she should be up and about by the end of the week."

"Oh, really?" Ami said in a softer tone, not really listening to the details of what Takasu did to keep Taiga from moving about against the doctor's orders. Instead, she crept closer to where he was crouched, leaning forward ever so slightly. "You know, I might have a little cold, myself."

It wasn't a total fabrication at least, but in any case, it didn't seem to incite any particular reaction from Takasu.

"Don't say that." The boy said without even glancing at her. He refused to even look in her direction. "You seem perfectly…fine…" The uncharacteristic pause was all Ami needed to spot a weak point in his defense, prompting Ami to take a soft sidestep into his line of view, making sure to add a small exaggerated bounce as she did.

"Are you sure?" Ami decided to play ignorant, rolling her head cutely in a questioning manner. "Even if that's true, I'm still concerned. I'm not very knowledgeable in that kind of thing, you know…"

"Well," Takasu was hooked, easily distracted from his organizing when it came to healthcare, "it's easy as long as you eat well, have enough hours of sleep and dress approp-" Not even after a second after looking up, Takasu looked away with a fiercer red blush of embarrassment. She was pleased that it seemed so difficult for him.

However, she noticed that his eyes were wide like dinner plates as he shuffled around and found a large piece of cloth that he raised up like a curtain in front of her. "Y-Y-you should be c-ca-careful when you bend over, Ami!" He stuttered, managing to turn his head aside in embarrassment.

"Oh?" She asked puzzled, then slowly looked down towards her chest. Through the neck hole of her gym T-shirt she saw her perfectly formed breasts. Normally during P.E. class a sports bra would cover them, but that wasn't the case today. Ami could feel the cotton of her shirt ever more present now as she lurched forward to grab the cloth held out in front of her for herself.

"You should really be careful of how far you take a joke. There are laws against public exposure. I thought you knew that." With that, he rushed to pick up the equipment and ran, not looking back, tripped for a moment but managed to catch his balance, then continued rushing off to the P.E. shed.

"Takasu! Wait! Let me explain!"

Now aware of her less-than-dressed state, Ami felt a chill brush against her skin as she held the cloth close to her body while cautiously making her way back to the locker room, under the frightening gaze of the other students who had heard her sudden outburst or spotted Takasu's girlish escape.

--

There were a many number of lessons she learned that day. One was that Freon air conditioners were bad for the environment, and should be unplugged when not in use. The other was that she was allergic to dust after having a sneezing fit from the raggedy cloth she had draped over herself.

The most important thing however, was that she decided to always wear her jacket over her school uniform.

Author's Notes: My first Toradora! fic happens to be a parody of Macavity the Mystery Cat's first Toradora! fic...huh...

...legalities...

-The idea has been spurned from my own boredom/Finals stressed mind
-Toradora! is written by Yuyuko Takemiya