The Case of the Chocolate Bunny
By Laura Schiller
Based on: Shugo Chara
Copyright: Peach Pit
"That's a cute bunny," said Tadase, motioning to the aluminium-wrapped chocolate confection on Amu's bookshelf.
"Oh, and Papa give them to Ami and me every Easter." Amu smiled in the same direction. The aluminium was painted; the rabbit was white, a bright green waistcoat, blue eyes and a smile on its whiskery face.
"I see you're eating it slowly, yes?"
"I don't know … it looks so cute I'd almost rather look at it than eat it. I haven't even touched it yet … Tadase-kun?"
The slight frown on his face made her pause. "Oh … but then why is there a dent in it already?"
"What? No, there couldn't – wait … " Amu stood up, picked up the rabbit, and examined it closely. The top of its left ear looked strangely flat, and the wrapping was crinkled, as if a small hand had unwrapped it and then clumsily pieced it together.
She looked at Tadase, then back at the rabbit. Then she flung the door open and went stomping down the corridor with a stride that make the walls shake.
"Hinamori Ami, you stole my chocolate!"
Tadase, following her with some consternation, watched her burst into her little sister's room. Ami dropped the Barbie doll she had been playing with and climbed onto a chair for extra height, so she could glower back at Amu eye to eye.
"It was just one bite!" she shouted back. "You didn't even want it! You always get the best candy and you never share!"
"At least I don't gobble it all up at once like a pig!"
Ami burst into tears and, catching sight of Tadase behind her accuser, turned her shining golden eyes on him – eyes that were exactly like Amu's. "Onii-chan, she's being mean to me! Make her stop!"
Tadase took charge. "Girls, calm down," he said, slipping past Amu through the doorway to stand between them.
"Now, Amu-chan, is this true? Wouldn't you have shared the bunny if your sister had asked you?"
Amu held up her hands. "Oi! Why are you looking at me? She's the thief!"
"Wouldn't you?"
She sighed. "I guess I would've shared if she'd asked politely … but still, Ami, it's not fair. You had your own bunny, why eat mine?"
Ami pouted. "I was still hungry."
Tadase's face twitched with something suspiciously like laughter, but he took a deep breath and surveyed the little girl with all the gravity of a judge.
"Ami-chan," he said. "How would you feel if your sister had been nibbling on your chocolate bunny without asking?"
"I guess I'd be pretty mad," Ami grumbled, with the air of someone making an enormous concession.
"And what would you want her to do?"
"Buy me a new one."
Amu rolled her eyes. "See? She's incorrigible."
"Anything else?" Tadase prompted. "What do we do, Ami-chan, when we've hurt someone's feelings and want to make it better?"
Comprehension dawned in Ami's wide eyes. She sighed, climbed down off her chair, looked up at Amu for a few moments, then jerked her head in a short, reluctant bow.
"I'm sorry, onee-chan."
Amu uncrossed her arms, unknitted her eyebrows, glanced at Tadase and then back down at her sister. "Okay. Apology accepted. But don't do it again!"
The older children exited the room, leaving Ami to her dolls, and to reflections on the pitfalls of crime and the treachery of foil wrapping.
"You were pretty cool back there, Tadase-kun," Amu said shyly.
Tadase smiled and shrugged modestly. "Settling conflicts is all part of learning to be a leader. Besides, I went through the same thing with Ikuto-nii-san when I was her age."
Amu giggled at the thought of a small Tadase making mischief. "You? Stole his candy?"
"It's very aggravating to watch good candy going uneaten," Tadase said, with a rueful smile and a shake of the head. "Obaa-sama was … displeased. I didn't try it again."
As they reached Amu's room, she curled up at one end of the bed and gestured for Tadase to join her.
"History sure repeats itself, doesn't it?" she observed.
He smiled back at her, his eyes like bright rubies. "It certainly does. I suppose my own children, if I ever have any, will get into arguments as well."
"You'll make a great father someday, Tadase-kun."
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Amu blushed, her face as pink as her hair. Would she never be done saying embarrassing things to Tadase?
"Thank you, Amu-chan," he said, his hand covering hers on the satin bedspread. "I hope so ... someday."