A/N: Who cares about having no date during the Red letter day? As long as you have your chocolate cake, the complete Uta Pri series ready on your PC, and this one shot fan fiction, you're all set for V-day.
Pardon the spelling and grammar mistakes. I wrote this within three hours tops.
A small attempt at making your Valentine's full of love and humor. Happy hearts day everyone!
oOoOoOo
Tomochika Shibuya looked up from the fashion magazine she was reading when shadows fell across its glossy pages.
Six pairs of eyes in varying shades of blue, aqua, steel and red stared back at her. All eyes displayed different emotions: irritation, jealousy, curiosity and anxiety.
Letting out a heavy sigh, she slowly put down her magazine beside her pink leather bag and let out a grumpy harrumph.
"You'd better spill, Tomo-chan," Syo Kurusu said, twisting his fedora hat with his hands and picking the threads apart. His eyes are bright with worry.
Standing next to him, Natsuki Shinomiya, sporting a flowery apron stained with vanilla and flour, wailed. "I can't believe you're acting like an accomplice!" he wiped the chocolate syrup off his cheek, puppy-dog eyes filling with tears.
"I should hope she is in the right state of mind." Masato Hijirikawa said, tossing his hair gracefully, eyes boring into her skull like steel. "I have half a mind tempted to send over my private detective to tail her."
"Tsk." Ren Jinguuji frowned, running one of his slender hands through his honey blonde hair, before removing the dark sunglasses he was wearing. "I am appalled that you would think of sending your detectives after her, when you should be there to look after her personally. However, you don't need to do that as I would follow the little lamb myself and whisk her away from potential disaster."
"Shut up." Masato retorted, looking disgusted. "I would be even more worried if you took her." His hair glinted against the overhead lights.
"How come we did not hear of this from you, Tomo-chan? You know how we worry about Haruka." Tokiya Ichinose said quietly, raising up his right hand to stop the squabbling of his companions.
What the hell? She raised her eyebrows, studying each of them carefully.
On any normal day, she would have given her eyeteeth to be the center of attention of six strapping young men, all popular in their own right, and just bask in the pop-glory they always emit.
Indeed, who wouldn't want to be in her shoes when the men in front of her are members of the hottest boy band invading the music charts right now? But then again, this lot would be too much to handle by one person and she would probably be sporting a headache after spending too much time with them, like spending too much time under the sun and getting a heatstroke. She often wonder how her dear friend could stand being in their presence too long.
Carefully uncrossing her legs, she took her time smoothing out her navy blue pleated skirt, before standing up to her full height of 5 feet 6 inches. She may be small compared to their impressive heights, but when she glared at them, they seemed to shrink a little as they cower.
"I am not sure what you are talking about." She answered frostily, a bit over protective when it comes to her friend's reputation. They always pester her dear Haruka, and whatever information these handsome, albeit troublesome group of men wind up with, she would get to the bottom of it. "You lot just storm in here, disrupting my peace and yabbering about my friend. Can't you just leave her alone even for one day?!" she seethed irritably.
"Gomenasai, Tomo-chan," Otoya Ittoki said sheepishly, "We decided to seek you out because we heard from Hyuuga sensei, who was in the faculty lounge this morning-"
"Actually he heard it from Shining Saotome, he was there at the lounge too!" Natsuki whipped his head sideways to correct Otoya, flour and sugar dust falling from his clothes.
"No!" Syo hissed at Natsuki, "Ryuuga sensei heard it from Shining Saotome who was talking to Tsukimiya sensei-"
"Damned it! It was Tsukimiya-sensei who told Ryuuga-sensei about Haruka being-" Masato started to cut in between Syo and Otoya who were already glaring at each other trying to prove where they got their "reliable" source of information.
For a few seconds, Tomo-chan stared at them in disbelief. Syo is insisting it was from Ryuuga-sensei, while Jinguuji is arguing with Masato about sorting out his important information about his little lamb. Tokiya was scolding Natsuki for wailing in the middle of their group argument. Otoya just stood there shaking his head in disagreement.
It was, to be honest, raking on her nerves. And she snapped.
"Stop! Stop! Stop it!" she bellowed.
Silence.
"You!" she pointed at Otoya, "Out with it! Now!" she breathed in extreme irritation.
"Well you see," Otoya started again, taking a step backward when he saw Tomo-chan's face, "Ryuuga-sensei heard from Shining Sao-"
"I've heard that part, now get on with the most important thing!" she grounded her teeth with impatience. She wanted to smack each and everyone of them right now and send them to detention. Tsukimiya owes her way too many favors. Maybe she should use one of them now and have them thrown into the dungeon or something.
"Ok! Ok! Alright!" Otoya held up his hands in surrender, "We heard that Haruka is going out tonight on a date." He blurted out.
Tomo-chan was about to open her mouth to scold them one by one, when she stopped, the news that he blurted slowly registering in her mind. "I- what?"
"Haruka is going out on a date tonight." Tokiya said hurriedly, taking advantage of her slow reaction. "She asked permission from Tsukimiya-sensei, and they allowed her to go out tonight."
"Oh."
She deflated instantly. She forgot about that. Her roommate mentioned she would be going out on the day before Valentine's day, on the reason that she wanted to avoid the crowd who will celebrate on the day itself.
"Is it true?" Masato asked, staring at her intently as if bracing himself to confirm the real truth from her. After all, she is the bestfriend and roommate of one Haruka Nanami. The subject of these young men's unhealthy fascination and obsession.
"Well, now that you guys mentioned it", she placed a finger thoughtfully on her lower lip, her irritation slowly fading away, "she did have something tonight. I was the one who arranged for my personal hairdresser and make-up artist to come down today and do her make-over."
"You what?!" Syo Kuruso threw his hands up in the air. "I thought it was against school rules that we are not allowed to date a fellow student?"
"I'm gonna barge into the principal's office and complain!" Natsuki said, brandishing the spatula he took out from his apron's pocket, chocolate syrup flying from its tip.
"Excuse me, but you guys just mentioned that you got the news from the teachers and principal themselves and they apparently made no objection whatsoever", she pointed out coolly.
Ren Jinguuji nodded, "Correct. However, something really fishy is going on here."
"I heard she is allowed to break her curfew just for tonight." Tokiya said gravely. "This is a serious matter, Tomochika."
Uh-huh. She suppressed a giggle. "However adamant you are to protest about the rules, they only apply to fellow students." She said slyly, pointing out the obvious. "Her date is definitely not from this school. That's why they did not object in the first place."
"There's no way am I allowing her to date an outsider!" Syo protested, fist clenching. "How the hell did he meet Haru-chan? I rarely see her out on weekends!"
"Shut up, munchkin." Ren said sardonically, "She won't date a midget like you!"
"Like hell she would prefer a sex fiend like you!" he gritted his teeth back at Jinguuji who snickered.
"I'd like to know myself", Masato said, face darkening with a sense of foreboding, "How did he managed to sneak into the school and introduce himself to Haruka and elicit a date from her? This guy is highly suspicious!"
"Well..", she said slowly, undecided whether to tell them about it or not, but seeing the looks on their faces seemed too good to pass up. Making a split-second decision, she decided to play with their hyperactive imaginations some more. It would be a nice payback for disrupting her peaceful late-afternoon-magazine-reading-session before her own date picks her up tonight. It is Friday today, after all. And tomorrow will be Valentine's day. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the subject itself walking towards them. "Well, her date seemed pretty serious about her. Took her about an hour to decide what to wear." She jerked her head towards Haruka who waved at them as soon as she spotted them.
Gliding up to their group in a cloud of sweet perfume, Haruka looked fresh and dreamy in a cream colored dress with an oval neckline and floaty skirt that swirled around her shapely ankles. Her graceful white neck is exposed, as her reddish-gold hair is twisted into a loose chignon, clasped in place by a pearl comb. Her make-up is artfully done; cheeks blushed to perfection, lashes curled with precision.
"Tomo-chan!" she said breathlessly, "Thank you so much for the makeover!" she gave a sweet peck on Tomo-chan's cheek before turning and waving goodbye to the boys surrounding her, before hurrying away. A sleek dark car was waiting for her outside the school property gates, and she went inside, the uniformed driver holding the door open for her quickly closed it before getting into the car and driving away.
When Tomo-chan turned to face her mesmerized audience, she rolled her eyes at their faces. It only takes for Haruka to smile at them and they are all rendered speechless. Taking advantage of the momentary silence, she quickly gathered her bag and slung them on her shoulder. She needed to freshen up before her own date comes.
"Damned it!" Masato finally said, whipping out his phone and began dialing some numbers, "I'll get someone to retrieve those license plates!"
"Are you coming or not?" Syo demanded from Natsuki. "I'll quickly change and go out after her." His fedora hat now lying in shreds on his hands.
"My valentine cake for Haru-chan is not yet finished!" Natsuki whined, torn between finishing his intended project and coming with his roommate.
"You won't be able to give her that stupid cake if she gets home with a boyfriend in tow!" Syo said, spun on his heel, draggin him away.
Tokiya began to button up his coat, "If you are coming with me, I'm leaving now, Otoya." He said at his roommate who nodded.
"I'm gone." Ren said, and true to his word, he is already making his way to the parking lot, where is sports car is waiting for him.
Masato waved goodbye at Tomo-chan while still talking on the phone.
In a matter of a few seconds, the space surrounding her cleared. Tomo-chan breathed a sigh of relief. They really are a handful, the lot of them. But sometimes, its so fun to tease them a bit.
Then suddenly, giggles began to bubble up from inside, until she started laughing uncontrollably. Around her, students continue to stare back at her like she was being possessed.
When she finally got herself under control, she shook her head and made her way towards her building dormitory. Oh she can just imagine the look on their faces when they found out who Haru-chan's date is! If only she has a camera to capture the moment!
oOoOoOo
"You look lovely, my dear."
Haruka beamed brightly before spooning the salad into her mouth, savoring the tasty vinaigrette prepared by the chef.
The restaurant was full, but not brimming with a lot of people. She always liked coming to this restaurant as they serve some of the best chocolate mousse in town and it is very much similar to the way her mother makes it. The ambience is very good; not too loud for her grandmother who likes beautiful classical music being played while eating a nicely prepared dinner for two. And tonight, they are playing Bach, one of her favorites.
"Thank you, grandma." She said, before taking a sip of her wine. "Tomo-chan helped me with the hair and make-up."
"Indeed. I must remember to knit her a nice sweater when I get back home." Her grandmother nodded affectionately at her only grandchild.
"It's too bad mom and dad won't didn't make it tonight. Our valentine's celebration would be complete." She said wistfully.
"Not to worry, darling. They would be home in two weeks. I have asked permission from your principal to allow you a week's vacation so that we can spend it all together." She nodded in satisfaction. She signaled for the waiter for a wine refill.
Haruka opened her mouth to agree when she felt a sneeze coming. Quickly fumbling about for her silk handkerchief, she turned her head sideways and sneezed.
And sneezed. And sneezed some more. For a total of.. Six times.
"Oh dear, I hope you are not coming down with the flu?" her grandmother said worriedly. "Are you alright? Do you feel strange?"
Haruka blinked twiced. "N-no. Actually, I feel fine. I just had my flu shots last week. The regular shots you insisted I always take every six months. You know I'm always prone to getting all kinds of silly sickness."
"True!" the old lady laughed delicately. "You are such a troublesome young lady, always making your grandmother worry. I swear, half of my gray hairs are all because of you!"
She laughed. "Nothing to worry about, grandma. I think Tomo-chan is probably talking about me. She has a date tonight too. She's probably bored or something. She's the only person I know who always love talking about me to other people!"
oOoOoOo
A/N: Wonder how our boys reacted when they found who Haruka's mystery date is. LOL.
My bali vacation was a blast. I wish I have more time to spend there. My mind is still in vacation mode. I intended to write the next chapter for Cecil's muse, instead I sat in front of my mac brooding about the chapter outlines I have written, when I suddenly remembered that it's V-day tomorrow. And this short story outline hit me. So I wrote it down lest it escapes me.
Hope you guys review and check out my other works!