Note: Here is the chapter for White Day! I had wanted to publish this on March 14, but the website seems like it didn't want me to. Oh well! I personally don't like this chapter that much, but putting the focus on Juri was nice. As always, constructive criticism would be nice!
5
Today was March 14, and Katou Juri forgot that everyone was celebrating White Day today. She walked into the building to start another day of kindergarten when she saw her friend Takato calling her over to where he was.
When she reached him, she was promptly showered with a "Happy White Day, Katou-chan!" He held out a small card that had a drawing of the two of them and the customary greeting to her, hoping she would take it.
Juri stared in confusion, and at her silence, he started to worry and explain. "Sorry, there isn't any chocolate," he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "I didn't know it was White Day until my mom--"
She was quick to cut him off. "You didn't know?"
"Eh?" Takato wondered why she seemed happy about it.
"I forgot too! That means we're the same today! Yay!"
"So you're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad?" Juri then tilted her head to the side, confused.
"Because… never mind!" With his trademark grin, he continued, "I'm glad that you like it. Since the two of us are the same today, we should… play jump rope together!" He pumped his fist in the air out of excitement.
"Okay then! Thank you for the card, Takato-kun!"
While walking over to where the other kids with the jump rope were, Juri was happy that she made a friend like Takato this past year.
10
Juri had to admit she was excited for White Day. Already haven gotten gifts from her father, brother, and Kurumon (who was helped by her step mom), she was in a pretty good mood.
She opened her shoe locker, only to see a box of chocolate laying inside. Wondering who it was from, she opened the note to find that it was from the person whose gift she was looking most forward to today.
Grabbing the box, she gripped it close to her, and closed her shoe locker on the way to the classroom.
Meanwhile, the three boys hadn't expected it, but it turned out that Kenta was the one who won their little Valentine's Day contest. Kenta calmly explained that the girls thought he had gotten manlier, which Hirokazu vehemently denied, and also because other girls thought Takato had a girlfriend, which Hirokazu didn't deny.
"What are you guys talking about? I don't have a girlfriend! We're too young for that!" Takato exclaimed.
"Well, they don't seem to think so…" Kenta and Hirokazu gestured to the girls in their bustling classroom.
At seeing the two snickering at him, Takato retorted, "Well, at least I don't have to give out so much white chocolate today!" The other two didn't find anything wrong with that and led Takato to a lost battle when Hirokazu noticed a girl walking towards them.
"Speak of the devil…"
"Takato-kun, thank you!"
Takato turned around to find Juri coming up to hug him, while holding a box of chocolates in her hand. He honestly wanted to keep the gift a secret from his friends, but had just decided that he didn't mind. He started to return the hug when he heard kissy noises and unwanted commentary from behind him. Takato immediately blushed and dropped his hands and arms promptly to his side.
At this, Juri laughed from the bottom of her heart, as Takato proceeded to drag her away from the two teasing boys, and she knew she was making new happy memories. "Just like Leomon would want," she added mentally with a grin on her face.
15
"Welcome to our bakery!"
"Hi Matsuda-san! Is Takato home today?" Juri responded while looking at the list of baked goods her family asked her to get.
"Yes, hold on," Takato's mother called him down and turned back to the girl gathering various loaves of bread. "So Juri-chan, how does it feel to have freshly graduated from junior high?"
"Well, it's a bit sad, but I'm looking forward to high school!"
"I can understand that. It's a little sad knowing my little boy is starting high school next month…" Like most mothers, she sighed in reminiscence.
Takato decided to join the two at that time and said, "Mom, you're not going on about that to another customer, are you?" A pause. "Oh, Juri!"
He looked at her and seemed to remember something. "Hold on, let me get something!"
While watching Takato run back up the stairs, Juri laughed and put the items on the counter, "Don't worry, Matsuda-san! I can try and watch over Takato for you, if you want?" Another laugh. "I'm kind of looking forward to seeing him in his uniform."
At that remark, she was answered with, "You'll look cute in your high school uniform too!"
Juri smiled sheepishly and turned to hear, "Mom, you're not embarrassing Juri again, are you?"
As Mrs. Matsuda started to ring up all of Juri's purchases, she remarked, "Takato, you make it sound like I'm saying something wrong. Don't you agree that Juri-chan would look nice in her uniform?
"Yeah."
When both Takato and Juri realized what he just said, Juri's eyes widened, and Takato went on to bag her purchases as fast as he could to get them out of the bakery.
Once they were outside and the quiet chuckling from his mom was out of range, Takato faced her and apologized. "Sorry about that!"
"Don't worry about it! I like visiting your place," Juri nodded in reassurance. She then proceeded to get the bags from Takato, but was stopped.
"Let me walk with you home today!" Takato instantly heard her refusal, so he tried to put on a serious face and hide the grin slipping out. "Especially since it's nighttime already and you have so many bags," he added.
"It's only two small bags!" Juri said indignantly.
"I want to though," Takato replied and started to walk, not leaving Juri a choice.
Once Juri heard that, she knew that there was no winning. She knew Takato enough to know that he is definitely one of the most stubborn people she knew. She quickly caught up to him, and as her thoughts wondered, she realized most of her friends, especially the other Tamers were all fairly stubborn. She stifled a giggled which caught Takato's attention.
"What's so funny?" He asked as they kept walking.
"Oh nothing. I was just thinking about everyone and how stubborn they are…"
Takato looked up in thought and agreed. "If we were to have a contest, I think Ruki would win."
"I think so too! Though, maybe Hirokazu is a good match!" They both laughed at the idea and kept talking about other possibilities.
After awhile, they noticed that they were almost in front of her house. Takato's thoughts turned to somewhere else as he mentioned, "We should all meet up during the break… Oh, that reminds me!"
Juri looked at him with a questioning expression, as he fumbled with the bags and his pockets. He then took out a small wrapped package. "Here, take it!"
With an unsure look on her face, she took it and slowly unwrapped it to find a button from his junior high uniform.
"I wasn't able to give it to you last Wednesday when we graduated, so I thought today was a good day to do so! Happy White Day!"
"White day…" she stared at the button and looked up at him, "I completely forgot because of graduation…" Juri felt like she was missing something else important until it all clicked. She murmured softly, "Was this your second button?"
No matter how smooth he wanted to be, Takato realized he was starting to get flustered. "Ah… if you don't want it, it's fine," he trailed off.
"No! I'm keeping it. The button that was closest to your heart," she answered sternly.
Before his mind could convince him not to, Takato moved closer to her and kissed Juri on the forehead. He was about to back away, just in case, but Juri's hold on his hands stopped him. She wrapped his arms around herself and embraced him.
"Thank you for this year's White Day."
AN: On White Day, a month after Valentine's Day, is the day when men give back gifts to the girls who gave them chocolate. Pretty self-explanatory. The second button custom (that might not be common anymore) in Japan is that when a boy graduates (either from junior high or senior high), he is either asked or decides who to give his second button from his uniform to. In romantic terms, its given to the person the boy loves since it's the button closest to his heart. It can also be given to underclassmen if he's asked. Thanks for reading!