She had just been waiting for her father outside of his office. The night sky was empty – not a single star in sight. With nothing but the moon and a flickering streetlamp, it was almost impossible for her to see anything, except for when the occasional lights of a car flashed by, illuminating the surrounding skyscrapers. It was past midnight on a Sunday, everyone was bound to be sound asleep. She took a few steps away from the wall of her dad's office, walking slowly down the sidewalk. Once going as far as her bravery would allow her, she turned back around and began in the direction from which she came. It was then that she spotted the older man standing on the curb, a cigarette in his hand and his cell in another. She recognized him – a coworker of her father's. He was a burly man with a permanent straight face. His hair was noticeably greying and wrinkles sat on his forehead. He wasn't an old man, but time had certainly done a number on him. Upon realizing he wasn't alone, he shut his phone off and smiled at the girl standing just a few feet away. "Cigarette?" He offered, holding out the nearly empty pack. She shook her head 'no' and smiled apologetically. She didn't particularly enjoy inhaling a toxic that would destroy her lungs. He shrugged and slid the pack back into his pocket before striking up a conversation with her. "Waiting for your old man, huh?" He clarified. She nodded meekly before taking a look at her watch. She had been waiting almost an hour and wanted to go home. She had to be waking up for school in just a few hours. The man looked around then smiled. "Want to see something?"
"It's about time you got up; I was two seconds away from jumping on you." The auburn-haired girl muttered. "You need to go to the store. The grocery list is on the fridge."
Why couldn't she just walk the ten minutes to the store? Amu dragged a hand down her face and nodded slowly before shooing her sister out of the room. She didn't have work or school today – something very rare. If it wasn't school she was hurrying to, it was work at the restaurant.
Amu slowly removed her blankets and peeled off her pajama shirt, replacing it with a hooded, grey sweater. After settling on a pair of dark-washed jeans, she threw her hair in a messy pony tail and dug through her desk drawer for a piece of gum. It was now that she just noticed the red, digital numbers glowing on her alarm clock. If the electronic was right, it wasn't even 5 in the morning yet.
The pinkette straightened up and dropped her hands to her side before turning to glare at her closed door. Crossing the room in three strides, she threw open the door and stomped downstairs, where her sister and a bunch of other freshman were. If it wasn't the blaring music that was making her feel sick, it was the sight of her little sister grinding with some jock.
Amu closed her eyes and inhaled deeply to calm down, nearly gagging once the scent of sweat and cheap perfume wafted by.
She pushed through the crowded living room and detached Ami from the boy with a boner.
"What is this?" The pinkette yelled over the music. It took every bit of self-control she had to not smack the grin off her sister's face.
"Oh, Amu, live a little!" Ami cried out. "It's just a little party to celebrate the new school year!"
Amu stared around the room in disbelief. She looked back at her sister and scoffed. "A little party? This is insane! Where's mom?"
Ami made it obvious that she didn't care by the shrug she provided as an answer. "Some work thing took her away for the weekend. Didn't she tell you last night? Oh, wait, I was supposed to tell you, because you were working when she left." She then giggled and let out a small 'whoopsies'. "Aaaanyway, go to the store and get what's on the list I wrote up for you. Oh, and you can pass as an 18 year old, right?"
The pinkette glared before exiting the house in a fume of anger. There was no way she would go to the store just to buy her younger sister – who was barely a teenager – alcoholic drinks and other crap she put on the list that Amu didn't bother picking up.
The early morning air nipped at her fingers as she lowered herself to the steps of the house. To resist the persuasive tears lingering behind her eyes, the teenager's gaze flickered up to the sky. She didn't know what she expected to see; an answer, maybe.
Resting her head in her hands, she inhaled the fresh air and rose to her feet. She stepped out onto the sidewalk and began her walk to town, mentally going through names of people who could be awake at such an hour.
She was well aware of the fact that if she even dared to call Rima and ended up waking her up, she wouldn't live to see the next sunrise. Kukai, on the other hand, should have been getting up in just an hour or so to go to work. She'd just have to find something to keep her occupied until then.
Seiyo was a small Japanese town with not many things to do. Sure, there was a mall with a decent selection of items; two grocery stores; a couple corner stores and gas stations… but that was about it. Besides the movie theatre, there wasn't anywhere to go for fun.
Without even knowing what she was doing, Amu threw open the door to the library and stepped inside the heated building. The library was about the only place in town that was open 24/7. She slowly made her way into the deserted lobby, passing only one librarian, who was fast asleep at her desk.
Amu decided that while she was there, she might as well check out the manga section to see if the new volume of Gakuen Alice was out yet. She checked the designated area and sighed. Just her luck, of course it wasn't there yet. She had only been waiting for three months, so why would it suddenly be there when she most wanted it?
While waltzing back through the bookshelves, she couldn't help but feel very self-conscious, almost as if there were security cameras watching her every move. Finally she reached the age-old, dinosaur of a computer and typed in the volume she desired, hoping it might have been shelved differently. If that was the case, she'd spend all day searching the library for it.
According to the computer, the new volume was indeed, in stock. Amu groaned, resting her forehead on the keyboard. Now she decided against her previous idea. Making her way back to the manga section, Amu glanced at the male at a table nearby who sat lazily in the seat, crouched over a book. Not just any book, she recognized it as a volume of Gakuen Alice.
Her jaw dropped and it felt like her eyes were going to roll out. Kukai was reading Gakuen Alice.
She could hear him talking quietly to himself. It was as she got closer that she noticed his cell phone.
"No, not Monday. … I have to help out with the stupid Christmas dance." He reminded the person on the other line. "I don't know, someone signed me up as a prank! … No, not unless I can find a replacement. Dude, I don't know him at all, even if we are partners."
Realizing just how rude she was being by eavesdropping, Amu awkwardly got out of her crouching position and brushed off her jeans.
Tip-toeing over to her friend, she snuck up behind him and blew in his ear. Kukai was to his feet in an instant with the book hidden behind his back, a soft blush gracing his features. He shut his phone, not caring that he just hung up on someone.
"I thought you said you hated girly manga like Gakuen Alice." Amu accused, her eyes narrowing.
"I-I was just reading it to pass time!" Kukai stuttered out quickly.
The pinkette wasn't convinced, but nodded anyway. She was too tired to ask more about it. "Why are you here so early?"
The male shook his head and waved a different book in front of Amu's eyes. "I'm here for the Christmas dance. I got paired up with a senior and I was the partner chosen to come here to get a few books for some unique ideas."
"At 5 in the morning?" Amu arched an eyebrow.
"I couldn't sleep." Kukai replied honestly, scratching his head. "Trust me, if I could, I'd choose to be sleeping right now and come here at 5 in the afternoon. My nocturnal brain decided to keep me up all night again. Yippee."
"I didn't know you were on the dance committee. Why are you organizing it so early?"
Kukai let out a loud yawn that woke up the librarian. "Someone signed me up as a prank. And about the early organization thing, apparently they start this early every year. It sucks balls, man – uh... woman."
Amu nodded half-heartedly, reaching over to pluck the book from Kukai's hand as he searched for another one. She almost laughed once scanning over the title.
"'How to Make Snowflakes'? Really, Kukai? I could teach you how to make a snowflake; you don't need a book for that." Amu snorted as Kukai snatched the book away in humiliation.
"Well I don't know what kind of crappy book I'm supposed to get!"
Amu's pale fingers lightly dragged along the spines of the many novels, stopping on the famous story, 'Beauty and the Beast'.
"Take this for example. The main symbol in this story is the shining rose." She stated. "Maybe it's the small details that Nikaidou wanted you to pick up."
Kukai hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Roses! Why didn't I think of that earlier? It's the perfect addition to a cutesy little Christmas dance. I'll add it to the list." His eyes then widened once realizing what he had just said. "Oh God, I'm turning into a girl."
Amu patted the brunette's shoulder supportively. "Don't worry, darling. I'll accept you anyways."
"Who was it you were talking to on the phone?" She asked, deciding to change the subject.
"You sneaky little eavesdropper. It was Rima. I phoned her to get some Christmas-y ideas, but she yelled at me instead."
"I find it amazing how you still don't know that you're never supposed to wake a sleeping girl; especially if that girl is Rima."
Kukai glared at the pinkette. "Well, now I know, thank you very much. She then went on about how I had to make it up to her by spying on Ikuto."
Amu arched an eyebrow, removing another story from off the shelf. "Spy on him, why? I thought they were doing fine."
The brunette threw his arms in the air. "I have no idea. Apparently she thinks he's hiding something from her, but I disagree. I think he has always acted cold and distant towards people, but it's just now that she's finally noticing and has grown paranoid, believing that it's because of her."
Amu frowned. Rima always was one to be quiet, but controlling. If she figured Ikuto was cheating on her, she had nothing to worry about as far as looks go. Her short profile was adorable and her heart-shaped face went perfectly with her long honey-colored hair.
Kukai's eyes suddenly widened as a grin broke out on his face. "Hey! Do you think you could… well… take my place? On the setup crew? I mean, you're clearly better at this stuff than I am!" He gestured to the Beauty and the Beast novel in Amu's hand.
The pinkette's eyebrows slanted downwards in thought. She loved decorating and setting up events, but with her work and school, that could be a challenge. One could multi-task only so much. Then again, this would be something enjoyable for once and not just a bunch of under-paid labor.
Amu shook her head, shrugging. "Sure…why not?"
The brunette pulled her into a suffocating bear hug. "Thank youuuu! Then you could also spy on Ikuto! It won't be too hard, since he's my decorating partner – well, now your partner."
Amu's eyes widened. Being partnered up with Ikuto could only end awkwardly.