okay, i'd just like to apologize in advance (yet agen) because the next chappie might come out later than the rest. (havent even started on it yet).
I'd also like 2 thank d all the ppls who reviewed on this fanfic so far. Thanks to that, i kinda had d motivation to keep dis story goin. (i only planned this story 2 have 20 chapters formt he start, but....)
lol, anywayzz....here's chapie 26!! XD
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- Chapie # 26! -
I opened the doors and widened my eyes soon as I did.
I saw Kukai halfway up a ladder and looking at me with a surprised face and was about to hang some decorations up in the wall. Tadase-kun was arranging snacks on a table practically filled with food, and Kairi was holding a balloon in both hands while being completely surrounded by a hundred more.
"H-Hinamori?!" stuttered Kukai as he dropped the decor he was holding.
I just stared at them, dumfounded, with shaking eyes.
"What's going on?"
Beads of sweat quickly formed behind their heads as they looked at each other and Rima finally caught up and stopped beside me.
"G-Gomen." Rima said weakly, out of breath.
"R-Rima!! W-What's Hinamori doing here?!" Kukai asked with a semi-panicked face.
"Hey! Don't blame me!! I tried to stall her for as long as I could!!...and it sort of worked fine too, until SOMEBODY popped a balloon." Rima said as she glared at Kairi.
"H-Hey!! That was just an accident!! I'm completely surrounded by balloons, so it's TOTALLY understandable if I happened to step on one!!" He stuttered as a bead of sweat slid down the side of his face and light reflected on his glasses.
Tadase-kun just sighed.
"See, I told you it wasn't a good idea to text her so early in the morning."
"B-Be quiet!! I got worried that she would oversleep!! So I texted her earlier just in case!!" Rima stuttered as her face turned a light shade of red.
I just stood there with a straight face as I listened to their ongoing arguments.
"Eto, guys…you completely didn't answer my question."
Everyone instantly stopped whatever they were shouting out and looked at me with semi-widened eyes.
"Well, guess it can't be helped then…" Kukai sighed as he sat down on a ladder step.
Then he calmly looked at me with a weak smile on his face.
"Happy Birthday, Hinamori."
* - * - * - *
I widened my eyes in a surprised look as I watched them all smile and greet at the same time,
"Happy Birthday."
I couldn't do anything but just stare at them as I stood perfectly still. I suddenly put on a smile as a weak laugh escaped my lips and everybody just looked at each other in confusion as question marks popped up from behind their heads.
"What's so funny?" Asked Kukai as he looked back at me.
I calmed down a bit before I replied.
"Oh nothing, it's just that…I think that I would remember if today was actually my birthday."
"Oh, you think so?" He asked as he put on a big playful grin.
"E-Eh?" I blinked a few times and looked up at him.
"Amu, did you forget about last year already?..." Rima asked.
"…When we threw you a surprise birthday at your place? You immediately freaked and fainted as soon as we yelled out 'happy birthday'".
A bead of sweat slid down the side of my face as I put on a nervous smile.
"E-Eto…"
"Or what about the year before that?..." Kukai interrupted, still wearing that grin on his face.
"…when we told you to go to a restaurant for your birthday a week early? You kept us waiting there for hours, and it turned out that you were already asleep in bed."
"Yeah, I still occasionally get the visions that I had that time for drinking too much coffee to stay awake." Tadase-kun said as he put on a weak smile.
Beads of sweat quickly formed behind my head as I replied.
"N-Now that I think about it…" I said weakly while lightly scratching the side of my chin.
"Face it Amu, you have an incurable case of Amnesia." Rima said with a straight face.
"D-Do not!!"
Everyone just let out a weak laugh as they watched me argue with Rima, and I widened my eyes a bit as I noticed it. Then I just simply put on a weak smile.
'Arigatou…minna."
* - * - * - *
As soon as the decorations and snacks were done, the party was finally started. Of course, I helped too. I sighed as I lifted a small piece of chocolate cake to my mouth in exhaustion. Then Kukai suddenly grabbed me by the neck, almost making me choke [yet again].
"K-Kukai!!"
He just put on a big grin as he faced me.
"Hey!! How old are you now again?..." he asked as he put on a wondering look.
"…Oh, that's right!! You're already 13!! Geez, and you STILL don't have a boyfriend yet. Don't you think it's about time that you get one? The single life can be really lonely you know." He said teasingly.
My eyebrow started twitching as my face turned a light shade of red.
"W-What's with you?! Asking that kind of question all of a sudden again!!"
He just laughed before letting go and replying back.
"Hai, hai. I get it."
I sighed as he just continued laughing.
"Now c'mon!! This is YOUR birthday, so YOU should be the one enjoying the occasion!!" He said as he grabbed my hand and dragged me over to where the others were and an 'eh?!' sound escaped my lips.
As soon as he stopped dragging me, I stopped right in front of Kairi.
"Geez, Kukai…how many times do you have to do that to me to make yourself satisfied?"
He just let out a weak laugh before replying.
"I'm afraid that's way over how much I can count!!"
I sweat dropped as I just sighed and faced forward. I widened my eyes a bit as soon as I noticed Kairi in front of me. I lift my head as we just stared at each other in a short silence. Then he suddenly put on a weak smile before he spoke.
"Well, I hope you now know the reason for my visit back here."
"huh?..." I said as I thought for a while.
"…umm…can I have a clue??" I asked with a straight face and a small smile.
Kairi just sweat dropped as he quickly lowered his head and a dark aura surrounded him.
'I can't believe this…'
Beads of sweat formed behind my head as I just stared at him.
"G-Gomen…"
He sighed as he raised his head again and faced me.
"No, that's fine. I'm just glad that I'm actually here today." He said as I simply put on a weak smile.
"Yeah, me too."
We spent the rest of the day eating to our heart's content (not to mention our livers -__- ). It was actually pretty fun, but everything had to end sometime.
"Aaaahhhh…man, am I full!!" Kukai sighed with satisfaction as we walked out of the room and into the lobby.
"I find that pretty hard to believe…you must be lying…" Rima said as she and I stared at him with a straight face.
"Hm, now that I think about it, I think I still got some room in here for a few more bites…" Kukai said as he looked up in a wondering look and placed a finger under his chin.
"We knew it." Me and Rima said together as we lowered our heads a bit and sweat dropped as Kukai just laughed.
I quickly widened m eyes at a thought that just popped up.
"Oh, I know!" I said with semi-wide eyes as I lightly hit my palm with the bottom of my fist and ran in the room again leaving Kukai and Rima staring after me with question marks popping up from behind their heads.
After a few minutes, I came back out, lightly panting, holding a plastic full of leftover snacks close to my chest.
"Hm? What's the bag for, Hinamori?" asked Kukai with his hands in his pockets as he just stared at me.
I placed the bag in front of his face while lightly blushing, though I had no idea why.
"H-Here, there were plenty of left over snacks, so…bring some home with you…ne?"
He widened his eyes a bit at what I said, then just put on a weak smile.
"Arigatou." He said calmly as he took the bag from me.
"Oh, having a little lover's chat here, are we?" Tadase-kun asked with a weak smile as he walked towards us with Kairi by his side.
"E-Eh?!" I stuttered as beads of sweat formed behind my head and I faced him.
Kukai was just looking at him with his eyes wide open a bit in a wondering look as Tadase-kun just let out a weak laugh.
"I was just kidding, don't have to take it so seriously."
I just lowered my head a little and looked at him, annoyed.
"Geez, what's with all the lover's questions you keep asking nowadays?"
Kukai just let out a playful laugh.
"We're just teasing you for not getting a boyfriend yet!" said Kukai as he flicked my forehead and walked towards the door with Tadase-kun and Kairi.
"Well, we'll be leaving now. Ja ne!" he waved before exiting the door with his hands in his pockets.
"Goodbye, Joker." Said Kairi as he just followed.
"Geez, like it's any of their business." I said weakly while rubbing the part of my forehead where Kukai flicked it.
"Amu…"
I faced forward and saw Rima in her nightdress, holding a teddy bear in one hand and lightly rubbing her eye with the other.
"…I'll be going to bed now. Feel free to stay as long as you want, ne?"
"For real? But it's only like…8:25!" I said as a bead of sweat slid down the side of my face.
"Yeah, well. If only you knew how early my tutor comes here every morning to teach me."
I just simply put on a weak smile.
"Okay then. Goodnight, Rima."
"Hai." She said calmly as she put on a weak smile herself and walked upstairs to her room.
As soon as she was gone, I quietly sighed as I faced back at the front door.
"So, will we be going now, Amu-chan?" asked Miki as she suddenly popped up in front of my face.
"H-Huh? Well, I'm kinda to lazy to go all the way back home." I said with a straight face and a small smile.
"What about we just FLY home?" asked Ran.
"Yeah, well. I'm too lazy to chara nari right now." I said as I turned around and faced towards the stairs.
My charas just sweat dropped.
"How can anyone be too lazy to chara nari?" they all said to themselves weakly.
I just ignored them and looked all the way up to the ceiling of the house.
"Hm. I wonder what it's like up there." I said curiously.
"Don't wonder, EXPLORE!!" Ran suddenly exclaimed happily as she chara changed with me.
"W-Wha-?!" was all I could say before I found myself flying up to the roof.
"R-Ran!! QUIT IT!!"
Ran was too busy humming to herself to even notice me.
"S-She's not listening to me at all." I said weakly as I slowly landed on the top floor of Rima's house (or probably….mansion).
Ran undid the chara change and just smiled at me.
"See? That wasn't so bad now, was it?" she asked me while I was panting.
I quickly shot her a 'don't-talk-to-me' glare as she freaked and hid behind Miki.
"Geez. That's what you get for suddenly chara changing with Amu-chan like that. You know how much she hates it." Said Miki with a straight face.
"Desu~~" Suu continued.
"I-I forgot."
I just sighed as I looked around me.
"You shouldn't have done that. It's not polite to go around someone's house without them knowing. Desu~" said Suu.
"Tch. Tell that to Ran." I said coolly while continuing looking around me.
"We must be on the floor to the entrance of the roof."
"Oh gee, like we couldn't guess." Said Miki sarcastically with a straight face as she pointed to a big sign on top of a door saying 'ROOF'
A bead of sweat slid down the side of my face as I faced Miki.
"You just had to ruin my 'cool act', didn't you?" I said weakly as I sighed.
Miki just crossed her arms before replying with a weak smile.
"Of course. The way you acted kinda pissed me off. Like you were cooler than me or something."
I got a vein on my forehead as I faced her.
"Shut up! At least the proved that I could read!!"
"Yeah, and we're ALL so proud of that." She said sarcastically, yet again, as she turned away from me and placed both hands in the air beside her.
"Geez, what a back-talking chara." I said under my breath as I walked towards the door.
"Well, this would be a good place to take off once I wanna go home, so I guess I'll stay here for a bit."
I turned the knob and walked outside as I felt the wind softly brush on my face as I did.
"Wow, it's pretty cold up here." I said as I wrapped myself up with my arms.
"Of course it is. Look at what you're wearing." Miki said as she pointed at my top and skirt.
"But this is YOUR design!!" I shot back.
"Well, yeah, but…I designed that while I was only HALF conscious." She said calmly.
"whatever…" I sighed as I walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down at the houses and trees below me.
'Wow. The view here sure is amazing.' I thought with wide eyes in a semi-surprised look.
"No, Amu-chan! No! Just because Ikuto-kun doesn't love you back, doesn't mean you have to go as far as to jump!!" Ran yelled as tears rolled down her face and I noticed Miki and Suu laugh out loud behind her.
I got a vein on my forehead as I shot another glare at her.
"What are you saying all of a sud-!?..."
I was cut off when I suddenly saw a chara nari'd Ikuto jump over the roof and the moonlight shined down on him.
"I-Ikuto?..." I said weakly as I just stared at him with a surprised face.
He widened his eyes a bit as he noticed me too.
"Amu?.."
* - * - * - *
He softly landed in front of me and undid his transformation. He was also holding a white plastic bag as soon as he did. He probably went out shopping for more fish and chips or milk or something.
"W-What are YOU doing here?!" I asked as I pointed at him and beads of sweat formed behind my head.
He just put on a smirk before replying.
"Hm? Shouldn't I be the one asking that?"
I lightly blushed a faint shade of pink as I put on an annoyed face.
"No!!"
He closed his eyes and raised an eyebrow as he placed one hand in his pocket and the other one behind his head. (note: not a pose. Just imagine it.)
"Geez, I still don't get why you freak out every time you see me. Are you THAT into me?" He asked as he opened an eye and looked at me.
A vein suddenly popped up on my forehead as he said that.
"Just answer the question!!"
He placed both hands in his pockets and sighed before finally replying.
"Well, if you must know, I was just on my way home after one hell of a tiring day, and this roof was big enough to be a landing place. Does that answer your 'question'?"
I just sweat dropped as I stared at him.
"E-Eto…sort of." I stuttered with a straight face.
"Good, now it's my turn to ask. What were you doing up here?"
I crossed my arms stubbornly before replying.
"Like it's any of your business."
"Hm, that's not really fair, now is it? I answered your question, but you didn't even answer me back.""
"Hey, who do you think asked the question first?" I said with a weak smirk.
"Well, that's true…" he shrugged.
"…Anyway, now that I finally found you…here." He said as he raised the bag in front of my face and I just stared at it.
"Hm? What's this for?" I asked as I faced him.
"Just take it." He said with an expressionless voice.
A vein popped up on my forehead as I slowly got the bag from his hands.
"Geez, even when you're giving a GIFT, it's a pain." I said under my breath.
He just sighed as he sat down in front of the wall beside the door like how any other normal guy would sit like. One leg just flat on the ground and the other bent up in front of him. I sighed with an annoyed tone as I sat down beside him as well. Both legs bent flat down and going to the left as I just stared at the bag.
"So, are you actually gonna open it, or just stare at it all night?" he asked as he put on a weak smile and closed his eyes.
Beads of sweat suddenly formed behind my head as I freaked and faced him.
"B-Be quiet!! I was just about to!!"
"Hm, sure you were." He replied coolly.
A bead of sweat slid down the side of my face as I looked back down at the bag again with an annoyed look and slowly opened it. I suddenly widened my eyes in surprise as I pulled out a chocolate cat wrapped in gold foil in front of my face.
"Happy birthday." Said Ikuto with a weak smile as I just stared at him.
'Ikuto…' I thought as I looked back at the cat and lightly blushed.
"I didn't really think that…you would actually give me a gift today."
"Hm, Why do you think I accepted that part-time job at the café?..." he asked as he placed both his hands behind his head, elbows up.
"…I told you back at the airport I was a little short on cash, didn't I? We didn't meet for some time because I was busy with other exhausting part-time's I had…" he said before calmly closing his eyes.
"…I did make some cash, but…in the end, I couldn't think of a good present for you."
I just stared at him, dumbfounded. Nothing could come out of my mouth. I just tried thinking of the right words to say.
"B-But I thought you were saving up for UTAU'S birthday!" was all I could say.
[written in the back g. -- . . . . ]
"Who?" Ikuto asked calmly.
I sweat dropped with a straight face as I just stared at him.
'What kind of sibling IS this guy?'
"D-Don't tell me you forgot about Utau's birthday." I said in disbelief.
Ikuto just looked at the sky with an uninterested face.
"Hm, isn't her birthday still 4 months from now?"
"It's next month, next month!!"
He just put on a weak smile as he closed his eyes gain and lowered his head.
"Tch, like I care. The only birthday I currently care about is yours."
I widened my eyes a bit as I blushed ten fold then looked back down at the chocolate cat. I slowly let out a weak laugh as I lightly held onto it in my hands.
"Hm? What's so funny?"
I calmed down a bit before replying.
"Nothing, I just thought that…it's a bit weird for you to remember my birthday, but forget all about yours."
He just put on a smirk as he stared at me.
"Really? Then that makes us the same then. Something tells me you forgot about your own birthday too."
I widened my eyes a bit as a bead of sweat slid down the side of my face.
"Guess we have something in common after all…" I said before calmly closing my eyes and putting on a weak smile.
"But seriously…Arigatou, Ikuto."
He looked at me as he widened his eyes a bit, half-surprised, then he put on a weak smile himself.
"guess those jobs really were worth it." he said under his breath before he suddenly closed his eyes and his head softly landed on my bare lap. [he was facing AWAY form me]
"I-Ikuto?!"
I put the cat beside me as I placed a hand on his head and the other on his shoulder as I lightly shook him.
"Ikuto? What happened?!"
He just let a 'tch' sound escape his lips and shut his eyes tighter before he slowly opened them up again and looked at me.
"Gomen…guess I'm just a little tired…" he said weakly as he lightly covered his eyes with his hand.
'Geez, you even tired yourself out.' I thought as I looked down at him, my hands still were they were.
"…do you mind if…we stay like this for a while?..." he said softly as he removed his hand form his eyes and just stared at it.
"…sound familiar?"
I just widened my eyes in surprise.
"Y-You were spying on us?!"
"Well, I wouldn't call it spying, but…call it whatever you want."
A vein popped up on my fist as I tried [my hardest] to hesitate from punching him right on the head.
"…but…I really meant it…" he suddenly continued as I widened my eyes a bit and just stared at him.
"…I want to…stay like this for a while. Just tell me if you don't like it, then…I'll get back up again."
I lightly blushed as I lowered my head a little.
"I-It's not that I don't like it or anything, baka…" I said to him weakly.
"Actually……whenever I'm with you, there's always this feeling inside of me where I can't control my heartbeat anymore. I don't really know the reason why yet though…" I noticed that he widened his eyes only a little bit and looked at me as my bangs covered my eyes and I blushed ten fold.
"…But…don't take this the wrong way, okay? This isn't a confession or anything. I… actually thought that the reasons I had those feelings was because………………….I loved you." I said weakly before I looked at him again and saw him looking back at me with a surprised face as a tiny tear formed in the corner of my eye.
"…but…that's totally impossible, right?" I said as I put on a weak smile and faced him.
He just stared at me with an expressionless face before saying anything.
"Baka. Just when you finally thought right."
'Ikuto?...' I thought before I widened my eyes as soon as Ikuto suddenly cupped my face in his hands and I felt his warm lips slowly press against mine.
My heart suddenly started beating heavily as I blushed a shade of red and Ikuto and I were stuck in that moment.
"When will you ever understand…your own feelings…" he mumbled calmly while our lips were still together.
I slowly half-closed my eyes as I felt his lips brush against mine's and he just continued calmly kissing me.
'You perverted cat…' I thought as I closed my eyes and gave into the kiss.
* - * - * - *
I sighed as I sat on top of my bed in my pj's, exhausted. Ran just yawned as soon as she popped out of her egg and flew over to me.
"Gomen, Amu-chan. I fell asleep as soon as you and Ikuto-kun started talking…" she said weakly as she rubbed the sleep form her eye.
"…Your talk was just so boring. Plus, it was already late."
"Whatever. I'm just glad you didn't see…" I sighed.
"Nani? Didn't see what?" she asked as she widened her eyes in curiosity.
I suddenly lowered my head as beads of sweat quickly formed behind it.
"Me and my big mouth."
Ran just looked at the red circle on my wall calendar for a while again, then faced back at me.
"Anyway, Amu-chan. Since we finally know what the occasion was today, why don't you write it down on your calendar?"
I widened my eyes a bit in a wondering look as I looked at my calendar.
"Hm, yeah. Guess I should."
Ran let out another yawn as a tear formed in the corner of her eye.
"Okay then, I'm going back to sleep. Goodnight, Amu-chan." She said weakly as she slowly flew back to her egg.
I just put on a weak smile as I watched her.
"Goodnight, Ran." I replied as her egg closed up and I heard a faint snoring sound.
I faced back at the calendar and sighed as I got up and walked towards it. I picked up a pen form my table on my way over, but as soon as I was about to write, I suddenly stopped before my pen even touched the calendar, and I thought for a while as I just stared at it.
'Today is my birthday, but…'
I slowly lifted my pen up to the calendar again and calmly wrote on it.
'…I feel like I want to write something…different.'
After writing, I placed the pen back on my table and just stared at the calendar with a weak smile on my face.
"Hm."
I walked back to my bed and tucked myself in the covers as I turned off the lights and yawned. Soon enough, I was fast asleep, leaving today's date on my calendar written as 'my first romantic kiss with Ikuto'.
- End of Chapie! -
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[pant pant]
well!!.......................THAT took some time to type in!!
OMG!! longest chappie yet!! XD
over 5000 words!! NEW RECORD!! WOOT!! lolzz. XP