A/N: I'm sincerely sorry about the two last weeks. I didn't update, but I had told you that I was in the middle of my examination session. And again, right after I finished my last exam, I fell sick. Even though I got 99.5% (Arrrrgh! So close to 100% and I couldn't even make it!), I guess I really overdid it… I'm still not completely cure (but certainly much better than the night I got massively attacked by the bronchitis bacteria), but I will try to work a little bit. Here for you the next chapter.
I thank you for all the replies I got from the inquiry in the last chapter. I'm relieved to know that there are people who still like this story as it is. I don't want to disappoint you, so I will continue to work harder for this story until its ending.
And again, I'm sorry again for not updating two weeks ago…
Ryoma, clothed in a plain white dress, walked in front of her. The place was was pitch black. There wasn't anything around. Only her.
"Ryoma… Ryoma…" an echoing voice called her.
"Huh?" Ryoma turned her head around, searching for the provenance of the voice.
"Ryoma… Ryoma…"
"It's you again. Who are you? What do you want from me?" Ryoma asked, frantically searching around.
"Ryoma… Find me… Find me now… Find me… Hurry up! Find me…" the voice said again.
"Where? Where are you? And more importantly, who are you?"
"Find me… Find me now… Hurry…"
Ryoma opened her eyes and sat on her bed, still very tired.
'It's that dream again,' she thought, yawning. 'Why it is always that same dream? What for?'
"Meow!" Karupin, who was next to her pillow, greeted her. Ryoma smiled.
"Good morning to you too, Karupin!" Ryoma said, scratching his behind his left ear. It was a routine to treat her beloved cat with a pet on his favorite scratching spot every morning.
"Prrrrrrrrrrrr…" Karupin purred, butting his head against Ryoma's wonderful fingers.
'But I still wonder who was that person in my dream? And what does he/she mean by I have to find him/her?'
Ryoma yawned as she entered the gate of the school. Around her, all the boys and girls were excited. The girls, because they are planning to go shopping after school for something special tomorrow. They were all waku waku (1). Tomorrow, they would confess their love to a special person. The boys, because tomorrow they would receive something from a girl they liked - they hoped so. Tomorrow would be Valentine's Day. But the joyful and happy mood didn't reach Ryoma's brain under her thick skull. She found the atmosphere annoying.
'What are you so excited about? It's barely morning! You are so loud!'
"Echizen-chan!" Shizumi Hanako called her. Ryoma turned her head to see her classmate running to her. Mio and Reiko were with her too.
"Hum, what is it?" Ryoma asked.
"Nee, Echizen-chan, after school, we are going shopping downtown. Why don't you come with us?" Reiko asked.
"Huh? Shopping? Why?" Ryoma asked. The three girls giggled.
"It's obvious, no? It's for tomorrow!" Mio proclaimed.
"Huh?" Questions marked popped around Ryoma's head. "What about tomorrow?"
". . ." The three girls looked silently at Ryoma.
"Echizen-chan, do you know what is tomorrow date?" Reiko asked.
"Tomorrow?" Ryoma frowned. "Well tomorrow is…?" A chance there are people to remind her of tomorrow special date.
"Echizeeeeeeeeeen!/Ochibiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Kirihara and Kikumaru shouted as they came running to her.
Hop! They jumped and landed on her.
"GAW!" Ryoma fell flat on the ground, two people sat on her back.
"Echizen-chan!" Reiko exclaimed while Mio and Hanako giggled.
"Sorry girls! We want to talk with her a little bit!" Kirihara said.
"Can you lend us Ochibi-chan for a moment please?" Kikumaru added.
"Huhuhuhu!" Hanako giggled. "Of course! Well then, Echizen-chan, we will see you in class later!"
"Ah! Wait! Don't let me alone behind with them!" Ryoma called to be rescued.
"Hahahaha!" the girls only giggled again, highly amused, then left. Since Ryoma was busy with her senpai-tachi, it was better to let her be alone with them.
"Argh!" Ryoma growled. "What do you want from me?" Ryoma snapped at the two people who were still on her back.
"Ehizen/Ochibi! Tomorrow, give us some!" Kirihara and Kikumaru sing-sang on the top of their lunges. All the people around stopped to look at the weird scene: a freshman girl being crushed by two senpais in the middle of the school and right in the morning. Apparently, the two boys on her back weren't aware that crushing a girl underneath them wasn't a normal form of greeting.
"Huh? Give what? AND GET OFF OF MY BACK WOULD YOU!" However, the two heavy aloofs on the top of her didn't move away.
"You are going to give me some tomorrow, right?" Kirihara charged again excitedly.
"Me too! Me too! I want some!" Kikumaru added.
"Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggh!" Ryoma only grunted, desperately trying to stand up again. She pushed on her arms, praying kami-sama that the two boys would understand that she wanted them to move down from her. But alas, their skulls were thicker than hers.
Tap tap tap! Three other people came running to them.
Jump! Jump! Jump!
Crash! Crash! Crash! And three more people piled up on Ryoma's back!
"GAWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
"Echizen! We want some too!" Marui, Niou and Ootori sing-sang.
"Senpai-tachi, not you too? What do you want from me?" Ryoma realized that she won't be able to get away from them if she didn't accept to give them what they wanted. But there was a problem. She didn't know what they wanted from her.
"Hahhh?/Hanyaaaaaaaaah!" all the five boys shouted, horrified. The girl didn't understand what they wanted from her.
"But before everything, can you get off of me P-L-E-A-S-E?" Ryoma very politely (and sarcastically) asked, her eyebrow ticking.
"Uso! She doesn't know what's tomorrow date!" Marui said, ignoring her request.
Twitch!
"Echizen, are you really a girl? I'm really starting to think that you're not one now! How can a girl not know about tomorrow date?" Niou said. He too didn't get off of her back.
Twitch!
"But that's impossible! All the girls know about tomorrow date!" Ootori said. He too stayed were he was on her back.
Twitch!
"But then again, she never thinks and acts like a girl!" Kirihara said, now sat, on her back, with his legs and arms crossed.
Twitch! Twitch!
"But then, how are we going to have her give us some nyah?" Kikumaru wondered, scratching his head.
Twitch! Twitch! Twitch!
Pop!
Ryoma's eye brow must be aching terribly by now for ticking too much. She didn't remember that her mother telling her that she was born to be a living carpet for aloof boys when they felt the desire to discuss about the art of how to be a girl.
"You won't get anything from her if you stay where you are," Yagyuu said, appearing next to the group. Some of the others regulars were there too, watching the strange scene before them, amused.
"What do you mean, Yagyuu, staying where we are?" Niou asked. Yagyuu looked sternly at him.
'So he didn't understand,' Yagyuu thought.
"Huhuhuhu! Why don't you get off of her first?" Yukimura nicely said, smiling.
"Huh?" The four boys looked down at their discussion carpet-cushion.
"Ahhh! Echizen, what are you doing here? Lying on the ground?" Kirihara asked.
POP!
A huge red vein popped on her head.
'Grrrrrrrr! Seriously, those guys are so d-. . .' Ryoma didn't have time to finish her thought because Yukimura hurried to help her (and rescued the boys from her coming wrath).
"Hora hora! Get off of her now!" Yukimura said, pushing the five boys away while Fuji crouched down in front of Ryoma.
"Here, let me help you, Ryoma-chan," Fuji said as he gave her his hand to help her up, which she happily accepted.
"Arigatou, senpai," Ryoma said, sighing and rubbing her back and dusting her clothes. Yukimura and Fuji chuckled. Tezuka and Sanada sighed hopelessly. "So, what's about tomorrow and what do you want from me?" Ryoma asked.
"Echizen-chan, tomorrow is Valentine's Day," Ooishi explained.
"So you're giving me chocolate tomorrow, right?" Kirihara excitedly charged again.
"Heh? Why would I do that?" Ryoma replied back, deadpanned.
"Echizen!/Ochibi!" Kirihara, Marui, Niou, Ootori and Kikumaru wailed.
"Tomorrow will be Valentine and we want your chocolate! So you give us chocolate tomorrow nyah!" Kikumaru stated.
"Hmph! Hmph!" Kirihara, Marui, Niou and Ootori vividly agreed.
"Hah?" Ryoma made a funny face.
"Buchou, tell her to give us chocolate!" Kirihara complained to Yukimura.
"Huh? Errr…" Yukimura sweat dropped, his hands up in defense mode.
"Buchou, you said that girls make chocolate for boys on Valentine's Day. She's a girl - thought sometime it's hard to believe (Ryoma twitched her eye), - and tomorrow it's Valentine! So she must give us chocolate, right?" Kirihara continued.
"It's true I said that. But it's only when a girl lik-…!"
"So she will give us chocolate tomorrow!" Niou cut Yukimura.
"Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!" Kirihara, Marui, Ootori and Kikumaru cheered.
"What? Hey, don't decide things on your own!" Ryoma protested, but they didn't listen to her.
"Oh! Yukimura, you want some too? Her chocolate?" Marui said.
"Heh…?" Yukimura tried to say something.
"Maa, it's not a bad idea, receiving chocolate from Echizen-chan," Oshitari said. "How about you, Tezuka, Sanada?"
"Errr…"
"So you want her chocolate too, fukubuchou, Tezuka-senpai!" Kirihara already concluded, cutting Tezuka and Sanada.
"You heard that, Ooishi! Ochibi-chan is going to give us chocolate tomorrow!"
"Huh!" Ooishi jumped.
"Fujiko, you want chocolate too?" Kikumaru chained next.
"Euh…" Fuji started.
"Then Ochibi-chan, don't forget Fujiko's chocolate too, nyah!" Kikumaru cut him. "Oh! Don't forget Yuuta's part too, Ochibi-chan!"
"Hah?" Ryoma understood less and less what was happenin around. What was getting in their mind?
"Hey! Then I want some too!" Momoshiro jumped in.
"Chocolate? I never thought about using that ingredient in my juice before," Inui reflected. "I should give a try. What do you think about it, Renji?"
"It's not a bad idea," Yanagi said. He turned to Ryoma. "Echizen, bring us some chocolate tomorrow please."
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhh?" Ryoma yelped. Even Inui and Yanagi too! The end of the world must be coming ahead of its schedule.
"Me too, Echizen-chan!" Jirou added, smiling. "I want some too!"
"Jirou-senpai, you too?" Ryoma exclaimed. "And how come you're awake now? We are not playing tennis!" Jirou only smiled.
"Don't forget us too, Echizen-chan!" Gakuto said, mentioning him and Shishido.
"Make sure they suit Ore-sama's taste!" Atobe said. "Okay, let's go now! Class will start soon."
"Hai!" the boys responded and walked away. Ryoma was left behind with Oshitari and Yagyuu only. She had a funny face, her mouth twitching.
"H-how did this end up like this?" Ryoma asked to no one. They didn't let her a chance to say what she thought about giving chocolate or not - most probably not. "Senpai-tachi, what would happen to me if I don't give them chocolate tomorrow?" Ryoma asked.
"They will make sure to remind you about it this every single day until next year's Valentine's Day," Oshitari said. Ryoma became blue.
"But most of you will graduate, so you won't be in school anymore. So they can't…" Ryoma said.
"Echizen-chan, must I remind you? They know where you live and they know your phone number," Oshitari cut her.
". . ." Ryoma transformed into a rock.
"And even if you move away and change your phone number, they can track you down and will do anything to get their hands on what they want. They can also hunt you down even in the deepest of your nightmare," Oshitari said. "Trust me. I know what I mean." Ryoma gulped. "A good advise, Echizen-chan, do these chocolates. It's for your own good and to save your sanity," Oshitari said. "Ganbatte ne." And he left too. A lonely wind flew pass Ryoma and Yagyuu.
"But I don't know how to make chocolate…" Ryoma said. "Ha…" she sighed heavily. Head down, she entered the school too. Alone, Yagyuu pulled out his cellphone and flipped it open.
"Moshi moshi," Ryoga answered.
"Ryoga, it's me," Yagyuu said.
"Hum? Hiroshi? What is it? Hmn… Hmn… Hmn… Huh? WHAT? Pffffffffft! No way! She? Valentine? Chocolate? Seriously? Hahahahaha! It's really true? Hihihihihi! Wuhahahahaha! Hmn…! Hmn…! Hmn…! Okay… Okay… Okay… Got it! Thanks for telling me! Huhuhuhuhu! See ya!" Ryoga cut and dialed another number while snickering. "Hihihihihi!"
"Moshi moshi?" Rinko answered her cellphone.
"Hihihihi! Kaa-san, it's me. Hihihihi!" Ryoga said. "It's about Chibisuke! Hahahaha!" He explained to Rinko what Yagyuu told him. When he finished, Rinko laughed.
"Huhuhuhuhu! Alright. I will do some shopping before going home," Rinko said.
Back home.
"Tadaima… Ha…!" Ryoma sighed heavily as she entered her house.
"Pfffffffffffft! Hmhmhmhm! …'Kaeri… Hihihihihi! …Chibisuke! Wuahahahahahaha!" Ryoga snickered. Ryoma looked suspiciously at him. Why did he look to have so much fun?
"Ha…" she sighed. But right now, she didn't want to know the reason. For now, she had a bigger problem on her back (problems always pilled up on her back fast). She must hurry to find chocolate for over twenty people tomorrow if she want to keep her sanity sane until next year. After school, Ryoma went with some of her class mates girls to the mall to buy chocolate. But soon, Ryoma gave up the idea of buying chocolate. It was beyond the content of her allowance. Her class mates offered to help her, but Ryoma refused. One solution remained was her mother. Surely her mother must know something about making Valentine chocolate, so she went home to see her mother. But first, she would go and changed into more comfortable clothes. When she came down again, she hear her mother's voice in the kitchen. She went straight there. She would need her mother's help again.
"Kaa-san, I need your help, please!" Ryoma said as she entered the kitchen. "Ha…" she let out a big sigh of exhaustion.
"Huhuhuhuhu!" Rinko and Nanako chuckled while Ryoga snickered. They already knew for what reason Ryoma was asking for help.
