AN: Muahaha, I should have Van realize his feelings 100% next chapter or the one after that ^_^ Make sure you check out my story Razzle Dazzle and my chapter 5 of Nobody Said It Was Easy! ^_^ Remember people! This is a V/H fic! Just thought I'd remind you ^_^

Azure: Muahaha, thanko! *bows* Keep writing Dreams and Whims of Fate woman! XD
The Masters Sisters: Hehe, lucky you have a Van teddy! And Aurelia is going to be nice, again, unfortunately. -_-;; But don't worry, in near chapters she gets to be hysterical stupid Aurelia again! XD
Gold Dragon Of Egypt: Haha! Thank you! *blushes* I'm not much of an Allen lover either ^^;; This is why this is a V/H fic ^_^ Hehe
Starzie Chick: Love that story! *_* Muahaha, and the fluff. Stupid Allen, you'll never have a chance! XD Thanks, I didn't know I could develop characters ^^;;
Darkie-himme: Haha, sorry, but he gets to be cooler in later chapters ^_^
Niffer: Haha, thank you! Here's your update ^_^
jess131346: Muahaha, but then it wouldn't be half as fun ^_~ *grins* Update your stories woman! ^_^
sakura: Haha, yay! He's supposed to be dorky ^_^ Thank you for the review! *grins*
hitomi21: haha, thank you! Thanks for the review! ^_^
Magicman/Smokegirl: Muahaha, yes he is *grins* I'm CONSIDERING bringing Dilly in to torture Allen... But I don't know, it depends, after all, I'm winging this story ^^;; Shh! Don't tell anyone! ^_^
fireangel: Hehe, well when you're in love you go insane ^_^ But we all know that Hitomi will love Van! YAY! We just have to make the old bloke realize his feelings first ^_~
Candyfloss: Haha, I'm considering putting him in to torture Allen, it all depends on how the chapters work out ^^;; Thanks for the review! ^_^
Al: Haha, it's a bit OOC right now, but as the fic goes on, Allen will be all suave, and Van (after he realizes his feelings) will be broody and alone *sniffs* Hehe, and yup, I don't want Van to realize his feelings JUST yet ^_^
Esca-lover: Haha, that thought crossed my mind too ^^;; *nervous grin* Had to be careful with that paragraph ^_~ I actually think that's a good idea, the shopping, I think when Van is closer to realizing his feelings I'll do that ^_^
Dariel: Hehehe, Maddie is just a friend! *notices Dariel still glaring* Um.... *quietly warns for Maddie to run like hell* Hehe... I mean heck! Heck! ^_^; Hehe, I like the singing too! And yupyup, Merle will be there when Van needs her!
MaboroshiTsuki: *stares, gaping, at review* Well that's nice and long o_O;; *in a fun in a bun fabbity fab fab good way of course! ^_^* Hehe, the hedge was just more random typing! ^^;; Hehe, Allen IS a pansy *smirkes* Update, woman! XD
Paige Moonsword: JEALOUS?? Of WHAT? *stares in disbelief* ANYWHOO, hehe thanks for the review! ^__^ Love fluff and insanity! ^_^ Update now woman, or I'll whack you with my hockey stick! XD
Fushizen Na: Hehehe, thanko! I'd sing with him too! ^___^ Muahaha, oh no! You know my plans? *must think of way to throw fushizen na off!* XD XD XD
van lover: hhaha, no offense at all; i'm not much of an Allen fan either ^^;; Thanks for the review!
Naria: Thank you! ^_^ Thanks for the review! *bows*
Ruby: Haha, it's definitely a V/H fic, I'm not a big Allen fan ^^;; All my fics will be V/H XD
Sailor Centauri: Yes, he's that pathetic XD Thank you for the review! ^______^
aoao: Update Autumn in my Heart woman! XD Thank you, the Allen idea just seemed so "natural" *smirks at Allen* Hehe... Van's not really a playboy, just girls love him, so everyone thinks that ^^;; Thanks for the review! ^_____^
Ash Night: *blushes* Thank you! ^_^ Glad you like the tomato bit ^_^ And is your pen name from that book... Er.... forget the title ^^;; But there was Ash Night in it, that author's pen name, although her real name was Jessica something rather... Er, or I could be psycho ^^;;
Sailor Hope: Yes, this is a Van/Hitomi fic! OF COURSE! Cannot stand Allen o_O;;; And update your stories woman! *eyes shine* hehe... Why would I EVER let Allen touch Hitomi? Oh wait... I am... But in the end Van gets her! XD Course!
Fire Fly: Thank you! *grins* Haha, good old Van, chucking Allen's notebook! ^_^ I promise that Van and Hitomi will end up together! *nods* Singing is fun in a bun to chuck in ^_^
Rheia: Haha *feels special* Thank you so much! ^____________^ Here's your update! And thank you for the review! ^_^
SabineballZ: Haha, later though, Allen will be all suave and cool, and Van will become broody, when he realizes his feelings for 'tomi ^_^ Thank you for the review! *bows* ^_^
vanluva!: Haha, don't worry, this is a V/H fic! Allen must die! XD *hides from Allen fans* Haha ^^;;;;;;
Aeka-himme: Hehe, Van IS a sexy beast ^_~ And I'd glad trade talent! But I must warn you, no exchanges ^_~ *does not have any talent, is planning to rip aeka off* Muahah! *chokes and falls out of chair* o_O;; Haha, update woman! ^_^
Callisto Nicol: Hehe, Van's a bit insane in this fic! ^^;; Haha, Allen should be fufilling his ladies man status in the near future ^_~ Allen lover, are we? Oh well! More Van for me! And maybe Allen does have one of those smiles, Wait and see hehe
Rai Dorian: That would be so good if I actually did! *_* And Allen IS a hopeless case *cackles* Thanks for the review! And update soon! No... NOW! XD
PerfectSoldier09: Updating soon! Well... Not that soon... *looks at last update* Boy, it HAS been a while o_O;; ANYWHOO ^^;; Thanks for the review! ^_^
Dahee Fanel: Haha, an update for "Nobody" is coming up! Half of that chapter done! ^_^ And patience grasshopper! XD V/H will come together soon enough ^_^ And *hides from Dahee's glare* I have to torture Van a bit ^^;; AIEE! Hehe
Celidh of Unicorn's Forest: Haha, love hyper Van too! ^_^ And Allen the nerd ^_^ This is a V/H for SURE! *refuses to write anything except for V/H Hehehehe* And Dilandau might come, to torture Allen ^_~ It all depends... ^_^
Mei-Mei: haha! Yupyup, I thought it might be interesting... But Van isn't a player! Just popular among the ladies... ^_^ Thank you for the review! ^_^
van lover: Haha, I don't like Allen either! ^^;; Thanks for the review!
The Reader Is Now Blind: rofl! My goodness! Hahahaha!! *runs after Van* You're not going anywhere! *glomps him* ^_____^ Update your stories woman! XD And thank you for the review! *is literally grinning* Hehehe... XD XD XD XD


"VAN!" Hitomi screeched excitedly into Van's ear as they walked together into first period.
"Ow! What?" Van replied with a mock scowl, his reddish brown eyes softening discreetly at her rosy expression. Someone was certainly happy about something.
"Look at Allen!" she whispered excitedly, clinging to her best friend's arm in sheer joy, "He's such a babe!"
"Oh yes, he's a fox alright," Van replied sarcastically, as Allen buried his contact lens clad eyes in a text book, isolated from the other students. But the transformation was definite. Allen was changed.
"Shut up," Hitomi grinned, nudging him slightly, as she continued to eye Allen like a piece of meat. "What happened to him? He went from gorgeous to drop dead gorgeous!" she squealed, cutting the circulation on Van's arm off.
"Who knows?" Van shrugged innocently, and he grimaced slightly at the pink hearts beginning to float around Hitomi's head, her jaw hanging open. If you squinted you could make out the drool beginning to collect in her mouth, any second now, and it would drip out.

***

"Where do you think you're going, Schezar," Van demanded as his brown eyes noticed the blonde's headed direction. Leaning lazily against his locker door, he waited for Allen's response.

"I plan to request--" Allen began when Van raised his eyebrow at him. "Um, I mean, I'm going to ask Hitomi out," he hastily corrected, smiling nervously at his new found mentor.

"Really?" Van nodded with a cheerful smile.

"Really," Allen replied, beamingly.

"NO!" Van bellowed, and Allen took a docile step backwards slightly from the boy's outburst.

"Why not?" Allen asked, bewildered, "Was her reaction to the new me in class this morning bad?".

Van snorted to himself.

Oh it was just horrible.

"Start off as friends," advised Van, ignoring Allen's question, "Your relationship will be stronger. That is, if you want to be serious with her. If you intend to just have her as a fling..."

Van shot Allen a glare, his fist clenching warningly, and Allen caught his drift.

"I really do intend to be serious with her. Good idea with the friends thing, thanks," he smiled sincerely, his voice wavering nervously slightly at the end, and he continued his path to Hitomi. Van noted the new blue pack pack slung over his shoulder easily.

"Yeah, whatever," Van muttered sullenly when the boy left.

...Why did he feel so disappointed?

***

"Van," Hitomi cried out in the hallway, her golden brown hair shimmering even in the poor lighting of the school.

"Oh, hey," Van greeted with a lop sided smile, shifting the weight of his gray, red, and white back pack on his shoulders slightly.

"Are you busy tonight?" she asked, her green eyes shining, her cheeks flushed from running to him.

"No, why," Van asked, spinning in his locker combination nonchalantly.

"Allen suggested that we all go hang out sometime," Hitomi exclaimed excitedly, "Do you think he'll ask me out?" she added while nibbling on her cherry lip gloss covered lip.

"Probably," Van winked encouragingly, and Hitomi smiled broadly.

"I'm so excited," Hitomi screamed as she leaped up and threw her arms around Van's neck. Nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck, Hitomi couldn't see Van's face turn tomato red.

What the hell is wrong with you, Fanel? You've slept at her freaking house, and she's done this a million times to you!

...Hell, she's even kissed you on the cheek!

So why do I feel so queasy?

***

"Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got, I'm still, I'm still Vanny from the block, used to have a little now I have a lot, no matter where I go I know where I come from," Van squawked as he and Hitomi walked to the park where they planned to meet Allen.

"No..." Hitomi groaned jokingly as Van began strutting, several girls near by checking him out shamelessly. Van, however, only concentrated on ahead or on Hitomi, and paid no attention to them.

"Excited?" he asked casually, slumping back to his usual stride, and Hitomi nervously wrung her hands.

"Nervous, more like," she admitted, and Van nodded.

"Well, you're only going as friends for now so just relax," he assured her with his infamous lop sided grin.

"Thanks," she smiled and the two met Allen who was leaning against a tree casually, wearing a cobalt blue shirt, beat up jeans and a leather jacket.

Since when did he lean casually? And since when DID HE GET LEATHER? Van thought, huffing at Allen's disturbingly cool gaze. What do you think you are, a popsicle?

***

"Really? That's amazing," Hitomi gushed as she and Allen were engrossed in conversation, Van grudgingly trudging behind them, hands in pockets, totally ignored. Gazing at his watch, he groaned as he noticed it had only been half an hour.

"So, that dog is belly dancing," Van said loudly, but neither of them turned around. A sweat drop appeared over Van's head as his posture fell slightly, and he continued to drag his feet along. This is torture... If I hear either of them squeal one more time I'm going to shoot Allen. If dating Allen will turn Hitomi into a squealing moron I'm going to have to hurt him.

"Van!" came a female voice, and Van looked up, his eyes searching for the source of a possible companion. A girl with brown hair, electric blue eyes, black sweatpants and a red baseball jersey came bounding over to him.

"Oh hey, Madeline, is it?" he smiled at his seat neighbor, the one who had given him her number, as she took her place beside him, walking with him.

"Call me Maddie," she grinned, and her electric blue eyes surveyed Hitomi and Allen up ahead. "You stalking them or something?" she teased, laughing slightly.

"We're all supposedly hanging out," Van grumbled, his hands shoved into the pockets of his navy blue bomber jacket.

"Oh," Maddie frowned, "They're not being very nice, leaving you out like this," she commented, gesturing at Hitomi and Allen who hadn't looked back at Van since the beginning of the meeting.

"Oh well," Van sighed, not really caring, as Maddie continued strolling beside him.

"I'll keep you company," she offered in a friendly nature, and Van smiled gratefully.

"Thanks," he accepted, and the two became to chat about only the gods would know. They sure talked quickly though, topics flew by faster then Hitomi on the track. Soon they had started a bet, and they would have to hold their breath until their person, (Allen for Maddie, and Hitomi for Van) squealed. So far they both hadn't had to hold their breath for more then 30 seconds.

"Ooh, look pretzel stand," Maddie commented lazily as the two spotted one, "Wanna go?"

***

"And so I-- Hey, Van, where'd you get the pretzel?" Hitomi asked curiously, noticing Van inhaling several large, warm pretzels. Looking around, there were no pretzel stands in sight.

"Maddie and I stopped off there and we waited on the bench for you to walk around the park back to the stand," Van explained, motioning with his hand how the the path looped straight back to the pretzel stand, then at a figure with a red shirt slowly getting tinier and tinier in the distance.

"Oh," Allen smiled, and the two kept talking. Van huffed.

Those two didn't cotton on easily.

***

"Please Van!??!" Hitomi pleaded, her green eyes shining.

"Come on, you don't need me there, you and Allen can go out together alone," Van insisted, and Hitomi tugged on Van's arm as they walked home together.

"I really want you there," she whimpered, giving her his puppy dog look.

"Cheap bastard, that's cheating," he grinned, and Hitomi smirked devilishly.

"Is that a yes?" she cried happily.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up now," he laughed, and she gave him a big hug.

***

"Hanging out again?" came the familiar female voice. Van turned around and smiled at Maddie as she was just clicking her cell phone shut.

"Yeah," he shrugged, "Are you stalking me?" he grinned jokingly.

"Yes," she smirked, sticking out her tongue at him, "Actually, I just come here to the park to think a lot," she admitted.

"Oh," Van replied, and Maddie slid her hands into the pockets of her jean jacket.

"Why doesn't he just ask her out so you don't have to tag along?" she asked curiously, as Hitomi laughed at something Allen said.

"Who knows," Van muttered, his gaze on the sidewalk when suddenly, as if on cue, he crashed into Hitomi who had abruptly stopped, and fell down. "What the hell?" he grumbled as he looked up. Hitomi's eyes were wide and green and for a moment she was rigid.

Allen was looking at Hitomi rather nervously, and Van looked up at the couple, bewildered. ...Freaking hell?

"...I really don't think... I mean... It's not...," she stuttered, then with an erratic motion pointed somewhere vaguely in the distance, she sprinted away.

"What just happened?" Maddie asked as Allen's brow frowned in confusion and hurt.

"I asked Hitomi out... I thought she liked me, and... Well...." he trailed off, nibbling on his lip.

"She does like you," Van assured. He knew all too well. That five hour phone conversation on how Allen was perfect was enough to know that Hitomi was madly in love with Allen.

"You sure?" Allen asked, his cool act dying rather quickly, like boiling water being poured on an ice cube.

"Yeah, I'm a girl, it's really obvious," Maddie chipped in, nodding at Van.

"What should I do then?" Allen asked, staring at his shoes, his face coloring pink slightly.

***

"Hitomi," Van whispered as he crept into Hitomi's room, she being buried underneath a pile of blankets and pillows. "....Are you sleeping?" he continued, leaning close by her ear, a golden halo above his head. Turning over, Hitomi sighed, her face clearly distressed, the regret on her features all too clear.

"I was," she muttered, "Van, look, I really want to be alone," she pleaded softly, a sigh rising in her throat.

"I know, I do too," Van grinned obnoxiously as he pushed aside Hitomi's covers and bounded in bed beside her. "Now, when I'M confused and sad I like to sing a song," he said, oblivious to Hitomi.

"No..." Hitomi groaned as she buried her face into her pillow. Clearing his throat with a big fat smile, Van began his song, which sounded oddly familiar.

Evita, or some other tragic musical.

"The choice was mine, and mine completely. I could have any prize that I desired... I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire....Or else, or else I could choose time," Van squawked melodramatically, and tears began to well up in Hitomi's eyes.

The choice was mine? Allen...

"The choice was yours and no one else's. You can cry for a body in despair, hang your head because she is no longer there, to shine, to dazzle, or betray. How she lived, how she shone, but how soon the lights were gone," he continued moronically, and pretty soon Hitomi's lip began to tremble.

Hang my head is right. I'm such a jerk. Why did I say no? Allen probably hates me now.

"...It's no less than she deserved," Van finished with a flourish, and Hitomi began to bawl uncontrollably. "Hitomi! What's wrong?" Van exclaimed, shaking her slightly by the shoulders.

I don't deserve Allen!

"I...I...." she sobbed, and Van looked at her, concerned.

"Was it my song that made you cry?" he asked, alarmed, catching her chin in his thumb and index finger.

"Yes," Hitomi nodded as tears flowed down her face.

"I can't believe it!" Van grinned as he bounded up, "I've finally moved someone so much that they cried!" he cheered merrily as he bounded out of Hitomi's bed and threw some clothes scattered on her carpet in the air. Hitomi stopped crying momentarily and stared at him disbelievingly.

***

"Cry again! Cry! Cry! CRY!!" came Van's demanding voice as Hitomi's mother allowed Merle in, followed by Hitomi wailing something along the lines of no.

"Van, what the hell are you doing?" Merle yelled as she raced up the stairs.

"I finally moved someone with my music," Van beamed proudly, and Hitomi poked her head out of her covers.

"Make him stop," she pleaded desperately, "He's like the Olsen twins on repeat".

"I finally moved someone so much they cried!" Van cried, bopping Hitomi rapidly with a clothes hanger in his hand, "It's--"

"Ow."

"A--"

"Ow."

"Miracle!" he finished proudly.

"Ow."

"Really? That's great, Van!" Merle smiled cheerfully, "Come here!" she added with a grin, her arms wide open for a hug.

"Yay!" Van grinned, ecstatic at his "achievement". As he ran towards Merle who was by the open doorway, she stepped out of the way and pushed him into the wall of the hall way and locked the door shut as the satisfying thud of Van and the wall echoed throughout the house.

"Sorry," she apologized for her brother, "Mom told me to pick him up for our family reunion". Hitomi merely buried herself deeper into her covers. "What's wrong?" asked Merle, cocking her head slightly, her pink hair falling over her shoulder in curls.

"Allen asked me out and I'm madly in love and I turned him down," she mumbled, her eyes red from tears. "I'm such an idiot".

"That's why you're sad?" Merle laughed, and after seeing Hitomi sink further into her covers she clamped her mouth shut. "I'm not laughing AT you, Hitomi!" Merle continued, a nervous smile on her face as Hitomi buried her face into her pillow, "I just meant that you can just say you were having a bad day and say that you'd love to go out with him!"

"But what if he changes his mind?" she asked meekly, her hair in disarray.

"He won't," Merle assured soothingly.

As Merle gently shut the door behind her, and Van hollering goodbye, Hitomi couldn't help but let a small smile slip on her face. Van had cheered her up, in his own imbecile like way. For that she was grateful.

AN: Please review! ^_^ And don't worry, Van wasn't being a jerk, he knows that was what 'tomi needed ^_^ And Merle helped too... *grins* So anyways, review review review! *dances around, falls down* Ow. x_X