Chiharu's Birthday Mayhem
By: pnaixrose
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or the characters.
Monday, May 24…8 DAYS LEFT
Chiharu sighed as she ate a quiet lunch outside the high school under the shade of a tree. She looked up to the sky, covered up by the tree's leaves and closed her eyes as a swift breeze caught her hair. She loved this place. It was usually isolated, but it was sweet and simple. This was where she and her friends met for lunch every single day, and sometimes that would be the only time she'd see them. But it was okay. Seeing her friends at least once throughout the day was fine with her. Usually, she wasn't the first one to arrive to their meeting place but today she was. Her other friends were probably running late from their last classes.
Right on cue, she heard voices of several voices and the rustling of the grass under people's feet. She smiled as she saw six people make their way towards her: Sakura, Syaoran, Eriol, Tomoyo, Rika, and Naoko.
"Ah! Chiharu-chan! You're the early one today!" Rika said smiling, taking her regular seat.
Chiharu smiled and nodded. "We finished our class kinda early so I came here."
The group sat down around her, taking their usual spots. They each took out their lunches, but an emerald eyed girl took out two. Handing one to Syaoran who sat next to her, Sakura smiled sweetly as he blushed ever so innocently. "Here, Syaoran-kun. I made your lunch today."
"A-Arigatou…" he mumbled, smiling a bit. As he opened it he found all his favorite food and he happily grabbed some with his chopsticks.
Eriol smirked as Tomoyo gave him a lunch too. "Ne, Syaoran, you still blush whenever she's around you? You'll never grow up…" He laughed as he opened his lunch. His azure eyes twinkled in delight behind his glasses when he found Tomoyo had packed his favorite food too.
Syaoran scowled at him, narrowing his deep amber eyes. "Shut up, four-eyes…"
"Now you guys…" Tomoyo said smiling, "don't start this again." They were all used to the usual bickering between Syaoran and Eriol, yet Tomoyo's ultimate goal in life was still to reconcile things between her boyfriend and Syaoran. She was that pacifist type. One who was so perfect in every way yet people still liked her. Unfortunately, her unsuccessful attempt only made it worse.
"Ah, don't worry, angel," Eriol flirted, "it's no use bickering with this immature fool. But at least I thank the one who cooked my lunch for me. Arigatou, angel," he said sweetly. Then with his gentleman-like manners, he kissed her on the cheek lightly. Tomoyo smiled at him but with a sigh and a shake of her head. She knew he was trying to irritate the easily taunted Syaoran.
Syaoran frowned and rolled his amber eyes. Then running his hand through his hair and sighing, he leaned over to Sakura and gave her a deep kiss right then and there on her small pink lips. He parted from her a little, whispering something that sounded like "Thanks Sakura…" and continued to kiss her for one more second.
They parted and Syaoran sent a conceited and triumphant look towards Eriol who rolled his eyes. "How was that, four-eyes? Bet you can't kiss like that. Man, I pity Daidouji…having to exchange saliva with a freakin pest…" Syaoran muttered. "Daidouji deserves so much better."
Tomoyo sweat dropped as she chewed on her food. "Umm…" Being the center of this particular argument wasn't too comfortable.
Eriol put a hand to his heart and faked a pout. "That hurt Syaoran. That hurt right here. But you know, at least I have the decency to at least kiss my angel on her cheek and not stifle her breath with a forceful kiss on the lips like yours. Really Syaoran, you could be a star on a soap opera one day with kisses as corny as that," he said with an evil glint in his eyes.
Syaoran stood up, making a fist. "Why you-"
Sakura sweat dropped and pulled him back down to sit. "Syaoran-kun," Sakura said sighing, "you and Eriol-kun have got to stop this competing. It's as if you guys are making your girlfriends your toys."
Eriol laughed heartily. "Ah, don't worry Sakura-san. It's just so fun to make fun of him. Besides, secretly he enjoys it too." He looked at Syaoran inquiringly. "Right?"
Syaoran rolled his eyes as usual and said his usual response. "Whatever…" But a noticeable small smile was on his lips, proving that Eriol was indeed telling the truth.
As for the rest of the group, they were watching and laughing at the whole scene in amusement, used to this sort of thing everyday. Chiharu loved it. She loved how Eriol and Syaoran always fought yet inside knew that they were really close friends. They all knew it, but Syaoran and Eriol just wouldn't admit it.
Even though they used to hang out like this too in grammar school, it seems things had changed. Chiharu noticed a lot of changes lately. She stared at Rika who was giggling about some joke Eriol had said. Sasaki Rika was as kind as before, but yet, she seemed to mature in both her looks and her attitude. She seemed more adult and it looked like she would be the perfect wife for someone someday, one who would be faithful and kind to her husband for all eternity.
Next Chiharu looked at Yanigasawa Naoko. She was still as kooky as ever, loving to read and write. She was the intellectual type ever since she was little. But now, her freckles had disappeared, and she too matured. She had already had a play and a book published and she was only in high school! Imagine being a professional writer and play writer as a teen! Also, although you wouldn't believe it even if you saw it, she had a huge crush on someone who was a junior at their school. It was still hard for Chiharu to believe it. Naoko had never been the one to openly tell someone, even if they were her best friends, that she liked someone. But now, she liked talking about the school newspaper editor so much that everyone else seemed to be accustomed to it already.
Hiiragazawa Eriol and Daidouji Tomoyo were the ones who hadn't changed much even when they started going out in middle school. Although both of them were normally calm, casual, and composed, they had their crazy sides too. Tomoyo had her love for video cameras and the hi-tech stuff while Eriol had his continuous jokes and cracks on Syaoran. They also loved to scheme. Oh boy, if you put them two together and they both think that a couple is cute, they'd start matchmaking without a second to waste. But they did change a teeny, tiny bit. Whenever you caught them alone, you'd see the emotional feelings deep in their content amethyst and azure eyes. Eriol, with his gentleman-like ways, almost always showed his love to Tomoyo even if it was the littlest things from playing with her long, beautiful hair to giving occasional, casual kisses on her cheek. And Tomoyo often returned her love by smiling her sweet smile only reserved for him and him only. They were in love…big time.
But Chiharu noticed two certain people who had changed the most. Kinomoto Sakura and Li Syaoran back then had been too shy and innocent to tell each other how they felt. But now, even though they still blush from time to time, it was clear to anyone that they were a couple. Just seeing how they looked at each other, their eyes so absorbed in the other's with a small, content smile on both of their lips. Sakura seemed more mature somehow. Her golden brown hair reached the middle of her back now and her emerald eyes seemed more experienced, not as innocent as before. She still was as dense as ever and still was late for every single meeting, but she seemed happier and even more energetic now even though she had always had been such a person. Li Syaoran was one who changed so drastically from the first time Chiharu ever laid eyes on him. Sure, he was a pretty good looking guy with his deep, penetrating amber eyes, ruffled brown hair, and an athletic build due to martial arts training, but when she first met him, he was as cold as ice could get. His eyes glared daggers at anyone who dared to mess with him, he frowned and never ever laughed or smiled, and his rude, arrogant manners weren't all that appealing either. But he had evolved so much since elementary school. His eyes were joyful, no longer scornful. They held amusement and happiness within its amber depths. He smiled more often now, although he still had a bit of his rough attitude. He was ever so caring for his friends – especially the cherry blossom named Sakura – and was glad to give any free advice to anyone who seemed to need it. It was as clear as day. Sakura and Syaoran had changed because of each other.
All these changes led Chiharu to think. Had she changed? And if she did, was it for better or for worse? Would she ever find the love and the happiness that Eriol and Tomoyo and Syaoran and Sakura have for their loved one? At this thought she turned red. She had someone she liked. She's liked him for such a long time, too. But he too had been changing and by the looks of it, he was changing for the better...in a lot of ways. First of all, who could ignore his irresistible, cutesy looks, those narrow eyes that always glimmered with delight, that ruffled but not too ruffled black hair, and his cute mouth that was always drawn into his childish grins? Who couldn't love the way his imagination always runs, finding every single bit of anything exciting and interesting? Chiharu loved everything about him, from his crooked smile to the annoying, weird stories of his. She caught herself with these thoughts and blushed an even brighter shade of red.
"Chiharu-chan?" Naoko said waving her hand in front of her friend's blank eyes. "Oy! Chiharu!"
Chiharu blinked and returned from her daydream. "Wh-What is it, Naoko?"
After a second, Naoko smirked. "That's so romantic!" she squealed.
At this everyone else smirked knowingly, all with evil glints in their eyes.
"Wh-What?"the confused Chiharu stuttered.
Eriol clicked his tongue. "Ah, an afternoon daydream about your one and only, Chiharu?"
"Wh-Why do you say that?"
"Because you're as red as a tomato!" Rika exclaimed pointing at her friend's flushed face.
Chiharu shook her head but Yamazaki's image still burned through her mind. As a result the blush didn't go away. "N-No I'm not!"
They laughed. "Aw, Chiharu-chan, shouldn't you tell him soon?" Tomoyo suggested.
"Yeah. You guys would be a perfect couple! 'A Childhood Romance'!" Sakura said with stars in her eyes.
Naoko's eyes glittered too. "AH! SAKURA-CHAN! THAT'S A PERFECT STORY! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'LL BASE A STORY ON CHIHARU AND YAMAZAKI!"she exclaimed excitedly.
"No! No don't!" Chiharu said frantically. She'd die of embarrassment if that ever happened.
Unknowing to her, Yamazaki's parents were already basing a book on their son and his best friend. Everyone already knew about it and all of them laughed at Chiharu's red face.
"I have an idea, Mihara," Syaoran said, "if you don't wanna directly tell Yamazaki how you feel, why don't you get him something really good for his birthday? Something that he'll certainly know how you feel just by looking at what you give him."
Chiharu blinked. "Birthday?"
Her six friends looked at her in confusion. "It's in eight days," they all said in unison.
Her brown eyes widened, "N-NANI? Oh jeez, I totally forgot!" She slapped her forehead. "What the heck am I gonna get him?"
Sakura tapped her friend's shoulder comfortingly. "C'mon Chiharu. You can think of something. You know him best. That means that only you can think of that extra special thing to give Yamazaki-kun."
Tomoyo nodded. "That's a good point. What did you get him in all those birthdays before?"
Chiharu thought for awhile. "Well last year I took him to the Space Observatory since he kept telling stories about aliens."
"Oh gosh…I remember that…" Rika recoiled.
"What?" Naoko said blinking. "I liked those stories."
Her friends groaned. Naoko was the only one out of all of them who simply loved listening to his stories.
"So what happened there?" Eriol asked Chiharu. "Had a romantic night looking into the stars and each other's eyes?" He smiled slyly, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Chiharu sweat dropped. "Uhh…" Actually nothing had turned out how she had planned. I thad been a complete disaster. "Actually we got thrown out even before we even got to the big telescope. Yamazaki had been telling some little kid about aliens and the kid ran to his mother because he was scared of them. Then security came and told us to leave if we were still gonna tell fibs that would scare kids."
Her friends sweat dropped. Syaoran sighed. "Sounds just like Yamazaki…"
"Well, I'm sure that the year before that was better," Rika said trying to encourage her friend.
Chiharu sweat dropped again, remembering the day two years before. "Well actually, we went to the lake for his birthday two years ago to go on a boat ride in the evening."
"So did it turn out good?" Tomoyo asked her.
But the girl shook her head sadly and sighed, almost in frustration. "Unfortunately no. It was going fine until Yamazaki started telling stories about there being a loch ness monster in Scotland and that it was really true. When I told him it wasn't, he was persistent in making me believe there really was a monster in Scotland. He stood up in the boat and showed me how it swam without making a sound and without letting anyone see it. Then…our boat capsized."
The teens all sweat dropped. "…Yamazaki is really…well…one of a kind…" Eriol said shaking his head.
Suddenly rustling was heard and from a bunch of bushes, out popped the head of Yamazaki, the last friend in their little group. "Why thank you Hiiragazawa!" he said plopping down beside Chiharu.
"Y-Yamazaki-kun! How long have you been there?" she asked, her face red. She'd be so embarrassed if he was there the whole time when she was talking about his past birthdays.
"Oh, don't worry. If you guys were talking about me behind me back, I was here just to hear Eriol's last comment on me. Whew, I'm starving." He took out his lunch and his chopsticks, his usual goofy grin on his face. "Sorry I didn't come earlier. My teacher asked me to stay back to review my book report. Heh! She says 'Now Yamazaki-san, I know you're one to say little stories, but this is unacceptable!' Oh well…she gave me a F."
His friends sweat dropped as he continued eating with a smile. Syaoran sighed. "I'm afraid to be the one to ask but…what the hell did you do?"
Yamazaki shrugged his shoulders. "I wrote a book report on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley…"
"And how did you ruin the story now?" Eriol asked.
"I didn't ruin it! I added more flavor…more pizzazz. It was too sad for me so I made the one who evil creator and the monster become friends and allies to defeat the aliens who were taking over the world," he replied casually.
His friends, except Naoko who was greatly interested in his new version of the story of Frankenstein, once again sweat dropped. This was Yamazaki for you…
Chiharu bopped him on the head. "Yamazaki-kun, you baka! You know that story back and front! You could've gotten a better grade!"
Yamazaki swallowed the food which was in his mouth and gave Chiharu a childish grin. "Aww! Wow Chiharu-chan. You really do know me! You actually remembered me replaying that whole story to you! Aww…Chiharu-chan cares!" he said causing Chiharu to turn red. He winked at her. "What I wouldn't do without my beloved Chiharu-chan looking out for me and my grades."
Chiharu's face was red as it could be. With a frown she bopped him on the head again.
"Itai…so violent. But that's how my Chiharu-chan tells me that she loves me, isn't it?" Yamazaki asked her with a fake pout. "Chiharu-sama wouldn't just hit me to make me shut up right?"
Chiharu frowned. "Oh shut up…" and she hit him once again on the head, her face as bright as an apple. All her friends secretly laughed at the scene.
"Yamazaki-kun, you're getting really flirty with Mihara these days aren't you?" Eriol said elbowing his friend with a sly smirk.
"Ah yes. Chiharu-chan's blushes are just too hard to resist!" Yamazaki said with a chuckle.
Chiharu frowned, still blushing, and slapped his head again, shaking her head. Why did he always have to do this? Why'd he have to get her heart's hopes so high when she knew he didn't like her back?
Suddenly, just then they heard three loud bell rings from the school's bell tower. They cleaned up their either unfinished or finished lunches.
"Hoeee…" Sakura said sweat dropping. "I'm gonna be late. My next class is all the way at the other side of the school! See you guys later!"
"I'll come with you," Naoko said. "I'm in the same class as you anyway."
They both half ran and half walked back towards the school waving goodbye. But of course, Sakura couldn't leave with out giving Syaoran a goodbye kiss on the cheek which caused his cheeks to flare. Then Rika, Eriol, Tomoyo, and Syaoran left talking about going to their own classes too. Yamazaki and Chiharu were left alone under the tree's protection from the sun.
"Aww man, I just got here and already the bell rang," Yamazaki said scratching the back of his head.
"Hurry up and finish your food then," Chiharu said standing up with her empty lunch in her hand. "Don't be late for class, okay?"
"Hai…hai..." he replied. But as Chiharu started walking away she heard him stand up quickly from the grassy ground. Suddenly his hand was gripping her wrist. Tingles went up her spine at his warmth and she shivered. "Ano…Chiharu-chan?" he said, his voice low.
She turned slowly and saw that his laughing, cheerful, dark eyes were replaced with gentle ones that took away her breath. "H-Hai?"
He stared at her silently for a minute, looking at her curious brown eyes with his own nervous ones. "Chiharu…I…uh…" he whispered as he tried to say what he want.
"Hai?" Chiharu asked again with a whisper. The grip on her wrist tightened a bit.
She saw him look at her with almost scared, nervous looking eyes. But he closed them as he sighed. The next thing she knew it, the gentle but scared eyes were gone, leaving his usual cheerful ones in their place. His grip slipped off of her wrist.
"Never mind, Chiharu. I'll tell you later okay? You'll be late for your class," he said, giving her a smile.
"Are you sure?"
He nodded. "Now go on before the teacher sends someone to look for you."
With one last look at the smiling boy, she returned a smile and began walking towards the school.
As she entered the building, she couldn't help but wonder why she was so nervous. Why had she been holding her breath? But she knew the reason. She tried to hide it from herself but she knew it was true. She was hoping…wishing…that the important thing Yamazaki had been trying to tell her a second ago would be his confession of love. But now she knew it was a stupid idea. He hadn't told her anything, not even a little itty bitty clue. Maybe she should just stop her hopeless daydreams about him. But what if he was just scared of rejection like she was? What if he really did want to tell her how he felt but didn't know how? She knew that that was what she felt. She knew she wouldn't be able to tell him in fear of him breaking her heart. She was scared of what he thought…and she knew it.
As she rounded the hallway's corner, almost reaching her class, she remembered. His birthday was in nine days. If she could get something really important and meaningful for his present, maybe…just maybe he'd finally realize that he did like her. Maybe then her daydreams of herself and Yamazaki being a couple and actually showing each other how they felt would come true…
As she entered her class and was rewarded a late slip from her teacher, she resolved on her new mission.
Find the perfect present for Yamazaki…
