Chiharu's Birthday Mayhem
By: pnaixrose

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. Don't sue.


Thursday, May 27...5 DAYS LEFT

The girl looked into her mirror sadly. She didn't look good at all. Her eyes were puffy, there were bags under her eyes, and her lips were pursed into a tight, seemingly perpetual frown. Chiharu sighed as she picked up a brush and began combing through her hair. She didn't think that it would come to a point where she would barely get enough sleep because of the very notion of Yamazaki with someone else. Was she jealous? Insanely jealous. But still, she didn't even know who he was dating. She sighed again. She never noticed just how much Yamazaki had meant to her.

"Well, time for another long day at school," she said grumpily as she picked up her school bag. She was already changed and set to go. But it was early, way early to be going to school. The only ones who would be there now were some teachers and the students who were assigned for morning duty, cleaning and getting the classroom ready. But there was just nothing to do here so she decided to go early and get the school day over with.

"I wonder if this'll go on forever," she said looking into the mirror again. Her hair was unusually down reaching past her shoulders, but she didn't care. In fact, she barely noticed.

She remembered the last time Yamazaki had come over for dinner. She had worn a red shirt that he had gotten her for Christmas and her hair wasn't in its usual pigtails.

"By the way, it looks good on you, with that hairstyle too. I don't see you wear your hair down too often."

Chiharu groaned and felt a pang shoot through her heart. "Apparently not good enough..." she mumbled as she began her way out of the room.


She slipped into her homeroom quietly and took her usual seat. It was an early day. Very early. She could hear the happy birds chirping outside, preparing their day ahead of them. "Even the birds are happier than me," Chiharu said as she rested her head on the table. Suddenly the door opened and in walked Syaoran and Eriol who stopped bickering when they spotted her. They were surprised to see someone – especially Chiharu who didn't really like being an early bird – in the class already.

"What are you guys doing here?" Chiharu said, her head still resting on her desk.

As Eriol and Syaoran placed their bags at their seats, Eriol turned to her. "We should be saying the same to you, Chiharu-san."

Syaoran nodded, his amber orbs piercing through her curiously. "Yeah. It's not even seven yet."

Chiharu shrugged dully. Even Syaoran's gaze didn't faze her today. "Eh. Had nothing better to do."

The two supposed 'enemies' looked at each other knowingly. But Chiharu keenly caught it. "What? Another secret?" she said bitterly. She was sick and tired of secrets. Why couldn't people just trust her? Was she some kind of gossiping secret queen or something? Was she just not trustworthy and reliable to keep a secret?

Eriol cleared his throat and shook his head. "No, no Chiharu-san. We're just plainly worried about you. You haven't been yourself."

Chiharu grunted sourly. She knew what he was doing. He was picking his words carefully. What he really meant was 'You're acting like a total bitch.' "You choose your words well, Erio-kunl. But you could just say it, you know. Just say I'm acting like a selfish, spoiled, little–"

Syaoran sighed loudly, interrupting her. "This is what he meant! Where's that happy Mihara that we all know! Where's that girl that shuts Yamazaki up whenever he tells his stories!"

At the instant that she heard his name she grew silent. She was acting stupid. But she couldn't help it. She was just so damn miserable.

Eriol's azure orbs looked at her knowingly. "Ah, so this is about him. It's about Yamazaki, isn't it, Chiharu-san."

It was more of a statement then a question. Chiharu growled and looked away, tears about to form in her eyes. "Sh-Shut up..."

"Stop it!" Syaoran suddenly shouted, causing Chiharu to almost jump. "Just stop! You and Yamazaki! You guys have been moping around and I'm sick of it! We're all sick of it! Look at yourself, Mihara! This isn't you!"

Chiharu's eyes widened. She knew he was right. But it just hurt so much. A tear left her eye as she bit her lip to try to hold in the others that were threatening to spill soon. But did Syaoran have to tell her so bluntly?

Eriol glared at him. "Syaoran..." he said warningly.

"No, I'm tired of this,' he said angrily. "Mihara, everyone's worried about you. Sakura even cried for you! She said 'I can't stand to see her like this.' Now if you or Yamazaki don't spill what's going on soon, I'm...I'm gonna have to do something drastic."

"That's enough, Syaoran," the teen with glasses said sternly, his deep voice stopping Syaoran's rampage.

Meanwhile the amber eyed boy sighed as he looked at the brown haired girl, running a hand through his dark brown locks. "I'm sorry, Mihara. B-But when Sakura cried yesterday..."

The girl nodded. She knew that of course Syaoran would get angry if he saw Sakura cry. The thing Chiharu was surprised about was that Sakura had cried. Chiharu had tried to hide it from them. Had she really been that obvious? Or did her friends know her that well? "I understand, Li-kun," she replied. "I-I should be apologizing."

"Chiharu-san, we know something's wrong with you. It's something to do with Yamazaki," Eriol said. "Now, we don't know what happened, but if you guys don't tell us we won't be able to help you."

Chiharu bit her lip. She couldn't say anything to them. What if they told Yamazaki? Besides, sobs were stuck in her throat. She couldn't speak even if she wanted to.

"You know, Yamazaki's miserable too. Quite possibly even more miserable than you are now," Syaoran added.

Hereyes widened. Why in the world would he be miserable?

"He's been worrying so much lately that he even stopped his stories. He said that he might've said something wrong to upset you."

Chiharu's shoulders sagged. So she made Yamazaki worry too? It was silent for a moment longer when suddenly Chiharu started stuttering. She just had to know something. "E-Eriol, Li-kun...D-Did Tomoyo-chan or Sakura-chan...h-hang out with Yamazaki-kun lately?"

She saw them look at each other. "Yeah. Yamazaki needed some advice for something so he asked Sakura."

Eriol nodded in agreement. "Same with Tomoyo."

"A-Advice for what?" Chiharu asked. Maybe it was advice on the girl he was dating? She had to make sure.

The two looked at each other again, secrets passing between their eyes. "Sorry, Chiharu-san. It's not our place to say," Eriol said.

Chiharu's head drooped again and her eyes looked terribly downcast.

"But we'll tell you one thing. I think it's something you'd like," Syaoran finished.

Shelooked up curiously. Something she would like? What in the world?

But before she could question, Eriol had interrupted her. "Well, if you excuse us, but we'll be cleaning now."


Chiharu tapped her pencil on her paper, her head resting on her arm as she looked out in front of her in a daze. The teacher was droning on and on about something that she had already forgotten. Right now, school seemed to be of petty importance. The only thing that was on her mind was the one and only Yamazaki Takashi.

She was still wondering what Syaoran had meant. Something she'd like? She knew that her friends knew about her crush on Yamazaki so it couldn't be advice for Yamazaki's unknown girlfriend. Her friends would definitely know that she wouldn't like that at all. But what in the world could it be? She racked her brain for some kind of answer, but the only conclusion she came up with was to either ask Yamazaki himself, or ask Sakura, Tomoyo, Rika or Naoko.

But she definitely didn't feel like talking to Yamazaki. Not yet anyway.

The only other option was to ask one of the girls. She sighed aloud. She would have to muster all of her courage for this.

Suddenly the teacher's voice was booming. "Yamazaki-san! YAMAZAKI-SAN!"

Chiharu jumped out of her trance and looked towards the scene. The teacher was boiling angry because it seemed as if Yamazaki wasn't listening at all, much like she was, as she looked towards the boy sitting a few desks away from her. She almost didn't recognize him! He too had heavy bags under his eyes, a deep frown on his lips, but worse of all, the sly twinkle of his eyes were gone. It was like all of Yamazaki had been sucked out only to leave his body behind.

He began to snap out of his daze when the teacher shouted at the top of her lungs. "Huh?"

"Yamazaki-san! I've been calling you for the past five minutes!" sensei said with a disapproving frown. "What is wrong with you? Since yesterday you haven't been yourself. Is something bothering you? Are you sick? Do you want to meet with the school nurse?"

"No," he replied simply. His face was still emotionless, much different from its usual goofiness.

The teacher sighed again. "Usually you're such a brig, imaginative student. I don't know what's happening with you lately, but I'm afraid that you'll have to have lunch detention with me."

"Fine."

The sensei sighed again, shaking her head. That was when the lunch bell rang, making everyone jump for the door to get out of the class.

Chiharu still sat at her seat, staring at the immobile Yamazaki who was staring straight ahead. As students filed out of the room, only a few were in the classroom and the teacher turned to Yamazaki again. "Yamazaki-san, please don't make this a regular routine. It will most certainly get in the way of your studies. If there's anything I could do to help, let me know."

Yamazaki sighed and after a quiet minute, he asked the teacher something. "Have you ever done something that made someone get mad at you but you don't know what you did?"

Sensei's frown melted into a gentle expression as she nodded. "Even though I didn't know what I did, I apologized my heart and soul out to the person."

Yamazaki nodded stiffly. "Thanks...only problem now is if she'll listen to me..."

At that point, Chiharu left her seat quickly, trying to be unnoticed. Unfortunately, he spotted her right before she left the class. She turned away from his wistful face and continued to her locker. She felt so guilty. Yet, she was still hurt and angry inside.


Chiharu stared at the grass as she walked along the school yard with her lunchbox at hand, racking her brain for some kind of consolation. She was nervous...beyond nervous. She was planning on what to say to Sakura, Tomoyo, Rika, or Naoko. It was weird because she didn't exactly know why she was fidgeting and nervous. Maybe it was because she didn't know what to expect from them. Maybe they wouldn't even listen to her! After all, she did act like a complete jerk to them by avoiding them. And what if her fears of Yamazaki having a girlfriend were true? What if Yamazaki had asked them for advice on this anonymous girlfriend?

She hated not knowing things. It made her jittery and anxious. But maybe that was the one of the reasons why she loved Yamazaki so much. After all, he did rather unexpected, unusual things. He was just so...surprising. Just like a jack-in-a-box toy. You keep on cranking the toy, not knowing when it will pop out and you have that excited, nervous feeling building up inside of you. Then when it finally does spring out, you'd jump even though you had been preparing for it. That was exactly Yamazaki, except he made her jump twice or thrice more.

Sighing, she tried to pry her thoughts away from Yamazaki for a moment. She had to try to figure out what to say to her friends.
"Do you know if Yamazaki has a girlfriend?"
No. That wouldn't do. It was way too forward, and it sounded as if she was paranoid. Maybe she should apologize for avoiding them first.
"I'm sorry about weird yesterday. I hope you'll forgive me."
That wouldn't do either. Now she sounded like a begging puppy!
"Hey, I'm sorry for acting like a bitch yesterday. Friends?"
That sounded kind of like her. But wouldn't it be weird if she just followed that up with the question about Yamazaki having a girlfriend?

"Oh I'll never get this right!" she mumbled, stopping right in the middle of the school yard.

"Chiharu-chan?"

She jumped at the familiar voice and turned. There stood the exact four whom she had been planning to talk to. She bit her bottom lip. She hadn't expected to talk to all of them at once. She had been hoping that they'd be alone or with just one other girl, but not all of them. Suddenly she felt dizzy. She couldn't do this.

"S-Sakura-chan! Tomoyo-chan! Naoko-chan! Rika-chan!" she stuttered. "H-Hi..."

Sakura, the one whom had spoken smiled a bit. "Hiya Chiharu-chan."

"You having lunch right now?" Naoko asked carefully, as if she was choosing her words in her head.

Chiharu nodded. Even as she stood there, she had a horrible feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. No way were they going to forgive her for acting that way. How could she even think that they'd forgive her? She repeated in her brain how stupid she was over and over again.

After a quiet silence, Rika spoke up timidly. "Umm...Chiharu-chan, w-want to have lunch with us?"

Chiharu almost couldn't believe her ears. They'd still be willing to eat lunch with her? A wonderful, warm feeling grew inside of her to replace her doubt. How could she ever doubt her friends? After all, they'd been with her every second she needed them. Besides, they were all such wonderful people.

Chiharu noticed that the others seemed to relax as they saw her smile. But she was the most relax of the five. Sighing a bit, she nodded a bit, feeling her worries flood out of her. "Gosh, how I've needed to hear that! Besides, I gotta ask you guys something."

"Let's sit at our usual place," Tomoyo suggested. "The guys aren't coming today. Something about helping the soccer coach with something."

Chiharu let out an even bigger sigh of relief. Syaoran and Eriol were off with the soccer coach while Yamazaki had lunch detention. She definitely didn't want them to hear what she had to say. "Great! Besides, this talk is only between us girls."


"So what is it, Chiharu-chan?" Sakura asked curiously. They were all now seated at their usual lunch spot, out of earshot, much to Chiharu's relief. It felt more secret and comforting here anyway.

Chiharu looked at all of them timidly. "F-First...I want to apologize. I-I'm sorry for avoiding you all yesterday..."

They all began to relax even more and smile at her. "Aw, don't worry, Chiharu-chan," Naoko said heartwarmingly.

"Yeah," agreed Tomoyo. "We all have our bad days."

"You definitely don't have to apologize," Rika added with a sweet smile.

Chiharu's eyes glittered. She was really lucky to have friends like these. "Oh gosh...thank you!"

"I'm so glad you're back to normal, Chiharu-chan," Sakura said. "I was really worried."

Chiharu smiled. "Yup. I know. Oh and by the way, I suggest you go and hug Li-kun today."

The girl's emerald orbs blinked in confusion. "Hoee?"

Chiharu just shook her head and giggled a bit. Syaoran probably cared for Sakura more than Sakura thought. "Anyway,"she added, becoming grim again. "I-I have another question for you..." The girls nodded, listening intently, almost entirely forgetting that they should be eating lunch right then. "I-I heard that Yamazaki was getting advice from you guys...is this true?"

Shenoticed the girls glance at each other almost frantically and she feared that her worries were true after all. After all, Yamazaki was quite charming. He was cute, funny, and quirky but also smart and athletic. What more could a girl want?

As the girls looked back at her, Sakura nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's true."

Chiharu gulped, trying to dampen her dry throat. "Th-Then tell me one thing?"

"Anything you want," Rika said.

Tears clouded her vision as she spoke. "Does...Y-Yamazaki have a...a girlfriend?" The very words she spoke tore at her and she looked at her friends carefully. She was waiting for any strange reactions.

The girls didn't look at each other this time. They didn't even glance at each other. They all shook their heads in unison.

"Yamazaki doesn't have a girlfriend, Chiharu-chan," Naoko said. "He'd probably tell you if he did."

"What made you think that?" Tomoyo asked.

A wave of relief came through her and she sighed, letting out the breath she had been holding. So Yamazaki didn't have a girlfriend. But then, why had he needed advice? And why was he trying to find a present for a girl?

"Then why does Yamazaki seem to need a present for someone? A girl?" she blurted. "And he hadn't told me why he had been talking to you guys. Is he hiding something from me? Are you all hiding something from me?"

Her friends showed a tiny smile on each of their faces. "You really don't have a clue, Chiharu-chan?" Tomoyo asked.

The girl shook her head in confusion.

"Chiharu-chan," Sakura said, cheerfully. "You'll understand tomorrow."

"But trust us. You'll like it," Rika said.

"Really, really like it!" exclaimed Naoko.

Chiharu looked at her friends carefully. What on earth were they talking about?


Now that the task of asking her friends was out of the way, she was contemplating whether or not she should talk to Yamazaki again. She was feeling awfully guilty. She had doubted him and hadn't trusted him. But along with the guilt came an awful shame and embarrassment. After all that drama she was just going to jump up to him and say, 'Golly, Yamazaki. I'm really sorry for treating you like that!'

Would he forgive her?

She looked ahead in a daze, walking down a familiar sidewalk. School ended, but all day she hadn't seen Yamazaki at all. Maybe he was the one mad now?

"Well, I'd deserve it," she said bitterly to herself.

And then there was that whole enigma about what Yamazaki had needed advice for. All her friends had said that she would truly like it, but what in the world were they talking about? Even though she racked her brain again and again, she found no answer to her question.

She wished everything would just clear up right then. She wished she knew the answer and that she'd have the courage to face Yamazaki again. She wished he would laugh and tell her those annoying but oddly cute stories he makes up. She wished he would absent mindedly flirt with her again. But most of all, she wished she were deep in his comforting arms. But she knew that would probably never happen. Well, at least not in the way she wanted. She wanted him to say that he cared deeply for her, wanted him to romantically blurt all the right things. But that was beyond reality. Those were mere ridiculous fantasies.

She only remembered once when Yamazaki had hugged her so. They were both young, around five or six years of age. Chiharu's precious Mew-Mew, her grey kitten, died. She had just gotten it too, and loved the cute ball of fuzziness so much. She and Yamazaki often played with it, teasing it with a ball of string or running after it, only to make it hiss in fear. But one day, her mother had left the screen door slightly open by accident and Mew-Mew, being as curious as a cat was, left home. Chiharu had cried so much that day when she saw that her cat was no where to be found. They had looked everywhere, and Yamazaki had even looked under the front porch where it was dirty and damp. But Mew-Mew was no where in sight. But a day later, they found that he had been run over by a car a few streets away and Chiharu had cried so much that day. She cried and cried until she got the hiccups, and then cried some more. She wouldn't eat anything, she wouldn't speak to anyone. She had been so miserable. Then Yamazaki came and just wrapped his arms around her innocently. She still remembered the exact words he had said:

'Chiharu-chan! Tell me what I can do to help you smile again.'

She smiled softly to herself at the childhood memory. It was one of the many that she cherished, but it was also one of her favorites. She had immediately stopped crying after he said that and smiled. Hard to imagine that words would make you do remarkable things. It was either that or she was just a pushover when it came to Yamazaki.

Now with a small smile on her lips, she came to her street's corner. Only a few more steps and she'd be home. She had kind of hoped that she'd have a chance to talk to Yamazaki today, but oh well. She was still afraid to confront him anyway. She wondered how long she would procrastinate for a thing as important as this. She wondered how long until she had the courage to face him.

She was standing right in front of her house as she dropped her school bag and it fell to the cement with a quiet thud. She widened her eyes in shock and surprise as she saw the person whom she wanted to speak to, yet dreaded to see.

Yamazaki was sitting quietly on her front steps, just watching her in silence. How had he gotten there so fast? And why was he here?

They just stayed very still, eyes not leaving the other's eyes. It was a few silent minutes until one finally did move. Yamazaki slowly stepped down from the steps and walked towards her, a passive look on his face. He stopped walking when he was only a few inches away, and Chiharu heard herself catch her own breath and swallow in anxiety. He was here, in front of her. She could apologize right now and end this! But the look on his face along with her fear stopped her from apologizing. His eyes were lifeless, almost as if he couldn't see her, his lips taut with that unusual frown, and his hair untidy. It definitely scared her to see him like this.

She gulped again and mustered all the courage she had in herself, which wasn't a lot. She forced herself to speak, to apologize. "Y-Yamazaki...I–"

But before any more words were spoken, Yamazaki had suddenly swept her into his arms so quickly that she didn't know what had happened. She stood there stiffly, trying to comprehend what was happening as he held her quite tightly, never wanting to let go.

Then he started rambling with a voice that she had never thought she'd hear from him. The tone was ragged, and croaking, but he didn't even seem to notice at all. "Chiharu-chan, I'm sorry! You hear me? I said it! I'm sorry for whatever I've done! But I don't even care what I did, just please...please...don't look at me like that. Don't look at me like you loathe me. Stop avoiding me. Stop avoiding everyone. I can't stand to see you so miserable. I couldn't stand it when I saw you started to cry that day! You know how much I hate it when you cry! I'm so sorry!" His arms grew tighter around her as he continued, somehow suppressing the tears that threatened to come.

She couldn't see him because his head was right besides hers, next to her ear. But she could definitely hear him. He sounded horrible and she felt even more guilt wash over her. How could she do this to him? She could slap herself if only his arms weren't so tight around her. "Yamazaki-kun, I–"

But he cut her off again. "No! Please don't run! Please don't ignore me! Don't push me away. Chiharu-chan, when you ignore me and look at me like that it hurts even more than when you cry. God! You don't know how much I beat myself over and over again! I can't believe that I made you cry! Dammit! I'll never do anything to you again! I'll even never talk to you again if you want since I know you probably still loathe me. I'll do anything! J-Just stop...you aren't acting like yourself," He hugged her tighter, allowing no room in between them so she could feel how hard his heart was beating. "Chiharu-chan! Tell me what I can do to help you smile again!"

The exact words. Those were the exact words that he had said when her kitten had died. But instead of helping her smile, she felt a tear trickle down her cheek, followed by another and another and yet another. Then she was openly sobbing, burying her wet face into his chest, trying to hide them.

But she felt Yamazaki's heart quicken. "Ch-Chiharu-chan! What did I do now! I just told you I couldn't stand to see you cry! Please stop...I can't bear it anymore. I-I'll stay away from you from now on! Is that what you want? To stop seeing old, annoying me? I'll do it! I'll do whatever you want! I'll do it even though it'll tear me up inside! Just as long as you're happy, I'll do anything at all! Just please...stop it. Stop crying! I can't bear it anymore! It hurts so much to see you so sad. I promised myself that I'd kill anyone who made you cry...but I never expected that I'd make you cry!" he took a deep breath. "Okay fine. I'll do it, Chiharu-chan. I'll stop seeing you since you want that so much. I seem to hurt you every single time I see you anyway. It hurts so much to think I won't see you because I-I...I care about you a lot. But since you want it, I'll do it. I'll stay out of your life from now on."

His arms began to loosen around her much to her dismay. She quickly wrapped her own arms around his waist, pulling him close before he could fully let go of her. It seemed to shock the poor, miserable boy, but it clearly was a good sign that she had hugged back. "No! Yamazaki...I'm the one to be sorry. I just...I just thought you were keeping secrets from me. And I was angry that you were asking the others for advice and not me. You were...you weren't there like usual so I...I was jealous of the time you were spending with everyone else. But I knew it was wrong. I knew it was wrong to suspect that you had a girlfriend too but–"

"Wait," he said pulling her away just slightly so he could see her tear stricken face. "A girlfriend?"

Chiharu nodded shamefully and tried to look away so he wouldn't see her face.

But he caught her chin with his hand as his other arm snaked around her waist again. "Why would you care whether or not I had a girlfriend?" His eyes were staring deeply into hers, and he looked as if he was expecting an answer. But she couldn't tell him...she still didn't have the courage. She couldn't tell him that she would simply die if he loved someone else, that her heart would be broken to a thousand pieces.

She swallowed, looking back into his expectant eyes. "I-I'd be jealous..." she admitted. It was the truth. She would be jealous.

But Yamazaki was still curious and unsatisfied with her answer. "Why?" He looked as if he was about to scream, or explode if she didn't tell him what he wanted to hear.

Unfortunately, Chiharu didn't tell him, couldn't tell him. "B-Because you'd be spending all your time with her and not with me..." That was true too.

Yamazaki sighed, as if he had given up and just simply continued to hug her, his head next to her ear again so he couldn't see her face. But he stayed silent, as if he was just content to be like this.

Chiharu held her breath. There was still more questions to be asked. "Yamazaki-kun? Wh-Who was that present for? All you said was that it was for...a girl. And what was the advice you needed from the others?"

It was silent for awhile. "Do you trust me?"

"Huh?"

"Do you trust me?" he asked again.

"Yeah."

"It's a secret. But it's nothing you won't like. In fact, I'm hoping you of all people will like it," he said.

"Huh? That's what the others said too..."

Yamazaki just chuckled, snuggling against her even more. But he didn't say any more about her questions. "Chiharu-chan...are we... okay now?"

He felt her nod and she heard him sigh in relief. She was still sniffling a bit.

"You know," he said after a while after the tears had dried more and the atmosphere was lighter. "We look like a couple if we stay like this..."

Chiharu smiled. "R-Really? Nah."

Another silent second passed as they just hugged each other willingly, seeming to apologize telepathically.

"You know," Yamazaki said again, this time with his usual tone of voice back. "Why don't we give them a show since we're at it?"

Chiharu almost laughed. "Huh?"

"I mean, we should kiss. You know, to entertain the people who are most probably watching. Besides, I know you haven't had one yet. I'd be honored if I was your first," he teased and laughed a bit.

Chiharu, blushing like mad, hit him on the arm then just continued to hug him.

"Itai...still violent. But Chiharu-chan, shouldn't we let go now? I mean, it's already been a couple of minutes..."

Chiharu pulled away slightly to see his face. "So what you're saying is that you don't like hugging me?" she said with a fake pout on her lips.

Yamazaki shook his head quickly, a blush spreading on his face. "N-No! It's not that! In fact I...like it very much." He heard her giggle. "It's just that I heard that if two people hug for twenty straight minutes, they're destined to get married! And we've already been hugging for ten minutes! And I know you wouldn't want to marry me. I mean, have you seen my room? It's a pig sty!"

Chiharu laughed again. "You're right, it is a pigsty. But I still don't think we should let go." Then she rested her head against his chest again. "Not yet." She wanted to make this last. She wanted this memory to burn through her so that she'd know and remember it even more than she knew her own name.

Yamazaki cherished the moment as long as he could. He even raked her hair gently with his fingers. Another something that Chiharu would never forget. "You're even prettier with your hair down..."

Chiharu laughed and blushed at the same time. She had almost forgotten that her hair was left down.

"And you know what they say about pretty girls with their hair down, right?"

"What?" she asked knowing another lie was coming.

His arms tightened around her again and he even made himself blush. "That they kiss good..."

Chiharu giggled as the blood rushed up her face. What a joke! Her kiss good! Riight. She hit him playfully on the arm again for punishment in making her embarrassed.

"Itai...see? Still violent."