Chiharu's Birthday Mayhem
By:
pnaixrose

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or any of its characters.


Monday, May 31...1 DAY LEFT

This was it. It was the end of the line for her. She knew it as soon as she opened her eyes to the sunny weekday morning. Chiharu groaned out loud and buried herself with her bed sheets. It was no use. She might as well give up.

No way would she find the perfect present by tomorrow. It was impossible.

She'll admit it. She was a procrastinator. Chiharu knew it was evident when it came to schoolwork but she never knew it had become such an issue that her procrastination came outside of school. She groaned loudly. What should she do? Was it time to call it quits and give him a simple gift and a card?

No. It was incredibly hard but she'd find the perfect gift one way or another. It was for Yamazaki after all. He was definitely worth all the stress.

Definitely worth it.

She made her decision. She was going to find something no matter what.


"Ah, Chiharu-chan!"

The sleepy girl walked down the stairs for some breakfast. She hated Mondays. It always meant a whole new week of school. She spotted her mother and father already at the table, eating breakfast.

"Ohayou…"

Her father looked at his daughter curiously after taking a sip of his coffee. "Something the matter? You don't sound so great."

Her mother nodded in agreement. "Are you sick?"

Chiharu quickly shook her head. "No, no. Just worried."

It seemed that her parents knew the problem right away. They gave a little look towards each other. "Is it about Takashi-kun's birthday tomorrow?" her mother asked.

She blushed in response. How did they know?

The blushed seemed to be all the evidence they needed for it to be the truth. Her dad patted her back as he grinned. "Don't worry, Chiharu. Anything you give him will be fine."

"Don't you guys have any suggestions though? Something more helpful?" she asked hopefully.

They only kept on smiling happily. It was as though they knew what was going to happen or something. Strange, eh? "We can't give you suggestions. Then that wouldn't be from you, wouldn't it?" her father said.

Chiharu sighed. "I guess not." There goes the idea of asking her friends for advice.

"Oh here, Chiharu," her mother said as she reached for a book and handed it to her daughter. "The Yamazakis finished it. They said this was just a rough copy and asked you to look for any mistakes."

Chiharu raised an eyebrow. "Can't they have their editor check it out?"

But her parents only smiled wider. "I think they really want you to reread it, Chiharu."

The girl shrugged as she took the book and stared at the cover. "Confessions of the Young Heart" it read. It seemed like a really great book. Maybe she'd scan some of it today while she had free time.

Too bad she didn't notice the look her parents exchanged.


"Chiharu-chan!" exclaimed a hyper Sakura. "Ohayou!"

Chiharu looked up as she entered the classroom. That was odd. Sakura was early today. Syaoran must've walked her to school. Chiharu gave a quick greeting to all her friends and sat in her seat, taking some books and supplies out for class. Scanning the room, she noticed that a certain dim-witted boy wasn't there. Another odd thing. Yamazaki was usually early. Had he and Sakura switched places or something? It's been a rather weird day today.

"He's not in today, Chiharu-chan," a voice suddenly said.

She jumped. She hadn't seen Naoko coming. "Who isn't?"

Naoko's glasses gleamed as she slyly smirked. "Yamazaki-kun of course!"

Wait a minute. How'd Naoko know she was looking for him?

"You were looking at his seat so I just assumed," Naoko explained as she laughed.

Chiharu blushed for a second. She didn't know she had been that obvious. "Is he absent today?"

The other girl shrugged her shoulders. "I think. They cancelled the book club after school today since he's the president. I think he had some family business. Something about taking his aunt to the hospital? He's going to stay there probably all day."

Did she mean Akane's mother? Why the hospital. Then she remembered. She was pregnant! Maybe the baby was coming!

Chiharu smiled, excited at the news. Well actually, she didn't know for sure if that was the case, but she had a feeling it was. Oh well. She probably won't see Yamazaki all day today. It wasn't necessarily a good thing, but at least she probably won't have distractions today in her search for a present.


"…She was all he could think about. The only person he had ever loved had grown up to be so beautiful, that whenever she even came into his mind, his knees would grow weak. Now it might've been weird for a boy to feel that way. They were supposed to be stubborn, strong men after all. But he couldn't help it. He knew he was young, only five years old. But he really felt that this was the girl he wanted to spend his life with. They were the best of friends, always together. If only he had the courage to tell her. If only he didn't fear rejection so much. That's why he always hid his feelings. He hid them in clever ways that would seem unimportant and casual. As he grew, he developed the image of someone who was a joker, a fun kind of guy. He used that image with her. He would tease her constantly, loving the annoyed reaction on her face. But he knew that she knew he didn't mean it. He knew deep inside that she didn't mind at all."

"What's that, Chiharu-chan?" Rika asked curiously.

The girl looked up from the book on her lap. She hadn't even noticed her friends were there! One minute she was waiting for them to come meet her for lunch break and the next they were suddenly sitting where they usually sit. But the book was good so far. It sounded vaguely similar to something that she couldn't put her finger on. "Oh, it's the newest book the Yamazakis wrote. Romance this time."

Naoko's eyes lit up as soon as she heard the word "book." "Really? Yamazaki told me about it! It seemed like a really good book!"

"Yeah it is. I'm only on the first couple of pages but it somehow seems familiar to me," Chiharu mused aloud. She noticed the smirks her friends had on their faces. They knew something. Something was fishy here. And it wasn't the sushi that she had for lunch. "What?"

But they all just smiled innocently.

"I suggest you read that book fast, Mihara-san," Eriol said.

Huh? Did they all know what happens in the book already?


"…They both knew what their feelings were deep inside their hearts. They would never admit it though. Stubbornness and fear was their greatest obstacle. They always thought that there was that small chance that they would be rejected. And what if it didn't work out? After all, they were best friends. Best friends weren't supposed to be lovers…were they?"

The train came to a stop and she put the book away.

The intercom sounded. "Tokyo Station. All passengers bound for this stop please exit."

Chiharu stood from her seat and quickly exited the train. She couldn't believe she was here again. But this time, she was alone and she had a reason for coming. This time it wasn't for sightseeing. She felt small in such a big city, but she had figured that since there were more shops here, she'd have a better chance in finding the present.

It was lonely without Akane and Yamazaki though.

..She always felt lonely when Yamazaki wasn't around.


Chiharu sighed as she listened to her quiet footsteps being drowned out by the noises of the city. It was no use. She couldn't find a thing. Everything she spotted just wouldn't do.

It was virtually hopeless.

She had tried and tried to find something that would be perfect. And it wasn't because she was picky. Nothing just seemed like something that would be perfect for him.

She was pretty tired and her feet ached. Chiharu decided to take a little break and spotted an empty bench. She sat down and sighed deeply. She was in trouble.

Was there anything in the world she could give?

She picked up her head and immediately saw a sight to behold. The Tokyo Tower. She smiled. Chiharu hadn't known he had been walking around so closely to the majestic tower. Looking at it, she remembered the events of yesterday. Having that dream. Yamazaki and Akane surprising her that morning. Yamazaki holding her while on the train. Yamazaki being afraid of heights. Yamazaki bringing her home with Akane sleeping on his back.

Chiharu blushed at the next thought.

Yamazaki and her almost kissing.

She pushed the thoughts away as she looked at her watch. It was pretty late. Her parents would be worried.

Oh well. Guess she'd have to settle on a card. There's always next year.

But she knew it was no use. Comforting herself wasn't going to work.

She failed...big time.


Chiharu collapsed on her bed tiredly. It was a pretty long day for her. She had tried so hard to find something, but of course, with her luck, she didn't find anything. She had never felt this low. Maybe right now all she needed was something to take her mind of it. Who knows? Maybe she'll get an idea during the night?

That was when she noticed that the book by the Yamazakis had fallen out of her bag when she fell on top of the bed. Picking it up, she picked a random page near the end of the book. She was hooked on the book. It would definitely relax her mind for awhile.

"…It was a fateful day the next day he had woken up. Yet, it seemed like any other day. It was a bright Sunday morning, but that wasn't how he felt at all. The events at the dance last night were still vivid in his mind. He regretted that he had refused to take her to the dance now. If he had accepted, he wouldn't have had to witness her dancing so closely with another guy.
He wouldn't have had his heart broken in pieces.
But it was too late. What happened is what happened. He would never catch her heart now. She was way beyond his reach.
Why did he ever think that she had feelings for him? He had never felt so stupid in his life."

"Poor guy. I guess the girl doesn't like him after all," Chiharu said to herself sadly. "And I really thought she did too!"

She skipped a couple more pages before she began reading again.

"…'Happy birthday,' she said sadly. He was in shock. He had totally forgotten! Today was his birthday! What really shocked him was the fact that she was here in front of him. Actually, it shocked and pained him. He hadn't wanted to see her for a time. His heart still hurt so much.
What a great birthday this turned out to be.
'Yoshi-kun,' she said softly as she tried to look into his avoiding eyes, 'I don't know what you're thinking after last night. N-Nothing happened. We were just dancing!'
Yoshi just nodded. But he really didn't want to hear it.
'You're not listening!' she yelled.

Of course not. He didn't want to listen.
He felt her hands touch his face gently and forced him to look down at her. He obeyed but it still hurt.
'You don't understand, Yoshi-kun. I would never do anything to hurt you purposely!'
'Stop it, Mitsune. You're making my birthday worse than it already is,' he replied coldly.
She sighed. 'Listen. I've wanted to tell you something for a long time. B-But I just couldn't get the courage.'
He looked at her grimly as she paused and simply looked up at him. Even though he was mad, he couldn't stop loving Mitsune. Everything she did just made his heart melt, even now.
Then she did something unexpected.
She reached her head up, her warm hands still on his cheeks, and gave a simple but love-filled kiss on his lips. He immediately felt his whole body go aflame.
'I love you, Yoshi,' she whispered. 'Only you. Now and forever.'"

Chiharu smiled as the book ended. What a sweet story. It still reminded her of something though. She began flipping through the pages aimlessly, adoring the story. She just wished she could figure it out though. The whole fear of telling someone something was familiar to her.

That was when she stopped flipping…right on the dedication page.

"Hey I didn't see this before."

"To our dear son Takashi and the sweet Chiharu.
May you finally get over your fears."

Then it hit her. The story was about them! Yamazaki's parents had known all along that they based most of the story about them! The whole "get over your fears," "confess," and stuff were happening to her!

How dumb could she get?

Then another thing hit her. She now knew what to do. She knew what to give him for his birthday.

Her love.