Well… I made my decision for the next date finally! This chapter is extra long! The date is a lot more complex than the last, and I enjoyed writing this one so very much! Ami is one of the most fun characters to write about, and it's very fun to make her seem un-Ami-like! You'll see what I'm talking about! Have fun with this chapter!

Secret Cupid
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Chapter Six
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Thursday, February 14th ...St. Valentine's Day

Ami

The door to Ami's bedroom swung open, and Ami's mother rushed in. She gasped when she noticed her daughter in the bed, sleeping. "Ami!" She ran to the bedside and began to shake the girl gently, "Ami, Ami, wake up! Honey, you're going to be late for school!"

"Mmm….mmm….wha…? Huh? WHAT!" Ami's eyes opened and she jumped up and out of the bed. "I can't be! What about my alarm! It didn't go off! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She grabbed her clock and saw the digits reading 7:30 A.M. "I have fifteen minutes to get to school!" She yelled, and began rushing around the room, throwing her clothes on in a haphazard fashion.

Her mother sighed and grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "It will be alright, dear. Being late one day isn't going to kill your academic career." Dr. Mizuno laughed. "You don't have to be perfect, Ami."

Ami bit her lip. "Mom, I've never been late! Never! My record will be ruined!"

Her mother sighed as she watched her only daughter run a brush through her short blue hair, slip on loafers, and grab her schoolbooks. "Would you like me to drive you, Ami? You'll get there much faster."

"You'll be late for work!"

"It's only a one minute detour, honey! I won't be late. I'll drive you."

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Ami sighed deeply as she sat in her desk. Her books hit the desk right as the teacher walked in the class. 'I made it.' She thought in wonder, rubbing her forehead gently with one hand.

"Good morning, class. Now, let's begin our lesson for the day."

Ami looked down at her notebooks and her eyes grew wide. Her mathematics notebook wasn't there! Her mind traced back, and she suddenly remembered that it was still sitting on her desk in her house. She groaned, and her head fell to the desk.

From his spot in the front, Urawa turned and glanced at Ami. 'What's wrong with Ami?' He frowned.

Sighing, Ami took out a blank sheet of paper to copy notes off the board. 'This is terrible. I wake up late, my hair looks terrible, I'm wearing my old shoes and they're too small, and now I've forgotten my notebook! Will she just end class already?' She sighed again, and scribbled down the final equations onto the paper.

"Mizuno-san, are we having any trouble?"

Ami's eyes became large, and she looked up and noticed the teacher looking at her with a stern glance. The woman stood at the front lectern, towering above the other students.

"N-n-no, Haryume-sensei."

"Good. Would you mind sharing the answer to number thirty-three from last night's homework?"

Ami gulped and looked down at her desk. "Well…I…."

All the eyes of her classmates zoomed in on her, making her suddenly feel very claustrophobic.

Urawa frowned as he looked at Ami. 'She's never unprepared…never! I hope she's alright…'

Ami gulped again and lowered her head, closing her eyes. "I'm afraid that I've misplaced my homework. I'm very sorry, but it is sitting on my desk at home."

Gasps went throughout the classroom, and Ami's face became red.

The teacher's eyes became critical. "This is very unlike you, Mizuno."

"Yes, sensei. I know. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." The blue-hair girl muttered, her head still ducked.

'Poor Ami…' Urawa looked at her in sympathy.

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Ami walked up to her locker and put in her combination, opening it. She slid her books inside, and sighed. 'At least I have all of my other books.'

Urawa suddenly stood beside her. "Ami-san, are you alright?"

Ami glanced out of the corner of her eye at him. "Yes, of course, Urawa-san. Why wouldn't I be?" She shut her locker door and turned to begin walking down the hall to her next class.

"You never forget anything, Ami-san. You seem very unnerved this morning."

"It's been a terror of a day so far."

"Well, cheer up! It's not all bad!" He gave her a wide smile.

She turned and glanced at him. "Arigatou, Urawa-san. You're right. The day is only beginning, and I'm sure it will change as the day progresses."

"Just remember that it's Valentine's Day! That should make you feel better!"

Ami blinked. "Oh…oh, my…it is!"

Urawa laughed, his brown eyes soft. "You forgot?"

Ami laughed with him. "I suppose I did. I haven't exactly had romantic thoughts in my head, with almost being late for the first time, and forgetting my homework!" She shook her head. "And to think, I forgot all about the fact that I have a date tonight!" She frowned and glanced worriedly at Urawa. "I'm scared about it. I don't know who I'm dating. My friends made me take part in a "Secret Cupid" game. It's terrible. I'll be dating some stranger. It isn't the right way to meet someone, in my opinion…but I never let my friends down." She laughed. "Well, on to class, I don't want to risk being late! See you around, Urawa-kun!" She waved and rushed down the hallway.

Urawa grinned and turned to make his way to his own class. 'Stranger…yeah.'

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The day went by very slowly for Ami…too slowly in her opinion. She sat and tuned out Makato and Usagi at the lunch table, listened vaguely in her classes, and swapped her history and literature notebooks by mistake.

When she finally left the school for the day, the girl felt that the school had won against her for the first time in her life. She hadn't paid attention in any class, and her mind even wandered to the thoughts of Secret Cupid. She had caught herself daydreaming during much of the day…she felt extremely different.

'It's so odd.' She thought as she walked down the street, headed towards her house. She tied her blue scarf tightly around her and shoved her hands into her coat pockets. For the first time…she had left her books at school. 'I don't feel like studying today. I don't want to. I want to…go out!' She smiled to herself. 'I am going out. Tonight! I am going out!' She suddenly started running, the cool winter air whipping against her face. She ran until she reached the Tokyo Park, going home simply not in her mind.

She reached the lake and stared out at it, her breath coming out her mouth in little white clouds as she tried to regain her breath. "I'm going out!" She yelled, reaching her arms out and twirling around. She laughed, and fell down on the riverbank, her head falling into the soft snow.

She closed her eyes and simply breathed in the cold air.

Footsteps soon were near her, and someone stood over her. "Ami?"

She opened her eyes, to stare up at Urawa.

"Hi." She said breathlessly. She started giggling, and sat up. "Isn't the snow amazing? Usually it doesn't snow much here, but we're lucky this year. Winter is my favorite season. The snow and the ice…it's all so very beautiful and mysterious. It hides away all the impurities in the world, covers everything that is usually so very evil in soft, pure, white shades. It's lovely." She smiled up brightly at him. "Sit down."

He frowned at her. "Ami, you've been acting very odd today."

"I know." She laughed. "But it's Valentine's Day. And I'm not in the mood to spend my day studying." She nodded towards the books he had sheltered under his arm. "Put those silly things down for the day, Urawa! Come on; have some fun!" She winked at him. "In fact, go out tonight! I'm going out! Did you know that? I'm going out! And I have a date! Me! Ami Mizuno! The bookworm! The girl who never goes out anywhere, who spends all of her time with her nose buried in a book! I'm going out on a date with a boy that I don't even know! It's absolutely stupendous!" She began to laugh again, and she fell back into the snow again.

Urawa sat beside her in the snow, dropping his books next to him. "You're so happy today, Ami."

"It's not a bad thing to abandon studies, Urawa-kun." She murmured, stretching out and beginning to make snow angels in the snow. "Besides…it's just for one day. Tomorrow, I'll pick up my studies and my books again, and I'll be the bookworm again. I love my studies…but I need a break from the usual!" She suddenly sat up and leaned over to him. "Do you not ever have days when everything seems so oddly new and different? When you look around, and you notice how very beautiful the world is, and how, by staying in and studying, you're missing out on it?" Her face was bright and red from the cold, her blue eyes sparkling intensely. She sat near to him, her face staring up at him expectantly.

He laughed and shook his head. "Well, what I consider beautiful and what you consider beautiful may be very different, Ami-chan. But yes, I have had a day where my world changed completely by seeing something very beautiful. It made me think that I was missing out on a lot in life. But perhaps not by studying."

She tilted her head to the side and brought her knees up to her chin, laying her head on them. "Explain, Urawa!"

He smiled and stared out at the icy lake. "Well, when I first came here, I was surprised. I'm like you. I never leave my studies, and I never really have what other people call 'fun', because my fun IS my studies." He looked at her with a grin. "But you see, when I first came, I met a girl."

Ami grinned. "A girl? Is she your valentine, Urawa?"

He laughed. "She is, but she doesn't know it. You see, I saw her the very first time I went into the public library. She was sitting with her glasses on, poring over a volume of Shakespeare. She was beautiful, but…not the kind of beautiful most people notice. I noticed, though." He smiled. "She didn't look up once from the book until she left. She checked it out, and she ran into me literally. She wouldn't look up at me once. She blushed, got her book that she had dropped, apologized, and left. I never got the chance to ask her name."

"Did you ever see her again?" Ami whispered.

He nodded. "I did. I met her for real the very first day I went to Juuban. She was in my first class of the day, and was answering question after question. She was brilliant, I have to say." He grinned. "She's a lot smarter than I'll ever be."

Ami blinked. "Urawa, you're in my math class, and there's no one like that in the class."

"There is." He laughed. "You just don't realize it. Anyways, getting back to your question…yes, I have known something very beautiful in the world that I do think I'm missing out on. But it's not because I study. It's more because…I'm afraid to say anything to her."

"You should say something to her."

"You think?" Urawa glanced at her.

"Of course! I think that the very next time you see her, you should tell her that you like her, and ask her out! Hey, you should do it today!" She suddenly grabbed his arm. "It's Valentine's Day! You should tell her today! It'd be perfect, don't you think?" She grinned. "I think you should. I think it's a mistake for you to be missing out on having a girlfriend like that because you won't tell her you like her. I think she's very lucky, after all."

"You really think I should tell her?"

"Of course!" Ami nodded her head. "She deserves to know."

"She doesn't feel the same."

"You don't know that! She very possibly could! If you've noticed her so, I'm sure she's noticed you too!"

Urawa shook his head. "You're not talking reality, though, Ami. You're being very irrational."

Ami dropped her arms to her side, turned, and stared out several minutes at the lake.

"Well…" She said finally. He stared at her. "That may be so." She whispered. "But think of it this way. Who says love is rational? Love is very irrational, and it really doesn't make sense. Take my friends Usagi and Mamoru. They're the silliest, most ridiculous couple I've ever heard of. They have nothing in common at all, and they used to be mortal enemies! But if you saw them today…you'd see they're more in love than any two people have ever been." Ami gazed out at the lake with a faraway glance glimmering in her deep blue eyes. "I envy them."

Urawa found himself still staring at her, watching her eyes dance. "Why?"

She laughed softly, laying her head on her propped knees. "I wish I was brave enough to plunge into such a daring relationship." She glanced at Urawa out of the corner of her eye. "I'm interested in someone, too."

His eyes widened. "You are?"

She nodded. "Yes. We have a lot in common, and he's the sweetest boy I've met in a very long time. One of the very few people that don't think it's odd that I like to study, and that I like to challenge myself with knowledge. He doesn't think he's better than me…most boys think that because I'm a girl, that they're smarter, and can beat me at everything. He competes with me, obviously..." She laughed. "But he doesn't become furious when I beat him…like most guys would." Her eyes twinkled merrily, and she turned and looked at Urawa with a bright smile. "I'm not brave enough to tell him I like him…so don't feel bad that you haven't talked to this girl. You're not alone." She glanced down at her wristwatch. "I suppose that I do need to be going…I have a date to get ready for."

She frowned and stared out at the lake again. "You know…now I don't think I'll go on that date."

Urawa frowned deeply. "Why not?"

"I don't want to. Hey, today's my sporadic day." She glanced at him. "I'm going to be very odd today. Because I want to." She laughed. "So…to begin my odd day…"

She stood up suddenly and brushed the wet snow away from her jacket. "You know that park-like place on the south side of Tokyo? With all the carnival rides?"

Urawa stood with her, gathering his books. "Yeah? What about it?"

"Want to go with me? Come on; don't go home and study. Come eat pizza and ride the carousel with me!" Ami grabbed his arm. "Have some fun!"

Urawa looked down at her and grinned. "It'd be great to go there and see some people we know. They'd be really stunned."

"Yeah!"

He laughed. "Sure, why not? The carnival it is, Ami-chan. Can we stop by my house on the way? I need to leave my books there."

"Sure!" She grabbed his hand. "Let's go!"

He blushed slightly, looking down at their joined hands. "Okay."

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"This place is so cool." Ami giggled, her hand grasped with Urawa's, pulling him through the crowds. "Hey, what should we ride next, Urawa-kun? After the carousel, the teacups, and that big jumpy-thingy...wow, that was weird...what's left?"

Urawa's head was spinning. "Uh…whatever you want, Ami-chan."

"Okay, then! Hey, let's ride that!" She pointed to a fast ride that slung the rider around in a circle at high speeds.

Urawa laughed nervously. "Sure."

Ami pulled him into the line, laughing. "You okay, Urawa-kun?"

He glanced at her happy, livid eyes and smiled. "Yeah…I'm having a great time here with you."

She blushed. "Yeah…I'm really glad I forgot about that silly date." She turned when the line began to move.

"Your date must be very upset, though." Urawa said, and they sat in a car together.

She shrugged. "Well…they don't know me, and they'll get over it. I'd much rather be here with you, anyways." She blushed suddenly at her words, and turned away. "Hey, look over there. We should ride that next."

Urawa's face became pale. "I don't do very well with roller-coasters, Ami-chan."

She giggled. "Well, usually I don't either. But didn't I tell you that today is sporadic day? So…we both have to do something completely out of character, okay?"

His eyes became puzzled. "Like what?"

"I dunno yet. But we'll think of something. We won't talk about books or school or science or anything like that at all today either."

He laughed. "What else is there?"

She grinned as the ride began to move. "We'll think of something."

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Urawa felt very dizzy for several long moments when he stepped off the ride. He watched as Ami jumped off happily, giggling and pulling her scarf around her neck.

"Wow, wasn't that fun?" She turned to him and grabbed his arm. "I think we should come here more often, don't you? I should bring the girls sometime, too. We'd have tons of fun!"

He nodded queasily. "Sure, Ami-chan…"

"You alright, Urawa-kun?" She suddenly asked worriedly, her eyes becoming serious once again.

He shook his head. "I'm fine." He smiled at her. "I'll be alright in a moment. I'm not used to that sort of thing."

She laughed and pulled him to sit on a bench. "Me, either. But it was so great."

As Urawa regained his stomach, Ami sat staring up at the sky and the stars. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, just as snowflakes began to fall. "I love snow." She whispered.

Urawa looked around him at the people who were leaving most of the rides. "It's getting very cold, Ami."

"It's been cold all day, Urawa…but I just feel so very at-home in all this snow." She said softly. "I've always connected with the ice and the snow."

He looked at her face, which was pointed at the sky, her eyes closed and mouth tilted open, catching the snow.

"Ami, you have to be the most amazing girl I've ever met."

She laughed suddenly and looked at him. "What about your mystery girl, though? I would think that you'd be calling her the amazing one." She looked around. "Why is everyone leaving?"

Urawa grinned. "We normal people get cold. We can't all be ice princesses."

Ami grinned inwardly at his words. 'You have no idea.' She thought, stifling a giggle.

Urawa took her hand. "Want to go warm up somewhere, Ami-chan? We could get some coffee or something."

She shook her head. "No, it's alright. I'm not really in the mood for coffee." She stood up and looked at him. "I told you…we have to do something completely out of character for us, Urawa-kun. So that our sporadic day can be complete!"

"Oh, right…I forgot." He grinned sheepishly and grabbed her hand, and they began walking towards the exit of the carnival. "Well, then, ice princess, where should we go?"

She bit her lip. "I'm thinking."

He tapped her forehead. "No thinking today, Ami-chan! Remember?" He winked at her.

She laughed. "Right! We have to be totally sporadic! Okay, then! I say that we forget coffeehouses, and we…go ice-skating!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Ice-skating!"

She nodded excitedly. "I love ice, remember? Come on, please?"

He took one glance at her expectant face and laughed. "Alright…alright…"

She squealed happily. "Yes!"

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"How did you find this place, Ami-chan?" Urawa asked, looking around at the secluded pond in the woods that he stood in front of.

Ami shrugged, sitting in the snow and putting on her ice skates. "Simple, really. I got separated from the girls one day when we were going through the park, because I was reading and wasn't watching where they were going, and I ended up going through the woods, and I stumbled onto this little place. It was last winter, and I remember thinking that this would be the perfect place to ice-skate. I just never really came back…until now." She pushed herself up, and launched onto the ice. She began twirling and twirling, giggling happily. "We didn't buy new skates for nothing, did we, Urawa? Come on! Come skate with me!"

He laughed, watching her skate around. "I'm content here on solid ground, actually, Ami. Besides, it's nice to just watch you skate." He sat down on the edge of the pond, his skates beside him.

Ami pouted, skating to the edge. "Fine, then." She grabbed a scoop of snow, bundled it up, and threw it at him as hard as she could.

He fell back. "Ami!" He shook his hair free of the snow, and began making a snowball.

She laughed loudly and skated to the farthest edge of the large pond, sticking her tongue out at him and yelling back. "You can't reach me from way over there, Urawa!"

He grumbled incoherently, dropped his snowball, and began putting on his skates. "You're going to get it for that!"

She laughed happily. "Yeah, right!"

He finally fastened his skates, and put together another snowball. Standing up shakily, he slid onto the ice tentatively.

Ami rolled her eyes. "It's not going to crack, baka!"

He shot her an evil look. "I can never be too cautious!"

She slid up to him, and poked him on the nose. "This day is the day for being sporadic, not cautious!" She grinned, grabbed his snowball from him, and rubbed it into his face. "Liven up, Urawa." She giggled and skated away, twirling as she went.

"Ami! Hey! That wasn't fair!" He went after her, caught up to her, and grabbed her around the waist, slinging her into the air.

"AH! Put me down, Urawa!" She yelled, laughing. She grasped onto his hands, and when he finally brought her back down, she wrapped her arms around his neck, facing him.

Her face became red, as his, when she realized the situation they were in.

"No more snowballs." He murmured, panting slightly.

"Right." She laughed slightly, trying to regain her breath. "It's getting late, I suppose."

"Yeah."

She pulled away and skated away. "I guess I need to get home so my mom won't worry." She sat and slid off her skates and started to put her own shoes back on.

Urawa did the same, plopping into the snow beside her. "Skating is fun. We should do this again."

Ami looked at him. "You mean it?"

He grinned. "Definitely."

She laughed. "Yes! I knew I could win you over to the dark side!"

He laughed along with her.

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The two walked up to Ami's house, carrying their skates. Stopping at the edge of her porch, Ami turned and looked at him. "I had a really great time with you, Urawa. It was a lot better than any Secret Cupid date."

He grinned. "Yeah…but are you really sure about that, Ami-chan?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He walked up her porch steps and stood in front of her. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the picture of her that Motoki had given him days before, and handed it to her. "Happy Valentine's Day, Ami-chan. You were my Valentine."

She gasped and took the picture. "So, this whole time…you were my Secret Cupid all along?"

"Uh-huh." He grinned. "It was a lot more fun without you knowing, though."

She grinned back. "Well, I'm glad I didn't have to disappoint a stranger." She gave him a fake-sympathetic look. "I'm sorry I couldn't make that date with you, Urawa-kun. I had previous plans."

"Oh, plans that couldn't be broken, I'm sure." He laughed.

She shook her head. "Nope! I was with someone special. I hope you'll be able to forgive me!"

He looked down at her seriously. "I believe I would do just about anything if it meant you were happy anyways, Ami-chan."

She suddenly blushed. "Well…it's late. I need to go in now…"

He nodded, his eyes not hiding disappointment. "Sure. I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Yeah." Turning, she put her hand on the doorknob and started to open the door.

He grabbed her arm. "Hey, Ami…"

She turned and glanced at him, a blush staining her cheeks. "Umm…yeah?"

"That girl I told you about earlier…the one I said I wished was my girlfriend…."

Ami looked at him with wide blue eyes. "What about her?"

He suddenly found himself stuttering. "Well…you did tell me…that…I should tell her…" He looked at her. "The first time I went into the library was the first time I really met you. You didn't even look up and notice me…you were so shy." He smiled. "I was so glad to find you went to the same school as me the next day. You were amazing in class. I've always thought you were the most amazing girl I've ever known."

Ami's eyes widened. "Urawa?"

He leaned down on impulse and pecked her lips gently. "Goodnight, ice princess." He turned and quickly and began to walk down the drive.

Ami stood in a daze for a moment, before turning and fleeing after him. "Urawa, wait!" She grabbed onto his arm and made him stop. "You were…you were him, too."

He looked at her for several long moments, letting the information sink in.

She blushed. "Well…my mother's peeking through the window. I better go. Happy Valentine's Day, Urawa-kun." She kissed him as he had her just moments before, and fled into her house.

Urawa stood blinking, and looked back at Ami's house for a little while, before walking down the street, swinging his skates with him.

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Awww….that was so much fun to write….

Well, now I have Mako-chan, Rei-chan, and Usagi-chan left. Let's see who comes up next! The next one should be out in less than a week, hopefully! But also remember, I'm still working on "Storms Upon The Heart" too, so chapters are spread far out. Sorry!