"Amu-chan, why are you blushing?"
The pink-haired girl attempted to nonchalantly hide the letter from her prying best friend, but resistance was futile since the wavy-haired girl knew her far too well.
"No reason," Amu said as she flipped a strand of her rose-pink hair out of her face, trying her best to sound as casual as possible. "It's just pretty warm out today."
"You were complaining about it being chilly an hour ago.", Rima stated bluntly her facial expression reverting to her classic let's-get-straight-to-the-point face.
The taller girl sighed, admitting her defeat. "Darn, Rima-chan's good…", throughout the year they had known each other, the blonde-haired girl had always been sharp and able to easily read everyone around her and Amu was no exception.
"Was it from him?", Rima's voice pulled Amu from her trip down memory lane and before the rosette could say anything, the sugar-pink blush that quickly formed around her cheeks said it all.
"Bulls Eye.", the petite girl teased, before her poker-face left and was replaced with a small smile. "How is he doing?"
Amu smiled radiantly; her blush still visible as she held the letter close to her heart. "Ikuto's doing good. He's gotten a few leads on where his father might possibly be, but he hasn't found him. Yet."
The two friends shivered for a moment as the cool, spring wind blew, a few Cherry Blossoms scattering around them. As the two stood there, Rima watched the pink-haired girl tuck the letter into her school bag. The wavy-haired girl could tell Amu was afraid the wind would carry off with that letter, devastating her.
Once her best friend was situated, Rima casually asked, "Are you going to write back to him when you get home?"
"Huh? Well I would, but…", Amu trailed off sheepishly resulting in Rima going back to her straight-face.
"But?"
"I'm out of stationary."
"And?"
"I thought maybe I could text him a reply instead?"
The former Queen was staring daggers into the former Joker, making her nervous. "Rima-chan? What is it?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"You're not texting him back.", Rima grabbed her best friend's free hand and dragged her into the opposite direction they had been heading.
"Huh!? But why? Wait, where are we going?", Amu asked as her petite, strong friend dragged her.
"To get you some stationary."
"Can't we go home and change out of our uniforms first?"
"No,", Rima said without hesitation, her face determined. "We are on a mission."
Amu looked puzzled, "Rima-chan, since when have you been interested in my love life?"
"Well, it could be worse." Rima stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face the lovebird with an intense look in her eyes. "What if Yaya-chan and Utau-san had heard about this?"
A look of fear crossed Amu's face as she imagined Utau enraged and Yaya shouting "But, Amu-chi! Think of the shoujo manga!" Rima was right, it could've been much worse.
With a giggle, Amu tightened her hand around her best friend's, stating "Well, what are we waiting for?", to which her wavy-haired friend nodded with a soft smile as the two started to walk faster, which quickly led to them running. "We're on a mission in the name of love~!"
Rima rolled her eyes as the two ran faster, hand-in-hand muttering "Amu-chan, you sound just like Eru."
The two former guardians looked at each other before laughing over their own silliness as they dashed to the shopping district. The retired Joker's Humpty Lock sparkled under the afternoon sun.
The two were completely out of breath when they finally reached their destination, so they decided to take a break after stopping by a vending machine.
Once the water, courtesy of Rima, had recharged them, the two made it to the local stationary shop, which was thankfully not too crowded.
"See? It was good that we ran.", Rima teased as the two began to look around the store.
There were many different designs, some ranging from looking like sheet music, devoured in glitter, as well as some with different jokes on it, which quickly caught Rima's eye.
A design that stood out the most for Amu had several stars and hearts, but what stood out most of all were the pink and blue cats, their tails connecting to form the shape of a heart.
Amu knew it was the one.
The rosette turned to show it to her friend, whom had chosen the design with stars, raindrops, and different jokes, nodded in agreement. "Perfect."
As soon as the two paid for their respective items at the register, they began there journey back to their normal route, walking of course since there was no need for running this time around.
When the two reached the corner they normally parted ways at, Rima smiled as she waved goodbye to her friend, stating "Finish the mission, Amu-chan."
Amu giggled and returned the wave. "I'll get right to it!"
When Amu got home, she wasted no time whatsoever and began writing her reply to Ikuto. "He'll love this…" she thought to herself as she took one of the cat-couple sheets out and began her response. Her four guardian characters hovered around her, brimming with curiosity as they began to read what she had written down.
"Dear Ikuto…"
When Rima saw Amu on their morning walk to school the next day, the rosette cheerfully held out the completed letter, earning a thumbs up from the blonde.
"I wonder how long it'll take to reach him?", Amu asked after she had placed the letter into a mailbox.
"Maybe a few weeks given that he's in another country?" Rima suggested as she adjusted her scarf.
Amu shrugged. "That might be," Amu's turned to face her best friend, a soft smile forming on her face. "Thank you, Rima-chan."
Rima returned the smile and the two resumed their walk to school...until Amu broke the silence.
"Say Rima-chan, have you ever thought about writing a letter to Nagihiko-kun?"
Now it was the blonde's turn to blush.
"No."
"It would be sweet!"
"NO!"
Amu golden eyes sparkled as she laughed while Rima made her classic pout. "We see each other every day!", she retorted.
"But it would be romantic!", Amu teased as Rima groaned in defeat. Unbeknownst to Amu, Rima smiled in secret at her best friend, knowing the the pink-haired girl all too well. Yes, it was obvious.
Amu could hardly wait for the next letter.