The Facts About Friends

On the sidewalk, a blond girl with her long hair tied up in two ponytails tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for her friend. She glanced at her watch every few minutes, then turned to stare ahead with an annoyed expression on her face. He was the one who had asked her to meet him here about half an hour ago, and now he was running late for something he'd planned himself.

Finally she could see him running towards her. He stopped in front of her, panting hardly and clearly out of breath. "Sorry I'm late," he panted.

She snorted. "And you were the one who wanted me to be on time to meet you here. Where have you been?"

"I was at soccer practice just now and had to run all the way home to change and pick this up." He held out a camera.

"What for?" She was a bit confused why he needed a camera.

"The mall is having a talent show in conjunction with Halloween, and my friend who's an editor at the school newspaper asked me to get some pictures of it for next week's issue because their photographer's on vacation and won't be around. I have to hand in the pictures tomorrow."

"So basically I was dragged out of my nice warm home to dash around a shopping mall with you for a favour to your friend which, by the way, I don't know when I could have been snuggling up in my comfy couch with a cup of hot cocoa watching a rented horror movie and spending my Halloween night alone, which is how I like it?" she asked as they walked down the sidewalk towards the mall.

"Yup. Isn't that nice?" he grinned as they arrived at the entrance of the mall.

"Oh, I'm sure it is," she said sarcastically as they went in.

They headed to the stage in the middle of the shopping mall, which was usually used for special events like concerts, performances, and also talent shows. The whole place was decorated for Halloween. Miniature bats hung from the ceiling and there were more than a few carved pumpkins placed around the stage.

Kukai groaned as he saw the number of people that were there. "Oh, man! I'll never be able to get a good view of the stage from here. And I wanted to help my friend out by giving him some cool shots for the front page!"

Utau smirked. "Well, you were one who agreed to do it, not me. You figure something out."

As Kukai scratched his head in frustration, Utau turned to check out the stage. She noticed a lot of people dressed in all sorts of Halloween costumes hanging around backstage. "Hey, are those the backstage crew or something?"

"No, they're the performers. The organizer set a Halloween theme for the talent show."

"Oh." She checked out the performers' costumes one by one. There were a fair number of witches, ghosts and vampires, with a few fairies and other kinds of costumes here and there. Suddenly one of the performers caught her eye.

"Hey Kukai, follow me!" And she dragged him towards the backstage.

As they got closer to the performer, who was dressed as a devil, she saw her turn her head towards their direction. Her expression immediately changed to a look of recognition.

'U-Utau-chan?"

"Yuiko-chan! It's you!" And the two embraced each other as if they were long-lost friends.

Kukai stood at the side, looking bewildered. "What… what's going on?"

Utau laughed and turned to her friend. "This is my former classmate Yuiko. She and I used to be best friends in elementary school. However, we went to different high schools afterwards, so we haven't seen each other since graduation. It's so good to see you again!" she gushed excitedly as she grasped her friend's hand tightly.

"And you too! I never expected to see you here! Are you here to watch the talent show?"

"Actually, I was dragged here by someone who wanted company while doing a favour for his friend," she said as she gestured to Kukai, who immediately let his annoyance show.

Yuiko giggled, then leaned towards Utau. "Looks like you've hooked a hot one," she whispered before exploding into a fit of giggles.

Utau blushed slightly. "Looks like you haven't changed at all, Yuiko-chan."

"You too." She smiled at her. "So what's the favour your friend had to do?"

"He needs to get pictures of the talent show, but he can't get a good view. And no wonder, considering he was late."

Kukai now wished he hadn't brought Utau along. "Okay, okay, I already apologized for that."

"Well, I'm not letting you forget anytime soon." Utau then turned to Yuiko. "So what's your performance?"

"I'm teaming up with a classmate. She's gonna sing, and I'm playing the electric piano."

"Great idea! I remembered you were pretty good with instruments back in elementary school. So where your classmate?" Utau asked as she looked around.

"I dunno. But she should be here anytime soon."

Meanwhile, Kukai had been checking out the backstage. Suddenly he pointed to a space close to the stage. "Hey, what's that for?"

"Oh, it's for the press," Yuiko explained.

Then an idea struck Kukai's mind. "Hey, my friend gave me a photographer's pass. I thought it didn't do anything, but do you think it can get me a seat there?"

"Sure!"

"Alright!" Kukai exclaimed as he pumped his fist in the air. "Come on Utau, let's go get some good places."

"Fine," Utau replied, then she turned to Yuiko. "We'll watch out for your performance, okay?"

"No problem! See you later!" Then she watched Utau and Kukai leave the backstage.

Five minutes later, the two of them were sitting up front waiting for the show to start. Kukai pretended to kiss his pass. "Who knew a plastic card was so powerful?"

Utau shook her head as she watched his antics, then turned to watch the stage. Suddenly from the corner of her eye she could see her friend walking towards them.

"Yuiko, what's wrong?"

'My classmate just called and told me she couldn't make it! She's got the flu!" Yuiko cried in desperation.

"What am I gonna do, Utau-chan? I've already registered our act as one electric piano player and one singer! And I don't have a singer!"

"Who said you didn't have a singer?" Utau smiled at her friend. "You've got me, and that's all you need!"

"Really? Thanks, Utau-chan!" Then Yuiko hesitated for a while before asking, "Um… you don't happen to have brought a Halloween costume with you, do you?"

Utau smacked her forehead in realization. "Oh my gosh! I forgot about the Halloween theme!" She turned to Kukai. "Hey, got any ideas?"

"Well, you were one who agreed to do it, not me. You figure something out." Kukai said without looking back.

"Come on, I'm serious!" Finally she sighed. "Okay, I apologize for saying that before. Now would you help me out?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" Kukai smiled at her. "I'll tell you how…"

Later…

"And for the next act, put your hands together for Yuiko Okinawa and Utau Hoshina with 'Labyrinth Butterfly'!" the emcee announced.

The audience was immediately abuzz with excitement. "Did she just say Utau Hoshina?" "Utau-chan is performing?" "I can't believe it! I'm going to see Utau-chan live!"

The lights on the stage darkened, then the sounds of an electric piano could be heard from the stage, playing the intro of the song.

Then suddenly a spotlight shone on the girl in the middle of the stage, and she started to sing.

Open your shiny eyes in the silent night

A strange night has befallen you

With footsteps crawling behind you

And the sluggish pose of a black cat

The audience screamed loudly in excitement as their idol sang while wearing a never-before-seen costume. She had on a red dress with small black stripes running down it and large red boots. Around her neck was a bat-shaped choker attached with a silver cross. She also had bat wings on her back and bat wing hairclips in her hair.

Kukai smiled as he quickly took a few shots. He had the idea of having Utau use her character transformation 'Lunatic Charm' as a costume on the spur of the moment, and he now considered it one of the best ideas he ever had. The school newspaper would love this, he thought as he snapped a last picture before stopping to check out the shots he'd taken.

Don't stare at it, don't grab it

It's just a drifting butterfly

The prayer clad into the flying invisible wings

Are you hiding it deep within your heart

As the song ended, the crowd went crazy with applause. Utau and Yuiko took a joint bow, then retreated backstage. Kukai put down his camera and put it into his pocket, then headed backstage to pick Utau up.

After the show ended, the two of them walked home together. "So, how do you feel?"

"I must've signed a thousand autographs after the show was over. However, it felt good to know that there are so many people out there who love my songs."

Kukai laughed out loud. "What are you laughing at?"

"Either you have a big ego or you're a total workaholic. I wasn't talking about your performance just now."

"Then what?"

"I was asking how you felt after helping out your friend. You know, after you decided just there and then. Without thinking about whether it was the appropriate time or anything."

Utau was silent for a while. Finally she spoke up. "To be honest, it felt really good. It's not something I normally do, doing something without thinking it through, but it felt great knowing that I was able to help out."

Kukai smiled. "Yeah. That's what helping a friend feels like. You can't really explain it, but you feel great for some reason. That's the power of friendship."

Utau stared at him as he said that. "Wow. Who knew you were a genius at dealing with friends?"

He shrugged. "It's just a gift. And speaking of friends," he quickly pushed her behind a tree. "Wait here. I have something to do."

Utau stood there and watched him duck into a nearby bush. What in the world is he doing? She thought. Then she heard footsteps up ahead. She peered from behind the tree at the two figures walking down the road.

Wait. Isn't that Yaya of the Guardians? And the boy… is that Sanjo-san's younger brother? His name was Kairi, right? What are they doing here at this time of the night?

She answered her own question right away as she took a look at their attire. Apparently they had been trick-or-treating, and were probably out to score some more candy before calling it a night.

As they passed by the bush Kukai had ducked into, it suddenly started shaking furiously. She saw Yaya squeal in fright and throw her arms around Kairi. Kairi held her tightly againsthim while chara-changing almost instantly and pointing a katana at the bush. Then a camera suddenly popped out, followed by Kukai's laughing face.

"Ne, Kukai-senpai, you're so mean!"

"Okay, okay, I won't disturb you guys any more. Have a good evening!" he called as he walked towards the tree she was hiding behind.

He waited till the other two were out of sight, then said, "Okay, you can speak now."

"Is that how you treat your friends? You know, taking pictures of them with a companion of a different gender when they least expect it?"

"Hey, it's called payback. Back when I was still a Guardian with Yaya and the rest, she loved to snap photos of me with some girl I was chatting to. She always tried to use those pictures to blackmail me, saying she'd leak out my 'secret crush' if I didn't follow her bidding."

Utau raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Is that so? And what are you gonna do with the pictures you caught of them?"

Kukai smiled mischievously. "All I can say is, someone's getting a surprise envelope tomorrow."

"You get a kick out of doing this, don't you?"

"Yep."

"You're such a kid." No sooner had the words left her mouth than she felt his lips brush against hers.

"You said it, and now here's your punishment." Then he kissed her again.

As they broke apart, she saw that he was smiling at her. "You just love to do that, don't you?"

"Be honest. You liked it too." And they set off down the road together, heading for home.

Phew, third chapter's finally done! I've seen your reviews minna-san, and thank you all for them! The next chapter's gonna be Tadamu, and I know some of you don't like it, but just read it first and judge me later, okay? I promise you won't regret it!

P.S.: This chapter has a tie-in with the first one, have you noticed it?

Disclaimer: Carrot-Bunny does not own Shugo Chara! or any of its characters, but wishes she did.