A/N: Been a while huh? Well, my interest (no pun intended) in AC has been admittedly lower since the manga ended. But of course, it's not going away since AC has become one of my favorite series. RYURIN IS LOVE!

So anyway, here's another little story thingy.

-x-X-x-

Hug

-x-X-x-

Chiba stared at the piece in his hands with an odd look. A box had arrived at his doorstep that morning, sender unknown, and out of the box came the piece he was currently holding.

What was this piece you ask? Well, it was just a plain black T-Shirt.

Why he was staring at it oddly? That was because of the only decoration on the otherwise blank piece of cloth; the big bold text on the front reading 'Hug Me'.

Chiba wasn't sure what to make of it. Was this a prank? Or maybe a present by someone who didn't want to be named? A secret admirer perhaps?

Deciding not to dwell on it now, Chiba got up from his seat at the living room couch. It was Saturday and he had things to do. Not going out today in particular, but still things to do.

Though, just as he stood up, the phone in his pocket rang. He took it out and checked who it was and saw Karma's name on the screen.

"Hello?" He spoke through the phone.

"Ah yeah, Chiba? Have you received the package?" Karma's voice came from the other side.

"Package…?" Chiba asked, and his eyes automatically went to the shirt in his other hand. "You sent this?"

"Yes, and could you wear it today?"

"…Why?"

"Come on, it's a present from me, so wear it to at least make me feel good." Karma's voice sounded whiny, but Chiba could also hear the usual mischief in it. "Besides, it's not like you're going out today, right?"

"That is true… but I don't see any obligation for me to wear this."

"Oh come on! I'll buy you juice," Karma offered suggestively.

"Why are you so persistent in making me wear this shirt?" Chiba asked.

"We just think it would look cute on you,"

"…Was that Nakamura-san?"

"Yes..." Karma's voice came back from the other side. "But never mind that, are you going to wear the shirt? I even offered to buy you juice!"

Chiba sighed, finally relenting.

"Alright, I'll wear the shirt while I'm in the house." He agreed, not seeing any real harm in it.

"Great! Then see you next week in class!" Karma said and promptly hung up.

Chiba brought his phone down and stared at it oddly. His gaze then shifted from the mobile to the cloth on his other hand. Deciding to just go through with it, he placed the phone back in his pocket and proceeded to change shirts.

-x-X-x-

Hayami walked along a road, heading to the house of her closest male friend. Earlier that morning, Rio had stopped by and asked her to deliver some 'important notes' to Chiba. Why the blonde couldn't do it herself was beyond her. She had just come, gave her the task, and promptly left without further explanation.

Later, Hayami did try to contact her, but Rio did not answer. And when she called Chiba, his phone responded as busy at the moment. With the lack of information, Hayami was unsure of how to act. But the notes seemed genuine, English tips personally from Bitch-sensei apparently, and she was free for most of the day. Thus, Hayami decided on just doing what she was asked.

Reaching the desired house, Hayami walked up to the doorstep and rang the doorbell. After a moment of waiting, the door opened to reveal Chiba himself.

"Hayami? What are you doing here?" The boy asked.

"Rio asked me to give you these notes." Hayami said, handing him the papers.

"Notes?" Chiba asked as he took the sheets and started checking them. While he was doing this, Hayami's eyes trailed from his face to his shirt,

'…Hug me,' Hayami mentally read what was written on the shirt. Her eyes then went back to his face.

"I don't really know what these…" Chiba trailed off when he saw the slight questioning look on Hayami's face. In turn, his expression also showed confusion. Hayami answered this by nodding once, and Chiba followed the gesture and looked down, only to see that he was still wearing that shirt.

"Uh…" Chiba wasn't sure what to say. He figured he should explain before the girl got the wrong idea, but the proper starting words were having trouble coming out.

Hayami found the loss of words sprinkled with some fluster both amusing and cute at the same time. A smile formed on her lips as her eyes once again went to the shirt. She stepped closer, her arms spreading wide. And the next thing Chiba knew, Hayami was embracing him with her arms around his back and head by the side of his.

"If you wanted one so much, you could've just asked." Hayami whispered into his ear.

With the smile still in place, the girl let go of the stunned Chiba and stepped back. She stared at him for a moment before giggling slightly, and turned around to head back home. "Well, I've done what I was tasked with. So I will be leaving now."

She went to get going, but to her slight surprise, she was stopped by Chiba's voice.

"Hayami,"

She turned around partially to look at him. "Ye-"

Her question was cut off when, to her much greater surprise, Chiba draped an arm around her waist, turned her fully around and pressed her to his chest as his other arm also locked around her back. Her own arms were squished between her chest and his, and all she could do was look up at the boy with her now wide eyes.

And gazing from above were the piercing red ones of Chiba. His face started getting closer, and Hayami instinctively backed away. His head slid to the side, lips coming close to her ear. Hayami held her breath when Chiba's own brushed her ear. She closed her eyes and waited for whatever Chiba was intending to say.

"…Thank you for bringing me the notes."

Hayami pried one eye open at this, followed by the second when Chiba let her go and stepped back. He raised the paper sheets up, "I appreciate it,"

With that, he stepped back into his house and held the door. "See you in class." He offered as the last parting words and lightly shut the door.

Stunned, Hayami just stood there for some time. Finally, she turned around slowly and started heading back home in a slight daze.

-x-X-x-

"Told you Chiba would hug her back. Now you have to pay me double the amount I paid you!"

"Aaaah! And here I was hoping I could get some pocket money out of Rinka's hug. Oh well, I guess I'll just have you pay me triple next time,"

"Won't be happening sweet pies,"

"We'll see about that."

-x-X-x-

A/N: "sweet pies"

Karma x Rio anyone? I'm personally more Karma x Okuda, but Rio and he are the two devils of Class-E. I think they make a pretty good pair too.

Anyway, this turned out longer than expected. This one-shot was inspired by an artwork by aya1039. The artist makes the best RyuRin fan arts out there!

Hope you enjoyed -Plus Ultra Bye!