The Art of Theft
Chapter Five: On Target: Finale

"Damn Chihaya, you're looking mighty fine!" Luke whistles, and it's the beginning of the end. His eyes move up and down me approvingly, and he nods. "Oh my, is this the little girl I held in my arms just yesterday…"

I smack his hand away, watching as he reached to fix a piece of the fabric on the flamboyant dress. "Cut it out!" I yell, but to no avail, his hand pulls down hard on the back of my dress, nudging me backwards. "What the—!?"

Luke shrugs and begins adjusting the watch on his left hand. "The dress flares way too much at the back. If you bend over, your ass will be on public display."

"W-what are you saying!?" I stammer, and back away towards the full-size mirror behind us. He points to the mirror— directly at my ass, and a quick glance in the direction confirms his absurd statement. The dress looked short on the hanger, but on me it was like trying to squeeze into a frilly plastic shopping bag.

"I got the dress from Juli," he admits meekly. He's beginning to doubt his purchase. "…Just, don't get harassed okay?"

My eyes narrow. "Is this your best advice?"

"Well, my best advice was going with Jill to Date Night, but you instead, go with Mai. The girl you specifically told me not to hook you up with." he rolls his eyes.

I click my tongue, and ignore him. I concentrate on fixing my slutty dress.

"So, wanna go over the plan again?" he grins.

My tongue hangs slightly over my bottom lip as I desperately reach for the zipper. "What plan? Idiot, there's no plan. I just want to tell her how I feel."

He stirs, and he sits upright. "What!? No stealing the bride away from Gil?"

"She's not getting married, Luke." I sigh.

"And if she was?"

I abort my zipper plan and clock around to face him. I'm grinning. "I'd just have to steal her away, then."

Luke laughs, and I join. "I'm rubbing off on you way too much, Chiyo."

"Damn bastard."

Luke gets up from his chair and goes towards the door. He leaves it ajar, and noise fills the storage room completely. I tilt my head towards the door. I can see a multitude of colors, streamers and food items. Mai redecorated; there's far too much pink.

I gulp nervously, and tug on my dress one last time. Luke nudges towards the door and smiles. "Coming?"

My breathing speeds and so does my heart. I can hear it throughout the noise in the other room, and I take a tentative step backwards. "I can't! I look… ridiculous."

Luke grabs me by the wrists and next thing I know, I'm standing. He drags me into the next room, and I receive immediate stares.

Tao whistles happily. "Luke, I'm so happy for you two!"

I clench my fists and stare at Tao. Luke waves his steady hand in my face, and I snap out of it. I see her. Oh dear Harvest Goddess, she's here!

Jill.

She's dressed in a semi-formal dress, and it's the color of my eyes. It's simple beauty, just like her. Her hands are adorned with tiny white gloves, and those tiny white gloves are adorned with Gil.

Their fingers are laced, and my own hands itch for her warmth. Without giving it another thought, my feet glide me towards her, and yet my arms are stopped by unwanted heat. I swirl around, and Mai stares at my face. No, to put it correctly, she stares at my dress. It's not entirely her fault though; everyone is staring at the magenta wonder that was on my slender body.

"You're… you're…" she starts, and she can't even bring herself to finish. She's confused on whether to cry or laugh, I can tell.

"Wearing a dress," I finish. "Listen, if you have a problem with that… I understand."

She hesitates, but one look at the closeness between me and Jill is enough for her to make up her mind.

"Let's dance!"

She pulls me off to the multi-colored dance floor and I comply. My heart is still chasing after Jill, though.

I should have listened to those dance lessons Luke was giving to me earlier.

I have no idea what I'm doing.

Mai notices this, and she shakes one judgmental finger at me. Grabbing my hand, she places the other on her waist. "And then, take a step… like this… oh, you're a good dancer," she processes, looking down towards the floor to see if I'm doing it right.

I focus on the dancing, because she is my date and I did promise her.

"L-like this?" I ask nervously, and she laughs.

"That's right!"

The song plays for a little while longer, the slow rhythm growing slower by the second.

"Would you like punch?" I call out through the beat-heavy trance song that plays right afterwards, and she yells something back. I can't hear her, but I assume she agrees. I leave her there and walk towards the tables.

No, I run.

I drown myself with punch, and pray that it's been spiked. I receive more odd looks for the dress, and I flip them the bird. I gaze at the red liquid. The punch might have been spiked after all.

"So much for working on your people skills, eh?"

I cough, hand in face. "Oh. Well—" I rotate, the cups still in hand. "Jill! You…" I muster up the courage, but it fails. "Look beautiful."

She points at my dress and beams. "No, you are looking beautiful tonight."

"Long story. Probably, the longest and creepiest story in the whole damn world."

She giggles, and pours herself punch. "Luke told me your bet. I'd wear a dress for money too." she winks.

"You're a girl." I roll my eyes.

"And you're looking like a girl tonight. Oh, yeah… everyone can see up your skirt." she frowns, and she stands in back of me so I can pull it down.

Blushing red, I fix it quickly, and decide on my next few words. "Jill, can I—"

"—dance with you?" a voice interrupts, and it's Gil. He smiles innocently at me, and leads her off onto the dance floor. I had to wonder if he was being an ass, or truly clueless. I chug another cup of punch.

"Bravo, Chiyo, bravo." Luke whispers angrily from under the table. Isn't it the slightest bit creepy on how this boy pops up from nowhere!?

"Luke! Help… help me." I state pathetically.

"I can't, damn it! This is your story. Your life, and your Gourmet riiight behind you."

I gasp and swirl around. A little blond boy stares at me with questioning eyes. His purple suit matched the dark atmosphere of the room, but his huge purple top hat didn't.

"The names' Pierre. Eighth generation Gourmet. Chihaya? Owner of this café? Didn't… didn't Lucia say the owner was a male?" he shuffled through a few papers in his hand, but eagerly shrugged it off. "You're looking beautiful tonight, Madame Chihaya. I'll be honored to taste anything your delicate hands have created."

Oh God.

Things couldn't get any worse, could they? Things couldn't get any worse from a small little prepubescent boy hitting on you, your love dancing with another, and a crazy girl after your bones. It couldn't; it's against the laws of physics, or God or something like that.

As far as these shindigs go, it was simple. Walk in with a date, have fun, and leave. Bring the girl home, and celebrate your little 'victory' at home, eating lots of cake and drinking lots of fizzy soda. So far, it was the opposite. So far, it was one hell of a trip.

Here I was, feeding a little kid my cakes. He's sitting at the counter, scribbling down on his too-big-for-him notepad, and I'm at the oven, fussing over the café special— Chestnut Cake.

I quickly realized what this bozo was trying to do when he 'accidently' dropped his spoon on the floor, making me go down and get it. I was not amused.

"Here's the café special, a smooth texture and creamy melt-in-your-mouth insides—" I watched in disgust as he shoved it all in his mouth, nodding happily in approval. He scribbled in his notepad; I swear, he was drawing or something; and called forth the next dish.

"The next dish is poison," I said darkly, my eye twitching.

He stirred, still writing. "Hnn? What was that?"

"Cocoa Pudding."

"You… have very good taste, Miss Chihaya!" he yells happily after stuffing three main entrees, five desserts, and two beverages. "You're service is extraordinary, and recipes are top notch. An A!"

I grin in satisfaction. "Thanks, Pierre."

"But, you know… I could change that grade into an A plus if you…" he pauses, thinking of the words. "Make extra time."

I chuckle. "Oh really? How would that work for you?"

"Very well." he leans forward. "But, just the same for you…"

I quickly scan the room behind him for help. Luke was drooling over Cathy, Jill was dancing with Gil, and Mai was chatting away with Roomi. My gaze adverts to the mini!pedo, and his creepy-like serious expression makes me laugh.

"Okay, listen here. I'm a man," I utter, sipping on a nearby beverage. I grin, amused, as his face expression drops and reverts to horror. "You've been hitting on the owner of a full set of male naughty parts."

He's quiet, and the loud music beats above him. "What!? Are you saying!?" he yells, and quickly backs away from me.

"Chill, I didn't confess my love for you or anything…" I mock, and snap my fingers. "Oh, that's right! But you did!"

"You…! You!"

The music stops, and I fixate on his pitiable appearance. His shoulders ached backwards, and his mouth was fully open. Everyone turns to his loud unfathomable blabbing, and I sigh in defeat. My mouth opens to say something—

"I'm going to give you the worst review ever! You… pervert!"

"Ironic."

He continues screaming, and it looks like a temper tantrum. "You're a horrible person! Such… such a person doesn't need to exist!"

"That's not true—!"

That was it. A voice; her voice. It echoed mysteriously in the dim lighted room, and I stared behind Pierre in slight shock. Everyone turned to the speaker, who was red with embarrassment.

"I…" she whispered, and I stirred.

Jill, standing alone on the dance floor, took a tentative step backwards. She let her arms fall to her sides, and the dangling was the only source of movement in the room.

"Oh— God!" she mumbled as she covered her mouth and ran towards the exit. Gil followed suit, but Mai cut in front of him. She sheepishly smiled at everyone in the room and signaled the DJ to play.

"Uh… technical difficulties." she explains.

Mai stepped into the clearing, the moonlit path ignited by woodland sounds and objects. She stepped over a sapling, carefully sidestepping over the rebirth of the petals, the leaves; of life. She found Jill sitting on a nearby box, staring at the sapling in apprehension.

The ground crackled under Mai's feet, and Jill whipped at the sound.

"What was that?" Mai giggled, trying to make the situation less dense. Jill smiled; it was working.

"I… haven't got a damn clue."

"Well, it was pretty obvious."

Cue, a raising of the eyebrow. "What?"

"Your feelings, silly. F-for Chihaya!"

"I would never do that to you." Jill stated outright, folding her arms over her chest. She slowly opened her eyes and racked her brain for another argument. "Plus, he's an ass."

"An ass in a very… exotic dress."

"An ass is an ass, no matter how you sugar coat it."

"But a crush is a crush, love is love, and denial is denial. You, dearest Jill; have a bad case of all three. And Chihaya has the best dosage of trying to please everyone at once. Oh, and retardation. He's also mentally ill."

"I don't get it. How was he pleasing everyone? He was just pleasing himself."

"He—" she pauses, and is unsure of whether she wants to accept the truth in her next words. "Has things to tell you. A lot of things. It wouldn't be right if I said the things he's got to say to you but… But, he wanted to keep his word to take me to Date Night. He's an idiot like that."

"If he had something to say, wouldn't he have said it already?"

"Like I said; the boy is as dense as lead," Mai smiles, and steps up off the floor. "See for yourself." Dusting her knees, she quickly leaves the clearing, leaving a confused Jill in her wake. Crackling of leaves disturbs the morbid silence.

"Chihaya…?" Jill murmurs, tensing at the sight of me.

"I guess I truly am quite the idiot." I mumble, and shyly stride into the moonlight clearing. I take a deep breath of air, and realize this would be the only time to set things right.

"Jill…" I continue. "… I was the biggest ass in denying it… hiding it… God knows why I even asked Mai out today. Maybe I was trying too hard to avoid something that actually takes work. But it's okay now; because my barrier is ready to be taken down already. I don't need barriers. It's funny, how something like pride can hold back your feelings but… I don't need pride: I want you. I need you. Damn it, won't you be mine?"

"Wha…!?"

"Likewise, I'm scared." I look towards the stars, hoping they'd tell me what to do.

Jill looks up at me incredulously, and she's puzzled. The pout on my face confuses her more.

"I'm scared that I'll only hurt you, like I did before. It'll probably happen again." My eyes find hers.

She stands up and walks around me. "It's okay," she turns. "Even if I… or we; get hurt once in a while, its okay 'cause these are my feelings too, so I know there is no deceit. You might not be prince charming, and I may not be a princess, but I know we'll have a fairytale ending."

"Hopefully not a Romeo & Juliet ending," I laugh.

She giggles, but still walks away. "I… owe a dance to a certain blonde boy. Do you mind?"

I shake my head, still blushing. She leaves the clearing, and I still gaze in the direction of my almost princess.

God damn it, he's still here.

The little runt of a Gourmet was still at the counter, eagerly scribbling in his pad. The noise his angry pencil makes irks me, and my feet glide over to him. He looks up when I arrive, and moves one seat over.

I roll my eyes. "Okay, how old are you again? Five? Seven?"

He doesn't catch the sarcasm. "Nineteen!"

"R-really!?" I gasp, sincerely surprised.

Mai's voice suddenly echoes through a microphone and everyone's gaze follows her voice. "Aright, it's time for the last dance! Everyone grab your date—" her angry eyes find mine and I gulp. "—and enjoy!"

I watch as Gil strides up to her and bows, chucking as he leads her to the dance. Well, he stole my date and I stole his. It's only fair.

"I'm done here!" Pierre shouts, and he clicks his pen with satisfaction. He jumps off the stool and heads for the door, but I stop him in time.

"Wait! What… what did you give me?"

"I said I gave you an A."

"But…"

"Do you not want an A?"

"I'm not saying—"

"If you want to maintain your grade, you don't speak of this again. Or me, for that matter. Stupid cross dresser."

I grin. "Thanks. You know… if you're ever in town…"

He majestically raises his hand in defeat. "I'm out of here!"

I laugh and he walks out, a bit flustered. He was actually a good person, despite the magnitude of the prank I pulled on him. I heard someone giggle behind me, and I turned to see Luke and Cathy. Luke slug his arm around Cathy, and she giggled again. They were obviously drunk.

"Hey babe, go over to the dance floor—" he hiccupped. "And be a good girl?"

She nodded and staggered off, tripping over her high-heeled boots. I stared at Luke disbelievingly and he innocently shrugged. He cup of wine he held in his hands spilled as he shook.

"I didn't know we even had wine, Luke."

"Wus need. I mean; was needed." He slurred.

I face-palmed. "I did what you told me to do."

"Re-really!?" His face lit up.

"I… stole the bride away."

The loud, ridiculous clapping that emerged from Luke made me laugh loudly; especially when he doubled over and fell flat on his ass, wine cup and all. I helped him to a table: and he began to seduce Kotomi, receiving menacing looks from Juli.

The soft music that adds ambience to the room, the soft lights, the cheerful smiles; it was beginning to shape up to be a normal Date Night again. I look at the small crowd, at each of their bright faces and sigh: It was a good night. Suddenly, Jill walks into my view, and she holds her arm tight, biting her lip. She's alone, there's no one even in a two feet radius from her, and I slowly stroll towards her.

"Did blonde boy go invisible, or something?"

She shakes her head, sighing. "Because he looks so invisible dancing with Mai, right?"

I frown. "You sound jealous."

"And what if I am?"

"Well; I'd be jealous."

She wraps her hands around my shoulders and laughs, and I do the same with her waist. I use my newfound dancing skills, and we're gradually enveloped by silence.

"You know Chihaya…" she begins. "I didn't tell you how pretty you looked in that dress, right?"

I make a face. "Don't even start with that."

"As easily as you put it on, you can take it off."

I blink. "That's suggestive… You're going to steal my dress?"

She frowns. "Well, it's a trade-off. You stole my heart, I steal your clothes."

"Thief."

"That isn't a good thing or a bad thing."

I laugh, and dig my face in the nape of her neck, and she places her head on my own. We still sway to the music, and the chatter around us fades.

"I love you, almost princess."

"I love you, almost prince."


I admit! I was really sloppy with this chapter. P:
Like really. As in, the POV kept switching in and out. Et wot. Flame as much as you'd like.
But still, I like some of the dialouge I typed here... (pretty much it)

Dedicated to PROLOUGE because she was pretty much the only one waiting for all chappies and is uber-awesome. :D

REVIEWZ WILL GET CHIHAYA'S DRESS OFF. :DD