Mailroom Palaver

Part 2

The bright sunlight slipped in through the glass doors of the cafe. It filtered in through the windows and warmly filled up the tables and chairs. It was in the late afternoon and the sky was a brilliant sapphire, laced with fluffy clouds and cheerful birds. The brilliant emerald of the grass shone brightly, eager to boast its lovely green hue while the sun was still out. For the past month, there had been nothing but grey, dreary clouds hovering in the equally grey sky.

Although it was a much prettier day, the air still held a cold bite to it, promising the arrival of winter

Rima's natural curls dipped in front of her heart-shaped face as she leaned over her coffee, relinquishing in the spices and sweet scents that swirled out of it and into the air. After a stressful workday for both her and Amu, they had decided to relax with some coffee and each other's company.

"Tadase called me, by the way," Rima noted as casually as she could. She hid behind her coffee mug as she took another sip, her eyes watching Amu cautiously.

The pinkette sighed and, with a slight eye-roll, leaned her elbow against the table, her chin on her fist. "And what, pray tell, did the 'world's best boyfriend' say?"

A ghost of a smile graced Rima's features at Amu's lack-of-interest. She waited until the waiter had delivered Amu's drink and left before she continued.

"Just that…he'd appreciate if you stopped ignoring his texts and calls," The blond shrugged, uninterested. "He says he misses you and that you guys need to talk."

Amu couldn't help a sigh escape her lips as she stirred her drink around in frustration. She groaned in despair. "He's making this more difficult than it has to be. I clearly told him that he was too…sensitive for me. Too over-bearing and suffocating for me to handle," she explained. She suddenly let out a groan of frustration, about to pull out her hair, "I'm such a dirt bag!"

Rima shrugged, "I think telling him the truth was much better than leading him on and sticking around for longer than you did. This way he wasn't too devoted to you. He didn't have your face tattooed on his ass just yet, so, hey, I think you made the right choice."

Smiling gratefully, Amu nodded silently, unsure of how to continue the conversation. She wasn't ready yet to give Tadase a call, mainly because she didn't have the heart to tell him again that she couldn't handle his dependence on her. Sure, she was strong enough on her own, but when it came to being responsible for another person who basically needed to be cared for like a pet, she would rather not find herself in such a situation.

Clearly seeing the need for a subject change, Rima spoke up again, her voice taking on its naturally aloof tone.

"So, what's been happening in the life of Hinamori Amu?"

Quirking her eyebrows, Amu drummed her fingers along her chin in thought. Well, her building's electricity was the weakest in the city, her hamster was lying dead in its cage, and Ikuto still had her-.

Eyes widening, she flipped her gaze over to Rima. "After waiting for like a week, just to see if having patience would finally make my parcel come, I checked the mail today and realized that Ikuto still has my letter-opener, so I-"

"Who's Ikuto?"

"A-a guy in my building," the pinkette waved off dismissively, hoping she sounded as indifferent as she hoped. The last thing she wanted was Rima poking around in something that probably wasn't going to go anywhere. "So, that means I had to open my mail with my hands, and you know what happened the last time I did that."

Yes, practically everyone recalled the events that occurred the last time Amu attempted to open up an envelope with her fingers. No one knew how she was able to do it, but blood coated her hand and she nearly fainted.

"But I opened it successfully and wrote a nasty note to Ikuto about how I was going to get my letter-opener back no matter what," Amu finished with a successful sigh, followed by a nod. She didn't bother mentioning the fact that her parcel still had not arrived. That thought was just a constant downer.

The petite blond across from her simply lifted an eyebrow at her, "How amazing."

"Thank you. I appreciate your enthusiasm," Amu replied, mimicking Rima's monotonous voice.

"You'd better. You're the only one who gets to experience the magic of it."

The comment made both girls smile.

It was after a few more coffees and a movie followed by dinner when Amu shuffled into her apartment building once again. It was nearly midnight and she was yawning enough for two other people.

She nearly passed by the mailroom, but stopped at the last minute to poke her head around the corner. Her droopy gaze sluggishly dragged across the nook. It was empty. The bareness of the room made her stomach drop ever-so slightly. She hadn't seen him in days. Believe it or not, it was difficult to get on through a work day without being able to replay their small arguments in her head, coming up with better comebacks than the ones she said in the heat of the moment.

Pulling her feet over to her mailbox, she dared to check it, just in case something arrived on a later schedule than the regular mail delivery.

She couldn't exactly say she was expecting anything to actually be there. But, low-and-behold, a small envelope lay, already opened, near the back of the metal box.

Feeling giddy and jumpy all of a sudden, Amu reached inside, pulled the envelope out and flipped it around to locate the writing.

'Dearest Amu,
Upon receiving your note, I have changed the location of my spare key so that you are unable to break into my apartment to retrieve what you hold so dear. I'm afraid I must hold onto it for a little longer. I've grown quite attached to it, actually. You may never see it again. However, I know how pissed that would make you, so I've left you something in the plant by the elevator. Use it well.
Sincerely,
Tsukiyomi Ikuto.
P.S. If anything in your note scared me, it had to be your handwriting. It's horrendous.'

Amu wasn't sure which emotion to act on first. A swirl of giddiness, frustration, indifference, and more giddiness flipped through her stomach. She bit back a smile as she clutched her keys in one hand, letting the fingers of her free hand roam across the penmanship that was surprisingly very elegant for a male. Then again, Ikuto always had a sort of graceful presence to him. He was able to slide around like silk without being detected.

Then there was Amu, who seemed to smash everything in sight before realizing she had gone the wrong way, resulting in her turning around and destroying everything in the other direction, too.

Biting down on her lip, she continued to smile to herself as she shut the small door of the mailbox. She tried not to walk too eagerly over to the elevator, where she frowned to herself and dug around in the fern for whatever Ikuto had placed there.

Finally, she spotted it. Though upon recognizing it, Amu's eyes narrowed as her gaze switched to one that clearly showed just how unimpressed she was.

With pursed lips, she pulled out a white coffee mug with bold, colorful writing on it saying, 'Happy 80th, Grandpa!'

A vein nearly burst in her forehead. Mark her words, she would get her revenge.