six

VALENTINE'S OVA INCLUDED~ (It's after the chapter)

"WHAT?!" Gokudera snapped, sitting straight up.

I-pin jumped. "H-Hayato-nii –"

"THE TENTH WENT TO TOKYO?! WITHOUT ME?!" the silver-haired man jumped off the bed, ignoring the pains of several needles that were pulled out of his arm as he bolted for the door.

"W-wait!" I-pin called. But the man had already left the pale blue bed sheets crumpled and was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, at least we know he's recovered," Lambo, who was leaning against the door, muttered.

"To be honest, he should have stayed longer. I don't know what kind of weapon that attacker used, but this cut on his arm sure is deep." I-pin said in reply, peering out the door worriedly. "I would have preferred for him to rest longer and have his flame circulation recover completely. Reborn-san would be mad."

"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine," the young 25 year old man said casually. Ipin turned to him, twisting her single braid around her finger.

"But…" she then sighed. "I guess there's not much we can do anyways, he's already gone."

"Come on, let's go too then. Since someone didn't even say a word of thank you, why should we hang around this place any longer?" Lambo said with a lifted eyebrow, almost sarcastically. With that, he grabbed I-pin by the wrist and took off. I-pin's body leaned forwards by the force and she yelped.

"W-where are we going?" She asked, one hand on her white bandanna.

"Somewhere fun!" Lambo said with a tint of his old childishness in his voice. "LIKE AN AMUSEMENT PARK!" I-pin was surprised for a second, but her mind instantly switched from work mode into normal mode. She smiled to herself as Lambo pulled her along.

…..

"Ugh! How stupid am I? Just laying there while Ju-daimei flied off to Tokyo! I didn't even know he went!" Gokudera muttered as he pocketed his train ticket to Tokyo. He wasn't able to find any train or airplane that left just that day so he had to book one for a train leaving two days later. He basically could hijack the train or force ride… And since he was a mafia member now, he could ride some Vongola airplane or helicopter, but all of them were taken out on missions, and no one was allowed to use the emergency ones unless for… well… emergencies. "BUT THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! I CAN'T JUST HAVE THEM LAY THERE DOING NOTHING IN A CRISIS!" Gokudera reasoned but then shook himself in frustration and pushed all the messy thoughts aside for now. He was too busy shoving people in the crowd out of his way and shouldering past taller people. Gokudera felt extremely guilty. Not only had he let Tsuna go off without him, he couldn't even get to him fast enough. That's when it hit him. If he's already here, why not go and sneak into the Hiyashi's quarters on Tsushima island? Tsuna surely wouldn't be able to do so in Tokyo… He should at least be of some help while on the island.

Waving at a cab, Gokudera hopped on, and hissed a few words to the driver while opening his cellphone. Swiftly, he dialed Yamamoto's phone number. It didn't take long for the guy to pick up.

"Hello?" Yamamoto's voice sounded.

"Oy, Yakyuu baka, where are you?" Gokudera asked irritatedly.

"Huh? I'm in my house, why?" Yamamoto said, a little puzzled.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Gokudera literally screeched into the phone. On the other end, Yamamoto had to pull the phone away from his ear and grimaced.

"Calm down! What's wrong? I'm in my house!" Yamamoto said, groping for his sneakers and putting them on. He'd have to rush if Gokudera was in trouble. Anything could happen. But wasn't he supposed to be under I-pin's care?

Gokudera was truly furious. "You didn't go with Ju-daimei to Tokyo!?" He asked, trying to calm himself down a little. After all these years, it wasn't as if Gokudera didn't learn to control his temper a bit.

"No… I didn't." Yamamoto stated simply. Gokudera shook his head. The cabbie looked frightened at his display of emotions.

"How can you?" Gokudera said softly through gritted teeth. Yamamoto's carefree chuckle was heard.

"What? Hibari went with him. So did Reborn." Yamamoto said nonchalantly. "Don't sweat it. Besides, we're all gonna go on Wednesday for the final decision." Gokudera was feeling hot headed. Only two members went with Tsuna to Tokyo, and that was exactly where the Hiyashi's main quarters are. If they knew… They would likely seize the chance and cause havoc. Gokudera's hands clenched.

"Are you even loyal to the family!?" He yelled into the phone, but then after a bit, regretted that. He shouldn't have done that, especially to Yamamoto, who is still considerably unstable after his 'oyaji' passed away. He wasn't always like that. There was a time that Yamamoto started being okay with his dad leaving, but then after that, his wife died. Now it was just him – a man in his mid thirties – alone. Yamamoto didn't even have a child. The incident shook Yamamoto deeply and messed with his mind. Gokudera clearly remembered the funeral they attended. Tsuna, Chrome, Ryouhei, him, and Lambo were there. Even Hibari made a brief appearance. It was rare for Hibari to attend such events. He usually didn't hang around the family members unless in a mission or for work. Of course, Yamamoto was there too. He was crying – actually crying… He wasn't cheering people up like he did, he wasn't trying to be optimistic as always, he didn't even try to stop the tears from pouring out and rolling down his face as he crouched there, begging for a miracle to happen. After that, Yamamoto had gone on a drinking streak and refused to show himself in daylight. He rejected all the missions sent to him and left messages hanging without a reply. Only at night did he come out, and even so, rarely, just to buy food and other mandatory items or to go to the bar. Gokudera could recall so clearly, that one night he and Tsuna were walking down to visit Yamamoto for the hundredth time, despite being shut out the whole night like all the other times they attempted to get in. It was just on that same night that Yamamoto had decided to yet again go for a drink. They had seen him and Tsuna instantly rushed over. Yamamoto looked horrible that night. His eyes were bloodshot and there were large black eye bags under his eyes. His clothes smelled strongly of alcohol and his hair was as messy as a bird's nest. There were stains on his jeans and he looked pale and fragile, much unlike the athletic, cheerful Yamamoto Takeshi they knew. Tsuna had called his name and stopped Yamamoto from walking straight into him. Yamamoto's eyes were glazed and seemed to be focused on something far away… or rather, not focused at all. "Kishi… we were going to name her Kishi." He kept wailing and crying when they pulled him back into his house. It took awhile for them to realize that he was talking about his dead child, who was going to be born in a few days.

Gokudera remembered that it took a while for Yamamoto to realize that somebody was saying something to him, and took another minute for him to realize that the person was saying his name. It was as if Yamamoto had forgotten it. That night, Yamamoto had not been able to stay conscious long enough for Tsuna to even finish talking to him. All the while, he stood there, staggering and sometimes advancing a few steps. Tsuna had looked very concerned and it pained Gokudera to see it. Gokudera was pretty concerned about Yamamoto himself. So when Yamamoto's knees suddenly gave, he didn't hesitate to rush forward and catch his fall. Then Tsuna and him had ushered Yamamoto into the back seat of the car they came with and left for Tsuna's house. Yamamoto just drunkenly followed. He was in no shape to do anything at all.

Now thinking about it, Gokudera felt guilty for what he had said. It had only been what? A year since that happened. Yamamoto had moved out of Tsuna's house after three months – Tsuna reluctantly letting him go. He now lived in his house again, by himself, though he did find joy with his pet black cat, Emo. He had made up for lost time, taking every mission thrown at him and any other ones he could get his hands on.

There was silence on the other end of the phone and Gokudera pinched himself. He hated apologizing, but he was now capable of performing such an action. His time in the Vongola family had changed him little by little. Ten years ago, he didn't even know that such a thing as apologizing existed in the world.

"Look, Yamamoto… I… uh… I didn't-" Gokudera started, trying to push all the hateful feelings of apologizing away. He had to muster lots to apologize to someone, a man with his ego. He never got to finish.

"Just stop." Yamamoto's voice sounded serious. "I know. But you see, you've got to learn to trust our fellow family members. Tsuna's gonna be fine. I ensure you that. Let Hibari do the job. It'll be fine. You'll see." Yamamoto made it sound like the end of their conversation, but Gokudera suddenly had a thought, just to make up for what he said.

"Hey um, wait. Do you want to go and check out the Hiyashi's quarters with me? I have a feeling that it is them who attacked us the other day. The weapon used to cut my arm – It was a new weapon, and you know the scientist Verde? Well, he's in the family and I've just got this feeling that the weapon was invented by him. He's a great scientist, no joke." Gokudera suggested. There was a pause on the other end, then a sigh.

"Yeah, sure." Yamamoto said, sounding bored (Though really, he was grinning). "I actually thought that before you called, too."

…..

Akane stood there, dumbfounded. Then the scene slowly registered in her mind. As it did, Akane's heart rose higher and higher into her throat. "W-what…?" Karina was still lying there, hand outstretched and making a moaning sound. Akane stood there, looking as if about to collapse. Her face was pale and she started wheezing. "K-Kari-chan…?" She said uncertainly, taking a step back. The mess of bloody hair looked up and lunged at Akane. Akane screamed and was pushed to the floor. She just lay there and started begging for forgiveness. "K-Karina! O-oy! It's me! What ever happened to you… I didn't do anything I promise! Come back to your senses!" Before Akane could say anything else, a small man with a fedora suddenly jumped out of nowhere and onto Akane's forehead, and slapped her. He started scolding Akane.

"Oy, Akane. That is not how you respond in a sticky situation. You've got to protect yourself instead of just laying there and take risks while you're perfectly intact limbs do nothing. You never know when Karina will regain her senses. You've got to get used to the gore and be able to function properly even when you see this amount of what you must have assumed to be blood."

Akane sat up as the... baby? jumped off. Kari was watching them with amusement clearly written on her face, wringing red liquid out of her hair. Then Reborn turned to Karina.

"Kari, how could you mess up the place like this? I told you to get bloody, but not the floor and walls, too. This might be too extreme for starters."

"Sorry, sorry…" Karina replied, without any apologeticness in her voice.

Akane also noticed, that Karina didn't sound the least bit like a person who had just been stabbed and was lying on the ground with a pool of blood under her. "K-kari - "

Reborn interrupted, holding up a hand. "Now, Kari, clean up this mess."

The girl groaned, still trying to get blood, or now that Akane realized, ketchup with water, out of her hair. "Reborn-san…"

Reborn shot a glare at her, and she instantly shut up, got a mop out of nowhere, and began to wipe up the mess. "Um, sir, may I ask who you are...? And what happened?" Akane said tentatively while rubbing her forehead. That's two times she got hit so hard on the forehead now.

"He's Reborn!" Umira screeched from the side, with Yori covering his ears. "AND THAT WAS YOUR TRAINING! AND HE'S SO STRONG AND AWESOME!"

The baby smirked and tipped his fedora down in a greeting. "Yes, that's me. Ciaossu."

…..

"There, it's done." Said a deep voice. "Test it."

"Sir, you sure are fast." Another voice replied, sounding slightly younger. There was suddenly a loud clang and then silence, with the voice muttering 'sorry'.

"Never mind that, go." The first voice commanded. It belonged to a shadowy figure, standing short. In his hands, there was a tube if glowing white liquid that was tinted with swirling blue streaks. The shadowy figure raised it up high into the shine of a green light and chuckled softly. "With this, the world shall finally obey." He said and extended it to where the other voice was coming from, within seconds, the tube was gone. "There's a good boy. Hurry back."

"Oy, is it ready?" A gruff voice asked.

"Patience. Science isn't what you think it is. It will be ready soon, and the deal shall be in place then, right?"

"Yes, you will, but you better hurry. You know what would happen if you don't." the gruff voice said, with a tint of a malicious tease. It was obvious that he was threatening the person with the deep voice.

The lights turned on, and the baby sized man with fuzzy green hair in a lab coat smirked. "Good."

...

Akane mirrored Karina's every move as she learned some basic martial arts. They were finally able to do some training. Sure, if you count the gore training, maybe they had already started. But two hours had passed since Akane first entered the gym assigned to them. Karina had spent both hours showering and changing as well as cleaning up the mess and tossing her stained clothing into the laundry back at their hotel room. Meanwhile, Akane, Umira and Yoritomo had nothing to do but look through some possible weapons they could use. None of them knew what to do anyway, they all depended on Karina- who was the one that made all of them go. Also, Tsuna wouldn't be able to come check on them until later on.

Akane sighed. She had chosen the kitchen knives and Yori did too, while Umira ranted something about 'secrecy' and 'ultimate weapon'. She didn't know how the knife would do anything but stab... and against some who knows what weapons from other teams… she'd probably lose badly. She didn't even know any self defence! Thinking of which, Akane's mind came back into the present and her body moved automatically. The hand to hand combat that Karina was teaching them just came to her naturally. Akane remembered when she was younger, and Karina had complained to her how hard she had to work each day to learn martial arts- as well as how harsh her mother was at teaching it.

A sudden loud yell interrupted her. Akane raised her head and looked into the mirror in front of her, plastered onto the silver wall. The blinding white lights dazed her for a moment, but when her eyes adjusted, she saw Umira rolling on the brown floor- again.

"No! Not like that! Yes, good, now turn on your toes and- Ugh! Not again! Stop tripping over your feet!" Karina shouted to Yoritomo first, then complimented Akane, but was interrupted by Umira's fall. The class president chuckled nervously, and gathered herself up from the floor. Kari facepalmed, and opened her mouth to speak again. "Alright people, we don't have enough time to go through all the hand-to-hand stuff, and the weapon stuff too, so we should first decide on our rings." She pointed to a raised platform in the center of the gym, where a box was placed.

Akane slowly walked towards the box with Umira right behind her, whining about how hard she fell. Yoritomo was in front of them both. Akane stopped and watched when Karina lifted the lid off of the box. A faint glow emitted from inside and Akane's face lit up. The rings were beautiful. Before she knew what was happening, Umira had suddenly appeared beside the box, and was grabbing rings out. She inspected them carefully, seemingly very concentrated. Akane thought that she looked like she was day dreaming.

"Shiny!" Umira said, eyes wide and smile splitting. "I get one of these… I want all of these… my preciousssss… " She murmured creepily. A shiver ran down Akane and she could see a sweat drop appearing on Yori's face.

"Explain these rings again?" Yoritomo said, hand in hair.

"No." Karina said almost instantly. Umira's eyes slitted into narrow slits and she hugged the box like it was her baby.

"You're not gonna take these away!" She said, eyes flickering. "W-" Umira started, but was cut off.

"Explain, Sawada-san." A deep, mellow voice interrupted.

Umira's facial expression changed slowly as she stared behind the three others, where the voice came from. "A-ah!...Council president! Why are you here?" Umira addressed to whoever was behind them.

"Council president…?" Akane and Karina asked at the same time. All of them turned around to face the newcomer.

Hibiki Osaku stood in front of them with his back straight, blond hair glistening under the fluorescent lights and serious brown eyes looking at each and every one of them. He was still wearing his student council president uniform.

"Osaku! Why are you here? You weren't invited." Karina said with a wave of her hand. "Don't just come walking in like you're allowed to."

"Kawasaki-san was talking on and on about it - I couldn't help but overhear. And actually, they never stopped me from coming in." Hibiki replied, slightly irritated by the lack of respect shown by Karina.

Umira beamed at Karina, only to receive a glare. "S-sorry! I was just so excited! You did say that we needed more members!"

"So, what's all this business about?" Hibiki asked, gesturing to all of them wearing the mandatory outer jackets. Kari kept on glaring at him while the other three were standing nervously. Hibiki was to be respected and you could only call him by his last name with a 'san', for fear that you would get punished. He was strict with formality, rules, and if you disobeyed him, there were pretty bad consequences, or so said in rumors. Only Kari wasn't afraid and dared to disobey him. She kept glaring at him for a long time, until she smiled widely. Yoritomo and Akane knew that smile all too well. She had finally comprehended what Umira said.

Karina quickly explained the situation, and forced Hibiki to join- which didn't take much. Karina had just said something to Hibiki and he replied with. "Well I'm already here so…" Then Karina ran all over the members, hugging them - that is, until her dad came in.

"Dad!" Karina exclaimed.

A sharp glance from Tsuna interrupted her.

"U-um…Ten… th? One of our other members had arrived… And he apologizes for being late." Kari said nervously. She was not used to calling her father 'Tenth'. Hibiki tossed her a look that said 'Wait what? Me? Apologize? You never said anything about this!' But Hibiki just dipped his head without a word.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow. "Mmkay. I'm sure he could have said so himself. But welcome." He said, extending a hand. Hibiki took it uncertainly and shook it. "Let's see… What's your name?" Tsuna asked.

"Osaku, Hibiki." Hibiki replied in his deep, mellow voice. Tsuna squeezed his hand.

"Quite some aura coming off of you there. You have much potential." Tsuna nodded.

"T-tenth…" Karina started, still trying to get used to the word. "Will you help us determine our ring types?" Tsuna turned his head.

"Ah, right. Well then. Gather around and I shall explain about the rings. Remember though, these are just replicates of the real ring. So their powers aren't as strong."

…..

Yamamoto walked down the streets alone. It was a sunny day, with no clouds and the sun shining brightly. He smiled slightly to himself as he watched children play at the park. He had left his cat back at his house, and Emo didn't really fashion walks anyway.

Gokudera had called earlier about the Hiyashi stronghold, but he had told him to wait until nighttime. Yamamoto had to do something first.

The path he took was unfamiliar. He had almost never walked that way. It was a strange path. It was leading to such a morose place, yet so much happiness was on the path leading to it. Children laughing, families together, couples sitting together under the shade of trees…

His hand stopped just as he was about to push open the gate. Was he really ready for this? Yamamoto sucked in a deep breath, and swung open the white gate. He stepped past white headstones, stepped past bouquets of flowers, and stood before a certain white headstone, with the engraving of a raindrop on it.

"I… I've come," Yamamoto whispered. He struggled to keep his composure, imagining his wife in front of him. "I must look so silly right now, poking so nervous." he chuckled, trying to push away the strong emotions crashing towards him. But it was no use. "I-I remember, your favorite flowers – primroses. And poppies." He held up a bouquet of flowers with his right hand, clenching the stalks lightly.

Yamamoto then knelt on the ground, head down. "I'm so sorry…" he said, voice breaking. He could feel the tears rushing in. A hand fell onto his shoulder. Yamamoto gasped in surprise and blinked.

"You've finally come to visit her," a black haired woman said. "She must be glad."

Yamamoto inhaled sharply and tears started rolling down his face. He turned his head back and faced the ground again. "Why are you here?" Yamamoto said, letting teardrops make wet stains on the stone.

The woman paused. "Do you think she would appreciate seeing you like this?" She asked in a gentle tone. Yamamoto pursed his lips.

"Just as I thought I finally found happiness..." Yamamoto said, his-still young-face twisted with pain.

The woman stood there for a bit. "Your mafia family is doing nothing. I've told you, come join us and you might get to meet your wife again."

"Quit blabbing your rubbish!" Yamamoto shouted, face grim. His hair fell past his forehead as he rocked back and forth from the rage within the shout. His eyes were hidden, but you could see his hands clenching. "If it weren't for you, would she have died!?" Yamamoto yelled in the woman's face, suddenly standing up.

The woman stumbled back a few steps, taken aback. She stared at Yamamoto, speechless for a brief moment. Yamamoto seized the chance and grabbed the woman's collar and pulled her forth. "If it weren't for you..." He hissed, breathing heavily. That's when Yamamoto saw the woman's red rimmed eyes with new tears coming in. He instantly let go of her, shocked that his rage had taken him so far as to treat a woman like that.

"I never ever meant to... If I knew what was going to happen..." The woman looked away. "If I didn't miss her as badly as you do, would I have sacrificed so much? Would I have gone through so much?" She whispered. "Yamamoto-kun. I miss her, too. Join me, and together, we will get her back." Yamamoto's grip tightened.

"Join you!?" He said with an angry laugh. "You are out of your mind." The woman's sad face was suddenly filled with anger.

"Yamamoto, let's be clear who exactly lost their mind! You keep blaming me! And I apologized plenty of times! 'If it weren't for me, if it weren't for me'! You keep ranting about it! But if it weren't for me," the woman inhaled, face red and eyes wide with tears. "TAKI WOULDN'T HAVE SURVIVED!" She spat that sentence with such force that she had to squeeze her eyes and bend slightly down, like a half jump. Tears flew out of the side of her eyes as the woman's hair slowly settled back into place. Yamamoto's eyes widened. He let go and took a few steps back. The woman took in gulps of air, looking surprised at what she had said herself.

"T-Taki..." Yamamoto said, clearly out of it now. He wavered and fell into a sitting position. The woman covered her mouth for a brief second, looking remorseful for what she had said. But then her eyes looked determined.

"You see now? You were the one who lost his mind! You were the one who let himself get too grieved to care about any damn thing!" The woman's piercing black eyes met Yamamoto's. "You were the one who abandoned his daughter and left her to rot in the hospital! If I didn't adopt her, who knows how long you would have let her stay there without any medical treatment? Who knows how long it would be until you finally came to your senses and paid the bill? If I wasn't a friend to your wife, would I have adopted her? Do you know how hard it is to not look at that child, and know that you're going to have to tell her the truth – that her mother died?! That her father abandoned her?! At least I did something for her!"

"... You're right... I failed at being a husband. I failed at being a father." Yamamoto started. Reality, something he'd been trying to escape, hit him hard, now that Taki had been mentioned.

"Then help me. You won't have to be afraid of looking into Taki's eyes – her eyes – then." The woman's tone returned soft. Yamamoto hesitated.

"...But don't you see, Hana? It's not going to change anything. It's not just her eyes. I can't go crawling back to her like this. She will never forgive me." Yamamoto took a deep breath. "It's time we accepted her death. I can't take this risk. You don't even know which family made the deal with you... And everyone has to die somewhen. I can't betray my own comrades." Yamamoto finished. Kurohana frowned.

"Yamamoto-kun, I know deep inside you're still grieving, still hurt. I know you are lying. I know you will do anything for her. Just wait and you'll see. In time you will realize what is more worthy. You're just like me. I can tell."

"Just leave... and make sure you take care of Taki. I'm telling you, I'm not going to join you." Yamamoto said, standing up. Kurokawa gave Yamamoto a stern and knowing stare, then she turned and walked away.

-End of chapter-

Regi: Whole trainwreck of feels. Search up the flower meanings. *glares* PHILEEE!

Ail: WHAT!? Stop giving me nicknames, o-Natch! I already came up with one, is this nickname not short enough for you? And yes, yes, the feels the feels. Blah blah blah… The feels… the feels. *Sinks to knees and starts sobbing* THE FEELS!

Regi: I'm gonna call you what I want! I HAVE RIGHTS!

Ail: Oh really? But I just won't acknowledge any of them then! I've got my right to keep my name the way I want it to be! (u )3 I'm going by Ail, thanks. THIS IS A WARNING. *glares with dark aura*

Regi: told ya she's evil. Anyways, Happy (late) Valentine's Day!

Phile: WHAT!? THAT IS UNREASONABLE. Fine, since it's supposed to be a holiday… I'll forgive you. W-wait! Did you change my nickname from Ail to Phile right there? Tsk tsk, you know what, mind changed.

Akane - Yoritomo OVA - Valentine's Day

So, in Japan, girls are supposed to give boys chocolate, and on March 14th (White Day), it's the opposite.

"Yori-kun!"

Yoritomo looked up from his book to see a familiar girl running towards him, holding a blue box in her arms. "Yeah, chibi?"

Akane sighed. "Again. Please. Don't call me 'chibi'."

The boy grinned at this. "Force of habit."

Akane shook her head exasperatedly, and pushed her brown locks behind her ear. "Anyways~ You remember what day it is today?"

Yoritomo rolled his eyes, and ran his right hand through his already-messy black hair. "February 14th. You've got to remember dates, chibi." The girl glared at him at the last word, but took out her phone and showed him the screen.

"Mhm? It's just Valentine's – oh."

There was a short awkward silence. Akane plopped down next to Yori, and leant back against the trunk of the tree they were under. It was only a little chilly, but as long as you wore a sweater or jacket, you were fine. "I brought you chocolate," Akane said, giving the blue box to Yoritomo. "Remember when we all ate chocolate fondue together when we were in elementary school? I made that – sort of. It's basically just a lot of different fruits and cookies dipped in chocolate."

Yori took the box, and fingered the ribbon on it. "Yeah, thanks. But don't you like Bobu (BOB! 'TIS BOB! JUST WITH THE JAPANESE ROMAJI-ISH VERSION!)?"

Akane's face reddened. "No! Besides, this is just out of politeness and friendship-ness. I gave everyone a box."

Yoritomo laughed, and set the box aside. "Gotcha! I was just joking! don't take everything so seriously, chibi."

The girl relaxed a bit. She looked up towards the branches with wondering brown eyes, marvelling at how the sun shone through the leaves. "It's a beautiful day today, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Yoritomo's voice was a bit muffled. Akane glanced towards her left, and saw that he had was lying against the trunk of the tree, his book open on top of his face. His arms were under his head, and the light breeze messed up his brownish-black hair even more. She smiled a bit. Though Yori acted all boring and distant, she knew he wasn't really like that. You just had to know him better.

Akane closed her eyes and relaxed. The wind rustled through the leaves, making a nice music-like sound. She leaned against Yori's shoulder, feeling a sense of safety. It was just like when they were little. Yoritomo had let her cry on his shoulder as he was reading, because her mother left her for work again. Little by little, she had drifted off to sleep, and when she woke up, her father was carrying her home.

"Chibi."

"Mm?"

"You'd better go deliver the rest of those chocolates now. Lunch break is gonna end soon."

"I don't want to leave. It feels so relaxing here… and I can deliver them after school."

"We're going to Kazu's house right after the bell rings, don't you remember?"

Akane's eyes snapped open, and she sat up straight. "Oh, right! I have to deliver the chocolates to ten more people –"

"There's only ten minutes left," Yori said tauntingly, taking the book off of his face and setting it down on the ground.

Akane groaned inwardly. "Yes, yes…" Yoritomo gave a small smile and ruffled her hair. The girl stood up and began to run back towards the school building. "See you after school!" she called out behind her shoulder.

"Wait, I've got something for you, too! And Chibi, we have class together after lunch! Did you forget that?"

"Yes, and don't call me chibi!" Akane said, skidding to a halt.

"Stretch out your hand." Yori said with a smile. Akane extended her hand impatiently. Yori grinned and grabbed Akane's wrist, pulling her into him. Yoritomo pulled her close to him, their noses almost touching. Akane's reaction was more than surprised. She instantly went bright red and dropped her boxes of chocolates. Yoritomo's heart gave a lurch and pounded fast. He lingered for a moment before pulling her into a hug.

"Happy valentine's day." Yoritomo whispered, eyes closed with a smile. Akane awkwardly nodded and averted her eyes. Then she picked up the boxes of chocolates with Yori's help.

"A-ah... I got to deliver these..." Akane's said, dazed by the suddenness of it all. Yoritomo watched Akane run off. Maybe he shouldn't have been so abrupt... But when will she notice his place for her...? At least he tried. Yoritomo still doesn't have just enough courage to confess... yet.

Yori sighed and picked up the box of chocolates she had given him. Feeling a bit hungry, he decided to open the box and eat some of it. Akane's handwriting was on the top, and in small letters, were the words 'to Yori-kun'. He took off the ribbon and the lid, and saw a bunch of his favorite cookies in the box surrounded by different fruits dipped in chocolate.

She actually remembered what had happened quite a couple of years ago on Valentine's Day, when they all told each other their favorite dessert. He had chosen a cookie that had almost no sugar at all… However, if it was covered in chocolate, it tasted delicious.

Typical Akane. Though at times completely oblivious to things, she knew and remembered almost anything and everything about her friends.

Yoritomo took a chocolate-covered cookie and popped it into his mouth, then closed the box of sweets. He wasn't usually one for sweets, but this was a special occasion, and he had to save the cookies for later.

He picked up his book again, dark brown eyes lingering on the cover of the book for just a moment. "The Rain Finds the Sky". His eyes scanned through the book, trying to find where he had left off, and when he found it, Yoritomo realized he couldn't focus on reading anymore.

Yori slumped back against the tree again, closing his eyes, and set the book down. With one arm through his hair, and one arm over his eyes.

"Akane...ga?" Yoritomo muttered. "You're so useless, Yori. She will never notice like this...Stop being afraid..." He said to himself. Then Yoritomo straightened up. He laughed at himself for being so foolish. But the laughter soon faded. It was actually true. He had to stop being so afraid. He had to let Akane know.

Yoritomo stood up abruptly and puffed up his chest. With determined eyes, he ran off towards where Akane had run. His legs carried him fast.

Regi: Stars I fail at writing romance XD fair enough, seeing as I don't like it. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! And Phile, you got to write your romance~ Though it's only in an OVA XD

Ail: there it is again... Oh Gion, yes isn't romance so fun to write?