Angelic Layer Fan Fiction ❯ Kara Valentine's Day ni White Day ❯ Valentines Double-Date ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I'll take Oujiro and Wizard and you can keep the rest; how 'bout that?

 

AN: Heh. Fear the fangirl Japanese. Also, I'm pretty rusty on the manga and I've only seen the anime once, and to put it frankly I don't catch on too quick, so if I have anything at all wrong then don't hesitate to mention it :) This is my first Angelic Layer fic, after all. Also, yes, Cardcaptors is totally to blame for the chocolates, even though I know it was supposed to be stars and not bunnies. Hey, I had to be a little original. Other than that, enjoy!

 

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Chapter One: Valentines Double-Date

 

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Kotaro brushed his teeth in a daze, bent over to spit in the sink... and then straightened back up, and stared at his face in the mirror for a very long time.

 

Eventually, he wrinkled his nose in distaste. Plain face. That was his problem; had to be. Just because he didn't have some stupid, pretty-boy face...

 

He turned away with a sigh. Today was going to suck.

 

He hadn't used to mind Valentine's Day this much. It had always been a little awkward, granted, because he was forced to remember that Tamayo was a girl for at least two seconds when she gave him chocolate... But he could forget again quite quickly, so it wasn't too much of a problem. But then Misaki had shown up. Strangely, he hadn't had much of a problem thinking of her as a girl. Girl, his brain had told him, girl! And his heart had complied. So it should have been simple. But it wasn't.

 

Let's go for a walk... He'd said something like that, hadn't he - the `pretty-boy'? His mind had been a sort of red blur at that point, so he couldn't really remember. But then Tamayo had insisted on being a girl, and somehow... it had wound up like this.

 

His jaw clenched involuntarily as he stuffed a few random last-minute articles into his back-pack. The truth - the nasty, brutish bully of a truth -, which should have been obviously to any casual observer, was that Tamayo was only someone he was with because he couldn't be with Misaki...

 

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“Aw, you shouldn't have, Misakichi!” Tamayo gushed loudly, and promptly took a big bite out of her Valentine's chocolate.

 

Misaki grinned in an ever-so-slightly nervous fashion - Tamayo often had that effect on people - and handed another chocolate to Kotaro. “And I have one to give to Hatoko-chan too, over lunch break-”

 

“And one for Ou-ji-ro-kun, after school...” Tamayo added in a sing-song voice. Suddenly, her eyes gleamed dangerously. “I'll bet you saved your best chocolate recipe for him, didn't you? Didn't you?”

 

Misaki laughed awkwardly, blushing. “N-no, I-I don't really think so... well, I mean-”

 

But just then she was saved from any further embarrassment, as the teacher came in and started trying to quiet the sugar-filled students. Kotaro was left to stare moodily at the two pieces of chocolate adorning the surface of his desk.

 

One was a large and flashy heart-shaped piece that Tamayo had blushingly pushed into his hands before Misaki arrived. The other... was shaped like a bunny, and was identical to the one that Tamayo was still quietly munching on while everyone else was taking notes.

 

And one for Ou-ji-ro-kun, after school... He somehow suspected that Oujiro's chocolate wasn't shaped like a bunny.

 

As if Valentine's Day wasn't already embarrassing enough, Kotaro accidentally snapped his pencil.

 

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I am NOT a stalker, I am NOT a stalker, I am NOT a...

 

Well, okay, so it might have looked that way. He was creeping along the school corridors after a girl - Misaki, namely - always being sure to remain one corner behind, with the full intent of following her out of the school and to a secret, romantic rendezvous... He shook that thought off. But he wasn't stalking her! Really.

 

...Well, maybe sorta. But if he was, then it was the bunny's fault, darn it!

 

For her part, the oblivious Misaki found that she was already having to fight to keep from blushing. This is just silly! she chided herself. I'm not even outside yet! Pull yourself together, Misaki! It was a bit odd, she supposed, but she had noticed that, ever since they'd officially started going out, she'd been feeling really uncomfortable around Oujiro. But in a good way, she added, sighing quietly to herself as she pushed her way through the rest of the after-school crowd trying to get out the doors. Kinda floaty, I think...

 

She finally made it out of the crush, and stood off to the side and bit her lip for a minute or two, fretfully scanning the mob for a high-school uniform. He's so tall... I ought to be able to pick him out easier than this... She was so busy concentrating on looking from someone who stood out that she totally failed to see the boy blending in with the shadows not too far away... nor did she notice the person coming up behind her, until he set a hand down on her shoulder.

 

“EEKS!”

 

Oujiro backed up, holding his hand up in mock-defense. “Eh... Gomen ni; I didn't mean to startle you that bad, Misaki-chan.” With that, he flashed her a dashing smile that made her go, inconceivably enough, even redder.

 

Misaki glanced back toward the school, and felt her heart leap into her throat when she realized that the crowd had already thinned out considerable. In fact, there didn't seem to be anyone within hearing range at all. Well, it's not like I can get any more embarrassed, she reasoned. She screwed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and thrust a package out toward Oujiro. It was wrapped in clear gauzy material and tied with ribbons, so that one could clearly see the heart-shaped candy inside. “H-Happy Valentine's, Oujiro...kun...”

 

He accepted it after a mere moment's hesitation, smiling sweetly. “Why, thank you! Did you make this yourself? Really?” He beamed. “Then I'm sure it will be wonderful.”

 

She stared up at him - him and his regal height! - and was too petrified to do any more than blush. She was so focused on his beautiful, beautiful eyes that she nearly jumped when he reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear... and really did jump, though only slightly, when she suddenly realized that his face was closer than it had been a moment ago...

 

And Kotaro fell out of a tree with an incoherent curse.

 

The couple blinked rapidly. A few people in the fringes of the distant group of student snickered into their hands. He picked himself up, blushing and sputtering and pointing.

 

Kotaro found that he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say - `how dare you try to kiss your girlfriend!' sounded a little odd, after all - so he settled for a rather loud cry of, “Oujiro!”

 

The Prince of the Layer blinked a few more times at Kotaro's still-pointing finger, until he hurriedly lowered it, and then he gave a small, bemused smile. “Ano... Yes?”

 

His face was a guilty fuchsia right now; he just knew it. Misaki looked adorably lost and flustered and confused... Speaking in the general direction of the ground, Kotaro lied: “Nothing! Uh, that is, I saw you two, and I thought I'd... just come say... mumblemumble...”

 

Oujiro simply stared at him for a long moment, until Kotaro was on the verge of yelling at him for being rude or something (completely disregarding the fact that he had been pointing mere seconds ago, naturally), but then he finally spoke. “Hey, I've got an idea! I was planning to invite Misakichi to go to the ice-cream parlor with me...” Insert squee-worthy smile, complete with glittery background, here. “So why don't we make it a double date? Do you know if Tamayo is still here?”

 

Kotaro gaped shamelessly. Like he thought he was so friggin' pretty or something! It occurred to him that there was something untrustworthy about this behavior; the so-called `prince' seemed to be just a little too nice... But just as he was about to open his mouth to say who-knew-what, a great, near-lethal weight suddenly fell onto his shoulders. It knocked him to the ground and knocked all of the air out of his lungs at the same time, and the arm around his neck effectively deprived him of the ability to get any more. “Did someone say ice-cream?” a familiar voiced shrieked in his ear, and Kotaro could swear that, just for a moment, he sensed a Dark Cloud of Doom hovering over him...

 

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And that was how they wound up at the ice-cream parlor, sitting boy-girl-girl-boy around the furthest table from the after-school press that they could get. Oujiro sat between Kotaro and Misaki, and Kotaro hated him for it, hated him with a passion. He sulked quietly into his mint-and-chocolate-chip bowl at first, until Tamayo hit him a few times for it and he was forced to plaster a fake smile over his face.

 

Oujiro had chocolate ice-cream in a cone, Kotaro noted for some reason, and he lapped delicately at it with his little, pink tongue... Kotaro bristled. He was doing that on purpose, he was sure of it! Like he thought he was so damn pretty... Misaki actually liked this narcissistic pervert?-!

 

Oujiro looked up to meet his eyes at the same moment that he flicked his tongue out to catch a dot of chocolate at the corner of his lips, and Kotaro blanched. Hmm... must be the cold ice-cream... his stomach was doing something most peculiar...

 

Tamayo chose this moment to whack him on the back hard enough to make him choke. “Hey, I'm sorry to have ta cut this short...” she paused to make a face, “...but I have to write an English paper. I'm never taking another honors course again!” she wailed dramatically, and then stood, hesitated, and pecked Kotaro on the cheek. “Ano... pay for my ice-cream, onegai...?”

 

He grinned nervously, feeling his cheeks heating up. “Uh... sure...”

 

She caught him in an affectionate strangle-hold. “Aw, you're such a gentleman!” Then she released him again - he fell out of his chair, gasping and gagging and cursing mentally - and waved cheerily. “Well, see you guys tomorrow! Bye!”

 

As Misaki waved sheepishly in return, Oujiro offered Kotaro a hand. He pretended not to see it and got up by himself, grumbling.

 

After a few more minutes, Misaki pushed her bowl away. “Ah... I think I'm done, too,” she declared. “It was very good, wasn't it, Oujiro-kun?”

 

Feeling even more decidedly sour than he had a moment ago, Kotaro reached for his wallet. Before he could fish it out of his pocket, though, Oujiro caught his wrist and smiled at him. “Don't bother. I'll pay - my treat.”

 

Warm. Warm hand. Kotaro clenched his jaw so hard that he thought his teeth might break, and would have jerked his hand away if it hadn't still been stuck in his pocket. A moment later, though, the offending appendage was removed and Oujiro was pulling out his own wallet to the tune of Misaki's weak protests.

 

Kotaro did not sleep easily that night, to put it mildly.

 

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AN: So I'm thinking that this story will be five chapters total. That's the plan at the moment, anyway. Not too long, but at least it's not a one-shot for once. Other than that... (cackles) Ain't they cute? Aren't you glad that someone is actually contributing some yaoi to the Angelic Layer fandom? Don't you just wanna give me a nice, long, enthusiastic review?