Petite Princess Yucie Fan Fiction ❯ 30 Kisses: Arc and Yucie ❯ Arc's Gift ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Title: “Arc’s Gift”
Author: Wish Wielder
Pairing: Arc/Yucie
Fandom: Puchi Puri Yucie
Theme: #28 (Wada Calcium CD3)
Disclaimer: “Puchi Puri Yucie” and all respective properties are © Gainax/Yucie Committee. Meg D. (Wish Wielder) does not, has never, nor will ever own “Puchi Puri Yucie.”

“Arc’s Gift”

“Hey, Yucie!”
Yucie turned and stopped, waiting for Gurenda to catch up. The other students at the Princess Academy walked by as if nothing had happened, but a few occasionally shot her a look for stopping in the middle of the hall. When the princess of the Demon World reached her, she grabbed her arm and dragged her to the side of the hall.
“What are you, stupid?” she asked. “You don’t just stand in the center of the hall, you brat!”
“Sorry,” Yucie muttered. She looked at her curiously. “What did you want anyway, Gurenda? I need to get to class!”
“Oh, yeah!” Gurenda said. She began digging through her bag, and a moment later she handed Yucie a clear bag of white pills. Yucie blinked, confused, before looking back up at Gurenda.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Arc told me to give them to you, since he probably wouldn’t be able to see you today,” Gurenda said. “He found them at the magic shop and thought you might like them.”
“What was he doing at the magic shop?” Yucie asked. Gurenda shrugged.
“How should I know?” she asked. “I think he was picking something up for a friend. I don’t know. Anyway, they’re growing pills! He said he thought you’d appreciate the help.”
“He what?!” Yucie screeched. Some of the passing princesses turned to give her a sharp look, yet she didn’t notice them. Gurenda shrugged.
“Don’t ask me! I don’t know what that prince of yours thinks half the time. Look, we gotta get to class! C’mon!” she said as she grabbed Yucie’s arm and dragged her off. Yucie was so busy fuming she never noticed Gurenda’s grin, or the snickers coming from the demon princess.
Arc glanced up as the gates of the Princess Academy opened. He watched the young princesses walk past, some casting him shy looks or giggling with friends as they spotted him, and he rolled his eyes. He was used to that sort of thing, but he still found it annoying - especially now that he had Yucie. He wondered if it ever bothered her, when other girls tried to flirt with him, but she never let it show. If it did, she was one damn good actor, because he had yet to notice it. He grinned as he saw her walking through the crowd, yet the grin vanished when he noticed the look on her face and her tense posture. Something was up.
“Hey,” he said, standing next to her. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”
“I’m not upset,” she snapped. She shot him a scathing look, and he winced.
‘Thank God looks can’t kill,’ he thought as he watched her. She turned her head back towards the path before her, and that “talk to me and die” look came back full-force.
“I don’t feel like talking to you right now,” she huffed.
“Well, we don’t have to talk,” he smirked, snatching her hand in his own. He gave it a little tug, trying to drag her away from the group of students. She snatched her hand out of his and glared at him.
“Don’t touch me!” she shouted. His brows furrowed in confusion. What was wrong? She wasn’t acting herself. Even worse, her shout had caused many of the girls around them to stop and form a small circle around them, as if watching a show.
“Ok,” he said nervously, “I can see that you’re upset about…something. Can we talk about it elsewhere, though? I really don’t want -”
“I don’t care what you want, you jerk!” she shouted. “After what you did, we should talk about it in front of your mother!”
“Huh? Ok, what did I do that was so bad you’d threaten that? You know how much she likes you…she’d kill me if I did something to upset you!” he said. The glare turned icier, crueler.
“All the more reason to,” she hissed. She pushed her way through the crowd, once again making her way towards her home.
“Yucie, wait!” he called, reaching out and grabbing her wrist. “What did I do?”
“I told you not to touch me!” she screamed, ripping her hand from his own. “I meant it, you jerk! Just leave me alone!”
“Yucie, wait! Yucie!” he called as she ran off. He heard the mutterings around him, and he grit his teeth. Just what the hell was going on? A triumphant burst of laughter from behind him caused him to turn sharply. He narrowed his eyes as he saw Yucie’s friends standing a short distance away. Gurenda was cackling, laughing like there was no tomorrow. Somehow, he just knew she was behind this.
“I’m such a genius!” she laughed. He grit his teeth and stalked over to her, looking like the living image of rage.
“What did you do?” he hissed.
“Oh, nothing, really,” Gurenda said smugly. Her grin never left, though a hint of fear entered her eyes. He never took it into consideration; she no longer looked ten, so he had no problem kicking her ass, if need be.
“Tell him, Gurenda,” Beth said sternly. Erumina nodded.
“Yes, it would be wise to do so,” she said. “Arc looks very unhappy.”
“Of course he is!” Beth said. “Gurenda just screwed up his shot with Yucie! Wouldn’t you be pissed, too?”
“I have to agree with Beth,” Kokoru said. “It wasn’t a very -”
“Would you please just tell me what she did?” Arc asked, annoyed. The longer he let Yucie stew over whatever “he” had done, the harder it would be to calm her down.
“I gave her some pills I found at the magic shop that were s’pposed to help growth, only I told her they were from you,” Gurenda said. Her grin grew a notch. “It really was a brilliant plan, but what else could you expect from someone with as much beauty and intelligence as I have?”
“Or so much of an ego,” he muttered. His glare intensified and he leaned down so that he was inches from her face. He held a finger up in a threatening gesture. “I have to go fix this, but you’re not off the hook yet. And once I’m done with you, if Yucie has anything to say I won’t hold her back.”
Gurenda gulped as he turned on his heel and ran off towards Yucie’s home. She was shaking, and everyone who had seen the spectacle, including her friends, were sending her venomous glares. She looked at Beth.
“Well, that went well,” she said.
“You’re dead, you know that, right?” Beth asked. Gurenda sighed and nodded.
“Yeah, I know…”
“She doesn’t want to see you, Mr. Arc,” Cube said from behind the door. He had only opened it a crack when he had heard the pounding; he had figured it would be his mistress’s suitor, and he knew she was in no mood to deal with him at the moment. Arc, however, looked desperate.
“Please, Cube,” he said, “I need to speak with her. I didn’t do it! Gurenda planned the whole thing, and -”
“Miss Gurenda?” Cube asked, startled. He sighed and moved aside, granting the prince entrance. “I should have known. You can try, but I can’t promise she’ll listen.”
“Thanks, Cube,” he said. Cube nodded and walked back into the kitchen as he ran up the steps. He stopped outside her door and hesitated. The polite thing to do was knock and wait for permission to enter, however he didn’t really think she’d let him in if he did that. She had been pretty upset with him, after all. So, preparing for the worst, he gripped the handle and turned the metal object, slowly opening the door. He peeked in and saw her collapsed on her bed. She was still in her Princess Academy uniform, and she was hugging her pillow. Her eyes were closed, and he could see the tracks of dried tears on her cheeks. He grit his teeth against the pang in his heart the image brought him, and he cursed Gurenda all over again. He quietly entered, gently closing the door behind him, and he slowly walked over to her. He dropped to his knees and reached out, brushing some hair out of her face. A warm smile touched his lips, and he was momentarily lost in a daze. He knelt there, toying with her hair and watching her sleep, completely oblivious to the world around him. That is, until she woke up.
“Huh?” she muttered groggily. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him through sleep-clogged vision. Her eyes widened in realization and she bolted up, staring down at him with a frantic expression. “What are you doing here?!”
“You were upset,” he said, “and I wasn’t going to let you be upset by yourself.”
“But I’m upset because of you!” she protested. “I don’t want to see you right now!”
“No, you’re upset because of Gurenda,” he said. He sat down next to her, and she scooted away slightly. He sighed and shook his head. “Yucie…”
“I’m upset because of you!” she said. “You gave Gurenda the pills, Arc! Why would you do that, huh?! You know how much I…that is, how…”
“I know, your height upsets you,” he said. He put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to face him. “Which is exactly why I’d never do something that stupid, Yucie. Gurenda was lying to you - she told me everything before I came after you. She thought it would be…funny, I guess…who knows with her mind. The point is, I didn’t know about the pills until after you left.”
“You’re lying,” she muttered dejectedly. Without another word, he pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips against hers, catching her unawares in a powerful kiss. Her eyes slid closed, and she leaned into the kiss, against the protests of her mind. He pulled away a moment later and smiled at her.
“Would I lie to you, Forehead?” he asked. She frowned.
“Yes.”
“About something like this? Especially when, if you found out I was lying, you’d leave me?” he asked. She bit her lip before shaking her head.
“No,” she said. He smiled and nodded.
“Exactly,” he said. He stood, pulling her up with him.
“Arc?” she asked, confused.
“C’mon, I want to show you something,” he said. He led her to the doorframe where she had been recording her growth over the years. She looked at him, confusion marring her brown eyes, and he winked at her. After studying the marks for a minute, he put a finger against where the line had been stuck for seven years. He then put a finger against the highest line, and he grinned at her.
“I don’t -”
“Get it? Really?” he asked. He frowned as he looked at the distance between his two fingers. “I thought it would be fairly obvious.”
“I know how much I’ve grown, Arc,” she said. “I mark it off every morning.”
“So you know I wouldn’t really need, or even want, to give you something that would help with your growth, right?” he asked. She blinked, and he smiled as he saw her face light in realization. Her mouth formed a tiny “o,” he couldn’t suppress the chuckle that came from him. He leaned against the wall and pulled her into a hug. He rested his chin on her head and began rubbing her back. “You can be such an idiot some times, Forehead. You’re growing just fine on your own - you don’t need any help.”
“I’m sorry, Arc,” she said, cuddling against him. He smiled and tilted her chin up, giving her a long, slow kiss.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said before once again claiming her lips for his own. A slight smile tinged his lips as he deepened the kiss; he didn’t think he’d ever get tired of this, not even in a thousand years.

owari

a.n.: Sorry this took so long, guys! I’ve been majorly bogged down with school work. I wanted to try to get this up before I started seriously diving into my children’s story, though (my latest CW assignment). I would have had this up last weekend, but with all the birthday celebrations (I turned 16!), I really didn’t have time to work on it. -sweatdrops- I’ll get the next one out as soon as possible, but that may not be another week or two. ¡Lo ciento!
And on a side note…who else is seriously looking forward to spring break? -faints-

Comments and constructive criticism welcomed. Please, don’t flame. If you can’t say your CC without flaming, don’t bother. Flames will be used to fuel Az’s bonfire for the yummy s’mores.