2Blank. Blank was all his face ever said to anyone who saw him. He had the ability to emote when he needed AND wanted but at the moment all his body could give was a bleak expression. What he holds in his hands could mean the difference between life and death. A yes or no. A card composed of glitter and feathers, with the expression from a famous horror video game series. It was mostly a poem, but the message fit across.
Jackpot is not the correct phrase for affection
Intimacy requires amour to pour forth from both souls
Lies are not something I am capable of
Love however, my heart longs for
So if it's not too much to ask... Will you be my Valentine?
His heart accelerates a little at the thought of seeing Natsume with the card, his giant pink heart box filled to the rim with various chocolates and the bouquet of roses he'd bought for 4 dollars. He was going to give these to her, knowing she deserved it after all the hell he's been through. All he wants is to see her smile, hear her gorgeous laugh and blush that nestles on her cheeks.
"Ora, ora, what do we have here?"
The immediate tone of said voice shook Touma out of his daydreams. That wretched voice, the ugliest of hairstyles. It was none other than the douchebag of a gang formed by the head dog Ruben. Out of all the days for them to appear, and to see him have all this mushy stuff out in the open.
Touma knew he wasn't going to get past them without a fight, but he figured sparing them would be his nice way of telling them to leave. Exposing himself would just lead to more trouble on the other hand. He tried to walk past Ruben like a turd on the sidewalk, only to be shoved back into the mess of his lackeys, grabbing at the roses and chocolates.
He gets pushed here and there. "Didn't think you had in ya to find yerself a girl. Why don;t we give you a few presents ourselves for Valentines, eh?" He smirks, referring to his fists. Touma knew saying anything to them was like talking to plank boards. They just won't get out of the way.
A rose was taken out of the bouquet, then another and both were trampled. 'Goddammit.' Touma cursed to himself.
"Big brother! Big brother!" a young, innocent voice broke through the cloud of tension and pending doom of a fight.
This shocked Touma, even baffled the bullies in his way. All of them looked back to see a blue haired boy, running towards them in a giant wardrobe that even he would deem nonsensical. Big gray boa covering his neck, blue arrows on a large white coat, black and yellow boots that extended up to his knees. His eyes were red and blue, on the verge of becoming slits.
This confused Touma greatly, to see a boy come charging in claiming he was his brother. It dawned on him that the boy in question seemed outright familiar. The mess of hair and significant body made click in his head. 'Oh Kaira, please don't get yourself into this.' He claims to himself. But the bigger question in his mind: What in the ever loving Enma is he doing as a kid?
"Heh, more meat. Never seen him around, you probably go to a private school. Nice of ya to invite him, stupid wimp." He grabs Touma by the collar, about to give him one in the face.
"Don't hurt my brother you meanies!" Kaira runs in, grabbing the boys arm, trying to snap him free. One of the lackeys attempted to push him out of the way, iron grip however still squished. Touma had to ask him later about why he was even this small to begin with, but he appreciated the sentiment. All the guys in the group laughed at such a feeble attempt.
Ruben, having enough of said antics decides kicking the boy out of the crowd would be the best way to start things. Kaira looks up at him, face filled with fiery fury and determination.
Neither of their gazes wavered from each other, backing down as an option was too late. Kaira's face began to darken, then it spread from the hairs of his head, consuming the ground. The wavering shroud enveloped everyone, all of them becoming bitterly confused. Touma didn't realize rain was in the forecast as he looked up but with little cloud activity.
The others followed his gaze. A black cloud however had blocked out the sun on their location. "W-What the hell kind of prank is this!?" Ruben tried to rationalize. Unbeknownst to him, this cloud was no ordinary cloud.
Bits and pieces of the mass broke off, creating several lines of it to detach and come towards them. An unsettling humming noise arrived, as if a plague had been set towards them. Kaira took Touma's hand, kicking Ruben in the stomach to loosen the grip. The others were too startled to move, not noticing the two make their getaway out of the school into a small clearing.
"You little-"
"So I hear you love to bully innocent people for your feeble, heartless amusement." Their eyes bugged out of their heads, shocked at such a deep voice coming from the swarm of insects.
No one had time to retort anything, the giant bugs invading their space. They screamed from the top of their lungs, trying to swat away at every locust attempting to bite them. Running away was their only solution, albeit with the odd beckoning voice following them. Ruben received the most of the plague, surrounding his person and gnawing at his clothing and backpack.
they were going to be left nude soon, their shrieks becoming less audible.
Touma and Kaira stood beneath a willow tree, gaining their breath and composure for what seemed like hours. Touma looked down into his hands to see the box of sweets and remaining flowers were unharmed. His card had a piece missing but was still with him.
"What... What were those... Kaira-san? And... What happened to you?" Kaira watched the scene take place, no longer seeing Touma's bullies in sight.
He dusted off his clothing, grabbing a random feather duster from thin air. He brushed all over Touma to remove any dirt or dust. "Those were Enma's pestilence solution. Courtesy of his Quartet he created so long ago. I told you I'd get them back for you, didn't I?" He looked up, face still unmoved, not even a smile.
That left Touma dazed, unsure of what 'Quartet' he was talking about. No one else lived in the Enma palace he was aware of, aside from Noodle man, Enma, the short Kaira, Inumarou, Nekokiyo... Then again the castle was never a place to go to discover rooms alone. He'd have to thank whoever gave Kaira the idea to swarm his enemies to frighten them for no bullying ever more.
"And this..." Kaira pointed to himself, "I merely took this form as an extra ace up my sleeve to distract them. Unfortunately, Enma told me spells like these last about 24 hours, and I don't want to go back to the palace to have my assistants look at me like this." He blushes pink, looking away at a nearby parked blue car. Touma thinks this must be some sort of fever dream, as these events happened in no less than 15 minutes.
Seeing the serpentine king before him, height at about his age when he was around 7 years old, he clutches his items of amour to his chest. He was watching over him after all.
"Um... Kaira-san. If you ask me, that form doesn't look too bad to me. It makes you adorable." Kaira felt a brush of cold air go pass him, unnerved at the thought of someone remotely calling him cute. He was never good at affection, but considering when he held Touma in his arms last time, he wasn't far behind from taking compliments.
"You-You really think so?" He looks up at him, eyes yearning for validation. Touma smiles down at him, as they begin walking from his school. Touma giggles, making Kaira think he was mocking him the entire time. However he was proven wrong.
"Well you are really cool now as a king, so why wouldn't you be cute?" If he were to become an anaconda now, buildings would be demolished at hearing such heartfelt compliments.
He looks down, embarrassed to be called adorable. Out of sheer innocence, and friendship, he took hold of touma's free left hand. He squeezes gently, using his other hand to grab as well. "I... I never received compliments like this when I was young." A hard blush appeared this time, face almost a peach. Touma doesn't laugh, viewing his friend prefers silence over talking. He was never a ladies man himself either and they continued their walk like this for the next 20 minutes.
They arrive to the detective shed, finding Fudo-chan and Junior guarding it with sunglasses on each of their faces, arms crossed behind their backs. They were like a president's bodyguards. Question marks popped up above Kaira's head, wandering just why they were standing like this. He didn't have the heart to ask what happened to Fudo. He hadn't a clue what was happening up here nowadays.
"Hold it right there, nya." Junior spoke out, firm hand and palm towards them. Fudo followed his footsteps, pursing his lips to dare them to come any closer. If these were any bullies, Kaira might have to bring out another tactic.
"You got the goods, Touma-kun?" Junior asks coyly, sniffing the air. Both dark haired boys sweat drop at this command.
"Do you, do you, do you?" Fudo asks, circling them like a cat to its prey.
"If you don't let us in, I won't share." Touma says with his foot down, not intimidated at the very least by the charade. Kaira face planted, unsure if this scenario was just for the chocolates in his arms. "King!? I didn't recognize you without looking at your back!" Junior screams, trying to help the poor boy up. Fudo-chan looks on, thinking this little game of cat and mouse for sweets was over. Kaira was unrecognizable with those squishy cheeks. Touma led the way in, to see hearts plastered on almost every surface.
"Welcome, Touma-kun! How did your Valentine's Day at school go?" The innocent maiden asks, with cards on the table from various friends. Behind her, a huge teddy bear, already put there by Akinori. A ton of candy and bon bons were at her disposal.
Akinori waves at Touma, "Afternoon! Did you bring us anything?" US?! He hadn't recalled Akinori's feelings to the holiday but he remembered Ayame was there, painting small hearts with make up on his face and arms.
"Ayame-Chan, can you do one on my forehead?" Natsume asks. "Yes! I'm almost done with my dumpling!" Akinori's whole body blushes, being called that. Most likely because of his handsomeness. The whole crew was here... wait a minute where was-
"Hi Touma-kun." A grim voice echoed from a red and pink beanbag chair off to the far corner. Keisuke sat there, gloomy. "A-Ah, he didn't get as many valentines gifts as I did. I'm still willing to share my loot with you anyway alright, Keisuke!" She shouted, trying to see what color she wanted her heart to be.
"I think someone needs my assistance." Kaira says, with little to no attention paid to him. That was crushed when Natsume gave him a salutation, along with the others. He genuinely smiles at them, waving.
Nothing clicked in their minds, until Touma sat down on a pillow right next to where Natsume was sitting.
He sees Kaira stand next to Keisuke before Natsume snaps him out of a trance. "How did Valentines go at your school Touma-kun?" She asks, unveiling some wrappers of candy. A lump forms in Toumas throat, already giving away his anxiety. Just why did things like this become so complicated?
"W-Well, nothing exciting happened. Other kids in my school gave their gifts to others so quickly, I didn't even notice myself." His hiding blush, turned 90 degrees to finally face the most sweetest person he's ever come to know. Natsume continues to listen, giggling at Touma's nonchalant attitude towards the holiday.
The background surrounding her turned bright, the multitude of colors of pink and orange cloud his vision. She laughs again, his heart begins skipping a couple beats, his mind races. It was inevitable to not give someone their gift, but it wasn't with their reaction.
His face broke with a tiny grin, taking hold of the flowers and chocolate. He hands her the bouquet, then the chocolates.
"I.. I-I want, to giv-give, flow-flow... blughhhh." His own speech became gibberish, face as red as a beat. Natsume, concerned, patted his back to get him to concentrate on what he wanted to tell her before he melted into mush. He snapped out of it once more.
"Natsume I... I wanted to ask you... if... if-if you could be my Valentine." His sincerity was deep, Ayame caught it from the other side of the room while trying to fight off Fudo and Junior from raiding her stash of sweets. Not caught off by the question, she merely nodded, taking hold of the items. "Touma! These are beautiful!" She takes a whiff, invigorated by the scent.
Said Valentine, with shivers going down his spine at the approved answer, wonders if he can really go through with this. Well at least it wasn't marriage, that would have to wait about ten plus years to even remotely bring it up. He didn't want to think that far ahead, he needed to explain himself.
"N... No, Natsume-san... I want to be your Valentine... forever."
The only girl who held his hand as he was on the brink of death, maybe just her is who his heart belongs to. He was sure everyone in the room heard his plea for having a girlfriend as the room went silent after saying it. To his surprise, the ever so butthurt Haruya, who always wanted to stand by her side wasn't here. He didn't even recall seeing him at school. The prime fight starter had stopped his onslaught of torment when Natsume demanded (in a vicious but stern tone) to stop harassing Touma for fun and cruelty.
If he WAS here, he'd have something to tease him about... but that would be countered by the fact she shows affection to the one he'd been bullying all along. He'd have to ask about him later.
*PHEW* "I'm glad one of us finally brought that up!" She says, placing the roses in one of the sunset hued vases, supplied by Keisuke. That threw off Touma by a mile. Just what did she mean by that? He was about to jump up, open the door and run into the darkest of forest, never to be heard of again, realizing she didn't want...
A hand to the shoulder reminded him, "I always talked about this with Ayame-san. I never wanted to bring up the question if you weren't ready or interested Touma-kun." Her turn to begin the blush-fest. Her face broke out into a smile like Touma's earlier, this time sincere about what she was telling him. She took hold of his hands, the softest she'd ever felt. Not even Akinori's plush face could match with softness on Touma.
Maybe a rabbit but that wasn't important at the moment. She places her hand parallel to his, like they were staring at a mirror. Touma genuinely smiles this time, beginning to intertwine his fingers with hers. She envelops her other arm around his shoulders, bringing their faces in for a tender kiss. First kiss.
Touma deepens the moment, adding slight pressure and brings her close. Just how lucky was he to even know her in the first place? They let each other go, foreheads touching, gazes locked. Blue, ocean, warm eyes meet those of an Autumn day. Neither noticed the chaos ensuing in the background for Junior and Fudo to consume the biggest chocolate bunny given to Ayame earlier at her school.
Her and Akinori were sharing a pleasant moment, a tango version of kissing with her in his lap.
Kaira held Keisuke's face inbetween his hands, telling him he mattered whether anyone showed their appreciation Keisuke does. He brings him into an embrace thanking him. The snake king wasn't hesitant on letting go and why would he? Even though showing expressions of love can be done every day, it's a start for him to show it.
Sometimes things don't go as planned. Touma didn't believe he'd get his true love to be his girlfriend. Kaira didn't believe he could even emote! Akinori believed Ayame is truly an angel sent from the heavens. And Whisper still can't believe it's not butter.
