The Little Things - Seravy
Part 8 - One of those Tradition Things  

Summary: (One year pre-series) Happy Valentine’s Day, Natsuki!

NOTE:

Natsuki - 3rd year middle school

Shizuru - 2rd year high school

Natsuki fact - She loves mayonnaise… love LOVES mayonnaise (mentioned in on her web profile on the official site). In the manga, she actually squirted mayonnaise into her cup noodle and when Tate made her some human food, she didn’t hesitate to add mayo flavour to it either. I, personally, get really nauseous after having mayo… especially devil eggs so I can’t imagine having a Natsuki amount of mayo as part of my healthy staple. Not to mention its VERY high fat content and calorie count. Natsuki either works out A LOT or just has super human metabolism because she’s on a one way track to clogged artery paradise.

bokutou - bamboo swords used by kendo practitioners

kendo - The Japanese martial art of fencing with bamboo swords

ojou-sama - 'lady', 'young lady' but also has the connotation of a rich spoiled girl depending on the situation (condescending 'lil' lady')

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Kuga Natsuki had a terrible habit of sleeping in by innate nature as well as habit. There was just something so alluring about the soft embrace of blankets and pillows after a full night of scouting in the cities’ dingiest parts, enhanced by a sense of forbidden luxury as the entire world was being pushed to its noon peak of busyness. Just encasing oneself in that familiar little haven called “my bed” was pure bliss.

At this very moment, whatever force that worked to destroy this little piece of heaven was her deadliest enemy and anything stupid enough to knock on her door would suffer a very painful fate. Unfortunately, the fates had decided to call her bluff today, revealing her arch nemesis in the form of a FedEx delivery boy. Never had that blue button-up shirt and matching slacks looked more evil, the extent of his wickedness accentuated by her very own doorframe.

Natsuki effectively communicated her irritation through a flaming cold glare, especially when she caught those wandering eyes entirely focusing everywhere but where they should be. The former sleeping beauty crossed her arms to cut off his line of vision, earning a sheepish grin as he immediately ducked under his blue cap that had his company's logo ironed right on the front.

Boys. Pathetic hormone-driven idiots of the human race. Any girl who shows a little more skin and they were like rabid dogs without leashes. Too bad this one didn't carry a bokutou around as she'd be more than happy to dish out her dissatisfaction like she usually did to a certain practitioner of the art of kendo. However, as the omniscient third person narrator, I have to be fair and say that a "little skin" was quite an understatement here.

Having reached her last piece of wearable clothing the other day, Natsuki was finally forced to load up her washing machine better known as "that chunk of space-wasting metal that one uses when all apparel failed to pass the smell-to-wear-evaluation". Unfortunately, she had also gone straight to bed right after loading that piece of rarely used equipment and when the wooden rappings began at exactly 1:33 in the afternoon, Natsuki had only scrunched up wet chucks of clothes to wear.

So here she was, her hair in an uncombed mess, barely publicly decent in a pair of short shorts and a thin sleeveless white t-shirt that she found hiding behind the sofa. Both articles were two sizes too small, allowing the curves of her well-formed breasts to hint tauntingly over the low v-cut. If one were to move lower, the senses shall then be assaulted by an overexposure of smooth creamy white skin that those shorts carelessly flaunted. However, moving out of those danger zones still left one with little options. Aside from those sharp burning emerald eyes, the girl's face spoke of soft porcelain delicacy framed by a mane of long dark hair. A glance was more than enough to have any red-blooded human a captive to awe or envy.

Catching those drifting eyes once again, Natsuki purposefully cleared her throat, an eyebrow raised with glaring inquiry. The young man, decent looking with the smell of college still clinging tightly to his lanky form, shook as he yielded the package and his handheld device to cover for his wavering concentration. Natsuki took both in her right hand but not without quiet examination at the strange delivery as she signed the plastic screen.

A single red rose. A card was also delicately slipped behind the clear covering

“From your boyfriend?” broke in the delivery boy, hiding the hopefulness in his voice. It seemed like a nice line to start a conversation with as well as a sure method to test the availability of the pretty girl in front of him. Little did he know that that was probably the worst line that he could have said.

The inkless pen snapped into halves as the question hit the wrong nerve. The door was slammed shut reflexively, the echo of its deafening bang reverberated throughout the hall. Seeing the high-tech device still in her hand, Natsuki reopened the door to pitch it out (hard) with the screen cracked from its attempted journey through the newspaper slot. A long huff of exasperation exhaled through her fuming lungs. This was exactly why she never bothered with those of the opposite gender.

Far from the delivery boy’s assumption, the package wasn’t even from the male specie. In fact, Natsuki immediately recognized the true conspirator when the knocking refused to stop after five solid minutes of 'nobody-was-home'. The instructions which she saw on the handheld device specifically advised to ‘knock for at least ten minutes’. The traditional ink calligraphy on the card's envelope confirmed her suspicions.

‘What is that Kyoto girl up to this time,’ thought Natsuki, pushing back the strands of hair that blocked her vision. Aside from being the only one to have complete immunity against her well-perfected stay-away glare (patent pending), this strange girl also had a terrifying amount of patience and persistency that she had yet to beat.

Bracing herself, Natsuki opened the card.

It’s too beautiful a day to be spent lazing in bed. Meet me after school at six. Usual place.

Love,

Your Secret Valentine

XOXOXOXOXXXXXXX

P.S. There's some dumplings in the freezer as well as miso soup in the pot so please refrain from having junk food (that includes instant noodle and ordering pizza) for lunch with a reasonable amount of mayonnaise on top. I’d be very saddened to see you in bad health as well as shape.

The last Valentine’s Day that she had unwillingly participated in was last year. The date hadn’t even registered until she showed up and found her shoe cubby and desk vandalized by nothing but chocolates. Natsuki had placed them all aside, asking people to pick theirs up for she was not going to accept any of them. Who would have thought that her bit of sympathy would earn her a lecture on littering by none other than Suzushiro Haruka, the infamous executive board member. Talk about perfect timing. If the teacher hadn’t personally asked that psychotic blonde to leave, Natsuki thought she’d be stalked to her deathbed. To make matters worst, people kept trying to stop her on her way, giving her more than the usual “sneak-peek” routine, not to mention Takeda’s insistent stuttering and invitation to speak with her alone. No way in hell was she going to go through that nightmare again.

Stalking to the washing machine, Natsuki huffily transferred her wet clothing into the dryer. With a few pressed buttons and the machine was rumbling with its work.

Whatever happened to the simple times when the main goal was to get as much chocolate as one could gather for the sake of actually eating them? Everybody simply gave everybody chocolate, even the bullies, unless you were the ultimate loser in a class of ten year olds.

Nowadays, it involved the whole drama of emotional roller coasters and high-fly egos that high school boys and girls unnecessarily put themselves through. Natsuki didn’t have the interest, time or energy to be bothered with such stupid things.

Unlike herself though, her 'secret Valentine's' loved these things.

'A celebrations of human affections' quoted Natsuki, twirling the rose thoughtfully between her thumb and forefinger. No matter which way she looked at it, it was beautifully perfect from careful amounts of trimming and care. The petals were a deep velvet red and Natsuki couldn’t help but stare at their uniqueness.

Festivals, customs, insignificant days made special by the public’s insatiable demand for holidays always brought an extra hint of sunshine in that constant smile... a sign Natsuki had learned to fear over this two year old acquaintance. A shiver touched her spine as last year's Easter crept up in reminder.

They had hid chocolate eggs, as per the tradition, all over their usual meeting spots within the forest. The one who found the most eggs that the other hid, won the hunt. Her eggs were blue, while secret Valentine's were red. Winner had to do one thing that the other wanted. As usual, through some miraculous unknown magic, Natsuki found herself participating against her better judgment. So, to protect her dignity from whatever evil scheme that laid behind this trap, she got up just before sunrise to hide her eggs at the agreed locations in the most obscure places possible. Targeting school girl granny’s weakness, Natsuki had hid them in unreachable places that required finesse and a decent amount of physical exertion. There were a few that were easy to retrieve. After all, she wanted Shizuru to find some eggs.

Although she could proudly say that she had won, Natsuki really wished she had saved her prize for something other than making the older girl clean her apartment for that turned out to be one of the worst decisions she had ever made in her life. To be honest, she couldn’t even remember why she made that request. One moment she was showing off and flaunting in front of Shizuru and the next, after some sort of conversation digression, she had blabbed out: “That’s it! For my prize, I want you to clean my apartment, Miss-I-can-do-anything-better-than-Natsuki-the-household-chore-handicap!”

Worst, with the fates playing yet another joke on her, Natsuki found herself panting with fatigue by the end of the day having helped out with a good part of the cleaning. Something about the lonesome way in which Shizuru quietly worked that made her feel like some mean bully or one of those abusive mother-in-laws in those soap operas.

Then, the Kyoto girl just had to smile so thankfully when she did the simple deed of handing her a bottle of water. Before she knew it, Natsuki found herself scrubbing the toilet like a mad woman despite the fact that she had never cleaned in her life. It was a traumatizing experience to say the least… not to mention the damage she had caused to her own habitat due to her clumsiness and natural aversion to household chores. The fact that Fujino ojou-sama, true to her roots, had never touched a duster in her entire life either did not help. The kitchen suffered the most casualties. After that, it somehow turned into routine that the two of them would clean her apartment once every month. Thank god Shizuru lived in the dormitories that included cleaning services. She’d hate to have to go through that terror twice a month.

The lesson of the story? Never trust anything Fujino at face value.

Gingerly tearing off the piece of scotch tape that held the wrapping together, Natsuki selected a suitable receptacle from all eligible litter candidates that camped out on her floor. She finally decided on an empty coke can, dented at one side. No use looking in the cupboards as they were always empty after the first week of the month. Shoving the dishes to a side, Natsuki managed to slide the can under the tap and filled it to about half. With a careless shrug, the red rose was plopped into its new home and transported to her bedside by the alarm clock. She gave it one satisfying look before sliding under the covers.

'Shizuru won't miss it the next time she comes over...' she mumbled to herself, a clear image of the elegant girl immediately requesting to see the placement of her gift.

Tossing over to the other side, Natsuki drifted off to sleep.

By the time she opened her eyes, it was just a little past two. She cursed that damn FedEx boy for disrupting her sleeping pattern.

With a few hours before six, Natsuki went through her two hour routine exercises, leaving herself with sufficient time for a shower and the dryer to finish its job. Carefully selecting her choice of lingerie and tossing on her casual uniform, Natsuki marveled its lingering warmth from its recent spin in thesecond space wasting machine. Next came a little nutrition and as instructed, Natsuki obediently located the frozen dumplings and heated them along with her soup. They were leftovers from their sad attempt at Shanghai homemade dumplings two days ago when Shizuru was on one of her cooking streaks. She had suggested the ready-made frozen ones at the supermarket but Shizuru had insisted that they made it from scratch. Aside from her lopsided dumplings, it was a success and a great source of food when one was desperate.

Finishing the last one off, Natsuki sent the pot back onto the stove and topped off the meal with a satisfying can of pop.

She had to admit, they were a lot better than instant noodles or pizza but never shall that Kyoto girl know of this for she’d rather die than let Shizuru gloat. Natsuki then grabbed her keys and headed towards Fuuka Academy on her motorbike.

Taking the more secluded routes, she arrived at her usual parking space with deft speed and precision. Most students have returned to dorm or were in the middle of after school activities thus sparing her of any remnants of this ‘special event’.

It was somewhat chilly from their recent departure from winter. The grass was still a wet yellow and the trees still bare and naked. Her walk seemed even a little desolate as she made her way through the forest and into the open field.

The gentle hill, without its luscious green coat, stood lonesome by itself as she scanned the area for a familiar figure on its slope. Instead, she found a heart-shaped package sitting notably on her usual spot. Unlike others of its kind, the parcel was wrapped with deep blue paper instead of flowery variations of red and pink. A white plastic bag under it whistled in the wind, protecting it from the grass’s dampness. Natsuki bent down and took it into her hands, noting the wrapping’s smooth mat-finished texture before removing the card slipped under the silver ribbons.

Like the card that she had received this morning, it was plain white. Black ink, painted with fine fluid strokes, drew the three hiragana of her name. It was somewhat odd to see this combination of traditional calligraphy on what was definitely a Western card.

I would have gotten you chocolate flavoured mayonnaise or mayonnaise flavoured chocolate but thankfully, such things do not exist.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Love,

Shizuru

XOXOXOXOXXXX

Suddenly, a pressure surrounded her waist, spreading over her back. Her body tightened then relaxed as she instinctively recognized who her attacker was. However, that didn’t stop the sudden rush of temperature throughout her body as the presence solidified and pressed closer. Natsuki bowed her head, trying to stop the pounding in her chest.

“Will you be my Valentine?” came a soft whisper from behind, laced with a heavy accent.

“No,” snapped Natsuki, “Now let me go.”

“No,” mimicked Shizuru playfully, “Now stay put.”

Inwardly, the dark haired girl was fuming but she allowed the hugging to continue. After all, she had broken a shopping trip promise last week due to some unattended business and if a little hugging could make it up, so be it. She didn’t hate Shizuru but physical contact was just something odd and foreign to her. Unfortunately, the Kyoto girl, true to her shameless form, was showing no signs of letting her go anytime soon.

“So, you liked your Valentine’s gift?” asked Shizuru, resting her chin on Natsuki’s right shoulder.

“Did you have to sign the card with Xs and Os?”

“It’s part of the tradition, is it not?”

“Not really...” said Natsuki. Honestly, she herself had absolutely no inside knowledge of the Valentine trends these days. However, the last thing she wanted was to appear ignorant, “Besides, aren’t you supposed to give it to the person you like…”

“But I like Natsuki.”

“Baka!” responded the usually cool and distant girl as she immediately broke out of the taller girl’s embrace. Her cheeks were already burning with its usual reaction with Shizuru simply smiling with satisfaction. The easy way those kinds of words slipped out with its playful sincerity always took her by surprise.

“I just thought it’d be fun to try this once,” explained Shizuru as Natsuki fell deafeningly quiet.

“You get enough chocolate as it is,” said Natsuki, turning away. No doubt that a huge pile of sweets, manufactured, handmade and enough to feed Africa, was sitting in the middle of the Kyoto girl's dorm room. It was no secret that Fujino Shizuru was the champion of these festive events, her only competitor being Kanzaki Reito. Natsuki always found it amazingly weird with how the school came out with these results. Does someone actually tally the presents and announce it like an election?

“Those don’t count as I am on the receiving end of those gifts.”

“You could have given it to Kanzaki. I’m sure he’d appreciate it,” scoffed Natsuki, hoping to hit some sort of comeback. After all, they were rumoured to be dating.

“That’d be an insult to my dignity along with the fact that Reito-san prefers giving out chocolate rather than receiving them.”

The younger girl questioned that statement with a curt grunt.

“That’s not for you to know,” replied Shizuru, primly.

“What’s that supposed to mean!” exploded Natsuki, unknowingly feeding her reaction to her awaiting friend.

“Means that Natsuki is too cute and innocent to be corrupted by such knowledge.”

“Shizuru!”

The Kyoto girl let loose a few elegant chuckles as Natsuki fumed with childish indignation. Finally backing down, Shizuru’s laughter softened back to its usual smile while her friend glared at her for a better explanation.

“Well, isn’t Valentine’s about showing affection to one’s beloved? It’d be meaningless if the gift is empty of emotions. I wanted to give it to someone who mattered to me.”

Natsuki stiffened as a gentle hand cupped her left cheek. Shizuru's hand was so soft.

“And no one is a better candidate than Natsuki as you are dear to me and I hold you in the highest regard.”

As much as she wanted to, Natsuki couldn't look away from those odd red orbs that seemed to be burning. The warmth in her cheeks felt like it was spreading into her insides, like a fever running rampant. She felt obligated to say something although the understanding way in which Shizuru smiled told her she didn't need to. It wasn't until the older girl broke the silence with a mischievous smile that she released the breath that she had been holding.

“Don’t forget about White Valentine’s Day,” said Shizuru.

With her heart still pounding from that awkward exchange, Natsuki merely nodded. It was hard to look defiant with her mind muddled so completely.

'Another one of those tradition things...' she thought in defeat, thankful that the only casualty for this event would only be a box of chocolate... green tea flavoured most likely.

Epilogue:

Just when she thought she was safe, Natsuki was yet proven wrong. Apparently, Shizuru had made reservations at Chez Francois, a high class French restaurant, for a ‘romantic Valentine’s dinner’. She had protested but the Kyoto girl, with her convincing arguments, assured her of their seclusion from public in a private room. After returning from the bathroom though, she found out that Shizuru had taken the liberty in ordering for the both of them.

The ‘Valentine’s Romantic dinner for Two’.

Description: A decadent seven course dinner that would highlight how much you care for your love. Live romantic music and candlelight would be provided. Throughout the entire deliciously extravagant meal (with that amazing soufflé for desert), Natsuki really wished that she had melted into a puddle.

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