꧁ LIFE and DEATH ꧂

HEARTS

Happy Valentine's Day! (It's technically Valentine's Day in the UK, so that counts; no complaints from American readers 😈) Enjoy! (Small announcement at the end--don't worry, only good things)

The stack of evil pink boxes had quickly stacked up on Amane's desk; each a reminder that someone else was plotting to get him before Nene could even confess.

Clutching her own colourful envelope, she moved through the crowd slowly.

To her left, Akane was singing Aoi's praises on a ukulele he'd brought in. He wasn't an amazing singer, per se, but Nene had heard worse, and the sentiment was sweet. The lyrics were something along the lines of:

"Dear Aoi, my Aoi

You're lovely, I hope you know that

Aoi, oh, Aoi"

(Nene was pretty sure he had stolen the melody from Funkist's "Snow Fairy", but who was she to complain? It was from a great anime)

When he finished, he knelt in front of her and held up a paper card.

"Aoi, I love you with all my heart. Will you be my Valentine?"

Nene almost gagged at the line, but Aoi seemed to like it.

"S-Senpai!"

Nene turned to see Kou behind her. He had his arms behind his back, and, shockingly, Mitsuba wasn't with him.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Kou!" Nene smiled at him. Her kouhai had always been a steady friend, so there were no ulterior motives when she held out a white card with a large smiley face on the cover.

"A-a card from Senpai?!" Kou stared at the card and accepted it, holding the paper gingerly. "S-Senpai... I have something to tell--

Suddenly, Kou cried out in pain and spun around, rubbing his neck. When he pulled his hand away, the skin was red, like he'd been pinched.

"What the heck?!" he shouted.

Behind him stood Amane Yugi, a pained grin on his face. "Oh. Sorry," he deadpanned through his teeth. "I didn't see you there."

"You pinched me! How did you not see me?!"

"Meh, I was just walking along and pinching the air. Can't help it if you got in my way."

"Stop it," Nene told them, even though her eyes were trained on Amane's. When he looked back at her, Nene practically turned red. "K-Kou-kun, why don't you go find Mitsuba-kun? Can you give him my card for me?"

Kou accepted the card she held out, still giving Amane his best death glare. He turned, casting another hopeful smile at Nene and another glare at Amane. "I'll see you later, Senpai."

The two watched Kou leave. Nene spun to face Amane. "What was that about? Don't antagonize him."

Amane sighed. "Yashiro, you know what he was going to say, right?"

Nene frowned. "No...?"

"Yashiro..." he sighed dramatically before his expression soured. "He wanted to confess."

Nene laughed and shook her head. "He's very much in love with Mitsuba, that's obvious."

"Just because he likes Mitsuba doesn't mean that he doesn't like you."

"God, Amane," Nene couldn't help but throw her arms up. "Stop acting like that, or I'll start thinking your jealous or some--"

"What's this?"