Aikatsu: Princess Ichigo's Adventures

XV. Valentine's Special

       It's February 14th. The night of the ball.  I just finished getting ready.  My hair was held in a princess bun.  I was just about to leave.  Earlier this week, I bought a pink ball gown.  I picked pink because Naoto's favorite colour on me is pink.  I hope he likes it!!

       When I got to Dreamland's Palace, I took a look at it.  It was a bit on the dark side.  I shrugged it off.  Not only was it dark, it was huge!!  I walked into the ballroom to be more stunned.  Sadly, I didn't see Naoto.  Soon enough, the Valentines day ball started.  I sighed as I sat at my table.  It was too bad.  He was the one who invited me.  So I felt like an outsider.  The lighting in the ballroom was pink.  The dance floor glowed.  To my surprise, Naoto hadn't turned up yet.  "Hey, would you be Nao-kun's apprentice by any chance?" A female voice asked.  I turned around to face the queen.  "Yeah, do you know where he is?" I asked.  "Right now, he's in the royal dressing room.  I asked my servants to make him look more like a prince." She said with a wink.  I nodded.  Later on, Tiara-san went up to the mic and said it was time to eat.  I still didn't see Naoto anywhere.  Soon, people started sitting down with me.  One of those people were Mizuki.  As for the rest, I had no idea who they were.  There was one empty seat that I reserved for Naoto.  In hope he'd arrive. 

       "Ahem.  I wanted to thank you all for coming, and we have a special quest here.  He doesn't normally go any of my parties.  Give some applause for my little brother, Prince Naoto." Queen Tiara said into the microphone.  Then Naoto walked up on stage.  He had his hair styled up, but he still covered his eye (The way he styles it in the actual show whenever he performs with his band).  He had on a black and white suit.  Everyone gasped with horror on their faces.  "I hear he's very short tempered." I heard a lady whisper to another.  Which broke the dead silence.  Then I heard people talking about his attack patterns during battle, and how he's wicked.  He didn't seam to notice.  "I don't normally attend these events, but I figured my apprentice would.  So I came." He said after taking the microphone.  With that, he sat down at Queen Tiara's table.  I sighed.  He didn't even look at me.  I shrugged it off and continued eating.  A lot of people said stuff like "that poor apprentice must be more of a slave" or "He must abuse the poor person".  It broke my heart to see the way people talk about him.

       Soon afterwards, the ball dancing started.  I immediately looked for him as it was announced.  I couldn't find him.  I eventually found him looking at the moon on the balcony.  He looked extremely mad.  He must've heard those awful people.  I decided not to talk to him.  I turned around and went back to my table.  I didn't feel comfortable dancing with anyone other than Nao.  I watched him walk inside.  He had a cold expression on his face.  Colder than usual.  I went out to the balcony he was at.  The whole kingdom was beautiful.  All those lights glowed.  I stood there in the moonlight for about 30 minutes before I heard footsteps of someone joining me.  The person stood a good 3 feet away from me on the balcony.  I looked to see who it was.  I had my hopes up that it'd be Naoto.  Instead, it was just some older lady in a puffy green dress.  After 2 minutes, she went back inside, leaving me alone again.

       After 5 minutes of zoning out, I felt an arm wrap around my waist.  This time, I knew this was Naoto.  I looked up at him.  He was looking straight ahead at the moon with his normal impassive expression.  I hugged his side.  He didn't bother looking down at me.  What happened to his warm smile?  Instead he's got a much colder expression tonight.  But atleast he's here with me right now.  Just as long as he's by my side, I'm happy.  "You seem different." He said at last.  "What do you mean?" I asked.  "Normally you're bouncing all over the place.  I figured you hated awkward silences." He said.  When he finally looked down at me, he didn't have any warm smiles.  In fact, it looked almost as if he were glaring at me.  I couldn't tell if he was, or if it's just the shape of his eyebrows.  "Is something wrong?" I asked.  "It's just....the people here hate me.  This is why I hate going to parties.  People think I'm some kind of psycho because I'm one of the strongest fighters." He said.  "I was shocked when you first befriended me.  I figured if you ever figured me out, you'd be afraid of me.  That's partly why I didn't tell you." He said looking down.  I hugged him tighter.  "I don't think of you that way.  In fact, I think your amazing." I said with a smile.  He hugged back gently.  After 2 minutes, he slowly lifted my chin and caressed my face.  "I'm glad I met you." He said pulling away.  He walked back inside, leaving me hanging there.  After 10 seconds, I followed him back inside.

       I finally caught up to him after 3 minutes.  I tugged his sleeve to get his attention.  He turned around to look at me.  "Is there something you need?" He asked.  "A hug maybe?" I asked.  He sighed and pulled me into a hug.  "There must be more to why people are afraid of you." I said softly.  "It's a long story.  I'll tell you another time." He said.  "One more thing." I said before he could pull away again.  "What's that?" He asked.  I quickly kissed him on the cheek.  I could tell people were staring, but I didn't care.  I don't think he cared either.  I didn't realize I was blushing.  His arms tightened around me.  I found it comforting.  Regarding the fact that we were in public.

Ichigo's Dress

Queen Tiara's Castle