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"COME ON TSUKASA!!! WE ARE GOING TO MISS THE BEST VIEW!!" - Emu screamed to his ear, dragging him somewhere in the Sekai, holding his hand.
"But Emu, I am the one who knows the place where we are heading."
"..OH! YOU TAKE THE LEAD THEN!!"
Today was 14th February, Valentine's day. But more importantly, Tsukasa's and Emu's first anniversary!! How romantic right? Ask someone out on the most important day for lovebirds in the year! That's why he decided to bring her to a beautiful place in the Sekai that only he knows about. Only shared to Emu that the place that they are heading to has beautiful views.
Tsukasa thought about it, the day when surprisingly Emu made the first move, which in the end resulted in Tsukasa asking her out. Ah, how time flies!
It all started when Emu learnt that he doesn't have a date the day before valentines, when in the middle of their practice Rui brang up that he finally found his valentine date. Nene said she had someone too, and Tsukasa was the only one who admitted to having no one. What about Emu? She said she actually never thought about having a valentine date, and might consider asking someone out. Rui joked that it's kinda too late for finding someone, unless she wants to make a surprise and ask them out the next day. Or, go to announcement board in her school and write that she needs an urgent valentine date! She laughed about it and said that she already has someone in mind.
Which for some reason hurt Tsukasa's feelings, that she thinks about someone. It's weird, he doesn't crush on her, and yet he can't bear with a thought that she could be seeing someone else. Jealous about not-even-your-girlfriend, not-even-your-crush?? It seems so.
And no words could describe his shock when the next day, on the long break, the valentine mail actually gave him a valentine letter! It was a pink, heart shaped paper, with a small gold star sticker on the cover, the valentine sealed together with a golden tape. Tsukasa delicately opened the valentine, and saw a really detailed and neat handdrawing inside.
Dear Tsukasa
There is not much time for me to write, so I'm not gonna play around the bush. I really really want to spend more time with you, and really really really care about you!! Whenever you are near my heart starts beating reallly fast!!! Like badoom baddom badoom!!! Would you like to be my valentine?
Wow, to be honest he didn't expect any valentine lists today. He stood there in shock. Someone from his school likes him? Like likes likes him?!?! He looked at the golden star at the cover. And that's when he remembered the rules of the secret valentine mail that his school council hosted.
If someone wants, they can get a sticker on their valentine, if they would like to receive a response. Of course, it was a really risky thing to do, no one would like the student council to look into their valentine's, so if they wanted a response, they would go to the student council to submit it, tape it down with tape, like a "trust seal" so the recipient is sure he is the first one to read it, and a random sticker they choose. Then, they write down the sticker they chose, with details about shape, color, and where they placed it. When someone wants to respond, they go to the student council, give the response, and explain how the sticker looked like and where was it glued. After classes the people who sent the mails first go to the student council and explain how their sticker looked like. If they got a response, they would hand it over.
Which means, someone who sent it to him wanted a response. But what should he write? He doesn't know who that is. He couldn't think of anyone in his school that could like him romantically. Then, he got a brilliant idea.
Hello.
I'd like to meet. How does the ice cream shop near our school sounds? At 6pm? I'll wait for you there.
Tsukasa.
Perfect! He went to the student council to send his valentine, kinda scared of who his mysterious fan was. He didn't love anyone in this way. And the person wrote that they spend time around eachother, which means he would have to friendzone someone. Tsukasa entered the student council room.
"Hello! Would you like to respond to your valentine?" - A girl welcomes him from behind a table with a big box filled with a bunch of lists.
"Hi! Yeah, I'd like to leave a response for someone who sent me a valentine with a small gold star sticker on the top of my mail."
"Oh, so it's you."
"...huh?"
What did she mean by that? Did she know about the contents of the valentine he received? He looked at that girl. He didn't recognize her, so there is no way she was the one who sent it.
"I'm really sorry, but the girl who sent you this valentine didn't really realize what she was doing."
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"
"Well.. I remember her jumping here and asking if she can write a letter. But the issue was, she wasn't wearing our school uniform."
Oh.
Oh.
There is only one girl she knows from another school that would "jump in" and leave a valentine for him.
"I gave her a piece of paper and she wrote it down and got the sticker right? I told her she would have to come here between 3pm to 4pm to receive an answer, but she told me that "oh noooo I have classes that time!!" And that saying ran out! I didn't recognize the girl, so even if I wanted to, I can't track her down. Even better, she was writing a literal coat covering her hair, the snow started melting on it and made our whole room slippery! I only recognized that the dress she was wearing wasn't from our school, sorry I can't help more."
But oh, she helped real much, he 100% knows who would sneak up to his school to drop a valentine, and has classes from 3pm to 4pm.
"IT'S ALRIGHT, YOU HELPED MUCH ANYWAYS!!! HA HA HA!!"
That saying, he ran out of the room. Well, tried to because he slipped when he tried to. The floor was slippery after all.
"TSUKASA!!!! YOU'RE AWFULLY QUIET!!!" - Emu's screaming brang him back to reality.
"AHH, SORRY SORRY!!"
"ABOUT WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?? YOU ARE SMILING TO YOURSELF!!"
He is? He didn't even realize.
But they finally reached the destination.
"We are here Emu!!"
"OH OH!!! ...but Tsukasa, it's empty here!!"
"Not exactly. Look up!"
She did like he asked, and she screamed.
The whole sky was full of stars. It was perfectly clear, no clouds up on the sky. Was that because it's a virtual world, or that Tsukasa feels really at peace, not stressed over anything?
"TSUKASA THIS IS SOOO BEAUTIFUL!!! I HAVE NO WORDS ITS SOO PRETTY!!"
"Well, our city is really big and the light pollution is awful, so I realized you propably never saw such a pretty sky. And last week when I tried to explore the Sekai, I found this place!"
Emu jumped and hugged him, making him fall down on the grass.
"THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHOWING ME THIS!!!"
"HAHA, YOU'RE WELCOME, EMU!!"
They both laid at the ground, staring at the sky. Emu was talking about the stars, and how they looked like a kitten, Rui, or even a piece of cheese.
And Tsukasa was quiet the whole time, letting his girlfriend speak. He loved listening to her rambling, even though it made no sense sometimes. But hearing her get excited about something made him feel really happy, that she was comfortable around him.
It reminded him how he decided to act on the way she literally confessed to him and left him no chance to reply.
He remembers himself sitting in the park near Phoenix Wonderlands, waiting for the clock on his phone to hit 3:35pm, the hour when Emu finishes her last lesson. He waited with a message in his drafts.
HII EMU, I REMEMBER YOU SAID YESTERDAY THAT YOU HAVE NO ONE TO SPEND TIME WITH DURING VALENTINES, SO MAYBE YOU'D LIKE TO GO WITH ME ON ICE CREAM??? YOU KNOW, THE ONE IN THE PARK NEAR PWL!!! MY TREAT!!
3:33pm. This is a bad idea, she will figure it out that he knows. She will panic and won't respond.
3:34pm. He wants to do it. He wants her to know how much he loves her, and how he can't imagine his future without her.
3:35. He can't do it.
Actually who cares what's the worst thing she can do?
Sent.
HE TAKES IT ALL BACK HE ISN'T READY. HE WANTS TO PULL HIS HAIR OUT.
Ring!!
Oh god Oh god he is going to die out of a heart attack.
HIII, SURE!!! I'LL BE THERE IN 10 MINUTES!!! :DDD
Great, first step done.
Tsukasa is brang back to the present again, when he notices Emu stopped talking. He knows it's not because he wasn't replying, she mentioned to him many times that she prefers it that way, so that she won't accidentally get off the track. Then why did she stop?
"Emu? Is something wrong?"
She turned his head to him, looking into his eyes.
"Not at all!! I just want to enjoy being here with you as much as I can!!"
She looked up to the stars again, smiling.
"Are you thinking about something Emu?"
"Yeah, about how you asked me out!!"
Two peas in a pod, huh?
Really thinking about the same thing, maybe it's just the mood? He feels comfortable laying next to Emu, holding her hand, looking up at the distant stars.
It takes him back.
"EMUU!! I'M HERE!" - Tsukasa screamed when he noticed the pink girl running around the pack, looking for him. The second she saw him she started sprinting towards him.
Oh no.
Of course she jumped at him, making both of them fall down. Tsukasa got used to it, really.
But didn't get used to sudden butterflies in his stomach everytime Emu hugged him.
"HOW WAS YOUR DAY AT SCHOOL TSUKASA???"
Is she asking about the mail?
"PRETTY GREAT!! GUESS WHAT, I RECEIVED A VALENTINE MAIL TODAY!!"
"OH OH OH!!! HOW WAS IT?!?!?"
"Well, I had no idea from who that may be!! But I tried to send a reply, but sadly that person was unreachable at all!!"
"..oh!!"
She's surprised? WHAT IF SHE DIDN'T KNOW HE CAN'T REPLY??
"Well, what would you reply then?!??!! You made me interested!!!"
"Well, depends on who that person would be!!"
"Let's think... Nene?"
"The mail was too sweet, and doesn't fit her writing style. But even if it was her, I'd decline!"
"OH OH, THEN RUI??"
"Same answer!!!"
"Hmmm, Akito??"
"AKITO HAS A BOYFRIEND."
"OHH YEAH I FORGOT!!! Would you even accept from anyone??"
"Hmm... Let me think.."
You can do it Tsukasa.
You've got this!!
"Well, if it were from someone like you then yeah..?"
Emu gasped.
Oh my god what did he do.
And then she hugged him so hard he would probably suffocate if she didn't let go of him.
"H-HEY EMU IT HURTS!!"
"You mean it?"
"...Yeah. Every word of it."
He reciprocated the hug, and briefly kissed her forehead.
"Of course, only if you want that!!"
"I'D LOVE TO!!"
Wow, that was a whole year ago? That felt like yesterday!! It's been a year and Tsukasa still can't get enough of Emu. He could spend his whole days with her like that, not thinking about what future might bring, just lay with her here on the grass, watching the stars.
"Tsukasa?" - Emu said quietly, facing him again.
"Yes?"
"Thank you so much for that. For everything."
He smiled, and got closer to her to kiss her forehead, and hugged her.
"Always for you."
"Happy Valentine's day, Tsukasa. Happy anniversary." - She said, closing her eyes, getting closer to him.
"You too Emu, you too."
Well who knew about what a big surprise waits for the other troupe members!!
Rui and Nene both went into Sekai, mostly to chat about how they had fun on their dates, but 100% didn't expect to see Emu and Tsukasa laying on the ground asleep.
"I think I should wake them up before Miku finds them. She will act like their alarm clock and sing-scream Becoming Potatoes right in their ear."
"Don't you fucking dare Rui."