Rockman.EXE does not belong to me! ^_^

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Shi-chan: I have promised and owed Atreyu (and a few other people) this story since Feb. 18/02. The debt's repaid now. XP
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Sweet Nothing
~By Shimegami-chan

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Japan on Valentine's Day, girls give chocolates to boys. There are giri chocolates (obligation chocolates, for the boys you associate with) and honmei chocolates (for the boy you like). Usually, the boys return the favour a month later on March 14th ("White Day"). Generally a White Day gift is said colour, or wrapped in white. ^.~

This is a standalone sequel to 'SemiSweet', my Valentine's fic from last year, in which Yaito gave Enzan a honmei chocolate. It takes place a month later, on White Day.


---

Ayanokouji Yaito had been accustomed to being on the recieving end of things all her life. Praise, compliments, good marks and extravagent gifts--there was never such a thing as "too much" when it came to Yaito-chan. Though she was a little selfish, Yaito's generosity outweighed her greed more often than not.

However there were times, Meiru reflected, that maybe Yaito could make do with...just a little bit less.

"I can't believe this!" she whined, brushing aside a white box. "I didn't get anything interesting!"

Meiru eyed the tower of gifts on her friend's desk. This White Day, Yaito had clearly made out like a bandit compared to the rest of the class. Perhaps it was because she was still the impressionable new transfer student or just because she was rich (and the boys needed to impress her), but her pile of chocolates, gift-wrapped boxes and white roses was a little much for a fifth-grader. Meiru herself had only recieved gifts from Dekao and Netto, and candy from some of the other boys. "Yaito-chan, you got more than anyone else!"

"But not from anyone important." She tossed her head haughtily and unwrapped a chocolate kiss, popping it into her mouth. Meiru looked on in amusement.

"Who 'important' were you expecting?"

Yaito almost choked on the candy. "No-no one!"

Meiru sighed, suddenly feeling the need to have a few of the sweets herself. The subject of Yaito's obvious crush had come up often, but Meiru could never get a straight answer from her blonde friend. Honestly, if she liked Netto, I'd rather she just told me! Still, Netto's White Day gift to Yaito had been no larger than Dekao's, whereas Meiru had recieved both chocolate and a white carnation from the young Net battler. Thankfully, Yaito hadn't noticed--or didn't care.

"Still, in my old school in England, I got way more presents than this," the young billionaire continued to brag. "They don't celebrate White Day there, you know. You only exchange gifts on Valentine's Day, and only kids in more prestigious schools bothered giving more than a little homemade card. But I usually got a lot of sweets--ah, I miss it!"

Secretly Meiru thought that a handmade card was terribly romantic, but she did not voice it. Instead, she reached for her backpack. "I ought to get home before it gets dark, Yaito-chan. I have homework to do."

"Yeah." Yaito's voice sounded slightly forlorn. "The sun is setting now...it's such a nice day, too. Feels special somehow."

Meiru stopped in mid-rise. It was unlike Yaito to be even anything resembling poetic or note something so common as a sunset. She wondered if Yaito really had been expecting to meet someone special today. "Yaito-chan...are you all right?"

The blonde turned away from the window, but not without a moment's hesitation. "I'm fine! This stupid holiday has got me acting weird. It doesn't mean anything anyway."

"It means a lot for people who got their happy endings," Meiru replied with a frown.

"One of which is not me. Maybe I'll take a nap before dinner--I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I guess so..."

Meiru got up and quietly left, waving good-bye. Yaito forced a smile until her back had turned, and spoke aloud to her Navi when the room was empty. "I feel like I just blinked and missed something important, Glyde."

"Yaito-sama?"

"...it's nothing, don't worry about it."

Yaito flopped down on her bed and listened dimly as the sound of Meiru's scooter wheels on the sidewalk filtered through her window. After a few moments the sound faded and quiet fell upon the house, unbroken by even the servants on the floor below. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't play dumb, Glyde," she snapped. "I want to know why that Ijuuin Enzan has the gall to skip out on me on White Day. When I went to all the trouble of making him Valentine chocolate!"

"I'm certain Ijuuin-san recieved a great many chocolates, not all of which he could return in kind. Perhaps he did not take you seriously, Yaito-sama."

That silenced the young heiress. After a moment Glyde continued, "Then, perhaps Ijuuin-san would not be the best romantic interest to purs--" Yaito silenced that arguement with a light tap on her PET's power button.

That jerk. I should have known better than to waste my honmei-choco on him...

Yaito closed her eyes, the heat in the room making her drowsy.

How can I even think of telling Meiru-chan that I like him when he seems totally uninterested?

Where's my happy ending?


~*~*~


"This holiday is completely idiotic." Enzan stalked out of yet another card shop, his hands jammed in his pockets. "Oversexed. Overexaggerated. And overcommercialized. Everything about it screams 'we're consumer whores'. Why do I bother?"

"Enzan-sama," Blues admonished gently, "perhaps if you had put more thought into a gift before today--"

"Quiet."

"If you say so." The Navi's tone was subdued, but was Enzan imagining a hint of "I-told-you-so" mockery?

"Then what do YOU suggest?" He paused in front of a store window filled with fluffy white stuffed toys and balloons. The young prodigy shivered.

Blues' voice came back, sounding slightly thoughtful. "I think lingerie might be inappropriate, and you seem to have ruled out chocolate and toys--boring, didn't you say? Maybe some other confectionaries or stationary?"

"I'm not giving her any cheap trinkets. Not that I'm trying to impress her, but I'm certainly affluent enough to manage something that wouldn't be laughed at by the daughter of the richest company in Japan."

"Of course not, Enzan-sama."

"I don't know why the hell I'm bothering," Enzan groaned, slumping against the wall. "That kid isn't worth this much trouble."

Blues' voice took on that I'm-Smarter-Than-You tone again. "She went to the trouble of making you chocolate, didn't she? Not to mention, 'that kid' is the only person you complain about more than Hikari Netto. That has to mean something. "

"I said shut up, Blues."

"Yes, Enzan-sama~."


~*~*~


When Yaito awoke, she was greeted by the opposite scene out the window of the one she had closed her eyes on. The sun was rising and shining brightly--obnoxiously--down upon her still-made bed. She still wore yesterday's clothes, though the ceiling light had been switched off while she slept.

"Glyde!" Angry, she remembered switching the PET off but opted to turn it back on and yell at him anyway, now that she had the opportunity. "You let me sleep the entire night! I don't have any of my homework done!"

"You severed my connection, Yaito-sama," Glyde pleaded meekly.

"You could have done something! And that, that jerk didn't come by at all either, did he!?"

"Er, no..."

"Argh!!" She flung her PET at the bed (narrowly missing a bedpost) and stomped into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. If the servants notice (or cared), they did not investigate.

Glyde let out a helpless sigh.


~*~*~


When Meiru rolled her scooter into the Ayanokouji estate's driveway, she was the first person to be perturbed by Yaito's strange behavior. From her position on the steps she could hear doors banging and shrill cries from inside the huge house. "What do you mean we're out of strawberry milk!? GLYDE!!"

Hesitantly the pink-haired girl rang the bell and waited, noting a white object sticking out of the mailbox. One of the servants opened the door a moment later and, with an apologetic look, ushered her inside. "Yaito-sama, Meiru-san is here--"

"I KNOW, I heard the DOORBELL, thanks!" Yaito seethed from one of the adjoining rooms.

"Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Meiru joked half-heartedly.

"Understatement," the butler whispered under his breath.

A moment later Yaito herself appeared, straightening her dress. "Hi, Meiru-chan. Come on before we're late."

Silently Meiru thanked whatever deity was up there that the blonde wasn't going to continue being angry at the nearest person (namely her) out of sheer proximity. "Okay, let's go?" They stepped out of the porch and Meiru stopped to point out the object she'd spotted in the mailbox. "There's mail there. Isn't it a little early in the morning for that...?"

Yaito stopped short and turned. "Mail....?" She reached into the box and withdrew a small white bag. Her name was scrawled in simple hiragana on the front, but there was no tag to identify the sender. Meiru looked on, curiously, as she opened it.

Inside was a small diary with a tiny lock and key, and stuck to it, a yellow post-it note. Meiru could read the messy writing on it from where she stood. "'Sorry this is late. For your thoughts.'...who's it from?"

"Who knows?" Yaito looked nonchalant, but the stormclouds seemed to have been chased from her eyes.

Skeptically Meiru crossed her arms over her chest. "Think it's from someone 'important'? After all, it's only tiny, right?"

"Well--"

Meiru grinned. "Eating our words from yesterday, now are we?"

"...I suppose I could have been a little bit ungrateful."

"A little." Still, Meiru wasn't going to complain about her sudden change in temperment. A happy Yaito was a pleasant Yaito to be around, after all.

And I know that's not Netto's handwriting on the note, so...!

"It's supposed to be about romance anyway, not greed." A wistful tone was detectable in Yaito's voice.

"That's the spirit!" Meiru grinned. "Far better than than your old school, right?"

Yaito brightened. "Yeah! I'm just glad I got anything at all!"

At least, from him...does it mean he likes me after all? Or was just being polite...?

Now that I have my happy ending...

...where's my sequel!?

... There was never such a thing as "too much" when it came to Ayanokouji Yaito.



~owari

I'm just as bitter as Yaito-chan about my lack of White Day gifts. XD Send me love! <3

Thanks to Pyo-chan. Have a great day everyone. ^^