White Day
By: Amber Michelle

This was written for the la_corda_fic community's February theme, "heart." I've never written anything for this fandom or these characters before, and canon is kind of confusing with so many versions (manga, anime, games), so if anything is off or out of character, I'll just have to try harder next time.

I axed the honorifics. The poem is by Izumi Shikibu, because apparently I just can't use her enough in fic, and anyway, it's the sort of thing a Yunoki would like.

oXo

"You are so lucky, Kaho. I can't believe all of this chocolate. Hey- don't open it, Mio-"

"At least you got some of your own. I didn't even get one box. Not even a cookie."

"That's no reason to-"

Kahoko propped her chin on her hand and watched them bicker over her shopping bag. Their tug-of-war warped the department store logo and made the contents rattle - chocolate from Hihara and Tsuchiura, a bag of thin shortbread cookies from Shimizu, candy from Fuyuumi and Amou just for fun. I can't believe Tsukimori didn't give you something Amou said before class when she'd dropped by. But that's just like him, now that I think about it. He ignores greetings, slams doors in your face- tch. Then she'd straightened up, reached into her bag, and pulled out her camera. Now let's have a picture - the headline'll be 'lucky gen-ed girl wooed by all of the concours participants!'

"Kaho, do you think...?"

She caught another stare slanted in her direction from the front of the room and sighed. "Sure, but let me open it - that's only fair."

Mio handed the cookies over, and Kahoko picked at the ribbons tying the bag closed. They spilled over her hand like streamers, or golden ringlets, glinting in the sun that slanted through the classroom windows. Her lunch sat half-eaten at the center of a square of light, the heat making the sweet-salty smell of soboro stronger and her orange soda gleam and cast a long, colored shape across her desk. Her arm was stuck in the sun too, no matter how she moved; the warmth reminded her of how hotly she'd blushed at Amou's crazy idea before stuttering that it wasn't true anyway - Yunoki hadn't given her anything either, and nobody was going to call him rude, now were they? Even if it was true. In fact, 'rude' hardly described him. What kind of headlines would the journalist club come up with if they knew how insensitive he could be? The demon of the Yunoki clan, she supplied mentally. Honor student, or a real live kitsune in disguise?

Oh, but he never gives anyone chocolate, Amou had said, rolling her eyes. It wouldn't be fair.

The plastic crackled and twisted open; Kahoko took the heart-shaped wafer on top and handed the rest back. "So Nao." She nibbled on the round edge and grinned. "Who gave you a gift, again...?"

Nao flushed. "Uh- um." Kahoko grinned - this was revenge for earlier. She prodded Nao with her toe and made her stammer y-you wouldn't know him! Her eyes darted to the other side of the room and widened. "Fuyuumi!" Nao called, loud enough to be heard across a soccer field. "Hi! Looking for us?"

Mio snickered. Kahoko turned in her chair and saw Fuyuumi walk into the classroom and weave between the desks to reach them, a gold-wrapped box hugged to her chest. Nao jumped out of her seat to greet her, asking who gave her the gift; since when did Fuyuumi like anyone, and why didn't she say anything? Fuyuumi blushed and set the box square center above Kahoko's bento. "Actually, Yu- um, someone asked me to give this to Kaho?"

"For me, huh." She curled her fingers together in her lap and stared at the box. There were only two people left, and Fuyuumi had been about to say-

Mio heaved a sigh that ruffled Kahoko's hair from behind. "Another one?"

Nao frowned. "Don't be like that. At least we get to help her eat it all."

"Says the girl who got her own pretty box of chocolates."

"Awww-"

Kahoko lifted her head, about to thank her, and saw Fuyuumi glance both ways before leaning down to whisper in her ear, "He said he would be waiting in the usual place." She bit her lip, shrugged as if to apologize. It was probably all he told her, but it was enough to tell Kahoko who sent it - although the gift itself made it glaringly obvious. The wrapping paper was thick and richly gold, the ribbon silk; Godiva was embossed at the top, and when she unwrapped it, the smooth, polished wooden box was worked with a title in real god leaf. At least, it looked real.

He would make sure it was real. She worked the lid open and laid aside the card.

"A note!" Nao snatched the red parchment up and turned it over. "Wakened by the scent of flowering plum... ooh, I think I've heard this one before..."

"That's some amazing calligraphy," Mio said, pulling it from her hand and giving it to Kahoko. "Who even knows how to write like that anymore?"

Kahoko turned the card over in her hands. It was plain paper, a deep shade of red, and the poem curled in rich black on one side: Wakened by the scent of flowering plum ... the darkness of the spring night fills me with longing. She wanted to say it was out of character for him, but they wouldn't believe her - and what did she know? Her friends speculated on it - whether the note was commissioned too, since whoever sent this must be made of money. He must really have it bad for you, Mio said, but Kahoko shook her head and tried to ignore the girl next to them, who had gotten up to see her unwrap the chocolates. Someone else crowded behind her to ooh, and poor Fuyuumi hunched and tried to narrow her shoulders as much as possible.

"Look at this, the design was painted on these pieces..."

"This one looks like a maple leaf! Oh, it's so cute and detailed-"

"Two tiers? How many pieces is that? Wow."

Kahoko tried to smile, and when someone asked who she knew that could afford something ridiculous like this, she pretended not to know. Seisou enrolled hundreds of wealthy students. It could have been anyone. Someone who fell in love with you during the concours, maybe, Nao said. No, wait, what about that festival you played in? Don't you practice at the park? Maybe it's a secret admirer...

No, Kahoko only knew one person who would go to all this trouble - because he always had to be one step ahead of everyone else. It wasn't because he 'had it bad for her,' that was for sure. She closed the box - a chorus of sighs tempted her to roll her eyes - and left her friends to guard her things. He hated to be kept waiting.

oXo

oXo

Students were starting to wander back to their classrooms by the time Kahoko took the staircase up to the roof and pushed the door open against the wind. He was standing by the bench farthest from the door, disassembling his flute, leaning over to rest the gold pieces in their case. The breeze toyed with his hair, lifted it from his back in dark curves and streaks like his calligraphy so it scribbled across the light blue sky. She let the door drift shut. The slam made her jump, even though she knew it was coming.

"Kahoko." Yunoki's voice carried on the wind. He snapped the flute case shut. "Are you going to stand there until the bell rings?"

She left the security of the door and crossed the intervening space, feeling the wind pull at her own hair and sweep her bangs from her face. It left her fingers cold. "Thank you for the gift," Kahoko said when she was close enough that she knew it would be heard. Not that it mattered; he would probably say something like-

"I was only trying to make a point."

- that.

"Knowing you, it still flew over your head. Am I right?"

Kahoko watched the wind twist his hair around his shoulders; he turned around to face her, and just like that, the way it waved and snapped, he could have turned into a demon. The sun was at his back, his eyes glinted dark gold. She clasped her hands tightly behind her and tilted her head to look aside. "You could just tell me."

"You must have been showered in gifts today." Yunoki moved closer, his shadow advancing before him. His fingers grasped her chin, made her look up at him. When they were alone he seemed so much taller than when they were with the others. He stood indecently close to make her tilt her had back, so close his hair tickled her ear when it drifted forward. "I can even guess who gave you what, but then I'd have to admit to spying on everyone."

"So?" Kahoko bit her lip when her voice shook. She didn't know why he was so frightening when Tsuchiura was much taller, bigger, and had even been mad at her before. Yunoki was- well, no. Not scary. Not really. Not at all. She would never let him think so. But his broader frame broke the wind, and he was warm, and it made her jacket feel heavy, hot, tight. "I gave everyone gifts. I didn't forget you, so I don't understand-"

His fingers pinched her chin. "Yes, they were all the same. There was no difference in affection at all." She opened her mouth to retort, and Yunoki pressed his thumb hard against her lips, watching her with heavy-lidded eyes and a slight smile. The way he leaned in pressed his arm between her breasts, and Kahoko tried to back away, but he followed her, and somewhere behind her, two or three steps away, was a bench that would trip her up - and his flute case, his books. "You forced me to take the initiative, as usual. I think you owe me something, don't you?" For some reason her legs trembled when he said that. She locked her knees, and Yunoki didn't seem to notice. "But I want something you haven't given the others, and that complicates things. You've given everyone gifts, cooked for them, played the violin, gone on dates-"

"Now wait a minute!" Kahoko pushed his hand away and felt her face flame. "You make it sound like I'm two-timing- No, three, four-timing-"

"Have you kissed any of them yet?"

Yet? Kahoko wanted to kick him. "N-" She clenched her teeth hard and willed face not to flush any hotter, though he was leaning over her, and she could feel the warmth of his breath on her chin - her lips. Why did he mention kissing? She ripped her eyes away from his mouth. "That's none of your business."

Yunoki's smile widened. The wind changed direction; his hair drifted down to slap against her arm. "Is that a yes?"

"No!"

"Good." The smile disappeared before she could catch her breath. His arm clamped around her waist like iron and his hair draped over his shoulder, over hers, veiling them from the sun and brushing soft against her cheek with a scent like plum blossoms. "That'll do."

Kahoko felt his hand slide into her hair and tickle the nape of her neck, his nails grazing her skin and sending shivering jolts down her spine. Her eyes widened when he leaned down and his lips waited only an inch away, maybe a centimeter, her fingers clenching into his sleeves and twisting until she wasn't sure if she was trying to push him away or pull him in. Their noses brushed. He only stared at her, and she wished he'd stop it, or back off, or just get on with- no, she didn't want that, she didn't! She'd never hear the end of it. He was probably going to push her away any minute now and tell her he was just kidding, so this was the time to take initiative and shove him away.

Even if it was a trick, he did smell good, and she didn't feel the wind because his arms were warm, and between them was enough heat to keep an entire classroom comfortable. His fingers were cold, his nose, and his cheek when she reached up to touch it. His lips were warm, resting first on her cheek, then the tip of her nose, and finally covering her mouth, soft and light. Yunoki gave her half a second to suck in a deep breath, releasing her hair to tilt her chin back and hold her, and the next kiss came hard, with the bite of his teeth scraping her bottom lip and his hand holding her still while he coaxed her lips apart and soothed the sting with his tongue. Her coat buttons caught on his and tugged. His hair tickled her throat, sliding over her collar, sweet-smelling and cool, and her heart jolted against her ribs, pounding so hard, so quickly, it felt like her entire body jittered with the force. When he leaned back to breathe Kahoko clung to his lapels and stared at the knot of his blue tie, lips still tingling.

She felt his heartbeat beneath her fist, and the rise and fall of his chest against her breasts. She'd wanted to yell at him for something, but couldn't remember what. Yunoki breathing on her ear was all she knew until he stepped away, and it was suddenly cold again, and bright - and distantly the class bell rang. The sound pumped enough adrenaline into Kahoko's legs to stiffen her knees up and keep her standing.

He walked around her to gather his things. Her heart was still beating hard, as if it wanted to drive her toward him for more. "You're terrible," she said softly, not sure he could hear her. "For making fun of me like this."

Yunoki's shadow engulfed her again, the wind snatching at his hair. He leaned over her,. "And you are an idiot," he said, every word warm against her mouth, "if you think I would kiss a girl I don't like."

His eyes flicked up, pinned Kahoko for a heartbeat. Then he turned away abruptly and strode toward the door, leaving her to stare at the white cement benches and the violets swaying in their big clay pot. Her skin chilled in the wind, but warmth spread inside, until her whole body seemed to be flushing red as her face. Kahoko brushed her lips with her fingers.

It seemed Azuma was always going to keep her guessing.

.