Amu Hinamori was actually out of bed! It was a miracle! She was standing on the patio, leaning over the side and breathing deep of the fresh, cool air. Her eyes were closed and she was looking better. In her pajamas, though. Her hair was tied back and there was a cup of milk by her.
She wasn't a hundred percent yet, but well... she was getting there. Just a few more days and she'd be able to go back to school. As it was, she was tired of being confined to a bed and wanting to get some walking was here. She laid her head on her arms, yawning softly. "Mmmmm.... Tadase-kun..." Ah, yes, daydreaming.
Sick friends suck - they can't come out and play, they don't show up at school, and going to visit them means you might catch what they've got. Still, though, it's worth it to make sure they're ok. Which means Kukai Souma is out around Amu's house, looking in to see what she's up to.
First thing though, he heads around the back of her house to see if the balcony door was open. No, but the patio is - and there's Amu, hair all mussed, dressed in frumpy robe, head resting on her arms... Kukai arched an eyebrow for a moment, then grins, moving over towards her, him and Daichi both watching for Chara interference. And then...
"HEY, Amu!" He doesn't slap her on the back or anything, but he's close enough, and grinning super wide. Maybe his nose is growing, just a bit.
Amu Hinamori shrieked and jumped up, nearly punching him i nthe face. Her eyes were wide and then... she saw him. And she smiled and gave him a big hug. "Kukai-kun!" she said happily, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm almost all better, doctor says I should be able to return to school i na few days, so long as I don't have a relapse." fortunately, she hadn't been contagious in a while. She then gave a sheepish smile.
"But I'm making sure to do no chara transformations, no x-eggs, no fighting of any short. I'm being a good girl this time." Her cheeks were a little red. then went a lot red when she realized she was STILL hugging him. she yanked back quickly. "S-s-sorry."
Kukai can't help but laugh at that jumping, panicked reaction, then laughed as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging her back. "Good! You'll be back to normal sooner than you know it. Just needed to rest for a few days. But this walking around on the patio thing doesn't look like rest." He eyes her for a moment.
There's a nod as she talks about chara transformations and the rest. "Good." He lets her go back and then looks around. "Did Ran and Miki come home? I don't see any of the girls anywhere. I mean, you're not spazzing out so I imagine they're safe, but I should ask." He also pulls a little bag out of his pocket. "Got you something, too." He offers her the tiny plastic bag.
Amu Hinamori blushed and then nodded. "I-I just needed some fresh air. Okay? just a little. Want to come inside? And yeah, they came home. Never found Tadase-kun or Nades-kun. Though Tadase-kun came to visit and Miki tattled on me."
She huffed, but then blushed. "Then Tadase-kun was... well..." Her cheeks got really, really, really, really red. "He's... really... sweet when he's not... upset at me..." Could practically hear her heart hammering and she swayed happily in place.
Kukai frowns a bit at the thought that Nagihiko was out there alone, but he'd do something about that later. For now... "Well, I'm ok out here if you are. And that's good. Daichi and I were concerned." He arches an eyebrow. "Tattled on you?"
He grins faintly. "Hey, hey, I don't need to hear about how you and the King are smooching and stuff. I see enough of that when you're at school. Or out. Or anywhere together." He watches her sway and reaches over, steadying her shoulder. "And obviously you're still ill, look at how you can't stand on your own feet!" There's that smartass grin again.
Amu Hinamori blushed and then totally did the anime style flail. "W-w-we do not! w-we barely even kiss in front of you stop teasing meeeeee!" she whined, whirling about. Well, she seeemed to be doing a lot better, then. Then glowered at him. "I am doing a lot better! I haven't passed out from exhaustion, haven't called anybody by the wrong name and haven't fallen off my bed in... well, it wasn't because I was sick," she said with a blush.
She crossed her arms and huffed, then glanced into the house. "You hungry? We have soup. A LOT of soup."
Kukai can't help but snicker at Amu, turning his back at bit on her flailing. "Well I guess I shouldn't be so hard on you. I mean whomever you wanna kiss is your business." He looks back over at her, then nods. "A whole day without falling over, even? That's good."
He hmmms, then nods, grinning. "Sure, why not? If there's a lot of soup, I'll have some. ....Wait. Is it not good? Is that why you aren't eating it?" He looks at her for a moment.
Amu Hinamori eyed him for a bit, then her cheeks got even redder. She wanted to kiss? She kind of wanted to kiss him too, sometimes. Not now, but sometimes. She quickly shook her head.
"What? No! It's ammazing! Mom just kind of... welllll... she decided to make a ton of it. and I do mean a ton. There were about four pots done when she finished. She just... you know... wanted to make sure I was okay and didn't have to worry about any meals. You know how moms can be," she said with a little blush. "It is good, though. come on." Walked inside. Into the screen door. bounced off. "This means nothing!"
Kukai ahs, then laughs. "Wow. Why exactly did she make so much? ....Oh. But. Four pots?" He moves towards the door with her, then stops as she rebounds off the closed screen door. "I didn't see anything. I promise." There's a giant sealed-lip grin on his face, though. Daichi is nowhere to be seen, at least until they get inside, and he zips off to find his Chara friends.
Kukai moves into the kitchen with her. "Ok. Feeling better or not, you're still sick, so just point me at where everything is and I'll get it all set up, ok?"
Amu Hinamori nodded and then sighed. "Yeah, my parents can be a bit... over the top. a lot. It's really frustrating sometimes, you know? I feel like the only parent around." Which waskind of sad, considering she was a teen. "You don't even want to know the stuff they let Ami getaway with." She shook her head. She then pointed in the fridge, before sitting down. "A bunch of tupperware containers. Just pop two in the fridge."
The girls were upstairs, up and about and cleaning. It seems they had their energy back, too.
Kukai shrugs. "If they pay the bills, love you, and want to be involved without interfering in your life too much, then they're great parents." He grins. "They could be like my parents - not even in country for months, years at a time. I'm thankful I've got a bunch of brothers to help keep things going at the house."
He opens the fridge and pulls out two of the Tupperware containers, popping the lips and then sticking them into the microwave for a few minutes, before going back to find something to drink. "So has anybody been bringing your schoolwork by, or are you just gonna worry about it when you get back?"
Daichi cheers and gives everybody hugs because yay hugs and he hasn't seen them for a whole day and stuff.
Amu Hinamori blinked a few times. Then heard that and lowered her eyes. "I... I'm sorry Kukai-kun. My parents are great, really. I do love them, they're amazing. They're just a bit... intense at times. And yes, Tadase-kun has been." Good ol' boyfriend. She sat down and sighed. "I'm soooo going to end up getting worse grades now... ughhhhh... kinda defeated the whole purpose of asking Lacrima-chan to help me with any of this..."
Ran, of course, immediately challenged him to a race. Miki, of course, let the hug linger a long ,long time. Redfaced.
Kukai awws and goes over, hugging her lightly around the shoulders. "I didn't mean to say something bad about your mom and dad. Forgive me." He listens, then grins. "Well. I'm sure you'll be fine in school. It'll be all right. Seriously, you'll do better than me. If I wasn't on half a dozen teams and a Guardian I think they'd expel me."
Daichi huuuugs Miki, and then ends up running around the room with Ran!
Amu Hinamori giggled softly, covering her mouth with her hand and giving a few small coughs. No lung hacking, yay! "I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to expel you, Kukai. You and Nagi, welllllll..." She kind of shifty eyed. Half the school idolized them.
Half the school idolized amu, too. but the other half wanted her dead for stealing Tadase. "Soooo... ummmm... Is what Tadase-kun said true? Are there really rumors about me being expelled for punching out Takashi-sempai?"
Miki fell over, face all red. Su just giggled. Ran bounced off balls and dove around books and tried to squeeze through the little holes in the laundry basket and got stuck.
Kukai chuckles, then shrugs. "I think some people think I'm dating Nadeshiko or something. Or Nagihiko. I dunno. It's still in the air. If they thought we were smooching, there might be a riot."
Kukai blinked as the microwave beeped. He stood, going over to it and pulling out the two tubs, setting one in front of Amu and the other at his seat, getting a pair of spoons and setting their drinks (juice for him) on the table. "I heard that. Fortunately someone immediately followed it up with the truth about you being sick. Of course, someone else followed THAT up with a rumor about you joining some sort of fight club or something... you know what it's like."
Daichi chased after Ran, right behind her, but stopped when she got stuck and tried to help tug her out!
Amu Hinamori giggled softly, taking a sip of the juice asshe eyed him. "Oh? A fight club? I always imagined you'd be the one doing something like that. I'd feel bad for anyone who had to fight you, though," she said with a big grin. "How many secret confessions is Tadase-kun getting a day now that I'm not there? Are you getting more still?"
After a few moments, Ran popped out and sent them both hurtling across the room, into the pillows. Su just lightly chuckled into her hand.
Kukai chuckles and shakes his head. "Nooo, no. I'm not a fist fighter. If I wanna do something like that I've got a skateboard and a cricket bat and basketballs. I'd rather just distract somebody and keep them annoyed while somebody else landed the final blow, if I can't make things peaceful." He hmms, taking a sip of his soup and thinking. "I don't know, actually, for Tadase. Me, however? One or two, here and there. Nothing much." Humble or underreporting? Who knows.
Daichi is all wrapped up with Ran, but eventually untangles himself and lays out, letting out a breath. "Owie."
Amu Hinamori gave him an undereye glare. "Mmmmmmhmmm? Just one or two? Funny, I hear at least three girls a day talking about how they left a letter on your shoes. Or are you just not reporting the unmarked ones, hmmmmmmm?" she asked before giving a smile. "Granted, I think nagi-kun gets even more than that, so I guess it's not surprising."
Ran nodded. "Owie indeed." However, after a few moments a grin spread on her lips and she began to giggle, glancing over to him happily.
Kukai laughs and then shrugs. "Nah, I mean, if they don't put their name to it, it's some girl or guy or adult or something somewhere confessing their love for you and at that point what the heck are you gonna say about it? And seriously, have you seen how pretty Na-kun is? Half the girls in the school gnash their teeth when he walks by, and there's not a girl in the school - you included, sorry Amu-chan - who holds a candle to Nadeshiko. But I may be biased, so take that with a grain of salt." Kukai grins over at her.
Daichi sits up, looks over at Ran, then grins and zips off, intent on finishing the race!
Amu Hinamori blinked and then sighed, giving a nod. "No, I've got to agree. Nadeshiko-chan is most definitely the prettiest girl in school. I'm so lucky to have her as my best friend," she said, her voice filled with admiration. "I just hope one day I can be nearly as pretty as her. S-she's going to teach me how to dance, you know. I mean, I'll never be as good as her, but maybe close eventually?" she kind of wiggled in her seat when she talked, it was pretty obvious who she admired most.
Ran eeped, then jumped up and darted after him. Su held up the checker flag and-- Wait, how did Su get to the end? either way, checkered flag!
Kukai grins. "Yeah, and a hell of a kisser." He sighs and takes another sip of his soup, spooning out some of the noodles and vegetables. "I need to go see what Na-kun's up to, honestly. He shoulda been around the past day or two. And..." He looks over at Amu and grins. "You'll get there. You're almost there now. And oh, yeah? You're gonna dance? Awesome." He smiles and takes a few more bites.
Daichi ran right at Su, intent on grabbing that checkered flag and being the winner, Ran right beside him!
Amu Hinamori nods and galnces off to the side. "Y-yeah, she's a real good kisser. Almost as good as--" Aaaaaand then her cheeks went bright red and she squeaked and covered her face. "I-I'm so sorry, K-kukai-kun I-I was really out of it and I felt bad and and I wanted to show Nagi-kun that I could be like you and and I didn't mean to make either of you feel bad I'm sorry!" She squirmed in her seat and sulked. "Huh? and no I'm not. Nades-chan is the prettiest but... i can think of at least a dozen girls at school alone prettier than me there. and ummm, if Nades-chan can teach me..."
Ran ran neck and neck with him, glaring the electric glare at him as she tried to out pace him. Neck and neck, almost there. su lifted the checkered flag and!!!!!
Kukai arches his eyebrows at Amu for a moment, listening. "Amu..." He rubs his head. "Amu, I knew you kissed Na-kun at some point, but I didn't really care.." He eyes her for a moment. "...But what do you mean 'be like me?' I'm not sure how to take that." Actually he's got an idea, but he's willing to hold off on saying what he feels, just for the moment. "I'm not feeling bad yet."
He watches her for a moment, then smiles. "Well. Whatever. Hey, you can still be really pretty, despite how pretty anybody else is. And I'm sure Nadeshiko will teach you." He empties the rest of his bowl and looks into it, then nods. "Well. It's been nice, but I think I better get outta here and go see if Na-chan is in one piece or not, if you don't mind."
Daichi is so busy going after the flag that he doesn't exactly notice Su. Who gets tackled as Daichi lunges and acks and gets all tangled up with the blonde and probably makes a train wreck for Ran, too!
Amu Hinamori sighed and looked down. "That... welll.... I could be like you. You're so amazing and... and you see Nades and Nagi as the same and... and I keep not doing that. I keep forgetting that she's not... he's not... that they're..." She shook her head. "Nevermind, just forget I said anything, okay? And why wouldn't they be in one piece?" She looked confused,but then smiled to him. "Just have fun, okay? I'll see you around?"
Ran did so. Aaaand immediately tried to pin him. Best two out of three?
Kukai hmms at Amu for a moment, then reaches over, tapping Amu on the nose. "Stop trying to steal my boyfriend from me. Huh?" He grins at her. "The skin doesn't matter - heck, the bits don't matter. The person matters." He nods, then shrugs, standing up and carrying his bowl and glass over to the sink before going over to hug Amu. "Ok. You get some more rest, all right?" He leans into the living room, calling up the stairs. "Daichi! We're going, come on! Say bye to the girls and Amu!"
Daichi acks and flails, trying to get free. "One sec!" He grins up at Ran and Su and Miki. "This was fun! See you later?"
Amu Hinamori blushed and then squirmed. "I-I'd never try to steal him! You two are the best, most awesome couple ever!" Nah, she just wants to join it. She smiled to him. "I-I will. I'll be back in school before you know it and--" Paused. Wait, did she sense an x-egg? No, wait, her imagination. "I-I'll see you later, okay. I'll go straight to bed.
Ran eventually lets him free and the girls wave. Miki nods rapidly, Ran gives the thumbs up of bro hood and Su just waves her handkerchief at him goodbye.