What Happens in Spring

Here is Greenwood is the property of its creators. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is the property of the author. This is a GP story. I suppose that this is a far cry from my steamy first story, but this is the type I usually write, which is why nobody believed that I really wrote the first one. There isn’t so much MAS here, but they do make passing appearances throughout the story. Anyway, enjoy it! :-D

What Happens In Spring?

by Lady Aria

Shun Kisaragi breathed in deeply and smiled. He loved spring. All over Ryokuto Academy, the cherry trees were in full bloom and the sweet spring air always felt invigorating. His steps became lighter despite the fact that he had just come from a day of being cooped up in a classroom. Such was the power of spring.

This was one of the rare days when Shun walked to Greenwood alone. Normally, the bright-eyed, energetic boy was accompanied by his friend, Suka, and sometimes even by the most notorious of Greenwood residents, Mitsuru Ikeda and Shinobu Tezuka. What most people didn’t know is that Shun does take walks alone, more often just to think or just to escape from everything -- after all, everyone is entitled to their privacy.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the receding forms of a red-headed boy and a black-haired girl. Earlier today, Suka had told Shun that he planned to go out with Igarashi and wouldn’t be able to walk with Shun home. He had understood. Suka had been smitten with Igarashi from the day they met and Shun, along with Mitsuru, had seen him through all the bumps as he tried to win Igarashi’s affection. It was nice to see Suka so happy -- happier than he had ever been.

Shun stopped in front of a three-story building and stopped to look at it.

Greenwood.

He had been staying here for almost two years and had almost seem like a true home. With one last look at the cherry trees, he entered.

Shun had just put down his bag and was starting to change to his street clothes when he heard the door open. A silver haired boy was leaning on the door frame and was still wearing the school’s uniform despite the fact that school’s been out for almost an hour. A glimmer of a smile crossed his lips as he regarded the lowerclassman in the room.

"Don’t change just yet. You’re coming with me."

Shun regarded Shinobu warily. He had seen enough of Shinobu’s handiwork to know that he always had a hidden agenda. The time Shinobu manipulated him, Suka, and Mitsuru into thwarting Nagisa’s plot for revenge was still fresh in his mind.

"Don’t look so suspicious," Shinobu said, his smile widening. "You’re going to go with me to a student council meeting."

His curiosity piqued, Shun readily followed Shinobu out of the dorm and back to Ryokuto Academy. He wanted to try badgering Shinobu until he revealed his plans, but decided against it. Something really important must be up. As they turned the final corner on the way to the council chambers, Shinobu motioned for Shun to wait in the corridor and entered.

It took about fifteen minutes before Shinobu stuck his head out and told him to come in. Shun couldn’t believe his eyes when he went into the chamber.

There, sitting opposite the members of the Ryokuto Academy student council, sat the members of what seemed to be the student council of Suminohana Girls High.

Shinobu guided a dumbstruck Shun to the head of the table and introduced him.

"I want you to meet Shun Kisaragi. He will be the head of Ryokuto Academy side of the dance committee. I trust that these arrangements are acceptable?" Shinobu said to the dark blue haired girl at the other end of the conference table.

"Very much," the girl said. She gestured to the girl sitting beside her who stood up. "This is Danni Yoshihima, the head of our side of the committee."

Shun regarded the girl introduced as Danni Yoshihima. She was petite with long, light lavender hair tied into a neat ponytail and golden eyes peering behind wire-framed glasses. She’s not a beauty like their council president, but she looked very cheerful. <Much like me,> Shun thought and he smiled. He was going to enjoy working with her.

"Well then," Shinobu said, walking to the Suminohana council president, "I believe that about wraps things up. I guess we’ll all see each other at the dance." He took her hand and shook it.

Only a blind man wouldn’t notice that the girl had it bad for Shinobu. Shun wondered if the girl’s face wouldn’t split into two if her smile got any wider. A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to see a smiling Danni Yoshihima looking at him, her arms crossed with her hands resting on her elbows. Shun would have been worried if he had seen that stance on any of his friends, but the mischievous glint on Danni’s amber eyes made him think that she had been entertaining similar thoughts as he had. He was DEFINITELY going to like working with her!

"Subtlety has never been one of Rae’s strong points," she told him as they walked out of the building together. "She told me that I was the committee head for Suminohana even before I accepted."

"Same here," Shun told her, "I just got back to the dorm when Shinobu-sempai tricked me to coming back here. I didn’t even know that there were plans for a dance."

Danni stopped in her tracks and looked at Shun in surprise. "What do you mean you didn’t know?"

"No one told me," Shun said, leaning on the wall. "I guess this is one of the things that Shinobu-sempai wanted to keep under wraps for a while."

"Well, it’s too late for that, now," Danni said, a calculating expression on her face. "The dance is scheduled for next Friday which gives us a week to prepare."

Shun groaned. He knew how hard it’s going to be to prepare something as major as an inter-school dance. Even with both schools working on the event, they’re still going to be hard-pressed for time. <Shinobu-sempai sure suckered me in deep this time,> he thought. Glancing at a worried looking Danni, he thought, <I can’t fail this! Everyone in Greenwood would kill me if I mess this up!> "So tell me about the dance."

"Well, it’s going to be held in Ryokuto Academy’s gym," she said thoughtfully. "The schools are going to be paying for everything, so we have to decide on the theme, food, music, ..."

"Want to decide over some ice cream?" Shun said, a girlish grin coming to his face.

"You’re on!"

*-*-*-*-*-*

"I’d say that we did pretty well considering our limited time to prepare."

Shun nodded in agreement. It was Thursday night. All throughout the week, he and Danni have been inseparable working non-stop to finish on time, even calling her up at home to the point that Danni’s mother recognized his voice even before he introduced himself. Shun had noticed Danni usually kept her hair either in a ponytail or in a bun. He couldn’t blame her, besides, who wanted sweat beading on the back of their necks anyway?

He and Danni were standing in the middle of the gym looking at their handiwork. Rich midnight blue cloth had been hung from the ceiling. Silver stars hanging from the cloth spun lazily from the strong invisible thread that Danni found in a specialty hardware store. A large disco ball hung in the middle of the dance floor. Aoki and Sakaguchi had been more than happy to lend a hand in the electronics department and had secured the ball as well as the lighting equipment and the sound system. Furusawa and some of the other brawnier people around Ryokuto had helped to move in tables, chairs, and even set-up the stage. Tochizawa, who considered himself director extrordinaire, offered lots of tips is arranging the furniture. The crew from Suminohana secured the appropriate decorations, music, and, the most important in Shun’s opinion, the food. Not only were they able to get a popular restaurant to cater to the event, they got it for practically nothing. It turned out that one of the girls in Suminohana was the granddaughter of the owner and he had been more than happy to help out.

"Kazuya-chan, I need some help here."

Shun rolled his eyes and Danni used her clipboard to cover a giggle. Miya Igarashi and Kazuya Hasukawa were amongst the first to volunteer for the event. Right now, they were busy setting up the wooden arch at the doorway while some of the other girls were busy putting the finishing touches on the decorations. Small circular tables have been placed around three sides of the dance floor with only the side facing the band clear of any obstacles. A large buffet table had been set-up at the back of the room with a royal blue table cloth over a white one. Small candles floating on blue-colored water inside round glasses had been placed on the dining tables.

"Eva," Danni called to the girl fastening artificial leaves around the arch. "Is everything ready?"

"Done!" she shouted as she stapled the last vine on the arch and Aoki helped her down the ladder.

Danni summarily called each of the people working in the gym and checked her clipboard. When they were all done, she gathered them all in the center of the dance floor and sat down with them.

"Now we’ve all been hard-pressed to finish this in time, and you are all going to be in for a treat." Danni tapped her pen on the clipboard. Shun looked at her quizzically, not knowing what she had planned and she gave him a wink. "Hit it!"

The lights in the gym went out and the colored strobe lights came on and the disco ball started to rotate from its support. Everyone marveled at scene they had so painstakingly prepared. The silver stars created the exact effect Danni had been hoping for: random sparkle. Everyone was so busy celebrating and giving each other pats on the back, that they nearly jumped when the music started playing. Keiko Sarami gave her brother, the lead guitarist, a peck on the cheek before skipping off the stage to join the others.

"This is great!" Shun said, standing up and twirling Danni around in delight. "If tomorrow’s going to be as good as this, everyone’s sure to have a great time."

Danni laughed as Shun set her down. "Attention, everyone," she said, "we have one more surprise in store for all of you who helped out this past week. Yumi?"

Yumi Hiraimi waved from the doorway and entered... with several boxes on a trolley. One whiff of the boxes and everyone knew the last surprise for the evening -- food!

She and Shun took their boxes and drinks and sat on the north eastern corner of the dance floor. Shun was obviously famished and was already digging in. The Yoshihima family have long been patrons of the Hiraimi family restaurant and she knew just how great Yumi’s grandfather’s meals tasted. Shun bobbed his head in approval with each bite. Their meal was almost done when Shun suddenly spoke up.

"Want to go to the dance with me?"

She looked at him in surprise. No one’s ever asked her out before. "Are you serious?"

"Well, seeing that we’ve practically been inseparable this past week, I think it would be a good idea for us to go to the dance as a couple."

Danni scrutinized him. He didn’t look like he was kidding and it would BE nice to go with Shun. "Okay, I’ll meet you here tomorrow."

"No way!" Shun said. Noting the confused expression on Danni’s face, he continued, "what I meant was that I’ll pick you up at your house." He smiled sheepishly, "it would probably be time for your mother actually meet the pesky guy who’s been calling her daughter all week."

*-*-*-*-*-*

Shun was brushing his hair when Shinobu and Mitsuru entered the room. One look at the tuxedos hanging from the hooks on the closet made Mitsuru arch an eyebrow. They both knew that Kazuya was going to come to the dance with Miya, and Shun’s attendance was mandatory since he was on of the people most responsible for arranging the dance. What really caught Mitsuru’s attention were the two corsages lying on Shun’s bed. One would have to be Miya’s, but the other....

All the while, Shun tried to ignore them, busily getting the tangles out of his hair. He had to look presentable. Shun yelped as he felt his hand, the one holding the brush, jerk up. He glared up at Mitsuru, who gave him a wicked smile in return.

"Sempai," he sighed, "do you mind?"

Mitsuru let him go and leaned on the desk. "So who’s the lucky girl?"

"Danni Yoshihima."

Both Shun and Mitsuru looked at Shinobu who had seated himself at Shun’s bed and was inspecting the flowers in their boxes. Shun knew that Mitsuru wouldn’t quit teasing him, because in his opinion, Danni was probably as boring as they could get not to mention plain. After spending a week working with her, Shun knew that he couldn’t be more wrong.

"Seriously?"

"Yes," Shun said, before Shinobu could respond. "I happen to like Danni, in case you didn’t know."

Kazuya chose this time to come in after his bath. "What’s going on?" he asked, a perplexed expression crossing his face.

"Shun has date," Mitsuru said.

"So?"

"What do you mean ‘so?’ Shun Kisaragi has a date!"

"I was there when he asked her!" Kazuya said, irritated. <I can’t believe Mitsuru-sempai didn’t even know about this!>

"If all of you are done poking into my private life, I am going to change now, so I can go and pick up Danni."

That statement elicited surprised expressions even from Shinobu. He had expected Shun to meet Danni at the dance. Shinobu watched him silently as he changed into the carefully pressed tuxedo. Despite his girlish appearance, Shun managed to actually look like a guy when he wore a tux.

*-*-*-*-*-*

On the way over to Danni’s house, Shun couldn’t get Mitsuru’s stinging words out of his head. ‘Seriously?’ Of course, he was serious. They didn’t understand. Danni was really special. She had a great personality, a beautiful laugh. <I wouldn’t mind having her for a girlfriend,> Shun thought, <she’s a great girl.>

The car pulled over at a sprawling residence and Shun stepped down from the car, a wide-eyed expression on his face. He didn’t know that Danni lived in a mansion! He knocked at the door and a butler answered. He was ushered into a lush entrance hall with a large chandelier. A woman dressed in a beautifully printed red kimono greeted him.

"You are Shun Kisaragi-kun?"

"Hai," he said uncertainly. <What have I gotten myself into?>

"I am Danni’s mother," she said shaking his hand. "I am so glad to finally meet you. Danni’s told me so much about you."

She guided Shun to a sitting room adjacent the stairway and offered him some tea. Shun sipped his tea as he looked at his gracious host. Mrs. Yoshihima was a striking lady. Young still, she had black hair and the same golden amber eyes that Danni had. He knew that he should say something, because the silence was becoming unbearable.

"Danni never mentioned about living..." Shun started.

"... about living in a mansion?" she finished, a knowing smile on her face.

Shun stared at her, and stammered, "How did you...?"

She laughed and shook her head. "Danni isn’t like most girls her age. She’s the studious type and rarely goes out." She smiled wistfully, "she doesn’t like mentioning about living in a mansion because she tries to get people to like her for just being who she is." She looked at him, and smiled knowingly. "Seeing you here, I guess she succeeded."

Shun smiled at that comment. <She did succeed,> he thought. He reviewed the past week in his mind. Planning the theme at the ice cream parlor, walking around the mall looking for supplies, Danni constantly accompanied by her clipboard, her expression when he asked her to the dance, her smile.

The butler announced that Danni was ready and Shun and her mother proceeded to the staircase. Nothing could have prepared Shun for the sight that greeted him.

"Danni?" he whispered, nearly dropping the corsage he held.

She was wearing a pale pink spaghetti strap dress that just touched her knees, a matching lace shawl draped over her shoulders. Her hair had been styled so that wavy curls cascaded down her back to her waist. She wasn’t wearing her glasses and her eyes sparkled as a shy smile graced her lips. He never imagined Danni looking like this. She was... beautiful.

"Is something wrong, Shun?"

Shun hadn’t noticed that he had been staring at her until he saw the concerned expression on her face. He felt a blush come to his face and took the corsage out of the box and fastened it to her left wrist. He could hear Mrs. Yoshihima laughing quietly somewhere and he started to smile. His smile turned into a snicker when Danni started giggling.

"I didn’t exactly prepare you for this, now did I?" Danni said, between giggles.

"Not by a long shot," he said, offering his arm. "Shall we go?"

Danni said good-bye to her mother and took his arm. On their way over, all they could talk about was how great the dance was going to be. The flower arrangements and the ice carving had arrived earlier that day and Shun left only after he was sure that everything was ready. Shun’s mind wasn’t really on their chatter, though, he still couldn’t believe that the girl sitting beside him was the girl he had been working with all week.

*-*-*-*-*-*

By the time they arrived at the gym in Ryokuto Academy, the dance was in full swing. The chaperones were mingling around the doorway and everyone was having fun. Shun noted that Aoki was dancing with Eva, Sakaguchi and Yumi were talking at a secluded table, and Tochizawa and Keiko were drinking punch at the buffet table.

<Looks like everyone’s here,> Shun thought, <except Sinobu-sempai and Mitsuru-sempai.>

As soon as that though entered his mind, a hush fell over the crowd and Shinobu entered the gym with Rae draped on his arm, a silly smile on her face. Shun saw Danni roll her eyes and he couldn’t agree more -- Rae was on the top of the world, and she couldn’t care less what she looked like. Behind them, Mitsuru entered without a date, as predicted. Shun maneuvered Danni out of the way, in case several girls get the same idea at the same time.

The band started playing a fast song and Shun pulled Danni onto the dance floor. "Let’s dance!"

They had danced several fast songs before taking a break for dinner. More than a few heads turned at the sight of the beauty with Shun Kisaragi and unbelieving whispers circulated when they found out that she was Danni Yoshihima. They picked a secluded table and ate and talked and laughed. Shun was enjoying himself. He never thought that going on a date with a girl could be so much fun. At a nearby table, Miya was spooning some dessert into Kazuya’s mouth and laughing. He had never seen Miya so happy, nor Suka-chan either.

"Looks like Shinobu-sempai and Mitsuru-sempai managed to disappear," Danni said while sipping from her water glass.

Sure enough, the devastating duo were gone, much to Rae’s chagrin. Danni and Shun watched her frantic search for Shinobu with amusement, and looked at the other couples in the room. Most were pairs of Suminohana girls who met their Ryokuto dates at the dance itself, while some of the other couples had managed to get together during the dance’s planning stages. At that moment, the band played a slow song and Shun got up and bowed theatrically in front of Danni.

"Milady, would you honor me with a dance?"

Danni laughed and took the offered hand. Shun took her to the very center of the dance floor and put his arms around her, swaying to the rhythm. The dark cloth simulating the sky sparkled with the silver stars and Shun couldn’t believe how beautiful the overall effect it made. Danni rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Shun pulled her closer, feeling his heart pounding inside his chest. He couldn’t keep himself from wishing that the song would never end.

When the song ended, Danni looked at him with those beautiful eyes of hers. With a smile, he took her hand and guided her out through the crowd and out the doors. The music and laughter faded as they walked farther and farther from the gym. Danni wrapped her shawl tightly around her shoulders and wondered where Shun was taking her. Finally, they stopped at the cherry grove that Shun always passed on his way to and from Greenwood. He pulled her from the main walkway and deeper into the cherry grove.

"Shun, where are we going?"

"It’s a surprise."

They finally stopped at a clearing surrounded by cherry trees. A strong breeze had been blowing that night and cherry blossoms swirled about the clearing and the full moon added a surreal effect to the scene. Danni stepped into the center of the clearing and felt breathless as cherry blossoms rained on her. Shun watched this with a smile on his face. He knew that Danni would love this. The cherry blossoms always made his feel good. He joined her at the clearing and took her hand in his.

"Shun, how did you find this place?" Danni whispered.

"I found it on a day just like this, during my first year here," he said, never taking his eyes away from her.

"It’s so beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as a sight I am now beholding."

The sight of Danni with pink cherry blossoms on her lavender hair would forever be on his mind. Shun took her into his arms. Their eyes met, hers with an expression of uncertainty and his with purpose. He lowered his face to hers and their lips met.

In the silence of the cherry grove, the only sounds they heard were the beating of their hearts -- in cadence with each other. The cherry blossoms continued to swirl around them, the moonlight streaming down upon them. Danni’s shawl had slipped off her shoulders and was now hanging by her elbows. She didn’t care. Shun’s love, his kiss and his embrace were all she needed to keep herself warm.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Unseen from the grove, two forms watched Shun and Danni entwined in each other’s arms. A knowing smile graced the face of the silver-haired boy and an unbelieving expression was on the face of his companion. They had followed these two when they had seen them leave the festivities.

"You knew that this would happen from the start didn’t you?"

Shinobu looked at Mitsuru and arched a silver eyebrow. "Of course, I knew. I wouldn’t bother getting those two together if I didn’t know it would work out."

"So, what now?" Mitsuru said, leaning on a cherry tree, several falling blossoms resting on his auburn hair.

"Right now," Shinobu said, stepping closer to Mitsuru, "I would settle for being alone with you in a room inside a currently empty dormitory."

"Works with me."

They took each other’s hand and headed back to the main walkway going to Greenwood. Leaving the two figures in the cherry grove behind.

The End

Konnichiwa!

I hope nobody gets mad at me for this, but I just couldn’t resist! I think that it’s about time that somebody wrote something about Shun. He’s a really unique character and so nice! Please send me any comments, suggestions, and reactions that you may have. My e-mail is at bukiminatenshi@mailcity.com inputs are very welcome. Till next time!!!

Ja ne,

Lady Aria