To Mel-ru with love, from Lilias.
PG-13: Shounen ai, major sap, Valentine fic, probable OOC (I’m sorry! -.-), and random OC used as a plot device.
(Mel-ru's Notes: Thank you sooo much Lils! You're an excellent writer. This story's perfect!!! And everyone, make sure you go to the links page to check out some more of Lilias' wonderful stories!)

One Kiss

______Jiro nibbled lightly on the pink eraser of his pencil as he stared down contemplatively at the notepad in his hands. The foremost sheet of paper was nearly blank, covered more with eraser smudges and idle doodles than actual words, and it provided tangible testimony to his inability to put words together in a somewhat pleasing and slightly meaningful manner.
______“Ma-an,” he groaned lightly, scribbling lightly at the corner of the paper. One would think that of all days for him to be inspired Valentine’s Day would be it … and yet, the words simply refused to come to him.
______“You might as well give up; lyrics really aren’t your thing,” a voice, calm and professional as it always was, though still imbued with a teasing undertone, spoke up from over his shoulder.
______Making a face, Jiro waved his pencil exaggeratedly in the direction of the voice, “Shush, Meron, you’re stemming my creative juices,” he replied dramatically, earning him a wry chuckle from his blonde friend. His lips turned up into a grin as he proclaimed, “I’m gonna write this song, and then you’re gonna play it with me.”
______“Right,” Meron said in a tone that perfectly conveyed his doubt in the redhead’s plan, and he stepped around the couch to retrieve his discarded jacket that Jiro was currently using as a blanket. “Give,” he said after a moment when the older boy made no move to hand him his coat.
______Jiro looked up at him with a seemingly thoughtful expression, “Hmmm—” he began, then abruptly cut himself off with a, “—no.”
______The blond eyed him wearily as the other pulled his knees to his chest, still holding his jacket hostage. “Jiro, I have things I have to do today. I told you I could only stay for a little while,” he explained patiently.
______“You always have things to do. It’s a holiday—take a break; just chill for once.” Jiro leveled him with those deep blue eyes of his, a tinge of determination showing in them.
______They stared at one another for a moment, silence filling Jiro’s dorm for once, until Meron simply reached forward and snagged the lapel of his coat that was hanging off the other boy’s lap. “Give it.”
______“No.”
______“Jiro, give me my coat.” The boy began to pull lightly at the handful of cloth in his grasp, but Jiro only clung to the clothing article all the tighter. Digging his shoes into the carpet, he began to pull harder.
______“No~o!”
______“G—oh, fine,” the blonde huffed finally and dropped his hold on the coat, turning away from the stubborn redhead and moving towards the door.
______“What’re you doing?” the tiny voice piped up from behind him as Jiro clutched the coat to his chest protectively.
______The sophomore class president turned his head slightly to glance over his shoulder at his pouting friend. “Going out like I said before.”
______“But it’s cold outside!” Jiro exclaimed, waving his pencil in the air almost admonishingly. Meron just gave him a ‘…so?’ look, one eyebrow slightly arched as he reached for the shiny brass doorknob that reflected his face back at him, distorted like a funhouse mirror. “You’ll get sick,” elaborated the fanged boy with a roll of his eyes.
______“I wouldn’t if I had my coat,” Meron responded after a moment, lightly adjusting his glasses with a brush of one finger; Jiro stared back at him with a slightly annoyed expression on his face before he suddenly balled up the coat in question and hurled it towards his friend. Meron caught it—or, rather, Meron’s face caught it—causing him to emit a started, muffled squeak before the fabric tumbled down into his arms.
______“Fine, take your stupid coat,” the blue-eyed boy huffed, sticking out his tongue in a childish manner which caused the blonde to smile wryly at him as he adjusted his skewed glasses once more.
______Without a word, he straightened his coat out and held it out before him. The dark material was slightly wrinkled but otherwise impeccable, and it seemed to pass whatever inspection Meron was conducting as the boy soon made a soft contemplative noise before he easily slipped his arms into the sleeves of the coat. With an air of dignity, he straightened out the lapels and adjusted the cuffs. The material was still warm from Jiro hugging it.
______Grey eyes flitting back towards the lanky figure seated on the coat with his legs pulled up to his chest and a distinct frown on his lips, Meron offered a light nod and a mild smile, “I’ll see you later, then, Jiro.”
______With that, the boy laid a thin hand atop the cool metal of the doorknob once more, giving it a light twist and pulling the door open to let himself out. Jiro watched him until he disappeared out of sight, slipping between the yawning gap between the door and its frame and out into the hallway, presumably heading outside the dorms to some unspecified destination. Long after the door had closed quietly behind the blonde boy, Jiro was still staring forward; at last, a quiet, almost emotionless word left his lips, “Bye …”
______It was only when the word reached his own ears that the boy suddenly jerked into motion as if he had been paralyzed previously. His gaze drifted down to the pencil and notepad he still held in one hand, his lips pursing in reaction. Great. Now his one source of entertainment for the day was gone. He’d been bored all morning, given that the dorms seemed to be nearly desolate—everyone was off with his or her special somebody, snogging in some corner or another—which left Jiro, unattached as he was, to find spend Valentine’s Day alone.
______… that was, until he had spotted Meron heading out of his own dorm with an armful of papers. He had pounced, dragging the younger boy back to his rooms despite the blonde’s insistence that he had several things to prepare for whatever event the student council was organizing for the night. And now, with his friend gone, Jiro was once more plunged into utter boredom that was only increased by the deafening silence filling his dorm room.
______And it was only noon, too.
______Emitting a low groan, Jiro gave the papers in his hands once last aggravated glance before he set them aside on the couch and allowed his eyes to wander around the room. Before long, they happened upon the familiar curve of his guitar, and his lips crooked up in a grin … and quickly fell upon noting the state of the E-string. It had snapped just yesterday, apparently giving in after so much use, and Jiro had gone to replace it only to find that his supply of spare strings had run out of that particular one. Well, now was as good of a time as any to go pick up another package; besides, a short walk might alleviate his boredom.
______… and if all else failed, he could always buy mass amounts of sugar on his trip out.


______Jiro hummed cheerfully to himself as he pushed open the swinging glass door to the student store. The quiet strains of some rock song or another filtered through the warm, almost overly heated air, and he stepped around the revolving stand of key chains just inside the entrance. In the far back, freezers lined the walls, filled with ice cream and any number of instant-meals, a necessity for college students. Several other shelves were lined with alternating other essential materials including everything from school supplies to snacks and drinks. Passing through one of the small aisles surrounded by candy on either side, he idly snagged several candy bars, his shoes clicking lightly on the tiled floor.
______Nibbling on his lower lip with his fangs, the boy made his way to the rack next to a clear-fronted refrigerator bearing all sorts of drinks near the back of the store. The rack itself was littered with shelves and hooks upon which various music supplies hung or sat—it wasn’t nearly as well-stocked as the music store that Jiro frequented, but they generally had a decent enough selection of items that a music major or otherwise music-obsessed person might need in case of an emergency. Absently brushing bright red locks out of his eyes, he scanned the rack, glancing past the cartons of reeds and boxes of replacement mouthpieces before falling upon the plastic baggies that bore different guitar strings. Reaching forward, he bypassed the few other bags and snagged a package of E-strings off its hook.
______After securing his stock of new string and his supply of sugar for the day, the boy threaded his way through the aisles once more, heading towards the front of the small shop where the counter was. Behind the counter was a tall girl with blue-streaked brown hair seated on a stool with her feet propped up on the counter next to the cash register and her back leaning up against the far wall. Her eyebrow was pierced just like his, but she also a small diamond stud stuck through one of her nostrils. A set of headphones were stuck into her multiple-pierced ears, and she was chewing on a piece of gum as she paged through a magazine of some sort.
______“Hey, Lexa,” he greeted her, all but dropping his items down onto the counter. She started, looking up at him with slightly surprised eyes accented by heavy, black eyeliner. “No date for the day?”
______“Jiro,” she said simply, still looking a bit surprised before a smirk finally altered her expression. “Well, I’ll be damned. I have something for you.”
______He blinked at her in an adorably confused way as he toyed with the plastic wrap of one of his candy bars. “You do?”
______“Yeah. Didn’t think you’d come to get it, though,” Lexa said as she swung her legs off the countertop and planted her feet on the ground, hopping off the stool. No sooner had she stood than she ducked down into a squat, disappearing behind the counter. Again, Jiro blinked.
______“No, I don’t have a date. But at least I get to make some money while I wallow in single-ness,” the girl’s voice floated up from her hidden position, the sound of papers and boxes being shoved aside filtering up soon after. Jiro opened his mouth to respond when he was cut off by an abrupt, “Ahah!” and the torn shirt-wearing girl popped up in front of him once more, causing him to squeak in surprise.
______“Here it is,” Lexa announced, dropping a thick white envelope on the counter and mentally totaling up his purchases. “Three ninety-five,” she said, holding out a hand with her palm up, “Although I should charge you for delivery, too.”
______“Who’s it from?” he said after a moment, his tone suspicious.
______Still extending a hand, she shrugged and replied, “I don’t know. Someone left it on the counter with a note attached saying to give it to you. Oh, and ten bucks taped to the note for doing what it said,” she grinned.
______Eying her, Jiro withdrew a five-dollar bill from his pocket, placing it in her palm before tentatively plucking the plain white envelope from the counter. He turned it over in his hands, feeling how bumpy and uneven it was, and nearly jumped when the girl impatiently shoved both his change and his bagged purchases into his arms.
______“Thank you, come again,” Lexa intoned in that not-quite-sarcastic way of hers, offering him a wink as she motioned towards the door. “Go on, get going. Leave me to wallow in peace.”
______A bit bewildered, Jiro did as he was told, still staring at envelope in his hands as the glass door closed behind him with a whoosh of warm air. In no time at all, the chill of the outdoors registered in his mind, and he clutched his coat around him after tucking his bag of purchases under one arm. He didn’t like the cold, really, but snow had its uses.
______… Namely making snow devils.
______With a small rub at his already cold nose, Jiro set off down—or, rather, up—the steep, ice-covered back-path that would take him to his dorm quicker than the main ones. Traversing the paths during the winter at as quick of a pace as he was was essentially suicide, but Jiro didn’t seem to bother himself with that little fact. The most he registered about the paths being as slick as they were was that he might be able to have some fun sliding down them on a tray from the cafeteria.
______Shortly thereafter, Jiro all but threw himself into the first floor of his dorm building, relishing in the warmth of the air inside. Giving a shiver, the boy slipped off his light jacket, telling himself that he would wear something warmer than a jacket and a t-shirt when he went out next. Just as it had been only a few hours prior, the dorm building was eerily quiet; he bounded up the stairs energetically, more intent on warming himself up than actually reaching his destination quicker. When at last he burst into his own dorm on the fourth floor, he was out of breath and practically collapsed onto his couch.
______Though it was already the afternoon, the boy didn’t feel especially hungry. It hardly mattered, though—skipping meals was a regular occurrence. Instead, Jiro reached into the plastic bag he had set down on the couch next to him and withdrew one of the candy bars he had bought. His eyes fell upon the strange white envelope, tucked inside the bag as it was, as he peeled away the wrapped of his candy bar and devoured nearly half of it in one bite.
______Tentatively, the redhead extended a hand to pick up the envelope, munching distractedly as he stuck a finger under the lapel of the white paper and proceeded to tear it open, albeit with minor difficulty. What he found inside nearly caused him to choke on the mouthful of chocolate he had been chewing on at the time.
______It was a letter, plain white as the envelope was, with conversation hearts stuck onto it. He stared at with wide, almost frightened eyes, before coughing lightly in an attempt to remind himself to breathe. What the hell?! Abandoning his candy bar, he began to piece things together—the candy hearts were laid out in a specific pattern, forming a message. Some of them looked as though they had been custom made while others looked original, but, regardless, the fact remained that he was currently staring at a rather intricately made valentine. For him.
______The candy hearts read in alternating pastel colors:
______my love.
______wise up. whiz kid. give me. one kiss. meet me. tonight. west bridge. 9:00.
______The first thing that hit his mind was, Dude. I have a stalker? Cool. Then: Wait … stalker?!
______His mind still ringing with confusion, the boy looked back down to the candy-written message. He stared for a moment, then reached down and plucked a green heart from the paper, popping it into his mouth.
______… and promptly spat it out again, making a face. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to him that the back of the heart would be covered in dried glue to hold it to the paper. He’d eaten enough paste as a child, thank you very much.


______“This is stupid,” Jiro mumbled to himself as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his heavy coat, trudging along the cleared main path.
______He had spent the remainder of the afternoon contemplating the new turn of events and had finally come to the conclusion that the only way to find out anything for sure was to just meet the person. At first he had thought it might have been Lexa, but that just seemed odd—they hardly knew each other, having met only a few times because she was employed at the school store, but Jiro could already tell that she wasn’t the type to send people “secret admirer” letters. Still, who else could it be?
______The letter in and of itself was rather disturbing. He had never really actively pursued people in a romantic sense, and it just seemed odd that someone would actually be interested in him. He was more like the boy-next-door than the secretly-admired-from-afar person. For some reason, the thought that he might be the latter instead of the former for once made him feel kind of giddy.
______Pushing his thoughts aside, Jiro once more resolved that he was just going to find out who had sent him the letter and then leave before they spotted him; he wasn’t up for a confrontation with some stranger. The sky loomed over him, nearly pitch-black save for the sliver of the moon and a light sprinkle of stars. As he veered away from the main paths on his way to the west bridge, the artificial illumination from dorms and light posts faded away, leaving him in a dark that was just barely light enough for him to pick his way along the path.
______The west bridge was on the far end of the campus, so he walked for a decent amount of time before seeing any sign of it. Set over a tiny groove of frozen water that could hardly be called a brook, the bridge was more for decoration than practical purposes. A small hill loomed nearby, a parking lot set atop it, and trees surrounded the entire area. In the winter as it was, the scenery was bathed in white, the sky casting a blue-toned shadow over the blanket of snow below.
______He approached the clearing quietly, intent on simply discovering the identity of the letter-writer before fleeing. As he drew closer, he was able to make out a shadow on the bridge: the figure of someone leaning up against the railing, facing away. Jiro could feel his heart beating rapidly in anticipation, his breaths coming short and quick as he tried to get a better view of the person, now only several yards away. Despite all of his caution, as he made to step forward a little closer, he placed his foot in an area of snow that ended up being far deeper than he had anticipated. When the delicate surface of the snow gave way abruptly under his foot, plunging his leg in cold snow up to his shin, Jiro gave a startled yelp.
______The figure spun around, no doubt startled, and Jiro’s head snapped up in reaction.
______“Meron?!” the shocked query left his lips before he even had time to mentally register the presence of his blonde-haired friend on the bridge.
______The response he received was equally surprised, “Jiro?”
______The two stared at one another for a long, pregnant moment of silence before the feeling of having his foot packed in snow registered in Jiro’s mind. With a sound of displeasure, he bolted away from the area of deep snow, stumbling up onto the wooden bridge and shaking his wet leg wildly to free it of any clinging patches of white.
______Meron was still staring at him, his grey eyes wide from behind his thin glasses. Hesitantly, Jiro stilled and met the other’s gaze, a dozen trains of thought running simultaneously.
______Meron had written the letter? Meron was his secret admirer? He was so confused, so surprised—he didn’t know what to think … and yet, a small part of him felt strangely warm. It was only then that he realized that he was blushing and that Meron was blushing in return, though the pinkish stain was more noticeable on the blonde’s paler skin.
______Silence. Neither spoke, neither moved. When at last the stalemate was broken, it was done so by both parties:
______“I—” Jiro began, not entirely sure what he was going to say.
______“You—” Meron started simultaneously, causing both of them to stop speaking instantly. The hush returned, more nervous than the last, until Jiro took a hesitant step forward, lessening the space between them. In return, Meron made his own move in the form of speech.
______“Why didn’t you … you tell me?” the boy asked shakily, his eyes holding a strange searching quality.
______At that, all of Jiro’s trains of thought concurrently running crashed together in a glorious blaze.
______“Me tell you?” Jiro blinked.
______Meron was watching him oddly, almost as if he were holding back a smile. “Well, it’s not like your letter counts.”
______“My letter?!” the redhead burst out, “You mean your letter?”
______His words had an odd effect on the blonde, whose expression immediately shifted to one of alarm, “My letter?”
______“Yeah, you’re the one who wanted to meet me! I mean—I didn’t know—not that I …” Jiro trailed off, not quite sure what he was trying to convey.
______“I did no such thing,” Meron interrupted, his eyebrows furrowed in confused concentration, “I was given a letter telling me to meet someone here. You did, too?”
______Jiro nodded mutely, his head feeling like it was spinning.
______“Then … then it must have been a mistake. Or a joke. I didn’t give you a letter.”
______Jiro wasn’t sure why it felt like a spike had been stuck through his chest. It hurt … for some reason … and he felt his expression fall of its own volition. Meron looked away, his own expression a flurry of unreadable emotions.
______It seemed like an eternity before Jiro found his voice again, and he found some comfort in the steady quality of it as he stepped forward to lean against the railing next to Meron, “Yeah, a joke.”
______Meron nodded, his head tipped up as he stared up at the pale stars overhead. The redhead followed suit, wishing he could know what was going on in his blonde friend’s mind. As it so happened, Meron, as he stared up at the starry blanket, was wishing for the exact same thing. He had been confused enough when he had first been given the letter by one of the student council members who claimed that someone had asked them to give it to him, but now he was completely bewildered. What confused him most of all was his initial reaction after he had seen Jiro approaching—first, of course, there had come surprise, but directly thereafter had come a light, feathery feeling. Like a flutter in his stomach or a brush against his heart.
______Meron made no attempt to break the companionable silence that had settled over them. The whole thing was just a mistake, he assured himself. Still contemplating his own reactions, he hardly noticed when the redhead drew a little closer, and he started when a cold hand suddenly set upon one of his own. Surprised, he could only turn to stare with wide eyes as Jiro uncurled his fingers, placing something in his palm and using both hands to clasp Meron’s hand around the object. The redhead’s expression almost mirrored Meron’s perplexed one, but the blonde found himself shocked once more when Jiro leaned forward, icy fingertips laying lightly against his jaw; his world seemed to blur as soft lips, so warm in contrast to his hands, pressed lightly against his cheek.
______It was gone in an instant—the warm brush, the icy touch—as Jiro pulled away, his eyes downcast and his expression unreadable. Speechless, Meron only stared at the guitarist dumbly, his free hand rising unconsciously to touch his cheek where Jiro’s lips at been just a moment ago.
______“Happy V-Day, Meron,” his friend said lightly, a small, shy smile forming as he turned away, beginning to follow the footsteps in the snow that he had made just a short while ago, “See ya later.”
______With those words and a small wave over his shoulder, Jiro walked away, soon disappearing from sight. As if the lack of the redhead’s presence had suddenly restored motion to him, Meron abruptly slumped up against the side of the bridge. His heart was beating faster than he would have liked and his face felt like it was glowing, but he couldn’t seem to think of anything else than what had just happened.
______Slowly, his grey eyes traveled down to his still clenched hand, the one which Jiro had put something in moments ago. Forcing his breaths to calm, the blonde uncurled his fingers, his curiosity piqued, and was surprised to find a small pink shape. Brows furrowed, he turned the pink blob around in his palm with his index finger. With a jolt, he suddenly identified the object—a pink candy heart with the words, “One Kiss” printed across the front in red, indented capital letters.
______Tucking the heart into the pocket of his heavy coat, Meron turned to look up at the starry sky once more, a faint, thoughtful smile on his lips.


______Rondis lowered the binoculars he had been holding to his eyes with a small sigh, setting them on the passenger seat of the car and curling into his lover’s embrace. It was a little cramped in the car, especially with them both seated on the driver’s seat, but neither really seemed to mind.
______“I told you it wouldn’t work, Rondis,” Cameron spoke up quietly from beneath him, wrapping his arms tighter around the smaller boy and reveling in the warmth that the polar fleece blanket covering them provided.
______In truth, though he had told the brunette that the plan wouldn’t work, he felt disappointed that he had been right—after all, his little lover had put so much work into his plan. He swore that Rondis must have spent hours carving words onto candy hearts with a toothpick and red food coloring before assembling the collection of hearts as two identical letters. That had really been the hard part; after that, passing the letters onto people who had agreed to give them to the targets was fairly easy. Of course, then Rondis had insisted that they watched from a parked car in the parking lot above the bridge.
______“But it did,” Rondis replied with a sweet smile as he looked up at his boyfriend through messy locks, his small hands clutching bunches of the older boy’s shirt in an endearing manner.
______“They didn’t admit to anything, as far as I could see,” the blonde boy said lightly, not wishing to crush his young boyfriend’s hopes at hooking Jiro and Meron up. He honestly had no idea how Rondis had gotten the idea in his mind to begin with, but the brunette was determined to make it happen.
______“But they’re getting there,” Rondis insisted, and then his expression shifted slightly as a mischievous grin grew, “I’ll wear them down yet.”
______Cameron only chuckled, unwinding a hand so he could stroke idly at his lover’s back. The younger boy made a soft sound of contentment, arching into his touch, and he whined quietly when the soothing rubbing disappeared and he was carefully pushed to sit in Cameron’s lap instead of snuggle.
______“Hm?” he inquired unintelligibly, obediently staying in the sitting position he had been placed in. In return, the blonde simply pressed a light finger to his lips, his other hand reaching for the bag of open candy hearts on the passenger seat. Due to Rondis’ exuberance, the couple had several bags of the chalky candy left over.
______Smiling affectionately, Cameron stuck a hand into the bag, searching about for a moment before withdrawing a yellow heart and pressing it into Rondis’ palm. The younger boy looked down at it, reading the reddish, partially chipped letters.
______Hug me.
______Emitting a small laugh, Rondis popped the candy into his mouth and leaned forward to wrap his arms around the taller boy as best he could. Pressing his head against Cameron’s chest, he sucked lightly at the faintly banana-flavored candy before it disappeared completely. He pulled away, ignoring the protest that threatened to fall from his boyfriend’s lips and reaching for the bag of candy. It was a little hard to reach, but once he had, he dove in and searched it contents carefully. With a grin, he withdrew a purple heart and handed it to Cameron, who read it immediately.
______Kiss me.
______No words were spoken between the two, only a shared look of affection as the blonde boy set the heart aside and cradled the smaller boy’s chin in his gentle hold. His eyes slipping closed, Cameron leaned down and pressed his lips to Rondis’, moving them slowly, tenderly as first before the brunette gave a quiet moan and he moved to deepen the kiss.
______Surprisingly, it was Rondis who pulled away first. His face was slightly flushed, and he shakily reached for the bag, snagging it by the torn plastic end and promptly spilling the remaining hearts out onto the car seat. A slight motion of his hand signaled that it was Cameron’s turn to pick a heart; after brushing a hand through Rondis’ cutely messy hair, he turned his attention to the pile. It didn’t take him long to pick one, and he slipped it into his lover’s hand while bestowing an adoring kiss to his cheek.
______Love you, the heart read.
______Rondis stared at the heart for a long moment, smiling in that adorable way of his. Unable to resist, Cameron leaned down to kiss him again, but he was stopped when Rondis held a hand between them, a mischievous spark in his eyes. Slightly surprised, Cameron drew back, allowing the brunette to search through the pile of hearts thoroughly until he snatched up a white one. Still looking like the cat that had gotten the cream, the boy held it up for Cameron to see.
______Blinking, the blonde read the red letters carved onto the little white heart, his eyes widening once the message had registered in his mind. Now that couldn’t have been one that the company had manufactured! It must have been one that Rondis had made—especially with the way the brunette was smirking.
______Nonetheless, Cameron complied with the heart’s command, a grin blooming on his lips as he pulled his little lover closer.
______It was a nice Valentine’s Day after all.