“Why are you here?” Shugi said to the other male who attempted to get his way inside of Cassie's apartment building.

“I could ask you the same.” Chris retorted.

“Shouldn’t you be braiding your hair or something?”

“Shouldn't you be being useless right now?”

The pair glared at each other as they spoke their remarks at one another, it wasn’t going to stop soon, but thankfully someone else came by and stole their attention from each other.

“Hey, you guys are here too?” Amai asked as he walked up to the pair, “I didn’t think anyone else would actually be here?”

Shugi looked at Amai, “Can I assume you’re here for the same reason?”

Amai nodded and pulled out a box of chocolates from his bag, “Valentine’s day.” He said with a grin.

“Well, that means another person is here for that reason.” Chris said.

“We all care about Cassie, it’s not that surprising.” Amai said.

“W-what are you guys doing here?” The shaky voice of Koto spoke as he got closer to them, “I thought I’d get to give Cassie these alone.” He pouted.

“Calm down, no one is getting to be alone with her today.” Shugi affirmed.

“What?” Amai said.

“That’s why I’m pissed right now! He’s blocking me from getting to her apartment ‘cause he doesn’t want anyone alone with her but himself.” Chris spoke with venom in his tone.

“Come on dude, we all wanna see her.” Amai tried to reason with him.

“Nope, I’ll keep you all from getting inside even if it means my life.”

“I guess you’re gonna die then.” Chris mumbled.

Shugi ignored that, “Look, just put her gifts at her door and I’ll tell her you all were here.”

“No way you’ll remember all of our gifts.”

“Either way, I’ll only accept Cassie taking my gift.” They looked down the sidewalk and saw Hayate and Terumichi walking together.

“We were going to show up together.” Terumichi explained.

“Really?” Koto said, “Then how about we do that? Just go in pairs.”

“That's smart, but there’s not an even number now.” From the other direction came Brayleigh as he joined the group who were all standing at the entrance to Cassie’s apartment building.

“Man, the one time you’re not with Aki.” Amai groaned.

“Yeah, he said he had something pretty big for Cassie so he had to drive it here.” Brayleigh explained.

“Well, what are we gonna do now?” Terumichi said.

“I’m sure more of you will show up.” Chris said letting out a loud and annoyed sigh.

“Wow, you’re all really just standing around each other on Valentine’s Day?” Akuma snickered, getting everyone’s attention.

“Great, we finally have an even number, let’s go inside!” Terumichi said, trying to get past Shugi to no avail.

“What, is he blocking the door?” Akuma asked.

“Yeah, clearly.” Chris stated.

“Man, if only there were eight guys who could get him out of the way.” At Akuma’s words, all seven of the males looked at Shugi who now realized he was in big trouble.

“Hey!” He tried to yell at them, only for it to fall on deaf ears. He was grabbed by Hayate who held him in a pretty tight grip, Brayleigh took the gifts he was holding and moved away from him, “Give that back!” Chris just went past him and the rest of the males packed inside of the lobby of the apartment’s first floor. Once they were inside, Hayate let him go. Shugi harshly moved from him.

Hayate gave him a sweet smile, “Sorry about that, you know how it is.”

“Yeah, I sure do.” Shugi said with an agitated tone. Brayleigh went and handed Shugi back his gifts, “I bet you broke something.”

“And I’ll pay for it if I did.” Brayleigh said with a smile as all three of them joined the rest of the seven males who were in the lobby.

“Get out of the way!” Amai yelled as he pushed past people to get onto the elevator.

“This thing won’t hold us all!” Chis yelled.

“Come on guys, can’t we just get on the elevator?” Koto said amongst all the noise.

Shugi sighed at the sight as the ones who could fit on the elevator got on it making sure the rest didn’t.

Terumichi and Amai were amongst the few who missed the elevator and sighed as they then looked to the stairs, than at each other before they both sprinted off, fighting to get one step ahead of the other.

Brayleigh chuckled, “Well, you guys can go ahead of me if you want.”

“Let’s just get to her apartment.” Shugi said as he went up the stairs first.

Hayate and Brayleigh just smiled and chuckled respectively as they went up the stairs behind one another…

Now in front of Cassie’s apartment door, Chris was knocking and calling her name.

“Cassie? You there?”

“Probably not? Just call her.” Akuma offered.

“Don’t you think I already did that?” Chris sneered as he turned back to face Akuma and Koto, “I don’t know if she just hasn’t checked her phone or what, but I tried calling her so that useless cop would get the hell out of my way.”

“Where’s her spare key?” Koto said as he went to look around.

“Oh, she lost her key, so she’s using the spare until she makes another one.” Akuma explained, earning a strange look from the two, “Whatever,” Akuma moved on.

“That means we have no way of checking on her.” Koto pouted, “Oh, but can’t Shugi pick locks?”

“Hopefully.” Akuma said that and following his voice was the screaming of Terumichi and Amai as they finally arrived on the floor.

They both ran until they hit a wall and rested there as they started to spout insults at each other.

“Fucking… loser.” Terumichi slid down the wall and rested on the floor.

“At least I won.” Amai said, resting on his knees.

“Where are the others?” Akuma asked impatiently.

“Don’t be so annoying, you were the one who just blasted up here without any plan.” Shugi said as he did, Brayleigh and Hayate joined them all on the floor.

“Whatever, think you can pick her lock?”

“That’s really what you all came up with?” Shugi said, “First of all, I’m not picking her lock and second off we don’t know what she’s doing in there and we could catch her doing something private.”

“Not like that’d be a problem.” Akuma said.

“Maybe for you, but I don’t plan on invading her personal space unless there’s a real emergency.”

“Welfare check.” Chris just came out and said.

“Fuck you, and no. Someone has to call with some real concern and I know at least one of us has seen her in the last twenty-four hours.”

“Then what are we gonna do? She might have her headphones on and her phone’s always on silent.”

“Hey,” They looked to Brayleigh, “Why not slip a piece of paper under her door, maybe she could see that.”

“Oh, that’s a pretty good idea.” Hayate said.

“Anyone got paper then?” Akuma asked.

“Yeah,” The group looked at Terumichi who got up after finally catching his breath. He got out a notebook from his bag and ripped out a few pages.

“Okay, give it here, I’ll try and be sure it gets in pretty far.” Chris said taking the papers

“Oh, I think I can help!” Koto joined him at the door.

Everyone else just relaxed for a second and that’s when Terumichi looked at Amai and noticed something.

“Hey, what’s that gift anyways?”

“Why do you care bro?” Amai asked in an irritated voice, “But if you’re so damn curious, I got her a hoodie and some truffle chocolates.”

“A hoodie?” He repeated, “Don’t tell me you gave her one of your hoodies.”

Amai looked off, “That’d be a problem?”

“You’re so corny. She doesn’t want your old crap.”

“I didn't get it for that reason!” Amai retorted.

“Yeah, he must have gotten it so Cassie could wear it to bed.” Brayleigh teased, causing Amai to look off and clear his throat.

“You’re not her boyfriend.” Terumichi said.

“Maybe not, but what’d you get her? I bet it sucks.”

“Not more than a boyfriend hoodie.” Terumichi moved on, “No, I got her bracelet with charms that match her stories. Took a while to find all her favorites though.”

“That’s a pretty good idea,” Brayleigh came out and said, which Amai couldn’t argue with either, “But, are you sure it doesn’t match Akuma? Y'know Mr. Jewelry Shop over there.”

“Why is my name in your mouth?”

“Because, you don’t wanna get Cassie a duplicate gift do you?”

“Right, she might pick one over the other.” Hayate spoke, “How about we just say what each of us got, just so no one has any stolen ideas.”

Akuma sighed and spoke up, “I got her edible arrangements. I remembered she wanted to try them.”

“Okay, that’s cute by the way.” Amai joked to much of Akuma’s annoyance.

Brayleigh decided to go next, “I got her a resin Valentine’s bear and all the cute little bears that came with it.” He explained with a big smile.

“Man, why didn’t I think of that?” Terumichi said and Brayleigh just chuckled.

Hayate went, “I got her a notebook she’s been forgetting to get, I also wrote a small note at the front.”

“Ooh, I wonder what it says.” Amai teased Hayate who just gave him a stern look.

Shugi then sighed, “I got her a mug with some homemade rock candy.”

“Homemade?” Brayleigh said.

“Oh, he went classic Valentine’s.” Amai joked.

“She’ll love it even more than.” Terumichi said.

Shugi huffed as his face began to turn red, “Whatever, are you two done down there, we need to know what you got.”

Chris got up first, “I’m not sure how Koto is so good at that, but I’m sure they got in there. She should have seen them.” Chris explained.

“Yep!” Koto said getting up, “So now we just wait, but I’ll tell you all what I got.” Koto pulled out the wrapped gift box and presented it proudly, “I got her a themed blanket from one of her favorite shows. Since she’s always sleeping on her couch, she can just keep this one there!”

“Oh, that’s pretty smart.” Terumichi said, earning a giggle from Koto.

Chris spoke up, “As for me, I got her a personalized tumbler and matching beanie.”

“Damn, she did want another one!” Amai groaned, “Well, at least no one got anything everyone else did.

“Honestly, why don’t we say what we’re gonna get, so next time we can just avoid this in general.” Akuma said.

“I’m surprised you all didn't, considering I did ask a week ago.” They all looked down the hallway and saw Akihiko and Ankara who were both carrying very large items. Akihiko’s body was covered however.

“Where have you guys been?” Brayleigh asked.

“I had to be sure this was protected, I didn't want the glass breaking.” Akihiko explained resting the flat gift against the wall carefully.

“I was waiting for Cassie to respond to me since I wanted mine to be a surprise.” Ankara was pulling a cart that a chair-sized stuffed bear sat on.

“Lord, don’t you think she has enough crap in her place?” Chris said.

“This is a chair, I wanted her to have it in her room since I remember her saying she doesn’t have one in there.” Ankara said.

“That was easy enough for him, what about you Aki?” Shugi spoke up.

“It’s a blown up picture of a photo we took together. She really liked that picture, but deleted it by accident when she was cleaning some space off her phone. Luckily, I still had it and was saving it for now.” Akihiko proudly explained.

“Damn, maybe we should start talking about this, just like we do her birthday and Christmas.”

“Doesn’t she do Christmas though?” Brayleigh said.

“Pretty much,” Koto answered.

“Well, either way, it’d be good from now on to talk about Valentine’s day from now on too.”

“That’s all fine and perfect, but if we can’t find her, this won’t even matter?”

“She’s not home either?” Ankara said, “Well, maybe her friends know.”

“Do any of us even have any of their numbers?” Chris asked.

“I have Jess’ but I’m sure she’s with her boyfriend.” Brayleigh explained.

This put them in a silence and no one said anything for a little while, that was until Terumichi suddenly gasped.

“Oh, I have Quana’s!”

“That’s right,” Amai said, “She gave it to us in case we wanted a photographer.”

“Smart girl.” Ankara spoke while Terumichi texted Quana.

“Okay, I just asked if she knew where Cassie was.” They all waited around in silence and thankfully after five painstaking minutes, they heard a chime, “Uh, she says she’s with Cassie right now!” He said, baffled.

“What? She’s not even here?” Chris complained.

“Why would she be out though?” Koto asked.

“I just asked, Quana says; she, Cassie and Keris all went out since they’re single and they had nothing to do today.”

“I wish she wouldn’t think stuff like that.” Shugi said.

“Right, we could be spending today together!” Amai complained.

“They’re coming back right now though since everywhere is all Valentine’s themed.” Terumichi explained.

“Good, I’ll finally be able to spend the rest of today with her!” Amai said with a slight chuckle.

“Not this again, you really think we’re letting you be alone with her.” Shugi said.

“Really, it’s just you all don’t want anyone alone with her except yourselves.” Hayate stated.

No one said anything, confirming his point.

“Guys, okay, how about this. I know it might suck, but how about no one gets to spend today alone with her.” Brayleigh said.

“And that’s what I want to hear because?” Akuma said, narrowing his eyes.

“You heard what Quana said. They went out, so that means Cassie isn’t in the position to be dealing with all of us.”

They all understood what he was saying.

“Oh…”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Shugi said.

“So how about we just let her keep hanging out with her friends and maybe next year we’ll come up with something where we can all hang out with her.”

As much as it seemed like no one wanted to agree with that, they also weren’t vocalizing their disagreement.

“Fine, but since I’ve had nothing but hassle since I got here I want to add a condition.” Chris spoke up.

“Yeah, me too,” Shugi looked to Chris, “I think we’re thinking the same thing.”

Chris looked at him, “Seems like it.”

…

“I can’t believe they actually still got me stuff.” Cassie said.

“You told them not to?” Keris said as they walked together into the elevator.

“Yeah, I didn’t want them wasting their money on Valentine’s Day, my birthday, and Christmas. Plus, they usually give me a lot of stuff, some of which I have no space for.”

“Yeah and you won’t just give some of it to me!” Quana said.

Cassie said nothing and just crossed her arms with a pensive expression.

“Anyways, Cassie, I think you should just humor them. Be happy they’re even thinking about you.” Keris said with a small smile.

Cassie let out a small sigh and the elevator doors opened and the girls were met with ten of the males. Cassie looked a bit worried as they were all looking for her, but Chris spoke up before anything could happen.

“Cassie,” He pulled Cassie out of the elevator and took her over to her apartment door, “I know you don’t like Valentine’s day, but I know you’ll still like us to celebrate today. So here,” Chris pulled the beanie down over her head and smiled as she looked up at him, “So enjoy the rest of today and just know I’m always thinking of you.”

Cassie was going to say something, but Chris left her with her gifts and went over to the elevator where Keris and Quana were waiting behind everyone else.

Shugi went up to her next and held out the wrapped mug to her, “I made this myself… the rock candy I mean.” He paused looking off, “Don’t ruin your teeth okay? Be sure your brush after eating this stuff, got it?” Cassie just looked at him, but nodded, “Okay…” He then let out a sigh before holding her shoulder, “Happy Valentine’s day, one day isn’t enough to tell you how important you are to me, but I guess it’ll have to work for now.” Shugi then smiled to her before running his thumb over her cheek, “Have fun.” Once more, Shugi left before she could say anything else.

Just then, Brayleigh came over and Cassie’s face held a certain expression that made Brayleigh laugh.

“Don’t worry, he was the last one, but we all got you things so you mind letting us leave them in your place?”

“Oh… sure, go ahead.” Cassie turned around trying to hold onto both gifts as she fumbled to open the door. She opened it and let the boys all drop off their gifts.

They all left, giving her their regards as they did and once everything was inside of her place, they started talking to each other at the elevator.

“Oh, no, we’re taking the elevator this time.” Amai said.

“Whatever, I’m just trying to get out of here.” Akuma said heading for the stairs first.

Their conversation left down the stairs and closed behind the elevator doors. It was finally quiet in the hallway, Quana and Keris both quickly went into Cassie’s place seeing the pile of gifts they had gotten her.

“Okay, this is crazy, but are they okay?” Keris asked.

“I know, they were… all letting each other talk, without fighting!” Quana exclaimed.

“Maybe they were just tired?” Cassie tried to suggest.

“Well, whatever it was, I can’t believe it’s actually possible to have these guys in the same place and not fight.” Keris said going over to shut Cassie’s door.

“Whatever weird stuff is going on with them, I’m not gonna think about it. But I wanna eat some of your chocolate. Can we share?”

Cassie sighed a bit, “Okay, but only the stuff I’m willing to spare.”

“Yeah, I bet you wanna keep all this since you’re so loved!” Quana said with a giggle lacing her voice.

Cassie blushed as she gripped the mug and reached to remove the beanie, “Whatever…”

Both girls smiled at Cassie’s reactions as they went to sift through her Valentine’s Day gifts...