To Heart - Special

A short fic by Richard Beaubien

To Heart, Multi, Akari and other characters from the series is property
of AQUAPLUS, Leaf, and KSS. All rights are reserved and none are intended
to be infringed upon by the author of this fanfic. 

******

      It was a cool and crisp afternoon day, the sun shining through the
midday clouds yet providing no warmth. Akari shivered as she ran through
the mostly empty halls of the school, the chill of the day seeping into
the school. She had a few more errands to run for her after-school club
before she could meet up with Hiroyuki and Shiho, the planning to get 
a glass of hot chocolate. Just the thought of the warm drink helped her pick 
up the pace, running down the hallway and ignoring one of the schools rules. 
She she figured she could get away with it though, since it was for a good 
cause. with the hallways being empty she wouldn't run into anyone. 
      Or so she thought before she heard a cry of "Uryaa!" as she
turned the corner, Multi running towards her, broom in hand. The two
girls crashed into each other, both falling to the ground hard. "Owie,"
Akari cried on the ground, her body feeling quite sore from the impact. 
     "I'm sorry, Akari-san," Multi apologized in a concerned voice as she
quickly got to her feet. "I should have been watching where I was going."
     "It's okay.  I shouldn't have been running through the hallway myself."
     "But I still should have been more carefull," Multi insisted as she 
offered to help Akari up, "It's just I get so involved in cleaning and... "
     Akari smiled as she pulled herself up with Multi's help, bowing in
thanks while straightening her school uniform out. Multi continued to
look at her with a worried look, however. "Are you sure your okay,
Akari-san?" she asked again, the look of concern apparent on her face. 
     A giggle escaped Akari's lips as she looked at Multi, her emotions once
again so easy to read. But than was what made Multi so special in the
end, Akari thought, the fact that she feels just like a human. "Don't
worry," she reassured Multi one more time, "I'm okay. Are you all right
though?"
    "I'm a robot maid so I should be okay," Multi replied with
enthusiasm, though Akari thought something was missing from her voice.
It was as if something was absent from Multi's usually energetic attitude. 
    "Are you sure there isn't something troubling you?" Akari asked,
looking closely at Multi's expression as she finished the question. Multi's
smile quickly disappeared to a worried look as she looked down at the ground. 
    "Well it's just . . . just," she stuttered as she idly pushed the
broom around, "I just need some help collecting some data on something I
saw, something I saw some humans do."
    "Oh," Akari said. Multi was still gathering data for Kurusagawa
electronics even though she was on an indefinite testing period. "I can
help you Multi!"
    "No, that's okay! Akari-san and Hiroyuki-san have helped me out
enough as it is," Multi exclaimed, "I need to start doing things on my
own, as a Robot maid!"
    "But we're friends Multi, and friends are supposed to help other friends
out"
    "I guess," Multi admitted as she stopped pushing the broom around,
"It's just you've done so much for me and..."
    Akari didn't let Multi finish her statement, though. "You've done
plenty for us Multi!" she insisted, "You clean the school for us! You get
lunch for your class mates! You do lots of work around here!"
    Multi paused for a second as she looked up at Akari, who was smiling
warmly at her. "Well if you want to help me as a friend than I can't say
no Akari-san!"
    "That's the spirit. Now what do you need help with Multi?"
    Multi leaned closer before she answered the question, "I need
help with kissing." 
    Akari blinked at Multi's innocent statement, and opened her mouth to
reply but found it suddenly covered by Multi's lips. Frozen in panic for the
first few seconds of contact, she looked down towards Multi and looked
deeply into her eyes. They were still open, full of the warmth and
brightness of friendship they usually showed. As Akari looked at them
she found her panic fading slowly, being replaced with a feeling of
comfort and peace. Relaxing, she slowly placed her arms around Multi, 
subconsciously holding her closer.  
    After what seemed like an eternity the kiss ended, Multi broke
away from the embrace. "Thank you very much for your help, Akari-san," she
said as she bowed to her, "Though I don't understand the data I collected
..."
   Akari didn't reply for a few seconds, trying to sort out her own
feelings. Why did she feel that way? Why did she embrace Multi? All those
thoughts ran through her head as Akari looked at the girl in front of
her. "It's... It's," She slowly started, "It's hard to describe stuff
like that. It's more of a feeling that's hard to put into words."
   "I see," Multi shouted in excitement, "That makes things so much easier to
understand!"
   "And," Akari started to ask nervously, "And what did you feel from
that kiss?"
   "Well like you said I can't really put it into words what I felt. But
I did feel like I was special, that I was cared for in some way."
   "Really...?"
   Multi just nodded as she picked up her broom, "Anyway, thanks for the
help, Akari-san! I've got to finish cleaning up the gym today." With
that she dashed down the hallway, crying out "Soryaa" as she went along. 
   Akari stood there for a few minutes before she started to walk through 
the halls herself, a smile slowly replacing the confused look on her
face. "So she felt like she was special. Funny, because that was the way
I felt too." 
 
                                                        ****