Archive of Our Own

Her smile and laughs were infectious, a galaxy of stars shone within her pink eyes and her curly blue ponytail bounced with every exaggerated gesture she made as she described her artistic vision for her new film project… She was perfect in every way… Shun glanced down at the letter he was holding within his hand, then silently slipped it back into his pocket. It wasn’t good enough.

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

The evenings had been growing ever lighter and as Dan kept saying, they were nearly all free from the endless torment that was school. Their exams had been completed and their final year at Los Volmos High was quickly coming to an end.

This wasn’t the celebratory moment Shun had hoped it would be.. See, as the final term had approached, the first of many colourful posters had been put up around the school, followed by a newsletter and multiple reminders of the event including paper flyers given to each student to take home. It was unavoidable, the shining gold script on the glittery royal purple background…

Join us for a memorable night…
LEAVERS’ PROM
A magical evening of dancing, music and memories.
Formal attire is required
5pm - 8pm July 4th in the main school hall
Purchase your tickets for £15 each from the student office or by the website!

Shun had read the words so many times they were ingrained in his mind, their shiny gold cursive lettering had even begun to appear in his dreams. For all his friends, prom was nothing to worry about, nothing to fixate on… Dan and Wynton were going as each others’ dates to make good on a promise they’d made as kids, Lia was planning to take as many photos and videos of everyone as she could so they could all remember the night forever, Athena planned to attend and spend her time with Callie and Jenny, while Ajit was planning to skip solely so he wouldn’t have to wear any fancy attire - although he had privately shared he was considering changing his mind on that as long as Kurin was serious about teaming up with Chad and Chester for a prom prank… No, for all the others it was easy, simple, nothing but a passing thought in their minds. For Shun, it weighed him down, pulling him to his knees, sinking like a stone in the ocean of his own anxieties…

See, the issue was so simple, something most others wouldn’t give anywhere near as much thought to, something that Shun almost felt silly for overthinking so much about until he looked into Lia’s eyes once again and realised he couldn’t do it yet, his confession was still inadequate.
The issue was his promposal.

What was he supposed to say when he was so deeply in love with someone who he viewed as so wholly perfect that any confession he could come up with would never be good enough for her? Lia Venegas deserved the world, Shun knew that, he believed it wholeheartedly. Which was why he needed to get this perfect. He wasn’t the world, he was far less than what she deserved… But even though he wasn’t enough, he could make up for it by making sure he at least gave her the promposal she deserved, putting as much effort and love and care into it as he could so that it could be perfect, like her.

Vase after vase of flowers just beginning to wilt sat on every available surface in his room from where he’d attempted to buy a few of every type of flower whose flower language meant something he felt about her. 

Two red roses, meaning love and affection.
Six red and six pink tulips, the red meaning eternal love and the pink meaning love, good wishes, care and affection.
Five orange, five pink, five white, five red and five blue carnations, the orange meant to be given to express interest in someone, the pink meaning gratitude and admiration, the white to mean good luck, the red to mean love and affection and the blue meaning love and mystery, along with reminding him of Lia’s hair colour.
Red, yellow, orange, pink and purple dahlias, meaning love, joy, beauty, kindness and goodness.
Five pink and five purple rhododendrons, representing gentleness, romance and enchantment - because Shun truly was enchanted by her.
A bouquet of bluebells, not only because Lia had mentioned liking them before but because they meant everlasting love and represented honesty.
Pink hydrangeas, the most romantic of the hydrangea colours as they symbolise love and sincere emotions.
Ten pink and ten red camellias, the pink meaning longing and the red meaning romantic love.

Yet, none had been given to her in the end as it never mattered how beautiful the flowers or their meanings were… They just weren’t good enough for her, none of them were beautiful enough, each flower, pristine as they were, could’ve been a pile of withered brown rot on the ground. That was how deeply they paled in comparison. Each time he carefully placed one within his bag before school, it would end up returning home that afternoon and being placed back into whatever vase it came from, even the two roses which he’d brought together had been returned in tandem back to their vase.

The letters were worse.

Some were long confessions, some were more like poetry, one simply had the words “Dear Lia, I love you.” Written upon it. That one had found itself balled up in the trash before it had ever even made its way into his bag or pocket for a bowed out of confession attempt. Yes, it was Japanese tradition to confess in a simple, direct and to the point way, to tell someone you love them and ask them if they’ll be your partner.. Yet it felt too simple, like he had to say more, make it truly mean something.

What good was saying “I love you” If you didn’t explain all the reasons why, all the ways she made his life better, every little reason he was so glad she was a part of his life? Every trait, every habit, every instinctual reaction that made Shun’s world fall into place and feel complete whenever he noticed them. Every piece of warmth he felt from her looking at him, sharing glances, talking, smiling at him…
What good was professing his love if he couldn’t express every single feeling that made up that love? It just wasn’t good enough.

He was stumped, stuck with a pile of sealed letters whose contents he could barely remember and vase upon vase of slightly wilted flora, unable to get it right.

“Dear Lia,
I wanted to tell you that you mean the world to me,
You’re the most incredible person I know
Every day I’m so grateful I got the chance to meet you
and become your friend.
Your smile makes me feel so warm and I could listen to your
voice forever. You make me feel whole.
I love you and I would be honoured if you would consider
going to prom with me
Love, Shun”

“To Lia,
Whether in sun or rain, you always shine so brightly
I adore the sparkle within your eyes and the way that
you light up every room you enter
You are perfect in a way unachievable by any other
An angel on earth, the pearl amongst the grains of
sand..
If you’re the sun, I could only be the earth, only right
as long as I’m in your presence
You are everything to me and I love you
Would you be willing to go with me to prom?
Love from Shun”

“Lia,
I wish I could tell you every way in which you’re incredible
but I wouldn’t be able to fit that list on a sheet of paper one
hundred times the size of this one
There’s so many reasons as to why I love you and I hope
one day I’ll have been able to tell you all of them…
For now, I’d just like to express that I love you more than
anyone else in the world and I hope to some degree you
feel the same… But I understand entirely if not.
I would also like to ask if you would like to go to prom with
me?
I love you no matter what you reply,
Shun.”

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

Shun sat quietly at table number thirty eight in the mall’s burger joint, his eyes unfocused and his mind having drifted far far away from the discussion happening between the others at the table, mentally drafting and scratching out yet another letter. He’d agreed to join the others on this outing in the hopes he’d get an idea for a confession while they were looking around the stores. He’d had no such luck.
He’d been considering if maybe a gift would be better than flowers or a letter but he hadn’t seen anything quite right, he couldn’t recall Lia mentioning anything she’d been wanting to get lately, nor had he seen anything he felt worked as a perfect gift for her… The photo album felt too cliche, the sparkly blue headband felt like too little - besides he was sure she owned one just like it already - the silver bracelet felt like too much, not as in too good for her but Shun didn’t want to make Lia uncomfortable by gifting her something too expensive as a part of his confession… The blue jellyfish plushie seemed like a cute idea, until Dan saw him looking at it and started using it to chase Wynton and Ajit around the store with - then it felt like more of a silly one… He still bought it though, mostly out of sympathy for the employees who looked exhausted and like they were half considering banning groups of teens from the store.

So he’d left every store that day empty handed of a gift and running out of ideas.

Today’s outing was all about finding things for prom, they’d looked at and bought all kinds of things like Wynton’s green suit and Dan’s bright red ballgown and cheap wig, yet Shun still hadn’t been able to find anything that could help him make the perfect confession or promposal…

A blue ribbon tentacle gently hit him in the face.

Shun blinked, slowly readjusting his eyes to see Dan dangling the jellyfish plush he must’ve stolen from Shun’s bag in front of his face. “Hellooo? Earth to Shun?” He repeated, waving the jellyfish back and forth before Shun’s eyes, an amused glint in his own bright blue eyes which matched the highly amused smiles and knowing looks that Wynton and Ajit were giving him. The blonde felt his cheeks flush slightly red as he realised the others had probably been trying to get his attention for some time now..

“O-oh! Um, sorry..” He mumbled, his eyes flicking down towards the table so he wouldn’t be staring directly at jellyfish tentacles anymore, to his surprise the food they’d ordered had already arrived, a half eaten burger sat before Dan, a quarter of Wynton’s fries seemed to have gone and a slice or two of Ajit’s pizza had already been eaten already while Shun’s own food remained untouched, slowly growing cold. He hadn’t noticed it arrive.. Had he really been that caught up in his own thoughts?

Wynton let out a light chuckle, “Zonin’ out again, huh Shun?” He asked, absentmindedly batting away Dan’s hand which was attempting to dangle the jellyfish in his face now and ignoring Dan’s rather loud protest of “Hey! Be nice to Mr Wigglestinger!”
He’d named it? Shun thought hazily, his gaze drifting back over to the jellyfish plush dangling from Dan’s hand, before back to Wynton across from him as he spoke again, “Has something been bothering ya? You’ve been kinda outta it lately..” He spoke lightheartedly but with a hint of genuine concern mixed in too.

Beside him, Ajit gave a nod. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that too, you’ve been zoning out a lot more often recently. Is everything going alright? He questioned, carefully studying Shun as if looking at him could help uncover his problems..

“C’mon Shun, tell your troubles to the jellyfish!” Dan prompted, grinning as he moved the jellyfish back towards Shun, putting on a fake accent, “You can trust me! I, Mr Wigglestinger, am very good with advice.”

Shun wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh, cry or face plant into his french fries.

“Dan, dude , quit it with the jellyfish.”

“His name is Mr Wigglestinger, Wynton.”

“You yourself literally just called him the jelly-”

“I’m fine, you guys,” Shun interrupted, thankfully causing Dan and Wynton to stop bickering over how to address the jellyfish plushie, “I’ve just… Had something on my mind. It’s not a problem though, or a really big deal, I’m fine.” 

The other three all quickly exchanged looks, having a silent conversation debating whether or not their friend was being honest with them.. Shun cringed away, silently picking up a few french fries from his tray - luckily still warm - and nibbling the end of one, waiting for the group’s verdict.
Finally, Ajit turned towards Shun and spoke up, “Even if it’s not a big deal or a problem, if you tell us what’s on your mind, maybe we can help?” He suggested, the other two nodding and adding various agreements.

He’d walked his way right into that one… Shun let out a quiet sigh, his cheeks blushing a faint red. “It’s embarrassing…” He mumbled, not looking at any of them. He couldn’t, if he did he’d surely lose any nerve to actually tell them anything, which would only serve to make his friends more concerned.

“Dude, nothing can be more embarrassing than that one time Dan accidentally texted the group chat that he’d had diarrhea instead of his mom.” Wynton shrugged, picking up a couple of french fries of his own. “You’re in a judgement free zone here.” He concluded, throwing the fries into his mouth.

Ajit let out a quiet groan, “Ew, really ? While we’re eating?” He muttered, Wynton winced apologetically in response. The golden streaked boy rolled his eyes, “..He has a point though, nothing can be worse than that.”

Another quiet sigh escaped Shun’s lips, this time a more resigned one. There was really no getting out of this…

“I… Um… Well..” He stumbled over his words, tongue tied with embarrassment, “I.. There was someone I wanted.. To um, confess to and ask to prom…?” He mumbled, hesitantly squeaking out the last words, afraid of saying them. Afraid of the inevitable question of who it was he wanted to ask, who it was he liked…

The inevitable question never came.

“You’re finally gonna confess to Lia?!” Dan blurted out, his eyes shining with excitement he hadn’t even bothered to attempt to conceal, grabbing hold of Shun’s shoulders eagerly and almost shaking him. “That’s amazing !”

Wynton slapped one hand over his face while Ajit shook his head fondly. Shun on the other hand felt himself reeling with confusion, completely lost as he tried to compute how Dan had known ..
Ajit seemed to notice the puzzled expression Shun was wearing and smiled apologetically, “We kinda all figured it out a while ago..” He admitted sheepishly, “We were gonna wait for you to tell us in your own time but…”

“-Clearly someone couldn’t help himself.” Wynton finished, shooting an amused glare at Dan who had awkwardly slid back into his seat, at least having the decency to look somewhat apologetically down at his lap, embarrassedly scratching his head with the hand the jellyfish plushie hung from, it’s small string on the top of it’s head still wrapped around Dan’s middle finger.

Shun felt mortified, “You… You all knew?” He repeated, dumbfounded.

He was met with a wince from Ajit, “I’m pretty sure everyone does.” He admitted, “Even Lia.”

That statement was backed up with nods and agreements from Dan and Wynton.

“Yup, I think she definitely knows.”

“Athena’s had to stop Chet from calling out how obvious it is multiple times..”

“You know, Magnus even asked once if you’d confessed to her yet!”

Every word felt difficult to take in and process, everyone knew? Probably even Lia? And no one had said anything? Shun’s head was spinning with the new information he’d just received.

If Lia already knew he liked her but hadn’t said anything, was that technically rejection? Or no, maybe it was acceptance? Maybe she was just waiting until he confessed to even think about it? What did it mean?

Something soft was suddenly pressed against his cheek, jolting Shun out of his thoughts and back into the present moment where Dan was squishing the jellyfish plush - Mr Wigglestinger - against his face. “Shun, you don’t need to worry!” Dan reassured him, smiling while making Mr Wigglestinger nuzzle Shun’s cheek, “Lia’s fine with it. Well, she hasn’t said anything or even mentioned it… But if she did have a problem with it, it’d be obvious, right?”

“Dan’s right, you know,” Wynton chimed in from across the table, “Trust us, we’ve known Lia forever. If she had a problem with it, she wouldn’t discuss all her new project ideas with you, call you her favourite in the group on a regular basis and she would not spend as much time with you as she always does.”

Ajit nodded vigorously in agreement. Shun felt himself relax a bit, the others were probably right. Dan and Wynton had known Lia since they were six and Ajit was an excellent judge of people’s characters and feelings, if they all agreed on that… Shun would trust their assurances.

Having seen Shun relax, Dan moved Mr Wigglestinger away from Shun’s face and detached the plushie from his finger, placing it safely on his lap before picking his burger back up and shoving half of it into his mouth all at once. Then, in an action met with disgust from the three others at the table, began to speak with his mouth full.

Thankfully, the burger all remained within his mouth and the only thing let out was a string of jumbled words none of them understood. Dan looked at the others expectantly, seeming frustrated when all he received in response were blank stares all around.

Awkward silence played out as everyone waited for Dan to finish his mouthful and repeat his sentence, finally after what felt like an hour’s worth of waiting the boy swallowed and spoke again, “I said , either way, we’d be happy to help Shun come up with promposal ideas!”

That time, having been understood, he was met with agreement from both Wynton and Ajit.

A quiet rush of gratitude flooded through Shun as the other three quickly began throwing out ideas like confession scavenger hunts, flash mobs and signs… Some things he’d never considered before…

He made a quick mental note to tell Dan later that he could keep Mr Wigglestinger.

He was really glad he had such great friends.

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

Promposal/confession ideas

1- Confession scavenger hunt. Hide clues all over town leading to either a written confession or myself with a confession. The only problem would be that I’d have to write a confession and I still can’t get them right… And if I had to confess out loud, I don’t think I could do it without messing up my words out of anxiety… So maybe not

2- Signs. The others said that they and some of our other friends could hold up signs to spell out “will you go to prom with me?” The idea’s okay but this is a confession and a promposal… Only asking her to prom could lead to confusion as to whether I’m asking because I love her or if I’m asking as a friend like Dan and Wynton did with each other…

3- Throw a burger with a note through her window like Wynton did for Dan. …Just no…

4- Handmade card. I guess this could work, if I could find a way to write my feelings down, I guess a decorated or hand drawn card could be nicer than a letter? But I still can’t write my feelings down adequately

5- Flash mob… I don’t think so….. That’s too embarrassing…

6- Text her. No, it wouldn’t be right to do that… It would be less scary over text but I should confess in person

7- A letter. I mean I’ve already tried but I should keep trying I guess….

8- Tell her I’m in love with her… That’s not perfect enough for her….

9- Give her flowers. I’ve already tried that, but none of them are beautiful enough for her.. I guess I could try again though… 

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

The day creeped ever closer and in all honesty, Shun didn’t think any of the ideas that he’d written down particularly worked. All of them leaned more towards the promposal side of things, which was alright… But Shun needed to confess properly as well.. A large part of him was starting to regret choosing to combine his confession with asking Lia to prom. Why couldn’t he have chosen to confess a month ago when the deadline wasn’t so soon, when he wouldn’t have necessarily had to combine the confession and the question into one…

Yet he hadn’t, time couldn’t be turned back, he could only keep trying…

“Dear Lia,
I love you, I have for so long now..
I remember the exact moment I fell for you,
when we shattered that drome to heal the
sick bakugan and the polluted field, I saw you
then, as fragments of falling crystal sparkled in
the light around you, it made it look like you,
yourself, created that shine just by existing…
I’ve seen you that way ever since then.
Shining, beautiful, both reflecting light and
being the brightest source of it
You’re like a star, the one I orbit
Love Shun”

“To Lia,
I don’t know how to express my feelings for you
You’re perfect in so many ways and I want this
confession to be perfect enough to be worthy of
you.
I don’t know what to say here, I love you just for
being you. I love how you always try to capture
the best moments on camera so we’ll all be able
to remember it years later, I love your smile and
how you always stand up for what you believe in,
I love how you have that habit of messing with that
strand of loose hair whenever you’re anxious.
I love you, so much, nothing will ever change that,
Shun”

“Dear Lia,
I love you,
From Shun”

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

“Hey! Shun, wait up!”

The voice of Shun’s favourite person cut through the warm summer air, drifting towards him on the breeze like a dandelion seed in a gentle gust. He slowed to a stop, turning around and waiting for her to catch up as she ran down the street from the school’s gates, bag slung over her shoulder and her hair flying out behind her.

“Whew, I’m glad I caught you!” Lia grinned, stopping just in front of Shun, hands resting on her knees as she attempted to catch her breath.

Shun felt his heart flutter, a soft beating like the wings of a butterfly inside his chest, he knew it probably didn’t mean anything, Lia said that all the time, still… There was something in knowing she was glad to see him that made his heart soar all the same. “You were looking for me..?” He asked, nerves mixed with curiosity.

Lia nodded, “Of course! I have to stop by town on the way home, so I was hoping I could walk with you since you live that way.” She explained, unaware of how her casual words caused Shun to melt inside. “Unless you’re not headed home right now-” She added, the thought seeming to have only just occurred. “Which, no worries if not.”

He smiled, nervous and soft, gentle. “No, no.. I’m headed home, it’d be nice to walk together.” He confirmed, his voice sounded too quiet to his ears, he hoped his low volume at least disguised how internally, he felt like he could explode from joy or float off into the atmosphere from how happy he felt in this moment..

The butterfly wings started beating double time in his heart as Lia fell into step beside him, for a moment there was silence between them as Shun ran through conversation options in his head, should he ask why she’s going to town? Maybe he should ask her about her prom plans, or he could ask how her day was, that was a safe option… 

Luckily for Shun, Lia spoke up first, “Can you believe Dan and Ajit got detention for forgetting about their homework when there’s only two weeks left until the end of school?” She asked, a hint of incredulity in her tone. “I mean, usually I’d be the first to tell them they should’ve done it but like.. Exams are over already, come on.”

“That is pretty unbelievable..” Shun agreed, thankful for the safe conversation topic, “They probably shouldn’t even still be setting homework..”

The blue haired girl shrugged, rolling her eyes, “I guess that’s LV High for you, always with the stupid rules and punishments..” She paused, suddenly lighting up with renewed energy, “Oh! Speaking of stupid, I was talking to Kurin during math class earlier and…”

Lia began to tell Shun everything she and Kurin had been talking about while their math class had been watching a terrible movie in lieu of any actual work to do, mostly some dumb prank war going on between the exit team that Kurin had gotten dragged into by Aay.. It really did stick with the theme of stupid like Lia had promised, yet Shun was sure he could quote every word of what Lia had said back to her exactly if he were asked to. Everything she said was worth remembering, he kept mental notes on all kinds of things Lia had said before, little dramas she was invested in, stories she wanted to tell someday, things that irrationally annoyed her, her opinions on things most wouldn’t even have an opinion on... He tried to remember it all, not just in case it ever became relevant in a conversation but because everything Lia said was important to him.
Besides, he could listen to her voice forever, drifting from topic to topic, occasionally letting out a gentle laugh that rang in Shun’s head like bells for minutes after it ended, her voice shifting tone with each word, paired with the exaggerated gestures she made as she described things.. He could listen to her speak for an eternity and never become bored of it.

All the way to the Kazami’s hotel, Lia carried the conversation, breezing through topics with ease while Shun would occasionally chime in with answers, questions or topics of his own like a leaf being gently picked up by the wind until it was set down onto the ground once more.

It was far too soon when they stopped outside the glass doors of Shun’s building, their half hour walk having felt shorter than ten minutes; despite their leisurely pace the time had gone so fast Shun could almost convince himself they’d been unknowingly sprinting there.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lia told him, readjusting her bag on her shoulder once more as she smiled at Shun.

He nodded, trying to pretend her smile wasn’t as beautiful and blinding as pure starlight to him, “Mhm, we’re all meeting by the library stairs before classes tomorrow, right?” He checked.

Lia rolled her eyes lightheartedly, “Well, ‘all’ is debatable depending on if Wynton decides to skip school again tomorrow but.. Yeah, that’s the plan.” She confirmed. Shun let out a soft chuckle, it was no secret Lia had been a little more than slightly annoyed by their friend’s unannounced decision to skip school today..
The corners of Lia’s lips twisted back up into an amused smile upon hearing Shun laugh, “Ok, ok.. I should probably lay off him a little…” She sighed, half jokingly.

Shun shook his head softly, “No, I think it’s fine..” Wynton not telling anyone of his plan to skip had caused a little panic within the group with everyone worrying he’d gotten sick or injured - not helped at all by him not answering anyone’s texts or Lia’s four attempts at phoning him - until Dan called him during break which was when Wynton had finally picked up the phone and admitted he’d persuaded his parents to let him take the day off so he could catch the first showing of the movie he’d been looking forward to for months at the cinema. “..He probably deserves it somewhat..” He mumbled in addition.

Lia’s amused smile widened into a full on evil grin, “He totally does. See, this is why you’re my favourite, Shun.”

To say Shun felt himself blushing when Lia said that would’ve been an understatement, he wasn’t able to see his reflection in anything but he was sure his cheeks and ears had brightened to a rose pink hue. The words Wynton had said the weekend prior about how Lia wouldn’t call him her favourite if she minded his feelings for him quickly resurfaced in his mind before he pushed them back down, letting out an extremely awkward sounding laugh that he internally cringed at. 

They fell into a quiet silence after that, comfortable but hesitant, as if they were just waiting for enough time to pass for it to not feel incorrect to break it. A few beats passed, then that moment came. “Hey, Shun? I was wondering if you’d mind helping me with something this weekend?”

Shun blinked, surprised by the question. Yet he didn’t have to think for a second about the answer, “I wouldn’t mind at all, um, what do you need my help with?” He asked, running through ideas in his head for what it could be Lia needed him for, leaping to dramatic conclusion after dramatic conclusion, what if she wanted his help confessing to someone else? What if she wanted to confess to him at the weekend and the ‘help needed’ was just him being there? What if she wanted him to pretend to be her fake boyfriend to stop someone she didn’t like from trying to ask her to prom? What if-

“I was hoping to get a shoot done in Pinpoint Park this weekend, you know, for my new photography club.” Lia explained casually, making it quite apparent Shun needed to tell Noah to stop sending him every post he saw on that fanfic prompt account as they were clearly damaging his rational thinking, “There’s this one specific picture I’ve been envisioning for weeks but I need someone else’s help for it to happen and I don’t trust the others not to mess it up for me.”

Something in Shun’s mind stopped then restarted, focusing entirely on the implication that Lia was only asking him to help with this. “Even Athena?” He asked instead, “She’s usually pretty trustworthy.”

Lia shrugged, “She is but she’s busy, I think she has plans with Callie and Chet, besides she doesn’t get my visions the same way you do, which is really what I need for this shoot, it needs to have that Shun Kazami touch, it just wouldn’t be right otherwise.”

“A-are you sure?” Shun stammered slightly.

Lia’s expression was set firm, “Positive, it has to be you.” She spoke decisively.

Shun nodded nervously, if his face had been rose pink from being called her favourite, he was certainly now flushed bright red. “It has to be you.” The butterfly wings that fluttered within his heart had now turned into a bird beating its wings against his rib cage, full of such strong emotion it could break free and soar through the skies at a moment’s notice.

“Then.. Then of course, I’d be happy to help you.” He finally answered, “I’ll do my best.”

Helping Lia would always be worth it in Shun’s eyes, she was worth the highest amount of time and effort he could give and then some, but it was even more worth it with how she lit up at his agreement, a warm, grateful, joyful smile, bright enough to make the sun, the moon and the stars envious.

“Don’t worry about doing your best, it’ll be great no matter what!”

And he knew the way he felt would never change.

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

4:33 PM - Noah sent a post by @fanfic.writing.prompts

4:33 PM - Noah: okay I know you don’t play the game but I’ve yapped enough that u would have an opinion. this with fremilotte??

4:42 PM - Shun: ..You might have to stop sending me these

4:45 PM - Noah: tfw the crush gets so bad you can’t even read romance fic prompt posts without thinking of them huh

5:13 PM - Noah: left on read… so that means I’m right then LOL

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

The rest of the week before Saturday passed in a daze, somewhere throughout Ajit decided he would be attending prom after all, Dan had whispered to Shun during music class that he was still trying to think of ways for Shun to ask Lia to prom and that he was sure he was on the verge of a great idea, Wynton had spoken non-stop about the movie he’d gone to see and Lia had requested Shun not tell anyone about their Pinpoint Park meet up so the others wouldn’t ask why they hadn’t been asked to help or beg to come along.

He lay awake Friday night, gazing out his windows towards the starry skies as he ran through scenarios for tomorrow in his head. Should he ask her while it was just the two of them hanging out alone for a morning into the afternoon? He didn’t figure out the answer to that question before sleep welcomed him into its embrace.

The next morning, he woke up to the bright fiery orange of sunrise cutting through the hazy indigo of dawn like a lit torch, the sun just beginning to rise over the city’s horizon. Once dressed in a lightweight white hoodie with fake shirt sleeves underneath it, a pair of pale blue jeans and his navy blue converse with ocean themed embroidery, Shun sat on the edge of his bed in silence, wondering again how the day would go.

Breakfast eaten, he stared across the room at the ticking clock, pondering. How would it go? What kinds of things would be talked about? Lia hadn’t mentioned her plan for the shoot yet, what did she have in mind? Did she want help with composition, camera angles? Did she want to take pictures of him? He regretted not thinking to ask at some point throughout the week… Anxiety was flooding his brain but he knew he wouldn’t bow out no matter what.

“It has to be you.” So it would be. His nerves would be buried for her.

Bag packed with water, his phone and some money, he left the hotel at nine, beginning the walk towards their arranged meeting spot in Pinpoint Park.

When he arrived, Lia was already there - He’d had a feeling she might be, whenever it came to one of her photography projects she’d be the first there, always ready to go - dressed in beige shorts and a white tank top, covered by a chunky sky blue knit cardigan with a galaxy themed tote bag hanging from one shoulder, her hair was pulled back in its usual high ponytail style but instead of her favourite orange headband, she wore a thin black one decorated with greenish blue beads on gold wire and two purple butterflies.

Were Shun not already in love, he would’ve fallen right there.

She was looking through the viewfinder of her camera, zoomed in on a squirrel moving around high up in a tree, following it with her lens. Shun hung back awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt and risk ruining it if Lia were filming. He remained unnoticed for precisely five seconds before Lia suddenly turned her camera towards his face, catching him completely off guard as she snapped a picture of him. Moving the camera away from her face, Lia winked, letting go of her camera with one hand to give a quick wave, “‘Morning Shun!” 

It wasn’t long before they were off, walking down the main path through the park side by side as Lia explained her ideas, how she’d wanted to base a shoot around the flora in Pinpoint Park, specifically the flowers, trees and the pond. She’d wanted Shun to help with a few different things, suggesting any ideas he had was one thing, another was to be the subject of a few photographs, Lia cut herself off then to describe a photo she’d been picturing for weeks, pulling a messy sketch out of her bag to show him. A rough outline of a person leaning against the wooden railings that lined the bridge across the pond. “If we could get there at a time when no one else is around, I could get the perfect picture of you there!” Lia told him excitedly, Shun hoped it’d remain quiet there all day. She also revealed other ideas she had, such as making a flower crown out of dandelions or daisies - whatever there were more of - then getting a picture of him lying in a patch of them or beside the newly bloomed sunflowers.

So, as the morning grew ever lighter, the sky a perfectly picturesque shade of blue that sang birdsong about warm weather and good times, they began. Kneeling on the grass beside a flower bed, snapping photos of tulips and poppies, carefully angled so the sun worked to make them appear so vibrant the petals sucked the colour out of everything else surrounding them…
Not too dissimilar to the way Lia stood out from everything surrounding her, Shun mentally noted. Although… No, he decided - changing his mind. Lia brought the light and beauty out of everything around her, she made the world shine brighter wherever she stepped… Everything became dazzling in her presence.
His eyes flickered over to her, lying on her stomach on the grass, attempting to get a close up of a tiny buttercup beneath a hanging bluebell. Feeling something strong yet gentle tug at his heart, love . He glanced away, looking down at the grass to his right instead.

“Wait, Shun. Don’t move!” Lia called, his eyes flickered towards her, confusion filling his mind as Lia sat back up on her knees and took multiple pictures of him in rapid succession. Her focus seemed to be on something else, “Aw, they’re gone, you can move now if you want.” Lia told him, only puzzling him more.

He was about to ask just what had been there, wondering if Lia had been taking a picture of some people behind him and hadn’t wanted him to move in the way of her shot, when Lia turned her camera around, showing him the picture of himself on the little screen, two white butterflies dancing together around his head. “Oh!” He couldn’t stop the tiny surprised gasp from escaping him, he hadn’t noticed them, but now, as he turned his head to the left, he could see them both fluttering away…

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Lia spoke softly, smiling gently down at the picture, “And hey!” She lifted one hand and lightly tapped the lilac butterfly decorations on her headband, “We were matching!”

Shortly after, they moved through into the small rose garden, closed off by four curved hedges that formed a circle, leaving four entrances into the raised circular flower bed in the centre of the rosarium, containing a tall iron trellis adorned with white roses climbing up it, all attempting to reach up higher and higher towards the sky.. Surrounding it a little further back, a ring of four curved flower beds - broken apart by paths leading from the entrances - containing roses in yellows, pinks and oranges..
It had only taken seconds for Lia to begin circling the area, rapidly switching from crouching down to standing on tiptoes in an attempt to decipher the perfect camera angles to capture the roses from. Following suit, Shun quickly began looking around in an attempt to gather an idea himself… Nothing was coming to mind, seemingly for either of them if Lia’s murmured string of “No… No.. Oh! Maybe.. Nope.”s was anything to go off of. He moved over to one of the entrances, holding up his thumbs and index fingers in a rectangle in front of his face, trying to see if a photo of the view looking in from there would work, then quickly rejecting the sight. It would look nice for a photo on Los Volmos’s city website to advertise Pinpoint Park but he knew that wasn’t what Lia wanted, she’d want something special.. Each photo was supposed to be art.

He re-entered the rosarium, moving towards the trellis in the centre, surely there had to be something… He paused. Blinking. Blinking again, then taking a step closer and studying the scene before him more carefully.. A vague image appearing in his mind. “I.. I think I’ve got something.” He hesitantly called out.

“You do?” Within seconds, Lia was at his side. “What do you have?” She asked eagerly, clearly no doubt in her mind that whatever Shun had come up with would be good.

Slowly, he pointed through a low part of the trellis, his finger brushing the petals of the singular rose that bloomed there, at the small wooden bench that sat behind one of the four quarter flower beds. “I was thinking if someone sat there and you got the picture of them through the gaps in the trellis with that rose beside it…”

Lia lit up instantly, beaming a smile that was pure starlight in his direction, “That’s perfect, I love it!” Shun felt himself melt a little internally from self pride, “Quick, go sit over there so I can see how it looks!” She told him, full director mode on. He nodded, taking his bag off and placing it on the ground, wasting no time in moving over to the bench, glad his idea was good enough for Lia to be this enthusiastic about it. “Move to the right a little?” Lia requested, Shun quickly moved over, watching her as she held her camera up, checking the angle, then lowered it back down again.

“Okay, stay where you are but can you move your body to your left? Like- No, like sit sideways.” She told him, responding to his every movement, “Wait, no. Move your legs to face the left but keep your upper half turned half this way… Perfect!” Her smile shone before it fell back into a frown of concentration as she continued to study the pose.. “Try looking up? Oh, no. Sorry, that doesn’t work.” She backtracked, “Look down, at your knees?” She let out a hum of consideration as Shun did just that, “That’s great! Wait, do you mind if I…?” She took a step closer and gestured with her hands, something Shun knew translated to ‘fix some details by hand’, he nodded, although trying carefully to get his head back in the right place afterwards.

Lia snorted with gentle laughter as she walked over, “Dedication, love it.” She teased. Shun knew he must’ve looked embarrassed because Lia hastily tacked on, “Which is a good thing.”
“Alright, I’m just going to..” Shun felt a hand lightly brush against his back as Lia carefully lifted up his hood, “You picked the perfect outfit for this, you know.” She told him, sounding somewhere between impressed and pleasantly surprised, the boy couldn’t see her face but he could hear her smile in her tone. A hand hovered hesitantly near the corner of Shun’s vision, “Do you mind if I…?” 

He shook his head gently, “No, I don’t mind.” He murmured, “Go ahead.” 

As soon as he’d given permission, Lia reached out and gently brushed some of his hair out from under his hood and behind his ear to hang down in front of his face, blocking his peripheral vision. Thankfully also hiding the blush he was sure had made itself visible across his cheeks.

He felt the atmosphere beside him change as Lia moved back to behind the trellis in the center, checking the scene before her. “Can you move your right arm so it’s resting across your lap and holding your left arm right above the elbow? Keep the left arm where it is though, it’s perfect right there resting on the bench…” Shun copied her instructions, hoping he’d done it right. “That’s it!” She called out excitedly. “Perfect! Now just stay still…” 

The sound of Lia’s camera shutter clicking multiple times filled the air alongside the chatter of families walking past outside and the birds chirping in trees above, yet unable to see past the curtain of his own hair or much further than beyond his knees, it almost felt like they were in a little bubble separated from everything else…

Shun remained still until he finally heard the words, “Done! I’ve got it!” Lia announced cheerily, Shun looked up and scooted to one side, his hood falling down in the process, so Lia could sit down beside him and show him what she’d gotten on the tiny screen of her camera.

Broken into fragments by the thin black metal bars of the iron trellis, he sat on the bench, hair hiding any expression from his face as he gazed down at the ground just in front of his knees.. His posture and lack of visible expression painted the perfect picture of melancholy, while the white rose, its thorny vine and deep green leaves stood out on the right hand side of the photo. Adding to the tale of sadness, or to some eyes, a sign of new hope for the sorrow-filled boy.

“I’m thinking… A slight noise filter, some desaturation on everything except the rose and the leaves and this could win prizes .” Lia gushed, the ideas so clearly running through her head one could almost imagine them as little images popping up around her..

Shun tucked his hair back behind his ear, gazing at Lia with far softer eyes than he even realised, before looking back down at the photo of himself, “Wow… It could.” He agreed, voice barely higher than a murmur, “Anyone could see how talented you are from just this…”

A subtle pink blush settled on Lia’s cheeks, “Aw, really?” Her gaze flickered away from the picture, then returned to Shun, “It was your idea, you know?” She reminded him, “ And you’re the subject, I think if anything, it only goes to show your talent too.” She decided, giving him a gentle nudge but looking away again.

The blonde felt his face heat up in a blush in response, “It.. It wasn’t anything really…” He mumbled awkwardly, not really knowing how to accept the compliment, unable to even attempt looking at her.

The pair sat in awkward - one could say, flustered - silence for a few more long moments that seemed to stretch for eternities… Then Lia broke it, rising to her feet and quickly dusting off her shorts. “Well..! We should head to the lake. That photo isn’t going to take itself!” She spoke rushedly, seeming to just want to break the ice again.

Copying her, Shun stood up too, picking up his bag and dusting the bottom of it off before putting it back over his shoulder. “Yeah, we should probably hurry.” He agreed.

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

Time after that moved in a way that felt both slow and rushed, they took multiple pictures on the bridge, Shun doing his best to bring Lia’s vision from the sketch to life as Lia requested he try to change the mood each time. One sorrowful, another wistful and full of longing, a third holding a white dandelion that Lia had decided to run off to pick in front of him and a fourth blowing the seeds off from that.. All turned out incredible, although Shun was hesitant to say as much, it felt conceited to complement a picture of himself too much, even if it were only the photographer’s skill he was truly admiring.. And he was hesitant to say too much in case Lia turned the compliment back on him again and things became awkward like earlier…
So aside from a few compliments that were definitely toned down and only a quarter of what Lia truly deserved, Shun didn’t risk it..

Things became more lighthearted and less awkward again when Lia decided she wanted to get a picture of a bird’s nest and that she was going to climb up a tree to do so, handing her bag and camera over to Shun along with the task of passing her camera up to her once she was safely in the tree. It was a fairly wobbly process that garnered them more than a few odd looks from people passing by along with some other varied reactions, three kids around six or seven pointed them out to their parents excitedly as two of the Awesome Brawlers, a group of teens ranging from around twelve to twenty walked past, some trying to figure out what Lia was doing in the tree, one announcing to the group they were going to climb the next climbable tree they found, Shun’s personal favourite was a dark haired teen in a purple hoodie who spotted them then immediately turned on his heel and walked away - he was fairly sure Magnus would deny having ever been there if he asked though…

For the rest of the morning until the clock hit twelve thirty, they moved from place to place in the park, taking pictures as they went. 

The playground - A shot of Shun from behind on the swings and a second shot taken from his right side, one hand stretched out towards the sky as if attempting to swing so high he could touch the clouds, that same pose was repeated for a third picture Lia took lying on the ground, making it seem like Shun was far higher above than he truly was.

The trees behind the bandstand - Shun gave suggestions for a shot of the area as Lia worked the camera in a way that the light shining through the trees made the greens of the scene all look so vibrant.. Then, sent back into his role as model of the day, Lia got Shun to sit at the base of a tree, gazing up at the sky as she snapped another shot of the same area, giving the cozy vibrant green hideaway a subject to hide, a dreamer amongst the dream. Upon looking at the photo afterwards, both agreed it felt like something from Ajit’s favourite game..

Underneath a tree with low hanging branches that formed a dome they took photos with a mysterious air. Shun’s eyes, turning around to look, hidden from sight behind a branch, one where only his hand stuck out from behind the trunk, inviting someone into a mystery, a few just of the area in general. Anything inside was obscured from sight, the kind of hidden den children would turn into a secret base in their let’s pretend game, it was almost something out of the fantasy worlds Callie created filled with elves, goblins and monsters… The light just barely filtering in from the outside, you could push the branches aside and step out into a different world.. Lia took a few shots of the domed branches above, then sent Shun outside to hold his hand in through the leaves, following that train of thought of entering into a completely new world.

Still inspired by the fantasy theme she’d uncovered under the tree, Lia photographed bracket fungus growing from a different tree across the park, plotting out loud her plan for editing it together with some pictures she could take of bird houses or tiny dolls houses and if she could get the others in front of a green screen at some point, she could scale everyone down so they’d fit beside the houses on the fungus.. Making a note on her phone to message Callie about that at some point so they could maybe collaborate and make something inspired by her world and characters from these photos and her plan.. Maybe they could dress everyone up in the way Callie’s characters would dress before taking the green screen photos… If Shun found himself admiring Lia’s creativity and passion for what she did, with awe and soft love in his eyes.. That was only for him to know.

Finally, worn down from the morning of running around and photographing everything, the pair decided to take a break for lunch, queuing up to buy sandwiches from the park cafe.

“So, all we have left to take are the flower crown photos.” Lia said, clicking through the pictures they’d previously taken, stopping on the most recent one of a bee sitting in a flower that she’d stopped to take on their way over to the cafe, before switching her camera off. “I think I know where I want to take those already..” She spoke her thoughts aloud.

Shun nodded, “Did you want to head over there as soon as we get our sandwiches?” He asked, fidgeting slightly with the paper box his sandwiches were in.

“Sounds good to me! I just hope no one takes the bench there before we can get to it.” Lia laughed in agreement as they moved forwards in the queue.

The pair continued to idly chat until they reached the front of the queue, Shun stepped back so Lia could pay for her sandwiches first only to be surprised when Lia took his from his hand and placed them on the counter. “Can we get these, please? Oh and- Can I get one scoop of mango ice cream in a tub too, please?” She politely requested the girl working on the till, then turned to Shun. “What ice cream do you want?” She asked him, as if this was a totally normal expected occurrence.

“Wh- No, I can buy my own, you don’t have to-”

Lia cut off his rambled response, “No buts! You’re helping me out so it’s my treat, pick a flavour Shun.” She spoke decisively.

After a few moments longer of wincing and protesting quietly, Shun gave in, grateful but still uncomfortable with the idea of Lia paying for him, “..Salted caramel..” He mumbled.

A bright smile lit up across Lia’s face seconds before she turned back to the cafe worker, “And one scoop of salted caramel in a tub too please!”

Once Lia paid and they both left the cafe, Lia walking slightly ahead and leading the way towards the area she’d had in mind, Shun spoke up again, quietly breaking the silence, “I can pay you back.” He offered earnestly.

He was instantly shut down.

The bench Lia had been thinking of was thankfully unoccupied and theirs to claim. The pair sat down and began to unwrap their sandwiches while Lia pointed out the huge patch of daisies covering the grass in front of them and which ones could be picked for the flower crown to leave the perfect area for Shun to lie in for the picture still surrounded by growing daisies..

Butterflies floated through the air and fluttered around inside Shun’s heart, the faint remnants of guilt about letting Lia pay for him were blanched by the warmth of the sun and of this moment, sitting beside Lia on this bench, spending the day with her, just the two of them… Shun would never trade their group hangouts with the other Awesome Brawlers for anything but.. He wished this could become a regular thing too alongside those.
This day, this moment , everything felt right.. In the company of the person he was in love with, it felt like nothing could ever go wrong, for once his insecurities could be ignored, the day was so perfect, she was so perfect, that it almost felt that he wasn’t so imperfect himself..

Sounds of nature and others within the park drifted around them on the breeze, filling the peaceful quiet between them as they both ate. It was beautiful, peaceful, perfect..

If there were any moment, any time or place perfect enough for a confession worthy of someone so wonderful… Would it not be now?

“Hey, Shun, can I ask-”

“Sorry, can I tell you something?” Shun blurted out, “Um… First?” He added nervously, his stomach twisting with anxiety as he resolved himself. If he let the moment slip by, he may never get it back… If Lia spoke first, gave him an out, he wouldn’t build up the courage to try again, certainly not today at least… And no matter what, whether she returned his feelings or asked him to get lost, she was worthy of the attempt.

Lia looked surprised but nodded, “Sure, go ahead!” She agreed then paused, a teasing frown pulling the corners of her lips down, “Unless you’re gonna try to convince me to let you pay me back again, in which case, no. No you can not.”

A soft laugh escaped Shun, “No, no… That’s not it…” He confirmed. Lia let the fake frown fall off her face, a gentle encouraging smile forming in its place. “I.. I don’t really know how to say this, I’ve been trying for a while but I’ve never been able to find the right words…” He mumbled, unsure where to start and just attempting to buy time… Every word from every drafted confession seemed to slip away from him, every metaphor that felt romantic on paper suddenly felt too silly to say out loud.. All except… “It’s just… For a while now… I.. I love you.” He finished, rushing the last three words out before he could back out.

At long last, he’d said it. Now he didn’t know what else to say, should he add something more? Did he raise his tone on the last note of the word so it sounded too much like a question? How would Lia react? Was this a mistake? His racing thoughts were at a mismatch with the blue sky and birdsong. The world didn’t end, the skies didn’t turn grey and stormy, the day was still as lovely as it was before he’d said it.. And Lia…
Beside him, Lia’s shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. Shun stared at her in confusion, trying to figure out what he’d said that was so funny, was it because she’d already known? Did she think it was funny that he liked her? That he thought he had a chance? No.. Her laughter didn’t seem to be cruel like that, she just seemed genuinely brought to laughter by something. 

She spotted him looking and shook her head at him slowly, a soft yet amused movement, her gaze teasing but gentle, friendly.. Not upset at all. “Sorry, sorry..” She spoke, laughter escaping her, “I was just.. You’re not very good at hiding it, I already knew.” Lia confessed. Shun could feel his cheeks heat up with embarrassment, Ajit had been right then… “I’d actually stopped thinking you were ever going to come out and say it, so…” For a second, Lia almost appeared bashful, “I was just about to confess to you myself.”

To say Shun felt surprised would be an understatement. Shocked wouldn’t even be a strong enough descriptor, he could feel his face turn red, more flustered than he’d ever been. “You.. You were?” He questioned, stupefied.

“Yep,” Lia confirmed, leaning back against the bench and looking up at the sky. “I’d been thinking of it for a while but held back since, well.. You seemed to be planning something of your own,” She explained, “And I didn’t want to ruin that for you.”

Shun’s eyes lowered to the floor. “I.. Well, I was trying but nothing felt good enough…” He admitted, embarrassed by the discovery Lia had figured out he’d been trying to confess.

A laugh bubbled up out of Lia, she turned her head to look back at him, every part of her full of warmth and affection, “Shun, anything would’ve been good enough coming from you.”

And oh. Oh. Maybe Shun should’ve had more confidence all along, every word in every letter left lying in that pile on top of his desk came flooding through his head suddenly seeming adequate, that one sentence changed his entire perspective. His feelings were reciprocated, anything would’ve been good enough if it were him, “It has to be you” suddenly those words were about much more than just his artistic vision.. The butterflies in his heart beat a rhythm that was both rapid and calm, warmth spreading throughout him like he was enveloped in a golden sunbeam.

“So, this means we’ll be going to prom together, right?” Lia said, phrasing it like a question but really both of them knew the answer was a yes spoken with certainty.

“Of course.”

And it was decided, simple as that.

Shortly after, they continued taking the last pictures for their photoshoot, Lia weaving a flower crown and gently placing it atop Shun’s head, adjusting it carefully before they took photos of him standing before the bed of sunflowers, against a tree and lying down in a patch of daisies and a few dandelions adding a splash of yellow..

Before they left the park, they returned back over to the sunflowers to take one last picture, this time not on Lia’s camera but on her phone, a selfie of them both standing by the sunflowers smiling, Lia holding her right hand up to show off the bracelet of daisies Shun had made her while she’d been making the flower crown for him… This photo wasn’t for any photography club, it was for the two of them, and both of them agreed it was their favourite photo they’d taken all day..

Lia decided she’d join Shun on his walk home, no reason or excuses given this time, they simply wanted to walk together for longer before going their separate ways until Monday.. The pair were walking down the pavement beside a busy road, when Shun’s phone rang. He fished his phone out of his bag and read the name: Dan. Why was he calling? Sharing a look of confusion with Lia, he answered it, automatically switching it to speaker phone so he could hear his friend over the noise of the road .

“Shun!” Dan’s loud voice burst through the speakers on the phone, his words coming out crackly from obviously bad connection, music was audible in the background along with some familiar voices and the sound of a little kid throwing a tantrum. “We’ve just had the best idea for how you can ask Lia to prom!”

Shun felt like he wanted the ground to swallow him up while beside him Lia was looking extremely amused, “Actually Dan, I-”

“No arguments! Wouldn’t be able to hear them anyway, it’s so loud in here! But we’ve got this! Trust me.” Dan cut him off, almost yelling down the line as the sound of the crying child got louder and the voice of an adult trying to calm them down was faintly audible in the background. “Meet us at studio D at half four, we’ll head for Lia’s at six!” He called, the connection distorting his voice, “See ya!”

The line went dead.

The blonde stared down at the phone in his hand in defeat, “I should text him and tell him…” He murmured blankly.

Lia shook her head viciously, “Don’t you dare !” She told him, her eyes glimmering with excitement. “Whatever they’ve planned is bound to be hilarious, you have to let this happen.” She pleaded, “We can tell them afterwards.”

A quiet sigh escaped Shun’s lips, he wasn’t the best at keeping things from anyone, least of all his friends but… He’d try, for her. He’d do anything for her. And he had to admit he was a little curious to find out what Dan and the others had planned himself… “Alright, I’ll go along with it.” He agreed, switching off his phone and putting it back into his bag. Lia cheered in reply.

A short walk later, they arrived outside of Shun’s family’s hotel, both hesitant to say goodbye.. Once again, it didn’t feel right to do so just yet.. There was a feeling of incompleteness, something wasn’t right yet. Before she left, he still needed to do something but… What?

“I guess I’ll see you later then..?”

It hit him. “Wait!” The word came out louder than he’d intended for it to and he felt heat creep into his cheeks once again as he rephrased, “Can you… Wait here a moment, there’s something I want to give you.” He mumbled awkwardly, looking down at his shoes and fiddling with the cuff of one of his shirt sleeves.

Surprised, Lia nodded, “Oh, sure.” She agreed easily.

Shun gave a smile and a quick nod before turning and hurrying inside the building, cursing every second it took for the elevator to slowly arrive at the ground floor and every second it took for it to slowly travel up to his floor, fumbling with his room key and running through to his room. He threw his bag onto his bed then finally slowed down, looking around the room for what he needed, unearthing some purple tissue paper from a drawer before carefully sorting through every vase in his room, picking out only the flowers that were still in the best condition, the least wilted and the most vibrant… Some were more difficult to choose than others, the hydrangeas had all started browning a few days ago but he still picked out the nicest two bunches he could find. Slowly, a makeshift bouquet formed within the tissue paper in his hands, he wrapped the stems up gently, finishing by adding the two roses. The petals of those had begun to brown on the edges and a few had fallen off but… They were the most symbolic ones… And sometimes imperfection was the most perfect thing available.

Next, he looked over at the pile of letters, every single one containing his feelings.. His previous thoughts of “What good was professing love if you couldn’t express every single feeling that made up that love” ran through his head as he pulled a spare blue plastic folder out of his desk drawer and began scooping every letter from his desk inside it. Every letter he’d deemed not good enough, every letter that had gotten a little crumpled up from its time in his pocket before he’d backed out again, every letter he was sure he’d never send… They would reach their destination after all.

“Dear Lia,
I fall in love with you more and more each day,
Over and over again, I love you with all my
heart.
I couldn’t be happier that all those years ago
I chose to move to this city, this country,
because if I hadn’t I would have never met
you.
Everything is worth it with you, every moment,
whether we’re saving the world again or just
hanging out with the others.
My world is complete with you as a part of it
I love you,
Shun.”

All the letters secured inside the folder, Shun tucked it under the arm he held the bouquet in and left his room once again fumbling with the lock and cursing the elevator speeds. In the lobby, he paused for a moment to ready himself, he could see Lia through the glass doors, watching some people across the street from her. He moved the folder into one hand, then took a deep breath and went back outside.

When the doors opened, Lia turned, her eyes flickering down to the bouquet in confusion and then widening in realization. 

“I… I wanted to give you these..” Shun spoke quietly, his voice soft but anxious. “I know we’ve already confessed now but… These were the failed attempts and even if they’re kind of pointless now, they were meant for you…” He mumbled, holding the folder and the bouquet out towards her.

Lia hesitated, reaching out as if to take them, then changing track - darting in and giving Shun a quick hug instead. It only lasted a few seconds and it wasn’t like they’d never hugged before but.. Something about this one felt…. Perfect and comforting in a way that couldn’t be described. Lia drew back and took the folder from Shun, looking at all the envelopes inside before placing it in her bag, then she took the bouquet, looking at every single one of the flowers, taking in their types and colours, a soft smile across her lips.

“I’m going to read every single one of those as soon as I get home.” She promised. “Thank you, Shun.”

The moment was sweet, gentle, perfect. Shun lingered outside as he watched Lia walk off down the street after they exchanged their goodbyes, waiting until she was out of sight to return indoors, ignoring the hotel doormen and those in the lobby quietly aww-ing at the scene they’d just witnessed as he once again waited for the elevator to arrive.

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

2:25 PM - Lia: oh my god Shun

2:25 PM - Lia: none of these felt good enough to you????????

2:26 PM - Lia: “if you’re the sun, I could only be the earth, only right as long as I’m in your presence”

2:26 PM - Lia: YOU DIDN’T THINK THAT WAS GOOD ENOUGH??

2:27 PM Lia: these letters are the most romantic things I’ve ever read holy shit

2:27 PM Lia: 💙💙💙

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

When Shun arrived at Studio D, it was already a mess far beyond anyone’s saving and he had to ask himself what on earth had been going through the others’ minds.

Firstly, there were two more people there than those who had offered Shun help that weekend before. Not that he was entirely surprised to see either of them, Magnus occasionally just showed up at studio D whenever he felt like it these days, as for Kurin they’d become a regular since they’d moved in next door to Dan.
Magnus didn’t even seem to be a part of the promposal help group anyway, sitting silently in the corner beside Sid the skeleton with earphones in typing away on his laptop - barely pausing to look up when Shun entered the building. Although, the knowing look exchanged between them for a split second wasn’t missed by either boy. Kurin however appeared to have been dragged into this mess, practicing a fanfare on a trumpet.

Over by the far wall, Dan was sitting on the floor attempting to crack a coconut in half with a hammer, dressed with a chestplate of plastic armour far too small for him on top of his red jacket. Ajit had taken custody of the table, decorating a huge piece of paper with the question “PROM?” written in ink and glitter, up on the balcony above the door, Wynton was repeatedly mumbling a script to himself, attempting to memorize the contents of a piece of paper.

Piled onto the sofa were assorted items of plastic armour, multiple terrible quality wigs, a bright red cloak and two plastic crowns, on the floor beside it lay two hobby horses. Shun blinked slowly, unsure what to make of all this.

“Shun! You feeling ready?” Wynton called down to him, seconds later everyone else began to chime in.

“Shun! Glad you made it! Can you give me a hand breaking this coconut?”

“Hey Shun! What do you think of the prom sign?”

“Oh hey Shun.”

“The less you question, the more your sanity will remain intact.”

Dan spun around to glare at Magnus halfheartedly for that last comment, “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean? We’re helping him!” 

Magnus rolled his eyes and refocused his attention on his laptop, not bothering to justify Dan’s words with a response, honestly a small part of Shun couldn’t blame him. Dan turned back towards Shun, “Ignore him, he’s not helping with the plan anyway.” He dismissed the older boy’s words.

“Um, what exactly is the plan?” The blonde asked, looking around the room again, trying to make sense of anything that could give a clearer image for what exactly had been plotted.

He almost regretted asking as soon as Dan dropped the coconut down on the floor and leaped to his feet, “The plan, my good friend, is as follows…” He spoke with all the drama he was capable of, “You are going to text Lia to tell her to open her door, then Kurin is going to play a dramatic fanfare to announce your presence as you and Wynton ride in on horseback.” Dan explained, running over and picking up one of the hobby horses, “Next, me and Ajit will ride in on a second horse creating the horseshoe noises by hitting coconut halves together, we’ll help you and Wynton off your horse as Wynton starts to read aloud from the scroll and then once he’s done and Lia says yes we’ll hand the scroll to her and place a crown on her head.. Oh! And we’ll be doing all this dressed in medieval costumes, got all that?” 

Shun could practically feel a headache coming on, having understood none of that, but he nodded. He was sure he’d figure it out in the hour and a half they had to prepare… And it wasn’t like there were any actual stakes for this now anyway. All he had to do was go along with whatever the others dreamed up and try to have fun with it.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t have to try to have fun with it at all. Shun had long since known that being surrounded by his friends, things were always going to be fun. Stupid or serious, it’d be a happy memory as long as he was with the others.
To the sound of random music being played on the trumpet - as Kurin got bored while practicing their fanfare - Shun found himself helping Ajit with decorating the prom scroll, drawing bluebells - honesty, gratitude and everlasting love - growing all along the bottom edge while Ajit added more glitter in different shades of blue and silver to each letter in the word “PROM?” Wynton continued memorizing his script, ad libbing some parts as Dan yelled suggestions across the room as Magnus got sick of him failing to break the coconut in half, abandoned his laptop on the chair and sat down beside Dan to help.

The energy in the room was insanely fun, even more so once everyone - sans Magnus - began dressing up in their mismatched medieval attire. Dan and Wynton fighting over a judge’s wig while Kurin stole the floppy hat with the large feather plume from right under their noses. Ajit helping Shun put on his long red cloak and crown while hoarding the plastic shield and a pigeon plushie for himself.

Kurin swiped Dan’s phone at some point and put on a playlist of bardcore versions of pop songs, resulting in everyone - except Magnus who stubbornly covered his ears and jammed his earphones in twice as far as they’d already been - starting a singalong to I’m Just Ken and Taylor Swift’s Love Story.

Shun had to admit, if he had anything to be nervous about, this surely would’ve taken the fear out of it and honestly.. He was really grateful for that, the others knew him, probably thought he was terrified of what might happen next, they’d known he’d been anxious about confessing and as ridiculous as their idea was… They’d gone to lengths to make it so it’d be a fun thing, something that would allow everyone to just forget their worries and go with the flow of the chaos. 

He made a mental note to do something to thank them all for it soon.

“Hey, y’know Dan, I’m kinda surprised you’re not bringing Mr Wigglething.” Wynton joked, carefully feeling the scroll to make sure it was dry before he could roll it up.

Dan appeared to be about to protest - likely about Wynton using the incorrect name for the jellyfish plushie - but Kurin spoke up first, “Is that the jellyfish plushie that’s been looking out Dan’s bedroom window all day?” They asked.

Ajit nodded, “Yep, he’s been setting it up in different places around the house all week, the other morning it was watching TV on the couch, yesterday it was sleeping in his bed all day... Even found it exploring the fridge on Tuesday.”

“He was guarding my leftovers!” Dan protested, “Besides, Mr Wigglestinger deserves to have little adventures like that, right Shun?” He turned to Shun with puppy dog eyes, pleading for someone to back him up. “Don’t your Tumpees do that too?”

Unfortunately, Shun couldn’t deny it. “Well, yes… Occasionally..” He mumbled, pretending his entire Tumpee collection wasn’t set up in a way that made it seem like they were interacting with each other in settings made of cardboard resembling the world from the Tumpee TV show, that he didn’t rearrange every week to set up new storylines.

Everyone exchanged knowing looks anyway. Shun looked away, pretending that the others were completely unaware. Thankfully they all had the grace not to call him out.

Come five thirty, Dan’s mom poked her head in the door to studio D, stifling laughter as she poked her head around the trellis and took in the sight of everyone dressed in their medieval outfits.

Dan had ended up winning the fight for the judges wig and had also donned a black fake mustache, he still wore the too small plastic chest plate and had a plastic sword secured around his waist with a belt. In his hands was one of the two hobby horses.

Having lost the wig fight, Wynton had ended up only claiming his assigned town crier hat, a black towel hung lengthways around his shoulders like a short cape, secured at the front with safety pins and a white handkerchief supposed to resemble a ruffled neck tie, underneath both of those he wore a red sash and carried a fake plastic bell and the prom scroll.

Ajit had chosen to wear a too-small plastic knight’s helmet, having used some string to create a makeshift chin strap to keep it balanced on his head. He also wore a plastic chest plate identical to Dan’s, had used safety pins to attach the pigeon plushie securely to his shoulder, a plastic bow and arrow set was safety pinned onto his back and in his hands were two halves of a coconut and the plastic tiara they’d bought for Lia.

Shun himself had been dressed in a long red cloak and a shiny golden plastic crown, a belt holding a plastic sword had been secured around his waist and he’d also been given custody of a hobby horse.

As for the final member of their group, Kurin had kept the floppy hat with the feather, like Wynton they also wore a handkerchief in place of a ruffled neck tie and they had thrown on some striped yellow and blue costume shorts on top of the trousers they’d already been wearing, trumpet in hand.

Barbara Kouzo looked over all of them, shaking her head slowly with barely restrained laughter. “Hey Mom! How do we look?” Dan grinned at her from across the room, doing a twirl to show off his medieval outfit causing his wig to slip halfway down his face.

“You all look.. Quite lovely.” Barbara replied, clearly still restraining herself from laughing. “So, I hear I’m to escort you all by royal chariot to Lia’s house in around ten minutes?” She checked, smiling as Dan nodded excitedly in confirmation. “Great! Then make sure you’re all ready, we’ll be taking Bill’s minivan.” She informed everyone, then paused and added, “That would be the extra large carriage to you medieval folks.” Her joke earned a few laughs from the group.

Once again, she paused before leaving, “Oh and Magnus?” She called out, waiting for the boy at the back of the room to remove his earphones before continuing, “Will you be staying for dinner today? If you’re planning on hanging around until everyone gets back, we’re ordering pizza.”

Magnus blinked, seeming unsure what to say. “I guess I can..” He answered somewhat awkwardly. Shun caught sight of Kurin wincing sympathetically, he himself also experiencing a pang of sympathy for the oldest in the group, he remembered how strange it had felt at first when his friends’ parents had shown him kindness he was unused to… It was obvious to all of them, even more so to those who could relate, that Magnus still hadn’t stopped feeling that strangeness after all this time.

Barbara beamed at him and then everyone else, “Excellent! As for the rest of you, it’ll be a victory feast to commemorate Shun’s successful promposal!” She announced, turning to leave, “Now hurry, you have eight minutes until we leave!” She called out over her shoulder, exiting studio D.

As the door closed, Dan turned around to grin at Magnus, “Glad you’re joining us for the victory feast! Sure you don’t want to grab a sword and join the party too?” He suggested, clearly teasing his friend.

“Yeah right, as if.” Magnus muttered in reply, rolling his eyes, “Go on. You heard Lady Kouzo, all you court jesters should be getting ready to leave.”

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

Barbara Kouzo parked the minivan around the corner from Lia’s apartment block, wishing everyone good luck one last time as they all piled out of the vehicle, making sure they were all carrying the props they needed.

The plan was to text Lia to leave her building to meet them all outside, they’d debated just doing it in the hall outside her family’s apartment but when Kurin pointed out the trumpet fanfare would disturb everyone in the other apartments they all decided doing it outside would be for the best. The plan was a promposal, not to get someone to report a noise complaint to the police.

Multiple people walking and driving past gave them looks as they walked down the street in their semi-medieval outfits, finally stopping in front of the building beside Lia’s apartment block, checking they had everything they needed as Shun got his phone out. “Text her! Tell her to come outside!” Dan urged him, clearly desperate to get on with the plan.

“Do we even know she’s going to be in..?” Kurin wondered, looking around the group, “Like, you did make sure she’d be in before planning all this, right?” They checked.

Wynton nodded, “No worries there, dude. We got Athena to make plans to hangout with Lia this afternoon at Lia’s place so we knew she’d be in.” He paused, pulling his phone out of his pocket and unlocking it. “See? She sent this pic of them hanging out as confirmation like five minutes ago.”

While Shun registered in his mind that they’d somehow got Athena to help out with this, Kurin nodded in response, satisfied with the answer, “Good.” 

5:58 PM - Shun: hi, can you come outside please?

“I sent the message.” Shun announced to the others, secretly enjoying the chaos that was about to unfold. The group’s energy and anticipation rose within the next few moments, waiting for a response so they could spring their plan into action.

5:59 PM - Lia: omw 🫡👍

The second the response came through, everyone scrambled into place, Kurin ran - quite awkwardly - trumpet in hand, to stand opposite the apartment block’s entrance, while Shun got on his hobby horse, Wynton standing close behind him, scroll in hand. Behind them, Dan held onto his hobby horse, Ajit standing behind him, coconut halves in each hand and Lia’s tiara around his wrist.

The apartment block door swung open, Kurin began playing a fanfare but it ground to a halt just as quickly as instead of Lia, an old man left the building giving them all a strange look as he walked off. The group all exchanging looks and awkward giggles amongst themselves.

Finally, the apartment block’s doors opened again, this time Lia stepped out, her camera drone flying beside her, Athena following close behind. As the doors swung shut behind them, Kurin began their fanfare again; instantly, Shun could see Lia’s shoulders begin to shake as she held back laughter, Athena was facepalming and shaking her head slowly - but Shun could just about make out a smile on her face.

Fanfare complete, Ajit began smacking the two coconut halves together, creating the sound effect of horseshoes clip-clopping against the ground. Shun’s cue to start heading over on the hobby horse, leading all the others behind him, attempting to mimic a trot by moving in a way that was half jogging and half skipping.

Once they came to a stop, Ajit pretended to jump off his hobby horse, hastily walking over and picking Wynton up before setting him down again, as if helping him off of his horse. While Wynton took a few steps forwards and began unrolling the scroll, Ajit lifted Shun in the air and then just as quickly back onto the ground, his knight helmet slipping down the side of his face, while Dan trotted over - still on his hobby horse - and took the one Shun was holding. Leaving Shun to stand there attempting to stand in a kingly way.

Wynton let out a loud dramatic cough, commanding attention. The scroll opened fully and held up in front of his face “Hear ye, hear ye!” He announced, putting on a fake posh accent, “His royal highness, Sir Shun Kazami, son of Sir Ichiro Kazami, first to evolve his bakugan, heir to the Kazami throne, tamer of the beasts Lightning the dog and Mr Wigglestinger, five time saver of the world and collector of the Tumpees.. Wishes to cordially invite you, Lady Lia Venegas, to the royal ball filled with fun fellowship, delightful delicacies such as the mini hamburgeur , and fellow acquaintances on July fourth.” He spoke confidently, only wobbling once or twice from holding in laughter while keeping up the posh accent and choosing to pronounce the word ‘hamburger’ like it were french. He lowered the paper away from his face, looking at Lia instead. “How do you wish to respond, Madam?”

Lia was fully shaking from barely restrained laughter now, a few chuckles slipping out as she gave her response, “It would be my honour.” She replied, a few more peals of laughter escaping her.

“Most fabulous indeed!” Wynton grinned, turning the scroll around to reveal to Lia it had only ever had the word ‘PROM?’ along with all the drawings Shun had done on it the whole time as he walked over and handed it to her.

Now it was time for Shun’s first line, he clapped his hands twice in quick succession, “Horse.” He ordered Dan, who hastily handed him his hobby horse as Kurin stepped forwards and pretended to lift Shun up onto it.
Meanwhile, Ajit ran over to Lia, “Your crown.” He said, letting Wynton take it from his hands - still holding the coconut halves - and carefully put it in place as Lia bowed her head to allow him to do so.

“Thank you sirs.” Lia tried staying in character despite still barely holding back her laughter, even Athena was beginning to break and snicker to herself a little at the absurdity of it all.

Wynton and Ajit rushed back over to their hobby horses where Kurin lifted Wynton up onto his while Ajit pretended he was trying to jump onto his, then faked failing and falling dramatically onto the grass before getting up and climbing on successfully. Finally causing Lia to break into loud unrestrained laughter, doubled over as she wheezed at how ridiculous it all was.

Not allowed to break character until it was over, Shun turned to her, “I’ll see you soon, ma’am.” He told her, putting on a fake royal sounding voice that he was honestly rather proud of and saluting before starting to trot away on his hobby horse, Wynton following close behind him and Dan and Ajit’s hobby horse following after, Ajit’s coconut halves creating the clip clop sound once again.

Kurin hung back, playing another loud fanfare, then taking his trumpet away from his mouth rapidly looked around, faking panic at the others already having galloped away before sprinting after them. 

The five continued to ride their hobby horses and make clip-clop sounds with the coconuts until they’d rounded the street corner. Fully aware they looked insane to everyone passing by in the street but just not caring. And as stupid as it was, it was fun, it was so them in every single way. Shun could still hear the girls laughing from all the way back down the street.

His heart felt warm, beating rapidly with joy amongst the excitement and camaraderie of the moment. There’d been no pressure, he’d just been able to have fun with his friends while asking the person he loved to prom and confessing for the third time that day…

And truthfully, Shun didn’t think it could’ve gone any more perfectly than it had.

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

And, as one could have expected, with the confessions over with, the promposal done... The days until the actual prom celebration flew by rapidly.

The others had all been surprised to find out that Shun had already confessed to Lia before their medieval themed proposal when she video-called him during their pizza party victory feast afterwards to yell at everyone about how funny it had been, yet more than just surprise, they’d felt an overwhelming amount of joy for Shun. Dan even going so far as to get Mr Wigglestinger from his room to make the jellyfish plushie give Shun a hug.

Time had flown, day after day racing by at light speed, and each day the warmth inside Shun grew, the end of their school lives was approaching and finally he couldn’t be any happier about it. Now the day was finally here and he could truly say it was a celebratory moment.

According to the constant buzzing of Shun’s phone, the source of which being the Awesome Brawlers’ group chat, everyone was getting ready, Dan sent a video of Ajit keeping his mom distracted by asking her a load of random questions while Dan broke into her closet and stole a pair of her high heels. Athena sent a picture of her dress and got a reply from Magnus telling her his sister said she loved it. Wynton and Ajit exchanged pictures of the t-shirts they were planning on wearing while Dan sent a video essay calling out Ajit for not putting any effort into his prom outfit as he was just going in casual clothes with Ajit in the background putting in even less effort into arguing back while seemingly playing through a boss battle in a game on his laptop. 

“He wants to defeat the…” Dan squinted at the text on the screen of Ajit’s laptop, “Everlasting lord of.. Something something… But he can’t even SLAY while doing it.”

Ajit didn’t even look up, “Are you done dressing up Mr Wigglestinger yet?”

The group chat went even crazier after Ajit confirmed Dan was taking Mr Wigglestinger with him to prom in a matching bright red dress.

Shun kept flitting between the conversation on his phone and his own outfit adjustments. He’d chosen a dark blue-ish black shirt paired with white shorts and a pale blue blazer, paired with brown loafer style shoes and long white ankle socks. On his collar he wore a chain collar pin, one side having an anchor and the other a ship’s wheel in a mix of gold and blue. He’d changed things around a few times, trying a light blue shirt and a dark blue blazer but had eventually settled on this look. 

In the chat Lia, Magnus and Athena were making fun of Dan for assuming Athena’s outfit - a long bright pink layered dress paired with a sheer orange shawl and pale pink and cream coloured ballet flats - shared its colour palette with the lesbian flag by pure coincidence.

Deciding not to get involved, Shun instead picked up the other item lying in the center of his desk. A small box, only recently removed from it’s packaging.

That night after the promposal, Shun had ended up scrolling through social media post upon social media post, there was no particular reason for it, he’d just been too awake from all the excitement and chaos of the evening to possibly fall asleep until the far later hours of the night.. He’d stumbled across something a part of him - ever the perfectionist - wished he’d found weeks before when he was considering buying Lia a gift to confess. It was a leather string necklace with a charm shaped like a camera, made of metal but with leather and glass details to make it look more realistic. It was exactly the sort of thing he’d wished had jumped out at him catching his attention in one of the stores at the mall. He’d barely hesitated before buying it, hadn’t even thought about when he could give it to her until the next day.. Then he’d had the idea, why not give it to her at prom?
He’d worried it wouldn’t arrive in time but thankfully it had and now it sat there in it’s box, Shun had already opened and checked it was what it had been advertised as, now it was just waiting for him to place it inside his blazer pocket and for the gift to be given to the one it was meant for…

His attention was drawn back to the group chat, Ajit wasn’t spoiling anyone on what Kurin, Chad and Chester’s planned prank was although he confessed he was fully in the know. Lia had sent a picture of her in her outfit - if she looked that beautiful in a mirror selfie, Shun felt like he’d possibly die upon seeing her in real life, or at the very least lose the ability to speak for a few minutes - to which Dan had sent a selfie of him and Mr Wigglestinger in their matching long red dresses, Magnus instantly reacted with a thumbs down emoji while Shun debated asking Dan who even made the dress for the jellyfish plushie, vaguely considering if he could get one made for a Tumpee..

Forty minutes to go until prom, ten minutes until Mrs Styles would arrive to collect him.

The group had agreed in advance to forsake the classic ritual of taking a fancy vehicle to prom, instead opting to just have their parents drop them off at the field down the street so they could all walk together from there. Dan’s dad would be dropping him and Ajit off, Wynton’s mom would be picking Shun up on the way and taking both him and Wynton to the meeting place, Athena was getting a lift from Ms Sykes and Lia’s mom would be dropping her off.

Shun looked himself over in the mirror once more, finding nothing wrong with his appearance. He slipped the box into his pocket, unplugging his phone from its charger. Exiting his room and locking the door behind him. The trip down the elevator was fast for once and the hotel staff in the lobby and at the entrance all seemed eager to wish him a happy prom night.

He waited until Mrs Styles’s car pulled up in the lay-by outside, quickly climbing into the back seat and thanking her for giving him a lift, Wynton looking up from his phone to compliment Shun’s outfit.

“We were all waitin’ for you to send an outfit pic, you know?” He teased, “Still camera shy?”

The drive came to an end and Wynton’s mom let them out on the field where Athena was already waiting. Him and Wynton barely had the chance to get over to her before Dan and Ajit showed up, Dan instantly tripping over his high heels as soon as he stepped foot on the grass, Wynton running over to help him up as if Dan were some kind of damsel in distress, only to decide against it as soon as he spotted Mr Wigglestinger.

As Dan finally wobbled over to them, Athena rolled her eyes. “I know you’re incapable of being normal but could you have at least chosen appropriate footwear?” She asked sarcastically.

“I’m prepared for prom , not the meeting spot y’all chose.” Dan retorted, sticking his tongue out.

“You literally chose the meeting spot yourself-”

Unsurprisingly, the two began to bicker relentlessly. Shun quickly tuned out of their debate, whatever the topic was, listening to Dan and Athena argue and trying to keep up with it was never worth the hassle.. Instead, he chose to take in everyone’s outfits.

Dan had outdone himself, his stolen red high heels, now slightly mud covered, perfectly matched the vibrant red of his flowy red dress, pinned to his shoulder in a fashion likely inspired by Ajit’s pigeon plushie from the promposal was Mr Wigglestinger dressed in a near identical dress to Dan’s. To finish off the look, Dan had decided to wear a cheap quality wig, faux long brown hair divided into two (mostly) equal braids, somewhat resembling the hairstyle of Anna from Frozen. He looked absolutely stupid but he was owning it, which somehow made the look go from horrific to honestly kind of decent.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Ajit was dressed entirely casually in the exact same clothes he’d been wearing in the video Dan had sent of him completing a boss battle earlier. He wore a white t-shirt with a drawing of a duck holding a knife and the words “I have stability (ability to stab)” printed on it in blue, on top of that he wore a yellow knitted cardigan, attached to which were a few badges with game characters on them. On his lower half he wore a pair of long black trousers and a pair of sunflower patterned sneakers, his hair tied into a loose ponytail on one side, large chunks of hair having already escaped on the other. He’d stayed true to his original reason for not wanting to go to prom, he hadn’t wanted to wear fancy or formal clothes, so he hadn’t. Honestly, Shun had to admit he respected it.

Wynton had found a middle ground between casual and formal, he’d bothered to wear a suit jacket and trousers both in matching green and blue plaid and had picked out some brown brogue style shoes but had chosen not to complete the look with a shirt but rather with a black t-shirt with the words “TBH it’s the ‘tism” printed in white above a picture of the autism creature. Where on most it might clash or look off somehow, the look fit Wynton perfectly somehow.

“Hey guys!” A voice, Shun’s favourite voice, called out across the field. Rushing towards the group, “Sorry I’m late!” She apologized to everyone, “You all look great.”

But if anyone truly looked great, Shun believed it was her, although great would be an understatement, ethereal would barely cut it even. Lia was dressed in an ice blue dress reaching down to her ankles, the lightweight skirt was patterned with white embroidery of feathers and flowers while the bodice and top half of the skirt were adorned with flowers made from the same material of the dress. On top of her dress she wore a cropped white cardigan, her camera bag hung over her shoulder. Her hair hung loose for once around her shoulders and down her back, secured away from her face with a gold and silver hairband shaped like stars crossing their paths. On her feet she wore white trainers with blue laces patterned with daisies and to complete the look, a pair of earrings resembling jellyfish.

Shun’s mind almost shut off, malfunctioning from how the girl he loved - the girl who loved him back - was so beautiful. It wasn’t like he’d already known, he’d seen Lia at her best and her worst, having always found her beautiful both after she’d just slipped into a puddle and while she was dressed for a wedding, in his eyes she always shone like the stars but somehow, this time, she shone even more so. She outshone the sun by miles. She was something from beyond this world, angelic, he could almost see white feathery wings spread out behind her… If it were possible, he fell even deeper in love with her at that moment.

She turned to him smiling and he remembered he was allowed to express this now, tell her how he was so in love, she was okay with that, he was deeply and unequivocally in love and in awe and he could tell her all that…

“Guys!” Dan’s voice broke through Shun’s thoughts just as he opened his mouth to voice them. “Now we’re all here… What say we take a photo of everyone to send to the group chat?”

Wynton grinned, “You mean take a photo to try to annoy Magnus and make him feel bad about not being allowed to join in on the fun?” He questioned, clearly reading Dan’s intentions perfectly as the red streaked boy pouted.

“Is that what you guys would’ve done to me if I hadn’t changed my mind about going? Tried to make me feel bad about not joining you?” Ajit asked, raising an eyebrow, although he didn’t seem that bothered by the idea.

Lia shrugged, pulling her phone out of her camera bag, “Probably, either way… It’s not a bad idea to get a picture of all of us here..” She mused, swapping her phone to selfie mode and holding it up. “Come on, everyone get in frame!”

In the kind of muddle that could only be created by six teenagers attempting to get into the frame of a portrait selfie shot, especially when one of them is wearing high heels he’s unused to, they all failed to get in the shot a few times, finally getting a nice one on the fourth attempt.

Dan plopped himself down on the grass, pulling his phone out from a well hidden pocket in his dress waiting to receive the picture through direct messages from Lia, sending it to the group chat almost as soon as it came through. They all got a reply back surprisingly quickly for Magnus’s texting speeds, a picture in reply of his sister playing with Lightning, Magnus’s hand doing a thumbs up on the left hand side of the image.

“He has Lightning with him?!”

No one was quite sure why Dan was surprised.

As the time grew nearer, the group decided to start the walk towards the school. Dan walking ahead with Wynton and Ajit on each side helping to keep him steady, Athena hanging a little behind them attempting to pretend she didn’t know who the trio ahead of her were, then at the back of the group remained Shun and Lia. 

The two had hung back instinctively, seeming to gravitate towards each other, sensing they both had something they wanted to say..

Shun was the first to speak this time.

“You look beautiful..” He murmured, gazing at her shyly.

A light blush appeared on Lia’s cheeks, “Thank you.. So do you.” She returned the compliment genuinely.

The blonde looked away awkwardly, feeling his ears turn pink. “I um…” He mumbled, stopping in place, “I wanted to give you this…” He took the box out of his pocket and gently pressed it into Lia’s hands, trying not to look at her face lest he panic and further trip over his words, focusing instead on Lia’s hands as she carefully lifted the lid off the box.

He couldn’t miss her tiny gasp when she saw what was inside, it would’ve been impossible to. His whole world had been reduced down to her, nothing existed outside of Lia in this moment.

“Shun.. This is.. I love it, thank you so much..” Lia finally spoke, her voice breaking slightly with emotion.

He couldn’t respond, he didn’t know how to.. So instead he turned towards her, still avoiding eye contact but made a “may I?” gesture towards the necklace. Lia nodded her approval, so Shun carefully picked up the necklace and unfastened the clasp, taking a step closer towards her and fastened it again around her neck, letting it hang loosely as he moved her hair out from underneath the leather string. Once he moved away, Lia readjusted the pendant so it sat the way she wanted it to, lifting it up and studying it first, taking in every detail…

“It’s perfect.” Lia breathed and Shun couldn’t agree more.

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

The hall had been entirely transformed, that was the first thing Shun noticed when he stepped in. LED lighting had been put up everywhere along with large fake curtains, a balloon arch and assorted backdrops to take pictures in front of. A table filled with snacks and food sat at one end of the school hall, which upon spotting Wynton whispered dramatically, “The mini hamburgeur .” In a fake french accent, setting the group off with giggles and snorts of laughter. A projector had been set up, displaying random pictures of the students throughout their years at Los Volmos High, photos from overnight trips, pictures that had been taken for the news, selfies and snaps students had submitted to have included in the pic roster… Speakers were in every corner of the room blaring loud music that Dan had already started to badly sing along to as their group queued up to get their picture taken by the balloon arch before they’d split off to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the evening.

The group gathered close together, posing for the camera, Dan throwing up peace signs, Wynton and Ajit stood with their backs against each other, showing off their t-shirts to their camera. Athena smiling with one hand underneath her chin, Lia threw one arm around Athena’s shoulder and the other around Shun's, pulling him close into her side as he tried to smile at the camera, his right hand holding onto the thin golden chain connecting the anchor and wheel on his shirt collar.

A picture they’d all keep a copy of forever.

They began to split in their different directions shortly after that, Athena went to hunt down Jenny and Callie, then almost as soon as she’d left the remaining group members ran into Kurin, Chet, Chad and Chester just as the speakers began blasting out a Paramore song which Dan and Wynton quickly dragged everyone into dancing and singing along to some far better than others…
Once the song ended, the group remained together singing and dancing along to songs they knew, surrounded by their classmates doing the same in their own friend groups, Shun wasn’t sure if hearing Dan and Chad screaming the lyrics to Hot to Go was a form of torture or the highest peak of comedy but didn’t find himself caring either way once he found himself singing along quietly to Taylor Swift’s I knew you were trouble after Kurin and Ajit sung the best cover of Candles on my cake ever to have been sung by teens in a crowded school hall while Lia recorded every last second, humming along herself behind the camera.

At some point Athena, Jenny and Callie joined up with them again just in time for Golden to start playing and for nearly everyone in the room to start singing along loudly.

Somehow, in the midst of all that joy, Shun felt a sharp pang of loss. This was their last night ever with all these other people, everyone he’d ever passed in the hallway or had sat next to during class or an assembly.. He’d likely never be in the same place as all these people at once ever again… This was a celebration of the start of new beginnings and the end of their time at school, as a year group, as classmates. Somehow.. It just made him want to make the most of it even more.

“WE’RE GOING UP UP UP-!”

Once the song ended, Dan and Wynton decided to head over to the food table, Wynton mentioning the “mini hamburgeurs ” in his false french accent and earning himself a confused yet amused look from Callie and snickers from those in the know within earshot of his comment.

An hour passed by and they were all still singing and dancing. Lia had put her camera away when Chad had suggested the group all do a spinning circle and it had stayed away since while she twirled Shun around and spun in circles with him to the sound of a million dreams from the greatest showman.

“Hey! Do you want to get some snacks and head outside for a bit after this?” Lia attempted to call to Shun over the music, he nodded in reply. As fun as this was, getting outside and taking a break from the loud music would be for the best…

The final notes played out, Lia hastily explained where they were going to Athena before taking Shun’s hand so they wouldn’t lose each other in the crowd and heading for the snacks, each taking paper plates full of mini sandwiches, pizza slices and crisps before slipping out the door into the school’s grounds.

The couple found a spot to sit on the grass, leaning back against the building’s wall as they ate, carelessly chattering about all the events that’d just taken place within the hall, laughing about how bad Dan’s singing was, smiling fondly about how for this one evening everyone was friends. 

Shun had just looked around for a moment to see if he could pinpoint where a particularly loud voice had come from but upon turning back, he was met with Lia’s gaze, studying him, trying to work something out.

“Is something wrong..?” He asked cautiously, worried that in the time he’d turned around something had upset Lia.

The girl shook her head, “No, no… Nothing’s wrong, I was just thinking..” She replied, still seemingly lost in her thoughts. She hummed quietly to herself, considering before finally voicing her thought. “I don’t think your outfit is quite complete yet, Shun.” 

He blinked in confusion, “Wh.. What do you mean?” He asked her, confused by the comment.

Lia didn’t answer, instead she put her paper plate to one side and got to her knees, leaning forwards and picking a daisy from the patch in front of them on the grass. 

It hit Shun just moments before Lia picked a second daisy and began to thread them together, he also put his paper plate to the side, scrambling to collect daisies from the grass in front of them.. Both weaving creations they’d made before.

Before long a daisy bracelet had formed in Shun’s hand and a crown of daisies lay in Lia’s palm, she turned to him and gave a teasing smile. “Your crown, Sir Shun Kazami.” She held it out towards him.
Shun bowed his head and allowed her to crown him. “And this would be for you, Lady Lia Venegas.” He replied, carefully slipping the bracelet over Lia’s hand onto her wrist.

And change what will, something deep within Shun’s heart told him this would stay the same for a long time to come.

A short while later they returned inside, food finished, placing their plates inside the recycling bin when someone tapped Shun on the shoulder, he turned around to see a brunette boy he recognised from his math class. “Hey, isn’t that you?” He asked, pointing towards the picture projected on the wall.
Shun turned back around, turning his attention to the projector and sure enough, there was a picture of him displayed on the wall through the projector, a familiar one, although one he’d never seen on such a big screen before. He recognised this picture from the day of the confession, it was him in Pinpoint park looking confusedly at the camera as two white butterflies danced together above his head. 

Lia looked round at Shun then followed his gaze to see what he was looking at, her smile growing wider as she saw the photo being projected onto the wall. “Oh, didn’t I tell you?” She asked, “Surprise!”

Even as they returned back to the group, Shun almost getting hit in the face by Dan’s arm as he flailed around trying not to fall over after a circle spin with Wynton went a little too fast for his poor balance… Nothing could diminish the warmth and joy he felt in that moment.

He felt like he was experiencing flight because an angel had taken his hands in her own and was carrying him along as she soared through the skies as naturally as ever.

For the rest of the evening, everything was perfect and nothing, no matter how disastrous or chaotic, could change that…

…Not even when Kurin, Chad and Chester mysteriously disappeared from the group and the first of many rubber toads was flung into the crowds from who knows where…

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

Prom had been an experience, one Shun was likely to never forget. Between the camaraderie, music, singing, dancing and mass momentary panic when the first rubber toad was assumed to be real.. He knew that evening was a memory he’d hold forever. 

Once the celebration ended, everyone - sans Athena, who’s lift home was inside the school building - returned to the field down the street waiting for their parents to collect them. The rest remained on the field, Dan, having finally found his balance in his heels, running around and chasing Wynton and Ajit with the jellyfish plushie he’d since unpinned from his shoulder.

According to texts from Wynton and Dan’s moms, the boys all had about twenty minutes before they’d be collected while Lia’s mom had called to say she was just around the corner, so Shun and Lia stood waiting on a bench by the edge of the grass and the start of the pavement, talking together as they looked through all the videos Lia had taken on her phone and camera from the evening.

A video of Dan, Ajit, Chad and Chester jumping around while singing a horrible rendition of a song.

A picture Lia had gotten Shun to take of her with Athena, Callie and Jenny, all doing random silly poses.

A slightly blurry photo of Wynton and Dan dancing together.

A video of everyone singing Golden together, in which Lia had panned the camera around the room to show that everyone in the hall was jumping around and singing along, not just their group.

A video of the rubber toads falling from the sky from a direction they still couldn’t pinpoint.

A picture of Shun beside the projected picture of him on the wall.

A video meant to capture Dan, Wynton and Jenny dancing but the true highlight was in the background where Chet was being pulled round and round in a circle by Callie, the pair spinning out of control as Chad and Chester screamed encouragement and Kurin filmed, resulting in the two eventually spinning too fast and breaking apart both falling on the ground.

A photo of Shun getting dragged into dancing with Dan.

A picture of Shun, Dan, Ajit and Wynton standing together and doing stupid poses.

A picture Lia had sneakily taken of Ajit when he’d claimed he was going to get snacks but had actually just gone off to complete a boss battle on his phone.

A picture of Callie, Kurin, Chet, Chad and Chester. Callie surprising Kurin and Chet, her arms around their shoulders in a surprise hug as she jumped up behind them, Chad and Chester more prepared for the photo doing matching poses.

A video from when they’d decided to play hide and seek tag around the party, Lia filming her perspective as she hid from Wynton, who was so close yet so far from finding her. She’d also spotted Shun nearby where he hadn’t spotted her and caught him filtering in behind a group of people.

Some pictures of the decorations around the room.

A picture of Shun with his flower crown on, smiling as he talked to someone out of frame, not having noticed Lia take a picture.

All these memories preserved in digital form, all the moments they’d look back and smile about in the near future, all the moments they could show their friends and families who weren’t there.. And those were only the ones Lia had taken, the others had all taken their own pictures and videos too and within the next few days they’d all be receiving the pictures the teachers had taken of the prom night that they’d appeared in…

Shun smiled as they clicked through a few more photos, he couldn’t have been happier that things had turned out the way they had. He couldn’t be happier sitting on this bench, his friends yelling nonsense in the background as they chased each other around with a jellyfish plushie in a red dress, the girl he loved and who loved him back sat beside him on this bench as the sky, still light for now begun to slowly change into a pale gold, preparing for the bright hues of sunset to appear within the hour. A gentle evening breeze blowing through their hair and causing the bottom edge of Lia’s dress to sway around her ankles.

The world was at peace with itself, everything perfect in the way of pristine flowers in full bloom, a love letter to existence itself…

A car tooted its horn from where it parked down the street, Lia’s mom waved out of the open window.

The couple stood up, “I’ll see you tomorrow?” Shun asked, his voice as gentle as the breeze, his soft tone telling a tale of warm hope and already made plans being reconfirmed.

Lia nodded, a warm smile on her lips, “Of course, at studio D.” She confirmed. The promise of something new amidst the ending of such a great night.

Just that alone would’ve been perfect.

Before he knew it, Lia had pulled him into an embrace, Shun returned it. “Thank you.” He heard Lia say, then there was a sudden warmth, a gentle touch, a pressing of lips against his cheek.. A kiss.

He didn’t have time to register what had happened before Lia pulled away, “Goodnight Shun!” She called out cheerily, walking away down the street towards her mom’s car.

A flustered heat rose in Shun’s cheeks. A feeling of both shock and elation. The bright vibrants of the sunset, the shine of the stars and the full moon… They paled in comparison to everything Lia was. She lit up the world, everything grew warmer and shone brighter in her presence and now Shun had been touched by that light too, he could almost feel himself glowing in reply to the brightest star in his universe.

His love, his life.. Lia.

A teasing voice spoke up behind him, “Oooh Shunnn~” Dan grinned, leaning over the bench, “You seem pretty flustered… Come on, tell all your feelings to the jellyfish.” He encouraged, holding Mr Wigglestinger out as far as he could towards Shun. Ajit and Wynton standing slightly behind him snickering with laughter more aimed at Dan’s jellyfish plushie antics than Shun. “What’s it like officially being Lia’s boyfriend?” Dan asked.

And if Shun were to answer that question fully they’d be there all night listening to him talk about every little thing he was allowed to notice now, everything he was allowed to say, to express.. Every detail he loved about Lia, he’d recite every word he’d written in those confession letters, he’d compare her smile to a sunbeam, the shine of her eyes to the stars, her existence to the very world rejoicing. He’d describe every feeling of warmth and all the butterflies in his heart and how their wings fluttered every time she so much as looked in his direction.. He’d explain it all, tell them exactly the moment he fell in love and how he’d only ever fallen deeper since..

But they didn’t have all night and sometimes.. A simple answer was better.

“It’s… Perfect.” He mumbled.

And truly, it was.