A/N: I re-wrote this chapter so many times because I couldn't decide on a direction to go into haha. Writing Season 0 after Season 1 and 2 is a lot harder than I thought! 

--

"Yuto?" Rio uttered, her voice breaking. "How did you know I was here?" 

"I was actually on my way home from work when I received a text from Ryo. He wanted me to make sure you were okay." The boy replied, his eyes filled with concern.

"That dummy..." Rio muttered softly but loud enough for Yuto to hear. Even with Ryosuke's plate filled never-ending responsibilities, he still made sure that she was properly being taken care of.

Rio released a soft smile, thinking back to the immense amount of happiness she felt during their date but that warm feeling was quickly replaced with the sudden thought of him being with his ex.

'What could they be doing now?' Rio pondered, unconsciously frowning as her subtle jealousy overtook her every last rational thought.

Rio's gradual change in her expression wasn't gone unnoticed by Yuto. The boy wanted to comfort her but didn't know the right words to say. The conversation that he had with Ryosuke earlier that day replayed in his mind and all he could think of was how his blunt words may have hurt his close friend.

Despite the harsh criticism Yuto threw at him, Ryosuke still reached out for help. Perhaps Rio was actually more important to Ryosuke than Yuto thought. After all, the boy was able to put aside his pride and jealousy for the girl's well being.

Yuto's eyes laid upon the bare skin on her neck and seeing that her ears were becoming red, he immediately unraveled his scarf before wrapping it loosely around her. "Ryosuke will kill me if you caught a cold." He chuckled, placing a hand on the top of her head. He bent down and met her gaze. "Let me take you home."

Rio wasn't in any mood to argue so accordingly, she gave in almost immediately. The two kept their silence on the train ride back- neither one of them spoke a single word.

As soon as they left the train station and began trailing down a quiet street, Rio decided to ask the question that circulated through her mind for the past hour. "Yuto, do you think it was a mistake for me to confess to Ryosuke?" 

"Why would you think that?" The latter replied, suddenly taken back by her blunt question. 

"I'm the reason why he's been so burnt out recently..."

"Rio-chan, you're the reason why he's here today." Yuto paused. "You really don't know how serious he is about you, huh?" He added, waiting for her reply. But as soon as he realized that his words didn't seem to affect her thoughts in any way, he decided to explain further. 

"I overheard him a few days ago talking to Dai-chan about how excited he was to receive your Valentine's gift this Tuesday. He even hummed love songs all day during rehearsal. The rest of us were terrified! We thought a spirit took over him." 

Rio widened her eyes. "Well, I hope he's not looking forward to anything home-made because I can't even melt chocolate without burning it."

Yuto shot her a surprised glance. "You never told me that you couldn't cook!" 

"You never asked!" The girl chuckled, her laughter warm enough to lighten the heavy atmosphere. "How about you? Is there a specific girl you're hoping to receive a gift from this year?" 

The boy glanced down and shrugged his shoulders. "There is one girl... but I missed my chance with her. She's already with someone else." 

"Well, I don't think you should give up just because she's with someone else..." Rio began, stopping in front of her house. "You know, I met a lot of people at the hospital who weren't fortunate to live out their lives. It pains me because so many of them pass with regret. So if you really like this girl, whether it be a week from now or even 10 years later, you should at least tell her how you feel."

Yuto gazed at his crush, wanting to protest against her wishes. He wondered if Rio would think differently if she knew that the girl he liked was actually her. However, seeing how serious her expression was, he lowered his shoulders and decided to give her his firm affirmation. "I will." 

"Promise me?" 

"I promise."

"Good." Rio concluded, smiling brightly at him. Yuto noticed how happy his promise made her and he smiled back, feeling at ease for the first time today.

Perhaps telling her down the road wouldn't be so bad. 

The two parted ways for the night, ending their conversation on a positive note. As the hours passed on, the dark skies turned light blue and the subtle light of the crescent moon was overshadowed by the bright sun. 

Rio found herself waking up slightly earlier than usual. With her eyes half opened, she glanced over at her phone and was surprised to see 5 missed calls from Ryosuke.

She had completely forgotten that he was planning to call her tonight and was just about to call him back when a text suddenly came in.

"I'm outside" Ryosuke wrote.

Not wasting any additional time, Rio flew out of bed, washed up, and threw on her outside clothes. Grabbing her bag and her phone, she rushed out the door to meet the rather frustrated boy.

"I thought something happened to you..." Ryosuke said, pulling her quickly into his embrace. "You didn't return any of my calls."

"I'm sorry. I fell asleep." She explained, muffling her words into his chest. When the two pulled apart from each other, Ryosuke's gaze immediately fell upon the scarf around her neck and he recognized it right away. 

"Yuto gave you his scarf?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows. 

Rio shook her head. "I'm giving it back to him today. He lent it to me yesterday." She noticed how troubled her boyfriend appeared and began to quickly tug on it. "I can take it off if you don't want me to wear it."

"No, it's fine," Ryosuke said, placing a hand on hers to stop her from undoing the piece of fabric. "I don't want you to catch a cold."

The boy s his fingers with hers and held her hand along their side, swinging it just slightly as the two began to walk to class together. "I'm sorry... about yesterday," He apologized. "After that incident, I ended everything with her. I deleted her number- I blocked her- I-"

"Ryosuke. You don't have to explain." Rio assured him. "But if you're really insisting on apologizing then let me say that I already accept your apology."

Noticing that Rio didn't want to continue on this topic any longer, Ryosuke decided to drop it for good. He gripped her hand tighter and nodded his head, reassuring himself that everything can only get better from here...

... But for some reason, something seemed off.

He just couldn't tell what it was. 

--

Today's class session was different than the others. Horikoshi wasn't only known for its rigorous academics, but also for its events which many reporters attend. Given that Valentine's Day was right around the corner, preparation was underway to make sure that tomorrow's festival would go smoothly. In other words, morning classes were replaced with everyone's active role in the preparation. 

During that time, Rio and Ryosuke stepped out of the classroom to hang flyers around the school. Meanwhile, Chinen and Amu stayed in the classroom to work on crafting a few more decorations. Since the two were working on their projects on the floor towards the back of the classroom, they were alone and away from everyone else. 

Taking advantage of the distance, Chinen decided to spark a conversation with the girl. "You've been quiet all day, Amu-chan." He began. "Is there something on your mind?" 

The person Amu had been thinking about the entire day suddenly resurfaced in her mind and Chinen firmed his lips. "It's Dai-chan, isn't it." He whispered.

Amu nodded, pausing her current work on the project."I'm thinking of giving him something for Valentine's tomorrow but I don't know if he'll accept it." She frowned. "There are so many talented, smart, and pretty girls here at Horikoshi. I could never compare to them." 

"We'll you definitely caught my eye when we first met... in a good way," Chinen confessed, placing