Aori loved Toblerone. Unlike Izumo who preferred Dark Chocolate. Tatara always give a Toblerone for his said lover, while Izumo would share his Dark Chocolate with her. But for this Valentine, there would be some difference.

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As Sweet As Toblerone, As Bitter As Dark Chocolate

A K Project Fiction

I own nothing except for my characters.

K Project © GoRa & GoHands

Toblerone © Theodor Tobler

ASATABADC © Aori Rihito

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February 14.

A day we all know as Valentine. Yes, it was the day when couples showed their affections. It was also a day when you feel like showing your love to your loved ones.

Heart decorations were everywhere. Red, pink, and white colors adorned almost every corner of shops. Teddy bears holding heart pillows were often bought. Various colors of roses could be seen easily.

But the most important thing wasn't all of those.

It was chocolate.

All sorts of chocolates were on sale every year nearing and on this date. Starting from expensive, affordable, big, small, sweet, bitter, until almost everything were here. Chocolate symbolize love on this day because of its taste, sweet but a little bitter, just like love stories that were sweet but had some bitter sides, even though some chocolates were either very sweet or very bitter.

Just like Toblerone and Dark Chocolate.

In Shizume City, a girl sat with a child on a sofa in a bar called Homra. Soft golden strands fell from her head, and her eyes were a shade of crystal clear, almost like crystal itself. A hairclip in shape of Japan's proud flower, sakura, was adorning her locks. Even though the weather was slightly cold, she wore a jeans skirt, a few inches above her knees. But still, she wore a jeans jacket that matched her skirt and inside, she wore a light blue tank top with polka dots design. To avoid the impaling coldness, a pair of white stockings and knee-high black boots covered her feet. A shell-shaped necklace hung from her neck, alongside with a bracelet made from blue crystals on her right wrist and white gold ring with three small blue diamond's on her left ring finger.

Beside her, a really beautiful child with alabaster strands and purple eyes sat. She was wearing a red Lolita dress that really matched her doll-like appearance. Her skin was white and really soft. Her dress had so many black and red laces, and a matching small hat was on her head. Her feet were covered with white socks and black Mary-Jane shoes. She was expressionless, and it made her really looked like a porcelain doll at shops.

"Aori, where's Izumo?" The little girl asked.

Aori gave her a small smile as she gently caressed the girl's hair. "He will be back soon. Let's go on a walk with Mikoto after, shall we? Perhaps other members will join us. Do you want to do it, Anna?" She said.

Anna nodded slowly. She wasn't stupid; Anna knew that the smile on Aori's face was a fake one. Anna already knew Aori since they free her from those evil gold people who wanted her powers, and Anna was really close to Aori, so it was easy for her to decipher something as simple as that.

Aori was sad. Anna knew that really well. She didn't blame her. It was February 14 after all.

True to her words, a moment later, a handsome man with purple sunglasses and bartender outfit entered the bar. "I'm back, Anna, Aori-chan." He smiled.

Anna could see through his smile as well. Another fake smile could be seen. Ah, it seemed that everyone she knew would be wearing fake smile if not at all today.

"Welcome back, Izumo." Anna jumped down from the sofa she sat on before and approached her guardian. "Izumo, let's take some walk. I'm bored. We should go with Mikoto and the others too." Anna said as she looked at Izumo.

"Alright. Go up and wake Mikoto up, will you?"

Anna nodded and quickly went upstairs to wake the lazy Red King.

"Where were you, Izumo?" asked Aori as she helped Izumo with the grocery bags.

"I went to that market near here. I was a little distracted by the chocolates. Here, for you." Izumo gave a little smile as his hand shot out to Aori, holding something.

Aori took it and stared at it sadly. It was a bar of Dark Chocolate. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Let's visit that place later, okay?"

Aori looked down. Izumo could only sigh and patted her head. "It's hard, but we might as well remember that he wouldn't want us to be too sad."

As she was lost in words, she could only nod.

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Not fair.

Those words haunted Aori as she strolled through the city. Cheerful mood was everywhere. Bright colors and sweet fragrance scattered. People looked very pleased, as if they had no problems. The day was Valentine after all; it was no wonder that the situation would be bright and cheery.

Not fair.

Aori bit her lower lip as she entered a chocolate shop unsurely. Chocolate's sweet fragrance entered her smell sense. This only tightened her chest, leaving her breathless and gave her a headache. But she held all of those feelings. She walked towards one of the shop window where her favorite chocolates sat, waiting to be bought.

Not fair.

There were so many chocolates there. Usually, she would get really excited, seeing all of those delicacies. But now, all there was only a small puddle of tears that already pooled on the corner of her eyes.

Not fair.

Oh how she wanted to throw all those chocolates and scream in frustration. But she couldn't do that, could she? There were so many couples there, and all of them were very close and dare I say it, intimate. Meanwhile, she stood alone.

Not fair.

Yes, it was not fair. When would fate do justice for her?

Aori decided to ignore all of those and quickly grabbed two bars of Toblerone from the shelf, and then proceeded to pay. She exited the shop with the chocolates on her bag and walked towards another shop. She left other members of Homra secretly not only for chocolates. She also bought a bouquet of red and pink roses. Aside from the Toblerones, there was also a small fancy plastic bag with red velvet cake inside. After that, she only needed to do one more thing.

She was going to visit a place, a very special place.

When she arrived at her destination, she halted and stared at the stone in front of her.

A gravestone with Totsuka Tatara name carved on it.

"I'm back."

Aori sat beside the empty grave. Yes, that grave was actually bodiless, without Tatara's body. Homra decided to burn his body with their pride flame, leaving no blood, no bone, and also no ash. They made the tomb as a memorial for him.

Gently, Aori put the bouquet she bought beside the stone. "Today is Valentine, you know? This is the first time I'm alone on Valentine in Homra." She whispered. She let a few drop of tears fell from her eyes.

"Usually you would give me Toblerone. But this year, it's my turn." She laid the Toblerone she bought alongside with Izumo's Dark Chocolate near the bouquet gently. "There's also a Dark Chocolate from Izumo, just like usual."

She paused. "Ne, Tatara-kun… Do you know why I like Toblerone? I've never got a chance to tell you, have I? But I promised you I would tell you today…" Her lips started to quiver as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I… Really like Toblerone… It's really sweet and…" Aori paused again as she bit her lip, completely ignoring her tears stained cheeks. "And always remind me of you, Tatara-kun…" She hiccupped. "Tatara-kun tried to make chocolate once, didn't you? The result was bitter." Aori laughed softly between her weeps. "You forgot the sugar… But somehow it tasted sweet when we ate it together… Weird, isn't it?" She murmured as she touched the carvings softly.

"Izumo really like Dark Chocolate… I only like it if eaten together with Toblerone, since their taste complement each other… Do you remember when we bought a lot of Toblerones to eat with your bitter chocolate?" Aori smiled fondly as she remembered the pleasant memory. "That's why… This Dark Chocolate Izumo gave me is for you instead… So your Toblerone won't be too sweet…"

"Tatara-kun, try to eat it with this Toblerone. It might turn out good." Aori suggested as she held out a Toblerone bar towards Tatara who was stressed after his failed attempt on making delicious, sweet chocolate.

"Oh! Nice idea, Aori-chan!" Tatara quickly combined the sweet Toblerone with his bitter chocolate and ate it together. Truth be told, a smile appeared on his chocolate-stained lips. "It's really good! Starting from now, I will only eat Toblerone with Dark Chocolate!"

Aori could only laugh at her lover's words.

"And also…" Aori took the red velvet cake slices from her bag. "Aside from Valentine, it's your birthday, isn't it? I won't forget it for the world. Happy birthday, Tatara-kun." She whispered as she put the plastic bag on the other side of the gravestone. "This is the red velvet I made myself… The one you told me you loved so much…" She sighed. "I actually wanted to bring your guitar, but since it's too big…"

She stopped when she heard footsteps. When she turned around, she could see all Homra standing there. Anna ran to Aori immediately and quickly hugged her older sister figure. "Anna…"

Mikoto went closer and patted Aori's hair gently. "Don't force yourself, stupid."

Not able to holding it anymore, Aori cried. When she got the news of Tatara's death, she didn't cry. She just stayed silent, although her Strain power went out of control. Only after that could she cry in her shared apartment with Tatara alone. The apartment she used to live in with Tatara ever since their engagement was now really empty so she could let it go. But now, Aori really cried as hard as she could with sobs and hiccups. Anna let Aori cried as she hugged her and Mikoto knelt beside them, his hand on her head. Izumo put a hand on her shoulder, and so did Rikio. Misaki didn't even try to cover his tears, and the same went with the others.

No matter how strong Aori was as a Strain, she was still a girl who was actually fragile inside. Losing someone she really loved with all her heart was really hard. Including the fact that said loved person's birthday was right on Valentine, it heaved her down.

Oh, Valentine.

Valentine was sweet indeed, really sweet.

Aori's Valentines with Tatara for years were really sweet, as sweet as Toblerone.

But starting from this year, it seemed that the Toblerone had been replaced by Dark Chocolate.

The End

So I translated this from my Indonesian fic, Semanis Toblerone, Sepahit Dark Chocolate. I made this fic in one night and I completely freaked out because I wanted to finish this as fast as possible!

So sorry if it's really weird!

Some explanation; Aori is a member of Homra, and also childhood friend of Mikoto and Tatara. She got engaged with Tatara after dating for a few years. Just like Anna, she is also a Strain with some powers that I won't explain here because she's actually Half Strain instead of a Strain. More explanation, you can see on my other K fics.

Anyway!

Happy Belated Valentine, all!

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine!

and also

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MY BELOVED TOTSUKA TATARA!

YOU ALWAYS LIVE IN MY HEART!

Review?