A/N: Prompt from Happyisahabit from tumblr~ Chocolate and Tongue-tied
On the day of love at Death City High, BlackStar is less than pleased to see a boy give his chocolates to his best friend Maka.
She didn't believe in love, and she believes in Valentine's day even less. BlackStar could pinpoint the exact moment her world shattered while she was on the phone with her mother– Friday the 13th of February, the fateful day Mrs. Albarn struck her name from the family. The day that Maka also gave up on finding what the girls called "their missing half." She was complete by herself, she said in a furious storm of words during a slumber party with their group. And they echoed like rain that BlackStar could never lay to rest.
This was some time ago, yet BlackStar is shocked to see a rare scene as he turns the corner. A boy and Maka, standing alone in the hallway, probably set up by their mutual friends who still lingers in the shadows, prying on the two. The softness of the setting playing into the mood. The sun as it shines on the box in the boy's hands. Blah Blah. It almost seems like a confession.
And it is.
BlackStar could make out the form of his mouth as he spoke. He could see the blush on his face and the hopeful peek from under his bangs. The boy waits patiently for Maka to respond– or maybe she already had, BlackStar just couldn't tell from this angle.
Her body didn't react, but her face might have looked surprised. Eventually, she reaches out to accept the gift, nodding and thanking him for his troubles. Maka makes a gesture to the classroom next to her, and she disappears through the doors while the boy runs off, no doubt replaying his dream come true with his friends.
Of course BlackStar follows her.
"Whatchu got there Mak? Trash?"
She looks up at him, hands closing the box. "Chocolates. You aren't the only one who gets them remember?"
"Yeah, but you always trade with your friends. What's with that dude in the hallway?"
"You saw that?" She turns her eye on him as if she were a parent, ready to lecture him on eavesdropping until BlackStar hurriedly gives a weak explanation about just barely catching the end. Not a lie. "It was just a gift, Star. People can give what ever they want to who ever they want."
"Not chocolate on Valentine's Day," he grimaces to the ground, unsure of why it felt wrong to ask these questions.
Maka tucks it into her pocket, sighing, "It's fine, I may as well enjoy the holidays right? Tadase said it was 'honmei choco' or something–"
The rest of her words falls onto deaf ears. BlackStar knows that Maka's Japanese isn't as strong as his own connection with their culture. Her mother was never around to teach her, and what could Spirit do as an American? She was too busy with her studies to fully learn too. Yet she's accepting "true-feeling" chocolate from a Japanese boy, unknowingly missing his intentions.
How painful, and ironic, the scene had turned out to be.
"Give it," Star interrupts, holding out his hand to receive them from her. There isn't an arrow in Cupid's quiver that can penetrate Maka's stone fortress, and Star would be damned if he let a lucky one slip past him.
"You have your own, I want to try these!"
"Well I want them from you now."
"There's not enough for me to share."
"That's the fucking point," he grumbles, his frustration building while Maka's own stubbornness follows. "Hand it over."
Maka dips her hand into her pocket, no doubt holding onto the box just in case BlackStar decided to physically retrieve it himself. "What's wrong with you? You face is growing red too, did you catch something?"
Yeah, it might be feelings. The case of love sickness, maybe.
"Do you wanna check, Dr. Albarn?"
Just like that, she rises to his taunt, mouth warping into a scowl and eyebrows scrunching together. Her mother's ex-title mocks her, and Star almost feels bad. He's on a mission however, and he slams the nail on the coven he made for his own heart, gently kissing Maka on her forehead for a brief moment while she tries to stand up.
She falls immediately back onto her chair, tongue-tied. With a huff, he swipes the mushed box away from her unclenched fist. He leaves her at her desk, not bothering to look behind him, missing her growing blush as she touches the spot with her fingers. She didn't believe in love anyway.
As BlackStar runs down the hall to chase after Tadase to return the chocolates, the rain picks up above the desert city.