My original intent in publishing this was to get this out around Valentine's Day...well you can see how well that worked out. :) Thanks to GenkiCollective for being patient with me when it took forever to get any work this story and still being my beta despite all the time it took .
Sumire stood at the stove, intently watching the chocolate melt. She wanted these to be perfect.
Sometimes she had worked with chocolates as part of her duties in the Kotobuki household, but she'd never made them as a gift before. It completely changed how she attacked the making of them. The person this gift was meant for required nothing less than perfect chocolates.
"Sumire-chan, what are you up to?"
The young blonde nearly leapt out of her skin. Shocked she turned to stare at Mugi standing in the doorway, with a broad grin gracing her already pretty features.
"O...Onee-chan?" Sumire stammered in surprise.
Mugi swept towards and practically pounced on Sumire as she wrapped her in a tight embrace; Sumire clung to her surrogate sister, dumbfounded by Mugi's sudden return, but overjoyed that she was home once more.
After a few moments, the two girls pulled apart. "What are you doing here?" The question came out of Sumire almost of its own accord. Mugi was supposed to be at the college; Sumire had been planning to visit the campus that weekend to deliver the Valentine's chocolates she was making.
"I wanted to visit for the weekend," Mugi explained, cocking her head and smiling.
"Don't you need to go to your classes?" Sumire managed to ask without a stutter.
Mugi's laughter was light and carefree. "Now that I'm in college, I can't come and visit? I even saved up my own money to be able to come home." She was shining with pride as she said this. After all, Mugi was always happy to do things the ordinary way.
Sumire blushed and ducked her head shyly. She hadn't meant to imply that Mugi shouldn't have visited. She was just startled to see Mugi here.
"So what are you doing?" Mugi asked stepping further into the kitchen. "It smells lovely, like melted chocolate."
"Well I am making chocolates," Sumire admitted.
Mugi's eyes grew large and sparkly. "You're making chocolates? For Valentine's Day?" she was so full of excitement at the idea of this that she drew extremely close and clasped Sumire's hands in her own, pulling the younger girl close and staring into her eyes expectantly. "Who are they for?"
A deep blush that felt like fire swept across Mugi's face. She could hardly even look at Mugi, let alone respond. "It's a – a – surprise." Sumire hoped the older girl couldn't feel the way her hands were beginning to tremble with nervousness. She couldn't just tell Mugi they were for her, but it was extremely difficult to keep silent as well.
The glow in Mugi's eyes became even brighter. "A surprise? How exciting!" Suddenly her expression turned serious. "Sumire-chan, can I help you make the chocolates?" she begged hopefully. "I've never had the chance to try and I would like to be one of those girls who was able to make chocolates for someone she cares about."
Sumire couldn't help but smile at this. Mugi was clearly drifting off into her fantasy version of a regular person's life again, and Sumire found this completely adorable. After a moment, however, a thought occurred to her that caused her to swallow uncomfortably. Was it okay for Mugi to make her own chocolates? But then, Mugi always wanted to do things like the 'commoners' and Sumire hated to deny her any opportunity to do things like normal people... "Um...okay Onee-chan, you can help if you want."
Mugi's eyes began to glisten with excitement. "Oh really, Sumire-chan? You're wonderful! Thank you!" Seeing this ecstatic reaction was a good enough reason to allow Mugi to help, Sumire decided. She would just have to be creative and supplement Mugi's chocolates with something else, so Mugi could still have a unique Valentine's present.
Abruptly, Sumire remembered that she was supposed to be paying attention to the chocolate melting on the stove. She speedily returned her attention to it, hoping that it hadn't burned while she and Mugi had talked.
Nervously, she stirred the pot, trying not to stir too quickly as that could ruin the chocolate. It seemed to be no worse for her brief lack of attention. She sighed with relief.
Mugi watched over her shoulder curiously. "Can I try stirring?" she asked in a serious and determined voice. Sumire wanted to laugh at Mugi's intensity. Instead she simply handed over the plastic spatula she'd been stirring with.
"Make sure to stir slowly," Sumire instructed. "It's bad for the chocolate if you stir it too hard."
Mugi nodded vigorously and carefully dipped the spatula into the melted chocolate. Intently she moved it slowly through the chocolate, totally focused on the task. Sumire was able to relax a bit and simply watch, enjoying the simple pleasure of being so near a happy Mugi.
They both jumped as timer on the stove buzzed, Sumire had forgotten she'd turned it on to help her keep track of when the chocolate should be done melting. The spatula flipped out of Mugi's hand and across kitchen, landing on the floor and splattering a small section of floor around it. The pot then tipped violently, splattering molten chocolate across the stove.
Both girls gaped in surprise, as the chocolate had also splattered their hair, faces, and clothes.
"Oh no!" Mugi despaired. "I've ruined your chocolate!"
For some reason, this only made Sumire want to laugh. "It's okay, I can make it again." She said quickly, attempting to soothe the other girl.
But Mugi still looked as if she were going to cry. "I didn't mean to ruin your chocolate." Her voice was almost a whimper.
"Onee-chan, it's okay," Sumire reassured. "I can always melt more."
Mugi looked at her hopefully.
"You can even help out again if you want." Sumire offered.
"You'll still let me help?" Her excitement seemed to be building again, although she did seem a bit surprised by Sumire's offer.
Sumire nodded, pleased to see Mugi's smile return so quickly.
"Can I help you clean too?" She asked eagerly, latching onto Sumire's hand again.
Sumire laughed and nodded head.
Mugi beamed in response. She did love to do the most ordinary things.