Author's Note
It has been a long time since I've made a Hotaru and Ruka oneshot. I hope you enjoy it!! This is a Valentine's fan fiction because Valentine's is very near. I would like to thank Soul of the Rain and littledoggy for inspiring me with this fan fic! Arigatou!
Disclaimer
I do not own Gakuen Alice
Warning: OOCness might be featured in this story
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Chocolate-Coated Blackmail
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Ah…love is in the air in the Alice Academy. Paper hearts made of pink and red construction paper hung from the ceiling in each of the classrooms. Valentine's decorations and cards were displayed all about in Central Town along with scrumptious heart-shaped cakes and muffins. Even the howalons were pink and heart-shaped. Everything was going lovey-dovey. Crushes, lovers, husbands, wives all prepared for the romantic occasion…well, we weren't sure for Imai Hotaru though.
"IMAI-SAN!!!! STOP IT!!!!" Ruka yelled, running around frantically flailing his arms as Hotaru Imai snapped away.
Hotaru Imai, dark-haired with soulful violet eyes that display no emotions walked calmly snapping away embarrassing photographs of her everyday victim, Ruka – not caring one bit. So what if she plucked away his dignity and self-confidence bit by bit? She was in for the profit, and smirked at the humiliation of the blonde boy.
"STOP IT!!!" Ruka lunged at her to grab her evil camera but she ducked and Ruka fell flat on his face on the ground.
Before Hotaru could take another photograph, a mob of hopeless romantic fan girls started stampeding towards the two of them. They were holding bags of homemade chocolates and squealing about.
"RUKA-KUN!! RUKA-KUN!!!" They squealed and opened their arms. Ruka panicked like a rabbit being hunted down by wolves and went behind Hotaru who moved to her right, revealing the pitiful and harassed Ruka.
The Natsume-and-Ruka fan club members surrounded the poor boy and waved boxes and bags of chocolates.
"Ruka-kun, will you be my Valentine?" they screamed in unison. Ruka smiled and accepted the chocolates. The fan girls screamed as if a celebrity had signed their autograph and ran away whispering stuff like "I knew he loved me!" and "It's true love, I tell you!" and "No! He's mine!" and "Now for Natsume!".
When the fan girls disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Ruka stumbled and collapsed with the weight of the chocolates. Hotaru took a photograph of him and smirked at his perspiring face and the way he panted so loudly.
"STOP IT!" he said, mustering up a bit of his energy. "God, you're so annoying!"
"If you dare try to stop me from selling these photographs, I'm going to create rumors…rumors that you wouldn't be pleased about"
"Fine, fine!!" he yelled.
Hotaru took another photo.
"Go away!! Don't you have some guy to make chocolates for? Just get out of my sight!!" Ruka said, and placed all the chocolates in one bag and trudged tiredly away.
Hotaru watched him disappear from her sight and sighed to herself. She stroked the lens of her camera and walked to her dormitory, drowning in misery and in her miserable thoughts.
Yes, she had been planning for a very long time to make chocolates for a certain someone – but the fear of rejection kept her from making it. It also might ruin her reputation for being the emotionless, single and strong girl who could stand on her own two feet. But she was nevertheless a human being and it was quite normal for her to have a crush on somebody…or probably in love.
She opened the door of her dismal dormitory and entered it. She placed her beloved camera on her table and fell on her bed. She had dreamt to give chocolates to her one-and-only but then how could she compete with Anna's cooking? Every guy in Alice Academy wanted at least a bite of it. And how could she win over Nonoko's sweet chocolate flavored potions? Every guy in the Alice Academy would die for a sip of it.
And how could she even compete with her best friend's charm? Every guy in the Alice Academy wanted to be her valentine…like Ruka. The one person who'd she watch broken-hearted as he would blush over Mikan. It was excruciating. Still, she didn't do anything about it except try to make his life a living hell.
Plus, she sucked at cooking.
But nevertheless, it would ruin her more if she would simply give up. Imai Hotaru never gives up.
Hotaru tip toed to the Cooking room and switched on the lights. The smell of chocolate floated lazily in the air and she longed to make chocolate that smelled, or rather tasted as good as that.
Hotaru walked to the refrigerator and opened it; she got sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor and vanilla – the main ingredients to make plain dark chocolate. She hesitated a bit and went to the cupboard to get a bowl.
She poured all the ingredients in and started mixing them together. After they were blended, she placed the chocolate mix inside the oven and waited.
It came out an hour after, not tasting nor smelling the way she expected it to. It smelt like charcoal and when Hotaru dabbed her finger in and tasted it – it tasted too bitter to be even dark chocolate. It was no use refrigerating it like you always do, it would just taste horrible.
Hotaru didn't give up. She got more ingredients from the refrigerator and blended them together. She put them back in the oven and waited.
A certain blonde boy saw the light of the Cooking room open. The door was slightly open so he peered inside, he smiled to what he saw. Hotaru cursing the oven and sighing with misery – it was quite a surprise for him because the evil image of Hotaru vanished from his head and a lovesick one appeared. She seems quite emotionless but then he forgot at times that she was human too. He went inside.
"Hey, Imai-san" he said. Hotaru flinched when he said that and turned to him.
"What are you doing here?"
"Nothing…I just came from the other classroom and then I happened to see you…making chocolates" he grinned, smirking at the last two words.
"Oh shut up. It's not what you think. I'm just experimenting to see if my new invention will work…that's all" Hotaru said, stirring up a white lie.
"Whatever…who's the guy anyway?"
Hotaru gulped.
"Gomen…" Ruka said. "I shouldn't be asking dumb questions like that. Anyway, see you later!" he said and walked off, then he turned around.
"I'm sure he'll like it, Imai-san" he said, a sad expression occupied his face and he looked down. "Whoever it is" he sighed and smiled weakly. "Ganbatte!"
Hotaru turned scarlet and faced the oven again. Minutes later she checked if the chocolate was cooked, it was – but now it tasted so raw that it was extremely bitter that she could taste the cocoa beans.
I can't get it right, Ruka. She thought to herself, feeling her heart smash into a thousand pieces.
No chocolates. No valentine.
Wait, she said. One of the chocolates was cooked. She dipped her finger into it and licked her finger. It tasted delicious, she poured that one out and put it in the freezer, and she threw the packs of the ingredients and closed the lights.
One chocolate…
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Hotaru woke up early and walked to the Cooking Room, she took out that deformed looking chocolate that she was able to make and looked at it with disappointment. How could it compare to all the girls' chocolate. It was humiliating. She was the only girl in the Alice Academy who couldn't make a decent chocolate. It crushed her self-esteem.
She placed the chocolate inside a tiny red box and inserted a small note with it. She covered the chocolate by filling the box with pictures of Ruka she had developed the earlier night. She tied a navy blue ribbon on it and looked at it sadly. It was worth a try.
Hotaru ran out of the building and found Ruka sitting among boxes and bags of chocolate. He was inspecting some and stared at it disgustingly. He put them back and stroked Usagi.
What? He didn't like chocolate? Hotaru thought and looked at the teeny box with regret.
"Ohayo, Imai-san!" Ruka said, waving his hand. There's no turning back now.
"Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing to the box.
Hotaru's face reddened.
She couldn't take it anymore. She threw the box at him and it his chest.
"Hey! What was that for?"
"It's for you, you moron!" Hotaru responded and ran off.
Ruka looked at the box and untied the ribbon. The top of the box seemed to fall off with it and he saw embarrassing blackmail photos of himself.
What the hell?
He started ripping all the photographs, his face reddening with embarrassment. After he finished ripping all sixteen of them, he noticed a small lumpy thing in the corner of the box wrapped in aluminum foil. It smelled like chocolate.
There was also a crumpled piece of paper, he opened it and it said:
Ruka,
Stupid Valentines. Ugh…
…
You idiot.
…
I'm sure you ripped all those photographs. Sure, go ahead. I have more of them, ready to be sold worldwide.
If you don't want me to show the rest of the hundred photographs… be my Valentine…
Please?
-Hotaru
PS: that lumpy thing is chocolate.
Ruka turned pink and unwrapped the aluminum foil. In it was a disfigured piece of chocolate that didn't look presentable as the other teddy-bear and heart-shaped chocolates with coconut and orange filling. He popped it into his mouth and smiled with satisfaction.
It was delicious.
Sure, Hotaru I'll be your Valentine… on one condition. You love me back.
Chocolate-coated blackmail…
Sweet!
End
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Author's Note
I hoped you like it. If Hotaru was OOC, don't go giving me flames because I warned you from the beginning. Anyway, thank you to Soul of the Rain and littledoggy for inspiring me. And thank you, my friends in Fanfiction too (you know who you are, if you don't just check my profile). And thank you dear readers. Love you all! Happy advanced Valentines!
Also dedicated to my fan fic buddies: Koharu Mitsuki, Rukaru-chan, WizdomGoddess, Mouzai, EzMouse, cutegabrielle16, Chihiro Hiroshima, my barkada and my family. And dedicated to YOU.
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