The captain of Prominence stood alone on the training field of Aliea Academy. He had checked the calendar that morning and hoped it wasn't true, but it was: it was March 14th, White Day. The only day next to Valentine's Day to be swept about in love, the day boys were supposed to bring gifts to the ones they liked.
Burn despised both days, along with love itself. It turned out not even aliens were immune to that emotion, nor the traditions that were tied to it. Burn had wanted to spend the day playing soccer with his team, but all members of Prominence were hidden inside the base, either preparing gifts or hoping to receive them.
When he realized not even members of the rival teams were planning to show up, Burn left the practice field. It seemed he was the only student at Aliea Academy that wished to treat this day as an ordinary day, and it pissed him off. He had never gotten a gift on White Day before and sure as hell wasn't going to prepare any, so he was forced to treat today as a day off. Burn didn't want a day off; he wanted to practice soccer with his team. Prominence had to become Genesis.
The flower-haired boy perked up when he passed the door to the kitchen, which was half open and allowed a humming sound to dance through the hallway. Out of curiosity, Burn pushed the door completely open and saw a familiar figure behind the counter.
Gran was humming a made up song to himself as he stirred some kind of mix in a huge bowl. He was wearing an apron so as not to spill any of the food on his Gaia uniform. When he heard the familiar creaking noise of the kitchen door, he turned around and saw Burn.
"Burn," he commented, first surprised, but then flashing a smile. "What brings you here?"
Burn glared at him. Stupid, self-centered bastard. "What in the name of Genesis are you doing?" he asked back, completely ignoring Gran's question. "Even you take part in this stupid day?"
"It's not stupid," Gran told him cheerfully, waving around his wooden stirring spoon to make his point. "It's nice to have a day off once in a while."
Burn watched him turn back to his bowl and crossed his arms. "So who are you making this crap for?"
"It's supposed to be chocolate," Gran corrected him, "and that other part is-a-se-cret." He looked at Burn with a mysterious smile and flashed him a wink that sent shivers down his spine.
Burn growled at him. "Whatever. While you're failing miserably at making chocolate, I will be practicing with my team to become stronger than you."
"Are you sure about that?" Gran asked, his eyebrows raised. "I don't see any other members of your team."
"I was just about to get them!" Burn snapped, although he knew his wishful words were a lie. No one but him was interested in playing soccer on this day. Gran answered him with a smile, confirming he knew that too.
"Alright, if you're sure," he shrugged, a shrug full of self-confidence that made Burn despise him even more. While he tried a lick of his current mixture and commented on the high sugar rate, Burn stomped out of the kitchen as fast as he could. He couldn't stand Gran.
In his haste, Burn failed to notice the small silhouette walking in his direction. He bumped into who turned out to be Nepper, and his sharp eye saw how the Prominence forward hid a small box behind his back at the last moment.
"My utmost apologies, Burn-sama," Nepper said, clearly not as sure of himself as always. Usually, his self-confidence shined so strongly it was blinding.
Burn narrowed his eyes. He didn't mind the accidental bump, but he did have a problem with his team being hypnotized by the tradition of this stupid day.
"Who's that gift for?" he demanded.
"G-gift?" Nepper knew better than to lie to his ferocious captain, but he had no smart answer to hide the truth. Avoiding eye contact with Burn, he nervously looked at the side, as if hoping the walls could provide him with a solution.
Becoming impatient with Nepper's hesitant behavior, Burn moved closer and snatched the box out of his hands. He completely ignored his forward's cries of protest and quickly found a name tag attached to the gift: "Rhionne".
Burn thought he felt steam escape from his ears. "Rhionne?" he screamed, causing Nepper to back off in shock. "Rhionne from Diamond Dust? Couldn't you at least pick someone from our team?" He hurled the box back at Nepper with such great power that it hurt when he caught it.
"I-I-I apologize, sir!" Nepper made a deep bow and then slipped past Burn towards the Diamond Dust department.
Burn watched him with gritted teeth, wishing he had thrown the gift box against his head instead. Nepper's White Day gesture made him realize that more team members in the base might be planning to become great pals with one another. He couldn't let that happen, especially to his own team. Prominence would not be beaten by this ridiculous event.
Burn decided to follow Nepper to the rooms of Diamond Dust, planning to see if there were any other Prominence members who had the nerve to even think of giving those losers a gift. To his relief, he heard and saw only members of Diamond Dust around. But then, Burn realized his teammates could be sneaking about in Gemini Storm, Epsilon, and, heaven forbid, Gaia as well.
With tightly clenched fists, Burn made his way to the closest department: Gemini Storm. Unlike those impudent little brats from Diamond Dust, the weaklings under Reize's command wouldn't dare to do so much as glare his way.
Gemini Storm appeared to be safe as well. Every member Burn saw quickly bowed their head to him, and they didn't seem to be hiding any Prominence players. The thing that pissed Burn off, though, was that most boys were holding some kind of gift, and that the girls were carrying a shy blush, indicating they had received one of those gifts.
That was the first time the feeling of envy hit Burn. He froze in his tracks for a moment, but then forced himself to move on. He was not going to be swept into this half-assed tradition too. He didn't need a stupid gift; he needed Prominence to get a grip.
Burn halted once more when he heard a peculiar sound behind the door on his right: sobbing. Burn knew whose room this was: it was Reize's. He knew Reize was a wimp, but the last time he had seen him cry was quite a while ago – and he had probably been the cause. When they were children, Burn never hesitated to bully Reize when he had the chance.
He had grown, though, and instead of taking pleasure in the sadness of a fellow captain, Burn wondered what could be making him sad on the day everyone was supposed to smile.
Without knocking, Burn slowly opened the door and peeked inside. Reize was sitting on his bed with a piece of home-made chocolate in his hand. There were no tears on his face, but his eyes clearly showed he felt broken about something.
Reize looked up when he noticed someone had entered his room, and his eyes went wide when he saw who it was. Nearly dropping the chocolate, he got up on his feet and bowed deeply. "Burn-sama…!"
"Yo," Burn simply greeted. He shut the door behind him and crossed his arms at the other boy. "Who's the chocolate for?"
"Ah…" Reize sat back down at frowned at the chocolate, proving to Burn he had hit the nail on the head.
"Don't tell me you're too much of a coward to give it to them," he commented.
"N-no, no," Reize denied, quickly waving his hands. "It's just… what if he doesn't accept it? What will I do?"
Throw it in his face, Burn thought. Instead, he said: "Screw him. You should always accept something when you can get it for free. Besides, I'm more than sure Gran will accept your feelings."
Reize's eyes widened with hope and gratitude. "B-Burn-sama…!" he uttered, at a loss for words. It was only when Burn left his room that he realized his superior had guessed his recipient without an effort. Reize covered his mouth and went completely red, stuttering Burn's name once more. Burn, back on the other side of the door, let out a snicker. It was still fun to tease Reize around. Besides, it was crystal-clear he harbored more for Gran than mere respect.
Burn continued on to Epsilon's area, which looked like an exact replica of the other two teams. Boys and girls were walking around with gifts, blushes or both. Either way, they looked happy, which made a second sting of envy appear in Burn's chest. He wanted to be happy too, but he refused to adjust for that happiness. He just had to get through this day and his team would be back to normal. They would continue their training and win matches, which was Burn's ultimate happiness.
Burn rounded the corner, wanting to escape from all this cheery nonsense, but then bumped into someone else. This time, his face was plastered against Desarm's steel chest.
When he saw who he had bumped into, Desarm quickly took a step back and nodded in respect. "My apologies, sir."
"Whatever," Burn mumbled, rubbing a sore spot on his forehead. He then noticed Desarm was also holding a gift, which was a surprise to him. He didn't know Desarm liked anyone, let alone even possessed the ability to like someone.
"Tell me that's not for someone from my team," Burn groaned, pointing at the gift.
"Oh? Oh, no no, I received this gift," Desarm quickly clarified. "Maqulia gave it to me."
Burn knew Maqulia. Even though they both shared flower-shaped hair, he didn't like that girl. It seemed all she could do was complain, and doing so in the third person was even more irritating.
"And, what are you going to do with it?" he asked curiously.
"Hm…" Desarm put his free hand on his chin. "I am actually not sure. I'm not very interested in White Day."
Burn let out a small sigh in relief. Finally someone who shared the same feelings as him! But he was from another team, and a lower rank team at that, so training together was out of the question. Desarm's mysterious attitude tended to creep him out, anyway.
"Just eat it," he mumbled, and made his way past Desarm without giving him a proper chance to reply.
When Burn finally returned to his own area, the proud Prominence department, he decided to wait out the rest of today in his room. The members of his team behaved no different from the ones from the other teams, and on his own, he was helpless.
Burn reached his room and was about to open the door when it suddenly slammed in his face. He backed away while shouting a curse that echoed through the hallway, but it didn't feel like he was seriously injured. He looked up and widened his eyes when he saw the one exiting his room was none other than the captain of Diamond Dust: Gazel.
"You bastard!" Burn instantly forgot about his pain and grabbed Gazel by the collar, lifting him a few inches above the floor. "What the hell were you doing in my room?"
Gazel, icily calm as always, simply said: "Let go," and forced Burn's hand off of him. He dusted off his uniform as if Burn contained Burn-germs he absolutely did not want to catch.
"Answer the question!" Burn snapped. "What did you want in my room?"
"You seem awfully tense, Burn," Gazel observed while brushing a hand through his hair. He smiled and added: "You should try to cool down sometimes."
He then walked away from the room, leaving the other boy to watch him with gritted teeth and clenched fists. Once he was out of sight, Burn hurried into his room, looking around for anything that looked out of ordinary. While it seemed Gazel had not touched any of his possessions, he quickly found something new on his desk: a single tulip in a tiny vase, both made entirely out of chocolate.
Burn's shoulders relaxed, shrugging off all the tension he had gathered today. In silence, he walked over and sat down at his desk, examining the chocolate flower. It looked exactly like the tulip on his head.
"You didn't need to be that harsh," Gazel said behind him.
Burn turned around in his chair and, in contrast to a minute ago, sent his fellow captain a cheerful smirk. "Had to make sure. Can't have the others catching on, right?"
As he took in the sight of the tulip once more, Gazel's arms wrapped gently around his shoulders, resting on his chest.
"Happy White Day," he whispered.
"Oh, shut up," Burn told him, and he got off his chair to return the embrace to Gazel. He slid his nose in his icy hair, taking in the scent he knew so well. "But thanks," he whispered back.
"You're welcome." Gazel pulled back and took a moment to check if the bedroom door was closed. After confirming his thoughts, he leaned back in, kissing Burn softly on the lips.
Burn returned the kiss without hesitance and lifted Gazel off the floor again, this time in a soft, loving grasp. He refused to break the kiss until he had made his way to the bed. He tightened his grip on Gazel's waist and leaned forward, making Gazel lose his balance and fall back-first on the duvet.
Gazel pulled out of the kiss, sending Burn a surprised grin. "Missed me that much, Burn?"
"You have no idea," Burn grinned back, eagerly. He sank down on the other boy and playfully nibbled on his left ear, causing Gazel to let out a snicker.
"Your chocolate will melt, you know," he pointed out.
"Later," Burn insisted, sliding his lips from Gazel's ear to his neck.
Gazel just smiled and shut his eyes, enjoying Burn's passionate touch. His fiery attitude would probably never change, and that's what he liked about him.
He tightened his own grip around Burn's back, stroking it lightly.
"I love you too, Burn."