A/N:
Hi!
Happy Valentines Day, everyone! :)
I know Mitobe and Sakurai in one fic might be a bit random, since they haven't really interacted (or did they? I'm not so sure, please let me know~). But, I just got inspired by the honey-soaked lemons scene during the match between Seirin and Touo at the Interhigh Preliminaries Final League (lol). I also want to show some love to Mitobe and Sakurai. They're just sooo adorable T-T
For those who are also reading my other KNB fic, "Way of Flowers", I'm sorry if I couldn't update now ;A; The idea for this fic suddenly came to me and I just had to write it. You can think of this fic as a preview (sort-of, lol) for the next chapter ;) Actually, the next chapter is already written, but I still have to re-check and edit it. :)
Sorry for babbling :( Anyway, I hope you all like this piece of fluff~
One winter afternoon in Tokyo, two high-school students found themselves at a supermarket.
Sakurai Ryou and Mitobe Rinnosuke.
They both eyed each other. It was a bit awkward, considering that even if they did see each other at the hot springs, this was technically their first meeting alone since the match between their teams during the Interhigh Preliminaries Final League. Touou won that match and the brown-haired boy couldn't help but feel a little bad. He didn't know what to say, so he only uttered the words that were engraved in his instinct.
"I'm sorry!"
Sakurai broke the silence, to which he was met with – well, silence. Seeing the tears forming on the eyes of the poor boy, Mitobe pitied him and waved his hands to let him know that he shouldn't apologize.
Feeling a little better, the shorter boy greeted him properly, "Hello, Mitobe-san."
The first-year was unsure of what to call the second-year. Maybe, he should've called him 'senpai' instead. But then, they weren't going to the same school and they weren't really close, so 'senpai' might be too much and –
"I'm sorry!", he once again said, as he lowered his head. What met his sight caused him to raise his head once again.
Honey and lemons.
They both had a bottle of honey and a number of whole lemons in their baskets.
Once again, they both eyed each other, but this time, in mutual understanding and awe – in mutual understanding, because the first round of the Winter Cup was already in a few days and in awe, because they had seen no one in their respective teams, who knew how to make honey-soaked lemons.
Somehow, a conversation started, and somehow they both learned that the Seirin coach and the Touo manager weren't exactly skilled in cooking.
Two basketball players, who happened to be both at the passive side, had found some connection.
"Mitobe-kun, please, please, please. I'll pay for the expenses, so please."
In front of Mitobe was Seirin basketball team's coach, Aida Riko, who was asking him to teach her how to make homemade chocolates for Valentines. Hearts day was a week away, and knowing that he really didn't have a choice, he nodded at her. When it came to his coach, or to anyone from the team, he just couldn't find himself rejecting any of their requests.
"Yes! Thank you, Mitobe-kun!"
In his own way, the silent center questioned her if the chocolates were for the team captain, Hyuuga Junpei.
"Hyuuga-kun?! N-no way!", she denied, but after seeing that the dark-haired boy was wiggling his thick eyebrows at her, she then blushed and admitted, "F-fine, it's for him. But don't tell anyone!"
Mitobe just nodded – thinking that he could stay silent and not tell anyone and all, and everyone would still know about it because everyone already knew about their coach and their captain's feelings for each other in the first place.
He didn't mind if him helping her leads to the possible increase of noises during practice, due to the cheering and teasing.
Them being a couple was simply long overdue.
In another school, a similar scene was happening between the Touo basketball team's manager and shooting guard.
"Yay Sakurai-kun! Thank you!", Momoi Satsuki chirped at Sakurai, who just agreed on her plea.
The chestnut-haired boy couldn't help but be curious, so after a lot of deliberations in his head, he asked, "I'm sorry, Momoi-san, b-but is it for Seirin's K-kuroko-san?"
"Eh? For Tetsu-kun? It's, uh.." At the mention of her crush's name, the pink-haired girl suddenly looked away and mumbled towards herself.
Scolding himself for being nosy, he bowed for the nth time that day, "I'm so sorry for asking! I'm sorry –"
"– Aomine-kun"
He wasn't sure if he had heard right. Knowing his pitiful self, he believed that he probably didn't, so he had to make sure by raising his head, "I'm sorry?"
Her cheeks matched the color of her hair, as she shyly repeated, "It's actually for Aomine-kun." While meeting the brown and widened eyes of the boy in front of her, she smiled, "Keep it a secret, okay?"
"Uh, y-yes. I'm so sorry."
How could he be so stupid? Of course, the chocolates were for Aomine-san. Her crush on the phantom sixth man was more of admiration only. They all knew their manager and their ace were more than childhood friends. Maybe, it was finally time for them to be together. But, what if he failed in teaching Momoi-san? What if Aomine-san didn't like the chocolates? They won't be a couple and it would all be his fault. Oh, no.
"I'm sorry!"
The two girls believed that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
Also, they were both ready to hunt down the person who started this belief and attack him or her for even creating this ridiculous idea.
The reason was simply because it was already two days before Valentines day and they still couldn't make a proper chocolate, that was edible. Forget stealing the boys' hearts, these girls could just take the boys' lives by feeding them their heart-shaped creations.
Their two teachers were also beginning to be frustrated – with their already-low self-esteem dropping even more. One could simply imagine the string of apologies that had left Sakurai's mouth, and the knitting of the thick eyebrows of Mitobe, as his colors faded into black and white.
Thankfully, the two basketball players were angels sent by heaven. Thus, they offered to make the chocolate themselves. They were kind souls, who didn't want any souls of their teammates to permanently leave their bodies because of the so-called-chocolates of their respective manager and coach.
Another winter afternoon inside a supermarket in Tokyo, two kind souls found themselves staring at each other.
It had been around two months since the last time they saw each other at this very supermarket and at the Winter Cup. Seirin won that match and even won the championship title. Sakurai was happy for them, but of course, he couldn't help but feel sad that they lost and that it was probably because he wasn't that good, but then he shouldn't be bitter about it because he was really happy that Seirin won so –
"I'm sorry, Mitobe-san!"
With his sandy head lowered, he saw what was in the other's basket.
A box and some chocolates to cook.
Coincidentally, he also happened to have a box and some chocolates to cook in his own basket. They had the same things just like last time.
They eyed each other questioningly. It was a given that Valentines was tomorrow. However, customarily, only women give chocolates during Valentines, so why were they both buying ingredients for homemade chocolates?
Somehow, a conversation after, they soon learned about their very similar situations. They could only wish the other luck, as they left the supermarket.
"Well, what is it that you want to talk about, coach?" Hyuuga asked, once they were inside the empty gym during lunch break.
The second-year coach handed out a heart-shaped box towards the second-year captain, "Here."
There was a huge urge to wipe his glasses to make sure he was seeing right, but he just couldn't do it, so he asked another question, "Um, what's this for?"
Brown eyes looked straight at dark eyes, "Happy Valentines Day."
He glanced down at the box once again, just to be sure, but then again, he still didn't understand.
"No, no, wait, but why?"
"Mou! Just take it."
Knowing that he shouldn't anger her even more, he took the box from her, with his fingers brushing over hers for a brief moment, "Okay, okay, uh, thanks."
He found his heart beating even more wildly at the sight of the girl in front of him averting her eyes from him, with her cheeks flushed red. As he surveyed the box he was clutching, a certain realization made his heart race even more. With all the panic building up inside of him, he still managed to ask a very very important, critical, and literally life-changing question in a composed manner.
"Did you make it?"
In response, she sent him a deadly glare.
Not wanting to have a premature death because of her killer stare, he waved his free hand in front of him, just like how white flags were waved during war as a sign of surrender, "Ah! O-of course, you won't just buy chocolates."
Her gaze then softened a bit, as she gave him an expectant look.
Oh, he was definitely going to die. Either it was because of her being extra cute or because of the poison waiting for him inside the box, he didn't know anymore.
He then started praying to the gods to save him from this situation. He also begged Masamune, Yukimura and all the other Japanese warriors to give him strength and courage to win and survive this war, as he slowly opened the heart-shaped box and took a piece of a heart-shaped chocolate.
If he was going to die, might as well let it be an honorable death.
Surprisingly, the piece of chocolate seemed pretty normal. There was no weird smell of chemical or anything, but still, he was skeptic. With all the courage he had mustered, he bit down on the chocolate, expecting his demise to come quick.
As the flavors exploded in his mouth, his eyes widened, noting that what he had expected to be a killer chocolate had turned out to become something to-die-for.
"This is so fucking good!"
Hazelnut eyes twinkled at the remark, as she let out a sigh of relief.
The boy's dark gray eyes also twinkled beneath his glasses, as he took another bite from the piece of chocolate, "Riko! You've gotten better at cooking", before nervously gulping, "Not that you were, uh, bad before, but you know.."
As she watched him consume the single piece of sweets, guilt had also began consuming her – causing her to look down at the ground.
Hyuuga noticed this and after finishing the same piece of heaven, he worriedly spoke, "Oi, Riko?"
At the sound of his concerned voice, she confessed, "The truth is, I didn't make that. I asked Mitobe-kun to teach me but I failed, so he made that", with her voice gradually becoming more faint, as she unconsciously fiddled with her fingers.
With the box still on his hand and with his own ears turning red at the sight of his special friend being unusually shy, the raven-haired boy took a step forward.
"Riko, am I the only one to receive homemade chocolates from you?"
With eyes still refusing to meet his, she replied, "Eh? Y-yes. But I also plan on giving the team sometime maybe and –"
He made another step closer.
"Not even that moron, Kiyoshi?"
Her face heated even more, as she kept her eyes fixed at the ground and denied, "N-no! Why would I still give him – B-but as I said, I plan on giving the team –"
One last step, and he was merely inches away from her. She finally became aware of their proximity, so in instinct, she tried to step backwards – only to freeze due to a gentle pat on her head.
"Then, you could've given me chocolates that you had personally made, and I would still like them, you idiot."
Finally meeting his eyes, she saw how his eyes held a tender and loving gaze and how his smile looked so good on him.
She had known Hyuuga for some time now, and her main observation about him was that he always have a hardened look in his eyes and an annoyed frown plastered on his face. But, there were moments when she would sometimes catch him directing his caring eyes at her, with a small smile adorning his face. Every time she sees him that way, an inexplainable warmth wraps around her.
This – this was one of those times. But this time, she was certain.
With her heart pumping rapidly, she softly spoke, "Hyuuga-kun, does that mean you –"
"– Junpei", he corrected, before removing his hand, that was on top of her head. He then fixed a lose strand of her hair – that had grown longer since the time he had trimmed her hair – as he answered her unfinished question.
"I like you, Riko."
He didn't know where the confidence and courage came from, but he should probably thank the gods and the warriors, for blessing him the gift of the clutch, which helped push him to spill out the secret that he had kept for quite some time now.
At his confession, she decided to ultimately put what she was feeling, not into a box of chocolates, but in words.
"I like you too, Junpei."
"I knew you'd be here!"
At the sound of the very familiar high-pitched voice, Aomine Daiki internally groaned, as he remained lying down on the concrete ground of the rooftop, with a Horikita Mai magazine shielding his face from the rays of the sun. It was lunch break and he just wanted some peace, for pete's sake.
"What'dya want, Satsuki?", he drawled.
When she didn't respond, he removed the magazine, and what met him was the bright underwear of his childhood friend. He was about to make a comment about that being her battle panties when she crouched down and shoved an object to his face.
Since he couldn't properly see it, because of it's closeness to his face, he lazily asked, "What's that?"
Momoi spoke again, "What else? It's Valentines today. Don't tell me you forgot."
Upon more inspection by squinting his eyes and such, he eventually came to a conclusion that it was a heart-shaped box. With the situation completely sinking in, he abruptly rose up to a sitting position, "Oi! You made this?"
"So what if I did?", she challenged.
Blue eyes rolled in frustration, "Satsuki, I keep on telling you every year that you should just buy chocolates." Gripping his equally blue hair in equal frustration, he dramatically grumbled, "Have mercy on Tetsu!"
Her hold on the box tightened, as she aggressively shook her head, "No! No!"
Okay, he just didn't get her. Ever since they were younger, she was always the one nagging him, so why is it when he was the one nagging, she wouldn't listen. This was just unfair.
His face contorted into a grimace, "Ha? What do you mean no? Satsuki, seriously you –"
"This isn't for Tetsu-kun!"
He wasn't sure if the sudden feeling in his gut was because of her sudden outburst or because of the revelation the words, that she just uttered, offered or because of the way she just looked weirdly adorable with her cheeks dusted pink. He could only dumbly stare at her and let his jaw drop, "Ha?"
With fierceness in her pink eyes, she slammed the box on his lap, "This is for you!"
In one swift motion, she stood up. "If you don't want it, then just throw it down the rooftop, Ahomine!" Afterwards, she turned around to leave, while irritatingly flipping her peach hair.
However, before she could even make a single step, a hand gently held her wrist and a very familiar deep voice cooly called out, "Oi, you should've said that in the first place, stupid."
She initially thought he was being sweet, but after hearing that last word, she flicked his hand off her and faced him once again, "Huh? Stupid? Me? I shoved it in front of your face and –"
Gulping down the remaining words she planned to say, the twisting of her gut intensified, when she saw the tan boy calmly opening the box and getting one piece of the heart-shaped chocolates.
He was being stupid, he knew this. Why would he risk his life – his precious life – for this?
The answer was simple.
She was Satsuki – the one who had helped him so much, the one who had always been there, and one of the reasons why his life was precious.
Oh, he really was going to die, huh? A lot of cheesy realizations happen before one dies, right?
Peeping a single glance at the magazine beside him, he bid Horikita Mai-chan farewell. He proceeded to pop the chocolate into his mouth.
Okay, he couldn't believe it.
He was probably dead and his poor soul was just hallucinating or something. But when he saw the same pretty face – that he had luckily been looking at, as he was growing up, and that he had memorized – he believed he was alive, with a passion.
"What the fuck? This shit's good!"
At Aomine's passionate remark, Momoi simply flashed him a smile.
Shifting his gaze to the box on his hands, he tried to confirm just one more time, "Satsuki! Is this real?"
Seeing him so excited, she couldn't stop herself from feeling bad, so she weakly explained, "Sakurai-kun made that. I asked for his help but I just couldn't do it. I really tried to learn, you know."
He noted that her usual cheery voice wasn't present when she said that. With this, he merely hummed in understanding, "So that's why Ryou was much more tense around me these past few days."
He then looked up to her – only to see her so pink. He had never seen her this pink – pink hair, pink eyes, pink cheeks, and pink hands.
Impulsively, he wrapped his hand on one of her pink hands, gesturing her to sit down beside him. Good thing, she understood and settled next to him.
As she examined him, she noticed that his usual blue lazy eyes were replaced by a fiery blue. Complementing this was his cute grin, that made his features softer – reminding her of their younger years. She then heard his voice, that had became deeper as they got older, as he said, "Oi Satsuki, thanks."
That one word of appreciation held so much more. There were a lot of words left unspoken, but they both knew and they both understood. With hands still intertwined, they just stared at each other for a while – exchanging their feelings.
Once everything became clearer and before Aomine could even ruin the moment with his gauche remarks, Momoi hugged him, to which he returned with a tighter one. After a few breaths, she then looked him in the eye and sweetly greeted him, "Happy Valentines Day, Dai-chan."
In response, he gestured her to open her mouth, as he offered a piece of chocolate. She was a little startled when he only placed the chocolate in between her teeth. However, before she could even react and support the piece with her fingers, he moved faster and took a bite from it – as if it was simply a pocky stick.
She just froze there, absorbing everything. Seriously, their lips almost touched, and to make things worse, he was smirking at her.
"Delicious."
After saying that, he had never seen her face that red before.
As expected, practice in Seirin that day was so much noisier. Everyone was indeed cheering and teasing, to which the captain and the coach responded with curses and threats, respectively. What Mitobe didn't expect was that everyone was also thanking him. How they knew, he didn't know. But what Mitobe learned was that news do spread fast, even without him saying a single thing.
It was a different case at another gym. Practice went by as usual, since there wasn't much difference in how the childhood friends acted around each other. Though the manager had vaguely thanked Sakurai, he still had started to believe that the chocolates didn't taste good enough, and because of this, he became much more apologetic. The ace got annoyed enough that he had resorted in announcing the news to the entire gym. Sakurai was too shocked. It ended with everyone's whistles, praises and thanks drowning out all the apologies he was spouting.
Now, if there was an answer to the question 'How do cupids look like?', the best answer wouldn't be baby angels or cherubs, that have bows and arrows.
Instead, it would be more specific than that.
Cupids are angels that come in the form of an apologetic mushroom, and a silent boy with thick eyebrows, both with the skill of cooking homemade chocolate hearts.
After all, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
Omake:
One afternoon in Tokyo during March, two cupids ran into each other in a supermarket.
In both of their baskets were a box and white chocolates to cook.
Under normal circumstances, the two boys would most likely assume that the other probably had someone he liked. It was White Day the next day, so it wasn't that surprising. However, after their last meeting at this supermarket exactly a month ago, they knew this was not under normal circumstances.
They shared a knowing look.
They both succeeded.
Unfortunately, no amount of apologies and no duration of silence could save them from their ace and captain, respectively, if they ever refused their requests.
Kind souls, they were.
Angels, they were.
Cupids, they were.