"Alright," Nico declared, "let's go over everything one more time."
She looked around the room, taking in all the decorations and candles. She and Nozomi had spent the last few hours setting everything up, and the moment they had been preparing for was fast approaching.
"Elichi should be here in 15 minutes." Nozomi said, moving to stand beside Nico. She pulled a piece of cloth out of her pocket – it was one of Eli's bows, actually, but it was all they could find. "When she gets here, you'll distract her, and I'll blindfold her."
"Wait, wasn't I going to blindfold her?"
Nozomi nodded. "Yes, but it'll be easier for me to do it right? You're too short to do it properly."
Nico glared at Nozomi, who broke her casual expression to give a teasing grin. "… Fine. But you'd be better at distracting her. What am I supposed to do?"
"Hmmm… I suppose you could just kiss her. That's certain to do the job."
"Why is your first answer to everything always kissing? No, don't actually answer that." Nico ignored Nozomi's pout and tried to steer the conversation back on track. "Okay, so, Eli's blindfolded. She'll be all confused and flustered and surprised. I'll head to the kitchen to grab the food-"
"And I'll lead her to the bedroom."
"Yeah, you'll lead her – no." Nico shoved Nozomi, who only laughed harder when she didn't move an inch. "I worked hard on that dinner! God dammit, you're so annoying. Keep your hormones under control for an hour, will you? You'll lead her to the kitchen, where we'll have a nice, pleasant meal and enjoy all the amazing food I made. Got it?"
"Sure, sure." Nozomi waved her hand lazily, doing nothing to assuage Nico's concerns. "So after dinner we're watching that movie you picked out, right? Cloudburst?"
"Yeah. I haven't watched it before, but it's supposed to be good. A comedy, I think? A lesbian couple escape their nursing home to go get married. It sounds interesting, at least. And after that is when we give her the chocolate."
"Mhmm. I hid it in the living room already."
They had a general rule of no presents on Valentine's Day; it had started after they first bought their apartment together. Even with three people splitting the cost, extra money was hard to come by, so they had decided to avoid giving gifts on the 'less important' holidays. But that had been a few years ago, and now they were easily able to afford some surplus chocolate to surprise Eli with. And she'd never see it coming – Eli was a stickler for the rules, so she'd never even consider the fact that she'd be given anything. All of Nico and Nozomi's hard work would be worth it, just to see Eli's face light up when they gave her the chocolate.
"Okay, so we just need to-" The door creaked open, and Nico and Nozomi froze. They glanced at each other as Eli's voice echoed down the hallway. Nozomi gave an encouraging thumbs up and Nico rushed to the door, putting on a bright smile.
"Hey! Welcome home!"
Eli smiled at the greeting, slipping her shoes off and hanging up her coat. Nico bit her lip, trying to figure out what to do. You just got to distract her. Just kiss her, Nozomi said. Should I preface it with something, or…?
"Is everything alright?" Eli was giving her a worried look, so Nico pushed her hesitance aside and stepped closer to her, grabbing Eli by the shoulders and leaning up on her toes to kiss her. It took Eli by surprise, but she returned the kiss a moment later, wrapping her arms around Nico's waist.
Nozomi came up behind them silently, stopping a couple feet away to watch. She should really put the blindfold on immediately, especially since she'd already teased Nico about the plan so much, but she couldn't help but spend a few seconds just looking at them fondly. A rush of warmth filled her; the three of them had been together for years, but it still amazed her sometimes that everything had worked out, that not only did she have a great group of friends but also two wonderful girlfriends.
She stepped lightly around the pair, slipping the blindfold over Eli's head and tying it in a tight knot. Eli jumped at the feeling of the cloth, breaking off the kiss and reaching a hand up to feel it.
"What… are you blindfolding me? What's going on?"
Nozomi simply wrapped her arms around Eli, leaning against her and sharing a grin with Nico. "Nothing for you to worry about," she said in a singsong voice, kissing the back of Eli's neck.
"Here, just follow me." Nico grabbed one of Eli's hands and pulled her down the hallway, Nozomi following close behind. She took over as Nico ran into the kitchen, humming a soft tune and ignoring Eli's protests.
"Is this really necessary? I'm sure there must have been an easier way to do this."
"Maybe, but this way's more fun~"
Eli shook her head, but Nozomi could see the smile on her face. Nico snuck around them, carrying plates of food and setting them quietly on the table. She had made a feast. There were appetizers, a main meal, and even desert – all Eli's favorites. The candles were quickly lit and the wine poured, and with a nod from Nico, Nozomi pulled the blindfold off.
Eli's breath caught in her throat. It was a stunning display; the lights were slightly dimmed, the candles casting faint, flickering shadows on the walls. The scent of incense floated through the air, mingling with the mouth-watering smells of the food. Pink and purple hearts dangled from the ceiling in star-like clusters.
"Oh, wow," Eli breathed. She reached up to tentatively touch one of the hearts, the slight pressure making it spin. "Did the two of you set all of this up?"
"Happy Valentine's Day, Elichi." Nozomi kissed her cheek and led her to the table. Nico pulled the chair out and bowed, grinning at her gentleman act. Eli sat down gingerly, looking at the food in awe.
"You guys really didn't need to do this. This is… this is amazing."
"Of course it is! I helped do it, after all."
"And this is only the beginning," Nozomi added, smiling at Eli's curious expression.
Dinner passed by quickly. Eli and Nozomi complimented Nico's cooking multiple times, leaving the girl glowing with pride and arrogance. They spent the meal talking about their day, Eli telling funny stories from work and Nico complaining about all the paper hearts she had to cut out. After finishing desert – Nozomi had insisted on parfaits – Nico and Nozomi started phase two of their plan. They pushed Eli into the living room, insisting that cleaning up could wait.
"What are we doing now? Are you going to blindfold me again?"
"Nah, that's too much work. Just go lie under the kotatsu. You'll see what's going on in a moment." Nico grabbed the remote, dimmed the lights, and slid under the blanket, Eli and Nozomi following her lead. She switched the TV on and grinned. "It's movie time!"
Eli perked up at that, looking at the title screen in excitement. "A romance movie?"
"Of course! It's Valentine's Day after all! Now shhh, I'm going to start it."
Eli and Nico were enraptured immediately, staring at the TV with wide eyes. Nozomi didn't care as much for movies, but she enjoyed seeing her girlfriends' reactions, and she would never turn down an opportunity to cuddle with them. Or an opportunity to make fun of them, she thought to herself, chuckling softly at Nico's and Eli's synchronous gasp of horror. It was a decent movie though. Plenty of comedy, and just enough drama to worry a more sensitive soul. And even Nozomi was caught by surprise at the ending, though the slight twinge of pain she felt was nothing compared to what Nico and Eli were feeling. They were still sobbing into each other's arms after the credits had finished rolling.
"Ellllichiiii," Nozomi called after a few minutes had passed. She placed the chocolates on the table, having given up on waiting for her and Nico to calm down. Eli sat up slowly, wiping tears away from her eyes.
"Hmm? What is… oh!" Her face lit up when she saw the chocolates, and Nozomi and Nico shared a smile. Mission accomplished.
"We know we don't usually give presents on Valentine's Day," Nico said as she brushed away her own tears, "but you're just going to have to deal with it this year."
Nozomi nodded. "You've been working really hard at your new job, so we wanted to surprise you. We may have broken a few rules, but we figured you'd overlook it just this once."
Eli laughed softly. "Thank you. I really enjoyed everything. But you're not the only ones that broke the rules this year." She grinned at the confused expressions, pulling out two small boxes from her pocket and sliding them across the table. "I thought you two were planning something for today, so I decided I'd plan something of my own."
Nico and Nozomi glanced at each other in surprise. Did Eli just outplan them? They opened the boxes slowly, not sure what to expect.
"Holy…" Nico's eyes grew wide when she saw what was inside. Nozomi's soft gasp told her that she had something similar, and they both looked at Eli in awe. "Did you make these?"
"Mm." Eli nodded. "That's why I've come home late recently; I have to go to a special shop to make them, so I've been heading there after work. It's been a while since I made anything like them, but I think they came out nice."
"It's wonderful." Nozomi pulled it gently out of the box, turning it slowly to see it from all angles. It was a beautiful ring; strands of silver metal were woven together into a braid, interspersed with small purple stones. A large crescent moon was in the middle, sparkling in the light.
"Are they real?" Nico's ring was a smooth gold band, dotted with pink and red gems that lead to a shining pink heart. She slipped it on her finger, staring at it in amazement.
"No, unfortunately. They're real stones, but the cheaper, more common ones."
"I guess that makes sense- wait." Nico turned to Eli, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Is this some kind of proposal? Are these wedding rings?" Nozomi looked up at the question, her heart suddenly pounding rapidly, but Eli just smiled.
"Happy Valentine's Day."