Happy Valentines! Have some chocolate and enjoy the read.


"Naoto, when are you going to explain why I have to wear this? Not just this in particular, these colors, too. I look like my Uncle."

Souji adjusted his bright red tie and smoothed out his dark grey dress shirt nervously. "I will. Trust me."

He shuddered, rolling his shoulders to shake off a chill going down his back. "This shirt is pretty thin, you know. It's snowing outside."

Naoto stopped what she was doing, a hint of guilt evident in her hesitant turn to look at him. With a sympathetic smile, she strode over to her and brushed her hand against his cheek, standing on her toes to give him a quick kiss. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

The gesture was cute enough to distract him from the fact that she was wearing a lab coat. He initially thought he could let it go, but it turned out that his curiosity was quite the beast, the question almost jumping from his mouth before his finely honed sense of decency reined it in. It was a safe move, he figured, to instead ask, "So why do you need the whiteboard? And, uh...what's in the boxes?"

Souji took another look around the room as Naoto paused her writing, looked over her shoulder, and simply smiled mysteriously instead of answering. The tails of her lab coat swished just a bit as she turned back to the whiteboard. As oddly alluring as all of that was, it wasn't very helpful. From what he gathered, he may as well have been an exhibit in the transformed living room. Naoto had instructed him to move the couch against the wall while she had dug a medium-sized whiteboard out of the closet and set it on an easel directly in front of the TV. On the coffee table lay three small cases, though their contents were a mystery - Naoto had stopped him as soon as he tried to open one. That just added to the growing intrigue. "If I may…"

"Of course! Please, ask away."

"Why are you wearing a lab coat?"

Naoto visibly deflated at that, bouncing back with a dramatic flourish of her coat and a curt, "Senpai, please focus on the matter at hand."

"Sorry. Okay, let me just ask you straight. Why am I wearing the Uncle ensemble?"

There was an almost uncharacteristic hint of glee in Naoto's voice as she beamed and admitted, "You so perfectly encapsulate the hardboiled detective look, Souji-kun! I can't help but want to explore every parameter of this outfit to make you look even cooler."

Her pure enthusiasm made it so that Souji couldn't help but smile and silently agree to go along with the experiment. "Alright, then. What's the first step?"

Naoto turned back to the whiteboard and scribbled something down. "Do you recall our discussion about the practicality of a chocolate cigarette versus a wax cigarette?"

"Back in high school? Yeah."

The dry note of sarcasm was not lost on Naoto; regardless, she let it go and made a gesture for Souji to continue. "Keeping a stick of wax in my mouth for hours would be gross."

"Precisely."

Souji carefully hid a smile as Naoto spun to face him, her lab coat fluttering dramatically as she did so. He briefly pondered if it took practice to pull off that look. "It always bothered me that you had to carry a case of chocolate cigarettes around with you for the sole purpose of costume authenticity. So! I have developed several substitutes I would like you to try."

"...Developed?"

Souji could have pointed out that he wasn't in the habit of dressing like his Uncle anymore, but he didn't want to spoil Naoto's fun. Some part of him was curious as to what put her on this train of thought, though. "Indeed! These boxes here each contain different types of prototype prop cigarettes."

"What are they made of?"

Naoto happily explained, carefully opening each case for Souji to see as she explained. "The first is woven. Fairly easy to make, but...well, see for yourself."

"I see."

Souji picked up the cigarette and, after a glance at Naoto for permission, bit into the end of it. Contrary to the material it was made of, it was easy to keep a hold on and maintained its form. However...

"Mm, gets damp after a while."

"Ah, I see. I considered that, but only after I made one. Sorry."

"Hey, don't apologize. This is fun."

Naoto smiled and reached over to squeeze his shoulder. "Shall we move to the next one?"

"Let's do it."

She flipped the second box open and indicated it with a suave sweep of her palm. It briefly made Souji wonder if she had been practicing. "The next is wax. This one is built to last. It was even easier to make, in my opinion, but I fear you may not like the taste."

"You'd be right."

Regardless of what was most certainly going to happen, Souji picked up the wax and bit down. "Mm."

He shifted the prop to the corner of his mouth and spoke through his teeth. "Looks good, but the wax is easy to bite through."

"I assumed as much. And the taste?"

Naoto had produced a notepad from a coat pocket and was intently noting down anything Souji had to say. "About as good as wax can taste…"

"Hm, hm...tasty, then."

"What?"

"I'm kidding."

Souji chuckled and took the prop out of his mouth as Naoto muttered something under her breath. "Taste, taste...I could use paraffin wax...hmm…"

"Naoto?"

"Yes, apologies."

"Lastly is one that's familiar, I imagine."

The third box opened with a snap of her fingers, a trick Souji would have to ask her about later. As for the contents..."Chocolate?"

It was chocolate. "Yes, chocolate."

Indeed, it was chocolate.

Notably, whereas the first two cases only had one sample, the last had quite a few, perhaps around twenty or so. They were also far more intricately detailed than the other two. Curious…

She picked two of the treats out of the box and handed one to Souji. "Here you are."

"Thanks."

Naoto shucked the lab coat off her shoulders and let it hang on her arms as she sat next to him. It took Souji a bit more effort than he would have liked to admit not to stare. "Ready?"

"Here we go."

They tapped the cigarettes against each other in cheers and shared a little laugh at the silliness of the act. There was a light crunch as they bit into their respective chocolates. For the sake of prolonging Naoto's little experiment, they didn't break the treat just yet, instead simply tasting it and enjoying each other's company. The regular Okina hustle and bustle was faint through the nearby window, but it was simply noise behind Naoto's next prompting. "Souji."

"Hm?"

"Are you aware of what a cigarette kiss is?"

"Vaguely."

"I see."

Naoto smiled and leaned close to touch the end of her chocolate cigarette to his, a soft blush on her cheeks at the implication of the gesture. As his eyes widened with surprise, hers twinkled with mischief and warm affection. "Happy Valentines' Day."