a/n: bit late for valentine's day, but I had to write this.
Maki Oze tapped her pen against the desk as she stared at the laptop screen in front of her. Her desk calendar was just visible out of the corner of her eye, reminding her all too well of what day it was: Valentine's Day, the one day she dreaded each year. She had never had a Valentine or was asked to be a Valentine. She balled up the piece of paper she was mindlessly scribbling on and looked over toward Tamaki and Iris, who were both standing in the doorway of the office arguing.
Lieutenant Takehisa Hinawa came up behind them. "Whatever you two are arguing over, please settle it soon. You're blocking the doorway."
"Yes, sir!" Tamaki and Iris said in unison.
"You didn't have to scare them," Princess Hibana said, coming into the office. She leaned against the wall, her arms crossed.
"Shouldn't you be running your own company, Captain Hibana?" Hinawa asked.
"I'm only here to drop off Shinra's Valentine's Day gift," she said.
"What?" Shinra Kusakabe asked. He had just come into the office, followed by Arthur Boyle. "What Valentine's Day gift?"
"This one!" Hibana said, handing it to him.
"And this one too!" Tamaki said, handing him a gift from her. She blushed.
"Wow, thanks," Shinra said.
"Wait, Iris, are you not going to give him yours?" Tamaki asked.
"No," Iris said. She handed it to Arthur. "Here, Arthur."
He, along with everyone else in the room, stared at the small box. He shook it before opening it cautiously. "Chocolate?"
Maki sighed and continued to work on her report as everyone continued to talk. After a few minutes, she stood and left unnoticed.
"Hey, Maki, where are you going?" Lisa asked. She and Vulcan were heading in the opposite direction.
"I'm going out for some sweet melon bread. I'll be back soon," Maki said, waving. She walked across the road to the bakery and waited in line.
Everyone has a Valentine except me, she thought morosely. A baker behind the counter recognized her and waved as she approached the glass display.
"What will you have today, Miss Maki?" the baker asked.
"Do you have any melon bread?" she asked.
"We have two buns left!"
"I'll take them both."
The baker bagged them for her and handed them across the display to her. She walked to the cash register, where the owner's wife rang her up.
"Any plans with your special someone for today?" she asked.
Maki shook her head; she knew her sadness was probably reflected on her face. She watched as the owner's wife dropped some chocolate candies inside her bag and handed Maki a wrapped cupcake.
"This is from the patisserie next door. It's their limited-time special, just for Valentine's Day. I hope you like it," she told her.
"Thanks, but you didn't have to do this," Maki said.
"You're one of our best customers. It's no problem."
Maki's chin trembled. "Thank you."
She turned and headed out the door; she had spent ten minutes just waiting in line. She unwrapped her cupcake and took a bite before finding a seat on a nearby bench.
"It's got a cherry filling!" she exclaimed. She continued to eat the cupcake while watching the people on the street walk by. She noticed that many of them were seemingly happy couples.
I'll eat just one piece of chocolate before heading back to the company, she thought, prodding around inside her bag. She pulled out a piece of chocolate and bit into it; it was full of messy, delicious caramel. She ate the rest of it and rolled up her bag.
"Excuse us," someone said. Maki looked up and saw a young couple standing over to her right. "If you're done with that seat, can we have it?"
"Oh, uh… sure," Maki said, standing. As she left, she overheard them make jabs at her.
"It must suck being alone on Valentine's Day," the woman said.
"What man would want to date her?" the man asked.
Maki clutched her bag and ran through the street, trying to find an empty bench. When she finally found one, she sat down, only for it to collapse beneath her. She stood up and went to brush herself off, and her free hand came away covered in paint.
That was her breaking point. She retreated to a nearby alley and sat down, clutching her knees to her chest. All she wanted to do was sink into the darkness as she cried. She didn't want to return to the company for a while. She knew they'd be concerned about why she was crying.
But instead, they were more concerned about where she was.
"I swear, she only told us she was going out for melon bread, and that was it!" Lisa said tearfully.
"She didn't say where she was going?" Captain Obi asked.
"No!"
"She always goes to that one bakery a few streets over," Shinra said.
"We called, and she's not there," Obi said. "They said she had left about an hour ago."
"She's got to be somewhere!" Arthur said.
Hinawa listened to everyone talking over each other. He knew Maki: she left to get melon bread because she was upset. He could probably find her, but he'd have to leave now. He turned and left the room, but he didn't go unnoticed.
"Hinawa! Where are you going?" Obi called.
"To find Maki," Hinawa replied. "Isn't that what we're trying to do?"
"Lieutenant, what makes you so sure you know where she's at?" Shinra asked.
"Just a hunch."
Hinawa walked out and headed past the bakery. The same couple that had nudged Maki out of her seat was still on the bench. He walked further down the street until he came to a ruined bench. He listened in on multiple conversations as he stared at it.
"—apparently, some girl sat down on it, and it just broke!"
"—I hope the girl that was sitting on that bench is okay!"
"—I saw her run away crying, I think she just has a bruised ego."
"—the bench also had wet paint on it, I'd hate to have been her!"
"Maki!" he yelled. He knew she didn't go far. "Where are you?"
As he neared the alley, he heard small sniffles and sobs. He walked down the alley and jumped when he felt something grab his leg.
"Maki!" he exclaimed.
"Why are you here, Lieutenant?"
"We've been looking everywhere for you."
"I'm sorry," she said, crying.
"Don't worry, at least I found you."
Hinawa took a deep breath. "So how bad is your paint job?"
Maki's lip trembled. Hinawa sighed; it definitely bruised her ego.
"Just stand up," he whispered.
Maki complied, and as Hinawa saw how badly she was covered in paint, he began to see why she hid.
"It's in your hair."
Maki started crying again. Hinawa grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her around.
"Maki! It's not that bad!"
"Yes, it is! All of this happened on Valentine's Day!"
It dawned on Hinawa. She ran because she felt rejected.
Aw shit, he thought. "Maki, bad things happen to people every day. The karmic universe isn't cosmically attracted to you just because today is Valentine's Day."
Maki sniffled. "But men aren't attracted to me either, and that's why I've never had a Valentine."
Hinawa felt horrible. He was planning on asking her to be his Valentine when they were alone. He didn't want to ask her in front of the others; he wanted to save himself the embarrassment.
I don't have anything to give her, he thought. He helped her stand up. "It's getting late, and everyone is worried about you. Feel like going back?"
Maki nodded. "Yeah."
Hinawa looked around for her melon bread bag. "Where's your bread?"
"I smushed it when I fell, so I threw it away."
"I'll get you some more," he promised her.
"Those were the last two loaves."
"Trust me on this." It's the least I can do, he thought. "Come on, I'm carrying you back to headquarters."
Maki smiled slightly as she jumped onto his back. He hoisted her up higher on his back and walked down the street.
"So tell me, what exactly is your idea of a good Valentine's Day?" Hinawa asked her.
"I don't know, a flower, maybe some chocolate?" she said.
"So, not being covered in paint?"
"That is not part of my ideal Valentine's Day!"
Hinawa grinned. He felt Maki's head brush against his own as she rested her chin on her arm. As they passed the bakery, Hinawa paused.
"They're still open, do you want to go in for some more bread?"
"No, they only make a few loaves of melon bread a day."
Hinawa sighed inwardly. He continued toward Company 8's headquarters, only stopping when he needed to rest.
"I can walk the rest of the way," Maki told him.
"I don't mind carrying you the rest of the way," he said.
"It's okay." She slid off his back; she lost her balance as she landed on the ground and toppled over.
"Maki, you are a magnet for trouble today," Hinawa said, holding out his hand.
"Do you have to remind me?" she asked, grabbing his hand. "Also, your hands are covered in paint."
Hinawa looked at his hands. "Don't tell me your bad luck is going to rub off on me like this paint did."
Maki punched him playfully. "No."
They walked into headquarters together, and everyone immediately accosted Maki. She smiled nervously and waved them off.
"I'm sorry I worried everyone," she said.
"Next time, be more specific!" Lisa said.
"And ask us if we want to go too!" Tamaki cried. She had tears in her eyes.
Hinawa quietly slipped past everyone; before heading to his room, he spoke to Obi, who was watching everyone greet Maki with his arms crossed.
"Well, you found her," Obi said.
"I know Maki," Hinawa said quietly.
"Are you still going to ask her?"
"Of course."
Hinawa left him at that, and walked into his room; the rose he had picked out for Maki sat in a small vase, and the little box of chocolates he bought her lay beside it.
He picked up the rose and the box of chocolates and walked over to her room. He could hear Obi talking to Maki from the hall; he wasn't going to do much to her except ask her not to do it again. As he paced in Maki's room, he began debating on what to say.
"Lieutenant?"
He turned and saw Maki standing in the doorway; she was staring at him in shock, wondering why he was in her room of all places.
Hinawa held out the rose he had in his hand and the small box of chocolates. "I was going to ask anyway, but I never got around to it."
Maki's heart swelled as she walked over to him. The rose was still a beautiful red color, and the chocolates were from the patisserie next door to the bakery. She couldn't stop the tears from falling.
"Maki, will you be my Valentine?"
"Yes!"
Hinawa set the rose and box of chocolates on her bedside table before pulling her in for a hug. He leaned down and kissed her gently; Maki leaned into him and blushed when he pulled away.
"Never thought you'd end up as my Valentine today, did you?" Hinawa asked her, grinning.
Maki shook her head. "Today was the worst day, but you made it better."
Hinawa hugged her. "If I had been able to get you more melon bread, I probably would have made it much better than it was."
"I can always have melon bread tomorrow."
"Yes. Because you need to finish the work you left behind earlier."
Hinawa chased Maki out of her room. He knew they would have a few rough patches to smooth over before making everything official, but they were as compatible as any.