A short one today, after the last massive chapter. A bit of a random, silly one too! :D And yes, the idea came from Forrest Gump!
What If Life Was Like A Box Of Chocolates
Hiroki stopped short as he entered the small office that he shared with that giant nitwit, Professor Miyagi. Perched on his desk, or taking it over more like, crumpling up some of the essays he'd left on it the previous evening since he was too tired to take them home, was an old, chunky computer monitor. Or something that looked a lot like that anyway, only a little more square.
"What's that doing on my desk?" he asked, still staring at the random hulk hogging his desk top.
"A gift!" cheerfully replied the bane of his existence.
Confused and distrustful brown eyes flicked over to where Miyagi was sitting backwards on his chair, swivelling from side to side. The man's eager, bright eyes beamed up at him, a cocky smile spread across his face.
Hiroki slowly shut the door behind him and stepped up to his desk.
"And for what reason exactly have you decided to donate this heap of junk to me?" he asked sarcastically.
"Hey, it's not junk!" Miyagi cried, annoyed. "It's actually pretty amazing. It's a What If Machine."
"A 'What If Machine'?" Hiroki repeated incredulously. "What the hell's that?"
"Duh, isn't it obvious?" Miyagi rolled his eyes. "You can ask it any 'what if' question and it will show you what could happen in that situation. It's really good, very personalised too. Great entertainment, and probably pretty valuable as well."
"So if it's so great, why are you giving it to me?"
Miyagi hesitated for a second. "Well, I probably shouldn't, Shinobu's gonna kill me… But it can be a bit dangerous too – for him, I mean, not you! He just has a tendency to ask the wrong questions and then get a bit upset with the answer… I felt it would be better out of his hands."
"Hmm," Hiroki raised his eyebrows. "And how did you come upon this ingenious machine in the first place?"
"Shinobu bought it in an antiques speciality store or something."
"So this gift you're giving me – you're saying someone else bought it so it doesn't belong to you anyway, and you're giving it away behind that person's back even though it's not yours to give, because it's dangerous. And you think it's ok, generous even, for you to dump this thing on your work assistant?"
Miyagi's smile faltered.
"And that's even if I believe your ridiculous assertions that I can simply voice any random 'what if' question and this machine will not only understand me, but can then devise a sensible, in-depth answer that's also personalised to me and my life and show it back to me in video form?" Hiroki continued, his voice growing in pitch as he grew more and more incredulous.
"Er, yep, that about sums it up," Miyagi replied succinctly. "Oh, go on, Hiroki, just give it a try! Ask it anything! Then you'll see."
Hiroki rolled his eyes and sighed. Merely to humour Miyagi and prove him wrong, he turned to the machine (which didn't even appear to be plugged in anywhere, from what he could see) and asked the first question that randomly popped into his head.
"Fine. What if life were like a box of chocolates?"
His eyes blinked rapidly in shock as the machine buzzed to life. He started, having not really expected anything to happen when he spoke. His mouth dropped open as he actually witnessed his virtual self opening the door to the office, just as he had a few minutes previously in real life – only on the desk was no hefty, ungainly machine, but a large, neat, brown box of luxury chocolates wrapped up with a pretty purple bow.
Miyagi stepped up behind him, curious, and together they peered more closely at the screen as the virtual Hiroki opened up the box. They both started at what they saw.
Each chocolate was crudely formed in the shape of a number of faces. The details weren't terribly clear, yet staring up at them were some decidedly recognisable features – Miyagi stared in shock at the frowning face of a boy he knew very well; Hiroki gasped at the sight of the piercing eyes below the sweeping locks of his childhood friend; the chocolate next to Akihiko clearly had the bright green eyes of that ignorant student of his, Akihiko's lodger.
On the screen, Hiroki set the box back down on his desk and picked up the small, glossy menu. As he opened it the machine zoomed in.
Miyagi's eyes eagerly sought out his lover's face. Underneath was the description of the chocolate. Takatsuki Shinobu, apparently, was a solid milk chocolate. Persistent, consistent and dependable were the characteristics labelled underneath – just as there is always a solid chocolate present in every box. The corners of Miyagi's mouth twitched.
Hiroki had immediately sought out the description of his oldest friend. It was brief. Usami Akihiko was a whole nut.
Too right, he thought.
What about that idiot boy, Takahashi Misaki? His eyes scanned the page, finding the boy quickly because of his bright green eyes. He wasn't surprised, then, to find that the kid was a mint chocolate.
His attention was caught by a loud snicker in his right ear. Scowling, he turned to Miyagi and demanded to know what was funny. Miyagi made no reply, simply pointing at another face on the menu. Hiroki immediately recognised his own severe expression. His eyes darted to the description. Then his face turned bright red.
Kamijou Hiroki: dark chocolate caramel. Bitter on the outside, sweet and gooey on the inside.
Clenching his fists tightly, he gritted his teeth and spat,
"This is so stupid! And completely incorrect. Where the hell are you on this thing, anyway?!"
"Hmm, mine sounds about right. Green tea kitkat – a traditional Japanese flavour, a multi-layered, complex person with lots of depth. Don't think we can argue with that, eh?!"
Hiroki snorted, his face still the colour of a lobster.
"Sounds like a load of crap to me. Although… this one sounds about right," he sneered, suddenly perking up. "Takatsuki Risako – that's your ex-wife, right? She's multi-layered, just like you. A layer each of milk, white and dark. Three, eh? Just like the number of people in your marriage!"
"Low blow, Hiroki," Miyagi rumbled, although he didn't really sound bothered. "Where's that lover boy of yours then? And who is this 'Tsumori?"
"Huh?" Hiroki demanded, looking up suddenly at the mention of Nowaki's colleague – his irritating, obnoxious, flirty colleague...
"This guy here – looks like it says his name is Tsumori. A friend of yours? He's not an acquaintance of mine anyway."
"Uh, well, friend isn't exactly how I'd put it…" Hiroki mumbled, leaning forward to get a good look at the description. A pleased smile flickered over his face as he read it.
Tsumori was an airy, insubstantial strawberry mousse.
As his eyes eagerly sought Nowaki, he noticed a couple of other familiar faces.
Takahashi Takahiro – his rival in love for so many years. A sweet but thick vanilla fudge.
Usami Haruhiko, plain and abiding under the control of his father, yet with hidden depths and a surprising amount of kick to him – he was a dark chocolate cherry liqueur.
Even Akihiko's damned stuffed bear had made it into the box! A smiling, round face above a big red bow looked up at Hiroki, tempting him to bite into soft, sweet praline.
At last, Hiroki found the one he sought. The face of the most gorgeous man he knew, the one who had saved him from heartache, who made him laugh after he had spent the whole day nearly tearing his hair out at the sheer laziness and incompetence of his dunderhead students, the one who loved and cherished him as no other ever had.
His special Nowaki.
Nowaki was an exquisite, luxuriously creamy milk chocolate champagne truffle.
And with lip-smacking relish, Hiroki watched as his virtual self eagerly devoured his tasty chocolate lover.
A.N. Told you it was a bit silly! :P Please let me know what you think/if you have any Egoist requests, as we're moving on to them next :)