A/N: I'm on a roll with these one shots! I dig Yasu/Mai/Naru triangle, so here's to satisfy my desires.

Valentine Choco

He took one bite and re-adjusted his glasses. Immediately he opened his mouth back up and stuck his tongue out, letting out a small whimper. The flavor was... god-awful, to say the least. "What in holy hell's creation is this atrocity?" he asked himself while he reached for some tissue and scraped the vile trash off his tongue. Looking at the uneaten half, he gasped in horror and turned blue. "Salmon roe-covered chocolate!"

It took him several minutes to re-compose himself before finding his courage to try another one. A nice, oval-ish piece of chocolate decorated in red squiggles caught his eye. He took a deep breath and took a bite. Color drained from his face once again as tomato juice and broken up sardine parts gushed out. He hurled in his trashcan.

"Is it all going to be seafood surprise?" he wondered outloud and started doubting whether he would have the courage to try the rest. With a sigh, he thought, "Man, who knew Mai-san could be very... evil."

A few hours before she left the office she had handed everyone a box of chocolates for Valentine's day. She was ecstatic, saying that this was the very first time she had experimented with Valentine choco. Yasuhara didn't mind that he received giri-choco* (he saw it that way since everybody had gotten the same things, even the ladies), but he was at least glad that she gave him something hand-made. He had thanked her genuinely, but the impish smirk she had on her face slightly scared him. "You're going to be in for a surprise, Yasuhara-kun!" she chirped mysteriously before stepping out. Now he understood.

He reconsidered for a moment whether he should just throw everything in the trash, but he quickly thought against it. Despite how awful it was, she did still make it for him. He was going to try it all, no matter what. He steeled himself for another go. It seemed that she at least tried to give a warning of some sort by designing the chocolate's outer layer according to its filling. He scanned the rest of the chocolates for something that his stomach could handle and rested on a peculiar looking piece. It was brown and slightly spiralling in shape. "It couldn't be... she wouldn't... Would she?" he wondered out loud, terrified of his own voice. "No... Mai-san wouldn't... could this be poop?"

He tentatively reached out his hand and paused, his inner conscience screaming at him mentally for being an idiot to even think about taking a bite. But his attachment to Mai and insatiable curiousity (as well as his firm belief of his own good luck) overcame his inner ego and he took a bite. To his surprise, it was unlike the others. It was actually just a simple caramel chocolate. "Mm... So her real chocolates are actually quite tasty," he mused. Since he was smart, he decided to save the rest of the only good chocolate in case he happened upon something foul again.

Yasuhara clasped his hands and rubbed them gleefully, his spirit renewed, thinking he had begun to understand Mai's thoughts as she designed her creation. He took the circle, green colored chocolate, hoping against hope that it was matcha.

Three seconds after he took his bite and swallowed, an intense burning sensation shot up through his nose and settled somewhere behind his eyes. He choked and threw himself on the floor, crawling and holding on to his nose dearly. What he hoped was matcha was instead a very potent serving of wasabi. His vision blurred and his mind went blank. For the moment, he firmly believed he was dying.

Suddenly to his surprise, the door to Naru's office also burst open and out came his boss, nose also flaring. His eyes were wide and glistening as if he was about to tear up. The two young men shared a terrified glance before Naru sprinted off toward the bathroom. Yasuhara could hear him retching in disgust.

Once his pain subsided, Yasuhara entered his boss' office and raised his brow at seeing the same box of chocolate at his desk, already almost empty. Unlike his own box, however, there were no signs of anything half eaten. Yasuhara also cast a glance at Naru's trash, but it was empty except for papers.

By this time Naru had already emerged from the bathroom and had composed himself. Upon seeing Yasuhara in his office, he raised his brow and called out in slight irritation, "Is there anything you need, Yasuhara-san?"

The young man snapped out of his momentary confusion and stepped out, readjusting his glasses once again, a habit he acquired whenever he felt somewhat disconcerted. "Ah, no it's nothing, Boss. Just wanted to see what had happened to you."

The two shared an uncomfortable silence, both pretending as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened mere moments before. Yasuhara saw that Naru had also cast a glance at his desk and noticed the same box of chocolates. It miffed him when he detected a slight smirk on his boss' face. Unable to stop himself, he jovially asked, "Big-boss, who knew you had a sweet tooth. Everyone thought for sure you wouldn't eat Mai-san's hand-made choco, yet it seems you've almost decimated the entire box," his light hearted words masking his pointed annoyance.

Naru leveled his gaze. "And I thought you'd be one to enjoy disgustingly sweet things, especially ones that Mai made herself. But all I see here are a bunch of half-eaten and regurgitated mess."

Before the two could face off with a battle of snappy retorts, Lin suddenly emerged from his office, carrying a box of chocolate in his hands. He was surprised to see both Noll and Yasuhara in the main office, the air thick and electrified between them. "I will be headed out now," he said stoically. "Is there anything the matter?"

Naru closed his eyes and stalked back into his office. Before disappearing behind his door, however, he shot Lin a glance and mysteriously suggested, "I wouldn't eat them if I were you. Mai's been experimenting." Then he shut the door.

After his boss disappeared into his office and Lin-san bid him farewell, Yasuhara slumped down on his office desk and pouted. He was seriously going to have to up his game. It seemed his boss was developing feelings for Mai and he knew that once she realizes it, it would be game over for him. He grabbed another piece of chocolate and plopped it whole in his mouth. If Shibuya Kazuya could do it, then so can he.

He spit it back out and wailed. "Minced garlic filling!"

*Giri-choco: obligatory chocolate given to male co-workers (but in this case, Mai's obligatory chocolate is even hand made)