This takes place two years after canon, so that makes Shiuchon and Takato 9 and 12 respectively.
"Shiuchon? What are you doing outside?" the boy with the kind red eyes asked.
Her height didn't quite allow her to look at his concerned face without craning her neck up. The woe of a nine-year-old.
The rain pelted from above in barrages that left her hair sticking to her face, and her shirt to her skin. In the gloomy afternoon that only brought with it a warning of heavier downpour, Shiuchon gave a show of a noncommital shrug to Takato's unimpressed frown.
"Here. You don't want to catch a cold."
He gently took her hand and guided her away from the rain. Though the three years between them made all the difference in height, it all disappeared when he brought her inside and bent down to her level. He draped a piece of towel over her head to dry her hair off.
The towel was big enough to cover her to the waist, but otherwise did little to hide her from not only Takato's concerned gaze but also the similarly brow-knitting looks from his parents.
"What were you doing outside?" Takato asked again once he deemed her hair dry enough.
"Don't wanna talk about it." She grunted and slid down her soaked schoolbag from over her shoulders. Her mom would nag her ears off if her books were drenched, but thankfully not a lot of water got inside.
While double-checking her bag's dryness, a piece of wrapped chocolate came into her hand. She glared at it, clenched it in her palm, and shoved it into her pocket with a huff directed to no one.
"It's nothing," she said before Takato could voice his confusion. He didn't pry and picked up her bag instead, relenting easily with an understanding nod. He turned to his parents.
"I'm taking her upstairs. We still have my old clothes, right?"
Takato's dad nodded. "I'll go get them," the man said before heading further back into the house.
Takato's mom smiled at her and gave her a piece of newly baked bread. The warmth seeped into her palm before quickly spreading in her mouth. The chocolate-filled bread disappeared soon after, leaving a sweet aftertaste that she regretted not savoring more slowly.
"I'll go heat up the bath. You two play nice," Takato's mom said and scruffled her already messy hair.
Soon, Shiuchon was led to Takato's room next where she was treated to a session with the hairdryer. Takato's dad had brought a change of clothing to replace her soaked one. It felt weird wearing a slightly baggy shirt, but it did the job. Takato at her age had apparently not been as small as she was.
"Why do I need a bath if you're already drying my hair?" She asked as she munched on a pockey Takato's mom had left them.
Takato took one for himself and shrugged. "Beats me– Hey, stay still."
The hot wind from the machine blew on her hair in that grating, whirry noise. She planted herself face-first on the floor when he was done burning her head.
"The floor's dirty," he needlessly warned.
"Don't care," she replied, making sure to not lick said floor in the process. Kissing it was inevitable however.
Takato made a noise that made her think he was shaking his head. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. She didn't feel like looking up.
Random tune hummed away at her lips while her feet swung lazily in the air. As the downpour outside grew more intense and drowned out her humming, her swinging feet too moved ever so slower before halting completely.
With the feet hung frozen in the air, Shiuchon rolled her head to meet Takato's gaze.
"Boys are dumb," she said before rolling herself over to lay down on her back, grumbling. She turned back to him as an afterthought. "Except you. You're nice."
Takato smiled. "Got into a fight with a friend?"
"Not my friend anymore." She huffed, feeling like sticking her tongue out at that supposed friend.
"Alright, come here." Takato patted a spot next to him on the floor. "Tell me everything."
Shiuchon sighed but crawled to where he was regardless. He yelped when she claimed a spot on his lap and leaned against his chest. She grinned at his reddening face.
He stammered, his hands flailing beside flustered. "Uh, I, um... this is awkward, do you know that?"
His eyes flittered about the room and refused to meet hers. When he resembled tomato more than a human, Shiuchon decided she'd had enough of teasing him and, to his great relief, climbed down to his side instead.
Takato listened attentively as she began her story.
"So, there's this boy I liked." She emphasized on the past tense. "Everyone was giving out chocolate cause it's valentine and all, but when I tried to give one to him he said it's childish, Valentine is stupid, bla bla bla." Shiuchon gagged.
"So–"
"I'm not done yet!" She puffed her cheeks, propping herself up on Takato's thigh. She looked up at him with gritted teeth. "After alllll that he said about valentine being for babies, do you know what he did next? Huh? Huh??" She leaned into his face with her voice getting louder by the end.
"What'd he–"
"I saw him take a chocolate from a girl from another class!" She cut him off before deflating and plopping her whole upper body on his laps, sighing. "He was happy about it too..." she ended with a whisper.
"So that's how it is. There, there." Takato ran a hand on her back like someone would a cat.
"I'm not a pet," she grumbled but let him make weird shapes on her back anyway.
"You're acting like one, so shush."
Her huff of indignance was meaningless against the gentle carress of his fingers. She melted as he played with her hair. Such soft hands...
"You must be popular with girls, huh, Takato," she said absentmindedly to his laugh as if the idea itself was unthinkable to him. His hands paused their delicate work as he hummed in thought.
"I wouldn't say I'm popular, honestly. I'm not good at sports, not that handsome, and everything I do is just uh... girlish."
She looked over her shoulder to catch his gaze. "So? Girls like girly boys too."
His eyes twinkled in amusement like he just thought of a joke she wasn't privy to. He was eager to share it with her however, and suddenly she wished he hadn't done so.
"Are you saying you like me then?"
Flustered as she was, she was still the better player at this teasing game. So she schooled her expression, flashed her teeth, and countered his words with her most smug look. "Took you long enough to notice."
Takato was silent for a moment. His face, pensive, shifted into bewilderment as he processed it followed by a deadpan when he realized she'd had him. He groaned, blush creeping onto his cheeks.
"Why you..." he poked her waist in a form of revenge. Shiuchon jolted at the sudden intrusion and had to fight hard when he started to tickle her up into he armpits.
"Stop! Stop! I'm sorry!" She laughed at his relentless assault, writhing on his laps as he made it his mission to find every one of her weak points. His fingers eventually left her to pant over his knee, relishing the oh so good intake of air. "You win... Happy now?"
Instead of answering her, Takato reached under her armpits again, but this time to lift her up rather than tickling her. He sat her on his laps, her back resting against his softly rising and falling chest. If her cheeks heated up, it was from all the laughing and not because of how squishy and comfy he felt. Didn't help that he had his arms wrapped around her.
"I thought you said this was awkward," she managed to squeek out.
"Was. And silent. Don't you see I'm comforting you?"
"Arguable," Shiuchon said but leaned into him anyway. She felt his breathing gaining speed from their close contact but didn't mention it. He went out of his way to comfort her so the least she could do was be silent about it and keep it for blackmail later. Since he was offering anyway...
"You're turning around?"
"I wanna cuddle."
He laughed but allowed her to lie her head on his chest. She listened to the thumps of his rather fast heartbeat, her own synchronising with it as the heat once again flared up inside her.
"Do you think girls are dumb?" she muttered after a brief silence, her voice now reduced to airy whispers. He replied in the same soft voice, humoring her probably stupid question.
"Why would I?" There was no hint of ridicule in his words, nor was he looking for ways to tease her while he played with her hair. She shrugged, finding it harder and harder to not just relax her shoulders and lean into his embrace.
"Because we keep chasing crushes that won't like us back. Don't you think that's dumb? And when we get mad at them, we still try to make them notice us."
His soft chuckle was like music to her ears.
"I wouldn't worry too much." Takato shifted from under her to carress her head. "Boys are like that too. But we do more dumb stuff. And then we do dumber stuff if our crushes still haven't noticed us. And if they still don't, we'll announce it in front of the whole class."
She stifled a laugh at the imagery. "Why would you do that? That's just stupid." He shrugged and joined in on her laugh. She couldn't help tightening her arms around him. He was so warm and cuddly. "Takato?" she asked, her voice so low she might as well say it in her head.
"Yeah?"
"Don't stop being cuddly, okay?"
He chuckled and reciprocated her tightening embrace. "Of course."
It was just the two of them in that moment, hugging each other in comforting silence.
When Takato's mom called her later for the bath, Shiuchon quickly excused herself and made her way to the bathroom. She sunk into the bathtub, the water temperature only adding to the red of her flustered face. Yet, her small smile never left her face.
"You can have my chocolate," she told him when the rain had reduced to sprinkle and its clouds were no longer concealing her blushing cheeks. Takato stood over her, a disposable umbrella outstretched for her to take. Outside the bakery, passers-by and bystanders alike were listening to their not so quiet conversation.
"You sure?"
She nodded, procuring said chocolate from her backpack and exchanging it for the umbrella.
"Sorry it's all wrinkled," she gestured to the ugly and misshapen wrapper. "I got angry earlier and almost to crush it."
She suddenly felt self-conscious from how Takato was studying the chocolate like it was some kind of a priceless object. His look of wonder never left his face even after he tore the wrapping apart.
"Your chocolate always looks good, but this one looks like it's store-bought."
She dipped her head in a nod but had no intention to look back up.
"Took the whole night. I ruined a few tries and only this one turned out fine." The cracks on the floor captivated her while she shifted on her feet. If she was the exact image of a crushing girl she often saw on tv, then so be it. "C-can you tell me how it tast–"
She peeked through her bang to see him already munching through half of the chocolate. He blinked down at her in surprise, awkwardly coughing when she kept staring. "Sorry. Your chocolate always tastes so good, I couldn't resist."
He blushed at her stifled laugh but smiled regardless.
"Well, this one is extra special," she said with the same shade of pink on her cheeks. "I only give out one every year."
"I see..." He coughed again and averted his gaze. "I... don't think I can go back to the usual chocolate you give to everyone after this."
"You don't have to," she wanted to say, but the words were stuck in her mouth. Only air escaped her gaping lips. As it was, Shiuchon only blushed and watched him devour the rest of her chocolate in silence, flattered at how much he enjoyed her work. Her eyes soon landed on his lips, the smudge on it getting worse the more he tried to brush it away with the back of his palm.
She chuckled and beckoned him towards her, pulling out a mostly dry handkerchief from her bag. "Come here."
He obediently leaned down and let her grab his cheeks expecting her to wipe his mess for him. In fact, she was expecting herself to do just that and only that. But her body had a different plan.
Both of them realized it when she absentmindedly brushed her thumb over his lips. Neither she nor Takato fought it, their face slowly inching toward each other until her nose tingled from the closeness. The kiss was brief, instant even, but the elation she felt when she pulled back threatened to push her to the ground.
They stared at each other in silence, her eyes trapped in the beatiful maze that was his eyes. If they weren't out in the open, Shiuchon would've pounced on him and made sure to steal a longer kiss. But with the growing audience they had outside the bakery, along with Takato's parents watching them through the windows, she decided to bid her farewell and address their intimacy on a later date.
"See you tomorrow?" She looked up to him, her hands already opening up her umbrella.
He nodded, an abashed smile on his face. "Take care."
Puddles splashed under her feet as she left the roofed area of the bakery. Shiuchon counted every step and watched him wave at her from over her shoulder. Slowly, her steps halted and he watched in confusion when she turned back around. Their audiences listened in rapture, but she wasn't in the right mind to acknowledge it, too blinded by the feeling she'd thought she had for another.
"Boys are dumb," she said with a grin. "But you make me dumber and I like you for it."
Before he even had time to process her words, she already turned and started sprinting.
Takato called for her. "Sh-Shiuchon! Do you really–"
"I said what I said!" She shouted without looking back. She ran all the way home, her face heating up the more she replayed her confession in her foggy head.
It was stupid, she admitted, announcing it to the whole neighborhood like that. But nothing in that moment could stop her from laughing like a crazy person. If people stared, then she was too happy to care.