Author's Note: Here's a short indulgence fic. It's basically just another Valentines fic, but well, White Day is basically another Valentine's Day, which to me is just an excuse for me to indulge. Though I didn't write much for it, I've been a bit busy and distracted to write much. Anyways, hopefully you'll enjoy.
"Thank you again for dinner, Shinji." Rei said aloud as she walked hand in hand with her boyfriend Shinji.
"Of course, Rei. Today's special, so I thought it only made sense to do something special for our date." Shinji told his girlfriend before scratching his cheek, "Besides, it kind of gives me a break from cooking heh…"
Both of them had just come from a dinner date at a restaurant Shinji had made a reservation for; having wanted to treat Rei to something special for White Day. They enjoyed a nice dinner with some comfortable discussion about how their past days apart have been. Neither had really noticed an hour pass as they ate and talked, before they then finished up, with Shinji paying for the meal. The couple were now simply walking on the side of the street, in the general direction of Rei's own apartment.
The two of them had worn casual but still somewhat formal clothing for the event, Rei having worn a dark teal sundress that she had gotten upon a shopping trip with Shinji's help. The outfit had made him somewhat speechless upon seeing her in it, still so used to seeing her in her school uniform that the sight of her in a dress still stunned him despite his hand in helping her pick it. Shinji meanwhile stuck to a dark pair of jeans with a light mint colored polo shirt he too recently acquired as well as carried along his satchel he generally would use for school. Upon being asked why he had brought the bag, he only dismissed it as not something she needed to worry about.
"It was good, though I also enjoy your cooking as well, but it was very nice to eat at a restaurant." The blue haired girl commented as she turned her red eyes towards her boyfriend.
"Well, I'm just glad you had a good time." He offered her a smile as gazed at her before then looking up at the sky which was starting to darken as the sun began to set and then turned back to her, "... though it's starting to get dark, did you want to head back to your apartment?"
"Hmm, Actually… there is a nearby park that I was wondering if you would like to take a walk through it together?" She asked him.
"Sure thing Rei." He agreed as he allowed himself to be led by hand, following alongside his girlfriend.
It wasn't that far, and the park was not that big either all things considered. Regardless though, it provided a nice environment for the couple to take a stroll through. The street lamps around it had turned on, ensuring the park was illuminated as they walked along the concrete paths, a light breeze slightly nipped at their faces and hands but not enough to make them feel cold.
No commentary was needed from either of them as the soft movement of grass and leaves from wind made a soft melody that only occasionally was drowned out by the faint sound of vehicles in the cityscape around the park. A nearby pond provided muted reflections of the lights around that rippled along the water's surface in the dimming evening sky.
Shinji then noticed a bench near a public waste bin and a lamp post that kept it illuminated, causing him to gesture Rei's attention to it. Wordlessly she led them towards the seating, though continuing at their leisurely pace they had already established until they found themselves in front of it.
Upon sitting down on the bench, Rei let out a small exhale as she moved into Shinjis side. Holding gentle on to his arm as she rested her head upon his shoulder. Closing her eyes and feeling as he leaned into her hair made her sigh in comfort.
"Today has been nice." She stated as she opened her eyes to look up at the sky and despite the light of the nearby lamppost, was still able to see some stars that had started to appear in the evening sky.
"Yeah, it has…" He agreed as he looked towards her, "I was worried it was going to start raining earlier, but I'm happy it didn't, I don't think it would have been as nice if we spent all day inside."
"I don't imagine it would have been as nice an evening if we did end up staying inside, but I am sure it would not have been good, we would at least still be spending time together." The pale girl gave a light squeeze to his arm which made him hum appreciatively.
"You're probably right, I can't see why I wouldn't be happy being stuck inside with you hehe." The brunette rubbed the back of his head abashedly while she felt her cheeks get warm.
Yes, I truly am grateful you wanted to spend so much time today with me, Shinji." Rei thanked as she moved to look into his eyes, making his cheeks blush.
"Ah, you don't have to thank me, Rei. It's White Day afterall, of course I wanted to spend it with you." Shinji smiled at her as he said so before continuing, "Speaking of…"
With his free arm, the brown-haired boy moved his hand to his satchel bag he had been carrying and opened it up before reaching in. From it, Shinji pulled out a box that was a dark gold color and shaped as a heart.
"... happy White Day, Rei." He told the girl as he held the box towards her, offering for her to take it.
With a small amount of reluctance she let go of his arm and sat up a little straighter before reaching out for the box. Grasping his gift with her pale hands, she pulled it towards herself and gave it a once over. It was a box of chocolates. Her head then turned back to him as he looked back at her, still with his smile.
"Shinji…" She gently spoke her boyfriend's name before then leaning towards him and giving him a kiss on his lips that he accepted, lingering on it for a moment before pulling back, "... Thank you."
"Like I said, it's White Day and well, of course I wanted to get you some chocolates for it." The teen explained as he smiled again in spite of the blush on his face.
"Still, thank you. You did not have to get them; I would not have held it against you if you didn't. Especially since you have already taken me to dinner, you did not have to get me this in addition to everything else." It flustered the girl a bit to receive gifts and or have kind things done for her, especially in close succession to one another, as she was not accustomed to it, "But I certainly appreciate it."
"I-I'm glad, and I did have to get it for you Rei, you're my girlfriend." Shinji told her as he gently reached for one of her hands and held it, "And I know you haven't really eated chocolate much, so I decided to get a variety box instead of something more traditional, so you could try and see which ones you like…"
It was true that Rei did not eat chocolate much, in fact before a month ago, she had never even chocolate at all. She had only tried it once and that was on Valentines Day when Shinji had offered her some of the chocolate from the box she had bought him, only the one she bought wasn't of much variety.
"I see, thank you again, Shinji. I would not mind trying more chocolates." The chocolate she tried before was quite good, though she wasn't used to such sweets, but regardless would like to try since he had bought them for her.
"Well, you could try them right now if you wanted to." He suggested to his girlfriend, who looked at him in consideration before nodding.
"I think I'd like that." The blue-haired girl agreed as she turned her attention to the box.
With her pale fingers she tore the plastic wrapping that surrounded the box, fully removing it before Shinji then grasped it and leaned to throw it in the waste bin which he was closer to. Rei then grasped the rim of the box's lid and pulled it off to reveal the assortment of chocolate confections neatly arranged inside. She noticed that there were different shapes to the chocolates, with every shape having one matching pair, in total there were 5 pairs of chocolates.
"I believe I will start with this one." Rei announced to Shinji as she grabbed an oblong shaped chocolate with a curved top. She noticed as her boyfriend was focused on her, watching as she grabbed the candy. It brought a bit of a blush to her own cheeks which in turn made him somewhat embarrassed as he realized he was staring.
Rei lifted the chocolate up to her lips and took a bite out of it, biting off about half of the chocolate. She chewed it a bit, allowing her to recognize it as tasting similar to the last chocolate she had eaten a month ago. Upon swallowing it she turned to Shinji.
"... that one tasted like the ones you allowed me to try, but somewhat different." Her red eyes looked at him with an unmasked question of if he knew the reason why.
"Oh, it was probably the same kind then, but maybe it tastes different because it's a different brand?" He offered as a way of explanation.
"Perhaps you're right…" The pale girl agreed before looking at the other half of the chocolate and then Shinji, "... would you like to try it?"
She gestured the other uneaten half in her hand upon her question.
"O-oh, sure." The blue-eyed boy accepted.
The girl extended her hand to him, though inadvertently had moved it close to his face. The proximity of the chocolate to his face had made the boy's mind unconsciously decide to forgo grabbing it with his hand, instead moving his head down so that he could grasp the chocolate from her hands using his mouth.
Only upon chewing did Shinji realize what he had done and his face began to turn red with embarrassment. Rei had gone still when she saw him grab the chocolate from her fingertips with his mouth. The action made her cheeks feel warm, and for a reason she didn't fully understand, made her feel a jolt of satisfied pleasure.
"Ah t-thanks." The brunette spoke once he was done eating the treat.
"You-... You are welcome." She was a little flustered at the sudden action but did her best to collect herself despite her pink cheeks.
"I um s-see what you mean about it tasting different from the other ones you had gotten me." He said in an attempt to distract himself and her.
"Yes… I think I will try another." The girl decided as she looked back at the chocolates and grabbed another.
This one was square and when she bit into it, her eyes lit up ever so slightly at a familiar, if off, flavor inside it. Looking at the other half, she could see a pink colored paste that filled the chocolate from where she had bitten from.
"This is… strawberry flavored?" Rei asked as she looked at Shinji who looked at the candy.
"Mm yeah, it's an artificial flavoring. What do you think about it?" He wondered as he noticed a bit of her reaction when tasting it.
"It does not taste bad, I like the taste of the strawberry with the chocolate, but it also tastes off." She then tilted her head slightly in thought, "Hmm, I believe it may be better if it was chocolate with real strawberry."
"Oh! Well, they actually do make strawberries that are dipped in chocolate, maybe we can get some of those for you to try some time?" Rei perked slightly at the offer and nodded.
"Yes, I would like that." While she was not fond of the color red, the strawberry had become one of her favorite fruits since Shinji had exposed her to it.
"I'll see what I can find next time I'm shopping, if I can't find any then maybe I can try making some…" He offered, which had the girl smile slightly at his generosity.
"That sound's nice…" She then turned back to the chocolate in her hand still, "... would you also like to try this one?"
"Ah, um yeah." He nodded to which she held it to him again.
However this time, she intentionally held it up to his face. When he had moved his hand as though he was going to grab it, she just further moved it closer. He seemed to catch on to what she wanted and despite his fluster complied, once again taking it with his mouth. Chewing and swallowing it.
"It's good." He told her as way to show he had eaten it.
The blue-haired girl simply gave a nod before grabbing another chocolate, this one was another rectangle with a lined pattern on top. Upon taking a bite, she pulled it away from her lips, only to be surprised as a brownish orange filling stretched from the other piece of the chocolate and broke apart into a separate piece that hung from her mouth. She raised a hand to her mouth to be polite as she licked up the piece on her lips, her eyes widening slightly at the taste of the filling. She gave a few tentative chews before swallowing, not fully enjoying that piece.
"It is… very sweet…" Was all she said in response to the taste.
"Oh, that caramel, um yeah it's really sweet, it's pretty much just pure sugar. I don't mind it much, but I can understand if you don't really like it, hehe." Shinji explained with a small chuckle at his girlfriend's surprised expression.
"I… will not be finishing this one…" Rei decided as she moved the chocolate towards him, slightly brushing his lips with it, to which he simply took it with his lips and ate it.
She turned and grabbed another one as he finished the rest of the one she had found overly sweet. Her hand fell upon a heart shaped chocolate that was a darker shade then the rest. Taking a moment to look at it and see how to take a bite from it, she decided to bite it from the side, splitting it down the middle.
The taste she found most pleasant. While the other ones had been much sweeter, this one was slightly bitter. It still retained some sweetness of course; however it was juxtaposed by a fine undertone of bitterness. She couldn't help but let out a pleased hum as she swallowed it.
Her hands had to stop her from eating the rest of it, as while she did enjoy it and would like to eat the rest of it, she more so wanted to share it with her boyfriend.
"Here… try this one." She instructed Shinji as she moved the chocolate to his mouth.
His lips opened as she came near it with the candy. The pale girl fed it to him and watched as he chewed it. He too let out a hum as he ate it.
"I believe this one is my favorite. It is not too sweet." Rei told him as he nodded in confirmation.
"Mm, yeah, I also like dark chocolate a lot." He still had a blush as a result of being fed chocolates by her but managed to collect himself enough to not stutter.
"Though I also think that is enough sweets for now." She said as she put the lid back on the box, "But aside from that very sweet one, I liked them. Thank you."
"I'm just happy you liked them, Rei." He smiled at her, which made her give him a small smile in return before looking at the sky and noting that the sun was now gone from the horizon making it was fully night.
"It is getting late." She remarked to him as she stood up from the bench.
"Yeah, we should go back to your apartment." He agreed as he too stood up.
"Will you be staying the night?" The pale girl asked as she clutched the box to her chest.
"If you want me to." He responded as he adjusted his satchel.
"I do." It was a quick choice for her to decide.
"Then I will." His answer received another smile.
"I'm glad." Rei replied as she held her hand out to him.
Shinji just wordlessly took her hand and moved to her side, the two falling in sync as they walked together, hand in hand.
Author's Note: Like my indulgent Valentine's fic, I didn't lean so much into White Day beyond a name drop and chocolates, I don't really celebrate it since I'm in the states. This really was just an excuse to make what I wanted, though I admit again I have been distracted and procrastinated a lot in the making of it, which probably speaks to why it's so short. If you want to, let me know what you think, ciya.