Archive of Our Own

Ritsu's relationship with Valentine's Days had always been… rocky at best. 

On one hand, he could rather understand the concept, where it came from, and why it seemed so popular, especially among teenagers his age. He got the idea behind the event, really, it was pretty sweet, in its own very cringe way, and gave the courage to many people to confess their undying feelings, or for others already committed, to thrive on their never ending love. Which was nice, sweet.

So, so sweet, maybe so much it made him want to throw up from the sugar rush sometimes. 

Perhaps Ritsu wasn't just that much of a romantic. It wouldn't have been a surprise in fact, he barely ever got interested in anyone on a friendly basis, let alone the non-platonic territory. If anything, people getting more interested about him on this day only made him want to crawl into a hole and never go up on the surface ever again. 

It wasn't that he particularly disliked having the attention of multiple pairs of eyes on him (he did, it got tiring after a while), but rather that turning down the fifth nameless student that had their affections on him in a row started to weigh heavy on his already strained shoulders. 

But Ritsu was, unfortunately, pretty used to the side glances and secretive whispers in the corridors when he passed by. He knew that he had some admirers, even if he couldn't comprehend why. Sure, he was doing fine at school, was in the Student Council, and good enough at sports, overall, it wasn't a surprise that he was known at school, but popular? That was an utterly different story. In fact, it mostly reminded him of painful times, and bad decisions.

All of this always came down as pretty superficial. "Please, go out with me, I like you.", "You are very nice and talented.", "I've always admired you.", always the same tune, with the same rhythm, that always left the same ashy and sour taste in his mouth. 

These people didn't know him, if they did, they wouldn't even confess in the first place. After all, none of the people he deemed knew him well enough to have actually witnessed a fraction of his personality (that being a total of approximately four people) had ever confessed to him, which proved his point.

And he kept on asking himself, why would anyone want to date someone you knew nothing about? What could possibly assure them that both parties were going to be a good match? It was nothing but baseless adoration for someone who had something they thrived for themselves, popularity, looks, sense of humor, anything really, just to project themselves onto an idyllic, better life without struggles they were experimenting otherwise. 

Which was nothing but another cheap excuse to avoid facing yourself in the end, something he was (to his great shame) all too familiar with, and it disgusted him to no end. 

So Ritsu always turned any confession down. 

Surely, it must have hurt, even if he always did it as formally and politely as possible, even sparing some regretful practiced smiles. He reasoned that it must have stung for a while, until they ultimately realized that their feelings were never genuine to begin with, and certainly nowhere close to real love. Eventually they would forget all about their very existence in the first place.

And that had been Ritsu's routine ever since he and his peers had started to be old enough to understand what love was supposed to be, and especially since the "Kamuro event", as he usually referred to it, teeth gritted. 

So on Valentine's Day, it was mostly the same, but worse. 

And today was the day, which meant, out of almost passing out from the heavy case of diabetes that simply looking at those chocolates gave him, he also suffered from unbearable fatigue all the while pulling off his best theatrics as well. 

The day had been average, scholarly speaking. The classes were normal, what to be expected of any other day, but the rest…

The rest had been hell on earth.

Not only had he barely got any time for himself, having been dragged around school, almost stationed behind the gymnasium or on the rooftop for endless flow of succeeding generic confessions, but the Student Council had also been acting up. 

The thing was, this year, they had had the great idea to organize an event for Valentine's Day at Salt Middle School. 

In itself, the idea really was great, simple, and attractive. The council had managed to get in touch with a florist that agreed to sell them a certain number of red roses the students could purchase and offer to their loved ones if they ever wished to. It was a pretty basic command system, where one week before the 14th of February they had to answer a survey of how many roses they wanted, if they wished to pick them up themselves or get the delivery done by a Student Council Member at the beginning of a class, and if they wanted a message with it, anonymous or not. 

Ritsu had worked on the project alongside the rest of the Student Council for months, and he was proud to say that it had been a success, with students far less shy than they had expected, and some even buying multiple roses for their family and friends. Financially speaking, it had been worth the cost, the sweat, and the time put into it… Or almost, because tying the flowers to the messages had been the longest, most tedious and most obnoxious work Ritsu had had to do in a while. Not to mention that distributing their presents to dozens of students had been even more tiring than completing the paperwork.  

Overall, it had been great, but months of work spent into one event that Ritsu wasn't fond of, added to the flowery even sweeter air on Salt Middle that he helped spreading that day, and Ritsu was definitely sick of Valentine's Day. 

He even received some of the flowers he had prepared himself. 

So with steps heavier than they were supposed to be, shoulders higher and more tense than it was healthy to be, Ritsu carried himself and his bag full of nameless's chocolates through this exhausting hellishly bittersweet day. 

And how sour it all turned out to be when, finally free from school duties (and seemingly from any more unwanted confessions) he opened his shoe locker to be met with a falling pyramid of more chocolates. 

And he snapped. 

Not directly, of course, but he was pretty sure that he heard the distinct sound or something breaking on the back of his mind. Probably his sanity. 

Was it the endless stream of love confessions that had put him on edge? All the tiring work for the Student Council? Maybe the fact that he had bathed into this mellow aroma of love for months on end with no reprieve? Or was it the fact that, somehow, without even knowing why or how, it all hit particularly close to home this time around?

See, Ritsu wasn't a romantic, or so he had always believed. 

In fact, he had always been pretty sure that love wasn't meant for him at all. After all, he had always (almost) been distant, even with his family. He barely had any friends, was never seeking human contact and had never even minded it before. 

It had changed. 

It had changed because of one single person. 

(Realistically, Ritsu knew it was more because of a succession of events he had a part in, but the emotional part of his mind was a mess, and he was more inclined to believe the louder part of his brain.)

And well, maybe this year, when he was thinking about Valentine's Day and chocolate, his mind hadn't only been on annoying paperwork and rejection scripts, much to his demise. 

Worst of it all, maybe he did even contemplate offering chocolates. 

Ritsu wanted to bang his head hard against his locker, cheeks as red as the roses he still had in his bag. He bit his bottom lip, eyes settling to the side, busying himself with picking up the leftovers chocolates on the floor. Not participating in the day had probably been the best call of his life. 

He didn't mind chocolate per se, they were fine, pretty good when he was in the mood, but he was pretty sure that he would nor could ever eat that many of them, even if he split them up with his brother. But the thought of… making them or buying them somehow made them a lot more indigestible to him. 

What had he been thinking for all this time? Why was he even mildly interested in the day!? This was supposed to be a pain in the ass! Confessing during Valentine's Day was the worst overused bland scenario, overheated as a Christmas Romance movie! Not that Ritsu would ever confess anyways. He didn't have any feelings to confess in the first place! And even if he somehow did -which he did not-  it was not like he was going to say his feelings out loud. Ewk. No, he would tuck them away, lock them deep inside his heart, alongside his murderous intents, and never ever discuss them again until he died alone and dehydrated or something like that.

It had been the plan, one he had followed for a while with success until now. So why?

Why was his heart beating so fast when he pictured orange hair and blues eyes in his mind!?

Ritsu almost threw the box he was currently holding, hissing behind his breath.

That didn't make any sense!

Suzuki was his friend, okay, that pretty much he could roll with. 

Maybe his first friend ever.

Maybe still his only real friend.

That was arguable, he had met some people he could call his friend, like Hanazawa. Sure, they only got closer because of their common acquaintance, who happened to be his brother, and yes, Shigeo technically couldn't count either because he never had the choice to befriend Ritsu as a sibling to begin with. And, yes, maybe Suzuki had been the only person around ever genuinely interested in Ritsu on his own, for who he was and not what he was or could be, which made him the only one fitting for the title… And he was deserving his point again. 

But still! That didn't mean he could allow his mind to wander for nothing and daydream about giving him some fucking sweet chocolates and hold his hand under the moonlight!

Oh no. Now he was seriously going to throw up. 

When had it all started anyways? Back after the whole "world domination" thing had ended that was for sure. 

But pinpointing the exact time? He couldn't really tell. It just… sort of happened. Shou had somehow always found his way under Ritsu's skin. Crawling under there, behind the thickest fortifications of Ritsu's emotions and leaving his permanent dazzling mark. He had learned to live with that, but never ever would he have expected it to go as far as turning Ritsu's life upside down and make him out of all people care for Valentine's Day, let alone contemplating participating in the event.

That had been wrong all over. No matter what he thought about Suzuki, it hardly had any weight in all of this: Valentine's Day sucked, and it would always, no matter what happened. 

Ritsu couldn't get carried away and he had made the right decision, to ignore all of that and silently suffer his agony.  

Who cared if he was feeling empty behind all of his stress and exhaustion, or if he felt like he was missing out on something. That was just the stupid hopeful and giddy part of his mind that he would shut up by any means. Which was still way better than offering Suzuki some chocolates and facing the inevitable end of their friendship as he turned him down, and then abandoned Ritsu because he was a weird loser who somehow had a terrible, horrible crush on his best friend and life wasn't supposed to work this way. 

Then again… Life was never working normally around Suzuki…

No! He had to shut his brain! Stop thinking. Who needed thinking anyways? Thinking was stupid. 

Okay, well, maybe Suzuki started to rub off on him.

Ritsu clenched his teeth, why would his thoughts always drift back on him!? He forced  himself again to not knock himself cold on the lockers, stuffed all of the stomach-turning chocolates into his bag, ignoring the way they were mocking him as he did, and left school faster than he could ever remember. 

Or so he tried.

He would have done it if Suzuki wasn't standing near the gates, eyes focused on the road where a few carefree students started to disappear into the town. 

Right. Of course he would be. He was waiting for Ritsu to get out almost half of the school days after all, why would today be an exception?

Ritsu cursed under his breath, his face still too red and hot to even consider facing him right now. He looked on the side of the school, Suzuki hadn't noticed him yet, probably, so he could still run away, go over the fence, boost his steps with some psychic powers, flee to another country, never to be seen again and Suzuki would never know what happened that day. 

But as Ritsu was making his escape plan, his eyes landed on Suzuki's hands.

Oh.

His face drained from all of its color, so much that it wouldn't have been so embarrassing to face Shou anymore. 

But his feet were stuck to the ground.

Shou was eating some chocolates. 

Wasn't it funny? A divine intelligence must have been playing on Ritsu, he distantly hoped they were finding this all very amusing.

He must have looked awkward, standing in the middle of the schoolyard, because Shou turned his head, and his eyes briefly widened, just enough to convey that he had spotted Ritsu. 

Not that it was difficult with hardly anyone else around at this hour. 

Shou immediately made his way towards Ritsu, smirk in place, free hand waving, the usual greeting gesture, so common and normal that it made Ritsu's chest ache desperately in it's one sided agony and betrayal. 

'Betrayal for what exactly?', his mind answered. Suzuki owed him nothing, as far as he knew, he had all the rights to have received any chocolate from anyone and do whatever the hell he wanted with them. What could he even complain about, when he had at least a dozen stuck in his own bag? Great, fine, Ritsu would just have to suck it up in silence, coward as he was, being his jealous horrible self over some dumb cacao. 

Ritsu's mind went on autopilot, far too distressed about the sudden pain all over his body to do anything else but avoid any shift in his demeanor. So he just took a breath in and made use of this two second interval in which Shou caught up to compose himself. 

"Yo! Ritsu!", he almost yelled, joyful as always. 

He returned a smile, tinier and only half-genuine.

"Oh man you look tired. Long day at school?", he added once he stopped in front of him.

"I swear if I see one more flower I'm going to lose it for good.", Ritsu supplied with a tired sigh.

"Whoops, wait, I gotta cancel the parade of flowers I ordered for you today.", Shou smirked with a shrug.

Ritsu rolled his eyes, "Gross.", he replied with no harm in his voice. He was such a hypocrite, pretending that he wouldn't have liked that. It would have been embarrassing for sure, maybe so much that he probably would have combusted to death on the spot, or burrowed himself thirty meters underground until he turned himself into a rock and never had to come up again. The weirdest rock ever, always six feet under until some geologists in the future found him, and decided to study what had become of him. Still, the thought of Shou giving him some flowers left him disgustingly skittish and warm. 

He hated this.

Shou looped an arm around his shoulder like he often did even though he was shorter, and had to stand slightly crooked to do so. Ritsu cracked his usual smile in answer. He felt his shoulders drop, in unconscious acceptance of the contact.

His heart may have been shattered to bloody pieces right where they were standing, but at least being with Shou was still relaxing.

He tried his best to ignore all of this, and think of anything but today, but it was still printed all over him, a creeping curiosity that wouldn't leave his core until he asked. Was it torturing himself? Maybe. Maybe it was better to just forget all about this and Valentine's Day altogether.

"Who gave you chocolate?", he asked anyway with his most falsely disinterested tone. 

"Oh?", the redhead said, slightly loosening his grip on Ritsu, "Those are Teru's."

Ritsu blinked, once, twice. 

"Hanazawa?"

Relief washed over Ritsu at a ridiculous speed. He tried to overlook the hopeful hop his stupid traitorous heart made, preferably focusing on his confusion. 

"Yeah, oh boy that's a long story.", he casually replied, popping the last chocolate he was holding in his mouth and briefly licking his fingers. 

Ritsu raised an eyebrow, inquisitive. Hanazawa was a bit eccentric after all, he supposed that, out of all of their friends, he was the likeliest one to run around distributing chocolates to their group, even though he must have also received his fair share from his own admirers. He was kind of torn apart between the idea of Teruki offering chocolates to everyone with a goofy smile and preaching love to anyone who might listen, and him being as cold towards the event as Ritsu was for the exact same reasons. 

So he giving chocolates to Shou… Halfway surprising, probably. 

They... Probably didn't mean anything. He hoped. That would have been weird otherwise.

It was only after he was dragged away from school, and out of his circle of thoughts that Shou started speaking again. 

"So, it was like, one week ago or so, I was walking down the main street of the city when I spotted Teru looking at a window shop as if he was solving Schrodinger's equations or whatever. You know me, I'm not weird, so I decide to walk up to him, and say hello, cause' we're friends, and friends don't just ignore each other."

Ritsu briefly reflected on many times he had tried -and successfully failed- to ignore Suzuki tapping against his window while he was doing homework with a fond mental smile. Okay, he probably deserved that one. 

"I see that the shop is one of those Valentine's themed thingy, where they sell a whole bunch of heart shaped chocolates and whatever. So I ask him, and he says that he wants to give some, but that it has to be perfect, and I can't stress this enough, he looked like he was about to fight Shimazaki all over again."

Sure, he had never actually seen how Hanazawa had handled this fight.

"I know that you're thinking something smart like "But you've haven't seen it.". You get my point, stop looking smug.", he lightly nudged Ritsu's shoulder. 

"So I don't know much about Valentine's and all, I mean, I never really got the time before to get into it, not like I had a reason either. Well, anyways, I kinda remembered the old love dramas Mom used to watch, those where the handmade gifts were always the most well-received because love and shit. So I tell him that, he should totally do them himself. He seems keen on it, by which I mean, he literally starts beaming at me, and he drags me; well, more like, I follow him to that super fancy chocolaterie, the most expensive one in town! Teru is loaded, no problem, and so am I, so who cares, the cashiers did though, I swear they must have thought we would be way out of our budget, and I'm pretty they wanted to throw us out at some point..."

He took a short break as if he needed to remember what happened next, Ritsu used that time to mentally picture Suzuki, standing in the middle of the fanciest chocolaterie around, hands in his pockets, scanning over the shelves with an almost impressed look on his face, and very much not supposed to be there.

"Anyways, we buy some sweet chocolate, and go back to Teru's. You knew he was a pretty good cook? Far better than I am that's for sure. So he starts his plan, and that means a lotta' research of recipes and stuff, and lotta' tries. Ritsu, I feel like I've been over his place more in this past week than ever."

Suzuki stopped midway, suddenly very pensive, as if he was actually trying to do the math. Ritsu gave him his own time wondering how he hadn't noticed such a drastic change in his schedule. Truth was, nothing had changed for them, Suzuki had still walked with him for most of the week, and still hung out at night in his room, so when did he...

"So we cook, and man is he trying his best. He is kind of a perfectionist, I can't tell how many chocolates I had to eat cause I didn't want to throw them away, and they were good, like, real good. I have no idea why he didn't keep them the way they were, but I'm not in his mind. He ends up with a whole perfect box and some other fails that he kept for us both, and I'm pretty sure he is gonna throw some of those at Reigen as well? Dude, there are enough of them to give Dimple back his powers. Welp, whatever.", Shou dipped his hand inside his pocket, reaching for a box he handed to Ritsu.

"I made that."

Ritsu automatically reached back, taking absentmindedly what he was given.

It was a small enough box, about the size of a pocket book, but wider, it was to wonder how it even fitted in the jacket. Decorated with navy blue paper, circled by a shiny bright orange ribbon. He had seen prettier today, but still pretty neat, definitely handmade.

Ritsu turned it around in his hands, scanning over the package, careful, almost afraid he could damage it just by looking.

"Chocolates?", he asked, even though he already knew the answer. Or maybe it was a bomb, Suzuki probably knew how to make a bomb that size. 

Shou hummed back, eyes focused on Ritsu.

"That's pretty tidy. More than I would have expected of you.", he teased instead, hoping it wasn't about to explode.

"Shh, you ass, c'mon, try one out! Who cares about the wrapping!", Suzuki pressed, lightly shoving Ritsu's side with his shoulder. 

Well he did, he liked the colors, they had barely nothing in common, and were clashing in an ugly way, but they oddly matched as well. 

"Can I?" It seemed like a pretty precious box, Ritsu wouldn't want to mess it up with carelessness.

"Duh. C'mon!"

"Okay, okay.", he sighed. 

The top was easy to lift, revealing, without damaging it too bad, a succession of tenth chocolate neatly packed in five rows.

So those were what he had made with Hanazawa. They definitely didn't look industrial. They were a bit bumpy, and slightly misshapen, most of them probably supposed to be square or round (one also looked like… a hamster..? Oh well, Shou was an artist after all). Five of them had an intriguing little red topping, something dry and carmine that reminded Ritsu of dried berries.

"Is that pepper?", Ritsu asked when it hit him, dubiously eying Shou. 

"Yeah it is! I figured basic chocolate was kinda dull, and that they needed a little something to spice them up, so pimento it is! Pretty neat, right?", he announced proudly.

Huh…

"Are you trying to poison me?", Ritsu deadpanned.

"C'mon, don't be so over-dramatic dude, it's like, you know how some people put chocolate in their curry to make the taste pop a bit? Yeah, same thing, but reverse."

Yeah, same but reverse. 

He wasn't so sure about that. 

"Alright, well, if I die, Shigeo will come to you.", he concluded, popping a red topping chocolate right into his mouth. 

He munched twice before the taste unraveled in his mouth. His first reaction was "Huh. It tastes like chocolate.", and then, it hit him. His tongue started to tingle, and his mouth grew hotter, drier until the spice cracked open between his teeth, merging with the sourness and sweetness of the dark chocolate coating it. 

He thought it would eventually stop.

It didn't. 

His eyes began to water a bit, and he started coughing in the middle of the road, ashamed by his own lack of composure, especially since he had never been particularly weak to spice before. The more he tried to collect himself, the worse it became. He kept on going, under the unimpressed look of Shou, who was probably dying out of laughter on the inside, that bastard. 

When it finally died down, Ritsu was left legs shaky, face red and a little sweaty, and feeling far too hot for this kind of weather. He was standing awkwardly on the middle of the road, that close to lifting all of the spicy chocolates with his powers and shoving them down into Shou's throat.

"What was that!? Is it legal? Is this a weapon!?", he hissed, both alarmed and embarrassed. Maybe he had been right, maybe it had been a bomb all along.

Shou only raised an eyebrow, the tiniest hint of a smile ghosting his lips.

"Dude, you were not supposed to eat them whole like that."

How- How should he have known!? Wasn't he supposed to tell him that before he actually ate it!?

"Was it too spicy?", Shou continued, sounding genuinely interested in feedback.

"Yes! What did it look like!?", Ritsu growled. 

"Yeah, well, I didn't know you would basically swallow the damn thing!", the other shrugged, dismissive but still amused. 

"Why didn't you make them tinier then!?", he grunted back.

"Hey! It was hard work, you know, show some respect!"

He hated that it was kind of a fair point, he still wanted to punch him in the face, and would probably have if he wasn't still holding the box. He could have used some powers, but they were still in the middle of the road where anyone could be a potential witness after all, so he focused on composing himself, attention drifting back to what he was holding.

"Well,", he sighed, "what do those taste like?", Ritsu asked, pointing at a topless chocolate. 

Suzuki shrugged with a mischievous smirk. "Nothing. Probably."

"Probably?", Ritsu parroted with as much suspicion as he could convey in both his tone and on his face with a crooked grimace and a raised eyebrow. 

Eyes back on the road, hands in his pocket, Suzuki looked like he was about to cause some problems on purpose. "Yeah like, I miiiight have put some salt instead of sugar in one of them?"

The twisted look on Ritsu’s face only grew wider. 

"Really?"

He felt a hand tap on his shoulder, familiar and prompting him to move, instead of dragging him around, the redhead only rolled his eyes. "It's fine dude, I was joking. Bland chocolates. Classic stuff."

Ritsu avoided staring by resting his gaze on the box again, judging if those words were supposed to be trustworthy or not. "Hmm."

"So what about you anyways? Got some today?", Shou asked all of the sudden.

“Some what?” Ritsu absentmindedly replied, taking the treat with two careful fingers. 

“Chocolate, dude, what do you think?”

"Ugh, yeah. Don't even mention it. My bag is full of them, it kind of makes me sick already."

 "Someone's popular.", Shou whistled.

He bit it in half, very slowly, to make sure his mouth wasn’t assaulted with salt or any other spice. When nothing came but regular sweetness, Ritsu ate the rest as well with a low appreciative hum. It was kind of good, simple, but not too sugary nor strong, he liked it. 

"I don't mind chocolates, but most of them come from people I don't even remember the face of already.”, he finished munching on the treat, contemplating eating another, it had left a sour taste on the side of his tongue that made him feel a little fuzzy in a good way, craving for more. “But it's not like I could refuse them either. I don't know, I'll probably give some to my brother, or throw them away. Do you want some?"

"Nah, am' good,”, Shou shrugged again, still without taking his eyes off of him, “I wouldn't really like eating chocolates that, you know, weren't meant for me."

"Yeah, I can understand that.” Ritsu sighed, taking another topless one into his mouth and letting it melt on his tongue before continuing. “It's just… Such a pain to have to deal with all of this, I'm tired of Valentine's day."

Suzuki briefly glanced up, and Ritsu followed to understand what was so interesting with the sky, except for the rosy aura of the starting twilight, nothing struck him as particularly wondrous. "So, you're not going to answer any of them?"

Ritsu thought over it, he knew the answer already, it was still unsettling to get it out and explain, but he supposed Shou would understand. 

"Probably not. I hardly want to eat any of them and everything is basically impersonal and bland, I guess I'll just ignore them."

"Oof, harsh man."

Ritsu snorted. He finally decided himself to try another spicy one, this time careful, not taking it whole. Once he knew what to expect of the flavor, he realized that the candy was far more appetizing, and that he even looked forward to the wave of spice firing up his taste buds. It did go well with chocolate, it was a bold association to say the least, but also so very much Suzuki that it made him crack a smile that somehow spread the tingling of the spice to his lips. 

"Yeah maybe. I'm not that much of a chocolate fan anyways."

"Huh.”, Suzuki eyed him with an playful grin, ‘You sure about that? You're like, eating the whole box right now."

Ritsu stopped munching, maybe even walking. "Huh?"

His gaze dropped to the box, fully noting that he already had taken four of them in a spent of ten minutes at best. 

"Ah… Huh…”, he felt his cheeks heat up, almost matching the lingering taste in his mouth, and his shoulder tense, as if he had been caught up doing something he shouldn’t have. “Yeah… I mean, the spicy ones are kinda good now that I know what to expect."

"Ah!”, Shou exclaimed, eyes suddenly dazzling, ‘I knew it! Teruki owes me ten bucks!", he shouted hand balling into a fist he almost threw in the air.

"You made a bet?", Ritsu asked incredulously. 

Another light tap on his back, probably meant to be celebrating, "Yeah, he was sure you'd be prissy about it, but I told him "No way, my man Ritsu is wild, he will like spices shoved down his throat!""

"Oh my god.", he almost snorted, somewhat mortified, "Did you say it like that?"

"More or less, anyways, I was right!", Suzuki offered in answer, with a bright toothy smile. Ritsu would have enjoyed this sight forever if he had been graced with such a blessing, but something clicked in his mind as he traded his eyes away towards the box again. 

"So wait, you made those for me?"

He didn't see the face Shou made, but he could feel it. The air became slightly colder, just enough to make Ritsu grasp the flashing doubt in his friend's demeanor.

"Huh, duh, yeah, I thought that was implied."

That made Ritsu perk up, looking back. 

"Was it?", he asked again, blinking, "Was it implied?".

"I told you I made those!", Suzuki scoffed, almost offended. 

The ravenette mirrored the expression with barely any change. "That doesn't imply anything!"

"Why would I have you taste them if these weren't for you?"

"I don't know?", he started to panic for a reason he couldn't even understand himself, "Maybe you wanted my opinion?"

Maybe because Suzuki started to look distressed as well, that must have put him on edge. How could he have known that these were meant for him? 

"No? Well, yes I did, but those are yours now.", the redhead pressed, lightly shoving the box towards Ritsu's chest. 

He grasped it more firmly, suddenly very afraid to let go.

“Did you seriously make me chocolates just for a bet with Teruki?”

“Huh. Yeah. I mean, no, but that’s like, y’know, part of it.” Suzuki replied, teeth almost gritting, eyes fleeing.

And so, Ritsu was left dumbfounded again, standing on the sidewalk with a half empty box in hands, more lost than he should have ever been about such a thing. 

“Why then?”, he couldn't help but ask.

It took a second for Shou to answer, gathering his thoughts or finding the right words maybe, in the end, he only shrugged, almost casually.

“I mean, I thought you’d like them.” 

… But Ritsu could very much see how his shoulders were tense, as he tried to hide it by shoving his hands on the back of his head. It would have worked, Ritsu realized, had he been anyone else. 

“That’s…", he breathed out, "Nice of you.”

He couldn't say much more, due to a lack of strength, of his own cowardice when it came to expressing his emotions, but he meant much more than that. Seeing the box in a whole new light that gave it a new meaning, a new weight. It was a present, made for him by Suzuki, the same boy who probably hadn't gifted anything but troubles to anyone in years. 

And he had taken some of his time to think about Ritsu, and decide to work on something for him? 

He didn't know how far he could go with these feelings, he didn't know if he could handle them, his legs were starting to feel mushy already, and he was pretty sure that his mouth had been open for far too long, and his eyes almost stung for no reason. He was probably going mad, or covering up a cold, anything that would explain the tightness in his chest. 

Shou pulled him out of his thoughts, in a two-faced mercy. 

“Do you?", he asked, blue eyes suddenly pouring into black, "Like them, I mean.”

Ritsu couldn't take the intensity of this gaze, so he dropped his eyes to the ground, helping the genuineness of his words with a flustered smile. 

“Yes, they are… Really good, I think. I like them a lot.”

Shou breathed in. 

“Neat.”

The trip to his house had ended shortly after the conversation. It wasn't long to begin with, and Shou always parted ways just before the Kageyama house was in sight, for whatever reason he had. They had talked about anything in the meantime, Suzuki promising to spare a visit tonight with his usual smile and confidence back at full force. Ritsu had vainly tried to complain, but he knew already that he was looking forward whatever they would be doing.

The first thing he did after coming home and making his presence known to anyone who might be inside the house (that being probably only his brother), was swiftly rushing to his room. Quick and discreet as a mouse, for no reason at all (it was not like he was doing anything suspicious, right?), he carefully placed the box on his desk. It was the perfect angle, one where the sun wouldn't melt any of the chocolate while still giving him easy access to them whenever he was working. 

Surprisingly, Ritsu had noticed only after his very important mission that no welcome nor greeting had been heard from the hallways, meaning that he was most likely alone in the house, a rare enough occurrence to be noted. Now he probably just had made a fool of himself, racing to his room while no one was around. At least, it meant that no one but him had been able to witness it.

The rest of the evening had gone by as normally as it could ever be. 

He worked on his homework and Student Councils paperwork, took his shower, greeted his brother once he came home, helped his mother to cook dinner, and they all ate together listening to the quiet conversations and jokes of his father, like any other day. 

Until his brother came to him after the meal, while Ritsu was drinking one last cup of water before heading upstairs for good. 

Shigeo's steps were shy, discreet as they always were, and with Ritsu not nearly as much alert and on edge as he used to be in his own home (and still a bit daydreaming about Shou's promise to come tonight, but he would never admit that), his presence had been unnoticed in the kitchen until he stopped a few steps away from Ritsu. 

It was a bit unusual for his brother to come to him, especially at this hour, so Ritsu figured that it probably had nothing to do with homework, and him coming so suddenly meant that it must have been serious enough to distress his brother. So Ritsu felt naturally apprehensive at the situation. He quickly put his emptied glass in the sink, full attention and a soft smile directed at his brother, casual enough to invite him to talk, but still very much alert on the inside. 

"Ritsu.", his brother started low as always. Good, he didn't seem distressed, just deep in thought, maybe it wasn't as bad as Ritsu had feared. 

"Hey Shige'.", he greeted back with a light smile. "Need anything?"

"Yes, hmm…", Shigeo hesitated, or rather was searching for a good way to present his dilemma. "I was wondering if you could tell me more about White Day. Please."

Ritsu's eyebrows briefly shot up. Whatever he had expected was surely not… that. But okay, never mind what he had believed, he could answer anything for Shigeo. 

"It's the day you're supposed to give back something to the people who offered you chocolates during Valentine's Day." he stated neutral, "But you're not obligated to do so. It's basically a way to return or acknowledge someone's affections.", Ritsu hastily added, more for himself than his brother, surely. "Why?"

Shigeo hummed, deep in thoughts as he was watching the ceiling. Eventually, his eyes went back to Ritsu's. "I don't have much experience on this, would you mind helping me plan it?"

The younger's mouth hung open. "I don't-", he tried, before it struck him. "W-Wait, Shige', did someone, I mean, you- you want to do something for White Day?"

That couldn't be happening, did his brother finally get some chocolates for Valentine's? Offered by someone he cared enough about to actually make a significant effort to reciprocate the attention? Was it Takane!? No, no that couldn't be her, that didn't make any sense. Was it a joke then? Another prank on his far too good brother? Shigeo did seem sure of himself though. So someone he knew? Maybe just friend chocolate? That would make sense, but who then? The girl from the telepathy club surely didn't seem like the type to be into Valentine's Day, and his reporter friend, Mezato, wouldn't give anything like that unless it served a particular purpose, she had no interest in gaining his brother's favors unless she was still investigating his powers… Someone else, maybe? 

The struggle must have been clear as water on Ritsu's face, but he was far too deep into panic to even care about it. Shigeo gave him time to register everything though, until he replied. 

"Yes, I need to give Tome-san something and…", he stopped midway, leaving Ritsu craving for more. Tome was the girl in his club but…

"Tome-san gave you chocolates?"

Shigeo seemed mildly surprised. "Oh no. She did not. Kijibayashi-kun suggested that she should have offered us some since it was Valentine's Day today, and she replied that we should be happy enough that someone as cool as her was our friend, so that we should give her something instead. So I figured I should make her something for White Day, to thank her for being my friend.", he explained, as if nothing was supposed to be striking in this story. 

Well, that was… certainly not what Ritsu had expected. He should probably inform his brother that he did not, in fact, owe Tome anything. 

"I also have to give something to Hanazawa-kun."

Ritsu might have choked on his water, had he still been drinking.

"Teru-san?", Ritsu parroted, again, for the second time today. The sly jerk sure seemed to like sneaking into his conversations.

"Yes. He offered me some chocolates.", Shigeo explained a little bashfully. 

The silence was heavy for a very long second. 

Ritsu felt like Teruki had personally come into his house just to slap him in the face, and walk away.

His mouth opened again, in a silent confused cry, and every single second where his brother's face became rosier, and the tiny little satisfied smile on his face steadier, Ritsu felt like a larger piece of his soul was ripped off.

He didn't know what to feel, in fact, he was submerged by all kinds of emotions. Anger? Astonishment? Confusion? A "I should have known" impression that somehow started to feel like the only acceptable answer?

Because, of course, he should have known! He didn't even understand how it didn't cross him as soon as Suzuki had told him that Teruki wanted to give chocolates this year! He had been too focused in his own little world! Who in hell could he have been wanting to give them to if not Shigeo!? The guy had been stuck to his brother since they met and giving him gooey smiles whenever he could! He was pretty sure he had seen him go through all ranges of corniness just by listening to Shigeo talking!

Oh no, here came the disgust.

Okay, he needed to focus. Those were only chocolates, they didn't, maybe, mean anything. Okay, well, they probably meant something but Hanazawa was a strange one, maybe he didn't need to slip his neck in two yet. Also, he was a better fighter than him, he would have to plan this right, think over the details, make sure he would know where to hide the body, and not be found out. That would be tricky, but with a solid plan that could work. 

Ritsu slowly inhaled to anchor himself down, and desperately tried not to think about the goofy flustered look on Hanazawa's face when he gave his chocolates to his brother, and the worse elated expression when he actually accepted them.

Maybe, the hopeful part of his mind (the delusional one), supplied that he just wanted to thank him for being such a good person and inspiring friend?

But what did that say about his brother? Why did he feel like he had to give something back? Should he ask him? Were they…

"Ritsu, you're very pale, are you okay?", the gentle worried voice of his brother brought him back from the hell of his thoughts. He cracked half a smile, more to reassure himself than anything, and forced himself not to go down that path ever again. He had so many questions, which none of them he really wanted answers of, but if that made Shigeo happy...

"But brother I don't…", he tried with a sigh, suddenly needing to rest his hip on the kitchen counter to stay on his feet, "I mean I never really did White Day before, I'm not sure I can help you much with it."

Which was true. If Ritsu had already experienced many aspects of Valentine's Day, he had never given anything back in return. 

Shigeo hummed, gracing him with another smile, "I know, but I figured we could still do it together, since you will have to work on it as well."

Huh. 

"I will?", he blinked.

The look in his brother's eyes didn't falter, "Yes, won't you be giving something back to Suzuki-kun?"

And now it felt like Shigeo had been the one slapping him in the face. 

Face which must have looked more horrified each passing second it became redder. Something dropped in him, all the way to his feet, he couldn't say what exactly, maybe his composure.

"W-What? Why-", he started, confused, "Why would I give him something?", he sputtered.

His brother had the audacity to look as confused as Ritsu was feeling. "Didn't he offer you chocolates?"

"I, I-huh, yeah… He… Wait how did you know that?"

"Hmm. Hanazawa-kun told me about it, they made them together, right?"

Oh. Oh yeah, okay, that made sense. Ritsu sighed in relief. Sense was what he needed right now.

"They did, but it's not… I wasn't Valentine's Chocolate, he just made them along with Teru-san they don't mean anything."

"Really? It didn't seem like it to me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Hanazawa-kun really told me that it was though."

"Did he?", Ritsu started to sweat. 

"Yes. He told me that Suzuki-kun seemed really… Dedicated while making them."

“Yeah, because he wanted me to spit fire.”, Ritsu replied hastily, words leaving his mouth faster than he could think them over. When Shigeo’s answer was to look at him strangely, he added a short “Never mind. That doesn’t mean anything. He could have only been doing that because of Teru-san.”

“I suppose he could have… But he did give you the chocolates today, right?”

“Y-Yes, sure, it’s only a coincidence.”

Shigeo hummed, the way he often did when he didn’t want to go against someone’s opinion, while still significating that he didn’t particularly agree. To be perfectly honest, the more Ritsu thought about it, the more he was inclined to follow his brother's logic this time around. Of course, it could have only been a string of luck, nothing but the conclusion of circumstances particularly ill-fated that pushed Suzuki to give Ritsu chocolates on Valentine’s day. And if it hadn’t, the meaning behind the gesture was more than vague. Suzuki was hardly ever predictable, this… Whatever it had been, could me nothing for all he knew. Yeah, that couldn’t mean anything. It just couldn’t. 

*What if it did, though?', the delusional part of his mind insisted again. 'What if he does like you, just a little?*

After all, Suzuki did get the point of Valentine's day. He understood why Ritsu didn't like it, he had said he'd rather not take his chocolates as they hadn't been meant for him… While any other time, he probably wouldn't have minded, and wouldn't have asked twice before taking them. And the way he had acted afterwards, the insistence, could he truly pin it all his best friend unpredictable behavior? 

Was that too far fetched? Was he just that desperate? Was Suzuki just messing with him!? He felt like his face was on fire, even more than when he had eaten the spicy chocolates. 

"Ritsu? Are you okay?", his brother cut through his grotesque hopes with a soothing tone. 

Probably not, he was gone, far too gone for this. 

How could it all have hit him only now was a mystery. They had been talking about Valentine’s almost all trip home, and somehow Ritsu hadn’t even dared to suggest that the gift had any implication other than “Suzuki being himself”.

"I'm… I'm fine brother, just a little confused, that's all.", he answered half honestly.

Shigeo hummed again, seemingly concerned, but didn’t press any further. 

"It's okay, you can take your time. You don't have to give him something back."

That would have probably been for the best right? If the gesture had been purely innocent as he suspected, then he didn’t have to return it. He could, however, still choose to believe what his stupidity sensitive heart told him. Suzuki probably didn’t even know that much about White Day, right? If anything, he had an excuse with his brother, he could pass it on helping him with... Hanazawa. 

Yeah, that seemed like a good plan. 

"No, I… I think I should.", he breathed out. 

And the smile that Shigeo gave him made it all worth the heart attack. 

Ritsu spent the rest of the night browsing through the internet, looking for appropriate friendly gifts to offer for the White Day, and when Suzuki showed up at his window as he had announced, he did his very best to not let him in until his friend threatened to break the glass down.