Rubbing her eyes, Hotaru entered her laboratory. She had a full day of work and studies ahead of her, and had gotten up early to make the most of her time. Hotaru began to take out some materials to work on one of her inventions, but then stopped and slowly looked around. Something was off, but she couldn't place her finger on it. She had a weird feeling, maybe of being watched, though not necessarily by an enemy. She usually only had this feeling when... No, it was far too early for her to be about. Ignoring her intuition, Hotaru began to place out her materials.
Then, like a lioness pouncing on her kill, Mikan came out into the open, leaping towards Hotaru, arms out to hug her. Hotaru, letting only instinct guide her, blocked Mikan's glomping by sticking out her elbow. "Ouuuch!" Mikan exclaimed, holing her stomach.
"Oh, it is you," Hotaru said apathetically. "What are you doing here so early?"
"SURPRISE!" Mikan said, extending her arms and grinning.
"It's a few seconds too late to be saying that."
"Well, Hotaru, I just couldn't wait to see you. I brought you something! Tada!" Mikan held out a brightly colored gift bag.
"What's that?" Hotaru said, not taking the bag.
"It's a present! For you!" Mikan said, forcing the gift into Hotaru's hands.
"Why?"
"Well, that's a little..." Mikan trailed off, giggling nervously.
Hotaru decided to just open the bag. "What kind of thing is this?" she asked when she had.
"Chocolate!"
"Oh," Hotaru said, staring at the warped shape of the contents of the bag.
"Well, I made it just for you, it's-"
"You used an instant kit, didn't you?" Hotaru interrupted.
"Fine, I did!" Mikan said irritably. But then she resumed what she initially wanted to say, blushing and fidgeting. "It's Valentine's Day, you know, and-"
"Fool. Don't you know you give gifts to males on Valentine's Day?" Hotaru asked.
Mikan moaned in frustration. "You also give special chocolate to your special love, and I LOVE YOU!" she yelled.
Hotaru stared. So this was Mikan's honmei-chocolate. She put it to her mouth, seeing Mikan's expression change from annoyed to hopeful to elated as she did so. Finally, she took a bite.
"How is it?" Mikan asked, putting her face closer to Hotaru's.
Hotaru choked a bit, then coughed. "Bitter," she said.
"Stupid Hotaru! I poured my heart into making that chocolate!"
"Despite your heart it's still bad," Hotaru said plainly.
"But-"
"I have work to do, so you'll have to leave. I'll see you later in class."
"Don't you want to-"
"Initialize Mikan expulsion program, mode extra violent." Hotaru said.
"AHHHH!!" Mikan shouted, running out of the room.
"You idiot, there's no such thing," Hotaru said as she closed the door. She began to tidy up after her friend. Mikan could really be messy, and having her around was very counterproductive. Hotaru continued to bring out her materials for her latest invention. As she reached for some pliers, her hand came across the carefully decorated bag. Hotaru looked at it, seeing that Mikan had glued an older snapshot of them on one side. Hotaru could almost feel the sunlight from the memory of it. She kind of missed the days where she could bask in the outdoors, Mikan beside her...
Hotaru took out the tissue paper covered chocolate and took another bite. It wasn't so bad, despite not having a traditional taste. Chocolate originally wasn't that sweet, anyway. Thinking of Mikan making this for her, Hotaru continued to work, nibbling on the chocolate as she did.
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