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Chocolates, cookies, a small gift basket; Chiaki had tried them all. In the end, all he had to show for his efforts was a large mess in the kitchen and a cute card that he had done the lettering on by himself. He dutifully cleaned the mess, all the while thinking how awful he was for only having a card to give to his boyfriend on Valentine’s day. Knowing said boyfriend was prone to going above and beyond even on simple things just made him feel even worse.
Chiaki and Madara hadn’t planned on exchanging gifts at least, so Chiaki wasn’t ruining something they’d talked about doing. Still, though, he felt useless, especially after how many times he tried. Maybe Madara would forget, and wouldn’t even have a gift for him tomorrow. That would be the best case scenario, in Chiaki’s opinion.
Of course - that was never how those sorts of things worked out. He had only managed to walk into the classroom and set his things down before Madara was bounding over to him with a loud greeting.,
“Hey, you! Happy Valentine’s day!” Madara was beaming at him, having more or less shouted. Chiaki had a split second to decide his reaction: he could pretend he hadn’t heard Madara, or he could plaster a smile on his face and respond. He opted to combine the two. Scrambling to pull his homework out of his bag and looking up to Madara with a grin.
“Is it? Already? Ah, happy Valentine’s day!” Chiaki tried to disguise how shaky his voice sounded with a laugh. Madara clapped him on the back as he laughed, effectively knocking the wind out of Chiaki’s lungs. A convenient excuse for a strained voice said the sneaky little voice in the back of his head.
“You’re so forgetful, Chiaki!” He said it so blase, and it went straight to Chiaki’s chest and settled there. A tiny weight, it’s goal to make it harder for him to breath. “Well anyway, whatever, meet me after school! By the lockers!” And before Chiaki can offer anything else, or ask why, Madara has already left for his own seat. Chiaki could not quite stop the sigh building in his chest after that. That was just like his boyfriend, in and out like a tornado.
Chiaki spent the rest of the day a bundle of nerves, with Madara’s comment on his memory echoing in his ears. He hadn’t truly forgotten, after all, he’d just failed at every gift attempt. Was being stupid or a failure better, really? He tortured himself with these thoughts right up until the bell rang to signal the end of the school day. Basketball practice was a welcome distraction, and he could think of something else for a little while, but as soon as they were done, his failure was foremost in his mind again. It was so distracting that he almost walked into Madara, not realizing that he was already waiting for Chiaki.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Madara stopped Chiaki with a hand on each of his shoulders. Chiaki blinked at him, a little surprised with his surroundings.
“Go?” Chiaki echoed. “Go where?”
“On our date of course~! I’m takin’ you out!” That was all the explanation Chiaki managed to drag out of Madara before he was being pulled along by the hand. Chiaki tried his best to pay attention to where he was being dragged, but it was hard when Madara simply moved so fast. In the end, he mostly focused on how excited Madara seemed for this date. And how awful he was for not having anything for Madara in return.
“We’re here!” Madara called as they came upon an ice cream shop specializing in rolled ice cream. “They’ve got a special for the holiday! It’s gonna be so tasty, I’ll order and you can go get us a seat!”
So he did. Chiaki sat down at an empty table in a far corner with a heavy sigh. Madara brought him all the way here, to buy him ice cream, and have a good date with him, and Chiaki was going to ruin things as always.
Before long, Madara was back with a big paper bowl in his hands with what looked to be chocolate ice cream, rolled, and covered in strawberry syrup. It had two sticks of strawberry pocky sticking out of the ice cream, as well as two spoons.
“Ta~da~,” Madara cheered as he set it down and flopped into the seat across from Chiaki. “Go on, have some!” He quickly scooped some up and held the spoon out to Chiaki’s face. Chiaki opened his mouth to let Madara spoon-feed him, then grinned. It did taste good. He hummed his pleasure before letting go of the spoon.
He managed to hold it together for just a few more seconds before he sniffled, feeling his eyes burn with tears trying to fall.
“I’m so sorry,” he sniffed, “I’m so useless !” his voice shook a little and he rubbed his eyes. Madara’s eyes went wide, a squeak -that otherwise would have been quite silly coming from a man like him- the only noise he could make. Chiaki stood, shoving his chair out behind him, and started walking for the exit. He did not have a plan beyond ‘escape’, but that was good enough for now. As long as he was no longer sitting there with Madara. He did not make it more than a couple of steps before Madara’s hand was closing around his wrist, however.
“Hey, hey! What’s going on?” Madara’s voice was tinged with worry, eyes darting around the small restaurant. He wasn’t above making a scene, but having that many eyes on Chiaki if he were already upset by something… “Talk to me, Chiaki.” He tried to keep his voice low.
Chiaki stopped in his tracks, despite Madara’s hold not actually being firm enough to keep him there if he had wanted to keep walking. “I’m just so useless.” Chiaki’s voice was a whisper. His shoulders slumped with his defeat, and he took his seat again. No point in leaving. He did try and pull himself together, though the tears just kept gathering. “I tried so hard to make you a present, but I ruined everything. And then I tried to pretend I didn’t even know it was Valentine’s day. You planned this date, and you bought me ice cream, and I just sat here and moped... You’re just too good for me, Mikejima-san..” Chiaki took in a deep, shuddering breath after finishing all of that.
Madara just stared for a moment, mouth hanging just a little open. He wasn’t surprised that Chiaki tried to go above and beyond, or that he bit off more than he could chew. He was more surprised that Chiaki was so bothered by it.
“Chiaki,” Madara shifted to suddenly serious, “that’s the dumbest thing I think you’ve ever said to me. You tried to actually make me something, and I saw a cool ice cream shop. That’s so different and doesn’t take any real effort, you know?”
Chiaki sniffed and looked up at Madara, wine-red eyes still swimming with tears. “But you’re so cool-”
“Shuddup with that.” Madara interrupted him, leaning over the table to press a kiss to Chiaki’s lips. Madara would not stand to listen to Chiaki berate himself anymore. “You’re a hero and a stud, and pretty freakin’ cool yerself.” Madara scoffed when he pulled back, though his lips were turned up in a smile.
Chiaki’s face was as red as his Ryuuseitai jacket, but at least he was no longer crying, and Madara could breathe a little bit better.
“You really think so?” Chiaki’s voice was still a little weak.
“Hell no, I know so! Now eat this ice cream before it melts!” Madara picked one of the spoons back up and stuffed it back into Chiaki’s mouth. That finally got a laugh out of Chiaki, who did the same thing in return, with a much bigger spoonful. Within moments they were both laughing and feeding each other ice cream, Chiaki’s worries smothered for the moment.
And even if they did come back, Madara would simply tell him again what a hero he was. The hero he loved, though he might not be able to say that aloud just yet.