Work Text:
A chocolate for Valentine’s Day.
Milan, Italy.
The ball was shooted with strength, crossed half playing field without interruptions and crashed strongly on the crossbar. The author of the powerful shot, Shingo Aoi, cursed softly while his Italian partner laughed out loud.
“That was a very good mistake, Shingo!” said Matteo. “The goalmouth is empty and you cannot make a goal!”
“Shut up, Mateo!” Aoi protested, very angry. “That was your fault, you didn´t send me a good pass!”
“Yeah, whatever. I´m pretty sure you are going to say this excuse to everybody when we lost every important tournament,” Matteo replied and shrugged.
“Are you never going to stop fighting, guys?” asked Gino Hernández, standing on the edge of the field.
One week ago, Gino discovered Aoi and Matteo, his old teammates in Inter Primavera, usually practiced after their training for improve their soccer level. At that time, Gino was already playing with the top team of Inter Milan, but sometimes he liked to go to see his ex partners to check their level. When the goalkeeper knew his former partners use to stay late for training (Gino already knew about Aoi, Matteo was the surprise), he decided to join them to help them improve.
“Look who has decided to honor us with his presence!” exclaimed Matteo. “You are very late, your Highness.”
“We thought you are not going to come with us today,” said Aoi and ran to Gino. “Did you have any problem?”
“I’m pretty sure Gino was eating all the chocolates that he received yesterday from that fan,” Matteo made a joke. “After all, she gave him more chocolates than she gave to us, and Gino said her he was going to eat them while he thought about her.”
“I was trying to be polite,” replied Gino. “When you are a profesional player and receive many gifts from the fans, you need to be kind with them and make feel them their gifts are special. That's what a respectable athlete does.”
“Sure! You are a professional player and you must to be used to receive too much gifts from your fans, right?” Aoi made a very funny gesture. “I want to receive gifts from my fans, too!”
During one of those practice sessions, Matteo asked Aoi if he doesn’t miss Japan and Aoi replied he missed the Valentine’s Day Japanese tradition, in which the girls prepare chocolates for boys, because this tradition is not common in Italy. An Inter Milan fan, who listened that conversation, made special chocolates for Aoi and Matteo, since she was an enthusiastic fan of the Japanese player. When Shingo said to her that Gino Hernández used to go to help them to improve, the girl decided to prepare more chocolate for the Italian goalkeeper, but his box was bigger than Aoi and Matteo’s, who felt jelous for Gino’s lucky.
“I said you already, Aoi: if you make an effort and become a very good football player, you will receive many gifts from your fans,” replied Gino.
“I know that! It’s the reason I should not waste my time, I need to practice to become a profesional player soon!” Shingo ran to the goalmouth to repeat his failed shot.
“Hey, Gino! I wanna know something,” Matteo asked. “Do you really said to that girl you was to going to eat her chocolates while you thought about her just for cortesy? Wasn´t you flirting with her?”
“I was being polite, of course,” Gino was sincere with him. “I don´t know her and I don´t believe in love at first sight. So, no, I wasn’t flirting with her.”
“If you say that…” Matteo was convinced and ran towards Aoi.
“What did you do with those chocolates?” asked Aoi, after scoring a magnificent goal.
“I shared them with my grandfather, Nicco,” replied the Italian goalkeeper. “He really loves chocolate.”
“I didn´t know you still in contact with your grandfather,” said Matteo, after received a great pass from Aoi.
“Well, he raised me, so I see him almost everyday,” Gino smiled but his expression was sad. “My parents died when I was a child so he is like a father to me. I share with Nicco almost all the food I receive from my fans.”
“I´m sorry for your loss, I didn´t know your parents are dead,” expressed Aoi, with compassion in his eyes.
“Don’t worry, they died too many years ago.” The goalkeeper saw his friend with gratitude. “And I´m very happy with my grandfather, so it really doesn´t matter.”
“If I were you, I would be careful about sharing with him all the food you receive from your fans,” added Matteo. “Maybe some of those things contain a little of love potion and your grandfather could fall in love with a teenager.”
The three players laughed a lot, after which Gino took his place in front of the arc. The goalkeeper smiled maliciously while he was putting on his gloves because he lied to Matteo about not believing in love at first sight. Yes, Gino believes in love at first sight, but not thanks to the the girl who gave him the chocolates, he believes in love at first sight because he felt in love inmediately with a french girl that he met in Paris some years ago, a girl who was very important to help Gino to recover from his depression caussed by the death of his parents. However, that is a very personal information and Hernández didn´t want to share this with anybody, not even with his old teammates.
“I´m going to receive many chocolates the next Valentine’s Day!” exclaimed Aoi, after luckily scored a goal to Gino.
“I wanna meet a special girl who only makes chocolates for me,” Matteo sighed. “That´s the point, right?”
“Yeah, it’s true, but I would be happier if some fan will give me chocolates because loves my play,” Aoi laughed. “What do you think, Gino?"
“I believe it would be interesting the girl that you love gives to you something special”, said Gino and blushed. When he realized the other ones was watching him, he added, “But that´s not a reason for despreciate the gifts from another fans.”
After an hour of hard training, Gino told his Friends he needs to leave due his busy schedule. Matteo and Aoi said goodbye and wished good luck to him; after that, the goalkeeper changed his clothes and took to the streets of Milan. Gino had walked two blocks, deep in thought, when he saw in the distance someone who he would recognized in any place of this vast world, a pretty girl with brown and curly hair and green eyes. Hernández smiled sincerely when she walked to him, with a step so casual that anyone would believe they found themselves by accident.
“Hi,” said the girl, with no expression on her face.
“Hello,” answered Gino. His happy smile said everything. “What are you doing here? I believed you was taking your piano lessons.”
“I escaped because I needed fresh air,” she shrugged.
“You? Did Erika Shanks really escape from her piano lessons?”, Gino laughed. “Is this the Opposite Day, are you sick or I moved to an alternative universe without noticing?”
“None of them”, Erika replied, very serious, while opening her handbag to take out a package, which she offered to Gino. “I came here to give you this.”
“What is this?” he asked, taking a square box wrapped in red paper.
“I heard you like to receive chocolates from pretty girls,” explained Erika. “I don´t want to stay behind.”
“What? How did you…? Hey, it´s not what you believe!” Gino was troubled. “She was a fan! It means nothing!”
“I know,” she smiled to him, “but, just in case, I made chocolate, too.”
“Did you cook this?” he was surprised when discovered the box contained a very big one piece chocolate, heart shaped. “I didn´t know you could cook this type of candy.”
“Oh! You can found the recipe on Internet, it´s not difficult,” replied Erika. “By the way, if that fan added a potion love to your chocolate, don´t worry, I put an antidote in mine to neutralize the symptoms.”
“Are you kidding, right?” Gino laughed a lot.
“No, I´m not,” said Erika, very serious. “I’m going to show you.”
The young lady took the box from the goalkeeper’s hands and ripped a piece of the huge chocolate; after that, she put that piece of chocolate in her mouth and kissed Gino. Momentarily surprised, he didn´t know how to act, but then his brain reacted and took Erika by the waist, biting the piece of chocolate and Erika’s lips. They kissed so passionately that both could see the stars.
“You was right,” Gino gasped. “This antidote really works!”
“I never wrong, my dear Gino,” Erika blinked an eye. “I hope you will think of me when you will eat the rest of the chocolate.”
“Hey, I don´t know who told you about that thing so in detail, but I want to say you that girl is not important for me, she is a Inter Milan fan and I accepted her gift as what is, a gift from a fan,“ replied Gino. “In fact, this girl made the chocolates for Aoi because she is a very big fan of him, she gave me chocolates too because he told her I´m helping him to improve. And for your knowledge, Erika Shanks, I don´t need chocolates for think of you, I do that all the time.”
Erika saw him for a few seconds, after which she smiled.
“Good boy,” she said, playfully. “Keep trying, Gino Hernández, and maybe next year I will also give you a chocolate for Valentine’s Day.”
“I would like that,” replied Gino, very happy. “I´m going to train hard to win my chocolate.”
“I know you will do it,” Erika returned him the box and turned around to start walking. “I need to go, my father will kill me if he finds out I escaped from my piano lessons.”
“Will I see you at weekend?” asked Gino.
“Of course,” she turned again to throw him a kiss with her fingers, “I would not miss mi date with the most famous goalkeeper in Europe.”
Gino put carefully the box with the big chocolate in his sports bag, while releasing a laugh of pure happiness. With no doubt, he already started to love the Japanese tradition of receiving chocolates in Valentine´s Day from his beloved one.
End.