Work Text:
Ding dong.
Minori practically bolted out of her chair and towards the front door, absolutely certain who it was and her heart racing at the mere thought of it. “I’m HERE!” She yelled, accidentally, at the top of the lungs, somehow only barely startling the girl on the other side of the door as she opened it.
Haruka Kiritani was standing there, hands behind her back holding something. She looked radiant, stunning. When didn’t she?
“H-Haruka-chan!” Minori stammered. “You’re, um, early!”
“Only by a few minutes?”
Minori glanced at the clock in the living room. 2 minutes to 3 PM, their agreed-upon time. Oh. “W-well, no one’s home right now…except Samo-chan…” Both her parents and her little brother were off on their own endeavors. Convenient.
“Good,” Haruka smiled. “Can I come in?”
Minori realized with a jolt that she’d been standing directly in the door. “O-oh! Right! Sorry!”
By this point, Haruka had gotten used to Minori being a stuttering, blushing mess around Haruka. It was honestly difficult to tell whether it had gotten better or worse once they’d started dating. In general, while Minori had gotten comfortable with just being around Haruka, she melted whenever Haruka showed affection towards her, like a glass cannon.
Their first kiss had ended in Minori swooning.
“Excuse me, then…” Haruka said as she left her shoes at the door and stepped inside, and was promptly greeted by the fluffball that was Samo-chan, rushing out to greet her with a bark and a wagging tail. “Aww, I guess you’re not the only one who was waiting for me.”
As Haruka extended a hand to pat the good doggo, Minori caught a glimpse of what Haruka was hiding behind her back: a red, heart-shaped box, tied with a cute pink ribbon.
Considering the date, it wasn’t hard to deduce the contents of that box. And it reminded her of something.
“T-that’s right!” Minori bolted off, again, this time towards the kitchen. “Haruka-chan, please give me a moment! I want you to try something!”
“Eh?” Haruka looked up in confusion as Minori ran off, and after a moment of hesitation (and some more dog-petting), decided to follow her. She caught sight of Minori opening the fridge, pulling out a deep square tray, and setting it on the counter. Within that tray was what appeared to be chocolate fudge, fresh out of the oven, enough for the couple to enjoy together.
Wow. Haruka blinked. She hadn’t at all expected this out of Minori.
“I, um, made this…” Minori explained, blushing furiously. “It’s my first time doing this, so I’m not sure if it’s good or not, but…”
And now Haruka felt inadequate. She’d merely bought chocolate for Minori, but Minori had made chocolate for her. With her own hands. How many times had she practiced, failed before she could get it right? How much sheer effort did Minori put into this, just like she did everything else?
“I…” Haruka sighed. “Geez, Minori…now you’re making me feel like I didn’t do enough.” She revealed the heart-shaped box and presented it to Minori, turning away, trying and failing to conceal the crimson on her own face. “Here…I got this for you, too. I didn’t think you’d give me something handmade, though…”
“Haruka-chan!” Minori gasped. “You got something for me too! I’m so happy!” Unable to restrain herself, Minori wrapped her arms around Haruka, taking the latter by surprise.
“Ah-Minori!? I thought…” She was always so optimistic, to the point where Haruka suspected she could give Minori a single piece of chocolate and she’d still freak out over it (in a good way). “But…how could I ever measure up to your chocolate fudge? You made it yourself, and I just…”
“Don’t say that!” Minori pulled back, holding Haruka by the shoulders. “It’s the thought that counts, right?”
“But-”
Minori shushed Haruka with a finger to her lips. “Haruka-chan, you lifted me up so much. The day you said yes to me was the happiest day of my life. So…at least let me do this for you. The only gift I needed today was for you to be happy.”
ACK.
A strike straight to the heart - Minori had gotten shockingly good at dishing back what Haruka had dealt to her, just by being herself. Was this what Minori felt just being in Haruka’s proximity before?
“Still…” Haruka let out a sigh. She still felt somewhat inadequate.
Minori could tell, and she decided to try and change the subject. “Well…how about we try this chocolate fudge I made? I haven’t tasted it yet, I felt that’d be disrespectful…”
Haruka wasn’t sure if that was preferable over only finding out it was bad when it was too late, but she trusted Minori. The auburn-haired girl retrieved a spoon, dug out a piece of her work, and held it up in front of Haruka. “Um…say ahh!”
Haruka opened her mouth, Minori moved the spoonful of fudge closer…and then they both froze.
And stared at each other. Their faces blossomed into deep red.
“W-wow…” Haruka laughed nervously. “I guess we’ve gotten so used to feeding each other, I didn’t even think of it…”
“H-Haruka-chan, we’ve only been going out for a month…” Minori sweatdropped. “And we haven’t even done this thing a lot…”
“R-right!” Recovering faster than her girlfriend, Haruka leaned forward and nommed. By the time she moved back and savored the flavor of the chocolate fudge, Minori was stunned, her mouth agape and her arm trembling.
“H-how was it…?” Minori finally squeaked out, gulping.
…
“It’s delicious!” Haruka beamed. “Minori, can you get us plates? I want us to sit and enjoy it together!”
“Huh? Uh, sure!” Minori flailed about, searching the kitchen. She was also internally panicking (as always), having not expected Haruka to like her chocolate fudge that much. “W-what about your chocolate?”
“We can have them both,” Haruka smiled, waving the heart box at her and jerking her head at the sofa in the living room.
“O-oh.” Minori’s heart was beating out of her chest. Haruka knew how to flirt.
It took over a minute for Minori to calm herself down enough to join Haruka in the living room, carrying two plates of her chocolatey handiwork with her. She saw that Haruka had opened her own box of chocolates, the little chocolate nuggets spread out across their little compartments in the box, though the blue-haired girl seemed more interested in Minori’s fudge.
“And now it’s my turn,” Haruka said, scooping up a piece from her own plate, and holding the spoon up to Minori’s mouth. “Minori, say ahh.”
Minori thought she should have seen this coming. She kind of did, but that didn’t mean she was sufficiently prepared. “A-ahh…”
Nom.
Minori was pleasantly surprised at how good her product had actually ended up being, and more importantly, it meant Haruka hadn’t been lying to her just to protect her feelings. “Wow…it actually is pretty good…”
“You made it, after all.” Haruka smiled at her. “How could it not be good?”
“I was scared…” Minori admitted sheepishly. “You know me, I always worry…”
“No, you don’t,” Haruka replied. “You’re always so bright and cheerful, so optimistic. You always have hope for the future. I always liked that about you, because it inspired me to keep looking forward as well…”
Minori blinked. “Haruka-chan…?”
Haruka realized, then, that she’d said too much, and leaned back. “U-um, anyways!” She blushed, trying to change the subject. “You should try my chocolate!”
Minori watched her girlfriend busy herself with opening her box of chocolates, revealing an assortment of wrapped chocolates, each with their own little space in the box. Haruka quickly unwrapped one and held the piece of chocolate up to Minori’s mouth. “Here…”
They were done with the whole “ahh” thing, which was probably good for their hearts. Still, Haruka was nervous. She still felt inferior about Minori having made her chocolate by hand.
“Haruka-chan?” Minori asked, evidently having noticed Haruka’s expression? “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing, it’s just…” A memory surfaced in Haruka’s mind, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Do you remember last year’s Valentine? I, um, might have caught you rehearsing what you were going to say to me…”
“Haruka-chan, please accept my chocolate! Haruka-chan, please accept my chocolate! Haruka-chan, please accept-”
Minori flushed. “Oh, you saw that…”
Haruka couldn’t help but laugh. “You seemed so into it, I didn’t want to disappoint you.”
The laughter intensified when she saw that Minori was now pouting at her. “No fair! You’re just so hard to shake!”
“Sorry, sorry…” Haruka popped one of her chocolate pieces into her mouth. “It’s…not bad, actually.”
Minori smiled again. “I told you, chocolate is still chocolate! There’s no need to fret about where you got it from or how, as long as you put effort into it!”
Oh, Minori. Always seeing the bright side. Haruka couldn’t help but love her for that. “Want another one?”
Minori nodded excitedly, and Haruka slipped the little sweet nugget into her mouth. “Mmm…it’s delicious…” Minori said, the chocolate still in her mouth.
An idea popped into Haruka’s head. “Really? Let me try.”
Minori was about to reach for the box of chocolates, before she was suddenly interrupted - Haruka had leaned into her and pressed her lips against hers, as if trying to steal the chocolate piece right from her mouth. She was too stunned to resist, more enraptured by the sudden warmth and affection from her girlfriend and oh god why is she so close-
Haruka pulled away with half of the chocolate piece, grinning despite herself. “It was quite delicious.”
Minori pouted. Again. “Really!?”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist,” the blue-haired girl laughed. “Want more?”
“...Chocolate, or kisses?” Minori raised an eyebrow.
“Why not both?”