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The chatter of his fellow classmates rung from the hallways up into their classroom. Nervous tension filled the air, it was a day of love, platonic or romantic. Some people were giving gifts to crushes or lovers, others were gifting their friends. That was the case for Aiki Hirose, he hadn't usually given gifts on Valentines day but this year was special. He had a friend that he wanted to be closer with, so how could a little chocolate hurt?
Hirose slid the door open to enter an almost full class, he spotted the boy he wanted to gift the chocolates to. His dark, mushroom shaped hair hid whatever expression he was making, though Aiki could tell he caught his eye. Casually, but a bit hesitantly, Hirose walked over to Nakamura. He chickened out though and instead of stopping to give Nakamura the chocolates he just told him,
"good morning."
"Oh uh, good morning Hirose."
Nakamura replied before going back to messing with his bag.
Hirose walked over to his friend's in slight embarrassment. It shouldn't be that hard to give someone chocolate, it's just chocolate. It's not like there was any malicious intent to it, he just wants to be better friends with Nakamura.
Mukai was picking on Takeuchi for his failed attempt at asking Yuuka out. Hirose joined in.
"Dude she's not into you, I don't even see why you try anymore."
"She totally is! You guys just don't get it."
The argument continued between Mukai and Takeuchi. Hirose lost interest quickly, his mind couldn't stop drifting into thought about a different topic. His gaze shifted towards Nakamura. He could wait to give him the chocolate. It doesn't have to be immediate.
Mr. Otogiri walked in,
"Alright guys sit down. We'll start class soon."
Everyone took their seats yet Hirose just couldn't get his mind off of Nakamura. There's no meaning behind the chocolate so why should he worry about giving them to Nakamura? He had no romantic feeling for him either so there was no need to be nervous... Well...
Hirose blushed at the thought of him having romantic feelings for Nakamura. He looked back to admire him, that didn't last long though since Mr. Otogiri demanded him to pay attention.
"Oh, yeah, sorry sir."
Hirose apologized and turned his head back to face the front of the class. That directed Nakamura's attention towards him.
When class ended and they were in their passing period Hirose just couldn't find Nakamura. It was no help that his friends kept trying to socialize with him.
When the end of the day arrived Hirose decided it was his chance, he would go up to Nakamura and hand him the chocolates, casually. Yeah, that was a good plan. That plan would've worked until Nakamura had his hands full of notebooks. Damn you Mr. Otogiri! Giving Nakamura a task at the worst possible moment.
Hirose was a little frustrated with that but he decided to stay a little later so he could catch Nakamura before he left. Aiki walked down to the shoe cubbies and switched his shoes out. Mukai and Takeuchi appeared out of nowhere and tried to converse with him.
"Watcha waiting for, H-man?"
Takeuchi nosily asked.
"None of your business."
"Hey! Well now I wanna know even more."
Takeuchi pouted. He certainly had a rough day didn't he?
"Just get lost."
Hirose defensively told him off, not that there was any need to. Takeuchi just pissed him off more than usual. Mukai and Takeuchi walked out and soon enough they were out of Hirose's sight. It wasn't long until Hirose's long awaited 'friend' arrived. Hirose jumped up in excitement.
"Hey Nakamura! Did ya stay late too?"
Hirose tryed to start a conversation, he was super nervous though and didn't know how to bring up the chocolate.
"Yeah, I did. Mr. Otogiri had me run an errand for him."
Nakamura hurried to put his shoes on. His face appeared to be flushed but that was pretty common when Hirose was around so he didn't really think anything of it. Hirose stood there for a minute of awkward silence. Nakamura seemed to be focused on switching shoes. Once he was done Hirose spoke again.
"I'm a bit curious, did you get any chocolates? Y'know, from a girl in our class."
Hirose knew that either way one of them would feel humiliated. That was a weird question wasn't it? If he said yes then that would mean Nakamura most likely has his eyes set on someone else, and that would leave Hirose to be the loser without any chocolates. If he said no then that would make Nakamura feel bad about himself, though it would be a win for Hirose. He decided that if Nakamura said no then he would give him the chocolates.
Nakamura looked at Hirose with a slight spark in his eye, a spark that faded when his eyes wandered elsewhere.
"I can't say I did."
Hirose perked up, now was his chance. He took one step towards Nakamura, then another one. He just got closer until they were within arms length. Then he just kinda stared. He felt paralyzed, every movement was equivalent to dragging lead. His limbs felt heavy as his hand reached into his bag and felt around endlessly. It was an awkwardly long amount of time until he felt the chocolate. He pulled it out and handed them to Nakamura. Nakamura looked down at Hirose's hand and then back up, their eyes met.
"I-uhmm.. for.. for me?!"
He was shocked! Hirose, giving chocolate to him? He accepted them greatfully.
"Yeah, I uhm, I wanted to give you chocolate since y'know. We're friends. You mean a lot to mean and I want you to know that."
Hirose expressed part of how he felt to Nakamura. He felt his heart racing, he wanted to tell him more. Hirose had way too much to get off his chest. Although he denied it, deep down inside Hirose knew he had feelings for Nakamura. He had feelings that no other boy should reciprocate, especially Nakamura.
"Actually, I got you something too."
Nakamura handed Hirose a box of chocolate.
"It's.. chocolate. I have to admit I was scared to give them to you earlier so I'm glad that you gave me some, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten them to you."
Hirose largely smiled down at the box of chocolate he had received. It didn't mean Nakamura felt the same, that's not how it had to be though. He was glad Nakamura thought of him.
When he lifted his head back up Nakamura's eyes met his. It seemed as Nakamura wanted to say something but he wouldn't. Hirose felt the blood rush to his cheeks, he knew what this feeling was. After the excruciatingly long silence Hirose giggled.
"You're scared of me? Come on dude, we're friends."
Friends. That was Hirose's way of reminding himself that this wasn't love because it shouldn't be love. He knew Nakamura didn't love him like that so there was no reason for Hirose to feel that way.
"I-uh! No!!! I'm not scared of you I just didn't know how to bring it up."
Nakamura panicked while he tried to come up with an explanation, his face just glowed red. Hirose continued his light laughter making Nakamura more embarrassed.
"No, it's okay I get it. I was just messing with you, man. I honestly wasn't sure how to give you chocolate myself."
Nakamura sighed in relief. He was the type of guy to avoid offending anyone and Hirose acknowledged that. Aiki wanted to hangout with Nakamura more but school already ended so there was no reason to.. unless..
"Do you wanna walk home together maybe? I mean our routes overlap, right?"
Hirose proposed.
"Oh they do. Sure, let's walk home together."
The two hauled their bags and quickly left the school. As they walked they mostly just talked about school since they didn't really know anything they had in common.
(Also I know Nakamura usually has a bike to go home with but it's not there for the story.. ok?.. ok...)
"Remember that quiz? Takeuchi barely passed it!"
"Really? I thought it was a breath of fresh air compared to exams."
"I said the same thing."
As they continued their walk home they came to a stop, this is where they split up isn't it.
"Well, see you around Hirose."
Nakamura slowly walked away. Hirose just watched, he didn't want to stop walking with Nakamura but there was no reason for him to stay with him.
"Wait Nakamura, I,"
Hirose ran to Nakamura. When he caught up to Nakamura he grasped his hands.
"I love you Nakamura. I was too scared to tell you and I'm scared that if I don't tell you now then I never will. I just can't get it off my mind."
Hirose finally confessed his true love to Nakamura. Aiki looked up at Nakamuras blushing face. Their fingers interlocked. Nakamura looked into Hirose's wide, curious eyes full of hope. He smiled.
"I love you too, Hirose."
Nakamura barely whispered loud enough for him to hear. The setting sun lit their eyes up just perfectly for them to gaze into each other for a moment.
Hirose leaned into Nakamura, he did the same. He let go of Nakamura's hand and placed his own on his face. He then leaned in even further to kiss Nakamura. Nakamura lightly placed his hands around Hirose's shoulders, giving into the kiss but not urgently. This felt like something out of one of Nakamura's daydreams, but it wasn't. This was real surprisingly enough.
When the two pulled away they just stared into each other again. Hirose then awkwardly broke the silence,
"Well uhm, I'll let you get home now."
He practically sprinted away. Nakamura tried to keep him back but was in so much shock he wasn't sure what to do or say.
When Hirose successfully got home he ran to his room and.. cried? Come on dude you just won! What are you crying about? He took off his school jacket and sat on the floor. "How stupid of me to do that, now Nakamura's never gonna talk to me ever again!" He thought. He got up and sat in his bed, sobbing. He practically cried himself to sleep that night. What a strange thought to have.