Chocolate
Source: https://twitter.com/artkuzu/status/1494821755092750337
You open your eyes to the sound of the alarm. You slowly reach out to turn it off and go back to bed. It would be really nice to go back to sleep right now.
Too bad it’s a Monday.
You groan and get up to get ready for work. You take extra care to not wake up the girl curled up right next to you. You try to tiptoe to the bathroom, but you always forget that one spot on the floor that never fails to creak.
You look at her… Nothing.
Bless…
“I should really fix this…” You whisper to yourself as you go inside to take a quick shower. Thankfully it manages to wake you up, though you do wonder why this noise never affects her. While you keep getting ready you hear your phone ringing.
“Who the hell calls at this hour?” You tell yourself while dressing up. “It’s freakin’ 7 am…”
…Wait I thought I silenced it.
You run to pick up the call before it wakes up your partner.
“H-hello?”
You tiptoe away from the bedroom and avoid that dreaded spot. You head to the living room.
“Sorry for the sudden call, but uh… You can… take the day off…”
Now that sounds too good to be true.
“…Did something happen?”
You hear your boss take a deep breath.
“Well… I don’t know if you’ll even believe me but… When I got here to open up all our stock was gone.”
You blink a few times, confused.
“All our stock was what?”
“Yeah! I checked everywhere and it was just… Poof! Gone. I even looked at the security footage from the store and all the cameras glitched for like 5 seconds at 3 AM and then everything disappeared.”
5 seconds? How the hell do you empty an entire store in 5 seco—
Wait a minute.
You rub your temples. “…Was there a note somewhere?”
Your boss laughs in response, “Actually yeah! There was a crumpled piece of paper on one of the shelves, it said ‘brb tomorrow lol’.”
…Yeah, okay.
“You sound strangely calm about this.”
“The note smells pretty nice!”
…Alright.
“Well, if that’s the case then I’ll just… Take today off?”
“Yeah! If the note is telling the truth then I’ll just see you tomorrow.”
“G-got it… Uhhhh… Hope you have a good Valentine’s day…?”
“You too, kid!”
You hang up feeling very bewildered. You can make a pretty good guess of who did this. Better thank them when you see them… And maybe remind them they shouldn’t abuse their powers like that.
It’s not like they’ll even listen to you, but you can at least say you tried.
Still… She was with me the whole night… How’d they do that?
She’s not the kind of girl that would stop time in the middle of the night to go outside. She probably lent them something... Wait, she wouldn’t do that either.
You scratch your head trying to come up with an answer.
“…Maybe I need more sleep.” You say as you look at your bedroom.
“Hmm… Maybe not.”
You’re already awake so no point in going back to bed. You might even wake her up while trying to lie down. She was feeling a little under the weather yesterday… It’s better to let her sleep.
You head to the kitchen to make breakfast. No need to hurry now that you’re free today, might as well go all out since you have so much time. Pots, pans, blender, oven… Everything you need for your menu. It’s one of those days where you have to make a full-course breakfast. You even have the time to clean up as you cook.
When you’re done, it’s almost time for her to wake up, though you don’t hear much noise coming from the bedroom.
She does have some stuff to do today… Ah, screw it I’ll take the scolding…
You walk back to the bedroom and take a peek inside. She’s now taken all the blankets for herself, and she’s still curled up in bed. Good thing you got up before possibly freezing to death. You approach her from her side of the bed and slowly stroke her hair.
“Mm…”
“Kronii… Good morning…”
She covers herself with her collection of blankets.
“…Nooo…”
You keep patting her head above the covers.
“C’mon, you have things to do today.”
“No I don’t it’s Sunday…”
She squirms a little to try to shake you off.
“It’s Valentine’s day you dumb dumb.”
She stops.
“…Wait, really?”
She takes off the blankets to face you.
“Happy Valentine’s day, Kronii!”
You take the chance to give her a kiss on the lips.
“W-why are you here? Don’t you have work?”
You smile. “Haha, yeah… about that…”
She raises an eyebrow. “Go on…?”
Let’s start with a question before throwing them under the bus.
“Did you uh… Lend something to your friends?”
She closes her eyes to think.
“Mmm… Yeah, they asked for one of my watches. You know, like the one Ame has?”
You nod.
“They didn’t specify why they wanted one… but since you’re still alive then it probably wasn't important.”
…Better not tell her then.
She scoots over to let you get in bed. You just sit down next to her and keep stroking her hair.
“You haven’t answered my question, by the way.”
“Oh, right! Uh well I got the day off… For… reasons…”
“Reasons?” She asks.
You ruffle her hair a bit while looking away.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, if you say so.”
She closes her eyes, getting a little sleepy again from your pampering.
“Weird that you gave that to them without getting anything in return.”
She reaches out to poke your cheek.
“That’s where you’re wrong, hehehe…”
You stare at her smiling face while grabbing her hand. “How so?”
“They’re leaving me alone for a month! Well, after today I guess…”
The both of you were invited to a Valentine’s party with the Council (and IRyS!), it’s been in the works for a while… That’s absolutely the reason why the store you work at has lost all its stock for the day.
Well, we weren’t going to get many clients today anyways…
“Time to get up, then. Your breakfast’s gonna get cold.”
She lets go of your hand and covers herself in blankets. “Mmm no, I’m still not feeling well.”
“Really?"
“Mm-hmm…”
You put your hand in to poke her, only to be met with a bite. She doesn’t let go.
“Okay, okay, I believe you.”
She lets go and covers herself again.
“You were chatting up a storm just now though.”
She turns around.
“…It comes and goes…”
You pat her head.
“You really don’t want to go, huh?”
“…It’s just Valentine’s, who caaares…”
You laugh, “You were way more excited when we were buying chocolates for them.”
She grabs your pillow and throws it at you. “Then YOU go and give them those chocolates.”
You put the pillow down and walk to the door, “Alright, we’ll go when you start feeling better.”
“...You can go, and I’ll catch up later…”
You tilt your head. Fauna’s place is at walking distance so it’s not a big deal. Still, something’s off.
“…Did you forget to do something?”
She scoots away from you, almost to the other edge of the bed. “Y-yeah, don’t worry about it.”
She’s hiding something.
“…Can we eat breakfast together at least?”
“I… wanna sleep a little more…”
Doesn’t seem like she’s going to budge.
You sigh, “Well, make sure to heat up your food okay?”
She’s still hidden under the covers, but you manage to see her nodding.
You leave her to eat and get ready to meet up with the others. While eating you keep looking at the bedroom door. Even after being together for a while she’s still a bit awkward with Valentine’s Day, you wanted to just chill out with her but a small party with her friends could help her mellow out a little. You wince thinking about the gift you prepared for later on in the day.
Hope she doesn’t hate it…
You walk to your office to check if it’s still there. Thankfully, it’s still untouched in one of your drawers. It’s just some chocolate cookies and a scarf you made, but there’s always that anxiety when gifting something. You stare at the scarf.
…It’s kind of chilly today…
You grab it and put it in your bag, it might be useful later.
You also pack the gifts the both of you picked for the others and head to the door.
“I’m gonna go now, okay?”
No response.
Guess she really went back to sleep.
While you don’t mind at all if she just sleeps the day away, you do owe the girls your day off. Against your better judgement you call out again.
“At least stop by for a little while, you’ll make your friends happy.”
You go outside and head to Fauna’s place. While it is at walking distance, it still takes some time to get there. You take the chance to have a look around, last time you went out you were too focused on paying attention to Kronii during the entire trip.
You never noticed the amount of stores that suddenly have Valentine’s-themed products even though what they sell doesn’t have much to do with love per say. The balloons and decorations lining the streets look great at least.
It is pretty chilly, most people are walking around covered in their winter clothes. You send Kronii a message to make sure she wears her jacket when she goes to the party. There are way too many couples and not a lot of groups of friends, it’s nice the Council decided to do this.
You get a few stares from people while reaching your destination, you do kind of look like a delivery person carrying around so many gifts by yourself. You shake off the stares and walk a little faster. So fast you don’t even notice the wormhole that showed up in front of you.
“Wait wha—”
You can’t stop yourself from going in, but you at least manage to close your eyes. When you think you’ve made it out you slowly open your eyes. Someone grabs your shoulders.
“Why’d you close your eyes? Ain’t no reason to be scared!”
A woman with a huge smile and sparkles in her eyes greets you.
“You know how absolutely terrifying something like that is to a human being, Sana?”
“D’awww you can trust me! You’re alive so everything went fine!”
“T-there was a risk of me dying???”
She pats you in the back and makes you follow her.
“I wasn’t even that far, I could’ve kept walking…”
“Well yeah, but some people were gettin’ impatient.”
You reach out into one of your bags to give Sana her gift: An assortment of chocolates decorated with constellations “Happy Valentine’s day!”
“Awww, thank you!”
You’re now right in the entrance of Fauna’s house. You can already hear some sort of racket happening in the living room.
“Oh look who freakin' decided to show up!”
You immediately try to walk away but Sana blocks your path.
“Why would you betray me after your gift…”
She just smiles while eating her chocolate.
“DON’T RUN AWAY.”
The rat jumps at you, forcing a piggyback ride.
“Hi, Bae…” You tell her while reluctantly heading to the living room.
She lightly hits you in the head. “Where the heck’s Kronii at?”
“Sleeping at home.” You put your bags down and start unpacking while Bae’s still on you.
“Bruh, you’re kiddin’.”
“I’d never lie.” You tell her while waving at the other girls.
“Well you still should’ve come here earlier!” She hits you again.
“W-why…?”
“Ya think we did all that just so you could sleep more?” She starts pinching your cheeks. “You shoulda dropped by right when your boss called.”
Oh right, your job.
“Okay, sure, let’s pretend I’d come here right after my boss called. Would any of you be functioning at 7 am?”
You turn around the living room only to find the girls looking away from you, except for Mumei.
“Okay, well you’re valid.”
She gives you a thumbs up.
“WELL, I WOULD TOO.”
Bae yells at you from above.
“Yeah, after an entire cup of coffee from one of your cups.”
She starts hitting you again.
“IT COUNTS, I just…” Her bonking slow down, “D-didn’t know he’d call you that early…”
“Yeah I thought so, here you go.” You hand Bae your gift, and she gets off.
“Aw, thanks.”
She stares at it for a little while, it’s a chocolate replica of her Chaos toy. “We couldn’t find anything, so we had to make all of your gifts, hope you don’t mind the taste.”
“Wait, Kronii made this?!”
“W-well…”
Would it be bad to tell her how many times she had to rewind whenever the taste wasn’t up to par? You lost count of how many times you had to remake the gifts… Well at least you saved money with that.
“Yeah, she helped a ton.”
It’s still really weird how she can just make “checkpoints” and she can bring you back to the start with a simple clap. How you even retain your memories of what you did before she sends the both of you back is beyond you.
“Hehehehehe, I almost don’t wanna eat it…” She turns it around to look at the entire gift.
“Oh go ahead I… know all the steps by heart now, I can make more…”
“You what?”
You pat her head. “N-nothing, just enjoy it.” Yeah, it’s better to not tell them, they’d probably make Kronii do something with those checkpoints.
She gives you a grin before starting to eat.
You go and deliver the rest of the gifts to the girls. Cookies in the shape of plants for Fauna and more for Mumei in the shape of feathers and her hairpins. Finally, chocolates in the shape of IRyS’ wings, at least the shape of each jewel was easy enough to make.
You look around while they’re all enjoying their food. All that time spent was definitely worth it. Too bad Kronii’s not here to see their reactions.
Fauna’s place isn’t that big, but it’s definitely cozy enough to help you mellow out. There are a few Valentine’s decorations here and there but nothing too exaggerated... Other than the cardboard with a message saying, “I miss you, homie”. Mumei might have an interesting story to tell about that. The girls are just wearing casual outfits with an emphasis on red, and Fauna’s poor cats have to deal with the cute accessories IRyS put on them.
While chatting, you inevitably have to ask about whatever happened last night.
“So, uh… Quite the heist you girls pulled off…”
It’s clear no one wanted you to bring it up considering they’re all avoiding your gaze now.
“Okay first of all…” IRyS is the first to say her piece. “I was against the idea.”
“You absolutely weren’t, you’re just trying to save face now.” Mumei interrupts her.
“All of you could’ve just hoped for a day off instead of making it happen yourselves!”
IRyS pouts and crosses her arms, Bae pokes her cheek to annoy her further.
“It’s fine, I’m thankful you did it…” It seems they all breath a collective sigh of relief after hearing your words. “What I’m wondering is, how.”
“Oh!” Fauna responds while bringing out Kronii’s watch. “We just stopped time and stole— borrowed whatever we saw in the store." She hands it to you. “I think it’s better if you give this back to her yourself.”
“Sure… Though I’m surprised any of you even had the energy to carry all of that.” You say while staring at the watch.
Fauna giggles as she gets up to get a cup of tea for you.
“Nahhhh, I just opened some wormholes to scoop everything up.” Sana keeps explaining.
You smile and press your hands together in front of you. “…You did what?”
“The stuff is fiiiiiine don’t worry.” She says as she eats another chocolate.
You sigh and close your eyes. “We really have to talk about abusing your powers one of these days…”
“Hey! Forcing you to work on Valentine’s is also power abuse!” Bae tries to deflect.
You flick Bae’s forehead. “I would’ve gotten out early anyways and it’s not like I had to come over.”
“You 100% had to come over.” Fauna tells you while handing you your tea, “A certain someone wouldn’t even bother appearing if it wasn’t for you.”
“Come on, don’t sell yourselves short.” You take a sip. “She likes you guys way more than you think.”
“Reaaallyyyy?” Mumei asks you.
“I wasn’t the one who picked your gifts.” Your answer makes a slight blush appear on their faces.
“Explain why she’s not here then.” IRyS had managed to calm down but now she’s back to pouting.
“According to her, she’s still feeling under the weather.” They all stare at you to judge whether you’re lying or not. “You already know I would have dragged her here if she was feeling okay.”
“Here I thought you would’ve kept her to yourself.” Sana gives you a smug smile, you give one of your own in return.
“Good thing you stole everything at my job, otherwise I would have.”
“See I told you it was a good plan.” Of course Bae’s the one who organized it.
“I think it only worked because of whatever you put on the note.” You say as you stare at Fauna. She’s drinking her own cup of tea.
“Hehehe… It’s a new perfume I made. If you liked the effect I could lend you some for you-know-who…”
By her tone and smile, it doesn’t seem like she’s lying. “…I’ll… I’ll think about it.” Somehow you feel like that will backfire if she finds out before you even get to use that on her.
You chat for another while. The party turned out to be a comfy reunion and everyone seems to be enjoying the treats you brought for them. You keep staring at your watch, wondering if that certain someone will stop by.
“Oh yeah, since you already gave us your gifts, here!”
Bae pulls out a bag full of cookies. Some are in the shape of ribbons and others are in the shape of different clocks. “We made these together.”
“T-thank you!” You take the bag and stare at it.
“What? Not gonna eat any?” Mumei tilts her head.
“I-I can?”
“They’re for you too, silly.” She grins at you.
You can’t help but smile back as you open the bag. You grab one of the clock cookies and take a bite. While munching you notice everyone staring at you. Wow, they’re really staring at you.
…They might want a review.
You finish the cookie and take another sip of tea. “This is really good.” They all smile at you and go back to normal. They are pretty good, it wouldn’t hurt to have another one.
You grab a cookie in the shape of a ribbon and take a bite. “Maybe some hot chocolate will be nice for later…”
“Wow, really enjoying the party, huh?”
That voice almost made your heart stop. You look above you and find a blue haired woman staring daggers at you.
“Bet those cookies are super tasty.”
Is she really going to be jealous over cookies her own friends made.
“Sigh… Why is your timing perfect for these kinds of things…”
“I’m offended that you’d even ask such a que—”
“KRONIIIIII!”
When they noticed her, the girls immediately went to tackle her. Kronii was too distracted scolding you to stop time and evade the attack.
“HEY GET OFF ME.” She tries to push them away to no avail.
“WE HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN WEEKS, KRONII”
You look at them without bothering to stand up. “Didn’t you meet up for her watch a few days ago?”
“Doesn’t count.” Fauna replies while holding Kronii’s arm. “She left right after giving us one of them.”
“Oh yeah, why did you guys ask for it anywa—”
“HAPPY VALENTINE’S KRONII”
They try to distract her with a group hug. Kronii tries to act like she’s annoyed, but you can tell she’s happy.
After they calm down, she sits next to you, and you go back to chatting. Thanks to the group hug Kronii doesn’t feel too awkward about showing up late.
“Feeling better?” You ask her while Fauna gives her a cup of tea.
“What? O-oh, yeah! Yeah, I’m okay…” She looks away while taking a sip.
“You sure?” Fauna gets closer and touches Kronii’s forehead. “Hmmm…”
“H-hey…” She tries to move away but Fauna follows her.
After checking, she lightly pinches Kronii’s cheek.
“Ow!”
“She’s fine.” Fauna tells you with a smile.
“I wasn’t lying…” Kronii covers herself with her cup of tea.
While chatting a little more, you notice Kronii keeps staring at the gifts the both of you made. She also makes a worried face whenever one of the girls eats another chocolate or a cookie. She’s probably wondering if they liked the gifts or not. The others have a hard time trying to ignore the clock’s piercing gaze.
IRyS can’t handle it after the third chocolate. “Thank you so much for the gifts, Kronii!” Everyone joins her showing their gratitude.
Kronii looks surprised. “Wait, how did you…?”
She looks at you with a frown on her face. You smile back.
“I wasn’t going to take the credit for all of this.” You explain.
“But you did every—”
“I did everything I could to help you out, yes.” A little revenge from the torture of remaking every treat so many times.
“You…! Ugh.” She’s starting to blush now. “I-I’m happy you liked your gifts.” She tells them while barely looking up.
It looks like she wants to leave, thankfully Clover jumps to her lap.
“AWWWW, Clover!” Any embarrassment she was feeling instantly disappears as she starts to pet the cat. “Where’d you get such cute clothes?”
“You’re very welcome, Kronii.” IRyS replies.
Kronii smirks, “Okay maybe they’re not that cute.”
“HEY!”
“You know she’s teasing you, IRyS.” You try to calm her down.
“Hmpf!” She pouts and turns her attention to Snail, who is sitting right next to her. “At least you like the clothes I got you, right?”
Mrow.
“What did he say, Fauna?”
“He says they’re alright.” She replies while petting her cat.
“Better than not that cute.” IRyS sticks out her tongue at Kronii, the clock ignores her and keeps pampering Clover. Everyone smiles looking at how cute Kronii is with Fauna’s cat.
Mumei stares at her hands, “Wait, Kronii you could at least take off your gloves.”
Kronii stops but keeps looking at the cat, “Uh… no, it’s fine.”
“Aren’t they covered in fur by now?” You ask her.
“I can just turn back time don’t worry.”
“No, I was more talking about the feeling,” Mumei explains while squishing Snail.
“…I-I’ll be fine…” There’s clear regret in her words but she still won’t take them off, she goes back to focusing on pampering Clover.
“Hey, Kronii.” Sana snaps her out of her kitty trance. “Can you tell us if you like the cookies we made?”
“The cookies you what?” She doesn’t stop petting Clover but at least she’s looking at the girls now.
You show her the bag. “These ones.”
“Oh wow!” She smiles. “Feed me one.”
“…Alright.”
You grab a cookie and move closer to her.
“Hey, just grab one yourself!” Bae interrupts you. “I don’t need you lovebirds showing off in front of us.”
“Sorryyyy but I’m busy.” She says while stroking Clover’s fur.
“Open up.” You tell her moving the cookie closer to her. She opens her mouth and you feed it to her.
She keeps focusing on the cat while chewing but her eyes slowly start to light up. She stops petting altogether to pay more attention to the cookie. Everyone waits for her review in bated breath.
When she finishes eating she realizes everyone’s staring at her. “W-what?”
“Was it good?” IRyS asks while moving closer to the both of you.
“…Did you make this alone?” Kronii leans away from her.
“We all made them together!” She responds, “So you can’t just say it’s so-so.”
Kronii grumbles a little while pushing you with her elbow. “She’s not lying.” You tell her while feeding her another cookie.
She covers her mouth while chewing now that she noticed everyone is staring at her. Clover decides it’s enough pampering, so he jumps down to go to another resting spot. Kronii awkwardly tries to reach out to him to no avail. She’s still covering her mouth, but you can tell she’s pouting.
You pat her head to console her.
“What did I say about lovey-dovey stuff???” Bae grabs a pillow from the sofa and throws it at you.
“Excuse you?” You catch it and position yourself to pitch it back like a baseball.
“Calm down, Bae~.” Fauna holds Bae’s hand as she’s about to grab another pillow to toss at you.
Bae tries to get away but the kirin’s hold is too strong. “Then Kronii should give us her review!”
You stay your hand and put the pillow down. You notice Kronii staring at you. Even though she doesn’t have Clover as an excuse she’s still waiting for another cookie.
You oblige and feed her again.
Looking at her reactions while eating, she does seem to like the cookies… It’s just that you see something else in her eyes. Regret? Maybe she’s a little bit upset? You can’t really tell.
“Well…” She finally speaks up. “…They’re good.”
Everyone grows silent.
Kronii can’t take this kind of vibe, “W-what?”
“A-are you serious, Kronininiii??” Even Sana’s astonished.
“I can give compliments too!” She’s turning beet red. “Don’t make me take it back.”
“KRONII—” The girls all jump from their seats with their arms wide open.
“IF YOU HUG ME AGAIN LIKE THAT I’M GONE.”
They freeze and slowly go back to their original spots.
“W-we’re glad you like them…” Fauna gives her a big smile and the others look very relieved.
With that problem resolved, everyone goes back to chatting around, enjoying their time together. Kronii joins in too, she seems happy to be here. The both of you help out Mumei to finish preparing the food for the party. Mumei knows about Kronii’s cooking skills thanks to some competitions they’ve had with Council in the past, so you both try to turn this into a cooking class for her. Thankfully, she doesn’t notice and has a bit of fun.
You eat with everyone, though some of the girls like Bae are a bit too full already thanks to your gift. You make a personal note to make the chocolates smaller or at least less rich for next time, though maybe Kronii will want to try to prepare something else.
Well, at least we can make do with checkpoints again…
Because of the meal, it’s probably enough cookies for now, so you tie the gift bag back up and pack it.
While putting it in your bag, you remember her reactions and wince a little.
…Maybe my gift sucks…
Well it’s not like you can fix it at this point.
Although…
You remember the watch in your pocket… You put your hand inside and grab it.
…But what if I just make a run for it…?
You place your thumb on the winding crown.
“Are you okay?”
Kronii’s voice startles you a little. She tilts her head.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” You respond as you take your hand out.
Let’s not do that.
You keep hanging out with the Council, playing games or chatting. Just as it’s about time to leave, you can feel your phone vibrating. You take it out and see it’s a message from your boss.
Hey kid. My wife has taken me hostage, can I ask you to open up shop tomorrow? You can start up late, too.
How late?
Noon?
Yeah, no problem. See you when you’re free.
“Bruh, can’t believe you’re cheatin’ on Kronii on Valentine’s of all days” Bae does not miss a chance to pick a fight.
“It was my boss you brat.” You grab the watch and throw it at her. “I’m opening the store tomorrow.”
Some of them groan realizing what they have to do.
“I don’t wanna wake up at 6…” Bae sulks while playing with the watch.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Kronii asks them. They all stare daggers at you, trying to ask if you told her anything. You smile while shaking your head.
“Don’t worry Kronii, they just have a job to do.” You tell her while making an even bigger smile at them.
“But so earlyyyy?” IRyS joins in.
“IRyS, you literally go to sleep at that hour I don’t want to hear it.”
“Hmpf…”
“Also, he gave me the okay to open up later than usual, so I’ll go at… 11 am. You guys don’t even have to go early just do it later tonight”
They would’ve preferred you saying you wouldn’t open at all, but the different hour makes them reluctantly agree. Kronii’s still confused about all this. You just pat her head again and you go to the front door.
You say your goodbyes and thank each other for the gifts once again.
“Can’t wait for your return gifts on White Day!” Sana teases you.
“But I literally made your…” All the girls are giving you puppy eyes. “You know what, fine.”
They didn’t actually expect you to agree so they happily let you go.
“Um…” Kronii tries to speak up. “Thank you for the gift. Seriously.” She beams them a smile that makes their hearts stop.
You leave before they get the chance to hug Kronii again. She even snaps her fingers to stop time so you can make even more distance from Fauna’s place before they try to chase you. Once she feels safe enough, Kronii snaps her fingers again and you continue like normal.
“Was that really necessary?”
She doesn’t look back, but her face tells you she’s expecting something.
“Just listen.”
“KRONII COME BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK.”
You can clearly hear their screams but surprisingly, they aren’t running towards you.
“Oh yeah, no point in running… But wait, Sana can just—”
“I can just snap my fingers again.”
She smiles and waves them goodbye.
You walk together while she looks around. The number of happy people hasn’t reduced and they’re still all over the place. There are some shops that started to play music and some couples are happily dancing.
People try to sell you chocolates, flowers, candies, macaroons… anything for that beautiful lady next to you. Kronii seems annoyed.
“And why don’t they offer me anything for you.”
You laugh, what a way to compliment you. “It’s fine, I’m not buying anything from them anyways.”
Still annoyed, she stares at the couples dancing, you have to dodge a few that are a bit too into the music. “Sigh, I hate this day, there’s so many couples, why can’t they just leave…”
You stare at her trying not to laugh again, “Kronii you’re… You realize that you’re not… You know…?”
“I— Feh— Fuah—"
She bites her lip and looks away. “…I forget sometimes, okay?” She tries to cover her face with her with her hands.
“Sure.” You reach into your bag and grab one of your gifts. You wrap the scarf around her to help hiding her blush.
“It’s still a bit chilly, huh?”
She turns to look at you, her entire face is red now. “This is…?”
“Just a small gift.” You grab her hand and walk with her. “If you can accept your friend’s cookies this should be fine, right?”
She grabs the scarf and pulls it to cover even more of her face. “…Thank you.”
You take a moment to admire her reaction. You don’t pay much attention to whatever is happening around you while you go back home.
When you arrive, you can smell something burnt.
…How did she manage to burn breakfast…?
Kronii doesn’t seem to notice the smell until you’re both inside. Her eyes widen at the realization.
“Oh no did I forget to—”
You take a look at the kitchen. “Did you really burn your breakfast, Kro—" You can’t even finish to ask your question before Kronii pushes you outside.
“G-GIVE ME A SECOND.”
She closes the door right in front of you. “I wasn’t going to scold you though?” You wait a few seconds, the burnt smell still lingering in your nose. There’s something different from what you remember.
Did I make something with chocolate in the morning?
You think about the menu while going back inside. The smell is slowly starting to dissipate and everything in the kitchen looks fine. Kronii, however, looks very flustered.
“You okay?”
“Uh, yeah! I forgot to clean up, haha…”
She averts your gaze while trying to walk away. “I’m… gonna… go play something…”
You let her do her own thing and go to your office. You look around to see if anything changed. Thankfully, it seems she didn’t come here, everything looks the same as you left it in the morning.
Well she could’ve always reversed time but… I’m just going to pretend she didn’t check.
You grab the last gift and join her in the living room. There’s some tea prepared on the table, she probably got that while she was cleaning up. She’s not playing anything, she’s sitting down with her arms crossed, looking away from you.
“…I feel like I did something wrong, but I don’t know what.” You say as you sit down next to her. You also hide the gift nearby since she’s not looking at you.
She scoots away.
“You really had some fun with the girls, huh?”
Now where did this come from?
“I clearly recall someone telling me to go by myself to the party.”
You poke her on the cheek. She grabs your hand and puts it down.
She’s pouting harder.
“They really liked your gifts!”
She brings her legs up to hug them and turns away from you.
“But I didn’t even make them…”
“They wouldn’t have come out that good if it wasn’t for you!”
She turns back to face you so she can kick you. Maybe the positive reinforcement wasn’t the answer.
“Okay but they cookies they made were great too, they really care about you.”
She stops kicking. “Yeah, they were great.” She covers her face with her knees. Only now you notice Kronii took her gloves off. Her fingers have band-aids on them.
“Are you okay?”
She presses her face harder against her legs.
“UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH… WHATEVER.”
She gets up from the couch and faces you.
“Get up.”
“W-what?”
“GET UP.”
You do as your told and stand up beside her.
“…Here.”
She pulls out a small, blue box, you can see her hand is trembling a little.
“Kronii, this is…?”
“I wasn’t feeling bad, I just… Needed an excuse to take over the kitchen…”
You take the box, and she looks away again.
“…Happy Valentine’s day…”
You can barely contain your happiness, but you manage to hold on.
“Well, you beat me to the punch, but it’s fine.”
She looks back. “What do you mean? You already gave me something.”
You grab the box of chocolates you made for her. “Yeah, but that was something extra.”
She’s stunned.
“Happy Valentine’s day, Kronii.”
She takes the gift and stares at it, then she looks at you.
The both of you stay silent until you can’t take it anymore and burst out laughing.
“We're the best at making it awkward, huh?”
You sit back down.
“You’re the one who stood up first!”
“Well I wasn’t going to find a good moment to give it to you after the party!”
Now you’ve both calmed down, she scoots over to you and lays her head on your shoulder.
“Thank you.”
She opens the box to see what kind of chocolates you made. Some of the chocolates are clocks but you also made some in the shape of hearts.
“Some have almonds in them, but I don’t remember which ones.”
“It’ll be a surprise then!” She happily grabs one of them and eats it. “Oh this one had an almond!”
It’s like she wasn’t upset one bit a few minutes ago.
“Can I open my gift too?”
She glances at the box.
“…Maybe tomorrow while you’re at work.”
“Oh, c’mon.”
“It’s not going to be goooood.” She leans even more, rubbing the back of her head against you.
You hug her from behind. “That doesn’t matteeeerrrr.”
She giggles from feeling your breath on her neck. “Okay, fine… Just don’t complain.”
You carefully open the box and find a few small chocolates, all in the shape of a heart.
“Awww…”
“Shut up.”
You take one of them and eat it. It’s milk chocolate, it’s sweet and creamy. It melts in your mouth pretty easily.
“It sucks right?”
“Not at all,” You pat her head, “You did great.”
She turns around and looks at you in the eyes. “R-really?”
You take the chance to kiss her on the lips. “Yup, I mean it.”
She still can’t believe you actually liked her chocolates, but she slowly smiles.
“Just wondering how you managed to burn the ki—”
“DON’T WORRY ABOUT THAT.”
She shuts you up with another one of her chocolates. You move the box away from her before she can feed you all of them.
“Hey, what gives?”
“I want to enjoy each one!”
“Hmpf.”
While admiring your gift, she gets up to set up everything to play Mario Kart with you.
“Oh, how romantic.”
“Don’t even.”
She lays down next to you again gesturing you for another hug. You do just that and you chill with her for a while. To make it a little more entertaining, you feed her one of the chocolates you made for every time she places higher than you. You almost end up finishing the box.
You stare at Kronii’s hands while playing, you don’t remember the last time she ever got injured.
“You didn’t get hurt too much, did you?”
“Hm?” She lets go of her controller to look at her hands, “Oh! No, just some cuts from… chopping up the chocolate…”
Weird that she didn’t turn back time to patch herself up… Actually…
“…Did you want me to notice you—”
“I FORGOT, YES, EXACTLY.”
She worked really hard, you understand that much. You go back to hugging her before she gets upset.
After she shows off another one of her wins, your phone vibrates. It’s Bae.
Bruh did you really ditch us for some MARIO KART???
Cry about it.
Screw you get on
Did you guys stock up the shop already?
…you better still be around when we’re done
Depends on her.
You’re the worst
:D
Smiley faces are EXCLUSIVE to IRyS how dare you
You put your phone away and poke Kronii on the cheek. She bites your finger in response.
“Who was it?”
She lets you go because the next race is starting.
“Bae’s wondering if you want to play with them later.”
“Hmmmmmm… Not sure.” She throws a green shell, and it hits you with pinpoint accuracy somehow.
“How…?”
“I’m just that good.” She says that but she was still kicking with her legs in excitement.
You play for another while, although you place higher than her a few ties, you end up almost finishing the box of chocolates. You notice she’s starting to yawn.
“Still not sure?”
Kronii puts her controller down and stretches. “Mmm… I kinda wanna sleep…”
You pat her head.
“That’s fine, you probably spent your battery already. Let me message them.”
While you pull out your phone she lays her head on your chest.
Hey, she wants to sleep
You’re joking we JUST got back
Oh thank you for the help!
SHUTUP
You try to hold in the laughter.
“Are they okay?”
“Bae looks upset.”
“…Call them…”
“Really?”
She nods.
“YOU EVEN HAVE THE AUDACITY TO CALL ME???”
“…Bae…”
“Oh wait, Kronii?”
“…Mm-hmm…”
“Aw you do sound tired…”
“I’m sorry… Wanna play tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sure! Thank you again for the gifts!”
“…Thank you too. Happy Valentine’s…”
“KRONIIIII—”
She hangs up for you.
“Finish up your tea and brush your teeth, I’ll clean up here.”
She nods and sips what’s left in her cup. You chat a little more while you finish your own cup.
When you’re done, you start to clean up.
She stands up and walks up to you. She already seems half-asleep.
She gets closer and hugs you. “Thank you…”
You hug her back and stroke her hair.
“Did you have a good time?”
You can feel her nodding.
“I’m glad.”
You let her go to the bathroom and you finish up cleaning. You sneakily eat one more of her chocolates and take your time enjoying it. You can’t help but feel extremely happy that she made something for you.
…I should take a picture…
You take a peek at the hallway, you can hear Kronii slowly brushing her teeth. You snap a few photos of your gift and store it alongside your own box and the Council’s bag.
Well, no need to go buy sweets for a little while. I’ll have to thank them again later.
You take out your phone to write down a reminder. You also change you alarm for tomorrow, good thing the girls already fixed the store. You brush your teeth and go to bed, she’s still awake waiting for you.
“Hey, beautiful~.”
“…Come here already.” She lifts up the covers inviting you inside. You join her and she immediately clings to you. “…It’s cold now…”
You wrap your arms around her and kiss her head. She looks up to you.
“I’m happy you made me go.”
“It’s nice to be with friends, right?”
She nods, “I guess this day isn’t that bad.”
“That’s great.”
You keep stroking her hair, she starts to giggle a little. “Did I tickle you?”
She shakes her head, “No, I’m just… Thinking that I’m going to get two presents for my birthday.”
“What do you… Oh.”
White day, right.
“You’re just that special.”
“I knoooowwwww…”
She’s falling asleep now and you’re starting to feel drowsy yourself. Thankfully you don’t have to wake up that early tomorrow.
“Happy Valentine’s day, Kronii.” You manage to kiss her one more time.
“Happy… Valen…” She dozes off before finishing her sentence.
You close your eyes now thinking about next month. It’ll be a bit complicated, but maybe she’ll lend you a watch so you can work on the gifts for everyone, especially hers. You start to worry, but feeling her warmth calms you down.
It’s going to be fine.
You already have a few ideas, just have to put your heart and soul into it.
…And hope she likes it.
t. Nameronii
NSFW Part, male POV (Click at your own risk): https://rentry.org/6dd4b
NSFW Part, female POV (Still the same warning): https://rentry.org/8ezhb