Chocolate List

If you asked 12 year old Natsume Hyuuga what his most hated time of the year was, without a doubt, he would tell you it would be Valentine's Day. Some would think it was an unusual choice for a child, but not when you are Natsume Hyuuga. Growing up at the academy, he had watched years of older students – especially the girls – stay up all night, research all day, for that one recipe and one way to shove their affection down another's throat. And then on February 15th, he would see them weeping along the corridors for their sad, broken and unrequited love. Then the same process repeats itself each year.

To Natsume, it was a pointless day. All that effort to please another person for nothing. But Natsume knew he shared a rather unpopular opinion. After all, it's the day that the guys get the attention that they wanted. So while the whole school gets immersed in the spirit of love, Natsume Hyuuga spends his Valentine's Day hoping that the day ends sooner.

The night before Valentine's, Natsume remained restless and alert throughout the night. After more tossing and turning in his bed, he decided to go and catch some air.

As he went down the dormitory stairs, he realised that the kitchen lights were still on. Probably someone making some last minute dessert again, he thought. But as he passed the kitchen, he spotted the frantic figure fussing behind a towering set of baking ingredients and equipment.

Mikan Sakura had whipped cream on her apron and her nose when he entered.

She stopped when she saw him enter. "Natsume? What are you doing at this time?" She looked up from behind a recipe book. But her attention had already shifted back to her creation before Natsume could reply.

Natsume merely shrugged and opened the fridge. It was filled with packs of wrapped chocolates and desserts all labelled in disgustingly cursive letterings – and he shut it in resignation.

"Just getting some air." He answered, and he decided to pull up a stool to watch her wave her whisk around clumsily.

Mikan Sakura had joined the academy when she was 10, yet this was the first time he had seen her participating actively in Valentine's celebrations. By looking at his crush, he could totally see why. Judging by the way she had to recheck the recipe book every few seconds, and the spilt ingredients all over the kitchen counter and even some in her hair, it was no surprise to him that clumsy Mikan had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

Natsume didn't ask, but Mikan knew that he was curious anyway.

"I'm making chocolate cookies. I tried making normal chocolates this afternoon, but I just couldn't get it right, even after Anna and Misaki-senpai dropped by to try and help me salvage some stuff. I wasted all my ingredients away. But Hotaru told me I could take her leftover ingredients for cookies, so here I am!" She beamed happily, seemingly unfazed by her lack of culinary skills.

"Anyway, what's up? What's bothering you?" She probed, not looking up from measuring a cup of sugar.

"Nothing." Natsume fiddled with an unused cookie cutter.

"Is it because you're too excited? Tomorrow is Valentine's!"

"No. I hate Valentine's."

"Whaaat? Why?" She frowned. She looked cute pouting with that cream smeared on her button nose.

"Valentine's is wayyy overrated."

"Oh? But you get a lot of chocolates every year, no? I saw the fridge. There are many chocolates for you, Natsume."

"I hate sweet food. It makes me want to puke."

He watched as Mikan's face fell slightly.

"Oh, that's a shame. But everyone puts a lot of effort into making them."

Natsume let out a groan. "That's the second reason why Valentine's sucks."

"Hm?"

"It sucks that everyone puts in so much effort to make food for people who barely even know they exist. I don't get why some girls just like to waste their time. If you only appeared once a year to hand guys some chocolates and expect them to remember you, or be touched, or fall in love with you suddenly – that's definitely NOT happening. Besides, why only wait till February 14th? Statistically, I am sure there are way more rejections on that day than others. There is no reason to treat it as a special day, or think that there is a higher success rate just because it was Valentine's."

A moment of silence followed after Natsume unleashed his pent up frustrations. Mikan's hand froze in mid-air from strangling her dough (which was strangely yellowish), before she started to chuckle. Soon, she was laughing, and she didn't stop for a while. Her laughter was light and warm, and whatever reason or thing she was laughing at, Natsume thought about how much the sound of her laughter makes him want to smile.

"That's the kind of problem only popular guys face. If you said that to Koko, he would probably fight you." Mikan giggled, her hands reaching out for her rolling pin. "But Natsume, there's a reason for your popularity, you know."

He smirks. "Other than the fact that I have dashing good looks?"

Mikan rolled her eyes. "Sure." She smacked the cookie cutter out of his hands. "It's not always just about the looks. I mean, you're actually a really nice guy."

Natsume was taken aback. From all the rumours he had heard about himself, nice was definitely not what he was expecting. Especially from the person he teased around the most. He definitely didn't expect Mikan to think that he was nice, when most of the time, regrettably and uncontrollably, he was pretty much a nonchalant jerk to her.

"I am not nice." He said simply.

"You are." She insisted. "And people know it deep down as well. Look, you're hating Valentine's day so much because you are worried about the trouble you cause for others, and of them getting hurt from being rejected by you. You're being considerate of their feelings. Also, I know for a fact from being your partner for 2 years, that you have never rejected a single Valentine's chocolate. Even though you hate sweet food, you always accepted them, and thanked the girl properly. Never mind you gave them all to Youichi after that."

Natsume felt slightly surprised at the amount of attention she had been giving him. Did she really notice all that?

"See? You're nice. Even though I wish I could be at the receiving end of your niceness more often." She added, throwing him a glare.

Natsume continued to stare at the figure fretting over how her dough seemed to be too dry and it took all of him to suppress a smile.

"For once, you're actually pretty smart." He nodded approvingly.

"The offense is taken." Mikan brandished her rolling pin in front of his face playfully. She started to open the cabinets around her, muttering about looking for a mixer. "Oh, there it is!" She exclaimed, tiptoeing and reaching out for the red machine above her. Seeing her struggle, Natsume stood up and reached for the mixer from behind her. When Mikan first arrived, the two had been around the same height. 2 years later, Natsume was now at least half a head taller than her. She tilted her head up and grinned at him, oblivious to the close proximity between them. "Thanks. You're being nice to me? I could get used to this!"

She came to sit beside him when she finally, finally got the cookies into the oven.

"Say, Natsume."

"Hm?"

"Do you have someone you like?"

He looked up in surprise. She saw how he had reacted and hurried to explain herself. "I'm just curious about what a popular guy thinks. You never seem to show much liking for anything." She explained.

"…Maybe."

"Eh? Really?" She leapt out from her laid back position and puller her chair closer to Natsume. He could smell the scent of baked goodies on her.

"Tell me, tell me!" She begged. "Is it someone I know?"

"Don't know." He looked away. Stupid, it's you.

"Don't give me that." She smacked him playfully. "I swear I won't tell a soul."

In reply, and in slight frustration at her lack of tact, Natsume flicked her forehead when she came too close to him.

"Ow!" She yelped in anger. "What was that for? Geez. Fine, fine, I don't care anymore." She backed away in disappointment.

"…She's really clumsy and stupid."

"Oh really? Tell me more!" She approached him again, hope in her eyes.

"And she's always in trouble. And she's really loud and intrusive. She is really bad at hiding her emotions, despite what she thinks. She whines a lot."

Mikan's face twitched in confusion. "She sounds like a handful."

Natsume couldn't help but finally smirk. "She is."

Mikan got up to check on the oven. "Well, I am surprised. I would think your type of girl has to be the opposite of everything you just said. Someone gorgeous and smart. And independent and good at everything she does. Like you."

Natsume looked her in the eyes. "I never said she wasn't gorgeous."

Mikan's face melted into a smile. "You can be kinda sweet sometimes. Are you expecting chocolates from her? Hey, can you pass me that piece of paper there?"

"This?" Natsume reached out to grab a small piece of paper torn out of a school exercise book. He recognised it as the sheet of paper she had been eagerly scribbling into during lessons. Jii-chan, Narumi-sensei, Tono-senpai, Tsubasa-senpai, Youichi-chan, Yuu, Koko, Ruka-pyon…" It was a list of names she was giving chocolates to.

Wait a minute. Something was wrong. Natsume read the list a few times. It can't be right.

His name wasn't on it.

"Why is my name not here?" He blurted out without thinking, just as Mikan pulled out her cookie tray from the oven.

"Um, you just said it yourself. Sweet things make you want to throw up." Mikan raised an eyebrow.

Natsume felt the frustration kick in and immediately regretted what he said earlier. Even Narumi is getting chocolate cookies from her while he became a victim of his own words. "I guess she's not giving me anything." Natsume mumbled under his breath.

"Sorry?" Mikan frowned, but Natsume shook his head.

Mikan spent the next few minutes very carefully wrapping up the cookies in their pink wrapping and labelling them. But the brooding presence behind her was getting hard to ignore.

She appeared before him, a smile in her eyes.

"Give me your hands."

When Natsume didn't react or look at her, she grabbed his arm and placed a single, square (ish?) chocolate cube into his palm.

"It's the only one that made it out alive after this morning. It's the first batch I made this morning. If you don't mind, you can have it. You'll be the first person to taste my creation!" She grinned.

When he popped it into his mouth, the flavour that burst forward was so overpoweringly sweet and tasted nothing like what a chocolate was supposed to taste like, but for some reason, Natusme didn't seem to mind.

Somehow, in that tiny kitchen in the dead of the night, he wished that morning would never come, and that the chocolate would never melt in his mouth. Somehow, just for that day, Natsume felt that he would go around proclaiming to anyone who asked or did not about his sudden, newfound passion for sweet food. And somehow, Natsume Hyuuga wished that for once, Valentine's Day would come again.

Oops, forgot to make it in time for Valentine's. Wasn't very sure where i was going with this, but i hope it's a short and sweet story. Happy Valentine's!