PT: Sweet Pair. Drabble. Desperate, remembered-at-the-last-moment attempt at a Valentine's Day fic.

Disclaimer: I'm too young -deadpans-

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Marui hated candy hearts.

He liked every kind of candy, but candy hearts were out of the question. They had an odd taste, each and every one of them. Their flavors were too artificial, too queer -- in short, not the type he liked to indulge in. And not sweet enough. There was not enough sugar, he complained.

So when he got them on Valentine's Day, he merely pulled them out of his locker and chucked them into the trash. He did that every year; he just hated those tiny candy hearts too much.

So when Jirou bounced up to him, holding out a pack of the hearts, the world seemed to hold its breath.

"Marui-kun!" He gave an eager jump.

The world tensed up as the redhead stared at the pack -- the pack itself the size of the average loaf of Irish soda bread -- with a stiff look on his face. Jirou was smiling, still eager.

Time seemed to slow, gradually nearing a complete stop, before movement finally came.

"Sure," Marui said, smiling, and took the pack of the artificial, not-sweet-enough candy.

The next day, the pack was found, empty and crumpled, in Marui's room, silently nestled at the bottom of a trash can.

And Marui lay in bed, complaining of a stomachache.