Old request for a friend, which is about a week late. Welp. There's no such thing as late for V-Day fic, kay. Slight MR, 9Q, 35, 84, and 67 for the lulz.

Usual disclaimer. Also cliché-ness galore.

First Valentine

"Valen…tine?"

"You've never heard of it?"

"No, never."

It was Rem's turn to make a face at Deuce's words. Today was just the exact day before the ever-so-popular fourteenth of February and she had managed to ask the girls of the Class Zero to gather in her room just before hitting the sack. At first, she had hoped that she could share girly and romantic experiences that night, but turned out that none of her classmates understand the importance of the day.

"Ah, I actually have read about that once," Queen interjected. "Valentine's Day, if I recall correctly, is the holiday to express your love or affection towards someone you care for, right?"

…Well, everyone except Queen. To her brief explanation, Rem nodded vigorously and everyone else quickly turned their attentions to the class representative. Adjusting the glasses to the bridge of her nose, she continued.

"In general, there are two types of chocolates to give," she explained. "First is Giri chocolate, you share those types of chocolate to male friends, acquaintances, or any others without romantic attachment."

The gossiping trio gave the obvious 'Oooh' while the silverette duo gave the less interested one.

"And the second one is Honmei chocolate. As opposed to the other one, this one is given to those who you held romantic feelings to. Honmei chocolates are usually presented in a higher quality than Giri chocolates to show how special that person is to you."

As Queen finished her explanation with a low cough, Deuce's and Cinque's face lit with excitement, followed by Cater, who was a little less enthusiastic, but still excited nonetheless. Rem clapped her hands together happily as well, this was the perfect time to ask.

"So who are you giving the Honmei one to, girls?"

Instant dead silence.

"TREY!"

Until the cuckoolander of the class suddenly erupted from her position with brimming optimism reflected on her eyes. Rem immediately squealed when she heard Cinque's sudden response, the rest of the girls sans Sice only blinked their eyes in surprise, and the scythe wielder let out a disapproval groan.

"Trey as in… that loud ass motherfucker?"

"Yuuuup~!" Cinque answered shortly. "Trey as in that loud ass motherfucker~"

This time, Queen was the one who let out a groan as she eyed Sice with a flick of anger. Way to teach your innocent classmate swear words, Sice. Sice herself only shrugged it off, as an answer to both Cinque's and Queen's expression.

"Cinque," Sice expressed. "the hell is special 'bout that guy, anyway?"

Now Sice just asked the most interesting question. Rem and the others quickly darted their attentions to Cinque, who only put her hands on her hips proudly as she answered.

"Trey is not special!" The braided girl claimed. "Trey is Trey~ and Cinque have always liked Trey~"

That indirect confession brought stupors to everyone's face. Cinque, however, just being Cinque and without another words, she quickly made her beeline to the certain part of the dormitory.

Kitchen.

With an 'Oh, crap!' written all over her face, Cater quickly stood before she chased after Cinque.

"Cin! You're going to explode the kitchen, again!"

As Cinque's excited laughs and Cater's calls faded out, the rest of the girls sighed. Indeed, they didn't want another explosion in the kitchen, let alone repairing it. Queen would make sure to thanks Cater later for reacting so fast at Cinque's sudden movement.

That was when she noticed something weird with the class' cool girl. Seven was… fidgeting rather awkwardly, hugging her knees together tightly.

"Seven?"

Queen's question brought everyone else to their senses again and their eyes darted back to the number seven. As if seemed to be surprised by Queen's notice, Seven gasped a little first before she returned to her usual, mature constitution.

"It's… Ah," the silverette blushed faintly. "Do you mind if… I ask you something that might sound rather weird?"

Queen arched her eyebrow curiously, still composed as ever. "Please, do go on."

"This Honmei chocolate…" Seven trailed. "Does it really have to be a male at the recipient end?"

…

Oh boy, this is awkward.

Seven's gaze had already trailed over to Sice, followed by the others', including Queen's herself. On Sice's part, though, she was already horrified as hell.

"HELL NO."

Before anyone else could perform any response, Sice already escaped from Rem's room. Seven was caught dumbstruck at Sice's action at first, but she then quickly followed the other silverette out of the room, probably to… 'sort' things out.

Now, the room was left for the three of them: Deuce, Queen, and Rem, who sighed together again at the random drama of their classmates. Queen was the first one to rise from her seat.

"Queen?" Rem questioned as the jet-black haired lass brushed her skirt. "Where are you going?"

"Actually, you brought up a great point, Rem."

Rem tilted her head curiously while Queen continued, a faint smile plastered on her lips.

"You know, I-" once again, she adjusted her glasses. "-No, we never celebrated Valentine's Day even once, but now that the war's all over, I think it's only fair if we act like a girl of our age for once, right?"

Queen warmly smiled at the two remaining members, which both replied with a small smile and giggle on their parts as well.

"Maybe I should make one for everyone as well," the class representative pointed out. "they deserve it."

She was about to step out of the room gracefully, but Rem sputtered a question that made her flinch slightly.

"So who are you making your Honmei for, Queen?"

Actually, flinch was an understatement, she stopped dead on her position, an obvious shade of reds colored her cheeks.

Now Rem and Deuce were curious.

Queen, being Queen, tried her best to regain her composure. She coughed purposely, pushed her glasses upward for no definite reason in order to reinstate her personal barrier, but it was all too late. She had triggered the wrong button that is Deuce's and Rem's inner fangirl sides.

She tried to take another step out, but her other leg was already grabbed by both of Deuce's and Rem's arms.

"Would you please let go—"

She turned her head around, only to meet the girls' sparkly eyes, expecting her to give them a proper explanation. She tried to forcefully lift her locked leg, but the powers of two elite students were not something that she could fight at this point.

She hated her life.

Queen sighed, and her shoulders dropped down in defeat as she stopped her efforts in getting out of the room. Rem and Deuce smiled in victory, slowly releasing their grips on Queen's leg as the black haired lady turned her attention back at them.

Or so they thought.

Because Queen's plan B to escape the room by feigning defeat worked. As soon as she was out of the holds, she immediately dashed out of the room, leaving the two with nothing but her trails. The two tricked girls gasped and tried to run after her, but Queen had already slammed the door close, delaying both of Deuce and Rem around three seconds gap to chase after her, which was already more than enough for Queen to make her escape due to her amazing speed.

She wasn't going to tell them, that's for sure.

The remaining two sighed in unison. They both slowly slipped onto the cushions again, pouts that were fruited from the defeat just now were apparent on their faces.

"I wonder…" Deuce murmured. "Who's Queen going to give her Honmei to…"

"If only we had held on to her a little longer…" Rem pouted harder.

"…Yeah."

Yet another pair of sighs that beat into one.

Deuce slowly grabbed another cushion in boredom and hugged it tightly. This Valentine's Day sure was confusing, especially when you weren't romantically involved with someone yet, and there were hundreds of male students that you were indebted to in various way. No romantic interests in them only made it more confusing.

If only she could figure her own feelings as easily as Cinque or Queen, even though the latter was still denying and hiding it from the others.

Speaking of which, Rem was going to give hers to…

"…Rem?" she curiously mumbled, and the girl in question tilted her head questioningly at the younger girl. Deuce stared at Rem's beautiful red eyes for a moment, and not too long after that, the flutist sighed again. "…Ah, no. Never mind."

She was probably- No, she was definitely going to give her Honmei chocolate for Machina.

Rem's frown deepened as she questioned herself about what was Deuce going to ask. Yet, that was only for the slightest of a moment, since her face soon gleamed again. Without Deuce's consent, Rem quickly snaked her hands against Deuce's, bringing and clapping them together in front of her. Deuce herself was still blinking her eyes, dumbfounded at Rem's sudden gesture. The twin knives fighter smiled comfortingly as she stared at Deuce.

"Who are you going to give yours to, Deuce?"

xxx

Sadly, Rem missed the other most important things: She didn't know that the boys of Class Zero were mostly ignorant as well. Machina, who was probably the only one who knew the deal about Valentine's Day, was too engrossed in throwing eggs at Nine in the special after-party of the lancer's birthday, teamworking with the rest of the team.

Because bros before hoes.

xxx

Deuce had predicted that the situation that morning in the academy was going to be different than the usual. Sure, Peristylium Suzaku didn't hold any vacation day due to its specialization in handling urgent things, but the students, and some of the faculty were… pretty different today.

No matter where she glanced at, she would always spot a male and a female walking in pair. She bore no ill feelings, of course, it was even definitely correct to say that she was happy that everyone around her was happy. But the lovey-dovey atmosphere was slowly overwhelming her.

Especially since she didn't make a Honmei chocolate for anyone in particular.

Her lips flashed a small, forced smile and a soft sigh was blown from the small gap of her mouth. Was this really the correct thing to do?

...

"Who are you going to give yours to, Deuce?"

"E-Eh?"

Deuce yelped. Soft blushes slowly crept over and conquered her cheeks as Rem grabbed her hands together, a very sweet smile plastered on her façade. Deuce blinked once, twice, thrice, before she rolled her eyes aside, trying to dodge the topic. Her par, of course, didn't let her to do so. Rem simply tilted her head with full determination of getting the answer from the melodist.

"Well?"

"I-It's…" Deuce tossed her face aside, her eyes blinking rapidly in awkwardness. "I-I don't think I will give one… to anyone…"

Seemingly dissatisfied with Deuce's answer, Rem cocked an eyebrow in question. No, she had let Queen escaped her, and she definitely would not let Deuce escape this one.

"You won't?"

Deuce nodded slowly.

"Not to anyone?"

Another nod.

Watching Deuce's face covered in reds of shyness only made Rem's curiosity reach its peak. The fact that she blushed so hard was already more than enough to let Rem figure out that she was interested in someone, but she was trying her best to hide it.

Rem politely released her hands off Deuce. Maybe she needed to be the one to advance in, if Deuce was too bashful to admit it.

"Hmm…" she thoughtfully put a thumb under her lower lip. "Is it someone that I know? Someone from Class Zero?"

"R-Rem-! I-I've told you that I'm not giving one to anyone!"

No matter how much Deuce denied that, her pretty face couldn't lie. The number two's face was covered in deeper shade of red. Rem Tokimiya had indeed touched the correct spot.

Now, time to be a little more specific…

"Is it Ace?"

…It was glorious.

Never once in her life she had seen someone's face turn into the color of a fresh tomato. Rem had hit the jackpot on her first try, for Deuce's face was turning into the most adorable thing she had ever seen in Oriense with that millions of blushes on her facial. Deuce herself was stammering, choking on what seemed to be her sentences of denial, albeit the words never managed to slip out of her lips successfully.

In her end? Rem was squealing crazily as she once again captured Deuce's hand together.

"I knew it! I should've figured that out sooner!"

Rem's happy chime didn't make things any better for Deuce. She was only fidgeting harder on her spot.

"N-Not so loud, Rem! A-Anyone else might-"

"Deuce is in love with-"

"REM!"

…

Just remembering that brought her out of her trance. She was already blushing crazily at the remembrance of that point of the last night's memory, remembering further where Rem continued to push the topic and teased her all night long would only bring further embarrassment inside her.

But in the end… Was Rem correct?

Was she actually in love with… Ace?

She never distinguished her friends from each other. She always treated them as an equal. She liked, she loved everyone without any attempt to differentiate them.

She never individuated Ace from the others, but Ace himself was the one who stood different compared to the others.

Ace had always stood first, by himself, in front of everyone else. Yet, he seemed to be the one who fell on the last second, sometimes even later than King. Ace had always led her along with her classmates, initiating the first step, as well as taking the responsibility for that.

Whenever he would turn his attention back at they who followed him, his azure eyes would first fell at her. His mature and protective gaze would simply render her weak in the knees whenever their eyes met. He would then ask whether they were still doing fine, and they would answer positively. After he had made sure that they were indeed okay, he would then turn his attention back to whatever lied beyond his eyesight and Deuce was left only to admire that accountable back of him.

That admiration slowly piled up into a fondness.

And that fondness slowly piled up… into a love.

Yet, everything was too late now. In her hand were only bags of Giri chocolates, in which Ace's was included. It was more than enough to express how platonic their relationship was.

How she wished for more.

She brought Ace's bags of chocolates against her chest in grief. She regretted it now. She regretted for not being able to figure her own feelings as a girl sooner. If she gave this chocolate, the result was obvious. She would only end up as a mere watcher, a mere friend who would be forced to watch how Ace spent his time with the lucky girl, whoever it was.

The heartache just wouldn't stop. It stung. It hurts so much that it forced her eyes to waste tears from her eyes.

…Ace…

No.

She was not supposed to be so regretful. She was an elite. She was Deuce of Class Zero. She was strong.

Shaking her head, she wiped the crystal tears off her eyes and she quickly departed with another mindset. What was done was done. Even though Ace would think of her as a mere childhood friend, or maybe a sister, after this, she would deal with it.

She would try to deal with it.

xxx

First male friend that she spotted was the katana wielder, Jack, in the classroom. Like always, he was always the happy-go-lucky guy, but today, in his arms were bags of chocolates, and they were mostly shaped like a heart.

Oh, so that was what Honmei chocolate would probably look like? Much cuter than her plain, circle shaped Giri chocolates.

"Jack!" Deuce added her Giri chocolate on top of Jack's chocolates stack. "For you!"

"Woo hoo~ Another one~ Although I don't really get what's the deal with these chocolates~" he announced in response. "Thankies, Deuce~"

…

Wait, what?

"Um… Excuse me, Jack," Deuce asked in surprise. "What do you mean by that?"

"By that what?"

When Jack tilted his head, she just couldn't hold her bewilderment.

"You don't get the deal with those chocolates."

"Err… Yeah." Jack chuckled dryly this time. "These chocolates… What for, actually~?"

Nobody told him yet? Nonetheless, Deuce lifted a finger up before she started her explanation.

"Jack, today is Valentine's Day," she described. "It's a special day where females express their loves for the males through chocolates."

Jack was astounded. He could only blink his eyes. That, of course, brought giggles to Deuce's end.

"There are two types of chocolates. Honmei chocolates, like the one that were on your arms, are for romantic interests," she kept giggling as she watched Jack nodded blankly at her explanation. "And there's the Giri chocolate, which I just gave to you. It's for the one you hold no romantic interest, but still important nonetheless."

Jack's blinks were getting more and more rapid, reflecting all his confusions that could explode at any moment. Deuce just couldn't hold her giggles anymore. Jack was being perfectly adorable and funny when his mouth was left agape when it all came into pieces in his brain.

"Well then," the flutist happily spoke. "Please do eat mine, Jack. Don't forget to choose the lucky girl~!"

Deuce rotated on her heels, leaving the dumbstruck Jack on his spot. He looked at the chocolates in his arms, turning it at Deuce's running figure, before returning it to the chocolates.

"…These things are for WHAT!?"

xxx

The next one that she found was King, who was sitting collectedly on the bench by the academy's arena. Unlike Jack, he wasn't accompanied by bunch of chocolates. In fact, he was perfectly alone. Without chocolates, without anyone else, nothing.

Wasn't he supposed to be popular?

Either way, she skirted out to him. Her arrival brought his face to a quirked eyebrow state.

"King," she offered the bag of chocolate at the eldest male. "For you!"

His face turned slightly amused at that, albeit there was still a little confusion written on his face. Crossing his arms, he let out a subtle sigh at her, who was tilting her head in response.

"Not you too, Deuce," despite his words that seemed to be rather offensive, he bare no ill-mind. "What's with girls and chocolates today?"

At King's dry response, Deuce blinked twice before she erupted into a fit of giggles. That only made King to quirk an eyebrow again at her.

She got it now, why King was here without any chocolate. He probably coolly refused them since he didn't have any idea about what were they for.

"Today is Valentine's Day, King!"

"…What?"

She giggled for a bit before it turned into a warm smile. Deuce then repeated the explanation at her bigger par. King did look a bit surprised, although he was still able to retain his cool composure as compared to Jack's witty reaction. Tapping his fingers against his own muscular bicep, he let out a sigh again.

"…I see. So today is such an important day for girls, huh?"

"Mmm!"

"Thanks for the explanation, Deuce… I gladly accept the chocolate."

"You really should," she chuckled, which King followed with a lower one. "Then, I'm going to find the others now. Don't refuse others' chocolate anymore now, King!"

With that, she turned on her heels again to head out, waving at King happily. King returned her waves with his own, and when she was out of the zone, the number thirteen slowly took the handmade chocolate out of its plastic, calmly feeding himself off of the present from his 'littlest sister'.

xxx

The next boy she encountered was Nine, who was… improperly taking his nap on the bench by the terrace, ten chocolates or so stacked up just beside the bench. Whoever gave them to him probably found Nine at the same state as her. She then approached him, but she was only welcomed by his snores. Etro, were they loud.

"Nine? Nine?"

She even poked him on his face, but the dragoon remained asleep. Another try, and his snore still got the best of his consciousness.

Deuce let out a sigh of defeat at that. She then resorted to slip Nine's Giri chocolate on top of the hoard of chocolates. Maybe she could tell him later for this.

Smiling at Nine's peaceful figure, she poked him one last time on his cheek before she head out for the crystal teleporter again.

She didn't know that at the exact moment she left the terrace, a certain black haired swordswoman teleported to the terrace, a beautifully decorated pack of chocolate in her hand.

xxx

Three down, four to go. The next one she stumbled into was Eight, in the Refreshing Room. He sat on the corner, fresh orange juice presented deliciously on the table in front of him. From the apparent sweats on his neck and the towel hanging on his shoulder, he probably just had done his exercise.

"Eight!"

She called for him, which piqued his interest as he sipped the cold juice through the small straw. Before long, she was already in front of him, presenting him the pack of chocolate.

"For you!"

Eight quirked an eyebrow in question at her. Oh, Deuce knew this situation all too well. Perhaps he had no idea about Valentine's Day-

"You too, huh?" he laughed a bit, showing the obvious amusement on his face. "She gave me one too earlier."

-as well— Huh?

"Either way, thanks a lot, Deuce." He smiled, calmly catching the chocolate from Deuce as the flutist subconsciously let the sweets drop in surprise. Eight calmly continued sipping his drink until Deuce returned from her surprised state.

"She?"

"Cater."

His calm and cool demeanor didn't fail him. For Deuce's hint, he pointed to the diamond-shaped box of chocolate on his side. Blinking her eyes in surprise, she tried to get a better look at the chocolate. The box itself was tied with a pretty red ribbon neatly, clearly showing off that that chocolate was…

…a Honmei one.

"…Oh."

By some miracle, she had managed to respond with a one-liner, although inside of her mind, Deuce was squealing her heart out. Repressing herself so that her super-excited smile didn't show on her exterior was the hardest thing to do so far.

Cater likes Eight… Cater likes Eight… Cater likes Eight…

Her effort to hold herself out didn't go unnoticed by the martial artist. Luckily for her, Eight was always the one to not to say much things and let her off in her own little world. He stayed silent, minus the fact that a small smile was formed and a trail of comical sweatdrop fell from his forehead.

"By the way, what's the chocolate for?" he asked her plainly. "I thought the one who just had birthday was Nine and my birthday is clearly still in August?"

No, Cater LOVES Eight!

"A-Ah, about that…" she put her index finger against her lips in order to prevent further giggling to erupt. It wasn't really surprising, she could indeed imagine that Cater arrived only to give the chocolate to him before she quickly darted aside to hide her embarrassment. Definitely the cutest thing that Cater would do. "Maybe you should just ask Cater later, Eight…"

He only eyed her curiously as she put on her smile again, accompanied by the slightest of giggles. Much to Eight's inquisitiveness, Deuce was turning around and dashed out of the Refreshing Room, giggling like a rabid fangirl. Surprised, the number eight tried to call for her, but she was already teleporting out of the place as soon as he stood from his seat.

Struck by Deuce's weird response, the brunet sighed before he slumped back on his seat, scratching his short hair while groaning.

"Girls are confusing."

xxx

Cater and Eight… Cater and Eight… Under a big and windy tree… Sharing a passionate kiss…

The image was perfect.

God, she really needed to stop her giggles anytime soon, or everyone in the hall was going to watch her like she was some kind of a freak. But she just couldn't help it. Cater was always the cheerful one, a girl who seemed to be able to stay single even forever if she wanted to. She never imagined that Cater would made a Honmei for a guy, let alone someone she knew very well as well. To think that-

-Whoops…! That was more than enough now, Deuce! You need to find the remaining of your classmates!

With one last giggle, she shook her head to put those girly thoughts aside. She could give Cater a piece of her mind later on. For now, she needed to find Ace, Trey, and Machina.

Out of those three, she managed to find the archer first, who accidentally dwelled in the library.

Managed to find, but didn't manage to approach him.

"Say Aaaahh~"

"Aaah."

Since he was… Well, kinda preoccupied at the moment. Unlike she had thought formerly, Trey wasn't studying, or at least reading a book. The only part of her initial guess that was correct was that he was sitting on one of the chair. Right there, in front of him was Cinque, who kept rocking her head right and left forth. In the hand of the number fifth was a mouthful of a chocolate, which she offered right before Trey's mouth. The number three himself seemed to be enjoying every piece of sweets that Cinque fed through his face's entrance.

Since when they were so lovey-dovey?

Deuce reacted on her reflexes. The moment she saw both of them enjoying their romantic interactions, she quickly resorted to hide behind one of the gigantic bookshelf, peeking and eavesdropping at every actions and dialogues Trey and Cinque shared.

The event itself already brought a smile to her face. She felt relieved for Cinque. Her feelings were reciprocated...

"Nee~ Deucey~ You're it~!"

...Eh?

"Cinque's correct, Deuce," Trey chuckled in the middle of his munching. "Feel free to join us. I believe Cinque have some more chocolates to spare."

"Mmmhm~" Cinque followed.

T-They could tell that she was hiding?

…Ah, right. Cinque, odd as it sounded, could be pretty sharp at times, while Trey was… already pretty sharp on the first place. The latter was able to notice a sniper hiding on a mountain's peak far away and even countered him with an arrow from his end.

There was definitely no hiding from they, wasn't there?

"A-Ah, I'm really sorry, Trey, Cinque," she timidly showed herself up. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you."

"Don't mind~ Don't mind~" Cinque was only flashing Deuce her dorky smile instead. "Deucey want some~?"

"A-Ah, no, I'm here for Trey…"

"Oh?" Trey gently paused his eating, wiping the small tint of brown on his lips first before he continued his question. "Pardon me, then. Can I help you with something, my dear Deuce?"

Deuce giggled softly at Trey's word games. Trey was always the most aristocratic out of the rest of the Class Zero, and while he might be going overboard with his explanations at times, it never failed to amuse Deuce.

"Please have one, Trey!"

She thrust the small pack of chocolate in front of Trey, her smile pasted efficiently on her lips.

Deuce quickly noticed the small pout that was forming on Cinque's face, though. Well, Cinque did have the rights to be jealous. She was giving him her own portion of valentine's chocolate, and then there was the fact that he called her by 'my dear Deuce'.

"It's a Giri chocolate, of course."

Her quick addendum seemed to clear things up correctly. Cinque's frown was disappearing immediately, and Trey eloquently grabbed his present, bringing it to his side no sooner.

Now only Ace's and Machina's left…

"You know~" Cinque suddenly interfered. "Acey and Machinan are probably by the stable~"

…

"If I might correct that, it's not 'probably', they're 'definitely' there," Trey backed his lover up, laughing subtly. "Honestly, those two and their chocobo obsessions."

…These two really needed to stop being so sharp. Overly sharp.

She was in awe of their amazing mindreading abilities for a bit, before Deuce shyly held the chocolates behind her and twisted her toe against the carpet. "I-Is that so…?"

To her discomfort, Cinque was grinning ear to ear.

"Whooooaa~ Deucey's blushing~" she exclaimed loudly. "Could it be that Deucey's planning to confess~?"

Deuce's face just instantly went full red.

"Ooooh~ It's true!?"

"S-Sssh! Cinque!" she embarrassedly tried to cover her embarrassment, which was not saying much. "N-Not so loud!"

Contrary to her belief about Trey's dignity according etiquette in a library, the archer wasn't telling Cinque to stop. Instead, he was actually letting out chuckles as Deuce's face grew hotter.

Cinque had already infected Trey, so bad.

"Acey and Deucey~" Cinque cheered happily. "Cinque likes the ring~"

"Now, now, Cinque," the only male decided to interrupt, at last. "I think Deuce will not going to need extra pressure before her first confession, am I right?"

…Trey wasn't being exactly helpful, but at the very least, she was saved. Cinque pouted a bit at Trey's cockblock for a moment, before the braided girl pulled a mood whiplash, turning the pout into a big, cheery grin.

"I suggest you go there as soon as possible, Deuce. Who knows how many girls would surround him if you waste any more time," Trey politely added when Deuce had seemed to relax down. "Best of luck."

At Trey's words, Deuce smiled warmly, faint blushes colored her cheeks. She took a quick glance at Cinque, who winked at her gleefully, before turning it to Trey, who gave her a gentlemanly nod.

"Thank you very much, Trey, Cinque," Deuce bowed down back at them. "I hope for the best for both of you too!"

While trading waves with Cinque, the melodist slowly made her way out of the resource center.

xxx

It felt pretty different compared to the rest.

At each step she took toward the teleporter that would lead her to the stables, the gravity seemed to be multiplying. Not only that, every time she moved, Deuce could practically feel her heartbeats fastening in an uncanny speed. She wouldn't be surprised if her heart would explode literally from all those throbbing.

She was nervous to the extreme.

Clenching the chocolates tight to her chest, Deuce gulped the nervous lump for one last time before she touched the ruby teleporter. It took no longer than a flash second, and she found herself standing on the huge bird's stable.

And by the corner of her eyes was him.

Ace stood next to the wooden railings with Machina next to him, his boyish arms were leaning peacefully on the said perch. Fortunately, they seemed to be captured in their random chats to notice that that she was already around the room. That also gave her enough time to slip back behind one of the stable, letting out the nervous sigh from her lips soon after.

…What was she hiding for? It was just Ace, with Machina nonetheless.

He was just Ace.

Just… Ace.

No, he was never just Ace. Not for her.

Deuce took a deep, long breath before she exhaled it again. It was either sink or swim now. Even though she was still shaking a little, Deuce took her first step towards the two boys. Her strides were not exactly fast, but not exactly slow. Pretty stable for someone who was pretty nervous.

"Deuce?"

She, however, put an instant halt to her pace when Machina noticed her arrival. The moment the black haired swordsman called her name questioningly, she unconsciously let out a yelp, which didn't go unheard to both boys' ears.

Inquisitively, Ace's light-blue eyes journeyed over until it met her light-green ones. Most ironic thing was, at his captivating gaze, she lost her composure. Again.

"A-Ah. U-Um…" Deuce trailed away with her words, standing there unsurely in shyness. "T-This is, I-I mean-"

Obviously, the chocobo duos couldn't make anything of her incomprehensive sentences. Machina quirked an eyebrow curiously at Deuce's fidgeting figure, while at Ace's part, the golden haired boy merely tilted his head to his side a little, muttering a small 'What?'.

Machina, however, soon noticed what was up. A single glance at the chocolate in Deuce's hand, and he got the major idea about what was going on. At first, he only smiled, but it then soon turned into an amused smirk. The brunette, on the other hand, could only blush harder when she noticed the drastic change in Machina's expression.

"Aaaah~" Machina suddenly stretched his arms into the thin air, making his blonde partner blinking his eyes in curiously, an eyebrow raised. "Guess I'll go eat something for now~"

This was the least he could do, putting things in order. He meant no offense, but Machina had been friends with Ace long enough to understand that the card fighter was… a little dense when it comes to romance involving him. Although the boy in question definitely could tell that Machina was up to something, Ace merely watched him walking past Deuce.

Machina, however, managed to snatch his own Giri chocolate from Deuce's hand in a blink of an eye as he walked out, which surprised the number two a bit.

"Good luck."

…While whispering something that she needed the most, yep. Deuce's face warmed once again as Machina's position grew farther from her.

Ace spoke no words as his eyes were now nesting fully against her petite body. Despite her awkwardness, Deuce still could tell the expression that Ace made from his somewhat-cold azure eyes. He was waiting.

And she didn't betray his expectation.

"A-Ace!"

The number one was a little taken aback at her sudden outburst. He blinked his eyes once… Twice… Yet Deuce said nothing further even though her mouth was left hanging open. Ace cocked his eyebrow again in question, and that was when Deuce shook her head, finally gathering enough courage to deliver her words.

"F-for you!"

She held the brown colored sweets towards the male. Before Ace could react to that, though, she pushed her words further.

"I-I made it as a Giri chocolate, b-but—" she yelled her confession, no longer care for her surroundings, which luckily was to her advantage since there were no single soul beside Ace and herself. "-Please accept it as a Honmei chocolate!"

She said it.

She had said it.

Deuce closed her eyes tight, waiting for any response from Ace. Her feelings were in total mixture; nervousness from his reply, embarrassment for herself for choosing her deepest feeling against his friendship, and the obvious fear of rejection. She could swear that as she waited, her eyes were starting to get watery from the last fervor.

Luckily there was no hole somewhere nearby. Since if there was one, she might as well jump in.

One second… Two seconds… Three seconds passed, and Ace was yet to react. To this kind of predicament, Deuce's body was shaking even more, preparing the worst for her heart.

Until after the fifth second, Ace let out an audible huff, which prompted Deuce to raise her face again to stare at him.

"Honmei, huh?"

Deuce couldn't even begin to jumble any sentence inside her mouth when Ace slowly grabbed the piece of chocolate from her tiny hands.

"Truth to be told, Deuce," he said as he eyed her handmade chocolate closely, twiddling with the said love food idly while at it. "I never believed in Valentine's Day. Not since I was small, not right now, and probably I never will. I hate it, even."

At first, the number two's expression beamed when Ace had took her Honmei chocolate with him, but when he said those words, something was scattering into pieces in her. Inside her heart. Even if she tried to reassign her happy and sweet face, the obvious change was there. A new thing called pain, a heartbreak.

"O-Oh…"

She was an idiot. She should've known. Ace never put her in the same position as how she put him. He was always the real deal, a man of serious business. And even if he was interested in romance, he definitely deserved someone better, someone like Seven or Queen.

She never thought that rejection, even the most polite one, still hurt so much.

Her creaky response didn't go unheard by him. Ace, who noticed her sudden change of emotion, sighed again as he swiftly opened the package by his hand, small smile tugging the corner of his lips.

"For a word with merely four letters, love is such a big word, isn't it?" he dramatically, if not rhetorically questioned Deuce. "Just like a rain. It starts slow and will continue on until it floods a river, no matter how weak the frequency is."

At that moment, Deuce knew that Ace was only trying to make it sounded less painful for her, but it already hurt her too much. Too much for her small body to take. She couldn't take it anymore. Making sure that her crying eyes weren't visible by bending her neck down a little, she had unconsciously rotated her heels to stride away from this place.

Anywhere. Anywhere but this place. Anywhere but the place where she could see his face. Somewhere where she couldn't imagine and idolize Ace's face anymore.

But her wish was not granted, for she felt a hand reached for hers when she was about to run. His hand.

That action of him forced her to stare back at him again, this time with her secret tears coloring her eyes. Beneath her tears, her vision was unarguably blurry. Even the beautiful azure lights of Ace's eyes were not perfect anymore from her current sight. That flash accident, unfortunately, made her miss the most important reply from him.

'Don't go from me.' was what Ace conveyed through his eyes for her at that time.

"I hate it because it create misunderstandings to people about what a 'love' actually is."

As she was still sobbing, Ace gently caressed her wet cheek with his hand, slowly adventuring over to her eyes, wiping her precious tears as charmingly.

His touches and words, sadly, only brought Deuce to tears harder. That still didn't stop Ace from smiling and continuing his serene, of course.

"It is not only about giving, but receiving as well. Love, as well as a piece of chocolate," he pulled his arm back from her face to the chocolate in his other hand, grabbing the sweets with his two hands. "Is meant to be shared together."

With that, he added little strengths to his palms, and he easily ripped the well-made chocolate into two split pieces just before Deuce's eyes. Without a single doubt, they turned a little wider despite her previous emotion.

"Love is not a true love when it's not from two hearts beating together," Ace was now bringing one part of the split chocolate against the female gracefully, offering it for her no sooner. "Right?"

The once-stopped tears were now returning to her eyes. But this time, it was no conflicting emotion. It was from the unending waves of happiness inside. The flutist clamped her mouth with her hands in euphoria as crystal waterfalls rained down from her emerald spheres. More than happily, Deuce grabbed back the piece of once-circle Honmei chocolate.

Although she had grabbed the chocolate from his hand, Ace didn't pull his arm back. His hand was unclenched, as if he was inviting her to come with him.

"If it's your misty, tender rain…" he confessed. "…Then I'll let them drench me from head to toe."

She smiled her brightest smile at him, tilting her face to her side in the slightest as joyful blushes painted it. A small giggle came out from her mouth before she reached for his hand again, resting her delicate hand on top of his gentle one.

"Then me too," she sweetly replied. "We're sharing the rain. Together."

He smiled as he pulled his sweetheart closer to himself, capturing her in the most romantic embrace that he could muster. She immediately replied it by circling her arms around him, smiling as she buried her face in his hug.

There would be another Valentine Day's in next year, and other years following, but they both knew very well that there would never be a better Valentine Day's than this one.

Cheesiness, cheesiness everywhere. But in the end, a pizza that's full of cheesiness is still delicious.

I'll leave the Nine x Queen, Trey x Cinque, Eight x Cater, as well as the hilarious Sice x Seven, Valentine Event to your imagination. The White Day version is going to be released sometime next month, perhaps.