A/N: Scribbled this down last year for Valentine's Day, polished it off this year.

Crushes, crushes everywhere. It's like. Disgusting levels of cute, especially considering how super short it is, and I have no idea when it takes place year-wise, but, uh, here?

Surprises

Every year, Wakiya says that romantic holidays are stupid, with his nose in the air and shoulders thrown back. He says this, and yet Hoji knows that he keeps half an eye on his locker at all times on February 14th, so that he won't miss anyone looking to drop off any chocolate or slip in any confession notes.

"It's not that big of a deal," he'll say after school as he tucks a decent sized pile of sweets into his satchel. But he looks smug nonetheless, and he frowns when Shu opens his locker to a veritable avalanche of goodies.

Indeed, as with most things, Wakiya puts on an air like this doesn't faze him – but still, every year Hoji makes sure he's the first one to put any kind of chocolate in Wakiya's locker. He makes it himself, even! Sometimes his younger siblings help him, but these he brings to lunch to share with Wakiya, because they'd be too obvious a gift any other way.

And so today, on February 14th, Hoji once again gets to school earlier than Wakiya with the intention of placing the carefully wrapped gift before the other boy even shows up.

Only this time, the hallway isn't empty.

This time, there's…well.

Something Hoji just plain old wasn't expecting.

It's Rantaro, and he's standing in front of Wakiya's locker, worrying the already crinkled top of a purple plastic bag in his hands. There's an intense frown on his face, his brows drawn tight together, lollipop stick downturned.

Hoji is pretty positive that he knows what's going on here, but he's surprised nonetheless.

"Kumicho..?"

Rantaro goes perfectly still and slowly pivots on his heel until he's facing Hoji. When their eyes meet, his frown melts into a shy smile. "Morning, Hoji. I guess…we both had the same idea..?" He nods at the package in Hoji's hands, grip tightening on his own.

In return, Hoji can't help but smile. "Yeah," he confirms. For some reason, he can feel himself start to blush – but he sees Rantaro's cheeks going pink, too, so he's not too concerned about it.

"Right," Rantaro says, "together, then?" One of his eyebrows quirks, and he's still got that nervous smile in place. His hands have stopped worrying the purple cellophane, and he brandishes the bag to demonstrate what he means.

"Sure," Hoji agrees, a feeling close to relief sweeping through him.

Rantaro seems to relax as well. Hoji moves to stand next to him, and – slowly, carefully, delicately – opens Wakiya's locker while Rantaro keeps a subtle lookout for anyone who might interfere. At the same time, they both reach in to place their gifts next to each other. The backs of their hands brush as they do.

Cheeks heating up further, Hoji slams the locker shut with much more force than he intended. Next to him, Rantaro clears his throat, and Hoji sees that his blush has spread to the tips of his ears.

"Well," he says, "that's done!"

"Yeah!" Hoji is quick to agree.

They linger here, blocking the way to Wakiya's locker. The silence is awkward and only getting worse the longer they loiter, but neither of them makes a move for a good while. Then, when Hoji is just about to suggest they get moving, Rantaro starts digging for something in his pockets.

"Um…" he says, focusing both hands and all of his attention on the search of his right pocket. "Hoji?"

"Yeah?" Hoji watches him carefully. He can't imagine anything that would make Rantaro more nervous than what the two of them had just done, but there's apparently something that comes close.

"Um – I, uh…." Rantaro's hand finally snags around something, and his eyes light up as he pulls it free of his pocket at long last. "Here!" He thrusts his hand in Hoji's direction, and clutched in his fist is a cluster of heart-shaped chocolate lollipops.

Hoji's face feels like it's on fire, and when he takes the chocolate, it's with the utmost care. "Thank you," he mutters. The sticks are tied together with red and pink ribbon, and the simple gesture puts a smile on his face. "Thank you!" he says again.

"No problem." Rantaro hikes his pants up on his hips, grinning a grin that's two parts relief, one part joy.

x

Later that day, Hoji seeks Rantaro out after class to talk to him alone.

"Wakiya always gets an entire chocolate cake for us to share on White Day," he says, rubbing the back of his neck and staring at the ground. He's been doing a lot of thinking today. "This year, I'll bring you some."

The smile he gets in return is blinding.

A/N: Thanks for reading.