A/N: First actual Kaichi fic. There might be some other pairings showing up in the background, but they're not the focus of the fic, so I'm not gonna advert them.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Cardfight! Vanguard or any of it's associated materials.

Chocolate

He had noticed it at school. Guys gushing over their lockers, comparing, and sadly enough, competing with eachother over what kind of chocolate they got. It was Valentine's Day. He'd hoped to avoid it, but unfortunately some poor sod had decided she fancied him. Therefore, when he went to pick up his shoes, he found a bag of little heartshaped chocolates waiting for him.

He stared at the bag, wondering if perhaps he could just throw it away. If the sender would show up, he would just pretend like he hadn't received anything, oh dear, she must've put it in the wrong locker. It was a good plan, a fantastic plan. Honestly, it was the smartest thing he had thought of that day. In fact, he was just about to execute it when Miwa showed up.

"Hey, so you got lucky, huh?" said Miwa. He then saw how Kai took it to a bin. "You're not actually thinking of throwing that away, are you?"

"I'm allergic to milk chocolate." Well, not really, he more or less disliked it. He really prefered the spicyness of dark chocolate. Also, observing the dullness of the surface, these chocolates were probably too sweet as well.

Miwa gave him a cold look. Kai was reminded Miwa had actually known him a bit longer then today, and might perhaps not be the best target to sell bullshit to. "You do know throwing them away is kinda rude, right?"

"You want them instead?" He raised the bag toward Miwa.

"Giving them to other people also isn't very nice." Miwa gave him a nasty smile, and Kai had the feeling he might be pissing him off. It was a rare occurance, so he decided not to push it. Annoyed, he threw them into him bag before putting on his shoes. He figured that he could throw them away whenever he came home.

It appeased Miwa however, and he returned to his bubbly self as they walked to the Card Capital.

It was very cold and misty outside, with the streets covered in a layer of snow. The mist was so thick that it seemed as if the world only existed within a radius of ten meters or so. Kai could see water droplets form on his hair and worried he might get a cold this way.

He'd hoped that after the incident at school, he wouldn't have to deal with Valentine's day anymore. However, when they entered the Card Capital, they were greeted by the sight of pink and red decorations.

Someone had taken the time to put red table cloths patterned with white hearts on every table."Welcome," The manager said. Next to him was a large bowl filled with cupcakes. "Would you like a cupcake?" he offered.

The cupcakes were decorated with hearts, some with marzipan and others with pink and white icing. Both looked too sweet as well, so Kai shook his head. Next to him, Miwa took one."So the Card Capital is also celebrating Valentine's?" Miwa asked.

The Manager nodded, "We decided we wouldn't want to spoil the mood of those who share this day with their special someone." Misaki was rolling her eyes from behind the counter, indicating she wasn't part of this 'we'. Kai greeted her, and he went to look for a spot to sit down.

As he sat down at one of the tables(throwing his bag and jacket onto another chair), Kai briefly wondered why the manager had decided to put effort into this anyway. Most of the customers were, well, frankly, geeks with no love-life to speak of. In fact, the mere presence of girls was unusual of a game shop, let alone one that specialised in trading card games. Miwa joined him at the table as he came to the conclusion not to think too hard about it.

He heard the Manager welcome someone again. Turning his head to look, he saw Aichi and his younger sister enter, snow sticking to their jackets. They were soon greeted by Kamui. Consequently, Kamui turned into a gibbering mess while attempting to ask Aichi's sister about her day, probably in fear of learning she'd gotten someone chocolate. He barely got past her name however, and the girl was regarding him as if he were mad.

Aichi caught his eye, and smiled for a moment before turning his attention to the cupcakes the manager was offering.

A quiet hour went by, with the whispers of cardgames being played being the only noise in the shop, until the shop door opened up again. This time the sound was accompanied by a loud high pitched voice: "Kamui!"
A blond blur flashed through the shop, tackeling Kamui against a wall. It was the girl from team Handsome. "Please be my Valentine, Kamui!" she said, shoving a box under his nose. Kamui seemed to be out cold though.

"Nagisa, give him some space," a voice called out from behind. Gouki had entered the Card Capital as well.

"But I want to give him his Valentine's gift!" Nagisa said, she shook Kamui's shoulders, "C'mon Kamui, this isn't funny."

Gouki tried to explain to her that knocking someone out might affect their ability to receive gifts properly. It didn't quite get through to the blond girl, but then her attention was caught by Aichi's sister, who challenged her to a fight. Things quieted down a bit afterward, until Kamui woke up again. He saw the cardgame taking place between the two girls, and then some stupid proclaimation was made about cardgames and true love and whatever. Then the blond girl drew two critical triggers, winning the battle. Said stupid proclaimation was repeated to which Kamui responded by taking out his deck. The battle that followed was nearly unwatchable with all the yelling about love, and honestly the whole thing was kinda stupid.

"They're quite energetic, aren't they?" said Miwa, who stopped paying attention to his magazine. Kai rubbed his temples. Suddenly Miwa spoke again: "So, hey, if losing a cardgame to someone means you have to be their boyfriend, isn't Morikawa like everyone's bi-" He cut off as Kai glared at him. Kai then heard something shift behind him so he turned around. It was Aichi.

Aichi fidgetted a bit before speaking, "Uhm, I was thinking, maybe you would like to fight me again? We haven't played against each other in a while." It was true, it had been a few months. Behind him, Miwa was sniggering.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really in the mood today," he replied. When he saw Aichi's suprised look, he added: "It's just the weather, don't worry." It was a poor excuse, but Miwa's comment was stuck in his mind. And he didn't want to feel like he was being sexually aggresive toward Aichi of all people.

"If you're not feeling well, maybe you should go home?" said Aichi. He looked worried.

"Maybe," said Kai. He didn't want to go home though. Aside from it being lonely and tiny, his appartement was probably freezing right now because the heating had broken down. He probably should head out soon anyway, he still needed to get food.

"I'll play you," said Miwa behind him. He got out his deck.

Aichi smiled. "Great," he said.

Kai removed his bag and jacket from the chair next to him so Aichi could sit down. The fight was an okay one. Miwa had some luck with drawing triggers early on, but eventually Aichi's combos brought him down. It was over fairly quickly, but it had been better entertainment then the fight between Kamui and Nagisa. In fact, that fight was still on it's fourth turn as every other move they had an argument about something or the other.

Miwa seemed interested in it though, "I'm going to see how they are doing," he said while putting away his deck.

Aichi next to him was still gathering his cards. "I should probably go," Kai said.

Aichi looked at him. "Right, I hope you get better soon." he said.

Kai nodded, and he took his bag of the table. But something dropped out of it. It were the Valentine's chocolates.

"Ah, did you receive those today?" said Aichi, he was looking at the chocolates. Kai nodded.

"You can have them if you want," he said offering them.

Aichi gave him a wide-eyed look, "Oh no, I couldn't, they were given to you after all!"

Kai let out a sigh. He was really going to have to throw these away at home.

"Don't you like chocolate?" said Aichi, he was looking at Kai curiously.

"I do, but I prefer the really dark chocolate," he paused for a bit, but then continued, "like the kind that comes in big chunks." He usually wasn't this forthcoming, but Aichi had a way of making him loosen up.

"Really? I don't think I've seen that kind of chocolate before."

"There's a baker around here who sells it," said Kai, "I could show you."

"Now?"

"Sure."

Aichi was quiet for a bit, he looked like he was thinking. Eventually he spoke: "Uhm, alright, I'll get my coat."

A few minutes later they were walking to the bakery. It had was still snowing, and the wind felt like a thousand needles hitting one's skin.

Eventually they got to the bakery. It was a tiny shop, with the door and the the window stills being painted a light yellow. It looked very cozy with the snow bunched up in the corners of the door and the windows. Kai pressed against the door to open it. Inside there were Valentine's decorations all over the place. Little hearts hanging from the ceiling, pink napkins, a special offer on heart-shaped confectionary. To the side there were a few chairs for people to sit while they ate their purchase. It was pretty quiet though, probably due to the weather.

Kai bought two ounce of the gourmet chocolate and handed Aichi a piece of it.

Aichi took the piece and bit into it. A frown flashed over his face, but quickly his face became neutral. "It's okay," he said after a while.

Kai felt annoyed with himself. Of course Aichi wouldn't like it. He went back to the counter and purchased two chocolate croissants. He pushed one into Aichi's hands. "These should be less bitter," he said, and he sat down onto one of the chairs.

The chocolate croissant was of good quality. The molten chocolat in it was sweeter then the gourmet chocolate, but it tasted good with the puff pastry. The top had been coated with a nice layer of egg-yellow, giving the whole bun a glossy surface.
He'd nearly eaten all of it, when he noticed Aichi hadn't touched his.

In fact, next to him, Aichi had pretty much tensed up. Moreso then he usually did. He hadn't started his bun yet, actually, he was staring intently at it, frowning and in deep thought. Kai wondered why, had he been scared off by the bitter chocolate? Chocolate. Valentine's Day. Shit.
"You know, I gave you that because your a friend," Kai eventually said. "Not because I like to see it going to waste," he added quickly.

Aichi's head snapped up. "Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought." He took a bite. "Ah, this is good," he said. Kai saw him relax.

"I figured you might like it," Kai said.

"Oh, you figured out my tastes quickly then." He could see a glint of realisation in Aichi's eyes. "That's right, you're good at cooking, aren't you?"

"I suposse." He continued, "I like good food, so I need to know how to cook."

"Ah, well, I guess. I mean. I like good cooking too, but my mom usually does all the cooking. I suposse it's different in your household."

"I live alone, so probably," Kai said, he then added: "I need to go." He didn't want to discuss this further with Aichi.

"Oh yeah," Aichi replied, "I hope they haven't destroyed the cardshop while we were gone..."

As they headed out the door Aichi spoke up again: "Hey, Kai, thanks. For the chocolate, it was really nice." He smiled at him. It was a genuine smile, not a polite one like he usually wore. It looked good on him.

Kai felt his ears heat up and a light headedness dawn on him, and instinctively he knew he shouldn't feel that way.

So yeah, I originally made this for Valentine's day, but it got kinda outta hand.

I really need a beta for this, like, someone who can tell me if I've got run-on sentences or something, because I'm kinda feeling anxious about it, and it don't have a beta for vanguard related fic.