Stir stir stir.

The mixture of cocoa butter and sugar clung to the spoon, but Mami loosened it with a little tap against the side of the bowl, then gently dumped the contents into the still-boiling saucepan of ingredients on the stove top.

Sayaka leaned in and peered at the pan. "Okay, I got that far, but then I wasn't sure. Um. What's 'simmering'?"

"Simmering is..." Mami reached down and adjusted a knob on the stove, making the fire grow a little less intense. The mixture inside the pan had already been reduced to below boiling with the addition of the butter and sugar, although as Mami stirred it all together, it bubbled very softly. "... that. Where it is almost boiling, but not quite hot enough."

"Huh. When I tried it, it all got burnt and stuck to the pan." Sayaka laughed and rubbed the back of her head self-consciously. "It's not like people expect me to be, but I'm not really good at the girly stuff, you know?"

Mami nodded with a smile. "Making homemade chocolate is difficult. You picked a simple recipe, but it still requires careful control of the heat. I have a chocolate thermometer, so we can temper it, too. That way it will look nicer and won't melt out of shape before you can hand them out."

Sayaka chuckled. "You sure know a lot about this stuff, Mami-san. But, um. Thanks, though. I know most girls are fine just buying their chocolates at the store, but this year, I wanna try something a little more..."

"... personal?"

"Yeah, I guess." Sayaka smiled bashfully.

Mami nodded, sending her golden ringlets bouncing softly. "Well, I'm sure that on Valentine's Day, it will mean a lot to everybody to know that you were thinking of them as you made their chocolates."

"I... don't think they'll care. I already heard some of the boys talking about how they hope to get chocolates from Hitomi-chan, and I hear there's even a guy with a crush on Madoka this year." Sayaka shoved her hands in her pockets and leaned against the counter. "They'll thank me for them to my face, then eat them without a second thought."

"Well... here, take this, I can show you how to check the temperature." Mami held out a chocolate thermometer, which Sayaka regarded with a blank stare, but accepted, then turned back toward the stove. "... anybody who ignores your feelings that easily doesn't deserve you, anyway."

"It's more like me who doesn't deserve them." Sayaka dipped the thermometer into the chocolate. "... what am I looking for?"

"You wanted dark, right? Forty-seven degrees. It will take a few seconds to reach the right temperature." Mami waited patiently, as Sayaka stared at the thermometer with careful concern.

Sayaka blushed slightly when she noticed Mami watching her, and pulled the thermometer out of the mixture, then idly licked the hot chocolate off of it. She winced as she almost burnt her tongue and decided to just set the thing aside, instead. "... it's there."

"Good." Mami grabbed the handle of the pan to shift it off of the fire, then picked up a spoon and began to stir it. "Now wash your spit off the thermometer, because we're going to need it again. We need to heat the chocolate back up after it cools."

Sayaka glanced down at the instrument self-consciously, but nodded and carried it over to the sink. "I just always feel... dumb, you know? Madoka's cute and doesn't even know it, and Hitomi-san's good at everything and rich, and even the transfer student's really smart and great in gym. Compared to them... I'm nobody."

"I don't think so. Even though you've had a few setbacks, you're resolved to make this chocolate, because it's special to you. And you want to do it the way that expresses your feelings. That's very thoughtful. You're a better person than you give yourself credit for, Miki-san." Sayaka blushed slightly at that, which only prompted Mami to teasingly add, "And who says you aren't pretty? I won't stand for somebody slandering a fellow magical girl."

Sayaka was very intent on her work all of a sudden, almost frantically drying the thermometer, which she offered over toward Mami without even looking in her direction. "... come on, hurry up before the chocolate gets too cold."

Getting a perfect tempered chocolate was a bit of a painstaking process, and then it was time to pour it into molds. Appropriately enough, Sayaka had chosen heart-shaped ones, and Mami stood to the side, watching over the girl as she filled them one at a time. It was not an exact art, and while the molds all ended up filled, Sayaka also ended up splattered in chocolate, not to mention tired after a day of cooking, and sprawled in one of Mami's chairs as she watched the sweets cool.

"Uuuuugh. Cooking's hard. I think I'd rather just fight witches all day."

"You finished, though, and that's what matters." Mami settled down into the seat next to Sayaka, and looked over the table full of cooling chocolates. "... that's a lot of hearts, though. Did you plan to give one to everybody in your class?"

"Eh-heh. I didn't actually realize the recipe made that much. I don't even know enough boys to give those all away."

"Well, I think there are plenty of girls who wouldn't mind getting Valentine's Day chocolate from you, either."

Sayaka blushed and glanced aside. "A-anyway. I'll figure something out. I guess these need to cool for a while, so, um, I can just come pick them up tomorrow, right?"

Two days later, it was finally Valentine's Day. Despite not having any clubs, Mami had stayed a little late, and the building's hallways were mostly quiet as she made her way outside. It was unseasonably cold outside, so she was bundled up, wearing a coat, earmuffs, and mittens, and hurrying to get home and out of the chill.

As such, Mami barely even noticed Sayaka standing by the gate, until the blue-haired girl raised a hand in greeting. "Um. H-hey!"

Mami slowed to a stop and pulled her earmuffs off, while frowning in concern. This was new. "Good afternoon, Miki-san. … is everything okay? Was there a witch attack...?"

"Oh! No, no, nothing like that..." Sayaka laughed, then held up a modest-sized cloth bag in her hand. "It's just, well. I... wanted you to have this." She reached into the bag and pulled out one of the chocolates that remained, then offered it over with a smile.

Mami pulled her mittens off, then reached out to gingerly take the thing. The chocolate had been sealed inside of a simple sandwich baggie, which was held closed by a yellow ribbon around the mouth, with a handwritten name tag: "TO: Mami."

"Eh-heh." Sayaka blushed, and suddenly seemed intent on looking anywhere except for meeting Mami's eyes "I was just thinking, you know, since you saved my butt a few times last year, and since you were such a big help making them and all, and I had too many anyway, and..."

"Thank you, Miki-san."

Sayaka stopped cold when Mami said that, and it took her a moment to recover, waving the comment off. "Well, they probably sucked, since I made them, but you know."

"I helped a little, and I'm sure they're wonderful. … you seem nervous. Is something wrong?"

"… heh." Sayaka tried to give another self-depreciating laugh, but couldn't really muster the enthusiasm. "It's just. Nobody's ever really... called me pretty, and... they usually just make fun of me if I like girl things like cooking, and. Um."

Sayaka leaned forward quickly and pressed a kiss to Mami's lips. The older magical girl gave a little 'mmph!' of surprise, but relaxed after a moment... which is all the longer she really had, because Sayaka almost instantly pulled back, blushing profusely. She stared up at Mami, half-dumbfounded, for a second or two, then turned and dashed away.

"A-ah...!" Mami was stunned enough that she barely reacted at first. "Where are you going?"

Sayaka skidded to a halt, and when she turned around, she was grinning. "I've still got more chocolate to get rid of! … but don't worry, yours was the only one with a name tag on it!"

With that, she turned and ran off again, leaving a slightly dazed Mami looking down at the heart in her hand.