As Sam and Anna walked home, the cool evening air brushed against them. Sam had finally recovered from the embarrassment of Anna catching him and Mahiru hugging at the station—or so he thought.
Anna, who had been silent for a few minutes (which was suspicious in itself), suddenly grinned and turned to him.
"So, Sam…" she started, her voice playfully curious.
He sighed. "What?"
She nudged his arm. "It's Valentine's Week, right?"
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
Anna's smirk widened. "Did Mahiru give you chocolates?"
Sam immediately stiffened, his footsteps faltering.
Anna noticed.
"OH. MY. GOD," she gasped dramatically, stopping in her tracks. "Don't tell me she didn't?!"
Sam groaned and kept walking. "It's none of your business."
Anna rushed in front of him, walking backward to face him. "Nah, nah, nah—you're my brother, and this is extremely my business!"
"Anna, move."
"Wait, wait, wait!" She held up her hands, grinning ear to ear. "So she did give you chocolates?"
Sam paused.
Technically… no.
She had come to his college with chocolates, but his friends had ruined the moment before she could actually give them to him properly.
Anna gasped again, eyes widening in exaggerated shock. "DON'T TELL ME SHE DIDN'T GIVE YOU ANY?!"
Sam clicked his tongue in annoyance. "She did. Sort of."
Anna squinted. "Sort of?"
He sighed. "She came to my college to give them to me, but my friends jumped in before she could hand them over properly. We got dragged to a party, and then… yeah."
Anna burst out laughing.
Sam glared. "What's so funny?"
"You totally ruined the moment!" she teased, wiping fake tears of laughter. "Imagine how nervous she must have been, only for your nosy friends to get in the way!"
Sam frowned slightly, feeling a twinge of guilt.
Now that Anna mentioned it… Mahiru had seemed really nervous when she first saw him. She even hesitated before handing over the chocolates, and then—
"Ugh," he groaned, rubbing his forehead.
Anna smirked. "Regretting it now?"
"Shut up," he muttered.
She grinned wider. "Well, don't worry! You can still fix it."
Sam sighed, eyeing her suspiciously. "And how exactly do you expect me to do that?"
Anna tapped her chin dramatically. "Hmm… I don't know… maybe do something nice for her in return?"
Sam hesitated. "Like what?"
Anna rolled her eyes. "Come on, Sam. It's Valentine's Week. She gave you chocolates. What do you think you're supposed to do?"
Sam blinked.
Then realization hit him.
"...Oh."
Anna smacked her forehead. "You are so hopeless."
Sam ignored her, his thoughts already drifting to Mahiru.
He needed to do something for her.
But what?
And how?
As they finally reached home, Sam zoned out, already trying to figure out the answer to those questions.
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