Shugarl to Komui White Day Gift!
((Here we are! This should be the last of the White day gifts that I need to submit to you. I hope you enjoy it! As always, do with this as you please~))
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Shugarl had sent Komui and invitation for March 14th to attend a late-night picnic with him in order to watch the Gamma Normids meteor shower. It was quite convenient that the Gamma Normids shower always hit around this time and peaked on the 15th. The shower wasnât very bright, but if you paid close attention, and if the surrounding area wasnât too bright, you should be able to see the meteor shower.
There was a family getaway cottage that should suffice for the viewing. Shugarl sent out the invite rather early, almost a month in advance. Given the date Komui was being invited on, it was clear that this was related to White day.
The location was at the family getaway cottage, so Komui and Shugarl could stay overnight, if they wanted to. If not, Komui could always return home afterwards if he had plans to attend to that following Sunday.
Komui accepted the invitation and with that, Shugarl could commence his planning. He may have already revealed one part of the plan, but a bit of sacrifice was necessary for the greater good.
After the sent invitation, nothing else out of the ordinary occurred, as if everything was âbusiness as usual.â Shugarl and Komui would interact with each other as they normally would, nothing veering from normalcy.
That is, until the 1st of March hit. There were 14 days until the day they were going to meet to watch the Gamma Normids, and Shugarl had planned a few things. A letter that was personally delivered sat in Komuiâs mailbox that Saturday morning.
I cordially invite you to humor me with my version of an advent calendar.
As we count down the days until White Day, I will be sending you riddles and questions for you to answer.
You will get a point for every question you get right, and as you collect points, you will reach different tiers, which qualifies you in receiving a prize befitting that tier.
The questions and riddles will be mailed to you over the weekends, or it will be given to you in your office during the weekdays. Answers should be emailed to me.
Should you choose to humor me, your first riddle is written on the back of this letter.
All the riddles and questions werenât hard. The riddles were silly, and the problems were things Shugarl knew Komui could solve. Whether they were chemical reaction problems, or mathematical equations, they were something Komui could handle.
On the weekdays, there would be a geode agate waiting for him on his desk. It looked like a regular rock at first, but when you lifted the top, it would reveal a hollow inside. There would be a note nestled in between the shiny agate crystals.
Assuming Komui had decided to humor Shugarl on this silly âadvent calendar,â Komui reached the first tier after 5 days. The gift he received was a small box of biscotti, which would go excellent with coffee.Â
The next tier occurred after 10 days, and a pink box sat on Komuiâs chair. This was a return gift from Jupiter for the gift that Komui made for her a month prior. Leave it to Shugarl to make her return gift a prize for joining the advent calendar game.
Inside the pink box were white and red speckled bath bombs:
[I like bathbombs because theyâre relaxing.
I wanted to thank you for the cute dress you made me!
Please enjoy the bathbombs, theyâre lavender scented to promote relaxation.
There are dried rose petals included in the bath bomb to make it feel fancy.]
Included in the letter was a picture of Jupiter wearing the dress Komui made for her. She understood how tiring the job of a professor was (because she had Shugarl to attest to that), and she thought that a relaxing bath would be able to melt the stress away.
It was a bit gimmicky, but she thought people loved bath bombs. A lot of people in her class loved them, in fact.
On Friday the 13th, Komui found a note on his desk after he returned from teaching a class. Heâd sent off an email response to Shugarl an hour prior with an answer to a riddle.
The note revealed that the final and last question would be delivered in person. Also, the geode agate âboxâ was now Komuiâs to keep.
Shugarl had evidently been enjoying this little game of theirs, considering Shugarl would make mention of it every time they met, followed by a mischievous smirk. All the riddles and questions werenât very difficult given Komuiâs abilities, so it was sure that Shugarl was not taunting Komui by any means.
It was like when you execute a harmless prank against a friend and you both can laugh about it later.
Thatâs what level this was to him, a playful gesture.
Shugarl arrived at the family getaway cottage early in the day to prepare for the viewing/picnic. He had it set so they could eat and view the show from the porch. Blankets were prepared should either of them feel chilly during the viewing.
For the food, he prepared a number of things:
He prepared a creamy chicken and Gnocchi soup, with a French country Boule bread to dip the soup with. This would be warm and hearty. A side Thai Mango salad with Peanut dressing, was bright and flavorful. For the entrée, Shugarl chose a Smoked Salmon pasta.
As for a dessert, he prepared personal sized blueberry pies, where the crust was fashioned into a Fibonacci spiral. What else could one expect from a math nerd? Of course, he would decorate his pies with anything mathematical.
He chose pies, because he assumed Komui enjoyed them. He made a pi (pie) pun last month, and that left a lasting impression on Shugarl. As such, he chose to bake personal sized pies for dessert.
As for beverages, there were many to choose from. Komui could have his go-to drink, coffee, or he could choose from anything else such as water, wine, juice, etc.
When Komui arrived, the food was prepared fresh and warm, using the kitchen in the cottage. There was plenty of food to last them a while, so they could enjoy their food at a leisurely pace, waiting for the sun to set, and the meteor shower show to commence.
The family getaway cottage was isolated in the thick forest of trees, so there werenât any lights that would drown out the light of the meteor shower. Shugarl found the show to be rather enjoyable, and having great company to share the sights with was all the more pleasing.
The night was passing by peacefully, and Shugarl excused himself for a moment to fetch something. He returned with a âStorm Glassâ and a notebook.
This sealed glass bulb contains chemicals that crystalize in response to atmospheric conditions. Of course, this could not replace the weather forecasting system, but it was a fun exercise. Keeping track of the storm glassâs responses to the weather and making predictions of the weather would be fun, wouldnât it? Shugarl thought it would be fun, anyways.
âThere is no right or wrong answer to the final question, so Iâm gifting you the final prize in advance. I found you could make a storm glass yourself, so I did just that. I hope that you will find this storm glass amusing to play with.â
It seemed to be something a Science nerd would enjoy.
Over the month after Valentineâs day, Shugarl had put a lot of thought into his planning, and heâd also put much consideration to himself. This is not something heâd done in a long while, and so it was awkward at first, but Shugarl adjusted himself accordingly.
After much consideration, Shugarl had come to a conclusion he could agree with.
âIâve put a lot of thought into it, and Iâve come to think of you as someone very important in my life. I donât think Iâve truly had a person who could truly understand me and share my interests with. I feel comfortable around you, and I can put my trust in you. Even when Iâm having one of my episodes, you didnât chastise me, or avoid me out of sheer discomfort. You took the time to comfort me and attempt to heal the old scars I have in the barren wasteland that people call a heart.â He felt uncomfortable with how honest he was being at the moment, but he did resolve himself to do this, so he shall.
âI had thought thatâs all it was at first. Iâm not well in tune with my emotions as Iâm sure youâd understand. I could not understand until recently, when I dug deep and contemplated on who I am as a person. Iâve deduced a conclusion from various instances throughout our friendship, and that is⊠I believe the feelings I feel towards you transcend that of mere friendship. I daresay I harbor romantic feelings towards you. What do you think about that?â
Thatâs it, thatâs the question. Â
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Upon the conclusion of Valentineâs Day, to say he hadnât been curious about what Shugarl was planning for White Day would have been a lie. It wasnât that he regretted going all out for Valentineâs Day, far from it, and Shugarl had seemed pleased with his gifts only⊠he wondered if he should feel intimidated at the unknown possibilities. This was Shugarl after all and Komui was well acquainted with his habit of repaying anything tenfold, they had been friends too long for him not to have noticed this characteristic.
When the scientist thought back to their Valentineâs dinner, he couldnât help but recall that although things were as casual and comfortable as it usually was between them, there had been occasional moments when the atmosphere seemed almost charged and Shugarl more pensive than usual. But surely he had simply been imaging things, either that or his fellow professor was already scheming his comeback for White DayâŠ
In the end, Komui decided he probably felt more excited than intimidated to see what the other came up with this year.
The invitation to watch a meteor shower while enjoying a late night picnic wasnât something he expected but it certainly was a pleasant surprise. His first thought had been to ask whether he should contribute to the food and beverages they would be consuming but having considered that this was probably part of his White Day gift decided not to. Nevertheless, he was looking forward to it and did not hesitate enthusiastically accepting the invitation.
When the 1st of March rolled around, Komui couldnât help but laugh. In light of the puzzles heâd had Shugarl solve on Valentineâs day he really should have seen this coming. He had no complaints. The riddles were all things he could answer quite easily and he got gifts for answering correctly to boot. It felt a little like he was being spoiled but it was a nice change from the teasing he often had to endure.
It ended up becoming an inside joke of sorts, something private just between them but then, come to think of it, wasnât that how it was with a lot of things? Ever since Shugarl had become a professor heâd not really bothered to try get along with anyone else more than he had to. It was always Shugarl he complained to about a hard day or ridiculous test papers, Shugarl that he dragged along to interesting lectures or symposiums, Shugarl that he ate lunch and drank coffee with, Shugarl that he laughed with and was teased by. It was perhaps a little scary to suddenly realise that apart from Lenalee, Shugarl was the one his world revolved around.
When exactly had that happened?
The days passed by and the 14th of March drew steadily closer. He enjoyed the biscotti he received and was touched by the gift from Jupiter. Komui had never used a bath bomb before but since Jupiter had gone out of her way to give it to him, he would give it a try so he could thank her properly. It was also a treat to see how adorable she looked in the dress he made for her. She was almost as precious as Lenalee⊠almost.
On the day question, Komui arrived at the cottage to see a wonderful spread of food prepared for their picnic which smelled absolutely mouth-watering. He couldnât help but want to tease the other professor a little considering all the food that was set out.
âYouâre not trying to fatten me up or anything are you?â
Admittedly, he was slightly on the slender side and occasionally neglected to eat when he got wrapped up in one project or another but he wasnât quite a walking skeleton just yet. Jokes aside, he really appreciated all the effort that had gone into the preparation of the meal and he was looking forward to tasting it.
It was an enjoyable evening all round, the cottage being an ideal spot to view the meteor shower and the company made it all the more pleasant. After a time, Shugarl excused himself only to return with a storm glass which Komui eyed with interested fascination.
The scientist was very impressed that Shugarl had made the storm glass himself and also very excited at having received such an interesting device. He laughed warmly as he accepted the contraption, admiring it with sparkling eyes.
âHaha you know me well it seems~â
For a moment he was puzzled over the prospect of a final question until he recalled the note he had received the day before informing him of this very fact. A question that didnât have a right or wrong answer⊠now he was truly curious.
For a moment in time his heart stopped.
Had he heard that correctly? Had he somehow dozed off while watching the meteor shower only to dream this? But no, this was real wasnât it.
âŠI habour romantic feelings towards youâŠ
âŠromantic feelings towards youâŠ
The words echoed in his mind on repeat and he could feel his face flushing bright red even as his eyes stung and a ridiculous grin started forming on his face without his permission. He probably looked like a maniac right now. Luckily for him, Shugarl had sat down in his vicinity to give him the storm glass so he could conveniently hide his face in the nape of his neck.
He felt far too embarrassed for his expression to be seen right now even if it was dark, although nothing could be done about his trembling limbs. It was unexpectedly nerve wracking to be confessed to for the first time.
It was incredible to know how his companion felt about him, the situation feeling almost surreal when he considered that time not too long ago when he thought he might have ruined their friendship.
Swallowing passed the lump in his throat, he breathed out a shaky sigh before quietly murmuring a response of sorts.
âI I think Iâm in shockâŠâ
Perhaps that was a bit of an understatement.
â⊠honoured⊠and happy⊠very, very happy.â
He was, exuberantly so, but that wasnât exactly the answer he was supposed to be giving was it. There was also a small part that wondered whether he should be questioning Shugarlâs tastes but that was quickly squashed. More importantly, he needed to give him a better answer than that.
What did he think about it. There was only one answer really.Â
Apart from Lenalee, the person his world revolved around was Shugarl.
âIn that case⊠itâs okay if I feel the same⊠right?
