Super Heart-Throbbing Chocolate Confession!

Souda

  Hajime found Souda anxiously pacing back and forth, "There you are!"

  "Here I am," Hajime replied as he approached Souda, "So what are we doing in front of the school gates?"

  "So glad you asked Hajime!" Souda grinned as he gestured to the open gates, "Take a step outside."

  Hajime walked past the gates before turning around to face Souda, "We aren't going leaving school grounds, right?"

  "Nope," Souda cleared his throat before pointing to the top of school building, "Hajime, do you see what I see?"

  "The school?"

  "Opportunity."

  Hajime raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to sell me the school?"

  "Let me try to explain it better," Souda spread his arms, "This gate in front of us is a simile for a new chapter in our lives."

  "It's a metaphor."

  Souda crossed his arms and turned to look at Hajime, "Man, I'm trying to pour my heart out to you! It's not easy to confess to someone, you know."

  Hajime laughed, "Sorry, you can continue."

  Souda scratched his cheek, "Uh, so I can't do anything fancy like making a cake or an awesome sword. And I don't know what cool things the rest of our classmates would do, so I'm going to take Teruteru's advice and try to win your heart with the highest form of friendship I know!"

  He proceeded to get down on one knee, "Hajime, you're like the awesomest friend I've had and that's great and all, but I really want to take things to the next level. I know this is a bit sudden since we haven't finished our second year of friendship but," Souda revealed a medium-sized green box that held a large candy ring behind a plastic barrier, "Hajime Hinata, will you be my soul friend?"

  "Soul friend?" Hajime asked the kneeling boy.

  "Yeah, it's like soulmates but with friends instead," Souda grinned before quickly adding, "I know the rules say you can only accept one person's confession and chocolate, but this is technically a forever promise. You might not get the ring but we get to be soul friends if you say yes."

  "Alright, I'll be your soul friend, Souda."

  "W-what?" Souda gaped at Hajime, "You mean it?"

  "Yeah."

  "Like really mean it?" Souda looked at Hajime sternly, "No backsies?"

  "How old are we? Five?" Hajime rolled his eyes before reconfirming, "No backsies."

  Souda pulled Hajime into a quick hug before shouting at the pedestrians and cars driving past, "He said yes!"

  The street erupted into cheers and cars honked their horns before Hajime hurriedly dragged Souda back onto school grounds, "What are you thinking? People are going to get the wrong idea now."

  Souda let out a small laugh as he hugged the candy ring's box, "I guess I got a little excited having a soul friend and all. It's not the same as blood brothers but I think it'll work."

  "You wanted us to be blood brothers?"

  The Ultimate Mechanic groaned, "It was going to be so awesome. I talked to Gundham about it and he was going to officiate our blood brother ceremony with his hamsters."

  Hajime paused, "How would the hamsters help?"

  "I don't know, but everything was cool up until Mikan found out and told us yesterday that it was dangerous."

  "That kind of sucks," Hajime mused, "Knowing Gundham, it probably would've been fun."

  "I know right? That's when I thought we could be soul friends because it's like the same thing minus the ritual," Souda continued, "Since soul friends are a huge deal, I asked my mom what to get someone when you're at the biggest stage of your relationship."

  "And she said a ring," Hajime interjected.

  "How did you know?"

  He shrugged, "Lucky guess."

  "I wanted to give you a fancy ring for Valentine's Day so I found this one that's twenty-five ounces," Souda grinned, "You can pretend it's twenty-five carats instead of ounces."

  "I'll think about it."

  "Here's your stop," the mechanic waved at Hajime while holding the candy ring with one arm, "I have to drop this off at my desk. I'll see you later, soul friend!"

  Hajime waved back, "See you, Souda."