Valentine's Day!

For My Hardworking Journalist! / Sanniuri

As Nikei sat at his desk, and sighed as he began revisions and a grammar check on his latest article. He couldn't have his articles looking less than perfect, especially while he was enrolled in the greatest school in the world.

Hope's Peak Academy, it was a 'school of hope,' so to speak, where talented students from all across Japan are cherry-picked by talent scouts to join the academy in order to research and bolster their talents. As much as Nikei hated not being able to go on long trips for his stories, he was surrounded by people who have made headlines time and time again. That meant he had a lot of interview opportunities.

He wasn't quite sure if his article needed any further corrections, but if a grammar check was all he needed, then he could easily send it out with no doubts. Still, he had a feeling that something wasn't quite right, but he wasn't sure what it was yet. Maybe he just needed a beta reader to find out, but that would mean actually looking for one.

As he contemplated turning on his student handbook and messaging someone, he heard a knock on his dorm's door. With a sigh, he got up from his desk and went to open it. To his surprise, the one standing outside his dorm was the wizard that lived next to him, who wasn't wearing his hat or cape at the moment.

Nikei wasn't sure how to feel about Mikado. On one hand, he was hypercompetent and always seemed to upstage Nikei in his work on looking for Utsuro - or just his talent as Ultimate Wizard in general - but on the other hand, he was helping them achieve their goals as Children of Utsuro, he treated everyone courteously, and he didn't challenge Nikei's 'leadership' position of the group. When Iroha had asked, Mikado had replied that he wasn't completely desperate, so he didn't feel like he needed to control the situation.

And now, Mikado was waiting outside his door with a chipper expression on his mask. "Mr. Yomiuri, good morning!" He greeted enthusiastically, his right hand hidden behind his back.

"What do you want, Mikado?" Nikei replied in a deadpan expression. He was too tired to deal with Mikado being so damn happy and energetic.

"Well, you've surely noticed the day, haven't you?" The blonde asked rhetorically. But when Nikei looked confused, he elaborated "Today is Valentine's Day! So, I've brought a little gift for my hardworking journalist!"

Nikei's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about Valentine's Day, he was too busy working. It wasn't like he celebrated it, but that day was a good day for articles. But why was Mikado of all people getting him a gift? Nobody ever gave him any gifts unless he was important to them. The Children of Utsuro didn't get each other gifts very often either.

All of a sudden, Mikado brought his right hand from behind his back, presenting a handful of large chocolate pops to Nikei. "I made the chocolate myself! I did have to buy the little sticks to put in them and the plastic wrap, but I hope you enjoy these!" Mikado added, and Nikei slowly took them from his hands.

As he looked from the chocolate pops to the excited wizard, Nikei slowly began to get an idea. "Hey, could you come into my room for a second? I need your help with something." He requested, gesturing to come inside. When Mikado went to his room and Nikei closed the doors, he pointed to his laptop. "I need this to be beta read, I want to see if there's any mistakes."

"Sure, I'll do that! Just hang on..." The wizard sat down at Nikei's chair and began to read the article as Nikei sat down on the bed.

Out of curiosity, Nikei took the wrapper off one of the chocolate pops and put one in his mouth, wondering what it tasted like. To his delight, the chocolate was a perfect mix of sweet and bitter, and it tasted a little bit like coffee. He began to suck on it as it melted in his mouth, distracting himself while Mikado read the article over.

"It looks amazing as always, Mr. Yomiuri! I did notice that there were a few sentences that seemed to run on in the ending paragraphs, so I think that's what you thought was strange." Mikado stood up out of the chair and let Nikei take his place. A few minutes later, Nikei showed Mikado the article again. "Yes, that's much better." The wizard affirmed.

"Good, now all I need to do is post it." Nikei replied,eating out a yawn afterwards. He finished posting the article and looked back at Mikado, who had a worried expression. "What's that face for?"

"Mr. Yomiuri, did you stay up all night on this? The bags below your eyes are really dark." Mikado worried.

Nikei sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Mikado. Even if I did, I- Woah?!" He cried out as Mikado suddenly picked him up. "Hey! Put me down!"

Mikado obliged a few second later, dropping Nikei onto his bed. "Honestly, you have worse sleeping habits than Ms. Nijiue, and that's really saying something. Here, I'll tuck you in, and then I'll leave you to sleep."

"I'll do it myself. Fucking pushy bastard." Nikei muttered. To be honest, he was really tired, but Mikado of all people didn't need to point that out. As he tucked himself under the blankets, he felt Mikado's gloved hand run through his hair in a stroking motion. He felt himself getting sleepy from the touch, and he soon fell asleep. 

While he was sleeping, Mikado locked the doors and stayed to clean up Nikei's dorm room, hopingthat a cleaner space wouldn't put too much stress on him.