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Thursday, 13th of February, 04:01 PM. Class 1-A Dormitory Common Area.

The past few days have certainly been... busy. But even with absolutely everything going wrong, Mikumo was still going to make tomorrow special for Katsuki! Just as he deserved!

And with the cursed/blessed day being tomorrow, there was one more thing he had to do: the chocolate!... again.

Nonetheless, the second time's a charm! And this time, he was determined to not mess this up like everything else!

"Okay, let's do this! And this time, we actually know what to do! We have the ingredients, we have the equipment, and we have Google opened up on your phone!" Yuu said as Mikumo tied up her apron, and she threw her arms up into the air triumphantly.

Mikumo hummed in agreement, nodding with motivation. "This is our last chance to perfect this chocolate."

"And we're going to! Yeah!" She cheered, just as Mikumo finished tying it.

"Yeah!"

And so, they began.

Mikumo grabbed the black liquorice out from the plastic grocery bag, whilst Yuu ducked underneath the cabinets to find a non-metal bowl and spoon. (See, they were learning!)

He then opened up the packet of black liquorice, chopping them up into small chunks at inhumane speeds, and then tossed them over to Yuu, which she caught in a microwave-safe bowl. She then violently tossed the bowl of liquorice into the microwave and turned it on.

They quickly scurried over to the microwave, staring into the orange-tinted window, and counted the seconds that went by, up until it got to ten seconds. Mikumo paused the microwave timer immediately, opening it as Yuu went in with a spoon, stirring it in the bowl.

They then slammed the microwave door shut, leaving it in for another ten seconds, before mixing again, and repeating that process for what felt like eternity and then some. However, their efforts were not in vain, as they finally took out the smoothly melted black liquorice, and shed a tear as they stared at the disgusting beauty that burnt Yuu's hand.

Carrying the bowl with oven mitts, Mikumo brought it back over to the kitchen counter, where Yuu placed down the silicone moulds in the shape of hearts after putting some ice on her burn.

"Are... you crying?"

"YES, MIKUMO. YES, I AM."

And so they moved on.

Mikumo then carefully began to pour the melted black liquorice into the moulds, but because of his sleep-deprived shaky hands (curses!), it ended up being far more challenging than it should've.

Although, he did manage to fill just about seven of the moulds!... We don't talk about the other three...

Ignoring the unimpressed looks from Yuu, who had the audacity to judge him after burning herself on a MICROWAVED BOWL, he held onto the sides of the mould and made sure to keep them from buckling as he slowly made his way over the freezer, which Yuu opened up and made space for the liquorice.

He wiped the nonexistent sweat off of his forehead with his arm after sliding it on the shelf and then high-fived Yuu. But their little baking session wasn't nearly finished yet!

Using the same method they did for the liquorice, Mikumo and Yuu melted the dark chocolate without problems, just in time for the black liquorice to have finished freezing.

"So, how do we do this part?" Yuu asked, peeling the newly shaped liquorice out of the silicone and onto a plate with Mikumo beside her, doing the same thing.

Mikumo slid her a small bag full of plastic forks, and then a block of styrofoam with small punctures on top in a row, equally spaced apart. "Now fill in the blanks."

The two of them then gently stabbed each piece of heart-shaped liquorice with said plastic forks, dipping them into the dark chocolate one after the other, and then placing them onto the styrofoam block, propping them up securely.

Mikumo squinted, grabbing the cinnamon shaker from the side of him, and ever so tentatively drizzled the cinnamon onto their creation, before putting them into the freezer, and praying to the cotton candy gods that they would stay up.

Meanwhile, while they waited for them to finish freezing for the last time, they cleared up their area and got rid of the evidence and any trace that they were ever there.

After about half an hour of cleaning, praying, guarding the freezer, and trying not to act suspicious as their classmates walked past, the chocolate was finished freezing. Thankfully, Katsuki didn't pass by even once, mainly because he was preoccupied with Kaminari and Kirishima.

(Apparently, they had been going through protein powder brands and flavours, and Katsuki was there against his will. Mikumo figured he would just pick him up from his play date later!)

With their fingers crossed and breaths held, they slowly opened up the freezer, eyes squeezed shut before the cold air hit their face, and they were forced to open them.

And to their surprise and relief, the chocolate-covered liquorice was perfectly intact! Mikumo almost broke down into tears of joy right then and there, but he didn't have to, since Yuu was already doing it for him.

The both of them then checked if the coast was clear, and then took the chilled block of styrofoam back over the counter. They then plucked the liquorice chocolate off of the prongs and onto the plate they used previously, quietly crying to themselves because of how perfect this went for once.

Mikumo flicked a tear from his eye as the two teens stared at the chocolate. He then took one of the horribly mutilated ones that they made anyway along with the perfect seven, and cut it in half.

He offered one half to Yuu, and she took it graciously, clinking it with his in a toast to their perfect work.

They then ate their respective liquorice chocolate pieces,

"BLEHUEGHUEGHH!"

And instantly regretted it.

"It's... eugheugh... perfect."