It was February 13th. Alice was hanging out in Belle's room. Belle was getting Alice's height and body measurements for a cosplay of a character she wanted to do. She went on Amazon to buy the materials while Alice lay on her bed, scrolling through social media.
"Hey, Belle... are you ok?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"Because... of Seiko."
"Oh... well, it was horrifying, but at this point, I'm numb to this type of stuff. We see horrific things regularly."
"S-Sorry for bringing down the mood."
"No, it's fine. Talking about things like this is healthy. The less control I give tragedy over my life the better."
Alice scrolled through her phone, eventually finding several interesting articles on a journalist's website. She let out small chuckles as she read them, which made Belle curious.
"Whatcha looking at?"
"Stupid articles. Like this one here is called, 'I've cheated on 15 different men, now none of them want me.'"
"Typical woman behavior."
"I got this other one called, 'Teenage boy caught drawing porn of his teacher in class.'"
"Typical man behavior."
"What about this one? This is funny. 'Gay couple hit by conservative car driver with 40,000 dollars of tax fraud. Then, homeless man saves the day with CPR.'"
"Average Reddit moment."
"This one here is called, 'My dog licked my penis, now I also have a red rocket."
"Typical you and Yoshi's behavior."
"Hey! Ooh, this one's called... 'my wife started making more than me, then she cheated on me and took my kids.' T-That's just... sad."
"Isn't that just you and Yoshi again?"
"I would never cheat on him!"
"No, I mean the money part."
"Oh. Well, I do make 100 million yen a year now... most of which I can't even spend because of how minimalistic I am."
"Says the girl with 33 shelves filled with manga in her room. Wait, what does Yoshi do for your relationship?"
"He's respectful, handsome, funny, supportive, compassionate, brave, hardworking, smart, em-"
"Does he know that?"
"What are you yapping about?"
"Tomorrow's Valentines' Day."
"Oh... OHHH!"
"Knowing you, you got him nothing, right?"
"Uh..."
Japanese Valentine's Day is similar to its Western counterpart in the USA. However, the traditional roles are reversed in an interesting way. In Japan, it is the women who take the initiative, presenting gifts to the men in their lives.
"Now that I think about it, we missed Christmas with you as well, so you owe me a present."
"Haha, very funny... What do I even get him?"
"That ain't my man, girl. You gotta figure it out for yourself."
"Why are men so hard to shop for? I could literally buy him a yacht and or take him to Paris, but something tells me he wouldn't like that."
"He likes to play video games, right? Why not buy him an advanced gaming PC?"
"He just bought one recently."
"What about plushies? He started collecting those recently."
"Those are too cheap."
"It's not about the price, it's about the thought and care."
"I don't even know where to begin with plushies. I don't know anything about them."
"I don't know, maybe talk to your boyfriend to find out what he likes... Well, you could always... you know. 👉👌."
"Hell no! I... actually, maybe you're on to something."
"... Who are you and what did you do with my Alice? Are you really taking my joke literally?"
"Well... I mean... he might like it. Nothing a man likes more than being wanted by his woman."
"And what if he rejects you?"
"..."
"I'm just kidding. Yoshi would literally be incapable of rejecting that offer. He might even faint on the spot."
Meanwhile, Yoshi has just returned from the jewelry shop and bought Alice the necklace he wanted to get her so long ago. He bought her a box of strawberry taffy since she couldn't have chocolate. He commissions an anime-styled figurine of the two of them. He also bought her a soft and fluffy sweater, as well as a thank you card for everything she's ever done for him. And of course, he got her about 30 new volumes of a manga she had no idea about, but she liked the genre, so he hoped she would like it.
Yoshi proudly looked at what he had gotten her, imagining her cute reaction. He wondered what Alice would get him and he just hoped she wouldn't overthink it. He knew Alice was creative and smart, but she had her problems when it came to gifts. Though Yoshi was always happy at the fact Alice would even get him a gift, she often missed the mark by buying him too much or buying him unnecessary things.
All Yoshi wanted was to spend the day with Alice and play video games with her. They always read Alice's favorite manga and watched her favorite anime. But Yoshi never got a chance to share his passion with her because they always did what she wanted. But he kept the idea in the back of his head because he didn't want to make the day about himself.
He lay on his bed, sending a picture of his gifts to Belle and asking her if they were any good. Literally, a few seconds later, Belle ran over to Yoshi's room and threw his door open, startling him.
"Yoshi, have sex with Alice!"
"Say that one more time. This time in my ear."
"I'm gonna be so honest with you, Alice is having a mental breakdown trying to get you a gift... well, not literally, but you get the point. She might offer you sex tomorrow as your Valentine's gift. If she does, take it."
"Wha... how do I even respond to what you just said?"
"Don't you want to doggy style with the doggy?"
"Well, yes... but that's not what I want tomorrow."
"Just out of curiosity, what do you want?"
"I just want to show her my hobby of playing video games."
"You both are way too simple. I know I wouldn't accept gifts as boring as the two of you. All Alice wants to do tomorrow is make you happy. Why don't you just tell her that's what you want?"
"Because that ruins the surprise of the gift."
"Motherfu-"
"But if she were to offer me... you know... I probably wouldn't refuse."
"Why are you hesitant?"
Yoshi pointed to his face. "This mask. Despite my face being fixed, I still haven't taken it off. I lived so long with the face and it robbed me of nearly all of my confidence. Even if we were to 'do it,' I'd doubt she'd want me if I don't even want myself."
"Ok, that is a problem... Well, Imma be honest, I don't know what Alice is gonna get you. If push comes to shove, you better start shoving those hips into her."
"Wow... that was a creative one, ngl."