Chapter Text
As a successful chocolatier in Paris, people would often ask Tendou when his love for chocolates began. His answer would change every time. Sometimes, he’d tell them it was when he was five years old, when he snuck out after bedtime to eat the whole box of fancy-looking chocolates his mom brought home from Switzerland.
Other times, he’d tell them it was at a neighbor’s birthday party when he was eight, when he got into a fight with another kid and the kid punched him in the face with a chocolate ice cream cone.
Both were true events, but if Tendou were to be completely honest, it was in high school when he really got hooked on chocolates. Because in high school, Tendou discovered the wonders of Valentine’s Day.
No, not because he was popular or had countless admirers. He didn’t have a girlfriend to go on lovey dovey dates with. There weren’t any girls in school lining up to give him homemade chocolates to profess their love.
He was just your average, slightly weird-looking guy, and average guys without lovers usually hated Valentine’s Day. But not Tendou. Because on Valentine’s Day, Tendou got to taste and eat all the free chocolates his heart desired.
How?
Why, Tendou Satori was the self-appointed, and volleyball team-approved, Shiratorizawa Chocolate Taste Tester.
It started back in their first year, when their star player, Ushijima, came to the club room carrying a paper bag filled with all the Valentine’s chocolates he received. Tendou was admittedly annoyed (for reasons Tendou didn’t want to dwell on) with how popular Ushijima was with girls. However, instead of wallowing in self-pity, Tendou, being his usual self, saw this as a golden opportunity to eat free chocolates.
He had convinced Ushijima to open all his chocolate gift boxes for the whole volleyball team to see (The more accurate word was ‘eat’). Not three boxes into their chocolate tasting party, Ushijima opened a box of what could only be described as “dubiously experimental” homemade chocolates.
As soon as the misshapen morsels were revealed, Tendou warned Ushijima about them (Eep! Wakatoshi-kun, I’m pretty sure that shade of green’s not Matcha or food coloring), but Ushijima, being his usual self, told him it was rude to let a person’s gift go to waste, and took several pieces for himself before offering up the rest of the box to the other boys.
That afternoon, only Tendou and a handful of older players made it to practice, the rest of the members retiring to the dorms to be better acquainted with their toilet bowls.
And what of the remaining chocolates from Ushijima’s hoard, seeing that no one was capable, or willing, to eat any more? Well, Tendou was only happy to take them off of Ushijima’s hands.
Ushijima, still looking pale and sickly from his recent brush with food poisoning, allowed Tendou into his dorm room that night to oversee the chocolate inspection.
“Dontcha worry, these won’t go to waste. If they’re edible, I’ll eat them myself so you don’t have to,” Tendou declared selflessly.
“It would be difficult to finish all of these on my own,” Ushijima said, going slightly green in the face. “And the others don’t want any of the chocolates I offer anymore…”
“Right, right?” Tendou said with a grin.
“So we’ll just share them,” Ushijima declared, handing Tendou the paper bag of chocolates.
“Righty-o again!” Tendou said with glee. “You always come up with the best ideas.”
They settled down on Ushijima’s bedroom floor and Tendou excitedly upended the paperbag and spread the chocolates out between them.
“Whoohoo, lookit all these chocolates,” Tendou squealed in delight. There were at least a couple dozen small boxes and gift bags of chocolates between them and Tendou couldn’t wait to try them all.
“Alright, so remember, Wakatoshi-kun, store bought ones are generally safe, just make sure that they’re not opened or tampered with. Like this one,” Tendou said, fishing a small, flat box of chocolates from the pile. “Eyy, this is a good brand too! Sealed and in perfectly pristine packaging. SAFE!” Tendou declared, placing it on top of Ushijima’s bed.
Ushijima took a small, tin can of chocolates from the pile and inspected it seriously, like it was a matter of life and death. “Store bought… sealed… this one is safe too,” Ushijima concluded.
Tendou grinned. “Now you’re gettin’ the hang of it.”
Ushijima looked back at the pile and picked up a box, then placed it back down. Frowning, he turned to Tendou, “Most of these are homemade.”
“Meh, that’s to be expected,” Tendou said distractedly, tossing another box of store-bought chocolates onto Ushijima’s bed. “These are Valentine’s Day chocolates after all. This is a chance for all the girls to impress you and show you their undying loooove and affectiiooon,” Tendou said with a high pitched voice while mockingly batting his eyelashes at Ushijima.
Ushijima’s frown deepened. “So this is how they convey their feelings? Through chocolate? But they must know I cannot return their love.”
“Pshh, everybody knows you’re more in love with volleyball than you are with any living human. They get it. They just wanna show you they like you anyway,” Tendou told him.
“I see,” Ushijima nodded in understanding.
“Ah, shall we try tasting some now?” Tendou asked, picking out a nicely wrapped box from the pile. “From Mika-chan from Class 1. Oh! I know her. Tiny girl with short hair. Kinda looks like a hamster?”
Ushijima’s brows drew together in concentration. “I don’t recall what she looks like,” he said honestly.
“’Ouch! Don’t let her hear that or you’ll make her cry,” Tendou said with a chuckle. “So, d’ya wanna do the honors?” Tendou asked, offering the box to Ushijima.
Ushijima nodded. He accepted the box and carefully peeled off the dainty pink wrapper. He set the box back on the floor and lifted the lid.
As soon as the chocolates were revealed, Tendou cooed in delight. “Oooohhh, good work Mika-chan from Class 1. These look well-made,” Tendou remarked, plucking a tiny, heart shaped piece of chocolate from the box. “She’s got some skill, eh?” he said, admiring the delicate streaks of white adorning the chocolate. He popped the chocolate in his mouth, to Ushijima’s alarm.
“Wait! How do you know it’s safe to eat that?!” Ushijima asked, going green in the face again when he recalled the tainted chocolate he ate earlier.
“It’s fine, it’s fine…she definitely took her time decorating these, so I would assume she at least tasted them to see if they were edible,” Tendou explained, all while chewing the chocolate. “Mmm…the milk chocolate’s just right and creamy, but the hazelnut filling is a little too sweet,” he said, licking his lips in appreciation.
“Are you sure it’s not… dangerous?” Ushijima asked warily, taking an identical heart-shaped chocolate from the box and inspecting it closely.
“I could taste them all for you first, and if I think they’re safe, then you could start eating them,” Tendou offered, grinning with chocolate still stuck in his teeth.
“But what if you get food poisoning?” Ushijima asked in worry.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. My kappa tummy can handle a few pieces of toxic sweets,” he said, patting his stomach. “Now go on, try that one. I promise it’s safe.”
Ushijima squared his jaw and straightened his shoulders like he was preparing for battle, then popped the chocolate in his mouth. He chewed the chocolate with a grim expression on his face as Tendou watched him with wide, curious eyes.
“Sweet,” Ushijima finally said. “I like it.”
Tendou grinned. “Yay!” he said in triumph, before taking the liberty of eating another chocolate from the box. This one was almost black and shaped like a seashell. “Mmm… dark chocolate. It’s perfect…” Tendou chewed with a satisfied sigh.
Ushijima mimicked Tendou and picked the same one from the box. He chewed it with the same concentration on his face as he did the first one. “Good,” he said after a while. “A bit bitter. I like the sweeter one,” he said, quickly chasing the dark chocolate with another hazelnut heart piece.
“Oh… you like the sweeter ones huh?” Tendou said thoughtfully. “Then I’ll just take all the ones you don’t like then. That way, none of this would go to waste,” he said before he took another piece, a larger rectangular one with nuts on top, and bit half of it.
“Caramel filled, oooh you’ll love this, Wakatoshi-kun— ah yipes! It’s oozing out--” Tendou said in a panic as the caramel began to drip out of the bitten half of chocolate he was holding. He pulled his hand away from his clothes (these were new pajamas!) and turned the chocolate with the bitten side on top to stop the caramel from escaping.
When he turned to look at Ushijima, he froze in shock.
Ushijima was leaning forward, eyes closed and mouth open—waiting for Tendou to feed him the chocolate!
‘Oh, oh holy shit, dear mother of pearl, did he think--?’ Tendou thought in a panic. He looked at his hand like it had betrayed him when he realized that it did look like he was holding the chocolate out for Ushijima to eat. And Ushijima, bless his pure, innocent soul, was actually waiting for him to hand feed it to him! Like a little bird!
A thousand and one thoughts passed through Tendou’s head about all the things he could do to an ever-willing Ushijima’s lips, not a single one innocent or appropriate. But seriously, what’s a guy to do when your best friend/crush/guy-you-totally-have-the-hots-for was right there, tempting you within an inch of your sanity? Kiss them silly? Push them to the floor and divest them of all their clothing? Go all cowboy and ride that bull till morning?
No! Bad Satori! No!
A couple more seconds passed of internal panicking before Tendou decided to just fuck it... and guided his shaking hand to Ushijima’s lips to feed him the chocolate. He withdrew his hand as soon as he felt the plush softness of Ushijima’s lips on his fingers, and tried desperately to readjust and hide the growing, ahem, difficulty in between his legs.
Oblivious, as always, to Tendou’s internal struggles, Ushijima chewed the chocolate and kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds. When he opened them, he saw Tendou was already busy tearing open another box. A tiny sliver of a smile graced the corners of Ushijima’s lips, and Tendou pretended not to notice. “You’re right. I like this one the best,” Ushijima said.
“Ha ha ha ha, I’m right, right? ‘Course I’m right,” Tendou babbled awkwardly. He pretended to be entirely occupied with inspecting the box before popping the lid open. “Oh! Nama chocolate!” he gasped excitedly. “This should be good.”
----
That night, Tendou rolled around in bed unable to fall asleep. He looked at the tips of his fingers, remembering how Ushijima’s lips felt. Man, those lips would probably feel good against his own. Probably even better against some other parts of his body. Like his cock. Or ass. He wasn’t picky.
“EEeeeeEeeeeEeee!” Tendou squealed like a dying animal while hugging his pillow. Just imagining it was making him feel all tingly all over.
“SHUT UP TENDOU! MAN, GO TO SLEEP!” Semi yelled out from the adjacent room, banging the wall between them.
“AND YOU SHOULD STOP LISTENING TO ME MASTURBATE!” Tendou replied loudly.
“Eww, gross!” he heard Semi sputter.
Tendou smirked to himself. He wasn’t gonna do it, but thanks to Semi, he just got a brilliant idea.
He grabbed the half empty bottle of lube he kept under his pillow and pulled his pants down. He was already halfway there just thinking about Ushijima’s lips. This wouldn’t take long.
----
Since that Valentine’s Day, the whole volleyball club agreed that they would need a system to protect each other from the dangers of homemade Valentine’s chocolates. In an entirely selfless move, Tendou stepped up and appointed himself as the Official Shiratorizawa Chocolate Taste Tester.
It was not because he loved chocolates and would rather get them for free than buy them on his own. No, definitely not. It was because he cared for his teammates, and was especially concerned for Ushijima, the poor, innocent soul who didn’t know any better.
On the next Valentine’s Day, the boys had learned to either refuse dubious-looking chocolates, or go directly to Tendou for a chocolate taste-testing.
Even Semi, who was the team’s most popular member (he was in a rock band! And he could talk to girls like a normal person! Really, who could compete?), said ‘no’ to chocolates because his girlfriend would get jealous (he had no girlfriend, but there was a certain other setter on their team who acted like a jealous lover nonetheless).
But Ushijima, unfortunately, was still a problem, having accepted nearly double the number of chocolates than before, and still refused to let any of it go to waste.
And as part of his commitment to ensuring the quality of chocolates that their teammates ingested on this day of days, Tendou took it upon himself to personally inspect all of Ushijima’s chocolate gifts, and if necessary, take them off his hands yet again.
Thus, their Valentine’s Day tradition began.
----
Tendou’s first experience with making chocolate was during his third year in high school.
“Wait wait, hold it just like that!” Tendou stopped Ushijima after he took a bite of a chocolate truffle.
“Like this?” Ushijima asked, holding it out for Tendou to take yet another picture.
Tendou checked his phone and sighed wistfully “Ahhh, this looks so good.”
“Why are you taking so many pictures of the chocolates, Tendou?” Ushijima asked, eating the remainder of the chocolate truffle when Tendou gave him the go signal.
“Because, dear Wakatoshi-kun, this is our last Valentine’s Day together in high school. I’m not popular, like you. I will probably never get to eat this much chocolate for the rest of my life,” he said, leaning down and dramatically fake crying while he hugged the still formidably-sized mountain of chocolates on Ushijima’s bedroom floor.
“You seem to know a lot about chocolates. Why don’t you just make your own?” Ushijima suggested, saving some of the chocolate boxes that avalanched down the side of the mountain.
Tendou blinked and stared wide-eyed at Ushijima. “Make my own?”
“Mmm,” Ushijima said, making a pleasantly surprised expression when the next piece of chocolate he ate was caramel-filled—his favorite kind.
Tendou cocked his head to the side, looking down at all the homemade chocolates piled up before them, then back up at Ushijima’s pleased face as he ate another chocolate from a different box. “Make my own, huh?” Tendou said thoughtfully. “That would mean I could eat all the chocolate I want, anytime I want them. Ah, but cooking chocolate…it’s not gonna be that easy-peasy.”
“If all the girls in school can make them, why can’t you? You could probably make even better ones than these,” Ushijima told him, frowning down at a dark chocolate praline that he bit in half.
A blush crept its way up Tendou’s face, threatening to make his skin as red as his hair. If there was one thing Ushijima was good at, it was making people feel better (or worse) about themselves without really meaning to.
“Wakatoshi-kuuuuuuunnnn,” Tendou wailed. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“Not true,” Ushijima corrected smoothly. “I remember coach told you that you were a very smart player.”
“Yeah, but he added the, ‘but only if you shut your mouth once in a while’, so that negated everything before that,” Tendou grumbled.
“So are you going to try making your own?” Ushijima asked.
Tendou grinned from ear-to-ear. “Why not? You’ll help me by tasting what I make, right?”
The prospect of even more chocolate seemed to delight Ushijima. “Of course. It’s only fitting that I return the favor,” he said, smiling a small but genuine smile.
“Great. Then you’ll be my assistant!” Tendou declared. “Tomorrow, we’re going shopping.”
----
The next day, as promised, Ushijima accompanied Tendou to a bookstore to look at recipes for chocolates.
“What about this one, Wakatoshi-kun? Would you like to try this one first?” Tendou said, pointing at a simple nama chocolate recipe.
Ushijima frowned as he leaned closer to Tendou to read the ingredients.
‘Eek! So close!’ Tendou’s mind yelped in surprise when Ushijima’s face was suddenly inches from his. This close, Tendou could probably count Ushijima’s eyelashes if he were crazy enough. ‘One, two, three…’
“It says dark chocolate. I don’t like dark chocolate.”
“Seven, eight, nine—”
“Tendou?” Ushijima asked when he noticed Tendou staring.
“Oh! Ahahaha. I was just thinking,” Tendou chuckled awkwardly, quickly shifting his gaze back to the cookbook. “Thinking we could probably replace dark chocolate with semi-sweet if you don’t want that bitter taste.” Nice save, Satori.
“Mmn. We could try that,” Ushijima agreed.
Tendou flipped through a few more pages then stopped at another recipe. “Oh this one looks good too,” he said pointing to the mouthwatering picture of chocolate truffles.
The next bookshelf over, an old lady watched them with mounting suspicion. Two very tall men shoulder-to-shoulder and whispering to one another by the cookbooks section was a very odd sight indeed.
---
After buying a couple of cookbooks, the two made a detour to the sports apparel shop, where Ushijima tried on several new pairs of volleyball shoes. He ended up buying a nice pair of black ones that looked fairly identical to the ones he was already using.
Then it was on to the baking supply store to get some of the tools and pans they needed. Tendou got Ushijima to lend him some of his allowance to pay for them, with the promise of making him all the kinds of chocolates he liked.
The last stop was the grocery store to get some ingredients. Ushijima got stuck at the magazine rack just at the entrance, where he spotted the newest sports rag that had some pro volleyball news on it. Tendou left him there so he could gather the ingredients himself. It was a good thing Ushijima got distracted, otherwise he might insist on getting only milk chocolate and white chocolate instead of the actual ones the recipe called for.
Once all the shopping was done, they stopped by a family restaurant for a quick dinner then went back home to the dorms to try out their first recipe.
It turned out pretty well, all things considered. It was a good thing Tendou knew how to cook, a skill he learned from his mother at an early age, because Ushijima was no help at all. While Tendou was doing all the work, all Ushijima did was hover behind his shoulder, waiting for the chocolates to be done. Imagine his disappointment when he learned they still needed to chill the chocolates for five hours before it could be eaten.
Then it was finally time for the first tasting.
“Nyyack! Sweeter?!” Tendou balked.
Ushijima nodded with a grave expression only broken by his deliberate chewing.
“Geez, Wakatoshi-kun, and I thought I had a sweet tooth,” Tendou said, popping another piece in his mouth. “Ah! Semi-semi, would you like to taste this?” he held the plate out to Semi, who was passing by the common room of their dorms.
Semi looked at the little cubes of nama chocolate in suspicion. “Is it poisoned?” Semi asked.
“No of course not. I made this. Wakatoshi-kun’s had one already and he says it’s not sweet enough. I need a second opinion.”
Semi approached them but did not take any offered chocolate. “You made chocolate? For Wakatoshi?”
“Ah, not for Wakatoshi. With Wakatoshi,” Tendou corrected.
Semi looked at Ushijima in question.
“It’s true,” Ushijima confirmed.
“Ah so this is what you two’ve been doing all night,” Reon chimed in when saw the other third years.
“All night?!” Semi asked in surprise, looking at Tendou’s sly grinning face, and at Ushijima’s serious one.
“It’s true,” Ushijima repeated.
“You wouldn’t know, you weren’t even here last night,” Reon said. He sat on one of the couches and took an offered chocolate. When Semi saw him eat the chocolate, he deemed it safe enough and took one for himself.
Tendou looked at their faces expectantly, and his face lit up in glee at the first positive sign on their faces.
“This…” Semi said, looking mildly shocked. “This is surprisingly good.”
“You think so?” Tendou asked eagerly.
“Not too sweet, I like it,” Reon said, nodding in approval.
“Not sweet enough,” Ushijima countered, even as he took another piece to eat.
“You want everything sweet,” Tendou said with a roll of his eyes.
“So who’re you giving these chocolates to on White Day?” Semi asked Tendou.
“No one. This is just for me and Wakatoshi-kun. And you guys, if you want more,” Tendou said, offering up the plate to the other boys, who gladly ate some more.
---
For the rest of their stay at the dorms, every night after dinner, the pair would borrow the kitchen to try out recipe after recipe.
Ushijima was partial to the sweeter kinds of chocolates, like chocolate truffles, white chocolates, and bonbons filled with all sorts of tooth-rotting stuff. As a result, when he taste-tested Tendou’s creations, he would often complain that they weren’t sweet enough.
Tendou had learned to tweak recipes to make them sweeter just to please Ushijima’s taste buds. Sometimes, he’d even make two different batches, one he considered as “Wakatoshi Sweet” and the other as “Regular-person Sweet.”
When they eventually graduated, Ushijima went pro and Tendou moved on to art school and continued to experiment on different chocolate recipes on his own. They saw less of each other, but they still managed to meet the next Valentine’s Day so Ushijima could taste-test Tendou’s latest creations.
Ushijima brought what little chocolate he received from acquaintances for them to share. His team’s management forbade Ushijima from consuming any Valentine’s Chocolates that came from fans and unknown sources so he was actually getting fewer chocolates now. Who knew being pro meant the added danger of the chocolates containing actual poisons or forbidden substances?
Tendou never thought there was anything weird about meeting your best friend for Valentine’s Day until Reon pointed it out.
“You still met with Wakatoshi last Valentine’s Day to exchange chocolates?” Reon balked. They were at a drinking party with some of the other Shiratorizawa boys one late night in March. Ushijima was at training and missed their get-together.
“What’s wrong with that?” Tendou asked defensively. “And we don’t exchange chocolates. He taste-tests my latest recipe, and I get to eat whatever chocolates the Adlers staff allowed him to bring home.”
“That’s the very definition of ‘exchanging’,” Reon argued. “And what’re you gonna do when Wakatoshi finally gets a girlfriend?”
“Pshh, please, you really think Wakatoshi-kun’s got any time for a girlfriend? Maybe if you put a volleyball in a dress and called her Mikasa-chan, maybe then,” Tendou said. He didn’t want to dwell on why Reon was only concerned about Ushijima finding a girlfriend and not Tendou. He suspected Reon probably knew this whole time.
Reon chuckled. “Ah, but you never know, Satori. He’s a big shot pro player now. We’re not talking about high school girls vying for his affection anymore. He might just find his real Mikasa-chan one of these days. Maybe you should start looking for your own?” Reon said with kind eyes and offered Tendou another bottle of beer.
“Don’t I know it,” Tendou mumbled to himself before he chugged on the beer.
Because Tendou did know it. He knew their tradition would never stand the test of time. Eventually, Ushijima would find a nice girl who may or may not resemble a volleyball, and he’d go on Valentine's dates with her instead of spending it gorging on chocolates with Tendou. She’d give him her very own homemade chocolates (she wouldn’t know at first that Ushijima liked them super sweet, but she’d learn eventually like Tendou did), and she’d have to settle for getting the same brand of chocolates every single White Day, because Ushijima was nothing if not consistent.
Meanwhile Tendou… well, Tendou would be spending Valentines Day alone, surrounded by all the failed recipes of his chocolates and wishing and pining for something that he would never have.
But hopefully, that wouldn’t happen until after next year’s Valentine’s Day, because Tendou had very nearly perfected his tooth-rottingly sweet choco-caramel truffles and he wanted Ushijima to be the first one to taste them. He was sure Ushijima would absolutely love them.
Unfortunately, Tendou never did get to have Ushijima taste his choco-caramel truffles.
Tendou had enjoyed making chocolates so much that he took a shot at applying at a culinary school in Paris—and got accepted soon after. Within a month, he packed up his stuff and moved to Paris to learn all he could about becoming a chocolatier. In an instant, he was farther away from home, and from Ushijima, than he had ever been.