Valentine’s Day rolls around soon after. It is a school day. In their first class, everyone is giving each other chocolate or gifts, talking about who they like or plans to confess. Shiori sits at her desk like she normally does as she sees Ryuji walk in. He goes straight to Lucy behind her. He pulls out a little bag of chocolate he made.
Ryuji “Here Lucy, for you.”
Lucy “Oh, Ryuji you shouldn’t have. This is such a surprise coming from you.”
She says sarcastically as she happily opens the bag. She eats one and chews for a moment before her eyes widen a bit.
Lucy “Mm! These are extra good this year! Change up the recipe?”
Ryuji “Yeah, I didn’t really like the bitterness so I rebalanced the ingredients.”
Shiori sneakily watches and gets surprised then upset when she hears him say that. She turns back around looking down into her desk.
Lucy “Well you’ve outdone yourself again. You should be proud.”
She pats him on the arm while he nods and heads to his desk. There he is meeted by a small pile of chocolates from a few other students. He looks a bit confused and turns around to see a couple students blush and look away. Shiori watches and turns to see Chizuru munching on the chocolates left for her at her desk while some other students sweat realizing she doesn’t acknowledge the “love” part of the sweets. When Sugawara and Haru come into class talking to each other, they both stop in shock to see the same amount of chocolate on Sugawara’s desk.
Haru “Dang Suga! I didn’t realize you caught the eye of so many other students!”
They sit as Sugawara sweats nervously.
Sugawara “What am I supposed to do with all of these?..”
Haru “Well you eat them I suppose.”
He looks at the large pile and sweats.
Sugawara “Yeah, I don’t think so…”
Lucy “It’s all thanks to coming out of that shell of yours. People are starting to notice how cute you are.”
He blushes a bit as he takes the chocolates and puts them into his bag. Shiori sighs, realizing another year she’ll go all day without receiving anything.
Shiori ‘With how different things have turned out this year, I was kinda hoping this would be different too… Oh well.’
She then looks up noticing that Ms. Samuel isn’t here yet.
Shiori “Huh? Where’s Ms. Samuel?”
Hikigaya shrugs his shoulders.
Hikigaya “I didn’t even notice. She’s usually here so early.”
Some time earlier…
It’s morning, and Samuel is still in her bed on the floor in a small studio apartment. She rolls over and slowly opens her eyes. She checks her phone.
Samuel “Ugh… Valentine’s Day… A day to spit in the face of all single women like me.”
She sits up and rubs her eyes a bit.
Samuel “I hate today…”
She stands up and stretches a bit. She stands for a moment before her eyes grow wide. She dives back down and grabs her phone. She checks the time again.
Samuel “I’m late!?!”
She begins frantically running around. She puts a waffle in the toaster on her counter. She runs to the bathroom with her new clothes and not much long later she comes out changed and hair brushed. She grabs her bag with her supplies in it and then takes the waffle out of the toaster. She fumbles with it for a moment before catching it in her mouth.
Samuel “Hot hot hot! *chomp!*”
She grabs her keys and heads out the door. Once she makes it to school it is 10 minutes past class start. She runs down the hallway swallowing her last bit of waffle. As she’s running down the empty hallway. A cart with cleaning supplies slowly comes out of one of the doorways. She doesn’t react in time and hits her foot on the edge of it. This causes her to trip. She falls but right before she hits the floor she is caught. Her hand is grabbed which causes her to turn around with her back facing the floor as another hand comes around, quickly catching her by the back. She is now being held as if being deeply dipped in a dance before a kiss. She blushes a bit.
Ashley “Woah there! Careful now, wouldn’t want you cracking open that pretty little head now would we?”
She is pulled up and is now standing just fine. She looks up to see a large, muscular woman in a blue jumpsuit. She is wearing a backward cap and has shoulder length violet hair that has been shaved on the sides. She has tattoos on her left arm, almost a full sleeve. Three piercings on her left ear and four on the right. She is wearing heavy eyeliner and has baby blue eyes. Samuel blushes at the sight of her.
Samuel “Please be my valentine…”
Ashley “What?”
Samuel “Ah! Er, nothing! I didn’t say anything!”
Samuel gets embarrassed and quickly tries to cover up her words.
Ashley “Uh, I don’t think I can do that but you can join me and my boyfriend for dinner sometime if you’d like?”
Samuel turns to stone hearing that she has a boyfriend.
Samuel “Ah I see…”
Ashley “My name’s Ashley, but you can call me Ash if you want haha! Here’s my number. Call me sometime! You seem like real fun! Anyway, I assume you got a class to go to and I’ve got work to do. See you around!”
Ashley hands her a card with her number on it and she smiles and nods. She puts it away and turns with a sad face and makes her way to her class. The students are all still talking when she comes in, slouched over and depressed. They all slowly stop talking, noticing her. She makes her way to her desk and plops down then puts her head on her desk. The class is confused for a moment.
Lucy “Uh… Ms. Samuel? Are you alright?”
She just groans in response.
Samuel “I’m attractive, aren’t I? I’m passionate and loving! So why am I still so single on Valentine’s Day?”
She lifts her head for a moment with tears rolling down her face in cartoony fashion as she plops her head back down. The class looks confused on what to do when Chizuru, who was still eating her chocolate, looks at her pile then gets up. She walks over to Samuel’s desk and places one of the bags on her desk. Samuel looks up a bit.
Chizuru “Well, I could be your Valentine’s.”
She smiles at her. Samuel smiles a bit back as another student in the back stands up holding a chocolate.
Student 1 “Me too!”
Student 2 “I can be!”
Eventually, most of the class gives her some chocolate until there is a large pile on her desk. Samuel tears up a bit.
Samuel “Oh you guys… You are amazing students, let’s just take the day off, how about that?”
The class cheers as they get up and start hanging out. Hikigaya leans over to Ryuji and whispers,
Hikigaya “I bet this is what most of them wanted.”
He nods in agreement. Samuel comes over to Chizuru and pats her on the head.
Samuel “Thank you for that Chizuru. It really lifted my spirits even if I am still single.”
Chizuru smiles happily. While the class is conversing, Haru walks over to Chizuru. She looks up at him curious as he leans down and whispers something in her ear. She smiles at him and nods. Sugawara watches.
Later, Chizuru stands in a grassy spot just off a path between buildings. There is a slight breeze with many clouds in the sky. Haru comes over to her from the hall. He steps in front of her, facing her, with his hands behind his back. He is blushing and looks nervous. Chizuru is looking at him, almost confused why he looks so nervous.
Haru “Hey Chizuru. Thanks for meeting me here. I wanted to ask you something..”
Chizuru “Mhm. Okay, what is it?”
She says smiling. Haru fidgets a bit.
Haru “Well, I’ve known you for a few years now and we’re really good friends. I think you’re really cute and so sweet. Really, you’re just perfect in every way… I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and I’ve really given it some thought… But I was wondering if… you would be… Would you be my girlfriend?”
He finishes the question with his head held high and looking her in the eye. She looks surprised by his question as he holds out his chocolate to her. Right as he asks the question, just around the corner not too far from them, Sugawara stands there. He heard it all. He begins to cry and holds the chocolate he made to his chest for a moment. He strains for a moment before dropping the chocolate and running away with tears rolling down his face. Chizuru looks at Haru, a bit nervous and cocks her head to the side a bit.
Chizuru “Haru… I.. You don’t actually like me that way…”
She softly pushes his chocolate down towards him. Haru is surprised.
Haru “What?..”
Chizuru “I really like you Haru. I do, just not like that. You’re so sweet and caring and I don’t want you to stop being that because of me.”
She puts her hand on his cheeks as he blushes from embarrassment and tears form in his eyes a bit.
Chizuru “It’s just I.. don’t want to feel that way right now. And I’m not as perfect as you think.”
She pulls her hand away slowly.
Chizuru “Don’t let this make things awkward between us. I still want to be friends and grow together. I understand if you don’t want to be around me for a while…”
Haru shakes his head and smiles a bit at her after wiping the tears away.
Haru “No, no. It’s okay. I’m okay. I’ll be honest, I don’t know what I was thinking! Haha! I just thought… I liked you and I should do something about the feelings and that this was the right thing to do. I didn’t even stop to think how this would make you feel if you didn’t feel the same…”
Chizuru “You followed your soul. I think you did the right thing.”
She begins to walk away as Haru watches. She stops and turns.
Chizuru “Stay bright, Haru.”
She smiles then leaves down the hallway. Haru stands there for a moment before letting out a quiet yell while rubbing his head. He sighs and lets his arms down. He laughs to himself a bit.
Haru “Well Haru, you told her. And she said no. That’s all there is to it. No use in crying about it now. I gotta get back to smiling brightly.”
He exhales one last time before turning and heading out as well. He follows the path past the hallway she turned into. He stops by the corner of the building when he notices something on the floor. He bends down and picks it up.
Haru “This is…”
He recognizes the bag and thinks back to the day they made the chocolates and how proud Sugawara was of his. Haru realizes and gets a concerned look.
While this is happening, Shiori and Hikigaya are walking down a hallway together holding boxes and papers.
Shiori “What do you think Haru and Chizuru went off for?”
Hikigaya “Probably to confess their love for each other.”
Shiori “Really? Haru likes Chizuru?”
Hikigaya “Yeah I guess so. He only told me recently too so I don’t even know how long he has.”
Shiori “Well, that’s gonna be weird.”
They enter another classroom and the teacher waves them in to put the supplies down. He thanks them as they bow and leave. Shiori stretches her back a bit as they walk down the hall.
Shiori “Why did Ms. Samuel want us to deliver that stuff again?”
Hikigaya “She made fun of us for not having Valentine’s, remember?”
Shiori “Oh yeah…”
She remembers just a bit earlier. Samuel approached them while they were minding their own business at their desks and said, “Since neither of you gave or received any chocolate, you wouldn’t mind me asking for a favor would you? Think of it as a task for your special case.” Shiori perks up a bit remembering something.
Shiori “Oh that’s right. Before I forget again.”
She stops and reaches into her sweater pocket. She pulls out the small bag with a few chocolates in it. Hikigaya looks surprised. She lifts it towards him.
Shiori “For you. For being a lot nicer than you need to be..”
She looks a bit embarrassed but not horribly. He puts his hand under the bag as she lets go and the bag sits in his hand. He keeps his hand out though and looks at the bag for a moment. He then laughs a bit.
Shiori “What’s so funny?”
Hikigaya “These were Ryuji’s, weren’t they? Then you heard about his and Lucy’s tradition and felt you couldn’t give him any, right? These chocolates aren’t meant for me.”
He just stares at them as Shiori gets nervous and tries to deny it frantically.
Shiori “N-no! I just thought you might want some but I guess not so I’ll just take them back.”
She reaches to grab them back but Hikigaya takes his hand away quickly from her and pulls them closer to him. She looks surprised and confused.
Hikigaya “But, you did give them to me so I guess I have no choice but to accept them.”
He opens the bag and eats one. He chews for a moment and is surprised.
Hikigaya “Hey, these are pretty good! You know, for a girl with just one eye, you make pretty good chocolate!”
Overwhelmed with the sudden rush of emotions and the last comment she gets irritated and tackles him. They roll on the ground wrestling each other for a moment before Principal Ai comes from around the corner and approaches them. They notice immediately so they get up and straighten themselves out in front of her.
Shiori “It was totally his fault. I didn’t start anything.”
Hikigaya “Hey.”
P. Ai “Well, it is good to see you’re limiting the beating of other students to yourselves. But please do try and behave yourselves on school property.”
They both not, a bit ashamed of fighting on the ground like that.
P. Ai “Only six months into the new school year and you both have grown so much. It does make me quite happy to see you becoming better students and much more than you could have before. As happy as I may be, don’t go slacking off now. You’ve still got a long road ahead of you and I’d hate to have to punish you for a slip up.”
Shiori “What could be more punishment than this?”
Hikigaya punches her in the arm and she rubs it in pain. Principal Ai just gives them a look with a slight smile before they bow and she turns to walk away. Shiori and Hikigaya both head back to class.
Hikigaya “You really like Ryuji huh?”
Shiori “...yeah…”
Hikigaya “It can’t be helped. He’s always been more popular than the rest of us, being as attractive as he is. I’d like to help but as long as I’ve known the guy, he’s never once told me about any crushes or interests like that.”
Shiori “I see..”
Hikigaya “But if you’d like to find out, talk to Lucy. They’ve been best friends way longer than any of us. If he has any, he’s definitely told her.”
Shiori smiles at him.
Shiori “Thanks Hikigaya.”
As they go, they pass a hallway that has someone standing against the wall. It’s Amy. She listened to their conversation and smiles to herself.
The rest of the day went on and eventually the end of school came. Since the group all have different classes after lunch, excluding Hikigaya and Shiori, there were very few of them in their normal spot today.
Haru “Where is everybody?”
Hikigaya “I saw Sugawara head home earlier.”
Haru “And the others?”
Ryuji “Lucy and Chizuru went home early too.”
The four of them stand together a bit confused and unsure what to do. Haru sighs.
Haru “I’ll… I’ll see you guys later.”
He waves and heads home. Hikigaya and Shiori look back at Ryuji and they exchange nods as they go their separate ways. Once they make it home, they wave too and head inside. Once Hikigaya gets inside, he goes to his room and places his stuff down on his bed. He pulls out the bag of chocolate Shiori gave him. He eats another one.
Hikigaya “Hm bitter but a little sweet in the center. The way I like it…”
He looks down and chews slower for a moment before heading to his desk.
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