February 14th, Valentine's Day.
For the Itsuka Shido of last year, this holiday was just a day that was barely better than nothing.
The only mbers of the opposite sex who would give him chocolate were Kotori and his mother. Aside from them, his bad friend Tonomachi would scream things like, "I'm going to buy all the limited edition chocolate in the nearby stores so the girls won't have any to give out!" on this day. Tonomachi would then share so of his premium chocolate with him, letting Shido taste a sweetness that could only be described as "empty."
However, today's Shido was vastly different from the past.
Right after waking up in the morning and stepping into the living room, Shido received chocolates from everyone.
"Thank you, everyone. This is the first ti I've ever received so much chocolate."
Looking at the chocolates everyone gave him, Shido spoke with genuine excitent.
"Go on, go on~ Hurry up and open them, boy."
"Right, right, I know. You don't need to rush ."
Prompted by Nia, Shido opened the boxes and bags he received one by one.
Kotori's was a classic heart shaped chocolate. Yoshino's was a rabbit chocolate modeled after "Yoshinon." Natsumi's were truffle chocolates. Mukuro's were star-shaped chocolate cookies. Miku's was a chocolate shaped like a musical note. And Nia's was an "oppai" chocolate made from half spheres of milk chocolate and strawberry chocolate.
Although a few of them were slightly embarrassing to look at, Shido could tell that these chocolates weren't store bought ready mades, but completely handmade.
Realizing this, a warmth spread through Shido's heart. He thanked everyone again and took a bite of each chocolate.
_____________
About ten minutes later, Shido left the house, heading for school.
On the way, he received Valentine's Day chocolate from Tohka, who was walking with him.
It was a truffle chocolate dusted with a layer of roasted soybean flour. Upon tasting it, the mild sweetness of the chocolate crear blended perfectly with the fragrant aroma of the soybean flour. Although he didn't know who had guided her, it was indeed a creation that perfectly suited Tohka's style.
"Mhm, it's really delicious, Tohka."
"Umu! I'm glad! Is it really? So it really is delicious, huh..."
Watching Shido savor her chocolate with great relish, Tohka couldn't help but swallow hard, feeling both happy and craving a bite herself.
"...Do you want a bite?"
"Really?!—N-No, it's fine. This is a gift for Shido. I-I can endure it—probably—"
In the end, seeing Tohka practically drooling, Shido gave a portion of the chocolate back to her.
Arriving at school, waiting for Shido at the gates were the Yamai sisters, standing proudly on either side of the entrance like guardian deities.
"Kuku— My Golden Cross Mausoleum stands tall right here."
"Presentation. Shido, please accept this."
After delivering so lines of incomprehensible aning, Kaguya and Yuzuru openly presented their chocolates to Shido right in front of everyone.
Unsurprisingly, their actions drew a wave of attention and applause from the passing students.
Although Shido felt there was no need to go out of their way to do this in front of a crowd, according to the Yamai sisters themselves, the purpose of doing this was to declare their stance to everyone, and also to serve as a check against Kurumi.
"Then, objective achieved—I shall take my leave first!"
With that, Kaguya completely ignored the sweating Shido, turned around, and fled at top speed.
"Explanation. Although she acted like it was nothing, giving a gift in front of everyone is indeed very embarrassing. She couldn't wait to run away a second sooner—that is Kaguya's current feeling."
Yuzuru said to Shido.
"It's fine. I understand."
Shido nodded with a wry smile.
"Relief. Then, Yuzuru is also reaching the limit of her endurance... so I will take my leave as well."
Bowing slightly to Shido, Yuzuru covered her blushing face and trotted away.
Afterward, Shido checked the chocolates the two had given him. Kaguya's chocolate was cross-shaped and wrapped in gold foil, while Yuzuru's chocolate was covered in silver sugar beads, presenting a beautiful silver hue.
"The two of them are as fast as the hurricane as always."
Sighing in admiration, Shido walked into his classroom, only to suddenly feel a slight sense of incongruity.
He noticed that on the desk at his seat sat a stunningly beautiful, roughly thirty centiter tall ani figure (made of chocolate) crafted with exquisite skill.
The corner of his eye twitching slightly, Shido remained silent for a long ti before finally speaking.
"...Origami."
"Do you need sothing? Shido."
As if she had been waiting for Shido to call her, Origami stood up and walked over to his side.
"This chocolate... you made it, right?"
"Correct."
"Mhm."
Origami nodded gently.
"I knew it."
Shido couldn't help but smile bitterly. Aside from Origami, probably no one else would even think of making a Valentine's Day chocolate of this insane scale, let alone actually pull it off.
Moreover, the appearance of this chocolate, no matter what angle you looked at it from, was a perfect, one to one replica of Origami herself.
Honestly, rather than feelings of joy or happiness, what filled Shido's heart was an indescribable sense of shock and awe.
"How should I put this... Um... This... is really amazing. Thank you, Origami."
Racking his brain trying to squeeze out a few words of praise, in the end, Shido, possessing an extrely poor vocabulary for such situations, could only squeeze out this plain impression.
"Mhm. As long as Shido likes it."
Fortunately, Origami didn't mind. Hearing Shido's answer, a deeply satisfied smile appeared on her face.
Since it was inconvenient to eat a chocolate of this size right away, Origami pulled out a pre ford plastic display case and packaged the chocolate exactly like a real ani figure.
anwhile, the single males in the class, including his bad friend Tonomachi, were currently gathered in the corner of the classroom. While performing so kind of occult cult dance, they were using a hamr to smash a white chocolate model of Shido, and then dividing the chocolate shards among themselves to eat.
"Haha! Itsuka has been smashed to pieces!"
"Delicious! Delicious!"
"Hahaha, prepare yourself, Itsuka Shido! I'm going to eat your flesh, drink your blood, and suck your marrow dry! Feel the full weight of my grudge!"
"Aaaahhhh—Power! I can feel Itsuka's power flowing into my body through the chocolate!"
"Hey, hey! The butt! The butt! I don't care about the other parts, but at the very least, leave Itsuka's beautiful rear end for , you hear?!"
(...L-Let's just pretend I didn't see that.)
A violent shudder running down his spine, Shido hurriedly averted his eyes from that terrifying domain of pure chaos.
(But I really did receive a lot of chocolate this ti.)
Reconfirming the amount of chocolate in his bag, Shido couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from rising. He was an adolescent boy, after all; to say he wasn't happy about receiving chocolate from girls would be a total lie.
(Origami, Tohka, Yuzuru, Kaguya, Miku, Kotori, Yoshino, Nia, Mukuro, Natsumi... Hm?)
Halfway through counting, Shido suddenly realized he hadn't received any chocolate from Yutsuki.
(I think Kotori told Yutsuki to rest yesterday, so she must have made chocolate too, right?)
"Alright, everyone, horoom is starting. Please return to your seats."
Just then, Tama-chan-sensei's voice interrupted Shido's thoughts.
(Well, it's only morning. Maybe Yutsuki will co by during the break later.)
Comforting himself with this thought, Shido took out his textbooks and prepared for class.
Then, after the first period ended, Yutsuki didn't co looking for him...
(Maybe she'll co after the next period.)
The second period passed...
(It's fine, it's fine, Yutsuki is definitely just building suspense. She'll definitely co after the next class.)
The third period passed...
(Don't worry, Itsuka Shido. With your relationship with Yutsuki, at the very least, at the very least—there will definitely be so obligation chocolate!) (TL:bro is getting desperate)
Lunch break arrived...
(As expected, a man can't just passively wait. Who cares about looking uncool, let's just go ask Yutsuki for a piece of chocolate.)
Thinking this, Shido stood up and headed to Class 3.
"Ryougi-san? She already went to eat lunch with the Yamai sister."
The class rep of Class 2-3, Saoto Natsutake, answered.
Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Shido forced a smile and replied politely.
"I see... Sorry for bothering you, Princess Bamboo."
"It's fine. And I'm the class rep."
Just like that, Shido returned to his own classroom, utterly defeated.
(Well... don't be sad, Itsuka Shido. Didn't you already receive chocolate from everyone else? You're super popular, aren't you? If you're still not satisfied after all this, you really will be cursed by Tonomachi and the others and face divine retribution.)
________________
Then, the second period of the afternoon ended. The final break before school was over.
"Shido-san, I am truly looking forward to after school."
"K-Kurumi..."
Watching Kurumi slowly approach him, Shido swallowed nervously.
Today after school, he was going to go on a date with Kurumi.
Although Shido and Kurumi had engaged in a fierce battle of wits over the past few days, today was clearly different. Valentine's Day, the holiday where n and won confess their romantic feelings. A date on this day carried special significance, both in terms of atmosphere and emotion.
Just as Shido intended to settle things once and for all today, Kurumi also undoubtedly planned to play her trump card today, doing everything in her power to conquer Shido.
"When the ti cos, let us do many pleasant things together~ I will take Shido-san straight to heaven~"
Displaying a smile as bewitching as a poppy flower, Kurumi whispered in Shido's ear with a seductive voice.
Shido shivered violently. Noticing Kurumi's triumphant smile, he hurriedly straightened his expression and replied, feigning confidence.
"Yeah. I'm looking forward to it. Don't worry, the Spirit apartnt has a room prepared for you."
"Ara ara~"
Noticing Shido's reaction, Kurumi's smile deepened.
"Speaking of which, Yutsuki-san asked to pass a ssage to you just now. Regarding chocolate."
"Yutsuki?!"
Shido's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly caught himself, chuckled softly, and shook his head.
"Haha, trying to trick is useless, Kurumi. If Yutsuki had sothing to say, she would have just co to directly. Why would she need you to pass a ssage?"
"My, my, you truly are dense, Shido-san... A maiden's heart is very complicated, you know."
Sighing speechlessly, Kurumi said with a aningful expression.
"'I will be waiting for you on the rooftop'—I have delivered the ssage. As for whether it is true or false, please judge for yourself, Shido-san."
"..."
"Alright, class is starting—"
"Sensei, my stomach suddenly hurts! I need to go to the infirmary to rest!"
"Eh?!"
Watching Shido sprint out of the classroom without another word, Kurumi chuckled wryly, muttering with complicated feelings,
"You are far too easy to read... Shido-san."
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