Chapter Text
"Ah, Valentine's, such a turbulent and sinful day. Full of promises and allure, tempting us all to fall lower into the welcoming abyss of Hell…"
Despite the gloom cast by the curious monologue, sunlight listed through the open windows. It was Friday. A light breeze brought a whiff of fresh cut grass into the classroom, and Riko didn't look up from her notebook as she heard Yoshiko putting her foot up on the chair. Her rambling had to be going somewhere, surely, else why would the girl be leaning in so closely? Too closely. Yoshiko, you are going to fall face first onto the floor if you don't --
"And what is this?" Hell's favorite angel continued unknowingly of her doom lingering behind her. "Is our beloved Riri doing anything special for it?
"Not really," she hedged, tapping the pencil she held against the desk, "I might just make chocolates for everyone. I was thinking of adding a twist this time, though… since everyone has their own tastes, you know?"
From her spot beside the redhead, Mari giggled at the thought. "Oh? And did thinking about a certain someone give you the idea? Someone speeeeecial?"
Riko slams her arms over her notebook self consciously. Oh no. No. Nonononono. She would not be going here today with them. Maybe if they asked her on a Tuesday, but no! Not today! Or ever. Never ever. There couldn't possibly be anyone anyway, no matter what the brightness of her skin would say. "N-no! Of course not!" She thought a little more. "It's none of your business anyway, if I did! W-which! I don't! I do not!"
Pants on fire? No, surely they must be mistaken. It's the rest of the room that was alight, surely! But, Yoshiko and Mari didn't seem very phased...
"Dia, Kanan," Hanamaru scuffed her foot against the floor. Swinging her feet as she sorted the papers Kanan had been steadily handing her, she casually broke the quiet surrounding them. "Are either of you going to be doing anything for Valentine's, zura? Chika's been talking about it a lot, even though You keeps bringing up last year…. Whatever it was, zura."
"Last year? She burned her uniform, didn't she?" Kanan wondered, pausing her search for a scrap piece of paper, hand frozen midair. "I remember she got in trouble for something like that."
Dia glanced at her two friends, exhaustion seeping back onto her face as she remembered that particular debacle. "Yes, she did. The sleeves and tie specifically-- I know she's very, ah, impulsive, but, well… I don't get why she didn't change out of it before baking, of all things."
With a laugh, Kanan mindlessly scribbled on a notepad she yanked out from somewhere in the mess Mari had left behind earlier. "Yeah, she's doesn't always think stuff through fully… ah, well, her greatest weakness and strength all in one. Anyway, I don't really think I'm going to be doing much, but I think making chocolates for everyone would be fun. What about you, Dia?"
"I thought about doing something like that, truthfully. But it feels almost… Impersonal? I'll be making everyone something special instead. Yoshiko loves chocolate strawberries, so that's simple enough. Chocolate covered coffee beans would be good for Mari, right?" Dia tapped her own pen against the paper in front of her. Somehow it didn't leave a mark -- for once, terrible pens were on her side. "And of course Chika's getting mikans… but I thought about what to make for Ruby, and I remembered reading about making hard candies from scratch before--"
Kanan and Hanamaru found eachother's gazes very interesting.
"-- so I think that would be something to try. There'll be backup plans, of course, but… what? Why are you two staring at me?" She blinked. They broke. Her face turned red. Snapping down her pencil, she loomed as best she could from behind her desk. "What are you two laughing at?!"
It was Hanamaru who silenced herself first, but Kanan who responded. "Sorry, sorry, I was just thinking about how much that's a 'you' thing to do. To go all out on something nice for everyone," she backtracked, holding up her hands. With a sniffle, she handed off another paper to the not-really-cowed Hanamaru. "Maybe we could get together and help out? We have to get ours done anyway, right, Hanamaru?"
"Mmmm-hm!"
Dia kept glaring at the pair with suspicious eyes, waiting for them to slip up and reveal the truth… but she ended up relenting with a sigh (that was absolutely not fond whatsoever!) "Fine. I guess that wouldn't be a bad idea… but we're not making our presents to eachother, okay?!"
"Okay, Dia," Kanan long since knew that sometimes, it was better to roll with her friend's eccentricities, rare as they showed up. "So what else did you have planned?"
"Well, I was thinking You would get dark chocolate with mikan in it -- which is also the backup for Chika -- and, ah…! You don't need to know the rest!"
Her friends glanced at eachother again. "What about Riko?" They asked as one. Hanamaru also raised her hand to ask another question on top of that. "And are you really giving Chika just mikans, zura?"
"No! She's getting mikan flavored candies. And, ah…. Uh…." Dia definitely didn't wilt into nothingness. "I was still trying to figure out what to get Riko…"
"White chocolate."
"Huh?"
"Give her white chocolate. She loves it." Kanan waved her off, as if solving that particular dilemma which had haunted Dia for the past three weeks was a simple task.
"Really…? Ah, thanks, Kanan." She shot her a weak smile, her cheeks twitching weakly as she exposed all this weakness. Wow. She was great at this.
"Don't mention it."
Silence reigned once more before Dia eventually excused herself to the bathroom. It was then Hanamaru braved asking the question they both had been worried about ever since their friend began acting so strangely. Even through their debate, they didn't have much evidence as to what was bothering her.
Answers unfound, she asked the other one on her mind. "Does Riko really like white chocolate, zura?"
"I, uh," Kanan grinned with wisdom beyond her years, "have no idea."
"I-I'm telling you, I'm really not interested in anyone! Wouldn't that be something I'd be proud of, right, Yoshiko?!" Somehow, in the time it had taken for the situation to escalate, her voice had also risen to the task of out-pacing her friends.
"It's Yohane!" The demon shrieked right back at unholy decibels. "And no! You're too shy, trapped within the fears of your mortal soul, unwilling to let us help you reach past your reservations and achieve pure enlightenment!"
"T-that's an oxymoron!"
"You're an oxymoron!"
"What does that even mean?!"
"Everything, little Riri!" It was Mari who interrupted that time. The blonde grinned far more wickedly than even Yoshiko, and leaned forward. Riko wondered if her friendships would be destroyed if she kicked the table out from under both of them. "It explains everything!"
"But who could it be…. Who could it be? Surely not --" Yoshiko squinted. "Perhaps she has fallen for the uncorrupted sunshine of a much beloved son? He lures them in with an innocent smile and a promise to fulfill all your fantasies--"
"Absolutely not!" If her face had been red before, it was somehow about to turn magenta. Was that how it worked? Likely not. It wasn't as if she had any better examples, though.
"...and not one of us…"
A shake of her head.
"...mayhap you have fallen for someone unattainable, unworthy of the station you trap yourself in and live out your regrets in denial of it…"
"That makes even less sense!" At this, Riko picked up on the fidget Mari made, and something in the blond's eyes changed. She felt judgement creep up her spine.
"Is it Chika you long for, instead?" Yoshiko nodded firmly. The girl was starting to go beyond annoying with how relentless her questions were. "Or… oh no, little demon… surely not Ruby--"
"No! None of them! I'm not in love with any of them! Or anyone else!" Speaking of Ruby, it wasn't the younger girl who passed by the club door's windows, but her sister. Perfect. Bingo. "Ah, that's enough of this. I have to go-- and, uhm, return the thing I borrowed from Dia! Before she leaves!"
Without waiting for further response or questioning, Riko bolted for the door, calling out to the other girl to wait for her, proclaiming her need to return the fictitious item.
The two left behind stared at eachother, then the doorway.
A breeze kicked up once more, brushing petals up into the air. Mari let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Her fingers tapped on the surface below her, contemplating the empty conversation that managed to tell her all she really needed to know.
Their gaze finally flopped onto Riko's bag. The one she left behind. The one that would hold all her stuff since they had no pockets on their uniforms.
"...I can't believe she thought we'd fall for that," Yoshiko bemoaned. "Did she really think that was any sort of smooth?"
"Riko, what are you talking about? I didn't lend you anything recently." Dia was staring at her with an even more incredulous and scrutinizing gaze than the ones Riko had just left behind.
"I know, sorry. I just needed an excuse to get out of that conversation, I'm sorry." She rubbed the back of her neck, willing her face to stop feeling so warm. "They wouldn't stop asking about my crush on--"
Dia's expression changed faster than it ever had before when Riko caught herself.
"--a-absolutely nobody! They're so convinced that I like someone, but I really, really don't."
"Really?" Dia sounded annoyed. That was bad. Did she think she was lying to her? Oh, no, she wasn't! She wasn't! Of all people, somehow Dia was the last person she would think about trying to pull a fast one on.
"Yes!"
Dia studied her. Somehow, Riko hadn't melted into the floor, but the image she was trying to present felt like it was slipping. Woo , was is just her or were these uniforms really warm?
"Mari does that sometimes," was all the raven-haired elder said on that topic. Riko couldn't help her sigh of relief that she slipped by. In the wave of her worry's retreat, she almost missed the next question. "-like white chocolate?"
"Eh?!"
"Did you forget? Valentine's day is coming up, Riko-san. I have something for everyone except you so far, since I wasn't sure if you liked white chocolate or not." Dia smiled almost as awkwardly as she herself felt. "I'm sorry."
Riko felt her deflating heart crack at those words. Why did it sting so much to be the last person Dia thought of? Her face heated up again even in her dismay. Of course she knew why. "A-ah, yeah, I like it. I mean, it's not that -- it's not like it's my favorite--" something else within her died of shame at the rudeness she was exhibiting, and the wince Dia made, "--but I like it!"
"So what is your favorite then?" Really, it was unfair how easily Dia could collect herself from taking any sort of blow. And it was unfair that she would recover enough to smile at Riko like she really cared what the answer was.
"I've always had a soft spot for truffles," she admitted. "Oh, and the little traditional candies that are so hard to find now -- you know them right? The little animals?"
"I think so." Dia nodded, serene and sure as she kept up the pace. Riko relaxes a little bit. "That settles that, then. So, ah… What are your plans, Riko?"
And there goes that thought. Why did that have to be the way Dia put it… that wasn't how she wanted to hear those words. She blanched. Wasn't that an embarrassing thought, to even think about hearing it any other way? Somehow, her lies were quickly catching up to her, nipping at her heels. Breathe in, she reminded herself, and think fast.
Dia was staring at her. She felt the weight of the expected response breathing down her neck. Aw, crap, she must think Riko's an idiot, who can't even pay attention to conversation. Good going, Sakurauchi. Her mother would be proud. So proud.
She rubs her neck. "Um, Mari and Yoshiko probably want to drag me into making chocolates with them."
Already she has failed before she could even try to think about what it'd be like to ask Dia out. What a spectacular show; maybe she really should've stayed behind and endured the questioning. Dia was too good for her, too well-kept and calm and elegant and definitely not someone who would be interested in a cowardly, bumbling fool like her. Dammit.
Resigning herself to her fate, she went on pretending she knew what she was doing. Maybe if she mirrored the third year… "Are you going to make stuff from scratch?"
Oh for fuck's sake, why oh why did I phrase it like that?! Dia stilled the hands that wanted to strangle herself over her shame. Riko looked so uncomfortable -- had she somehow found out that-
Briefly, a pit settled in her stomach. Did Mari out her to the others?! As quickly as it came, though, she dismissed it. Mari could be a little dense sometimes, but she would never do something like that. Not when she knew what was riding on the line.
Still, it had to be really uncomfortable to be asked a question that sounds like she wanted to go out with her. She should've specified that it was her Valentine's plans!
Wait! No! That was even worse! She averted her eyes. Stop accidentally hitting on people, Jesus! The Mari in her head wasn't providing helpful commentary, though at least some creative cursing could be made.
She swallowed hard. Riko surely wants the conversation to be over with as fast as possible now. Oh God, oh fuck. "Well, Kanan and Hanamaru wanted to help out, so we'll be making our stuff together. If you want to join us though, -- to surprise Yoshiko and Mari -- you're welcome to."
Riko nodded.
Dia? You just invited her to your house after asking her out. What are you doing?! The voice kind of sounded more like Kanan this time. Would it be poor form to slug the real deal for being so infuriating in her head?
Thankfully enough, the bathroom doors came into view. Never before did she think she would be so grateful to see them, and yet…
After a pause, she offered, "I'll see you at practice later?"
Riko nodded again. Fuck. Did she break her? The redhead was always rather shy, but this level of silence… she could hear nothing more than their breathing. What could she do? What should she do?
Dia nodded back. Oh Jesus, oh fuck, this was worse than she thought. Hastily, she made her exit. As soon as the door was shut behind her and she locked herself into a stall, she buried her face into her hands as the thoughts building up escaped.
"What the fuck was that?" She whispered. "Why did I do that?"