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February 14. The day of hearts—for other students, that is.
February 14. It was one of the many days that Yashiro got her heart broken. Even as the same expectations were made and ruined every year, Yashiro was surprised that she still hadn’t stopped expecting.
For what? Now, she wasn’t so sure.
Was it love? A confession, perhaps? Or just a box of chocolates left on her desk? Did she expect Minamoto Teru to finally notice her? Definitely not. So what was it then? What made her different this year’s Valentine’s Day?
“Good morning, Nene-chan! Here are my chocolates for you!”
Aoi, sweet Aoi. The girl never failed to make her heart melt. A warm smile formed on Yashiro’s lips as she accepted the box of homemade chocolate from her best friend. After passing Aoi her own homemade chocolate, class started.
Like Yashiro had thought, most of the students were distracted. Their bags also seemed bulkier than usual. Fuji, the hottest guy in class, was looking quite tense as well. Yashiro cast a glance to his bag, only to see a heart-shaped box peeking out of the zipper.
He had someone to give chocolates to.
Magenta eyes glowed at this. Was this what she wanted? A box of chocolates from Fuji? Somehow, Yashiro couldn’t pinpoint the feeling stirring in her. Though surely, it must have not mattered when compared to the box of chocolates Fuji had. Lunch came in the blink of an eye, and now it was time for Yashiro to discuss her newfound discoveries to Aoi.
A mountain of chocolate sat on indigo-haired girl’s desk. She merely smiled at them before pushing them aside. When they joined their tables and began eating their lunch, Yashiro cleared her throat.
“Is there a problem, Nene-chan?” Aoi tilted her head to the side.
Yashiro’s eyes flickered around the room; it would be better for everyone if nobody heard their conversation. “You know, Aoi-chan, I saw a box of chocolate peeking out of Fuji-kun’s bag. Who do you think is the lucky girl?”
Her best friend’s smile grew wider at this. “Hmm... I have no idea! Don’t you have other things to worry about, Nene-chan? You still haven’t given your homemade chocolate of love to your crush, haven’t you?!”
Heat rushed up to Yashiro’s face. As far as she knew, she had nobody to give honmei choco to. Even if she did give Teru chocolate, there was a 90% he wouldn’t be able to eat it. Other than that, Yashiro didn’t feel like giving him chocolates. Maybe giri choco was okay, but honmei choco?
Her feelings for him weren’t that strong.
“...I don’t think I have anyone to give honmei choco to,” Yashiro replied, keeping her eyes on her lunch. “But I do have other people to give chocolate to.”
Not exactly people... well, Kou is the only one alive. Mitsuba. Tsuchigomori. Yako. Mei. Hanako. Hanako? Yashiro didn’t make chocolate for him.
At the very least, Hanako seemed like he would prefer donuts over chocolate. Preparing doughnuts for him after making chocolate was quite tiring. There was one thing Yashiro knew: he should be grateful for it.
The corners of her lips lifted up into a smile. The last time she gave Hanako doughnuts, everything didn’t end up the way she thought for it to be. He was pretty happy about it, nonetheless.
That was all that mattered.
“Nene-chan?”
Oh no. She did it again. Just what was going on with her?
Yashiro stood up from her seat. After excusing herself from Aoi, she abandoned her lunch box and left the room. Where was she going anyway? She didn’t know. All she knew was that she wanted some fresh air to clear her thoughts. It surely wasn’t healthy to think of a certain ghost all the time.
“This is troublesome,” Yashiro muttered under her breath, “did his words have that much of an impact on me?”
Last week was chaotic. The only thing left for Hanako to do was to literally bind himself to Yashiro. Of course, the girl wasn’t amused at this; the seventh mystery chose to latch himself on her, distracting her from class and teasing her whenever she was called to recite.
The only time Yashiro could talk to him properly was when she was on cleaning duty. It seemed like Hanako had other plans. He had the nerve to act as if he wasn’t the one clinging to her all day. The apparition folded his arms, gave her his signature smirk, and asked:
“Did you miss me, Yashiro?”
It took her every ounce of her patience to resist head-butting him. Yashiro refused to reply to anything he said—that was until he suddenly asked:
“What are you doing for Valentine’s Day, Yashiro? Are you going to make chocolates? More importantly, are you going to give something to me?”
Luckily for her, Yashiro managed to suppress her scream. It would be weird if someone heard her and assumed that something had happened. She couldn’t just tell them that Hanako had decided that it was fun for him to whisper that question near her ear.
Still, Yashiro nodded her head. “Uh, yeah. Why not?”
That was how her mind started playing tricks on her. Heck, even her dreams didn’t want to give her a break. Hanako might’ve been a ghost, but somehow, something about his presence made her hair stand on end.
Yashiro shook her head vigorously. This wasn’t the time to be thinking about Hanako. While she walked through the hallway, the sight of a familiar face outside made her stop in her tracks.
Fuji.
No matter how Yashiro looked at it, he was definitely confessing to someone. Normally, it would be the girls giving boys chocolate during Valentine’s Day. There was White Day, after all. Yet, seeing boys give girls chocolate wasn’t all that bad. Sure, it made her a bit jealous but it was kinda sweet.
“I really like you. Please go out with me!”
Hmm. Something was weird.
Wasn’t she supposed to be hurt by this? Yashiro narrowed her eyes. Was this caused by the disappointment of Fuji using her back then?
Fuji, on the other hand, looked dejected. The hopeful look on his face was erased and it seemed like he was going to burst into tears at any moment now. The girl he had confessed to had said something along the lines of “I’m sorry” and “thank you, though”.
Was she perhaps witnessing karma? Okay, that was a bit cruel. Shaking her head, Yashiro decided that it was time for her to stop eavesdropping. Who knows what the two of them would think if they caught her.
“That was something, huh.”
A screech escaped Yashiro’s lips. Fuji and the girl immediately turned in her direction with wide eyes. Luckily for Yashiro, she crouched to the floor just in time before they were able to catch her.
Meanwhile, Hanako flashed her a grin.
“Yo, Yashiro!”
“Hanako-kun, what in the world are you doing here?! I almost got caught because of you!”
Hanako pouted. “But isn’t eavesdropping bad? Anyhow, are you okay?” His question made Yashiro’s lips form a thin line.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Her response caught him off guard.
“Huh? Didn’t you like him?”
That’s right, didn’t she like him? Wasn’t she supposed to be crying right now? If so, why wasn’t her heart breaking? Why weren’t her eyes tearing up? Why didn’t she want to throw him out a window?
“Maybe...” Yashiro trailed off. “I don’t like him anymore.”
Hanako seemed to like her reply. All of a sudden, he grabbed her by her hand. “Then let’s go! I have something to show you!”
It was then that Yashiro was forced to follow Hanako. She didn’t even turn to see if Fuji and the girl he liked was still there. When they arrived at the girls’ toilets, Yashiro started to doubt whether Hanako really had something to show her or if he was just pulling a prank on her. Nevertheless, she left him lead her inside.
“Happy Valentine’s Day!”
Confetti entered Yashiro’s line of vision. The mokke and Hanako had blown party poppers; however, that wasn’t the important thing right now.
How on earth were they able to make this?
It was a mokke—taller than Yashiro—made of chocolate.
“Hanako-kun!”
Yashiro wanted to cry. The only person who poured effort on her during this day was her best friend, Aoi. Happiness burst into her chest like small fireworks, along with a familiar feeling. It was warm, somewhat sweet, and it made her giddy. The only one who could elicit such a feeling from her was...
Hanako.
Yashiro grinned. Maybe Hanako wasn’t so bad at all.