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Since she was little, Maya saw her classmates exchanging chocolates on Valentine’s and White day and longed for it to happen to her. However, her solitude never allowed her such pleasure, and as much as she got secret gifts that filled her shoes’ lockers from her admirers, it wasn’t quite as fulfilling as sharing it with someone special.
Fortunately at Seisho she finally met the people who soon became her precious friends, and among them was the person who became her close partner and rival; someone who finally got her rid of her solitude and she considered as a best friend — and maybe something else as well, as her heart insisted to keep her aware.
When the special date arrives once again she’s sure she wanted to do something to express her gratitude towards her first friends. On the previous night, she waits until everyone at the dorms is asleep and gathers the ingredients she bought to head to the kitchen and begin her work. Her seven dear friends would get star-shaped chocolates inside small packages in their favorite colors, and after they’re finished, she begins working on another special gift that would be in an orange heart-shaped box.
She knew she wanted to make something extra special to Claudine in particular, especially as they never cleared to each other the true nature of their relationship — and Maya had never expressed how much she meant to her.
The next morning, Maya heads to the school feeling exhausted after spending most of her night up. She even skips her usual morning practice with Claudine just to be able to rest a little more, hoping the extra minutes would keep her awake the entire day.
Once she arrives there, she begins gifting the friends she meets on the way to class. Nana and Junna were by the lockers, and both reveal that they’d be cooking a special dinner for them that night. Mahiru, Karen and Hikari were on the second floor’s hallway, and they look really excited with the gifts — Mahiru promises to make Maya something in return for White day, and Hikari and Karen promptly offer to help. And in the classroom she finds Kaoruko and Futaba, who get really surprised and quite embarrassed for not having anything to give in return.
“It happened first with Kuroko, and now with you Tendou-san… But don’t worry, we’ll definitely show our appreciation next month, right Kaoruko?” Futaba says, blushing.
“Oh, did you meet Saijou-san already?” Maya gets curious upon the mention of Claudine’s name.
“Yeah, she got us some macarons.” Futaba exclingly says.
“Futaba-han!” Kaoruko harshly hits her head with the fan she held. “She told us to not tell anyone!”
“Oh, right…” Futaba places her hands over the pained spot in her head, frowning.
“She didn’t manage to get them for everyone, that’s why she told us to keep it a secret.” Kaoruko explains, noticing Maya’s confused expression.
“Oh.” Maya nods, smiling softly. “Don’t worry, I’ll pretend I don’t know about anything.”
“Good, otherwise she’ll cut our heads off.” Kaoruko frowns.
“Your secret is safe with me.” She reassures.
After that exchange, Maya heads to her seat in the front row. Soon the half-French arrives and acknowledges Maya’s presence with a confident nod from her seat as she usually does, but she then proceeds to begin chatting with Futaba and Kaoruko and doesn’t pay her attention again.
Maya does feel somewhat disappointed, even though Claudine didn’t behave any differently from the other days. But the words from the other girls don’t leave her mind; Claudine got gifts for them, could she have got one for her as well?
It was unusual of her to have such hopes, and she made her gift for Claudine not expecting anything in return. But after knowing the half-French had a similar idea, it was hard not wondering if she’d be included in her thoughts.
Maya decides to give Claudine her gift during lunch, when they’d have more time to talk. Yet, as the bell rings for that break, the blonde storms out of the classroom not even allowing her time to act. It was a really odd behavior that intrigues Maya, and so she decides to pick her gift and exits the classroom alone to look for her.
She walks aimlessly through the hallways and is stopped twice by girls calling themselves her fans to give her chocolates, something she didn’t expect but manages to thank them properly for the kindness. The heartwarming surprise doesn’t make her forget the other issue in her mind, and she’s soon back on it as she continues walking around the school.
She finally finds Claudine outside, near the school’s entrance. However, the occasion breaks her heart as she was with Karen, Mahiru and Hikari, handing them macarons in cute heart-shaped boxes. They seemed to be the last in the paper bag she held from the bakery nearby, since she throws it in the nearest trash bin afterwards.
So Claudine did get gifts to more people, yet those did not include her. As much as she wanted to pretend she was fine, her appetite even disappears, making her go back to the classroom without having lunch.
Just to make her feel worse, once she arrives there she meets Junna and Nana eating from their lunchboxes, both with the same heart-shaped macaron boxes over their desks. Of course Claudine wouldn't forget them as well.
As Maya sits on her desk, it dawns to her that her feelings for Claudine weren’t as reciprocal as she imagined. The half-French was insistent on the idea they were only rivals, even though their routine and proximity said otherwise... But her behavior was still rispid towards her most of the time. Maya imagined it was just due to a difficulty of being honest with her own feelings, but maybe it was just her own solitude making her read too much into their relationship.
She was so dumb. Of course someone who sees her only as a rival wouldn’t consider her a best friend, much less something more.
Classes continue and Maya tries focusing on them, even though it was hard with the troubles floating her mind. She casts some glances back at the blonde girl sitting a few rows behind, finding her also focused but seeming completely unaffected by anything. It makes her sigh.
She should just forget about all of this.
When the last bell rings. Maya organizes her belongings inside her school bag and heads out of the classroom without sparing a glance behind, deciding to head straight to the dorms to get proper sleep and continue her routine of rehearsals on the next day. But she manages to take only a few steps away from the classroom until someone calls her name.
“Tendou Maya, where are you going?”
She stops on her tracks and turns around, surprised to hear the other girl calling her, and Claudine walks closer to her with an angry expression.
“You already skipped practice this morning, are you going to skip it again now?” She says, crossing her arms in annoyance.
“I’m sorry, Saijou-san, but I’m really tired.” She explains calmly, pretending to be fine. “I didn’t sleep so well.”
“Oh.” Claudine’s expression lightens at her words. “I didn’t know.”
Both fall in silence for a few seconds as other students pass by them heading their way home, just as if they were both anticipating something from each other in that meantime.
“Well, can you at least come with me, then? It won’t take long.” Claudine takes the initiative, her cheeks slightly pink.
Maya nods quietly in surprise, and so Claudine guides them out of the school to an empty and quiet spot at the courtyard. She feels something weird in her chest as they arrive there, and the half-French is quick to take action.
“I know you probably don’t need any more gifts today, since I saw some people giving you chocolates…” She begins, sounding annoyed. “But since I got through the trouble of getting this for you, I should give it to you anyway.”
Her words are barely processed by Maya before Claudine reveals a package from inside her bag; a relatively big light grey box with an orange ribbon adorning it. The half-French forces her to pick it from her hands, and she stares at it with her eyes huge in surprise for a few seconds.
“You can open it.” Claudine instructs.
And so Maya does, revealing a baumkuchen box inside. From the writings on the package, it seemed to be from a German bakery that opened recently, and the brunette remembers mentioning how she wanted to visit it someday to the other girl.
She feels so happy her eyes get slightly watery, which shocks Claudine.
“Thank you so much, Saijou-san.” Maya smiles softly, making Claudine fully blush. “I actually have something for you as well.”
And then it’s Maya’s turn to open her bag and reveal her orange heart-shaped package, which makes Claudine gasp in surprise and nervously pick it from her hands.
“You made… Homemade chocolates for me?” Claudine inspects the package, her eyes also huge in shock. “That’s why you’re tired…”
“I hope you like them.”
“Of course I will.” She admits, even though embarrassed.
And it makes Maya’s heart race even more.
“Shall we appreciate our gifts together?” Maya suggests. “I think it’d be nice for us to share them.”
“Sounds like a nice idea.”
And so they settle to go back to the dorms and meet at the backyard an hour later, both in their casual clothes and ready to share their delicious sweets together. No one dares to disturb them, their happy aura being too strong for anyone to interrupt.
After whispering Happy Valentine’s day to each other, Maya believes she doesn’t need to clear anything in their relationship anymore.
It seemed proven now that their feelings were mostly mutual.
End.