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Valentine's day is right around the corner, Ayano has been planning a surprise for her Senpai since the beginning of the previous week, her plan is about to come together after all the meticulous planning and preparation. Osana is out of the way, her body still fresh in the freezer, Ayano supposes she should start working on her gifts for her beloved Senpai.
Taro feels eyes on him, he always feels eyes on him, its relentless and keeps a constant level of anxiety buzzing within him. the eyes are heavier today, they feel closer somehow, but he keeps his face straight and ascends the stairs to his class.
As he dumps his stupidly heavy bag down over his desk chair, he sees a bento box, intricately wrapped in a creamy white cloth with a black and red stripped ribbon, accompanied by a note written on familiar pink paper, the same as the many previous anonymous letters left on his desk. The work of his secret admirer.
They leave letters and occasional gifts on Taros desk, but they've never left food before. Taro studies the note, its high quality paper, neat cursive handwriting and words too sweet for him to feel deserving of. He smiles at the thought of the admirer, perhaps one day they will introduce themselves.
The bento was delicious, Taro decides, a delicious spicy curry and rice, sushi with onigiri, decorated to look like a puppy, cucumbers cut into stars, carrots cut into hearts and a blueberry muffin. the curry was by far his favourite, he loves spicy food and the meat was so tender, he couldn't quite place that animal it came from, beef or chicken, maybe? So much effort and thought poured into the meal, he feels bad for having no way to thank them.
The rooftop is busy, bustling with conversation in the background, but still quiet enough to allow his thoughts to wander, Osana is still missing, he knows shes was getting weird phone calls, even when she tried to hide it. he decides to not dwell on the subject, she will return soon, right?
Taro's mind returns to the admirer responsible for the meal yet again. Is there a way for him to contact them? He wants to thank them, for the meal and for the many, many letters. he's so lost in thought that he misses the growing buzzing of his admirers eyes.
Ayano is happy. She does not feel happy often, even killing Osana did not make her feel this way, slitting her throat and stuffing her into her freezer was more of a relief, like scratching and itch or killing an annoying fly. the removal of a pest.
This however is a brand new level of emotion Ayano would have never discovered without Osana's help, so perhaps she was useful in someway after all. Senpai definitely enjoyed her part in Ayano's gift. Osana provided the meat for the curry, Ayano made many attempts for the perfect curry, all that effort payed off, her Senpais face was priceless.
Ayano feels lightheaded with giddiness as she replays the memory of her Senpai's face changing as he tastes her cooking, his face lit up with every bite, his cheeks were flush and his cute smile almost made Ayano stumble from her spot around the corner where he ate.
Ayano slips away early, before cleaning time ends, to prepare her last valentine's gift for Senpai. She hopes his heart throbs the same way hers does with this one.
Taro is exhausted, he's spent all day thinking about his admirer and how to contact them, (he even considered trying to contact that 'Info-chan' rumour he hears about sometimes, but he doubts its a real thing.) He was so tired he didn't notice the lack of eyes watching him return home today.
Taro practically melts the second he finishes unlocking his door, unceremoniously dropping his bag on the ground and removing his shoes. He slugs up the stairs, ignoring the ache the empty house brings him and nudges his door open, which he could have sworn he closed tightly this morning, but perhaps he forgot.
He's greeted with a cool breeze and his curtains flapping with the wind. Taro knows for certain he locked his window this morning, and that the lock isn't faulty, it was changed last month. Taro feels a grating tension in the room, but walks to close the window anyways.
As he approaches the window he spots his desk lamp is on, and is illuminating a pink heart-shaped box. Taro is frozen in place, completely forgetting about the still open window. The dread that fills him reminds him of the eyes that follow him at school, heavy, dark and all encompassing, the only difference really is the eyes at school are more.. electric. alive. the feeling right now feels stagnant and dead, reminiscent of seeing a dead animal.
Cautiously, he approaches the box. the weight is still stagnant. he lifts the sweet pink lid and stares. he falls back, onto the carpet beneath him. its full of heart shaped chocolates, all surrounding the centrepiece of the box, a real heart, with two familiar hair clips garnishing the sides.
Osana's hair clips.
By association that is Osana's heart, but Osana is alive, and probably being dramatic and fighting with her parents, right? Osana isn't dead, her heart isn't in a box and it's probably just.. a hyper-realistic chocolate heart, and coincidentally, decorations that resemble his missing friend's accessories.
Carefully, Taro gathers his nerves and stands up again. it has to be a fake heart, right? It's probably his admirer trying to be funny and not realising that it looks incredibly (terrifyingly) accurate. He looks into box again, it looks so real, but it's definitely chocolate. it's so stiff and dry, there's no other explanation.
Doubt still drowns his mind, so he makes an impulsive choice, he picks up the heart as quickly as he can and stuffs it into his mouth and bites.
.
.
.
He chews, and swallows.
He feels hollow and light, but also heavy and dead. The tension in the air is relieved, but he can feel the eyes, they are alive and electric again, pulsing and stronger than ever before.
Taro's mouth is dripping with blood, some of it falling on to his uniform. He still hold the lower part of the heart in his now bloody hands, its squishy and cold, unnaturally cold, below room temperature. it was firmer before, so it must've.. defrosted.
whoever is behind this placed this recently.
they had it on ice.
they knew what time he wouldn't be home.
they decorated the box very nicely.
Taro breaks his staring contest with the box and notices an envelope sitting beside it. With bloody, shaking hands he picks it up and examines it. He opens it like it's an ancient artefact, delicate and mysterious. In neat, cursive handwriting, the letter states;
--
Taro Yamada,
You're such a heartthrob!
She tried to steal your heart from me, so I cut hers out for you! ♡♡♡
From, a secret admirer.
--
Oh.
Ayano is positively shaking, her beloved like her gift so much, he ate it! There is no doubt that he returns her feelings and possibly forgives her for killing Osana.
She had to force herself to leave early, its a shame she didn't get to see his reaction to the letter, but she was filled with so much emotion and feeling that if she stayed for much longer she would have blown her cover, in the tree adjacent to the window. Before she left, she took a few mementos, to treasure the occasion.
A photo of Senpai eating the heart, his eyes scrunched closed like a newborn kitten,
A band t-shirt, he only wears on weekends (It still smells like him)
And a chapstick. Chapstick that has touched his lips. If she uses it, it's basically a kiss!
Today couldn't have been anymore perfect.