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Nagi had never really bothered with thinking about romance. But one day of the year, it was unavoidable even to him. Dating was a pain, so he would never ask anyone out, but the fact that every crush he had ever had was on a guy didn’t help his case. But there was a particular guy this year, once again, who had caught his interest. There was no way he would tell him, but he might, just might just give him a store bought chocolate.
So that was what Nagi did. After school, the day before valentines day, he went to the closest store. It was decorated to the brink with valentines stuff in preparation for the last minute rush. Nagi was early though, and could just walk in, get a chocolate, and walk out. The clerk had side eyed him a bit, probably thinking it was unfair to not make his own chocolate for his loved one. That didn’t bother Nagi though since it wasn’t “a loved one” in his eyes. This was just a small crush on a popular guy everyone liked. Besides who was a clerk in a store that sold valentines chocolates to people like him, to judge? It would never be reciprocated so it didn’t even matter what type of chocolate he got. Just one amongst the crowd.
The next day, the classroom was filled with talks about who the girls would give their valentines gifts to. Since valentines was getting popular to celebrate even for the guys, they were talking about what girls they wanted chocolate from, and some had even prepared gifts of their own. Nagi got tired of just listening to their conversations and fell asleep as soon as class started.
He awoke from his slumber as he heard a few girls from his class discuss something nearby, thinking he had heard his own name. They were discussing something about who would have given a chocolate to him. Nagi was confused since no one had ever and no one would ever give him something for valentines. He rubbed his eyes and casually looked for the chocolate the girls had been talking about. He soon figured it out. It was the chocolate he had bought yesterday. The one for his temporary crush. The girls had by now noticed he was awake and gathered around him. “Who gave you it?” they pried and then insisted on him taking a piece to show respect to “the girl who had given it to him”. Nagi thought this was a bit too bothersome, regretting not having taking the time to hide the chocolate a bit better. He tried excusing himself by saying he would eat it at home but couldn’t shake them off. Cautiously, he opened the package, careful not to break it, and took a piece of chocolate. This seemed to satisfy them, and they quickly found another topic to discuss amongst themselves, leaving Nagi alone. But what would he do about the chocolate piece that was missing?
Nagi continued the day and found the time to write a little note to put in the place of the chocolate, explaining the situation. The only thing left to do was to put the chocolate in the shoe-shelf or bench, and after some consideration he decided on the shelf. Walking into another classroom where he usually wouldn’t be, would be more suspicious than the other alternative, since the shelves were a place he and all the other students frequently visited when entering or exiting the school-building. Being seen wasn’t really a problem in itself, but the rumours that followed was. It would be especially bothersome if it got out he liked guys. Some people might react badly and he didn’t want anyone to disturb his peaceful days. Nagi’s current problem was not if anyone would be watching him however. The current problem was that the shoe-shelf was full. Full with valentines gifts from his crush’s fans that didn’t dare confess directly. There was no way he could fit in his own gift without all the other ones falling out. Nagi looked around the hall in search for a way to solve the problem, and after a while luckily found a roll with plastic bags. Quickly and neatly he stuffed the chocolate from the shelf into a bag, together with his own. Now it didn’t matter that the chocolate filled the whole shelf, since they wouldn’t fall down on the floor if pushed wrongly. Satisfied with his good deed he felt tired again and went back to the classroom to sleep.
The day after valentines, the girls who hadn’t openly confessed and only through the letters were the ones most interested in the opinion of the target of their affection. They looked like fish swarming a piece of food someone had dropped. Nagi only half-listened to the conversation as he changed his shoes. His crush then laughed, a nice sound, and mentioned a chocolate they had gotten that missed a piece. Nagi had forgotten about that part but now got reminded. A small note at the place of the chocolate, mentioning how he had been forced to eat a piece and that he was sorry about it. The only trace he had left of being the sender, but he doubted anyone would care enough to check if his handwriting matches. Nagi walked away towards the classroom as he overheard the last bit of the conversation. About a thanks to the person who had put all the chocolates in the bag. Nagi didn’t see Reo after that, but could somehow stay awake for all the lessons that day.