A Complicated Valentine's
"Here Lucy, for you."
He says casually in his normal, cool tone. Lucy takes them happily.
"Oh, Ryuji, you shouldn't have. This is such a surprise coming from you."
She says sarcastically as she happily opens the bag. She eats one and chews for a moment before her eyes widen a bit.
"Mm! These are extra good this year! Change up the recipe?" She asks excitedly before grabbing another piece.
"Yeah, I didn't really like the bitterness so I rebalanced the ingredients."
He responds. Shiori sneakily watches and gets surprised then upset when she hears him say that. She turns back around, looking down into her desk, sinking in her seat a little.
"Well you've outdone yourself again. You should be proud."
Lucy says happily as she bumps him on the arm. He nods with a soft smile and heads to his desk. There he is met by a small pile of chocolates from a few other students. He looks a bit confused and turns around to see a couple students blush and look away.
Shiori watches and turns to see Chizuru munching on the many chocolates left for her at her desk while some other students sweat realizing she doesn't acknowledge the "love" part of the sweets. When Sugawara and Haru come into class talking to each other, they both stop in shock to see the same amount of chocolate on Sugawara's desk.
"Dang Suga! I didn't realize you were such a playboy, haha!"
He laughs as they sit. Sugawara sweats nervously.
"What am I supposed to do with all of these?.."
"Well you eat them I suppose."
Haru says. Sugawara looks at the large pile and sweats.
"Yeah, I don't think so…"
Upon these words, students behind him all get shocked looks, stunned by his rejection.
"It's all thanks to coming out of that shell of yours. People are starting to notice how cute you are."
Lucy says coolly, leaning on her elbow. He blushes a bit as he takes the chocolates and puts them into his bag. Shiori sighs, realizing another year she'll go all day without receiving anything.
'With how different things have turned out this year, I was kinda hoping this time would be different too… Oh well.'
She then looks up noticing that Ms. Samuel isn't here yet.
"Huh? Where's Ms. Samuel?"
Hikigaya shrugs his shoulders in response.
"I didn't even notice. She's usually here so early."
Earlier this morning… It's morning, and Samuel is still in her bed on the floor in a small studio apartment. She rolls over and slowly opens her eyes. She checks her phone with a groan.
"Ugh… Valentine's Day… A day to spit in the face of all single women like me." She sits up and rubs her eyes a bit. "I hate today…"
She stands up and stretches a bit. She stands for a moment before her eyes grow wide. She dives back down and grabs her phone. She checks the time again.
"I'm late!?!"
She shouts. She begins frantically running around. She puts a waffle in the toaster on her counter. She runs to the bathroom with her new clothes and almost a moment later, she comes out changed with a brush stuck in her hair. She grabs her bag with her supplies in it and then takes the waffle out of the toaster. She fumbles with it for a moment before catching it in her mouth.
"Ow! Hot hot hot! *chomp*"
She grabs her keys and heads out the door. By the time she makes it to school, it is 10 minutes past class start. She runs down the hallway, swallowing her last bit of waffle. As she's running down the empty hallway. A cart with cleaning supplies slowly comes out of one of the doorways. She doesn't react in time and hits her foot on the edge of it, tripping her. She falls but right before she hits the floor she is caught. Her hand is grabbed which causes her to turn around with her back facing the floor as another hand comes around, quickly catching her by the back. She is now being held as if being deeply dipped in a dance before a kiss causing her to blush a bit.
"Woah there! Careful now, wouldn't want you cracking open that pretty little head, now would we?"
The janitor says playfully. She is pulled up and is now standing just fine. She looks up to see a large, muscular woman in a blue jumpsuit. She is wearing a backward cap and has shoulder length violet hair that has been shaved on one side. She has tattoos on her left arm, almost a full sleeve. Three piercings on her left ear and four on the right. She is wearing heavy eyeliner and has baby blue eyes. Samuel blushes at the sight of her.
"Please be my valentine…" She whimpers.
"Huh?"
"Ah! Er, nothing! I didn't say anything!"
Samuel jumps back a bit and gets embarrassed, quickly trying to cover up her words.
"Uh, I don't think I can do that but you can join me and my boyfriend for dinner sometime if you'd like?"
The janitor offers genuinely. Samuel turns to stone upon hearing that she has a boyfriend.
"Ah I see…"
"My name's Ashley, but you can call me Ash if you want haha! Here's my number. Call me sometime! You seem like real fun!" She offers a torn paper she writes her number on. "Anyway, I assume you got a class to go to and I've got work to do. See you around!"
Samuel takes the paper with a slightly disappointed smile as Ashley walks off with her cart. Samuel puts it away and turns with a sad face and makes her way to her class. The students are still talking when she comes in, slouched over and depressed. They all slowly stop talking, noticing her. She makes her way to her desk and plops down in her seat then drops her head on her desk with a loud thump. The class is confused for a moment.
"Uh… Ms. Samuel? Are you alright?"
Lucy asks with a concerned look. She just groans in response. She then lifts her head softly with tears rolling down her face in cartoony fashion.
"I'm attractive, aren't I? I'm passionate and loving! So why am I still so single on Valentine's Day?"
She plops her head back down. The class looks confused on what to do when Chizuru, who was still eating her chocolate, looks at her pile then gets up. She walks over to Samuel's desk and places one of the bags on her desk. Samuel looks up softly.
"Well, I could be your Valentine's."
Chizuru says warmly as she smiles at her. Samuel smiles a bit back as another student in the back stands up holding a chocolate.
"Me too!"
"I can be!"
Many students start getting up and bringing some of their chocolates to their teacher in an attempt to cheer her up. Eventually, most of the class gives her some chocolate until there is a large pile on her desk. Samuel tears up a bit with a heartwarming smile on her face.
"Oh you guys… You are amazing students, let's just take the day off, how about that?"
The class cheers as they get up and start hanging out. Hikigaya leans over to Ryuji and whispers,
"I bet this is what most of them were hoping would happen."
He nods in agreement. Samuel comes over to Chizuru and pats her on the head.
"Thank you for that Chizuru. It really lifted my spirits even if I am still single."
Chizuru smiles happily in response. While the class is conversing, Haru walks over to Chizuru. She looks up at him curious as he leans down and whispers something in her ear. She smiles at him and nods. Sugawara watches closely, unease building up in his chest.
Later, Chizuru stands in a grassy spot just off a path between buildings. There is a slight breeze with many clouds in the sky. Haru comes over to her from the hall. He steps in front of her, facing her, with his hands behind his back. He is blushing and looks nervous. Chizuru is looking at him, almost confused why he looks so nervous.
"Hey Chizuru. Thanks for meeting me here. I wanted to ask you something.." He says softly.
"Mhm. Okay, what is it?"
She asks smiling as Haru fidgets a bit.
"Well, I've known you for a few years now and we're really good friends. I think you're really cute and so sweet. Really, you're just perfect in every way… I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I've really given it some thought… But I was wondering if… you would be…" He takes a deep breath. "Would you be my girlfriend?"
He finishes the question with his head held high and looking her in the eye. She looks surprised by his question as he holds out his chocolate to her. Right as he asks the question, just around the corner not too far from them, Sugawara stands there. He heard it all. He begins to cry and holds the chocolate he made to his chest. He strains for a moment before dropping the chocolate and running away with tears rolling down his face. Chizuru looks at Haru, a bit nervous with an awkward smile on her face. She looks away and cocks her head to the side a bit.
"Haru… I.. You don't actually like me that way…"
She softly pushes his chocolate down towards him. Haru is surprised and confused as her words start to sink in.
"What?.."
"I really like you Haru. I do, just.. not like that. You're so sweet and caring and I don't want you to stop being that because of me."
She reaches up and puts her hands on his cheeks as he blushes from embarrassment and tears form in his eyes a bit, his head hanging a little low.
"Don't let this make things awkward between us. I still want to be friends and grow together, but I understand if you don't want to be around me for a while…"
She pulls her hand away slowly. Haru shakes his head and smiles a bit at her after wiping the tears away.
"No, no. It's okay. I'm okay. I'll be honest, I don't know what I was thinking! Haha! I just thought… I liked you and I should do something about the feelings and that this was the right thing to do. I didn't even stop to think how this would make you feel if you didn't feel the same…"
"You followed your soul. I think you did the right thing. I'm just.. I'm not as perfect as you think I am."
She says quietly as she smiles softly and begins to walk away. Haru watches as she stops and turns to look at him with a warm smile.
"Stay bright, Haru."
She smiles then leaves down the hallway. Haru stands there for a moment before letting out a groan while rubbing his head. He sighs and lets his arms down. He laughs to himself a bit.
"Well Haru, you told her. And she said no. That's all there is to it. No use in crying about it now. I gotta get back to smiling."
He exhales one last time before turning and heading out as well. He follows the path past the hallway she turned into. He stops by the corner of the building when he notices something on the floor. He bends down and picks it up.
"This is…"
He recognizes the bag and thinks back to the day they made the chocolates and how proud Sugawara was of his. Haru realizes it's Sugawara's bag of chocolates and gets a concerned look.
While this is happening, Shiori and Hikigaya are walking down a hallway together holding boxes and papers.
"What do you think Haru and Chizuru went off for?" Shiori asks.
"Probably to confess their love for each other." He responds, partially uninterested in the question topic.
"Really? Haru likes Chizuru?"
"Yeah I guess so. He only told me recently too so I don't even know how long he has."
"Well, that's gonna be weird."
She says with an awkward look. They enter another classroom and the teacher waves them in to put the supplies down. He thanks them as they bow and leave. Shiori stretches her back a bit as they walk down the hall.
"Why did Ms. Samuel want us to deliver that stuff again?" Shiori asks.
"She made fun of us for not having Valentine's, remember?"
"Oh yeah…" She remembers just a bit earlier.
Samuel approached them while they were minding their own business at their desks and said, "Since neither of you gave or received any chocolate, you wouldn't mind me asking for a favor would you? Think of it as a task for your special case." She says with a smirk as they droop in their seats.
Shiori perks up remembering something.
"Oh that's right. Before I forget again."
She stops and reaches into her sweater pocket, pulling out a small bag with a few chocolates in it. Hikigaya looks surprised. She lifts it towards him.
"For you. For being a lot nicer than you need to be.."
She looks a bit embarrassed as she rubs some of her bangs together, looking away. She's embarrassed but not as much as she thought she'd be. He puts his hand under the bag as she lets go and the bag sets in his hand. He keeps his hand out though and looks at the bag for a moment. He stares before chuckling a bit. Shiori stops being embarrassed and looks confused, a little offended even.
"What's so funny?"
"These were Ryuji's, weren't they? Then you heard about his and Lucy's tradition and felt you couldn't give him any, right?"
Shiori looks surprised as Hikigaya sighs with a soft smile, staring that them.
"These chocolates aren't meant for me."
He just stares at them as Shiori gets nervous and tries to deny it frantically.
"N-no! I just thought you might want some but I guess not so I'll just take them back."
She reaches to grab them back but Hikigaya takes his hand away quickly from her and pulls them closer to him. She looks surprised and confused.
"But, you did give them to me so I guess I have no choice but to accept them."
He opens the bag and eats one. He chews for a moment and is surprised.
"Hey, these are pretty good! You know, for a girl with just one eye, you make pretty good chocolate!"
Hearing his compliment and his last remark, paired with the embarrassment and guilt from a moment ago, Shiori gets overwhelmed with the sudden rush of emotions. Unsure of how else to react, she decides to get irritated by it all and suddenly tackles him in frustration.
They roll on the ground wrestling each other for a moment before Principal Ai comes from around the corner and approaches them. They notice immediately so they get up and straighten themselves out in front of her. Shiori instantly comes up with an excuse.
"It was totally his fault. I didn't start anything."
"Hey." Hikigaya says.
"Well, it is good to see you're limiting the beating of other students to yourselves. But please do try and behave yourselves on school property."
The principal says with a slight smile. They both nod, not a bit ashamed of fighting on the ground like that.
"Only six months into the new school year and you both have grown so much. It does make me quite happy to see you becoming much better students than you have before. As happy as I may be, don't go slacking off now. You've still got a long road ahead of you and I'd hate to have to punish you for a slip up."
She warns. Shiori looks away a bit, dropping.
"What could be more punishment than this?"
She mumbles. Hikigaya punches her in the arm and she rubs it in pain. Principal Ai just gives them a look with a slight smile before they bow and she turns to walk away. Shiori and Hikigaya both head back to class in silence after the little wrestling match. As they walk, Hikigaya looks at Shiori out of the corner of his eye before deciding to speak up.
"You really like Ryuji huh?"
He asks genuinely. Shiori gets a little embarrassed.
"...yeah…"
She responds softly. Hikigaya sighs a little.
"It can't be helped. He's always been more popular than the rest of us, being as attractive as he is. I'd like to help but as long as I've known the guy, he's never once told me about any crushes or interests like that."
He says as Shiori looks down, a bit worried by his words.
"I see.."
"But if you'd like to find out, talk to Lucy. They've been best friends way longer than any of us. If he has any, he's definitely told her."
Shiori smiles at him warmly, excited by the new hope.
"Thanks Hikigaya."
She says genuinely and softly. Her smile makes Hikigaya blush a bit as he rubs his head and looks away.
"Yeah, no problem."
As they go, they pass a hallway that has someone standing against the wall. It's Amy. She listened to their whole conversation and smiles an evil smile.
The rest of the day goes on and eventually the end of school comes. Even though the group meets up every day, today seems to be different. When Shiori and Hikigaya arrive at their spot, all they find is Ryuji and Haru there. Haru looks around confused as the couple approach them.
"Where is everybody?" He asks.
"I saw Sugawara head home earlier." Hikigaya responds.
"And the others?"
"Lucy and Chizuru went home early too." Ryuji says.
The four of them stand together a bit confused and unsure what to do. Haru sighs.
"I'll… I'll see you guys later."
He waves and heads home with his head hanging low. Hikigaya and Shiori look back at Ryuji and they exchange nods as they go their separate ways.
When they make it home, they wave too and head inside. Once Hikigaya gets inside, he goes straight to his room and tosses his bag on his bed but it immediately falls off, dumping its contents onto the floor. He huffs before crouching down to pick up his stuff, but stops when he sees the bag of chocolates Shiori gave him. He grabs the bag and stands staring at it. He sits on the edge of his bed and decides to eat another chocolate. He pops it into his mouth and chews carefully, feeling slightly upset about who they were meant for but enjoying the delicious flavor nonetheless.
"Huh. Bitter but a little sweet in the center. The way I like chocolate…"
He says with the chocolate in his mouth. He smiles softly, chewing the sweets before heading to his desk.