There’s a day that I absolutely hate. You could tell whether you’re popular or a mere pebble lying on the side of the street from the things you get or don’t get on this day. Needless to say, I’m always one of the latter. Can you guess which day am I talking about?

   That’s right. It’s Valentine’s Day. And it’s today. Year after year, I had to watch enviously as a lot of the guys in my school receive chocolates from girls. And the worst part? Most of them are honmei chocolate. The only one I get every year is from Miiko, and she stopped giving me ever since I came to Tokyo since it’s too ridiculous and expensive to use the postal service for a single piece of chocolate.

   To be honest, I was quite reluctant to go to school today since I don’t want to see popular guys getting chocolates. Unfortunately, I don’t have fever or emergencies that I need to take care of no matter what, so go to school I must.

   I’ve only reach the shoe rack, and I’m already seeing annoying sights everywhere. Some girls are too shy to give their chocolate to their crush, so they end up shoving it inside the guy’s shoe locker. A few of them got so many the chocolates pour out of the locker the moment they open it.

   I open mine. The only thing inside is my indoor shoes. Of freaking course. I already got used to this, but a lot of guys sure don’t. I see at least two who are openly weeping.

   When I got to the classroom, all the girls in my class turn their head simultaneously to look at me. I look right back at them in surprise.

   Takeuchi hands me a chocolate bar. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day, Bandou-kun.’

   ‘Um, thanks?’

   Murata hands me another one. Based on the wrapping, it’s home-made. ‘Please have this as well.’

   ‘Thanks, Murata.’

   Even Suzu got me one.

   ‘Here you go, Takkun~. Enjoy the chocolate I got for you.’ she tells me.

   It’s not only these three. All the girls in my class start to line up and give me chocolate, whether it’s home-made or store-bought. Right now, I have 14 chocolates in total, the same number of my female classmates. This is getting real suspicious. I mean, even some girls that I never talked to gave me one. And then it hit me.

   ‘All of you are just aiming for my return gift during White Day, aren’t you?’ I ask them.

   ‘Of course not, Bandou-kun. I wasn’t thinking of that at all.’ Murata denies.

   She’s the only one who’s denying my accusation, by the way. Everyone else are averting their eyes, with Suzu also trying to whistle.

   ‘That’s it. Murata is the only one who’s getting something from me on White Day.’ I tell them.

   Naturally, my decision caused an uproar.

   ‘Come on Takkun, that’s mean~!’ Suzu complains.

   ‘Shut it. You can take back your chocolates if you want. I’m definitely not going to take any of them if they’re given with ulterior motives.’

   In the end, none of them took back the chocolate they gave me. Neither did they insist on expecting anything in return one month later. I guess they do have some conscience.

   During lunch time, Nagano hands me a chocolate too.

   ‘You didn’t add anything weird in it, did you?’ I ask suspiciously while putting the bar of chocolate near my ear and shaking it.

   ‘How could you asks something so mean?’ Nagano asks me while slight tears at the corner of her eyes.

   ‘I mean, it’s you we’re talking about.’

   ‘Even I won’t do something so evil, okay? If you don’t want it, you can give it back!’

   ‘Alright, alright. I’m sorry. Thank you for your chocolate.’

   Nitta, Takaki and even Itoh-senpai came to our usual spot just to hand me chocolate. They also gave some to Suzu and Nagano.

   ‘Remember to taste it real well. It’s made by yours truly, Japan’s number one idol, after all!’ Nitta tells me.

   ‘I’m kind of scared to take yours. Who knows what the rest of your fans will do to me if they heard about this.’

   ‘It’ll be fine.’ she assures me. ‘We gave some to Suzume and Ai as well, so everyone who passed by and saw us will think that we gave you a chocolate out of pity.’

   ‘I don’t think that’s a valid excuse, though.’

   ‘Please do not be afraid and accept our chocolates.’ Takaki says to me. ‘I, for one, am extremely grateful to you. I can never be friends with Suzu-san if it wasn’t for your help.’

   She nudges Nitta. The latter makes a fist and coughs on it. She then starts to clear her throat for quite some time.

   ‘Just get on with it!’ Takaki tells her impatiently.

   ‘Um, I want to thank you too for rescuing me that one time.’ Nitta tells me in a barely audible voice. ‘I still get nightmares over it, but at least you were there.’

   ‘Anytime. It’s the least a fan could do for his idol.’ I tell her.

   Nitta’s expression becomes annoyingly smug.

   ‘That’s right, worship me more!’ she tells me in a condescending tone.

   ‘Gee, I wonder what happened to the girl who had been using me to practise on how to thank him like a normal person for one whole week.’ Takaki mutters.

   ‘Yuka-chan, you promised not to tell!’

   ‘Speaking of gratitude, I’m also very grateful to you.’ Itoh-senpai continues. ‘My relationship with Hiroto is much better now that I’ve stopped tormenting him.’

   In case you guys have forgotten, Itoh Hitomi-senpai is the adopted daughter of the Itoh family which have a whole generation of accountants. She was adopted by her foster parents since they’re disappointed by their real son Hiroto. Itoh-senpai had been torturing poor Hiroto for her amusement despite the fact that she’s in love with him. In the end, she realized the error of her ways after I literally slapped some sense in her.

   ‘How’s he doing, by the way?’ I ask her.

   ‘Now that I’ve stopped doing horrible things to him, he no longer thinks of committing suicide. He’s also eating properly. Thanks to that, his complexion is getting better, and he’s slowly gaining weight. And he’ll be studying at Jindai starting this April.’

   ‘Your parents actually let him go to school again?’ I ask in surprise.

   ‘Yes. He wanted to, so I asked them for him.’

   ‘But, hasn’t he skipped middle school for a long time? Can he even catch up on the studies?’

   ‘Can he even pass the entrance exam?’ Nagano also asks.

   ‘Actually, he didn’t skip it for a long time. Rather, he didn’t go to a middle school at all.’

   ‘Um, isn’t that really worrying? You need to graduate middle school if you want to go to a high school, right?’

   ‘Under ordinary circumstances, yes.’

   ‘...I won’t ask any further.’

   ‘Thank you. As for the worry whether he can pass the entrance exam, I’ve looked through his capabilities by some small tests I gave him. Turns out his grades are somewhat above average since he had been studying in secret. So yes, I think he can pass it. And oh, he wishes to have you and Umeda-kun visit him again.’

   ‘Please tell him that we will one of these days. At least, I’m free most of the time. I’m not really sure about Umeda.’

   After we’re done with our lunch, I go separate ways with Nagano and Suzu since I need to go to the toilet. Along the way, I happen to meet Ogasawara. And boy is she surprised to see me.

   ‘W-W-What are you doing here?’ she asks me while stuttering.

   ‘I’m going to the toilet.’ I tell her in a matter-of-fact tone.

   ‘Oh. Well, wait at the entrance after you’re done. And don’t you dare to leave early!’ she demands.

   ‘Um, sure.’

   I had to wait for five whole minutes after I was done with my business and waited at the entrance just like she asked me to. And she’s holding a bar of chocolate.

   ‘Take it.’ she says while thrusting the bar to me.

   ‘Thanks.’

   ‘Just don’t expect too much.’ she tells me.

   I shrug. ‘I’m never going to say no to free chocolate no matter the taste. Did you make it yourself?’

   ‘Well, I asked Juri on how to make it, but I did all the work.’

   ‘I see.’

   I peel off the aluminium foil around it and take a bite. She looks at me in shock.

   ‘Hey, you’re supposed to eat it when you got home!’ she tells me.

   I ignore her and start chewing. It’s a bit burnt but still edible. It’s better if she add a bit more sugar but this bitterness is fine every once in a while.

   ‘So? How’s the taste?’ she asks me while fidgeting.

   ‘You cooked it a bit too long, which is why it’s a bit burnt. Other than that, it’s fine.’ I tell her honestly.

   I mean, she didn’t make anything fancy, so there’s nothing much to criticize. Instead of looking dejected, Ogasawara looks more resolved.

   ‘Got it. I’ll practise some more until I get it right.’ she tells me.

   ‘You do that.’

   ‘And you’ll be my test subject again, right?’

   ‘Wait, what? No I won’t.’

   She chuckles. ‘Too late. Well, I’m heading back to my class now. See you next time.’

   I sigh in resignation. Guess I have to start stocking up on stomach medicines.

   Next, I go back to my class and find Iseri-senpai standing opposite the entrance. Some of her friends are also with her. One of them notices me and pats Iseri-senpai’s shoulder enthusiastically.

   ‘Look, Ayano! He’s here!’ she says to Iseri-senpai.

   That got the attention of everyone else. All of them except Iseri-senpai take out their phone and wait excitedly.

   ‘Good afternoon, Bandou.’ Iseri-senpai greets me calmly.

   ‘Good afternoon, Iseri-senpai.’ I greet her back. ‘Are you waiting for someone?’

   ‘Yes. For you, actually.’

   ‘Me?’

   ‘Yup. I wanted to hand you this.’

   She reaches our her hand and shows me a small bar of chocolate that I didn’t notice earlier.

   ‘Thank you.’ I say to her while accepting the chocolate. ‘Is it homemade?’

   ‘You bet it is. And I’ll have you know that it took me quite some time to make it. I’ve spent at least four hours.’

   I look at the chocolate more closely. ‘Four hours just for this tiny piece of chocolate? Please tell me this is not the only one you manage to make.’

   ‘I did have one other tiny piece for my parents, but those are about it.’ she tells me while looking very embarrassed. ‘The rest of them…Well, let’s just say that they didn’t turn out as well.’

   ‘I see. Well, at least you tried.’

   ‘I’m glad that you think that way too. I’ll be seeing you.’

   ‘That’s it? Don’t you have something to say to him, Ayano?’ another of her friend asks desperately.

   Iseri-senpai rolls her eyes. ‘Will you girls knock it off? For the last time, I don’t have any feelings for him. I’m giving him a chocolate because I’m grateful to him. Nothing more, nothing less.’

   ‘Oh come on~!’

   And with that, they’re gone.

   After school’s over for the day, I was walking down the corridor all by myself. There wasn’t any consultation today since my time was already taken by my work schedule. In other words, I would be spending the rest of the Valentine’s Day working.

   ‘Can I take some of your time, Bandou-kun?’ a familiar voice suddenly asked me.

   I turn my head and find my homeroom teacher Shimada-sensei standing a few feet away from me.

   ‘It depends, sensei. What’s it about?’ I tell her.

   ‘Just form your hands into a cup.’ she instructs.

   I did as she asked, and she tosses something small at my hand. When I look down, I realize that it’s a tiny block of chocolate.

   ‘I figured that you probably didn’t get a single chocolate since you’re so unpopular, so I decide to give you one out of pity.’ she tells me while covering her mouth with her right palm and chuckles condescendingly.

   ‘Actually, I received lots chocolates this year.’ I tell her.

   She stops chuckling at once. ‘Seriously?’

   ‘Yes. See?’

   I’ve eaten some since they would never fit inside my bag, but there’s still enough to prove to sensei that I actually got some chocolate.

   ‘What? That’s impossible! Have you been blackmailing helpless girls again?’ she starts questioning me.

   ‘First of all, even I won’t blackmail girls just to get chocolates. Secondly, when you say girls, do you include yourself too sensei? After all-’

   ‘Not one more word coming out of you.’ she growls.

   ‘Anyway, are you sure it’s a good idea to give chocolate to one of your male student?’ I ask her. ‘Rumors might start to fly if someone saw this.’

   ‘What’s there to worry about? It’s not like I’m doing anything illicit. Besides, I didn’t want this day to end without me giving chocolate to a single person, giri or no.’

   ‘My my, it must be pretty sad to have no one to give chocolates at your age.’ I fire back at her earlier jibe.

   She narrows her eyes and grits her teeth.. ‘I hope you choke on that piece of chocolate. Not enough to cause death, of course, but enough for you to suffer for hours.’

   ‘I’ll be make sure to chew it slowly, so you can rest assure that it’ll never happen.’

   ‘Hmph. Well off you go, and be careful on your way home or wherever it is that you’re going.’

   ‘You too, sensei. And sensei?’

   ‘Yes?’

   ‘Like I told you at the yakiniku place, you’re a good person. You’ll definitely find someone who will truly love you one day.’

   Her eyes widen in surprise. She then chuckles.

   ‘See, this is why I can never stay mad at you. You always know how to be sweet. I take back what I said. Enjoy your chocolates, Bandou-kun.’

   ‘Thank you, sensei. Goodbye.’

   At my work, Miyako-san, the wife of my boss Uekawa-san, is giving out chocolates too. Not only to the employees, but even some single customers. Even though I’m working inside the kitchen, I could still hear some of them crying in joy over getting a chocolate.

   ‘Did you get one from your wife too?’ I ask Uekawa-san who’s working inside the kitchen with me.

   ‘Yes. Not only that, she baked me one whole chocolate cake, which is my favourite.’ he tells me happily. ‘I know I’m being stingy, but I’m not going to share it with any of you.’

   ‘It’s fine, sir. You can have the entire cake all to yourself.’

   ‘How’s your result this year?’ he asks me next.

   ‘Well, I got a total of 21, if I include the one given by Miyako-san.’

   Uekawa-san whistles, clearly impressed. ‘You’re quite popular, despite the constant complain that you do.’

   ‘I very much doubt it. After all, at least thirteen of them are given to me just because they want return gifts, while pretty much all the rest are given out of gratitude.’

   ‘Hey, at least you’re given chocolates, right?’

   ‘I guess. I’ll be careful not to bring it up, though.’

   ‘Wise choice. You might accidentally make someone upset.’

   While we’re still chatting, Miyako-san pokes her head inside the kitchen.

   ‘The girl from last time is here to look for you again, Bandou-kun.’ she tells me. ‘You know, the one from Koganei High School?’

   ‘Looks like more chocolate’s coming your way, Bandou-kun!’ Uekawa-san laughs.

   ‘It’s honestly too early to say. May I go out for a while?’

   ‘Of course you can. Take your time.’

   As expected, it’s Takeda again. And she’s holding two small bags of chocolate.

   ‘Happy Valentine’s Day, Bandou. This one is from me, while this is from Noriko-san.’ she informs me while handing me the two bags. ‘Noriko-san wanted to come here herself, but she’s busy with her college assignment. I made some for you anyway, so I told her that I’ll deliver hers to you while I’m at it.’

   ‘Thanks, Takeda. Even Aki-san got one for me?’

   ‘Yup. You helped out when the shrine was about to be demolished, remember?’

   ‘I do remember, but she didn’t have to if she was busy.’

   ‘Oh, just take it. It’s her way of showing her gratitude, you know? By the way, one of the chocolate I made has wasabi in it, so be careful, yeah?’

   I stare at her. She looks back at me while grinning.

   ‘Well, thanks either way.’

   ‘You’re welcome. Now that I’ve handed the chocolate, I’m going home. See you next time.’

   ‘Yeah. See you.’

   That night, I ate the rest of the chocolate. The one made by Iseri-senpai tasted kind of good, and there were quite a lot of weird ingredients mixed inside the ones made by Aki-san. As for Takeda’s, I managed to spot the one with wasabi at a single glance since she put way too much in it until the whole thing is green in color. I could just throw it away but alas, I ate it anyway since I don’t want to waste her effort. Needless to say, I suffered quite a while.