Valentine's Day.

This holiday elicited a very different reaction depending on what kind of person you were. For most of my life, all I'd been getting were chocolates from female classmates. Even then, I barely got enough for a handful. It got to the point where my guy friends gave each other chocolates for fun, just so that we wouldn't go home feeling sad.

This year, however, I was no longer single. For the first time ever, I got to spend this holiday with a significant other and not alone at home with a box of store-bought candy.

Ange came downstairs in a long-sleeve black blouse clinging to her body and burgundy skirt that extended halfway down her shins. The colors matched her unusual pink skin tone nicely. Both articles of clothing had to be tailored to account for her wings and tail, which sprouted out from behind and really brought out how pretty she was.

I made a silent thank you to my mom for giving birth to me.

"Where are we headed first?" Ange asked.

"I bought tickets to a movie for us to see! Right after, I have a table booked at a nice Italian restaurant. Then the rest of the night is ours," I relayed excitedly.

The note of things to do and more were tucked into my pocket. I wanted to show Ange how reliable I was as a boyfriend and was deserving of her. To that end, I had planned this entire day beforehand. I really didn't want to screw this up.

Even Ines lent me a hand in planning my date with Ange. I couldn't thank her enough.

The two of us set out into the city with the van. Not the most romantic vehicle, but it was going to have to do.

Everywhere I turned, couples had overtaken the city like a flood. They occupied restaurants, parks, and streets, holding hands and making no effort to hide their affection. Though the moment we stepped out of the car, Ange drew so much attention that women had to slap their boyfriends to snap them out of it.

"So what exactly is a movie? Is it like what you see on the TV? Can we also watch porn on it?" Ange grabbed ahold of my hand as we walked to the theater.

"What— No! Well, yes… I guess you can, but we're not going to see porn. It's similar to television, yeah. We watch something on a gigantic screen in a dark room. It's typically a lot of fun if what you're seeing is something you want to watch," I explained.

"Hmmm. A dark room, is it? Sounds like the perfect place for us to have a little fun, don't you think?" She clung tighter, squeezing my arm between her breasts.

"Let's try to save the spicy stuff for home… I'm not sure I want to be branded an exhibitionist…"

Unbeknownst to Ange, I had chosen for us to watch a new horror flick. There was no guarantee that she would be scared of such things, being a demon herself. The goal was to spook her into clinging to me, so that she would seek comfort and security in my arms. That sort of thing— cliched as it is— was exactly the sort of thing I wanted to experience.

However, when we entered the auditorium, I was surprised to find it almost at maximum capacity.

"Wow. I guess the movie is a lot more popular than I thought. Thankfully, it's reserved seating. Our seats should be somewhere in the middle," I said, but there turned out to be a bunch of rowdy high school boys where we were supposed to sit. "Excuse me, guys. That's our seat."

One of them took a look at me and sneered.

"I don't see your name on it," he said, then grinned to his friends.

"Don't go snitching on us," the one next to him added. "We snuck in here, so thanks for the seats."

Great. They were going to make things difficult right off the bat for me?

"It's reserved seating," I tried to reason with them. "If you don't get off, I'm going to have to call someone. You don't want to get removed, do you—"

"You don't want to get removed, do you?" another repeated mockingly.

"How about you leave, and your succubus friend can sit on my lap? We can probably show her a better time," the first one said, throwing glances her way that could pass off as sexual harassment.

The group erupted into laughter. They didn't look that much younger than me. Possibly only a year or two. Damn kids these days were getting so much more annoying. I didn't want to start a fight with students. I also didn't want to look pathetic in front of Ange, but—

"It seems we have a couple of misbehaving urchins." Ange narrowed her eyes that began to glow.

A chill ran up my spine as I realized what she was about to do.

"Wait, wait!" I waved a hand in her face to stop her. "You don't have to! Let's just talk to an employee outside."

The high schoolers threw popcorn at my back on the way out.

I found an employee whose face was blanketed in pimples just outside the auditorium, replacing the full trash bin of popcorn cartons and empty cups. He had earphones on, with music playing just loud enough that Ange I could hear. It took until I waved frantically in his face did he finally notice me.

"Hey, there are a couple of guys that took my seats. Can you guys do something about it?" I asked.

"Sorry, man. Not my problem. I just vacuum the floors and throw away trash," the pimpled-employee said.

My mind went blank for a second.

"Can you at least get someone else to help? Hey!"

The guy put his earphones on, set the music so loud that I could hear it, and walked away with the bag of trash and custodial cart.

I put a hand to my face.

"It's alright. We can watch another movie," Ange said, massaging my shoulders.

We ended up sneaking into another auditorium of a romance comedy that was practically empty. The only people here were couples that weren't exactly watching the movie. I was still too infuriated to even think until I heard a squeak from Ange raising the armrest between our seats. She flicked a finger to unzip my pants, then sat on my lap with her legs wrapped behind my waist.

"You told me people come to movies to watch what's on the screen, but I don't see anyone doing that. Shall we do the same?" Ange cooed into my ears, sending shivers up my spine.

After the film ended, Ange walked out glowing. I, on the other hand, was absolutely embarrassed that we did all that in the theater with people around us.

"I think the climax of the film was very enjoyable." Ange smiled, wiping her lips with a napkin.

"Oh, shut up… We didn't watch a single scene, and you know it. Guess I'm checking off sex in public from my bucket list," I mumbled.

It had gotten a little darker than expected. When I checked the time, it turned out to be half an hour later than the schedule I created. The reservation I made was soon.

"Crap. We have to hurry or else we won't make it!"

Driving there was a pain in the ass. Traffic got worse by the minute in the afternoon. We eventually arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes late. Inside, a whole lot of people were seated in the waiting area, and many more were standing, waiting impatiently for their reservation slot.

A middle-aged woman with heavy make-up made eye contact with me from her mahogany stand.

"Name and time of reservation," the hostess said, her eyes dropping to the clipboard in hand.

"Akira Katagiri. 5 PM," I answered.

She pressed a finger to the clipboard, going down the list, then back up and frowned upon finding my name. "I'm sorry, sir. You're almost half an hour late. We enforce a strict 10-minute policy before giving the table to the next group. Shall I write you in for a later reservation?"

My heart sank. 

I specifically planned for the movie and restaurant reservation to be an hour apart so we had ample enough time to get here. However, going to watch another movie and running into traffic messed up the timeframe of everything. Things were beginning to fall apart.

"When is the next available reservation?" I asked, holding on hope that the date could be salvaged.

The hostess checked the clipboard again, and the frown flipped into a smile. "That would be 8 PM, sir. Shall I write you in?"

I turned to Ange who shook her head. We both came to the conclusion that it would be far too late, and we might as well go elsewhere.

"No." I sighed. "Thanks anyway."

We returned to the car, and a soft hand fell on top of mine as I grabbed the gear shift.

"What's next on that list of yours?" she asked.

"Star-gazing in the hills behind the dorm," I answered dejectedly. "Nice place, too. But it's still way too early and something's probably going to get in the way."

Ange lifted me by my chin to look her in the eyes. "You didn't have to treat me to a fancy place to make me happy."

"I know. I just wanted to show you a good time, but it's starting to feel like the world is conspiring against us today."

Ever since Ange and I got together, I fantasized about having a picture-perfect relationship. It was easy to forget we were anything but normal and often led to me being worried that I couldn't be all that she wanted.

"I actually have a surprise for you of my own." Ange checked something on her phone and nodded happily to herself. "What say we stop by Rocket Burger before going to see the stars?"

"Burgers, really?" I decided against protesting. At least nothing could really go wrong there. 

We drove to Rocket Burger and were greeted by Cresta at the register.

"Welcome to Rocket Burger! May I take your order?" Cresta asked enthusiastically.

"You're not going to eat our orders, are you?" I teased.

"I would never! Not unless you ask me to." She flashed a toothy grin.

The succulent burgers weren't much of a comfort. We could have been having a michelin-star dinner but had to settle for fast food instead. Yet whenever I stole glances at Ange, she never failed to catch me staring and smiled. Even as her cheeks bulged from mouthfuls of burgers and fries, lips stained by ketchup and grease, she shined with a luminescence that no star could cast.

In the midst of our meal, familiar faces began to show up.

Ines, Remmy, Tamara and Rakka, Irapesha, and Valeanor entered Rocket Burger, each  armed with chocolate that looked homemade in their clear plastic bags. Even Cresta came around from the back to join them one, too.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Akira!" they exclaimed together.

I was left speechless. My eyes started getting hot.

"Hold on… Did you all plan this?" I began to choke up and almost forgot to gulp down my mouthful.

"Nope," Cresta said, then patted Ange on the back. "She did. She and Ines taught us all how to make chocolates so that we could surprise you."

Sitting across the table, with both hands cradling her chin and gazing affectionately at me, Ange had placed a bag of chocolate of her own between our fast food trays.

"This was supposed to happen at home, but I think circumstances have spared us some time." Ange winked.

"Ines is a really good teacher! I can't believe I was able to make chocolate this delicious. Try some of mine!" Tamara held some up to my face.

"Don't you dare think this is anything special. I only did it because Angeline asked me to." Valeanor stood at a distance and stuck out her bag upon an arm stretched to its limit.

In addition to fast food, the table was now filled with Valentine's Day chocolate baggies. 

I teared up at the sight of it all. At how considerate they were. None of them had to go through that trouble, but they did anyway.

We spent hours at Rocket Burger just hanging out until it was time to leave. Ines called taxis to take the tenants back. Before entering her taxi, she came back to me and Ange, who were by the edge of the sidewalk of the restaurant next to the van.

"What do you think? Chocolate was pretty bomb, right?" Ines asked.

"If you told me it was gourmet chocolate, I'd believe it. What I  can't believe is that you taught them all. That must have been tough getting them in order," I joked.

"It's my abuelita's recipe. She actually dumbed down the recipe for me, but I asked for the full instructions and studied up. Don't underestimate a graduate student's work ethic, and besides— doing this for you two was every bit worth it."

The comment made my heart skip a beat and speed up. Glancing over at Ange, who was leaning forward against the hood of the van and chin propped up against her palm, I suspected she knew there was more behind Ines' words.

I cleared my throat, more to swallow my own shyness than anything. "I-In Japan, we celebrate White Day next month to return the favor. Might not be as great as yours, but look forward to it anyway."

"I sure will, and you know… Usually I install a dating app and find someone to hook up with for a day. Get the sex and cuddles out of the way, then delete the contact and app the next day. Won't be needing to reinstall it tonight, so… I'll see you guys back after your date?" Ines grinned.

It took me a moment to realize what she had meant, but Ines had already raced back to the taxi before I could ask for clarification.

"Next year, the date should involve all three of us," Ange suggested as she climbed into the car with an impish smirk.

"I have a hard enough time handling you already." I rolled my eyes.

Ange and I drove to the park on the hill behind the dormitory as planned. A secluded place with rusted grills and old wooden tables that no one came to use anymore. The parking lot, however, often saw use by people coming to stargaze.

There were other cars belonging to couples that had come with the same plan. Fortunately, we didn't have to leave the comforts of the van thanks to the sunroof. So we pushed down the seats in the back to lie down in and laid side by side to watch the starry sky. 

"I think between us, you have me beat. I really didn't see that coming," I said.

"It's not a competition, love." Ange squeezed my hand. "Just being with you is enough for me. I'm sure you feel the same way. No need to go through extravagance to prove it."

Today might not have gone as I planned, but Ange and everyone in the dorm really did get their messages across. 

As I shut my eyes to enjoy the peaceful moment, several of the cars started rocking back and forth. There was no question what was going on.

Ange suddenly climbed on top of me, letting her curtain of black hair drape down to my face, and breasts aching for release behind the blouse atop of my chest.

"I see this is how Valentine's Day is supposed to progress. Shall we get to it then?" Ange licked her lips.