February 8, Monday
Even after Clan had left, Ruth was still confused.
As a result, her training was wasted and she repeated her failures.
And that confusion continued as they headed towards Kitsushouharukaze high school, to the point that she neglected the classes and followed Koutarou with her eyes.
Koutarou was of course unaware of that, and when lunchtime came by, he care freely chatted with some classmates.
“So Satomi, how many do you think you'll get?”
”I'm in the same boat as you guys. Even if I got some, it'd be one or two obligation chocolates”
As the second week of February had started, Valentine's Day was scheduled for the weekend. Since the 14th was a Sunday, chocolate would be handed out on the last day of school that week, Friday the 12th. Today was only Monday, but the entire school was bristling with talk of Valentine.
“You're still sitting sweet, Satomi. You're obligation chocolate is exceptional”
“Huh? What's that supposed to mean?”
”Don't play stupid!! Obligation chocolate from princess Alaia is on a completely different dimension from the rest!! It's on the level of true love chocolate!!”
“Sakuraba-senpai, huh... well, it's true that she is gentle and has a strong sense of obligation, but in the end it's just obligation chocolate. I can't go into details, but she's pretty popular”
“It's princess Alaia after all... there would be a lot of competition for her...”
”It's but a fleeting dream..."
However, the unpopular boys alliance that Koutarou was a part of were grieving.
They had no girlfriends and weren't particularly good at anything, so it's not like they had any girl fans.
So to them, Valentine's Day was an uncomfortable holiday. Because of that, around this time of the year, they would gather around in the corner of the classroom and complain. In total there were eight of them, all of them sulking.
“And how do I put this... I want Sakuraba-senpai to get along with the person she really loves”
“Ah, I know what you mean. It totally fits the role of princess Alaia!”
“So everyone's getting one or two obligation chocolates... we're all in the same situation, huh...”
”That traitor is absorbing all the true love chocolates after all”
“Kuh... Mackenzie, that bastard...”
“Everything is his fault!”
“Did you hear? The other day he was walking around with a new girl”
”What!?”
“Is that for real, Satomi!?”
The alliance would always end their sulking by complaining about Kenji.
Kenji was attractive, good at sports, sensitive to fashion, considerate, gentle to girls and had good grades. Since he was active in the drama club, it was predicted that he would get a lot of true love chocolates this year as well. Thanks to that, the unpopular boys alliance would treat him with such envy that it was like he was an enemy from a past life.
This envious behavior was the exact reason for why they weren't popular with the girls, but the boys were too young to notice that.
“Hey, Kou! Don't come up with random crap again!”
At that moment, Kenji fiercely protested what Koutarou had said. This was nothing but trouble for him.
“That's an unsightly excuse, Mackenzie-kun”
Koutarou put his hand on Kenji's shoulder and showed a mean grin.
“W-What?”
“I saw you coming out from a café by the station with a girl the day before yesterday, you know. What happened with the drama club girl you were so close to up until now?”
As Koutarou whispered that, Kenji's face turned pale and he hurriedly began coming up with excuses. Even the normally smart Kenji came off as desperate in this situation.
“That was just my junior from my middle school. I was just talking with her since it had been a while since we last met. It's not like anything suspicious happened”
“I understand, I understand. Let's leave it at that, Mackenzie. This time of the year is hard on you after all...”
As Kenji panicked, Koutarou smiled at patted him on the shoulder repeatedly.
“So, how many have you fooled with that trick, Mackenzie?”
“You're wrong, that's not it at all!”
“You're a disgrace to all men!”
“How many true love chocolates are you planning on scooping up for yourself, you traitor!!”
“That's not what I'm trying at all!!”
The unpopular boys alliance unleashed a barrage of attacks on Kenji. Doing that would only earn them more scorn from the girls, but they were the unpopular boys alliance because they wouldn't notice that.
“...Serves you right”
Koutarou had a satisfied look on his face and ate a potato chip. That taste was also satisfying.
This unhealthy stuff is the best...
Since Koutarou rarely had the chance to eat this, Koutarou had spent several days savoring the taste of his potato chips and cola.
That was when a slender arm reached out in front of Koutarou and naturally grabbed a few of the potato chips from the bag.
“Satomi-kun, I can make you some true love chocolate if you'd like”
After finishing speaking, that person poured the potato chips into her mouth. And after swallowing them, she smiled at Koutarou.
“That is, if you pay for the cost of the material and labor”
“No thank you. More importantly, don't eat my chips without asking, Aika-san”
“My, it’s delicious... is it the limited winter special, Consommé taste? Maybe I'll buy some too”
The name of the potato chips thief was Aika Maki. She was a classmate that had gotten friendly with Koutarou recently. She paid no heed to Koutarou's protests and reached out towards the potato chip bag once more.
“Ah, hey!?”
“Fufu”
The amount of chips that Maki had gotten a hold of this time was far more compared to the first time. Koutarou tried to protest about that as well, but when he opened his mouth, Maki pressed the chips into his mouth and his words were replaced with a crunch.
“There's no need to be so stubborn. I'll make a splendid chocolate fitting of the cost”
Since Maki had shoved most of the chips into Koutarou's mouth, the amount she had left wasn't very different from what she had taken before. Instead, Maki reached towards Koutarou's bottle of cola.
“Mmmh”
Seeing that, Koutarou accidentally got some chips stuck in his throat. He had gotten surprised as Maki reached for the cola while he was swallowing. Unable to breathe, Koutarou repeatedly pounded his chest.