“And... there are names written on the other side, so don't pick the wrong one, okay?”'
“Ah, yes. Okay. I'll make sure of it.”
Koutarou looked under the boxes and saw the names 'Satomi-kun' and Matsudaira-kun' written on the boxes.
“I've put in chocolate that I think each of you will like.”
“I see. Sorry for making you go out of your way.”
“I-It wasn't really all that much! I always prepare all kinds of chocolate for adult tastes and childish tastes for my father and the children at the hospital.”
“I see, so that's what you did.”
Koutarou quickly caught on to what Harumi meant. Harumi had made various chocolates for people that had helped her under the year and for the children she was close to. And she had made some extra for Koutarou and Kenji while she was working on that.
Phew... Thank goodness, Satomi-kun didn't realize...
Harumi felt relieved as she looked at Koutarou putting the boxes of chocolate in his bag. She had partly lied in her explanation. The box for Kenji contained the kind of chocolate that Harumi had mentioned, but Koutarou's box of chocolate was different. In it was the greatest of the dozen or so recipes of chocolate she had tried.
Harumi had processed the chocolate into a creamy form and stuffed it in a small plastic case. And in the box were marshmallows and crackers that could be dipped in the cream. That was the chocolate Harumi had made just for Koutarou that appealed to his taste and playful personality.
Because of the manufacturing process, it was not possible to mass-produce this chocolate that used only the highest quality of chocolate available. On the contrary to Koutarou's imagination, this box contained true love chocolate.
“Okay then, I'll take my leave now!”
Having successfully handed off her chocolate, Harumi quickly left. She had business to attend to, not to mention she would be embarrassed if Koutarou opened the chocolate and ate it in front of her.
“Huh? What about our club activities?”
“Didn't I tell you yesterday? I have to go to hospital this week, so it's cancelled.”
“Oh yeah... Ah, and you're going to give out chocolate while you're there, right?”
“Fufufu, that's right. So, see you later, Satomi-kun.”
“Yes, I'll see you on Monday.”
Harumi gently waved her hand and smiled and left the roof.
When Harumi entered the schoolhouse, the door closed quietly behind her. However, just a short while after that it slammed open again.
“Whoa!?”
“Ah, there you are, Satomi-kun!”
Koutarou had instinctively bent backwards when the door flew open, and in front of him was now his classmate, Maki.
“A-Aika-san?”
Upon entering the rooftop, Maki pointed at Koutarou's face.
“Fufu, Satomi-kun, I have something nice for you.”
Maki then put that finger into the pocket of her school uniform and pulled out a long and slender box wrapped in indigo paper.
“Here, a true love chocolate♪”
Maki shook the box two or three times in front of Koutarou's face before presenting it to him. Koutarou on the other hand was coldly staring at the box.
“...So how much are you planning on charging me?”
Koutarou knew that this chocolate had to be paid for. It was the treacherous true love chocolate that had led his companions in the unpopular boys alliance onto the road to degenerates.
“Nothing at all, geez!”
“You won't fool me! Tell me the truth! What are your goals!? Is it white day? I see, so you're planning on making me pay you back at three times the price!”
Koutarou had never gotten any true love chocolate in his life, but he had heard the rumors of having to repay the gift with three times the value. Koutarou suspected that this was Maki's goal.
“Why won't you just accept it!? It's because you're like this that you're not popular!”
“Leave me be! You wouldn't understand how I feel! All you do is play with men’s innocent hearts.”
“I just happened to get a cancellation on a chocolate, so I figured I would give it to you!”
“Give it here!!”
“As if I would give it to you now!!”
Maki started sulking over Koutarou's impolite attitude and puffed up her cheeks.
“...Well, speaking seriously, if you've worked hard on it, give it to whoever you get along with the best. It would be a shame for the chocolate to go to waste.”
“Satomi-kun...”
However upon hearing Koutarou's serious words, the air in Maki's cheeks escaped and she showed her normal expression. However, below that expression was a small smile and Maki presented the chocolate to Koutarou once more.