“Good morning, Takasegawa-kun.”
“Whoa—!”
Just as Yuzuru let out a sigh, someone suddenly spoke to him, making his body jolt in surprise.
“…There’s no need to be that startled.”
“S-sorry… good morning, Nagiri-san.”
The one who called out to him was a tall, slender beauty—
Nagiri Amaka.
“Here. Since you’re always helping me out. It’s just giri, though.”
“Ah, thanks.”
It seemed she had come to give him obligation chocolate.
Yuzuru accepted it gratefully.
“…That one—who’s it from? Not Arisa-san, right?”
Amaka glanced at the neatly wrapped box still sitting on his desk.
From what Ayaka had said, the girls had all made chocolates together—so they would recognise each other’s packaging.
Which meant—
She had instantly realised this wasn’t from any of them.
“No idea. It was in my desk… no name on it.”
There might be something inside the wrapping, but at least outwardly, there was no note or message.
“Chocolate from an unknown sender, huh… If it’s not store-bought, what will you do?”
“…No comment.”
“Yeah, fair enough. Safety first.”
Picking up on his implication, Amaka lightly patted his shoulder in consolation.
“Being popular sounds rough.”
“Not compared to you. I imagine plenty of guys would want chocolate from you.”
Needless to say, Amaka was also extremely beautiful—on par with Arisa, Ayaka, and Chiharu.
(Of course, in Yuzuru’s mind, Arisa was leagues above.)
There were surely many boys hoping for chocolate from her.
…In fact, some of the boys nearby were already casting sharp looks his way.
“…I’m not exactly great at cooking. Honestly, compared to Ayaka-san and the others, mine’s not that impressive.”
“I think what matters isn’t the chocolate itself, but who it’s from—and why.”
In that sense, an anonymous chocolate was rather troublesome.
For now, Yuzuru put both the unknown chocolate and Amaka’s into his bag.
Then he asked—
“Have you given one to Hijiri yet?”
“Eh? …W-why are you bringing up Hijiri-kun?”
“No particular reason.”
At that, Amaka turned her face away with a huff.
“I-it’s almost time for class.”
“Right. Good luck.”
“…There’s nothing to ‘try hard’ about.”
With that, she briskly left the classroom, almost as if fleeing.
Later, during lunch break—
After finishing his meal with Soichiro and the others, Yuzuru returned to the classroom.
At that moment, his phone vibrated.
He checked—
It was a message from Arisa.
Was the lunch tasty?
Yuzuru immediately sensed her intent.
Normally, Arisa didn’t ask for feedback during lunch.
Usually, after eating, Yuzuru would message her himself, and then thank her properly in person the next morning.
So—
This wasn’t about the lunch.
It was just an opening.
It was great as always. Especially the white fish.
That’s good to hear. It’s the first time I’ve put that in a lunchbox… I used herbs—was the smell alright?
Yeah, it didn’t bother me at all.
Normally, that would be the end of it.
But today—
The exchange dragged on.
It was obvious she was trying to keep the conversation going.
And then, after a while—
That chocolate—who is it from?
She finally got to the point.
It was just a simple sentence.
No emojis, no stickers.
And yet—
There was a pressure behind it.
Like she wouldn’t accept any evasion.
“…”
Yuzuru glanced up at her seat.
Arisa was gripping her phone with both hands—
Staring at the screen, expressionless.
…Terrifying.
No idea. There wasn’t a name.
The reply came instantly.
Really?
Why was he being interrogated?
He hadn’t done anything wrong.
And yet, he felt oddly accused.
Really.
Have you opened it?
Not yet.
Please open it.
Just three words.
Yet there was no room for refusal.
Before he could even process it—
Another message came.
Please open it.
The exact same line.
Yuzuru instinctively looked up—
Their eyes met.
Her face was blank.
Completely blank.
Panicking, he typed back—
I’ll go open it in the bathroom now.
Then he shot up from his seat, grabbed his bag, and hurried out towards the toilets.
