Chapter 12: Valentine’s day (2)

A secluded spot near the teacher’s desk.

Kurokawa, who had subtly taken the seat next to me, lit the burner.

She meticulously examined the recipe until the water boiled.

For some reason, it felt as if she was dissecting every detail.

Unable to watch any longer, I asked.

“…Is something wrong?”

“N-no, not at all? I just told you. You made it incredibly well.”

“That’s good to hear.”

A few days ago, when I was creating the recipe, she had said something.

‘Can I help?’

The confidence in her voice didn’t just suggest simple assistance.

She probably had deep expertise in making desserts like these.

As if to prove this thought, Kurokawa began making chocolate with neat, precise movements.

“Don’t you really need to look at that? I feel like you could make more diverse things than what’s in that recipe.”

“Hmm, that’s true, but… Ah, saying it like this makes me sound a bit conceited.”

“Not at all? You really seem like you could easily make something like a chocolate tower.”

“…A chocolate tower?”

Kurokawa tilted her head, a troubled expression on her face.

Again, this mouth of mine is the problem.

As I was choosing my words, she spoke first.

“As you said, I can easily make chocolate. But the problem is something else.”

“Can I ask?”

“Yeah. It’s actually nothing much. If I make chocolate different from the recipe here, it’ll draw attention, won’t it? I just don’t like that.”

“Ah, I understand.”

There must be an implicit meaning in her words.

It’s clear from her use of the word ‘conceited’ in our recent conversation.

Because often, other people’s attention quickly turns into poison.

‘Wow, you’re good~’—she dislikes that kind of attention. ‘What’s with her? Is she showing off just because of one chocolate?’—she dislikes that kind of attention too.

Therefore, she doesn’t do actions that aren’t strictly necessary. It was an extremely reasonable course of action.

But not everyone is like her.

There are people who endure all sorts of disadvantages that fall upon them… no, rather, people who don’t ‘think’ and are so thirsty for attention that they just go ahead and do things.

Exactly the kind of people like *them*.

I looked towards the central part of the home economics classroom.

“Hashimoto-kun. I’m a little worried if it turned out well, so could you perhaps taste it for me…?”

A female student, accompanied by two or three followers, approached Hashimoto and offered him a chocolate.

“Oh, sure. Hmm? It’s delicious?”

Hashimoto gladly took and ate it.

She doesn’t have the courage to offer chocolate one-on-one in private.

So, under the pretext of asking him to taste it, she feeds the chocolate she made to him, the popular guy.

A typical tactic to test the waters. The result is attention.

Usually, the bad kind.

Gooohhh—

The atmosphere in the home economics classroom sank. The jealous gazes of many female students pierced the girl who gave the chocolate.

Honestly, whatever they do among themselves isn’t my concern.

But acting like that in a public place is just a nuisance, isn’t it?

By the time they’re high school students, they should probably know that such actions would lead to this result.

The purpose is attention. Just, attention.

Whether it’s jealousy, envy, or any kind of negative emotion, it doesn’t matter to them.

They just want to imprint on others that Hashimoto said the chocolate *they* made was delicious!

I simply cannot understand such types.

“Hehehe~”

She giggled as she returned to her seat.

The mental fortitude to endure all those gazes is, in a way, quite remarkable.

“Hoshino-kun. Could you pass me that mold over there?”

“Oh, sure.”

‘…It’s quite remarkable how *this* person doesn’t pay any attention to that either.’

****

Chocolate making was almost finished.

In fact, it was mostly just melting the chocolate and pouring it into molds. The rest was time for the chocolate to set and for cleanup.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough space in the refrigerator, so most students covered their molds with plastic wrap and placed ice packs on top.

Kurokawa and I started cleaning up at almost the same time.

She wasn’t a close friend, just a classmate I’d exchanged a few words with.

So, the conversation we had at the beginning was all there was. After that, both of us had remained silent, focusing on making chocolate.

Thump.

As we were each cleaning in an already confined space, our bodies brushed against each other.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Without either of us saying ‘you first,’ we both apologized.

A slightly awkward atmosphere settled.

At times like these, I envy the popular kids a little. If we could just strike up a conversation, the awkwardness might lessen.

What should I talk about?

Should I ask if she got home safely over the weekend?

“Yo, Kurokawa.”

Just then, a large male student approached Kurokawa.

Two followers trailed behind him.

Tch.

Unfortunately, I know that guy.

A troublemaker who frequently has issues brought up to the student council.

It was Nakamura Kenta from class 2-C.

He was what you’d commonly call a delinquent. Like a tattooed pig, but without the tattoos.

Assault, profanity, smoking, and so on. He’s the kind of guy who makes you wonder how he’s still allowed to attend school.

“…What do you want?”

Kurokawa said so, clearly showing her discomfort, but Nakamura Kenta paid no mind.

“Heheh. Can’t I come over even if I don’t have a reason? We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“…Who said we’re friends?”

“Hey now. Why say things like that~ It hurts my feelings.”

Nakamura Kenta strode closer and tried to place a hand on Kurokawa’s shoulder.

Slap!

However, Kurokawa smacked his hand away cleanly.

For a moment, a vein throbbed on his forehead. But, realizing the surrounding gazes, he seemed to suppress his anger.

“Go back to your class’s area. I have nothing to say to you.”

She revealed her hostility.

I hate to admit it, but if there’s a means to wield power among students, it’s physical size.

Even as a high school student, Nakamura Kenta’s physique far exceeded the average.

But Kurokawa was not intimidated by him in the slightest.

Perhaps realizing that coercive methods wouldn’t work, he lowered his voice.

“Ah, come on, why are you like this? I just came because I wanted a piece of chocolate. Is that okay?”

“I don’t have any chocolate for you.”

“Aw~ Don’t be like that. Just let me have one.”

He ignored Kurokawa and reached for the chocolate she was making.

It looked like he just intended to push his way through with force.

“Hey.”

Just then, I spoke, and his actions stopped.

“Can you have your private conversations after class? You’re interrupting cleanup, you know?”

If I were to bring up Kurokawa here and try to protect her, it would clearly cause her more trouble.

Not only would she receive unnecessary attention, but it would also spark a commotion.

Because I’m not someone with a reputation like Hashimoto Haruto.

*Throb.*

Nakamura Kenta scowled once more.

But as if even a monkey can hold back twice, he relaxed his expression, approached me, and patted my shoulder a couple of times.

His touch was full of force.

“Alright, alright. You’re right. Our Class D friend is cleaning up, so we can’t disturb him.”

Finally, he shoved me and approached Kurokawa again.

“Then, Kurokawa. Since this friend says we’re disturbing him, how about we talk over there?”

“I said I have nothing to talk about.”

“Geez, fine! Alright! I’ll be generous. Forget the chocolate, let’s just go to karaoke this weekend. If you say yes to this, I’ll scram quickly. How about it?”

‘How about it’? What ‘how about it’?

And damn it, are my ancestors going to do the cleanup then?

I looked at Kurokawa, naturally expecting her to refuse.

However, she was looking at me, an hesitant expression on her face.

Could it be, she actually thinks he’s disturbing the cleanup?

Uh… then it’s my fault.

“Hey, Nakamura. What are you doing to our classmates? Get lost!”

Just then, the real power of our class, Hashimoto Haruto, intervened.

Attention was already drawn, but now everyone in the classroom turned to look this way.

“Ha, damn it. *You* get lost, punk. Why are you interfering? You look like a gigolo.”

“What, you bastard?”

A volatile situation.

“Hey, you two, break it up.”

Just then, as if sensing the impending trouble, the home economics teacher called over the well-built gym teacher.

“Hah, damn it.”

Hashimoto and Nakamura Kenta grumbled at each other as they moved away.

Ding dong dang dong~

The bell rang.

With this, the situation was completely resolved.

After the gym teacher left, the remaining students in the home economics classroom finished cleaning up in a quiet atmosphere.

“Good work. And don’t worry, I don’t mind it.”

I said that softly to Kurokawa, who was tidying up the cleaning tools, and then left the classroom.

Since we weren’t close, I didn’t have the capacity to offer unnecessary comfort.

“Damn it, that idiotic bastard!”

As I left the home economics classroom, I saw Nakamura Kenta still spewing profanities, even with students passing by.

Students huddled, circled around him, or passed by his front as if dead silent.

“Hey, Class D friend.”

Just as I was about to pass by him, he called out to me in a surprisingly gentle voice.

‘Does he have some kind of bipolar disorder?’

“What?”

“No, it’s just. I feel bad for the Class D friend.”

Nakamura Kenta approached me, flaunting his physique.

His eyes were like those of someone looking at a toy to play with.

“So, I want to apologize politely, okay? We should clear things up quickly, shouldn’t we?”

He patted my shoulder. His touch was full of force.

‘What a transparent guy.’

“So, how about we… go over there and talk a bit?”

“No, why don’t we just do it here?”

*Throb.*

A vein popped on his forehead.