SS 4
Valentine’s Chocolate
“Do you know what day it is today?”
Chika asked him this question on the way home at dusk, and Sōma couldn’t help but make a puzzled face.
‘What on earth is she talking about all of a sudden?’
They had just finished eating a Valentine’s Day special chocolate cake at a cafe.
No, even putting that aside, there’s no way Sōma, who aspires to be a patissier, wouldn’t know what February 14th is.
‘Could it be that she wants me to mention some anniversary other than Valentine’s Day?’
“Hold on a second.”
He took out his smartphone and searched for ‘February 14th’.
“Is it Dried Sardines Day?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then… is it Loincloth Day?”
“That’s wrong too! I’ve never heard of either of those! No, what I mean is, today is Valentine’s Day!”
“So, it was right all along. I overthought it.”
She got angry with her face turning red, so he bowed his head slightly and said sorry,
“What about Valentine’s Day? You’re not going to tell me to give you chocolate, are you? If that’s the case, let’s just say that the limited-edition chocolate cake from earlier counts as Valentine’s chocolate.”
Truth be told, he had thought about giving Chika some homemade chocolate. But he felt somewhat embarrassed and ended up not doing it.
As he said this while looking away slightly, Chika shook her head vigorously, expressing that wasn’t what she meant.
Then, she reached into her school bag and began rummaging around.
‘Could it be…!?’
Seeing this, he suddenly started to feel nervous.
He had never imagined receiving chocolate from Chika.
It’s rare.
He was overwhelmingly more often in the position of giving sweets than receiving them.
“Um, this is Valentine’s chocolate for you. Please accept it.”
A beautifully wrapped and slender package is presented to the flustered Sōma.
“Uh, well…”
He didn’t know what to say in thanks or how to react.
Alternating his gaze between the package and Chika’s slightly embarrassed face, he hesitantly reached out his hand.
“T-thank you.”
He managed to utter just a commonplace word of thanks.
Having had her gift accepted, Chika let out a sigh of relief.
“Please, go ahead and open it if you’d like.”
“Right. I’ll do that.”
Following her suggestion, he began to unwrap the package.
“…?”
And he couldn’t help but make an even more puzzled face than when asked what day it was today.
What was inside the package was a choco pen for confectionery use. It’s chocolate designed for drawing letters and pictures on cakes and cookies.
Although it was undoubtedly chocolate, presenting it as a gift was rather odd.
‘Was it meant to suggest that I should use it to make delicious chocolate sweets?’
As he stared at the choco pen to try to understand its true purpose, Chika swiftly snatched it away.
“Actually, my Valentine’s chocolate isn’t finished yet.”
Then, she cut the tip of the pen and began to let the chocolate drip onto the back of her own hand.
The viscous chocolate slowly and silently stained Chika’s hand a dark color.
“Please enjoy it♡”
“W-What do you mean enjoy…?!”
Presented with a hand smeared with chocolate, he was utterly dumbfounded.
In other words, she was telling him to lick it.
That was impossible.
“No, there’s no way…”
He lost his words and just gaped at Chika’s hand, and as she stepped closer, she asked softly,
“Do you dislike it if it’s on the back of my hand?”
“T-That’s right! It’s obviously impossible!”
Regaining his voice, Sōma nodded vehemently with a flushed face.
“Is that so? That’s a shame.”
Chika began to slowly lick the chocolate off her own hand after saying that.
The sight of her tongue quietly crawling was strangely seductive and full of an alluring charm.
As his heart raced while he watched, she whispered softly into his ear,
“If you don’t like the hand, would you eat it off my thigh?”
“T-thigh?”
The moment she said it, he imagined Chika’s thigh covered in chocolate sauce and himself pressing his lips against it.
“Or would you prefer it on my breasts? It’s really embarrassing, but if that’s what Sōma-san desires… I don’t mind.”
Trying to imagine chocolate sauce on Chika’s breasts pushed him to his limit.
“I-I’ve got to go!”
He couldn’t stay in this place any longer. If he stayed, he felt like something would happen to me.
There was no other choice but to flee.
“Ah, w-wait! Please wait! It’s just a joke!”
As Sōma was overwhelmed and about to leave, Chika hurriedly stepped in front of him to block his way in her usual tone.
“…A joke?”
He stopped in his tracks, and she let out a slightly disappointed sigh.
“It didn’t go as I had hoped. I wanted it to flow more beautifully.”
Then, she reached into her school bag again.
“Here, please take this. This is the real gift. Please accept it.”
Her cheeks were flushed red as she extended both hands, presenting a large heart chocolate adorned with a big ribbon.
From her expression, this was no joke or prank anymore. It seemed to be a genuine Valentine’s chocolate.
As a guy, there’s no way he wouldn’t be happy.
He hesitantly accepted the heart. He then untied the ribbon and opened the lid.
Inside, a slightly irregular heart-shaped chocolate lay nestled.
It was a nice Valentine’s chocolate contrasting to the earlier chocolate pen.
As he looked at the heart-shaped chocolate with a mix of happiness and surprise, Chika fidgeted shyly and said,
“Um… I made this chocolate myself. Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I really wanted to give you something homemade. But I’m not good at making sweets and there’s no way I can compete with a patissier aspirant like you, Sōma-san. So, I think I’m not confident, or maybe I’m a little worried…”
“So that’s why you pulled off such an outrageous prank?”
“I thought it might be easier to give it to you if I lightened the mood.”
“Lightened the mood? More like caused a commotion…”
He wonders if this girl realizes that she could have created a completely different atmosphere with one wrong step.
But well, putting that aside, he’s genuinely happy that she gave him homemade chocolate.
“Thank you. I’m really happy.”
“…Mm.”
When Sōma expressed his gratitude straightforwardly, Chika smiled bashfully with a joy that was enough to make his heart skip a beat.
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“C-Can I try it now?”
“Please do. I’m not very confident in it, but I did my best.”
Chika’s cheeks were red, but so were Sōma’s.
On the edge of the sidewalk, he broke off a piece of the heart-shaped chocolate and popped it into his mouth.
The aroma of cocoa and the melting sweetness spread throughout his mouth.
After savoring it for a moment, Sōma spoke up.
“It’s not great.”
“Eh?”
Chika’s face froze.
“The tempering is all wrong. That’s why there’s no shine and the texture is poor. When making chocolate, you should really manage the temperature carefully. Chika, isn’t your mother a chocolatière? (specializes in making chocolate and chocolate products) You should have asked her for advice.”
He ate another piece of chocolate while giving his honest opinion.
“Yeah, it’s not great.”
“Why would you say something like that?!”
Chika burst out angrily as he rolled the chocolate around in his mouth.
“A girl worked hard on this and mustered up her courage to give you this special chocolate! Shouldn’t you at least lie and say ‘it’s delicious’ out of courtesy?!”
“I would never lie in my confectionery evaluation.”
“Do you really need to hurt the delicate heart of an innocent maiden like that?!”
“Delicate…? You, Chika?”
“What’s with that look!? If you have time to say such things, just eat quietly!”
Chika then grabbed the chocolate from Sōma’s hand and attempted to forcefully push it into his mouth.
“Hey, wait! Break it up! It’s too big, you’re going to dislocate my jaw!”
“I don’t care about Sōma-san’s jaw!”
***
As a side note, Sōma decided to get his revenge for Valentine’s Day by doing the exact same thing to Chika one month later on March 14th.
And he failed spectacularly.
“How can you lick it without any hesitation? Who would normally lick someone else’s hand!”
“But you told me to lick it, Sōma-san. If that’s the case, isn’t it only proper manners to do so?”
“That’s true, but that’s not the point!”
“I would be more than happy to lick anywhere on your body, Sōma-san.”
“Now that you mention it, you were looking at my finger covered in whipped cream as if they were delicious during Halloween! I had completely forgotten about that!”
“Come on, let me taste the white chocolate on you, Sōma-san. I will thoroughly and stickily enjoy it!”
“That’s creepy! And scary!”
Sōma firmly vowed himself to set up an even more shocking surprise for next year’s Valentine’s Day, one that would surpass this year’s.