Episode Sixty-Six

The time shifts back slightly to the thirteenth of February.
The Thursday before Valentine’s Day.
　Apparently, there used to be a custom at our company where female employees would distribute chocolates, but it’s long since fallen out of fashion.
So, since joining the company, I’d never really given this day much thought.
This year, however, things were a little different.
Just the other day, I’d started dating Princess Ibara.
I had absolutely no confidence about the future, but she’d accepted me as I was and decided we’d spend our nights together from now on.
　Valentine’s chocolates are meant for someone close, after all.
So naturally, I intended to give her some, but now that things have changed, the meaning shifts considerably.
I can’t very well just hand over a convenience store chocolate assortment.
But then, a grown woman making homemade chocolates like a schoolgirl seems far too frivolous, and it feels desperate, which I dislike.
　Not too heavy, not too light, ideally, I want to give it casually.
So, probably just play it safe with some high-end chocolates. But which shop’s… I’ve been agonising over it and now it’s the day before.
I still haven’t got the chocolates sorted.
Partly because work’s been crazy. Damn busy season.
And then, during my lunch break…

“Senpai!”

“Whoa!”

I jumped.
The one speaking in that sweet, clingy voice was Momono-chan, a junior designer approaching her second year at the company.
She peered at the sandwich in my hands and her mouth formed an ‘A’.

“Oh, sorry, you’re on your lunch break—”

“N-no, it’s fine. I’ve got a meeting with a client from twelve, so my break’s at a weird time… What’s up?”

“I had a question about the editing software, but it’s not urgent at all, so I can ask later, oh, chocolate!”

Momono-chan’s gaze fixed on my laptop.
Blimey.
The screen showed the feature page for the event corner at the department store.
There was only one thing to feature at this time of year, of course.
Valentine’s Day, and chocolate.

“Eh, Senpai, is this—”

Momono-chan lowered her voice, her face brimming with curiosity.

“Eh, eh, is that what it is?”

“No, it isn’t!”

I denied it outright, for now.

“It isn’t?”

“Er, well, I was just looking for friend chocolates.”

“Huh.”

Momono-chan looked twice at the screen of my open laptop.

「Eh. Senpai, you’re giving Pierre Marcolini chocolates as friendship gifts? Wow. Ah, but I suppose it’s normal if you’re both working adults…」

“Ah, yeah. My friend, you see, loves chocolate.”

　Well, that’s a lie.
　I was actually picking out the ones to give to Ibara.
　I’m far too careless in the office, I am.

“Is that so? Well, that’s lovely. I might get some Marcolini for my offering chocolates this year too.”

“Offering?”

“To decorate the altar.”

“What altar?”

And what even is an altar?
Ah, well, never mind. Whether she offers them or decorates them is Momono-chan’s prerogative. She’ll probably eat them all in the end anyway.

“What shall I do? I won tickets to the Valentine’s live show this year, so maybe I’ll splash out!”

“There’s a live show?”

“Yes there is! I’m finishing on time tomorrow to get chocolate from my favourite at the handshake event.”

She said this and showed me a photo of a wrapped little bag.
　Momono-chan is a die-hard fan of ‘Charles’.
Her current favourite is the leader, Haibara Hiname-chan.
And before that, her favourite was my girlfriend. Well, girlfriend…
She is my girlfriend. There’s no other way to put it.
…Huh? So this is the chocolate Ibara-chan gave her last year? Not that it matters. She probably gets hundreds from others too.

“Well, it’s just three Tirol chocolates inside, mind.”

“Still, that’s nice. Can’t you give them something in return?”

“There is a gift reception desk, but food and drink are off-limits. So I send letters instead.”

Fan letters, then. It feels very much like the kind of gift you’d send an idol.

“You’re quite the letter-writer, aren’t you?”

“Oh no, not at all. Only when I’m actively supporting my favourite.”

“Do you perhaps write one after every live show?”

“Well, that would be a bother for the staff checking them… This is the first one addressed to Hiname-san. I’ve sent a few to Ibara-chan though.”

“Oh.”

Right.
With Momono-chan, the letter’s contents wouldn’t be an issue, and it probably reached Ibara-chan safely.
　That girl probably can’t bring herself to throw such things away, so surely somewhere in the closet upstairs at Sereno, Momono-chan’s letters are still kept.

†

After work, I headed to the mall.
This time of year, the confectionery section is entirely chocolate-themed, with display cases lined with tins and boxes of premium chocolates.
　Perhaps because closing time at 8 pm was approaching, the crowd was fairly manageable. Though it was still quite busy, it seemed many people were opting for online shopping these days.
I wandered around, gazing at the display cases.
I’d picked out a few favourites beforehand, but when faced with the actual products, my eyes inevitably wandered.
Marcolini was lovely, but Godiva and La Maison looked delicious too – not that I was buying them for myself.
　Faced with chocolates like jewels in a box, I found myself pacing back and forth.
After agonising over it, I ended up returning to the shop I’d originally had my eye on.
Looking at the display case again, I saw the five-piece ganache box I’d been after was the last one left. Right then, this is it.
Just as I thought that and called out to the shop assistant, “I’ll take this one,”

“I’ll take this one,”

said a voice that wasn’t mine.
　Pointing at the box of ganache I’d been eyeing.
I looked up and our eyes met.
In that instant, I wanted to praise myself for not gasping, “Eh?”

“…Hiname-chan?”

“Eh? Ah. Amami-san?”

Because standing there was none other than the leader of the currently popular idol group, ‘Charles’, Haibara Hiname.