Episode Ninety-Nine: It’s All This Face’s Fault. You Idiot, Yui-san
Winter’s chill still lingered, but the days had slowly started stretching longer, and Valentine’s chocolate ads had begun popping up everywhere, that particular season arriving right on schedule.
Wondering what to get Yui-san this year, I sat with Yuuri over tea at a café, seriously frowning over a magazine’s special feature section, when, out of nowhere, she spoke up from across the table.
“Kanata, weren’t you saying you’ve been working hard on cooking lately, getting ready to live together? Might as well try making chocolate by hand this year too — wouldn’t your senior be thrilled?”
Handmade? Lifting my face from the magazine, I gave her a resentful look, and Yuuri just laughed, teasing.
“No way, impossible… store-bought is definitely more delicious.”
“Isn’t the thought what counts, though? And chocolate’s just melting and setting, right? Seems easy enough. Not that I really know.”
Saying that so irresponsibly, I let out a sigh and closed the magazine with a snap. Honestly, Yuuri has no idea what she’s talking about.
“Listen, Yuuri. If it were just melting and setting, famous pâtissiers and luxury chocolate brands wouldn’t exist in this world. …I’ll pour plenty of feeling in afterward, so this is fine.”
It’s not like I’ve never once considered “handmade.”
But the feeling that I want Yui-san to have genuinely delicious chocolate, since we’re doing this at all, is a feeling I simply can’t overcome.
I brought the teacup to my lips. Too absorbed in the magazine, I’d forgotten to drink it, and my tea had gone lukewarm.
“How exactly are you planning to put feeling into store-bought chocolate, then?”
Apparently intent on continuing this teasing line of questioning, Yuuri propped her chin on one hand, watching me, and smiled, sly.
“Like, attaching a message card, or adding a present, or… hmm, what else…”
Counting the methods off on my fingers, thinking it through, Yuuri suddenly burst out laughing.
“Wh-why are you laughing?”
“No reason. Just thinking, you haven’t changed a bit since college. You really do love your senior, don’t you.”
Caught dead center, my cheeks flushed hot. What Yuuri said was undeniably true, but realizing that’s apparently how it looks objectively too made it suddenly, unbearably embarrassing.
“…Don’t tease me, come on.”
Hiding my embarrassment, I drained the lukewarm tea in one go.
Today I’d met Yuuri at eleven, and first treated her to the lunch buffet at our own company’s hotel. Employee discount benefits really do work wonders in situations like this.
The moment I insisted on treating her today, Yuuri had surely already figured out my real intentions.
Once we left this café, I fully intended to drag Yuuri around all day, picking out chocolate for Yui-san.
“Alright then, guess I’ll keep this lovestruck maiden company today.”
Yuuri said it, teasing, and drained the coffee left in her mug in one gulp.
Knowing about my relationship with Yui-san and accepting it, completely without prejudice — Yuuri’s presence in my life means an enormous amount to me.
I’m certain I’ll never again meet a friend I click with this well.
Choosing a Japanese university, coming back to Japan alone — there were genuinely hard moments, it’s true — but everything I gained from my college years has become, I now believe from the bottom of my heart, an irreplaceable treasure in my life.
That day, I ended up dragging Yuuri around until evening, sampling every kind of chocolate imaginable, and finally decided on a bitter, not-too-sweet chocolate that suited Yui-san’s taste.
＊＊＊
And so, February fourteenth arrived. Valentine’s Day, at last.
Today, the day women give chocolate to the person they love, conveying their feelings.
I’ve heard that this event became established in Japan thanks to an advertising strategy launched by a particular chocolate company.
Whether that’s actually true or not, I don’t know, but Valentine’s culture abroad and Valentine’s culture in Japan really do differ, at least somewhat.
Even so, I’ve come to genuinely love Japan’s version of Valentine’s.
Unlike Yui-san, I’m not especially good at conveying my feelings straightforwardly in words — so for someone like me, having an event this openly, publicly declared makes it easier, without embarrassment, to find an occasion for expressing that feeling.
Leaving the house, walking my usual commute route, waiting on the platform for the train, I gripped the strap of the bag over my shoulder, tight. Inside, tucked away, sat the chocolate I planned to give Yui-san.
So glad today’s a Friday. We’d promised to spend tonight together, so my steps toward the office felt light, almost like they had wings.
Reaching the office, passing through the entrance security gate, I waited for the elevator.
Morning elevators see heavy use, every car running full tilt, cycling up and down repeatedly — but during the commuter rush, it still takes a while before your turn actually comes around.
Finally squeezing in, the car was packed tight, and even getting off at my floor took real effort.
Today, Yui-san’s “good morning” message had come earlier than usual, so she must already be in the president’s office.
Just as I went to hold my ID up to the office entrance’s time-clock terminal, an unfamiliar woman’s voice called “Aozawa-san,” and I turned.
The one who’d stopped me was a young female employee. I couldn’t place her name right away, but I managed to remember, at least, her department.
Someone transferred from sales to general affairs in the autumn personnel reshuffle. Around my age, if I remembered right.
“…Ah, good morning.”
Greeting her first, careful not to be late, I held my ID to the terminal, then turned back to face her properly.
“Sorry for stopping you out of nowhere. Um, is the president in today?”
Gripping the handle of a red paper bag tight against her chest, cheeks faintly flushed, fidgeting — watching her, some unpleasant premonition crept in.
Hoping my guess was wrong, I glanced, briefly, at the paper bag, and recognized immediately — it was from a chocolate brand.
“She’s scheduled to be in all day. Did you need something from her?”
“No, um, actually, this… if it’s okay, could Aozawa-san pass this along to the president for me?”
Feeling a vein practically throb at my temple, I forced it down and put on a smile.
Already knowing chocolate sat inside that bag, I deliberately asked the question anyway.
“…Is this from everyone in general affairs?”
Maybe, just maybe, this was simply chocolate being distributed to the whole company. Clinging to that faint hope, I asked — but her cheeks flushed even deeper, and she shook her head, side to side.
“No, it’s from me, personally… ah, it’s not anything weird, I promise! Actually, the other day, I was trying to change a fluorescent light, and the president happened to walk by… she said it was dangerous and changed it for me instead. I was so happy about that, I really wanted to thank her properly, that’s all.”
Huh. A thank-you? With chocolate this expensive, a thank-you, huh. I felt my expression nearly crack, but plastered on the brightest smile I could manage, forcing it to hold.
“…I see, understood. I’ll pass it along for you.”
Taking the paper bag, I cut the conversation short before it could grow any further, and turned my steps sharply toward the president’s office. Puffing my cheeks out, I hurried along.
—Why do I have to be the one handing over chocolate from some other girl to Yui-san!?
Honestly, Yui-san, why does she always end up charming girls like this without even trying? I love that kindness of hers… but I wish she’d be more selective about who she’s kind to.
That girl definitely likes Yui-san. So annoying. I’m going to say something about this. Thinking that, I yanked the president’s office door open.
“Good morning.”
Stepping into the president’s office, Yui-san was already seated at her desk. Lifting her face from the monitor, she smiled, happy, seeing me.
“Morning, Kanata.”
Immediately, my eyes caught on the several paper bags already lined up on her desk. Ugh, just as I thought. Every single one, a chocolate brand bag. Watching her sit there, so blissfully unaware, annoyed me.
Setting my bag down at my own desk, I marched straight up to hers. Then, deliberately, plunked the paper bag down on her desk with a thud.
Yui-san looked up at me, blinking, blank, and I glared down at her, hard.
“This is from a girl in general affairs. Apparently a thank-you for changing a fluorescent light. Yui-san, you’re seducing girls even inside the office, given any opening at all, aren’t you. What is this, a whole mountain of chocolate!”
“Huh?”
“…Cheater.”
Glaring at the row of paper bags on her desk hard enough to burn a hole through them, Yui-san, apparently caught off guard by my visibly foul mood since the moment I walked in, scrambled to shake her head, side to side.
“N-no, Kanata, that’s not it. It’s a genuine misunderstanding. It’s not anything like that, there’s no special meaning behind any of it at all.”
“Hmm. Well, with this much chocolate, it’ll take forever to eat through all of it. Guess you don’t need any from me, then.”
“Eh!? Wait, wait a second. Why? Kanata, you’re not giving me chocolate?? I was really looking forward to today, you know.”
Cheeks puffed out, arms crossed, I stood firm.
I already knew, in theory, exactly how popular Yui-san is around the office. But actually being shown proof, this plainly, that nothing’s changed at all — it doesn’t sit well with me.
At moments like this, I find myself, just a little, resenting the fact that we’re the same sex. Wanting to declare it, loudly, to the whole world — this person is my girlfriend, so please, stop approaching her.
Scrambling up from her desk, Yui-san wrapped her arms tight around my body from behind, where I’d turned my back on her, sulking.
Just from that alone, the jealous flame that had been burning, fierce, in my chest, weakened, just slightly.
Hugging me tight, tight, Yui-san rocked my body gently, soothing.
“Kanata. I’ve genuinely never once seduced another girl. Cheating’s absolutely out of the question, and this really is a misunderstanding.”
“Hmm. But you’re not especially into sweets, are you, Yui-san. Getting this much chocolate must be a real hassle.”
“You can eat all of this, okay? So, please, cheer up. I really want chocolate from you, Kanata.”
Even back in college, Yui-san always came home with plenty of chocolate. She’d try to wave it off as “obligation chocolate,” but I remember, clearly, that cute little message cards had always been tucked in among them.
Chocolate given with real feeling — there’s no way I’ll ever let Yui-san eat that. Not a single piece.
Back in college, unable to accept it, I’d eaten every single piece myself, never handing over so much as one, maybe Yui-san still remembers that, even now.
It’s not that I stole every chocolate purely out of sheer gluttonous appetite, though. Whether she’s actually noticed that feeling of mine or not, I still don’t know.
Turning within her arms to face her, I peered into her face. Watching her look genuinely troubled, deflated, I pinched both her cheeks with my hands, firm.
“…Then, promise me you won’t be too kind to other girls. Understood? No looking into their eyes and smiling either. It’s all this face’s fault. You idiot, Yui-san.”
That maddeningly beautiful face and smile, the one that captivates every woman in the world, is entirely to blame.
“Ow, Kanata, that hurts.”
“You’re way too kind, Yui-san. At this rate, every single female employee’s going to fall for you.”
“Ehh? I don’t think that’s really true…”
“It is true!”
Yui-san was simply born with a gift, transcending gender, for captivating the people around her.
Born under a certain kind of star, a natural-born charmer, through and through.
Not quite grasping the full weight of what I was saying, Yui-san just tilted her head, puzzled, gently stroking the cheeks I’d finally released with her hand.