Ichin knew perfectly well why the others were jealous, but he didn't care — he was long used to this kind of situation.
Ever since he'd moved to live next door to Haruno, Yukino often came over on weekends or whenever she had free time — sometimes with Haruno, sometimes by herself.
So even though this was the first time she'd sat next to him in class, one on each side with Utaha and her, it wasn't enough to make him nervous.
Still, today was Valentine's Day — a slightly special occasion — and having Yukino sitting so close could easily lead to unnecessary gossip.
But when Ichin turned to glance at her, he saw that she was calmly reading her book, completely unbothered. After thinking for a moment, he decided not to bring it up.
When classes ended that afternoon, the three of them left the building together.
Thankfully, no more girls showed up to confess or offer chocolates. That alone was enough for Ichin to feel relieved.
Just that one encounter in the morning had already been exhausting. The girl who approached him earlier had been polite and well-mannered, so he couldn't reject her too bluntly — he'd had to think carefully about how to word his response.
As they walked toward the parking lot, Utaha looped her arm through his and smiled teasingly.
"Ichin, no girls came to give you chocolates this afternoon, huh? Feeling a bit disappointed?"
"Disappointed? Not really. I already got one from my classmates."
Ichin said casually, "Besides, if too many people gave me chocolates, I'd never finish them all. In the end, I'd have to share them with others. And each one that's given, I'd have to thank again — and if someone misunderstood, I'd have to turn them down. That's way too much trouble."
"Heh~ is that so."
Utaha wasn't bothered about the group chocolate from Ichin's class — since all the boys received one.
In a class with only a few girls, the boys usually treated them kindly, so giving out chocolates on Valentine's Day was more like a gesture of gratitude than anything romantic.
As for chocolates with other intentions — there was no way Utaha would let Ichin accept those.
At that moment, Yukino, walking on Ichin's other side, glanced at Utaha, then at Ichin. Without a word, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small box, holding it out toward him.
"Hmm?" Ichin blinked in surprise. "What's this?"
"Chocolate," Yukino said calmly, looking him straight in the eyes. "When I taught Nene how to make chocolates the other day, I had a lot of ingredients left over. So, I made some extra. It's from me — I think it's okay for you to accept it, right?"
"Of course, if it's from you, Yukino," Ichin said with a smile as he took the box. "Thank you. I'll make sure to eat it all."
Utaha, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes slightly and turned toward Yukino.
"Yukino, where's mine, then?"
"I made one for you too," Yukino replied calmly. "But my bag didn't have enough space, so I only brought one box with me. The other's at home — I'll give it to you later, Utaha."
Hearing that, Utaha finally nodded in satisfaction.
Still, somewhere deep down, she felt that Yukino seemed a little different today — though after observing her for a while, she couldn't quite pinpoint how.
Hmph… a little troublesome.
But even if Yukino really did have some kind of feeling for Ichin, Utaha wasn't worried. Their relationship wasn't something so fragile that it could be shaken easily.
Once they reached the parking lot, Ichin and Utaha got into the car, ready to head to the company.
Yukino, meanwhile, didn't come along — she was planning to stop by the supermarket first, then head home.
Before getting into the car, Yukino looked at Ichin and Utaha and asked,
"Big brother, you and Utaha aren't coming home for dinner tonight, right?"
Ichin nodded. "Yeah, we've got a dinner reservation tonight. As for Haruno, she should be coming back for dinner, right?"
"She will. In fact, she told me yesterday that she invited Hiratsuka-sensei over as well."
"Ah, got it~ then we'll head to the office first. Drive safe, Yukino."
With a nod, Ichin and Utaha got into the car and left the parking lot first.
Watching their car pull away, Yukino finally opened her own car door and sat down.
She inserted the key, buckled her seatbelt, but didn't start the engine right away. Instead, she sat there in silence for a while, staring ahead in a daze, before finally starting the car and driving away from campus.
---
After Valentine's Day, Ichin's life finally returned to normal.
Following that one incident with the confession and his polite refusal, the girls at school had apparently given up. He no longer had to worry about being stopped or confessed to on his way to class.
After lectures, he went about his usual routine—heading straight to the company and diving into the programming department to help debug Dark Souls.
It was the final phase before the game's master build, and Ichin had joined the team himself to make sure everything could be finished on schedule.
Meanwhile, after finishing a monster design for GARO, Yagami Kō glanced over and saw Yukino walking into the programming room, carrying a tray of snacks and drinks.
She quietly shuffled over to Toyama Rin's side.
"Rin, have you noticed something lately?"
"Hm? What?" Rin asked without looking up, her pen still moving across the tablet.
"Don't you think Yukino's been coming to the company a lot more often lately?"
"Yukino?" Rin finally put down her stylus and gave Kō a questioning look. "What are you getting at?"
Leaning close to her ear, Kō whispered, "I heard from Ichin that Yukino gave him chocolates on Valentine's Day. Don't you think… that maybe it wasn't just friendly chocolate?"
"..."
Rin froze. She'd wanted to deny it immediately—but then hesitated, realizing she didn't quite know what to say.
Now that she thought about it, Yukino had been acting a little differently lately.
"Wait, seriously?" Rin frowned. "Aren't we overthinking it? I mean, they live right next to each other. If anything weird were going on, Utaha would notice right away. But she hasn't acted strange at all. She's even been busy with the TV drama script meetings at the publisher."
Kō pumped her small fist. "Even so, we should still try to probe a little! Yukino's a great girl and all, but I'm loyal to Team Utaha!"
Rin rolled her eyes. "Would you quit stirring things up? Can't you just quietly watch from the sidelines? Yukino's sharp—if even Aoba can see through your little schemes, what makes you think she won't?"
"Hmph! I'm not that easy to read!"
Kō puffed up her cheeks in protest but still heeded Rin's warning, turning back to her work reluctantly.
Five minutes later, the programming room door opened again, and Yukino stepped out carrying the now-empty tray.
At that moment, Shinoda Hajime walked down the hallway holding a stack of documents. Spotting Yukino, she smiled brightly.
"Oh! Yukino, you brought Ichin some snacks again? Seems like you've been visiting the company a lot lately!"
Her voice wasn't quiet at all—loud enough that Kō and Rin immediately heard it.
The two exchanged glances… and then, ever so slowly, turned their heads to sneak a look toward the hallway.
---
(T/N: Hehe... Interesting. We've our 2nd FL now? xD)
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