The Goddess Needs A Break!

Typically, February 14 was a day for couples to deepen their bonds, while loners complained about the sugary atmosphere that encompassed everyone and everything.

It was no different for Takei, or at least it should've been.

For a majority of his lifetime, he typically regarded Valentine's Day as a cursed day due to his loner status.

This year however, he managed to get a female "friend" who would probably celebrate this holiday with him.

As Takei sat down in his seat for homeroom, he noticed that there were many guys on the edge of their seats, while the girls were talking casually.

It seemed that the guys were anxiously waiting to receive a gift, while the girls had all the power so they could afford to be relaxed.

Takei could see why the guys were so anxious to get chocolates, since it directly affected their statuses and their male pride.

However, making chocolates and distributing them out one-by-one sounded like a tedious task to him.

If he were a girl, Takei would definitely not hand out any chocolates.

For that reason, he wouldn't be really sad if Akari decided not to give him chocolates.

The hurdle to making homemade chocolates was too high, so he didn't want to force her to do anything strenuous.

Even if he was fine with not getting any chocolates from Akari, Takei would be a little bit discouraged. Imagining the taste of the goddess's chocolates made him salivate at the thought.

"Um, are you okay?"

Rikka's voice woke Takei up from his dreaming.

Wiping the saliva off of his mouth, Takei replied in a casual tone.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"

Rikka didn't seem convinced, but she kept the conversation going.

"Huh... okay. Well, I have something to give you."

Pulling out a small plastic bag that was tied with a red ribbon from her school bag, Rikka handed the bag of chocolates over to Takei.

"I made obligatory...(not)...chocolates for you."

Rikka stated that these were obligatory chocolates, while also slipping in a hint to her true feelings through the form of a muffled contradiction.

"Oh, wow thanks."

Takei grabbed the bag and gave his gratitude for it.

Even though the chocolates weren't from his beloved goddess, Takei was still happy about receiving them. His pride as a man was safe for now.

"Can I try them now?"

Since it was almost lunchtime, Takei was feeling a bit peckish.

"Sure, it's my first time making chocolates so don't expect too much..."

Receiving Rikka's affirmation, Takei opened the bag and plopped a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

As Takei was chewing, he recalled a tidbit that he remembered from reading a scientific article. Apparently, dark chocolate is supposed to bring many health benefits if consumed.

He somewhat doubted this fact since chocolate was supposed to be unhealthy either way, but the fact was irrelevant now.

The mature taste of dark chocolate slowly melted in his mouth as he savored the smooth texture of it. He could tell that these were homemade by the taste and feel of it.

"Delicious."

Stating his objective opinion, Takei gently smiled as he kept on eating the chocolate.

Rikka sighed in relief as the fruits of her labor were beginning to show.

"I spent a lot of time on this, so I'm glad..."

A gentle yet rare smile appeared on Rikka's lips as she revelled in the feeling of success.

"Interesting..."

Eiji was sitting behind them the whole time and was watching the current event unfold with great interest.

***

As homeroom ended for the day, Takei slowly got out of his seat and made his way to the exit in an unusually slow manner.

The reason for his sluggish manner today was the extremely boring hour of doing absolutely nothing that he had to sit through.

His homeroom teacher went through several announcements and the intricate details about them, which ended up taking the whole class period.

As a result, Takei was incredibly bored and was constantly fighting the urge to sleep.

Yawning as he walked to his next class, Takei glanced around at his surroundings.

It seemed that the Valentine's Day atmosphere was also happening during the passing period, since Takei noticed that all the boys in the hallway were sweating bullets.

He sighed at the sight of all the nervous boys, since it also made him nervous as well.

Shaking off the negative thoughts that were building up, Takei walked towards his next class.

Well, he was supposed to. At least, until Takei was tapped on the shoulder.

"Heya, Takeichi! How's it going?"

It turned out that the person that interrupted him was Helena.

For some reason, she had started calling him Takeichi as a nickname. Oddly enough, Takei didn't feel entirely opposed to it, so he let it slide.

"Just going to class?"

Not knowing how to answer a pretty girl questioning him, Takei answered in a questioning tone.

"Come with me real quick!"

Helena pulled Takei to a deserted area of the school and pushed a package into his hands.

Rather than the expected homemade chocolates that he was used to, it was a prepackaged box of chocolate from the convenience store.

Tch, guess it's still not my popular phase yet.

Laughing at Takei's reaction, Helena slapped him repeatedly on the back.

"Heehee, these are obligatory chocolates of course."

Knocking the top of her head with a clenched fist, Helena made a cute expression as she stuck her tongue out as well as winking at him.

"Thank you?"

Still unaccustomed to Helena's whimsical nature, Takei could only thank her for the chocolates while also somewhat questioning her motives.

"Now onto the main topic... Have you gotten your chocolates from Akarin yet?"

"You should've just asked from the start..."

Exasperated by her nature, Takei rubbed his temples.

"No, I haven't gotten any yet..."

Hearing Takei's reply, Helena nodded in understanding.

"Just as I expected. A little birdy told me that a certain person was waiting for the right moment to give her chocolates to you."

"..."

Helena gave Takei a hint about the expected arrival date of the chocolates that he had been awaiting.

Understanding that she was trying to assuage his nerves, Takei wryly grinned and nodded his head.

"Thanks..."

"It was no problem, I'm just here to progress the story~"

Having no idea what she meant, Takei sighed for the millionth time today.

This is going to be a long Valentine's Day...

---

No Akari in this chapter sadly :(

Don't worry, she'll be in tomorrow's chapter, Valentine's Day (2).

Serious-san: It's literally the second chapter of the new volume and there's already an arc that's screaming diabetes...

Sugar-san: Author-san has completely converted to the sugar side!

Author-san: Not completely... yet.