February 14th, early morning.
The weather was bright and clear today, not a cloud in the sky. And yet, for some reason, the atmosphere across the entire academy was oppressively subdued, as though invisible storm clouds were hanging over it, making even breathing feel a little difficult.
Kitahara sat on the sofa in the dorm with his phone in hand. Looking at the Trainers' group chat, where messages were flying by at a rate that felt like ninety-nine a second, he couldn't help muttering under his breath,
"Tachyon... just how much bad karma did you rack up here...?"
Super truth serum had gotten mixed into the chocolate. Since the situation was too serious, once the news reached them, the Chairwoman's side ultimately chose to make it public to the Trainers after some discussion, so they could at least be on guard.
But because of that, now that the Trainers understood just how bad things were, they were even more uneasy than before. Some of them hadn't even slept all night, spending the whole time in the group chat discussing how to survive this calamity—and they still hadn't stopped.
As for Kitahara, while he sympathized with his brothers and sisters in arms, there was nothing he could do for them. All he could do was silently pray they made it through the day.
What puzzled him, though, was this:
He was Agnes Tachyon's Trainer, and in the past, whenever she pulled some stunt, these people would always spam-mention him like crazy and tell him to do something about her.
But today, even though Tachyon had pulled off something unprecedented and they had been discussing it all night, not a single person had tagged him or messaged him privately the entire time...
Had these people finally realized he couldn't control Tachyon?
Kitahara suspected as much, but didn't dwell on it.
Because right now, there was a more important question worth considering.
Why had Tachyon brought truth serum with her when she went to the cooking room yesterday?
Yesterday, while he was focused on how severe the situation was, that part hadn't stood out. But now that he'd calmed down and thought about it carefully, looking at Agnes Tachyon's entire social circle, the number of people she could really call friends could be counted on one hand. And as for people she might give chocolate to...
Kitahara lowered his head and thought for a while, then came to what felt like the only possible conclusion.
Right. Decision made. No matter what she brings later, he's testing it first before eating any of it.
Having reached that conclusion, Kitahara looked at the time. It seemed about right, so he washed up, headed out, ate breakfast in the cafeteria, and then went to the training grounds as usual.
Because of the truth serum incident, the atmosphere at the training grounds today was especially oppressive. Forget stepping inside—even just looking from a distance, that suffocating air hit him head-on, like a monster with its jaws open, waiting for prey to walk in.
Kitahara could obviously feel how strange the mood was.
But even though he noticed it, he didn't think it had anything to do with him.
Sure, it was Valentine's Day. Sure, truth-chocolate was everywhere.
But that wasn't something he had to worry about.
After all, his relationships with the girls on his team were all perfectly normal. Even Agnes Tachyon probably just wanted to use this chance to make him test her drug. There was no reason to think there was anything else going on.
With that in mind, Kitahara stepped onto the training grounds. Under the watch of countless complicated gazes from all around, he made his way to where his own team was gathered.
Even though it was Valentine's Day, compared to the other teams on the training grounds whose atmospheres had all turned bizarre, Kitahara's team—despite being a bit large—actually looked fairly normal on the surface.
Before Kitahara had even arrived, the Umamusume on his team had already been chatting and exchanging friendship chocolates with each other.
And after he showed up, none of them acted strangely either. Once they had all put away the chocolates they'd received from one another, they simply started training as usual, looking no different from any other day.
It was enough to make even Kitahara stop in surprise.
Hm? Nobody's giving him chocolate?
It wasn't that he cared that much about chocolate, but he figured he'd spent a decent amount of time with these girls by now, and they all got along pretty well. Logically, he ought to get a few obligation chocolates at least.
But now, they had all finished giving chocolate to each other and had already started training, while he still hadn't gotten a single one...
Just as Kitahara was thinking that, accompanied by a faint set of footsteps, a small shadow crept up behind him with something in her hands, sneaking closer and closer.
Then, once that little shadow got close enough, she raised what she was holding and was just about to speak—when a hand appeared above her head from who knew when and slowly came down.
"Teio, why aren't you training properly? What are you doing sneaking over here?"
Kitahara spoke slowly, lightly ruffling her hair with that hand before turning around. Sure enough, there behind him was Tokai Teio, who had quietly snuck up on him, with a beautifully wrapped box of chocolate in her hands.
"Hm? Is this chocolate for me?"
Originally, Tokai Teio had wanted to sneak up behind Kitahara, suddenly present him with her chocolate, and give him a little surprise while teasing him at the same time.
But now, forget the prank—Kitahara's sudden turn had startled her instead, leaving her standing there blankly until his words finally snapped her back to herself.
"Um, this, it's..."
Since her plan had been thrown off all at once, Tokai Teio clearly didn't know what to do now. She stood there hesitating for a while before finally holding out the chocolate in her hands.
"It's for you, Trainer-san..."
"Then I'll gladly accept."
Smiling, Kitahara took the chocolate. He looked over the elaborate wrapping, which clearly had a lot of care put into it, then glanced at the still-dazed Tokai Teio and spoke in a slightly teasing tone.
"By the way, mind if I ask whether this is romantic chocolate or obligation chocolate? The wrapping looks awfully fancy. Don't tell me it's romantic chocolate...?"
Of course he knew perfectly well that what Tokai Teio was giving him had to be obligation chocolate. He was only saying this because her mood seemed a little down, and he wanted to tease her a bit to cheer her up.
And just as expected, the moment he said that, Tokai Teio's face instantly turned red. She stammered for a while, clearly trying to say something, but after hemming and hawing for ages, she still couldn't get the words out.
Seeing that she'd recovered some energy, Kitahara decided not to tease her anymore.
After checking with Tokai Teio first, he simply unwrapped the chocolate and broke off a piece to put into his mouth.
"How... does it taste?"
Tokai Teio lifted her head and asked tentatively.
"How should I put it..."
Kitahara thought for a moment.
"As far as taste goes, out of all the chocolate I've received so far, this one ranks first."
First?
Tokai Teio's body trembled slightly when she heard that evaluation, but before she could be happy for long, she suddenly realized that, if nothing unexpected had happened, she was currently the only person who had given Kitahara chocolate.
And right after that, before she could react any further, Kitahara looked at the chocolate in his hand and added,
"Come to think of it, why is this chocolate heart-shaped too? Teio, don't tell me you didn't even check the shape before giving it away. It wouldn't be great if someone misunderstood..."
Silence.
A long silence.
"Trainer-san, you big idiot!"
With that one baffling line, Tokai Teio stormed off in a huff.
...What was that about?
Watching Tokai Teio run off, more confusion entered Kitahara's eyes, but he didn't think too much of it. He simply kept breaking off bits of the chocolate and popping them into his mouth.
That "first place" comment earlier had partly been meant to tease Tokai Teio, but honestly speaking, the chocolate really was pretty good.
And compared to ordinary chocolates on the market, it also had a bit of honey special drink flavor mixed in. He had no idea what brand that was supposed to be. At least, he'd never heard of any chocolate that came in honey special drink flavor.
Then, after finishing the chocolate Tokai Teio had given him, some time passed. When training hit a break in the middle, another figure came over to his side.
"Oguri Cap?"
Kitahara looked at the person who had appeared before him in confusion.
"What is it? Did something happen?"
"Um..."
Oguri Cap hesitated for a bit, then slowly said,
"Chocolate..."
"You want chocolate?"
The moment Oguri Cap said the word chocolate, Kitahara's first reaction was that she'd seen everyone else eating chocolate and wanted some too.
It was only after she pulled out a box of chocolate from her pocket and held it out to him that he realized she was giving him chocolate.
"...For me?"
"Mhm."
Oguri Cap nodded, then added a little awkwardly,
"I'm not very good at making this, so it might not taste that good..."
She made it herself?
Kitahara looked at her with mild surprise, thinking that the fact this girl had managed not to eat both the chocolate and the ingredients used to make it—and had even produced a finished product—was honestly incredible.
Maybe the meaning in his gaze was too obvious, because once she noticed it, Oguri Cap lowered her head slightly and said in a small voice,
"I actually ate quite a lot. Everyone had already made their chocolate, but then a new bucket of water showed up, and they said the water quality was better and would make the chocolate taste better too. So everyone gave me their original chocolate and went to make new chocolate with the water from that bucket..."
"Chocolate's pretty high in calories. Looks like you're going to need extra training later."
Kitahara had no intention of scolding her. Smiling, he patted her head, then opened the wrapping on the chocolate in his hand.
When he saw the obvious bite marks on the heart-shaped chocolate inside, his expression slowly turned strange.
"That was... just to test the flavor..."
Oguri Cap tried to explain, but her voice was weak and utterly unconvincing.
Kitahara didn't mind all that much. It wasn't as if he only learned about Oguri Cap's gluttony today, and the two of them traded food now and then anyway, so this sort of thing wasn't exactly unfamiliar.
With that thought, Kitahara broke off a piece and put it into his mouth. After tasting it carefully, he came to a conclusion.
Yep. Just very ordinary chocolate.
Still, even if the flavor was ordinary, given that Oguri Cap had made it herself and had actually managed not to eat all of it, Kitahara still gave it quite a high evaluation.
Only...
Why was this one heart-shaped too?
Staring at the remaining chocolate in his hand, a bold thought gradually formed in Kitahara's mind.
Could it be this chocolate was originally square, but this girl nibbled it into a heart?
He wasn't doubting whether what Oguri Cap had given him was romantic chocolate.
He was doubting whether she'd finished making it, failed to resist sneaking a bite, then realized after two bites that the shape looked wrong, so she gnawed it into a heart in an attempt to cover her tracks—only to fail to resist again while packaging it and take one more little bite, leaving it in its current state.
Kitahara felt like he had uncovered the truth.
As for the Oguri Cap across from him, after hearing his high praise for the chocolate, she looked visibly happier, and even the tail behind her had started swishing back and forth.
And much like Tokai Teio earlier, after Kitahara gave his evaluation, Oguri Cap's lips moved slightly as though she wanted to say something.
It was then that Kitahara noticed the change in her.
He looked at the expression on her face, which seemed like she wanted to say something, then looked at the chocolate in his hand. After thinking for a bit, he broke off another piece and held it out toward her.
"Half and half?"
No one knew what Oguri Cap had been about to say just now, but after Kitahara offered her that piece of chocolate, her thoughts very obviously changed course, wavering between whatever she had wanted to say and the chocolate now in front of her.
And after a long internal struggle that lasted nearly three full seconds, she was ultimately unable to defeat the temptation in front of her. She gave a small nod, allowing Kitahara to feed that piece of chocolate into her mouth.
Along with his scent.
...
A little later.
Two already, huh...
After finishing the chocolate Oguri Cap had given him together with her, Kitahara looked back toward the training grounds, a few puzzled thoughts appearing in his eyes.
Strange. If they were going to give him chocolate, why hadn't these girls just handed it over during morning assembly? Why wait until now and come one by one...?
Just as Kitahara was thinking that, a familiar sensation brushed against his arm—the feeling of something soft wrapping around it.
"Grass-chan, what is it?"
Already used to it, Kitahara began absentmindedly rubbing the tail in his hand. Before he had even turned around, a box of chocolate was held out in front of him.
"I made it yesterday. It should taste all right."
Before Kitahara even had time to turn and look at Grass Wonder after hearing her speak, he felt something on his other arm too. Then another box of chocolate appeared in front of him.
"Sota-san, I made this one."
Clinging to Kitahara's arm, Special Week looked toward Grass Wonder on the other side, her eyes full of hostility.
And on the opposite side, Grass Wonder smiled sweetly at Special Week. On the surface she didn't move at all, but her tail kept brushing nimbly against Kitahara's arm, creating a rather unusual sensation.
Kitahara noticed the standoff between the two, but didn't think much of it. Inwardly, he merely sighed that Grass-san was being way too childish with how she kept provoking Special Week, then took both boxes of chocolate and opened them together.
Like everyone else's so far, the chocolate Special Week had given him was heart-shaped, and the taste was fairly ordinary too—about on par with Oguri Cap's, just without any bite marks.
Grass-san's chocolate, meanwhile, was comparatively special. Not only did it taste excellent, with a faint refreshing note that kept it from becoming cloying, but its shape was also the standard square kind, with a bellflower pattern carved into the top.
"Kitahara-san, which chocolate do you think is better?"
Grass Wonder asked slowly.
"In terms of flavor, Grass Wonder's is a bit better."
Kitahara gave an objective evaluation like a proper food critic.
"But in terms of sincerity, I think both of them put a lot into it. Even though your chocolate, Grass-chan, really does look better and taste better, I know Special Week's never made anything like this before. For her to reach this level already, she must have worked very hard... I think it's great."
As for why Special Week's chocolate was heart-shaped? She was a kid. A little girl, at that. Wasn't it perfectly normal for a first-timer making something like this to go with hearts?
And as for the meaning of bellflowers—eternal love, and so on—that was completely outside Kitahara's field of knowledge. Never mind that he simply wouldn't have made that association in the first place.
Grass-san was his good buddy.
How could bros possibly give each other romantic chocolate?
No matter how you looked at it, that was impossible, okay?
After hearing his evaluation, both of them still wanted to keep clinging to Kitahara a little longer.
But yesterday, they had all already discussed it and agreed that, at least during the daytime, they would follow a time order drawn by lot, giving their chocolates one by one without interrupting each other. Otherwise, after a whole day, some of them might not even get the chance to hand theirs over.
So even though they were reluctant inside, seeing that the time for the next people in line was almost up, Grass Wonder and Special Week finally shot each other one last glare and then left.
This is getting kind of overwhelming...
After four pieces of chocolate in a row, Kitahara now felt like his entire mouth was full of chocolate flavor, and the sweetness was starting to become too much.
Hopefully nobody else would give him more chocolate for a while. Or at the very least, they could wait a bit...
Kitahara prayed inwardly.
But unfortunately, heaven did not bend to human wishes. The instant that thought crossed his mind, he heard footsteps approach again.
Who is it this time...?
Kitahara let out a sigh, turned his head with mild resignation—and after seeing who it was, one eyebrow suddenly lifted.
"Tamamo?"
Looking at Tamamo Cross, who was walking over with a piece of chocolate in hand and an expression full of resignation, Kitahara hadn't even said anything yet when Tamamo Cross simply stuck the chocolate into his hand and sat down beside him.
"What's this...?"
"Oguri Cap couldn't make hers, so she asked me to help. I just made an extra one while I was at it."
After a pause, Tamamo Cross added,
"You don't have to eat it right now either. I know you're already sick of chocolate as it is, and it's probably only going to get worse from here. I can't really stop what's coming, but I can at least help buy you a little time."
"What are you talking about? What do you mean, 'it's only going to get worse from here'?"
Kitahara looked at her in confusion.
After a moment of silence, Tamamo Cross let out a sigh and said, "It's nothing."
"Just pretend I'm talking to a piece of wood."
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T/N: I AM GETTING RAGEBAITED HERE HOW IS HE SO DUMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IM GETTING THE ICK FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK