February was still bitterly cold. The only way to fight off the chill was to wrap yourself up layer upon layer until you looked like a stuffed rice dumpling.
But hidden behind that cold was the life force of grass and trees preparing to sprout anew. Every day, Dyna repeated the same rhythm between the academy and the shop, and it was a life that felt both full and satisfying.
That day, just before leaving the shop, she stood by the entrance, cupped her hands, and breathed a puff of white mist into them to warm them up. Looking at the calendar, she suddenly remembered an extremely important date that was fast approaching—
Valentine's Day.
"So soon already… This seems like a perfect occasion for a special promotion."
She kept turning the idea over in her head on the way to Tracen Academy. For Tracen, Valentine's Day was arguably even more important than New Year's.
Setting aside the ever-popular confessions from horse girls to young trainers, or longtime partners finally confessing their feelings after years of mutual understanding, even confessions between horse girls themselves were far from rare. And at times like this, one particular item always became impossibly scarce:
Chocolate.
Handmade gifts were certainly more heartfelt, of course. But not every horse girl could cook, nor did all of them have the time to make something themselves. That was where a dessert shop could step in and produce exactly the thing everyone wanted to buy and give—
Chocolate.
Because the meaning behind it was so special, Dyna had no intention of mass-producing it. Instead, she decided to make each special chocolate by hand, every one with a different design. It would be terribly inefficient, and she probably would not be able to make many by the time the holiday arrived, but that was enough. As long as each buyer could use it to better express their feelings to the person receiving it, that was what mattered.
As for who would be able to buy them...
That would depend on fate.
Of course, aside from the limited Valentine's chocolates handmade by the proprietress herself, ordinary dark chocolate and white chocolate would also be sold in unlimited supply. At this rate, the shop was bound to be packed when the holiday came.
Once the plan had taken shape in her mind, Dyna hurried home after training that day, took a shower, changed clothes, and plunged straight into the kitchen to begin making those special gifts.
Before long, customers entering the shop began to notice that, mixed in with the usual warm, sweet fragrance, there was now the distinctive rich scent of chocolate.
"Eh? Are you making chocolate in here?"
"Mm. Starting on Valentine's Day, dark and white chocolate desserts will be added to the menu," Oguri Cap replied. "Though they'll probably be a little... sweeter than what you find elsewhere."
She had just sampled the boss's dark chocolate recipe herself, and it was so rich it almost tasted bitter beneath the sweetness. That deep cocoa fragrance had lingered in her mouth for a long time.
"Waaah, I'm looking forward to it! I'll definitely come first thing that day!"
The silver-haired horse girl who said that was not a Tracen student. To be more accurate, she had failed the Tracen entrance selection when she was younger. She had attended an ordinary middle school instead, gone on to a second-rate university, and then returned to Tokyo, where she found a job as a programmer. At present, she lived alone and led a steady, uneventful life.
Still, at work she had met a young man around her own age. Their interactions were ordinary, their conversations ordinary. But little by little, something subtle seemed to have begun to grow between them.
She shook her head, not letting herself dwell on it, bought some bread to go with her lunch, and left.
A while later, another customer appeared.
A man in a black leather jacket, covered in snow from head to toe, stopped in front of the shop. He carefully brushed all the snow off outside before entering, clearly afraid of getting the shop wet or dirty.
After wiping the moisture from his shoes on the absorbent mat just inside the door, he did not linger at the display shelves. Instead, he hurried straight to the counter.
"Excuse me... is the proprietress here?"
"Hm? I'm here. Oguri Cap, did something happen in the shop?" Dyna had heard someone call for her clearly from the back kitchen, and since she happened to have a free moment, she answered right away.
Oguri Cap replied, "No idea. This customer came in and immediately asked for you."
"Huh?"
Dyna's first thought was that perhaps a customer had come to complain about a product defect, so she immediately turned off the kitchen equipment, wiped her hands clean, and hurried out. She did not even take off her apron, and there were still traces of dark and white chocolate on it.
"Did one of our products have a quality problem?" she asked with utmost sincerity, bowing politely.
The man immediately waved his hands in panic.
"No, no, not at all! I just wanted to ask... do you happen to offer custom chocolate orders? I went to every shop in the shopping street, and they were all fully booked. Then I thought, since Wuyou has never sold chocolate before, maybe I should try asking here..."
Hearing that, Dyna pressed a fingertip lightly to her lips and smiled in a knowing way.
"I see... So, sir, you want that sort of thing, right?"
"Yes, yes! I can't cook, and I don't have the time, so this is the only way I could think of. And I'm afraid that if I wait any longer... I might lose my chance entirely..."
"And then lose everything. I understand."
Her smile softened.
"So, sir, you're very lucky. I really was planning to sell chocolate for Valentine's Day, and there will also be a limited number of special chocolates. I wasn't planning to accept custom orders, but... let's just say you count as a special customer."
"But please—don't mention this to anyone else."
As the saying went, a deliberate arrangement could never compare to perfect timing. Since fate had brought him here, of course Dyna was willing to help.
The man bowed repeatedly, so emotional he nearly folded in half.
"Thank you so much! I'll gladly pay extra!"
He was so worked up that when he bent down, half his forehead actually smacked into the counter with a loud thunk. A faint bruise immediately began to form there.
"Hiss... Here's my business card. I'm sorry, it's almost time for work, so I can't stay and explain the details properly! The key elements are... gray-white, and butterflies!"
He pulled a card from the breast pocket of his jacket and handed it to Dyna respectfully with both hands. Once she accepted it, he hurried out of the shop.
Through the glass window, they could see the grown man practically skipping away in delight. He even slipped and fell headfirst into a pile of snow, then scrambled right back up and continued bouncing off down the street.
"Well... men really do stay boys forever," Dyna murmured with a small laugh. "But... gray-white, huh?"
Even she did not realize that the smile on her lips had not faded for a second. Though her hands were folded demurely before her abdomen, her fingers kept circling restlessly against each other.
Gray-white.
That keyword felt oddly familiar.
Dyna let out a soft laugh and headed back into the kitchen.
After all, one of the customers who had just left seemed to fit the description of gray-white rather well.
And besides...
The logo on his uniform matched someone else's.
The shop remained wonderfully warm. The aroma of fresh bread slipped out through the crack beneath the door, drifting into the shopping street and luring the souls of all who sought something delicious.
Once Valentine's Day passed, February's cold would begin to give way to spring. For anyone, that was a wonderful thing.
And Dyna, too, would finally be able to train again on the good track conditions she liked best.
Only, in her memory, there was one person who had not been doing so well lately—
Gold Shipwright.
Gold Shipwright had taken second in the Shinzan Kinen on January 8, and only managed third in the Kisaragi Sho on February 6.
Those repeated setbacks on the track had been weighing on her badly these days.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 95
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 89
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin