Generally, February is the month that gets everyone excited and antsy, boys and girls and anyone in between alike.
But in Tootsuki, the hubbub begins way ahead of time.
The frantic, inane scramble for the best ingredients and calls to the service department for the best decoratives is hilarious to watch, for someone like Souma. Chocolate making was never this stressful back in middle school.
Last year, Souma witnessed first hand the absolute disaster that Tootsuki became near Valentine's Day. It had even gotten Megumi in a slight frenzy, and she'd been here since middle school.
But this year. This year was different. Megumi is the one who watches him with amusement this year, as he sulks from a chair and she feeds him experimental chocolates.
"If it bothers you so much, why don't you just ask?" Megumi says, stirring a bowl of half melted chocolate glaze.
"No." Souma immediately rejects Megumi's sensibility for useless brooding.
Megumi shakes her head. "Takumi-kun would tell you if you just asked, you know," she insists, carefully pouring the chocolate atop a layered wafer. She picks up the wafer, delicately hovering it before Souma. "Here, try it now."
"Well, yeah." Souma grouches. "But he'd have told me if he liked someone too, right?" He takes a bite out of the confection, slowly chewing. "Maybe sprinkle some strawberry bits. The sour ones."
That was the whole issue. That Takumi Aldini, Souma's self proclaimed best friend, was keeping secrets from Souma. Love related secrets.
Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. Everyone had something to hide, and Souma was never one to pry. But making Valentine's chocolate for someone? Multiple years in a row, since his middle school days in Tootsuki? (The latter fact was supplied by Megumi, who was more in tune with Souma's feelings before he was himself. The jealousy filled rumours circulating the school had helped too, he supposes.)
It wasn't any ordinary Valentine's chocolate either. Oh no. Souma had been fed too many batches of trial and error for Takumi before even realising the implications of them.
Ganache, truffles, brownies, mousse, cake. All forms chocolate has ever been imagined to take Takumi had made and fed to Souma, with an anxious look and even more fretting questions of whether it was too sweet, too bitter, should he add anything more, at every chew Souma took.
Gullible Souma back in the month of January, had told him that it was just right, despite the deeper hint of bitterness compared to the previous batches, though perhaps more viscosity in the molten chocolate would be good.
He'd even tried three day old cake for Takumi, just to see if it could sustain freshness for that long. Why Takumi needed to know that was beyond Souma, but he had happily obliged.
Ah, the things he would do for love.
Now, with the fact that Valentine's was less than a day away fully sunken in, Souma could do nothing but brood over who Takumi's chocolate could be meant for.
Ever patient Megumi and her never ending list of advice had been Souma's sole comfort since February began. Her chocolate had helped, too.
"You could make him something special too," Megumi suggests. "You don't just have to give him friendship chocolate."
"Yeah, but when he realises he's the only one who got something out of the ordinary, he's going to put two and two together. I don't want to put him on the spot." Souma says, crossing his arms over the top of the chair he's seated backwards in. "Especially if he already has someone he likes. Which he does."
"Well." Megumi pauses to add the strawberry bits, humming to herself in satisfaction. "Maybe you can ask him after Valentine's, then. I'm sure the whole school will be if his recipient is from Tootsuki. But for now, help me keep these. I don't want them to melt before tomorrow."
"Sure." Souma says, standing up. Together, they pick and move the best chocolate wafers to a patterned box that Megumi skilfully ties a ribbon around, ending it in a puffy bow.
"I hope Isami likes it." Souma says, as Megumi puts the box into the fridge. She blushes at his words, twirling one end of a braid around her finger.
"Thanks. I hope you get some answers for your situation, too."
Souma sighs. "Don't hold your breath on that one. Come on, let's pack the rest of these too, then get back to the dorm."
Just as the duo begin packing the leftovers into tupperware, they hear hurried footsteps approach the kitchen.
Before Souma can go pop his head out to check like he's so prone to do in the middle of classes, Isami swings open the door, slightly out of breath. Megumi squeaks, and slams the lid on the container before the boy can see its contents.
Luckily, Isami is too preoccupied scanning the place to notice Megumi's fluster.
"Have you seen Takumi's phone?" Isami asks, as said brother comes running up behind him.
"Have you seen my phone?" Takumi repeats, much more out of breath than the other.
"We haven't." Souma says, swiftly side stepping to block Megumi's hands as she quickly keeps the chocolate in the fridge. "We've been here all day."
"Did you lose it somewhere in school?" Megumi asks, now more visibly relaxed as she closes the fridge door.
"I think. I had it with me today morning, but I can't find it now." Takumi says, running a hand through his hair frustratedly. He looked extremely frazzled, and not even Isami was immune to his anxiety. The younger brother was tapping his foot incessantly, a slight frown on his face.
"We'll help you look." Souma says, dumping all the used cutlery into the sink. Those could wait. Takumi needed his help.
"Thank you." Takumi says, relieved. Souma and Megumi quickly exit the kitchen, joining the Aldini brothers in their fast trek down the corridor.
"Where did you last see it?" Megumi asks.
"In kitchen six. But I've been in a few others today helping out the juniors and Nakiri-san, so it might be there, too." Takumi sighs.
"Ok, then let's split up to cover more ground. I'll cover the kitchens six to ten along this corridor with you, while Tadokoro and Isami can go to private kitchens in the next corridor." Souma suggests, that the others readily agree to.
As they split, Souma gives Megumi a less than discrete thumbs up that she swats away humorously.
"Ask him about it." She whispers before they part, smiling encouragingly. Souma wants to plop his head in her shoulder and whine for the hundred and forty sixth time why he can't, but Megumi's already left.
So he turns to focus on the task on hand instead, only to face a very impatient Takumi hovering near the doors of kitchen ten, finger tapping against the handle irritatedly.
This frown communicated his displeasure at being kept waiting better than any of his biting remarks.
"If you've offered to help, please don't make me waste more time instead?" Takumi sighs, pushing the door open. Souma inwardly flinches at the edge in his voice. Wow, seeing the blond this annoyed was rare.
"My bad." Souma apologises. He takes a quick survey of the room. No phones on countertops. Seeing as how Takumi's already opening and closing every cabinet at breakneck speed and alarming noisiness, he gets on his knees next, bowing low to peer under the worktables.
Faintly, Souma hears Takumi sigh again. He pushes himself upright to catch the sight of defeat slumping Takumi's shoulders low.
"Of course this had to happen when I'm waiting for a call." Takumi mutters to himself, roughly combing his hand through his hair again. "Disappear when I need you most like my will to live, why don't you. None of this is going to have any negative repercussions. Of course not." Then he's wringing a spice cabinet open with so much vigour it makes Souma reel back.
"Where are you, you dumb thing." He hisses. Souma's never heard that much hatred in Takumi's voice before. He isn't sure whether he likes it or is afraid of it.
Souma decides this is a thing he should discuss with someone more unwilling to broach the subject like Hayama to make the awkward experience worse on both parties, so he settles for a simpler question. "Who's call are you waiting for?"
Takumi turns to face Souma, worry tearing his face apart. "Someone important." He replies, wringing his hands. "Tomorrow's a very important day for her. I can't mess up."
Dread settles in Souma's stomach like lead. Souma wants to ask who is it, why are they important, how important are they, are they more important to Takumi than he is and if so how much and can he ever bridge that gap, but all that comes out is a strangled, "Oh?"
"Yeah." Takumi says, leaning against the counter. He's gnawing on his thumb, eyes unfocused and staring intently on the floor. Souma recognises it as a position Takumi takes when he's trying desperately to remember something.
Except the frown on Takumi's face is growing worse, as is the knit between his brows.
Souma stands and dusts his knees off. He walks over to Takumi, and presses a hand to his tense shoulder.
"Hey." Takumi glances up at Souma, and Souma tries his best to squeeze out a sincere smile. "It'll be okay. We'll find your phone, and everything will work out. I'm sure of it." He thinks it might be a bit hypocritical of him to say this, when he's really hoping for the opposite of everything to 'working out' in Takumi's love liferight now.
Takumi offers the tiniest smile back, and despite himself, Souma feels his heart swell at the sight. "Thanks. You're right. Come on, let's get back to searching. We've still got some kitchens to go."
As they make their way to the door, Souma ignores the agony swimming in his gut. Once he gets back to the dorm, he's burrowing himself in his blankets until dinnertime, he swears.
Suddenly, Megumi comes barrelling in, cheeks pink.
"We found it!" Megumi cries. Isami is behind her, a jubilant smile on his face.
Just as quickly as she'd arrived, Takumi is grabbing her hands, clasped around the phone. "Thank you, Tadokoro-san!"
Souma doesn't know whether he should be relieved that Takumi is finally looking like his normal self against, or horribly disappointed that his one sided crush is going to end before he could even confess.
"No calls yet." Isami reports. "Thank god all those chocolates won't go to waste. I really wanted to see her reaction to them."
"Chocolates?" Souma asks. He's already scared of the reply. Oh god. When did he turn into such a lovesick fool.
"Yeah, for -." Isami's explanation is interrupted by a timely ring. Takumi barely lets his phone rest for a moment before swiping the call icon.
In that moment, there was nothing Souma wanted to do more than disintegrate into dust and be blown out the kitchen. Megumi quietly squeezes Souma's hand, and it would have been comforting, had Souma not been too numb to feel it.
Then all sensations return to Souma at full force at Takumi's very joyful greeting of, "Hello, mama?"
"Huh?" Souma's surprised gasp is quickly overshadowed by the quick Italian exchanged between Takumi and the caller, and even quicker Italian between the brothers.
For a while, the only conversations being had in the kitchen were foreign to Souma's ears. It didn't help that the only words he knew in Italian was from his diner's menu.
It wasn't until Takumi handed the phone over to Isami that he got another chance to speak.
"Your mother?" Souma asks, gesturing to the phone. He's certain he looks as stunned as he sounds. Heck, he was still half in disbelief.
"Yeah." Takumi is grinning now, relief and happiness having replaced the previous anxiety. "Yeah, it's her birthday tomorrow, and we were worrying the whole day if the chocolates we made arrived in time. It's a little early, but we expected that." Takumi pauses to yell something in Italian at Isami, who promptly speaks over him.
"Isn't it funny? A patisserie having her birthday on Valentine's. God, i'm so damn glad we didn't miss her call; it's the one thing we look forward to every February."
Nearly all other words except 'chocolate' whizzes over Souma's head. "So the chocolates i've been taste-testing…."
"Were all for her. Did you think I had a secret lover like the rest of the school?" Takumi jokes. Upon seeing the frantic relief and very guilty eye aversion, Takumi's eyes widen. "You did, didn't you. Oh my god, that's - that's hilarious." Takumi isn't laughing, but his tone is very much laughing at Souma.
"No!" Souma exclaims, shaking his head. "I mean! Not really! I just...guessed. Since you were keeping the whole thing such a secret I just assumed -." Souma cuts himself off at the sight of Takumi biting his inner cheek, clearing suppressing a laugh. "You're getting a kick out of this, aren't you."
"Of course." Takumi smirks. "I didn't think you'd be the type of guy to get hung up over rumours like this. It's nice to know you have the capacity for naivety."
"Oh, shut up." Souma mutters, embarrassed. Takumi wouldn't be laughing for long if he knew why he was so affected anyway, Souma thinks sourly.
"Fine." Takumi concedes. Seeing Souma pouting, Takumi rolls his eyes. "Okay, okay. If you stop sulking, i'll give you something as an apology."
Hearing that, Souma immediately perks up. "I accept no less than twenty dollars."
"In your dreams." Takumi chuckles. He beckons for Souma to follow, leading him out the kitchen towards another one.
Entering kitchen six, Takumi heads straight for one of the many industrial fridges. He pulls out a plainly wrapped package, with a dual ribbon wrapped diagonally around two opposite corners of it.
Souma can practically hear his heart beating in his ears as Takumi hands it to him.
"Here. This was supposed to be as thanks for being my taste tester this past month, but it'll have to double as an apology now." Takumi says, as Souma gingerly receives the box.
"Can I open it?" Souma asks. He wastes no time tearing open the package at Takumi's nod.
"To think I spent time wrapping it up." Takumi says.
But Souma is too busy admiring the individually wrapped orangettes to comment. The orange confitures are half dipped in chocolate, an obvious gradient of dark to milk chocolate arranged front to back. Some have nuts sprinkled on them, others dried fruit or patterned sheets stuck on.
"They're beautiful." Souma holds the box up to look at the orangettes from a different angle. Takumi had even differed the amounts of each topping per slice. More nuts on the dark, more fruits on the milk, only patterns and sparse toppings on the white. It was so like Takumi to consider Souma's preferences over what taste combinations were best, it made Souma's heart squeeze uncontrollably tight.
"Of course. I spent a whole night making sure the tempering came out perfect." Takumi says, grinning proudly.
"But why orangettes?" Souma asks. He hadn't seen Takumi practicing those when taste testing. In fact, it was never even an option Takumi had offered.
"I thought you might be sick of normal chocolates by now." Takumi says, shrugging. "The ones I got you to taste were really heavy in taste and chocolate content, so I figured you'd appreciate something lighter on the tongue. And the candied fruit gives a different mouthfeel. It's a nice change from all the others i've been giving you. But most importantly," Takumi crosses his arms, grinning. "I can't let you think i'm a one trick pony when it comes to chocolate, can I?"
Right in that instance, hearing Takumi put so much thought into a simple gift, into his gift, Souma thinks he could die satisfied on the spot. Well. Maybe after he'd finished the orangettes.
He really was a lovesick fool, Souma thinks, an irresistible smile fighting it's way up his face.
It's fine when it's Takumi though. Takumi is lovely enough to be foolish for.
"No. No you can't." Souma laughs.
Souma completely reevaluates his life later that night when Isami casually reveals that Takumi has never, in all his years in Tootsuki, given another person chocolate.