The sound of the Gamegirl Advance's buttons could not be heard to even the player over the loud and cheerful conversations that filled the joyful classroom. The loudest of these conversations occurred in the center of the classroom, where a mini buffet setup was laid out on a connected row of desks. The highlight of the diverse food choices sat on top of a square of four desks, and it spanned about five layers.
"This is the best cake I've ever eaten, even better than the Christmas one!" Owari yelled, eating her fourth piece. She didn't care much for the decoration as she did for the taste, but some did.
"It-it's a bit inaccurate for a hea-heart." Mikan stated, staring at the massive layers of pinkness.
"I cooked and decorated it with love, it's the best heart cake you'll ever taste!" Teruteru barked at the girl, examining the reactions to his food. He was certainly in a bad mood today.
"What would a creep like you know about love?" Hiyoko responded. Some were surprised that she had defended the nurse for once in her life, others couldn't help but laugh at the response.
However, the outskirts of the classroom were much quieter. Ryota, or rather the Imposter, was too busy eating much like Owari. And a few desks down from him, yet another 'Game Over' appeared on the party planner's screen.
Chiaki, games won't get you anywhere in your professional life, and they certainly won't get anyone to care about you!
Were they right? Every Valentine's Day, Nanami heard the same sentence said in different words from her parents. Every year, she spent it by herself in her room, knowing she would be alone the next year.
But this year…she hoped things would be different. Placing her console down, her eyes scanned the room.
Naturally, Chiaki's eyes flew over to the closest group near her. Sonia was listening to Gundham talk about his Dark Diva's, while Soda managed to force himself in between the two. Further away, she noticed her teacher Miss Yukizome was staring at her phone, an unthinkable action for her during any class. Fuyuhiko and Peko were close by, and Nanami certainly had her guesses about their friendship. Owari and Nidai still sat in the center, eating the rest of the food.
Even the evil Hiyoko was with Mahiru, both accompanied by Mikan. Ibuki stated she was too busy for love, and Nagito was in the corner going on about hope.
Yet, Nanami sat alone, thinking about him.
She told him nearly every detail of planning the party was going to have, when they were going to have it, and every time she said she was going to invite him as her guest…she ended up delaying it.
He probably has something else to do…
He spent time with her every day, playing the same few video games for hours. Other than that, she rarely saw him around.
He doesn't like me like that.
Her own phone sat on the side of her desk, something she barely brought out of her pocket. She never got any texts to use it, and all the good games were on other systems. So far, today was no different.
Why should h—
Game Over.
She sat the console down, throwing a hand on her forehead. A deep breath escaped her, the Gala Omega hairpin she wore everywhere was being fiddled with. At least she was with her class, and they were happy.
Maybe it wouldn't be too bad of a Valentine's Day after al—
"Nanami?". Chiaki blinked at the call of her name, looking back over towards the long blonde hair of a girl with hamsters crawling around her shoulders. "You haven't eaten anything yet, and you are pretty quiet. Are you ok?".
"I'm not that hungry." She responded, telling the truth for once. Normally she'd forget to eat due to video games, but today…she just didn't feel right.
"Ok. Well then do you want to join us in—"
"I can fix your little hunger problem with one quick bite girl!" The chef said excitingly, appearing in front of Chiaki in the blink of an eye. He had a large piece of cake in his hand, but that didn't distract her from the drool coming from his mouth. His eyes weren't focused on her face, but rather below her white collar.
"All you have to do is a little favor for me…" Teruteru whispered to the frozen Chiaki, her hand ready for a dragon-fist out of instinct.
"Stop.".
A long blade appeared between the two, wielded by the Ultimate Swordswoman herself. The plate quickly dropped on the desk as the chef jumped back, his expression turning to one of offense.
"I'm just trying to feed the damn girl!" Teruteru yelled in under a second.
"I-I don't like your cooking." Nanami finally responded, thinking back to that infamous day. The chef's twitching eyes turned red.
"WHAAAT?". The boy threw his neck over the sword, the blade right beneath it, and began yelling sentences in a very southern accent, with words jumping over each other so the girl could not comprehend all of them.
Comments about her bad taste, class position, her looks. It all came out.
"I'll beat the crap out of you if you say another word!" the head Yakuza member yelled but was ignored.
"AND THAT, is why no one loves your flavorless talent, the reason you are the loneliest here today!".
The class fell silent.
The stoicism of the girl faded as all eyes glared upon her now, causing the one emotion she felt every year on this day to show.
Nanami stood up, ignored all the materials on her desk, and marched past her silent classmates, straight to the door.
"Wai—". The door slammed shut, shaking the desks and freezing everyone in place. All attention turned to the cook, who was staring at the newly knocked down piece of cake on the floor.
"Jeez…well…um…". A fist came flying at him, following the bodies of a Team Manager and his partner, and then the layers of the cake.
Chiaki's hands took turns rubbing her puffy eyes clean as she walked the silent hallways, unsure of what to do.
"You there! Where is your hall pass?" A tall boy wearing white yelled, practically running at the girl. She looked up at his face, turning his into one of concern. "Oh…uh…".
"You're…spending the day checking for passes?" Nanami asked, trying her best to sound normal. The boy scratched his head, thinking of a respectable answer.
"My duty as the Ultimate Moral Compass is to make sure things run smoothly, regardless of the day." he said, standing tall. "But um…I am going to spend the day later with my bros.". A small smile appeared on the girl's face after the awkward tone of 'bros' escaped his mouth.
"I hope you have a better time than I did." Chiaki told the boy, and continued on, heading out of the building before anyone else could see her.
Lost in the thoughts and flashbacks of previous years, the girl persisted to walk out of instinct.
Look! Chiaki's alone again!
She could hear the laughs that returned every schoolyear while she sat in the back playing whatever game she happened to like at the time. Hope's Peak was no different, was it?
But they are your friends, aren't they? You're their hope, Class Representative.
She wanted to scream. Cry. Anything.
The girl picked her head up after a few minutes, realizing she was nowhere near the previous building anymore. Looking around, she immediately recognized the view. The tall bushes were leading her straight to her sanctuary, and just ahead, she could see a glimpse of the sparkling fountain.
Is that…
Her pace became faster and the blurriness of the bench started to become clear. Arriving at the area, she found a lonesome boy focused on his very own Gamegirl Advance.
"Hinata?". Chiaki briefly heard the sound of a digital ship exploding, and saw his eyes glance up.
"Hey Chiaki. I thought you weren't gonna make tod—". He felt her body sink into him as she bent down and hugged all that she could of the sitting boy.
The awkward Hinata sat stunned as he felt small drops of water hit his neck, the sound of her sniffles going head to head with the drops of the fountain.
"Hajime I…I missed you.". She twisted herself over, sitting next to him on the bench. Her head leaned on her shoulder and pointed towards the console in his hand.
"Di-did you bring yours?" Hajime asked, still taking in what was happening.
"No…" she said, remembering its placement. But she didn't care right now. "I um…just want to watch you play.".
"Alright." He responded, returning his focus to her favorite game, Gala Omega. As time went on, he threw his full attention towards the game to show off what he could do. Nearly fifteen minutes of button mashing later, he finally got a Game Over. "So…?".
The silence concerned him until he looked at his shoulder to see two closed eyes and a sideways head slipping off him.
He placed the console on his lap and slowly placed his arm around her, keeping her close. "I don't know what happened, but…thanks for being here.".
"Happy Valentine's Day, Hajime.".
"Yeah, Happy Valen—".
The feeling of warm lips briefly touched his cheek, causing him to freeze. When they were released, he looked back over at the Ultimate he deeply admired.
Her cheeks were red, her eyes were closed again, and a guilty smile replaced all the sadness she had just shown him.
Maybe it wasn't so bad after all…
The two teens sat together for what felt like forever, forgetting about all the problems that haunted them day by day.
Because today, they had each other.