AN. - sorry it's been so long!
So, I'm pretty sure most anime fans are aware of the different way Valentine's Day is celebrated in Japan vs elsewhere, but anyway girls give boys chocolate (either because they are friends or colleagues, or romantically). Men reciprocate on White Day in March.
"Like this?" Usagi looks up at Makoto, who peers over the shorter girl's shoulder with a smile.
"That looks great!" she says, nodding approvingly at the shavings of chocolate Usagi is carefully pouring into a double boiler. "Keep stirring it. I'll add some coconut oil to give in a nice sheen."
Makoto holds up the mold in the shape of a rose. "This is the one you wanted, right?"
"Yes," Usagi answers, "because I gave Mamo-chan a rose when we first met."
"Oooh, I love it," Makoto says, sighing as she clasps her hands in front of her, a dreamy expression in her dark green eyes. "Oh!" She claps her hands a little. "Maybe we can make a rose cream filling and pink white chocolate ganache drizzle…." She trails off as Usagi's eyes grow wide.
"Uh… Mako-chan… I can barely manage this?" she gestures to the chocolate, which is beginning to bubble in a concerning way. Makoto defty swoops down and removes it from the heat, continuing to stir.
"Okay, good point," she giggles. "I'm sure Mamoru will like it no matter what."
"You think so?" Usagi says nervously, holding the mold steady while Makoto slowly pours the chocolate in.
"Oh, definitely," she says. "Because it's from you."
The next day – Valentine's Day – is dreary and cold. The snow of December has long since melted away, leaving February with only dirty icy puddles on the city streets. The lush landscaping outside Moto Azabu is nothing but dead-seeming bramble and some stubborn evergreen shrubs clinging to life. But the student body is undeterred by the depressing season, and the school yard is filled with happy greetings and rosy cheeks. Girls bury their faces in their scarfs as they hand small packages of chocolate to the boys, who respond with a flush that may or may not be related to the cold.
Usagi loves Valentine's Day, and usually as a child and middle school student she exchanged little cards and foil-wrapped chocolates with her male friends and classmates, convincing whomever she could to share some of their spoils, too. But in high school it is different – the atmosphere and expectations are shifted.
There is a different kind of tension in the air – or maybe she is imagining it. Shaking fingers pull again at the red bow that ties the plastic bag with Mamoru's chocolate rose inside. She'd curled the ribbon herself and wrote 'To Mamo-chan' in her neatest handwriting on the luxurious cardstock Makoto had provided.
"Stop fussing with it," Minako says, slapping the back of Usagi's hand. "It looks perfect."
"Yeah?" Usagi says, biting her lip a bit. "Okay." Mamoru is so precious to her, his friendship so important –and the small token suddenly seems unworthy.
The hum of the conversations swirling around the courtyard suddenly changes as Mamoru enters the gate, chatting with some of the student council members. Usagi only has a moment to take in the sight of his wind-mussed hair, the puffs of breath coming from his lips, how even in a scarf and winter jacket he still looked trim and put-together. Then, there is a flurry of activity as half the student body - at least it seems that way to Usagi - rushes to his side.
"Chiba-san!" "Mamoru-san!" "Happy Valentine's Day!" Mamoru blinks and runs his hand through his hair, shaking his head a bit as if steeling himself. Then, he takes out a paper shopping bag, unfolding it carefully to accept all the gifts being handed to him by his female classmates. The bag is halfway full in minutes.
Usagi feels shell-shocked. "I can't believe I didn't see this coming," she manages to say.
"This has been happening every year since middle school," Minako sounds a bit surprised. "I'm sorry. I thought you knew."
Catching Usagi's eye, Mamoru smiles and waves a bit, making his way over to them as best he can being stopped every few feet by another admirer. From here, Usagi can see the contents of his bag - golden boxes of Godiva chocolates, homemade truffles perfectly packaged in cellophane, gorgeous patterns of wrapping paper with his name in perfect English-letter script on the tag - in an instant Usagi launches her misshapen plastic-bag encased chocolate rose into the bramble behind her.
"Why'd you do that?" Minako hisses, hitting Usagi in the arm, but Usagi is already smiling, greeting Mamoru cheerfully.
"Good morning!" she says, and he returns the greeting to both girls, shifting the bag in his hands.
"It's so crazy," Usagi is saying, smacking herself on the forehead, "I completely forgot it was Valentine's Day." She laughs, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry, Mamo-chan, or I'd've gotten you some Melty or something at the store."
He gives a sheepish half-smile. "I almost forgot too," he confesses, rubbing his neck with his hand. "So I don't blame you." Usagi knows it's a lie, he brought a bag for pete's sake!, and Mamoru never forgets what day it is. But Usagi forgetting? At least that's believable, she thinks.
"So that's certainly a lot of chocolate," Usagi says, finally, fighting the flush of embarrassment that wants to bloom on her face. How could she have even thought of giving him her stupid rose?
"I always share," Mamoru says, "at lunch. So come find me, okay?"
"Haven't you been spending lunch periods planning the school festival lately?" Minako says, and he nods.
"Most days, yeah."
It's true - since school started up again after the holidays, Usagi hasn't seen him nearly as much as she had gotten used to. Although spring seems years away in the wintery cold, the school festival is coming up in a little over a month. And a month after that, the school year ends - and Mamoru graduates. College entrance exams, elections for next year's class president, and the school festival are taking up so much of his time, and Usagi desperately misses his company.
They chat a bit more, the giant bag of chocolate like a wall between them, until the bell rings and Usagi - for once in her life - is grateful for the start of class.
To his delight, Usagi joins Mamoru toward the end of lunchtime, after his bench is vacated by the large group of classmates that always seems to surround him.
In the few minutes they have together, Usagi manages to nab two Godiva caramels, a homemade hazelnut truffle, and one bite of a ganache-filled heart that she realizes is coffee flavored - handing it back to him with an adorable look of disgust. After just a moment's hesitation, he eats the rest of it - trying not to think of the 'indirect kiss' and Usagi's sudden intake of breath - that he might be imagining. Just then, the bell signals it's almost time to return to class.
"Thanks for sharing your spoils, Romeo," Usagi teases, although there is something in her eyes Mamoru can't place - something that makes him sad.
As she walks away, the bounce of her skirt against her legs distracts Mamoru so much he almost doesn't hear her as she turns to say, "Aren't you coming?"
"In a bit," he answers.
The next day, when Usagi arrives in homeroom exactly two seconds before the bell, there is note waiting on her desk. She has time for a cursory glance around the classroom, wondering who left it - and is met with amused and curious stares and Minako's exaggerated wink. When the teacher turns to the chalkboard, Usagi surreptitiously opens the folded paper on her lap and reads the handwritten note inside.
"Usa-ko,
Thank you so much for the rose. It was perfect. Exactly what I wanted.
Happy Valentine's Day.
-Mamo-chan"
She swallows and folds it back up, looking up at the front of the classroom in some kind of shock. She gives a sharp glance at Minako who looks like she's ready to explode from wanting gossip. Sure enough, as soon as the bell rings Minako is out of her seat like a shot, rushing to Usagi.
"What does it say? They said the class president left it?! I only came in just before you did-"
"Did you tell him?" Usagi demands, and Minako looks confused.
"Tell him what?"
"About me throwing my chocolate!" Usagi jogs two steps to catch up to Minako as they walk down the window-lined hallway to their next class.
"Nope, I didn't!" Minako insists. Then she smirks. "But I bet he saw you do it." She suddenly stops and gives an exaggerated wave out the window. Usagi looks out and sees Mamoru, walking toward his next class.
Minako's antics catch his eye, and he looks up and smiles - gaze shifting to Usagi as he gives a single wave - almost a salute - and she can see the band-aids on his fingers and palm from the bramble's thorns.