In the kitchen.

Ryoma, cladded in a white apron, stood in front of a table where Rinko had displayed ingredients and tools to make chocolate, listened to her mother.

"Ryoma, Valentine's Day in Japan is different from Valentine in America. Here, it's a very special day for everybody," Rinko explained. "It's a custom for a girl to give chocolate to people around her. Most of the time, it's a person of the opposite sex, but not exclusively. The person can a member of your family, a very good friend or anyone dear to you. But the most about Valentine for a girl, it's a chance for her to give chocolate to a very special boy."

"A special boy?" Ryoma raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, a special boy," Rinko smiled. "A special boy for a girl is the one who makes her heart beat faster each time she sees him, who makes her cheeks burn when he is near her and who makes her feel like in she was in a magical world when she crosses eyes with his. She always thinks about him everyday and remember every single moments she spend with him." Rinko looked Ryoma in her eyes. "Ryoma, is there a boy who make you feel like that?"

"A boy who makes my heart beat faster, my cheeks burning and makes me think that I'm in a magical world?" Ryoma repeated, tilting her head. She frowned, thinking. Suddenly, a image of a brunette boy with incredible cerulean eyes flashed in her head. Her cheeks slightly blushed, but a very faint tint.

"Today, Ryoma, I will teach you how to do chocolate so you can give them to him," Rinko continued.

"It's so romantic! Giving chocolate on Valentine!" Nanako cooed.

"Huh?"

'Chocolate Valentine'

Next followed in Ryoma's head picture of many other boys. Ryoma grimaced.

"Actually, kaa-san, the reason why I must these damned chocolate is nothing romantic. I have to them, otherwise I won't survive until next year!" Ryoma blurted.

Rinko chuckled, knowing that she meant.

"Oh! Sou ka…" Rinko said, accepting Ryoma's answer. But she saw Ryoma's cheek color red for a split of second. Rinko smiled mysteriously. "Well, that's too sad. But until that boy appear, this will be a good opportunity for you to learn making chocolate. Let's start!"


"Ryoma, when you make Valentine chocolate, you must put her your feelings into it," Rinko said as she showed Ryoma how to mix the ganache.

"Does the desire to survive until next year can also be considered as a feeling to be put in chocolate?" Ryoma asked.

"Huhuhu!" Rinko chuckled again. "Yes, FRIENDSHIP can also be counted as a feeling you must put in the chocolate," Rinko insisted.

"Ha…" Ryoma sighed.

"Valentine chocolates are a message of feelings for the person to whom you want to give it. It expressed how much the receiver is special to you. Your father…"

"That old pervert?" Ryoma asked, but Rinko continued.

"…your brother…"

"That twisted brain baka aniki too?"

"… people whom you highly admire or you hold true respect…"

"Buchou and Yukimura-senpai?"

"…and…" Rinko purposely trailed. "…and a person you love…"

A brunette with close eyes appeared in her head again and a faint tint of red colored her cheeks. Ryoma didn't say anything this time, though she didn't know why. Rinko mysteriously smiled again.

'It's the second time she blushes,' Rinko thought, very happy.

"When making chocolate, picture that person in your mind and keep his picture until you finish doing the chocolate," Rinko continued. "Each person is different, so each chocolate is different, even if they are all made from the same ingredient."

Ryoma learned how to make truffles, a French chocolate specialty. First, she made the ganache, the melted chocolate filling of the truffle. She chopped chocolate into tinny bits. Then, she heated the cream. After that, she poured the cream in the chocolate to melt it. Next, she mixed the cream and the chocolate until the ganache took form and let it cooled down. While waiting for the ganache to cool, she melt chocolate to make the coat of the ganache. After the ganache was cooled enough, she took them out of the refrigerator and rolled them into ball. Surprisingly, Ryoma was very good for rolling ball, considering her (cough cough cough) artistic skills. But Rinko guessed that chocolate balls were the same form as a tennis ball, which why Ryoma was so good at making balls. The roundness of a ball was permanently sunk in Ryoma's hands. The problem remained that her chocolate balls were as big as a real size tennis ball. Rinko had to cut Ryoma's chocolate tennis ball size into smaller balls and had her rolled them again. The last step, with the melted chocolate, Ryoma learned to coat the ganache ball and rolled them in the cacao powder.


The next day. February 14th.

Ryoma entered the school, gloomy. And very tired too. She thought that making chocolate would be only "making chocolate". She didn't think that making chocolate also included the wrapping. Nanako had insisted that the chocolate must be wrapped prettily. She even bought the necessary accessories for the wrapping. And her mother also agreed with Nanako. Thus, Ryoma had to learn to do pretty wrapping for a mass of brown thingies. When she remembered all the pain she had yesterday, she rather choose to suffer Inui's juice and Tezuka's 200 laps than doing "pretty decoration" again.

"Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn!" she yawned, not aware of the people running to her behind her.

"Echizen/Ochibi!!!!!" Kirihara, Marui, Niou, Ootori and Kikumaru shouted.

BAM!

They jumped, assaulting Ryoma, crashing her on the ground like yesterday.

"Gagw" Ryoma fell, her face in the dirt again. Just like yesterday.

"Ohayou! Where is our chocolate?!" they happily screeched.

With a trembling hand, she hold up many small wrapped packages with brown balls inside. They immediately took one package each, very happy.

"Domo arigatou! You really shouldn't have!" they screeched again.

Pop! Twitch!

'Are they being sarcastic?' Ryoma wondered. If she didn't make them chocolate, they would… Ryoma shook her head, refusing to think about what would happen to her if she didn't give them chocolate. But today, by some miracle, they got off of her back without having anyone to remind them.

"Ha…" Ryoma sighed and dropped her head on the ground. "Why is it always happen to me?"

"Huhuhuhu!" people chuckled next to her. Ryoma raised her head to see Yukimura and Oshitari.

"Don't be mad at them, Echizen-chan," Yukimura said. "They don't mean to be bad."

"Here, let us help you," Oshitari said, holding out a hand to her. Yukimura did the same.

"Arigatou, senpai-tachi," Ryoma said, tooking both their hands. They pulled her up.

"Why did they ask chocolate from me?" Ryoma asked as she dusted her skirt and jersey. "They are popular among the girls, and so you are. They must receive tone of chocolate on Valentine."

"It's true that they always receive chocolate on Valentine, but from girls who are mostly kind of stranger to them," Oshitari said. "It's the first time that they asked chocolate from someone. You are the really first girl at school who became so close to them."

"I never ask them to become close with me," Ryoma grunted in her teeth. Oshitari and Yukimura chuckled. "Ah! That's right!" She searched in her satchel and took out two nicely wrapped packages with their name on it. "Here for you, senpai-tachi!"

"Ah!" Oshitari and Yukimura were surprised.

"Echizen-chan, I know that yesterday, they kind of… force you… (he admitted it) to make them chocolate. But you didn't have to make chocolate for us too," Yukimura said.

"I know that, but since I made for them, so as well made for everybody," Ryoma said. "I took a lot of time to do them, so please eat them all."

Oshitari and Yukimura smiled. Then, they took each a package.

"Arigatou, Echizen-chan," Yukimura said. "We will make sure to each them all."

"You better! For all the pain I took to make them!" Ryoma said stubbornly.

Yukimura chuckled.

"Let's go now," he said.

"Hai!"


Lunch time. In the greenhouse.

"Umeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!" Jirou exclaimed, chewing happily in the chocolate.

"They are very good, Ryoma, thank you!" Yuuta said.

"Yah! Thanks, Echizen-chan!" Gakuto said, putting the second piece in his mouth. Hiyoshi smiled as he ate his chocolate too.

"Surprisingly, the chocolate has a good form this time," Shishido said, examining his. "I was expecting some weird shape, like another drown fish or any other weird animals."

Pop! Twitch!

'Hey! At least I did the chocolate! Don't ask too much from me!' Ryoma eyed him.

"Probably because it's the same form as a tennis ball, that's why she did them so well," Yanagi said.

"There is a very high probability that's the reason of her performance this time," Inui said, examining the perfectly round piece of chocolate while scribbling in his notebook.

"Inui-senpai, if you put chocolate in your juice, I won't mind drinking it! Umeeeee!" Momoshiro said, plopping another chocolate in his mouth. "Naah! What do you think, Mamushi?"

"Fssssssssshhhh!" Kaido took his time to bite in the chocolate.

"Ooishi! Can you give me yours? I ate all of mine!" Kikumaru asked as Ooishi was going to eat the last one from his box.

"Huh? But I already give you two of mine!" Ooishi said.

"Yeah, but I want more!" Kikumaru said.

"Here, Sanada-senpai, this is yours," Ryoma gave him the a small box.

"Arigatou," Sanada said, taking the box.

"Ah! Fukubuchou, I remember that you don't like chocolate. Can I eat yours?" Kirihara said, popping behind Sanada.

"Hah?" Sanada jumped, unconsciously closed his fingers around his box, but Kirihara already jumped on him, hands stretched toward the small box.

"Ah! That's right! I want them too!" Marui said. He too jumped on Sanada like Kirihara did.

"Hey! But you already eat yours this morning!" Niou said.

"But it's true that Sanada usually doesn't eat chocolate," Ootori said. "It would be a waste if he throw them away…"

". . ." Silence. Niou and Ootori thought a moment.

"Hey! Give me his chocolate!" they shouted and jumped on Sanada too.

"Waaaaaa!" Sanada got crushed on the floor. He got knocked out as Kirihara, Marui, Niou and Ootori fight for his chocolate. Everybody sweat dropped at the scene.

"Daring, aren't they?" Gakuto said. "Doing that even to Sanada."

"Poor him," Shishido said.

'I'm glad I am Seigaku's buchou,' Tezuka thought. 'My teammates won't do that to me.'

"I understand that Kirihara, Marui and Niou dare to steal Sanada's chocolate. But Ootori? He is Hyotei, isn't he?" Jirou said, enjoying the fight as he ate another chocolate.

"I think it's because they just want the chocolate and that they are sure Sanada won't eat them. We ourselves never saw Sanada eating chocolate, don't we?" Oshitari said.

"But Sanada is not the only one who usually don't eat chocolate," Yukimura said. "Tezuka too. Every year, he gave his chocolate to his friends and family members. Why is Tezuka not assaulted like Sanada?"

At Yukimura's word, the mess up group instantly stopped fighting. The small box flew in the air and landed in Kabaji's hand, who just appeared there. He would hold the box for the time the fight was on hold as a referee.

"That's right…" Marui said.

"Tezuka too never eats Valentine chocolate…" Niou repeated.

"Nhehehehe…" Kirihara, Marui, Niou and Ootori wickedly laughed as they looked at Tezuka. More precisely, they looked at the small box in Tezuka's hand. "Nhehehehe…"

Tezuka turned blue, sweat dropping.

'Masaka! Don't tell me they are thinking about…' Tezuka didn't have time to finish his assumption, which happened to happen anyway.

"Waaaaaaaa!"

The next second, Tezuka, in his chibi form, was on the floor next to Sanada's chibi form. Kabaji dropped the box in his hand. He left to stand next to Atobe, letting the four boys fighting for two chocolate boxes now. The other regulars sweat dropped again.

"Not only Sanada, but Tezuka too," Yagyuu said.

"Hey! Then I want the chocolate too!" Kikumaru said and jumped in the messy mass.

"Ah! Eiji! No!" But Kikumaru ignored Ooishi.

"Me too! Give it to me!" Momoshiro jumped in the mass too.

". . ." The remaining people were speechless of the show.

"I guess that when it comes to their stomach, they aren't scare of anything," Oshitari said.

"Hmn," Kawamura nodded.

"Yukimuraaaaaaa…" Sanada and Tezuka trailed, looking up at the bluette boy sat in front of them.

"Oh my!" Yukimura put a hand on his mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to happen like that. Huhuhuhuhu!"

"Ha…" Sanada and Tezuka sighed.

"Tezuka, Sanada, being buchou and fukubuchou, you must know how to appreciate your underline's work and eat the chocolate," Atobe said as he watched the chocolate between his fingers. "This is a common thing to do for us, recognizing our underline's gratefulness. Naa, Kabaji?" Atobe put the chocolate in his mouth.

"Usu!" Kabaji put a chocolate in his mouth.

"Ha…" Sanada and Tezuka sighed again.

'We planned to, but it's look we can't do it now!' they thought.

Ryoma looked around the room, searching for someone.

"Ryoma, what are you looking for?" Yuuta asked.

"Hmm…" Ryoma didn't answer, but she slightly blushed.

"Fuji is on his duty right now, Echizen-chan. He must see for the preparation of the Valentine party with the other council members," Yukimura said, smiling.

Ryoma blushed deeper.

"Wha-wha-what… makes you think that I'm searching for him?" Ryoma stuttered, casting her eyes down.

'Huhuhuhu!' Yukimura silently chuckled.

"You are still holding one last chocolate box in your hands, Echizen-chan. Everyone has receive their chocolate, except Fuji. So, it's obvious that the box is intended to him. Beside, I can see Fuji's name on the paper. It's very easy to guess who you were searching for," Yukimura said.

"Ah…" Ryoma said.

"That's too bad you missed him, Ryoma. He left only one minute before you arrive," Yuuta said. "Because of the party, aniki will be busy all day. And he will also have to stay late after school for cleaning. Maybe you can't give him the chocolate until tomorrow…"

"Oh…" Ryoma said.

She became a little bit sad.

'There is no meaning to give Valentine chocolate the day after Valentine's Day…'

Yukimura saw her sadness.

'Echizen-chan…'