Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

"Rinka-chan~" Nakamura gave an evil grin as she wrapped an arm around Hayami's shoulder. "Valentine's Day is coming! Are you giving chocolates to someone?"

"Of course not…" Hayami trailed off when she realized that she could give chocolates to Black Cat. After all, they'd been friends long enough, and she did like him…

"Eh?" Nakamura tilted her head, blonde hair swishing. "Why the hesitation?" She poked Hayami's cheek teasingly. "Huh, do you like someone?"

"No," Hayami gave a stoic and short reply, hoping that was enough to ward her friend off. Wanting to change the topic, she asked, "How about you?"

"Me?" Nakamura looked shocked that she was asked that question, but Hayami knew it was likely just her over-dramatic facade. "No. All the boys here are too boring for my taste."

The male students surrounding them gave Nakamura a glare, but they didn't dare to aggravate her further, because Nakamura was infamous for her extreme teasing.

Okajima, who was next to the girls, gave an exaggerated sigh. "Ahh, I wish I can receive chocolates too…" he said loudly, while giving Hayami and Nakamura an obvious look.

The girls shared a glance, and they both knew what Okajima was implying. Nakamura gave a snort. Honestly, can he be more subtle?

"How about giri chocolates?" Nakamura asked, a mischievous look in her baby blue eyes. "I've noticed that you've been spending time with some boys."

Hayami sweatdropped, and could almost feel Sugaya, Chiba and Okajima staring at her. Yes, but only for group projects…

"No, I'm not giving out anything," Hayami replied decisively, making sure that Okajima and Co. could hear her. "Don't get the wrong idea."

Behind them, Okajima snickered loudly, but then he quickly subdued himself.

"Wow, what a tsundere!" Nakamura laughed and clapped Hayami on the back. "Haha, cute little tsundere Rinka-chan."

"Don't call me that," Hayami muttered. Inwardly, the gears in her brain began to turn. She knew she should give chocolates to Black Cat, but what kind of chocolate should she get? Giri, or dare she, honmei? Hayami hadn't given chocolate to anyone at Valentine's Day before.

Meanwhile, Okajima was laughing to himself, "Ha, Hayami is a natural tsundere…"

"I want chocolates too…" Sugaya muttered. "I guess this is what happens to the unpopular boys like us. No chocolates. In all fourteen years of my life."

"By the way, Sugaya," Chiba, who had not uttered a word about Valentine's Day or chocolates, cut in, "You haven't been posting art as of late."

Sugaya blinked his tired grey eyes. "Yeah, I didn't do well in the last exam so my parents confiscated all of my electronic devices," he answered flatly.

Okajima looked horrified and surprised. "That's harsh."

"I guess it's fair," the artist mumbled as he twirled a pencil between his fingers. "After all, I'd been focusing more on art than on my studies."

"Is it because you have patrons now?" Chiba asked.

"What?" Okajima asked, as if this was the first time he'd heard of the word. Sugaya sighed internally; Okajima never listened to what he said. He only made the occasional perverse comment about a girl's chest.

"Basically I earn money through drawing," Sugaya didn't want to explain thoroughly because of Okajima's short attention span.

"Wow! You must be rich!" Okajima gasped in amazement and envy.

"Ha," Sugaya chortled. "If only it was like that. But now I can only do traditional art." He turned to Chiba. "I might have to borrow your phone to upload them."

"Ah, sure. No problem," Chiba agreed readily.

Okajima opened his mouth, but before he could speak Sugaya cut in, "And yes, Okajima, before you ask, I won't borrow your phone because it's full of weird pics."

After his club activities, Chiba stayed behind as usual to clean up. He might not seem like the type, but he loved his club, the Light Music Club. The boy had a passion for Japanese light music (to his older sister's complete horror) and when he had club activities, he felt a lot more comfortable than he usually did at school.

Once everyone was out of sight, Plagg zoomed out, scowling. Chiba ignored his kwami and continued to sweep the floor diligently. He raised a hand to move his bangs back into place.

"Kid," Plagg blared, "I've known you for almost a year and first, you still look emo; second, you've been cleaning the club room alone every time. Stop being so damn responsible and let the others do their work!"

When he didn't get a reply, Plagg gave an internal sigh; boy, his holder bent so easily to other people but he was damn stubborn when he was next to his kwami. Knowing Chiba wouldn't change that easily, the cat kwami started a new topic, "So, uh, in this country the girls give the boys chocolates on Valentine's Day?"

"That is correct," Chiba replied as he moved around the room, Plagg hovering beside him.

"Huh, do you think you'll receive any?" Plagg drawled, then muttered to himself, "If only girls give out cheese."

"Maybe… an obligation chocolate from Ladybug…" Chiba mused. "I don't really expect to get any, except maybe from my sisters and my partner."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "How about those lady fans of yours?"

"They don't even know me," Chiba mumbled. "Ladybug doesn't know my identity, but at least we've spent time together."

"Hey," a thought came to Plagg, and he poked Chiba's head. "Have you ever received chocolates from a girl at Valentine's?"

"No." Like most of his words, his reply was short and direct. "I'm not bothered by it though; everyone thinks I'm creepy because of my appearance."

"Well," Plagg surveyed Chiba, flitting around his holder idly. "I guess your bangs do make you look weird."

Chiba self-consciously put a hand to his hair. "But I can't let my eyes show," he said. "So matter what I do, they still think the same of me. That I'm not normal."

Footsteps sounded outside in the corridor, and Plagg immediately ducked behind Chiba. The boy looked up briefly to see Hayami pass by, holding a broom in her hands. She didn't appear to have noticed him.

"So she's on cleaning duty too," Chiba murmured softly. He wondered which club she had joined. Was she also a music person? Or perhaps she played tennis? Would their hobbies match?

"Oh, just ask her out already, you lovesick ninny," Plagg snarled, knowing full well Chiba wouldn't do that. But still, it was fun to laugh at his expense.

The teenager lowered his head and continued to sweep. He hadn't thought about Hayami for quite a while, because of exams and other duties, but now that he had free time, and with Valentine's Day looming up, his feelings for her returned full-force. A part of Chiba wished he could give up on his little crush, because he was afraid it would interfere with his studies and he spent way too much time focusing on Hayami. Not to mention, it wasn't like he had a real chance with her. But another part of him kind of liked that, because he felt happy every time he saw her (which was virtually every school day).

Anyways, Chiba was pretty satisfied with them being classmates and friends (sort of) at the moment. As for Ladybug, they were each other's best friends, even if she was a bit too affectionate at times (he still didn't know why she petted his head).

But, even though what he felt for Ladybug was completely platonic, he would still be delighted to receive her chocolates.

"What club is that?" Tikki hissed to Hayami as they passed by a club room filled with instruments, where a lone boy was cleaning up. "The instruments look different from the ones I usually see."

"I believe that's the Light Music Club," Hayami answered, hoping that the boy (whoever he was) hadn't seen her kwami. "I heard from Nakamura that there's this crazy club member with creepy eyes who completely loses himself in the music. Anyways, to answer your question, I think those are electric guitars, and they're different from usual guitars."

"I see," Tikki replied, and immediately ducked into Hayami's bag. The girl looked around and saw that a few students were walking past her.

After Hayami had cleaned up her club's room (on her own), she returned home, intending to do some housework.

As she wiped the windows, Tikki fluttered around her, cheerfully asking, "So, what kind of chocolates for Black Cat? Obligatory ones or ones from the heart?"

Hayami would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it. In fact, it had been the only thing on her mind when she had been going home. But now, after some careful thinking, she had made up her mind.

"I'm going to give him giri chocolates," she said decisively, and nodded. "I'm not mature enough for an actual relationship, and it can interfere with our work. Besides, I don't want to wreck our partnership and friendship."

"Sensible choice, Rinka-chi," Tikki smiled to show her approval. This kind of thinking was rather unexciting for a fourteen-year-old, but Tikki was glad her holder was the way she was. Her responsible, serious Ladybug.

"But you still have to buy them," Tikki said. "I think you have to put in some effort in choosing the right chocolate."

"Too bad I've had no experience," Hayami muttered. She suddenly the found the notion of herself shopping for chocolate rather absurd and embarrassing.

"You have to choose from the bottom of your heart," Tikki advised the girl. "Ask yourself what kind of chocolate would best express your feelings."

"... Then that's just plain honmei," Hayami muttered. "I'm not aiming for that."

But even though she said that, after Hayami had finished wiping the glass panes, she obediently changed into outdoor clothes and went out to buy chocolates.

There were still lumps of dirty snow on the sidewalk, and Hayami was glad that March would arrive soon. Hopefully, the warm spring breeze would take all of the wintry coldness away.

Hayami was especially thankful for Japan's heating system, which she used to find a little suffocating. Now, when she entered the convenience store, a blast of warm air hit her full-force, soothing her previously freezing skin.

The girl made her way to the food aisle and found a shelf filled with chocolates. She goggled at the variety of choices. Hayami crossed her arms, and began to inspect the chocolates closely.

At that moment, Chiba entered the same convenience store, seeking to buy some drinks for his family. He saw Hayami, and wondered if he should go over and say hello, but then he realized Hayami was very focused on something. His hidden eyes caught sight of the pink and red packages.

She's looking at the Valentine chocolates.

Inexplicably, Chiba felt his face go hot and he hurried into the next aisle. Hayami… buying Valentine chocolates? But didn't she say she wouldn't be giving out chocolates, when Nakamura had asked her?

Or… maybe she secretly likes somebody, and she doesn't want anyone to know?

A little flare of jealousy rose in Chiba's chest, and he tugged his beanie over his bangs. What sort of people would Hayami prefer? The only boys he had seen with Hayami were Okajima, Sugaya, and of course, himself. Maybe Hayami had been meeting with some boys outside of school? But she definitely wasn't the type to do that.

Who is she buying chocolates for?

Oh, why was he so inquisitive about that? It was none of his business if she had feelings for someone. But yet, Chiba couldn't move, frozen somewhere between the food aisle and the drink aisle, neither wanting to bother Hayami nor to fulfill his original task.

Meanwhile, Hayami was staring at the chocolates. She didn't want Black Cat to think that she gave him chocolates just because she was obliged to. She wanted her chocolates to be a token of gratitude and appreciation, to thank him for always being by her side. Due to Hayami's perfectionist side, she found it hard to make the right choice.

And that was how Hayami stood there for five minutes.

Chiba was peering at Hayami through the opposite side of the shelf, where red boxes of chocolate blocked his sight. But though the gaps, he could spot Hayami's peach-coloured hair moving, and Chiba quickly turned away, pretending to be interested in the stationery on his side of the shelf.

Hayami picked up a box of round chocolates, which reminded her of the ladybugs that repaired the damage after an akuma fight. An embarrassing thought wound itself into Hayami's mind, and she quickly brushed it away.

It's not like I can say, "Hey, these chocolates kind of look like ladybugs, so when you eat them, think of me, okay?" Hayami groaned internally. That's just terrible.

Hayami was feeling more desperate by the second, but she kept her cool and continued to hunt for the right gift.

That was when she caught sight of a box of chocolates, hidden in the corner. Hayami reached for it and discovered it contained cat-shaped chocolates.

That's perfect, Hayami had thought initially, taking the box in her hands. But, as she thought more about it, didn't it seem to be a bit basic? After all, Black Cat was a cat-themed superhero. He might have gotten tired of all the cat-based stuff around him.

Hayami pondered, her finger rubbing over the surface of the box. She had already spent too much time doing that, and she was afraid the employees of the shop might come to her and offer advice (double the embarrassment). The girl made up her mind, stoically went to the cashier, and paid for the box of cat-shaped chocolates.

Chiba sensed that Hayami had chosen her chocolates. He went to the end of the aisle and peered at the cashier stealthily. There she was, hair falling in wave-like curls over her shoulders, holding a red box. Chiba's heart began to pump quickly, and his eyes followed her figure as she put the box away and left the store.

Without his distraction (aka. Hayami), Chiba walked robotically to where the drinks were. He absentmindedly took two bottles of juice for his younger sisters, but he was thinking about Hayami and the chocolates she had bought. He hadn't clearly seen the packaging of the box, but he knew for sure they were Valentine chocolates for someone- someone she was close with. And he wasn't that someone. Chiba bit his lip, trying to calm the emotions inside him.

You creepy bastard, stop staring at Hayami and thinking about her all the time, he reprimanded himself. The boy grabbed the drinks and paid for them, and when he walked out of the store, he tried valiantly to stop wondering about the mysterious recipient of Hayami's chocolates.

Who will she be giving them to?

Valentine's Day comes with confessions; and confessions comes with heartbreak.

Heartbreak comes with akumas.

Ladybug and Black Cat knew there would be at least one akuma caused by a depressed, rejected person, and they were right. This Valentine's Day akuma hollered curses across the town, crushing buildings in their wrath, vowing to destroy anything that reminded them of Valentine's Day and love.

Now, the heroes were dueling with the akuma on the rooftop of a tall, prestigious hotel. The akuma was rambling about the fragility of love as Ladybug tried to figure out the akumatized item.

"What is it?" Black Cat yelled, narrowly avoiding being punched by the akuma.

"I'm sorry, I don't know!" Ladybug cried back, dancing backwards to prevent herself from being hurt. Her green eyes widened when she saw her partner, teetering on the edge of the building. "Watch out!"

The superheroine lunged towards Black Cat, as swift as the wind, but she was too late. He had lost his footing. They both plummeted to the ground, and the watching civilians under them screamed in despair. Ladybug flung out her yoyo, Black Cat wrapped his arms around her waist, and together they swung over the amazed civilians like a pair of skilled acrobats. However, Ladybug made a miscalculation, so when she released her yoyo, it ended up hanging them upside down, face to face, the yoyo's string wrapped tightly around them.

"Um," Ladybug's cheeks flushed, her nose bumping with Black Cat's.

"This is weird," Black Cat croaked, his warm breath on Ladybug's face.

"I can fix it," Ladybug twisted her neck to get a better look of their surroundings, and released the yoyo. They both collapsed unceremoniously on the floor.

The akuma leapt down from the building, smirking. The two heroes raised their weapons, identical determined expressions on their faces.

Five minutes later, the akumatized item was destroyed, the akuma cleansed, and the civilians watched as Ladybug and Black Cat did their fistbump.

Black Cat noted that the bunch of people around them was more than usual, and many of them were whispering excitedly. Suddenly, a red-faced teenage girl was shoved out of the crowd, holding something in her hands. Her nervous eyes flitted up to Black Cat and she stammered, "Th-this chocolate is for you."

Instantly, three more girls also stepped out in unison, holding out chocolates for him with bashful looks. Black Cat swept his eyes over the boxes and with an internal gasp, realized they were honmei chocolates. Handmade chocolates. They liked him.

An ordinary boy would have felt really flattered and would have accepted the chocolates graciously.

But Black Cat was more on the "terrified out of his wits" spectrum, so he leapt towards the safest place he could think of- Ladybug. He ducked behind his partner, cat ears upright and alert, hoping she could somehow help him.

Ladybug was a bit amused by Black Cat's reaction, but then she saw the cluster of girls holding out chocolates and her face turned cold. "They have chocolates for you," she stated in an equally emotionless voice. "Aren't you going to take them?"

"If you don't, there might be more akumas!" somebody yelled among the masses of people.

"Don't crush their hearts," Ladybug said stonily, and as if one cue, the girls' faces fell, posture drooping.

How could Black Cat refuse the chocolates after they had said that? He awkwardly emerged from behind Ladybug and accepted the chocolates.

Black Cat didn't really like it when people showered him with affection in his superhero form. Firstly, he wasn't really like that; and secondly, his superhero look was fake. At first, that applied to Ladybug too, but then he knew she could see under his mask- not completely, but still.

Ladybug stared at her partner and his girl fans as they surrounded him, gushing and thrusting chocolates at him. A little sadness seeped into her heart, but it was a quickly replaced by jealousy. The girl turned away stiffly, masking her emotions.

"L-Ladybug!" another nervous, male voice called. The girl spun and to her surprise, she saw Okajima standing bashfully, his hands behind his back.

Oh, yeah. He has a crush on my superhero identity, Ladybug remembered. She dearly hoped Okajima wasn't going to do something weird (she had heard rumours of him running naked around the school campus).

"Thank you for protecting our town!" Okajima declared. He held out a slightly shaking hand, a single perfect rose gripped in his fingers. His face became as red as the rose, as he stuttered, "H-happy Valentine's Day! Please accept my gift!"

An "ooooh" rose from the crowd at the sight of the teenage boy and the girl he liked. Ladybug was taken aback- she had no idea Okajima sincerely liked her, she thought he just made perverse comments about her body or something.

"Thank you," Ladybug said dazedly, and managed a smile. She took the rose from Okajima politely, and the people around them gave a long wolf whistle.

Meanwhile, people were piling so many boxes of chocolate into Black Cat's arms, he could hardly hold them all. The boy gave forced smiles in return, trying to avoid the screaming mob of girls. He was a bit happy that he received chocolates, but that was tempered by the fact that none of these girls really knew him, nor did they like him for who he was.

The memory of Hayami buying chocolates flashed into his mind. His cat ears drooped but he continued to let the girls give him chocolates, but like Ladybug, he was in a dreamlike state, his body reacting subconsciously.

I wish Hayami was the one to give me chocolates, Black Cat thought sadly.

Little did he know, the girl he liked was gazing at her rose, admiring the dewy petals, but then she tilted her head slightly to look at a certain boy.

I wish Black Cat was the one to give me the rose.

"I had no idea I would get that many chocolates," Black Cat confessed to Ladybug during their nightly patrol.

Ladybug twitched, tightly grasping her box of (giri) chocolates behind her back. From the way he put it, it seemed like he didn't want to receive chocolates. Maybe she should put off her gift…

"A lot of them are honmei, right?" Ladybug asked with an icy edge to her voice. It hadn't gone unnoticed by Black Cat, who wondered what was up with his partner.

"Yes, that's right. But I don't know what to do with them," Black Cat replied.

Wait, Kochou might have asked someone to make poisoned chocolates or something, Ladybug suddenly realized. I hadn't thought about the safety concerns. "It's best if we don't eat any handmade food we get from civilians. It's for our own safety," Ladybug said. A little part of her triumphed over the fact that Black Cat would only eat her chocolates- that is, if he hadn't received any in his civilian form.

But I'm just being selfish, then.

"That's a shame," Black Cat mused. "Even if I don't reciprocate their feelings, I have to admit the chocolates are nicely made."

His words were like a dagger in Ladybug's heart, and inexplicably, she began to feel ashamed, guilty for having not put more thought in her chocolates.

Black Cat noted that Ladybug was standing more stiffly than usual, and she wasn't looking directly at him. Coupled with her strangely aloof tone, and her reaction when he said the chocolates were pretty, a notion made its way into his mind.

"Ladybug?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but could it be… that you're jealous?"

"Me?" Brilliant red flushed across Ladybug's cheeks, and she fidgeted. "W-why would I be jealous?"

He knows. He knows. Alarms blared in a panicked Ladybug's head, and she wanted to crawl in a hole and die. He knows that I like him!

"Because you've been acting differently ever since the girls gave me chocolates," Black Cat said honestly. He was a bit scared of Ladybug's reaction, and hoped he hadn't offended her.

"I'm not jealous!" Ladybug crabbed defensively, annoyed at herself. "There's nothing to be jealous for!"

"Alright, alright," the boy tried to calm her down, but Ladybug was still agitated.

"Hmph, don't think so highly of yourself!" she sniffed. "Not every girl is head over heels for you!"

Black Cat was rather speechless over Ladybug's passionate performance. Ladybug wasn't usually like that, and he began to feel guilty for apparently triggering something.

Ladybug saw how Black Cat's ears drooped, and she softened.

"I might just be a little insecure," she admitted, her blush deepening. "B-because they all put a lot of effort into making their chocolates, and I just got store-bought ones…"

"... You bought chocolates for me?" Black Cat tilted his head. Apparently that was the only thing he had heard.

"Yes… but it's so lame compared to the other ones you received," Ladybug mumbled. She began to ramble, "People have already given you the same store-bought chocolates I had been planning to give you (that specific product was more popular than Ladybug had thought) so it's nothing special and I didn't make it, and you have too many boxes of chocolate so you probably won't even bother to look at mine's-"

"But you're the one to give it to me."

"Huh?"

"I said, you're the one to give it to me," Black Cat repeated, a soft smile on his face. "That's all that matters."

Ladybug couldn't speak, so he took it as a cue to continue, "I don't really care how pretty the chocolates are, nor how expensive they may be. The most important thing is the person the chocolates came from."

Black Cat's green eyes looked even brighter than usual as he took a deep breath and said, "And you're pretty important to me, Ladybug."

Ladybug was stunned into silence, her body feeling like it was on fire despite the cold wind blowing around them. She parted her lips to speak-

"But in a platonic way!" her partner hurried, and dots of pink appeared on his cheeks too. "You can be important to me even if I don't like you romantically- get what I mean?"

Hundreds of emotions were rushing in Ladybug's head, and she didn't know what to feel. Happy? Elated? Bittersweet? Heart-broken? Her crush just literally told her that he had zero romantic feelings for her. But she was still important to him.

Something swelled in her chest, and she stared at the boy- her partner, her friend, her crush, that was the root of it all. Her hands moved automatically, and she found herself shoving her box of chocolates at him.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" she cried with more emotion than usual. He took it with mild surprise on his face, which melted into a warmer expression as he gazed down at the cat-shaped chocolates. "Thank you," he said, and for the first time that day, he meant it when he said his gratitude. He could have received hundreds of chocolates that day, but not one of them could top the simple, store-bought chocolates Ladybug gave him.

"N-now let's get on with the patrol!" Ladybug blustered, spinning away from Black Cat. "We've wasted too much time on this!"

Black Cat leapt after Ladybug, a giddy smile breaking on his face. Ladybug had given him chocolates! Ladybug, who knew some of his faults and weaknesses, who knew a part of his awkward self, had given him chocolates on Valentine's Day!

Ladybug suddenly stopped, and she turned her head to look back at him, pigtails flying in the wind.

"For the record, I don't really like you romantically either."

When Ladybug grinned, it was ten times more beautiful than the weak smile she had given Okajima when she had received his rose.

"But you're still important to me."

"Tikki."

"Hmm?"

"I screwed up so badly this time," Hayami said flatly. "I lied to him. Multiple times. That I wasn't jealous. That I didn't like him that way."

The ladybug kwami flitted around her holder and poked Hayami's forehead. "But, it's for the best, isn't it?"

"You don't want a relationship yet. He probably doesn't want one either. You guys can keep your friendship without any more distractions and misunderstandings," Tikki explained.

"But what if he finds out I lied to him? Our trust will be broken."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Tikki comforted Hayami. "You can tell him your reasons for hiding your feelings. He's a sensible boy; he'll understand."

Out of habit, Hayami reached for the Black Cat plushie and hugged it.

"So how do you feel about him not liking you?" Tikki prompted. Lately, she had been asking Hayami more questions about her emotions, because Tikki didn't want Hayami to keep everything to herself.

"Of course I'm a little bit disappointed. I still respect his feelings though," Hayami admitted, hugging the plushie tighter. A flashback of Black Cat saying "you're pretty important to me" came to Hayami, and that eased her hurt. "But, right now…"

The answer came back to the girl; the same reason she chose to give him giri chocolates instead of honmei. The same reason she told Black Cat she didn't like him. The same reason she enjoyed his company even if they were just working side by side.

"...being friends with him is enough for me."

"Another box."

"Shut up, Plagg."

The rest of Chiba's chocolates had been unceremoniously stuffed into his wardrobe and under his bed to avoid suspicion from his family. But he placed Ladybug's chocolates next to the plushie she had given him for Christmas.

"Oh, so that's the special VIP section for Ladybug's gifts," Plagg drawled in amusement.

"Hey, Plagg, what do I do with the abundance of chocolates?" Chiba asked.

"Toss them away?" Plagg idly suggested.

"That's a total waste. The girls would be so disappointed," he argued.

"What they don't know won't hurt them," Plagg countered.

Chiba opened the door of his wardrobe and the boxes of chocolates tumbled at his feet. An idea appeared and he began to messily pile the chocolates in a stack.

"Plagg, you up for an errand?"

"NO!" Plagg yelped, although that was muffled by the cheese in his mouth. "Get some sleep, kiddo!"

"Too bad," Chiba smirked. "Plagg, claws out!"

Valentine's Day had came and passed. Chiba realized a couple of things:

1. According to the news, a bunch of homeless people in other towns had received chocolates while they were sleeping. Chiba grinned secretly to himself when he saw their confused yet happy faces on the television. It was all worth it, despite that he had been really sleepy after delivering the chocolates.

2. He still had no idea who Hayami's chocolates were for.

3. Okajima hadn't gotten any chocolates, to his own chagrin.

4. Sugaya was active on the Ladyblog again, probably due to his parents giving his electronic devices back.

The grey-haired boy turned on his laptop with a satisfied smile, and logged in. He was surprised at the number of comments asking what happened to him. Okajima, under his account of ladybug_waifu had explained for him (or at least, he tried to).

Some of his more aggressive fans were practically threatening him to draw, but other users like ladybugxblackcat-otp and mushroom had defended him, saying he was probably busy in real life. Sugaya was grateful and thanked them.

mangafan: am i the only one who wants to see bc give lb a rose for valentines

ladybug_waifu: hey i'm the one that gave her the rose originally

artsy-bean-pole: Stop squabbling, that's like the only thing ladybug_waifu did that's not perverted so I drew something to celebrate

And then he sent out a drawing of Ladybug holding Okajima's rose.

The Ladybug and Black Cat shippers began to demand some content of their favourite superheroes, and Sugaya knew that would happen, so he had quickly drew something to satisfy his fans.

artsy-bean-pole: You want a rose? Have a rose then!

A black rose on a white background was sent, to his fans' confusion. Where were the two heroes?

mangafan: that's literally… a rose

ladybugxblackcat-otp: click on it. it's transparent.

ladybugxblackcat-otp: and it's amazing

When clicked on it, the picture was enlarged and had a black background, so they could now clearly see Black Cat handing the black rose to Ladybug, both drawn in white.

mushroom: That's clever! You used the way this website shows images to your advantage!

artsy-bean-pole: Thanks :)

Sugaya watched as the people rioted over his simple sketch, feeling immensely happy that his art was being appreciated.

And he didn't care how badly he had done in his exams; he was stuck inside his little bubble of art.

However, the chairman of Kunigigaoka Junior High had different plans.

He scanned the documents, a grim smile on his face. These were the students who had fallen behind on their studies. The ones that were weak. The ones that would be ignored.

The ones that would form the new 3-E.

A/N: Writer's block really did hit me hard, sorry! I'm so glad that seven people reviewed!

You want akumas for the RGB trio, and I think I can include Nagisa (in the faaar future) and Kayano (also in the far future), but I may not be able to do one for Karma. That's because a) he's really powerful and I'm sorta afraid Ladybug and Black Cat will have a hard time dealing with his akuma and b) I'm not sure I can get Karma's character right.

ArchbowMistress, Koro-sensei will appear in the story. As you see from this chapter, they're approaching March and hence, their time in 3-E. DreamDuelist, you're right, a lot of stuff will happen while they're in 3-E. And possibly beyond. *cackles*

And WE. HIT. 2000. VIEWS! Many thanks to each and every one of you!

Also, the wonderful Fumiko Matsubara drew fanart for this fanfic! Thanks! Please check it out because I think it's super adorable. :D

(Remove parentheses.)

Ladybug (Hayami): (sta).(sh/0r5wcgf8q05)

Black Cat (Chiba): (sta).(sh/01je7umfwexh)

She also has a tumblr blog where she draws ChibaHaya (and some Which Partner?) stuff. The art is beautiful (and yeah there's some Chiba with his hair gelled and eyes exposed just imagine that) so please visit her blog fumiko-matsubara!

Thanks to those who read, favourited, followed or reviewed! Please continue to support this fanfic!

(PS: anyone want to guess who the mysterious Ladyblog user mushroom is?)