Chapter 51: The Angel and Valentine (1/2)

It was Valentine’s Day, but there was no such mood at home, and like usual, he returned home to rest.

It was not time to make dinner yet, so Mahiru was next to him. However, she never looked anxious, and did not show signs of wanting to do anything to Amane.

He never looked forward to receiving chocolates, so that was fine with him. The little sadness he had however was merely a result of his pride as a man.

“There’s a sweet smell in school today.”

“It is Valentine’s Day after all.”

It seemed the Angel had given chocolates to the girls she was acquainted with, but did not give any to the boys, not even obligatory ones. He could hear devastated voices from the boys who were infatuated with her.

Why do they think they can receive any from her when they don’t even interact? …he wondered, but the boys were ultimately being hopeful.

“Well, Valentine’s Day is just an event for the popular guys. It doesn’t have anything to do with unattractive guys like us.”

“You seem mentally prepared.”

“Not that I’m proud of it, but I never received heartfelt ones. I only received Russian obligatory chocolates from Chitose.”

“Russian Obligatory chocolate?”

“Some chocolates with stimulating stuff mixed among normal chocolates.”

It appeared the chocolates Chitose gave contained some really spicy, sour, sweet, bitter, and various kinds, filled with the kinds to destroy his taste buds. He was terrified of eating them.

“She made something really amazing again…”

“I’ll eat it, so if it looks like I’m suffering, please forgive me.”

“You will eat them all, I suppose.”

“Of course. She prepared it for me anyway, so I’ll eat it. It’s not poison.”

While there were stimulants inside, they were not harmful to the body, so he intended to eat those chocolates gratefully, since she made them for him.

Since she spent the time making them, the recipient should finish it. However, he was really unenthusiastic about eating stimulating stuff.

“…I see.”

“Well, I didn’t receive anything else. I’m not a riajuu; Valentine’s Day isn’t something I can talk about.”

He was fine just receiving one obligatory chocolate.

He brooded, wondering how to repay her a month later as his eyebrows dropping. Mahiru in turn silently stared at him.

After dinner, he ate Chitose’s chocolate, and fell prone on the table.

He received 12 truffle chocolates from Chitose, divided into time intervals.

There were four types of jackpot, a one in three chance of striking.

The grand prize was the really spicy one, so Amane though he could eat the others normally—only to end up like this.

“You hit the jackpot.”

“…I want to eat it over a few days, and this happens…”

Mahiru was in the kitchen making drinks when she noticed Amane, and approached him with a voice of pity.

He barely managed to swallow it; his mouth no longer feeling spicy, but pain. He knew spiciness was not really a flavor, but that was not the problem.

Should he be considered lucky? This really was not something edible, it was bearable, but absolute suffering.

The wasabi’s unique sting agitated his nostrils, and he was impressed that Chitose really mixed all these flavors in, bemoaning with natural tears in his eyes that she should not have put in that much effort.

His nose and eyes were attacked by the wasabi, the habanero and pepper burned his tongue. It was an intense taste…painful even; one piece by itself left him battered all over.

“It is unfortunate. But you may think of it as encountering hell first; all that is left is heaven.”

Despite that, she was powerless to do anything about this pain.

Amane really yearned for this pain to quickly vanish as he heard a soft sigh, and from the side, there was a thud.

“Here, use this to wash it off.”

He lifted his head, and found a steaming mug next to him, giving off a sweet smell.

It contained some thick brown liquid.

“Cocoa?”

“Similar. This is chocolat chaud…well basically, hot chocolate. It is not that sweet, but should be sufficient in clearing your tongue.”

“You saved me…”

For the time being, Amane’s urge was to wash off this this pain.

He poured the hot chocolate from the mug into his mouth, and the warm, rich flavor spread.

It had the sweet scent of chocolate, but the flavor was not too sweet, bittersweet rather, easy to drink, and comforting.

“Delicious.”

“That is good.”

She answered flatly, but he did not mind as he tried to conceal the pain in his mouth by slowly savoring the hot chocolate.

The chocolate itself did not contain much stimulant, and instead, they were mixed into ganache, hardened, and a coating of sugar was added. It was really impactful at first, but it eased up after some time.

Once he was done drinking, his tongue was back to normal, though a little numb.

“Haa…she really mixed everything in…”

“Was it that spicy?”

“Well she added pepper, wasabi and habanero. Goodness…good thing there’s something to clean my mouth up. I would have died if I ate it out there.”

“A silver lining in this misfortune, it seems.”