#so originally I wasn't going to dive into the crush stuff until late

[rubixkun]

Natsumi’s Valentine

Next Gen: Natsumi (next gen) is ready to take Valentine’s Day to the next level. It’s time to confess her feelngs!

Blissful singing could be heard by anyone who walked closer to Natsumi’s dorm. She sat on her bed, singing the tune to a well-known song about a certain February holiday. Valentine’s Day was a day that Natsumi held dear; she had yet to have a special someone on the day of Cupid, but this year, she planned on changing that.

Next to her backpack was a heart-shaped box, and inside were an assortment of freshly-made chocolates she had her mother help her make during the weekend. All she had to do now was write a note to that person she planned to give the chocolates to - her best friend, and now crush, Kazuki.

Writing his name was the easy part. Her singing quieted down when she got to writing hers, followed by a heart. Her singing came to a halt while she tried to think of what she was going to write after that.

In the romance novels and manga she read, Valentine’s Day was always used as a perfect opportunity to confess romantic feelings, so she figured writing a letter to this special someone would be easy enough. She tapped the tip of her pencil on her chin in thought.

“I can’t say that I love him,” Natsumi mumbled to herself. “It’s too early.” Natsumi looked over at her bookshelf and stared at the ridiculous amount of pink-spined books. “What did some of the girls do in their stories?” She crawled out of her bed and blindly picked one book to flip through, then another, and another. A grim look was painted on Natsumi’s face when she saw how so many times, the heroine in the novel would fail on Valentine’s Day.

“Maybe it’s too soon to confess,” Natsumi groaned. “Kazuki was just dumped three months ago...perhaps he isn’t over the break up.” Her hands began to tremble. “What if he’s hoping his ex will come back to him? What am I going to do?”

Natsumi sighed heavily to calm herself down. “Nah, this is the perfect time to confess! After all, we’ve got a childhood friends trope. Once he gets these chocolates, and I confess my feelings, I’ll be in his arms in no time! He’ll realize he likes me back, and then we’ll kiss!” Her cheeks flushed in her favorite shade of pink, followed by a squeal of delight. “There’s no way he’ll think I’m screwing with his mind tomorrow! Kazuki will be my boyfriend tomorrow. I’ll make damn sure of it!”

Lunch break had started, and Natsumi hadn’t seen Kazuki all day. She had been purposefully avoiding her friend in order to prepare herself for her confession. Throughout the morning, Natsumi refused to let the box of chocolates out of her sight. She may have gotten a few strange looks from classmates with how determined she looked whenever she glanced at the box. For the first time in Natsumi’s school life, she didn’t care how her peers saw her. What mattered to her was making sure she’d get this moment with Kazuki down perfect. When she wasn’t scribbling down notes, she was scribbling things she planned on telling him.

When lunch break started, she sat at her usual spot in the cafeteria and waited for Kazuki. She started to worry when Kazuki hadn’t arrived. Natsumi took deep breaths to calm herself down. She wasn’t going to let his absence psych her out. A few more minutes passed, and finally Kazuki showed up. He ran over to Natsumi with a panicked look on his face.  

“Sorry I’m late!” Kazuki announced. “I’ve had a bit of an interesting morning.”

“What would that be?” Natsumi asked. She kept her fingers crossed he wasn’t going to say a girl asked him out.

“Well, to start things off, when I got to my classroom this morning, my desk was stacked with chocolates!”

Natsumi’s eyes widened. She knew Kazuki tended to have admirers, but the idea of him receiving so much chocolate bewildered her. “Who were they from?” she asked, a sting of jealousy creeping into her voice.

“That’s the funny part,” Kazuki said. “I read the tags of who they were from, and it looked like they were all from Kari’s friends.”

“...But your sister is in middle school.”

“That’s what’s confusing me! How did a bunch of middle school girls get into Hope’s Peak, figure out which classroom is mine, and then pick out my desk?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Then, with that stack of chocolate, it was tough to take notes in class since there was no room for my notebook. Then,I had to figure out how to get all those boxes into my locker. That’s why I’m late meeting you. It’s going to be worse trying to get them in my room.”

“Were there any not from middle school girls?”

Kazuki shook his head. “If I were getting any from someone here, they’d probably give them to me in person.  What about you?”

Natsumi also shook her head. “I never get chocolate, you know that.”

“Maybe this year will be different. I think-” Kazuki soon looked over and noticed Natsumi fumbling with a heart-shaped package. “What’s that?”

Natsumi quickly hid the box. “Nothing.”

“I know what that is. You have a box of chocolates!”

Natsumi puffed her cheeks as she blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You can’t hide things from a detective,” he teased. “So who are they for?”

Natsumi’s stuttering became inaudible. In her mind, she couldn’t figure out why she couldn’t say they were for Kazuki.

“I didn’t know you had a crush on anybody! Are you gonna give me a name?”

“Hell no!” she blurted out. “I’m not saying anything!”

“Wow, I can’t remember the last time I saw you shy,” he chuckled. “This guy must really be amazing to make you stutter like this.”

“That guy is you, you idiot,”  Natsumi grumbled in her thoughts. “I should just give him the chocolate now. At least it’ll shut him up.” She couldn’t seem to raise her hands and give him the box. “Why can’t I do it? What the fuck, Natsumi?”

Natsumi was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize she was mumbling out loud. She came to when Kazuki waved his hand in front of Natsumi’s face.

“If you need help, I can do whatever I can,” he suggested.

“Like what?” she said as she snapped out of her daze.

“I dunno, maybe pretend I’m the guy you like.”

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Just practice what you want to say to your crush as if I’m him. It’s helped us in the past, it should help now.”

“This guy is a fucking detective and can’t figure out I’m drooling over him? Okay, I could use this moment to confess. I got this. I can do this!”

“You’re a dumbass!” Natsumi blurted out.

Kazuki blinked. “...I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t say that to him.”

Natsumi slammed her head on the table. “It’s hopeless,” she groaned.

“Come on, you can do this. You’re not the type to give up so easily. I have another idea. Do you have his number?”

Natsumi hesitated. “...I do.”

“Tell him that you want to meet him after school, and then give him the chocolates! If you’re having trouble speaking, I’m sure the gesture would be enough for him to understand!”

“...Alright I’ll do it.”

Kazuki flashed a smile. “That’s the Natsumi I know! Are you going to message him now?”

“No!”

She barely paid attention in the last segment of her classes. She focused on her phone the entire time while lingering over a written-out message for Kazuki to meet her after class. She figured that once the message was sent, he’d realize right away the chocolates she tried to conceal were for him. But that was what she wanted, right? She bit her lip and added to her message that she wanted to tell him how things went between her and her mystery crush. After that, she sent the message.

“Why the hell can’t I tell him how I feel?”

Natsumi yanked the tag off the box.

Natsumi looked gloomy when Kazuki walked to her side. She slightly glanced over, and it didn’t take a detective to realize something was wrong. He noticed she still had her box of chocolates in her hand, though she wasn’t attempting to hide them like she did at lunch.

“It didn’t go well, huh?” Kazuki asked after a few moments of silence.

“I couldn’t tell him,” Natsumi admitted. “Apparently I’m that big of a coward. Saying something as easy as an ‘I like you’ apparently got the best of me.”

Kazuki scratched the back of his head. “Well, it’s not that easy. I’ve had my share of trouble confessing. The fear of rejection is scary.” Kazuki looked down. “Even then if they accept it’s not like you’re together forever. I know that all too well…”

Natsumi looked at Kazuki to see his eyes shaded with sadness. It was that moment she realized Kazuki had yet to completely get over his latest heartbreak, like she suspected the night before. Gathering her courage, she inched closer to her friend.

“Hey,” she mumbled. “How long is it gonna take for you to stop thinking about that bitch?”

Kazuki sighed. “Natsumi, she’s not-” he bit the inside of his lip. “I probably should work on getting over her.”

“No shit. She dumped you for a dog fucker. You deserve better.”

“I am that better.”

Kazuki smiled softly and laughed hesitantly. “I guess you’re right. Well, happy singles awareness day to us-oomph!”

Natsumi slammed the box of chocolates into Kazuki’s abdomen. She kept her head tilted so she couldn’t see her face.

“Natsumi, what are you-”

“Just take ‘em,” she grumbled.

“But these were for-”

“I don’t wanna look at them anymore. They’re handmade, so I don’t want them going to waste.”

Natsumi glanced over at Kazuki quickly to see a small dust of pink on his cheeks. He took the box from her hands.

“Well, thank you, Natsumi.” He opened the heart-shaped box and took in the detail of each piece of chocolate. “These look nice. You made them all by yourself?”

“My mom helped,” she mumbled.

“Do you mind if I try one now?”

“They’re yours now; I don’t care what you do.”

Immediately, Kazuki popped the smallest piece of chocolate in his mouth. His eyes widened in shock, followed by a smile.

“Natsumi, this is really good!” he exclaimed.

Natsumi looked over at Kazuki, who looked as if he were hesitating to eat another piece. Temptation got the best of him, and another piece of chocolate was eaten.

“I kinda feel bad for the guy these were meant to be for. He’s definitely missing out.”

Natsumi couldn’t help the smile on her face.

“He likes them.”

Kazuki closed the box of chocolates. “I’m gonna have to stop now so I don’t eat them all right away. Thanks again, Natsumi. I know you said they were for someone else, but it means a lot that you gave these to me.”

“It does?”

Kazuki nodded. “Of course. These mean more than the ones I got from all those middle school girls. I mean, they came from you, and you gave them to me in person. Even if you gave these as a friend, it means a lot.”

“Goddammit, Natsumi, fucking confess already!”

Natsumi’s inner thoughts were halted when she felt herself being wrapped in Kazuki’s arms. Everything she was thinking about suddenly was replaced with screaming.

“You’re a good friend, Natsumi,” he said affectionately. When he pulled away, Kazuki looked satisfied with himself, though Natsumi couldn’t figure out where in the world that satisfaction came from. “So, I’m going back to my dorm to study. Maybe after we can go to the rec room and play a game?”

“Yeah, that sounds nice.” Natsumi found herself smiling, though she couldn’t figure out why. She couldn’t confess her feelings, and they’d spend another day as friends and nothing more.

“Great! I’ll message you when I’m done. See you then!”

“Yeah. See you later.”

Kazuki walked back to his dorm with a smile on his face. Once he had his back turned, Natsumi placed her fingers against her lips. She still was smiling.

“I managed to give him the chocolates. It wasn’t a perfect moment, but I still did it! He looked so happy eating them. Not only that, but he hugged me! Kazuki was so happy!”

Natsumi’s hands slid down to her arms.

“Today was a success after all.”

While studying, Kazuki mindlessly ate chocolate after chocolate. He only paid attention when his left hand couldn’t pick up a piece. He looked over to see he ate the entire box of chocolates. He smiled sheepishly.

“Those didn’t last long,” he chuckled.

Kazuki leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Natsumi so flustered until today. She couldn’t even pretend I was her crush, like we used to do. Then, she texts me to meet her after class after I suggested the idea to tell her crush that. She couldn’t even look at me when she gave me the chocolates.” Kazuki tapped the pencil he held on his cheek. “Could it be that I was her crush? Nah, that’s ridiculous. I’m thinking too much into it.”

Kazuki continued his studying.

“What a strange holiday.”