Chapter 32 three

Judgment day has come.No matter how sincerely many people try to stop it, what has to come will come.Time does not stop, and the calendar is still being rewritten.Those who can't accept it, run at the speed of light, no one is stopping you. In this way, we ushered in February 14th.On the calendar I got at a nearby shrine during Chinese New Year, of course, "Valentine's Day" was marked under this date.After waking up in the morning, there was a beautifully packaged small box at the door of the room.It must have been another mindless prank by my sister—thinking that I opened the box and found a plate of chocolates and a scrawled note inside.I looked at the sticky note... "I would like to present a plate of chocolates. I offer you Oreki offerings full of condolences."

After an outside instep volley kicked the box into the room, I was on my way to school. Kinabalu High School is no different than usual.Because the school allows students to wear warm clothes, coats, jackets, etc. are gathered on the way to school, which is more lively than any season other than winter.Even after entering the school, the school building was not filled with that sweet smell.The fateful day kicked off smoothly like this. During the lunch break, in order to buy walnut bread, I resolutely got into the crowd at the canteen.After successfully buying the last loaf of bread, I suddenly noticed something when I withdrew from the crowd: Chitanda seemed to have bought something, and was being squeezed into the crowd.Regardless of her personality, Chitanda is undoubtedly a real lady from the outside. The scene of her being squeezed into the crowd is really funny.The other party seems to have found me.She managed to make a way out between the sailor uniform and the school uniform, squeezed her way over with great effort and said, "Hello, Oreki-san."

"Ahh." Chitanda tidied up her scarf, holding only a drink in a cardboard box.Although it had nothing to do with me, I still asked in surprise, "Chitanda, is this all for your lunch?" Chitanda lowered her head a little embarrassedly: "No, I brought a bento for lunch. It's just... I like this a lot recently." She held up what was in her hand to my eyes.It turned out to be the legendary matcha milk.Although it's just cheap, doesn't matcha contain the caffeine that Chitanda is afraid of... Well, sometimes it's okay to not know, so I'd better stop talking.

The two of them standing here are bound to hinder the crowd in front of the canteen, so we walked.Chitanda's classroom and I are separated by a wall. As we walked, we chatted with Ihara: "Finally, how about Ihara's chocolate?" Chitanda smiled, and even replied with some pride: "In the end, I decided to use Keto Golden Elephant, although I think Nestle is also good." After walking quietly for a few steps, I realized that the other party didn't intend to continue explaining, so I asked, "What do you mean?" "...Ah, I'm sorry. I mean, I decided to use the Belgian one, although I hesitated to choose the Swiss one."

Then she said, "It took a lot of effort. The two of us bought many kinds of chocolate from the store and tried them one by one. Although it was a rare experience, I have always been chocolate... To be honest, I don’t want to touch chocolate anymore these days.” She chuckled.In the geography lecture room, Chitanda and Ibara ate around a table full of chocolates—I also laughed when I imagined this scene.The two of them must have leveled a mountain of chocolate that shot up to the ceiling. "Eating so much chocolate, didn't you get acne?" "I'm fine. Mayaka has a conspicuous scar on her face, and she's covering it with a Band-Aid."

Then Chitanda said intoxicatedly: "The heart-shaped mold was made by Mayaka herself, and I didn't know her hands are so skillful. The carving is also very delicate... A pair of facing cupids are really cute! It's a pity that the wooden molds don't match the chocolate well, and the finished product doesn't feel very good on the tongue." "Anyway, she is also a member of the Manga Research Club, cutting and so on shouldn't be a problem. But this is the first time I've heard that she can also use a carving knife." "Student Mayaka is very focused on things. The so-called pouring your heart, is that what it looks like... It feels so amazing."

Pour your heart into it?In my opinion, concentration is originally Ibara's strength.If Chitanda is fascinated by everything in the world, Iori can concentrate more.By the way, Satoshi can enjoy several things at the same time, let alone me, basically nothing will interest him.Besides, the chocolate this time is a battle of shame for Yi Yuan, and this alone is enough for her to work hard. "Has the chocolate been given away?" When asked, Chitanda shook her head.She frowned slightly: "It's a bit of a pity here, classmate Mayehua wanted to give the chocolates out by herself... She planned to go to the club office to deliver them after school, but she couldn't get away from Manyan anyway."

"So what?" "They said they were going to put the chocolates in the club office, and then call Fukube-san over. But I don't think there's any need to be obsessed with after school. After all, February 14th can be regarded as a Valentine's Day ceremony, so there should be a way..." Well.Although Chitanda may feel regretful, it can be regarded as a chic way to simply throw the chocolate to Satoshi.Satoshi should like it. At this moment, Chitanda turned to me as if suddenly remembering something.She looked at me seriously and said, "Ah, that's right. Oreki-san, today is Valentine's Day."

"..." Chitanda slowly lowered her head.When she raised her face again, her expression had returned to its former brightness: "According to the habit of my family, no gifts are given during the New Year and the Ghost Festival to those who are really close. So, although I didn't prepare chocolates for Valentine's Day, I still Please don't be offended." ……Is it. Valentine's Day chocolates can be compared with Zhongyuan and New Year's gifts. I have never thought that I have lived so old. The second-grade students who passed by seemed to have heard our conversation, and walked over quickly, suppressing a smile.I really want to kick his ass.

After school, while I was stuffing textbooks and other miscellaneous things into my schoolbag, Satoshi came to find me.I don't know what's in it, the handbag that is always with him is almost stretched into a rectangular parallelepiped shape.While swinging the bag, Satoshi asked, "Houtaro, what are you going to do in a while?" Anyway, I won't be so stupid as to go to the geology lecture room.Just as I was about to say that I was going home, I looked out the window, and the sleet that had just fallen seemed to grow bigger.Although my boots and coat are waterproof and I carry an umbrella...

"Wait for the sleet to stop or turn into snow." "Wait here?" I thought about it.It was very cold in the classroom because the heating had been cut off.And it's Valentine's Day, and for those who want to take advantage of the after-school classroom, the boys sitting in the house waiting for the weather to change must be very in the way--I'm not that obsessed.But then again, going to the social office is too stupid. "That's right, then go to the library." Hearing this, Lizhi nodded in satisfaction, then took out a book from his handbag and handed it to me.The book is thirty-two open hardcover, judging from the title, it should be a very popular work not long ago.If I remember correctly, the content of the book is probably something like "The sense of dislocation around a pair of ordinary men and women continues to ferment, and finally leads to an irreparable disaster, and even a death storm sweeping the streets!" Something like that.Horror novels are not my thing at all. "Your interests are getting more and more peculiar... Even if you recommend it, I won't read it." "I didn't say I want you to see it. Can you please pay it back for me? The deadline is coming." I didn't answer, but just stuffed the book and the loose-leaf paper into the bag.Then, while continuing to do what I was doing, I asked, "Are you going to the social office?" Uh, yes— Satoshi replied somewhat absent-mindedly.I thought his sloppy look was a little strange, so I said, "It seems like Ihara can't go." Perhaps he didn't expect me to know this, Satoshi showed a surprised expression. "Hey, the news is quite well-informed...... Chitanda-san said?" he whispered. "It seems that I can't leave because of Manyan." "That's what I heard too." "Chitanda said she was sorry, Ibara..." As soon as I was halfway through, Satoshi interrupted me and said, "Manken has been a bit infighting lately. The original potential confrontation broke out after the cultural festival, and now members are divided into two factions, the 'impressionists' and the 'rationalists', vying for dominance. As long as one is not paying attention, the manga research society with a long history may be split. Judging from the number of people, the Impressionist Rationalists are three to one. I think it is a bit tragic. Mayaka is the leader of the Rationalists, and it is probably because of this today Let's do it." Although I thought the timing of Satoshi opening up the topic was weird, I still casually asked the unfamiliar vocabulary: "Impressionism and what?" "The rational faction. It's fine to say it's the 'character-focused faction' and the 'story-focused faction'. These two factions seem to have frequent debates, and I would like to participate if possible." Satoshi seemed to be enjoying it very much.Maybe he's more interested in this kind of scandal than in the February 14th event.Well, let’s ignore these— "You came up with the names of these two factions, right?" Satoshi shrugged pretentiously: "My vision of a trendsetter is endless." Saying that, Satoshi shook his handbag which was tied tightly around the mouth again.I finished chatting with Satoshi, put on my schoolbag, picked up my coat and walked out of the classroom.Behind him, Satoshi also followed.Because the connecting corridor leading to the specialist building is in the opposite direction to the library, we said goodbye at the door of the classroom. "Then there will be a time later, Oreki-san." Li Zhi said with a tone.I also responded jokingly: "Come on." "What oil are you adding? Really." Needless to say, of course it's time to cheer up and deal with shameful opponents. The library was unexpectedly deserted.If it catches up with bad weather on weekdays, the place would have been overcrowded. I put Satoshi's books in the return box, and put my schoolbag on a nearby seat.Because I wanted to find something light to read to pass the time, I went to the bookshelf and brought back a photobook of South American monuments.There are also photo albums from Europe and Central Asia, but probably out of respect for the "birthplace of chocolate", I finally chose South America. The first page is the famous Mayan pyramids, and then the Guyana plateau is full of greenery and full of strange pits.Turning the page, the picture shows a strange plant with fruit the size of a human face hanging directly on the tree trunk.The note reads "The cacao tree: Theobroma cacao", and explains that 'Theobroma' means 'food for the gods', in an unspecified language. Staring at this photo, I find myself becoming aware of the peculiarities of today.It stands to reason that people who care about Valentine's Day also care about Christmas, but I didn't think so much about the 24th of last month.Why does Valentine's Day alone give me such a deep impression?Part of the reason may be due to my slight interest in the battle of Ibara's shame, but more importantly, it should be the fact that "just woke up to receive chocolate".I'll notice it's the fourteenth, probably thanks to that chocolate. Let me be clear though: "Valentine's Day conscious" doesn't mean I'm expecting more chocolate than I did last year. For example, right now I'm admiring the ruins of the sewers at Machu Picchu, and if a guy comes up to me with a flushed face -- of course, it's gotta be a girl -- and says, "Take this, please! "Hand me a chocolate heart, how would I feel? Needless to say, of course I am happy. But I think that kind of joy is the same as the joy of "accidentally being recognized".Assuming that someone's casual work accidentally won the grand prize in a municipal art competition, then his joy and "the joy of receiving chocolate" will not have any essential difference.To put it more colloquially, it is the feeling of "although I don't know what is good about me, but I listen first when I am praised". The so-called "joyful feeling caused by falling in love" is really untenable. I take energy-saving doctrine as my creed, that is, "don't do superfluous things, and simplify what is necessary".This credo brought me mainly laziness, but beyond that, it also gave me a new perspective on relationships. The reason why I can feel the relaxed atmosphere of a club at the Ancient Books Research Club is because Satoshi, Chitanda, Ibara, and I don't get entangled with each other.For example, Chitanda, although her curiosity will indeed break my peace, but if I really don't want to get involved in something, she won't force me.In fact, Chitanda didn't force me to help in the 'Hyoka' incident or the 'Empress' incident last year.She is really good at begging for help, but she will never make trouble for no reason.If she had said something else, such as "It's your duty" or "It's a matter of course", or stalked with tears in my eyes, I would have quit the company on the spot. But, will men and women in love care about this?For the person we love, can we expect—or force—that the other person will not be entangled? ...Some people say that the purpose of biological existence is to leave genetic genes, or reproduce offspring, and love is the sublimated desire to reproduce.From this point of view, perhaps I am not yet a complete creature.But I'm still a human being, so I can't just cater to my physical desires.So I don't mind the term "incomplete creature". If you want to talk about desires, "My desire for chocolate" can support the topic better.Although I have a spicy preference, it's ok for a sweet tooth. That's what I thought as I looked at the bright orange color of the poison frog in the dense forest. "Finally found you, Oreki-san." I followed the sudden greeting and turned around, only to see Chitanda's face frighteningly close.After meeting the serious gaze in her big eyes, I first looked away. Affected by the dry air of winter, my throat is also dull.After a clear cough, I said, "...the so-called 'Finally found', is there something wrong?" "No." "..." After scanning the deserted library, Chitanda said in a low voice, "I thought that if Oreki-san was here, Fukube-san would be there too." So it was Satoshi. "I'm not inseparable from him." "That being said...do you know where Fukube-san went?" Just as I was about to open my mouth to answer, I realized something was wrong.Satoshi should have gone to the geology lecture room, but if that was the case, Chitanda wouldn't have come out to look for him. "Did he not go?" Chitanda nodded slightly. "I think he's really slow, so I came out to investigate the situation. Although he probably won't forget it because of Mayaka, but maybe there's something else going on." Is that so?I looked at my watch.Although I don't remember the exact time, it should have been less than thirty minutes from the moment when Satoshi said goodbye to me and said he was going to the office.It's almost five o'clock now, and the sun has set, so I can understand Chitanda's worries. But that was Satoshi Fukube.Although it was embarrassing to make people wait, dawdling for thirty minutes was nothing strange to him. I turned another page of the photobook, and then faced the distant view of Mexico City and said, "Satoshi is indeed not punctual sometimes. Anyway, he said he would go to the office, so why don't you wait?" "Because there is no specific time, so it can't be said that I'm late. If that's the case, then I'll wait and see." There was still a trace of anxiety in Chitanda's tone.Having said that, she simply left the library after speaking.This guy Satoshi really can't make people worry about anything.Thinking it was time to go back, I looked up out the window.The sleet still hasn't stopped.Reluctantly, I sat back on the chair again, and turned the photobook back a page.