𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅
"I'm not too confident it's going to turn out well." Nigel doubted. Zazie nodded, agreeing with him.
"We'll just have to figure out along the way." Pepe said. He wanted to encourage everyone before they fall into despair.
"Most of the chocolates you got on Valentine's were handmade, right?" Zack recalled, turning to Norman.
"Yeah." Norman replied. Well, Norman is commonly known as the school prince of the school.
"It's only right for us to give them handmade ones, too." Sandy said, making the rest agree, expect one.
"I still don't see a problem with store-bought ones." Ray sighed. The rest of the boys turned to him, seeing him as nothing but absolute trash.
"You...what do those chocolates mean to you?" Vincent questioned, pushing his glasses up, his signature move.
"They're just chocolates, aren't they?" Ray raised a brow, not understanding why they're looking at him like that.
Zack, out of reflex, punched Ray in the face. Ray's astonished as he held his swollen cheek.
"You! What the heck is wrong with you?!" Ray yelled, clenching his fist as an irk mark formed on his forehead.
"You think of Valentine's Day chocolates as ordinary chocolates..." Nigel mumbled. Zazie shook his head disapprovingly.
"We should deal with that narrow mind of yours!" Cislo yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Ray.
"You should prepare yourself." Oliver warned, rolling up his sleeve.
"Hold up! Just explain it to me!" Ray demanded.
"You were happy when Y/n gave you those chocolates, right?" Norman asked. He knew that because Ray is Ray.
"Mentioning Y/n there seems unnecessary. All she ever does is tease me. The chocolate was obligatory anyway." Ray huffed.
"You're such a tsundere, Ray." Oliver remarked with a chuckle.
"Whether it's obligatory, or romantic, as long as there's thought put into it, think of the chocolate as the sender's feelings." Vincent advised.
"I guess you're right..." Ray had finally agreed with them.
"You should return their good will with your own good will." Zack spoke up.
"Getting something expensive doesn't mean you put your thought into it." Oliver explained.
"So basically, put some real effort into your answer!" Cislo summarized. Zazie nodded approvingly.
"Right...so, I should put effort into telling her my feelin-" he paused when he saw the huge smirks on their faces.
"Don't misunderstood. The ruckus just mixed with my train of thoughts, resulting to my words being jumbled up." he reasoned. The rest of them laughed to provoke him even more.
They decided to make the chocolates at the Home Economics classroom since Oliver asked permission from Lucas.
"So, where do we start?" Pepe asked. Sandy asked what was it that Pepe was making again.
"I was thinking of making white chocolate cookies." Pepe replied.
"I believe you start by finely chopping up the chocolate." Nigel spoke as he scavenged through his plastic bag.
"By the way, isn't there some meaning associated to what you give to the girl?" Cislo recalled. Zazie nodded.
"I'm sure it was either marshmallows or candies, which was it?" Ray questioned.
"I'm not sure either, but for marshmallows, 'I'm returning the feelings you gave to me back to you in their purest form'." Norman smiled innocently.
"Boss, that's amazing!" Cislo exclaimed. Norman tilted his head to the side, confused.
"You really are a genius, boss!" Vincent shouted. Norman wasn't sure why they were calling him, 'boss'.
"That just sounds embarrassing." Ray rolled his eyes at the boys fanboying.
"What about candies then?" Zack asked. Norman shrugged, only knowing what marshmallows could mean.
"Um...'I've crystallized my feelings for you into these sweet gemstones'. Like that?" Oliver shrugged.
"This got so much more serious...it's embarrassing!" Ray argued. The truth is, he was planning on making those two.
Now that he knows the meaning, there's no way he could have the confidence to make it.
"With this amount of good will, it's looking like we'll be paying back a tenfold instead of a three." Pepe sighed.
"That's not something you should worry about." Zack retorted, carrying the bowl of chocolate.
"I wish the guy who made up that rule was never born!" Sandy cursed.
"You hate it that much?" Oliver sweatdropped.
"I agree with Sandy-boy over there. I wouldn't want that rule to be around for much longer." Cislo agreed with Sandy.
"You know, I don't think many girls actually expect that much in return." Norman argued.
"Well, I guess some of us are aware of that too, but...I can't get my hopes up." Oliver sighed. He wasn't sure if Y/n would accept his chocolate.
Knowing the kind of person Y/n was, he shook his head and continued to work on his chocolate.
"We should go by the saying, 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'." Cislo advised. Zazie gave them a thumbs up.
"That only applies when you're getting back at someone." Vincent corrected. In fact, he was getting back at someone.
"Right. Now Zack and I just have to wait for it to cool and solidify." Oliver sighed in relief after closing the refrigerator door.
Unlike the others, who were chatting about random stuff, Oliver and Zack were actually working on their gifts.
Norman was just adding finishing touches while Ray was mixing the chocolate, refusing to use marshmallows or candies.
"How long do I have to put this in the oven for?" Pepe asked, holding up his tray of raw, white chocolate cookies.
"About 15 minutes should do it." Sandy answered. The rest agreed with him, trusting that he knew what he was saying.
"By the way, weren't we going to put pigs' feet in the marshmallows at some point?" Cislo asked.
"You were going to put pigs' feet into your feelings for her?!" Vincent shouted. Zazie literally dropped his tray, Ray had to help him pick it up.
"You're treating your gift with the same respect as how you received it?" Norman chuckled.
"That's so mean..." Zack muttered.
"Wow, the things people think of..." Cislo sighed.
"You are those 'people'." Oliver pointed out.
"You see, there was one time when we were fed chocolates with frog meat in them. The pigs' feet is payback for that." Cislo elaborated.
"F-Frog?!" Ray exclaimed. Zazie had once again, dropped his tray, remembering the awful taste.
At this point, Ray wondered what was happening inside of the Student Council room that ordinary students weren't allowed to enter.
"Don't worry, it's fine since I put lots of effort into this fine delicacy of mine!" Cislo reassured.
"That's never going to be fine, no matter how much effort you put into it." Norman scolded. The rest agreed.
"The truth is, I already went ahead and made it!" Cislo announced, taking out the box of pig feet stuffed in a marshmallow.
"It doesn't even look presentable." Oliver sighed.
"Eat it!" Cislo yelled, doing an All Might face as he shoved one of it in front of Vincent's face.
"As if anyone would!" Vincent yelled. Cislo argued that it was protein. Vincent continued to refuse.
"How about the Vitamin B?!" Cislo recalled. Vincent still didn't care.
"Was it Vitamin Bu?!" Cislo started to doubt. Vincent stated that there was no such thing.
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"It's already White Day, isn't it?" Sonya recalled.
"They have to give us a threefold in return!" Gillian grinned. Paula wondered who made that rule.
"Something like that isn't going to actually happen." Ayshe argued. Violet had to agree.
"What if the boy said instead, 'I guess the only way I can fully repay you would be to be your boyfriend'." Emma squealed.
"The rule exists as a setup for that kinda confession!" Barbara exclaimed. Y/n found it quite romantic.
"Well, if you gave him romantic chocolates to begin with, there'd be no problem." Gillian shrugged.
"Is there an equivalent for girls?" Ayshe muttered, wondering if there was such thing.
"Ya could give 'em some expensive-looking chocolate and when ya see that he's worried about what to give in return ya say..." Barbara paused, not knowing what to actually say.
"Um...I want...you." Y/n played along. Emma still doesn't get what the threefold refers to.
"I think a lot of people assume it's about the price." Paula stated.
"It's about time someone changed that. How about changing it to quantity?" Sonya suggested.
"Eating all that chocolate would make you gain so much weight, though." Violet argued.
"Getting a stack of chocate wouldn't really make me happy either." Y/n said, even though she got the most chocolates.
"How about speed then?" Gillian suggested.
"Of what?" Paula asked.
"How fast he hands it to you?" Ayshe guessed.
"That's scary!" Emma exclaimed.
"This threefold thing really isn't much to get excited over." Violet sighed. Ayshe agreed with her.
"You're bound to expect a lot back if you put a lot of effort into your gift." Emma retorted.
"Making a rule for it is pointless, though." Y/n argued.
"Y/n, threefold or not, what kinda present are ya expecting?" Barbara questioned.
Fun fact, after the whole frog meat thing during Valentine's, Barbara actually gave Y/n normal chocolate.
"I'm not really expecting anything." Y/n stated.
"Eh?!" Emma gasped.
"You don't want anything?" Gillian inquired.
"I didn't give it to them expecting anything back." Y/n explained.
"I agree. You wouldn't give someone a present just because you wanted something in return." Paula agreed.
"You're right!" Emma gasped.
"I forgot all about the real meaning of those chocolates..." Gillian collapsed on the ground, defeated.
"Y/n truly is an angel!" Gillian gawked.
"Welcome to the 'We worship Y/n' club." Barbara patted Gillian's back.
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"Great, everyone's here!" Cislo sighed in relief, glad that they won't have to search the whole school for each of them.
"You girls got a minute?" Zack asked. Y/n nodded.
Oliver handed a paper bag filled with goodies, every single one of their products inside of it.
"Happy White Day from all of us." Oliver greeted. Ray, of course, wanted to personally hand Y/n his box of chocolates.
"Thank you!"
"I'm so happy!"
"How kind of you!"
"I was worried there was going to be a nasty surprise!" Barbara sighed. Y/n said that it's a lot harder to pull off a surprise on White Day.
"Well, White Day is all about returning happy feelings." Norman recalled.
"More like, I have to, don't I? It doesn't look like I get much of a choice." Ray retorted.
"That bad, huh?" Pepe and Sandy sweatdropped.
"A surprise present depends on the receiver not being able to guess about the present." Nigel stated.
"Well, it's about making them feel happy with your gift." Cislo shrugged. Zazie agreed with a nod.
"Receiving a gift on its own is enough to make me happy." Y/n mumbled, the rest of the girls agreed.
"Still, if you really want to be surprised then that won't be too hard to do." Cislo grinned, placing a box on a table.
He opened it up to reveal marshmallows with pigs' feet stuffed inside of it.
"I can't seem to tear my eyes away from it..." Emma mumbled.
"You actually brought it along with you?" Norman sweatdropped.
"What happened to 'making them happy'?" Ray recalled. Y/n nearly gagged at the sight.
"It's all about returning their feelings, no?" Cislo grabbed a pig foot-stuffed marshmallow and shoved it in Barbara's mouth.
"Barbara!" everyone screamed.
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"Huh? You forgot to bring it?" Norman gasped. Ray stated that he left it at his house and that it's chilling in the fridge.
"Is something the matter?" Y/n asked, entering the room with Emma next to her.
Y/n didn't hear what they were talking about since she was too busy talking to Emma.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Ray reassured. Y/n knew he was lying, but decided not to pester him about it.
"Y/n, would you like it if Ray gave you chocolates today?" Norman asked, going straight to the point. Emma picked up on what happened.
"Hm, no comment." Y/n answered. Emma asked if that meant Y/n didn't want any chocolates from Ray.
"I can't answer that in front of him. It'll be like I was demanding them." Y/n elaborated. Norman sighed, saying that she's overthinking it.
"Norman's right, Y/n." Violet popped out of the blue. Ray told her to quit showing up randomly.
"You should just answer him with, 'You're the one I really want'." Violet winked.
Hayato and Jin came in and handed Y/n and Emma their chocolates.
Norman didn't feel like handing his personal chocolates to Emma and Y/n, since it would be like betraying Ray, who had forgotten his gift for Y/n.
"Don't worry about me." Ray reassured, noticing Norman's stare.
"But..." Norman's voice trailed off as he watched Ray continue to read his book.
"You don't want to put your hard work to waste, do you? I'll give mine to her later." Ray said.
"Ray..." Norman mumbled. Before he can say anything further, Ms. Krone entered the class, doing pirouettes, her flashy entrance.
After some stretching and doing a few dance routines, P. E. classes had to be cancelled since it began to rain outside.
Since P. E. classes were the last subject on their schedules, the students began packing up to head home.
Ray stood up and bolted outside the room, nearly outrunning the school's fastest runner, Hayato.
"Whoa, he's quick." Emma remarked.
"Is Ray going to be all right?" Norman wondered with a frown on his face. Emma didn't know either.
"Did Ray bring an umbrella with him?" Y/n inquired, standing up with her school bag hung around her shoulder.
"Sup, Vice-Prez! Wanna hit the arcade on the way back...huh, what's wrong?" Barbara asked, noticing their worried expressions.
"Sorry, Barbara, give me a few minutes." Y/n said before getting ready to leave the school.
Ray had finally gotten the ice cream brownies he had kept in the fridge and was just stopping at a red light.
"The plastic got soaked..." Ray muttered, staring at it. No one was around, so he was just standing there in the rain.
He was completely soaked from not bringing an umbrella with him, all to protect the gift for Y/n.
He was in a hurry, so he didn't bother searching for shelter or any place to take cover from the rain.
"Did she...already go home?" Ray muttered, realizing that he didn't think of the possibility of leaving without him.
"Ray, I'm right here." Y/n spoke up, crossing the road and holding the umbrella above their heads.
"You're going to catch a cold if you stay out in the rain like these." Y/n warned, taking out her handkerchief.
"That wouldn't be lovely, now would it?" Y/n chuckled, using her handkerchief to dry Ray's hair.
Ray sighed, afraid that Y/n wouldn't accept his gift after it got wet from the rain.
Y/n smiled, placing her head on top of his head. Luckily, she was tall enough to reach for it. Ray sniffed in response.
"It's fine now." Y/n comforted, glad that he's at least feeling better. You could see the huge frown on his face, though.
"I'm not giving you my gift anymore. It's wet from the rain." Ray said, turning away from her.
"Something like that doesn't matter." Y/n retorted, not wanting Ray to chicken out after everything he had to go through to get his gift for her.
"I thought you said you weren't going to demand it from me." Ray reminded, not wanting Y/n to accept it because it didn't look presentable.
"Indeed. But, it would be lovely if I received those from you." Y/n smiled. Ray pouted and handed her the Ice cream brownies.
"A-Are you holding back?" Ray asked out of the blue.
"About the ice cream brownies? No, I'm not gonna. Why? You wanna eat it together?" Y/n questioned in return. She knew it was ice cream brownies inside, thanks to her senses.
"No, you dummy! You...are you holding back when it comes to me?" Ray rephrased his question. Y/n's eyes widened.
"Why do you think that?" Y/n asked.
"I just, sort of, thought that was the case." Ray stammered. He can't believe what he was asking.
"Eh...how astute." Y/n mumbled. Astute means being sharp or clever, for those who don't want to search it up.
"So, you have been holding back? What have-" Ray was interrupted by Y/n.
"How cruel, Ray. Are you seriously trying to make me say it?" she let out a chuckle.
"Then, if you answer my question, I'll give yours a proper answer." Y/n stated. Ray didn't quite get it.
"Why do you always lie about the silliest of things when I ask you something that relates to me?" Y/n inquired.
"Well, it's not like that. I guess my answer is...I don't know." Ray fiddled with his fingers due to nervousness.
"You don't know, huh? Say, are you aware that at times like this, you can't lie?" Y/n reminded.
"Wh-What are you talking about?" Ray stuttered, his face heating up from all of the questions being thrown at him.
"Ray, why is your face red? Surely it isn't because of the cold. It's barely been a few minutes." Y/n pointed out.
"It's not red at-" Ray attempted to lie, but he was interrupted once again by Y/n, who got sick of his constant lying.
"Are you nervous?" Y/n asked, staring straight into his eyes. His nervousness could easily be seen with the expression he had on.
"No, I'm not!" Ray immediately shouted, unintentionally pushing Y/n away out of reflex. Before he could apologize, he was cut off.
"Ray...aren't you the one holding back?" Y/n turned the tables around. Ray's eyes widened at the sudden realization.
Silence. Nothing but silence after that. Y/n could tell that Ray felt pressured and that she shouldn't be asking him such things.
"Apologies. I pushed it too far. Let's go home, I brought your bag." Y/n gave up.
"So...so what if I am holding back?" Ray declared, holding Y/n's hand before she started walking ahead of him, like always.
"I've been holding back. Why?! Why should I and someone like you...I don't get it at all!" Ray yelled.
"You're kind. You're sweet. You're always reassuring others, not caring if that hurts you at all. You tease me a lot, too!" Ray rambled.
"Ray..." Y/n muttered out his name, her eyes softening. She didn't want to force him to say it.
"This is your fault. If you hadn't asked me that question, I wouldn't have realized." Ray held her hand even tighter.
"Ray, relax. What are you..." Y/n mumbled. Despite Y/n trying to get him to stop, Ray continued.
"The truth is, I've always wanted to hold your hand! Despite every mean thing I say to you, I've always wanted to be by your side. Not as a friend, not as your best friend, not as your childhood friend, but...but as your lover!" Ray admitted.
"Why do I have to get so nervous when I'm around you? Why do I have to get lonely when we're apart?" Ray trembled.
"I'm smart and I know exactly what to do in any given situation. No matter how difficult it is, I always find the right solution to a problem. But why are you...the only one who can make me this confused?" Ray mumbled.
"You're a dummy. A huge dummy. Y/n, you dummy. Why do you always tease me? Why do I have to feel this way?" Ray asked.
Y/n placed a hand on his cheek and gave him a gentle smile.
"I feel the same way too." she confessed.
"Dummy..." he mumbled with his red face.
They then decided to go home together. Their walk there was silent until Y/n hooked her arm around Ray's and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Hey! Get off me. You're seriously annoying, you know that?!" Ray said. Y/n used her Tsundere translator.
"I like you." Y/n teased. Ray tensed up. I swear if he was a dog, his tail would be wagging like crazy.
"I can't believe you're still saying that...I already told you that I don't like you!" Ray shouted.
"You're lying. That's not what you said earlier." Y/n pointed out. When Y/n's around, there's really no point in lying, but Ray still does it.
"Even if you keep saying that you hate me, I want to try dating you anyways. Many say we have good chemistry." Y/n mentioned.
"Huh?! You want to date me? I-It's not that I don't mind but..." he paused, looking away.
"Don't blame me when you run home crying. You know I'm not good with words..." Ray muttered.
Meanwhile...
"Oh snap, I just heard some juicy crap." Barbara whispered to herself, quickly running away from Ray and Y/n.
She was planning to jumpscare Y/n in one of the bushes. Yes, she had been sitting there in the rain, just waiting to scare her.
Unfortunately, they just had their moment and Barbara watched it all go down as if she was watching a movie.
She wished she had popcorn with her, though.
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