March 14th—White Day. With the Project Selection special exam on March 15th just one day away, that tense, battle-ready atmosphere suddenly eased for this holiday.
Many girls' thoughts jumped from tomorrow's exam to a single question about today: would they receive candy? Or maybe cookies?
You can only say this: the merchants here in Japan are deviously clever. White Day, which didn't originally exist, was forcibly invented by businesses.
It started because Valentine's chocolate made too much money. Seeing how much the chocolate sellers raked in on Valentine's Day, others got envious!
Candy makers watched the chocolate merchants' carnival and immediately had an idea. They began to promote the notion that on White Day, boys who had received chocolates should return the favor.
They should give back candy, thereby responding to the sentiment expressed on Valentine's Day.
So boys who were willing to accept a girl's true-feeling (honmei) chocolate on Valentine's had to buy fancy candy on White Day and give it back as a reply of the heart.
Then it was the candy sellers' turn to rake it in. Everyone in sweets wanted a bite: the cookie merchants took one look—well now, Valentine's lines the chocolate-sellers' pockets, and White Day lines the candy-sellers' pockets, so what about them? Were they supposed to just sit there and watch?
No way!
So kept hyping it up: since candy is used to answer the feelings behind true-feeling chocolates, cookies should be used to answer the feelings behind obligation (giri) chocolates.
Giri chocolate is to thank someone—a senior, a mentor—for their care and guidance; or to thank friends for their companionship and friendship; or to express familial affection.
Thus, on White Day, you buy cookies to reply to others' friendship and kinship, to answer the care others have shown; and with that, the cookie sellers started making money too.
Over time, year after year, it evolved into a unique cultural custom.
Yukio found it all rather curious, but he still gave candy in return—not out of "when in Rome," but because girls hope to receive candy on this holiday.
That said, a lot of amusing little stories happened while he was giving candy back. For example, right in front of Ibuki, Shiina asked for Yukio to feed her a piece of candy mouth-to-mouth, which twisted Ibuki's features with rage, and she loudly demanded equal treatment—also mouth-to-mouth.
…
From inside, Yukio listened—finding it both funny and a bit endearing. Just as he was wondering whether to go open the door, Ichinose finally came in. "Y-Yukio-kun."
Right now, she was more nervous than at any other time; her heart wasn't listening at all—pounding as if it were about to leap right up out of her throat!
Even on Valentine's Day, when she'd handed over her true-feeling chocolate, she hadn't been this nervous!
Yukio also noticed how uneasy she was. He crooked a finger, invited Ichinose to sit beside him, handed her the water he'd already prepared, and shifted her attention. "The special exam starts tomorrow."
"Has your class done anything unique to prepare? Like our class, for example—are you interfering with the other side?"
Sure enough, it worked. As soon as he brought up the exam, Ichinose snapped out of that breathless, ambiguous mood; even her eyes grew brighter. "Nope. Everyone in our class thinks…"
"As long as we do our own part well—prep earnestly, practice together—then tomorrow we just give it everything and strive to win."
Perhaps because this time it was one-on-one and not one of those past battle-royale exams, there was no need to hide intel. She just laid it all out honestly.
That really was Ichinose—and her class.
They didn't try to dig for information, didn't think about crooked tricks. They chose to win upright, with their own comprehensive strength, step by steady step.
"You're amazing, Ichinose." Yukio sighed in admiration. It might look inflexible, even impractical for society—but precisely this open and upright way of being truly makes people like you.
"Eh? R—really?! I—I actually think our class might not be clever enough." The moment Yukio praised her, she reverted to form a bit—her cheeks flushing again as she shyly turned her eyes aside.
The corner of Yukio's mouth lifted. He didn't judge whether Ichinose's class was clever or not. After easing her nerves a little, he finally got to the day's main point. "Last month, I said I'd give you an answer today."
"!" At that, Ichinose's hands reflexively gripped the hem of her pleated skirt. Though she'd always treated her clothes gently—because of limited means in the past—this was one of those rare times the girl crushed her skirt into wrinkles.
...
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