I, Kayano Mina, Am a Real Man Who Never Forgets a Favor

On the way to school, I happened to look up at the sky.

There is a saying that anyone who can look at the sky three times a day ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is a person with room to spare in their life. I hadn't looked up with that in mind, but the clouds drifting overhead brought the words back all at once.

The road to school was still cold enough for the wind to seep into your body, under the same slightly dim sky as always.

The classroom door rattled open. It went without saying that I was the first one to set foot inside today, too. I dropped into my chair and laid both arms on the desk, and the chill of it sent a small shiver up my back.

"Haa...."

Sleep came pressing in, and I shifted where I sat. I'd ended up streaming until one in the morning, so I was shorter on rest than usual and had nodded off the whole subway ride to school. The drowsiness was still unmistakably with me. The conclusion didn't take long at all: I ought to sleep a little. I always came in early and pretended to sleep anyway. Actually sleeping wouldn't cause any real trouble. Thirty minutes, then....

Something noisy nearby pulled my eyes open on their own. A glance to the side, and the clock read 8:10. What followed was a sweet scent I couldn't place.

"Mmm...."

I quietly rubbed my eyes and turned my head. The room that greeted me was definitely livelier than usual, and the reason needed no detective work. Chocolate was in the hands of several classmates around me.

Right. Today was February 14th. Valentine's Day.

The only reason I'd streamed until dawn in the first place was that a conversation ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with the Iztomo about today's content had gotten away from me. Plenty of them had wanted a Valentine's ASMR stream, but I'd given it up for a very simple reason. The real man inside me — manlier than anyone — had objected with violence. Playing cute for other people just because it was stream content? Impossible, for a real man like me. I couldn't explain that to the Iztomo, but fortunately they were gracious enough to accept it. So ASMR was abandoned, and then someone suggested I try making homemade chocolate.

I refused, obviously. Preparing the ingredients is a hassle before you even start. And making it myself still wouldn't leave me anyone to give it to, which meant I'd have to eat it in the end. Too miserable. On top of that, a homemade-chocolate stream would mean turning a camera on in real life, wouldn't it? I hate that. It ignores the VTuber rules I keep in my heart.

Anyway, the conclusion was to stream whatever I felt like, the same as always. I'd buy my own chocolate. They could go watch someone else's ASMR....

And now the classroom, too, was putting on all sorts of scenes beneath the banner of Valentine's. The boys couldn't hide their expectations and kept sneaking looks around. One classmate was already red in the face, as if they actually had someone to offer their heart to. Tateyama, with chocolate already piled up like a mountain, was honestly incredible.

Me? I had no one to give anything to, and no one to receive anything from. A wise intellectual like me doesn't fall for a commercial scheme like this. It is absolutely not because I don't have a single friend to give even obligation chocolate to...!

Turning my back on a Valentine's that had nothing to do with me, I checked the timetable and started getting ready for first period ahead of time.

"Kayano...."

"Uh...?"

Where am I? Who am I?

...No. I'd been taught more times than I could count that running from reality like this did no good. Face reality, Kayano Mina.

It was lunch. And this was the back of the school grounds.

The back of the grounds — what kind of place is that? The classic spot in an everyday youth anime where the protagonist gets confessed to, isn't it? Beneath some incredibly old cherry tree, and places like it. Not that I had ever once seen a cherry tree of that sort.

Anyway, the back of the grounds was where I was standing, and the person in front of me was Miyauchi, the class president. Yes. The class president. A girl. Miyauchi.

"Kayano, um."

Both of her hands were behind her back, hiding something, as she looked at me. This was completely confession atmosphere....

"I brought cookies I made myself."

Homemade cookies had appeared!!!

On Valentine's Day, cookies or chocolate you made with your own hands are literally the symbol of sincerity, aren't they? This couldn't be happening. To think Miyauchi had been looking at me with those feelings. I hadn't predicted a single inch of it.

But I'm sorry, Miyauchi. Of course, if I were to have a lover, a girl is obviously what I'd want — that doesn't mean I want a lover right this moment.... So I can't accept this heart.

"Please look after me again this year."

...Huh?

To state the conclusion, it had been a magnificent misunderstanding. Miyauchi's homemade cookies were a token of friendship that every classmate except me had already received. She'd only failed to give me mine because I was asleep that morning, and had brought it out separately.

Thinking about it, she hadn't even called me to the back of the grounds. I'd eaten lunch and stepped outside for a little air.

Friendship cookies, though. I had, of course, prepared absolutely nothing. When I admitted as much, Miyauchi fortunately smiled and told me it was all right.

"As I said earlier, I gave them to mean please look after me this year, too."

But I am Kayano Mina, a real man who never forgets a favor. This being the case, I would repay the kindness on White Day. White Day is, quite literally, the day a real man can answer a favor he has received.

"S-so, um.... I g-got two whole friendship chocolates."

One was, obviously, the homemade cookies Miyauchi had given me at lunch. The other was chocolate Tateyama had suddenly handed me before I left school. I'd looked hers up, and it was expensive enough that I was startled.

"O-of course not.... Up till now, V-Valentine's was a day that didn't exist for me...."

"...Anyway, like I s-said yesterday, I wasn't planning to do anything special just because it's Valentine's...."

I'd received gifts from Miyauchi and Tateyama today, so I made up my mind to extend a little goodwill to the Iztomo as well. Not ASMR, and absolutely not homemade chocolate. What I meant was Baking Simulator, a game ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠where you can try your hand at sweets and baking. Make chocolate in the game, and it would feel like I'd properly observed Valentine's, right? The Iztomo who'd wanted chocolate from me ought to be satisfied, too. You couldn't actually eat it, of course, but that was better. Being virtual was the good part.

"I-it's a special day, so I'll m-make a special exception and look after you."

"Why?!"

You were the ones demanding ASMR and homemade chocolate from me as recently as yesterday. I'm trying to do something for you even like this, and that reaction is weird, isn't it?

...These guys were underestimating me way too much.

Sure, the inside of me was an undisputed real man, so my girl power was low. That didn't mean sixteen years of living as a girl had vanished. More than anything, with Mom almost never home, there was no way I couldn't handle anything to do with cooking. Who did they think made dinner at home every single day?

So I'll show them. My sincerity.

"...Th-this game is busted."

What attempt even was this? I'd given up counting somewhere around the sixth.

"Nngh...."

I hadn't known making chocolate could be this hard. If I looked at a recipe and followed it, I could probably finish quickly enough, but the Iztomo sneering at me in chat had pushed me into trying with no recipe at all.

Don't let talk like that shake me. Those are the type who'd find something to pick at even if I made it properly.

"Hoo...."

I let out a long breath and set my hands on the keys again.

I've got the feel of it. All that's left is to make a perfect chocolate no one can argue with.