Due to Nagumo's meddling behind the scenes and his sudden, cockroach-like appearance later on, Hikigaya's good mood for the day was completely ruined.
Feeling frustrated, he returned to the dormitory area, intending to bury himself under the covers and get some sleep.
"Hikigaya-kun, over here."
Just as he was about to step into the lobby, someone nearby suddenly called out to him.
Turning his head, he spotted a familiar-looking blond pretty boy… Wait, Matsunaga?
What was this guy doing here?
Hikigaya didn't have time to overthink it. Instinctively, he walked over. "Y-You? What are you doing here?"
"Ahaha, am I not welcome?"
"No, no, I'm just a little surprised."
This was the first time he had seen Matsunaga in casual clothes.
Given their similar age, others would probably assume he was just another student rather than a staff member of the school.
"I just got off work, so I came to talk to you for a bit."
Matsunaga explained casually. Then, glancing around with a hint of caution, he added, "If it's convenient, could we talk in your dorm? It might take a little while."
"Oh, sure."
Though it felt a bit odd, Hikigaya didn't press further and nodded in agreement.
Now that he thought about it… This was the first time he had ever invited a guy to his room.
Kind of nerve-wracking.
"Thanks."
"It's nothing… But if you were looking for me, why not just wait in the lobby? Isn't it cold outside? And was it really necessary to… hide in the corner like that?"
The more he thought about it, the more curious he became. He decided to just ask outright.
Matsunaga had been standing at the corner near the entrance when he called out, looking a little sneaky.
Of course, being in an unfamiliar place, feeling nervous was understandable.
Hikigaya knew he'd probably be anxious too.
But Matsunaga wasn't exactly the socially anxious type, so it was pretty suspicious.
"Uh…"
Matsunaga hesitated for a long moment before rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Well… do you want the honest answer?"
"It's fine if you don't want to say. I won't force you." Hikigaya gave him a puzzled look.
It wasn't unusual for staff to come to the dorms—there were flyers for stores in the mailboxes all the time, not to mention the janitorial staff.
But Matsunaga… Could it be that being here brought back memories?
Suddenly, Hikigaya recalled that Matsunaga had to start working early due to family circumstances, preventing him from continuing his education. Now, here he was, stepping into a high school dorm…
…Damn. He regretted asking.
Just as Hikigaya was kicking himself, Matsunaga finally spoke.
"To be honest, I was waiting at the entrance at first, but students kept coming up to talk to me. It got a little overwhelming, so I moved to a quieter spot."
"…Girls?"
"Ah, yeah."
"…Go die."
"Ahaha, Hikigaya-kun, that's pretty harsh."
You're the harsh one!
What kind of guy just stands around and gets approached by girls?
This wasn't some romance drama!
Even more annoying, Hikigaya found that looking at Matsunaga's face instantly killed any irritation he felt.
Some people were just born different… Sigh.
"Come on, don't be like that," Matsunaga said with a wry smile. "I think you're pretty popular at school too. I'm sure there are girls who like you."
"…The elevator's here. Let's go."
Fortunately, the elevator arrived just in time. Hikigaya seized the chance to change the topic.
This was not something he wanted to discuss right now.
Matsunaga, sensing the shift in mood, wisely dropped the subject.
Before long, they reached Hikigaya's floor and stepped out of the elevator.
"Come in."
"Excuse me."
It was Hikigaya's first time inviting a guy into his room, but Matsunaga seemed completely at ease, only giving the place a quick once-over out of curiosity.
He probably used to visit friends' places often back in middle school.
Well, that made sense. He was a normie, after all. Hikigaya could tell just from the effortless composure he carried himself with.
"Take a seat. Want something to drink?"
"No need to be formal. Anything's fine."
"Alright, though I only have barley tea and coffee."
Kushida and the others always complained about the lack of variety whenever they visited, but Hikigaya was too lazy to stock up on drinks. He figured whatever was available would do.
As he prepared the coffee, he casually said, "Oh yeah, there's a game console under the TV. If you're free later, wanna play for a bit?"
Honestly, he just wanted to play himself.
Some games were best enjoyed with two players. Sure, he had other people he could play with, like Kikyō-chan or Matsushita-san, but…
Let's just say most girls weren't great at video games.
Playing with them always made Hikigaya worry about his blood pressure.
"Sure, I'll take you up on that."
Matsunaga chuckled, casually grabbing a controller and turning on the console.
Seeing this, Hikigaya added, "I only buy physical game cartridges. They're in the cabinet below."
"Got it, let's see what's here."
After browsing for a moment, Matsunaga picked out a game—Overcooked.
…Hah. Good choice.
After all, this game was also called Divorce Kitchen, notorious for making couples break up. Clearly, the developers must have been a bunch of single people.
As the game booted up, Hikigaya assumed Matsunaga would need a moment to get familiar with the controls.
But to his surprise, the guy seemed to already know what he was doing.
In fact, he played even better than Hikigaya!
He was obviously a veteran.
"Oi, Matsu—"
Just as Hikigaya turned to say something, he suddenly froze.
Matsunaga controlled the game controller with a blank expression, completely unlike his usual gentle and cheerful demeanor. His gaze at the screen carried an indescribable emotion.
...Is this guy okay?
But soon, Matsunaga seemed to notice Hikigaya's gaze.
He paused for a moment before giving an awkward smile. "Sorry, I was lost in thought. Were you calling me?"
"No… it's nothing."
"Is that so…"
There was clearly something on his mind, but if he didn't want to talk about it, Hikigaya wouldn't pry.
Everyone has their own secrets. There's no need to dig too deep.
Yet, after a brief silence, Matsunaga suddenly spoke up. "Actually… back when I was home, my dad used to play games with me a lot. He was always busy with work, working himself to the bone just to support my education, but no matter what, he always found time for me. He'd take me on trips, tell me funny stories from work… Ahaha, sorry, I'm rambling about weird things all of a sudden."
He was lost in his memories, only snapping back to reality with a bitter smile at the end.
"It's nothing… He sounds like a great dad."
"...Yeah." Matsunaga forced a smile. "It's just that he's been working abroad lately, and I kind of miss him… Sorry, I must look ridiculous, being this old and still feeling like I can't be apart from my parents."
"It's fine. I can't be apart from my sister either."
"Eh? Ah… A-Ah, I see."
Clearly caught off guard by Hikigaya's dead-serious declaration of sisterly devotion, Matsunaga blinked in surprise.
But then, as if suddenly remembering something, he quickly said, "Oh, right, I almost forgot—I came here to give you something."
"Give me something?" Hikigaya looked at him, puzzled.
"Ugh, you already forgot?"
Matsunaga looked exasperated as he reached into his bag. "I told you at the beginning of the month, remember? Our store was holding a Valentine's event yesterday, and I told you to stop by no matter what."
"Oh, that…" Hikigaya immediately lost interest.
Yesterday, Ichinose had completely scrambled his thoughts—he didn't have the time or energy to care about any events.
Honestly, he wished Valentine's Day could just be canceled.
Come to think of it, wasn't Valentine's Day a Western holiday? Why did everyone feel the need to celebrate it?
It'd be great if the school banned foreign holidays altogether… Have some cultural confidence, Japan!
"So, what? You're not about to tell me you're giving me chocolate, are you?"
"Bingo."
With that, Matsunaga pulled out four chocolate bars from his bag and laid them all on the table.
Hikigaya couldn't help but chuckle. "Hey, hey, your store is really generous, huh? You guys give every customer four chocolates? Not afraid of going bankrupt?"
"No, these aren't from the store." Matsunaga shook his head with a regretful expression. "These are from Miss Haruno—she asked me to pass them on to you. I wanted to deliver them yesterday, but I waited and waited, and you never showed up. And since I was working the night shift, I couldn't come find you myself."
"I see… Sorry for the trouble."
Mystery solved.
Hikigaya looked at the chocolates on the table with a complicated expression. Come to think of it, Miss Haruno gave him chocolates last year too.
Truly, he was grateful.
But… was there really a need to give him four?
Did she accidentally make too many?
"Oh, right, actually, only this one is from Miss Haruno."
Matsunaga pointed at the chocolate with black packaging.
That confused Hikigaya even more.
"Uh… Then what about the others?"
"The rest are from someone named Komachi. According to Miss Haruno, that's your—"
"That's my sister!" Hikigaya shouted before Matsunaga could finish. "Which one?! Which one is hers… Wait, don't tell me! I'll guess!"
At that moment, his mind was firing on all cylinders.
Even though the packaging gave no clues, his heart and Komachi's were connected.
This was the unbreakable sibling bond of Chiba!
He stared intensely at the three remaining chocolates, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets. Then, suddenly, he pointed at the one with pink wrapping in the middle.
"It's… this one!"
"Ahaha, too bad. It's actually the one on the left."
"Yeah! I knew it was the one on the left!"
"…If you say so."
Matsunaga mumbled something strange, but it didn't dampen Hikigaya's mood in the slightest.
Clutching the neatly boxed chocolate in his hands, he was so happy he could dance.
If there weren't another person in the room, he absolutely would have.
Seriously, as expected of Komachocolate! She even went the extra mile to put it in a box!
Unlike those two others—one in blue wrapping, the other in pink—just wrapped in paper. So lazy. No effort was put into those!\
While thinking to himself with a hint of disdain, Hikigaya gently caressed his precious chocolate.
Ah, it's good to be alive.
"Heh... isn't that a bit too exaggerated?"
Even though Matsunaga had already heard from Haruno about Hikigaya's extreme siscon tendencies, seeing it firsthand still left him shocked.
Hikigaya, on the other hand, couldn't care less. "Hmph, leave me alone."
"Uh, aren't you curious about who gave you the other two chocolates?"
"Who?"
Hikigaya responded absentmindedly.
No matter who sent them, none could possibly compare to his precious chocolate. So why should he care?
"The blue one is from a girl named Yuigahama Yui," Matsunaga revealed an unexpected name. "Apparently, she asked Miss Haruno to pass it to you. She seems to be a middle school classmate of yours? And you were even in the same club?"
Matsunaga's voice carried a teasing tone toward the end.
What the hell…? Why is even this good-looking guy so gossipy?
"Ugh, seriously, what's she doing…"
Hikigaya scratched his head in mild embarrassment. He never expected Yuigahama to give him chocolate.
She never did back at Sobu… Wait, don't tell me she made this herself?
The thought alone made Hikigaya's face go pale.
But, well, this was something Yuigahama specifically prepared for him.
No matter how terrifying this impending battlefield might be… Uh, actually, never mind.
Of course, it wasn't that Hikigaya lacked courage—he'd just been dealing with way too much recently, especially with Ichinose…
He really wasn't in the mood to properly savor Yuigahama's "masterpiece."
So maybe he should just—wait?
…Hold on a second.
His eyes snapped toward the last remaining pink-colored chocolate on the table.
Since Yuigahama had sent one, could that one be…
Hahaha.
N-no way, right?
Even Hikigaya was startled by his own delusion.
Now that he thought about it, Yuigahama's case was understandable. She was a normie, after all. It wouldn't be surprising for her to go around handing chocolates out on Valentine's Day like a fool. Maybe she just happened to have an extra piece and ran into Haruno, who then passed it to him. Not entirely impossible.
But that lone, untouchable existence… There was no way she'd join in on something like this.
It was just impossible, no matter how he looked at it!
He couldn't even picture it.
The only scenario he could imagine was her sneering at the very idea of Valentine's Day—that was the Yukinoshita he knew.
"The last one is from Miss Yukinoshita Yukino."
"…Huh?"
"She was in the same club as you, right? And she's also Miss Haruno's sister. Speaking of which, Miss Haruno is a siscon, just like you—"
Hikigaya didn't hear the rest.
He sat there frozen, staring blankly at the pink chocolate on the table like a wooden statue.
Am I… dreaming?
"Hikigaya-kun? …Hey, Hikigaya-kun! Are you okay?"
Seeing no reaction from him, Matsunaga waved a hand in front of his face and even gave him a light push.
"A-ah, I'm fine." Hikigaya shook his head but kept his eyes locked onto the pink chocolate. "Matsunaga, I need you to answer my next question honestly. No lies, no omissions. Got it?"
"Uh? Oh, sure… What is it?"
Though puzzled by Hikigaya's sudden intensity, Matsunaga straightened up, sensing the seriousness in his tone.
Then, he started to feel like something was off, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"I need to know…"
Hikigaya carefully picked up the chocolate, enunciating each word. "This isn't one of Haruno-san's pranks, is it?"
Thinking about it, if it was that woman… she'd absolutely pull something like this!
That damn demon lord!
Don't underestimate me—I won't fall for it!
"Prank?" Matsunaga blinked. "Why would it be a prank? It's just regular chocolate."
"That's—!"
Hikigaya almost shouted but managed to swallow his words in time.
"A-anyway, tell me, why would Yukinoshita suddenly give me chocolate? That just doesn't make sense. There has to be some trick to this."
"Even if you ask me that…"
"Just tell me everything you know!"
"Uh… okay."
Still confused, Matsunaga scratched his head and thought for a moment before slowly replying, "I heard from Miss Haruno that she visited her sister's school, and they happened to be making chocolates in the cooking room. So she just took two pieces and gave them to you."
"…I see."
So it was just 'happenstance'… yeah, that made sense.
Though the wording made Hikigaya feel a little complicated, it was a logical explanation.
After all, this was Yukinoshita.
There was no way she would deliberately make chocolate for him.
If that actually happened, it wouldn't just be a case of the sun rising from the west.
The world would be entering an ice age.
…Wait.
Hikigaya suddenly realized something.
If Yukinoshita didn't make it for him, then…
Who was it for?
…Eh?
That night, Hikigaya couldn't sleep.