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Square chocolate truffles that resemble the dice Nagumo always fiddles with during class. Such creativity would’ve earned your impressed nod, Sakamoto’s brief–but altogether curious–glance, or perhaps a slight brow raise from Akao. Unfortunately, any factor of originality became lost after some first year from the public relations department had gifted him nearly identical ones a few hours earlier. (Not to mention, the same concept was already executed exactly one year ago.)

To your pleasant surprise, Nagumo is considerate enough to take a bite and not immediately chuck the gift into the large cardboard box of chocolates he’s been wheeling around all day. You’re afraid that this year, he might actually have to bribe someone from the weapons manufacturing department with his never-ending supply of chocolates in exchange for another hand truck to hold all the remaining confectionery he has and will continue to receive in the next twelve hours. Maybe he should’ve considered doing a parade float to catch all the chocolates at once. Akao stopped keeping count two hours ago (“I ran outta space!” she huffed before shaking her sharpie to add yet another tally to her arm), but you’re quite confident he’s easily passed the 200 threshold he had set last Valentine’s Day. At the very least, he’s certainly passed the limit of 152 chocolates he got two years ago. 

After three years at the JCC, it’s become both a well-established tradition and record-breaking event. 

(There’s a reason why Nagumo holds no qualms in declaring it as his favorite holiday.)

“Thank you, these are soooo good!” It comes off as sincere to everyone but those currently sitting at the table, and it takes all your willpower not to have your eyes roll into the back of your head. “Oh, also, do we know each other?”

Akao, who sits on Nagumo’s other side, chokes on her drink as she fails to hold in the rowdy laughter that makes her shoulders shake. You guess you spoke too soon, beginning to notice all the other...quirks…his countless admirers easily gloss over. He doesn’t even have the decency to wipe off the dark crumbs coating the corner of his mouth, a melted mess you have to avert your gaze from lest your twitching fingers find themselves in a place they shouldn’t be. 

And your heart almost aches for the girl, who quickly recovers from her crestfallen expression while she musters a determined smile. “We were paired for an assignment in History of the 20th Century Assassins Industry.”

“Nagumo attending class? This jerkface? You sure it wasn't a dummy in his spot?” Akao asks while she grabs an extra piece of steak from the plate of a frowning Sakamoto. However, her disinterested tone makes it sound less like a question and more like a recitation of a textbook she's been forced to read.

The girl’s mouth opens and closes like a flailing fish gasping for water. But even then, she’s gorgeous, with an angelic face framed by long lashes and full, glossy lips. Her nails are perfectly manicured, the dark red color matching the color of her headband, which helps hold her shiny hair into a sleek ponytail. You can see the gears in her head turning–perhaps the conversation she recalled with Nagumo that fateful day in class was a figment of her imagination–but she persists. 

“O-of course it wasn't! He wouldn’t do that!”

“Yeah, of course I wouldn’t! I’m a diligent student and assassin, first and foremost,” he agrees with an emphatic nod, though for some reason those large, dark eyes don’t meet hers and instead remain on you.

Ashamedly, you’re the first to break the gaze, trying to ignore the strange flutter in your chest by joining Akao in eating the new chocolates now placed on the lunch table for everyone to consume. 

You regret trying it the moment the die-shaped chocolate melts on your tongue. It’s too bitter, and you surmise that the waxy, almost crayon-like texture ruining the taste is due to the lack of lecithin. The aftertaste is so unpleasant that you attempt to wash it down with a reluctant bite of your dreaded JCC bowl. 

Nagumo has always sworn not to accept chocolates from students in the poisons department. Although your background might make you slightly biased, you rather risk dying from the very slim odds of ingesting a poisonous set of chocolates (and sure, chances may be non-zero, but they are slim!) rather than trying hundreds of cheap, crappy ones.

“Not to kick ya out or anything,” Akao says while switching to the tomo-choco you had given her earlier today, a smug smile on her face while she swats away Nagumo’s greedy hands, “but we’re almost done with lunch, and this line keeps getting longer.”

What had been something you ignored earlier can no longer be dismissed; in fact, you swear the line of about ten eager girls now doubled in the five mere minutes since this alleged Assassins History classmate–who you still don’t know the name of–offered her crudely made chocolates to Nagumo.

“My apologies!” Her face turns a shade redder than you think is possible. Every JCC student, regardless of the department they're in, knows not to mess with Akao. “I just have one more request.”

“Oh?” An agreeable Nagumo tilts his head before lying on his palm, clearly amused. “And what’s that?”

“Please let me make you miso soup every day!” she exclaims with a sharp bow that causes your own face to flush from embarrassment.

Akao spits out her drink, Sakamoto unamused by the spray of green tea that ruins his shirt and hard-earned steak. However, some of the girls who also want to give chocolates to the aloof silver-haired man stay in the second line that has more recently formed behind him, chocolates still grasped tightly in their hands while remaining undeterred by any rapid changes in the inclement weather.

“No way! A marriage proposal, that’s a first!” Akao guffaws, wiping away the tears in her eyes. “And here I was thinkin’ I had already seen everything. Whatever happened to just going on a date?”

“Like going to a shooting range?” Sakamoto inquires.

“No, you idiot,” she says in between Nagumo’s breezy laughs, which do not betray a hint of jumbled nerves you’d undoubtedly feel if some random stranger had asked to marry you. “I mean like going to an aquarium or hell, even doing something as cliche as watching a movie together.”

“Nagumo does like Christopher Nolan movies,” you mutter, more to yourself than anyone else. He had expressed a rather alarming level of excitement over the latest trailer of Inception, especially after finding out parts of it were filmed in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Yet what surprises you more is not that you echoed your thoughts aloud but that you instantly feel a heavy arm wrapped around your shoulder.

Suddenly, your face is squished against the crook of someone’s neck.

“And I’m sorry, but this is exactly why I must reject your kind offer!” Nagumo chirps, and you can feel the way his neck tightens so he can give that wide, carefree smile to the girl whose dreams he’s about to shatter. “Because I’m already dating someone!”

All at once, you feel your blood simultaneously freeze and boil.

You’re somewhat relieved that the loud pounding of your heart blocks your ears from fully hearing the chorus of groans, cries, and gasps around the lunch table. Your frenetic train of thought halts temporarily when you notice the new tattoo on the bicep wrapped around you.

An inverted black and white triangle comprised of rectangles, some decorated with words and others remaining blank spaces he has yet to fill out. Your eyes remain fixed on the letters that spell out ‘FRIEND’, your mind wracking for the reference this new art project is making.

“Neat, huh?” he whispers, uncaring for all the surprised reactions to the recent (and more importantly, fake) news that threaten to swallow you two whole. “Still need to work on my lettering, but I’m getting there. It should be ready before Inception comes out. Hopefully, it’s as good as Memento. By the way, we should watch that together!”

The warmth of his breath tickles your skin, the smell of chocolate overwhelming. Though your mouth tries to form some words of protest, nothing comes out. And the more you try to squirm out of his grasp, the more he holds you flush against him, an effective finger trap there is no escaping from.

Amidst all this, you can feel the calm beat of his heart, unperturbed by the mess he’s created. By the chaos that even the god of mischief would struggle to unleash so easily.

“You’re dating each other?” the girl finds the courage to ask, but not before casting a strange look your way. You only wish your mouth could work to tell her there is no reason to be jealous. And with the constant somersaults in your stomach, you wonder if your face is as green as her envious one. 

“I can’t believe it!” another student shouts.

“There’s no way!” someone else pipes in, voice shrill with indignation.

“And someone from the poisons department?” 

“My, my, let’s not be rude,” Nagumo interjects, and perhaps it’s the lack of oxygen getting to your head from the way his arm is practically suffocating you, but you swear you hear an edge to that saccharine voice. “But yes, the object of my affection is reserved for the poisons-making student who made the best chocolates this year, by far, might I add!”

You’re not sure why that is the statement that snaps you out of your stupor, but you find it imperative to whisper, “I didn’t give you chocolates this year.”

“I meant last year!”

“But I didn’t–”

“Now, let’s not rub salt in the wound! Not again!” he chides, not unkindly. You feel his arm tighten at the same time his heart seems to skip a beat.

Your brows furrow. Surely, the man who received over 150 chocolates from the assassin’s department alone–and the same man who will likely have double that amount by the end of today–isn’t still bothered by the fact that you once refused to give him chocolates. Chocolates that his stupid, arbitrary principles would prevent him from accepting.

Not to mention, it was a year ago! 

Before you can say anything, the persistent girl whose name you’ll probably never know throws her last hat in the ring.

“I-I don’t mind if you’re dating, truly!” she insists, strands of her ponytail coming loose from her vigorous nodding. “I would make you happy! Even as a second partner!”

“No need!” Nagumo says swiftly and confidently, “Because I already have a second girlfriend!”

Akao barely lets him snake his arm around her before she whacks him in the head. He decides to let her go after the third bump forms on his head–and he has the gall to laugh despite the injuries–but his grip on you remains steadfast.

“But I thought you only had one object of affection!”

“You heard wrong,” he lies smoothly. “I have many objects of affection! I’m a loving and kind person, after all!”

When the girl finally retreats and gives up, another girl pops up in her place, and you feel your dizzy head grow lighter. “Then that means I would be honored and happy to be your third–”

“Well, funny you mention that”–Nagumo chuckles with an amicable grin as he glances at his spectacled friend across from him–“because actually–"

“No,” Sakamoto cuts in, quiet but resolute. “Don’t even think about it.”

“There you are!”

Your shoulders tense, only to sag in relief upon seeing your roommate Asami.

She sits next to you, letting her toes dig into the sand while she waits for you to speak. When you prefer to quietly observe the waves retreating into the ocean, she decides to break the silence with, “You always have the worst Valentine’s Day, huh?”

“All I’ll say is that I’ve never been more grateful for Sakamoto Taro,” you grumble with an eye roll. Nagumo would never shy away from poking a bear, but there was no mistaking the slight flash of dread and regret in those usually mirthful eyes when the decision to continue his infinite partners prank was met by a fierce tackle from JCC’s strongest assassin-in-training. 

Akao joined in at the last minute, too. ("Finally, something fun is happening today!" she had exclaimed, her golden eyes glowing with excitement as she jumped the two bickering men.)

Their silly fight gave you a few precious seconds to run away from the girls chasing you to learn more about your relationship with Nagumo. As if you knew the answer yourself.

While they did chase you out of your own bedroom, at least they gave up once you headed to the poisons-making wing. Poisoning them would’ve been your last resort, but maybe it was good to feed into (relatively) baseless rumors once in a while.

“Grateful for Sakamoto-kun, hmm? Would you say he’s the object of your affection?”

Afraid that the resolute shake of your head isn’t a sufficient answer, you feel the urgent need to elaborate. “We’re not doing this again. I don’t, wait, hold on. Sakamoto-kun?“

Your body shifts, eyes narrowing at a smiling Nagumo. “Ever heard of the saying, ‘Once a creep, always a creep’?”

He wags a disapproving finger. “So that’s certainly not how you pronounce ‘master of disguise,’ but I strongly believe even the dullest knives in the kitchen can learn quickly.”

“Spoken like a true creep.”

“Ah, don’t be mean!” He tilts his head, daring to act innocent with a wink accompanied by a small grin. “Not when you secretly love my costumes.”

“The same way you secretly love all those terribly made chocolates?”

The laugh he barks out as he doubles over is loud, uncharacteristically harsh when it comes from such a graceful person like him. The realization that you might be one of the few to have heard him laugh like this makes your chest constrict so tightly that you exhale quickly to expel any lingering thoughts. 

“Well, I wouldn’t have to pretend if you just gave me enough chocolates to munch on instead. You know, a single piece might hold me over to the next year.”

“Next year?!” Such nerve! “After that trick you pulled today, you’re lucky if you live to see next week.”

“You’re such a terrible liar,” he breathes out with a chuckle, “that I would struggle to lie about you being a good one.”

“And what makes you say that?”

His reply comes in the form of his arm, once again, finding its home around your waist. When you turn to look at him, faces so close you can still smell the chocolate on his breath, he breaks the closing gap with a small, white tin box.

Eyes widening, your hand instinctively goes to the now empty canvas bag that lay beside you. “How did you know?”

“To be honest, which I always am, I actually wasn’t sure. But I’m glad you confirmed it for me now!” He shakes the box lightly, his lazy smile widening as he hears the sound of multiple pieces of chocolate hitting the metal like a pinball machine. “I may have also seen you give these same boxes to Akao, Sakamoto-kun, and Asami…so, simply by process of elimination, I guess that leaves me.”

If it’s one thing Nagumo will never be in short supply of, it’s his audacity.

But more often than you’d like to admit, you forget how observant Nagumo is. How observant he is of you. Strange enough, you’re unsure if the shiver wracking your spine is from fear or a pleasant jolt of surprise and intrigue. 

Perhaps both.

“And if I told you they were actually for me?”

His smile is softer, yet not a trace of amusement leaves his gaze. “Then maybe you’re not that bad of a liar.”

The roll of your eyes is half-hearted as you gently prod at his fingers to take the box from him. Removing the lid, you finally offer him a piece of chocolate.

Similar to the ones you’ve given the others, it’s simple in design. The truffle doesn’t assume the shape of dice but of a sphere, and the ganache center of cream and raspberry makes Nagumo’s eyes briefly widen in wonderment before they close contentedly. 

“It’s the best chocolate I’ve had today, maybe ever! And to think you were gonna kill me before I could taste this!”

Against your best judgment (and self-control), your chest puffs from pride. “Well, it should kill you in the next ten minutes if I guessed your body weight correctly.”

Nagumo shaves that time a lot more quickly when he practically chokes on his second truffle.

“I was kidding!” you clarify with a firm pat to his back, poorly masking your laughter with a sigh of exasperation. “Do you think so little of me?”

“This is why I don’t take chocolates from you conniving poisons assassins!”

“Fine, sorry that I gave you a taste of your own medicine. Happy now?”

He recovers from his choking incident at a faster rate than you anticipate, suddenly lifting his head so you can see how the mischievous gleam in his eyes hints he is far from satisfied. 

“Only if we go see Inception together.”

“Seriously?” you scoff, hoping your face isn’t as hot as it feels. “That’s not coming out for another few months, at the earliest!”

“Then I guess I’ll be mad at you for that long.”

“Fine, fine, you insolent child.” Giving in, you both stand up and begin to make your way back to school grounds. “We’ll watch it together…”

Nagumo happily eats another chocolate, and you wonder if you’re hallucinating the slight skip to his steps. “I can’t wait–“

“–And I’m sure my second and third girlfriends Akao and Sakamoto will also be excited to join us!”

It’s a miracle your words made him freeze for the next few seconds before he lets out a surprised ‘Hey!’, giving you some much-needed time to run to Sakamoto for protection.