Under the Veil of Night

Saying that after making chocolate they could rest was a complete lie. Kanae stayed up inside her room with a heavy expression. She wasn't done with her work even after several hours, so she knew that there was no sleep today.

By the time she finished, it was 5 AM. There was no way she could sleep again, so she made her way to school. This time, she headed towards the infirmary.

"Good morning, doctor."

"Good morning, Kanae. It's rare to see you here."

"I want to borrow a bed. I'll go out when it's lunch," Kanae pointed to the beds and the doctor nodded. With that, she climbed into one of them and slept peacefully as she was tired.

Tommy came over not long after her. He was surprised to see that there was someone there. "Doctor, can I sleep here today?"

"No."

"Why?"

"There's a girl sleeping here."

"…"

It was in a different bed! He was annoyed by this doctor because he didn't allow him to borrow one of the beds today. Knowing that this doctor didn't want him to sleep in the same room with Kanae, he could only walk out dejectedly. This time, he had no choice but to sleep in the classroom.

When Misae and Alice came to school, they noticed that Kanae was not in the classroom. After a short inquiry, they knew that she was sleeping in the infirmary because she was too tired.

"Did we take up too much of her time yesterday?" Misae asked worriedly.

Alice shook her head. She too was not sure about what had happened. All she knew was that her best friend was too tired.

When the lunch break came around, Kanae woke up. "Thank you, Doc."

"No problem, Miss Kanae. Make sure you have enough sleep from now. It's not good to stay awake during the night."

Kanae grinned and climbed off the bed. She headed to the canteen and ate her lunch before heading towards the Student Council Room. She saw that the others were already there.

"You're late, Kanae," Neo waved his hand happily. In his other hand was the chocolate that Misae gave to him.

"Don't forget White Day," Kanae teased.

Neo nearly choked on the chocolate. "Come on, this is just friendship chocolate. Do I have to buy her biscuits too?"

"I will accept it if you want to buy me something," Misae grinned.

"Who wants to?"

Alice saw them debate as she sighed. She took out the chocolates she made and gave them to the others with a red face. She was rather embarrassed to give them out and was not like Misae who still could tease others like that.

"Wow, you truly made them for us," Tommy was delighted.

Jay also accepted them politely. He didn't try to tease Alice even though the girl had a face as red as a tomato. It seemed that this girl was not used to giving presents to other people.

"Thank you."

Misae handed out the rest of the chocolates with a grin plastered on her face. "President, do you want one?"

"He won't accept any," Neo laughed.

"Why?"

Mike took out a big bag and opened it. Inside were various chocolates from many people. The girls were staring at the content with wide eyes. How many chocolates were inside the bag?

"These are all chocolates for President. He doesn't accept them, so we place them here," Neo smiled wryly.

"You sure are popular," Misae commented.

Tommy nodded his head. "If I can get that many chocolates, I'll be very happy."

"Dream on!"

Misae held the last chocolate in her hand. She was not sure who she should give this to.

Neo eyed the chocolate. "If you don't have anyone else to give, you can hand it to me. I'll surely accept it gladly."

Misae rolled her eyes before putting the chocolate in front of Kanae. "This is for you."

"Me?" Kanae was looking towards the chocolate with bewilderment. "I'm a girl, Misae."

"I know, but I always say it to you, if you're a man, I'll surely fall for you."

Kanae: "…"

The other students were trying their best not to laugh. They knew how that came to be as they heard Misae say that repeatedly during the joint sports day. Of course, no one treated it seriously as they knew Misae only felt awed towards Kanae's spectacular play.

"Just give it to someone else. I'm 100% a straight woman, and I don't want to have a girl fall for me."

Misae grinned. "I'll just eat it myself."

Neo still eyed the chocolate with disappointment. He wanted to eat it as he loved sweets very much. Unfortunately, the chocolate was out of his reach, and he was not shameless enough to snatch it.

"Oh yeah, Kanae, did you make any?" Tommy asked.

Kanae nodded her head. "I manage to make one, but I'm not really sure about the taste."

She rummaged her bag. Because she didn't touch her bag at all after she came home, the chocolate she wrapped was still there. It didn't look that good, but it was the only chocolate she ever made, so she would not complain much.

"Who are you going to give it to?" Neo asked curiously.

"Not sure, maybe I'll just eat it myself."

Misae laughed. "Why are you following after my lead?"

"It was my plan from the very beginning," she originally wanted to leave it at home, but she forgot about it because of work. In the end, the chocolate was brought to the Student Council room.

"If you don't know who to give it to, just give it to me," Neo moved towards Kanae's table. His hand was about to reach the small chocolate when another hand already snatched it.

"President?"

"Can I eat it?" Kevin looked towards Kanae.

"Er, yes?" Kanae answered hesitantly. She was not even sure how it tasted as she only tasted a bit yesterday. It felt alright, but not too sweet as it seemed she didn't bother adding enough sugar to the dark chocolate yesterday. She was too nervous to follow the correct step.

"I'm the one who asked first," Neo complained.

Kevin ignored his subordinate as he put the chocolate into his mouth. It didn't taste sweet and leaned towards bitter. As he was not too fond of sweet foods, it tasted good in his opinion.

"It's not too bad."

"Thank you, President," Kanae answered.

As Neo complained profusely to Kevin, Alice and Misae looked towards each other. Their mouths showed slight smiles as they seemed to understand something. Their dense friend might not realize it yet, but they knew very clearly what the President felt.

Mike shook his head as he watched Neo making a ruckus. He opened the chocolate he got from Misae and ate it. Beside him, Jay paid attention to the chocolate that Mike held. There seemed to be something different compared with the others' chocolate from Misae.

His mouth curled up into a smile. She sure knew how to hide her real intention.. My, this Valentine's Day was surely interesting.