It had been a week since the collar’s disappearance.

     After that, I had called around to ask if anybody had found a pet collar, but nothing turned up. In the end, it remained missing, and eventually, February came around. I would normally be studying for exams, but because I hadn’t been feeling like it, I spent my days lazing around.

     「Kurumi. Hey, Kurumi!」

     Yume’s voice.

     I blankly looked over.

     「Why are you spacing out when you’ve got all this chocolate?」

     「Maybe it’s because she’s been losing sleep over how to make her own chocolate for someone special.」

     「What. K-Kurumi? You’re joking, right?」

     I couldn’t really focus on what they were talking about.

     I glanced at the paper bag hanging off of my desk. It was filled with chocolates from a bunch of different people. This might have been the first time that I’d ever gotten this much on Valentine’s Day.

     「I’m fine. Just a little tired.」

     「You don’t look fine at all. Do you wanna go to the nurse’s office? I can take you.」

     「Really, I’m fine.」

     「But…」

     「Maybe you should have some chocolate to help with your fatigue? You know, you might be tired because you need some sugar.」

     「Yeah, Kurumi! Wait a sec, I brought some chocolate for you today!」

     She rummaged through her belongings and produced a paper bag. It contained chocolate from the shop we went to the other day.

     「So it’s supposed to express your true feelings, but you still bought it from a shop.」

     Mutsuki said.

     「That’s exactly why. My feelings might be important for this kind of thing, but there’s no point if it doesn’t taste good!」

     「Good point. That means I can have one too, right?」

     「Huh? Ah… Um, ah! Yep, here you go.」

     「What’s this?」

     「Chocolate.」

     「It’s all flattened out. How old is this?」

     「Who knows? I think I bought this around the end of last year.」

     「Hmm… Well, whatever. …Yeah. Tastes good.」

     「Woah, you’re still eating it…」

     「It’s winter, so it shouldn’t have gone bad. Probably.」

     「I’m not taking you to the nurse even if it hurts your tummy.」

     It was impressive how Mutsuki was able to eat the chocolate flattened into the bottom of the bag so normally. I wryly smiled and then had one of the pieces that Yume had given me.

     It was sweet, with a faint note of bitterness.

     「…How is it?」

     Yume asked.

     I smiled at her.

     「It’s good. Thank you, Yume.」

     「A-ah, no! It was nothing! I-I’m glad you like it!」

     「Why are you acting so sus?」

     Mutsuki said exasperatedly, poking at Yume.

     Yume’s expression suddenly turned sour.

     「Hmph, shut up. It’s nothing.」

     「I don’t think you should be getting this shy just because someone smiled at you.」

     「I said, shut up!」

     How energetic.

     As I was blankly watching the two of them, I suddenly picked up the scent of the ocean during springtime. I turned around in surprise to see Sorahashi-san standing right next to my seat. Yume froze in shock, while Mutsuki smiled with interest.

     「’Sup, Sorahashi-san. Did you come to give Kurumi some chocolate too?」

     「That’s right. Can I?」

     「You’ll have to pay my handler’s fee.」

     「One candy, right? Here you go.」

     「Oh, it’s that honey stuff. You know what’s up, Sorahashi-san. Alright, go ahead.」

     Some incomprehensible transaction was taking place.

     So Sorahashi-san and Mutsuki knew each other. They were both rather mysterious individuals.

     「Here you go, Kurumi.」

     「Ah, thank you.」

     She handed me a paper bag.

     「You can open it.」

     I did as she told me and opened the box inside to reveal several dog-shaped chocolates.

     「Woah, cute.」

     「Aren’t they? Since you’re already here, Nakamura-san and Futami-san, you should have some too.」

     「Really?」

     Yume said with her eyes wide open. Sorahashi-san smiled.

     「Go ahead. It’s sure to taste better if we all have some together.」

     「…」

     「Yume?」

     Yume’s eyes continued to widen as she looked at Sorahashi-san. Just as I was wondering if she’d said anything that surprising, Yume began to mutter.

     「So similar…」

     「Huh?」

     「Ah, nothing. Thank you, Sorahashi-san.」

     「You’re very welcome. Please enjoy to your heart’s content. I’ll be off now.」    

     Satisfied with having given over the chocolate, Sorahashi-san returned to her seat. I’d received quite a lot myself, but the amount that she had was incomparable. It wasn’t only girls — boys were also giving her chocolate. I guess that was just more proof of how charming she was.

     I picked up one of the chocolates.

     On a closer look, they all seemed to be shaped like Golden Retrievers.

     Knowing her, I was certain there was some meaning behind it. She’d told me before that I was similar to a golden retriever. With an indescribable feeling in my heart, I popped the chocolate into my mouth.

     Sweet. Yeah. In any case, it was sweet.

     「Alright, I guess I’ll dive in too.」

     Saying that, Mutsuki mercilessly snatched up the largest piece.

     It was very her.

     I giggled and looked over to Yume.

     「Yume, which one do you want? …Yume?」

     For some reason, Yume seemed spaced out. When I tilted my head quizzically, she began to stare at me intently. It wasn’t like I wasn’t used to getting stared at, but Yume had a different air to her than usual. What could have happened in these few short minutes?

     「Yeah, they really are alike.」

     「Um…」

     「Your and Sorahashi-san’s smiles. …Kurumi, have you been getting super close with her recently?」

     I was at a loss for words. It was true that I had been spending a lot of time with her lately. I’d also noticed that my speech, my actions, and my behavior had been gradually becoming more like hers. But I never expected Yume to point that out to me.

     「Yeah. Because we’re friends.」

     「…I see.」

     Seemingly unconvinced, she picked up a piece of chocolate.

     「This chocolate’s pretty sweet.」

     「…Yeah.」

     I felt guilty about lying to Yume. She was a good friend of mine. But it wasn’t like I could really speak openly about my relationship with Sorahashi-san.

     We continued chatting while snacking on chocolate until morning homeroom began.

     Mutsuki was the same as usual, but Yume was quieter than usual — and because I was still worried about the collar, I wasn’t able to speak up.

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