The arrival of Valentine’s Day marked the beginning of the end of Kuro Kurogane’s peaceful existence.

He immediately knew this when he walked downstairs in his house and discovered Akari determinedly glued to various dessert videos, an unexpected sight to him.

Then, whilst Kuro was observing Akari, he also caught sight of Aoi reading several professional recipes for working with chocolate while sitting at the dining room table.

He instantly felt the kitchen turning into a very dangerous place for him to be.

At this point, Kuro started very carefully to turn around to leave the way he had come.

"I have to go somewhere," he stated softly but desperately.

"Please," Aoi politely instructed, "take a seat."

Kuro immediately complied.

He was feeling his instinct for survival kick in.

As Kuro was quietly at the table, he couldn’t help but notice Akari was still at him with a very exaggerated facial expression.

"Kuro-kun."

"Yes."

"What type of chocolate do you like most?"

More specifically, "You have just walked into my Valentine’s day trap."

"The regular kind."

"That’s not very romantic," Akari said in frustration, as Aoi calmly wrote Kuro’s answer down in his notebook.

"A regular chocolate type of person means he won’t be attempting anything complicated," Aoi wrote.

"WHY ARE YOU WRITING THAT DOWN!?" Akari yelled.

The beginning of the Valentine’s War was this afternoon.

Akari looked at making chocolate from a perspective that was full of emotion. She wanted to make Kuro cry about their childhood friendship.

But—she had zero kitchen discipline.

"A little more sugar..."

"Akari," Aoi said quietly.

"That’s salt."

Silence.

"...Oh."

Meanwhile, Kuro was working/studying while he watched the unholy chaos of the chocolate.

Chocolate was all over.Countertops.Under kitchen tables.In Akari’s hair.

"How can you lose to a dessert ingredient?" Kuro asked with no energy.

"Love is complicated!"

"That didn’t explain anything..."

Meanwhile, Aoi was executing perfectly—perfect measurements, perfect timing, and perfect temperature control—she looked more like a professional pastry chef than a 17 year old girl ready for war.

Kuro was confused as he sat in silence.

"Oh my god, how many videos did you watch?"

"Thirty-seven."

"THAT’S SO WEIRD."

While decorating the chocolates, Aoi was completely relaxed and carrying out the decorations with remarkable detail.

Akari gasped dramatically.

"SHE IS MIN-MAXING VALENTINE’S DAY."

"That’s a skill issue," Aoi said.

"STOP TALKING LIKE A GAMER."

Kuro soon realized he wasn’t the only one affected; the issues had also reached outside of Kuro’s home into the community.

There were true threats.

At lunchtime, Mina made an unexpected appearance, and sat down abruptly across from him.

"Kuro-kun~"

Kuro immediately felt a chill run through him.

"Why are you smiling?" he asked.

"Because I, unlike certain people, understand how to be effective."

She placed an expensive gourmet chocolate catalog directly onto his desk.

"You’re going to buy chocolate?" Kuro said blankly.

"Of course," Mina said.

"Did you plan on taking your time making them yourself?" Kuro asked in disbelief.

"Please, they’ve perfected how to make chocolate," Mina replied.

"But that logic is strange to me," Kuro protested.

Mina leaned in closer as if to tease him.

"But I picked the most romantic thing," she stated.

"That sounds like a threat."

"It should."

Mina opened the catalog to show him one of the pages.

Mina showed him heart-shaped luxury chocolates and they were all wrapped in lace, which caused Kuro to quickly turn his head.

"Mina," he said in disgust.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Why does chocolate need lace?"

"Because it has to create an atmosphere," Mina explained.

"That is not a food-based word," Kuro said.

Mina burst into laughter.Meanwhile, Akari slowly crushed her juice box beside Kuro.

"Cheater," she whispered.

Meanwhile, Aoi stared quietly at the catalog.

"Weaponized femininity," Aoi finally said.

"I STILL DONT KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!" Kuro cried as quiet as he could.

Rika experienced a different event to Kuro.

He found her in the home-ec classroom after school, sitting alone quietly staring at a tray of homemade chocolate.

They were very uneven and messy, obviously not made by a professional.

And, for some reason , Kuro thought they were cute .Rika saw him right away, though.

"Kurogane-kun."

"President."

She looked embarrassed, looked away, and said..."I failed."

Kuro stepped up beside her to look at the chocolates.

"These look fine."

"To me, they’re all asymmetric."

"I really don’t think anyone who’s sane is going to care about that."

"I do."

A pause followed.Kuro slowly reached over to pick one up.

"The point of making something yourself is that it looks a little imperfect."

Rika did a double-take.

"You think so?" she replied.

"Yeah."

Kuro gently returned the piece of chocolate to the tray.

"These feel much more real than chocolate you can get from a store."

After a second or so of silence between them.Rika stared at him just a little too long.

She then said softly, "You do say some surprisingly nice things."

Kuro immediately looked away.

"Don’t make it weird," said Kuro.

A small smile formed on Rika’s face.

"Too late."

The atmosphere turned dangerous.Kuro skillfully retreated.

Sadly , the girls later found out what each was going to do.

This made the competition between each girl to escalate at record speed.

By the time of the next lunch break, the girls turned lunch into a "mind game," psychological warfare.

Akari pointed her finger viciously at Mina.

"Store-bought chocolate should be illegal."

Mina has a slight smirk across her face.

"You sound like you’re a little insecure," Mina replied.

"You are using money instead of feelings ."

"Money is an emotion."

"That is an evil statement."

While all this went on, Aoi continued to quietly research chocolate presentation beside them.

Rika sighed.

"...This is emotionally draining."

Kuro nodded quickly.

"Finally, someone gets it."

All four girls looked at him, at the same time, in silence.

Kuro sensed immediate danger.Akari leaned closer to him.

"Kuro-kun."

"...What?"

"If X number of girls gave you chocolate..."

"Absolutely not."

"What? You didn’t let me finish."

"I’m being pro-active about surviving."

Mina smiled deviously.

"Which girl’s chocolate do you want the most?"

"Wrong question," Aoi said quietly.

"The most important thing is which of their feelings would reach him the best?"

Silence.Kuro looked at her, blankly.

"...Why is this beginning to sound like psychological warfare?"

"Because it is," said Mina in a near-sarcastic tone.

Rika quietly covered her face.

"This situation is ridiculous."

Indeed.Absolutely.But as Kuro watched...

Akari working so hard for emotional credit.Aoi working quietly and hard.Mina teasing him while secretly taking it seriously.Rika nervously trying to make some homemade sweets for him.

Kuro began to realize that they all genuinely cared about him.

And when Kuro made this realization, he suddenly felt a warmth in his chest that no other Valentine chocolate could have ever given him.