{White Day with the girl next door}

Five minutes before the lunch break ended, Sato-san returned to the seat next to me.

I quickly straightened my posture, having been leaning on my hand.

Then, I noticed the bag with a blue ribbon in Sato-san’s hand, and my heart skipped a beat.

It was a pack of cookies sold at the convenience store. The cookies, displayed for White Day gifts, had been catching my eye every time I went shopping.

I thought I could ignore White Day since it didn’t concern me.

But here was Sato-san, holding those cookies.

And today is White Day.

Feeling uneasy, Sato-san, who had just taken her seat, called out to me.

“Yamaguchi-kun.”

Awkwardly, I turned to her. As usual, she was quick to act. She was already untying the blue ribbon and opening the cookie bag.

She took out three cookies and offered them to me.

“Would you like some? Cookies.”

“Huh…”

I was stunned.

I don’t dislike cookies. In fact, I have a bit of a sweet tooth. But that’s not the issue. Isn’t today White Day?

Aren’t those cookies in her hand a gift from a special person to her?

“Is it okay?”

I couldn’t help but ask.

Sato-san responded with a friendly smile.

“Yeah. I’m sharing them with you, Yamaguchi-kun!”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

I hesitated for a moment.

But in the end, I asked.

“Those… aren’t they a return gift from someone?”

Today is White Day.

I don’t know if Sato-san gave chocolates to anyone. We’re not close enough to ask about that. I wasn’t even interested.

At least, I thought I wasn’t.

But if Sato-san did give chocolates to someone on Valentine’s Day, and these cookies are the return gift, then I—

“A return gift?”

She tilted her head.

Is she playing dumb at this point? Explaining this felt like a burden.

“You know, today is White Day, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Those cookies… aren’t they from someone? If so, giving them to me would be…”

“Oh, that’s what you mean! No, it’s not like that.”

Finally understanding, Sato-san shook her head.

“These, you see, I bought them for myself.”

“For yourself?”

When I asked, she smiled sheepishly and nodded.

“You know how they’ve been having White Day sales, right? Seeing all those cookies lined up on the shelves made me want to eat some…”

So, that’s what it was.

She sure has a troublesome sweet tooth.

“I actually ate some after lunch too. They were delicious.”

Sato-san pointed to the cookies in her hand.

I felt relieved for some reason. But I couldn’t let that show. Not at all.

Instead, I let out a wry smile.

“Sato-san, you really like cookies, huh.”

“Yeah, I love them.”

Sato-san is straightforward. That’s why she doesn’t think twice about White Day and just buys cookies for herself because she wants to eat them.

On the other hand, I couldn’t be that straightforward.

I had one hand in my desk drawer, hesitating out of her sight.

“So, if you’d like, Yamaguchi-kun, have some too.”

She offered me three cookies.

“Thanks…”

I reluctantly accepted them with my free hand.

I didn’t particularly want them. If anything, receiving them was a bit of a burden.

Sato-san watched me with a beaming smile as I held the cookies.

It was hard to eat while being watched, and before that, I couldn’t make up my mind.

Does she really want to share the joy of these cookies with someone else that much? Her fixation on cookies is making it even harder for me to bring up the topic I want to discuss.

Since she wouldn’t look away, I reluctantly made up my mind.

I nervously pulled my hand out of the drawer.

“Actually…”

And then, I timidly held out what I had been gripping.

“I also… I also bought those cookies.”

In my hand was the same familiar bag.

A bag of cookies with a blue ribbon. The ones sold at the convenience store’s White Day fair.

When I glanced at her, Sato-san had widened her eyes.

“Yamaguchi-kun bought them too?”

“Y-Yeah, well…”

“I see. It’s hard to resist buying them, right? They look so delicious.”

She seemed to resonate with my actions, nodding repeatedly.

So I nodded back vaguely.

“Convenience stores sure know how to sell. You end up buying them.”

“Right? It really makes you want to eat them!”

Seeing her so excited, there was no way I could tell her the truth. I ended up looking like someone who got tricked by the convenience store into buying cookies too.

I’m not as simple as Sato-san.

Yet here I am, caught up in her excitement.

“Well then, I’ll share some of the ones I bought. A little gift for you.”

“Wow, thanks! I’ll compare the taste!”

In the end, I ended up sharing some of the cookies I bought with her.

Just sharing, that’s all.

The timing was all wrong.

There’s no way I could tell her that I had bought them as a return gift for Valentine’s Day.

I should have just pretended not to know about White Day. Finishing the leftover cookies by myself turned out to be quite a challenge.