Chapter 180: Who Gets Heartfelt Chocolate?! (2)
~Third POV~
[February, UA Highschool, Heights Alliance – Outside, Japan]
The chill of winter enveloped them as they stepped out the front door of the dorm. It was a stark contrast to the heated interior, but even as they shivered a bit, the bracing air was somehow refreshing and invigorating as Toru, pointing her finger, said happily, "Hey, those're cherry blossom trees, yeah?"
The others realized where her sleeve cuff was vaguely pointing and nodded as Ochaco replied, surprised, "Yeah, I think so? I remember thinking how pretty they were back when school started last spring."
Jiro smiled, sounding almost surprised as she said, "Man, that brings me back."
Yaoyorozu, with an air of profundity, smiled, blushing lightly, recalling her earlier time in UA High. She said with a hint of red on her face, "It's been nearly a year, yes. Time and tide wait for no one."
Mina blinked, puzzled, and asked Momo bluntly, "What have the tides got to do with it?"
Hearing Mina's confusion, Momo began to explain to her as the rest of the girls listen, "Ah, the saying simply means that time passes with no consideration for our mortal whims and machinations. A reminder that we ought to value the time we are given."
Toga grinned as she said, "True enough!"
Mina chuckled as she added to Toga's words in a cheerful tone, "I'm always wishing time would slow down a little when I gotta study the night before a test, but nope!"
Yui lightly grinned as she said, sounding quite serious about this specific example, "Or right before the deadline for one of our reports for Aizawa Sensei!"
The girls winced in solidarity. Asui spoke up, moving away to another topic bluntly said, "So strange how each day of our lives feels so rich and full, but at the same time, the weeks and months seem to fly by, ribbit."
Kinoko gasped soon enough as she asked the rest of the girls cheerfully, "Whoa! When those cherry blossoms bloom again, we're gonna be second-years, huh?"
Jiro, with a snide grin, gazing at the Sakura tree stoically, said, "Unless they catch us by surprise with a last-minute advancement test or something."
Toga and Mina were stunned. They both clung to Jiro's arms as if they were holding on for dear life as they said, disheartened, "No way! Say it ain't so!"
Jiro sputtered, trying to get them off her arms, "Just joking, geez!"
It was when Kendo said cheerily as she explained to the girls, providing an idea for them, "Oh, I know! When they do bloom, let's do a hanami meetup! A picnic under the cherry blossom trees!"
This bright idea received instant approval from the others, and Ochaco suddenly had stars in her eyes as she said excitedly, "Hanami… That means we get bento boxes, right? And we can eat Inari-zushi? Onigiri? Chimaki?"
Asui asked, seeing Ochaco going off Rice-based choices, "Rice on the brain much?"
Ochaco said happily, smiling from cheek to cheek, "You know I love it!".
Toru added, feeling excited for the Hanami meetup in the future, "Mm, let's have karaage too, and we'll buy a ton of sweets!"
Mina joined the conversation as she was getting more and more into the idea and cheerfully said, "What are the perfect sweets for a hanami event? Or hey—we could have Sato make us something!"
Ochaco yelped, "Sakuramochi!"
Kinoko gigged, joining the conversation. She happily said, "There we go, more rice-based stuff shroom!"
Momo smiled, joining in the conversation as she said excitedly, "Dumplings over flowers, as they say. Or practicality over aesthetics, which explains Uraraka's preference for rice."
Ochaco, who was snorting with excitement, said excitedly, "Dang, good point! Can't forget the dumplings!"
Yui smiled as she said, seeing Ochaco's obsession again, "There she goes again!"
Ochaco, with a sheepish chuckle rubbing the back of her head, said sheepishly, "Okay, now I'm ready for this hanami meetup to happen, like, tomorrow."
Asui laughed lightly as she suggested an idea for Valentine's Day. She bluntly said, "As for today, we have our Valentine's Day treats to enjoy."
The impatient Uraraka, her white breath hanging in the chilly air, said cheerfully, "Let's hope it all turns out tasty."
Jiro smirked as she asked the rest of the girls curiously, "It had better. Bee-tee-dubs—how exactly are we doing the Galentine's swap?"
Pondering her question, Momo suggested placing her hand under her lips, "Why not draw lots? That seems fair and impartial."
Mina immediately got excited by the idea and happily gave her response, "Oh! Well, a lottery is fine, but how about, like, musical chairs? But instead of us running around chairs, we're passing the sweets around in a circle, and when the music stops, whatever you're holding is yours to keep!"
Kendo added with amused interest, "Sounds like a party game."
Toga grinned at the idea as she agreed with her best friend and happily said, "Yeah, it adds a little excitement to the mix!"
Momo, the ever-innocent and sheltered girl, looked interested. She said curiously, "I've never participated in such a game, but yes, let's. It certainly sounds delightful."
Mina smiled as she gave a thumbs up and said, "Cool beans!"
Toru, patting her stomach and grinning as she suggested feeling hungry, said, "Sooo, let's make it a light dinner? I wanna stuff myself silly with chocolate goodness after!"
Ochaco, with a straight face, blinked as she said, a bit surprised, "What, don'tcha have a second stomach just for desserts?"
Adding onto Ochaco's words, Mina asked, staring at Toru's midsection, "Second stomach! Maybe a third and a fourth too?"
Toru cheekily said, fully convinced of this new biological theory, "Yeah, fair enough!"
As the ten girls laughed, a stranger approached them, "Um… Ahem…"
The fidgety, blushing girl wore glasses and carried a small, decorated paper bag. Yaoyorozu, speaking for the group, asked the stranger kindly, "Yes? How can we help you?"
The girl stammered, fidgeting as she said, nervously holding the paper bag, "Well, umm… Could you… give this to class A's Prince Charming?"
With that, she thrust the bag into Yaoyorozu's hands and ran off in the other direction. The girls of class A stared at each other, unsure about what had just happened as Ochaco said confused, "Our class's Prince Charming?"
Asui, equally confused, muttered, "Who could that be?"
Unlike her confused classmates, Mina's eyes sparked with a sudden realization as she yelled in shock, "That's gotta be heartfelt chocolate!"
Mina slipped past the stunned girls to grab the paper bag and peek inside, yelling, "I knew it!"
The others followed suit and spotted in the bag some sort of present with cutesy wrapping, giving off that familiar chocolate aroma as they all exclaimed, "H-heartfelt chocolate! For real!"
Being in the presence of such a momentous offering left them stunned for a second, but then they realized they'd better find the girl with glasses, who, unfortunately, was long gone as Kinoko yelped, "W-w-whatdowedonow?"
Yui bluntly stated the obvious, gazing at the chocolate while expressing confusion, "'Give this to Prince Charming,' she said? Like we're s'posed to know who that is?"
Toga spoke up, clearing her voice decidedly more excited than panicked as she said, with Mina bobbing her head, agreeing, "Take a chill pill, girls! The chick with the glasses was obviously waiting around here to bump into her Prince Charming! She was too chicken to ring the doorbell, but that wasn't gonna stop her. When she spotted us leaving the dorm, she realized we could solve her problem!"
As Toga painted this picture, the girls' imaginations took over. They envisioned Glasses Girl pining away, too nervous to confess her love directly.
Plenty of sleepless nights, no doubt. As she made the chocolate, she wondered if her beloved Prince Charming even had a sweet tooth to begin with.
All that longing and tension and fear had been poured into the chocolate that the group of girls now held. They stared at the gift bag in fascination as Toru said, amazed, "Whoa! She must be in love!"
Momo nodded her head, agreeing as she remarked, gazing hard at the Glasses Girl's hard work in the chocolate said impressed, "I thought I was sensing something like that."
Jiro nodded her head, agreeing. Curiously, she said, staring at the chocolate, her arms crossed, "She was super embarrassed about it… Hey, maybe she just bought this rather than making it."
Feeling determined, Asui gave a light nod, assisting the Glasses Girl as she said in a determined tone, "Even so, I'm sure selecting this gift was a painstaking process for her, ribbit."
Mina, her eyes blazing with excitement, raised her clenched fist and declared proudly, "Either way, she trusted us with this, so we have a sacred duty to fulfill!"
The girls nodded resolutely as Ochaco was getting worked up and said, "Uh, duh! We gotta help the gal out with her mission of love!"
During the talk to help the Glasses Girl, Momo paused, sounding troubled, as she asked in a concerned tone, "But we still have an issue. We still don't know who Prince Charming is..."
The girls paused at Momo's words, but Kendo spoke up, suggesting in a determined tone, "Hang on, there's a card inside! Would it be naughty of us to take a peek?"
Mina, pausing to think, considered the idea before ultimately agreeing with a nod and said respectfully, "Hmm… I say, we have no choice. The guy's name might be written in there."
Toru grinned as she extracted the card and said excitedly, "Don't mind if I do."
Toru extracted the card and opened it. The girls discovered a succinct message within as Yui read out loud with a raised eyebrow, "TO THE PRINCE CHARMING OF CLASS A, THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME."
The girls furrowed their brows and grumbled. The card didn't reveal Prince Charming's identity, but it did provide one hint; apparently, he had once helped Glasses Girl in one way or another, as Jiro said, deep in thought, "So one of our knuckleheads is a prince. But who?"
Asui frowned, wondering the same as she asked, "If only we could just ask the girl."
Kendo nodded, agreeing as she recalled the Glasses Girl pondering out loud, "That girl wasn't a first-year, yeah? I think we'd know her if she was in our grade."
Mina, whose eyes were aflame again, asked in a shocked tone, "A second- or third-year, then? An older lady head over heels for a freshman dude? How wild is that!"
The girls gasped at the thought. Students from different grade levels rarely had the chance to interact, but Glasses Girl was attempting to overcome that insurmountable social barrier and profess her love nonetheless.
The very idea sent their minds racing. The greater the obstacles, the hotter the fires of passion burn, and even as cheerleaders on the sidelines, the girls of class A felt those flames spurring them.
Feeling the flames of youth inspire her, Toru said in a motivated tone, "Amazing! Okay, that settles it—we gotta deliver these chocolates to the right guy!"
Toru's motivation prompts nods and fervent mm-hmms from the girls. But once again, Momo asked confused, "That will involve identifying Prince Charming. Who could he possibly be?"
As Uraraka mulled things over, a certain face came to mind as she thought, 'Could it be… him?'
After a moment, an image of Ren phased through her mind. It seemed like the most obvious answer as she frowned lightly, 'It can't be that easy right? I mean, he has multiple lovers but...'
Before Ochaco could finish her line of questioning, Toga suggested curiously, "The most obvious Prince Charming… would be Todoroki, right?"
The girls murmured in agreement. Shoto Todoroki's classically handsome features recall the concept of Prince Charming.
His good looks had made the national zeitgeist thanks to a TV interview in the wake of beating some villains with Katsuki Bakugo. Momo nodded lightly, agreeing, "Todoroki is a strong possibility."
But Jiro pondered before crossing her arms, expressing a light frown, stating the obvious, "If we're just talking looks, Yuki kinda resembles a prince."
The girls slowly agree to the idea. More agreement from the group as they pictured Ren Yuki's nature. Even how he carried himself in confidence as Yui said helplessly, "Yeah, I'd buy that!"
The girls considered the rest of their male classmates, but only Todoroki and Ren seemed to fit the "prince" bill. Agreeing with their choices, Mina said excitedly, "Great! Let's go after our best guesses—Todoroki and Yuki."
The girls agreed with a nod as Jiro followed up and she added in a cautious tone, "But we can't tell them what this is about at first. Only once we figure out who Prince Charming is for sure."
Ochaco nodded, agreeing as she said, determined and motivated, "Exactly. We can't blow this for Glasses Girl by revealing what she came to us about."
Asui agreed as everyone returned inside, knowing where to find Ren in an obvious tone, "All right, we can find Ren in the kitchen. But what about Todoroki, ribbit?"
The girls simply shrugged her shoulders as Yui mentioned curiously, "Maybe Ren knows? If not, we can ask the boys."
As they went back to the dorms, Toga, with a sly grin, asked Kendo, Mina, Yui, and Jiro mischievously, "So you think Ren is Prince Charming, huh?"
The four girls blushed at that comment. Toga giggled to herself as she thought, 'The only four that Ren-sama hasn't turned to him yet… I'll be sure to persuade them over as I'll need a little push fufuf~'