How To Melt the Ice Lady - CH 62

It was late at night, and despite the sudden visitor, Asahi opened the front door without any hesitation.

Then he caught sight of a girl holding a small paper bag in her hands.

“…Good evening.”

“Ah, yeah. Good evening.”

The basics of communication start with greetings.

Even such an obvious thing felt fluffy.

Asahi’s heart quietly throbbed in front of the person he loved.

“I’m sorry to bother you at this time of night. Right now…do you have time?”

“No worries, but… it’s cold here, come inside.”

“N-no! It’ll only take a second…”

“I don’t want you to catch another cold.”

“…When you put it that way, I can’t really say anything.”

In the end, they settled on talking at the entrance as a compromise.

“Uh…uhm…”

Fuyuka suddenly turned her head down while muttering a few slurred words.

Her slender body swayed slightly from side to side. She seemed hesitant about something.

Asahi quietly watched.

The polka-dot paper bag was clearly visible within his line of sight.

“…Asahi-kun, do you know what day it is today?”

Eventually, Fuyuka slowly opened her mouth.

Her clear, beautiful voice was slightly trembling.

“Valentine’s Day, right?”

“…So, here… Asahi-kun.”

Fuyuka turned her head down, hiding her expression, and held out the paper bag she was holding in both hands.

Asahi took it carefully, as if he was handling a fragile object.

He quickly checked the contents and saw the transparent wrapping.

The cool night breeze carried with it a sweet smell.

Without a doubt, this was a Valentine’s Day chocolate from Fuyuka.

“You’re giving it to me?”

“Yes… for all of the times you’ve helped me.”

“So it’s ‘friend chocolate’?”

“…Probably.”

Was there such a thing as a friend’s chocolate?

The person who made it also gave a vague answer with a downcast look.

“Thank you, Fuyuka. This makes me really happy.”

A soft smile and honest words spilled out naturally.

Even if it was a gift just as a friend.

Fuyuka gave him chocolates for Valentine’s Day.

That fact alone made Asahi inexplicably happy.

“Can I try it now?”

“Eh… right now?”

“Mhm, right now. Right here.”

When Asahi threw a straight look at her, Fuyuka paused for a moment and then gave a small nod.

As he carefully opened the wrapping, he could see several round chocolates. The sugar powder coated on the surface was scattered like snow.

“I think I made it…pretty well. So please try it…”

This time, a straight gaze arrived from Fuyuka.

Her white skin was tinted by a slight cherry-red color.

He couldn’t measure the happiness he felt after receiving chocolates on Valentine’s Day from the person he loved.

Asahi grabbed one of the chocolates and brought it to his mouth. He slowly savored it and chewed on that small piece of happiness.

“It’s so good.”

His impression of the chocolate was pretty simple.

It was not that he didn’t have anything else to say. He could have listed what was good about each of them, but when he sorted out the words he wanted to say, he was able to express it in one short sentence.

When he saw Fuyuka’s expression of relief and a happy smile on her face after her anxious look, he felt confident that this was the right thing to do.

“I’m kind of surprised, I didn’t teach you how to bake after all.”

“I was taught by… Aiba-san.”

“…Hinami?”

“She said she was going to make chocolate for Yoshikawa-san and asked me to join her…”

Asahi was surprised to hear this story for the first time, but it seemed that Fuyuka had been practicing a lot for this day.

“When I went to the supermarket to buy chocolate bars, I was surprised to see you, Asahi-kun.”

“That’s why you were panicking.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Fuyuka smiled mischievously, and Asahi was completely taken in by her.

“You’ve been working on this all day until this hour?”

“…I did my best to make sure that…you would say it was delicious.”

When he asked her about the details, she told him that she came home as soon as she could after school in order to create a confident work that she was satisfied with.

He also heard that Hinami urged her with a very serious face that she might be surrounded by boys.

Then one question came to mind in Asahi.

Would she put that much time and effort into giving chocolates to a mere friend?

‘Maybe that’s the way for her.’

She was disciplined and polite to a fault.

Her personality was also evident in her language and attitude.

She said these chocolates were for her gratitude towards him, and when she got him a Christmas present, it was for the same reason.

Asahi was aware that he had given Fuyuka something, and that she was grateful to him.

Oddly enough, it was the same time when he became aware of his love for Fuyuka.

Asahi had an uncharacteristic fantasy that this was a heartfelt chocolate.

“And… this is also thanks to your advice, Asahi-kun.”

“Mine? I don’t recall it though.”

“You told me before, didn’t you? That was the very first advice you gave me, Asahi-kun.”

He taught many things about cooking, so it didn’t immediately click with him.

He recalled a lot of rudimentary advice he had provided her and was not certain that the first which Fuyuka mentioned was the same as the first he thought.

However, there was one thing that he could remember clearly.

―The most important thing in cooking is not the taste, but love.

Asahi thought he might have said something like that which she called it as his first piece of advice.

Love was the feeling you had for the person you were serving the food to.

It was a basic foundation that anyone could learn, but it was surprisingly difficult to master, Asahi once said.

At the same time, there was another kind of love.

He told her that one’s love was a great secret ingredient to make the food taste better.

‘No way…’

This was a friend’s chocolate made out of gratitude, nothing more, nothing less.

That was what Asahi told himself.

“Back to basics, huh?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s why it’s so good.”

His hand naturally reached out to Fuyuka’s small head.

Was it a feeling of joy at the growth of his student, or did he want to touch his loved one?

Either way, on impulse, Asahi gently stroked Fuyuka’s hair.

Fuyuka flinched, but didn’t resist and accepted Asahi’s hand.

“…I feel like I’m being treated like a child.”

“Well, that’s about it.”

“Please deny it…”

Asahi immediately let go, and despite her words, he thought he saw an unsatisfied look on Fuyuka’s face.

But he couldn’t reach out again and turned away, and saw her long hair swaying.

Somehow, no, definitely. When he looked at Fuyuka again, her face had turned bright red.

“…I hope you’ll teach me how to bake sometime.”

After saying that, Fuyuka disappeared behind the door.

Wondering if he received the gratitude she wanted to express to him.

For a brief moment, the moonlight shone brightly on the three-rose brooch that adorned the front door.

—

Author’s Note:

Rushed and hurried.

Thoughts and feelings.

The story moves forward.

I hope you will continue to read about the love story between Asahi and Fuyuka.