I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

But the problem is...

The gift shop was so small that not only the gift shop, but even the supermarket selling Valentine's Day gift boxes and chocolates was packed with students.

The shops here weren't originally built to be particularly large, since there are only so many students and teachers. The shops might be a bit busier during dismissal time. However, due to the school's point system, a significant number of students in this school have lost their ability to spend money.

So it's usually quite deserted.

But today is Valentine's Day, so even students who have trouble keeping track of their money will try to prepare a return gift.

Because it's rare for anyone at this school to go without chocolate; even the worst person will receive a chocolate symbolizing friendship... In other words, it's a mass-market product from a store, but because some people feel sorry for not receiving chocolates on Valentine's Day, they give ordinary friendship chocolates to make the recipient feel less embarrassed.

In ordinary schools, the probability of receiving a gift of chocolate as a token of affection is very low. In fact, unless you are a very close friend, people generally do not easily give chocolates as a token of affection, because it is easy to be misunderstood.

And no one will say anything even if we don't take care of those poor guys, because the act of giving chocolates is voluntary.

But in this school where you see everyone all the time, you have to be considerate in everything you do, otherwise you might easily get yourself into unnecessary trouble.

While everyone was rushing to buy chocolates, Amane bought a large box of strange fruits and moved it to Ms. Fujiwara Mayumi's former cake shop for processing.

It is worth mentioning that Ms. Mayumi Fujiwara, who was already the principal of the school, felt bored because she was spending the holidays alone (because she couldn't find a boyfriend). So, while the principal, Mr. Fujiwara, was too busy to pay attention to her, she secretly ran back to her old business and started running her bakery.

Moreover, since Ms. Mayumi Fujiwara puts all her energy into developing new products when she's bored, the store immediately attracted many students upon reopening.

After tasting Ms. Fujiwara's current skills, Amane couldn't help but sigh that if Ms. Fujiwara hadn't gone on to become the principal, it would probably only be a matter of time before she could make the bakery bigger and stronger just by relying on her skills.

After seeing that Amane had also returned to the bakery, Ms. Fujiwara grabbed Amane and discussed with her what blockbuster products to launch for Valentine's Day to make a fortune!

In reality, Ms. Fujiwara's bakery was operating at a complete loss. Because she used only the finest ingredients and imported machinery, the costs were quite high. However, in order to promote her skills, Ms. Fujiwara sold her products at very low prices, so she couldn't make any money at all and even had to subsidize a significant portion of her salary.

However, Ms. Fujiwara herself was quite happy about it. The so-called big profit was just her hope that everyone would sweep up all the products she had carefully baked, as only in this way could she prove that her skills were first-class.

"Huh? Little Tianyin, what did you buy?... Cocoa beans?"

Miss Fujiwara blinked in confusion as she watched Amane carry in a box of cocoa beans. After all, whether making bread or cakes, semi-finished ingredients are used. Even if the best ingredients are used, it wouldn't be necessary to start from the fermentation of cocoa beans.

"Of course, I'll make chocolate! After all, Valentine's Day is only meaningful if you make chocolate by hand!!"

As Tianyin spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, revealing her muscular forearms.

At first, Ms. Fujiwara thought there was nothing wrong with what she was saying, but when she realized something was wrong, Amane had already started peeling cocoa beans. Seeing Amane's enthusiastic attitude, Ms. Fujiwara gave up trying to persuade her, since, as Amane said, chocolate made by hand is the most meaningful.

Although... Ms. Fujiwara felt that Amane might have some misunderstanding about making chocolate by hand, the thought is what matters!

……

Ding dong.

The person who rang the doorbell seemed a little nervous, but when she thought about what she wanted to do, her nervousness immediately eased.

The door was quickly opened, and Shiina, wearing an apron, showed a happy expression when she saw who it was.

"Ichinose-san, you came really fast. I haven't prepared the materials yet, so I might need you to help me out."

"It's alright. I came here to learn how to make Valentine's Day chocolates, so I'm happy to help out."

Before this, Ichinose had almost no connection with Valentine's Day chocolates. It's not that she never received them; in fact, she received a lot of chocolates every Valentine's Day. But she would share them all with everyone and not take a single one for herself. The reason was simple: once you accept chocolates, you have to prepare a return gift.

Ichinose's family circumstances made it difficult for her to prepare return gifts, so she had never received or given Valentine's Day chocolates before and therefore had no experience in making them.

But this year is different; she has someone to whom she needs to give a gift.

P.S.: Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all good health and happiness every day in the new year! Thank you all for your continued support. I will work hard to update in the new year! However, I will be taking a day off on New Year's Day because someone in my family is having a birthday on New Year's Day, which is a good excuse to be lazy (not really).

Chapter 158: Only One of It and You Can Stay

Ichinose followed Shiina into the room. Shiina's room was decorated just right, neither too plain nor too extravagant. The overall beige color scheme gave it a warm feel.

However, the most striking feature is undoubtedly the two meticulously decorated bookshelves. Every gap in the shelves is completely filled, and there are no library signs, meaning that Shiina bought so many books with her own points.

As a former class leader, Ichinose had some knowledge of the situation in Class C. Class C's class points had always been in the lower ranks, and each person didn't get many points. Although food wasn't a big problem, it was only enough to barely make ends meet.

Just by looking at Shiina's two overflowing bookshelves, you can tell that the total value of the books on them must be a considerable sum, possibly even at the cost of sacrificing one's personal standard of living.

This shows just how much Hiyori Shiina loves reading.

"Shiina-kun is amazing! You've collected so many classic works. Can I take a look?"

"Of course, if there's any book you'd like to read, just let me know and I'll borrow it to read at my leisure."

Shiina was delighted to see that Ichinose seemed very interested in her bookshelf; it had been a long time since she had met someone so interested in books.

Although the school has a library, most people go there to study. They are mostly busy catching up on their studies, and the books they do read are mostly about relationships and divination. There are more borrowers of books in other categories. Unless there is a sudden surge in popularity for a certain author at the school, which might attract some people to borrow books in a trend, very few people usually go to the library to really sit down and read a classic.

However, Shiina is also well aware that she cannot demand that others love books just because she loves them. After all, books are just a way for humans to pass the time. People may learn something or gain some insight from books, but most people read books simply to kill time.

Since their initial purpose was to pass the time by reading, it is impossible to expect them to have any deeper understanding of the books or the content they read.

Therefore, it is quite difficult for Shiina to find a like-minded friend. Even if they do meet, they may not be able to get along well because of their different hobbies.

After all, Shiina is not only a girl who loves reading, but also a reader who is very passionate about mystery novels and books.

When faced with similar topics, Shiina reveals an amazingly energetic side that is not usually seen.

Unfortunately, very few people enjoy both reading and mystery novels, so Shiina's friends are limited to just a few familiar faces from Ryuen's circle.

It's indeed quite difficult for Shiina to have a conversation with people who prefer to solve problems with fists rather than reason.

However, there was one person with whom Shiina could have a good chat: Miyako Amane. However, Shiina could vaguely sense that Amane seemed more interested in Shiina as a person than in books.

Upon seeing Ichinose's interest in her carefully collected books, Shiina generously agreed to lend her treasured collection from the past year.

After Shiina agreed, Ichinose went to the bookshelf. Originally intending to just glance at any book, Ichinose immediately saw a famous book called The Count of Monte Cristo, which Shiina Hiyori had placed in the far corner.

Compared to other books, this one is a classic she is quite familiar with, and she is confident that she can answer Shiina's questions fluently.

The moment Ichinose picked up the book, she was certain that Shiina's love for books was genuine. The book, which had been sitting in a corner, was spotless, with clear signs of cleaning on the cover. Most people probably wouldn't treat a book sitting in a corner with such care.

After glancing at a few pages symbolically, Ichinose put the book down. Her words were actually meant to help her understand Shiina's personality better.

Once she had gathered the information she needed, there was no need to delve any further into the matter of the book. Excessive prying into other people's privacy would make Shiina uncomfortable and arouse her suspicion.

After all, she really came here to learn how to make Valentine's Day chocolates from Shiina; gathering information was just something she did incidentally, and it wouldn't be good to put the cart before the horse.

As for why Ichinose wanted to learn how to make Valentine's Day chocolates from Shiina, it was because Shiina struck up a conversation with Ichinose while she was browsing books on making sweets in the library. After learning that Ichinose was having some trouble making Valentine's Day chocolates, Shiina confidently offered to teach her how, even though Ichinose and Shiina's relationship had only been so-so before.

However, Ichinose agreed to Shiina's kind offer, which led to Ichinose's visit today.

"Shiina-kun, shouldn't we start making chocolate?"

"I can start anytime. I asked Ibuki-san to buy some materials for me beforehand, so I still have quite a lot in stock."

As Shiina spoke, she took out a handful of colorful chocolates from the refrigerator. Ichinose's expression began to become somewhat subtle as she looked at the chocolates in Shiina's hand.

"Aren't these all chocolates sold in stores?"

Ichinose looked at the chocolates in Shiina's hand with some suspicion. She had just heard Shiina say that these were the ingredients for Valentine's Day chocolates.

However, if you've already bought Valentine's Day chocolates, then there's no need to make them yourself.

After all, for high school students like them, even the most perfect handmade chocolate is unlikely to be as delicious as commercially produced chocolate. The only thing they can compare in terms of taste is the sentiment behind it. However, sentiment is hard to express as directly as taste. Whether something tastes good or bad is subjective, but most people can give a fairly consistent answer as to whether it's sweet or not. Sentiment, on the other hand, is very difficult to judge.

Even the standard for judging the magnitude of the gift's sentiment does not depend on the giver, but on the recipient to judge the giver's intentions.

You may have carefully selected a gift that seems nice, only to receive a cheap review in return.

This kind of thing happens all the time, so many people see giving chocolates as a way of expressing their feelings rather than the sentiment behind making the chocolates themselves.

So when Shiina took out the chocolate, Ichinose even mistakenly thought that Shiina was going to give her the chocolate and then have her give it to the other person.

If it were really that simple, she could just go to the store and buy it herself, and wouldn't need to come here to learn how to make it. So Ichinose just looked at Shiina with a question in her mind, wanting to know if there were any other arrangements next.

"That's right, these are all store-bought chocolates. They're essential for making Valentine's Day chocolates!"

As Shiina spoke, she tore open the chocolate wrapper and began explaining how to make Valentine's Day chocolates.

"First, we need to melt the chocolate..."

"Huh? Should we melt the chocolate we just made?"

"Yes, because we need to make it into the pattern we want, we have to melt the chocolate first. Then, while it's still warm, pour the melted chocolate into the mold, like this heart-shaped mold. Then put the mold in the refrigerator to cool quickly, and you'll have a Valentine's Day chocolate. It's very simple, right? Oh, and if you want to say anything, you can also engrave something on it."

Seeing Shiina's skillful movements, Ichinose was stunned.

She then realized that Valentine's Day chocolates were simply chocolates bought from stores that had been melted down and reshaped.

No wonder she couldn't find any tutorials for this method. Although she felt there was something wrong with the way it was made, she had no choice but to try making Valentine's Day chocolates at this point.

"By the way, Ichinose-san, who are you giving your chocolate to? A classmate? Or... a friend of the opposite sex?"

Even Shiina has a gossipy heart.

"I intended to give it to Tianyin..."

As soon as Ichinose uttered Amane's name, she immediately covered her mouth. Realizing she had let something slip, Ichinose looked at Shiina in a flustered manner.

"Oh, I see."

Shiina covered her mouth and let out a soft laugh, which made Ichinose's face turn bright red.

I hope Tianyin will like this gift.

……

Originally, according to Tianyin's plan, there were only a few people she needed to return gifts to. Although there were quite a few people, fortunately, Tianyin knew each of them well, so choosing return gifts was not too complicated.

But on Valentine's Day, Tianyin realized that she had made a fatal mistake.

That is, Valentine's Day is not only for close friends to give each other chocolates; classmates or friends also give each other chocolates.

This resulted in Tianyin only going out for a short walk that day, but when she returned home, she was carrying two large plastic bags filled with Valentine's Day chocolates and all sorts of Valentine's Day gifts, and even more than a dozen love letters.

"Tianyin, did you go and loot all the chocolates in the store?"

Horikita looked at Amane, who was carrying two large bags of chocolates and was walking unsteadily, with surprise, and quickly stepped forward to take the chocolates from Amane's hands.

But what she didn't know until she took the bag was that it contained a love letter with a heart attached.

"Phew~ I'm exhausted. If I had known I'd receive so much chocolate, I would have..."

"So what? Tianyin, aren't you going to explain to me what's going on?"

As Horikita spoke, he tapped Amane's head with the confession letter.

Tianyin took the confession letter, glanced at it, and after thinking for a long time, waved her hands repeatedly to indicate her innocence.

"I don't know that girl who gave me the chocolates at all! And look, it says 'Second Year, Class A' on it. How could I possibly have any connection with a girl from Second Year, Class A? She just suddenly appeared in front of me, gave me a box of chocolates and a letter, and then ran away. I didn't have time to read the letter, so I just threw it in my bag. I'm completely innocent!!!"

Horikita stared into Amane's eyes for a full minute, until sweat began to bead on Amane's forehead from nervousness, before slowly nodding.

"Then let me open this letter and see if Tianyin minds. Do you mind?"

Horikita smiled gently and asked Amane in her ear.

"No problem! Absolutely no problem!"

At this point, Tianyin dared not say anything and could only obediently hand over the love letter.

She didn't know who wrote the letter to her, only that it was something like "D".

"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect even a second-year senior to like my Tianyin so much..."

"Hehe, I didn't expect that either..."

"Starting today, you're not going out."

"Huh? But Rinne, I..."

"You're not planning to secretly go on dates with these girls, are you?"

"No! Absolutely not! I like Rin!"

Seeing Amane's confident expression, even though it wasn't the first time Horikita had heard it, her mood always improved whenever she heard Amane say that. Of course, Horikita herself would never admit it.

"Hmph, you always say such nice things, but who knows if you say the same things to other people."

"hey-hey……"

Amane had no way to refute this, and seeing Amane's embarrassed look, Horikita did not pursue the matter further. Instead, he took out a small notebook and began to record the names of the letter writers.

Amane could only hope that Horikita wouldn't do anything strange to these people.

Seeing that Horikita didn't pursue the matter any further, Amane finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then, Amane mysteriously took out an exquisite gift box and came behind Horikita.

"What are you planning to do sneakily behind my back again?"

Horikita continued writing down the names of the people who had given Amane chocolates without turning her head. Amane, on the other hand, felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the densely packed names on Horikita's notebook.

"Rin-yin~ Today is Valentine's Day! I have a gift for you~"