Chocolate

The smell of melted chocolate hung thick in the air. Sweet and warm, like something out of a bakery or a childhood memory. The home ec room was alive with voices and clattering bowls, spatulas tapping glass, laughter bouncing off the tiled walls.

Emi stood at her station with sleeves rolled up and an apron tied loosely behind her back. Her hair was clipped up to keep it out of the way, though a few strands had already fallen out. She stared down at the bowl in front of her as if it were a math test.

"Okay, melt the chocolate first," Misaki said beside her, eyes gleaming with focus. "Then mix in the butter gently. Gently, Emi."

Emi nodded and followed along, not really speaking. She was here because it was part of the curriculum. Everyone had to make something. Most of the girls were already gossiping about who they were giving theirs to. A few were even talking to her.

"So," one classmate said casually, scooting over under the pretense of borrowing a spoon, "you and Orion, huh? Is there something there?"

"Huh?" Emi blinked. "No, I haven’t seen that movie.”

“What?”

Another girl tilted her head, digging deeper:

“So, you don’t have your eye on anyone?"

Emi hesitated. Just a second too long.

“Not really,” she said, “I like the ramen place next to my house, yeah.”

“Huh?”

The girls gave her a confused look, while also bursting into a chuckle as they drifted back to their own groups. More chocolate, more talking. More giggling about boys and perfect ribbon wrapping. But Kana and Misaki both knew what was up.

Kana elbowed her gently. “You sure there’s no one?”

“Focus up, you two,” Emi said, bonking her head with a spatula.

“Hey, that’s my line,” said Misaki.

The rest of the class passed in a blur. Stirring. Pouring. Cooling. Wrapping. Folding tiny squares of parchment around soft candies that smelled like dreams.

Emi followed every step, like muscle memory. She didn’t feel particularly happy or sad. Just quiet. Maybe a little tired. Maybe a little distracted.

By the time the bell rang, her apron was speckled with cocoa powder, and she had a small, hand-decorated bag of chocolates sealed and tucked into her bag.

She blinked at it.

She didn’t remember decorating it.

She didn’t remember writing the little note tied to the handle.

She didn’t remember deciding who it was for.

She walked out of the class, the chocolate rustling faintly in her bag with every step.

The afternoon sun was setting, letting in the warm rays of orange through the windows into the hallways while also casting long shadows across the school gates as Emi stepped outside. She planned on waiting for Orion, standing there as her fingers fidgeted slightly at her side, brushing against the faint crinkle of a wrapped package inside her bag.

Any thoughts, however, got interrupted by a simple:

“Hey.”

She turned at the voice.

It was Terran.

He stood with his hands in his pockets, his posture casual, but there was nothing casual about the way he looked at her. Serious. Sharp.

The crowd of students flowing past them slowed just a little. Some whispered. Some giggled. A few phones were definitely out, trying to sneak photos. A handsome boy and a girl from another class standing at the gate like this? Easy rumor fuel.

“That’s Emi, isn’t it?”

“Is he confessing?”

“Aren’t they friends with that guy Orion?”

“Ooh, drama. It’s a triangle.”

But the buzz of voices was just static. Background noise that neither of them heard.

Terran took a step forward, his face was calm, but his voice strong:

“What are you to him?”

Emi froze at the question, all so sudden. But Terran continued before she could answer:

“Do you like him?”

Her ears went hot. Her face turned a little pink – just a little.

But the next moment, she narrowed her eyes and looked away with a frown.

“W-what? No. That’s… don’t be weird. We’re just friends. Why would you even say that?”

Terran did not smile, his expression remained stone cold. He did not even press a tease.

Instead, his next words hit differently:

“Do you know what he is?”

That was when Emi really looked at him.

A rage was bubbling to the surface of the elf, that Emi knew well, but only now did she really understand a fragment of what it was he was feeling. He had no time for youthful games, or perhaps he did once upon a time. But he had been through too much now, pain had numbed his senses. All that remained was hate – and maybe even a hint of guilt.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Terran stepped in, just close enough that it felt like the world narrowed to just them.

“Do you have any idea how many he has killed? Do you know how many he took from me?”

Emi’s fists clenched slightly at her sides, letting out a voice that came quieter than expected:

“I know all that… but…”

“Do you?” Terran instantly snapped back, cutting her off.

Terran looked at her, his gaze almost pitying. But it was not personal to him, rather a cold look that told her he saw her not as a source of his pain, but rather just a bystander caught in the blast radius.

She still turned her eyes away, lips pressed in a thin line.

Because she really couldn’t deny what Terran was saying. Not when she remembered the way Orion spoke like a tyrant. Not when she remembered the cracked, haunted look in his eyes when he thought no one was watching. Not when she remembered the bird in his hand – alive one second, completely crushed the next.

Terran sighed through his nose. A tired, bitter sound.

“Go read your book,” he muttered.

That made her blink.

“Huh?”

“Sterling told me,” he said, “Orion came out of the book you found. The sooner you finish it, the better you’ll understand.”

And with that, he turned and walked off, his long stride carrying him into the fading light.

Emi stood there, her bag heavier than before. Not because of the chocolate. But because of the quiet warning Terran left behind.

Letting the silence of the wind kick in, blowing by her with whispers of empty voices of doubt. There was still so much she did not know about Orion, the so-called Dark Lord. They called him that, but she had never seen it in full. And yet, at times – she feared the day she would have to stand witnessing that giant.

Son of Evil.

With a light tap on her shoulder, Emi turned around to find Orion standing behind her.

“You forgot this,” he said quietly, holding out a familiar item.

It was her notebook, she must have forgotten it in her classroom.

She took it slowly, looking up at him.

“Is… this why you took so long?”

Orion nodded slightly, his expression still remained stone, but his lips moved so slightly it might as well have been a full laugh for someone like him.

Emi looked down at the notebook, her fingers tightening around it.

He was being… nice. Warm, even. Normal.

The silence between them stretched just long enough to feel like something unspoken lived there.

“Thank you,” she said, trying to smile back.

So they walked home together, the rhythm of the afternoon was almost bright enough for Emi to skip with every step. She knew Orion was strong, and that should be frightening, but she also felt safe.

And yet, in the back of her mind, Terran’s words still echoed:

Do you know what he is?