Celebration Preparation

“Come on, Ozaki-chan, keep reading,” Momo encouraged, looking at Kasumi, who was seated on a stool with a book open in front of her.

It was February 12th, two days before Valentine’s Day, and the pair were making chocolate. Kasumi had been surprised by Momo’s request for help, but when she pleaded with her big brown eyes, a tingling in Kasumi’s heart wouldn’t let her refuse. She regretted her decision almost immediately as her arms nearly fell off carrying the bags full of ingredients they bought on their way home from school. Honey, sugar, gelatin, and a mountain of chocolate threatened to burst the eco-bags as they marched to Momo’s home.

When they arrived, Kasumi could hardly believe her eyes. The traditional Japanese-style house took up an entire block by itself. Kasumi had always had the impression that Momo’s family had money, but this was beyond her wildest imagination. As they entered, maids greeted them at the door and offered to carry the bags to the kitchen. Kasumi declined the offer, insisting that none of the house staff would help them in their preparations, saying that help would defeat the purpose.

Momo led Kasumi through a labyrinth of hallways, finally ending up at a kitchen that was larger than the apartment Kasumi shared with her mother. Momo instantly began setting things up, insisting Kasumi rest for a moment while she prepped everything. She said she wouldn’t need Kasumi’s help until the final steps, so she insisted Kasumi read while she waited.

Kasumi obliged, half reading, half watching Momo prep everything and begin melting the chocolate. Despite the staff in her home likely doing most of the housework, Momo seemed to have more skill and familiarity in the kitchen than Kasumi, whisking, measuring, and handling the stove as if it were second nature.

“Would you like a snack before we begin the hard part?” Momo asked, opening a cupboard behind her and revealing shelves of snacks. “We’re running a little low right now, but tell me what your favorites are, and I’ll have the staff stock up for the next time you visit.”

“Running low?” Kasumi thought, looking at the shelves stocked with more snacks than some convenience stores. If this was “running low,” then she wasn’t sure what fully stocked looked like. Unable to process the sheer variety, Kasumi’s eyes fell back on the book before her.

“I know it seems boring,” Momo said, resuming her whisking with reckless abandon, “but it’s something all Maidens have to get through before they can start going on missions.”

“You read this whole thing?” Kasumi asked, half closing the book to reveal the cover. Maiden’s Bible Study Guide for New Believers read the cover in bold golden lettering.

“Well, I didn’t,” Momo admitted, pulling the whisk out to test the thickness of the chocolate. “I’d already read the whole Bible cover to cover before I was scouted, so I didn’t need to.”

“That sounds worse, honestly,” Kasumi said, releasing the cover to let it flop back onto the counter.

“You’ll have to read it at some point, too,” Momo said, dipping a toothpick in the chocolate. “It may not be a requirement for the Maidens or to be a Christian, but it should be.” She sucked on the chocolate-covered toothpick and puckered her lips to appreciate the flavor fully. “Hey, tell me what you think,” she added, holding the bowl out to Kasumi.

“This batch tastes fine too,” Kasumi said, taste-testing the third batch of the day. “You sure are making a lot, though,” she added, looking at the several meters of countertop already lined with ingredients and chocolate in various stages of completion. Some was melting on the stove, some was waiting to be mixed, and still more was cooling in the fridge. At this scale, it looked like Momo was making Valentine’s chocolate for the whole class, maybe half the school, depending on portion size.

“All right, that should do it for the main body,” Momo said, setting the mixing bowl down and wiping chocolate off her face. “Time to get the white chocolate melting, so it’s ready by the time these are ready for decorations.”

“You’re making more?” Kasumi said. She’d only meant to think it, but the sheer shock made the words come right out.

“Well, yeah,” Momo said casually as she picked up bricks of white chocolate. “We’ll use the white chocolate to decorate the bonbons once they’re finished.”

“That seems like a lot of effort. Who are these for, anyway?” Kasumi asked, her curiosity finally getting the better of her.

“Our class,” Momo replied, already opening packets of white chocolate.

“Who in our class?”

“Everyone.” The word baffled Kasumi. She’d never imagined this when Momo had invited her to make Valentine’s Day chocolates together. She’d been struck silent as the two of them broke their backs carrying the kilos of chocolate Momo bought on their way from school. She’d been struck silent as she entered Momo’s home for the first time, following her through its labyrinthine layout to the kitchen that was larger than the apartment Kasumi and her mother lived in. And though she was struck a third time, she remained silent no more.

“But why?” Kasumi asked, more of an accusation than a question. “Why would you do that for them? You spent more than 10,000 yen on all this, and it’s going to take hours to prepare. Why do that for a class that’s stood by and done nothing while you’re bullied?”

“For the last time, I’m not being bullied,” Momo insisted, her tone light, as if dismissing a mild tease. “And it’s not about the time or money,” she continued, throwing the last pieces of white chocolate into the melting bowl and stirring. “Sure, it may be cheap in terms of time or money to prepare all this for the whole class, but that’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point? Mindless consumerism?” Kasumi demanded.

“To make sure everyone feels loved,” Momo said, pulling out the spoon and checking the consistency. “Two years back, I was the only one to give my onii-chan chocolate. He tried to play it off, but I saw how hurt he was. I remembered that last year and decided to give all the boys in my class really nice giri-choco.” As she spoke, Momo poured honey into the chocolate instead of sugar in honor of St. Valentine. “It upset a few girls to see me give their crushes chocolate, even if it was only giri-choco, so this year I’m gonna fix that by making it for everyone.”

“I still don’t see why it’s your job to do this,” Kasumi thought, but the words came out anyway as she handed Momo ingredients. “I still don’t see why it’s your job to do this.”

“It’s not my job, per se,” Momo explained, taste-testing the chocolate before adding more honey. “But… do you remember that first day you came to church with me?”

“Yeah,” Kasumi said, her memories fully restored after being introduced to her guardian.

“It’s like that. After you ran out without telling anyone, I was under no obligation to go after you. But even still, despite the trouble it caused me, it ended up saving your life, so it was well worth it. I like to think doing this is like doing the same for others, even if I never see the benefit in this life.”

Kasumi had no response to that. How could she, after Momo brought up her life-saving intervention? The pair continued making chocolates, just as Momo had envisioned. Her idea was to use three bonbon mold sheets with thirty slots each to make three bonbons for each of their twenty-six classmates, using the extras for practice and a snack once they were finished. It took a while for Kasumi to get the hang of pouring the chocolate and filling, making Momo glad she’d planned for extras.

The most tedious part was spelling out the characters “God,” “Love,” and “You” on the bonbons and packaging them in bags with their classmates’ names. The whole process took hours, and by the end, Momo wanted to invite Kasumi to stay for dinner. The staff warned against it, though, since she hadn’t gotten her grandfather’s permission. Instead, Momo instructed the staff to drive Kasumi home.

“Thank you for all your help today,” Momo said, shoving a bag full of the extra bonbons into Kasumi’s hands. “I don’t know how I’d have finished without you.”

“No problem,” Kasumi replied, grinding her teeth behind her fake smile. The exhaustion made it easy to conceal, but she was far from pleased as the car drove down the street.

“Are you upset because there was no bag with your name on it?” her guardian asked, his voice augmented so only Kasumi could hear it.

“No,” Kasumi insisted in a low but forceful whisper that the driver couldn’t hear. “I’m just a bit tired, that’s all.”

It was a whole lie and only half the truth. In truth, she was upset, partly because there was no bag with her name on it, but more because of a name she did see among the bags. Queen Bee. Momo had filled her bag first, making sure to give her the biggest and best of the bonbons. All she’d ever done was bully Momo every chance she got, and now she was getting rewarded?

“It’s not right,” Kasumi thought, squeezing the bag of bonbons until the box inside crumpled and the treats shifted with a soft crackle. “It’s not fair, and nobody does anything about it.”

Her eyes wandered out the car window. As they stopped at a red light, Kasumi saw a poster of a girl handing a boy chocolates, and an idea popped into her mind.

“I guess if nobody else will do anything about it,” Kasumi thought, her lips curling into a wicked grin. “Then I’ll have to.”