February. Early spring. A lingering chill clung to the air.
On Saturday morning, Yuji Naka and the others arrived at the garage one after another, ready to begin the day's work.
They had come of their own will—Tetsu Kobayashi absolutely hadn't forced them.
Daicon Film was busy producing the Jörmungandr anime, and on his side, Tetsu needed to press forward with the later stages of game development.
He slid open the garage door and instantly saw Yuji Naka—
and Yuji Naka's old sweater.
Tetsu clicked his tongue, abruptly turned around, and started searching for something.
Yuji Naka stepped closer.
"Tetsu-kun, what are you looking for? I can help."
"I'm looking for something," Tetsu said flatly, "to beat you with. Can you stop wearing that ragged sweater already?!"
Yuji Naka recoiled, arms clutched defensively over his chest.
"No way. My aunt gifted this to me before I came to Tokyo!"
That answer caught Tetsu off guard, softening him a little.
He hadn't expected such a backstory.
Now that he looked closely, while the sweater's design was hopelessly outdated, he could see the care behind it.
Yuji Naka stroked the fabric, sighing.
"Back then, my cousin and I came to Tokyo to try our luck. My aunt gave me this sweater."
"And your cousin?" Tetsu asked.
Yuji said, "She gave him a motorcycle."
Tetsu: …??
That gap was a bit too dramatic.
Suppressing the urge to throttle Yuji Naka, Tetsu herded everyone to their seats to begin work.
Level design progress wasn't slow, but it required constant testing.
Tetris had been completed so quickly only because the game was small, Tetsu knew the original code by heart, and he'd even recreated it before as a hobby.
But Salamander was long, difficult, and something he only vaguely remembered.
It required repeated testing—making progress naturally much slower.
And Salamander was famous for its brutal difficulty.
Hard—but not so hard that players couldn't progress.
Fine-tuning was essential.
Level design wasn't something just anyone could sit at and do.
Before they knew it, noon had arrived. When the garage's doorbell rang, Tetsu finally got up.
They'd been too busy to go out for meals, relying entirely on deliveries.
He opened the door—and was surprised by who was delivering today.
Accepting the lunch box from NeNe Anezaki, Tetsu was about to tease her when he saw her staring past him, shocked and incredulous.
Tetsu turned to look.
Nothing special.
He turned back. "What's wrong, NeNe-nee?"
"Ah, um…"
Tetsu's eyes lowered to her hand; she was nervously twisting her bicycle handle.
"It's just…" NeNe said hesitantly, "isn't this place… a little messy?"
"Messy? It's fine. Looks great to me," Tetsu replied, pointing around. "This is equipment, this is tools, and this—looks like trash, but it's actually something we don't really need."
The two of them surveyed the disaster zone that was the garage. At that exact moment, Tsukasa Masuko made himself instant coffee and casually tossed the empty packet onto the floor.
"Ah… that," Tetsu muttered. "That's… décor."
Even he couldn't continue that lie.
He admitted—just a little—the garage was a bit messy.
But he knew exactly where everything was.
If he cleaned it up, he might lose things.
Seeing NeNe's expression, Tetsu abruptly changed tactics.
"Actually, well… we're not very good at taking care of ourselves. NeNe-nee, would you like to help us? Just a bit of tidying? We'll pay you."
She pressed her lips together—clearly wanting to refuse.
But in the end, she sighed faintly.
"No need for payment. You boys should learn to take care of yourselves."
She checked the elegant lady's watch on her wrist.
"After I finish my shift at Old Dixie this afternoon, I'll come help."
She bowed lightly, accepted the money for the food, mounted her bicycle, and rode off.
Tetsu spread his hands helplessly.
He paid attention to hygiene.
The problem was the other three.
He turned around—only to jump back in shock.
Three pairs of eyes were fixed on him.
Even Kitagawa Takeshi was staring like he'd witnessed some astonishing sight.
Tetsu shivered. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"Nothing," Yuji Naka said. "It's just… February 14th is coming. I was wondering if someone might give Tetsu-kun chocolate."
Tetsu blinked.
"February 14th? What about it? It's not my birthday."
Masuko gaped.
"Boss, you don't know? February 14th is Valentine's Day. Girls give chocolate to boys. There's also giri-choco, the obligatory kind—family, classmates, that sort of thing."
Tetsu short-circuited.
Right.
He really had no idea.
But he had an excuse.
"I'm an American-born Japanese! Not knowing Japanese customs is perfectly reasonable!"
All three nodded earnestly.
Very reasonable—everyone knew he had returned from the U.S.
Tetsu clapped his hands briskly.
"Enough chocolate talk. Back to work."
He leaned over the computer—mind drifting a little.
To be fair…
Japanese Valentine's was indeed special.
The girl gives the boy gifts.
Yes, he remembered correctly—the girl, not the boy.
And popular boys would end the day with mountains of chocolate.
Eat enough to get diabetes.
And as long as it wasn't handed over publicly, no rivalries, no love-triangle duels would break out.
Tetsu touched his face, feeling oddly melancholy.
He'd been here half a year.
He'd made a few games, earned some money, met a few JKs.
But what else?
What was he, really?
If he didn't keep working hard on games, he'd eventually be forced to join SEGA and inherit Kobayashi Kentarō's department.
Yuji was equally dejected.
"I didn't even attend school in Tokyo. I came here knowing no one… looks like I won't receive any chocolate this year."
Masuko tried to console him.
"It's fine. At least I did study in Tokyo. Maybe… possibly… someone might give me chocolate. If I get any, I'll give you a few pieces!"
Kitagawa added sincerely,
"If you really want chocolate, I can make some at home. It'll just be giri-choco."
Yuji and Masuko exchanged a look—shivered in unison.
No thanks! They weren't that desperate.
Then they glanced at Tetsu Kobayashi, who was supposedly working but had clearly been spacing out for quite a while.
The same thought bloomed in all three minds:
This guy… is probably going to get more than one bag of chocolate, right?
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