Summary
It's Valentines Day and two best friends, Mari and Hina are exchanging handmade chocolate. Mari compliments the effort Hina put into hers and mentions how she added strawberry to her own because of how much Hina likes pink. They admire their work before they hand over some more chocolate to classmates, but she is left in a grumpy mood when they begin to compare to the two girls, saying that unlike Hina, Mari is very kind and smart, talented, and a good cook. They don't understand how they could be friends, but Mari starts to laugh, leaving them confused. She explains that they've been together since first grade so it's funny to think that they could just lose a friendship that strongly stood all these years.
Hina adores Mari and admires her wonderful friend. She is very proud of their friendship, and she hopes Mari feels the same way...
After school Hina hurriedly makes her way for home so that she can get a picture of the chocolate Mari made before she eats it. But she nearly runs into a strange looking older woman with very long, light-colored hair and her face covered by her muffler. Hina is unable to react when the girl holds out a present box to her, then shoves it into Hina's hands before leaving. She observes the strange gift as a few students begin to walk by and she tosses it into the trash before she resumes for home, deciding that it wouldn't be right to accept a gift from a stranger.
The next day Hina tells Mari about how delicious the chocolate was at the shoe lockers. She then grumpily points out that hers was barely acknowledged by her father in comparison but is startled upon seeing the present within her locker. Mari sees it and asks about it but Hina admits that she has no idea where it came from. She suggests she open it and she agrees, but all she finds is some harmless looking chocolate. But in a panic she throws it aside and runs towards class.
There, Mari asks Hina is she is feeling okay and she explains what happened. She had been in a hurry and cut through Aoyama Park when she bumped into the strange woman. She looked suspicious so when she gave her the chocolate she threw it away. Mari then worriedly asks if she looked at the woman when a male classmate -who recognizes the description- addresses her as Chiyoko-san.
Chiyoko-san was just a rumor that some of them heard of. Around this time of the year she goes around delivering handmade chocolate to girls- but only the ones from their school. Hina asks why this is, and he explains that ever since she was little Chiyoko was unable to make friends because of her dark personality and how she kept to herself. She grew up very lonely and now she desperately searches for friends, so she gives out chocolate and she follows the girls who accept it before kidnapping them.
With the other students listening to their classmate tell this story, they begin growing uneasy and one of them brings up that another girl vanished sometime back. They wonder if she is connected, causing Hina further anxiety. She technically didn't accept the chocolate because Chiyoko-san forced it on her and she got rid of it... but she did later open the present the next day when she found it again.
Mari attempts to calm down Hina and assure her that the boys are probably just teasing her. Hina hesitantly agrees, still unsure as their Teacher shows up and class begins. To her horror she finds the re-wrapped gift within her desk compartment and begins to freak out, causing Mari to observe her and everyone else in class to begin worrying again after the boy from earlier claims it's from Chiyoko-san.
During lunch Hina begins to realize that she has suddenly been abandoned by her classmates after the girls she asked to play jump rope with come up with a flimsy excuse to get away from her. Mari approaches her to perk her up, suggesting they just play together and they head outside.
There, she assures Hina that she'll be okay because the chocolate was handed over to the school staff, and they set up a patrol to make sure nothing happens. But Hina begins to worry and asks Mari if she is really okay being with her because of Chiyoko-san, and Mari claims she doesn't care. She couldn't imagine being away from her best friend, words that touch Hina and cause her to start crying. But she stops when they hear a sudden uproar of students and notice them running inside.
After someone mentions what is going on the girls follow after them to find everyone crowding around the Teachers Room, where one of them has just been given chocolate and everyone is visibly shocked since it means Chiyoko-san could have gotten into the school. Everyone begins pointing fingers at Hina, causing her grief until Mari shouts at them to stop. Hina isn't to blame because of Chiyoko-san following her- but before she can say anything else she suddenly grows silent.
Hina expresses confusion by this and notices her classmates beginning to act frightened, and when she turns she is shocked to find Chiyoko-san staring at them from the window!
Chiyoko-san attempts to gesture for Hina to approach her, but she angrily rejects her and tells Mari to get their Teachers. But to her alarm, Mari hesitantly rejects helping her and runs away suddenly. Hina stands in stunned silence as the rest of their classmates run off and their Teachers come into the hall, having heard the commotion. They find nobody there and ask Hina, who can only collapse in despair.
The weather has become gloomy and their is a heavy downpour outside. With school over everyone is preparing to leave in groups and Mari quickly takes off with some other girls, leaving Hina alone as she watches them leave. Her teacher comes by to inform her that her parents will be picking her up and in the mean time she will be safe waiting for them in the staff room. With no other option she agrees and follows after them; until she notices the girls didn't get very far down the hallway and overhears them speaking. The girls are so surprised that Mari would suddenly leave Hina alone like this, and now they pity her for being abandoned by everyone. Indifferently, Mari claims she can't do anything else to help Hina, all they can do is let the adults handle it.
Hurt and feeling betrayed, Hina steps away from the Teacher and trails behind the girls a safe distance. She mentally tells Mari off for being so mean and unfeeling and waits for the girls to leave Mari alone by the stairwell. She angrily repeats those reassuring words Mari told her earlier that day, then proceeds to shove her down the stairs; giving Mari no time to react.
When she hears the Teacher approach, Hina quickly flees from the scene and exits the school. She runs straight for home until she is able to calm down, realizing nobody witnessed what happened. But when she finds nobody at home she panics again when she recalls her mother went to school to pick her up. She locks the front door and removes her damp outfit to put on something dry and impatiently waits for her mom to get home. She reminds herself that she's done nothing wrong and isn't to blame for what happened, and to pass time she checks her phone to see that Mari sent a text during lunch, much to her confusion.
Mari starts by apologizing for what happened and she asks that Hina not become overwhelmed by this. She explains how it had been a plan she and the staff set up to try to catch Chiyoko-san. They wanted to keep Hina isolated and lure her somewhere so that Chiyoko would show up, then they would try to capture her. She knows the plan sounds painful, and she hated having to do it but she asks Hina to follow their plan and stay with an adult at all times. She wants Chiyoko-san to be caught so that they can play together again very soon.
As it begins to don on Hina what happened, she is unable to hold back her tears of remorse realizing what she just did. She stands up in a hurry and decides to find Mari and apologize for not trusting her, feeling extremely guilty. It's then her phone begins to ring but she ignores it, turning before freezing in fear when she sees Chiyoko standing by the door. She sees that the locks of her door are broken and is unable to react fast enough before Chiyoko grabs her and forces her to eat the chocolate she made and she loses consciousness; her last thoughts being of Mari.
A little bit of time has passed and Mari is shown standing by a phone in the hospital trying to get in touch with Hina. She starts to worry over her not answering but a nurse comes by to tell her that she should be resting so that her head injury will heal. Mari agrees and hesitantly hangs up the phone, but as she returns to her bed the nurse holds up a present, saying that a strange woman showed up to deliver it to her...
Tropes:
- Fake Defector: Mari appears to abandon Hina but it turns out that it was only a plan she and the School staff set up to catch Chiyoko. Unfortunately, Hina only learns of this when she gets home, after having pushed Mari down a flight of stairs at school. She barely has enough time to react before realizing Chiyoko found her.
- Here We Go Again!: As Mari rests in the hospital, the nurse brings by a present from a strange woman. That and her reaction implies it's from Chiyoko and she will be her next target.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Hina and Mari have this relationship. Neither of them can stand to be apart from one-another for long periods of time and Hina gets very angry when others question their bond due to how different they are. Hina adores Mari, while Mari assures Hina that she is very precious to her.
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: This is the third chapter taking place on Valentine's Day or a Romantic Holiday. But unlike prior examples this one is based on the relationship between friends.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Growing up, Chiyoko struggled to speak to others and was very shy and lonely. So she began to make chocolate to give out to others, and it is said if someone accepts her chocolate she will begin to follow them.
