The Iron Rose: Volume 1

The next day, Lover’s Day, the sun was pouring down from a clear blue sky. Gudomlay and Tapp came to school with baskets of chocolates and a wry smile on their faces. When Britta met with them she gawked.

“What are all these?” She asked, hurriedly taking some from each to help lighten their load. They made faces of relief as the pain of the baskets digging into their arms was lightened.

“Gudomlay made friends with the stripes.” Tapp eased her other baskets into a more comfortable position now that she had more arm room. Sighing, she flipped her hair back from her face. “They found out some of the girls don’t get chocolates, so they had Gudomlay help them make a bunch.”

“Wow. Really? That’s so kind of them,” Britta said, sounding truly surprised. Then she smiled big, thrust her hand in one of the baskets, and lifted a box out. “That means this is for me?” It didn’t matter where they came from. Britta would eat anything. Even if it was from the stripe store.

Gudomlay laughed. “Yes,” she said with a nod. “Come on. We can deliver them when the exchanges are done and over with so we know who got skipped this year.”

Britta nodded and then hurried off to class. Throughout the day, they each took note of who got chocolate and who didn’t. As usual, Gudomlay was hand delivered all of hers within the first hour. It made her glad she had stashed away the stripe’s candy to be handed out later. It was in Wild Lands, however, that she came to her desk and found an unmarked bag at her seat.

She slowly sat down, wondering at the clear packaging and the blue ribbon tied to keep it sealed. She held them up, considering. She wondered at who they could be from. She almost always got a note or was given the gift by the person who’d prepared it for her. But this was decidedly unmarked. Who didn’t want her to know he got her a gift on such an awkward holiday?

She sat back and glanced at Zhi when he came to sit his three seats away from her.

“Good afternoon, Zhi,” she said, the plastic bag rustling in her hand as she called to him.

He glanced at her and nodded but paused when he saw what she held. “Who are those from?” He wondered aloud without meaning to.

“Hmmm?” She looked back at the bag and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never gotten an unmarked candy before.” She studied it and scrunched her lips to one side. “They’re not from you are they?”

Zhi took out his books and shook his head. “I didn’t give any chocolate this year either.”

“You don’t give chocolates?” She asked, watching him.

“I don’t believe in obligatory gifts, and I hate the idea of giving some to a friend and she get the wrong idea. So I just don’t bother,” he said, adjusting his glasses with a small sigh.

Gudomlay laughed nervously and then slid a box toward him. “You wouldn’t mind accepting any from a friend would you?” She asked.

He looked up at her, surprised.

“I heard you don’t like sweets much. So I sort of made something else, and I don’t know anyone who likes matcha rolls,” she said.

He blinked again and lifted the lid off the box. Sitting there in a pretty little display was a green tea cake with a red bean filling. It was perfectly rolled so it looked like a swirl of green and white from the side. He looked back at her. “How did you know I--”

“I asked around. I figured you ought to get something you like.”

“I didn’t get you anything...” He said, now feeling guilty that he hadn’t tried harder at the store. He’d been scared off by those two classmates and didn’t think to go back.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re not close enough for that to be a concern,” she said. “I have more than I can eat anyway,” she added with a weak face. The idea of stuffing her face all at once made her sick. But if she was slow about it and shared, she’d probably be okay.

“Did you make anything for your stripe friend?” He asked not looking at her. He was cradling the long box of matcha and staring at it with a sunken face. “The one that came when you fainted in the girl’s changing rooms?” He asked, his voice low.

She winced and shook her head. So he’d heard about that too? No one had told her that he’d helped Albert get her out without too much fuss. “We’re friends. But he’s expecting some from someone else that will make him much happier than anything I make could.”

“Those aren’t from him?” He asked with a nod at the bag.

Gudomlay laughed. “No way. I helped him make his chocolates, and I had to sneak a few. He was so strict about who they went to. But none were for me.”

“Oh...” He didn’t like that, that relieved him.

“I probably ought to do something for him, though. To apologize,” she sighed then.

“Apologize for what?” He asked, still staring at the cake rolls she’d given him. The green sponge looked so soft and delicate. And there were some blackberries and strawberries to compliment the color. It seemed appropriate, though, that whatever she make be pretty.

“For not going to our training meets and slacking off when I do. He’s been tutoring me.”

Zhi blinked and looked around at her. “A stripe is training a star?” He asked.

Gudomlay, realizing she’d let something slip in the ease of talking to him, covered her mouth. Thinking quickly, she shrugged. “He got training before coming to this school. I think he was looking into going into the police or something,” she offered.

“I see.” He bought it...sort of. It rose some questions. But he could tell by looking at her she wasn’t wanting to talk about it. He smiled wryly. Besides that, Professor Kaja had walked in by then, so all chatter came to a halt and class begun.

After the hour was up, Gudomlay went to her next class and waited for the rest to be done. When the day was finally over, Tapp and Britta came to fetch her. Each was already weighed down with the baskets of chocolates they were meant to hand out. They rushed about, finding the girls who they knew hadn’t gotten any. None of them exactly explained who they were from, but some got curious.

“A bunch of guys got together and wanted you to have something special for today,” Gudomlay said to one of the girls that asked. She was standing in the hall with some other girls and looked surprised.

“I don’t understand. Who would do that?” She and her friends stared, wondering at her as they held the small boxes. Three of the five of them hadn’t gotten anything, so now they all had a gift.

Gudomlay pouted. Couldn’t they just trust her? She sighed and pushed back her hair, deciding she better just tell them. “They’re from some of the stripes. I was over there helping one of them get candies ready for a girl, and they heard some of you don’t get any. They wanted to do something for you so I helped them make them.”

“What?” Their surprise and astonishment had her wincing.

“I can’t accept these.” The girl Gudomlay had given a box to shoved them back in her hands so the candies inside rattled in protest.

Gudomlay frowned. “Look, I spent hours with these guys. They were really excited about it, and I spent my day helping them. Just take them. I promise they taste better than the school store’s. We didn’t buy anything from either one,” she said.

“They’re homemade?” One of the girls who had gotten chocolates from the star store asked as she peeked over the first’s shoulder. She was amazed that any guy would go through the trouble of doing something so time-consuming.

Gudomlay laughed. “I took pictures. Want to see?” She asked. They gathered around. And together, they gawked at the guys concentrating so hard on preparing the sweets. They were covered in ingredients, laughing, and having a good time together.

“They’re adorable...” One of the girls said, the words slipping out without her noticing.

The others gasped and looked at her, making her realize what she’d said. Her hand flew over her mouth and she blushed fiercely. But it seemed to Gudomlay that the others agreed.

“Well, I guess... If they went through all the work I shouldn’t refuse,” the girl finally said. She took the box back from Gudomlay, smiling happily now and maybe a bit shy about it.

Gudomlay nodded. And after that, she made sure every girl she gave chocolates to not only knew who made them for her, but saw the pictures of these handsome stripe students having fun making them with her in mind.

By the end of it, the baskets were empty and Gudomlay, Tapp, and Britta sat on the steps tired. Tapp fanned her face and Britta ate her chocolates. Gudomlay grinned, leaning back and looking satisfied.

“Well, it was a lot of work. But I think the stripe’s good intentions paid off,” Gudomlay said. She was staring contently at the sunset falling over the horizon of treetops. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful day.

“Explaining where they came from was a riot, though,” Tapp sighed. She opened her bag and took out a box, peeking inside it and looking nervous. “It makes me wonder what the big deal is. It’s not like we’re all that different. One side just has more money than the other. When did money ever make anyone so happy they couldn’t love other people?” She brushed her thumb over one of the curled ribbons on her box and tightened her lips.

Gudomlay grinned at her, her eyes full of whimsy as she considered her situation. “You better go find him,” she sung while bumping her shoulder.

Tapp blushed, and her shoulders collapsed in. She swallowed then and tilted the box toward Gudomlay. “I was thinking you could give them to him for me,” she said, now bashful.

“No way!” Gudomlay laughed, pushing the box back into her lap. “Just go to the garden where we ambushed him.” She instructed.

“Why would he be there?” Tapp asked, blinking at her with wonder as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Gudomlay got up and shrugged. “I don’t know. Why wouldn’t he be?” She reached down and took Britta’s arm. “Help me get this stuff back to the dorm so I can go visit Kunagi,” she said to her.

“Aw, but there’s so much,” she whined, licking her fingers. The sweetness of the candies was just right for her. And they were actually as good as Gudomlay had promised. She frowned, wishing she had more.

“I’ll let you help me eat some,” she said, loading her arms up.

To that Britta agreed, and she quickly took what Gudomlay couldn’t carry on her own.

Tapp frowned and watched them go together back to the dorms and then looked at the garden ahead of her. She sighed. And taking Gudomlay’s advice, started through the trees to the spot she’d first looked at Albert.