Wait, wouldn’t most guys normally give something back if they received Valentine’s chocolate from the girl in the question below?? It’s hardly surprising that she’d get dropped for not giving anything in return, so I feel bad for the papa-katsu girl being told she’s “a total turnoff.” In this kind of relationship, surely only a tiny minority of women don’t expect anything in return, and most of them give gifts with White Day in mind, right?

This is going to be long—sorry. I might be in the minority, but I’ve never expected anything in return for gifts I give my papas. In fact, I’ve only received White Day gifts a handful of times. To begin with, I’m not really fond of giving or receiving presents. I’m even a little uncomfortable with exchanging gifts with my female friends. And with papas, even more so… I never know what they’re thinking. I’ll ask what they genuinely want and give them a birthday present, but generally speaking, I’m not good at giving gifts, and I’m not good at receiving them either. Of course, when I really want to give something, I do, and if someone gives me a gift, I’m genuinely happy. But when it comes to special occasions, part of me feels oddly detached from it all… Even if I were given a luxury-brand watch, I’d be happier that they took the time to think about what would suit me than about the watch itself. I’d be happy to have the watch, sure, but I’d also think, “It’s not like I really needed it…” So I don’t think the price tag itself makes me happy. When I told a friend this, she made a pointed comment: “You’re so used to having expensive things bought for you that you’ve become numb to it!” But I couldn’t help thinking that, with one papa, the present I received last year cost several hundred thousand yen more than the one I received the year before, yet I was happier with the earlier one because he had put more thought into the presentation and all the little details… It might be a hassle, so I’ll never tell my papas I feel this way. This year, I think I’ll honestly tell them I don’t want anything for my birthday.

I’ll give it to you even if I’m not expecting anything in return.

If I receive one, I’ll give something back. Since I assume it’s given with the expectation of getting something in return, I don’t need anything for Valentine’s Day.

You naturally have expectations when you give someone Valentine’s chocolate because you genuinely want to, and if you receive something, you’d normally give something back, right… I guess what feels obvious to me isn’t necessarily obvious to everyone else… Still, the woman may have thought, “Well, the lack of a return gift gave me a good reason to break things off!”