The following contains spoilers for Episode 22 of Komi Can't Communicate, "It's Just Valentine's Day," now streaming on Netflix.
Romance is a major theme in Komi Can't Communicate Season 2, with the majority of that energy centering around the budding romance between Shoko Komi and Hitohito Tadano. Another major recurring theme in Season 2 is holidays. The first holiday that was explored in Season 2 was Christmas, which also happens to be Komi's birthday. Komi later visited her extended family for New Year's Eve and played a game of Hanafuda against her paternal grandmother and cousin Akira. She also visited the shrine with her friends on New Year's Day to wish for better luck in the new year.
Of course, Komi and Tadano's romantic feelings for each other were explored in those holiday episodes. Tadano summoned the courage to ask Komi out on a date during the winter holidays, only to chicken out at the last minute. Komi also wished for her relationship with Tadano to progress in the new year but didn't confess this to Tadano. Now that Komi Can't Communicate Season 2 has streamed its Valentine's Day episode, the romantic tension between Komi and Tadano is exceptionally high. However, they're not the only ones having romantic tension on Valentine's Day; quite a few of their classmates are as well.
Like in most parts of the world that celebrate Valentine's Day, exchanging chocolates is a tradition in Japan. Friends give each other chocolates and romantic couples go on dates in addition to giving chocolate. In Episode 22 of Komi Can't Communicate, each of Komi's classmates buy or make chocolate to give to the classmates they're romantically interested in. One of the first classmates who exchanges chocolate with Komi is Najimi Osana, who in turn receives a bag of chocolates from Komi. Although Najimi has not expressed any serious romantic interest in Komi throughout the series, they have, on occasion, teased Komi about the possibility.
Another classmate who doesn't hesitate to exchange chocolate with Komi is Ren Yamai, who went the extra mile of making chocolate in the shapes of her own face. Since Yamai has been lusting after Komi for most of Season 2, the Yamai-shaped chocolates are her way of getting Komi to perform sexual acts on her without performing those acts on her directly. Yamai's comments of wanting Komi to "lick [her], suck [her] and eat [her]" are not subtle. When Yamai receives chocolates from Komi in return, she passes out from excitement.
The other classmate who's been crushing on Komi is Omoharu Nakanaka, who doesn't normally like Valentine's Day. In fact, while her classmates are exchanging gifts with one another, she comments to herself about how Valentine's Day is a made-up holiday to help corporations make profits. While Nakanaka is not wrong in her reasoning, her attitude toward Valentine's Day comes from a place of always being excluded by her classmates. It is for this reason that her eyes suddenly brighten when Komi gives her a bag of homemade chocolates, and for once, feels valued by someone.
Coincidentally, three other students in the class who are routinely ignored are Shigeo Chiarai, Mono Shinobino and Taisei Sonoda. Unlike Nakanaka, however, neither boy received chocolates from any of their respective crushes, although they nonetheless imagined scenarios in which they did. Chiarai imagined Yamai giving him chocolates with the expectation that he'll pay her back on White Day a month later. Shinobino imagines receiving countryside sweets from Nokoko Inaka, and Sonoda similarly imagines Nakanaka giving him bullet-shaped chocolates like the otaku they both are. These imagined scenarios make the boys feel happy in place of their reality.
The two students in the class who buy chocolates for their crushes but require a push from their friends to give them out are Makoto Katai and Mikuni Kato. For most of Season 2, Katai has been crushing on Tadano for the same reason Komi has been crushing on him: Tadano understands him in a way no one else does. As such, it's far from surprising that Katai buys Tadano chocolates for Valentine's Day. It's not until Komi gives Katai some chocolates of her own, however, that the latter summons the courage to give his to Tadano.
Serendipitously, Mikuni wants to give Katai the Valentine's Day chocolates she bought for him. Despite having disclosed her crush on Katai during the school trip, she still finds him intimidating and unapproachable. It takes a push from her friend Ayami Sasaki for her to actually give Katai the sweets. While much of Komi Can't Communicate has primarily focused on the growing romance between Komi and Tadano, the Valentine's Day episode confirms that it's not just the two leads harboring romantic feelings for one another -- as it turns out, many of their classmates are experiencing some long-term crushes of their own.