Chapter 3: Lunch time

The long-awaited lunch break.

As soon as the bell rang, the sound of chairs scraping could be heard from all over.

“Hey, let’s go to the snack bar. If we don’t go quickly, all the good stuff will probably be gone.”

“Okay, I’m coming right away.”

Some immediately rushed to the snack bar.

“Wow. Did you make this? It looks super delicious?”

“Hehe. This much is just fundamental.”

Others opened their packed lunches, facing their friends.

*Grrrrowl~*

“Ugh, I’m so hungry.”

Unlike them, I leaned back in my chair, looking out the window.

My family—no, Katsuragi Miho-sensei’s family—consists of three people: Sensei, my younger sister, and me.

Miho-sensei seems to eat well on her own, so she’s excluded.

My younger sister and I usually packed our lunches from home.

To avoid burdening one person, we took turns each day.

But what was this?

My younger sister, still a middle schooler, had a vacation period two weeks longer than mine.

Isn’t vacation meant for sleeping in and living a lazy life?

It was impossible to ask my sister, who was on vacation, to pack a lunch.

So, for a week, I somehow diligently packed my lunch, but today I was just too lazy and skipped it.

‘Snack bar food isn’t bad either.’

Even though it’s an island, it’s not that far from the mainland.

Although small, there’s a regular ferry every 30 minutes, and the basic infrastructure is well-established.

It’s like a rural area that has everything it needs.

Therefore, the snack bar’s food items were diverse.

In fact, there were even items only found on this rural island.

Like umeboshi (pickled plum) rice balls.

‘Is it time?’

I stretched and got up from my seat.

Looking around, I saw about two or three groups chatting and eating.

The rest seemed to have gone to the courtyard or club rooms.

The current time was 12:40 PM.

It had been 10 minutes since lunch break started.

I slowly headed to the snack bar.

I hated crowded places.

That was precisely why I bothered to pack a lunch, despite being lazy about everything.

And since I ate just about anything, I didn’t particularly intend to buy popular items.

“Oh dear, student. Why are you so late? All the popular items are already gone, is that okay?”

As I entered the snack bar, the auntie spoke to me in a friendly tone.

“Ah, it’s fine. Once it’s in my stomach, it’s all the same, really.”

“Hahaha, really? Foods with short shelf lives mean we lose money if we can’t sell them~ There’s nothing harder than getting the exact right quantity, you know~”

“I agree. By the way, it must be tough for you every time, dealing with so many students every single day. Ah, I’ll pay for this.”

I placed two suitable breads and a barley tea on the counter.

The snack bar auntie was calculating the items with her hands, but words flowed freely from her mouth.

“Oh, don’t even get me started~ They’re so full of vigor sometimes they’re uncontrollable. Well, I make a living thanks to students like them~ Ah, that’ll be 600 yen total~”

“They’re still growing, you know. Their appetites are probably overflowing, not just vigorous. Here’s 600 yen.”

I said my final goodbyes to the snack bar auntie.

“Well then, I’ll be going. Sell a lot~”

“Alright, student. See you next time~”

After leaving the snack bar, I wandered around the school grounds.

Eating in the classroom meant I didn’t need to move again and it was convenient for preparing for the next class.

However, when eating alone, the classroom transformed into an uncomfortable place.

Even if one thought they didn’t care at all, they would naturally feel gazes of pity.

If it were a corner seat like my current one, maybe, but what if it were a middle seat? Just imagining it was horrifying.

Then, sometimes, a kind classmate would offer, ‘Hey, want to eat with us?’, which made things extremely awkward.

Refusing was awkward, and accepting was also awkward.

Eating face-to-face with someone I’d never even spoken to—it would be fine if conversation flowed naturally, but the probability of that was slim.

Usually, in an awkward atmosphere, I’d eat without even knowing if the food was going into my nose or mouth.

This would be a great torment not only for me but also for the other person.

In that sense, if you don’t have friends to eat with among your classmates, it’s better to avoid eating in the classroom.

Of course, this was a highly subjective thought.

Thinking so, I searched for a suitable spot.

As expected, the sacred places for loners were already taken.

This was the second reason I packed my lunch.

If I went to the snack bar late because I disliked crowded places, I’d lose my lunch spot.

It was a very complex reason.

Left with no choice, I waited for a bit and then snagged a spot.

The outdoor staircase of the old school building.

It had the disadvantage of not being usable when it rained due to no cover, but the advantage of having a water fountain right next to it on the first floor.

If I finished my barley tea and refilled my bottle with water there, it would be hitting two birds with one stone.

‘Hmm, just a common sausage bun taste.’

I tore into the bread and satisfied my hunger.

I missed my sister’s packed lunch.

After finishing the bread and refilling my plastic bottle with water, there wasn’t much time left.

No time to rest, really.

I resolved to diligently pack my lunch again starting tomorrow.

“Hm?”

Just as I started walking back to the classroom.

A female student was standing with her back against the wall, just before a curve in the path.

I generally didn’t pay much attention to others.

So, more often than not, I didn’t even know who the other person was.

Now that I was a second-year student, I even used polite language to first-years.

I could barely remember the faces of my own classmates, and even that was difficult since it was the start of a new semester.

What did that mean?

The female student with blonde hair and blue eyes I was seeing now.

Objectively, her beautiful appearance meant she could easily be called a beauty, but it also meant I didn’t even know that student’s name.

And what did that mean?

It meant I could just walk past her naturally.

‘She’s probably secretly smoking or something.’

‘I heard pretty girls are more likely to do that.’

‘Or is she going to extort money from me, no way?’

With a slight sense of tension, I walked past her—

“Wait a moment.”

*Thump.*

My arm was grabbed.

‘W-was it real?’

I didn’t think for a second that such a beautiful female student would be interested in me.

I immediately thought about my wallet situation.

‘How much money did I have…?’

Just then, voices came from beyond the curve.

–Nanase-san, would you perhaps consider going out with me?

It wasn’t “no way,” but rather a confession scene I hadn’t thought of at all.

I understood why she grabbed me.

I followed her and stood with my back against the wall.

“Sorry. It’s because of the situation.”

“It’s fine. That makes sense.”

There are types of social outcasts.

The absolute worst case is the ‘outcast who has no sense of the atmosphere.’

It’s like a kind classmate invites them to karaoke, and they excitedly sing otaku anime songs.

Fortunately, I was an outcast with some sense.

Meaning, I wasn’t a crazy person who would calmly walk through an obvious confession scene.

Of course, my true feelings were a bit different.

A slight urge to walk between them, thinking ‘Normies, explode!’ bubbled up.

“Ahem, ahem.”

I crossed my arms and waited for the situation to end.

One might be curious, but she, too, surprisingly wasn’t peeking out.

Instead, she was staring intently at my face.

‘As expected, that scene was just an excuse, and she’s trying to extort money, isn’t she?’

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why are you using polite language?”

“Huh?”

“We’re in the same class, aren’t we?”

‘We were in the same class?’

“Hoshino Ryo. Right?”

Since she knew my name, it seemed to be true.

“…Was that so. My apologies for not recognizing you. I thought you were a third-year senior.”

“It’s fine. It’s still the new semester.”

A dazzling scent wafted past my nose from beside me.

Startled, I took a step back.

“More importantly, do you know why I’m doing this?”

“Aren’t you waiting for that situation to end?”

“Half right, half wrong.”

“Hm?”

“The person being confessed to is my friend.”

“Ah~”

‘So that’s why she stopped me.’

‘For her friend.’

“Just to be clear, I’m not stalking my friend and eavesdropping. We were walking together after lunch, and she was called away separately.”

“Is that so.”

‘Not even when she was alone, but called her away separately while they were walking together?’

‘That guy is really something.’

“You don’t seem very curious?”

“Well, curiosity and interest are separate. I am curious, but it’s useless information for a complete stranger to hear, isn’t it?”

“Really? Isn’t it perfect information for spreading rumors?”

“I hate getting enjoyment from slandering others. Besides, I don’t believe rumors to begin with.”

I didn’t know why this conversation was happening, but there was something I was curious about.

“More importantly, why are you telling me all this? If you stayed silent, I would have just passed by.”

“I stopped you without permission, didn’t I? Isn’t it natural to explain why?”

“Uh… that’s true, but.”

‘Normally, if you ask in a situation like this, wouldn’t most people say, ‘Huh? Why do you want to know that?’’

“Hm? What are you thinking?”

‘…I mistook you for a delinquent. My apologies.’

“Nothing. But that’s taking quite a while.”

Feeling a bit stung, I changed the subject.

“Indeed.”

Silence fell for a moment, and then voices came from beyond the corner.

–I’m sorry, Senpai. I’ll have to decline.

–Huh, why? It wouldn’t be bad to just try dating once, would it?

I muttered without realizing it.

“Persistent, isn’t he.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

She seemed to mumble something, but I couldn’t hear it.

Looking beside me, she was staring intently at me.

‘Now what?’

“Uh… sorry. I just blurted it out.”

“No, not at all? I was thinking the same thing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. How can someone confess to a person they don’t even know well?”

“Hmm. I don’t know much, but couldn’t they know each other?”

“I don’t think so. That guy is a third-year senpai, and they had no contact whatsoever to begin with.”

“Then, well, I guess so.”

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“As a fellow guy, about that situation.”