Chapter 159

But if it's you, there shouldn't be any problem, right?

"So, what exactly is it?"

After finding a seat in the cafeteria, Hachiman Kairin asked the person opposite her.

"If possible, please tell me quickly, because I also need to go buy food."

Sakurakoji Talent slowly unwrapped the cloth covering his lunchbox, took out the food container, glanced at her, and said in surprise, "Is that so? But I remember Hachiman had energy bars and Drinks for lunch, didn't he?"

"The cafeteria doesn't have energy bars, so I don't think I need to queue for Drinks, right? Or do they sometimes serve other things?"

"..." Hachiman Kairin's light green eyes widened slightly. She hadn't expected that Kairin would know her so well, even though she hadn't been to school for very long.

How did you know?

"I saw you by chance at lunchtime last time, and I figured you were either trying to save money or to maintain your figure." He looked her up and down for a moment. "Actually, I think you already have a pretty good figure, Hachiman. You don't need to be so strict with yourself."

"Calories are something that will somehow end up all over your body without you even realizing it, so you can't be careless about it." Hachiman Kairin leaned back in her chair to relax.

"If you underestimate them, you'll soon face the consequences."

Whenever this topic came up, she thought of her mother's figure and frowned slightly in pain.

She absolutely doesn't want to become like that! She absolutely refuses to!

"Hmm, that makes sense, but I think resorting to eating those kinds of things is a bit too extreme; it's not good for your health either." He picked up his lunchbox and stood up. "Excuse me, could you wait a moment? I'll go heat this up."

"I see."

Sorry, I'll be right back.

He walked towards the microwave oven he had used before, and a few minutes later, he returned.

"Alright, let's eat," he invited with a beaming smile.

"Huh? But I haven't gone to buy it yet..." Hachiman Kairin asked in surprise.

"What are you talking about? Just eat what I have. After all, I'm the one who invited you out, I can't just leave you without even preparing a meal, can I?" He had a look on his face as if to say, 'What is this kid talking about?'

"I don't think a normal person would think like that... As expected, Ogura-kun, you're quite special." She carefully observed the popular figure in front of her who had caused a sensation since the start of the semester, and her feelings towards him changed somewhat.

His recent absences from class have once again sparked considerable discussion among first-graders.

The classmates who originally wanted to get closer to her suddenly couldn't even find her.

Surprisingly, the teachers had no objections whatsoever, and even seemed somewhat evasive when some students asked them about it.

Instead, it was Miyako Shizuka who was terribly wronged by him. Because they couldn't find him, and Miyako Shizuka was the person closest to him, a group of people ganged up on Miyako Shizuka a few days ago, which made her feel a little sorry for him.

Why would such a mysterious person seek me out alone? It doesn't seem like they want to bully me.

Could it be that after today, she would end up like her classmate, Misaki? She couldn't help but shudder.

"Hmm... I won't deny it, but let's eat first." He was never stingy with admitting this.

Someone who is clearly special but insists on calling themselves a normal, ordinary person is either pretending or stupid—they don't want to be either.

"No need, you can eat it yourself. I don't want to disrupt my daily energy balance." Hachiman Kairin shook her head with her eyes slightly closed.

"It's alright, it's alright. It's precisely because of this that I specially prepared special ingredients today! Ta-da!" He lifted the lid of the box, and steam and emerald green hues rushed into her eyes.

"This is?"

"Knowing you're controlling your diet, I specially prepared a weight-loss nutritious meal today! It's mostly fruit and vegetable salad, with lean, high-protein fish and shrimp for the meat, quinoa and purple sweet potato for the carbohydrates, and soy milk for the soup. How does it look? Not bad, right?"

Sakurakoji Talent stood confidently with his hands on his hips, showing off the fruits of his labor. It wasn't complicated; he had nothing else to do that morning, so he prepared it himself.

"..." Hachiman Kairin was speechless for a moment, staring blankly at the layers of food in the boxes, not knowing what to say.

How long has it been since she's lived alone since leaving home? It's been so long since she's had such a balanced and satisfying lunch.

She looked up at the beautiful white-haired woman whose smug expression was so captivating, and her newly formed understanding was shattered once again.

"Did Ogura-kun make all of this?" After a long silence, she finally uttered this question.

"Yeah, nothing's wrong this morning. I just tried a little harder."

"That's amazing..." she said, genuinely admiring him.

She couldn't possibly prepare such a meal for herself.

To put it nicely, she's a minimalist; to put it bluntly, she's terrible at housework (it's okay, most high school students are like that anyway).

"Here you go, these are the cutlery I just got."

"Thanks."

"So--"

"I'm starting." X 2

The two began to eat, one with elegant and natural manners, the other with decisive and efficient movements, each with their own style.

After finishing most of the food on the first floor, Sakurakoji Talent asked softly, "How did it taste?"

"..." Hachiman Kairin chewed and swallowed the crisp, juicy vegetables in her mouth, opened her eyes, and said with a wistful expression, "It was delicious."

"Really? But why that expression?"

"Because it made me realize what kind of junk food I used to eat for weight loss. I wish I had Ogura-kun's cooking skills." She stared at her Hands with a complicated expression.

"For a while now, I'll probably be thinking about this taste every time I eat, and just thinking about it makes me feel miserable..."

"Is it really that exaggerated...? I feel a bit sorry about that."

"No, it's nothing, it should be fine in a while." Hachiman Kairin looked up hesitantly and asked, "But I didn't expect Ogura-kun to have such a level of cooking skills. Have I been cooking for a long time?"

"It's been a long time, actually. It started when I was in elementary school, but I didn't do it that often before. It's only recently started to happen more often."

"Oh, I see. No wonder..." She seemed to have found the reason and nodded in understanding.

"No, you don't understand at all," Sakurakoji Talent, holding chopsticks in his mouth and looking at her with complicated eyes.

Without asking, he could guess what she was thinking.

"Your classmates are all speculating whether you're some rich girl from somewhere. Do rich girls cook for themselves?" Hachiman Kairin was puzzled by this.

"I don't usually do this unless it's absolutely necessary, but I wanted to treat Hachiman to dinner today, so I'm showing off a bit after all this time. Are you satisfied?"

"Hi, thank you so much for inviting me... But you didn't deny that you're a rich girl, did you?" She seized on the flaw in his words.

"Because I didn't intend to hide it, especially from Hachiman. Oh, right, Shizuka knows too."

"Shizuka- san too?" Hachiman Kairin exclaimed in shock. "She hasn't mentioned this to anyone around her, although many people have asked."

"Because Shizuka is my friend, it's normal to keep a friend's secret."

"Is this a secret that needs to be kept? Should I not tell anyone in the future?"

"I'll try my best. It's not a big secret, but I don't want the rumors to get too exaggerated yet."

"I see."

She nodded to indicate that she understood, and then something else occurred to her:

"So, Ogura-kun also considers me a friend?" She tilted her head, as if she understood what he meant.

"Of course, didn't I say that on the day of the opening ceremony?"

"Ah, you mean during the speech that day—"

"That's right, now you understand that I'm telling the truth, right?" The curve of his face softened slightly, then he shrugged. "Well, although Classmate Shiina still has some prejudice against me, I believe that sooner or later I will be able to get closer to her."

"Hmm..." Hachiman Kairin seemed to be deep in thought, and automatically scooped half a bowl of soy milk with a soup spoon.

The advantage of sitting in the back row is that you can clearly see what happens in the front row every day. She also saw some of the love-hate relationship between him and Shiina Rikki.

"I think it's difficult, but if it's Ogura-kun, she should be able to do it."

"Thank you for believing me, but Classmate Shiina's personality is a bit difficult to deal with. I think it will take some time; it probably won't be possible in a few days."

"No... I never thought you could ease the tension between you and her in just a few days." Hachiman Kairin's eyelids twitched, her handsome face filled with exasperation.

She meant that it would be good if you could make any progress in six months, how could you expect to solve it in just a few days?

"Speaking of the young lady... Hachiman's family must be quite wealthy, right?"

Hachiman Kairin blinked in surprise, a strange light flashing in her eyes. "Why do you say that? I don't think I'm anything strange usually, am I?"

"Hmm... a feeling? You give me that feeling." He made up a story off the cuff.

He couldn't say that, of course, because I know you'll be snapping up a whole bunch of luxury stores in one go in the Mirai.

Volume 1: The Daily Life of Attracting Bees and Butterflies: Chapter 204 The Two Who Skipped Class

"That's a really unreasonable answer."

"Did I guess wrong?"

"No, if we only look at the conclusion, it shouldn't be considered wrong." Hachiman Kairin took a sip of the slightly sweet, clear, milky-white liquid and responded calmly.

"It seems you didn't intend to hide anything from me. I'm glad, thank you." He returned a sincere, gentle smile, which brightened the area around the square table slightly.

"Since Ogura-kun has opened up to me, I can't be secretive either." Hachiman Kairin chuckled and answered frankly, "I wouldn't call myself a rich lady, but I'm certainly quite well-off."

"But it's incredible, I think she's usually very ordinary. Her clothes are Hanasakigawa's school uniform, and Ogura-kun hasn't even been to school for many days. How did she figure that out?"

"Charm? Demeanor? I can't really tell, it's more like suspicion."

"That's really unreasonable..."

"What does it matter? Hachiman and a lot of other people can tell I'm a rich girl, can't they?"

"That's because you didn't try to hide it, and besides, your appearance is just too striking."

"Really? But Hachiman is clearly a beauty too, so it's not surprising that I have the same guess, is it?"

"... I feel so shy to be praised like that by you." She scratched her face lightly with her fingers, glancing away, her fair face slightly flushed.

"What does it matter? It's the truth anyway."

"Alright, that's enough!"

"Hachiman, your face seems much redder. Did you eat too much and get too hot?"

Yes, that's it.

"Hey~ I see."

Hachiman Kairin frowned and glared at him. "Now I know why Classmate Shiina hates you so much!"

"Ma Ji? If possible, please tell me the reason."

"It's all because of your terrible personality, Ogura-kun!"

"Haha, sorry, I was wrong. It's just that it's rare to see Hachiman with any other expression on her face." For the sake of their future friendship, he stopped teasing her.

"Ha~" Hachiman Kairin sighed helplessly, finished the last bit of food in her bowl, put down her chopsticks, and said, "I'm full, thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

Compared to her smaller appetite, Sakurakoji Talent was still hungry and had spent quite a bit of time talking.

He sped up a bit and finished his meal quickly, then began clearing the table.

"Now you can tell me about why you called me here." Even after enjoying the delicious food, Hachiman Kairin hadn't forgotten that he had another purpose in calling her here.

"Okay, just a moment."

He folded the lunchbox, wrapped it in a tablecloth, then took the bowls and chopsticks the two had borrowed to the recycling area, and then returned.

"Okay, here you go." He picked up the gift bag that had been placed at his feet from the beginning and handed it over.

"What is this?" She took it, bewildered and completely clueless.

However, she was quite familiar with its packaging—it was a similar bag she usually used when buying clothes.

So, it contains clothes?

"This is a birthday present for you. Today is your birthday Hachiman, right?" His expression turned serious.

"Huh!" Hachiman Kairin exclaimed in surprise, staring at him intently. "How did you know?"

"Last time I went to the teacher's office, there was a list of class members' information on the desk, and I glanced at it by Kokoro." He stuck out his tongue and shrank back slightly, as if reflecting on his mistake.