A Peaceful Daily Life... For Now

Early the next morning, Miyano Makoto crawled out of bed.

The reason wasn't just his own habits, but also a message sent by Ichinose Honami on his phone.

"I'll be coming in at 7 o'clock."

It wasn't a question but a notification, though Miyano Makoto had already prepared himself last night.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face with the facial cleanser Ichinose Honami had bought for him, Miyano Makoto took the leftover vegetables from the fridge and began to prep them.

Calling it "prepping" was a bit of a stretch; it was really just washing them and cutting them into appropriate sizes.

The door opened, and Ichinose Honami's beautiful face came into view.

"Good morning, Honami."

"Good morning, Makoto."

The two greeted each other familiarly, as if this scene had played out a thousand times before.

"Did you already prep the ingredients for me, Makoto? You're a lifesaver!"

Ichinose Honami skillfully heated the pan and added oil, putting the ingredients in one by one, starting with the ones that took the longest to cook...

"Come to think of it, what about the rice?"

A meal without rice simply wouldn't do.

"Oh, that? I already cooked it in my own dorm and brought it over."

Ichinose Honami took two bento boxes out of a plastic bag.

One was pink and one was blue; Miyano Makoto didn't know if they were a couple's set.

"The blue one is yours, Makoto, and the pink one is mine."

"That's certainly Honami's style."

"What do you mean? It's always been like this, hasn't it?"

Ashamed to say, Miyano Makoto had been fed by Ichinose Honami for three whole years; she had been bringing her own lunch since middle school, and had brought his portion along with it.

"I didn't expect it to continue here as well."

Miyano Makoto sighed with emotion; Ichinose Honami was truly a terrifying wom... girl.

"I'm doing this because I want to. Actually, I've always known, you know—all the various things you do for me when I'm not looking."

"Really? How come I didn't know that?"

Miyano Makoto tilted his head in confusion.jpg

"No, no, one-sided giving isn't allowed. Honestly, Makoto, that's the one thing about you that isn't good."

Ichinose Honami puffed out her cheeks, stood on her tiptoes, and lightly tapped the back of Miyano Makoto's head with her knuckles.

"I thought my biggest flaw was that I didn't know how to talk to people."

Miyano Makoto felt something stirring in his heart after being tapped so lightly by Ichinose Honami.

"This school is really great. Even if we aren't in the same class, we can still have so much time together."

"The way you say that makes it sound like we're a couple..."

"Dummy! We aren't in that kind of relationship yet."

"..."

Miyano Makoto rubbed his head; he was completely lost.

Arriving at the classroom for Class 1-B, everyone was already there except for him, and Miyano Makoto took a quick look at the situation.

Some were sitting quietly at their desks reading, while others were enjoying the leisure time before class with their friends.

Hamaguchi Tetsuya was a representative of the former, while Beppu Ryota was a representative of the latter.

"Ahem, well, before class starts, there's something I'd like to tell everyone."

Miyano Makoto cleared his throat so that everyone would focus their attention on him.

"What could you possibly have to say?"

Shiranami Chihiro didn't seem very willing to give Miyano Makoto the time of day.

"Oh, come on, come on, let's just hear what he has to say."

Amikura Mako, sitting next to Shiranami Chihiro, persuaded her.

To this, Miyano Makoto just sighed lightly.

"It's actually nothing important. I just hope that over these three years, everyone can properly uphold the image a student should have. Try to avoid being late, leaving early, or skipping class. That is all."

Miyano Makoto returned to his seat after finishing his sentence.

"What did you mean by what you just said?"

Kanzaki Ryuji, sitting to the right of Miyano Makoto, asked.

"Exactly as it sounds; I want everyone to play the part of a good student properly."

"...That's true. After all, we are still just students, so we naturally have to fulfill our duties as students."

Kanzaki Ryuji approved of Miyano Makoto, feeling that the guy was actually quite decent; beneath his cold exterior lay a passionate heart dedicated to the class.

"Yeah, I'm going to start studying seriously."

Despite saying that, Miyano Makoto was already looking at material from higher grade levels.

"You've already reached this point?"

Kanzaki Ryuji noticed the unusual thickness of the pages on the right side of the book on the neighboring desk and couldn't help but feel surprised.

"Yeah, the earlier material is too boring. It's actually a bit of a torture for me to pay attention in class."

Miyano Makoto said helplessly. Why did he hate classes so much in both his past and present lives? The reasons were actually different, too.

"...It seems you're much better than me."

Kanzaki Ryuji admitted the fact that he was inferior to Miyano Makoto in terms of academic ability.

"The teacher is here."

Miyano Makoto reminded him, having already flipped the pages back to the first one.

Kanzaki Ryuji didn't answer; even if the bell hadn't rung yet, if the teacher was here, it was class time.

The morning passed by quickly.

"Ah, it's finally over~"

Miyano Makoto stretched his arms wide. Having to pretend to listen attentively was truly torturous for him.

Once he survived this first month of school, he would start tucking extracurricular books inside his textbooks to read.

"You worked hard."

Kanzaki Ryuji felt strange saying that; wasn't the context a bit odd?

"Yeah, I really did work hard."

Miyano Makoto nodded, accepting Kanzaki Ryuji's consolation.

"Aren't you going to the cafeteria to eat?"

"I'm going soon. What about you?"

"I have a bento made by someone else, and it even has a heating function~"

Miyano Makoto took out a blue bento box.

"Don't tell me you actually have a girlfriend?"

"I told you, it's just a childhood friend relationship."

Miyano Makoto plugged the bento box in, waiting for it to heat up.

"I'm really envious of you. Well, I'm heading to the cafeteria to eat."

The classroom was soon almost empty.

"Ehehe, did I come at the right time?"

Ichinose Honami walked into the Class B classroom with a light step and placed her pink bento box near the blue one to heat up.

"I didn't expect there to be no one else in the classroom."

Miyano Makoto retorted. Why didn't anyone else bring a bento? Wouldn't it be weird for him to eat his bento alone in the classroom from now on?

"It might be because school just started, and everyone wants to taste the food in the cafeteria."

Ichinose Honami provided a reasonable explanation.

"Speaking of which, how is Kamuro doing?"

"Why are you so concerned about her?"

"Just asking..."

Ichinose Honami looked suspiciously into Miyano Makoto's eyes and found no signs that he was lying.

"As for her... it might be because of her family, but her personality is a bit strange. Still, I'll make sure to get along well with her!"

"It might be that she's under a lot of pressure; it needs to be properly relieved."

Miyano Makoto felt that kleptomania wasn't that easy to cure.