I'm the Male Lead! I Have a Halo

The sudden appearance of Nishida Yuki surprised everyone.

The person they had just been discussing had suddenly appeared, so of course they were all startled.

Everyone looked as though they had been caught doing something shameful. Even Ayano's combat power had dropped by ninety percent.

"Hello, I'm Nishida Yuki, the one who made Akimoto-kun angry and forced him to join the Student Council."

Without the slightest awkwardness, Nishida Yuki naturally sat down on Akimoto Yoichi's other side, placing herself in the same row as Akimoto Yoichi and Suzuran Ayano.

Maintaining her usual polite, gentle Young Lady demeanor, Nishida Yuki solemnly greeted Kuroo Maya.

"Ah—oh? H-hello, I'm Kuroo Maya. Nice to meet you," Kuroo Maya replied somewhat flusteredly.

"Are you Akimoto-kun's friend? Or Midori-kun's?" Nishida Yuki sized up the twin-tailed girl before her.

"Hey, are you looking for trouble, Nishida?"

Suzuran Ayano cut off Nishida Yuki and Kuroo Maya's conversation, glaring angrily at the Young Lady before her.

"My, my, my. So you're Suzuran's friend. How rude of me. But you don't need to worry—I won't steal your friend away."

Nishida Yuki said with a light laugh.

But her words had absolutely no credibility. Suzuran Ayano was so angry she wanted to snap the chopsticks in her hand.

Leaving Fukayama Midori aside, hadn't Nishida Yuki already threatened Akimoto Yoichi into joining her Student Council? How could she claim she had not stolen her friend?

"Oh, Akimoto-kun is an exception."

"I've met many people, but I've never met anyone as special as Akimoto-kun."

"So I believe Akimoto-kun must have some kind of potential. He'll definitely play an important role in my Student Council."

Nishida Yuki enjoyed the look of helpless fury on Suzuran Ayano's face. It satisfied her greatly.

The atmosphere became awkward as well.

Clearly, Nishida Yuki had not come here to eat. She had neither a lunchbox nor bread in hand; she was most likely here to cause trouble.

"W-well, Nishida, you weren't here this morning. Did something happen?" Fukayama Midori tried to ease the situation.

"Nothing happened. I simply went home," Nishida Yuki answered as though it were only natural.

"O-oh, I see." Fukayama Midori had no idea how to respond. "Then, Nishida, have you eaten lunch?"

For an otaku, Fukayama Midori was really doing his best.

"I have," Nishida Yuki replied with her still flawless smile.

Ask one question, get one answer.

The atmosphere did not improve. Instead, Nishida Yuki's replies only made it stranger.

But someone was more direct.

"I'm full. I'm heading back to the classroom first."

After finishing his milk, Akimoto Yoichi got up from his seat.

"Akimoto-kun, wait, I'm going back to the classroom too." Suzuran Ayano, who had wanted to leave for a while, hurriedly echoed him when she saw him getting up.

She had not even finished her lunch, but she could not worry about that now.

Looking at Nishida Yuki's face made Suzuran Ayano lose her appetite.

"Ah! W-wait, Ayano-chan! I'm—I'm almost done too!" Kuroo Maya stuffed a Rice Ball into her mouth.

Fukayama Midori wanted to say something, but after glancing at Nishida Yuki across from him, he hesitated and stayed put.

Akimoto Yoichi stopped and looked at them. "Didn't you two not finish? Aren't you going to eat your lunches?"

Seeing Suzuran Ayano and Kuroo Maya preparing to pack up their lunchboxes made Akimoto Yoichi's not-quite-full stomach feel even hungrier.

"Yeah. I don't have much of an appetite today."

Suzuran Ayano said pointedly.

"I-I'm dieting lately too." There were still grains of rice at the corner of Kuroo Maya's mouth. At barely over one and a half meters tall, she was still growing.

"If you're not going to eat, give it to me. I'm not full." Akimoto Yoichi held out his hand to the two of them.

When Akimoto Yoichi said that, Suzuran Ayano blushed a little.

She had already eaten from her lunchbox. Giving Akimoto Yoichi something she had eaten from felt embarrassing.

Kuroo Maya, on the other hand, did not think that much about it and had already handed her lunchbox to Akimoto Yoichi.

"Really? Akimoto-kun is poor after all. You only had a piece of bread and a bottle of milk just now. If you want it, you can have it, as long as you don't mind."

"Thanks, Kuroo." Akimoto Yoichi picked up the remaining Rice Ball from the lunchbox and stuffed it into his mouth.

Watching Akimoto Yoichi wolf down Kuroo Maya's Rice Ball, Suzuran Ayano stopped overthinking it now that Maya had taken the lead.

"Akimoto-kun, you can have my lunch too, if you don't mind that I've already eaten half of it."

"Oh, leave it to me, Suzuran." Taking Suzuran Ayano's lunchbox, Akimoto Yoichi turned the chopsticks around and quickly shoveled down the rest.

After finishing the lunches, Akimoto Yoichi, Suzuran Ayano, and Kuroo Maya headed toward the school building.

They completely ignored Fukayama Midori and Nishida Yuki behind them.

"Kuroo, your Rice Balls really aren't that great. Next time, why not put some meat or mushrooms inside and make them into shumai?"

"Shumai? What's that? Is it good? Can I make it even if I can't cook?"

"Of course. It's very easy. You don't use regular rice, though—you use glutinous rice. Just steam it like regular rice."

"Really? That's great! Tell me how to make it!"

"Sure. I'll send the recipe to your phone email. Oh, I don't know your phone email yet."

"Then I'll tell you now!"

"Suzuran, what's your phone email?"

"Huh? Mine? O-okay, let's add each other."

"Suzuran, your lunch was good too. There just wasn't much of it. Can you get full on that?"

"It's fine. I don't eat much. Honestly, making lunch for just one person feels like a hassle, so I usually use leftovers."

"Hm? Ayano-chan, didn't you often bring lunches to Fukayama-kun in middle school?"

"Hmph, I wasn't making lunches for that guy. I just accidentally made too much, so I shared some with him. Who knew that guy would say people made fun of him because of it and tell me not to bring any more?"

"Uh, did I step on a landmine again? Sorry, Ayano-chan!"

"..."

Watching Akimoto Yoichi, Suzuran Ayano, and Kuroo Maya leave, Nishida Yuki's smile deepened.

Meanwhile, Fukayama Midori merely watched their retreating figures, feeling somewhat bitter inside.

In the past, Akimoto Yoichi's place would have been his at a time like this.

But Nishida Yuki was still beside him.

"W-well, Nishida, what do you like to ea—"

Just as Fukayama Midori tried to find a topic and chat with Nishida Yuki, she rose from her seat.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" Nishida Yuki asked with a smile as she looked at Fukayama Midori, who had stopped midway through his sentence.

The courage he had painstakingly gathered instantly drained away. Fukayama Midori gave an awkward laugh. "Ah, n-no, it's nothing."

"Then I have something to take care of. See you next time, Midori-kun." Nishida Yuki pointed toward several upperclassmen standing at the entrance of the cafeteria shop, looking around.

After greeting Fukayama Midori, she walked toward those upperclassmen.

Watching Nishida Yuki leave with them, Fukayama Midori's reply came belatedly.

"O-oh, s-see you." Looking at the empty seats, Fukayama Midori felt that even the ramen before him no longer smelled appetizing.

When he took another bite, the noodles had already gone soggy.

At that moment, someone heavily slapped Fukayama Midori on the back.

Before he could turn around, he heard an exaggerated burst of laughter from behind him.

"Yo, isn't this Otaku-kun? Eating alone? Whoa, how pathetic. When I saw your back just now, I thought it might be you!"

Nagase Kumari sat down right beside Fukayama Midori, hugging a huge pile of bread.

"N-Nagase? You're eating that much bread?" Fukayama Midori asked as he looked at the enormous pile of bread before the gyaru beside him.

Could it be that the money Nagase Kumari had taken from him really had been spent on bread?

Many of the loaves had discount stickers on them, some looked squashed, and there were even bread crusts among them.

He had thought Nagase Kumari's excuse about borrowing money for food had merely been an excuse.

"Ahahahaha! That's hilarious! Who could eat this much bread in one go? Of course I'm saving some for dinner and tomorrow's breakfast."

"O-oh, right."

"Otaku-kun, want one? Your money bought them anyway."

"N-no, thanks."

Looking at Nagase Kumari beside him, Fukayama Midori's gloom from earlier vanished completely.