The Long-Awaited Heartfelt Bento

The next day, six in the morning.

Kamigami Haruo, who had unknowingly drifted off to sleep last night, sat on his bed looking refreshed.

It was not that he did not want to sleep, but that he had slept enough.

Out of habit, he went into the bathroom to shower, then changed into some light clothes.

He took milk from the refrigerator, put on his shoes at the entrance, opened the door, and headed for the track.

An hour before class was due to begin.

The invigorated Kamigami Haruo appeared in the empty classroom.

Having already finished his workout, he had arrived early.

Looking at the deserted classroom, he went over to the window and leaned against the sill, listening to music through his earphones as he stared blankly at the distant sun to pass the time.

A long while later.

Poke, poke, poke.

Feeling movement at his right shoulder, Kamigami Haruo turned his head in the opposite direction.

Sure enough, he saw a delicate hand raised in the air to his right.

If he had turned toward that right side, his face would have been poked.

"Ah, Kikyo, you pervert!"

Kamigami Haruo's inner actor emerged. Clutching his chest with both hands, he played himself as a young girl being harassed by a thug.

That move successfully left Kushida Kikyo speechless.

A quiet atmosphere descended upon the classroom, which held only a handful of people.

"My acting isn't bad, right? If it is, I'm thinking of debuting as an idol."

"...Haruo-kun, you really are funny. You came unusually early today. I even saw you and Horikita at a café last night."

"Eh, do you really not know that Horikita is..."

"Is what?"

At the cool voice coming from behind him, Kamigami Haruo, who had just been about to complain, suddenly shuddered.

His hands rose unconsciously to cover both sides of his waist.

"She's really cute, and smart too. She's practically the perfect beautiful girl. If I had such a perfect little sister, my life would be complete."

In the end, his waist escaped punishment, but his neck took the hit instead.

Kamigami Haruo had stepped on a landmine after all.

"Good morning, Horikita!"

"It's not early anymore."

After saying that, Horikita Suzune walked over to her seat, took a novel from her bag, and began reading quietly.

Kamigami Haruo and Kushida Kikyo exchanged glances.

Kamigami Haruo shrugged at the situation, then leaned toward Kushida Kikyo and whispered.

"Could she be on her period?"

For a moment, Kushida Kikyo's lips curled upward, but she immediately suppressed it.

At the same time, a compass flew unimpeded through the air and struck Kamigami Haruo squarely on the butt.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch."

"Next time you badmouth someone, remember to avoid doing it in front of the person herself."

"Thanks for the reminder, Horikita. I'll keep it in mind. Kikyo, let's go."

He lightly tugged Kushida Kikyo's sleeve, and the two returned to their respective seats.

"Speaking of which, Kikyo, you're really amazing. It's only been a few days since school started, and you're already so popular with everyone. But doesn't it upset you when you run into classmates with awful personalities? Like Sudo... Yamauchi... and Ike..."

The two kept chatting, using gossip about their classmates as their topic.

Throughout it all, Kushida Kikyo kept speaking well of the people they discussed.

Yet there was still an imperceptible hint of delight in her tone.

It was clear how satisfied and pleased she was inside. Someone understood her so well, and every bad thing he said hit exactly on the points she disliked.

But as more students arrived in the classroom, the two of them went back to doing their own things.

Time flew by, and the teacher left the classroom.

Before they knew it, lunch break had arrived.

Kamigami Haruo declined Kushida Kikyo's perfunctory invitation to lunch.

Naturally, this drew complaints from some of the more blunt students. Even when Kushida Kikyo's group left the classroom,

he vaguely heard words like gloomy guy and murderer.

But after Kushida Kikyo spoke up to defend him a few times, the topic was no longer mentioned outside the classroom.

Unbothered, Kamigami Haruo turned his gaze toward the back-row seats.

But seeing that Horikita Suzune remained unmoved, Kamigami Haruo could only go over and ask for his bento.

"Horikita."

"What is it?"

"Horikita."

"What do you want?"

"Horikita, Horikita Horikita Horikita Horikita Horikita Horikita Horikita..."

Horikita Suzune remained entirely unmoved by the disturbance.

"Please give me the bento you made, Horikita."

Only after someone finally stated his purpose did she look up at him and say,

"In last night's request, I never specified which three days I agreed to. So unfortunately, there is no bento today."

"Damn!... Horikita, you're such a wonderful person."

When he saw Horikita Suzune take three bento boxes from a bag beside her, Kamigami Haruo's fury instantly turned to joy.

However, he seemed to have misunderstood, thinking all three were for him.

"Only these two bento boxes are yours."

"Eh? I thought the bento box you bought yesterday was for me."

At that, Horikita Suzune gave Kamigami Haruo a contemptuous look and said,

"You're far too self-conscious, Kamigami-kun. I have no obligation to cater to your feelings."

As she said this, Horikita Suzune opened her own bento box.

The dishes were unexpectedly plentiful, making the hungry man swallow unconsciously.

"I'll take them, then. Your heartfelt bento, Horikita."

Seeing the other party's gaze grow sharper and sharper, Kamigami Haruo silently took the bento boxes back to his seat and opened them so that he could enjoy his lunch.

Unlike Horikita Suzune's box, these two contained more meat.

Seeing that, he gazed at the sharp-tongued but soft-hearted Horikita Suzune with tender affection.

Horikita Suzune, eating her bento at a distance, suddenly shivered.

At the same time, Ayanokōji bought a bag of bread from the convenience store, intending to eat it in the classroom.

Just as Horikita Suzune had said, he wanted to make friends but did not take action.

Seeing the bento Horikita Suzune was eating, Ayanokōji was a little surprised.

"School has only just started, yet Horikita has already made a bento."

Ayanokōji felt that the dishes in it could already be called luxurious.

"Does the school prohibit students from making their own bento?"

"I was merely impressed by Horikita's practical skills, and curious as well."

"Is that so?"

"Isn't it strange? The cost of ingredients and the time involved should not be negligible, right? The student cafeteria can solve the same problem."

After saying that, Ayanokōji briefly simulated the process in his mind. Feeling how cumbersome it was, he truly could not understand why she did it.

"The supermarket has free ingredients, and the dormitory has basic facilities. All of that avoids wasting points. Besides, compared to the noisy environment of the student cafeteria, the quiet classroom is more suitable for eating."

After a while, some students who liked to eat lunch in the classroom entered after buying their meals from the convenience store.

The students currently had plenty of points, so no one went to the student cafeteria to buy the Mountain Vegetable Set Meal due to lacking points.

Sakura Airi was among them as well. She had bought bread and planned to eat it in the classroom.

After all, with her social anxiety, she could not even enjoy the taste of her lunch in the noisy student cafeteria.

At this time, she was still hunched over as usual.

She ate her bread alone, and no classmates approached her.

"Sakura, did you buy bread again today?"

"Ah, y-yes, Kamigami-kun."

"Sakura, you could try making bento too. The supermarket has free ingredients, and you can save some points as well."

After Kamigami Haruo's suggestion, Sakura Airi also began to consider making her own bento.

After all, the convenience store was crowded during lunch break too, and she wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

"Th-thank you, Kamigami-kun. I'll give it a try..."

Seeing this, Kamigami Haruo nodded and slowly savored his bento.