Jealousy

Yun Lan ate quietly; his movements were not fast, but he was focused. He first picked up a piece of chicken, then tasted the tamagoyaki, treating the food from the different boxes with equal attention. This feeling of being meticulously cared for was not unfamiliar to him, yet each time, it caused a certain corner of his heart to soften slightly.

The midday breeze stirred the curtains, bringing with it the faint clamor from the distant playground. Honami Ichinose suddenly stopped her chopsticks, resting her chin in her hands as she watched Yun Lan chewing his rice ball, her gaze somewhat dazed. Her voice was soft, sounding like she was talking to herself, or perhaps asking a gentle question:

"It just feels... as if this isn't the first time we've eaten together like this." She tilted her head, her chestnut hair sliding over her shoulder. "Even though school only started a short while ago, this scene feels so familiar, as if it has happened many times before."

Upon hearing this, the chopsticks in Yun Lan's hand paused in mid-air. He raised his eyes to meet her gaze, which was slightly misty yet filled with a smile. The sunlight outside the window refracted into tiny, glittering specks in her eyes. He swallowed the food in his mouth, not answering immediately, but instead picking up the barley tea beside him to take a sip.

Then, he set the cup down, his lips curling into an arc that was very faint, yet possessed far less calculation or detachment than usual. His voice was equally soft, appearing exceptionally clear in the quiet classroom:

"Perhaps..." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the two bento boxes before falling back onto her face, "it is because we have long since grown accustomed to days like these."

This sentence was spoken plainly, yet it contained multiple layers of meaning. It pointed not only to the time they had spent together since school began, but also to those earlier fragments of daily life deeply rooted in their shared past—perhaps a distant summer afternoon filled with the sound of cicadas, or a simple celebratory meal after overcoming a difficult challenge together. Those memories might have been blurred by time, but the "habits" and "tacit understanding" they formed flowed as naturally as breathing through every detail of their current interactions.

When Honami Ichinose heard this answer, she was slightly stunned at first, but then the smile on her face rippled out like a stone dropped into a lake, becoming brighter and warmer. She did not press him to explain "what kind of days," as if they shared a silent understanding.

"Yes," she picked up her own chopsticks and picked up a cherry tomato, but did not eat it immediately, just looking at him with a smile, "long since accustomed to it."

"Accustomed" to the way you might suddenly fall into deep thought, "accustomed" to preparing meals for you, "accustomed" to this quiet time of sitting side-by-side, where even silence is not awkward.

In the classroom, the sunlight moved quietly, casting the shadows of the two close together on the polished floor. The aroma of the food, the warmth of the sun, the girl's gentle smile, and the boy's rare, relaxed posture wove together a scene that was ordinary for midday yet incredibly precious. To the other scattered students in the classroom, this might just be proof that Yun Lan and Honami Ichinose had a good relationship; but for them, it was a small, "habitual" harbor that had crossed through complex pasts and calculations, belonging solely to each other.

Yun Lan continued to eat his bento; it tasted very good. The calculations in his heart regarding points, the Student Council, and the island exam had not ceased, but at this moment, in this sun-drenched noon, beside this desk with two bento boxes, those cold schemes seemed temporarily separated by the warmth of the food and this familiar "habit."

He might not be able to promise the future, nor could he untangle all his complex emotions, but the fact that he was "accustomed to days with you"—that in itself was already an unquestionable truth that required no calculation.

Honami Ichinose and Yun Lan did not deliberately lower their voices to whisper, which meant that the vast majority of people were forced to take in their conversation.

They wouldn't stay in the classroom for lunch anymore; was this even eating lunch? It was eating dog food.

This was the common thought of most people remaining in the classroom.

"Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I asked about how Master and the others are doing. I'll send a message to check on them later," Yun Lan sighed, looking at the scenery outside the window.

"Then, is Lan-ge's master a man or a woman?" Honami Ichinose asked curiously.

"It's just an old man. Besides me, there are three junior martial sisters under his tutelage."

Honami Ichinose had been biting into her tamagoyaki in small mouthfuls, still wearing the gentle smile from their earlier talk about "habits." However, when Yun Lan's words about "junior martial sisters" fell, her chewing stopped instantly.

Those azure eyes widened slightly, looking straight at Yun Lan, clearly reflecting surprise and a different kind of emotion that flashed by too quickly to be fully hidden. She put down her chopsticks, leaving the tamagoyaki aside.

"Ah?" She let out a short syllable, the tail of the sound rising, carrying clear surprise and... a slight dissatisfaction at having the warm atmosphere interrupted. "Lan-ge... so you have junior martial sisters?" She repeated the phrase, her tone sounding like she was simply confirming, but her slightly puffed-out cheeks and the way she unconsciously pursed her lips betrayed more of her thoughts.

Her gaze swept over Yun Lan's face, trying to find a trace of a joke, but Yun Lan's expression seemed very normal. This made the subtle sense of discomfort in her heart even more pronounced. Senior sister? Junior sister? It sounded like a very close relationship, and they were in the martial arts circle... they must have a lot in common! Although she had a past connection with him, she seemed to know very little about his "other side."

"Why haven't I heard Lan-ge mention them before?" She pressed, her voice still soft but with a more inquisitive edge. She stretched out her finger, unconsciously fiddling with the edge of her bento box, while her gaze remained firmly locked on Yun Lan. "Are they very impressive senior or junior sisters? Did they practice martial arts with Lan-ge? Where are they... now?" The questions came one after another, seemingly just out of curiosity, but the slightly downturned corners of her mouth and her somewhat hurried tone clearly revealed a faint, perhaps even subconscious, sense of jealousy.

It was as if she had thought she was the only one who understood his special side and shared his secret past, only to suddenly discover he had other "like-minded people," perhaps even intimate ones of the opposite sex, and she couldn't help but feel a bit sour. The sunlight shone on her slightly furrowed brow, and the satisfaction of sharing lunch that had just filled her seemed to be diluted by this sudden information.

She looked at Yun Lan, waiting for his answer, her eyes a mixture of curiosity, a trace of unease, and the instinctive vigilance a girl has when another intimate person of the opposite sex appears around someone she cares about. In the afternoon classroom, the aroma of the food seemed to freeze for a moment, leaving only the faint sound of cicadas outside the window and the small ripples quietly spreading in the girl's heart.