Lunch

After the class meeting ended, Mashima Tomoya put away the attendance sheet and walked out of the classroom without looking back.

The moment the door closed, the atmosphere in the classroom loosened at once. Some students stretched, some slumped over their desks, and some began chatting quietly.

Kiryu Yume stood and slipped his phone into his pocket. Morishita Ran, beside him, had already packed her bag and turned to look at him.

"Kiryu Yume, going to the cafeteria for lunch?"

"Yeah."

"Together."

"Sure."

Those two brief lines counted as a formal lunch invitation.

The two headed out. As they passed the front rows, Kiryu Yume caught sight of the silver-haired girl still seated by the window. Her hardcover book lay open before her. She lifted her gaze from its pages, letting it rest on him for a moment.

Kiryu Yume met her eyes for a fraction of a second, then quickened his pace and left the classroom.

The hallway was packed. Students poured out of every classroom and converged on the stairs. Kiryu Yume and Morishita Ran were swept forward by the crowd, nearly separated several times. Morishita Ran did not walk quickly, but her steps were steady. She weaved through the crowd without a hint of panic, like a fish swimming upstream.

The cafeteria had been converted from an indoor gymnasium. Dozens of rows of tables and chairs stretched from the entrance all the way to the serving counters at the far end. Several rows of long white lights hung from the ceiling, making the entire space bright. The air was thick with the mixed aromas of rice, miso soup, and fried food, enough to make anyone hungry just by smelling it.

They each ordered their meals. Kiryu Yume got curry rice, while Morishita Ran ordered the same, along with a serving of fried chicken bites. By the time they carried their trays to find seats, every spot by the windows was taken, and only a few scattered seats remained in the middle.

"Over there." Morishita Ran nodded toward a corner.

They walked over and sat across from each other.

Kiryu Yume picked up his spoon and stirred the curry. Steam rose from it, and its spicy aroma rushed straight up his nose. He took a bite. The rice grains were plump, and the curry sauce was perfectly thick. It was far better than the school cafeteria food from his previous life. The curry there had been watery as soup, and he would have had to dig around forever to find even a single piece of meat.

"Good," he muttered.

Morishita Ran took a bite as well and nodded in agreement. She ate quietly, one bite after another, neither fast nor slow. Her chopsticks moved steadily as she picked up the fried chicken, without letting a drop of oil fall onto her tray.

They ate in silence for several minutes. The surrounding noise filled the quiet between them, somehow making it feel comfortable instead.

Halfway through the meal, Morishita Ran suddenly put down her chopsticks.

"Kiryu Yume."

"Yeah?"

"Who do you think would make a better leader, Katsuragi or Sakayanagi?"

Kiryu Yume nearly choked on his curry. He coughed, then looked up at Morishita Ran.

"...You're asking me?"

"Is there another Kiryu Yume here?"

Kiryu Yume fell silent for two seconds. Katsuragi's calm response when he had been nominated at the class meeting flashed through his mind, along with Sakayanagi's casual "Interesting." Honestly, he did not know either of them very well.

"I'm not that familiar with either of them," he answered honestly. "Besides, it doesn't really matter to me who becomes the leader. I just want to get through the next three years peacefully."

Morishita Ran stared at him for three seconds. Her downcast blue-violet eyes seemed especially calm beneath the cafeteria lights. She was not pressing him for an answer, but neither was she letting him off the hook.

"You're kind of interesting."

"How am I interesting?"

"Everyone else is thinking about which side to stand with." Morishita Ran poked at the rice on her plate with her chopsticks. "You only want peace and quiet."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing." Morishita Ran lowered her head and continued eating. "I want peace and quiet too."

They ate quietly for a while longer.

Kiryu Yume shoveled the last bite of curry into his mouth. Just as he was about to grab a napkin to wipe his mouth, he caught sight of a figure slowly approaching from the other end of the aisle.

Silver-white short hair, a white cane—Sakayanagi Arisu.

She carried a tray holding a small bowl of udon and a cup of black coffee. Her steps were slow but steady. Her cane tapped softly against the cafeteria's tiled floor. Tap, tap.

Morishita Ran looked up and saw her. She put down her chopsticks and straightened slightly.

Sakayanagi stopped at their table. She looked down at Kiryu Yume, then at Morishita Ran, with the faintest curve at the corner of her lips.

"Is anyone sitting here?" Her cane pointed toward the empty seat beside Kiryu Yume.

Kiryu Yume looked around. There truly were not many vacant seats nearby, but no one was standing around waiting for a table either.

"...No."

"Thank you."

Sakayanagi set down her tray and slowly took her seat, resting her cane against the table. Her movements were gentle, as if she were afraid of disturbing others. After sitting down, she did not immediately pick up her chopsticks. Instead, she looked at Kiryu Yume's tray.

"Curry rice?"

"Yeah."

"Is it good?"

"It's alright."

Sakayanagi smiled, picked up her chopsticks, and began eating the udon. Her movements were slow, and she chewed every bite for a long time. Kiryu Yume felt as though she was not eating a meal, but carrying out some sort of ritual. She drank the black coffee even more slowly—lifting the cup for a small sip, setting it down, then taking it up again only after a long while.

Morishita Ran looked at Sakayanagi, then at Kiryu Yume, before lowering her head and continuing to eat her fried chicken. A faint crunch sounded as she bit into one.

Kiryu Yume thought the atmosphere was a little strange. The three of them sat together without anyone speaking. He had originally planned to leave as soon as he finished eating, but leaving right after Sakayanagi sat down seemed a little impolite. He scooped up a spoonful of curry that was no longer hot and casually stuffed it into his mouth.

Sakayanagi quietly ate her udon, making almost no sound.

Kiryu Yume could not stand the silence anymore. He set down his spoon and casually remarked, "This curry is better than I expected."

Morishita Ran did not even look up. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. The curry at my old school's cafeteria was thin as water."

Sakayanagi looked up at him.

"Was the cafeteria at your old school that bad?" Her tone was flat, making it impossible to tell whether she cared or was merely asking in passing.

"It wasn't bad. It was cheap. You get what you pay for. The ingredients in this curry are pretty generous, and four hundred and fifty points isn't expensive."

Sakayanagi did not respond, simply lowering her head and continuing to eat.

Kiryu Yume figured that since the conversation had started, he might as well say a little more. He looked at Sakayanagi's tray—a small bowl of udon, a cup of black coffee, and nothing else.

"Sakayanagi, that's all you're eating?"

"It's enough. I don't eat much."

"Isn't that black coffee bitter?"

"I'm used to it."

Kiryu Yume gave an "Oh" and did not press further. He was not especially good at talking to people he did not know well, particularly someone like Sakayanagi, who seemed difficult to approach. Though she sat right beside him, she seemed separated from everything by a layer of glass—you could see that she was there, but you could not feel any warmth from her.

He took out his phone to check the time, then put it away again.

Morishita Ran suddenly spoke. "Kiryu Yume, you said earlier that you wanted to spend sparingly. How are you planning to do that?"

Kiryu Yume did not expect her to bring that up now, and he hesitated. "Well... buy fewer snacks, eat at the cafeteria more?"

"The convenience store has discounts at night," Sakayanagi interjected.

Kiryu Yume and Morishita Ran looked at her at the same time.

Sakayanagi finished her coffee and set the cup back on the tray. She did not stand right away, sitting quietly for a moment instead. Silence fell over the three of them again.

Kiryu Yume felt it was about time to leave and prepared to stand.

Sakayanagi suddenly spoke.

"Kiryu."

Kiryu Yume paused.

Sakayanagi did not look at him. Her gaze rested on the empty space ahead. Her voice was soft, yet unexpectedly clear amid the cafeteria's noise. "During the class meeting, you asked the teacher a question. Why did you think to ask that?"

Kiryu Yume hesitated. "...Because it didn't make sense. Free things are often the most expensive. That principle applies anywhere."

The corner of Sakayanagi's lips curved slightly. The movement was tiny, and it vanished quickly. She repeated his words as though savoring them. "Most people only think about how to spend the one hundred thousand points once they receive them. The fact that you thought one step further means you're not an idiot."

"...Was that a compliment?"

"It was." Sakayanagi picked up her cane and slowly stood. "I'll be going now."

Without waiting for Kiryu Yume or Morishita Ran to respond, she leaned on her cane and carried her tray toward the return station at an unhurried pace. Her cane tapped against the tiles. Tap, tap, tap. One beat after another, steady and measured.

Kiryu Yume watched her retreating figure until she turned the corner by the return station, then withdrew his gaze.

Morishita Ran put down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Sakayanagi usually doesn't eat with other people."

"...Is that so?"

"Yeah. She rarely takes the initiative to speak even to people in our class." Morishita Ran stood, picking up her tray. "She probably came over today because of the question you asked at the class meeting."

Kiryu Yume froze for a moment. "You think so too?"

"Not just me." Morishita Ran glanced at him. "When Katsuragi Kohei walked past the two of you, he slowed down for half a step. You didn't notice."

Kiryu Yume opened his mouth, but did not know what to say. He really had not noticed.

Morishita Ran carried her tray toward the return station. After taking two steps, she looked back at him. "Come on. There are classes this afternoon."

Kiryu Yume stood and followed her. After returning their dishes, the two walked out of the cafeteria side by side.

The sun blazed outside. Someone was running on the track, and the dull thud of a basketball striking a backboard carried over. Cherry blossoms were still falling, though far more sparsely than in the morning. A gust of wind swept by, sending a few petals spinning across the ground.

Kiryu Yume and Morishita Ran walked back along the edge of the field. As they passed the entrance to the school building, he saw several boys from their class gathered beside the steps, talking. One of them was the student who had first nominated Katsuragi at the class meeting. The other two listened intently, nodding from time to time. Farther away, Hashimoto Masayoshi leaned against a hallway pillar, smiling as he chatted with another boy. He spun his phone in one hand, looking completely relaxed.

The two groups stood less than twenty meters apart, yet neither looked at the other.

Morishita Ran followed his gaze with a glance but said nothing.

When they reached a fork in the path, she stopped.

"Kiryu Yume."

"Yeah?"

"You should probably think about what comes next."

"What do you mean?"

"Those two groups just now." Morishita Ran tilted her head toward the school building. "Do you think they'll keep having their separate little conversations forever?"

Kiryu Yume was silent for two seconds. "...You mean, sooner or later, we'll have to pick a side?"

"I didn't say pick a side. I said think about it." Morishita Ran turned and headed toward the dorms. After a few steps, she looked back. "Once you've thought it through, the next time you meet Sakayanagi, you'll know what expression to wear when you speak to her."

Her shadow stretched long beneath the sunlight. She did not walk quickly, as if waiting for someone to catch up. But Kiryu Yume remained where he was.

He stood there for a while, shoved his hands into his pockets, and headed toward the dorms. Sakayanagi's words—"means you're not an idiot"—and Morishita Ran's—"sooner or later, we'll have to pick a side"—kept circling through his mind. It was the first day of school. He had not even finished digesting his curry rice, and already a multiple-choice question had been placed before him.

He kept his hands in his pockets and quickened his pace.