An inferiority complex

Just as Kobeni Higashiyama had thought, Asaba Kotone had refrained from commenting on the lunchbox out of consideration for her feelings.

But that was how people were. Even if Asaba Kotone said nothing, Kobeni Higashiyama would still let her thoughts run wild.

If he had to give an opinion, it wasn't tasty, but it wasn't awful either. This wasn't a matter of how meager it was. Even judging the vegetable dishes alone, they really weren't very good. It felt as though Kobeni's parents hadn't put much care into preparing this lunchbox.

From what Asaba Kotone remembered of the original story, Kobeni Higashiyama's parents-or perhaps just one of them-were deeply biased and selfish.

They showed extreme favoritism toward Kobeni's older brother. He wasn't sure how they treated her other sisters; all he remembered was that there were nine sisters in total, including Kobeni.

Their selfishness went without saying. There wasn't much else to say about people who would force Kobeni to choose between prostitution and becoming a Devil Hunter as soon as she finished high school.

"I'm really sorry... for sharing such an awful lunch with you..."

Kobeni Higashiyama lowered her head slightly, her voice full of self-reproach.

"What are you talking about?"

Asaba Kotone gently flicked Kobeni Higashiyama's forehead. "Sure, I wouldn't call it delicious, but it's not awful either. The thought alone is enough."

Kobeni Higashiyama froze for a moment, looking a little dazed. After hearing what Asaba Kotone said, she immediately felt less upset.

Precisely because Asaba Kotone had told her the truth, his words were able to ease her distress.

"We've only got a little over twenty minutes before class. Just show me around a bit, and we can finish the rest after school."

Asaba Kotone checked the time. It was already one o'clock.

"Okay."

Kobeni Higashiyama nodded.

Just then, someone suddenly spoke behind them.

"Wow! Since when did our little Kobeni get so bold? You're actually having lunch with a boy!"

"And it's Asaba, too. I knew there was something special between you two. You look so comfortable together."

"Little Kobeni's really showing us a whole new side of herself today!"

Three girls appeared behind Asaba Kotone and Kobeni Higashiyama. All three were their classmates.

Although Kobeni Higashiyama had anticipated something like this, having her classmates suddenly catch her spending time with Asaba still sent her into a panic.

More than embarrassment, what she felt was fear. She was afraid that word would spread about her and Asaba.

Then people would surely start saying they were dating. But she and Asaba weren't like that-not at all right now, and there wasn't much hope of it happening in the future either.

It would have been fine if it only concerned her. She was more worried about how the rumors would affect Asaba.

If he dated a timid, cowardly girl like me, the other students would definitely laugh at him for having such terrible taste...

In fact, one of the main reasons Kobeni Higashiyama had been so shy and nervous earlier was her sense of inferiority.

Even when something should clearly have made her happy, her first response was nervousness and fear born of that insecurity.

Unfortunately, Asaba Kotone hadn't yet noticed Kobeni Higashiyama's inferiority complex. He thought it was simply her personality.

"No! It's not like that...! I made Asaba miss his lunchtime, and then... then..."

Kobeni Higashiyama was so flustered that she couldn't even explain herself properly.

Seeing Kobeni Higashiyama's reaction, the three girls realized that she didn't seem embarrassed. Instead, she seemed genuinely anxious to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Oh, so that's what happened... I thought our little Kobeni had gotten a boyfriend before any of us."

"Sorry, we got the wrong idea. We won't spread anything around, so don't worry!"

They understood Kobeni Higashiyama's personality fairly well.

If word got out, it really would be social death for someone as timid and introverted as Kobeni. Rumors were frightening, after all.

Only then did Kobeni Higashiyama breathe a sigh of relief.

Afterward, Kobeni Higashiyama continued showing Asaba Kotone around the rest of the school.

Chiba Ritsusei High School had a fairly large campus, since it had both a senior high and a junior high section, which were connected.

Asaba Kotone and Kobeni Higashiyama only returned to the classroom to prepare for class when there were ten minutes left.

There were three classes in the afternoon, making seven for the day, though that schedule only applied to the advanced class.

The regular classes only had six lessons a day and finished school shortly after three in the afternoon.

The college-prep classes sometimes had six lessons and sometimes seven. Their workload fell somewhere between the regular and advanced classes.

With seven lessons a day, the advanced class always finished shortly after four. Even then, the students didn't go straight home. They first had to clean up together, after which they could attend club activities or head home.

The afternoon classes were still easy for Asaba Kotone. Even he thought his ability to learn was absurdly unreal, like a cheat.

The seventh lesson ended on time that day, and the students began getting ready to clean up together. It wasn't exactly a deep clean; they did this every day, and it didn't take too long.

Once they finished cleaning,

it was already four thirty.

Normally, most students would head off to their club activities at this point, but Kobeni Higashiyama was clearly not among them. Asaba Kotone hadn't joined a club yet either.

By then, however, a classmate had already come over to invite him.

"You haven't joined a club yet, have you, Asaba? Would you like to join our Literature Club?"

"...I'll think about it."

Asaba Kotone had no plans to join any clubs for the time being.

But a moment later, something suddenly occurred to him, and he asked Kobeni Higashiyama, "Higashiyama, are you in any clubs?"

With other classmates around, he felt it was better to call her Higashiyama.

"Huh? N-no. I've never joined a club..."

Kobeni Higashiyama was a little puzzled as to why Asaba Kotone was asking her.

"You like reading, don't you? Why don't we start our own Reading Club?"

Although there was already a Culture Club, Asaba Kotone figured Kobeni Higashiyama wouldn't want to join a club with so many members. If she did, she probably would have joined long ago.

So he planned to start a Reading Club himself. Then he could buy some books to keep in the clubroom, and Kobeni could read the books she liked under the pretext of attending club activities.

That way, Kobeni wouldn't have to worry about restrictions from her family, nor would she have to make a special trip to the library every day to read.

Kobeni Higashiyama immediately asked in surprise, "Start a Reading Club? But I think our school has a club related to Devil Hunters. Aren't you going to join that one, Asaba?"