Chapter 16: Pushy, Pushy?? (Yukiya’s Point of View)
When I walked back to the classroom together with Kanae, we were immediately bombarded with curious stares.
Every single one of them was grinning like idiots.
The only saving grace was that class was about to start. If it’d still been break time, Kanae and I would’ve definitely been surrounded and teased to death.
I did my best to ignore the annoying looks being thrown at me from all directions. The teacher was already here anyway, so I headed back to my seat with my face still burning.
“Hey, what business did you have with Kana-chan…?”
“Tell us, Yuki.”
The guy next to me and the girl in front of me jumped in immediately.
“It was nothing.”
It wasn’t nothing, but there’s no way I could say it. Something like that, something like that…
“No, no, no. Seriously, what actually happened?”
“Your face is totally red, Yuki. You’re way too obvious.”
Whispering like that, they started poking me with their fingers this time. Hey, knock it off, knock it off. You’re seriously annoying.
I glared at the two classmates wearing sleazy, grinning smiles.
Why are they so lacking in tact? It’s the kind of annoying pestering that makes me want to force them to drink the nail clippings of my kind and considerate childhood friend, Kanae.
To calm my irritated mind, I turned my gaze toward Kanae. Any thought I’d had about putting a bit of distance between Kanae and me had been completely blown away by her.
Then, from far away, our eyes met.
Looking closer, it seemed Kanae was being poked and teased by the classmates around her too, and the look in her eyes as she glanced my way was a bit sharp. Yeah, I get it. It’s annoying, right?
But as we kept looking at each other, Kanae soon smiled faintly and gave me a small wave.
This. This right here is her thoughtfulness.
My chest tightened at Kanae’s kindness, and I waved back just as modestly.
“Whoa, look at them, waving at each other.”
“Excuse me, class is in session right now, you know.”
Tch, the peanut gallery’s so loud. You’re just making my face even hotter.
…But this wasn’t the time to be taking it easy. Once class ended, the next break would come right away.
And sure enough, before I could escape, I was surrounded by my classmates.
“Alright, Yukiya. Time for questioning.”
“We’re gonna have you reenact, in vivid detail, exactly what you were doing with that girl during the last break.”
“Oh, and the accomplice is being interrogated by the girls right now, so you can’t get your stories straight.”
Damn it, I misjudged them. No, that’s not it. They’re completely doing this on impulse. Both the guys and the girls were getting along, using me and Kanae as material. I wanted to be over there with Kanae too, getting excited over someone else’s love gossip.
Still, somehow, having rumors spread about me and Kanae feels like a dream. Back in elementary and middle school, I’d often hear people say, “Kanae’s got her sights set on Souta,” and it really got me down.
If the me from back then knew about the situation now, what would he think? Would it ease that pain in my chest even a little?
While escaping reality like that, I spent the whole time invoking my right to remain silent, saying things like “Call my lawyer” and “There’s no katsudon.”
And so, after a morning of being toyed with by my classmates, the fateful lunch break arrived.
“Yuki-kun!”
The moment break time started, Kanae came over to me, almost as if she’d been sent off by the group of girls waiting behind her.
The fact that all the classmates around us had either smug or grinning faces was infuriating.
“Yuki-kun, wanna eat in the courtyard?”
“The c-courtyard…!?”
A chill ran through me at Kanae’s words.
At our school, the courtyard during lunch break is nothing less than a holy land for couples. Two-seater benches that look like they were installed for that exact purpose, known as couple benches. Couples from different grades and classes gather there like it’s a secret pact and eat lunch together in that terrifying place.
No, no, what is this? I’ve been trying not to think about it, but between the morning’s “fuu fuu incident” and now, what kind of flow is this? I-is this my chance!?
It feels like it’s already been about twelve days since Kanae rejected me, but in reality, it’s only been two.
Even so, I don’t wanna rush into a re-confession just because of the momentum here and get rejected again. If I’m gonna do it next time, I wanna raise my chances even a little. Ahh…
Wanting to go out with Kanae, I kept agonizing over it.
“Yuki-kun, let’s sit on this bench.”
And then, somehow, here it was. The holy courtyard. And right in front of me, a couple bench.
“H-huh? When did we get to the courtyard…?”
“What? We walked here together.”
Kanae was beside me. And in my hand was a small, warm, soft sensation.
“W-wait, our hands!?”
At some point, I’d ended up holding hands with Kanae. Startled, I gripped her hand too tightly without thinking.
“Ow…”
Kanae let out a small cry.
“Whoa, s-sorry, sorry. Are you okay!?”
To my flustered panic, Kanae replied with a soft, unfocused smile, saying something like, boys really do have a lot of strength.
“I’m fine, okay? More importantly, let’s eat.”
Kanae pulled the hand of the panicking me and had me sit on the bench, then took a lunchbox out of her small tote bag.
Feeling bad but following her lead, I did the same.
“Um, hey, Yuki-kun. This…”
Kanae held out a small lunchbox to me.
Huh, this is… for real?
“I thought you’d brought your own lunch too, Yuki-kun, so it’s really just a little.”
Kanae looked up at me with a tense expression.
“I, um, I made it myself.”
Having suddenly obtained the god-tier item known as a childhood friend’s homemade lunch, I accepted it with hands trembling from emotion and carefully opened the lid.
Inside the small lunchbox Kanae gave me were octopus-shaped sausages, rolled omelet, small rice balls, broccoli with sesame dressing, and cherry tomatoes. It was colorful and looked incredibly good.
“Wait, all of this is homemade?”
It was nothing like my all-frozen-food lunch.
“Y-yeah. Hehe, it’s kind of plain though. Sorry.”
Those words were far too humble. I conveyed my overwhelming gratitude and deep emotion to Kanae and gratefully started eating the lunch.
“Seriously, I’m so happy about this. It looks amazing. Thanks, Kanae!”
“Ehehe, you’re welcome. I hope it suits your taste.”
“There’s no way it won’t. Just looking at it, it looks delicious. The colors are great, and the fact that it’s all homemade is incredible.”
“Nf… th-thanks…”
“You’re good at cooking, Kanae, and I guess I’ve always loved your food too.”
“Fheh… th-that makes me happy… ehehehehe.”
“So yeah, I’m seriously moved by your homemade—”
“Y-Yuki-kun.”
As if cutting me off, Kanae spoke while looking down.
Oh no, I messed up. I wanted to convey how moved I was and ended up getting way too passionate. I totally made her uncomfortable. How embarrassing.
I opened my mouth to apologize right away, but Kanae interrupted me again.
“I-I’m happy, but… it’s embarrassing, so… th-that’s enough…”
Seeing Kanae blushing and fidgeting made something other than my appetite stir, and I swallowed hard without thinking.
N-no, no good. If I have thoughts like that, Kanae’ll hate me. She already rejected me once. I can’t afford to lower my likability anymore.
“E-eat it, Yuki-kun.”
“O-okay. Thanks for the food, Kanae.”
And yet, even an exchange like this somehow sounded lewd to me, and I ended up eating lunch while feeling all sorts of conflicted.
I did regret a little that I hadn’t taken a photo right away, but before I knew it, I’d finished all of Kanae’s lunch. It was that good.
“Thanks for the meal. It was seriously delicious.”
“I’m glad. Thank you for eating it all so nicely, Yuki-kun.”
There were even moments where Kanae’s counterattacks almost shattered my self-control, but I still managed to have the best lunch break of my life.
However, lunch break didn’t end there.
After parting with Kanae and heading to the restroom to wash my hands…
“Hey, Yukiya.”
I was stopped by Souta.