Chapter 5

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Series: A Love That Lurks at the Dining Table

Previous chapter

I sighed while staring out of the hallway window. It had been raining since the morning with no signs of stopping. The sky was full of dark, dim clouds and students rushed home while avoiding puddles.

It’s been a week since I started making lunch for Hino-kun. It wasn’t troubling enough that I had to refuse, so I’ve been continuing to make him bento boxes from then.

Today Hino-kun ate the bento I made and complimented me with a smile. Just thinking about it made my chest feel murky. Even now, at the shoe lockers after school, the feeling didn’t let up. Somehow I felt completely different from the students holding plastic umbrellas, as if separated by a membrane.

Because of that, I was so spaced out during fifth period that I bumped into a boy from the basketball club and broke my pencil case. The metal fitting broke and I couldn’t close it anymore, so now I was using a clip to keep it shut. I used it since middle school and these things happen, but the thought of going out to buy a new one in the rain was making me feel a bit down.

Students in club jerseys passed by next to me. There were also students remarking about the downpour outside while staring out the schoolyard window with displeased looks. While I was looking around me, my phone started vibrating in my pocket.

Who? Mom and Dad wouldn’t be calling because of their time zone.

Checking the screen, my eyes widened when I saw Hino-kun’s name on the screen. He left early after finishing lunch because of work today. I moved to the corner and turned down the volume so no one could hear before answering.

“Hello…?”

“Hey, it’s me. Sorry for calling so suddenly. Where are you right now? In school?”

“Yeah, I’m about to head home.”

“Got it. Hey, sorry for asking so suddenly, but do you have time today? I want you to come shopping with me. There are some things I can’t get without you, Igarashi-san…”

“Eh, y-yeah. Sounds good, I guess?”

“Thanks. Then, can you come to the clock by the shopping mall in front of the station?”

There was a bus station in front of the school that went to the station. Because everyone used it, there were timetables for the bus posted all over school. One near me said that it departed soon.

“Okay. The bus is leaving soon so I’ll go now.”

“Sorry. And thanks.”

I tapped the screen, ending the call.

I’m going out shopping with Hino-kun. What should I do? I just went with the flow, but he was an entertainer. There were many reasons why it’s bad… But, I already agreed…

No, right now Hino-kun was troubled. He always paid me way too much money so I had to give back to him somehow. I took a steady breath, put my phone in my pocket, and left school.

◇

I arrived in front of the clock like he said. The area was filled with couples. Even though it was raining a lot, it was Friday so the area was bustling with students and employees.

While checking the area and the colorful umbrellas, I saw a slender figure that could not be considered ordinary holding a black umbrella.

Hino-kun.

I thought he would be disguised, but he was just wearing his uniform and a mask. The umbrella hid his face, so I didn’t think anyone noticed him. While I was lost on how to call out to him, he noticed me.

“Oh, Igarashi-san. Thanks for coming.”

He naturally ran up to me as soon as he saw me. Some people around started staring quizzically after hearing his voice. Everyone started to pay attention to him and the person with him – AKA, me.

“Um, p-people are watching.”

“Really? Are you sure you aren’t imagining it?”

I wasn’t. There was no way I was imagining it. The people staring at him looked like they were thinking, “Where have I seen him before?” I could even hear some people mutter, “Who is that person?” If someone took a picture of him with someone as plain as I was, it would likely cause him a lot of trouble.

“They know. I-if someone takes a picture of you with someone like me, it will have an impact on your work.”

“It won’t. Or rather, I chose a place where I could use the buzz. Shall we go?”

Hino-kun walked with light steps, not paying attention to all the stares. In any case, it would be best to get away from this place. I followed behind Hino-kun and he matched my stride.

“At my agency, if they think I’m useless, then they’ll cut me off in a second. But as long as I’m worthy and have proven my ability, it doesn’t matter how many pictures are taken or even if I got married. I’m trying to get a place overseas eventually, so it’s good to make some noise and have my face known.”

Hino-kun was smiling while talking, but I was just nervous. Looking back, everyone’s eyes were focused on him.

“And I know people who have girlfriends and they’re all over the news. Do you know that singer, Tsuneura? He’s caught up with Kogetsu.”

“S-sorry, I don’t really know the details. But I did hear that your agency gives you lots of freedom…”

I think I heard something similar from Miya-chan. His agency gives them freedom with dating, so there’s a chance he already had a girlfriend… or something like that.

“Exactly. My agency is pretty tough. They make weekly magazines write about everything in order to raise ratings, so you don’t need to worry about it much.”

“Okay…”

Freedom sounded nice, but it also must be difficult… I heard show business was hard, but he must be trying his best against problems I couldn’t even imagine.

While I was listening to him, he suddenly turned to me like he just remembered something.

“Hm… By the way, weren’t your parents working overseas?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, are you living alone now?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded, but then doubt started to creep in. I didn’t remember talking to Hino-kun about that.

I told Meina-chan that my parents weren’t home because of work, but I never told her they were overseas. My parents don’t let me tell other people that they aren’t home because it’s reckless. Sure, there was the greengrocer and his daughter, but I greet them all the time. Why did Hino-kun know? Did he hear from the teacher…? When I tried to ask him, Hino-kun laughed and said, “Me too then.”

That’s right, he did mention that he lived alone. He liked to eat, but didn’t have time to cook, yet he still refused all the girls offering to cook for him…?

“I don’t really eat in the morning, and I’m too busy with work at night. And it’s not uncommon for me to have meetings. So your meals are the only thing I eat. I’ve felt really great lately.”

“Oh…”

He was definitely not eating enough. More than just feeling hungry, his nutritional levels must be imbalanced.

Maybe I should bring another meal for him along with lunch from now on. But then again, he could be dieting for modeling. Maybe it was none of my business.

…I should take more care in calculating the nutrition values of his lunches from now on. I should make delicious food with high nutrition and low calories.

After I decided to buy a book on nutrition from the bookstore on my way home, I realized I had no idea where we were going to go today. We met up in front of the shopping mall, but we were already quite a distance away from it. We were even away from the main road, walking through an uncrowded alley.

“Um, Hino-kun? I was wondering what I should do to help you with shopping? If you need help with carrying stuff, I have experience carrying radish, pumpkins, rice, and stuff…”

“Haha, I wouldn’t make you carry anything heavy, Igarashi-san. I wanted to go to the general store today. Look, we’re here,” He said and folded his umbrella. I saw that we were already under a roof and hurriedly folded mine as well. In front of us was a store dealing with select overseas brands.

I think I saw it on TV. A store that handles affordable, high-end brands? Or something like that… The shopping baskets… Yeah, I remember seeing their assorted recipe section on TV. This was definitely the same place.

“I like this place a lot so I come here often. They also have kitchen tools here. I barely have any plates, cups or utensils at my place, so I wanted to ask your advice. I wanted to know what was easy to use.”

I see, he wanted advice on utensils. I liked looking at tableware and collecting them too, although not as much as I liked making and eating food. I couldn’t give expert advice, but I could distinguish between easy and difficult to clean utensils. I could be useful.

“Alright. Got it.”

“Thanks.”

I entered the store with Hino-kun. The interior was white and the floor was shiny and reflective. A shelf was lined with tea, utensils and accessories, with the baskets I saw on TV at the end. He went to the row of tableware and picked some up one by one before turning to me.

“Quick, would you rather have this plate or these?”

There was a large plate and a set of five plates about half as small as the large one.

Flat plates were used for cooling and serving a single dish. You needed one medium plate for serving, but you didn’t need five of them…

“Do you have a small plate at your house, Hino-kun?”

“Yeah, I have two.”

“Then the bigger one would be good. You can fill it with food then.”

“I see… Then I’ll buy two.”

He grabbed two of the plates. But if he was living alone, then just one would be fine. Although I supposed, he could end up breaking one and Hino-kun was free to buy whatever he wanted. Convinced, I saw Hino-kun point to colorful mugs lined up like a gradation.

“Hey, I like black, but what colors do you like, Igarashi-san?”

“Orange and blue?”

“Then I’ll take the orange and blue…”

He grabbed a nearby basket and began placing the plates he was holding, as well as blue and orange mugs, inside.

“Eh? W-why? What about your favorite color?”

“I’m fine with any color. So I thought I would get the colors you liked.”

Looking at the lineup of the mugs, I could see there weren’t any black ones. If they didn’t have his favorite color, I guess anything was fine for him.

Even so, there really were many cups. While I was staring at them in fascination, Hino-kun said, “Looking at tableware like this kinda makes it seem like we’re living together,” and laughed like a mischievous child.

“Eh–“

“Haha, you’ve been saying ‘eh’ a lot lately, Igarashi-san.”

I realized instantly that he was teasing me from his laughter. I turned my head to cover up my embarrassment from my misunderstanding.

“S-sorry, I was surprised. You were joking. I’m sorry.”

“I was serious. If you came to my home and cooked me three meals a day everyday… That’s not good. And in April, I…”

Hino-kun had an uneasy look on his face. Like he was scared of something. He looked around in pain and then silently looked down. It felt like he wanted to say something.

“Hino-kun?”

“Nah, it’s nothing. More importantly I wanted to ask you about the utensils in that section over there.”

“O-okay.”

His expression changed instantly as he headed to the cooking utensils section. Was he changing the topic…?

Feeling like I was missing something, I followed after him.

◇

That evening, when the streetlights started turning on and the rain had stopped, I walked on the puddle-filled road next to Hino-kun. There wasn’t a cloud left in the sky.

“Thanks for today, Igarashi-san.”

“It was no problem.”

We went to several general stores and were able to buy everything he needed. I was glad I was able to help.

“Oh yeah.”

Hino-kun seemed to remember something and stopped moving. He opened one of the bags he was holding and took out a beige colored package.

“I’d like you to take this, if you don’t mind. As thanks for today.”

As I was staring at the package he held out, he grabbed my hand and placed it there. He said it was for thanks, but I just helped him pick out tableware. He didn’t have to give me anything.

“I can’t accept this.”

“Why?”

“Because all I did was choose tableware…”

“That’s not all you did. I bought that because I thought it suited you, so why don’t you try opening it? Even if I brought it home with me, it’s not like I could use it.”

He bought it for me, so would it be wasted if I didn’t accept it?

I nervously opened the package and inside was a round, black, leather pencil case. The zipper was decorated with rhinestones in the shape of a flower that changed colors depending on the angle I looked at it. It was beautiful, like stained glass.

“I thought it suited you, so please accept it.”

“Thank you, Hino-ku–“

At the same time that I tried thanking him, his eyes widened. Then his face distorted into an apologetic expression.

“…Sorry. You must have one you use already… right?”

“No, I actually broke my pencil case today. I mean, I’ll cherish this even if I didn’t have a broken one… But, is it okay? To give me this?”

“I bought it because I thought it suited you, so you should use it. …I’d be happy if you could use it a lot.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Hino-kun narrowed his eyes dazzlingly. The pencil case was cute. I was so happy. I wrapped it so it wouldn’t get wrecked even if I accidentally dropped it, when suddenly Hino-kun’s expression turned serious.

“What is it?”

“…Sorry, but could you keep it a secret that you got that from me?”

“Oh, of course I will! It’s okay, you don’t have to worry. I know rumors would be a problem for you.”

He gave me the pencil case out of kindness. But there was a chance his image would lower if someone found out he gave it to me. Some people would say he was treating me specially.

I nodded many time to assure him that it would be alright, but for some reason his features darkened and he seemed down.

“Hino-kun?”

“I don’t care about rumors or anything like that. But I am liked by a lot of others in my profession… one-sidedly. I want you to understand that… it’s not rumors about the two of us that I would hate, it’s someone knowing that I gave you a pencil case and attacking you that I would hate.”

Hino-kun looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. It’s true that he was popular in class and many people in other classes often came to see him too. That must have been troublesome. He even asked me to make bentos for him and there might have also been cases where there was fighting between his fans that he had nothing to do with.

“Alright. I understand.”

“Then that’s fine… Thank you for going out shopping with me today.”

“Likewise, thank you for the pencil case. I will use it with care.”

“Mn… I’ll see you on Monday then. Be careful on your way home.”

“Yeah. You too, Hino-kun.”

Hino-kun readjusted his bags and turned away. I didn’t want to stare at him much, so I also turned away.

From now on, I want to make meals that are nutritional, delicious, and make Hino-kun smile.

I started walking back home, thinking about tomorrow’s menu.

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