Chapter 12

The next morning.

When Yuki took his seat at the last possible moment, Miki, who sat next to him, immediately turned to him with a smile.

"Good morning."

She even waved her hand lightly. She seemed to be in an unusually good mood.

Considering how she had been blushing and on the verge of a tantrum when they parted yesterday, this behavior was a bit surprising.

Yuki, who had subconsciously patted her head without thinking, felt a bit guilty.

He greeted her briefly and then apologized again.

"Sorry about yesterday. You know, for what happened."

"Yesterday? What are you talking about?"

Miki tilted her head slightly with a smile.

For a moment, it seemed like the corners of her mouth twitched, but it was probably just his imagination.

Maybe she was the type who forgot things after taking three steps.

Thinking that it wouldn't be good to bring it up if she didn't remember, Yuki decided to end the conversation and started putting away the contents of his bag.

"Here, I'll give this to you."

After that, he had been interrupted by Mina's constant meddling in the name of her brother's anniversary, so he hadn't been able to finish his preparation.

Since today's English class was the third period, he still had time. To avoid getting scolded by Miki, he quietly took out his notebook and textbook and started preparing.

"Here!"

"Huh?"

When he looked up, Miki was staring at him with intense eyes.

He thought he had been caught not preparing, but it seemed to be something else. He didn't think she was talking to him.

Miki was holding out a rectangular box wrapped in a patterned cloth.

It looked suspicious, but he ended up taking it, overwhelmed by her enthusiasm.

"What's this?"

"Well, what do you think?"

"Hmm... like Pandora's box?"

"Who said a bento box was a container filled with all the evils of the world?"

"Bento box?"

"Yeah, a bento box. I made it for Nari."

As she said this, Miki broke into a smile. The change was unnatural.

He had a bad feeling, but could this be...?

"Does Nari always buy bread and other things from the school store?"

"You know that?"

"Yeah, I've been watching for a while."

She had a smug look on her face, as if to say, "So, what do you think?"

It seemed she had been watching him even before they sat next to each other. But the likely conclusion was that everyone had been whispering, "He always eats alone, how creepy."

"How about it? It's a homemade bento. Are you happy? Does it boost your mood?"

"Well, I can't really say until I taste it."

"Taste, huh... You're tough."

Miki giggled.

He was quite surprised that she would suddenly give him a bento. It seemed like this was...

"Is this... part of the game we started yesterday?"

"Hmm? I wonder..."

Miki was smiling broadly, but it didn't seem to be helping.

Given their seating position, it was better that they were in a corner, but who knew who might be watching.

"Hey, can we stop this game?"

"Why?"

"Because the secret is out, and no one benefits from it."

"That's not true. I'm having a lot of fun. I wonder what kind of reaction you'll have when I suddenly give you a bento."

It seemed she had no intention of stopping.

It was as if she was confessing that she enjoyed teasing people.

Yesterday, he had been caught off guard, but his reasoning had been correct.

"Hey, even if it's a game, are you starting to really like it?"

"Nonsense."

Miki laughed again, a mischievous laugh.

Seeing her take pleasure in this, he started to feel a bit sorry for her.

However, no matter how much it was a game, she had made the bento, and it wasn't the bento's fault. He decided to accept it politely.

"Hehe, I'm looking forward to it. The bento."

"Sure."

He went along with her, as if following her lead.

It reminded him of how Mina handled things.

After that, Miki seemed unusually restless.

She was unusually quiet and fidgety, occasionally glancing at him during breaks between classes.

When lunchtime finally came, Miki quickly left her seat and joined the group of girls, just like yesterday.

On the other hand, Yuki took out the bento he had received in the morning from his bag.

The bento box was slightly larger. He unwrapped the cloth and placed it on the desk, then opened it.

The first thing that caught his eye was a heart-shaped pattern made with sakura denbu on white rice. It was quite impressive.

The main dishes were tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) and mini hamburger.

There were also neatly arranged kinpira gobo (braised burdock root), spinach in broth, and pepper-wrapped meat. A well-made octopus wiener was also included.

There was nothing overly fancy, just a typical, well-packed bento.

(That's quite detailed. Mina would be happy if I gave it to her...)

Just as he was about to take a bite,

"…Oh, I don't have chopsticks."

He froze, and suddenly a colorful chopstick case was placed on his desk from the side.

"Huh?" He looked over to see Miki quickly walking away.

(What was that?)

It felt like he was being observed, which was a bit unsettling. He took a deep breath and picked up the chopsticks.

(Ah, it's delicious.)

As soon as he took a bite of the tamagoyaki, he knew it was good.

The flavor was neither too strong nor too weak, with finely chopped scallions mixed in.

As expected, the other dishes were also excellent.

It had been a while since he had such a well-prepared bento, and he found himself lost in nostalgia as he ate.

He remembered his mother making bento for him on days without school lunch when he was a child.

(I should make a bento for Mina...)

But his skills were far from this level.

Mina often said, "I'm looking forward to tomorrow's bento," but it was usually just her favorite things.

As Yuki slowly savored the bento, Keitaro wandered over.

He peered curiously at Yuki's desk.

"Oh, you have a bento today?"

"Yeah."

"Is it your mom's bento? That's nice, you're loved."

"Yeah."

He didn't feel like having a long conversation, so he went along with it.

He didn't like talking much while eating.

After that, Yuki finished the bento without leaving a single grain of rice. Compared to his usual lunch, it was a world of difference. He was very satisfied.

He closed the lid and wrapped the bento box in the cloth again. Just then, Miki returned to her seat and started fiddling with her phone.

She kept glancing at him, her gaze fixed on the wrapped bento box.

"Ah, the bento box. Thanks for the meal."

"Huh? Oh... yeah. ...Is that all?"

"Is that all?"

Miki stared at him, trying to read his expression. It seemed she wanted something.

Yuki reluctantly took out his wallet from his pocket.

"Alright... how much?"

"No, no, no! I'm not asking for money!"

"Well, I can pay. It was a really well-prepared bento, regardless of the game."

"What? So...? That's not it!"

Miki snatched the bento box and lightly shook it to check the weight.

"Wow, you ate it all? Cleanly..."

"Yeah, I don't have many food preferences. I think everything tastes good."

"What a completely unnecessary comment."

"It was really delicious."

"Huh...?"

Miki's cheeks gradually turned red.

Finding it amusing, Yuki watched her. When she noticed his gaze, she quickly looked away.

Then, with a grinding of her teeth, she turned away with a "Hmph."