Chapter 11: Bento
The next morning.
As soon as I arrived at school just before time and sat down, Yui promptly smiled at me.
“Good morning.”
It looks like she’s in a good mood.
I was a little amused by this behavior, since she was red-faced and embarrassed when they parted yesterday.
I wondered if I should say sorry for patting her head without permission, even though I did it subconciously.
Yuki, without even greeting her, tells her again that he’s sorry.
“I’m sorry about yesterday. Or something.”
“Yesterday? What are you talking about?”
Yui tilted her head slightly with a smile.
Her mouth seemed to twitch for a moment, but it was probably just Yuki’s imagination.
Maybe we’re a race that forgets things after three steps.
If she doesn’t remember, it’s probably not a good idea to go through the trouble of rehashing it, so I cut the conversation short and started putting away the contents of my bag.
“Here. I’ll give you this.”
Yesterday Miina interrupted me for her Brother’s Day celebration, so I didn’t end up finishing my homework.
Today English is in third period, so it’s still not too late. I secretly took out my notebook and textbook and began to work on it so that Yui wouldn’t get angry.
“Here!”
“Eh?”
When I looked up, I saw Yui looking at me with a dangerous look in her eyes.
I wondered if she knew I didn’t do my homework, but it seems different. I didn’t think that she was talking to herself.
The thing that Yui presented to me was a rectangular box wrapped in a patterned cloth.
It’s a very suspicious thing to look at, but I couldn’t help but accept it because of the pressure from Yui’s energy.
“What is this?”
“I wonder what it is~~.”
“Umm… like a Pandora’s Box?”
“Whose lunch box is full of disasters?!”
“Bento?”
“That’s right, a bento. I made it for you, Narito-kun.” [T/N: For those who don’t already know what a bento is, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento]
As she said that, Yui smiled at me. The change was extremely unnatural.
To tell the truth, I had a bad feeling, but if this is….
“Narito-kun, you always buy and eat bread from the store, right?”
“I’m suprised you know.”
“Yeah, I’ve been watching you.”
And what of it? I’m just saying it and making a face.
It seems that they had already seen me before we were seated together, but I guess they were all whispering to each other, saying “I can’t stand that guy always eating alone.”
“How is it? It’s a girl’s homemade lunch. Does that make you happy? Did you get excited?”
“Well, I have to taste it to find out.”
“Taste… that’s a little harsh.”
Yui chuckles
It’s not surprising that I was also a little surprised that she suddenly handed over her lunch box to me. After all, this is…
“…Are you still playing that game we talked about yesterday?”
“Hmm~? I don’t know what you mean~.”
I’m not sure what’s funny, but there’s nothing funny about it.
It’s still better that it’s done in the corner in terms of seating position, but I don’t know where someone could be watching.
“You know what? Can we stop? This game.”
“Why?”
“Because the seeds are cracked, so what’s in it for everyone?”
“Is that so? I’m having so much fun. I wondered how you would react if I gave you a lunch out of the blue.”
She has no intention of stopping no matter what.
She likes to play with people, and that was the equivalent of him confessing to me that he likes to play with people.
Yesterday, I had a feeling I was being pulled along by the momentum, and I guess I was right.
“Oh, maybe if it’s a game, you’ll like it?”
“Nonsense.”
Fufufu, said Yui, smiling happily again.
I’m starting to feel like she’s a sad girl for taking pleasure in doing this.
But no matter how much of a game it is, I can’t help it if she made a bento.
The bento itself is innocent. I’ll accept the bento gently.
“Fufu, isn’t it going to be fun~? The bento.”
“Sure.”
I’ll do as I’m told and gently tune in.
This kind of thing was somewhat similar to the way Miina treats me.
Since then, Yui seemed to be restless for a long time.
Without a word, I occasionally glance at her here and there between classes.
And lunch break finally came. Yui left her seat and ran over to join the girls’ group just like yesterday.
On the other hand, Yuki takes out of his bag the bento that was given to him in the morning at his seat.
The bento was somewhat large. I untied the cloth, spread it out on the table, and opened it.
When I opened the lid, the first thing that caught my eye was a heart shaped piece of white rice with cherry blossoms. It was quite a sight.
The side dishes set for the main course are egg rolls and mini hamburgers.
Then, after carefully cutting the frame, there’s a spinach roll on sauteed burdock and a bell pepper meat roll. There’s also octopus sausages, which gave it a homemade feel.
There was nothing out of the ordinary, and it was packed full of actly the kind of thing you would expect from a bento.
(It’s so elaborate. I’m sure Miina would be happy to see it…)
When I thought about that,
“…Oh, there are no chopsticks.”
As I froze, a colorful chopstick case was suddenly presented to me from the side of the desk.
Hmm? When I look in the direction, Yui’s back can be seen as she quickly left.
(What was that?)
It was kind of weird to feel like I was being watched, but I pulled myself together and picked up the chopsticks.
(Ah, delicious.)
As soon as I took my first bite of the egg roll, I had a thought.
The flavor wasn’t too much or too little, and small chopped scallions were kneaded into the mixture.
As expected, all of the other side dishes were unquestionably good.
It’s been a long time since he had such a solid bento, and Yuki was filled with emotion as he carried his chopsticks.
I remember when I was a child, my mother used to make me a bento on days when there was no school lunch.
(I wish I could make Miina a lunch too.)
However, it was unlikely that he would be able to make something of this level with his own skills.
On bento day, Miina was often happy that she was going to have a bento, saying, “Tomorrow I’m going to have a bento~”.
Unlike school lunches, there was only what Miina liked in it.
As Yuki was slowly savoring and eating his lunch, Keitaro wandered over.
He peeked over the desk like he was curious.
“Oooh, you have a bento today, that’s rare.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Did your mom make that? My goodness, she loves you!”
“Well, yeah.”
It was too much trouble to talk about this and that, so he just let it slide.
I don’t want to talk while I’m eating.
After that, Yuki finished his lunch without leaving a single grain of rice. The difference between this lunch and his usual lunch was about as different as heaven and earth. It was very satisfying.
When I closed the lid and returned the bento box to it’s cloth-wrapped state again, just as I was wrapping up the bento box, Yui came back to her seat and began fiddling with her smartphone.
She kept glancing at me. She was watching me wrap up the bento box.
“Oh, the bento box, I’ll take it back. Thanks for the meal.”
“What? Oh… yeah.”
“That’s it?”
Yui stared at him. It seemed like she was demanding something.
Yuki had no choice but to take out his wallet.
“Okay, how much is it?”
“That’s not it! I’m not asking for money!”
“I don’t mind paying for it. It was a very good lunch, regardless of the game or anything else.”
“Eh? Is that so… Wait that’s not it!”
Yui snatched the bento box with vigor, lightly moving it up and down to check it’s weight.
“Eh? Did you it all of it? It’s clean…”
“Yeah. I’m not a picky eater. I can eat a lot of things fine.”
“What a waste of time.”
“It was super good.”
“Heh..?”
Yui’s cheeks, which had hardened, gradually turned red.
The change was somewhat interesting, so I stared at her. Yui noticed my gaze and looked away.
And then she grit her teeth and looked away with a “fuun”.
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