Determination and Sprouting Canelé 1
“Come on, Chika, try my cookie.”
“This chocolate one is delicious too, you know?”
“Please have some of my senbei (rice crackers) too!”
“Umm, that, I can’t eat everything at once.”
During the lunch break of Class 1-4 where Ichinose Sōma is enrolled, it is always lively and noisy.
“They never get tired of it, huh?”
While nibbling on yakisoba bread at his seat, he couldn’t help but be amazed.
About ten girls gathered in the center of the classroom, forming a group, and they all tightly held sweets in their hands, trying to feed the girl sitting in the middle.
A girl with fluffy, bright brown hair was having trouble deciding which sweets to eat from the ones offered to her.
Then, a girl with sharp eyes and long black hair started clapping her hands to get their attention.
With her serious demeanor and tall stature, she looked like an SP. (TN: Either Security Personnel or Security Police.)
“Hey-hey, Chika is in trouble. Let’s line up in the order we decided earlier when drawing lots.”
Following the instructions and lining up properly, the girl at the front handed a big cookie with lots of chocolate chips to the brown hair Satomi Chika.
“Here, Chika, eat up-eat up!”
“Th-thank you for the meal.”
Chika blushed with embarrassment while being watched by many classmate and started eating the cookie.
Her earnestly moving hands and mouth resembled a young squirrel trying to store acorns in its cheek pouches, making her look innocent and adorable.
“Kyaaah! So cute!”
Yellow voices that sounded more like screams erupted from the girls all at once.
(TN: In Japanese, high voices of women or children are called yellow (黄色い声). )
“Chika, look over here! Give us a pose while enjoying the sweets!”
The girl who gave her the cookie took out her smartphone and started taking numerous snapshots.
“It’s like an idol handshake event… No, it’s more like a panda exhibit.”
As he watched the commotion caused by the girls, such a comment slipped out of him.
“It’s nice, isn’t it? It feels like a girls’ flower garden.”
At that moment, Shohei Kikuchi, who was having lunch with him, calmly said so while smiling gently.
“Sōma, which one do you prefer, the sweaty guys from the sports clubs laughing their heads off or this glamorous atmosphere?”
“Of course, this one.”
He answered immediately, and Shohei smiled lightly as if to say, ‘Right?’.
“Besides, they’re not just making noise for no reason. It’s a place of salvation for the girls in our class.”
As he said that, he pointed at the group of girls with his chopsticks.
The second girl handed a bag filled with marshmallows, holding both of Chika’s hands and shaking them vigorously.
“I followed that advice the other day, and it went well! I’m glad I talked to Chika! Thank you!”
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“Is that so? Well, I’m glad to hear that. However, I didn’t really give you any advice, so there’s no need to thank me…”
“No, no! I was really grateful that you simply listened to me!”
The girl expressed her gratitude with a beaming smile, while Chika responded with a slightly bewildered smile.
After observing their exchange for a while, Shohei ate his tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) with a sense of satisfaction.
“Thanks to the [Omnipotent (『万能』)] [Angel of peace (『安らぎの天使』)], our class is peaceful.”
“Peaceful class is good, but no matter how many times I hear it, that nickname is just lame.”
Upon hearing the excessive cliché nickname, he couldn’t help but grimace.
If the students of Class 1-4 were asked who the famous person in their class was, most would undoubtedly mention the names Miki Saito and Chika Satomi.
Miki Saito was an extremely talented student.
She excelled academically, had decent athletic abilities, and led Class 1-4 to victory in the sports competition held in May with her outstanding performance.
She served as the class representative in the first semester and later ran for and won a position in the student council, becoming the vice president despite being a first-year student.
She was a super high-spec student, and some even jokingly said she could handle everything by herself no matter what happened in life.
Hence the nickname ‘Omnipotent.’
On the other hand, Chika Satomi wasn’t as exceptional as Miki.
Her grades and athleticism were average, she wasn’t part of the student council, and she didn’t belong to any specific club.
She was just an ordinary girl.
However, her charm lay in areas that had nothing to do with specs.
“Hey-hey, Chika, can I give you a hug? No, that’s not it. Can I hold you? You’re so cuddly and huggable, Chika!”
“Um, that’s a bit embarrassing, you know.”
“Well, okay. Let me take a picture then!”
She was adored by the girls quite indiscriminately.
Whether it was her mascot-like charm, small animal-like presence, or plush-toy-like qualities, the girls loved and pampered her.
Perhaps because of this atmosphere, she was seen as approachable for sharing worries and problems, and she was valued as someone to consult with.
The girls’ stress was alleviated thanks to her, and the classroom atmosphere became more gentle.
Hence the nickname ‘Angel of Peace.’
Practically, there was the high-spec Miki, and emotionally, there was the soothing Chika. As Shōhei said, it couldn’t be denied that they contributed greatly to the peace of Class 1-4.
However,
“Calling them ‘Omnipotent’ and ‘Angel of Peace’ as nicknames, I seriously think it’s a bit too much.”
It is natural that a pair of beautiful and unique-looking girls would attract attention, but the nicknames ‘Omnipotent’ and ‘Angel of Peace’ felt a bit too much.
While not entirely inaccurate considering their characteristics, it seemed too embarrassing and tacky for high school students.
They need to come up with something more creative.
“Who was it that came up with names like ‘Omnipotent’ and ‘Angel of Peace’?”
“It was me.”
“You?!”
In response to the unexpected confession from his classmate, he almost spits out his yakisoba bread.
“You have no sense in naming things, Shōhei.”
“Shut up. I just wanted to have some connection with the girls I admire.”
“Admire? Them?”
In the context of the conversation, it sounded amusing and unexpected for him.
He rolls his eyes while pouring down the bread he is about to spew out in his mouth with a carton of tomato juice.