Date: April 11th

Our 4th period is over, meaning the time now is 12:40 PM —aka time for lunch break.

Over these 4 periods, a strange rumor reached my classmates’ lips that I happened to overhear; it was about a freshman girl, who, by the time the bell for the first break rang, started running rampant within the school grounds, with the starting line being her class.

This rumor actually piqued my interest a little, so I decided to look into it for the sake of killing some time during breaks. Little did I know that during the third break I would find out that the girl’s identity was the one and only Fukuda-san; and boy was I not surprised at all!

The funny part about this is that Fukuda-san admitted herself that she was the one the rumor was about this whole time after I ran into her.

Honestly, I’d like to know what was on her mind when she started this…

But we’re talking about Fukuda-san now, aren’t we? There’s no way I can understand what’s going on in her head… Not to mention that when we talked, I didn’t get to hear her thoughts at all, so you could say that she was quite literally speaking her mind.

Story time’s over, so back to the present we go!

Since it’s lunch break now, I thought of asking the twins if I could join them for lunch, but the moment I attempted to talk to them, I realized that they had both disappeared from class without a trace…

How did they even do that?! I’m sitting between them, so I should have been able to notice if they’d go anywhere or not!

Anyway, I would be asking Karasuma, but I forgot she didn’t come at all to school today… Fukuda-san is probably running off somewhere, so running into her again is like asking to get a second bite at the cherry…

Of course, asking Ichijou-san also crossed my mind, but given her popularity —especially among the 1st years—, that option was immediately rejected. I definitely don’t want guys glaring at me just because I have a reason to talk to her.

I guess I should eat my lunch alone then. Since it’s come to this, there’s no other choice left.

"Oi, Taichi!" Satoru calls out to me from his seat.

Oh.

I forgot he was here.

Just how serious is his presence lacking issue?!

"I’m heading to the cafeteria, wanna come?"

"Thanks for the invitation, but I think I’ll pass this time," I put my hand into my bag to search for my lunchbox. "I got my own lun—"

Oh no.

Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.

I can feel nothing tangible from where I usually put my lunchbox.

"You got your own what?"

‘Lunchbox’ is the answer, how difficult can it be to figure it out?!

I empty my bag and search thoroughly again and again for it, but no luck.

‘I bet he forgot to bring his lunch with him, didn’t he…?’ Satoru thinks in a rather disappointed voice of reason.

WOW, HOW DID YOU FIGURE THAT OUT!

"O-On second thought, I’ll take you up on that offer. Give me a second to get my lunch money."

Good thing I always have my wallet with me!

"Neat! I’m going up ahead then!" he says as he heads quickly out of the classroom.

Great…now I have to go all the way to the cafeteria to fulfill my appetite…

I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT TO GET MY LUNCH TODAY! THIS IS SHAMEFUL!

It probably hasn’t been even 10 seconds since Satoru left the classroom, but…

"Taichi, someone’s looking for you."

"I doubt I’m that popular alre—"

There must be a reason why I cut my sentence, no?

Well, I’m letting you see that reason for yourselves.

"Taichi-san! So this is where you were!"

Of course it would be Karasu— NO WAY IN HELL THAT’S POSSIBLE!

I get up from my chair and head to the door, full of curiosity as to why Karasuma has unexpectedly appeared out of nowhere.

"Karasuma, where were—?!"

"First things first, Taichi-san," she cuts me off mid-sentence. "Your friend told me that he was in a hurry to go to the cafeteria, and that you don’t have to go with him."

"Just that…?"

I doubt that’s all Satoru would say to a girl…

"He also said that I should wish you luck or something along those lines."

"Out of curiosity, what was his expression when he said that?"

"A smirk, I think… He also winked at me when I asked him what he meant by that, but I just couldn’t understand…" she sighs.

Satoru, you little…!

Wait a moment.

Is it even possible for Satoru to talk to a girl and NOT hit on her?!

‘This Watase-kun seemed so close to Taichi-san though… HIS BOYFRIEND!?’

GET THAT OUT OF YOUR MIND!

Actually, that thought of hers explains how their interaction might have gone.

Satoru, ready to head to the cafeteria downstairs, probably bumped into Karasuma at the door. Seeing that he came out of the same class I’m in, she asked him if a student named ‘Yanagisawa Taichi’ is here. As a result, Satoru said my name when he called for me, and this is what gave Karasuma that impression.

As for how Karasuma found out I was in this class, I can assume that she probably looked at the divisions on the pinboard, which are still there because many students tend to forget what class they’re in.

Well, this is just a hypothetical scenario, so the chances of this being wrong are higher than of it being actually correct…

"So, what were you going to ask me, Taichi-san?"

"I-I can ask that later. Anyway, why were you looking for me? I think this should take priority over my question."

"Ah, I totally forgot about that for a second."

Is she serious?!

"Let’s go say hi to the Student Council! I want to introduce you to them!"

"Who are you, their manager or something?!"

"Great idea, Taichi-san! I’ll recommend bringing that up on their next meeting!"

SHE’S TOTALLY TAKING IT TO HEART!

AND WHY IS HER AHOGE WAGGING LIKE A DOG’S TAIL?!

Actually, can she really make this happen? I highly doubt she has so much power in her hands to alter the structure of the group representing the entire student body…

"That’s quite the deep thought you’re in, Taichi-san."

Guess who caused it!

"It’s nothing. Anyway, I really have to go buy something to eat—"

"Wait a moment."

"Again?"

All I get in response to that is a confident nod from her.

Once she's done with that, Karasuma puts her hand in her blazer's pocket and takes out an airtight plastic bag with (what seems to be) a melon bread inside it. "Actually, I forgot Eru-nee was absent today and brought two melon breads out of habit, hehe…"

‘Out of habit’? More like, ‘obviously on purpose to bribe me’!

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I’ll be fine."

Turning her down was the best choice possible. If that bread was meant for her sister, then that’s all the more reason to not take it.

"I know you don’t want to take it because I bought it for my sis, but I can’t ignore a problem in front of my eyes!"

Why do I feel ashamed of my ability right now?!

My stomach suddenly starts growling at the worst moment possible.

"Taichi-san, you wouldn’t even make it to the cafeteria at this point!"

WHO PLANNED THIS CONVENIENTLY BAD TIMING?!

And now that I think about it, that melon bread looks reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally delicious for some reason…

No, I shouldn’t be thinking like that!

If I want food, I’ll go get my own. I can’t be a burden to others and I have to make that clear to Karasuma.

"I will buy one more on my way home if it’s all it takes to prevent you from starving to death!" she says with a determined look on her face, and her eyes don’t suggest anything else either. "You’re also drooling!"

"I-I’m not!" is what I said, but I quickly wiped my mouth just in case she is actually right about that. "Like I said, I’ll be fin—"

And before I could object any more than that, she stuffed me with the melon bread she was holding.

With an intimidating and threatening look on her face consisting of an wry smile and closed eyes, she thinks: ‘He. Had. Better. Swallow. That.’

WHOA, THAT’S SCARY!

Unable to speak or breathe, I take a huge bite off of it and swallow as fast as possible.

"W-What was that for…?"

Karasuma, who finally realized that what she just did was downright embarrassing, gets red to the ears.

"I’m really sorry, Taichi-san! I wasn’t thinking at all when I did that!" she bows continuously in an apologetic manner, repeating her words over and over.

Did she even do that consciously…? I know she said she wasn’t thinking, but would she even do that to someone else? That is what I’d like to know…

"Y-You don’t need to apologize! It’s my fault for not bringing my lunch with me today!"

My stomach growls again.

That wry smile of hers appears on her lips once more, despite her sympathetic bits of embarrassment a few moments ago: "You don’t want me to repeat the process, right, Taichi-san?"

"N-No, ma’am…"

Stay calm… She’s not scary, she’s just like Saki when she wants things to go her own way, which means I have to cave in here.

"Fine, you won me over. We’re going straight to the Council and I’ll eat the bread on the way there."

"Fufufu, everything according to plan."

By saying that, she gave rise to an overwhelming and uncalled for feeling of enjoyment, followed by a small laugh that escaped my lips, and in turn, hers as well.

However, that moment didn’t last for long because I remembered there was another matter on the table that had to be resolved as soon as possible.

"This is the first and last time I owe you one though," I say as I start eating the bread Karasuma gave— sorry, forced me to accept.

WHAT IS THIS BREAD MADE OF!?

I didn’t have time to understand this before —because I was obviously too focused on NOT DYING OF SUFFOCATION from the excessively large bite I had to take—, but I’ve never experienced such a texture in my mouth. The crust is so very soft and I can feel a sweet freshness in my mouth thanks to its warmness. Every bite seems like tasting something godsent, something a mere mortal like me shouldn’t even be getting his hands on.

This bread…IS TRULY PERFECT!

"But didn’t you say yesterday that you’d owe me one, Taichi-san?"

"There’s no way I could have said that!"

" ‘Sorry to make you go through the trouble of keeping the seat, Karasuma. I owe you one,’ " she says in an attempt to mimic my voice.

"You know, I definitely don't sound like that. Perhaps Fukuda-san might be able to mimic me accurately, given that her voice is kind of deep."

"Geez, don’t go off on tangents, Taichi-san!"

Her pouty face actually makes me want to pinch her cheeks —just for fun, of course—, but also urges me to reply immediately to her original question.

"Okay, I might have said that yesterday."

This time, she gives me ‘the look’.

"Okay, I did say that…"

"Good! So, now that you took the bread, you returned the favor!"

W-What favor…?

I now remember when and why I said that, but it came out on its own, I didn’t really mean to say it! I’m just not fond of the idea of having others do things for me in the first place...

Noticing that I didn’t leave a single crumb of the bread on my hands, she asks: "Did you get over your hunger for now?"

"Yeah, I definitely won’t be hungry again before classes end. Thank you, Karasuma!"

"You’re very much welcome, Taichi-san! Think of this as a way to pay you back for putting up with me yesterday! It’s the least I could do!"

"Putting up with you, you say..." I chuckle. "You know you're exaggerating now."

"Taichi-san, I know you’re just way too kind to make someone feel down. But you know, you followed me wherever I dragged you yesterday because of your kindness—"

"Don’t look at it that way," I cut her off. "Why do you have such an impression about yourself? You’re funny, friendly, caring, energetic, tenacious…that’s everything someone needs to have fun. The very fact that I chose to follow you doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun yesterday. After all, did I complain even once about that?"

It'd be better if we got rid of false impressions as soon as possible. It's obviously in her nature to be aware of what she is doing, but she shouldn't criticize herself this much.

Not paying much attention to Karasuma while saying this was proven to be a major blunder on my part.

A single tear dripped from each of her eyes, and then a small river.

WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DO WHAT DO I DO?!

I made a girl cry, this is anything but good news!

"Um…erm… Sorry, did I say anything rude without realizing?"

Panicked as to what I should say and do, this was the only thing I could manage to get out of my mouth.

"No, you didn’t, Taichi-san," she tries to wipe off her tears with her fingers, but they keep coming and coming. It's a good thing there's no one in the hallway right now, neither of us would want someone getting the wrong idea about this. "I was just really happy you said that...and I couldn’t hold back… I think I wanted to hear that from somebody."

"Is that…so…" I mutter in surprise.

Despite the fact that Karasuma is emotionally charged, I can’t hear any thoughts from her.

A little reminder: when someone else’s mental condition is unstable, I get to hear about double to triple the thoughts transmitted from them. My ability moderates this increase in information by cutting the time information is transmitted by that same amount; theoretically, this means I should be hearing a lot of thoughts from her, but this isn’t somehow the case right now.

Does that mean she can’t think of anything at the moment?

‘What Taichi-san said…these were my words exactly to Nazuna-chan, right? So that’s how she felt back then…’

Oh wait, never mind, this is something too.

A grand idea has just crossed my mind, although there is a major drawback for me…

"H-Here…use it…" I offer her the handkerchief I carry in my pocket. (I’m a clean freak after all, remember?)

JUST TAKE IT ALREADY, THE EMBARRASSMENT IS KILLING ME!

They make it seem so easy to do something like this in anime and manga, but if you give it some thought, it’s absolutely embarrassing!

Karasuma is caught off guard by my gesture for a second, but then extends her hand to take the handkerchief from me with gentle and soft movements to calm herself and her trembling hand. "Geez, Taichi-san, it’s like you can read my mind," she wipes off any tears on her face with it.

I partly can, actually…

"But..." her face gets slightly red, "...is being tenacious…a good thing?"

"If it weren’t, I would be calling you ‘persistent’ instead."

"You feel the same way then," she mutters in an extremely quiet voice, which I can barely hear.

Her expression right now is truly what you’d want to offer your entire life to protect.

Light blushing, a petite, trembling yet powerful smile to steal your heart and a lowered head that seeks comfort; IN OTHER WORDS, MOE!

"Shall we get going then, Karasuma?"

I couldn’t possibly bear to see her face if she were to go to the Council all alone. She’s being so kind to someone like me, so there's one reason to accompany her there.

I feel like I’m too dependent on my experiences with Saki that I don’t want to make Karasuma sad or disappointed; I’m entirely sure they’d both respond the same way.

And my hunch is right: after lifting her head to look me straight in the eye, Karasuma’s reply is a simple nodding accompanied by the same charming smile she was wearing before.

Thus, we are now headed towards the Student Council.