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Lunchtime.
Since he hadn't prepared a bento and was a bit tired of the bread from the school store, Asakura uncharacteristically decided to eat at the cafeteria today.
"Set A and Set B..."
Although most of the time the sets were fixed, perhaps to prevent students from getting tired of them, the contents of the sets would rotate every so often.
However, most of the time it was a combination of rice and noodle dishes.
For example, today's Set A was shrimp fried rice with dumplings, and Set B was Kumamoto ramen, with a choice of salt or miso flavor.
"I've heard about it before, but there really are people who eat dumplings with rice..."
Asakura muttered to himself. For some reason, he recalled the scene where Yanami had earnestly bragged, "Set A + Set B is the best."
Should I try that?
After calmly considering for half a second, Asakura decisively abandoned such an overly greedy ordering method.
After all, his appetite was only that of a normal person, and the amount of two sets would be a bit too much. Wasting food was not a good habit.
So Asakura just bought a single meal ticket for Set B and went to the counter to pick up his meal.
"Oh, is it okay to eat just this much? There's still physical education class this afternoon, you know."
Suddenly, Yanami poked her head out from behind him, looking at the Kumamoto miso ramen Asakura had ordered, and said.
"Even if you say that, Soubu High School's ramen set is already equivalent to an 'extra serving of noodles' at a regular ramen shop, you know?"
After all, teenagers in their growth spurt can eat a lot, so regardless of the taste of the school's sets, at least the quantity was reliable.
"That's just because ramen shop noodles are too little, right?"
The girl said indifferently: "Besides, I've hardly ever been to a ramen shop."
"Eh?"
Asakura looked at her in surprise: "Really? I thought you'd definitely be a regular at some ramen shop."
"For a girl, going to a ramen shop alone is too difficult."
Yanami mumbled.
"Speaking of which, why are you here?"
Asakura looked at her curiously: "I thought you always brought your bento?"
"Of course, it's because I saw Asakura-kun rarely coming to the cafeteria to eat, so I wanted to enjoy Soubu High School's delicious food with you."
Yanami said with quite a goddess-like demeanor.
"The truth?"
"Mom overslept and didn't prepare my bento."
"I see."
"Asakura-kun doesn't come to the cafeteria to eat very often, does he?"
The girl asserted.
"Indeed, how did you figure that out?" Asakura asked, somewhat curious.
"Because usually, after getting food, people immediately go to find a seat. Otherwise, they'd be stuck standing foolishly in the cafeteria with their tray for a long time. It's rare to see someone like Asakura-kun still chatting leisurely with others."
"You must have been looking over here…" Asakura retorted.
The girl raised her chin towards him, signaling him to hurry up: "Asakura-kun, quickly go find a place to sit, and save a spot for me too. I'm about to go get my food."
With that, the girl scurried off.
Asakura helplessly circled the cafeteria, but unfortunately, he couldn't find a seat.
Actually, Soubu High School's cafeteria was quite large, comparable to an auditorium in terms of area. However, with tables and chairs placed inside, the usable space was naturally reduced by more than half.
Adding to that, many students, even after finishing their meals, still occupied their seats, ultimately leading to many latecomers being unable to find a place.
Asakura looked around and chose a group of popular students who were clearly finished eating but still occupying seats and chattering. He blew an almost imperceptible whistle towards them.
The next moment.
"Snake! There's a Snake!"
The person who seemed to be the leader of that group shrieked, instantly scaring the people around them, who also jumped up and frantically searched for the Snake.
The kitchen staff immediately ran out to maintain order, but they couldn't find the Snake the other party mentioned. They only picked up a chopstick from the ground, concluding that the other party had probably mistaken a fallen chopstick for a Snake.
The students were speechless and could only leave dejectedly, while Asakura took the opportunity to sit in their spot.
"How lucky," Yanami Anna said, arriving with her tray at that moment. She sat down casually across from him, happily saying, "I thought I'd have to wait a long time for a seat. What was that commotion just now? Was there really a Snake?"
"Just a hallucination caused by someone lacking manners and public decency." Asakura nonchalantly picked up a pair of disposable chopsticks and broke them apart.
They ended up being one long and one short.
"Pfft, it seems Asakura-kun's training still has a long way to go. Someone like me, who often eats in the cafeteria, is already familiar with how to use disposable chopsticks. Watch closely!"
Snap.
"Didn't you break yours too?"
"…As long as they end up the same length, it's fine!"
"You can't eat disposable chopsticks, don't gnaw on them! Why do you inexplicably get so competitive only in these strange situations?!"
"Asakura-kun, don't you know?"
"What?"
"As the saying goes, the dining hall is a battlefield! From the distant Ediacaran period until now, all living creatures have continuously honed themselves for the sake of eating! This is the inheritance and evolution of billions of years. As humans, how can we abandon our obsession with food?! To eat or be eaten, that is the question!"
"I don't think it's such a grand topic at all. Rather, you shouldn't twist famous quotes so wantonly. Shakespeare would cry."
"A thousand people have a thousand kinds of disposable chopsticks in their mouths!"
"No one eats disposable chopsticks except you!"
"Because they're made from fast-growing forest wood, they don't harm ordinary forests, so they're very environmentally friendly."
"Is that something to be proud of?"
Asakura sighed: "So what exactly did you want to see me for? Just to eat?"
"Actually, it's about Yakishio-san." The girl put down her gnawed and pitted chopsticks and looked at Asakura seriously: "I think, this is far enough."
"Huh?"
"I know Asakura-kun is a soft-hearted person, which is why you're concerned about Yakishio-san and Ayano. But sometimes, I think letting two people who rely on each other face the unknown future together might be a better choice than planning out their future path for them from the start. Asakura-kun, if you get a girlfriend in the future, you definitely wouldn't like it if someone dictated your future, right?"
Perhaps feeling she had been too serious, the girl showed an embarrassed smile: "And you know, many people grow up hearing 'It's all for your own good' and end up following the future arranged by their parents. Even if that is objectively the safest path, they will ultimately feel a sense of regret, whether it's for their dreams, sweet love, or extra char siu ramen."
She usually seemed silly, but in reality, she was unexpectedly perceptive, quite delicate in some ways, yet very blunt in many others.
Facing such a girl's persuasion, Asakura returned a smile.
"Well said, so I'll take your char siu."
"Eh?! I was saving that for last!"
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