Kita suddenly realized—
The chopsticks she was using… were the same ones she'd just used to feed Aoki.
Her movements immediately became awkward and careful, her hands stiff with tension.
Sneaking a guilty glance at him, her eyes met his perfectly.
They stared at each other for a moment.
Aoki blinked.
He had been planning to gently remind her—but now that she'd already eaten with them, what was the point?
Sharing food like this… it's not that strange, right? Friends do that all the time.
…Right?
With a faintly helpless sigh, he averted his gaze, picked up the new pair of chopsticks Kita had handed him earlier, and quietly took a bite from his lunch box.
Meanwhile, Kita's already pink cheeks turned completely red as she caught that small look from Aoki.
She quickly turned away, robotically scooping up a few grains of rice like she was on autopilot.
'He's definitely going to misunderstand, isn't he?'
'He's going to think I did that on purpose…'
'Does he think I'm weird? What if he starts avoiding me?! Should I explain it? Wait, how do I even—'
Her thoughts spiraled as she finished her meal, her mood swinging wildly between anxiety and panic.
But—
As soon as Aoki finished eating and thanked her with a soft, genuine smile, her spirits bounced back up.
Avoiding the whole chopsticks incident entirely, she snapped her bento shut and, after a moment of hesitation, turned to him and asked with an adorably flustered tone:
"S-So, Kei-senpai! I'll bring your lunch again tomorrow, okay? Is there anything you'd like?"
In the end, despite his best attempts, Aoki couldn't talk her out of it.
He still wasn't used to burdening others, and the idea of someone going out of their way just for him made him feel uncomfortable.
But Kita had been insistent.
"You've been helping me with so many things, Senpai! This is just returning the favor. Mutual support between friends, right~?"
Coming from the countryside in Tottori, Aoki wasn't entirely sure if this kind of "friendship" was how things normally worked in Tokyo.
'Does friendship here include… mandatory bento service?'
And even if he could accept that—
Indirect kisses through shared chopsticks…
'That's still totally not normal, right?'
But with no one to ask and no better answers, Aoki shoved those questions to the back of his mind and went to class.
That afternoon, they had History and Japanese.
After school, he took the train home, ate dinner, read a bit, washed up, and went to bed.
A slightly unusual Tuesday ended peacefully.
———————————————————————
The next day: Wednesday
During morning homeroom, Aoki sat at his desk reading The Little Prince, the same French edition he'd been slowly working through.
As he turned another page, he heard the sound of heels approaching and glanced up just as Hiratsuka Shizuka, their teacher, knocked lightly on his desk.
"No more reading for now," she said. "I need to go over some things about the school trip."
"Okay," Aoki nodded.
Hiratsuka made her way to the front and Aoki slid a bookmark into place, gently closing his book.
October 23rd—the school trip starts tomorrow.
They'd be gone for five days, heading to Kyoto.
Kyoto… That's where Uji is.
Famous for its matcha.
He'd heard the matcha chocolate there was delicious…
HIratsuka clapped her hands once, grabbing the attention of the class.
The chatter instantly died down.
"You all know by now—tomorrow is our school trip. Destination: Kyoto." She glanced across the classroom, her lab coat slightly flaring as she stepped forward.
"Meet here at 9 AM sharp. We'll take a bus together. Now, a few important reminders, so listen carefully—"
"First, about accommodations. Our class will be lodging together with another school—by coincidence, they chose the same dates and place. I assume no one has any objections?"
Of course, even if someone did, it wouldn't change anything.
She was just asking out of formality.
Still… Another school?
Aoki suddenly remembered—
Didn't Kita mention that Nijika and Ryo from Shimokitazawa High were also going on their school trip around this time?
'No way… it couldn't be that much of a coincidence, could it?'
On the podium, Shizuka continued:
"Next is the itinerary. I'll be in charge of our class schedule. During your free time, you'll be allowed to explore on your own—but you must travel in groups of at least two, and always prioritize your personal safety. Got that?"
She kept going—listing more rules and reminders, but most of it was standard and fairly boring.
Aoki zoned out and returned to his book.
He ended up finishing the final pages of The Little Prince before homeroom ended.
By now, he could read French smoothly.
'Guess I've gotten the hang of it.'
As the bell rang, Aoki did something he hadn't done in a while—he opened the [Love Obstacle System] interface in his mind.
He skimmed through the screen and focused on the "Personal Skills" section:
Acquired Skills:
Master-Level Guitar
Expert-Level Singing
Master-Level Piano
Master-Level Keyboard
Master-Level Synthesizer
Master-Level Organ
Master-Level Self-Directed Learning
Proficient-Level French
Advanced-Level Japanese
Advanced-Level Chinese ...and a handful of scattered novice-level skills he didn't bother to check.
Of note—Cooking wasn't even at novice level.
Not even close to beginner.
Which made Aoki question if all his recent practice had been totally pointless.
Maybe some things really do come down to talent…
Still, he could make basic stuff like tomato and egg stir-fry.
Shouldn't that count as beginner level?
The system's ranking criteria were always vague. Aoki still didn't fully get it.
Like with French—
He felt like his French ability was nearly on par with his Japanese now, but the system still listed it a rank lower.
There were no clear rules for how it judged things.
But obsessing over it wouldn't help. As long as his actual skills worked in real life, that was enough.
He closed the system panel just as the next class bell rang.
With The Little Prince finished, he pulled out his textbook and began reviewing what he'd already learned.