On the rooftop, Lu Chen and Noshiro leaned against the wall and opened their bento boxes.
"I humbly accept," Noshiro clasped her hands together and whispered.
"Cherry Blossom girl?" Lu Chen blurted out.
Noshiro looked confused. "What?"
Lu Chen muttered to himself, "No wonder the sense of incongruity is so severe. Eating lunch on a rooftop is such a Japanese custom. Where are you from?"
"I am from Sakura Empire," Noshiro's eyes flickered slightly.
Lu Chen was confused. "'Sakura Empire,' that's another name for Japan, right? Yes, the name Noshiro sounds like Sakura Empire. Strange, why did I just realize that?"
"It seems you've recovered some memory. That's a good thing," Noshiro picked up a piece of tempura and placed it in Lu Chen's bento box. "High-protein foods are good for the brain. Eat more."
Lu Chen felt uncomfortable with Noshiro's overly familiar style. Although, it might not be overly familiar—after all, feeding each other with chopsticks instead of mouth-to-mouth was a very restrained action for a couple—but he hadn't yet settled into the role of Noshiro's boyfriend.
"Why are you looking at me? Do I have something on my face?" Noshiro touched her cheek and immediately blushed. "You're not thinking something strange, are you?"
"Nothing," Lu Chen shook his head, lowered his head to eat his rice, and mumbled vaguely, "By the way, I encountered a person in red on the rooftop this morning. Cough, cough…"
Noshiro quickly took an insulated cup from behind her and handed it to Lu Chen, complaining, "You shouldn't talk while eating. Drink some water quickly."
Lu Chen disregarded the gender barrier, took a few sips of warm water to wash down the food, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew… I just felt the atmosphere was weird if I didn't talk."
"'Don't talk while eating or sleeping.' Isn't that an Dragon Empery idiom?" Noshiro countered.
Lu Chen nodded. "That's true. Wait, you said I am from Dragon Empery?"
"Of course. Is there any other place with a name like yours besides Dragon Empery?" Noshiro said. "And we use Chinese characters to communicate in class. Didn't you notice?"
"I don't remember it being called Dragon Empery, hmm, but the culture seems the same." Lu Chen gave up thinking. The more he remembered, the more questions arose, like an ever-expanding circle where the increased area meant more intersections with the unknown. "By the way, if you can, tell me about this city."
Noshiro shook her head and said seriously, "Not allowed. We'll talk after we finish eating."
The girl had a unique insistence on certain matters.
The two silently finished their respective bento boxes. Noshiro tried to serve Lu Chen food several times, but seeing him put the container to his mouth and wolf down the food, she could only give up the idea, showing a helpless, doting smile.
Looks like my cooking is pretty good.
After eating, Noshiro pointed to the corner of her mouth, handed Lu Chen a handkerchief, and said with suppressed laughter, "Use this to wipe your mouth."
Lu Chen took the handkerchief and casually asked, "How many handkerchiefs did you bring? I already got one dirty this morning, right?"
Noshiro's hands, which were putting away the bento boxes, suddenly froze. Her eyes darted away. Fortunately, she was looking down, and Lu Chen didn't notice. "Well, because we both might need them, I brought several handkerchiefs."
"Washing them must be a pain," Lu Chen commented.
Noshiro's tone was somehow guilty. "Ah, something like that."
"Since I've eaten so much of your food, I should help you with something. I'll take care of cleaning these up tonight," Lu Chen suggested.
"No!" Noshiro's voice suddenly rose. Seeing Lu Chen startle, she realized she had lost her composure and quickly fixed it. "I—I am determined to be a perfect girlfriend. You don't need to help me with these things. I will do them myself!"
Lu Chen explained, "I heard that love that is only one-sided won't last long. Mutual contribution is how proper love should look."
"Nonsense!" Noshiro refuted in a low voice. "I—I am a very traditional and classical girl. I even had special bridal training before! In short, in short, you don't need to worry about these chores. Just do what you want."
"The kind of tradition that involves staying overnight at the guy's place right after confirming the relationship?" Lu Chen couldn't help but quip.
Noshiro said decisively, "Love changes a person! Yes, that's it!"
Lu Chen looked up at the sky and said with a touch of melancholy, "This is the first time I've so desperately wanted to recover my memory. What exactly did I do to make you my girlfriend?"
"Actually, you didn't really pursue me," Noshiro looked a little embarrassed. "I guess I'm the one who threw myself at you."
?
Lu Chen suddenly thought of something, and his expression became strange. "Don't tell me it's because I'm the only guy in the whole academy, and you had no choice?"
"Of course not!" This sentence seemed to anger her. Noshiro's expression suddenly turned fierce. She cried out in shame and anger, "Even without them, even if you were the most unremarkable person in the crowd, I would still choose you, no matter how many times!"
Lu Chen was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why? I don't think I'm that special."
Noshiro stated frankly, "There is no why. If I have to say it, why does a human need to eat, why does a bird need to fly, why does a fish need to live underwater? That is my answer!"
After speaking, the girl stomped off toward the stairs with the bento boxes, clearly upset.
As she entered the stairwell, she saw something, her pupils suddenly contracted, and then she glared back defiantly. She immediately turned around, walked back to Lu Chen, and held out her hand. "Give it back to me."
"What?" Lu Chen was confused.
"The handkerchief," Noshiro looked Lu Chen in the eyes and said word by word, "I told you, you don't need to do these chores."
Taking the handkerchief back from Lu Chen's hand and carefully folding it, Noshiro left the rooftop again. As she passed the rooftop door, she let out a slight huff and walked away without looking back.
"How sneaky."
Lu Chen seemed to hear something, but his mind was elsewhere. He stared blankly at Noshiro's retreating figure and rubbed his forehead in annoyance.
He must have said the wrong thing, but Noshiro's affection for him hadn't dropped at all. He was becoming increasingly confused about their relationship.
It's so hard to guess a girl's mind.
Lu Chen sat on the floor, staring blankly at the sky. Just then, a flash of red appeared in his field of vision—the same shade of red he had seen this morning.
A JK in a red jacket, black tights, and glasses walked in. Her hair, like Lu Chen's, was black, but she had wine-red eyes. Her chest was unusually exaggeratedly large, almost bursting out of her white shirt.
The girl pulled on the yellow disciplinary committee armband on her left arm, held up her phone, and said smugly, "I saw it! Violating school rules by secretly being in a relationship! Student, you wouldn't want this to be reported to your parents, would you?"