"Hey, Nakano-kun, if Kirisu-sensei said something strict, don't take it to heart. Kirisu-sensei is a very good person, she's just… quite straightforward."
During lunch break, Kiyoura Setsuna sat across from Nakano Yu, taking out her bento and speaking.
"Don't worry, I just made a bet with Kirisu-sensei."
Seeing how worried the girl was about him, Nakano Yu gave her a reassuring look and said,
"A bet? Does Kirisu-sensei even do things like that?"
Hearing this, Kiyoura Setsuna still looked a little confused. In her impression, Kirisu Mafuyu was synonymous with seriousness, always surrounded by a chilling aura, as if the temperature around her suddenly dropped.
"Kirisu-sensei is still human, you know. She might seem cold on the surface, but in reality, she could be a homebody, you never know."
Nakano Yu said naturally, taking out the bento that Kiyoura Setsuna had given him.
Since Itsuki wanted to try the Shuchi'in Academy restaurant, she immediately went with Ichika and the others after class, while Nakano Yu had no interest in restaurants. Even though it was an aristocratic academy, they couldn't do anything too special with the food.
Seeing Nakano Yu take out the bento she made, Kiyoura Setsuna's cheeks flushed slightly. To hide her embarrassment, she clumsily began untying the cloth around the bento, but her slightly trembling hands couldn't apply enough strength, so it took her quite some time to open it.
When she finally finished, Kiyoura Setsuna dared to glance at Nakano Yu, only to find that he had already opened his bento and started eating lunch.
Watching Nakano Yu eat the tempura she had personally fried, Kiyoura Setsuna's lips curled slightly. She quietly hummed an unknown melody, then took a piece of tempura from her bento and put it into Nakano Yu's.
"Hm? Setsuna-san, you're…"
Seeing the girl's small gesture, Nakano Yu looked up in confusion.
"Since I see Nakano-kun likes it, eat more. Boys… have bigger needs."
With her head lowered, Kiyoura Setsuna's voice was very quiet, kept at a level only the two of them could hear.
Hearing this, Nakano Yu was momentarily speechless. Was Kiyoura Setsuna… feeding him?
Why did it sound so strange? What bigger needs? He, Nakano Yu, was pretty easy to satisfy, it was fine.
"Thank you, Setsuna-san."
Still, Nakano Yu didn't refuse Kiyoura Setsuna's kind offer.
Honestly, Kiyoura Setsuna's cooking skills were quite good. Hm, even better than Kotoha's. Speaking of which, Kotoha seemed to only know how to make lemonade, right?
"You're welcome…"
After Nakano Yu thanked her, Kiyoura Setsuna's smile became even sweeter. After that quiet reply, she lowered her head and began eating her bento.
Seeing that, Nakano Yu also continued eating, but soon after, Kiyoura Setsuna placed another octopus sausage in his bento.
Looking at the dark pink octopus sausage, Nakano Yu was momentarily unsure how to react.
Hadn't he already grown up? So why was Kiyoura Setsuna still worried he wouldn't eat enough?
"Setsuna-san, you eat too. You don't have to give me more."
Looking up at Kiyoura Setsuna, he saw that she was also looking at him, her eyes full of anticipation, as if waiting for him to eat the octopus sausage. To avoid ending up eating two bentos himself, Nakano Yu could only coax the girl to eat her own meal normally.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, Kiyoura Setsuna visibly slumped. She lowered her head and began poking at her bento, and Nakano Yu vaguely heard her quietly say,
"Nakano-kun doesn't like it… doesn't like it…"
"Setsuna-san's cooking skills are really good! Both the tempura and the octopus sausage are delicious. However, the taste is a little different. Did you make the octopus sausage yourself?"
Eating the octopus sausage, Nakano Yu spoke while chewing. This wasn't something he said just to comfort Kiyoura Setsuna; the taste of the octopus sausage was completely different from the frozen sausages from the market, without that industrial sweetness.
"Yes, my friend's family has a restaurant, so many things are homemade."
Kiyoura Setsuna nodded and, while speaking, recalled what her friend had said:
"Oh? Setsuna, do you like someone? Do you want me to help gather information about him?"
No, no, no! That's not it! It was something else:
"Kiyoura Setsuna, you have to know, to win over a man, you must win over his stomach. Even if it's just a bento, it has to be filled with love for him to feel it!"
Hm, that's what she said. Kiyoura Setsuna didn't quite understand what that meant. She just wanted to make a bento for Nakano Yu to thank him. In any case, Saionji Sekai surely had her reasons for saying that.
"I understand, it's really delicious."
Nakano Yu nodded and said thoughtfully. He had already roughly guessed who Kiyoura Setsuna's friend with a restaurant was; most likely it was Saionji Sekai.
Speaking of which, was Saionji Sekai at Shuchi'in Academy? She shouldn't be, right? After all, if Saionji Sekai were here, she surely wouldn't have allowed Kiyoura Setsuna to be bullied.
While thinking, Nakano Yu suddenly noticed Kiyoura Setsuna's slightly excited look after receiving praise and affirmation, so he quickly said:
"Setsuna-san, don't keep putting food in my plate. You also have to eat well to grow."
Hearing that, Kiyoura Setsuna, who had already wanted to put a piece of meat into Nakano Yu's bowl, immediately deflated. But since Nakano Yu said it, the girl could only nod. While eating, she suddenly noticed Nakano Yu looking at her.
Feeling Nakano Yu's gaze, Kiyoura Setsuna inexplicably became nervous. She quickly lowered her head and continued eating, not daring to meet his eyes, afraid of a chance glance.
Meanwhile, Nakano Yu was thinking about something: could Kiyoura Setsuna still grow? Would she remain a flat loli forever?! Wouldn't that mean a child would go hungry in the future?
Thinking about Katsura Kotohi and Katsura Manami, sometimes it was really frustrating to compare people. Genes really make a difference.
While Nakano Yu pondered that, someone was secretly watching them at the classroom door.
At that moment, Nakano Itsuki was crouching by the classroom door, acting suspiciously. If she weren't so beautiful, she'd probably have been mistaken for a thief.
"That girl, another one I haven't seen before."
Looking at Nakano Yu, Nakano Itsuki muttered to herself.
Just yesterday, when she saw Fujiwara Chiku, Nakano Itsuki was confused. They had never attended Shuchi'in Academy, so how did Nakano Yu know the girls from there? And their relationship was so good, they immediately hugged and behaved intimately.
At first, Nakano Itsuki thought she was the only one who hadn't met Fujiwara Chiku. But today, during lunch, she talked with Ichika and the others and found out that neither Ichika nor the others knew Fujiwara Chiku.
If that's the case, then the situation was serious. It meant that Nakano Yu was seeing other women behind their backs!
"Damn it! Didn't Yu say he'd choose among us? How… how is it like this now… no wonder he didn't come eat with us today!"
She cursed quietly, her tone filled with resentment, like a pure girl whose feelings Nakano Yu had toyed with before leaving.
Nakano Yu naturally noticed Nakano Itsuki's gaze. He smiled and waved to her from the door, signaling her to come.
Seeing she had been discovered, Nakano Itsuki quickly straightened up, letting out a "hmph," and entered the classroom to her seat.
"Um, Nakano-kun, Nakano-kun looks angry."
Noticing Nakano Itsuki's mood wasn't good, Kiyoura Setsuna quietly warned him.
"Ah, I see. Also, Setsuna-san, from now on just call me Yu. It's not complicated."
Looking at Nakano Itsuki sulking and curled up at her seat, Nakano Yu nodded. After hearing Kiyoura Setsuna's words, he felt a slight discomfort, so he asked her to call him by name in the future.
"Yu?! Is… is that okay?"
Hearing this, Kiyoura Setsuna looked honored, her voice for a moment reaching Nakano Itsuki's ears.
Hearing that, Nakano Itsuki's mind, which Nakano Yu was already used to seeing after watching various melodramatic TV shows, instantly created a dozen school romance dramas, and her face darkened immediately.
"Yu, how could you…"
But Nakano Itsuki remained silent for a long time, then suddenly collapsed onto her desk, her voice tinged with the trace of a sob.
"Of course, it's fine. I've finished eating. Thank you for the bento, Setsuna-san. It was delicious."
Nakano Yu nodded. After that, he put the last few bites of rice from the bento into his mouth, stood up, and went to Nakano Itsuki to comfort her.
Kiyoura Setsuna watched the scene and said nothing. She quietly packed her bento, tore a sheet of paper from her notebook, wrote her phone number, and placed it on Nakano Yu's desk.
From the beginning, she wanted to exchange contact information with Nakano Yu, but earlier her mind had been too occupied with embarrassment. Now it wasn't appropriate to do it directly, so this was the only way.
However, was it just her imagination? Why did she feel that Nakano Itsuki's gaze toward Nakano Yu was… very strange?
Well, she must have imagined it, probably.
"Click, click."
"Hey, Shinomiya Kaguya~ Let's go play board games together."
In the Student Council office, Fujiwara Chika, who had finished lunch, was playing with the stress-relief toy Nakano Yu had given her and spoke to Shinomiya Kaguya, who was handling Shuchi'in Academy affairs.
"No, I'm not interested in playing. If Fujiwara Chika is bored, there are documents on the table that Secretary Fujiwara needs to process."
Shinomiya Kaguya flipped through the documents, mercilessly rejecting Fujiwara Chika, even trying to drag her into work.
"Eh! Suddenly I remembered the cactus in the board game club hasn't been watered! I'll go first! Kagu…"
Hearing this, Fujiwara Chika abruptly stood up, as if she suddenly remembered something, and while speaking, headed toward the office door.
"Fujiwara Chika, it's easy to get beaten if you leave sentences unfinished."
Hearing Fujiwara Chika's voice disappear from the office, Shinomiya Kaguya said without lifting her head.
But after a long moment of silence, Shinomiya Kaguya got no response.
"Tick, tock, tick, tock…"
The Student Council office was eerily silent, and the ticking of the wall clock was extremely clear.
"Hm?"
Noticing something was wrong, Shinomiya Kaguya looked up, but Fujiwara Chika was no longer in the office.
"She already left?"
Looking at the half-open door, Shinomiya Kaguya frowned.
That damn woman with huge breasts, the stinky teacup, didn't even close the door! Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have dragged this person into the Student Council.
Shinomiya Kaguya cursed inwardly. She had just taken the position of Student Council president, and too many council members had resigned at once. That's why she impulsively brought in this unreliable stinky woman, Fujiwara Chika.
But now that it was done, Shinomiya Kaguya had no choice. She still had to find an accountant, otherwise the funding issues for various school clubs would be very difficult to solve.
Thinking about that, Shinomiya Kaguya went toward the door. Just as she wanted to close it, her peripheral vision caught something incredible, which instantly froze Shinomiya Kaguya.
Outside the hallway window, where the noon sun should have been, everything was now terrifyingly crimson. But that wasn't what shocked Shinomiya Kaguya. What startled the girl was that in front of the window, there was a monster, its body huge like a tall building, emitting thick black mist, hanging with its head bowed, as if it had fallen into a deep sleep!
Staring at the monster for a long time, Shinomiya Kaguya quietly retreated back into the office. After gently closing the door, cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
At that moment, Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't think of anything else; her mind was filled with a single question:
"What the hell is that?"