Chapter 76: An Invitation to Lunch from Horikita Suzune
After seeing Sakura Airi off, Katsuragi Keima had just sat down and was preparing to play.
A lot of time had already been wasted, but the second game console Airi provided would come in handy. Two handhelds, two consoles. Now he could only catch up by conquering four games simultaneously!
In "God of Conquest" mode, Keima could even handle six games at once. He sat down with feverish impatience and reached for the controller.
But the knocking on the door sounded once again.
"..."
Keima let out a long sigh. Was it really this hard to just play a game? Who was it this time?
Feeling a sense of helplessness, he stood up and pushed the door open. Standing before him was Horikita Suzune.
"Horikita?"
"Why aren't you replying to my messages?" Horikita frowned, her gaze focusing on Keima.
"Oh, did you message me? I was busy just now."
Keima finally pulled out his terminal and saw the message Horikita had sent twenty minutes ago.
[Horikita Suzune]: Have you eaten lunch?
"Busy?"
Horikita's gaze shifted to the gaming setup behind Keima. This was her first time inside his dorm room. The guy was clearly just playing games; the storage shelves nearby were packed with various game cartridges.
However, Horikita wasn't clear on why someone from Class A would come to Keima...
Wait. Horikita's eyes fell on the desk.
'Why does this guy have two consoles?'
That girl from Class A, Sakayanagi Arisu, had sent him one, so where did the other one come from? Did Keima have that many points? When she had seen the handheld Keima bought in the electronics section previously, the price hadn't been cheap. Adding all these cartridges, it must have cost a fortune.
'Did Keima buy all of this himself?'
That wasn't the only thing puzzling her. She noticed that the screens of all four devices were lit up.
'Could this guy actually be playing four games at the same time?'
But these matters weren't the priority for Horikita. She refocused on Keima's face.
"You haven't eaten lunch, have you?" she said. She had seen Keima moving his equipment back earlier and figured he wouldn't be going to the cafeteria.
"Correct. I was planning to go to the convenience store later to buy some bread. Today is a rare lunch break, after all," Keima replied immediately. "Why do you ask?"
"Since you haven't eaten, it just so happens I prepared food for you."
As she spoke, Horikita raised her hand, lifting a large insulated bag.
"This is?"
Without waiting for Keima to finish, Horikita walked straight in and began taking items out of the bag. Inside were several beautifully packed insulated containers, some even decorated with cute stickers.
"I happened to make some food in my dorm at noon, so let's eat together. I brought rice for you as well."
Horikita arranged the colorful lunchboxes on the table one by one and opened the lids. Steaming dishes were revealed, their colors vibrant and their rich aroma enough to easily entice anyone's appetite.
"You made all of this?" Keima looked at Horikita with some surprise.
"Of course. Cooking is a necessary skill for me, though I'm sure it can't compare to a professional restaurant." Horikita spoke modestly, yet she sounded quite confident in her culinary abilities.
"Why are you being so helpful?"
"I made too much for lunch, so I specifically set some aside for you."
"Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"This looks like enough for two or three people," Keima frowned. "And you asked if I was in half an hour ago. It's clearly intentional."
"Discussing that is meaningless; eating is what's important."
"You aren't going to wait until I've finished and then suddenly say, 'You ate my cooking, so you have to help me with something,' are you?"
Horikita simply served herself some rice and picked up her chopsticks, remaining silent.
"Hey, hey, at least argue with me..."
"Honestly, since you've found me out, I'll be direct with you."
"It was hard not to notice," Keima muttered softly. His hand holding the chopsticks hadn't moved an inch. "And can't you change your tactics? Is it always going to be related to food? Wouldn't it be better to send me a game like you did before?"
"I refuse."
"You didn't even consider it for a second?"
"I just wanted to ask: how exactly are you teaching the people in your study group?" Horikita leaned forward, her eyes full of curiosity.
"How am I teaching?"
"Yes. Although our study group has been established, the actual results aren't good." Horikita sighed.
The members of her study group were the class's "troublemaker trio." There had been small quizzes in several classes recently, and those three were consistently ranked second, third, and fourth from the bottom. The absolute bottom was, naturally, Elsie.
Even though Horikita's personality had softened considerably since that night, she still felt helpless regarding those three. They found every excuse to skip study sessions, and even when they attended, they were distracted. Horikita felt speechless; she didn't know how to reach them. That was why she came to ask Keima for advice today.
"Well, just ignore them then," Keima replied.
"Ignore them?"
"Anyway, the agreement between me and Chabashira-sensei has been terminated, and I'm not very interested in class promotion, so it doesn't matter if our bet becomes invalid." Keima yawned and finally picked up his chopsticks. Since he had answered the question, he felt he was entitled to eat. He picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.
!!!!
In that instant, Keima's eyes almost watered. It was meat! Real meat! Meat that humans could actually consume! It didn't suddenly start squirming or twisting in his mouth!
"That won't do. If the people in the class drag us down, it will be impossible for us to keep moving forward."
"If they fail the exams, they'll be expelled. If that happens, wouldn't our class's average academic level effectively rise? Besides, if they truly fail, it's not your fault but theirs. As high schoolers, they need to take responsibility for their own actions."
As Keima spoke, he picked up another dish and put it in his mouth. The taste was genuinely good. At least on the scale of human-edible food, Horikita had won by a landslide.
"But that night you said that 'treating everyone around me as a burden' was my weakness." Horikita's brow furrowed. It was clear she still cared deeply about the events of that night.
"That is your weakness, but I also said afterward that you don't necessarily have to change it. No one is perfect. It is the combination of strengths and weaknesses that makes you unique."
Keima's gaze focused on Horikita's face. Their eyes met, and Horikita's cheeks flushed slightly. She quickly looked down and took several large bites of rice.
"Why do you always say such bizarre things?"
"Bizarre? I'm just speaking my mind. Whether you want to change or not is your own will; no one can sway you—not your brother, and certainly not me."
Keima picked up another piece of meat. "However, there is one thing I should remind you of. I believe the school won't let students be expelled unconditionally. I suspect that if a student is expelled, class points will likely be deducted."
"If that's the case, we really should avoid expulsions as much as possible—"
"No, I think it might be the opposite. If there are people in the class who truly can't be helped, then even if you save them this time, their grades won't be high. They will continue to drag down the average. Over the next three years, they might have a long-term negative effect on the class. If the average remains at the bottom because of them, the gap between us and the upper classes will only grow."
Keima's expression grew serious. "The resulting losses might be far higher than the points deducted for an expulsion."
Hearing Keima's words, Horikita nodded slightly in agreement. After a few seconds of thoughtful silence, she spoke again:
"Since you no longer have the desire for class promotion, why are you continuing to hold study groups?"
Horikita was curious. According to his logic, he had no motivation left, and given his personality of avoiding trouble, he should have stopped. But he hadn't.
"It's not for the sake of promotion, but because I don't want the friends beside me to face the risk of expulsion—especially those I value."
Keima suddenly looked up, staring straight at Horikita. "So, Horikita, don't get expelled!"
"I won't get expelled! How could I ever fail a test?!" Horikita said immediately. But she suddenly realized something, and her cheeks turned even redder.
'What does he mean by "people I value"?!'
"W-W-What are you saying?!"
"For me, you really are different from the other classmates, Horikita."
"Saying bizarre things all day! But... but let me tell you clearly, failing is absolutely impossible for me, so you don't need to worry! If a problem of this level could stop me, it would only prove that I'm nothing special."
Horikita adjusted her expression and spoke to Keima. Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open. Elsie walked in carrying a bag.
"Kami-nii-sama! I've finished making today's lunch!" Elsie had an eager smile on her face.
After delivering Keima's console, she had immediately left to find suitable ingredients to show off her cooking skills once more. But as soon as she opened the door, she saw Horikita.
"Eh, Horikita-san? Why are you here?"
"Elsie?" Horikita was surprised by how Elsie had walked straight in. She thought she had closed the door behind her.
"Elsie is my sister, so I gave her a spare key," Keima interjected, guessing what Horikita was thinking.
"I see."
"Wow, did you make all of this, Horikita-san!? That's amazing!"
"It's just basic cooking. Speaking of which, Elsie, did you prepare a meal too?" Horikita's gaze fell on the bag in Elsie's hand.
"That's right! Since Horikita-san is here, you should try some too!" Elsie spoke as she impatiently pulled a lunchbox from the bag and placed it on the table.
"W-Wait a minute! The food Horikita prepared is already plenty! Yours isn't necessary, Elsie! We'll eat it tonight!" Keima rushed forward, trying to stop her.
Elsie's cooking... must absolutely not be seen by others.
"Eh! Kami-nii-sama! That won't do! This was just killed—it's fresh! It won't taste good if we wait until tonight!" Elsie said hurriedly.
"Just killed?" Horikita's brow furrowed. She thought she had misheard, so she didn't think much of it and continued, "Since Elsie is here, we might as well eat together. She said it won't be fresh tonight, and I'm a bit curious about your cooking, Elsie-san."
"That's right, Horikita-san! Let me show you my skills! It will definitely make your jaw drop!"
"Hey, wait—"
Without giving Keima a chance to refuse, Elsie flipped open her lunchbox. Upon seeing the contents, even the normally calm Horikita froze instantly.
Inside the container were things that looked like octopus tentacles, only longer and thinner, with even more "texture" on the skin. It looked like it had been simply prepared—
presumably—but even so, it was constantly twisting and spinning inside the box, as if trying to escape, nearly crawling out onto the table.
'What... is this thing?'
The hand Horikita used to hold her chopsticks began to tremble.
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