Chapter 12

The teacher left the classroom when the bell rang signaling the end of 4th period and the start of lunch. Shinozaki had left the classroom since he had a meeting with his clubmates about their practice during the holidays.

As I stand up to leave the classroom to get lunch, Hirose comes with her shaking blonde hair. This is something I’m used to seeing these days.

「Amane」

When I was about to walk past her and head for the store, she tapped my shoulder and called me out.

「What?」

「Here.」

She bluntly offered me a cute cloth bag.

「You can consider this as my thanks for last Friday. You took care of Akari and Takuya after all. And, well, it looks like Amane has stopped bringing your own lunch.」

Hirose said those while playing with the end of her hair with her fingers.

「It’s not like you need to thank me. Besides, I think the letter is enough. Well, since you made it for me, I’m grateful.」

I’m starting to wonder if Shinozaki was lying when he said he needs to go to his club.

「Oh, and, uhm, would you like to eat with me?」

I braced myself. What’s with this invitation to eat together?

Those lines made the girls in the classroom look at us with eyes full of interest.

I think what you’re imagining is wrong. However, I don’t want to be exposed to these stares while eating.

「Can’t you?」

Along with Hirose’s words, a sharp gaze from Ashi-san flies from the edge of the classroom.

「Maa, it’s fine.」

It’s not like I was mesmerized by Hirose’s upward gaze. I was just scared of Ashi-san. After telling that to myself over and over again, I went back to my seat and Hirose sat down on Shinozaki’s chair facing me.

Aren’t you too close? This is a small desk. I think you should get a new one.

「Itadakimasu」

「Ehto, have some?」

Why is it a question? Maa, I certainly understand. What’s the right way to ask someone to eat the food you’ve made?

When I opened the lunch box, I saw that her cooking had improved compared to last time. I started with the main dish, fried chicken.

「Yeah, it’s delicious.」

「Thank you. By the way, have you decided on the present for your cousin?」

「I’ve decided on the block that Yuna suggested.」

「I see. I hope she likes it.」

Maa, it cost me a lot of money so I’ll return it if she doesn’t like it. However, that thing’s really expensive. It was great because I was able to buy it at a discounted price during a sale but I won’t be able to buy anything for my other cousin now. They don’t like the idea of sharing so I guess they’ll start a fight over it if we don’t buy for two of them….

-0-

Hirose and I talked about a few other trivial things as we ate Hirose’s lunch.

-0-

After eating lunch, Hirose did not leave her seat.

Maybe it’s because we don’t have much in common or perhaps, we’ve already run out of things we can talk about, I’m already at my limit. Isn’t it about time to implement the conversation option in real life?

「Ano, Amane.」

Hirose could no longer stand the silence and opened her mouth. I’m sorry that it was you who had to think of something but please forgive me. I don’t even have a single topic I could squeeze out any more.

「D-do you want to exchange contacts?」

「Why?」

I replied reflexively.

「Why? It’s because it’s convenient.」

「I already told you before, I’m only using it as my alarm clock at home and don’t use it very much. Maa, I guess it’s okay, add it.」

I unlocked my phone and handed it to her. I don’t know how to add contacts yet.

「Eh? No chat app?」

「If you can’t find anything, it means I don’t have it. Maybe I have put something there but I’m not using it.」

Are you telling me that high school students these days don’t use the existing ones to contact each other? Is there a need for another communication tool? Come to think of it, Yuna did say something similar.

「Okay, it’s done. It would be nice to receive a special email or phone call from Amane.」

You did it already? Isn’t that too fast? As expected of a high school girl, her typing speed is incredible. Perhaps it is true that high school girls have evolved fingers that make it easier for them to communicate using cell phones. It might be the discovery of the century if I investigate it and present it at an academic conference. However, to find out, I’d have to talk to high school girls which is something I can’t do.

「I’ll take my leave.」

When I unlocked the cell phone I just got back and checked the contacts, I saw the name Mei Hirose added to the bottom. The number of the registered contact is too small to see without tapping it.

When I was about to put my phone away, which hasn’t added anyone on the contact list, I heard a beeping sound. It looks like I received a text message.

“I may contact you from time to time so please reply if you notice! Don’t ignore me!”

The sender was Hirose, who had just returned to her group with a satisfied look on her face.

When she realized that I was reading her text, she turned to me and smiled.

If I wasn’t me, I would have definitely misunderstood her smile. For a moment, I also had a silly idea in my mind but I shook my head and it flew away.