CH 55.2

「Chi-hi-ro!」

He woke up to find a steamy meal on the table. The main dish is Chicken Nanban. Apparently, the main dish is meat, considering the tiredness from the sport festival. Even the tartar sauce seemed to be homemade, and he could see that there are plenty of vegetables.

「Where's Maria?」

「Hmm, she hasn't woken up yet. That room is soundproof, so I can't hear what's going on inside」

「I see」

Maybe he should wait a little longer. But as soon as he thought of it, the smell of sweet and sour sauce tickled his nose, and his stomach made a nice noise.

Riko chuckled and walked back to the kitchen.

「It feels bad for her, but let's eat first」

With that, they eat first. The rice is freshly cooked and the chicken is richly seasoned. In addition to the rice, there is a radish salad, pickles, and miso soup. Chihiro is rather worried about eating too much.

「Hey, Chihiro」

「Hmm?」

Riko looked at him up and down as she ate.

「Sorry, I forgot to tell you...」

「Yes」

「Takatsuki-san might have found out about us」

He nearly spewed out his mouthful of food.

「W-Why?」

「We had lunch together today, right? And she saw my lunch」

As he recalled, Riko had made lunch for Maria today.

And Riko and Maria were eating lunch with Aika.

Trying to hold back a headache, Chihiro said as calmly as he could.

「Riko?」

「Ah, haha. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I was just careless. But the other girls didn't know」

Aika didn't seem to be prying too deeply.

She just said, "I see you two share a lunch box".

「...What do you think?」

「Well, I think she knows」

「Of course...」

Chihiro and Riko, their relationship is already known. If Riko and Maria are found to have something in common, as if they were living together, it is natural for people to suspect their relationship.

「Well, actually, that doesn't necessarily mean that it didn't affect Takatsuki-san's attitude this afternoon」

「Maria」

Maria, wearing only her underwear and clutching her clothes, appeared in the living room.

「It's okay. As for the scavenger hunt, my point of view is as I said. Like Riko said, eventually you'll have to assault her. Don't you like it?」

「Please don't say anything I don't want to hear... but I'm not denying it」

「No, you should deny it. You know」

Well, it's not clear.

Maria and the others say they don't know if Aika hates me. If they're right, Chihiro might still have a chance.

「...Either way, maybe after the vacations」

「Yeah. I hope it's after the vacations」

She may or may not be anticipating something.

Maria chuckled and went to the bathroom to take a shower.