CH 11

Aizawa, let's eat together

Translated by Dawn

Aizawa, let’s eat together

At the beginning of the week, I left home a little earlier than usual.

It was not by chance that I woke up early in the morning, but I had a good reason for this.

“We’ll go to and from school together. It’ll give us more credibility.”

That was what she said to me when I called Mizutani last weekend.

Did we have to go that far? I had to admit that I didn’t think it was necessary.

But it was also true that Yamamoto was not going to give up unless we gave some credence to the fact that we were dating. Besides, we had often taken the same train when we left for school, let alone when we went to school. I reminded myself that my life wasn’t going to change much, and I agreed.

When I arrived at the station, I saw a blonde girl leaning against a pillar in front of the ticket gate.

Mizutani was fiddling with her phone in a bored manner while attracting the gazes of passersby.

“Morning.”

When she realized I was there, she tucked her phone into her skirt pocket and said.

I’d been wondering for a while now what was going on with the girls’ uniform skirts.

Not in a weird way, I was genuinely curious.

“Morning.”

“It’s a little early, isn’t it? Are you okay?”

“…yeah, of course.”

“Lie, you look sleepy.”

Mizutani smiled.

Her smile was stimulating in the morning.

I turned away from Mizutani.

“It’s fine, let’s just go to school.”

“Un.” nodded Mizutani.

***

When we arrived at our destination station on the train, Mizutani and I started walking to school side by side.

We had walked together before when going from school to the station, but this was the first time the other way around.

There were a good number of students from our high school on the way to school, and a few of them looked at us as if they were possessed by a fox. I was nervous the whole time.

Mizutani, on the other hand, was walking with confidence.

She was so accustomed to being the center of attention that her mannerisms could almost be described as modeling. I was beginning to realize the importance of pretending to be Mizutani’s boyfriend.

When we arrived at the school building and entered the classroom together, the room was silent for a moment.

Soon after that, the air returned to its usual atmosphere, but I think some of the guys were talking about me and Mizutani. With them in the background, Mizutani and I each took our seats.

After that, everything went surprisingly well, and lunchtime arrived.

As soon as the chime rang, Mizutani came to my seat.

“Aizawa, let’s eat together.”

For the first time in a long time since the morning, the classroom was buzzing and noisy.

I see. So this is also part of the strategy to appeal to others.

She was very thorough, huh?

“Sure, but where should we eat?”

“I have an idea.”

Mizutani said so and left the classroom.

I guess she was asking me to follow her.

I grabbed my lunch box and followed Mizutani out of the classroom.

My classmates’ eyes followed my back.

Mizutani was waiting for me in the hallway.

“Let’s go, then.”

Following Mizutani, I went down to the first floor.

We passed through the hallway in front of the courtyard and headed for the least popular part of the school building.

It’s certainly not noticeable around here, but…

“You know, Mizutani.”

I said boldly to Mizutani, who turned around.

“I don’t think having dinner together where no one is watching is going to appeal to others.”

“…Right.”

Mizutani was astonished.

No, you didn’t realize, right!?

“But isn’t it……hard for two people to eat together in a classroom?”

“That’s true, but then what’s the point of us eating together in the first place?”

“…then, do you want to eat alone now?”

Mizutani said, returning to her usual expression.

But to me, her face looked somehow forlorn.

“…It’s okay, we’ve come this far.”

I couldn’t help but say so.

“I see,” Mizutani said, smiling faintly.

After another short walk, we seemed to have arrived at the place Mizutani was aiming for.

“Right here.”

Mizutani pointed to an empty classroom that was no longer in use.

I had no idea such a place existed.

I had been attending this high school for more than a year, but I didn’t know anything about it.

Or perhaps, after all this time, this was why I saw Mizutani when I was having lunch with Shuji and the others in the courtyard before. It would explain if I thought that Mizutani was on her way to this empty classroom.

Mizutani rattled open the door. The door seemed to be unlocked.

Inside, there were many desks and chairs, as if the room was used as a storeroom.

It was a little dusty, but apart from that, it certainly seemed like the perfect place to hang out.

Mizutani pulled out a suitable chair and desk, sat down, and spread out the lunch box she had brought.

I also took a chair and desk across from Mizutani, sat down, and spread out my lunch box.

After murmuring, “Itadakimasu,” I began to eat my bento.

Nom, nom, nom…We had just been eating each other’s food since a while ago.

Let’s talk about something.

“Mizutani’s lunch looks delicious.”

“My mom made it for me. Aizawa’s is the one that looks good.”

“Fufufufu. Actually, I made this myself.”

“….how nice.”

“….[Nice]?”

I thought I was going to get a random “wow” compliment, but instead, I got a “how nice”.

I wonder what that meant.

“I’m not allowed to cook at home.”

A question was apparently floating on my face.

Mizutani answered in a few words.

“Hee, why?”

“She said I shouldn’t cook because it uses my fingers. She says it might interfere with my piano playing.”

“…I see.”

Come to think of it, she said she was taking piano lessons.

But if she was banned from cooking all the way for that—

“Is Mizutani perhaps, considering learning piano seriously?”

“I don’t know if it’s serious or not, but I want to go to a music school for college. I might even study abroad. But I don’t know what will happen yet.”

“That’s called being serious….”

Even though I didn’t know much about the world of music, I had some idea of what it was like to go to music school. And I wasn’t talking about an elementary or junior high school student. Mizutani was in her second year of high school. In other words, she was old enough to think realistically about her career path to some extent.

I was really impressed by this.

I still didn’t know what I wanted to be in the future.

“I’m not really great at anything. I just did what she told me to do and things just happened.”

As if reading my mind, Mizutani said.

Just like she said, huh?

Come to think of it, she said she learned from her mother.

Maybe her mother was pretty strict.

But be that as it may.

“There are many people in the world who can’t do as they are told. That’s why I think Mizutani is great.”

“I don’t know. I think Aizawa’s cooking is more amazing.”

“…Mizutani is probably the only person in the world who would say such a thing.”

Once there, the conversation broke off and I went back to eating.

While I was eating, however, I felt Mizutani’s eyes on me several times.

I wondered if this is…

“Do you want some of my side dishes?”

“…is it okay?”

Apparently, I got it right.

Mizutani’s eyes light up for a moment at my suggestion, and then she immediately returned to her normal face as if to deceive me.

Too bad, it was too obvious.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I eat my own lunch all the time.”

“I see. Then, I’ll also give you mine.”

“Huh? Seriously?”

“…You don’t like it?”

“No, I didn’t hate it or anything, but…”

—Exchanging bento dishes is just like a normal couple, isn’t it?

How could I say that?

Just as we both had egg rolls in our bowls, we exchanged one for the other.

Well, Mizutani’s mother made the egg rolls…

“It’s delicious. It tastes like something you’d get at a restaurant.”

I wasn’t sure if I conveyed it well enough.

It was light, but it had a good flavor.

The dashi broth was delicious.

I looked at Mizutani and wondered how mine was.

Mizutani ate one of my omelets and glanced at me and smiled.

“…Delicious.”

Then that’s good.