A few minutes later.
Natsue and I arrived at the family restaurant near the station. We immediately ordered the drink bar and went to get our drinks.
「Alright, here’s to surviving the midterms.」
「Yeah, cheersー.」
Saying that, we raised our cups from the drink bar and toasted. Then we proceeded to drink the juice in our cups.
「Gulp, gulp… Phaa! Man, juice after exams tastes amazing! It’s the best feeling to finally be free from test studying!」
「Haha, right. Well, since the tests are over and we’re both free today, let’s take it easy and enjoy our meal before heading home.」
「Yeah, sounds good.」
And so, we decided to relax and chat until our ordered lunch arrived.
「But you knowー, it feels like it’s been a while since I last had lunch with Kazuki.」
「Ahー, now that you mention it, I guess so? But isn’t that because you started dating Sakurai-san? I mean, you’re eating lunch with her now, right?」
「Yeah, well, that’s true, but Kazuki, you’ve been going to the cafeteria lately, right? How about eating together in the classroom with me sometimesー?」
「Eh? Ah, ahh, yeah, sureー.」
Come to think of it, I was supposed to be eating lunch in the cafeteria.
「But recently, I haven’t been able to catch up with Kazuki, so I had a lot of things I wanted to talk about today.」
「Hee, is that so? Like what?」
「Haha, of course, it’s about Sasaki-sanー! I was thinking earlier, Kazuki, you seem to be getting really close with Sasaki-san lately.」
「Eh?」
So, Natsue suddenly brought up the topic of me and Sasaki-san. Apparently, from an outsider’s perspective, it seems like Sasaki-san and I have been getting along very well recently.
「I-Is that so? But Sasaki-san is easygoing and easy to talk to, she’s pretty friendly with everyone, isn’t she?」
「Well, it’s as you said. Sasaki-san is really approachable even with guys, and I always think she’s easy to talk to… but Kazuki, you definitely talk to her way more often than other guys do.」
──Light Novels──
──Read Here──
「Eh, i-is that so?」
Natsue said that to me. But since I wasn’t aware of it, I was a bit surprised.
「Yeah, for sureー. I mean, I often see you and Sasaki-san having fun conversations during break time, and you were having study sessions alone with her in the classroom or library before the tests, right?」
「W-Well, that’s true… But how do you know about that, Natsue?」
「Haha, well, it’s hard not to notice when I see you together every day. But since neither of you seemed to be hiding it, we didn’t really dig deeper, I think the rest of the class probably thinks the same way I do now.」
「Ah, I-I see.」
Well, it’s true that we weren’t keeping our study sessions a secret, so it wouldn’t be strange if someone saw us.
「But to get this close with Sasaki-san, was there some kind of trigger or something?」
「Eh? Ahー, umm…」
If you ask why, it’s probably because we always eat lunch together alone… but since I wanted to keep that a secret between just me and Sasaki-san, I stumbled over my words a bit.
「Nn? What’s up?」
「Ahh, no, well, how should I put it… Ah, look! I’ve been on the library committee since first year, right? And actually, Sasaki-san often comes to borrow books. So we often talk about books in the library, and that’s how we became really close.」
「Ahh, that’s right, Kazuki, you’re on the library committee. Hee, so you and Sasaki-san had a connection through your love of books.」
「Yeah, exactly. That’s how it was. So, because of that book connection, I guess we became closer than other guys.」
「I see. So that’s how it was.」
So, although it felt a bit forced, I somehow managed to dodge the question. But…
(But… why did I want to keep eating lunch alone with Sasaki-san a secret?)
It’s not because I’d be embarrassed if someone found out we were eating together… it’s definitely not some adolescent thought like that. After all, someone who thinks that way wouldn’t invite her to study sessions alone.
That’s why I had no intention of hiding the fact that we were having study sessions alone and was open about it, but I didn’t want anyone to find out that we were eating a bento together alone.
But why do I not want anyone to find out that I’m eating a bento alone with Sasaki-san?
(Nnn, what is this feeling…?)
While pondering my own feelings, I continued to chat idly with Natsue as we started eating lunch.