The next day’s lunch.
Today, as usual, I was eating lunch with Sasaki-san on the rooftop. By the way, today’s lunch is sandwiches.
「Yeah, today’s bento is delicious too! This tuna mayo sandwich is tasty, and this egg sandwich is really good too!」
「I see. Well, if you’re that happy about it, that’s good. But somehow… aren’t you more energetic than usual today?」
Sasaki-san said this to me with a puzzled expression while eating her sandwich.
「Eh, you think so? Haha, that’s not the case. I’m just my usual selfー.」
「? Well, if you say so. Ah, and what was that LIME message about yesterday? “Don’t buy chopsticks for your bento yet” …What did you mean by that? Well, I’m busy with club activities now, so I probably won’t be buying chopsticks anytime soon though.」
Sasaki-san continued to ask me with the same puzzled look. Actually, I had sent her that message during lunch yesterday.
「Ahh, yeah, about that. Actually, I have a present for Sasaki-san!」
「Eh? For me?」
「Yeah, that’s right. So… here, take this!」
「Eh?」
So I took out a small wrapped box from my bag and handed it to Sasaki-san as a present.
「Umm, what’s this? Can I open it?」
「Yeah, of course. Please go ahead and open it.」
「Okay, got it. Then… wa, wawah!」
As Sasaki-san opened the wrapping of the small box, inside were two pairs of chopsticks, one red and one blue.
「Eh, these are… could it be chopsticks for my bento??」
「Yeah, that’s right. I thought the colors looked really nice, so I bought them thinking Sasaki-san might like them.」
I said to Sasaki-san with a smile.
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So yesterday afternoon, I went to the department store in front of the station, looked for chopsticks that seemed suitable for young people, and bought them. And then I gave them to Sasaki-san as a present.
「Eh, um, but giving me these chopsticks… why all of a sudden?」
「Well, I just thought about how much I’m always indebted to Sasaki-san. You’re always making me bento, making sweets, teaching me simple recipes, recommending cookbooks… I realized how much you’ve been helping me. So, as a way to say thank you for everything up until now, I wanted to give you these chopsticks to replace the broken ones.」
「E-Ehh… I-I see…」
As I said that, Sasaki-san began to show a somewhat surprised expression.
「Hmm? Did I say something weird? You look a bit surprised, Sasaki-san.」
「Eh? Ah, no, it’s not that you said anything weird. It’s just that, how should I say it, it’s the first time I’ve received a present from a boy while being thanked like that… I was just a bit surprised.」
「Eh? No, no, I’ve always been expressing my gratitude to Sasaki-san properly, haven’t I?」
「W-Well, yeah, but… I really didn’t think I was doing anything that special. So I didn’t expect Yamada to be so grateful to me, and it surprised me a bit… Yeah, I’m happy. Thank you. I’ll cherish these chopsticks I received from Yamada.」
「Yeah, that makes me happy too.」
Sasaki-san said with a big smile on her face. I’m glad she seems happy about it.
「But, you know, I’m happy about the present itself… but why are there two pairs of chopsticks? Only my chopsticks were broken, though?」
「Wellー, actually, when I went to buy them at the department store, it was much more economical to buy a set of two pairs than just one pair. So this time I bought the economical set of two pairs. That’s all there is to it, so just use whichever color you like.」
「Fuun, I see. Okay, then I’ll use the red chopsticks. And maybe I should use the blue ones for Yamada’s bento box?」
「Ahh, that’s a good idea! I’d be happy if you could use the extra pair from the set for me too! Haha, but then it’s like that, right? We’ll have matching chopsticks, right?」
「Fufu, yeahー …W-Wait, what are you saying!? T-That sounds like we’re using couple chopsticks!?」
「Eh? Couple chopsticks… what’s that?」
「Eh… Eh!? I-If you don’t know, don’t worry about it! Ah, and don’t you dare look it up!!」
「Eh? Ah, o-okay, got it?」
Sasaki-san said, looking extremely flustered. Well, if she’s that adamant about it, I guess I won’t look it up.
After that, we changed the subject completely and spent an enjoyable lunch break talking about various things, like my first attempt at making fried rice yesterday and playing games with Mai.