The week after this love had sprouted, I wanted to thank Shinonome-kun for all the advice he had given me, so I baked a homemade pound cake.
I planned to give it to him during our library duty, so I wrapped it carefully.
I was a bit worried that suddenly giving him a homemade cake might reveal my feelings, but more than that, I wanted to thank him somehow, and I thought I couldn’t do something like the counseling he did for me, so I made this homemade cake filled with my affection as a thank you.
Well, I won’t deny that I also had an ulterior motive of wanting to get closer to Shinonome-kun.
On Wednesday morning, when I arrived at school and went to the classroom, I first put the paper bag containing the wrapped cake in the hallway locker.
Right after that, an incident occurred.
It seems Masa-kun had seen me put the very gift-like package in my locker, and when I stepped away, he took it out of the locker without permission.
And then, to make matters worse, he started eating it right there on the spot.
I, who had returned to the classroom, didn’t notice Masa-kun’s actions at first, and it was only when I noticed the commotion in the hallway and looked over that I finally realized what was happening.
I was so shocked that I was at a loss for words and just stared at him, and then our eyes met.
And with his mouth full of cake, he said while chewing,
「This cake is homemade, right? Thanks for going to all this trouble for me!」
I reached my limit.
I crouched down on the spot and cried, trying to stifle my voice.
At that moment, Shinonome-kun called out to me.
『Suzumiya-san, are you okay? Should I take you to the infirmary if you’re feeling unwell?』
『Sakamoto-san, Suzumiya-san seems to be feeling unwell, so I’m going to take her to the infirmary. If the teacher comes, could you let them know?』
Saying this, Shinonome-kun helped me stand up and almost carried me to the infirmary.
When we arrived at the infirmary, as expected, Shinonome-kun seemed to see right through everything and explained properly to the school nurse, “There was some trouble in the classroom and she seemed to be feeling unwell. I don’t think it’s a physical illness, but could you let her rest for a while?” and I was allowed to rest on the bed.
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I didn’t want Shinonome-kun to see my crying face, so I covered myself with the blanket and cried quietly.
Shinonome-kun didn’t try to get anything out of me, and occasionally asked, “Should I take your temperature just in case?” or “Are you thirsty?” showing his concern.
After about 30 minutes, I had calmed down considerably and my tears had stopped, so I said “I’m going to the restroom”, I washed my face with cold water and returned to the infirmary.
By then, the nurse had left the infirmary at some point, leaving just me and Shinonome-kun alone, so I told him about the cake incident.
I told him how I wanted to thank him for all the advice he had given me recently, so I had baked a homemade cake to give to Shinonome-kun and brought it to school.
How I had put it in the hallway locker to give it to him during our library duty after school today.
How Masa-kun had taken it out without permission and started eating it when I wasn’t looking.
How when our eyes met as I saw this, he said “This cake is homemade, right? Thanks for going to all this trouble for me!” and I felt like I had reached my limit and started crying.
After listening to my story, Shinonome-kun’s first words were,
『That cake was supposed to be for me!? I’m gonna punch that bastard!!!』
「N-No! Violence is not the answer!」
『But come on! The grudge of food is terrible! Damn it! I wanted to eat that cake! I thought he was harmless, so I was just quietly observing, but this is so damn infuriating!』
「Eh? Observing?」
『Ahh, don’t mind that… But seriously, that guy pisses me off!』
「Shinonome-kun… If it’s cake, I can make it again.」
『Ahh, sorry. It sounds like I’m demanding it. That’s not my intention. My bad, don’t worry about it…』
「It’s okay. I don’t think you’re demanding anything. I’m really frustrated too. Not being able to give it to the person I wanted to eat it, and having it eaten by someone I don’t like without permission, I can’t let this slide!」
『O-Ou, you’re right.』
And so, whether it was because Shinonome-kun had vented his anger on my behalf, or because I was happy that he said he wanted to eat the cake, I was somehow able to recover from the shocking cake theft incident.