Chapter 35 35: Lunch on the Rooftop
After homeroom ended, Shido quickly called Kotori on his phone.
Honestly, faced with a girl who publicly declared "I am a Spirit" in front of the whole class, even Kotori didn't know what to say.
And then there was...
[It's been five years, hasn't it, Shido-san.]
To be completely honest, Shido had absolutely no memory of this girl named Tokisaki Kurumi. However, knowing that his memories from five years ago were indeed a blurry mess, he couldn't say for sure that he had never met her.
"No matter what, we'll just have to take it one step at a time."
During the lunch break, Shido headed to the third-year classrooms. Showing Kurumi around the school would have to wait until after classes ended. Before that, Shido decided to apologize to Mikoto for what happened this morning.
[I don't know the reason, but Mikoto's mood levels fluctuated wildly while she was putting that bra on Tohka, you know.] Kotori had said over the phone.
[I'd better go apologize after all.] Shido thought to himself.
"Umm, excuse me, is Yakumo-senpai here?"
Since it was a senior classroom he almost never visited, just walking in gave Shido a wave of pressure.
"Yakumo? No idea."
"During lunch break, Mikoto always runs off to who knows where."
"Ah, I know, I know! I heard she's with her boyfriend!"
"Ehh, are you serious?"
"It's true, it's true. Last time I asked if there was a guy she was interested in, she said yes. I think it's someone in the second year."
"Uwaa, big news!"
Thanks to Shido's question, the girls immediately started gossiping.
"Lies! It has to be a lie!"
"No! Only Mikoto-chan! Only Mikoto-chan can absolutely never be handed over to those second-year bastards!"
"Wait, second year? Isn't this guy Itsuka, the super riajuu (normie) from the second year!"
"The lucky guy who hooked Yatogami Tohka? I heard the new transfer student today also has a crush on him!"
"Could it be that he is Mikoto-chan's..."
"Come on, how about we go have a little chat in the restroom with your senpais?"
In complete contrast to the girls, the boys started brewing with anger and killing intent. Finally, a huge senior—who Shido vaguely remembered being in the karate club—patted Shido's shoulder with a friendly smile, pointing his thumb toward the restroom.
"Umm... P-Please excuse me!"
Realizing he was about to receive some very special attention, Shido took off running down the hallway without looking back.
"Stop right there!!!"
"Only an idiot would stop!!!"
To shake off the angry senpais chasing him, Shido ran for his life, and then...
Bump!
Just as he turned his head to make sure he lost them, Shido crashed straight into someone.
"You shouldn't run in the hallways, Shin."
Because of the crash, the paper documents in Reine's arms scattered all over the floor. Although she was the analyst on the Fraxinus, ever since Tohka enrolled, Murasame Reine had joined Raizen High as a teacher to keep an eye on the Spirits.
"S-Sorry."
"It's fine. But why were you running?"
Shido helped Reine pick up her scattered papers and replied with a wry smile:
"Umm, it's a long story. I went to the third year classroom to look for Yakumo-senpai, and ended up getting chased."
"If it's Mikoto, she should be on the rooftop at this time."
"I... Is that so."
He got his answer from a completely unexpected place.
"If you are going now, it's best to bring your lunch."
"Y-Yeah."
Even though he didn't know why, Shido followed Reine's advice and brought his lunchbox up to the roof.
Normally, the school rooftop was locked and off-limits. But for Mikoto, getting a rooftop key from Ratatoskr was no trouble at all.
Because of this, when Shido reached the top, he found the door unlocked.
"Yakumo-senpai."
On the spacious rooftop, a small picnic blanket was laid out. Shido saw Mikoto enjoying her lunch like she was on a picnic.
"Shido? Why are you here?"
Mikoto turned her head, looking a bit surprised. She thought no one would come up here, but Shido had shown up.
"Umm... Reine-san told me you were up here, Senpai."
"I see. Perfect timing, let's eat together, Shido."
Mikoto patted the empty spot on the blanket, inviting him to sit.
"Yeah, okay."
He finally understood why Reine told him to bring his bento. It seemed Mikoto made a habit of eating lunch on the roof, Shido realized.
"Come to think of it, did you need something?"
Mikoto asked, feeling like Shido hadn't come up here just to eat with her.
"Ah... umm... about this morning, I'm sorry." Shido scratched his cheek.
"This morning? Ah..."
Mikoto thought for a second and realized Shido was talking about the bra incident.
"Hmm... what should I do? Since 'selling out your friends' is the true friendship of boys, then if I ever sell you out, you aren't allowed to complain, okay?"
The girl tapped her lip with her index finger and blinked playfully.
"Please go easy on me."
Shido put his hands together in a prayer motion and apologized sincerely.
"Ehehe, I'm just joking. Oh, right, today's meatballs are my masterpiece! If you give me one of yours, I'll forgive you."
"A meatball? Sure, no problem."
Since Mikoto made both of their bentos, their meals were exactly the same. Shido poked a meatball with his fork, planning to drop it into Mikoto's lunchbox.
However...
"Ahhh..."
"Eh?"
The girl closed her eyes, opened her mouth slightly, and leaned forward, looking entirely like she was waiting to be fed.
"Yakumo-senpai?"
"Because helping Tohka put on her bra was so incredibly embarrassing for me, it's only fair that I make Shido feel embarrassed too."
Mikoto stuck her tongue out mischievously, then went back to waiting for him to feed her.
"Ugh..."
Having no other choice, a blushing Shido carefully fed the meatball into Mikoto's mouth.
"Mhm, with this, I forgive you." Mikoto nodded happily.
With the feeding interlude out of the way, the two began happily enjoying their lunch. The meatballs were fried to a golden brown and full of flavor, and what surprised him even more was that there was a tiny quail egg hidden inside.
[No wonder she called it her masterpiece.] Shido thought.
"Huh? Senpai, your meatballs are a different color."
Shido couldn't help but notice that Mikoto's fried meatballs had a reddish tint.
"Oh my, you noticed. I added a little bit of an 'adult flavor' to mine."
"An adult flavor?"
"Do you want to try one, Shido?"
"Yeah."
Mikoto stabbed a meatball with her fork and held it out in front of Shido.
"Here, ahh..."
"Umm, you can just put it in my lunchbox..."
"Ahhh..."
"...Ahhh..."
Was it because he couldn't say no? Or was he just too curious about the taste? Feeling nervous, Shido closed his eyes and waited for Mikoto to pop the meatball into his mouth.
[But if I eat it like this, I won't even be able to taste anything.] he thought.
The nervousness caused by a girl feeding him made Shido feel like everything would taste the same. However...
"Spicy! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!"
The next second, a fiery, burning flavor completely hijacked Shido's senses. The so-called "adult flavor" was chili powder hidden inside the meatball!
"How is it?" Mikoto asked with a beaming smile.
"Water! Give me water!"
"Here, have some tea."
After gulping down a huge amount of tea, Shido let out a long sigh of relief.
"I couldn't tell you liked spicy food, Yakumo-senpai."
"I actually love spicy food. Even before crossing over, I did."
"Ahaha..."
After feeding each other and surviving the spicy meatball, sitting on the rooftop and feeling the breeze, Shido slowly began to relax. The confusion and stress Kurumi brought during homeroom seemed to fade away.
[It's been five years... what exactly did she mean? I'll ask her after school.] Shido decided.
"What are you thinking about, Shido?"
"Ah... I was thinking about Kurumi."
"Kurumi?"
"Yeah, the new transfer student who joined our class today."
"Eh? Is that so..."
[!!!]
Oh no! Snapping back to reality, Shido noticed a little popping vein mark (井) had appeared on Mikoto's head.
"Shido... you're thinking about another girl while eating lunch with me, huh."
She had heard from the boys in her class that a super pretty girl transferred to the school today. She didn't expect it to be in Shido's class.
"N-No, that's not it! Listen to my explanation, Yakumo-senpai!"
"Mhm, I'll listen to your explanation.But after that,to make Shido won't think about any other girls... hey, how about we feed each other bite by bite for the rest of lunch?"
For some reason, the young girl's normally warm smile looked terrifyingly intimidating.
"Eh... Ehhhhh!!!"
As a result, Shido's panicked screams echoed across the school rooftop.