After finishing all the measurements by noon, we entered a longer lunch break.
“—Fujiwara-kun, sorry to bother you during lunch… huh?”
“He’s not in the classroom, so he must be in the cafeteria… I can’t let someone as valuable as him slip away…”
“Stop! It’s against the rules to chase after specific students around the school!”
“Oh no, t-teacher, this isn’t what it looks like! Ah, Fujiwara-kun, where are you?”
As I was heading back to the classroom, I overheard this commotion and decided to quietly slip away. Avoiding a few pursuers (?), I eventually found myself in a park-like area on the outskirts of the school grounds.
There was a bench with a view of the fountain, so I sat down to take a breather. After a busy morning, it was nice to enjoy the slower pace.
Since my face was recognized, I borrowed some search glasses from Nanami-san and discreetly snuck into the school store to buy some bread. It was labeled as “Four-Color Bread,” but I had no idea what was inside.
(I wonder how Nanami-san is doing… Oh, I got a message on my phone.)
It seemed that all the girls from my class were hanging out together for lunch today.
Until I stopped being chased around like this, it seemed like I had no choice but to keep acting solo. Just as I was about to open the bread bag, though…
“—Fancy running into someone here.”
There shouldn’t have been anyone around. But in the blink of an eye, someone had sat down next to me on the bench.
“…I imagine you’re wondering when I arrived? Just as you guessed, I used my skill.”
It was clear that this girl was different from the other students who had been chasing after me. She seemed to be a classmate, with long hair swaying in the light breeze.
“…Sorry if that came off as rude. I guess ‘fancy running into you’ isn’t quite right, is it?”
“Heh… you’re right. To be honest, I came here to see you, Fujiwara Tsukasa. Do you remember me?”
“Remember… Ah…”
I had seen her standing on stage during the entrance ceremony—she was part of the student council.
Being a council member as a first-year meant she had been expected to excel even before entering the school. She was probably ranked among the top students in the grade.
(Now that I think about it, the vice president looked a lot like her… maybe they’re sisters?)
“Looks like you remember me after all. Yes, I’m the student council secretary.”
“So why is someone from the student council here? Oh… is this about what I heard? Igarashi-sensei said she’d ask the student council to help out with my case…”
“Yes, it’s related to that. There will be a meeting after school where the teachers will review the video in question, and you’ve been summoned to the student council room for the results.”
“I see. So right now…”
“I just came here on my own because I wanted to meet you beforehand. We even passed by each other during the endurance run earlier, though I’m in Class A, so I didn’t get to watch you run.”
Now that she mentioned it, I did recall some of the guys in my class getting rowdy—understandable if someone like her was around.
“…Still, I wish I could’ve seen it. I’ve seen your skill on the video, but I don’t intend to lose easily in terms of physical ability.”
“I actually haven’t seen the video myself since S-Channel went into maintenance…”
“Is that so? It was a fantastic video, though uploading it without your consent is certainly problematic. Maybe the idea was to let everyone know about you?”
“Who knows… I’m still trying to figure that out myself. Ah, sorry, I’m running out of lunch break, so do you mind if I eat?”
“Y-you really are bold. To shake up the rankings in just three days… But I can’t afford to eat so easily.”
“Huh…? What do you mean by that?”
As I tore open the bread bag with a crunch, she suddenly turned red, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and stammered. After a small “ah,” she slowly relaxed her stance.
“…Please forget what I just said. There’s no way I’d interpret eating in that kind of way, not at all.”
“Uh, yeah, even if you say that… huh?”
A loud grumbling sound came from somewhere. Could it really be that the stomach of this elegant girl sitting in front of me just growled?
“…Did you know there’s a theory that hunger and other desires are connected?”
“You’re hungry, aren’t you… Don’t tell me you haven’t eaten yet because you came here to meet me?”
“Why won’t you let me change the subject? You’re the first person to ever embarrass me like this.”
She didn’t seem like the type to eat sweet buns, but no matter how long the lunch break is, making her move around on an empty stomach seemed a bit harsh.
