Namito Kominato gives up.
A chime sounds from a speaker mounted above the blackboard, announcing the end of the fourth period. It is lunchtime. The classrooms here in the first-year class have suddenly become noisy, and the students have started to eat lunch in their groups.
As I sat down to eat my lunch in my seat, Kamiyama-san, who was sitting in front of me, looked back at me awkwardly.
“Here Kominato-kun… together… eat… eat… eat together…!”
Kamiyama-san let out an inarticulate voice and bent down, holding her mouth wrapped in the paper bag with both hands. The paper bag was wrapped around the mouth and a faint red color was smeared around the mouth area. She had bitten her tongue so hard that it bled.
After enduring the pain for a while, she slowly opened her mouth to avoid biting her tongue. But her mouth was hidden by a brown paper bag, so I couldn’t see it.
“Ah… ah… Kominato-kun… let’s have lunch… together, shall we…?”
“Mm, It’s okay.”
I pull my lunch to the edge to make room on my desk.
From her bag, Kamiyama-san took out a small drawstring bag with a bear character on it and put it on my desk.
This bear character. It is the same as the one that was drawn on the paper bag she wore when she dressed up before. Perhaps she likes this character? As I was thinking about this, Arai-san was standing by our side.
“Can I join you?”
“Oh, okay.”
“Ha-ha… yes…! Let’s eat together!”
This was the scene of our lunch break these days.
It was lunchtime on a weekday near the end of April.
As the three of us were having lunch, as usual, a guy approached us with a frightened look on his face.
“…Ah, excuse me… there’s someone… strange, outside the classroom. She seems to be looking for Kominato-kun…”
“Searching for me?”
The guy told us that, and then he strode back to his seats with a speed that made it seem as if he wanted nothing to do with us.
I wondered who it was. I put down my chopsticks, got up, opened the classroom door, and went out into the hallway.
A magical girl was staring at me. And then I saw the small back of a girl who was engaged in a lively conversation with the magical girl. I wish I didn’t see them, but I did.
A short skirt and black knee socks. Her hair was tied in a bun on both sides, and she was wearing a large, pale pink cardigan.
“Ah, come to think of it, A-chan. Did you do your homework today?”
Harusame spoke to the magical girl panel while shaking the hem of her skirt, which had been shortened to the point of being too short. The other party is just a panel. It is paper. Naturally, there was no way she would get a reply, but it seems that Harusame could hear something, and she continued the conversation on her own.
“I see, A-chan is good at English. I forgot my homework. Hey, can I have a look?
I wonder what this person plans to show me if she gets a “yes” response. I was worried, even though it was someone else’s problem.
Harusame-san did not seem to notice me and continued her conversation with A-chan.
“I see… after all, you have to do your homework by yourself, don’t you?”
It seems that they decided not to let me see my homework. In a way, that was good.
Several female students came walking toward us from the other side of the hallway, talking happily, but when they noticed the presence of Harusame-san, who kept talking to the panel, they changed their happy expressions and left with fearful looks on their faces.
I couldn’t let her act any stranger in front of our class, so I called out to Harusame-san behind her back.
“Harusame-san, right? What are you doing here?”
Harusame’s san shoulders shook, but she ignored my presence and continued her conversation with A-chan with her back to me.
“Don’t you think it’s terrible that only one of us is not invited to lunch? I’m sure it’s Kominato-kun’s doing. It’s definitely all because of Kominato-kun. Kominato… you b*****d… I’m going to kill you someday…”
Come to think of it, of the four of us in the conversation club, this girl is the only one in a different class.
I pictured Harusame-san eating lunch alone, talking to A-chan, with a desk attached to the wall and a life-size panel of magical girls next to her. At the same time, I also pictured Harusame-san’s classmates who were afraid of her, but I decided to forget about them.
Harusame-san is facing the panel of magical girls and calling for the killing of Kominato-kun. It would be against the public welfare if she continued to spit curses at me here.
Thinking this, I decided to invite Harusame-san to lunch.
“Ah… hey there, Harusame-san. You want to have lunch with us?”
Harusame-san turns only her body toward us, from the neck down, with her head still facing the panel. I wonder how she can move like that. I wonder if I should teach this to directors who are going to make horror movies.
“Oh… oh my, that voice, if it isn’t Kominato-kun. What’s wrong? Do you want something from me?”
“I made a mistake, so I’m going to leave… No, I was just wondering if you would like to have lunch with me if you don’t mind. Arai-san and Kamiyama-san are there too.”
Harusame is still wearing a strange outfit with her head facing over there and only her body facing here.
“Why do you want to have lunch with me? Why should I have lunch with you?”
I could have quickly and briskly told her, “I see, okay, take care, see you at the club.” and returned to the classroom, but that would have meant that she would have to stay here forever, spitting curses at me, and there was no telling when another innocent student might come calling for me with fear.
I must not give up here. Hang in there. I’m going to do my very best.
I chose words that Harusame-san would like and spoke softly to her.
“No, no, I mean, food tastes better when you eat it with a bunch of friends, right? Besides, I want to eat rice with Harusame-san.”
The last part might have sounded like it came from a stick figure, but I don’t care.
Harusame-san sounded happy as she waved her hands in the air on the spot.
“Kominato-kun… with me? It… it, it can’t be helped, If you insist that much, I might as well join you.”
Before Harusame-san could finish saying that, she happily pulled A-chan-san’s hand and walked into our classroom. If you look closely, you can see that she already has a lunch box in her hand. What’s with this girl, was she planning to do that from the beginning?
The moment Harusame-san entered our class, the classroom was in an uproar.
I was in the hallway when I heard the stir as Harusame-san entered the class, talking to the life-size panel. I could feel the tension of my classmates all the way from the hallway.
As I listened to the class groan, I vowed. I would invite her next time. And if possible, let’s have lunch somewhere else.
I followed Harusame-san back to our desks. Both Arai-san and Kamiyama-san greeted Harusame-san with a smile and a paper bag that probably had a smile on it.
Arai-san stops holding her chopsticks and opens her mouth in front of a desk lined with lunchboxes for four people.
“Hey, it’s almost the holidays, but aren’t we going to do anything in the conversation club?”
I asked Arai-san, unable to resist.
“Do you do club activities even on your days off?”
Arai answered my question without hesitation.
“Yes, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Athletic clubs practice even on Sundays, don’t they?”
That’s right. But it seems like a hassle to stay active in club activities during a consecutive holiday weekend. As I glanced sideways at Kamiyama-san and Harusame-san their eyes lit up at Arai-san’s proposal.
Three to one. I was defeated in the face of democracy, without the need to take a majority vote. I picked up the omelet from my lunch box and threw it into my mouth with relish.
