Let's Try Going to School (2)

The school cafeteria is a big, shared dining hall for both the middle school and the high school.

The menu is wide-ranging, the prices are cheap, the meals are nutritionally complete and generous in portion. There's truly nothing to complain about. Apparently it's been built up to this level because male students might use it, too.

I decided to order the tonkatsu set meal with a side of pork miso soup. Kaede and Arisa had brought bento, so they were waiting at our seats, but trying to order on my own in the middle of all those girls felt a little nerve-wracking.

Steeling myself, I approached the line with timid steps, and a voice called out from behind me.

"Um… Izumi-kun…? Are you, by any chance, going to use the cafeteria?"

It was a voice I recognized. I turned around, and right in front of me was a blazer uniform. Looking up, I found Kousaka-san. Standing side by side, I had to crane my neck just to see her face.

"Ah, Kousaka-san… well, yes, but it's my first time, so I don't really know how it works…"

"I-If you'd like, shall I show you?"

"P-please…"

"Th-then, let's get in line together…"

I lined up with Kousaka-san and grabbed a tray from the stand. The truth is, the lines are split by menu item, so we wouldn't normally end up in the same one, but Kousaka-san switched her order from udon to the tonkatsu set meal so we could line up together.

"I'm sorry… making you change your order because of me…"

"N-no! Not at all… I love this set, too, so…"

Once we were in line, for some reason every girl student let me and Kousaka-san cut ahead, and we kept advancing.

When I asked, apparently it's cafeteria etiquette to yield your spot to a male student. And anyone eating with a male student gets yielded to as well. Girls eating with a boy either line up alongside the boy or take a special token to join the line. The tokens are kept in the boys' seating area and can only be opened and taken using a boy's terminal, so you can't sneak one without permission.

"That said, boys who'll actually eat with girls are really rare. For starters, you barely ever see any of them using the cafeteria."

So boys eat alone with their bento as a rule, huh? Come to think of it, I always eat in the classroom with Kaede and Arisa, surrounded by girls, so I have no idea what other boys do.

Or rather, since boys' classes don't span morning and afternoon, I guess they all just go home to eat. To save the trouble of pickup and drop-off, on morning-class days I stay until evening, and on afternoon-class days I come in from morning and kill time at school. I'm the odd one out.

After receiving my set meal, Kousaka-san moved to part ways and started looking for a seat. Since this was a good chance, I decided to invite her to eat with us.

"Kousaka-san, if you'd like, would you eat with us? Kaede and Arisa are there too…"

"I-Is that okay?"

"Yes… I-I don't know if this will count as thanks, but…"

"M-more than enough! … Just being able to talk with you like this is plenty of thanks already!"

Kousaka-san shook her head so hard the miso soup on her tray nearly sloshed over, looking utterly flustered. We headed for the boys' section where Kaede and Arisa were waiting.

"Ah, Shouya, you got your food, thank goodness… huh? Honami-chan? … I see, you helped Shouya out, didn't you? Thank you."

"N-no, it was nothing…"

Kaede seemed to grasp everything the moment she saw me with Kousaka-san, and thanked her on my behalf.

"Kousaka-san, thank you very much."

Come to think of it, I hadn't properly thanked her myself yet. How rude of me, after she'd gone out of her way for me.

"N-no, really, it's nothing…"

"Honami, you're bright red, you know?"

"A-Arisa-chan… uuh…"

Teased by Arisa, Kousaka-san turned even redder and shrank in on herself. The unspoken rule was not to point out that, being tall to begin with, she didn't actually shrink at all.

"Come on, you two, stop playing around and let's eat? Itadakimasu!"

Everyone said our itadakimasu and started eating. I took my first bite of the cutlet right away. The breading was crisp, the inside moist, a flavor far beyond what you'd expect from a school cafeteria.

Honestly, I'd been underestimating it, but it was pretty good. No, it was delicious. Still, of course it can't beat the maids' bento. With theirs, it isn't just the flavor; the maids I love so much made them, and that fills my heart just as much as my stomach.

"Shouya, how is it? Is it good?"

"Yeah, it's good."

Kaede seemed a little worried about whether the school cafeteria would suit my tastes, and watched my reaction carefully. Arisa and Kousaka-san, by contrast, were eating away in silence. I already knew Arisa had a bit of a glutton side, but Kousaka-san was also putting away a portion fit for her height.

While I was watching Kousaka-san like that, she suddenly stopped eating.

"Uuh… I really am eating too much, aren't I…"

"Eh?"

"I have a pretty big appetite… um… it's unladylike, isn't it… I'm sorry…"

Maybe Kousaka-san thought I was looking at her and feeling put off.

"Honami, Shouya doesn't think that at all, you know? The Shouya I love would never think that. He told me, watching me eat a lot was cute."

Arisa seemed to be remembering the time she stayed over at our place. Having it brought up again by Arisa herself was embarrassing, but I really had said it. I'd just have to own up.

"Yeah… so, Kousaka-san, I want you to eat as much as you like, without worrying."

"See? Shouya's saying so too. If you space out, I'm going to eat your cutlet, you know?"

"Yes… thank you so much…"

Kousaka-san nodded happily, and from there she started shoveling down her food. With both Arisa and Kousaka-san, I'm curious where all of it goes in those slender frames, but I suppose that's a maiden's secret.

"Fufu ♪ Shouya really is amazing, isn't he… ♡"

Kaede was watching me, somehow impressed. Did I do something?

"Wh-what?"

"I was just thinking, you're so big-hearted you can resolve a girl's worries just like that ♡"

"It's nothing… pretty normal…"

"No, no, that's definitely not normal, you know?"

Arisa joined in to praise(?) me as well.

"I also think Izumi-kun is a wonderful man…"

When even Kousaka-san started praising me, I got really flustered. To hide my reddening face, I slurped my pork miso soup.

After we finished lunch, we went back to the classroom and the four of us, now including Kousaka-san, kept chatting.

"By the way, isn't it weird that Shouya and Honami are using polite speech with each other?"

""Eh?""

"I mean, you're the same age, right? Drop the keigo, and go first names too! That'll definitely get you closer!"

Arisa might have a point. There does feel like too much distance between Kousaka-san and me.

"Shouya, you absolutely went with last-name-plus-keigo at first, didn't you."

Even Kaede was calling me out. Even if we're the same age, going straight to first names and casual speech from the start feels too familiar to me. I could manage dropping keigo, but first-name calling is a high hurdle. If someone did it to me, I wouldn't actually mind, though. I'd just be a bit startled, like the time with Nana.

"If Shouya called her by her first name, I think Honami would be really happy～"

Arisa was looking at me with eyes that seemed to expect something. It's true Honami-san is fond of me, and it could also be a thank-you for today…

"H-Honami-san…"

I steeled myself and called her Honami-san. Given who she was, she wouldn't get angry or think it was rude, but I still tensed up.

"Y-yes!"

Honami-san answered with such force her body practically sprang up. Was she happy about it?

"Honami, how is it?"

"Um… I'm so happy… my heart's pounding…"

It seems she was glad after all. What a relief. Casual speech still hasn't happened, but compared to first-name calling, the hurdle's lower, so I'll manage from here.

"See? Honami-chan, you try calling him Shouya too!"

Kaede piggybacked on Arisa to give Honami-san another push. Honami-san was sneaking embarrassed glances my way.

"Sh-Shouya… -san."

"Y-yes…"

With her face flushed red, Honami-san called my name. She's still no less of a charming beauty either way, so having her call me by name made me happy.

"Fufu ♪ You two are blushing, so cute ♡"

After a fun lunch break like that, afternoon classes began. That said, what there was to do hadn't changed from the morning: just half-heartedly sit through class. But because I'd eaten lunch, I got sleepy. Looking around, I could pick out several students dozing off, as expected.

Incidentally, Arisa, who sits in front of me, was one of them. She'd eaten her fill, so of course she'd get sleepy. I thought about waking her up, but before I could, Honami-san in the seat next to her gently woke her instead.

Once afternoon classes ended, it was cleaning time. I thought about helping out, but everyone got so flustered that my being there actually seemed to be more of a hindrance, so I retreated to the boys' classroom.

When I came back to the classroom a while later, the cleaning seemed to be done, and everyone was getting ready to head home.

"Ah, Shouya, welcome back. I don't have anything after school today either, so shall we head home?"

"Yeah, sure."

"We're going to club, but… hey, Kaede, would it be okay if I stayed over today?"

"At our place? Let me ask real quick…"

With that, Kaede made a call to someone. Probably to Mom, but there'd be the matter of dinner and all, so word would surely also get passed to the maids.

"She says it's OK if Shouya's fine with it."

Kaede seemed to have finished her call and turned to me for a verdict. Of course I was fine with it.

"I'm good with it."

"Yay!"

Arisa was overjoyed at my answer. It had been a while since she'd stayed over, so I was looking forward to it too. Kaede was also relaying to Mom that she'd be staying.

"But what's going on, Arisa? Suddenly wanting to stay over."

I asked Arisa about the reason for the sudden sleepover proposal.

"Umm… let's talk tonight!"

Arisa dodged the question. Was it something hard to talk about here? In that case, the wise move was not to press her and wait for her to bring it up.

"Got it. Then good luck at club. You too, Honami-san."

"Yeah! See you later!"

"Yes…! I'll do my best!"

I saw off Arisa and Honami-san as they headed to the gymnasium, and then talked over with Kaede about what to do until their club ended.

"What'll you do, Shouya? I'm going to study in the library, but… you're free, right?"

"Hmm… maybe I'll drop by the student council room?"

She'd told me I could come anytime if I had free time, so I figured I might as well take her up on it. If yesterday's offer was just a polite formality, I'd be a real fool, but oh well.

"I see, Onee-chan's there, after all… is it okay if I come too?"

"Probably should be fine… let's just go and see… but weren't you going to study?"

"I mean… it's not fair if only Onee-chan gets to be with Shouya."

Kaede's reason for tagging along to the student council room turned out to be, surprisingly, her rivalry with Masami-onee-chan. She really did want to be with me whenever she could, and that made me happy. With Kaede in tow, I headed to the student council room.