Chapter 19: CH 19

Different Style

Takane-san told me what she and Asatani-san talked about during the physical fitness test.

I was surprised to hear that Asatani-san had said that, but I didn’t think it was impossible.

“I’m sorry, Nagito-san… I heard a lot of things from Asatani-san when you weren’t there.”

“Ah, no, that’s totally fine.”

I was listening to her while eating my lunch because the break was about to end. The taste was harder to detect than usual.

Takane-san had made it her priority to talk to me first. Finally, she opened her lunchbox. The inside was full of color and quite frankly, it was adorable.

“Um… I’m not used to this so I’m kind of embarrassed…”

“Takane-san’s lunchbox is amazing. It looks balanced and delicious.”

“Ah,Yes… and Nagito-san’s lunchbox looks like a boys.”

“I was in a hurry this morning so I just packed yesterday’s leftovers in my lunchbox. My sister made tamagoyaki as well, which I also had for our breakfast.”

( T/N : tamagoyaki = Japanese egg rolls.)

As the two of us took turns making our lunch boxes, we both began to understand what kind of lunches we could bring to school. We didn’t cut corners too much, and we didn’t make anything so elaborate that we’d get tired. That’s the Senda family’s lunchbox.

Sometimes, when Ruru-nee got motivated, she’d make me a character lunchbox. When that happened, I’d have to open my lunchbox secretly. She then would ask me to take a picture and send it to her, which was a bit of a hassle to say the least.

“Is your sister’s tamagoyaki your favourite food, Nagito-san?”

“It’s just a standard lunchbox, but I like tamagoyaki that aren’t too sweet.”

“I see…”

I could tell that Takane-san was thinking very carefully about how to bring up the topic. I wanted to put her at ease, but I was caught off-guard. That was when it happened.

Takane-san took out a hairband and put it in her mouth. She then gathered up her hair with her hands and used the hairband to tie it. I guessed she didn’t want it to get in the way when she ate.

For her, it may be an everyday gesture, but for me – I didn’t know why, but I wished I could see it again.

“In the lunchbox… is there anything you like…?”

“Oh… sorry. I was just staring…”

“It’s okay to… look… Ah, but the vegetables have gotten a bit wilted…”

She was too nervous to notice that I was not looking at the lunch box, but at Takane-san who was tying up her hair.

When I was shown the lunch box again, I found that it had a good balance of fried foods, sausages, and vegetables. Most importantly, it smelled great.

“This meat roll is made into a rice ball. I stuffed the insides with glutinous rice…”

“That’s quite elaborate… What time did you wake up to make it?”

“…My mother helped me, so I was only up two hours earlier than usual.”

If she helped, then there was no doubt that Takane-san had made that lunchbox.

This meant that the octopus-shaped sausages that I was so curious to see were also handmade by Takane-san.

“Nostalgic isn’t it?… Octopus sausages and something like apple rabbits. And hollow out vegetables in the shape of a star, my mother used to do those things too.”

“…That’s good then. I thought if I was going to go to all the trouble, then I’d want to make a cute lunchbox, but I could only work on something like this.”

She was perfect in both athletics and studies, and her appearance was impeccable. The fact that such a person as Takane-san would want to make a cute lunchbox – If I have to say something from the perspective of a boyfriend, it would be that rather than surprising, she was too cute.

“…It’s embarrassing, isn’t it, being a high school student and making octopus sausages? Sorry, next time I’ll make a proper lunchbox…”

“No, no. What I like, or rather, what I’d want to eat, is the sausage… I’m also interested in meat wrapped rice balls, though.”

“……..”

As Takane-san tried to close her lunchbox, I tried to dissuade her.

Takane-san’s eyes looked a little moist. It didn’t look like she was about to cry, but she seemed to ponder about something.

It took her that much courage to show me her lunch.

And yet, she still invited me to sit with her. What’s more, she was asking me what I liked in this situation. That meant I had to answer her. I couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed.

“…Are you sure you want the sausage?”

“…If I may.”

Takane-san smiled, grabbed her chopsticks, and offered me a sausage.

She leaned forward over the table, but she didn’t get her hair in the lunchbox. So, this was all already planned by Takane-san.

Even though our positions were far apart, there were still other students on the terrace. Even so, Takane-san didn’t seem to care about her surroundings, and I didn’t think of stopping her.

Takane-san’s mouth opened. I wonder if she’d tell me to open my mouth. When that happens, I’d have no choice but to obey–

“Ah, is it Takane-san sitting over there?”

“!!!!!!!”

“!!!!!!!”

Both Takane-san and I jolted at the same time – from the doorway to the terrace, we could hear a familiar voice.

Takane-san, who had sat back down, looked at the owner of the voice and gave a small wave. It was Nakano-san, who had been in the same club with me when we were in middle school.

“Nagisen  is with Takane-san… So my decision to come alone was the right one. That was dangerous…”

“It’s not dangerous though…”

I haven’t talked to her since we entered high school, so it had been quite a while and I didn’t know how to talk to her.

Nakano-san didn’t know about me and Asatani-san, but about me and Takane-san… Again, I thought about who should be allowed to know about my relationship with Takane-san.

Some people were already suspicious of the fact that we were together, but looking at her again, I realized that Nakano-san’s appearance had changed quite a bit since middle school. I guessed it was not surprising since it was necessary to darken one’s hair in preparation for exams.

“Kiri-chan introduced me to Takane-san, and Takane-san is already like a friend to me. Can I be counted as part of the crew?”

“…In that direction, then that’s fine.”

“Eh… Ta-Takane-san?”

“In this kind of situation, boys are more flustered than girls, right? Well, Nagisen has been weak with girls since middle school, though I like the fact that he hasn’t changed.”

She spoke formally to Takane-san, but she basically insulted me. It seemed to indicate the hierarchy within her.

“Nagisen… Is that because it’s Nagito Senda-san?”

“Oh, that’s one way to look at it, but it’s a little different… I only joined the reading club in the middle of the year. So I called Nagisen, who joined the club before me as senpai. Then, there were twists and turns…”

“No, I’ve never agreed to be called that…”

“Nagi-kun fits right with Kiri-chan, and Nagisen is just right for me.”

I didn’t understand the logic behind that, but Nakano-san was still the same as ever.

When she was in middle school, she used to be involved with positive people from her class, and she was the kind of girl who could take a leadership role among them. Why she joined the reading club, there were a few reasons, but it was fine now.

( T/N : I know ‘positive people’ seems to be a weird translation. I asked fellow translators and they said it was slang. It could also mean people with a positive persona.)

I wondered what Takane-san thought about the fact that Nakano-san and I knew each other. I heard that she had talked to Nakano-san during the physical fitness test, but Takane-san only told me her first impression of her, which was that Nakano-san was a cheerful person.

“But then again, Nagisen, how did you come in contact with Takane-san? Did you perhaps bump into her on a street corner with a slice of bread in hand?”

“No comment on that part. Nakano-san, I think your friend is waiting for you.”

“Ugh, I’ll force it off your tongue. I’ll send you a curse sticker later… Takane-san, if you’d like, let’s get along again! Well then, bye!”

Nakano-san made a threatening face at me, but she was incredibly honest with Takane-san – she had said that she admired good-looking women, and it seemed that Takane-san fitted that description.

“Um… Nakano-san is an interesting person, isn’t she?”

“Guess so… I think she would be happy to hear that.”

She went from ‘cheerful’ to ‘interesting’. I wondered if it’s fair to say that Takane-san’s image of her had improved.

After that, we ate our lunches while chatting and laughing, but until the end, Takane-san didn’t try to feed me again. In regards to this, I regret to say that I would have to return the curse to Nakano-san.

Takane-san left the terrace before I did and returned to the classroom because she was being assigned to the next class.

Before leaving, Takane-san was staring at my face – Unsure of her intentions, I took a deep breath and was in a daze.

Being distracted, I was caught off guard.

“Nagi-kun.”

“Eh?”

Suddenly, someone called out to me and placed a hand lightly on my shoulder. That was all it took for me to know who it was.

“Asatani-san…”

“Fufu, were you just relaxing on a full stomach? You are unusually relaxed, Nagi-kun.”

“Well, I’m just the same as usual…”

“I see, you’re so relaxed around her, did you just never had the chance to be like that with me?”

Asatani-san was back to her usual hairstyle. The side tails flowed smoothly. She had her hair tied up during the physical test, but it wasn’t frizzy at all.

“…Did you hear from Takane-san?”

“Asatani-san said that she’ll support us…”

“Yes, That’s right. Last time, the atmosphere was too serious. Libraries in the evening have a certain atmosphere to them, don’t they?”

Asatani-san’s voice was light. She looked at the seat where Takane-san was sitting. Asatani-san probably noticed that Takane-san was there.

“Did you see me with Takane-san from the cafeteria inside…?”

“Only at the end. Takane-san had something to do and went back before you, right? I thought I’d take the opportunity.”

“Asatani-san…”

“I wanted to tell Nagi-kun that I support your relationship with Takane-san.”

We were already dating. But even if I corrected her on that, she’d probably just smile.

I had so many questions. During spring break, our timing was off. We never got the chance to meet and talk.

But now, why was it that Asatani-san seemed to care about me?

“Though I guess you don’t need an ex-girlfriend to support you.”

“That’s… Rather, I wonder why…”

“Fufu… Nagi-kun, I think you’d make a great detective. The way you sometimes pause, it gives off a vibe.”

Truthfully, I should’ve probably said something to her because it seemed as if she was making fun of me. But I couldn’t do that because Asatani-san didn’t seem to have any bad intentions.

“I did a mystery drama on the radio before, but the audience didn’t know the answers at all. You can’t make it too difficult, that’s why you need clues.”

“I guess that’s true… but, if there’s too many clues, you wouldn’t feel like you solved it yourself.”

Asatani-san’s eyes widened faintly. I was not sure if it was because she was impressed, or that she didn’t expect me to give her such an answer.

“I guess moderate hints are important. I wish I had known that…”

“…Asatani-san, I heard you’re going to be on the radio again.”

“Yes, there will be a public recording during the holidays for the first time in a long time. Not long ago…”

Not long ago – if it was about radio, I was pretty sure Asatani-san made a guest appearance on the radio during the spring break. It was a part of the promotion before the current drama started.

“–Nagi-kun, have you noticed anything?”

“Eh?” I wasn’t sure how to respond. By the way the conversation was going, I guessed it was probably radio-related.

“Three, two, one…”

Asatani-san started to count down mercilessly, but I couldn’t come up with an answer – Then,

“…Time out.”

Asatani-san reached out her hand to me, and guess what,

“……..”

“……..”

Out of all the things she could’ve done, she took a grain of rice from my cheek and ate it.

“When you talk about serious things, you look so cute, Nagi-kun.”

“Asatani-san…”

“I’ll see you later. I’ll support you properly, so don’t worry about it.”

Asatani-san left me and walked into the cafeteria.

“What did she mean ‘Don’t worry about it’…?”

I couldn’t stand it any longer and cowered at the table. I was prepared for anything, but I didn’t expect to have a grain of rice on my cheek. I guessed that was why Takane-san was looking at my face.

If only I had noticed it, I could’ve taken it and not be at the mercy of Asatani-san. Asatani-san, who was my ex-girlfriend, bypassed Takane-san’s refrain.

(Even though she’s my ex-girlfriend, we didn’t date for long, we were more like friends… Is it even normal to do this?)

While I was thinking about it, I received a message from Takane-san. She said that I should come back soon, so I told her that I would hurry back.

Other than that, I received a curse-like sticker from Nakano-san and a sentence below that.

[Nagisen, did you choose the same club activities as Kiri-chan?]

I couldn’t understand what the question meant, so I took it as it was and replied,

[It’s not the same club.]