Seeing that Ai ignored him, Hiko had no choice but to pick up his chopsticks and put rice mixed with soup into his mouth.
Hmm, it really tasted better than the bread he usually ate.
He chewed it and concluded in his heart that it was delicious.
"This bento is simply too delicious." Hiko secretly glanced at Ai from the corner of his eye and, seeing that her attention seemed to be drawn to him, continued, "Ai, your cooking skills are truly amazing! Whoever marries you in the future will absolutely be the happiest person in the world."
"It's not as exaggerated as you say." Ai felt shy from such exaggerated praise.
"Not exaggerated at all!" Hiko was overjoyed when he heard Ai's rebuttal.
'I'm not afraid of you talking, I'm afraid of you not talking!'
"I said the person who marries you will be the happiest person in the world, and that statement is absolutely true." Hiko reaffirmed his words.
"I feel so ashamed just listening to it, please stop saying such things." Ai, worried that Hiko might say more strange things, could only endure her shyness and say, "If you say those strange things again, I'll ignore you!"
"Okay, I won't," Hiko agreed.
This crisis was resolved, but he didn't know if there would be a bento tomorrow.
But he didn't dare to ask, lest he step on a landmine again.
Hiko happily finished all the bento and quietly said to Ai, "Thank you for the meal, I look forward to having your bento tomorrow as well."
"Let's talk about it if there's a chance in the future, there won't be any bento tomorrow." Ai refused.
She had woken up early this morning to make two bentos, and made sure the dishes were completely different, which resulted in insufficient sleep, so she had to catch up on sleep after arriving at school.
Even if Hiko said something nice, she didn't want to do that again for a while.
As for making two identical bentos to save trouble?
Absolutely not! That was only for a lover, a wife, or family, for them, the bentos would be identical.
"What a pity."
Hiko sighed, feeling that he had missed a good opportunity due to his slip of the tongue.
He could only wait for Ai to surprise him one day on a whim.
After school, Hiko moved his desk next to Ai's, took out a book, and began to teach her.
Their classmates all saw this scene, but after a few glances, no one said anything.
Haru[1] felt a pang of jealousy seeing Hiko and Ai so close... 'I was the first one to like Saito-kun…'
As she left the classroom, she glanced at them a few more times and, realizing that Hiko was teaching Ai, felt relieved.
'Thankfully, they aren't lovers yet…' Haru inwardly rejoiced that the two were not in the relationship she imagined, then left the classroom and headed to the literature club room.
Even though they weren't lovers yet, if they kept spending time together, they would eventually become lovers, right?
Haru attended the club activities with a heavy heart, constantly distracted.
As Haru walked home with her friend, seeing her constantly lost in thought, she asked, "Haru, what are you thinking about? You seem preoccupied."
"Sayuri~" Haru sweetly called her friend's name, "Help me~"
I always feel like it's going to be something troublesome. Haru's appearance made Sayuri realize she was in trouble.
She used to ask for her help like this when she had made a mistake.
"What is it? Tell me quickly." Although she had a premonition of trouble, Sayuri still asked, pretending to be very concerned about Haru.
"It's like this..." Haru told Sayuri about Hiko tutoring the transfer student Ai.
"I told you to confess a long time ago, but you didn't, and now look, someone else..."
As a friend who grew up with Haru, she knew that not long after she entered junior high, Haru had fallen for her deskmate, Hiko, who had good grades, was handsome, and patiently helped her with problems.
After the second semester, they changed seats.
She had once told Haru to confess, but Haru just didn't dare.
"Actually, just as you thought, they haven't developed any relationship yet, just like when he used to explain problems to you."
Sayuri originally wanted to say, Now look, someone else got there first, and now you regret it, right?
But thinking that this would break Haru's heart, she could only quickly try to think of a solution, offer advice, and analyze the situation for her.
"They've probably only known each other for a few days, so they're not boyfriend and girlfriend, which means you still have a chance. But if you keep acting the same way as before, you'll only let the transfer student beat you to the handsome guy."
"Really?" Haru leaned closer to Sayuri, looking up at her hopefully.
"I definitely can't guarantee that, but you and Saito-kun were deskmates for a semester, and you still couldn't win... there's still a lot of hope."
Sayuri almost said the wrong thing.
If she had said, And you can't even win against a transfer student you've only known for a few days?
If Haru really confessed and failed, Haru would only get sadder the more she thought about it.
"If you don't dare, then forget him," Sayuri added.
She didn't want Haru's gaze to always be fixed on that person, even if he was excellent. Over the past year, Haru had often mentioned Hiko.
It wasn't that she didn't think highly of Haru, but in the scenes Haru described of her interactions with Hiko over the past year, he never showed any inclination of liking her.
There was probably no chance, because during this time, she had asked Haru to invite him to hang out after school, but it never succeeded.
"If you don't forget him and don't confess your feelings, and if he really becomes a couple with the transfer student in the future, you will definitely regret it even more—regretting why you didn't confess in the first few days after the transfer student arrived."
Or confess to him before the transfer student arrived.
Sayuri silently added an unspoken sentence in her heart.
"Then I can only try..." Haru replied helplessly. "Besides, forgetting someone you like isn't that easy, is it?"
"When I saw Saito-kun tutoring the transfer student, I almost gave up. Just based on appearance, they look like a model couple of a handsome man and a beautiful woman." Haru said with a downcast and insecure expression, voicing her thoughts.
"Haru, have more confidence in yourself. You're also very pretty and cute." Sayuri encouraged her disheartened best friend.
"No matter what, I'm going to try, so I plan to confess this Friday." Haru said with determination.
"Friday? That's a bit late. I suggest you arrange it tomorrow morning and confess after school." Sayuri offered a plan and continued, "What if the transfer student also makes plans with him that day and he doesn't have time? Or what if the other person gets there first?"
"Okay then... I'll start preparing when I get back, and tomorrow morning I'll put it in the textbook he'll be using."
Haru looked at Sayuri.
Sayuri nodded when she heard this plan of action: "That will work."
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[1] The girl from chapter 28, Mizuno Haru.
[2] https://patreon.com/SmutCriminal69