It was dinner time on the third day. The previous two days had been Japanese-style set meals and kaiseki cuisine. However, from this evening until breakfast the day after tomorrow, when we would return to the school, the ryokan would set up an all-you-can-eat buffet. This was the first all-you-can-eat experience of my life.
As with yesterday, there was no group activity involved in the meal, and students were free to eat at any available table. Many students were already walking around with their trays. Kei was also with many girls today, and I could hear them laughing from time to time even from afar.
Finally having time to myself to eat alone without interruptions, I watched the students around me and learned the procedure.
The process seemed to include picking up a tray from a stack, freely combining the dishes in the tray according to their purpose, and taking the dishes one by one along a predetermined route. A salad bowl was placed first, with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and other such things were served.
There seemed to be a choice of five different dressings, so I chose the onion dressing.
"Interesting."
Unlike a meal where you were served something predetermined, you had a strong sense of individuality when you made your own detailed choices.
I found myself gravitating toward dishes that emphasized nutritional balance. On the other hand, the students around the restaurant were very varied, with some taking dishes that matched the students they were eating with, and others preparing small quantities of different types of food at once.
After that, for the delicate dishes, students began to gather in a line behind me, one after another. I thought there would've only been a few students since it was a little early for dinner, but it was quite the opposite.
It seemed that more students were waiting for the restaurant to open.
Although the food was mainly Japanese, there were also steaks, shumai, corn soup, and other dishes.
"Yo, Ayanokōji. Are you planning to eat alone?"
As I was trying to find a seat after filling my tray, I was approached by an empty-handed Ishizaki.
"That's the plan."
"Well, come eat with me. I asked Nishino earlier too, because she was alone. And you must be lonely eating by yourself, right?"
"Well… I guess." Since there was no particular reason to refuse, it was better to accept Ishizaki's goodwill here.
I followed Ishizaki as he led me to my seat, Nishino slightly raised her hand in greeting.
Albert also seemed to be there, and I assumed our eyes met through his sunglasses. I placed my tray down next to one tray with a large quantity of food on it, which I assumed belonged to Ishizaki.
"Well, I still have some more food to get. Go ahead and eat first."
He was empty-handed when he called out to me, likely because there was more food he wanted.
Ishizaki hummed as he walked back to the buffet.
"I heard you were also invited by Ishizaki's meddling."
"I wanted to turn him down, but he was insistent."
"He's the type of guy who can't leave his friends alone, right?"
"I don't know. He's changed a lot since the start of school."
It was true that he emitted a much brighter aura these days, a definite change from when I first entered the school. To be honest, though, since we had very little contact with each other, I didn't have a lasting impression of him.
"In the beginning, he seemed to dislike Ryūen, and he was a bit rebellious."
He didn't seem to understand it then because he was repressed, but perhaps this was the original Ishizaki. The one whose impression remained somewhat the same might be Albert, who ate silently. He dexterously used chopsticks with his large hands.
"Hey! I brought a ton of crab! I'm on a crab binge!"
Ishizaki came back and put a platter holding a large pile of crabs on the tray. The crab legs fell off the tray as he placed it on the table.
"That's a hell of a lot of food."
"If there's one thing I know about Hokkaido, it's crabs. I was after all of them, so I hurriedly gathered them up."
"You're so vulgar."
Indeed, among the colorful menu, many students gathered around the crabs. I didn't want to be part of the crowd, so I gave up on the first round.
"What's vulgar? This is a Viking! You can take all you want!" Ishizaki said, arguing that we'd miss out if we didn't take any.
"First of all, that 'Viking' is as lame as it gets, so why don't you stop saying it?"
"What? What else is there to call a buffet?"
"Buffet… Maybe you could call it… A buffet?"
"Buffet? No, that's just lame, isn't it?"
*Illustration
Nishino looked particularly concerned about the plate full of crabs.
"The details don't matter. I was looking forward to the buffet, you know."
"Why don't you take the other students into consideration? Crab is one of the signature dishes."
"What? If you do that, other people will take it. Besides, it's all-you-can-eat, so I'm sure they have plenty of it."
Well, that was a fair point.
Ishizaki turned around and pointed to where the chef was busily refilling the boiled crabs. Worst of all, if he could eat it all, she has no right to stop him.
"Agh, whatever."
Nishino averted her gaze from Ishizaki and scooped from her bowl of steamed rice and brought it to her mouth with a spoon.
Albert, who was quietly eating next to her, ate a variety of food. The lineup included soaked eggplant, spinach with sesame paste, various sashimi, miso soup and rice. No matter how you looked at it, it was all Japanese food.
"So, you like Japanese food."
Albert carefully lined up his chopsticks, set them down, and silently gave a thumbs up.
Then he quickly returned to his meal. He ate very carefully, more so than Ishizaki, who ate in gulps.
"Oh right, Ayanokōji, aren't you in the same group as Ryūen-san?"
"Yes. I'm not doing anything special. Thanks to the good support of the other group members, we're reasonably well organized."
"You sound like you don't know about the ruckus at the ski resort."
As one of the parties involved, Nishino recalled with a fed-up look.
"I heard you got into some kind of trouble with guys from another school. Damn, I wish I was there!"
"If you had been there, it would've been even worse. I don't know why men are so quick to fight."
That being said, Nishino was looking pretty heroic as well.
She spoke back without fear to interject between Yamamura and the guys, as if she was a shield for her.
"You're also a woman with some hot blood, aren't you?" Ishizaki laughed while chewing on a crab.
"You're so annoying. Don't let scraps of food fly. They're so dirty."
"You're not bothering Ryūen-san, are you?"
"You can be as paranoid as you want, but why should I obey him too?"
She and Ishizaki seemed to get along well with each other despite their bickering tone. She was indeed a classmate who knew her stuff.
She was also kind-hearted, considering how she showed a certain amount of concern for Yamamura.
"I've always wondered, isn't Nishino afraid of Ryūen-san?"
"Well, when he's serious, he does seem menacing. My idiot brother was also a delinquent, so maybe I have built a tolerance."
So she had a similar type of person in her family? That would explain why she was so forceful in her retorts during the fight.
"It's so obvious that if you don't get it right while you're a student, you're going to have a hard time. My brother was a stupid flirt, dropped out of high school, couldn't find a good job, and had quite a hard time."
She kept on sighing heavily, as if she didn't want to be reminded of it.
"What happened to him?"
"A local construction company picked him up, and he's working hard every day at their site. He's getting paid a low salary, though."
Because she witnessed a similar reality up close and personal, she could only sigh when she thought of Ryūen and Ishizaki's future.
They would have a hard time later on due to doing what they wanted now. Common sense applied regardless of whether someone was a delinquent or not. Except in the entertainment and creative industries, where talent is important, and in the sports industry, where physical ability is vital, it's definitely better to have a good academic background.
The more effort you put in your studies, the more likely it is that you'll be able to start from an easier position later.
"You're pretty smart for someone who looks like that."
"I don't need to look like this. Besides, I only seem smart from your point of view."
"Ha-ha! You're probably right!"
From Ishizaki's point of view, it seems that almost every student would be an honor student.
As I was leaving the venue after finishing my meal, I noticed Katsuragi.
He was eating alone at a table in the corner, silently bringing food to his mouth. I was curious about his situation, so I observed him for a bit, which led me to see a strange scene. Oda, a student from Ryūen's class, spotted Katsuragi and was about to go and talk to him, when Matoba and Baba, Class A students, intervened to stop him. After they spoke to him, Oda went to another student while still paying attention to Katsuragi. It was as if they were trying to prevent Oda from contacting Katsuragi. It happened not just once, but two or three times.
Matoba was a member of the second group, the same as Katsuragi. It wouldn't be surprising if he was sitting at the table with Katsuragi, but he was doing the exact opposite.
It seems that some of the Class A students do some pretty insidious things.
I could've left it alone, but I decided to try contacting Katsuragi. Matoba, sensing my approach, quickly came up to me.
"I'm in the middle of a little group activity with Katsuragi. Can you leave him alone?"
I see. If he told others it was the second group's problem, even Katsuragi's classmates would have to back off.
That was probably why Oda immediately understood and left.
Was this the consensus of Class A, or was this just Matoba's selfish behavior? And behind the scenes, were there intentions to defeat Ryūen's class? Either way, to a third party, this behavior could only be seen as insidious bullying.
A new visitor appeared in front of Matoba, as he was giving me a warning. Matoba turned his body around to stop him in the same way, but he quickly dismissed that idea.
"Oh!" He gulped and turned away, as if he had never interfered from the start.
"Hey, Katsuragi. You're eating with a very shabby look on your face, aren't you?"
No wonder Matoba couldn't speak to him. The visitor was Ryūen. He clicked his tongue a little at the unexpected appearance of the Class C's leader and immediately ran away.
Without even sparing Matoba a glance, he took a seat in front of Katsuragi.
"I'm eating. What do you want?"
"I wanted to take a closer look at your miserable face."
"I don't understand."
"'I don't understand'. That's what it means to betray your class. It's too late to regret it now, Katsuragi.
"I have no regrets. I'm ready to die with the current class."
Perhaps he was hiding his true thoughts, but I could tell that he was firmly aware of his status as a member of the Ryūen class, even though his words were a bit distant.
"I see."
Ryūen pulled out a chair with a thud and sat down in front of me, sliding an empty glass to me.
"Bring me some water, Ayanokōji."
"Me?"
"You don't have to be afraid of me in the slightest when I'm dealing with you in public. It's so much easier."
"I know you've been domineering towards people since we started the group... But you've never been like that towards me."
"Don't worry about it, I'll start now."
I'm not sure how much I would be able to find out about their situation.
I was thirsty as well, so it was convenient.
I also caught a glimpse of Ryūen's concern for Katsuragi, who was eating alone.
So for now, I'll settle with that.