It was the first lunchtime since winter break had concluded and classes returned. Kei had already formed a group with the girls, Satō included, and was headed to the cafeteria. It was important not only to focus on your partner but to also cherish your friends. I watched Kei's retreating figure from the corridor. The girls were neatly lined up in a row.
"Why do girls always walk side by side, regardless of whether there are four or five of them?"
"I don't know why you're asking me. Walking side by side is just a nuisance."
I threw a question to Horikita, who stood behind me, but she seemed to have no idea.
"Besides, do you have eyes on the back of your head? It's a mystery how you notice things."
"Isn't it better to leave the mystery as it is?"
"So, you don't intend to tell me?"
"If you tell me why girls always walk side by side, I might consider it."
"That's a harsh question to ask Horikita-san. She doesn't have enough friends to form a line."
Following Horikita, Kushida showed up.
"There's a hierarchy. Even if you block the corridor and become a nuisance, there are times when you need to maintain the group's formation."
"I see. So they naturally avoid forming a configuration where they have to follow one person in front."
"Probably. They don't all say it, but I think it's something they can intuitively understand."
So it might be a mechanism derived from the group psychology that is common in women.
"What a trivial reason. We should be considerate of others when we walk."
"Yeah, yeah. It's easy for people without friends to say that."
"Are you picking a fight with me?"
"Were you thinking I wasn't? That's amusing."
The two glared at each other, and sparks flew.
"Please don't fight. Do you need something from me?"
"I do have something. Ayanokōji-kun, can I treat you to lunch today?"
Horikita was offering to pay for my meal? I had almost no good memories of this.
"When you propose something like this, usually nothing good comes of it. This is based on my past experiences."
"How rude. I won't ask for money or anything strange, so you can relax."
"Well... Okay."
I was sure I wouldn't be able to relax, but if I said that, she would probably get angry. Instead, after a long pause, I nodded quietly.
"You sure took a while to decide."
"I may not like that about you, but it's okay. Kushida-san, are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm good to go."
She casually switched from battle mode to angel mode.
"I see, so Kushida is coming along too. That's quite unusual."
Could it be that Horikita didn't want to have lunch with Kushida alone so she invited me?
For a moment, I thought that, but if she hated to have a meal with an unpleasant companion, she wouldn't set up such a situation.
Those two must have a reason for inviting me together. I wonder what they're thinking.
Today, since Kei isn't around, there wasn't a problem hanging out with them.
"So, are we going to the cafeteria?"
"No, somewhere... somewhere less popular would be better."
Horikita replied, and Kushida, walking beside me, was empty-handed.
So, does this mean we're going to stop by a convenience store or a stall on the way to get a bento?
I didn't know, but I was sure to find out soon. We got up from our seats and started walking out into the corridor. Of course, the three of us didn't walk side by side. Horikita was leading the way, while Kushida and I followed a little behind.
"Hey, Horikita-san. I want to confirm again, are you really planning on eating?"
"Yes, that's what I said, didn't I?"
"Ha... In that case, could you make a stop at the convenience store first? I'll get some stomach medicine."
"Please stop. I understand your anxiety, but that's unnecessary."
I see, she's going to buy stomach medicine at a convenience store on the way. Stomach medicine was necessary.
"Wait a minute. What's with the stomach medicine? What on earth are you planning to eat?"
There was something clearly amiss in wanting to procure something unnecessary for lunch.
When I sternly asked Horikita, she answered without looking back.
"It's a homemade lunch by Ibuki-san."
"...Ibuki's homemade lunch?"
I was forced to handle the situation calmly as my thoughts froze for a moment.
"She's making one lunchbox for me, Kushida-san, and you today, so we're going to divide it into three equal parts and share it. Didn't I tell you that?"
"You never intended to mention it, did you...?"
If I'd heard that explanation in the beginning, I would've run away like a frightened hare.
First of all, there was no way she made it for me. It was too unexpected.
"If my memory serves me right, Ibuki wasn't good at cooking, was she?"
I dared not to call it bad and tried to suppress my fear as I phrased my words.
"She's the type who never did any home cooking before. So she usually only had imbalanced meals. That's probably new to your vague memory, isn't it?"
I had been on winter break until recently, but I ran into Horikita and Ibuki just after the new year.
And I do remember hearing about the current topic there by chance.
"Because imbalanced nutrition is unhealthy, I recently invited her to my room a few times and let her eat the food I made. She came without fail, albeit begrudgingly, because it saved her money on her food expenses."
"It's kinda annoyingly cute how she comes even while complaining, isn't it?"
Normally, one would describe that as 'annoyingly cute,' right?
"You seem to know a lot about Horikita's situation, considering you say you hate her."
"I've been dropping by often, hoping maybe a fight would break out. That's how I'm in the know."
That was a very nasty expectation; it was just like Kushida.
"However, it was a bit of a hassle having to cook for three people, myself included."
Despite her complaints, Horikita didn't seem to mind much.
Perhaps she was already used to it.
"So how did that lead to us eating Ibuki's homemade lunch box?"
"It was a tit for tat. When Horikita taunted her, saying she should at least learn how to cook, she loudly boasted, 'Even I can cook if I put my mind to it!'
'Then show me you can.'
'Prepare yourself and wait, I'll do it.'
'If you can't even do that, go die.'
'If I pull it off, I'll kill you.'
"And that's how we got here."
I was impressed by how easy it was to understand and imagine the flow of events.
But the last two exchanges were most likely lies. I hoped.
"Alright, I understand the situation. Well, I'm heading to the cafeteria, see you next time."
At the crossroads, I tried to escape by turning in a different direction, but Kushida immediately grabbed my arm.
"You're lucky. You get to eat homemade food by someone biologically classified as a girl."
"You tricked me."
I expressed my resentment towards Horikita who was calmly walking in front of me.
"It's not pleasant to hear you say that I tricked you. I just wanted to share Ibuki-san's cooking with as many people as possible. And wouldn't it be strange to involve people who aren't close to her? And it's too early to assume that it won't be delicious."
I couldn't get the impression that she was looking forward to it from the conversation.
I understood that I couldn't escape, so it seemed that I had no choice but to reluctantly follow.
"But couldn't you avoid being involved and escape, Kushida?"
It made sense to push into Horikita's room to eat her homemade food, but no matter how much she wanted to see Horikita vs Ibuki, the risk was high. She didn't know what kind of tragedy awaited.
"Well, yeah. Even I have something in this, you know."
"You hate to lose too, don't you, Kushida-san? You came here against your better judgment just because you were cheaply provoked by Ibuki-san, asking if you were going to run away like a coward, didn't you?"
"...I just wanted to see Ibuki fail and apologize for it."
It seemed that I hit the nail on the head, evident by her dropping the honorifics, but would Ibuki be the type to apologize if she failed?
Well, her troublesome personality was why she might've thought it was worthwhile to witness the apology, even if the probability was low.
"It doesn't seem like she's here yet. We're just in time for our appointment though..."
This seemed to be the meeting place, and she stopped in front of the corridor leading to the outdoors.
She lied about wanting a place without many people, but it looked like she was planning to involve me from the beginning.
"Hey, our classrooms are close by, why did we need to meet at the spot?"
"It's indeed a pointless gathering, but I properly invited Ibuki-san too, you know? She just rejected the idea of walking together."
If she disliked Horikita (and probably Kushida) that much, she could've just turned down this challenge.
It's a good example of the problem with being overly competitive.
"I can tell she's going to fail and bring us a nasty lunch box, isn't she?"
"I don't want to assume the result, but there's no doubt she's probably failed."
"I see... So now I have to eat the failed dish, huh?"
"Stop babbling about failure!"
Just as the air was about to become heavy, Ibuki joined us while shouting.
She has a bomb... No, a lunch box in her hand. She had it. I wish she hadn't.
I wish she'd blustered something like, "I forgot, so this match is off!" I would have supported her.
"Why is Ayanokōji here? I didn't invite him."
"Isn't it better to have more judges? That will increase the credibility of the cooking level. We'll change the location since everyone is here. You don't want to seem too friendly with us, do you?"
"Of course not!"
With that, we exited the corridor. It was still early January, so the cold was quite intense, but due to this, no one was at the dining spot.
Ibuki waved what seemed to be a bento box wrapped in a plain furoshiki (something I saw in a 100 yen shop) and slapped it down onto the bench.
"You'll regret ever talking about me failing. Hurry up and eat."
"You seem confident, maybe a miracle occurred and you actually cooked well?"
She's indeed brimming with confidence. That's obviously better than having no confidence, but are we safe to have expectations?
"She's clearly the overconfident type, so we can't take her attitude seriously."
Horikita, fully aware of this, averted her gaze from Ibuki to look down at the bento box.
My faint hopes, as well as Kushida's, instantly vanished.
"Hmm. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could win."
"Your confidence is apparent. But if that's the case, you should handle your food more delicately. Even if your cooking turns out well, you would still fail as a chef."
"Shut up. Just eat quickly. Then, apologize to me, Horikushi! You too, Ayanokōji!"
"Don't lump me and Kushida together, what a way to abbreviate our names."
I wasn't particularly bothered being called out as an afterthought.
However, it felt like...
"You three have become quite close, haven't you?"
It contradicted the glaringly tense atmosphere, but that was what it seemed like.
"We're not close, how could you misunderstand to that degree, Ayanokōji-kun?"
"That's right, don't interpret things strangely."
"I'll punch you if you say that again!"
Clearly, one of them was on a different wavelength, but they still seemed to be getting along well. Any way you look at it, I was out of place here.
"Should I go home?"
I expressed this genuine thought because I didn't want to be a bother, but—
"You can't leave!"
"You can't run away."
"That's unfair, Ayanokōji-kun."
The three of them shouted in unison once again.
I didn't quite get it, but it seemed I couldn't escape, so I sat down.
Well, it was fine. Listening to their conversation was somewhat interesting.
Ibuki's cooking was clearly amateurish.
Even so, she might have experimented and tried various methods to make Horikita and Kushida admit defeat.
With a hint of anticipation, I evaluated the aesthetics of the food, a critical element.
Out from the furoshiki[3] came a plain bento box (again, something from a 100 yen shop).
[3 : "Furoshiki" is a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth, often used to transport clothes, gifts, or other goods]
"Okay, let's open it."
There was no sense of worry or anxiety from Ibuki as she sat back with her arms folded.
Once the bento's lid was slowly opened…
What first caught our eyes was rice, not plain rice but fried rice.
Various vegetables and meats gave it a colorful appearance.
However, the ingredients in the fried rice were unusually large. Aside from that, there were mini tomatoes, tamagoyaki[4], gratin, simmered dishes, fried items, and mini hamburgers too. Although each portion was small, the seven types were laid out generously. The main feature was the addition of four slices of baran[5].
[4 : "Tamagoyaki" is a Japanese rolled omelette.
5 : "Baran" refers to the decorative plastic or paper dividers used in bento boxes]
One could say that it preserved the appearance of a bento.
"Did you make everything by hand?"
"Of course."
She responded immediately, so it seemed that the answer was true. However, she unexpectedly included simmered dishes.
"I'd give you a bonus 30 points for how it looks, perhaps."
"The taste matters in cooking, not the appearance."
"I'm giving you a compliment, you know. I thought something close to 0 points would appear."
Being generously told it was better than expected, earning a score of 30 points.
Horikita seemed to have prepared for this in advance and had brought several pairs of disposable chopsticks. She kept a pair for herself, then she gave Kushida and me a pair each.
"Let's get to the tasting."
"This is the first time I'm not looking forward to tasting something~ Such a lovely memory~"
Kushida said in a monotone voice and split her chopsticks. She didn't seem in the least bit eager to take the first bite, waiting for Horikita to do so.
Horikita picked up a bit of fried rice with her chopsticks and brought it to her mouth.
She then grabbed one of the gratins and popped that into her mouth as well.
After finishing eating in silence, Kushida asked her.
"How is it?"
"I won't say yet. I don't want my reaction to influence yours. Your turn."
"Tsk."
What a blatant tongue click.
If any students who still held illusions about Kushida saw this, they probably would've fainted. Even if they overheard it, they would dismiss it as accidental, not believing it was intentional.
"Can I just try the mini tomatoes?"
"Take it seriously."
"Tsk, you're too strict."
Again, there was Kushida's intense tongue clicking, and it seemed even stronger than the first time.
In a reluctant manner, she chose the simmered dish and the mini hamburger to taste.
"Ahh… I see. Here you go, Ayanokōji-kun."
From Kushida's enlightened face, the baton of gross food was passed to me.
Now, what to do with it?
The lunch box had seven items, including a small tomato. Since the two had eaten four of them, I figured it would be best to eat the remaining two apart from the mini tomato.
That meant a rolled tamagoyaki and a fried dish. It was a choice between life and death, or perhaps death and death.
"Well then, I will start with the tamagoyaki."
A staple for any lunch box. Though it required considerable skill to perfect, it was easy to make a decent one.
I popped it into my mouth, instinctively on guard for pieces of eggshell.
But it went down my throat without any crunch or discomfort, so I moved on to the fried dish. I didn't realize this until I picked it up with my chopsticks, but it was a bite-sized, round croquette.
"..."
I cautiously placed it on my tongue. When I bit down, the filling spilled out. It was clearly a croquette and tasted like one.
However, a mushy texture was more prominent. It wasn't fried enough, leaving the ingredients too moist. Furthermore, it felt bad on the tongue and left a poor aftertaste.
After finishing, I quietly set down my chopsticks and closed my eyes.
...Yes, I see.
By chewing and swallowing, the answer naturally comes to mind.
"Since we all finished eating, I'll give you my honest opinion. It's not delicious."
"What!?"
"It's not inedible and, visually, it was better than the 0-point worst case scenario. I can tell that a beginner worked hard to make this, but more than that, it's clear that there was too much salt; the seasoning was added haphazardly."
Sure, it wasn't unpalatable.
The bold seasoning was probably a result of eyeballing it, as Horikita pointed out.
"Yes, you can eat carrots without peeling them, but the texture is poor, and the size of the pieces is uneven. You gave it a serious attempt, but you couldn't hide which parts you thought were a bother."
It was just a single lunch box, but Horikita was able to precisely tell Ibuki's thought process when she prepared it. And judging by Ibuki's bitter expression, she was almost entirely correct.
"I don't want to eat anymore. So this is what it means to waste a meal."
Ibuki's frustration was evident in her vehement response to Kushida's caustic comment.
"It's surprising that you could boast about not losing to Horikita in cooking. You should've given some money to a good cook and asked them to prepare it for you."
She was harshly critiqued, and although it was a little pitiful, it couldn't be helped given the quality of food she'd made.
"You guys aren't judging fairly!"
"If you say that, then you eat it. You haven't even tasted it properly, have you?"
"Taste test…? I haven't, but it looks normal and must be edible."
"I didn't say it's inedible. It just doesn't taste good. Now, go on and eat it."
Ibuki reluctantly took a bite of the lunchbox she prepared, visibly annoyed.
"...Ugh, it's not delicious—it's delicious... Amazing!?"
"Don't force yourself to lie."
Being hit on the head by Horikita, Ibuki howled.
"Why isn't this delicious? It has such a plain and disappointing taste! And it's salty!"
"I've explained everything. You can't just eyeball everything."
"Even if you tell me that, I just thought there wasn't much of a difference between a tablespoon or two teaspoons, it's just a nuisance!"
That was the major issue. The food packed in the lunch box had significant variation in seasoning and was either too light or dramatically over-seasoned.
"If I were to score your cooking this time, I would give it 20 points."
"...Out of 20?"
"Out of 100."
"Whaaaaat!? Is the judge bribed!?"
"I was being generous with you. I don't even want to eat this lunch box."
"True that. If it were me, I'd give it 2 points."
Ibuki kicked the ground in protest to the judges' harsh criticisms.
"What about you Ayanokōji-kun? You must have a similar opinion, right?"
"No, I don't think it's inedible. I'd give a higher score to this lunch box."
"See!? See!?"
Ibuki slightly leaped up, seemingly pleased with the first sign of support.
"Are you sane? This is a poorly made, mediocre lunch box."
"Agreed, without any bias."
Horikita matched the stride without hesitation. However, I wanted to throw a wrench into it.
Various perspectives should be taken into account when discussing this bento.
"But it's not inedible. You admitted that much, didn't you?"
"Well… yes, but I don't want to eat it."
"In this day and age, where food is aplenty, I would never want to eat this in my everyday life, but what if we were cast away on a deserted island? If this was the only thing to eat there, wouldn't you gratefully eat it? So, my rating is..."
"Your score is fair. Thanks for the somewhat unclear analogy. At least, I clearly understood that you weren't giving it praise."
"...Is that so?"
My rating was interrupted just when I was about to announce it, leaving me feeling a little indigestion and a bit sick.
Or maybe it was the indigestion starting from the food thrown into my stomach.
"On average, 11 points. That's a shame, Ibuki-san."
In the end, if my evaluation wasn't going to be included, maybe I didn't need to be called...
It was in the past, but all that remained was a feeling of disappointment that I couldn't shake off.
"Ugugu..."
Originally unable to cook in the first place, Ibuki had no choice but to accept the result of her overreaching.
"If you say you'll remake it later, I might make time for you."
"I won't make it again!"
Being criticized the entire time, Ibuki shouted her dissatisfaction, possibly having been broken by one round of cooking.
"Giving up early isn't a bad thing. Cooking just isn't for you right now."
Despite being criticized again, Ibuki, having already made up her mind, snorted and crossed her arms.
"On the contrary, I realized it's stupid to even bother with cooking. You are all wasting your time."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You can simply buy a bento at a convenience store or supermarket. It saves you time and you don't need to deal with leftover ingredients. And it even tastes delicious. Right?!"
Well… I guess that's one benefit of a ready-made bento...
"You shouldn't do that. You must consider your nutrition well when preparing meals. How long must I repeat what I have already explained? That's why you don't grow up."
"Ahahaha, that's true. Not just your mentality, your physical growth seems stagnant too."
"Hey Kushida! What are you looking at when you say that?!"
"What do you think?"
"I'm going to kick you now! I'm going to force you to apologize!"
"Alright, alright. Don't bite at every little thing. The fact that you always get prickly proves that you're not getting enough nutrition. Come to my room at seven o'clock tonight."
"If you insist so much, I accept!"
Was she going?
I thought she would refuse, but despite her annoyance, Ibuki accepted.
While saving money on meals, you could get a nutritious and delicious meal.
Having to listen to Horikita's nagging was a downside, but it was too valuable of an opportunity to pass up.
"See you then!"
Leaving behind words of dismissal, Ibuki stormed off with fast-paced strides.
If it had been in an apartment, her energy would have annoyed the people downstairs.
"Leaving the lunch box she brought without cleaning up, really..."
Showing a disgruntled attitude like a mother complaining about her daughter's incompetence, Horikita tidied up the scattered lunch set.
She wouldn't take it home and wash it, would she?
Kushida, who was sitting next to her, averted her gaze from all that and stood up.
"Then I'll bother you at seven o'clock too."
"I didn't invite you, though?"
"That's fine. I want to save as many private points as possible. And a meal paid for with your money isn't bad. I'll enjoy eating it."
She seemed to find taste in things totally different from others.
"Don't you already have enough private points?"
"I'm far from having enough. I was supposed to receive money from someone every month, but unexpectedly, plans have changed."
Although she smiled nicely, her cold eyes were directed at me.
Then, back to her usual angelic self, she disappeared toward the cafeteria.
"Well, that wraps things up. Good job."
"Yeah, good job—wait a minute."
I forcefully stopped Horikita, who was about to casually pick up and leave with the bento box.
"What is it?"
"I don't remember being treated to lunch just for tasting a bad bento, do I?"
"You could have eaten the whole horrible bento without hesitation."
She offered me the bento box, which still had a lot left in it, but I pushed it back without hesitation.
"It was a joke. Let's go to the cafeteria. I'll treat you to whatever you like."
It seemed Horikita did have some remnant of conscience as she answered.
"But it must be expensive to feed both Ibuki and Kushida. Two people, right?"
"Thanks to them, my food expenses have almost doubled. Kushida-san came even though I didn't invite her."
"Do you think your and Ibuki's presence serves as a good stress relief for Kushida?"
If they truly hated it, they wouldn't choose to spend their time together, free meals or not.
"I wonder. She seems to enjoy inflicting me damage more than anything else. Including Ibuki-san, it feels like they just can't help wanting to see my struggles and frustrated expression."
I see. That might be true as well.
Spending the same time together, they could get a chance to see Horikita's weak side.
"It may be hard to imagine, but there must be some fun moments when the three of you gather, right?"
"There's nothing like that. It's not a typical girls' gathering. There's no laughing, and it's always tense. Did you not see our exchange earlier?"
Looking back, the earlier gathering was indeed not enjoyable by any stretch of the imagination.
The only time when Kushida, perhaps out of habit, showed a smile or a smirk, was less than half the number of times she did with others.
But, strangely, there was no heavy or tense atmosphere. It felt rather comfortable in a weird way.
"Let's go. It's a waste of time to keep talking about those two forever."
"Sounds good."
As we started walking, I began to reflect on the mini-event that just took place.
Despite the burden on my tongue and stomach, today's gathering had been incredibly meaningful.
Horikita, Kushida, and Ibuki, who was from a different class.
The newly formed, albeit distorted, relationship between the three of them was unexpectedly sturdy and not to be underestimated.
They would all surely deny it if I called this a friendship, but my interpretation was that the sequence of surprises stemmed from the emergence of a budding friendship.
However...
"What?"
Maybe Horikita didn't like the fact that I, walking by her side, was looking at her. She narrowed her eyes defiantly.
"I was just thinking about what expensive food I could get you to treat me to."
"If that's the case, you should eat what you want without worrying about the cost."
"I just want to eat the most expensive thing there is."
"Just... do whatever you want."
But then, for some reason, I was forced to decide on a set meal to eat.