Vol. 1 Chapter 22: Farewell to the past, I’m a new me. — Part 2

“Senpai! Let’s eat lunch together!”

“Yeah, let’s grab something, Kurosaki.”

Lunchtime. It was a rare event—though it happened once every three days—when Kurosaki invited me to have lunch. Since I had no reason to refuse, I followed her to the courtyard.

Several benches were lined up on it. They probably set them up in consideration for the numerous students eating under the sun, perhaps even for the precious couples around. Thanks to that, we saw a whole shebang of flirting unfolding right in front of us, such activity rivaling the heat of the summer sun above. Since all inconspicuous benches were occupied, we had to sit on one right by the school building. Outrageous!

We sat down knee-to-knee and opened our own lunch boxes. Hers was made by her mother. It looked delicious and boasted many, many more colors than mine. Despite it, her eyes squinted and she started to eat my own lunch with her eyes.

“Wow~! Your lunch looks delicious today, senpai.”

“Does it? I’m making it as-is, so the taste is nothing special.”

“I wanna try it! Especially that bacon-wrapped asparagus!”

This girl pointed at the most eye-catching thing without any hesitation. But who could refuse a request with those sparkling eyes of hers? No one! I bid farewell to both the asparagus and the bacon, then pointed them both before her tiny mouth.

“Here, ah~n,” I urged her to open her mouth.

“Ah~n… Mmm! It’s sooo good! It tastes even better since you’re feeding it to me!”

“…Don’t you feel embarrassed?”

Seeing her play like a child, I couldn’t help but relax my face. Ah, a cute junior and a gentle afternoon… If only this peace I finally have could last forever—

“Miyamoto, can I talk to you for a second?”

“…Asakawa? What is it?”

It was Asakawa, a classmate of mine, who suddenly tried to join in the chirpy mood. Well, the suddenness surprised me, but there was no longer any tension between us, so I’ll just hear what she has to say.

“It’s not really important, but I’m wondering if we could have some lunch together?”

She clutched a lunch box wrapped in a pretty pink cloth. So it’s not important, huh? Rather, she wants to have lunch with me? I did say we were “classmates,” but wasn’t it unnatural for the “Madonna” to, out of nowhere, ask me out for lunch? Well, I no longer had a reason to just shoo her out. Hmm, I wonder what this junior next to me thinks.

“I don’t mind, but what about Kurosaki?”

“Eh, m–me? I, I don’t really care, but… why, Asakawa-senpai?”

“Then it’s decided. Thanks.”

She sat down by my right side. Now, the two most popular girls at school sat my either side. Huh, if it were Connect 4—or three in this case—I’d be a beautiful girl too, but unfortunately, I was still the same ol’ me.

Honestly, I felt a bit awkward, but Asakawa just opened her lunch box obliviously. She must’ve made her own lunch, but hers was miles better than mine. I have no regrets.

“A, Asakawa-senpai, you’re just Yuta-senpai’s classmate, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, why did you suddenly come to eat with him…?”

Unable to stand this indescribable atmosphere, Kurosaki shot straight through the heart of the matter. She asked something even I was hesitating to do. As I applauded her in my heart, Asakawa answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Why? I just wanted to have lunch with Miyamoto-kun.”

“B–but you don’t have any connection with him, do you?!”

“If I had to say, it was love at first sight.”

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It was one of those prince-like lines in a movie, but she said it with such confidence it didn’t sound cringy—No, what’s up with her reason…?

“A, aha… My other rival is, aha, Asakawa-senpai…”

Kurosaki, whose energy hit rock bottom, mumbled so with widened and shock-filled eyes. Thank you for your service, you did an amazing job. Now it’s my turn.

“H, how did you fall in love at first sight? Since you’re a model, Asakawa-san, you surely know many good-looking actors—”

“While that’s true, everyone was surprised at how much you changed right after summer vacation. Well, I wasn’t as much since I don’t like judging people based on appearance, but I figured it must’ve taken a lot of effort to change that much. I just thought it was a wonderful thing since not many can make that kind of effort.”

“O, oh…?”

A perfect alibi, a masterfully constructed story. Before I could even finish my question, she already started replying as if it was all expected. I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t argue with her long sentence.

Asakawa, I think with those skills you should aim to become an actress or something in the future. The fact she can act so naturally as if we’ve never been something other than classmates, suggested that she was either extremely gifted as an actress or a psychopath. There’s a good chance it was the latter.

“Asakawa… are you okay?”

“Of course I am. W, well, more than that, my heart goes ‘ba-dump’ when I start pouring out strong feelings like that.”

Huh? Since when did she regularly pour out her feelings? Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and she looked up with a bit of ecstasy. After a moment, she returned to her cool face and began summarizing her story in an unnatural way.

“Well, I don’t wanna disturb you two at the moment, so let’s have lunch together some other time.”

“Occasionally, right?! I won’t give you my senpai!”

Maybe due to a trainer popping a Revive potion on her, Kurosaki rose from the dead and started threatening her as a hamster threatens a human. Hmm, Ayagawa’s actions are suspicious, but I don’t think she’ll cause any harm, so it’s fine to leave it as-is for a while. More than that, I had to confirm something with her.

“So, what did you do with the evidence?” I ask her.

“I showed it to Ms. Kotoriyu and she was livid. Maybe expulsion is out of the question, but he’ll probably behave from now on.”

“I see, thanks.”

The final decision must be left to the teacher, after all. Not too grave, not too lenient, I just hope she’ll take the right measures.

“Well then, I finished eating and I gotta go now. I have a photo shoot today,” saying that, she quickly skiddled back to get her stuff. So she didn’t come all the way out here just to have lunch.

“Could it be… she came here just to tell me that?”

“…I think that’s probably it… Hey! I won’t give her my senpai!”

I got worried about Kurosaki’s emotional state, which was livid as an open wound, but she managed to come back with great vigor, so I patted her head anyways. Wow! Look how big her grin is!

“Senpai~! See you tomorrow!”

After school, I parted ways with Kurosaki near the station and walked home alone, deep in thought.

Surely, life is filled with choices. I made an effort during summer vacation, I turned around to Kurosaki when she fell, I forgave Asakawa… Perhaps all of them were important crossroads in my life, and if I’d chosen another path, I’d be somewhere completely different. Maybe there was a better choice I could make, or maybe I would become miserable.

—But that’s okay. I’ve thought it through and walked the path I desired. I have no regrets. Even if a version of myself that chose another path thinks I’m unhappy, I can brandish my choices with pride.

I’ve moved forward.

A cute junior, a slightly devilish idol, and an unfamiliar classmate. The relationships I should’ve let go of were back in my hands, in better shape than ever before—and that’s fine. I looked up at the sky and saw that same star, the brightest of all, twinkling up in the heavens as it spotted me. It seemed to bless my path ahead.

The path I chose.

Volume one just ended! Well, before I start TL-ing volume two, we still have a couple of extras to go through. They’re what-ifs that depict scenarios in which the protagonist chooses a different path, and they’re wholly interesting. Stay tuned!

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