Chapter 4: 4

After I began working on my lunch box at around half past 5 am, I finally reached the last stretch. I finished making the side dishes, now tasked with putting them inside. Most of the time I usually just make a lunch box for myself, but today I made not only my own share but for Tsuyoshi-kun as well. For that, I borrowed a lunch box from Dad.

I’m aware that making a lunch box is quite the old-fashioned way of going on the offensive, but I can’t be bothered with how I look to others. And today is the perfect chance for this strategy. Usually, Tsuyoshi-kun and Isaka-kun eat lunch in the cafeteria, but because of his club, Isaka-kun can’t be there. That makes it easier to give Tsuyoshi-kun this lunch box.

And with that, my work was done. The navy-blue lunch box was Tsuyoshi-kun’s, and the smaller yellow one was mine. But since making a lunch box would show off my femininity, which I don’t want, I added a weird flavor to his lunch. I’m basically going to show off how clumsy I am.

“Hehehe.”

Imagining Tsuyoshi-kun’s response, I found myself giggling. Once he ate some of this lunch, he’ll surely stop calling me perfect. And while feeling excited, I wrapped the lunch box in some fabric.

***

The chime signaling the end of the fourth period rang. Once the teacher left the classroom, everybody took out their lunch boxes or headed for the school cafeteria and school store to buy their lunch.

“Takumi, class is over. Let’s go to the cafeteria.”

“Mm…Ah, yeah…”

Takumi’s awfully skilled at sleeping in class, never warned by the teacher. He’s even showing up for the roll call. He now rubbed his sleepy eyes and stood up.

“I gotta go to the sports ground, sorry.”

“Oh yeah, draining the water.”

“Yesterday’s rain was pretty bad.”

Draining water meant for the sports clubs to remove the water puddles with sponges or dust cloths. To effectively use their practice time after classes, they apparently set out on doing this during lunch break. Must be hard being part of the baseball club. Takumi left the classroom, leaving me all alone. Since this is how things always go after a rainy day, I’m not too bothered by it. I’ll just buy some bread from the school store. With that decision made, I stood up from my seat and was about to leave the classroom, when a voice stopped me.

“Tsuyoshi-kun, wait a second.”

Turning around, Sako-san walked towards me with a lunch box in hand. And then, she pushed her right hand towards me, with the wrapped lunch box.

“I made you lunch. Let’s eat together?”

A homemade lunch box?! Not to mention from Sako-san, who’s rumored to be a great cook. Can I really eat something like this? However, when I looked around me, I realized that this wasn’t the time to feel happy. All of my classmates’ gazes were directed at me. Especially those from the boys that felt as sharp as knives. They were packed with jealousy and hostility.

At the same time, the girls were more curious than anything. I’m worried about the rumors being birthed from this. Either way, I just wanted to get out of this classroom as quickly as possible. I won’t be able to eat anything in this tense atmosphere. I accepted the wrapped lunch box and stepped out of the classroom. Following that, I beckoned Sako-san over.

“Over here. I know the perfect place to eat in peace.”

Luckily, the future guidance counseling room was empty even during lunchtime. Shibato-sensei was probably eating somewhere else. I turned on the light of the interview room and sat down on a sofa. Sako-san sat down across the table. On a side note, Sako-san returned her skirt back to its normal length, despite previously declaring that she would keep it short.

“Can we really eat lunch here?” Sako-san looked around the room.

“Totally fine.”

Eating here is actually forbidden, but Shibato-sensei won’t get angry about the small details, so it should be fine. And since I’m aware of all of Sensei’s wrong-doings, he can’t threaten me, let alone get angry.

“Then it’s fine! Let’s start eating!” Sako-san seemed excited as she unwrapped her own lunch box.

Before I worked on mine, I asked a question I was curious about.

“Can I really eat this?”

Of course, I’m really happy about this homemade lunch box, but I would feel bad receiving it from the girl I just rejected. That’s why I wanted to ask one more time. However, Sako-san’s hands suddenly stopped, and she looked at me with a saddened gaze.

“You don’t want it…?” Her eyebrows created a defeated expression.

“No! I’ll gladly take it!”

That’s right, she made this lunch box for me, so it’d be rude to not eat it. I’m going to munch it up like it’s the most delicious food ever. I unwrapped the lunch, being met with a two-floor box.

“Woah…!”

Sako-san’s lunch made my mouth water. Fried chicken, rolled omelet, boiled greens with soy sauce, cooked salmon, potato salad. It’s all typical side dishes, making me feel like I just opened up a treasure box. The white rice was packed into a nori bento, looking just as delicious.

“You made this, right, Sako-san?”

“Yep.”

“Wow…! I’ve never seen such a delicious-looking lunch box.”

“Hehe, thanks! Go ahead and dig in.”

“Thanks for the food!”

I grabbed my chopsticks, and first went for the fried chicken. Sako-san looked at me the entire way, which made it a bit hard for me to eat, but I guess she was excited. With how good the food looked, I was sure that the taste wouldn’t disappoint. The fried chicken was made the exact way I liked it, too. I stuffed it into my mouth, feeling a crusty sensation at every bite, as the meat juice started filling my mouth. The taste of this juice was de…deli…not delicious at all. Rather, it was pretty bad.

When biting on meat, you would normally be greeted by meat juice, and yet this one was as bitter as medicine. It was meat juice, yet it didn’t taste that way at all. What am I even tasting here? I swallowed the fried chicken with my best efforts, but the bitter taste had already filled my mouth. It’s like I failed at drinking medicine powder.

“And? How is it?” Sako-san showed me a dazzling smile.

It was honestly so bad I struggled to even keep it in my mouth, but I couldn’t tell her. She must have tried really hard to make this, so I didn’t want to hurt her.

“It’s delicious.”

There was a good chance that she simply failed at making the fried chicken, and the rest of the lunch was perfectly fine. I should be fine if I went for something else. Then…next up is the rolled omelet. They shone in a bright golden color, maintaining a proper shape. They looked great, I do have to say. I picked up one omelet with my chopsticks and carried it to my mouth—only to stop mid-way. It gave off a strong rotten smell. Just keeping it in front of my face was enough for me to tell. Why? Did she use rotten eggs? Is she out to kill me?

“What’s wrong? Your hand suddenly stopped.” Sako-san seemed bewildered.

She’ll realize if I don’t eat it! Seeing no other option, I stuffed the omelet into my mouth. I expected as much, but the rotten smell filled me with an urge to vomit. It looked perfectly normal on the outside, so how could she mess this up so badly?

“T-The omelet…is delicious as well.”

“Really? I’m so happy!”

If there was but one saving grace, then it definitely was Sako-san’s radiant smile. I tried my hardest to not reveal anything so that she could keep smiling like that. There’s still a lot of side dishes left. Some of them had to be delicious. I now went for some simple white rice. There’s no way she could mess up the taste there. And yet, the second I put it into my mouth, I tasted unbelievable sweetness. And it gave off an odd scent.

Call it grassy, or as the sea, it was a scent I shouldn’t be picking up here in this context. I battled my urge to close off my nose and swallowed the rice. A memory flashed up in the back of my head. The drop-off for ocean waste. The scent reminded me of a garbage disposal area for garbage washed up on shore at a beach. Even the rice tasted bad. It seems like there was no escape out of his hell even when relying on white rice.

I don’t want to make Sako-san sad, so I prepared myself to eat everything, but it was getting harder and harder. I barely took three bites. At the same time, my stomach rumbled, not necessarily out of hunger though.

“Fufu, it seems like you’re hungry, Tsuyoshi-kun.”

“Yeah, I’m starved…”

I lied with a straight face. This rumbling was definitely my stomach asking for help. I’m going to suffer a lot when I get home today.

“Will this lunch box be enough? I don’t know how much you usually eat during lunch.”

“Ah, yeah, I’ll be fine.”

If possible, I’d rather not eat another bite. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this lunch box has killed people before. However, as bad as it may be, making Sako-san feel sad would hurt even more. I already hurt her once by rejecting her confession, so I can’t afford to do it a second time. I made up my mind and readied my chopsticks.

I ate up all of the side dishes and white rice. The more I ate, the more my mouth was screaming in terror, and I couldn’t even pick the taste of the dishes apart. My tongue went numb, I started tearing up, and I found myself having trouble breathing. After around a third of the lunch box was left, my body reached its limit, as a sharp pain filled my stomach.

It’s not just a slight stomach ache, I felt the inside of my stomach being torn apart. It was something I had never experienced before. Pearls of sweat built on my forehead, as I grit my teeth.

“Is it not delicious after all?”

My back muscles froze up. I guess it was showing on my face.

“No no no, it’s very delicious.”

“But you seem like you’re in pain. It’s actually bad, right?”

“N-No, I like it. I can’t get enough.” I tried my hardest to smile and not show anything.

Yet, Sako-san kept on grinning at me.

“It’s fine, you can be honest.”

Why is she smiling? Wouldn’t she be sad to find out her food isn’t good?

“No, it really is good.”

“Hmph, so you won’t admit it no matter what, huh.”

Sako-san still seemed like she was having fun. She probably knows that I’m playing tough, and is teasing me. Looking at the desk in front of me, I realized something. Sako-san has yet to even touch her own lunch box.

“Are you not going to eat anything, Sako-san? Lunch break is about to end.”

I caught on to something. If Sako-san ate her own lunch, she might realize how bad the taste was. I pointed this out with these expectations, but Sako-san responded with a bright smile.

“I can eat later. Rather, I want to burn the sight of you eating my lunch into my eyes.”

You really don’t have to! Please just take a bite from your own lunch!

“We still have classes after this, so you should eat something now or you won’t make it through the rest.”

“I don’t really eat that much during the day, so it’s fine.”

Well my stomach isn’t fine, okay! I still have a third left, but my stomach is already screaming in fear and terror. My instincts were telling my arms to move, but my body wouldn’t budge. I froze up like a stone statue when Sako-san let out a faint sigh.

“Heh, you really don’t want to eat any more, huh?”

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Her smile almost felt sadistic to me.

“That’s not the case. I can’t wait to eat more.”

Or so my mouth was saying, but my hands didn’t move.

“Then…” Sako-san’s lips formed a smile as her cheeks changed color into a faint red. “I’ll feed you.”

“Huh?”

She stole my chopsticks, picking up a rolled omelet.

“Here, open wide~” She pushed the omelet onto me with a beaming smile.

It’s what couples would normally do. As a boy, I’ve always admired this kind of situation. However, the rolled omelet was dangerous. You won’t deceive me.

“Isn’t this something you should do with your boyfriend?”

“Nobody is watching, so it’s fine. Come on, open up.”

The omelet was pushed against my nose, the stench stimulating my brain.

“Because you’re such a kind person, Tsuyoshi-kun, you’ll eat it for me, right?”

“No, I’m not kind at all.”

“But when you rejected me, you took your time to properly think about it, no?”

“Urk…”

Please stop it. I’m weak if you bring up that topic.

“Here, open wide~”

Even though a scene like this would be something every boy would be jealous about, I can’t help but feel bewildered and worried. Sako-san’s smile suddenly felt so dangerous, like she had turned into a mad scientist.

“Come on, open your mouth.”

Sako-san kept on pushing the rolled omelet on me as if to urge me. I resigned myself and gulped it down in one go without even chewing. At the same time, my stomach ache went even worse.

“Which one should I pick next?”

Sako-san didn’t seem to be satisfied just yet and carried the next side dish towards my mouth. All I could do was suppress the pain in my stomach, turning completely empty. Seeing this happen, Sako-san smiled even more. All I could do was focus on not puking out everything in my stomach. It felt like my body was breaking apart. I was only still alive because I didn’t want to show a pathetic appearance in front of Sako-san. Finally, I reached the final bite of the lunch box. Sako-san gathered the small rest in the box and pushed it towards me.

“Ahhh.”

“A-Ahhh…”

I swallowed it down like a pill. And finally, the lunch box was empty. My battle is finally over. I somehow managed to make it through this without hurting Sako-san…When I felt relief after my long suffering, all the pain miraculously vanished. Or rather, I just became unable to feel genuine pain. Pairing with that, my sense of taste had vanished all the same. It probably wouldn’t take long until I would pass out completely. Unable to even keep up my shaking body, I simply collapsed back onto the sofa.

***

Starting from the conclusion, Tsuyoshi-kun managed to survive, and we didn’t have to call an ambulance for him. However, after spending the entire 5th period on the toilet, he then proceeded to rest in the infirmary during the 6th period. That being said, he still hadn’t fully recovered after classes ended, so Mayuko and I decided to pay him a visit.

After he collapsed, Mayuko and I tested my lunch box. It had surpassed the level of gross, reaching the point it was criminal to even let a human eat that. It wasn’t even edible as pet food. We walked down the cold hallway when Mayuko couldn’t hide her frustration any longer.

“And Tsuyoshi ate that entire lunch?”

“Yeah…”

More accurately, I forced him to eat that. Back then, I was so happy to see him struggle to eat it, I didn’t realize that he went completely pale.

“Machika, that was really bad, you know that?”

“Yeah…”

When Mayuko and I ate a bit of lunch, we almost threw up ourselves. We rushed to the toilet and rinsed out our mouths, but the nasty taste was still filling my mouth. Thanks to that, Mayuko’s been nagging this entire time.

“I think you should realize that there’s a limit to these kinds of things, Machika.”

“I didn’t think it would turn out this bad…I’m sorry…”

We reached the infirmary when Isaka-kun came out.

“Sako and Nishida? Sorry, but I gotta leave for my club. Catch you later.” He said and walked away with his back towards us.

I guess I did something bad, even troubling Isaka-kun with this.

“In you go, you almost-murderer.” Mayuko pointed at the door.

I took a deep breath and opened the door. Immediately after, I was met with a nostalgic scent of disinfectant.

“Um, I’d like to visit Tsuyoshi-kun.”

“Aye aye, he’s right over here.”

“Thank you very much.”

The nurse told me where Tsuyoshi-kun was, so I stood in front of the curtains. He might be angry at me or blame me for what happened. But even so, I had to apologize. I closed my eyes and calmly called out to the boy beyond the curtains.

“Tsuyoshi-kun, it’s me, Sako. Can I come in?”

“Go ahead.”

I opened up the curtains, finding Tsuyoshi-kun with a white face, having lost all of its usual energy. His weakened appearance acted like a knife stabbing into my chest.

“Tsuyoshi-kun! I need to tell you something—”

“It’s fine, it was delicious,” Tsuyoshi-kun said with a reassuring tone.

There was no limit to Tsuyoshi-kun’s kindness. Even though I almost killed him with my murder lunch box, he seemed as if he had forgiven my sin. However, I still came here to apologize, so relying on his kindness isn’t an option.

“What was so good about that lunch box…?”

“The fried chicken was a bit cold but really crunchy. And the omelet was rolled so beautifully.”

“What else?”

“The potatoes from the potato salad were also mashed in the exact right way.”

“What else?”

“Without the bones, the grilled salmon was very easy to eat.”

He’s not commenting on the taste at all! But at the same time, I was surprised he managed to find so many other things to bring up. As I thought, Tsuyoshi-kun is the type of person who really sees through minuscule details. A small glimmer of gluttony burned up inside of me. I want Tsuyoshi-kun to eat a lunch that I made seriously. I want him to know that I can indeed make a delicious lunch. I want him to say ‘Delicious’ but from the bottom of his heart.

I pushed my body forward, approaching his ear. It was just the two of us inside these curtains right now, so I can be honest with myself.

“I’d like a second chance.”

“A chance…?”

“That’s right. I’d like to make another lunch box for you.”

The moment I asked for this, I could see Tsuyoshi-kun going pale. He covered his mouth with one hand and started shaking.

“T-That lunch…one more…time…?”

His teeth clattered in fear, making him look like he was about to throw up. Seeing that reaction, I realized that my lunch box had inflicted severe trauma on him. I’m sure he won’t ever eat my lunch again. We won’t ever be able to have fun together during lunch break. My happy fantasies all broke down like a sandcastle.

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…” I brushed the curtains aside and ran out of the infirmary.

“Machika?! What happened?!”

I heard Mayuko’s voice behind me, but I ignored her and kept on running.

“Waaaaaah!”

My roars filled with tears reverberated through the hallways.

June 29th,

My attempt to show my lack of femininity worked.

I think that Tsuyoshi-kun’s image of the ‘perfect Sako Machika’ is gone.

However, he probably won’t ever touch my homemade lunch box again.

Even though my plan worked out, I feel so sad.

Just what am I doing, really.

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