Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Breaking the routine

- Rihona -

Ryu and I put our desks together during lunch like we have been doing every day. However, this time something was different. Normally, Sugihara and Niko would join us, but now that they were dating...

"Just the two of us today, huh?" Ryu said as he unwrapped his boxed lunch.
"It seems so."

Our friends had joined the "eating lunch with your lover" club. We were not the only ones who were ditched, though. In the back of the classroom, Tanaka was sitting by himself.
He would eat lunch and play video games with Yamada on most days, but once in a while, the latter would spend the lunch break with his girlfriend. Today was one of those days.

"Tanaka is by himself today, too," I said, hoping Ryu would take the hint.
"Yeah. Hmm, should we invite him to eat with us?"
"Sure."

Ryu called him over. Tanaka didn't quite decline, but he seemed uneasy for some reason.

Don't tell me he is still worried about that.

Ever since that incident, our classmates would sometimes give Ryu and me funny looks. I thought we had cleared that up, but it seemed things wouldn't be so easy.

In that case...

I turned my attention to the corner of the classroom, where Kowasugi sat. She was looking through her bag for something, but her frown told me that she had no luck finding whatever she was looking for.

"As I thought, I left it at home. Ugh..."
"Is something wrong, Kowasugi?"
My classmate turned around, making her bangs move just enough to let me take a peek at her eyes. "I started this light novel last night, and I finished just before class, but I forgot to bring volume 2 with me. Maybe it's about time I got an e-reader."
"So you are free right now?"
"Um? I guess so."
"If it is okay with you, you can eat lunch with us."

If there are four of us, things won't get awkward, right? It will be the same amount of people as usual, after all.
Not that I'm trying to replace Sugihara and Niko with them or anything like that.

Even if I thought that, there was no denying that Tanaka and Kowasugi sat down in Sugihara and Niko's usual seats. This was done out of convenience, though.

Both of them sat down and took out their respective lunches. There was a moment when we all ate in silence until Tanaka spoke up.

"It is rare to see you without your nose buried in a book, Kowasugi."
She replied with a heavy sigh. "I know. I forgot to bring another book with me this morning."
"Did you finish the book you were reading this morning?"
"Yes, I couldn't help myself. I was completely hooked."
"Is that so? What were you reading, anyway?"

Those two began talking about that light novel while Ryu and I watched, unsure about how to contribute to the conversation.

"It does sound interesting. Maybe I'll give it a try."
"I can let you borrow it if you want," Kowasugi said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."

Now I want to read it, too.

"I'll check it out once it inevitably gets an anime," Ryu declared with a smile.
"Ryu, that's..."
"I mean, this series is popular enough to get one, right? People on the Web seem to think so."
I sighed. "That's not the point... Um, let's stop by the bookstore on the way home."
"Okay."

Kowasugi and Tanaka looked at each other and giggled. Of course, I had no idea what caused that reaction so I ignored them and focused on eating my lunch.

- - -

You are reading story My Gift to You at novel35.com

- Ryu -

Rihona and I were about to leave school. Before heading home, she wanted to go to the bookstore. I had nothing better to do so I agreed to go with her.
As we made our way through the hallway, I saw Sakuragi talking to someone.

"What? No way!"
"It's true! Seems they finally had enough of him."
I stopped next to them. "Hey, Sakuragi. What's going on?"
"Oh, Akaishi. Hear this: the TCG club is trying to kick out the president!"
"Really? Took them long enough, I figured they would wait until he graduated."
The boy Sakuragi had been talking to laughed. "It would be too late by then."
"Huh? How many members were left, again?"
"Counting the president, just four."

Now that the club was in danger of being dissolved, those three must have decided to get rid of the reason everyone was staying away from their club.

"So, what's their plan?"
"What else? If they manage to beat him, he has to quit."

Heh, of course. We are talking about card games, after all.

"Ryu?" Rihona said, tugging at my sleeve.
"You mustn't keep your girlfriend waiting, Akaishi," Sakuragi said.
"She is not... Ugh, whatever."
"Um, we can go take a look if you want."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm kinda curious, too, so..."

Rihona, Sakuragi, and I headed to the TCG club, where a crowd had already gathered. I grabbed Rihona's hand as we squeezed ourselves through the gaps and made it to the table where the president was facing a female club member. Just from taking a glance at the board, I could tell it was over for her.

"Is that all you amounted to? I attack you directly, and since you are out of lives, this game is over."
The girl clicked her tongue, then she picked up her cards from the table. "So close."
"How about this? I will give you guys one more chance. Pick someone from this crowd, and if they manage to beat me..."

I looked at Rihona. "You could do it."
"No way!" She said, shaking her head.

Before I could attempt to convince her, someone emerged from the crowd.

"She can beat you."

A girl with fluffy, brown hair pointed to the white-haired girl next to her.

Those two were here?

"Really? What game should we play?"
Nakajima stood with her arms crossed. "Alter Fortuna."
"Do you even know how to play? You are in the handicraft club if I'm not mistaken."
"I know how to play," Miyazawa said, then she looked at the girl whom the club president had just defeated, "is that ok with you?"
The boy snickered. "I'll give you until this Friday to prepare, Kamihoriuchi. Make sure your 'champion' is ready by then."

The students left the clubroom, leaving only the four club members, my two classmates, Rihona and me.

The club president stood up from his seat. "I gotta use the restroom, so feel free to have your 'strategy meeting' in the meantime."

Once he left, a certain girl from the club faced Miyazawa.
"How good are you?"
I stepped forward, "I can vouch for her skills. She beat me and my friends without breaking a sweat. But there's just one problem..."
"You don't own any cards, right?" Rihona asked.
"Correct."

The other two club members looked dejected.
"We are done for... Not even Kamihoriuchi's deck could beat him, so...."
"Even if we pool our cards together, I doubt we will manage to build a decent deck for Miyazawa-san to use."
Rihona took a deep breath and raised her hand, "I will take care of her deck so please, tell us all about the president."

Huh? What about the bookstore?

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