Chapter 10: 2.3

Time flew by rather quickly, so lunch time is soon upon us and majority of students were out of the classroom and on their own personal missions.

The only students here aside from me are Mashiro, who usually eats her lunch in the classroom, and a girl who is quiet as a mouse.

I would go out on a limb and say that the rest of my classmates were either in the school's cafeteria or just hanging out with their already established friend groups.

Mashiro usually brought lunch from home to avoid the rush of people, and her lunches usually seemed like they were prepared by high-class chefs due to the presentation of the meal and certain ingredients.

I was a bit hungry, and going to the cafeteria is going to be awkward because after I get something there, I’ll have to sit and eat alone. Considering that I’m yet to officially merge myself into someone else’s group or at least form my own, eating alone isn’t something new or reputation-ruining.

The main reason I didn't bring any of my home-cooked meals is that I awoke with a deep gaze into the kitchen. During that time, laziness got the better of me, and I decided to just purchase lunch today.

Before I could come to a definitive decision, my stomach did it for me and let out a growl that alerted everyone to my predicament.

It almost sounded like a dog that ran into another animal that it perceived as a threat.

"Are you fasting or something?" Mashiro inquired after hearing the growl.

No. I am just too lazy to get up and stand in a line, so I would rather starve. That’s a completely sane reason, right?

"There’s no reason to be fasting right now; anymore abstaining from food and I will probably fade out of existence considering that I’m already skinny."

"Fading out of existence doesn’t seem like a bad way to go, but unfortunately, I can’t have that happen right now, can I?"

"It sounds like you’re a little bit concerned."

"It was a joke."

"Don’t all jokes have a hint of truth to them, Mashiro?"

"Only if you read too deeply into them, so take it however you choose to."

"What if I choose to just sit here during the entirety of lunch and meditate?"

That could be a viable opinion for me.

She closed her bento box and replied, "So you're willingly starving yourself to achieve a hypothetical higher state?  You’re neither Buddha nor a monk; if you do I’ll consider you a bigger idiot than you are right now."

I gave Mashiro a deadpan look and got up from my seat.

Scanning the classroom, I noticed that the quiet girl made her own lunch as well. It seems that the spirit of meal preparation inhabited everyone else except for me.

Making my way to the door, I observed her, and I must say she’s ridiculously cute—a girl who looks the type to skip parties just to stay home and watch movies.

Sadly enough, her name escapes me because she rarely speaks and didn’t even introduce herself on the first day of school.

Slowly picking at her food, she instantly froze up when I noticed her. It appears she’s one of those individuals who can't eat while other people are watching them.

Aside from the school cafeteria, there were several small food spots where the students could rotate their meal choices.

While still in the main building of the school, Tokinori called out to me.

"Yamaguri-kun, you want to get lunch together?"

Surprisingly, he was alone. Usually a girl or two, namely Ikeya, would be next to him.

"Oh, hey, I’m surprised that you’re free right now." I replied.

Tokinori let out a sigh.

"Being surrounded by girls all the time is pretty draining, you know?"

I could feel his fatigue from here.

"Well, I wouldn’t know. Remember?" I replied.

Catching on to his mistake, Tokinori sheepishly laughed. "I almost forgot, but since you have a girlfriend now, there isn’t any need for that, am I right?"

"Let’s see…"

"Yamaguri-kun, don’t tell me that you’re a playboy."

I let out a little chuckle.

"I’m just messing with you."

Joining in on the laugh, Tokinori said, "Well, I wouldn’t put it past you anyway."

Wait, what is that supposed to mean?

"Interesting set of words, but shall we settle on something to eat?"

My silent prayers were answered about not having to eat alone. Logically, it would have been wiser to eat with Mashiro, but she already made it clear that I don’t have to be around her very often.

"There’s the always-good-old cafeteria, but also, the other food spots are a possibility. It’s pretty cool how they allowed other vendors to set up shop on the food grounds."

"I wonder how they gave the greenlight for that to happen?" I inquired, genuinely interested in the subject.

"Hmm, let’s see. It was implemented by the current student council president when he took office; apparently, he liked the feeling of having even more food options after a particularly unsavory encounter at the school’s food area."

When this school first opened, there was a small food area, but now it has expanded to more of a large food court over the years, and with president Arima’s motion, even more food options were added. So now, the school is starting to feel more like a university campus, minus the dorms, given the fact that they have additional acres that haven’t been utilized as yet.

"And they allowed it to happen?"

"It wasn’t really an issue considering that the president allowed his fellow council members to vote on it, with the results being 9-1 in favor. So the directive was sent to the board, and the chairman then approved it."

Typically, a student council is made up of the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, year representatives, and advisor.

So if the results after voting were 9-1, I can simply conclude that there are 6 year representatives; logically, that would mean 2 from every year group, and the advisor, who is usually a teacher, either abstained or is only allowed to place a vote when there is a tie.

"You seem to know a lot more than me."

Tokinori placed a hand under his chin and said, "Well, I heard about it from an upperclassman. We’re both in the football club."

"Did he tell you anything else?"

"The only other notable thing was that year-one events were about to begin."

"Events such as..."

"That’s all he was allowed to tell me."

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It's a little cryptic, if you ask me.

We made it out of the building and into the food court; the area is packed with students.

I looked at all the options and muttered, "This is a bit too much."

"I feel you on that one, but if you can’t decide, then I’ll show you what I normally do when I’m conflicted."

So, he’s about to sprinkle some food selection wisdom on me, and I’m very much ready to receive it.

After pausing for a few milliseconds, Tokinori pointed in the direction of two vending machines. I was a bit disheartened because I could have also easily selected this option. Actually, no, the disappointment stemmed from my thinking that he was about to show me a life hack.

On the brighter side, there wasn’t a line by the machines, so yay for that, I guess?

Once we approached it, I noted that one of the machines sold different breads, which were canned; this was an unusual sight for me.

Tokinori decided to go first, debating which bread he should get. Meanwhile, allow me to give you a fun fact. Did you know that there is one vending machine for every 23 people in Japan? Well, it’s just an approximation anyway, and the number has most likely risen.

Upon selecting his option, it was my turn, and all of them looked the same to me, so I settled on an old-reliable decision-making choice that has been passed down for generations.

The fabled "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," and selected my choice.

A can fell into the receiving tray, and I collected it. Ah, just my luck, plain bread. The other vending machine sold drinks, from which flavored water was selected. I like to think of that as a juice that is too shy to commit.

Now onto the next step of enjoying lunch at school and just anywhere in general: finding that comfortable place to eat.

Something like this is extremely pivotal because it determines whether your lunchtime experience is great or not. For example, a place that is extremely crowded can and will diminish the quality of your experience. The same goes for attempting an outdoor picnic and then having birds swoop in and pick at your meal.

Going back to the classroom can be an opinion as well, but it’s a beautiful day, so we found one of the many benches distributed around the school.

Bonus points for the wooden bench being in the shade as well. Upon taking our seats, I let out a sigh, a sign of my relaxation, and Tokinori did the same.

The green scenery and refreshing breeze made it all the better.

Because the lid was the pull-on-tab type, opening the can was as simple as expected. However, removing the contents of the container was a different story. The contents were in greaseproof paper, which stuck to everything. Eventually, I did manage to delicately remove it without damaging my meal.

Being a frequent consumer of the product, Tokinori easily removed his bread and bit into the grub. He selected chocolate bread, so I’m sure it was something tasty at least.

Biting into mine now, I noted the texture wasn’t anything amazing. The more appropriate word to describe it would be average. Obviously, you could get better-tasting ones at a bakery, but I'd already spent my money, so I scarfed it down.

We both sat in silence as we finished our meals, which was alright with me, if I were to be honest.

Some students walked a couple of feet away from us, and I noticed Chisaki Okushika among them with a few girls from our class.

Chisaki is basically one of those outgoing people you can easily get along with. That trait is what made her popular among our classmates and the year group in general.

Tokinori nudged me on the side and said, "Staring down Chisaki-chan, are we now?"

I cracked a half smile and said, "Nah, I was just thinking how popular she is despite us only being here for a month and two days."

"It’s mainly to do with her personality; people just find Chisaki-chan easy to get along with, so they just gravitate towards her."

Mashiro could have Chisaki’s level of popularity if she actually decided to be a lot more social. Yeah, it’s true that she is quite notable in the school environment, but that’s mainly because of her family’s name. So now they have this false image of her being somewhat of a socialite painted in their brains.

"Yeah, that makes sense, and the same goes with you."

Tokinori became a bit flustered.

"M-e popular?"

"Playing dumb, are we now?"

Sheepishly laughing, Tokinori responded. "I don’t really consider myself as popular as Chisaki-chan is in general, but I do wish to get along with as many people as I can. Something like that would make an excellent school experience.”

What exactly makes an excellent school experience? Is it the people you spend it with or just the environment in general?

"…."

I didn’t have a proper reply for his statement.

Picking up on this, Tokinori shifted the conversation in a slightly different direction.

"How are you enjoying high school so far, Yamaguri-kun?"

"It’s somewhat relaxing; I think I may enjoy it."

Tokinori's curiosity seemed mildly piqued due to my answer, and he immediately asked, "You may enjoy it? Isn't high school supposed to be one of the most exciting times in a person’s life?"

"If I am being honest, it depends on the person. I don’t have lofty expectations because you may just end up disappointed in the results."

That wasn’t an attempt to be negative, but more along the lines of realistic.

He turned towards me and confidently replied, "Hopefully we all enjoy a thrilling high school experience together so we can have stories to look back on in the future."

Together, he says? I guess that means Tokinori views me as a friend, or at least a classmate.

"Stories of dread and stories of excitement can both invoke the same level of emotional intensity once told correctly." I replied while finishing my bottle of flavored water.

"Are you planning to have dreadful stories, Yamaguri-kun?"

"I don’t think one plans for that; it’s just something that tends to happen."

Tokinori chugged the rest of his canned coffee and expressed his satisfaction with the meal by letting out a customary "Ahhhhh."

"Oh, by the way, we should exchange contact information; I have everyone else's except yours, Mashiro-san's, and a few others."

Well, that’s not an issue.

I pulled out my smart phone and exchanged information with him.

The time allotted for lunch was approaching, so we both decided to walk back to class. Ikeya appeared grabbing Tokinori’s arm and dragging him away.

Giving me a look that basically said, "Sorry, but I have to go."

I slightly raised my hand, which was a gesture to him that I understood. However, Ikeya did come like a thief in the night and didn’t even acknowledge me. To her, I am probably an invisible person right now. With that attitude, it's difficult to believe she's a popular girl.

Either way, it doesn’t affect me in the slightest.

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