Chapter 10: Whose Bento? Sera's

She can't be seen even by the person she's interested in.

Having to accept this truth, Orimoto still somehow appears in front of my entrance the next morning.

But Orimoto doesn't have the clever personality to give up on her romantic feelings.

The surveillance of Sera Keiichi continued.

I wish she wouldn't involve me.

She should be able to do surveillance alone. I think it would actually be more convenient for her to be alone rather than having me there.

「That girl is too close, what grade is she? ──Ah, right, she's a first-year. I've seen her face before.」

「...Girls' networks are creepy.」

「Did you say something?」

「No.」

I could say we were blessed with opportunities to conduct surveillance, or rather, forced into them.

My neighbor is radiating serious intensity.

Behind her piercing gaze lurks a sharp atmosphere. Considering it, today as always.

──They're being all lovey-dovey.

Anger welling up from her feet threatens to overwhelm us with its momentum. ──What Orimoto and I are staring at is Sera Keiichi surrounded by a cluster of girls.

(As expected of the protagonist, it's amazing that fights don't break out with that. …Or do they happen behind the scenes?)

I ask myself with irony, but since it's pointless, it slips from my mind smoothly.

Conflicts between girls are far beyond my imagination.

If it's a zen question with no answer no matter how much I think about it, then no matter how much I speculate, it's meaningless.

「──Hey, just a minute.」

My consciousness snapped back. My sleeve was tugged, and I looked toward the source of the force.

「Is this an aquarium? Don't suddenly pull me, what if I fall? Also, I'll be treated like a weirdo.」

「Aquarium...? What do you mean?」

More pufferfish than a pufferfish.

Orimoto puffs out her cheeks, achieving a fusion embodiment of calculated cuteness and naturalness.

I sense this means I'm about to be told something troublesome.

There are four girls representing Sera's harem.

As far as I know, that is.

Originally, Sera has outstanding popularity with girls, so being surrounded is part of his daily life.

However, you could say the surrounding people ridicule the particularly prominent girls as a harem.

One──Orimoto Suzuka. Second-year high school student.

Two──Michikusa Inori. Second-year high school student.

Three──Kanzashi Serina. Third-year high school student.

(And the fourth one is──ow!)

「I don't really get Kasugai-kun's repertoire of reactions, but look at that──!!」

I was smacked on the back.

The pain filled the gaps in my thoughts, making me involuntarily grimace and groan as I looked.

Kanzashi Serina appeared with clicking steps.

Her glossy black hair extending to her back is lustrous, and her gentle facial features inevitably remind you of someone older. Her presence changes the atmosphere.

「Keiichi-kun, do you have a minute~?」

It was a brief statement.

With just that, the cluster of girls scattered like a spider web being dispersed.

「Serina-senpai, what is it?」

「I had some left over at home, this.」

What Kanzashi-senpai held out was a floral-patterned wrap.

「A bento, please eat it if you'd like.」

「Eh?! Is that okay?! I'm happy!」

「Don't be so dramatic~. It's fine, it's fine.」

Sera accepts it. Kanzashi-senpai smiles.

A typhoon caused by a beautiful man and woman. Before I knew it, there was a clear space just around Sera and Kanzashi-senpai, truly like the "eye" of a storm.

「My father suddenly said he didn't need it, it's my homemade cooking, though...」

「I-I'll eat it! Gladly!!」

「R-Really? ...Thank you.」

My neighbor. Fury. Seeping heat.

「That's absolutely a lie! With Serina-senpai, it might not be a lie, but it's calculating and cunning!」

「What's with that made-up word? But well, being able to eat Kanzashi-senpai's homemade cooking might be happiness. ──Generally speaking, generally.」

「Fuuhn, fuuhn!!」

Orimoto glared at the sickeningly sweet space unfolding before her eyes like a child throwing a tantrum.

─────

「I'm actually good at cooking.」

Saying this, she rolls up her sleeves.

The revealed arms are healthy-looking.

「Nikujaga, curry, miso soup, fried foods, especially my karaage got high praise from Keiichi!」

「Why are all your specialty dishes brown...」

「Well, Keiichi was the only one I cooked for. His parents come home late, so I sometimes cooked for him.」

Lunch break is the only time a loner can truly rest.

That's what it was supposed to be──but lately Orimoto appears even when I don't call her, and today she's proudly boasting about specialty dishes I didn't ask about.

「Sera's house is galge-like too.」

「...Mm? What do you mean?」

「Protagonists have parents who are on overseas business trips, or if not, they come home late. Anyway, they're born into conveniently situated homes.」

Orimoto, receiving my explanation, muttered "I don't really get it" with a puzzled expression.

...Well, she probably doesn't play games.

「You'd understand if you played games.」

「I do play gamesー! The one where you live with animals and trees, or the plumber guy.」

Orimoto and I are sitting on a bench.

「Ah~, not those kinds... well, never mind. So? What about your specialty cooking?」

「Right! I'm launching Operation Two!」

Where did Operation One go?

「Where was Operation One from start to finish?」

「Operation One was when Kasugai-kun talked to Keiichi and we found out he doesn't remember me, the failed one!」

「...Operation Two has a better method?」

That's right, Orimoto pointed her finger up.

「Keiichi liked my cooking.」

「And that connects to... Operation Two?」

「Bento Operation! Isn't it perfect?」

How is any part of this perfect?

「Hypothetically. Let's say there was a possibility that Keiichi's memory would return from Orimoto's cooking. Hypothetically, okay?」

「Why did you add insurance twice?」

「Hypothetically there was a "Third time!" ...how do you plan to give that bento to Keiichi?」

After asking the question, a few seconds pass.

Orimoto stares, puts her fingertips together, fidgets, yet says as if hiding her embarrassment.

「I-I totally didn't think about that...!」

「Look here. Don't tell me you expect me to deliver the bento, that'd be gross. I don't swing that way.」

「Just for now! Just embrace diversity for now!!」

「I'll beat you to death──」

I'm not gay. My romantic target is girls.

Even with zero romantic experience, my gender identity is male.

If I gave Sera a bento and said "Eat this", I'd definitely be the school's popular guy (laugh).

After a commotion, the bento operation was rejected, and we were left with just the information that Orimoto is good at cooking.

─────

It was actually discovered that she can live without eating food several more days later.

Orimoto suddenly rubbed her stomach while saying,

「I get hungry, but... I've become able to live without eating.」

「Ha?」

I was surprised, but it's been continuous.

Since getting tangled up with Orimoto, I've been constantly busy with troubles.

Even Sera seems suspicious of me for some reason.

「You're becoming more and more like a monster.」

「Is that what you say to a maiden?!」

「Pay me back with interest. All the food expenses so far, you've been extorting from a guy who doesn't even have a part-time job.」

I, the ordinary eldest son born into a middle-class family, have the financial resources typical of a middle-class family.

My allowance is standard, and I manage from there.

I considered part-time work before, but with my personality, I'd probably not get along with others and just be left with awkwardness, so I kept putting it off.

「If I don't eat, I get dizzy from hunger temporarily, but when I sleep and wake up, I'm back to normal!」

But well──I see, I see.

This woman Orimoto has apparently transcended the human category. Being invisible is bizarre, but not dying from malnutrition is superhuman territory.

「Orimoto, why don't you try getting an exorcism? You might be haunted by evil spirits, monsters, or anyway, resentment from girls. An exorcism might make you feel refreshed?」

「An acquaintance priest couldn't see me either, though... what about that?」

「Maybe you outranked her?」

「So casual!?」

...Is it possible that she unknowingly earned someone's resentment?

I can't definitively say no.

Generally, any saint gets recognized as an enemy by someone. The truth is buried in darkness, but I heard even Mother Teresa was like that. Orimoto was well-regarded by students and faculty, but she must have attracted jealousy from some girls.

「Any memory of being resented by someone?」

「None... I believe.」

「Hmm. Well, I guess so.」

Discussion won't reach a conclusion.

Eventually the topic switched.

「──Time seems to be distorted.」

Her phone's charge stays at 100%.

She gets hungry but naturally becomes full.

Mysteriously, the uniform she wears every day doesn't wrinkle or get dirty.

When I threw these speculations at Orimoto, I gained some understanding, but that was as far as it went.