Chapter 3

Suou-kun~ ♪

Hajime-kun, I’m over here. …Oh, Nagumo-kun is with you?

I invited him. It’s a little late to ask, but is it all right if Tetora-kun eats with us?

Of course. I don’t mind ♪

Thanks, Suou-kun. So you two brought your lunch. I’m gonna go get something from the cafeteria, so go ahead and eat without me!

Eh—I’d feel bad doing that, so how about I wait for you, Tetora-kun?

Nah, it’s fine, don’t worry about it! I’ll be right back~ ♪

Shall we take Nagumo-kun at his word and begin?

I guess so. Let’s eat slowly.

Wow… Your bento is so extravagant, Suou-kun. The hamburg steak is so thick, and cooked just right. It looks delicious ♪

Thank you. I will give your compliments to the chef.

Suou-kun, you had a chef make your lunch?! That’s amazing, you’re like in a whole different world…

I’m not very well-acquainted with how other families prepare lunches. I do love how colorful your bento is, Hajime-kun. Did someone in your family make yours for you?

No, I made my own lunch today. Although most of the time, I just pack last night’s leftovers.

Oh, but I made this dashi-maki on my own this morning. ♪¹

Really now? This is something you could find in a first-class Japanese-style restaurant. Marvelous…☆

Ehehe, it’s not that great. Suou-kun, would you like to try one?

Is that okay? I would love to… ♪

Munch munch… ♪

H–how is it? I hope you like it…

It’s wonderful! It’s not just the appearance—the taste is first-rate as well… Did you truly make this, Hajime-kun?

Y–yes. I really, truly did.

Incredible. I would love to eat something this flavorful every day. Would you like to come work as a chef for the Suou family?

Huh?! I can only cook simple dishes, and I just had some really good luck with this dashi-maki so… Uu…

Fufu, I was only joking. But since you’ve given me such a wonderful experience, I’d like to pay it back…

So, I offer you this hamburg steak ♪

A–are you sure?! Somehow I don’t think I should…

Please. I was able to eat such a delicious dashi-maki tamago, so please help yourself.

O–okay. Thank you… ♪

Gulp…

……

Um, you’ve gone all stiff, Hajime-kun. Is something wrong…?

……

Hajime-kun… Hajime-kun, please hang in there!

…Hwa—

A–are you okay? Can you hear my voice?

S–sorry. I think the taste made me pass out.

This… is a hamburg steak? It’s so much different from what I usually eat. Your family chef is incredible, Suou-kun ♪

On the contrary, I think you are the incredible one, Hajime-kun, to be able to make delicious lunches all while juggling your studies and idol work.

…Surely, this is “the taste of home.” Thank you for giving me this invaluable experience ♪

Ehehe. I’m glad I asked you to eat lunch with me ♪

Oh, that reminds me. Why did you invite Nagumo-kun to eat with us as well?

Um, but please don’t misunderstand. It’s certainly not that I don’t want to; I’d only like to know the reason.

Umm, this morning, I overheard Tetora-kun saying something about a Red Rose in the classroom. I thought it might be about the game you had mentioned, so I asked him about it.

He wanted to know if I knew your IGN, and since we were already meeting up for lunch, I figured he could ask you himself.

I see. Thank you for explaining.

(So he was talking about the Red Roses this morning. And now he wants to know my IGN…)

(All of my equipment is rare, and I’m a high level. I’m confident that my IGN is fairly well-known in this area.)

(Perhaps Nagumo-kun is trying to feel me out…?)

Hey guys! Sorry to keep you waiting!

Oh, Tetora-kun, welcome back ♪

You took quite a while. Was the cafeteria crowded?

Nn~ I guess a little bit? I got the barbecued kalbi set, and then I added this to my order!

A giant pile of french fries!

I thought it’d be a good snack for all three of us while we ate, so I asked them to fry me some ♪

……

Something wrong, Suou-kun? You’re just kinda sta~ring at the fries.

Ah, I’m sorry. That was rude of me. It’s not often you see a plate piled high with just french fries…

Huh, well I guess so. You should try the mentaiko mayo they’re having as a limited lunch special. They also recommended this butter shoyu.²

Then, I’ll try the mentaiko mayo… munch ♪

Marvelous…☆ What a rich flavor, how wonderful!

Haha, glad you liked it! Lemme try too… munch munch… ♪

Oh yeah, this is the first time we’ve eaten lunch all together…

And the first time we properly introduced ourselves to each other was here at the garden terrace, too~

Oh, really?

Yep. Pretty sure I was… with Tomoya-kun, and we ended up coming here.

We just happened to call out to Suou-kun while he was playing Idobato.

Ah, right, I heard about it from Hajime-kun, but you’re playing RoseKnights, Suou-kun?

Y–yeah.

(As I thought, he’s trying to feel me out. Could it really be true then…)

Um. …Nagumo-kun, are you by any chance lonely_wolf?