Chapter 21: One Meal a Day

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Translator: Soafp

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I brought Sugawara-senpai to the emergency stairwell.

Even for someone like her who didn't care about others' eyes, there were surely things that were hard to talk about in the classroom.

“Dragging me to a place with no one around… If you try anything funny, I'll bite my tongue off and die immediately.”

Her wariness toward me was still deeply rooted.

Well, that was understandable.

After all, I had basically lured her here with money.

“But didn't you say money is what you like most? People like that usually don't mind using their own bodies, right?”

“From a long-term perspective, selling your body is a loss. My biggest asset is obviously my looks, isn't it? I'll marry the man who values this the most. Men tend to undervalue easy women, don't they?”

As expected, beautiful people tend to understand their own value accurately.

Someone like her would probably have rich men desperately trying to win her over.

I let out a small laugh.

“So you actually have a proper plan.”

Regardless of whether it was good or bad, it was rare to see someone with such a clear sense of values.

In many ways, she was no ordinary person.

But then, Sugawara-senpai muttered quietly, her eyes tinged with melancholy.

“…I don't have a plan.”

I realized something.

The reason she would choose suicide in the “nightmare” might be because she had no hope for the future.

Even life planning only makes sense if you believe there's a better tomorrow waiting.

In other words, her obsession with money wasn't just about living a wealthy life someday.

(Is there something going on involving money?)

I thought about asking directly, but quickly dismissed it.

Even though she promised not to lie, we weren't close enough yet for her to reveal everything.

It was too soon.

“By the way, senpai, aren't you going to eat lunch?”

“I don't eat lunch.”

“Huh? Are you dieting?”

“Humans can survive on one meal a day.”

“One meal a day?”

As far as I knew, even for adults, one meal a day wasn't healthy.

For a high schooler still growing, even less so.

Even people who ate little usually split small portions throughout the day.

“Do you eat it all at once?”

“Have you heard of minimalism? I keep meals simple—just one rice ball.”

Just one rice ball a day?

Was that even possible?

Logically, either she was lying—or she had an eating disorder.

But considering her obsession with money, there was only one answer.

“…Do you not have money to buy lunch?”

Sugawara-senpai's shoulders twitched.

I had hit the mark.

“…I don't want to talk about it.”

That was answer enough.

She turned away.

At the very least, one thing was now certain.

Her family situation was worse than I had imagined.

Bad enough that she couldn't even afford proper meals.

“I see. Then I'll ask something else. What's your hobby?”

“Web novels.”

I almost said “That's unexpected,” but stopped myself.

She couldn't even afford food—there was no way she could buy books.

She let out a deep sigh.

“Though even that's hard to do now.”

“Huh? Why?”

“…I broke my phone screen during a part-time job. And you know, minimalism… so I just sold it.”

More likely, she couldn't afford the repair.

“So you don't have a phone at all now?”

“Yeah. But it's fine. They say relying too much on smartphones damages your brain, right? In that sense, I've been freed.”

Whether she truly believed that, or was just telling herself that to cope—

Either way, she was in a fragile state.

At school, she was basically isolated.

She was struggling financially to the point of skipping meals, and had even lost her only source of enjoyment.

I brought up something that had been bothering me.

“By the way, senpai… do you have a part-time job?”

Part-time work was technically forbidden at our school.

Of course, plenty of students did it secretly.

“What, are you going to report me?”

“No, of course not.”

I didn't care about rule-breaking.

What didn't make sense was that she was working, yet still couldn't afford proper meals.

“I was just curious. I've never had a job before. What kind of work do you do?”

“Nothing special. Convenience store, family restaurant, and karaoke.”

“Wait—you're juggling three jobs?”

That meant she was working almost every day.

On just one rice ball a day, was that even physically possible?

She should have collapsed already.

(Why is she working that much…?)

This was far beyond just earning pocket money.

There had to be something going on at home—but it was too soon to ask directly.

What did she need most right now?

No—what could I even do for her?

I wasn't in a position to stay by her side and support her.

(I'll start with something small.)

The “nightmare” would likely happen in September.

It was only June now—I didn't need to rush.

Little by little, I just had to support her mentally so she wouldn't be driven to suicide.

I glanced at the time on my phone and stood up.

“Senpai, there are about seven minutes left. Could you come with me for a bit?”

“…Fine. Those 15 minutes are yours anyway—you paid for them.”

We left the stairwell and walked together.

As students saw us side by side, whispers spread everywhere.

She really was famous.

“…The cafeteria?”

“Yeah.”

We arrived at the school cafeteria.

She frowned slightly.

“You want me to watch you eat?”

“I haven't had lunch yet either. We can talk while eating.”

“…Fine. But don't splash soup on your clothes.”

“Of course.”

I approached the ticket machine, inserted cash, and selected a meal set.

There was still a line, so we had to wait.

Just as planned.

I deliberately checked the time.

“Ah, shoot. We used up the remaining seven minutes.”

“I see. Then I can go back now?”

“Wait a second.”

I handed her the meal ticket.

“Now that I think about it, I brought a bento. We can't talk anymore anyway, so why don't you eat this instead?”

“Huh? You're giving it to me for free…?”

“Yeah. I don't need it. If you don't want it, I'll just throw it away.”

“… ”

She hesitated for a moment, then took the ticket.

“It'd be a waste otherwise. I'm just using it instead. Don't do this again.”

“Of course.”

So she wasn't choosing to eat once a day because she wanted to.

This was probably the most I could do for her right now.

Still, I figured it would help.

Eating properly would improve not just her body, but her mental state too.

“Well then, see you tomorrow.”

“…Huh? Tomorrow?”

Leaving behind her confused expression, I exited the cafeteria.

---

For the next few days, I repeated the same routine.

I bought 15 minutes of her lunch break for 10,000 yen, then gave her a meal ticket so she could eat lunch.

I carefully avoided any topics that might make her uncomfortable.

I didn't want talking to me to feel like a burden.

“So, Fukagawa-kun, are you an otaku? Like, a closet one?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Though I don't go too deep into it.”

“I see. Since you're rich, do you collect figures too? Like staring at their underwear and stuff?”

“I don't own any.”

Just like Nodoka—what kind of bias did they have about otaku?

Well, if someone bought me figures, I might at least take a look once.

“What kind of web novels do you like, senpai? Stuff aimed at women? Like villainess stories or broken engagements?”

“No. I tried those, but they didn't suit me. I actually prefer ones aimed at men.”

“Really? Like what?”

“Stories where the protagonist goes to another world and builds a harem. More specifically, the type where he doesn't choose just one heroine, but supports all of them.”

…That was unexpected.

Maybe it was a stereotype, but most girls didn't usually like that kind of story.

Then again, it did feel like her somehow.

“Actually, I like those too.”

“Oh? You read web novels too?”

“I usually read the manga adaptations rather than the originals.”

“I see.”

“Since our tastes are similar, want me to lend you some manga I liked?”

“…Are you sure? I've got work, so it might take me a while to finish.”

“That's fine. I've already read them anyway.”

After talking with her for several days, her guard seemed to have softened a little.

And maybe because she'd started eating lunch, her complexion looked better too.

She'd probably been so irritable before partly because she was hungry.

“Then I'll take you up on that.”

Maybe… just maybe, the “nightmare” had already been avoided.

Relieved, I couldn't help but smile—

“Ah, there you are!”

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.

“What are you doing here?”

“That's my line, Ren!”

Nodoka frowned and looked down at me.

Sugawara-senpai and I were sitting side by side on the emergency stairs, while Nodoka stood in front of us in her short skirt.

“I can see your underwear.”

“You think I'd fall for that again!?”

“No, seriously this time. Mint green.”

“Eh!?”

Her face turned bright red as she grabbed her skirt with both hands.

“…You perverted cheater.”

And just like that, I earned myself yet another title.