Chapter 140: School Lunches Just Taste Better

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Translator: Soafp

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“Ahhh, that really hits the spot.”

“It was hot today. Here, wipe your sweat.”

As Ginji downed a bottle of sports drink handed out to volunteers, Sora passed him a hand towel.

The two had finished their morning volunteer work and were now heading to the home economics room, which had been opened as a rest area, to have lunch.

“Hey, Aniki. Good work. You've been kind of the talk of the school.”

“Yeah, Sora's got a sharp eye. She finds trash in no time.”

“Observation is one of my few strong suits.”

The two of them gave a thumbs-up. Tetsuya felt like he had to jump in with, “That's not why you're standing out,” but explaining would be a pain, so he held back. On the way here, he'd been asked a bunch of times about the cute girl walking with Ginji. Somehow, he'd managed to dodge the questions. When they arrived at the home ec room and opened the door, a wave of cool, air-conditioned air hit them.

“Ahh, this is nice.”

“Alright, time for lunch!”

The three sat at an empty table. The volunteer cleaning ended in the morning for most participants; only those staying for club activities or students and guardians touring the school remained in the afternoon. As such, the home ec room had only a few people resting inside.

“Since I thought it'd be hot today, I made cold pork shabu-shabu bento with extra salad. I prepared both spicy dipping sauce and sesame sauce.”

Sora proudly announced the menu, clearly expecting praise from Ginji.

“Whoa! That looks delicious. You're amazing, Sora!”

He poured the sauce over the neatly rolled and plated pork slices.

“Mind if I have some too?” Tetsuya asked.

Sora nodded with a smile. “Of course. I made extra just for that. There are lots of rice balls too—tuna, salmon, pickled plum, seaweed, and lightly pickled napa cabbage.”

“…Wait, you made all this by yourself?”

Judging from the size of the bento box, Tetsuya had assumed it was a large portion, but upon opening it, he saw it was carefully divided, with multiple types of sauce and dressings—all very thoughtfully prepared. He was stunned.

“Yeah, I did. Was there something else you wanted to eat?”

“No, this is more than enough…”

Sora often cooked meals at the Momoi house, but Tetsuya hadn't expected this level of dedication even in her bento-making. He looked at his brother, but Ginji didn't seem particularly surprised—just gave his usual praise. Meaning… this was normal? Tetsuya stopped thinking about it there. It was his first taste of what Ginji meant when he'd said, “If you let your guard down, Sora will turn you into a useless man.”

“Well then, let's eat.”

“Itadakimasu.”

“Help yourselves.”

The spicy sauce Sora had tailored to Ginji's taste paired perfectly with the flavorful seaweed rice balls. Both Ginji and Tetsuya happily stuffed their cheeks. Watching them were three baseball team members who had agreed to meet up during lunch: the managers Yuki and Sachiko, and player Hiroshi.

“…She can cook too. That looks so good.”

“Using a tiered bento box, no less. She's cute and can cook… I mean, she even took the cleanup seriously during the volunteer work. Honestly, I'm starting to wonder how Gin-senpai even got a girlfriend like her.”

“Think I could score a rice ball or two…”

The three had come to spy on Sora, but ended up leaning forward, captivated by how delicious the food looked. Sora noticed them right away, and Ginji, catching her gaze, turned to see what she was looking at.

“Oh, you guys on break too? Come over here.”

Called out, the trio hesitantly approached. Ginji welcomed them with a smile.

“Hiroshi, we met earlier. Sachi, Yuki—been a while. Can't believe you've been managing for three years. Thanks for that.”

“Long time, senpai. Being a manager is mostly just scorekeeping and laundry…”

“Well, I kinda like the role, so I'm still doing it…”

“Take a seat. Oh yeah, let me introduce her. This is my girlfriend, Sora.”

“H-hi. Sora Takagi. Nice to meet you…”

Suddenly facing people her age for the first time, Sora clammed up. A stark contrast from the enthusiastic bento explanation earlier. Ginji gave a wry smile—this was already a big improvement for her.

“Gin-senpai… your food looks amazing. Can I have a rice ball too? I'll share some of my lunch in exchange.”

“Hey, Sora, is that cool?”

“Yeah, go ahead. Oh, here's a small plate too. Have some pork shabu-shabu as well.”

Sora plated some cold pork and passed it over with the rice balls, doing the same for the two girls.

As the three took their first bites, their eyes widened.

“Whoa, this is so good.”

“The seaweed's incredible…”

“Holy crap, this is delicious!”

“Told you. Sora's even particular about the rice. Oh right, I should eat some more too.”

Sora, pleased to be praised by Ginji, wore a slightly smug expression—but was still restrained since there were strangers around. Hiroshi and the others began eating their own bentos as well, all while stealing glances at the way Ginji and Sora interacted.

“Mmm, these pickles are great. Just the right amount of tang.”

“I added a bit of yuzu in them. Here, have some more salad.”

Sora served him a second helping right as Ginji finished his first.

“Hey, could you grab my water bottle—”

“I'll pour you some more tea.”

She had already started pouring it before he finished his sentence. Ginji accepted it naturally, but to the others, it was almost bizarre.

“Thanks. But hey, make sure you eat too.”

“I am, but honestly, I'm already full. So Ginji, you should eat the rest.”

“Not gonna complain—it's delicious.”

“Hehe, really? I love it when you eat with such gusto. Oh, let me wipe your mouth.”

“H-hey, we've got juniors watching!”

“…”

For the record, Sora was holding back by not doing a full-on “say ahh” feeding in public. Yet even this level of care was enough to do emotional damage to the three middle schoolers (Tetsuya had already built up resistance). Yuki and Sachiko turned away, whispering among themselves.

“This is… full-on head-over-heels love!”

Yuki whispered as low as she could, overwhelmed.

“Yeah… This isn't acting. She's not faking anything. If anything, it's like they're in their own world. I think this might be my first time seeing a real lovey-dovey couple.”

“She's cute, can cook, and super devoted… That's too powerful. Why is Gin-senpai just accepting this like it's normal?! If I were him, I'd be drooling with a dumb face!”

“Calm down, Yuki. You're already at your limit. That happiness aura is insane. High schoolers are wild. What I don't get is how Tetsu-kun can sit there eating like nothing's happening. Hiroshi's an airhead so it's fine, but still…”

“Ugh, Sora-san is so cute… I wanna hug her.”

“I get the feeling, but she's obviously head-over-heels for Gin-senpai. Even as girls, we wouldn't stand a chance.”

As Yuki fought off mysterious impulses and Sachiko tried to contain her, Hiroshi, now done eating, spoke up.

“Oh right, Gin-senpai. You're still coming by the club later, right?”

“Yeah, that was the plan. Sora—”

“I'm coming too.”

She cut in quickly and firmly.

“Got it. Hiroshi, how's everyone doing?”

“Good. We've been using your old notes to stay on top of injury prevention and stuff.”

“Wait, you're still using those? Make sure you're learning from proper seminars too, alright?”

“We are. I wanna play in high school too.”

“Nice. Alright, I'm done eating. Let's clean up and head to the field.”

“I'll let the others know!”

And so ended their noisy—and memorable—lunch break.