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"I didn't expect Kita-sama to eat bento with me," Kitahara Makoto's expression was innocent, "I just wanted to ask what to do with the bento box after I finish eating?"
Can't rush.
Must take it slow, bit by bit.
After he said he wanted to date them all, Kita was still willing to talk to him and even exchange bentos, which was already a very good sign.
If it weren't for the emotional foundation they had built up, when he mentioned starting a harem, Kita would have definitely blocked and deleted him immediately and never spoken to him again.
"After you finish eating, wash the bento box clean," Kita breathed a slight sigh of relief, "...I have other bento boxes at home. When I give you the bento tomorrow noon, Kitahara-kun can return the bento box to me."
"Understood." Kitahara Makoto immediately agreed, "I will definitely protect Kita-sama's bento box."
"Hmph~"
Kita Ikuyo lightly hummed, raising her small chin: "I'm going back."
"Kita-sama, take care." Kitahara Makoto followed for two steps, "Do you want me to see you off?"
"I certainly don't need that!"
After walking a few steps, Kita Ikuyo looked up and saw Kitahara Makoto standing alone in place, his figure looking quite lonely. She couldn't help but slow her pace.
(He looks a bit pitiful, maybe today I'll…)
(Wait!)
(I won't care about this guy! And I can't be soft-hearted! To say he wants to date everyone, he's too greedy!)
Kita Ikuyo clenched her small fists, quickly dispelling the hesitation in her heart, then thumped down the stairs.
"Just sit down and eat?"
Kitahara Makoto glanced at his surroundings, then quickly shook his head.
The hallway was empty and somewhat lonely and desolate. Although the steps looked clean, Kitahara Makoto still felt a bit uncomfortable.
"It's better to find another place to eat bento…"
Kitahara Makoto began to ponder.
"The gym storage room?"
"Forget it, going alone is too boring."
"I got it… I can go look for Bocchi-chan."
Kitahara Makoto's eyes lit up, and he walked straight downstairs with his bento.
First, he went to Bocchi-chan's classroom. Looking through the window, he didn't see Bocchi-chan.
"Good, it seems Hitori is most likely eating outside today…"
Kitahara Makoto felt relieved and began searching for Bocchi-chan's hiding place.
During lunchtime every day, it's the time for normies to gather. Anyone who's alone is embarrassing. Although Bocchi-chan hasn't been taken advantage of in the classroom, as a 'weakling,' she naturally chooses to retreat to avoid being harmed physically and mentally by the normies' radiance.
Today, Kita came to deliver the bento, and Bocchi-chan's only friend disappeared, so she most likely snuck out of the classroom.
After confirming that Bocchi-chan wasn't in the classroom, Kitahara Makoto quickly began searching everywhere.
According to Kita's complaints, Bocchi-chan was like a slug; she couldn't stand a second in the sunlight and only liked dark, secluded corners where no one was around.
So Kitahara Makoto didn't go to sunny places at all, focusing on searching for dark corners on campus.
Unfortunately, he searched several hiding places but couldn't find Little Miss Anxiety.
"Could it be…" Kitahara Makoto looked at the nearby bathroom, "Is Bocchi-chan eating bathroom bento?"
Bathroom bento is a unique culture in Japan, where many people hide in the bathroom to eat during lunchtime. A survey on Twitter once showed that at least ten percent of young people around twenty years old have experienced eating bathroom bento.
Given Bocchi-chan's social anxiety, she has most likely experienced bathroom bento, and definitely more than once…
"She shouldn't be doing that now." Kitahara Makoto shook his head, "I'll look for a few more minutes, and if I don't find her, I'll give up."
A moment later.
A secluded storage room.
Kitahara Makoto pushed the door open and finally saw a girl in a pink tracksuit hiding in a corner, eating something.
Hearing someone enter, the girl's ahoge on top of her head suddenly trembled, like a radar predicting danger. She nervously looked up, her small face filled with tension and fear.
It was Bocchi-chan.
In contrast, Kitahara Makoto's face showed a smile.
The saying was truly correct: hard work pays off. He finally found her.
"Hitori-chan, good afternoon."
Kitahara Makoto closed the door casually, then walked over and sat down beside Bocchi-chan.
"Whoosh…"
Seeing that the person who came was Kitahara Makoto, Gotō Hitori couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
If it had been an unfamiliar stranger who suddenly burst in…
Just thinking about it for a moment, Gotō Hitori quickly shook her head.
(Terrifying! Absolutely terrifying! Sharing a hiding place with a stranger, that's something I absolutely don't want!)
Kitahara Makoto placed the bento box on his lap: "I looked for a long time, and finally found Hitori-chan."
"Eh?"
Gotō Hitori slightly tilted her small face up, her peach blossom eyes peeking through her thick bangs.
Kitahara Makoto said with a normal expression:
"Eating bento alone at noon is really too lonely. I wanted to eat bento with Hitori-chan, and I searched for a long time before finally finding you."
"Th-that…"
Gotō Hitori pursed her pink lips, her gaze falling on the bento box in Kitahara Makoto's hand, suddenly feeling it looked very familiar.
"This is the bento Kita just gave me." Noticing Little Miss Anxiety's gaze, Kitahara Makoto openly admitted, "I said yesterday morning that Kita would bring me bento, and I would give Kita biscuits. That's how it is."
Since they had already talked about dating everyone, he couldn't hide things first.
Being secretive would lead to problems; stating it openly would be fine instead.
"Ah, no wonder it looked so familiar…"
Gotō Hitori responded softly, her tone slightly complex.
Even an inconspicuous slipper animal couldn't easily accept the idea of everyone dating together, after all.
Now, watching Kitahara Makoto with the bento Kita gave him, Gotō Hitori felt a dull unhappiness in her heart, and even the tempura bento she usually loved the most didn't taste good anymore.
"Oh, right, I haven't given you today's biscuit yet." Kitahara Makoto said, reaching into his pocket, taking out the biscuit, "I originally planned to have Kita bring it to you, but thinking about it carefully… I still wanted to give it to you myself. I haven't had a good talk with Hitori-chan these past two days."
Gotō Hitori's small face quickly flushed, and she hurriedly shook her head:
"I-I don't want it…"
"Why not?" Kitahara Makoto looked over, "Hitori-chan promised to study for Todai with me, you wouldn't go back on your word, would you?"
"Th-that…" Gotō Hitori stammered, her small face crimson, "Kita prepared bento for Kitahara-kun, but I didn't prepare anything…"
Kitahara Makoto said seriously:
"Hitori-chan has actually given me the best gift."
"Eh?"
Gotō Hitori looked over in confusion.
"When I eat, I always like to watch some videos as a side dish, otherwise, no matter how delicious the food is, I can't eat it…" Kitahara Makoto said, looking at Bocchi-chan, "Does Hitori-chan have this habit?"
"Mhm."
Gotō Hitori nodded subconsciously.
Kitahara Makoto took out his phone from his pocket and smiled:
"So, Hitori-chan, you don't mind if I watch a video while eating my bento, do you?"
"N-no, I don't mind…"
Gotō Hitori quickly shook her head.
"That's good."
Kitahara Makoto opened a video website, and soon the beautiful and melodious sound of a guitar came from his phone…
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