The two of them quietly enjoyed the meal in peaceful silence. During the entire dinner, neither of them spoke. They simply ate.
[Ugh~ so good. I'll just put the leftovers in the fridge.]
After dinner, Saiki put all the remaining dishes into the refrigerator. He had thought he could finish everything, but there was still quite a bit left.
Shiina Mahiru: "Sorry, Saiki-kun. I made too much, and now there's a lot left over."
[It's fine. We can just have them as side dishes tomorrow. They're pretty tasty anyway.]
In the end, Saiki sat on the sofa and quietly watched Shiina Mahiru. He had assumed she would head back to her own place after eating, but instead she sat across from him, hands clasped tightly together, and spoke nervously.
"Saiki-kun, thank you for yesterday. Thank you for saving me. If it weren't for you, I don't know what would have happened."
[I already told you, it's no big deal. You don't need to worry about it…]
"No way!"
Shiina Mahiru spoke seriously. "How could I not worry? This is a life-saving favor. Saiki-kun, please let me repay you. No matter what you want, just say it. As long as it's something I can do."
(She's really stubborn.)
Saiki replied calmly. [No need.]
Shiina Mahiru looked disappointed. "Saiki-kun… are you looking down on me?"
(Why does it always turn into this? There are countless possible answers in the world, and you keep choosing the one that hurts you the most.)
[That's not it. It's just that this kind of thing is troublesome. You already made me dinner, and that's more than enough. I didn't save you because I wanted thanks.]
Shiina Mahiru still wanted to say something. "But…"
[Oh, right. Shiina Mahiru, you should head back now. It's getting late. Even though you took medicine and got an injection, you only just recovered. You're not fully healed yet.]
Saiki stood up to see her out, stuffed the medicine into Shiina Mahiru's hands, and gently pushed her toward the door.
[Also, seriously, go take your medicine and rest properly. Try not to get water on yourself if you can help it. Actually, you shouldn't have made dinner today at all. Avoid cold water especially—colds can easily relapse. Anyway, that's it. See you.]
Shiina Mahiru tried to struggle a little. "I…"
Thud
Saiki mercilessly closed the door.
"But I feel so bad about it…"
Outside the door, Shiina Mahiru gripped one hand tightly while placing the other on the door. She thought to herself.
[Saiki-kun, are you actually worried about me? I know you're doing this for my sake, but if I don't repay you somehow, I really won't feel at ease.]
"Sigh."
While brainstorming in her head, Shiina Mahiru walked back to her own apartment.
(Yare yare, why do people these days love overthinking everything so much?)
(Should I say Shiina-san is just too kind, or what?)
...
In the morning, Saiki timed it perfectly and arrived at the school gate 30 minutes before classes started.
"Saiki!"
Hearing his name, Saiki turned around and saw a very familiar idiot—no, Yoshii Akihisa.
[It's Akihisa. Charging in so fast first thing in the morning is asking for an accident.]
Probably because he was in too much of a hurry, Yoshii Akihisa crashed straight into the student in front of him. Both of them fell to the ground.
"Ah! Ow ow ow, sorry! It's you…"
Yoshii Akihisa opened his eyes and finally saw clearly who was in front of him.
The neat-looking boy in blue clothes, whose glasses had been knocked off when Akihisa crashed into him, spoke up. "You're Yoshii Akihisa from Class 1-B!"
For some reason, the boy's face gradually turned red.
After thinking for a moment, Yoshii Akihisa said, "I remember you're from Class A… Kubo-kun."
Kubo Toshimitsu stood up and pushed his glasses up with his middle finger. "That's right. I'm Kubo Toshimitsu, third in the grade."
[Yare yare, you okay?]
Saiki came over and helped Yoshii Akihisa up.
The latter stood, patted his butt, and thanked him. "Thanks, Saiki."
Kubo Toshimitsu watched the two of them being so close and couldn't help shouting, "Hey, don't ignore me!"
Yoshii Akihisa started apologizing. "Sorry, Kubo-kun. I wasn't watching where I was going. My bad."
"Never mind, I'm not that bothered. This must be the top student in the grade, Saiki Kusuo, right?"
Kubo Toshimitsu pushed up his glasses again and looked at Saiki.
(Kubo Toshimitsu and Kubo-san have the same family name? But they probably aren't related. Still, why is the way he's looking at me kind of weird?)
After staring at Saiki for a few seconds, Kubo Toshimitsu suddenly realized something and glanced at his watch. "Oh no—if I don't hurry, I'll miss the preview time before first period. I'll let it go this time. See you."
Yoshii Akihisa tried to stop him. "Wait, Kubo-kun! Don't you want that?"
Akihisa pointed at the ground—there was a piece of bread that had been bitten once and dropped when Kubo Toshimitsu fell earlier.
Saiki was a little surprised. (You're not seriously going to eat that, are you?)
"Yeah, it can't be eaten anymore."
Hearing that, Akihisa asked excitedly, "Then can I have it?"
"You don't mind?"
"Nah, it's fine."
Kubo Toshimitsu's face turned slightly red. [If he's going to pick up something I already bit… could it be…]
(Yare yare, could it be…)
Yoshii Akihisa had no idea what Kubo Toshimitsu was imagining. [If you pick it up and eat it within 30 seconds, it's still safe.]
(That's very much not safe.)
Kubo Toshimitsu kept his hand in the glasses-pushing position. "This… this puts me in a tough spot…"
Yoshii Akihisa looked upset and asked, "Huh? Why?"
"It's too bold. And everyone's watching. Even Saiki-kun is watching."
Yoshii Akihisa glanced at Saiki, who was standing nearby watching the whole thing, then lowered his head. "Yeah, you're right." [Watching someone else pick up and eat something you dropped would feel pretty embarrassing, huh.]
(He probably isn't thinking that at all, Akihisa.)
"Then goodbye, Yoshii-kun." Kubo Toshimitsu gave a shy farewell and left.
"Mm."
After seeing Kubo Toshimitsu actually walk away, Yoshii Akihisa dove toward the piece of bread on the ground and reached out.
"Now's my chance…"
Just then, a teacher suddenly appeared and stepped right on the bread. "Oops, I think I stepped on something."
Yoshii Akihisa looked like he was about to cry. "Yeah… that was the source of my life."
(Yare yare, all this over a half-eaten piece of bread…)
[It's just leftover bread. Was that really necessary, Akihisa?]
Yoshii Akihisa walked into school with Saiki. "You don't understand, Saiki…"
"Yo, Saiki, Akihisa. Didn't expect you two to show up together this early. How was yesterday?"
Leaning against the shoe lockers, Sakamoto Yuuji made a flashy entrance.
Saiki: [So it's Yuuji. Looks like you had a pretty good time yesterday.]
Akihisa: "A third of this month's food budget just vanished in an instant. What about you? How was it in the darkness of the movie theater, Yuuji?"
Sakamoto Yuuji calmly began to recall…
...