“Mmm! It’s so yummy!” I said with a mouth full of karaage-style fried chicken. We’d finished morning classes, and it was lunchtime.
All my classmates had put their desks together to make little tables.
“You know, Asuka, I think you’re at your happiest when you’re eating your packed lunch,” Misaki said, sitting across from me with a look of disbelief on her face.
“I mean, duh! I’m exhausted after having to deal with those numbers and read in a cryptic language that isn’t Japanese…”
“It’s just math and English…,” Kei murmured to himself.
And those two classes are the big problems for me!
I turned around and shot a glare at Kei, who was eating behind me.
He never had lunch with us. I’d invited him a few times, but I guess he wanted to use the break for reading. He was always reading something really complicated while he ate.
Look at him. He’s acting so distant, like usual. You’d think he could stop studying for a second to enjoy some food.
I shrugged and returned my attention to my own table.
My bento lunch box for the day was chicken, rice with mixed beef and burdock, an omelet with carrot bits, and a colorful salad made from lettuce and tomato slices.
I had to stop myself from drooling all over everything when I opened it up.
Nice one, Dad! Another perfect lunch!
Once I was done with the chicken, I was about to dig into the omelet when…
“Uh? Did you notice the hallway sure is quiet today?” Yuzuki said, turning her head in that direction.
Hmm? She’s right… The hallway is usually louder. There’s always someone out there making noise during lunch…
What’s going on? Did something happen?
Now I was interested. I got up and headed over to the door to peer out.
“Is that who I think it is…?”
“Yeah…”
There were a bunch of students chattering quietly among themselves. They were all looking in the same direction, so I followed their eyes to see what all the fuss was about.
Hmm…?
There was a girl wearing her school uniform walking straight down the center of the hallway. Her hair was done in a short bob, and she was looking forward with sharp eyes. She was slender, about my height, and had a grown-up vibe.
Not only that, but she also didn’t seem to mind all the attention. She was walking with so much confidence that the other students seemed to move out of the way for her.
Whoa, she’s kinda cool!
There was something else attention-grabbing about her—her uniform. She was dressed like a high schooler in the middle school building.
This was probably why everyone was being so quiet. The high school was in an entirely different building than the middle school, so she’d come quite a ways to get here. We almost never saw the big kids in our building.
I watched as she walked in my direction, until she stopped right in front of me.
Uh?! Why’d you stop?!
She was standing up tall and straight—even the way she stood was different from the regular kids.
Is this what they mean when they say someone has an aura to them?
I looked up a bit at her.
Huh? I’m starting to get nervous.
Her light-brown eyes met mine, and I felt like I was getting sucked into them.
“Hey. Are you in this class?” she asked.
“Um, uh, yes…,” I said awkwardly.
“I heard there was a girl named Asuka Kouzuki in this class. Is she in today?”
Huh…? Y-you mean me?!
I blinked a few times while I stared at the older girl.
I don’t think I recognize her… We’ve definitely never met before.
“Wait… Are you her? Are you Asuka Kouzuki?”
She must’ve realized what I was thinking from my reaction.
“Yes, I am… What do you—?”
Before I could finish my sentence, she latched on to me with a hug.
Wagh! What the heck?!
“I’m Rio Kiyose, a second-year in high school and head of the Phantom Thief club. I’ve been wanting to meet you!” she said energetically. Her eyes were even more intense than before.
Wait…did she just say, “Phantom Thief club”? Does our school even have one of those?!
She didn’t figure out that I was Phantom Thief Red and come here to confront me about it, did she…?