“Uh, the grilled chicken bento.”
“That’s the one you got?”
“Yeah.”
A little distance away, Wakkuu was chatting to some people while attempting to place his 100-yen fried chicken karaage on top of his 300-yen omurice.
“The karaage omurice is complete! Looks dee-lish—hey!” Wakkuu seemed to notice Sousei looking at him, because he stood up and said, “How is it?! The grilled chicken! Is it good, Takarai?!”
“Uh, I was just about to take a bite…”
“Oh, right, right, right! Now that I think about it, I haven’t eaten yet, either! But, Takarai, you always have energy bars and chicken, don’t you? You really take your protein seriously! Grilled chicken is high in protein, isn’t it? I mean, it’s chicken. I’m sure it is! Ah, and I have eggs and karaage, which are also high in protein, right?!”
“That’s right… Yeah. Eggs have lots of protein, and the karaage is chicken, so…”
“Yeah, so I might really pack on the muscles, huh? Oh damn, maybe I’ll get buff! You think by tomorrow?! Yeah, I’ll probably be buff tomorrow!”
“I don’t think it happens overnight…”
“Persistence is power, after all! If I eat a lot of protein every day, I’ll get one buff in one day, then two buff, then three buff! Wait, what the hell am I even talking about…?!”
The classroom burst out in laughter.
Yukisada gave a chuckle. “I’m sure they let you have that last one, Sousei. You haven’t seemed your normal self ever since this morning. Maybe they thought you might cheer up a bit if you ate that grilled chicken bento.”
“…Right.”
The chicken was extremely delicious and juicy. It was also quite substantial. The meat alone would provide around fifty grams of protein.
Asumi, Moena, Yukisada, and Sousei got together after they’d finished eating. Asumi and Moena shared a single chair, sitting back-to-back. Asumi seemed to like sitting that way. Moena put up a show of being annoyed, but she actually didn’t seem to mind it all that much.
“So? What happened?” Asumi pestered.
Sousei took the note he’d been keeping safe in the inner pocket of his school uniform. He’d already sent a message to the Potato Party group chat about the note, but they’d decided to look at it together in person during their lunch break. At Asumi and Moena’s request, Sousei had kept the contents of Kuchina’s reply a secret.
Asumi and Moena huddled together, staring intently at the note Sousei had handed them.
“It’s so short… I see. So Miss Hitsujimoto doesn’t use a smartphone…” Moena frowned, but almost immediately after, she let out a “Hm?” and her eyes went wide.
“Huh? This here…,” Asumi said, her eyes perfect circles.
“What is it?” Yukisada asked, looking confused, so Asumi showed him the note. “Ohh…” A smile rose to his lips. “It’s a sheep.”
“Right?!” Asumi’s face also broke into a smile. “It’s a little sheep! Is it Miss Hitsujimoto’s signature? It’s so cute! And isn’t it so much cuter thinking that Miss Hitsujimoto drew this?!”
“It’s kind of surprising,” Moena said, taking a candy out of her pocket and quickly popping it in her mouth. As always, her movements were so natural that they were easy to miss. “This might sound like a mean thing to say, but she doesn’t really seem the sort of person to draw a picture on a letter, does she? I mean, even I don’t do that. Want a candy?”
“Uh, sure…”
The blueberry candy she gave Sousei had a pleasant taste with a hint of a refreshing herbal flavor that made it perfect for after a meal.
“Hey, can I take a picture of this?” Asumi had barely finished asking her question before she took out her phone and photographed the note from Kuchina. “It’s so cute! I’m gonna save this forever!”
“Good idea! Me too!” Moena took her own picture of the note.
“I guess I will, too.” Even Yukisada had joined in.
Somehow succumbing to peer pressure, Sousei got his phone ready as well. “Uh, me too…”
“Wouldn’t it be better if you just kept the original, Sousei?” Asumi said, holding out the note.
“Oh! Right… Yeah…” He hesitated, so Asumi forced the note on him.
“You have to keep this, Sousei. After all, you’re the one who wrote the original letter. Miss Hitsujimoto wrote it for you. We know that because of the sheep drawing.”
“…That’s… You’re right.” Sousei took another moment to memorize the message and the small sheep, then carefully folded it along the crease. He was about to put it back into the inner pocket of his uniform, but he felt the gazes of Asumi, Moena, and Yukisada on him. Perhaps it would be better to put the note in his desk. That would be careless, though. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. Sousei lightly cleared his throat and, as he’d originally intended to do, put the letter back into his inner pocket.
“But, well, the fact that she doesn’t have a smartphone…it’s kind of surprising…isn’t it…?”
“Hmmm…” Moena let out a murmur. “People who don’t have one might not be in the majority, but they do cost a certain amount per month. Plus, you have to buy the device itself. I used hand-me-downs from my parents until I got to high school.”
Moena’s comment was reasonable for a normal high school student, but Sousei had been thinking about something else.
Work would really be inconvenient without a tool for communication. I guess it’s possible she has something like that, but maybe it’s strictly for work, and she can’t use it for personal stuff…
“Back in the days before cell phones,” Yukisada said, looking at his own phone, “you could only communicate using landlines and letters and stuff. Now it’s hard to imagine life without smartphones since we all have them and take them for granted.”
Asumi filled her mouth with air, inflating her cheeks and even puffing out the area under her nose. “Hmmph. Either way, if Miss Hitsujimoto doesn’t have a smartphone, she can’t join the Potato Party group chat, can she? It’s physically impossible. What should we do…?”
“At times like these—” Moena stood up, leaving the chair to Asumi. “Tadecchi, we wanna ask your advice about something!”
“What?! Where’d that come from?!” With her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, the class president—the pride of Class 2-2—was apparently spending her lunch break reading.
Iori Tadeshina placed the book she’d been reading face down on her desk, stood up from her chair, and glared at Moena through her black-framed glasses.
“I was just in the middle of rereading Battlefields of the Common Soldier, so if you have something to ask me, please make it quick! Honestly! After yesterday, and now today, what in the world is going on with you?!” She’d raised her voice, and every step she took seemed angry, but Iori didn’t make Moena go over to her. Instead, she came to join them.