The bento made by Kotohana was beautifully crafted: octopus sausages, egg rolls, fried shrimp, white rice, broccoli – it looked just like a common anime meal set.
It didn't smell bad either; it had the aroma of real food. Logically, something that smelled good shouldn't taste awful.
But when Shin put the fried shrimp into his mouth, he swore… it was the most 'creative' thing he had ever tasted in his life.
Sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty – not only that, but it was also mixed with various strange flavors Shin couldn't identify. His taste buds were simply too impoverished to recognize the other bizarre, stimulating tastes contained in that fried shrimp!
The moment it entered his mouth, his taste buds immediately exploded. A peculiar sour and numbing sensation spread from his stomach to his limbs. This was beyond just being unpalatable; it was a terrifying taste full of human creativity.
"How is it? Is it delicious?" Kotohana asked, nervous and expectant.
— "Are you seriously making food out of nuclear waste?"
Shin was immediately ready to blurt out those words. This had nothing to do with being considerate or gentle. Making something like this wasn't just challenging his taste buds; it was an attempt to murder him!
However, just as the words reached his lips, the System, like a ghost, reappeared and said eerily,
"This bento is your punishment. Don't even think about spitting it out or explaining it to her. Trust me, running away will only lead to more severe penalties."
"Don't worry, there's no poison in these things. They're just unpalatable, purely unpalatable, unpalatable to the point you can't accept it."
"What—"
Shin's eyes widened, looking at the bento in his hand as if it were a monstrous flood beast.
"What's wrong, Shin-kun? Did I not make it delicious?" Kotohana murmured in a mosquito-like voice, head bowed.
"...No, they're very... delicious?"
Shin had no choice but to force a smile, trembling as he endured the pain to finish the bento. Kotohana 's face bloomed with an angelic smile, and she happily prepared to eat her own portion.
"I'm a bit hungry today, so I won't be polite with your portion either."
Shin could only choose to snatch Kotohana 's portion, take a deep breath, and frantically stuff it into his mouth.
Kotohana watched, stunned for a moment, then covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
"Shin-kun, eat slowly, I have some tea here."
Stuffing two full boxes of nuclear waste into his mouth would probably feel similar, Shin thought, as he forced the food into his stomach with a desire to die.
"Don't blame me, this is all the price you pay for trying to evade taxes. I warned you," the System said eerily.
With an iron will that almost made his eyes roll back, Shin managed to pull his consciousness out of the overwhelming desire to faint, and he gulped down all the tea.
Thankfully, the tea was at least normal... Barely alive, he could only lie back and sigh deeply.
"By the way, Shin-kun... if, if someone liked me and confessed to me, what do you think I should do?"
Kotohana hesitated for a moment, but then bravely tried to test Shin.
"Do you like him?" Shin said casually, eyes closed.
"If it's mutual, accept. If you don't like him, refuse. You don't need to accommodate others – you shouldn't habitually try to please people like that."
Shin opened his eyes and looked at Kotohana , speaking softly.
"Do you know? Your personality is purely that of a people-pleaser. You always subconsciously try to cater to other people's thoughts. But why? Why should you cater to others, instead of others catering to you?"
"You should learn to refuse. Every time you subconsciously want to compromise, think about this: don't please others, let others please you."
Looking at Shin, who was speaking so eloquently, Kotohana felt a bit exasperated and amused.
Even after all that, he still hadn't understood her words. Was he really so dense, did she have to spell it out directly?
"Actually, being friends is pretty good," Shin suddenly said out of nowhere.
"We're high school students. In another year, it'll be the crucial college entrance exam, which is a major event that determines our lives. Kotohana , didn't you say you wanted to get into Keio University?"
Kotohana nodded gently. She didn't come to school to experience youthful romance. While the beauty of youth was important, she understood even more clearly what the meaning of her schooling was.
Attending a highly selective school like Mineoka was for nothing but a good learning environment, for nothing but getting into her dream university, and building a foundation for her future.
Her goal was Keio University, her mother's alma mater. With her current grades, getting into this school wouldn't be difficult. But the premise was that she had to maintain them, not get sidetracked by trivial matters and waste time.
"It's still the same old saying: whether high school romance affects college entrance exam scores and future. I think it does have an impact, but that impact varies by person, for better or worse."
Shin took a sip of tea, narrowing his eyes.
"If the person you're pursuing is chasing a greater goal, then pursuing them can motivate you to become even better. Isn't that a good thing? Pursuing excellence, striving for the top, the most important thing in life is to live for yourself."
He suddenly grabbed Kotohana 's hand, their eyes met, and he said seriously,
"Study hard! Your limit shouldn't just be Keio University; you have the ability to climb to a higher level!"
Kotohana 's lovely face instantly turned crimson. She lowered her head, stammered for a long time, pulled her hand away from Shin, and then jogged away with her head down.
"Problem solved."
Watching Kotohana 's graceful retreating figure, Shin took a sip of tea and said with satisfaction.
It wasn't that he found Kotohana troublesome, but as a friend, Shin didn't want her to repeat past tragedies – high school students engaging in romance, it was simply because they didn't have enough homework or a heavy enough academic load!
If you did a hundred practice tests a day, would you have the energy for romance? If you wrote twenty essays a day, would you have time to play stupid "I love you" games with other kids your age?
Shin wasn't someone who liked to beat around the bush; he said what he thought. See, now that things were clear, he wouldn't have to worry about this female friend of his for a long time.
"Sometimes I really can't tell if you're dense or perceptive," the System sighed eerily.
"I know Kotohana likes me."
Shin said indifferently. He wasn't one of those harem protagonists with zero emotional intelligence who were oblivious to such foolishness; he had been in relationships before, he understood these stupid things.
"But she deserves a better future, not that pretty boy, and it shouldn't be... me."
"At least in the short term, it shouldn't be me."
The System sighed deeply.
"You'll get kicked by a horse sooner or later!"
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