The lunch bell chimed, and Tanaka Masao made his way to the Service Club, with his lunch box in hand.
He knocked on the door, and after hearing Yukinoshita's voice from inside, he pushed it open and entered.
She was already there, seated by the large window as if she'd been waiting for hours. Masao couldn't suppress a grumble.
"I rushed in here right after the class ended. How did you manage to beat me?"
Yukinoshita placed her lunch box on the desk and began to unwrap it with precise movements.
"The answer is simple, Masao-kun. Your walking pace is comparable to a tortoise."
"It's not that slow," he protested.
He set his lunch on the floor and went to the back of the classroom, navigating the labyrinth of stacked chairs and desks to find one for himself. After a moment's consideration, he carried it over and placed it directly opposite to hers.
Yukinoshita's brow furrowed slightly.
"Masao-kun," she said, a note of displeasure in her voice. "Must you place it quite so close?"
"I have training here this afternoon," he explained, already gripping the legs of the desk. "If I put it on the other side, it will take up too much space."
He shuffled the desk back, leaving a respectful meter of distance between them.
Seeing his initiative, Yukinoshita offered a curt nod.
"That is acceptable. You should eat now."
Masao fetched a chair and sat. The short distance afforded him a clear view of her lunch. It was nothing like the extravagant, multi-tiered boxes depicted in anime for wealthy ojō-samas's.
The Second Daughter of the Yukinoshita family's meal was modest in portion and simple in content, yet arranged with an almost fastidious neatness.
'She probably made that herself,' he thought, a sudden, wistful fantasy unfolding in his mind. 'It looks good. I wonder what it would take to get her to make one for me?'
As he could see her lunch, so too could she see his.
Her eyes scanned the contents: lean proteins, an absence of oils, and a large portion of vegetables. A look of approval crossed her face before she turned to her own meal without comment.
They ate in a comfortable silence, the only sound the soft rustle of wrappers and the quiet rhythm of their chewing.
Ten minutes later, their chopsticks settled at the same time.
"I must admit," Yukinoshita began, breaking the silence, "your table manners are more refined than I anticipated."
Masao paused while closing his lunch box. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You eat quietly. You don't speak with your mouth full. I was fully prepared to endure a symphony of… enthusiastic mastication."
He stared at her, deadpan. "I'm overweight, Yukinoshita, not a barn animal."
She nodded, a picture of contrite sincerity.
"My apologies. It was wrong of me to judge by appearances."
Even with the apology, the sting remained. "Yes, the 'judging by appearances' part was definitely unnecessary," he muttered.
It was a clear implication that he looked the part of a glutton. Though, he had to admit, he wasn't that far gone.
A sudden, sobering thought struck him.
'Wait—pigs actually have remarkably low body fat, under twenty percent. For a human, that would be a lean, athletic build.'
The realization sent a wave of dejection over him.
Looking at Masao, who was suddenly looking dejected for some reason, Yukinoshita was puzzled.
"What's wrong now?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.
In their short acquaintance, she'd pegged him as resilient, someone who could handle—and perhaps even enjoy—her sharp tongue. This reaction seemed disproportionate.
"It's nothing," Masao waved a hand dismissively, then added to preempt any further inquiry, "I was just thinking that I might be inferior to a pig in more ways than one."
"..."
This only deepened her confusion.
—
They walked back toward the main building in silence. As they reached the door to her classroom, she seemed to reach a conclusion.
She turned to him, her expression as composed as ever.
"For what it's worth," she said "I believe you possess qualities that make you slightly superior to a pig."
With that, she disappeared into her classroom.
Masao stood frozen in the hallway, staring at the empty space she had occupied.
Had Yukinoshita just… tried to comfort him?
The idea was so foreign it was almost ludicrous.
'She likes me?' The thought was a shooting star—bright, startling, and gone in an instant. 'No, impossible. This is Yukinoshita we are talking about.'
He shook his head as if to physically dislodge the thought.
A more likely explanation is loneliness. She hasn't had anyone to talk to for so long. Now that there's someone who tolerates her presence, she's making an effort.
'So… I suppose that makes me her friend?'
A small smile touched his lips at the thought.
—
Later that afternoon, a little after two, the sun hung heavy and hot in the sky. The May heat was beginning to assert itself, and Masao's class was unfortunate enough to have P.E. during the most oppressive hour of the day.
A chorus of complaints rose from the students, but no one dared to skip. Athletic performance was a serious component of their grades.
He felt a sense of weariness. His muscles still ached from yesterday's and this morning's training session.
The prospect of intense physical activity was bad enough, but P.E. was in the final period. Immediately after, he was expected to drag his exhausted body to the clubroom for another hour of exercise.
"This is going to kill me," he whispered, a sense of despair washing over him.
'I'll have to ask Yukinoshita to go easy on me today. She'll understand… right?'
As he mulled over his impending doom, his class filed out onto the sports ground. And there, amidst the clusters of students, he saw her.
Yukinoshita Yukino.
She was also wearing her PE uniform, standing near a group of students, but everyone kept some distance from her. This created a small vacuum around her, making her quite conspicuous.
She like him had P.E. on the last period.
—
On the other side of the field, Yukinoshita felt a familiar gaze on her.
Her eyes scanned the crowd and quickly found Masao attempting to blend into the background at the edge of his group.
She understood the situation perfectly.
'Masao-kun, after an hour of P.E…. followed by our training regimen. What are his survival odds?'
A clinical curiosity sparked within her.
'Let's run the experiment. He probably won't expire. It was his idea, after all. A little hardship will build character. He'll understand.'
Thinking this, a faint, unconsciously pleased smile touched Yukinoshita's lips
Though she stood alone, Yukinoshita was never unobserved. Particularly by the boys, whose glances frequently strayed in her direction.
This faint smile, on the face of a girl known for her icy demeanour, was nothing short of breathtaking.
Hearts fluttered across the field. In that moment, a dozen simultaneous fantasies ignited.
'She was looking at me! Does she…? Maybe I should confess tomorrow!'
Masao's heart also raced, but for an entirely different reason. A cold dread trickled down his spine.
'I'm finished. I'm not going to survive the day.'
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