Lunch Break
Most students took out the bento boxes they had prepared and went off to find their friends to share tables with.
However, possibly because of Kawasaki Saki's presence, when people were looking for places to sit together, they subconsciously avoided this area.
That actually worked out nicely for Tanaka Masao.
If no one came over to share the table, that meant he didn't have to give up his seat.
Thinking back to his previous self— every lunchtime, either someone would try to take his seat, or there would be people gathered around him, making him feel completely out of place just sitting there.
So his former self would always find a quiet corner and eat alone.
Looking at it that way… shouldn't he actually thank Kawasaki Saki for unintentionally securing him a little piece of peaceful territory?
Taking out the bento his mother had prepared, Tanaka Masao began eating slowly.
[Mm… the rice has gone cold, so it's a bit hard.
The side dishes are fine though—fried chicken, sausage, lettuce…
They're all the kind of food that still tastes good even when it's cold.
If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to switch the main carb to bread or something like that?
But around here, when people eat bread, it's usually just butter and jam, or sandwiches.
Come to think of it, in anime, almost every school store sells yakisoba bread, and it's always super popular.
I've never tried it before… should I give it a shot?
If it's freshly cooked—hot yakisoba with sauce, wrapped in bread—it sounds amazing.
But if it's cold yakisoba…soft, sticky, and mushy, stuffed into bread… that doesn't sound good at all.]
...
Lunch break passed.
In a half-dazed state, Tanaka Masao somehow made it through the two afternoon classes.
At 3 p.m., the bell rang—not the end-of-class bell, but the dismissal bell.
As the school day ended, the campus quickly became lively.
Most students were part of clubs and were now heading off to club activities.
Those without clubs either went straight home or chose to hang out with friends—shopping, karaoke, things like that.
Of course, some people took advantage of this time to go work part-time and earn some money.
For example, Kawasaki Saki, who sat in front of Tanaka Masao, packed up her things and left right away—most likely heading to her part-time job.
Watching her leave, Tanaka Masao let out a helpless sigh.
Today, he hadn't managed to find a single opportunity to talk to her.
He'd spent the entire day staring at the floor, hoping she might accidentally drop a pen or an eraser, so he could pick it up and use that as an excuse to interact.
But the whole day passed without such a chance.
Tanaka Masao packed up his things and left the classroom.
There was no time to mourn Kawasaki Saki's departure—next, he needed to go find Yukinoshita Yukino.
After today's events, he had already seen several major anime characters.
Yuigahama Yui, Miura Yumiko, Totsuka Saika…
But strangely, he still hadn't encountered the male lead, Hikigaya Hachiman.
Then he remembered another important character: the kouhai, Isshiki Iroha.
Only then did it click.
The original story takes place in second year, but right now, they were still first-years.
That explained why he was in the same class as Kawasaki Saki.
According to the original plot, at the start of the school year, Hikigaya Hachiman was hospitalized after being hit by a car from the Yukinoshita family while saving Yuigahama Yui's dog.
It had already been a month since the semester began, and he still hadn't seen Hikigaya—which meant there was a high chance he was still in the hospital.
If that was the case, then the person he needed to find now was Yukinoshita Yukino.
...
After wandering around the school for quite a while, Tanaka Masao still couldn't find the Service Club.
"Don't tell me the Service Club hasn't even been founded yet…"
He searched the club building thoroughly but couldn't find any sign of it.
"Maybe I should just go home."
Holding his school bag, Tanaka Masao was already preparing to leave.
"Hm… wait. This is the administration building."
The administration building had five floors, and there weren't nearly enough teachers to use all the rooms—the top two floors were almost completely empty.
"Could it be here…?"
With a might as well try mindset, Tanaka Masao entered the building.
The first three floors were teacher offices, so he skipped them and started from the fourth floor.
After some searching, he finally found it—at the very back of the fifth floor.
A room with a sign on the door:
[Service Club]
"That was rough… seriously."
Staring at the familiar sliding door, Tanaka Masao felt strangely emotional—he was almost moved to tears.
Now he finally understood why, in the original story, everyone who sought help was introduced by Hiratsuka Shizuka.
With a location this remote, no normal person would ever wander here.
If Yukinoshita Yukino had been able to set up the Service Club in the club building,
people passing by would at least get curious and peek inside.
But here?
No reputation, no publicity—it would be a miracle if anyone showed up.
Still, it was understandable.
A brand-new club with only one member.
There was no way the school would assign it a proper clubroom.
Being allowed to use this empty room was already a favor granted by Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Tanaka Masao took a deep breath, pushed his messy thoughts aside, and raised his hand to knock on the door.
Knock, knock.
After the sound faded, ten full seconds of silence passed.
Just as Tanaka Masao was starting to think no one was inside,
a cool, distant voice finally rang out.
"Please, come in."