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Even though Shuya wasn't exactly a fan of Rei Miyamoto as an anime heroine, he was pretty curious why she'd been hiding up on the school rooftop crying all by herself.
He had time to kill anyway. Might as well get a little entertainment out of it.
Besides, the extra bento had been made for Shizuka. Since she'd taken the day off, there was no way he could finish two by himself. And even if he took it home for dinner, he'd still have to cook anyway.
"You!"
Rei's face flushed red the second she heard his words.
This wasn't an offer for lunch—this was him straight-up poking at her sore spot!
She wished she had her spear right now so she could run this bastard through.
Seeing her about to blow up, Shuya quickly cut her off before she could explode. "Not interested? Fine, forget I said anything."
Rei got even madder, but she couldn't exactly lash out. She shot him a death glare, let out a cold huff, and turned to leave.
Shuya didn't care. Once she was gone, he sat back down and kept eating.
After storming off the rooftop, Rei headed straight for the school cafeteria.
Whether from hunger or pure rage, she walked a lot faster than usual.
When she reached Fujimi Academy's lunch windows, every single one had a "Sold Out" sign hanging on it.
With no food in sight, she was about to turn around and leave when she spotted her childhood friend Takashi Komuro in the corner, laughing and chatting with his buddies like nothing had happened.
First Shuya had pissed her off, then the cafeteria ran out of food, and now even Takashi was acting like everything was completely fine.
The unfairness hit Rei hard. It felt like the entire world had abandoned her.
She wanted someone to talk to, but realized she had no one.
Before the new school year started, she'd had friends. But now they were all upperclassmen who had already formed new groups. It didn't feel right to go back to them.
And because she'd been held back, she still hadn't fit into her new class.
Which meant she didn't have a single person she could open up to.
For some reason, her mind drifted back to what that asshole Shuya had said earlier on the rooftop.
Maybe she was just lightheaded from hunger, but she suddenly thought he might actually be a decent person to vent to.
She glanced again at Takashi, still smiling without a care in the world.
If she didn't find someone to unload on soon, she really was going to explode.
So Rei turned around and went back up to the rooftop.
By the time she got there, Shuya had already finished eating. He was lying on his back with his hands behind his head, eyes closed, just chilling.
The moment she saw him, Rei let out a tiny sigh of relief.
If he had already left, she probably would've broken down completely.
Thank god Shuya was still here.
"Hey!"
She walked right up and stood in front of him.
Shuya opened his eyes and said without thinking, "White."
"What?"
Rei froze for a second, then immediately realized what he meant. She slapped a hand down on the hem of her skirt, face burning bright red. "Hentai!"
"What do you want?" Shuya asked casually, zero embarrassment on his face.
Rei clenched her fists so tight her knuckles turned white, veins popping on her forehead.
This bastard had an unbelievable talent for pissing her off.
She was seriously starting to wonder if God had sent him specifically to torment her.
Hold it together… hold it together…
Rei took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. "That offer from earlier… it's still good, right?"
"Huh?"
Now it was Shuya's turn to look confused.
What offer?
"White"?
"The deal where I tell you my secret in exchange for the bento," Rei said, forcing a smile.
"Oh, that. I thought you meant… never mind. Yeah, it's still good."
Shuya shrugged. Gossip? Sure, why not. Who doesn't love a little drama?
He just hadn't expected the ash-brown-haired girl to actually take him up on it.
Looks like you're really hungry.
He sat up cross-legged and pushed the untouched bento toward her. "Alright. Start your performance."
Rei's eyebrow twitched. Seeing him sitting there like he was about to watch a show nearly gave her high blood pressure.
Still, she told him everything.
Her father was a captain in the Bedmaster City Police Department. He'd been secretly investigating a local politician and got caught. That politician had an illegitimate son who happened to be a teacher at Fujimi Academy.
Rei's grades had always been excellent, but because of the teacher's targeted revenge, she'd been held back.
But that wasn't even the main reason she was hurting.
The real reason was her childhood friend, Takashi Komuro.
Not long ago, Takashi had asked her why she got held back. She tried to explain that Mr. Shido was targeting her and just wanted a little comfort from him.
Instead, Takashi kept insisting Mr. Shido wasn't that kind of person and told her she should be more understanding.
The childhood friend she'd grown up with would rather believe an outsider than her.
That was what finally broke her.
That was why she'd come up here alone to cry.
After she finished, Rei looked at Shuya with red, teary eyes, clearly hoping for some comfort.
Shuya rubbed his chin.
If Rei wasn't making this up, it actually explained why the girl who was supposed to marry the protagonist ended up getting a boyfriend so fast.
Even girls knew that when your best friend was hurting, you were supposed to trash the guy with her and give emotional support.
Takashi's behavior was honestly brain-dead.
Choosing to believe a stranger over the girl he'd known his whole life.
If Shuya had a friend like that, he would've cut ties immediately.
You stay neutral when I'm being wronged?
There was a saying online about this kind of situation.
When Fat Tiger is beating up Nobita, you have four choices:
1. Help Fat Tiger
2. Help Nobita
3. Stay neutral and pretend you didn't see anything
4. Say both sides are wrong
Since Nobita can't fight back, anything except helping him is basically siding with the bully.
Shuya could understand the logic, but it only improved his impression of Rei by the tiniest amount.
"Teacher scheming against you, childhood friend stabbing you in the back, classmates abandoning you… Yeah, that's pretty rough," Shuya said with interest. "Miyamoto, have you ever thought about turning your experience into a light novel and getting it published?"
Rei: ???
What the actual fuck are you even talking about?