Lunch With The Lady

"Shall we inform Natsukawa-san and Ashida-san of the new plan?"

Seriously?! This girl couldn't read a room to save her life. Almost everyone in class had already noticed that there was some friction between me and Natsukawa. I supposed she wasn't part of 'most people'.

"You see, the thing I want to buy is a present that I'd rather them not find out about."

After wording my explanation that way, Ichinose seemed to understand the situation. We bid each other goodnight, and I drifted off to a deep slumber.

*

Come morning, my eye lids felt glued shut. Despite being down in the dumps, or perhaps because of it, I had a deep and dreamless night. My injury probably had something to do with it as well, since my body needed energy and proper rest to recover.

Mom dropped me and Big Sis off at the usual spot near the school gate. Koetsu High School was actually fairly spacious, and prestigious-looking compared to other schools. We walked into the massive front gate at a leisurely pace, as we were a bit early.

Suddenly, Big Sis drops a bomb.

"Oh it's that girl Natsukawa. Aren't you gonna say good morning?" She pointed ahead of us at the back of a girl with short light-coloured hair.

It indeed was Natsukawa. Her image was so burned into my head that I could spot her in a group of a thousand people. But with that aside, why was Big Sis so nosey?! Just mind your own business, jeez. Seeing as my left hand was injured, I gambled on the chance that Big Sis might restrain herself and spat a retort.

"Lay off, will you?"

She gave me a side eyed look, with one eyebrow lifted up questioningly. Whoops, I may have sounded too exasperated there. Did my tone give away that Natsukawa and I were avoiding each other? Ugh what a pain. I'd rather have kept that information a secret from Big Sis.

Thankfully, she let it go, and we went our separate ways.

*

Come lunch time, I stood up and went to the cafeteria. For I had an appointment of the utmost importance with the Young Lady!

"..."

I really needed to stop talking like an aristocrat whenever the topic concerned Shinonome. With that thought in mind, I arrived at the cafeteria and approached the school store, eyeing the sweet bread like I hadn't tasted it in years (I had it the day before). Just as I was reaching out to grasp hold my beloved bread, a hand latched out out of nowhere and grasped mine. It was slender and white, with a simple yet expensive looking ring on the index finger.

Startled, I looked at the owner of this pale delicate limb. It was, of course, Shinonome-san.

"What?"

"No need for that. You see, I..." She hesitated, so I tilted my head to the right in confusion. At this point, we were getting in the way of the other students lining up behind us, so she walked away, pulling me along with her.

"Shinonome-san, I require sustenance. Are you going to tell me to eat cake instead of bread?" I jested, referencing the queen of France's famous yet ridiculous solution to her starving citizens during the French Revolution. I smiled inwardly, proud at my wit. Shinonome was half French, so it was a fitting remark.

She tilted her head and frowned at me, but there was a hint of amusement on her delicate features. I could tell she found the humour in my sentence.

"I... Um... I have 2 lunch boxes today."

Okay?? Cool? As far as I knew, Shinonome wasn't the type of person to flaunt her wealth. Her status, sure. But not her wealth. Unless... she meant she packed me lunch?! (Or rather, her family chiefs did?!)

I continued staring at her, still dumbfounded.

"Here" She pushed a lunch box at me. It was wrapped with an elegant yet simple black cloth that had golden threads running through it. I could feel a few students' gazes piercing through me. Hey, it's not what you think okay?! Stop staring at me!

"Oh, thanks I guess" I took the lunch box, and followed Shinonome to a table on the edge of the cafeteria. The students' gazes persisted all the while, finally subsiding once we were seated. I unwrapped the lunch box, wondering what I would find inside. Was it going to be better than Yuki-senpai's legendary lunch box? Maybe this one was even rarer. Like an ultra-legendary item?

The lunch box was packed with so much fancy food I didn't know where to look. Shrimp lined one corner of the box, cradling a slice of sesame-covered salmon. There were rolled omelettes, pickled vegetables, kobe beef, and some fresh veggies too. It truly was a sight to behold. I almost felt bad that I was about to eat it.

But something was off.

There was no way that I, a boy, could eat this amount of food for lunch every day without putting on weight. How did the Young Lady manage such a feat?

Though I was well aware that Shinonome had a perfect figure, as she had proven in the cultural festival's Beauty Pageant, I unconsciously glanced at her waist.

She seemed to notice what I was thinking, as she turned red and wrapped her arm around her tummy. 

"What are you looking at?! For your information, my lunch box doesn't usually look like this. Today is spec- I mean... The chiefs went overboard today as per my orders."

"Okay then. Thanks for the food." I said, before digging in. It truly was delectable. Everything tasted 10 times better than how I'd imagined it would. I indulged myself, savouring the flavours that bloomed in my mouth.

A few moments later, I looked at Shinonome and caught her staring at me. She'd been silent for a while now, so I'd assumed that she was busy eating, but her lunch box was still almost full.

"Is everything okay, Shinonome-san?"

"Ah! Y-yes, I was just... uh... That's right! I was thinking of how to word my request."

I was curious as to why she'd asked to meet me today for lunch, so I shifted my attention from the lunch box to her fidgeting figure.

"I know I've already thanked you but... Let me do it once more. I wouldn't be here if not for you." She bowed her head slightly.

If someone had come to me back when I first met Shinonome and told me that she'd be this polite to me, I would never have believed them. But as I got to know her better recently, I understood that she wasn't just some spoiled brat. Sure, her confidence sometimes bordered on arrogance. But it was a confidence she'd built up herself, one that didn't undermine her values or manners.

"You're most welcome. I feel like I would've blamed myself if things took a turn for the worst had I not done what I did. With that said, it was partly a selfish act. So please don't worry about it"

She nodded after listening to my explanation, then took a deep breath.

"Sajou-kun, can we be friends?"

"..."

Seriously? The audacity of this girl. Did she not realize how much trouble she'd put me through already? It's like she wanted to keep on adding to my pile of problems.

"Listen. There's no reason for that to happen. The less we interact the better."

"B-but...! Why do you say that?" She looked at me indignantly.

"To begin with, the way we'd grown close recently is due to a weird incident. And to be completely honest, I want nothing to do with you. Need I tell you what would've happened if it wasn't me, but my Big Sis, who was in the Student Council office that day?"

I was being harsh, but I did not care. I was usually lax and unserious about everything. But looking back, that sort of attitude ended up hurting Natsukawa, like how I called my plans with Ichinose a 'date'. Though I still wasn't sure why Natsukawa would be hurt by that. I supposed she didn't like my unserious side much.

In any case, there were times when it was important to be serious and direct. This was one such time. My words seemed to have taken Shinonome aback. She looked down and mumbled:

"I wouldn't have... I don't think I would've actually hurt her..."

I sighed. It was a pointless discussion. But at least I said what I'd wanted to say. From now on, I hoped that the Young Lady kept her distance from me. It was for the best.

I decided it was time I took my leave. But as I was getting up, Shinonome grabbed my arm and said something quite interesting.

"After the current school council disbands, there will be trouble."

"...What kind of trouble?"

"Are you aware of how the current council has put in a lot of effort to quell the West side's influence on the school's internal affairs?"

"Yes, Big Sis and Yuki-senpai were key players. Or at least what what'd always assumed"

"That's right. But once they're gone... There's lots of talk in the West Building about all sorts of plots. They plan on taking over the student council again."

Frankly speaking, I didn't care about any of this. As long as it wasn't something that affected my high school life very drastically, the East and West could duke it out as much as they wanted.

"And why are you telling me this? You are from the West yourself."

"I don't want President Yuki's efforts to go to waste. Surely you must feel the same about your sister?"

I didn't. Nope. Not at all.

"Nah. I don't really care what happens to the student council, or the whole East-West cold war."

"Even if it made you and your friends' school lives miserable?"

Hm. I didn't have an accurate idea of what school would be like if the discrimination by the West went back to how it used to be before I enrolled. If it led to hurting the people I care about (Natsukawa included), then I would regret not taking action sooner.

I could ask Big Sis, but I doubted she would tell me anything. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to stay in touch with someone on the inside of all of this. I decided to probe for more information.

"How miserable are we talking here?"

"They can influence anything really. School rules, festivals, exams. You name it."

Maybe this was a bigger deal that I'd originally thought. I wanted to enjoy my final years of high school to the fullest. And I'm sure Natsukawa felt the same way. After mulling it over, I decided to not completely turn her down.

"Alright fine. I think it'd be wise for us to stay in touch then. But why do you need my help specifically?"

"It's because... well... You seem like a capable person. Not to mention your sister is the Vice President. And you had really quick thinking back when you, you know, saved me. Something like that."

"Please don't have such high expectations of me, you'll only end up disappointed" I sighed then continued, "so Shinonome-san, do you still want to be the next Student Council president?"

We were given paper handouts a few days ago regarding the application procedure for joining. I had stared at it for a quite a while, mulling it over. My policy was to not do things that required a lot of effort. That's why I was part of the go-home-club. But after the festival committee work, I started realizing that I also like staying busy. I would get physically and mentally tired, sure. But there was something deeply satisfying about getting work done.

"Yes, I do want to be the next Student Council President. In fact, that's part of the reason I asked to talk to you today."

She paused, then took a deep breath.

"Sajou-kun, will you join the student council with me?"