Actually, the Hungry Gyaru Who Eats a Lot Was Being Cheated On, so I Decided to Win Her Heart (And Stomach) From Her Jerk Boyfriend - 20

Chapter 20: The Time to Fulfill the Secret Promise

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Following the incident on Sunday, my relationship with Shizuku had somewhat changed. That being said, the change wasn’t drastic enough to have a significant impact on my daily life. We were just classmates on the surface and we didn’t really interact at school, even before that incident. However, the situations surrounding Shizuku had undergone a major shift.

The breakup of the most popular couple at school garnered everyone’s attention. One of the most beautiful girls in the school and the ace candidate of the school’s soccer team. Even though neither of them had explicitly announced their break up, but within three days, the entire school already knew about it. As a result, Shizuku’s gyaru friends had been pestering her for the reason behind the breakup.

“Shizuku, why did you break up with Yamachi?

“Hmmm~ You know, the usual~ We have different values and we’re not the right fit for each other… Just the usual stuff.”

“Pfft! Hahaha! The heck with that reason? I never heard a couple actually break up over that!”

“Whoa~ What a waste~ Even though he’s a hottie~”

Yes. The reason for the break up was chalked up to “difference in values,” and “not a great fit for each other,” while they kept the real reason hidden from the public. Thanks to that, Yamachi hadn’t tried anything funny to Shizuku after that incident. Also, more and more guys had been trying to talk to Shizuku at school. Well, this reaction was understandable. After all, a beautiful girl who everyone had always thought to be completely unattainable was now single. Though the chances were slim, of course some people would still try their luck to flirt with her.

…Well, all the guys who tried to approach Shizuku so far ended up facing honorable defeat, though. In the first place, Shizuku didn’t have any desire to date anyone right now. Furthermore, her three gyaru friends were always protecting her and every guy was shot down by the gyaru trio. If someone wanted to get close to Shizuku, they’d have to win over the gyaru trio first.

And so, things stayed as they were. I went to school without saying a word to Shizuku, just like usual. It took more than a week for the heat surrounding Shizuku and Yamachi’s break up to die down. By then, we were already approaching late June and the final exam period was dawning upon us. During this time of the year, we were able to leave school during mid-day. Because of that, it wasn’t weird for my classmate to ask me this question. 

“Suou, why did you bring a lunch box with you?”

My classmate said while staring at the cooler bag hanging next to my desk. 

“I just feel like bringing a lunch box today.”

“The heck with that? I mean, are you sure you can finish all that by yourself?”

“…Well, I guess?”

“Seriously?”

His confusion was understandable. After all, the cooler bag I brought with me today was more than twice the size of the one I usually used. It looked like the bag people would bring for a whole family to eat together at sports day events. 

In fact, we’ve used this cooler bag during the sports day events at Ichika’s school. 

I thought to myself when I accidentally overheard a part of Shizuku’s conversation with her friends.

“Hey, want to go karaoke after today’s test?”

“Sounds good! What about you, Shizuku?”

“Ah, sorry. I will have to pass. I’ve got plans this afternoon.”

“Seriously? Alright then. Let’s go tomorrow with Shizuku.”

While I was watching over them from a distance, my eyes suddenly met with Shizuku’s. She gave me a quick, subtle smile, careful not to let anyone around her notice it. However, it seemed the guys around me seemed to pick up on it. They started feeling a bit flustered, which caused the mood to appear somewhat fidgety. No one said it out loud, but all of them were hoping that smile was directed at them. 

“…The heck with those guys?”

“Who knows.”

The gyaru girls glared at my direction suspiciously. I silently agreed with them in my heart as I started preparing for the upcoming test. 

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After being freed from the clutch of the test, I found myself sitting at my usual lunch spot, the emergency staircase in the third building. School was already over and no one was around, but still, eating in the classroom didn’t feel right to me. More importantly, I really couldn’t take any risk. We mustn’t get discovered by anyone at school. 

Perhaps because we were still in the middle of the rainy season, but there was this faint dampness mixed into the cool breeze that brushed against my skin even though the sky was shining brightly. This kind of thing really made me realize summer had truly arrived. I was enduring the heat and humidity underneath the shade when the door creaked open slowly. I looked toward the door and there, I saw a beautiful girl with platinum blonde hair. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Suou-kun!”

“Yo.”

I gave Shizuku’s innocent, beaming smile a short response and stepped out of the shade to move toward the stairs. I pulled the lunch box from the cooler bag. It was a dark brown tiered lunch box. There were three layers and the whole lunch box was 7 inches tall. 

I laid a lunch cloth between me and Shizuku. Then, I placed the lunch box on it. She handed me a plastic bottle filled with barley tea. Her eyes were shining from excitement. 

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

She must’ve just bought it from the vending machine. The bottle was still cool. 

“Finally… Finally the day has arrived! I’ve been looking forward to this a lot!~”

Shizuku was smiling happily as I opened the lunch box and began to arrange each tiers neatly. 

“Wow~!”

Shizuku exclaimed, looking genuinely delighted. Two of the three tiers were packed to the brim with rice balls. The rice balls were filled with various ingredients and the last tier was filled with the side dishes that Shizuku liked. Yes. I made this lunch box in accordance with Shizuku’s request that she had conveyed to me through LINE. 

“It looks so delicious~! Is it really okay for me to eat this!?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly why I brought it here.”

This was the promise I had made to Shizuku the night we exchanged contact information. I had specifically brought this lunch box with me in order to fulfill that promise. I deliberately chose this post today because I thought people would be less likely to find us here rather than somewhere less secluded. I knew the school should be empty by now, but still. Better be safe than sorry. There shouldn’t be any problem to meet here…

Probably. Hopefully. 

I reassured no one but myself as I handed the disposable chopsticks I had kept in the cooler bag along with the lunch box itself to Shizuku.

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