Chapter 2 Part 4 – A secret signal only the two of us can understand

Translator: Chaos

Editor: Riciel

I didn’t realize it until I started living with Riko, but apparently I had a habit of rubbing my nose with my index finger when being embarrassed. I didn’t know this until a few days ago, when Riko told me with an impish smile, “I found Minato-kun’s habit”. It was true that when Riko smiled at me,I was touching my nose to hide my embarrassment due to her smile.

When Riko whispered, “I think I like that habit…”, I reflexively touched my nose again, which made me feel even more embarrassed.

“Shinyama, what are you grinning at?”

I was in a daze, remembering the exchange with Riko, when I was brought back to reality by Sawa’s teasing voice.

“Well, you’ve got something naughty on your mind, haven’t you? Why don’t we share our thoughts and have some fun?”

“Don’t be stupid. And you’re talking too loud.”

I tried to tell him that this wasn’t an appropriate topic to talk about in the cafeteria in the middle of the day, but as usual, Sawa didn’t listen.

I shook my head and sat down at an empty table near the window. Sawa placed his tray across me. I opened my bento, which Riko had started to make for me. Students were allowed to bring their own bentos into the hall, so there were many students like me eating their own bentos. This was why the cafeteria was packed with students, even though it was just lunchtime.

“…By the way, Shinyama’s lunch looks really good. And isn’t it so detailed every day? I didn’t know you could cook that well.”

“Haha…”

I smiled back at Sawa, who was very impressed with my bento.

On the first day I brought my lunch to Sawa, he asked me a lot of questions, and I had no choice but to lie that I made it myself.

I haven’t told anyone about my marriage with Riko, not just Sawa. Before we started living together, Riko and I had talked about it and decided to keep it a secret.

I was the one who suggested that it would be better to keep it a secret, and Riko immediately agreed.

Not many high school students were already married, and Riko was the kind of girl who attracted a lot of attention, even if she was just sitting there in silence.

It was too bad for Riko that it had to be me. I was someone without any  self-confidence, but even if I put those feelings aside, there was no way that a plain, inconspicuous guy and the most beautiful girl in the school could ever match up.

If somebody around us were to find out that we were married under contract, they would surely suspect Riko of having bad taste. I didn’t want to ruin Riko’s reputation because of me.

“Oh… that teriyaki chicken looks absolutely delicious. Come on, you can trade it for my side dish?”

“No way.”

“No? Why not? You can always make and eat your own.”

“This is mine.”

“Something’s not right here…”

“Eh, what do you mean?”

“Shinyama, you’re always willing to give up. Did you ever turn down anything?”

I cringed at the sharp point. Sawa was right. That’s how I usually was. I’d rather give up quickly than compete with others.

But this time it’s different.

This is the bento that Riko made for me.

I can’t give away even one of the side dishes.

I want to eat it all by myself and tell her how delicious it was.

I can’t be rude to Riko, who took the time and effort to make this for me.

…And, well… I’ll say it again, this is mine.

I don’t want anyone else to eat Riko’s lunch, even if they are my friends.

“Anyway, you can’t have it, no matter what.”

When I protected my bento by surrounding it with my arms, Sawa pulled back while complaining. However, his eyes were still glancing at the teriyaki, so it was better to remain vigilant.

Suddenly, Sawa’s gaze wandered away. Intrigued, I looked over my back to the entrance and saw Riko entering the cafeteria with several other girls.

Whoa!

I hurriedly tried to regain my posture, which caused my elbow to hit the corner of the table with great force.

“Ouch…”

“Hey, hey, are you okay?”

“… I’m fine.”

My elbow was still stinging, but I gave her an awkward smile.

Whenever I meet Riko outside of my house, I get nervous and tend to behave strangely, but this cannot happen every time. If I get flustered every time I see Riko, she’ll get suspicious someday.

In fact, Sawa was now staring at me as if looking at something strange. I cleared my throat and picked up my chopsticks.

Unlike me, Sawa was still blatantly following Riko with his eyes.

“… If you keep staring, they’ll notice, you know?”

“That’s the point. Do you remember? The incident when I was looking at the schoolyard and my eyes met hers!”

“Oh, you said something like that. Or rather, your voice is too loud…! She can hear you.”

Riko and the other girls took their seats at a table not too far from us. Even with the buzzing of the other students, they could hear him talking so loudly.

Sawa moved the tray with the curry aside and leaned forward, paying attention to his surroundings. But rather than understanding my concern, he just wanted to give me the feeling that he was confiding in me. Sawa’s eyes were completely amused.

“… Actually, I feel like I can still feel her eyes on me from time to time.”

“It’s just your imagination.”

“Can you please stop denying everything so quickly? No, it’s not my imagination. We hardly see eye to eye, but every time I look up at her, she’s looking at me!”

“Too loud…”

“She is probably embarrassed if our eyes meet, so she tries to look diagonally across me. I’m sure of it! That’s all I can think of!”

As Sawa began to enthusiastically express his usual baseless positive thoughts, I drank some green tea from my water bottle while making appropriate responses.

Haaa… it warms me up…

This was also something that Riko had prepared for me in the morning. I’ve always been indebted to Riko. Whenever she did something for me, I thanked her from the bottom of my heart, but it was never enough.

To be honest, I’ve been trying to think of a way to repay her, but I couldn’t come up with any good idea at all, and the days just passed.

I wish there’s something I can do for Riko.

What can I do to make her happy?

I have no idea, and I’m at a loss.

I don’t know what to do to make her happy.

I told Sawa not to look at her too much when I accidentally looked sideways at Riko. The girl sitting next to her spoke to her, smiled, and nodded, so Riko’s eyes caught me in her vision. Both Riko and I were surprised and we both mouthed “Ah” at the same time. When I was surprised by the coincidence, Riko gently touched the tip of her nose with the tip of her index finger.

Ehh…

Why…?

That’s a habit of mine that Riko learned from me…

Was that a coincidence too? I thought so for a moment, but Riko, still looking at me, smiled a little, like a child who has successfully pulled off a prank. I noticed the smile on her face.

I realized she had sent me a sign that only I could understand, so that no one else would notice.

I hurriedly covered my loosening mouth with my palm to hide it.

Oh no…

I don’t know why Riko acted the way she did. And yet, I couldn’t help but smile.

How could I not feel happiness over that…