I Chose the Plain Girl Instead of the Class’s Top Three Beauties, and Somehow She Became the Heroine - 3

Chapter 3: Lunch Together

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The lunch break chime rang, and Akira stood up with his bento box in hand.

“Sorry, I kinda have library committee duty today.”

“Got it. Your glorious defeat will be after school, then.”

“Stop assuming I’m going to crash and burn. Okay, I’m going.”

“Yeah!”

Akira jogged out of the room, and it had been a while since I was by myself. I stuffed the two bread rolls I bought at the school shop this morning into my pockets and headed to the back of the school building. The backyard where the wind passed through. The shade of the trees covered just half of the bench, and the sunny part was warm. I hated the idea of summer coming, but this season felt nice. I sat down, tore open the wrapper, and took a bite. Sweet.

I poked a straw into the milk carton I bought at the vending machine on the way and swallowed. Bread eaten outside somehow felt tastier than in the classroom. I sensed footsteps stopping. When I turned around, Hiroko Anno was standing there. She held her lunch bag against her chest, her shoulders lifted slightly.

“Ah…”

Her voice was so small it seemed like it could mix with the wind. It was rare to see Anno-san behind the school building.

“What a coincidence. You’re eating outside too, Anno-san?”

Even I was surprised that my first words came out so smoothly. She widened her eyes for a second, then looked down.

“Today… The classroom was a little noisy. I come here sometimes.”

Maybe because she wasn’t used to talking, her words came out haltingly, and apparently I had taken over her special spot. I took another bite of bread, wiped the end of the bench with a handkerchief, and gave it a small pat.

“Go ahead.”

“Eh! … Thank you.”

She hesitated a little, but Anno-san cautiously sat down. Up close, she was surprisingly petite, and her eyes behind her glasses felt familiar somehow. There was about one person’s worth of distance between us on the bench. The wind blew, lifting her bangs just slightly. The black hairpin glinted thinly in the sunlight. For a while, only the sound of our chewing filled the silence. Bird calls. The straw in my milk carton made a noise as it sucked in air.

“By the way, you look pretty today.”

After saying it, I realized—ah. Maybe my wording was bad?

“…Huh?”

Anno-san looked surprised at my sudden statement, then raised a hand to her cheek and checked her bangs with her fingertips. The ends of her black hair swayed softly, brushing against the little pin above her ear.

“I mean, like… You look clean and neat. Your lenses are clear, your ribbon is centered. Your hair and pin are different from usual, so I thought you looked pretty.”

“Uh… Y-yeah. Um… Thank you.”

Her voice was soft but it reached properly. Her eyelashes cast a trembling shadow. Maybe she was cuter than I had expected. Even if the glasses hid it a little.

“Do you want some bread?”

I asked while laughing at myself. Of course she wouldn’t want any. Anno-san shook her head quickly in a small gesture.

“N-no, I’m fine. I have my bento.”

“Right.”

I adjusted the bread wrapper and let another moment of silence settle. The bench board warmed by the sunlight slowly transferred heat to my back.

“Um, Mukei-kun…You always eat here?”

“Depends on my mood. Usually I eat with Akira, but when I’m alone, I come here.”

“Mood…”

“It’s quiet. I like it.”

“…Yeah. I get it.”

Anno-san’s bento had white rice, tamagoyaki, and lightly pickled cucumbers. Everything was neatly arranged. The hand holding her chopsticks trembled slightly.

“Your bangs, earlier, the wind…”

When I said that, she nodded and adjusted the pin just a little bit. I looked away and glanced up at the sky. A thin sheet of cloud drifted across us.

“…Mukei-kun.”

“What?”

“That thing earlier. When you said I looked nice… I’m happy.”

“Yeah?”

“Y-yep. Um!”

“Yeah? What is it?”

It was a rare tone of voice for Anno-san. Surprised, I looked at her and asked, but she started to say something and then stopped. Instead, the words she chose were…

“…Do you like sweet bread, Mukei-kun?”

“I eat anything. Today I just happened to get sweet bread.”

“Coincidence…So it’s also based on your mood?”

“Maybe. How about you, Anno-san?”

“…I like my tamagoyaki sweet.”

She picked up a corner piece. She hesitated, then looked at me briefly.

“…Want some?”

“Eh?”

“Well, of course you don’t want it, right…”

“No, I mean, are you sure?”

No matter how I looked at it, this was Anno-san feeding me with the chopsticks she’d been using. Like an “aahh”—but unintentional.

“That’s not it, okay? It’s not…It’s not like that.”

For some reason, she started making excuses.

“…Like what?”

“N-no, never mind!”

She looked down in embarrassment. Through the gap in her bangs, her eyes were completely visible. It was something that probably hadn’t been visible until yesterday.

“…Can I have it?”

“Eh—yes!”

“…Thanks.”

It was awkward, but I ended up sharing an indirect kiss with Anno-san. After that, whenever conversation paused, the wind filled the space between us. The warmth of the sunny spot and the coolness of the shade split the bench in half.

“Shall we head back now?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Anno-san closed her bento, wrapped the elastic band around it. When she stood, the black pin glinted thinly again.

“…Mukei-kun.”

“What?”

“Thank you. For talking to me.”

“No big deal. The bench belongs to anyone. Besides, you let me sit in your special spot first, and I even got tamagoyaki out of it. I’m the one who profited from this exchange.”

“…Yeah.”

She began walking one step behind me, following from slightly behind. When we turned the corner of the building, the lunchtime bustle returned. The stillness from earlier felt like it had shrunk enough to fit in my pocket and stayed there. I didn’t understand romance. But spending time with Anno-san wasn’t something I disliked.

The chime rang. I tossed my milk carton into the trash, and she held her lunch bag against her chest again. Nothing had happened. Probably. But something, like her bangs, had parted just a little. It was that kind of afternoon.

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