Chapter 9 – A Cafeteria Despite Being in Middle School?

Mana really did come to my classroom every break, just like she said she would.

Honestly, I didn’t feel bad about it at all, but I barely got to talk to Yui.

And just like that, lunch time arrived.

I’m still a middle schooler, so I can’t eat lunch anywhere except my own classroom, which means Mana won’t be coming. But wait—what am I supposed to eat? Now that I think about it, I don’t have a bento or anything. We’re in middle school, so there’s no school lunch program, right? What am I seriously supposed to do?

I mean, skipping one meal wouldn’t be a problem, so I’d be fine in that sense, but would Mom really forget after acting like that yesterday?

“Yuuto-kun.”

“Hm? What’s up?”

While I was thinking about all this, Yui suddenly called out to me.

“Aren’t you going to go to the cafeteria to pick up your food for today?”

“The cafeteria…?”

Middle schoolers have a cafeteria? And what does she mean by “pick up”? I didn’t bring any money with me.

“Huh? You don’t know about the cafeteria?”

When I thought that, Yui asked me with a tone that wasn’t mocking at all—she just seemed genuinely surprised I didn’t know.

“Sorry, it’s been a while so I don’t really remember. Could you maybe explain it to me…?”

“Oh, you don’t need to apologize! If you don’t know, I’ll definitely explain it to you.”

So after hearing Yui’s explanation about the cafeteria, apparently there’s a free cafeteria exclusively for boys.

Wait, what? Is that divine or something? I thought that for a second, but when I really think about it, having to eat in a space with only guys sounds absolutely terrible.

“Can’t I eat it in the classroom instead?”

“…Huh? I think you can, technically, but no boys actually eat in the classroom, you know?”

Oh, I see. So you pick up the food from the cafeteria, but you can eat it in the classroom too.

Then I guess it’s fine.

“Really? Even so, I think I’ll eat in the classroom. I just became friends with you, Yui, so I want to eat together.”

“W-with me!?”

“Yeah. …Would you not want that?”

“N-no! I want to eat together with you too, Yuuto-kun!”

“Then let’s eat together. I’ll go pick mine up.”

“O-okay!”

And so, leaving behind Yui who was blushing bright red but clearly happy, I left the classroom—only to find myself in the same situation as this morning.

Where the hell is the cafeteria?

Mana’s not nearby right now, and Yui isn’t either. …Well, Yui’s back in the classroom if I go back, but that’d be too embarrassing, so I don’t want to.

“Ah.”

Just then, I spotted a guy from my class walking ahead of me, so I decided to follow him—perfect timing.

I could just ask him where the cafeteria is, but even if I make friends with him here, I’m not going to hang out with the guy anyway, so what’s the point?

If I’m going to spend time with guys in this world, I’d rather just get closer to girls instead.

“Oh, here it is.”

Following that guy from my class, I managed to find the cafeteria without any trouble.

The timing just happened to work out—lucky me.

Well, even if he hadn’t been there, I would’ve just asked a teacher or some random student, so it wouldn’t have been a problem anyway.

Chapter 10 – Promise for a Date

“Oh, Mana? What are you doing here?”

After picking up some random lunch at the cafeteria and heading back to the classroom, I happened to spot Mana, so I called out to her.

“Oh, Yuuto! Thank goodness, I got to see you.”

“Hm? Did you need something from me?”

“I don’t need anything, but we can’t eat lunch together, right? So I wanted to see you even for a little bit, and I was looking for you. …Was that bad?”

“It’s not bad at all. Actually, I’m happy, so don’t worry about it.”

Mana obviously doesn’t know I didn’t know about the cafeteria, so she probably figured that since I’m a guy, I’d be at the cafeteria, and came here looking for me.

…If Yui hadn’t told me about it earlier, I wouldn’t have run into her here. In that sense, I need to thank Yui too.

“Yuuto, that looks heavy, right? I’ll carry it to your classroom for you.”

“Huh? No, I’m fine. It’s not that heavy.”

“Don’t hold back, rely on me? You’re a boy, after all.”

…In my previous world, precisely because I’m a guy, I’d feel guilty making a girl carry my stuff even if it’s me, but I guess that’s normal in this world too?

…Honestly, I still kind of want to carry it myself, but to save face for Mana, I should let her carry it.

“Then I’ll take you up on that.”

“O-okay! Leave it to me!”

Maybe she was happy I was relying on her, because Mana happily took my lunch.

…Yeah, this still feels weird.

I wonder if I’ll get used to this eventually.

As we chatted about random things, we arrived at the classroom.

“Thanks, Mana.”

“O-oh. Don’t worry about it. It’s for you, Yuuto, so this much is totally normal.”

After that exchange, I took my lunch back from Mana.

“Y-Yuuto, are you free after school today?”

Then, just as I was about to head back into the classroom, Mana asked me with a tense expression.