After a Heartbreak, My Bitter Childhood Friend is now Sweet Like Sugar

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Chapter 6.3

“I’m really sorry, Kokoa!”

I apologized over and over again as we walked together to the cafeteria during lunch break.

“As I’ve said many times, I’m not mad at you. You’re a human being as well, and we all make mistakes. But are you sure you’re okay? Do you have a fever or something? You’ve been acting strange since last night.”

“No, I’m fine. I was just a bit distracted.”

Today I forgot to cook the rice meant for breakfast and lunch.

Thus, I failed my duty, and we had to change our diet to a block of nutritional supplements for breakfast and the school cafeteria for lunch.

This happened because I kept thinking about the girl I met yesterday. It was hard to explain… these feelings…

No. Maybe I should’ve told her? But It feels like I’ve missed the right moment.

“I’ll buy you a drink today, so please forgive me.”

Kokoa responded to my apology with discomfort,

“That means I’ll have to buy you a drink when I forget. Besides, I think going to the school cafeteria is nice once in a while. It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

“It’s been a while for me too. I used to come here with Kazama.”

I’ve been away from the school cafeteria ever since Kokoa started making my lunch. Then I felt bad making her do it alone, so I started cooking, and gradually it became a habit.

Making a bento is fun. We have to think hard about what kind of food to pack and how to make it look good… If it were just me, it wouldn’t be this much fun. I enjoy making bento because I have someone to feed. I wondered if Kokoa felt the same way.

I stood in front of the ticket vending machine and selected from the menu.

“I’m hungry, so I’ll have a large katsudon. What about you, Kokoa?”

“Umm…”

She wandered left and right in front of the machine.

It’s not like she doesn’t know how to use it…

“Perhaps, you don’t know which one to pick?”

“Uh, no, that’s not it…”

“Then?”

“Well, fine. I’ll take that as well.”

She also chose to eat katsudon.

“What, you wanted to eat katsudon too?”

“… No, not really. I didn’t have anything else to pick, so maybe I can…”

“Maybe you can~?”

“Oh, God, please don’t make me say anymore!”

Her face turned red as she hurriedly walked inside the cafeteria, leaving me behind.

Etto… Don’t tell me, did you want to take the food which matches mine?

So that’s why she was so embarrassed when I asked.

… How cute!

“Ha!”

And then Kokoa, who was walking in front of me, suddenly stopped.

“What is it this time?”

“No, I mean, we both came to the cafeteria, so…”

When she said that, I noticed that everyone was looking at us.

We’d been going home together a lot lately, and there were hardly any students who gave us strange looks anymore, but apparently, that wasn’t the case in the school cafeteria where we didn’t usually come.

It’s mainly Kokoa that attracts the attention, and I’m just somebody who walks beside her… That’s how people see us.

“Sometimes I forget that you’re famous. Well, what do they call you again… Snow White, right?”

Apparently, that’s what some students call her because of her beauty. It seems that it was Kazama who started it.

“… Don’t call me that!”

She gave me a cold stare that I had never seen before.

Uwaa, she’s pissed off.

“Why don’t you like it? Even though it’s a compliment.”

“Of course not! I don’t like it even as a compliment. Every time I hear it, it sends shivers down my spine!”

I suppose that can be true. If it were me, I wouldn’t even think about it.

“Who with common sense would use such a name? Is this world some kind of light novel or something, where people use all sorts of chuunibyou names with each other? Just who in the world started this…?”

“You didn’t know? It was Kazama, remember?”

“Ahh, I’m familiar with that otaku! I’ll beat him to a pulp next time!”

I’ll pray for you, Kazama. It seems I said something unnecessary.

“So it’s Kazama-kun’s fault that I’m getting strange attention now. It’s really annoying.”

“Isn’t it mostly because of your cuteness that they call you Snow White?”

“If you ever say that name again, I’ll beat you up too.”

“I’m sorry…”

It seems that she really doesn’t like it. I won’t go any further.

So I got my pork cutlet bowl at the counter and looked for a table.

As I was wondering where we should sit,

“Huh…?”

I heard a familiar voice, just like yesterday.

My heart thumped, and my feet stopped moving.

Then, I turned my head in the direction of the voice.

There I saw the girl who looked exactly like my Senpai having lunch in the school cafeteria.

Why is she here…?

“Eh…?”

Kokoa also let out a voice.

I guess it was because she followed my gaze and saw a familiar face who should no longer be there.

Her name was Reika Shiki.

I wanted to pretend I hadn’t seen her, but she was waving her hand towards me. It would be difficult to ignore her from here, and not only her, but also Kokoa, who was standing next to me, would not allow it.

Together with Kokoa, I headed towards the seat near where the girl was sitting.

It would be strange to sit somewhere else after having come all this way, so I sat down in the empty seat facing her.

“… Why are you here?”

“Why am I here?”

The girl, who looked like Senpai, answered with a smile.

“I’m a student at this school.”

The same school?

Her words are repeated over and over in my head.

No, there is no way I could forget someone with this kind of appearance, who goes to the same school. Even if I didn’t know, Kokoa would have known.

Because this girl looks so much like Senpai.

“I haven’t seen you before.”

“I was just absent from school. I’m a freshman at this school, and I’ve been sick a lot. That’s why I haven’t been able to come ever since I enrolled. Oh, that’s probably why you haven’t seen me before.”

… I see.

Then I remembered the black car I saw in front of the school gate when I was returning with Kasugai the other day. At that time, I thought I just mistook it for someone who looked like Senpai.

Perhaps it was her.

“… Yu, who is she?”

Kokoa, who was sitting next to me, asked me with a somewhat calm voice.

“I met her by chance yesterday. She’s Reika Shiki.”

“Heeh…”

Kokoa answered shortly and looked at her face intently.

There were many mixed emotions on Kokoka’s face.

After all, she was looking at someone with the exact same looks as my former love interest.

Even though she was not the same person, I felt a bit uncomfortable looking at her.

“Shiki… right?”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, are you on the Library Committee?”

“Oh, yes. I haven’t been able to show my face yet.”

Apparently, she was a junior member of Kokoka’s library committee.

“Yesterday, while I was making a wish, I found him. Right, Onii-chan?”

“Onii-chan…?”

Kokoa’s expression changed from bewilderment to confusion and then repulsed, like a Noh mask.

“It seems that Yu has found a new hobby?”

“No-no-no!”

“But, she…”

Kokoa stared at Shiki’s face intently. She wrinkled her brows then looked at me with a dubious expression on her face.

“Perhaps she used to call you that way before?”

“That never happened.”

I denied it immediately.

“He looks a lot like my elder brother. That’s why I mistook him at first, but Sawatari-nii-chan also mistook me for his senior. And as we talked about each other, we became closer.”

“Wait, wait, we never got any closer!”

And what’s with Sawatari-nii-chan?

“We talked about our situation, didn’t we?”

“That’s true, but…”

“So, I wanted to exchange LINE too, though you got away before we could. Speaking of which, why did you run away at that time?”

“Why, you say…”

I can’t say that I was scared.

In the first place, I still don’t really understand why I got so scared at that time.

Then, Reika looked at Kokoa and me and nodded.

“I see. Maybe the two of you are dating. That’s why Sawatari-Senpai was uncomfortable exchanging contact information with a girl.”

“”No, we’re not dating…””

“Then what’s the relationship between the two of you, who came to the cafeteria together?”

“Childhood friends, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“So you would have no problem with me asking?”

That’s true.

But I’m afraid to have any contact with her.

“Well, I shouldn’t force someone who doesn’t want to. Oh, that’s right. Although I was introduced, I forgot my greetings. Once again, my name is Reika Shiki. It’s nice to meet you, Shirayuki-senpai.”

“Eh?”

Kokoa looked as if she had been caught off guard.

“I know you because you’re famous. Well, you’re Snow White, aren’t you?”

“Please don’t call me that!”

“Eh, why? You didn’t like it? But it’s so cool. I want a name like that, too.”

“How about I introduce you to an expert in that field? The godfather of the title Snow White.”

“You mean Shirayuki-Senpai’s contractor?”

“I didn’t ask for that!”

I wondered if she was really sick. She was so lively and energetic that I wondered if she was just trying to create such a character.

“The cafeteria lunch here is delicious, so I couldn’t help but have it. Especially the katsudon (pork cutlet bowl). So you two also like katsudon. What a coincidence.”

With a look of ecstasy on her face, Shiki looked at the empty bowl on the side, different from the katsudon she was currently eating.

“Wait. You had that too?”

Kokoa asked in a breathless voice before I could react in surprise.

“I get sick easily, so I need to eat a lot.”

“No, that’s not right. If you’re sick, you can’t eat that much.”

“That’s prejudice. Because you are weak, you should eat more to get stronger. Come on, you two, eat up, or your katsudon will get cold.”

“My chopsticks stopped because I was listening to you.”

“It’s not you. It’s Reika. I have a name, so please call me by it.”

“Then Shiki-san.”

“If you can, I prefer my first name. ‘Rei’ means melody, and ‘ka’ means fragrant. I like it. Of course, I also like my last name, Shiki.”

“You’re very particular.”

“I like it because it’s my name.”