Chapter 42: Conversation
Sato Shinichi walked onto the familiar rooftop and found Kazumi already skillfully spreading out the bento cloth. She was taking out the prepared lunch, and although she still had a slight look of annoyance on her face, she had left a small space for him.
His heart warmed, and his previous worries instantly vanished. A big smile spread across his lips as he walked towards where the young girl was sitting.
“Kiyomizu-san, are you angry about what happened earlier?”
Sitting up straight beside Kazumi, Sato Shinichi also took out his own bento. The large, high-end bento box contained food he had specifically brought from the training room.
“No.”
Taking chopsticks and picking up a piece of chicken, Kazumi put it into her mouth. The strong seasoning, used to cover up her poor cooking skills, rushed to her taste buds. It wasn’t completely inedible, but it tasted very artificial.
“Then, Kiyomizu-san…”
“Call me Kazumi.”
Kazumi faintly interrupted Sato Shinichi, casually picking up a piece of chicken with her chopsticks and placing it in his bowl. She then continued,
“Try it and see how it tastes.”
“Uh…”
Staring blankly at the chicken in his bowl, Sato Shinichi glanced at his girlfriend beside him, unsure whether he should listen to her.
It was said that women were unpredictable. Sometimes, even if they were very angry inside, they would smile and talk to you. But if you foolishly followed their words and didn’t actively try to appease them, congratulations, you were doomed.
Although his girlfriend was different from others, after spending so much time together, he could still guess what she was thinking to some extent.
For example, a slight tilt of her mouth by 3 degrees and her eyes opening by about 2 millimeters meant she was in a good mood. Her eyes widening slightly and her mouth twitching twice indicated surprise.
But anger…
He had never actually seen it before.
“It tastes great! I think it’s even better than Ono’s!”
Fearfully, Sato Shinichi picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of chicken, and put it in his mouth. The rich seasoning melted in his mouth, but Sato Shinichi praised it with an expression of enjoyment. However, Kazumi gave him a subtle white-eyed glance in return.
Looking at Sato Shinichi’s praise, which was full of acting, Kazumi felt a bit helpless. She knew her own culinary skills. If this dish, entirely reliant on artificial seasonings, tasted better than the famous roasted chicken from the shop near the school, then she wouldn’t have to struggle so hard to figure out how to earn some extra money to supplement their income.
Taking a piece of fried pork cutlet that the young boy had picked up for her, the crispy texture of the fried pork exploded on her tongue with the sauce. The comfort brought by the delicious food seemed to melt away all her previous worries. Even Sato Shinichi beside her looked a little more pleasing to the eye.
There was no harm without comparison. After eating her own moderately flavored chicken, which she had sacrificed for her career, Sato Shinichi’s high-quality ingredients were like delicacies, making her mood involuntarily cheerful.
Kazumi looked up at the vast blue sky. Faint sunlight shone through the clouds, casting a warm feeling on her body. A gentle breeze blew, dispelling the heat of early summer and bringing just the right amount of coolness, allowing the taut heart of Kazumi, who had been tense since her transmigration, to relax.
“It’s so nice to have lunch here with the person I love…”
“????”
Her body trembled, and Kazumi quickly suppressed the strange thought that arose in her heart. This damned original body consciousness was acting up again and causing trouble. Get lost, get lost!
…
The two ate their lunch in silence. Kazumi was lost in thought about the future and didn’t have much energy to pay attention to her cheap boyfriend beside her.
As for Sato Shinichi, he still hadn’t figured out if his girlfriend was actually angry. He could only stare at the young girl’s expressionless face while diligently feeding her food.
The good news, however, was that Kazumi didn’t refuse the food he offered. She just ate while frowning, as if she were thinking about something.
She didn’t know what Sato Shinichi’s stomach was made of. Of the large box he brought, she had only eaten a small portion. The rest, including the braised chicken she had made to fill in for extra food, was all eaten by him alone.
Kazumi reached out to tidy up the messy bento boxes, but Sato Shinichi, with his quick hands, snatched them away and smiled at her with his unique sunny (foolish) smile.
Seeing Sato Shinichi inexplicably being so attentive, Kazumi didn’t object. She let him take over the task she was supposed to do, and instead looked at the boy with a face full of the sickly sweet smell of love with a hint of wistfulness.
It was really quite funny. She, who had never even been in a relationship in her previous life, had now inexplicably become someone’s girlfriend.
This pure, foolish kindness emanating from the bottom of her heart made Kazumi feel like she was seeing her past self, the self who had foolishly dedicated a piece of her youth to a girl.
With that thought, Kazumi stopped paying attention to Sato Shinichi beside her. She relaxed and leaned against the protective net of the rooftop, staring blankly at the blue sky with white clouds drifting by.
How long, how long had it been since she had truly looked at this sky?
Adult life always felt suffocating. Life, work, health, relationships, all sorts of things came at once, as if to force you to adapt to the fast-paced life of society as quickly as possible.
Even with the blue sky directly above, taking the time to look up and pause became a luxury.
Above the heads of working adults, there were probably only the dim lights of small offices…
The short-haired girl leaned against the green protective net, looking up at the sky with an unresolvable melancholy in her eyes. A gentle breeze blew, causing her bangs to sway slightly, exuding a flavor called youth.
The sky today was clear, and the dazzling sun was buried deep in the clouds, making the entire sky seem softer, treating those who looked at it with the utmost gentleness.
The girl was watching the scenery, while the boy was looking at the person in the scenery.
The sadness and parting in Kazumi’s eyes felt like a tear in his heart, leaving him with an empty, sharp pain. He wanted to reach out and embrace the fragile girl again, but he didn’t know how.
Having made up his mind, Sato Shinichi gently put down the bento box in his hand, took a deep breath, and walked towards the girl.
However, Kazumi, who had been looking at the sky, suddenly withdrew the look in her eyes. As if nothing had happened, she turned her head, looked at Sato Shinichi in front of her, and asked with her small mouth slightly parted.
“Shinichi-kun, you, you want to be a hero, right?”
(PS: No graveyard visits! Still not finished!)
