Chapter 201: Relaxing Time (Misunderstood)

Gulp, gulp, gulp—!

Holding his bento box, Tooru watched with a complex expression as Miyahito tilted his head back and chugged a can of bizarre, eerie dark-green juice that emitted an odor capable of repelling people from three miles away.

Something so weird... Aragaki Miyahito... how on earth are you able to drink that?

"Ugha." Finishing it in one breath with his eyes closed, Miyahito couldn't help but make an indescribable face. He had just exhaled when a thick, unspeakable wave of bitter melon astringency mixed with the overpowering scent of cilantro surged up from his stomach, causing Miyahito to completely break down.

"Yue...."

The moment he heard Miyahito's dry heave, Tooru instantly moved with lightning speed, putting as much distance as possible between himself and Miyahito. Then, covering his nose with a look of pure disgust, he spoke in a muffled voice.

"Ugh, you're so disgusting, Miyahito."

"Shut up." Glaring furiously at Tooru in flustered anger, Miyahito grabbed the bottle of mineral water he had prepared in advance and chugged several large gulps to dilute the anti-human taste lingering in his mouth.

His complexion improving significantly, Miyahito placed the thermos aside with lingering fear. Looking at the gradient blue water bottle in front of him—his absolute favorite, and a matching couple's item with Utaha's—he shook his head with a deeply regretful expression.

"So, is this some new type of punishment?" Tooru looked at Miyahito with schadenfreude, speaking with a tone of deep emotion.

"The grade's top student really is different. Even her methods of punishing her boyfriend are so refreshingly unconventional. Tsk, tsk, cilantro and bitter melon juice... what on earth did you do to make Kasumigaoka-san resort to such a lethal weapon?"

...Because yesterday, while preparing the food for Miyuki-nii's birthday party, my little sister caught me and Utaha kissing in the kitchen.

How could I possibly tell a guy like you something like that!

"Shut up, you single dog who only knows how to take pleasure in others' misfortune." With a darkened face, Miyahito directly delivered a true-damage backstab to Tooru.

"Guh—! You actually called me a single dog...!"

"Aren't you? Or do you prefer the title 'Ishikawa Tooru-kun, who is clearly popular but still has no girlfriend'?"

Taking another solid, heavy backstab, Tooru clutched his chest in agony, dropping to his knees on the concrete floor in a perfect orz (despairing prostration), unable to rise again.

Miyahito looked down at his good friend, whose face had turned ashen and looked as if all hope in life was lost, with utter disdain.

Excuse me, you're a single dog, yet you dare to talk to me—a winner in life who has a lover and is just one certificate away from changing my status to 'married'—with this kind of attitude? Where do you get the confidence to be so gleeful and laugh so happily just now? If I don't give you a dose of reality, you really won't know who you're talking to.

"Speaking of which." Pulling himself together, Tooru crawled back to his original spot and sat down properly. Glancing around the garden, he asked curiously.

"Why did you suddenly drag me out here to eat today? Not eating in the classroom with Kasumigaoka, Hori, and Yoshikawa?"

"Well, guys need some guy time occasionally, right?" Silently burying the thought 'In my current state, if I eat in the classroom, I probably wouldn't even get a single piece of meat, right?', Miyahito said with a perfectly straight face.

"Miyahito." Looking at the perfectly serious Miyahito with a suspicious gaze, Tooru said doubtfully, "Don't tell me you dragged me out here to hide from disaster?"

Shocked! Tooru actually figured it out!

"Haa..." Raising a hand to cover half his face, Tooru let out a deep sigh. "Is it really necessary to go this far?"

"....."

"Don't stay silent at the crucial moment! Hey!"

Feeling incredibly heart-tired, Tooru complained about Miyahito in an exasperated tone while opening his own bento box.

However, when he saw his good friend open his own bento box, revealing a field of lush green, complete with vegetables that had emerald-green, gear-like ruffled edges, his facial expression completely collapsed.

"Pfft hahaha, what is this? What is this thing! Hahahahaha."

"...That's enough." With black lines practically forming over his head, Miyahito glared furiously at Tooru, who was clutching his stomach and laughing hysterically. Then, looking gloomily at the bento box filled to the brim with bitter melon dishes, he let out a deep sigh.

"Sigh...."

Seeing Miyahito's gloomy, frowning appearance, Tooru's laughter only grew more joyous.

"Hahahahaha....."

After a while of making a racket (mostly because Tooru couldn't seem to stop laughing).

"Speaking of which, how's the Student Council work going lately?" Tooru asked smugly, popping a piece of his mom's secret-recipe fried chicken into his mouth and chewing with his mouth half-open, right in front of a Miyahito who looked like he had lost all will to live while flipping through his bento.

"I see you've been getting along pretty well with Sengoku-kun from Class D. Weren't you guys rivals before?" Tooru glanced at Miyahito, who was eating bitter melon with his eyes closed like he was taking medicine, and sighed with emotion. "You're way too familiar with people, aren't you?"

"Am I?" Swallowing the bitter taste, Miyahito frowned and tilted his head toward Tooru. "It's normal, I guess. Besides, Sho's work ethic is top-notch, and we've already made a deal."

"A deal?"

"Whoever becomes President in the future, we'll both default to being each other's Vice President. Though, I don't really think I'll lose to him."

"You're already calling each other by your first names." Tooru stuck his tongue out exaggeratedly. "Familiar? No, using your own words, you've reached the level of a 'social terrorist'."

"Please don't just learn a new adjective and misuse it."

Miyahito rolled his eyes at Tooru. He poked at the bento with his chopsticks—it looked great, but a certain flustered light novel author had intentionally mixed in a few shockingly spicy Mexican jalapeños. Sighing, he couldn't help but complain about Utaha internally: When on earth did she buy this devilish thing?

"Isn't it true, though?"

Ignoring his best friend's statement, which was disguised as a complaint but was actually a humblebrag, Tooru mentally cursed, 'Just explode already, you happy normie with a girlfriend!' He glanced at Miyahito.

"So, do I need to start practicing how to greet the future Student Council President?"

"Yeah, I think that's necessary."

"Get lost."

In their usual love-hate bickering, the two boys finished their lunch bentos.

Well, one of them ate with great satisfaction and even wanted to call his mom immediately to tell her today's bento was super, super, super delicious.

As for the other... yeah.

"I'm throwing away all the chili peppers and bitter melon the second I get home."

The moment Miyahito's ambitious declaration left his lips, his phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

"Who's calling? The Aragaki wife?"

Shooting a glare at his best friend, who was teasing him again, Miyahito checked the caller ID on his phone.

"Hello, Miyuki-nii..."