A Particular Lunch Break

(Shin's PoV)

—

After stepping out of the class and walking towards the rooftop stairs, Sora asked me why Izumi had asked about Daiki.

I leaned closer to her. "Well... this will be a secret between us, but as far as I know, those two are dating." I whispered.

Sora's body jumped as soon as my voice brushed against her ear.

"A-Ah okay, right. I understand... y-yeah... *ahem*" She cleared her throat. "Wait a second." She added, suddenly stopping walking.

I raised an eyebrow. 

"What is it, Sora?" I asked.

"I forgot to buy melon pan for Akane... damn..." She then looked up at me. "What do you think about going to the vending machines?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"Sure. That's fine for me." I said, smiling.

"Thank you, Shin..." Sora let out a sigh of relief. "The vending machines that have melon pan are on the other side of the school, close to the corridors where the art club classroom is." 

"Oh. This will be a long wa—" I tried to speak, but Sora was already sprinting like a rocket.

I immediately followed her, matching her rhythm, and this time, the walk was particularly silent. But I didn't think about it that much.

All I wanted after that particularly "destructive" meeting was to see Akane's face.

Sora walked beside me, staring straight ahead and moving so quickly I could barely keep up. I couldn't work out what was bothering her, but I had a feeling Akane would have something to say about it.

I'd always been good at noticing when something was wrong. Figuring out what, though? Maybe I hadn't cared enough to learn. Who knows.

After six or seven minutes, we came across a very particular person at the vending machines on the way to the stairs.

That was a pure coincidence. And I mean pure. He was studying the snacks the way a philosopher observes nature.

"Daiki? What are you doing here?" I asked.

The poor guy jumped about three meters into the air. I have to admit that it was a funny scene.

"GAH!" He spun around. "Shin! What the hell?! You know that..."

And then he noticed Sora, and the rest of that sentence died in his throat.

"Good afternoon, Sakurai-san. Shouldn't you be checking the athletics club's materials and equipment? I was sure that—"

"P-P-President Fujimoto!" Daiki bowed four times in two seconds. "No! I finished half an hour ago! Everything's in order and ready for the performances! I just came to grab something to eat before going back to wrap up the last few things."

He kept waving his arms as he explained, which wasn't helping him look any less guilty. I couldn't help but giggle a little.

"I see," Sora said, her voice sharpening. "Then I expect a detailed report by the end of the day. Otherwise, I'll ask Takaneda-sensei to personally check everything you were assigned."

"Y-yes, President Fujimoto... I'll do everything." Daiki stared at the floor before shooting me a look that was almost a threat.

"Come on, Fujimoto-san. Don't be so harsh on Sakurai." I walked over and patted his shoulder a few times. "This guy's actually a hard worker. I mean, a very real hard worker."

I felt his body stiffening under my touch.

"I'm going to kill you tomorrow, Shin," he muttered.

"I've already received some complaints about him. Apparently, he's been arriving late quite often lately." Sora sounded irritated now. "If he doesn't get his work done, I'll be the one responsible for it, and I have too many things to take care of."

"President Fujimoto, I swear I've had serious reasons!" Daiki exclaimed, taking a step forward as his eyes widened.

This was the first I'd heard about him being late. His new job, maybe? I haven't heard anything about that.

'Now that I think about it, he didn't even message me...'

"I'll vouch for him. He's 200% reliable, I swear." I said, giving him another pat on the back that nearly knocked him off his feet.

Sora sighed, but a small laugh escaped her. "I can really tell you two are friends. Guess I'll let it slide since you're insisting so much."

Daiki then looked between us. "Everything's getting so difficult..."

Then, I remembered Izumi's request, and a brilliant idea came to me.

"Well, President Fujimoto, what do you say we let him join us for lunch?" I said, smiling.

Daiki stopped moving again.

Sora considered it for a few moments, her finger resting against her lips as she looked at me. Or maybe she was just making him wait. "Hmm... alright. Request accepted. Only for today."

"What...? Huh?" Daiki finally found his voice. "Okay. I'll pretend none of this happened, but I expect compensation for the emotional damage."

He sighed in relief, and Sora and I laughed. 

And then, after that little, almost comedic moment, all three of us bought something from the vending machine.

Well, it wasn't just "something". We had literally bought half the vending machine. 

What was supposed to be a lunch break turned into a full course for ten people. But deep down I knew that Akane counted for five, so that was okay, after all. 

And then the three of us walked toward the stairs leading to the famous rooftop, the place where I was about to leave everything behind and where I had found the girl who had given me a reason to live again.

I have to admit that the walk was pretty quiet.

Daiki followed us like a stray puppy, shooting me nasty glares every couple of minutes.

As we neared the stairs, I slowed down to get closer to Daiki, and once Sora moved a few steps ahead, I leaned closer to tell Daiki about Izumi's message.

"Daiki," I whispered.

"W-What is it, Shin?" He asked, his voice shaky.

I took another glance around me to be sure that Sora was at a safe distance.

"It's about Izumi..." I whispered.

"Izumi?! What?!" He was about to shout.

"Shhh!" I held a finger to my lips and glanced at Sora again. She kept walking. "We had a meeting with class 2-B. Izumi asked me to tell you not to wait for her after school."

Daiki stared at me for a moment before lowering his head, his hands closing into fists.

"Again..." he whispered. "She bailed on me again."

"Daiki...? What do you mean?"

"It's all good, Shin. Don't worry about it. Thanks for letting me know."

I wanted to ask, but he was already looking at the floor again.

"Alright. Whatever it is, you can talk to me. You know." I said, not digging deeper.

He didn't answer, and we walked the remaining couple of minutes to the stairwell without saying anything else.

As we climbed the stairs up, I realized my phone hadn't buzzed once. Akane hated it when I was even half a second late, yet she hadn't sent a single message.

'It's probably nothing. Or it can be everything. Who knows.'

When we opened the rooftop door, Akane was by the iron railing, looking out at the horizon with a cigarette in her hand.

I hadn't seen her smoke in a long time. Until now, I hadn't even thought to ask why she'd stopped.

Daiki didn't seem bothered, while Sora let out a small sigh. I wondered if she was going to try the student council president routine on Akane. Good luck with that.

"Akane!" I called out.

She turned at once, looked at me, and slowly exhaled, a cloud of smoke rising from her mouth.

"Well, hello! I was just about to head to the police station and file a missing—" Her gaze shifted to Daiki. "What are you doing here? Weren't we supposed to meet at the arcade later?"

Daiki flinched. "Well... Shin invited me. Sorry about that."

He scratched his head while Akane took another drag, still watching him.

"Mmh. Alright, you're welcome to join us if Shin has invited you." She shrugged.

Sora then stepped forward. "Akane, I think we bought way too much food."

I held up the plastic bag. Plenty of melon bread, plus chips, assorted snacks, and fizzy drinks.

"Ohohoh, now that's what I like to see!" Akane grinned. "That should be enough for me, but what are you three eating? You should've bought more things for you."

Sora and I chuckled while Daiki barely managed a smile.

"That's all we've got, so we'll have to survive on it," I said.

Akane then exhaled one last mouthful of smoke and flicked the cigarette butt straight into a small trash can a few meters away. Perfect shot.

"Right, let's sit down. This morning's been pretty stressful, and I seriously need advice on a little personal problem." She stretched her arms, then looked at Daiki. "And I'm pretty sure that guy has something to ask me. He looks like he's about to find out something terrible."

Daiki's eyes widened, but he just clenched his fists and looked down again.

"Alright, but food first," Sora said as she sat down. "I've had enough of class 2-B for one day. I need to recharge."

"Ah, the cursed class. I know them all too well, unfortunately. I feel you."

I sat beside Sora, and Akane immediately dropped into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me close.

"Ahhh, damn. I seriously needed to see you, you know, ghost boy?" She whispered, holding me tighter.

Sora looked away. 

"How come? What happened?" I asked.

"Let's eat first. Then I'll tell you." Akane swung her legs as Daiki took the seat on my left.

I already had an idea what we'd be talking about...