Fuyuu Gakuen no Alice and Shirley Vol 2 Chapter 1.5

Koori Yuuka was nervous.

––I was invited.

Although they were all in Breaker, her Level was low and she was in Cla.s.s ZE, the bottom cla.s.s, and was only part of the Supporters, while Masaki-kun and Sakurazaka-san were Level 7s in Cla.s.s A and were part of teams. It was as if they were in different organizations.

Their worlds were different.

They were treated differently by people.

It could be said that the scenery they saw was different.

Therefore, even if Koori went to investigate Cla.s.s A, Kusunoki-kun and the other students probably wouldn’t be interested themselves––is what she had thought.

Unexpectedly, they were now eating lunch together!

The popular viewing floor was already crowded with lots of students.

Sakurazaka-san pointed.

“Ah, our usual seats are free. We’re lucky.”

It was a special area from which the Administrator Tower could be seen on the other side of the lake and forest park.

In a gaping wide area, there was one semi-circle table that was free as if it was completely forgotten.

Sakurazaka-san was innocently delighted and Kusunoki-kun looked apologetic.

Naturally, the surrounding students knew not to use it––it was the place where the academy’s strongest team usually sat.

Even at the best of times, this corner had the kind of atmosphere where only the high level students in the third year would approach it.

She was invited to those seats that gathered a lot of attention.

She heard the surrounding students whispering “Who is that?” “A transfer student?” “A new Level 7?”

Koori felt out of place so her body tensed.

––I’m sorry. I’m Level 1. I only have one more year in Alrescha.

He placed the lunchbox on the table.

“It should suit your tastes.”

“Did you make it yourself Kusunoki-kun?”

“Yeah.”

He removed the lid.

“Eh!? It looks really wonderful!”

There was salad, roast-chicken, omelet, wrapped meat, tomatoes, cabbage rolls, ham sandwiches…there were about ten different kinds of food.

In addition, there seemed to be enough for around five or six people!?

Everything was arranged well and it gave the impression of being a lunchbox from a five star restaurant.

Koori’s usual lunch of sweetened bun and milk was nothing compared to this.

Sakurazaka-san said “Let’s ea~hanguungungun” and started to eat with amazing vigor.

The evaluation of the quant.i.ty should be revised. It felt like it was for two people plus Sakurazaka-san.

“Feel free to eat.”

“Ah, yes.”

Koori picked up a sandwich at Kusunoki-kun’s encouragement. Although it had been in a lunchbox, the bread wasn’t wet at all.

When she ate, the saltiness was just right, and the ham and egg melted in her mouth.

––Amazing.

Most of the time she wasn’t able to eat even the 3000JD vinyl-wrapped sandwiches.

If this was the kind of sandwich they normally ate, then it must be the sandwich of the elite.

“It’s delicious! Did you really make it Kusunoki-kun!?”

“Yes…”

“It’s wonderful, isn’t it!? Masaki is really good at cooking.”

He looked embarra.s.sed when Sakurazaka-san answered.

“This is really delicious.”

“Re-really…thanks.”

While Sakurazaka-san was eating a cabbage roll in a disheveled manner,

“Even though Masaki makes our meals from morning to evening, it’s still really delicious.”

“Heh!? Breakfast too…?”

“Yeah. Along with Alice, all three of us usually eat together.”

With a wry smile, Kusunoki-kun added to her words.

“When Shirley doesn’t oversleep.”

“Nihaha.”

“……I, I see.”

Breakfast!? Oversleeping!? In other words, the two of them…no, it can’t be, Kusunoki-kun, Sakurazaka-san and Clockheart-san are living together!?

No, if it was three people, how could they live together?

But they were still students so wouldn’t there be a problem with that?

As she was thinking about various things, Koori’s cheeks became hot and she light-headed.

“Fshhh…”

 
 
A hand stretched out from behind Koori.

 
 
It took away the omelet.

“Huh!?”

She looked back in a fl.u.s.ter to see a man standing right behind her.

He tossed the omelet into his mouth.

His black hair was swept back and he wore his loose uniform roughly. Had he taken away the omelet as some kind of joke?

He chewed it with a serious look on his face.

It was Suou Reiji.

“Chairman!?”

Koori instinctively said it, but he didn’t respond as he seemed to be thinking deeply about something.

“……………………hmm…it’s not bad.”

“Uu.”

Kusunoki-kun gave a small groan.

For some reason, Suou-senpai sat down in the seat next to Koori.

“Go on, eat it.”

There was an omelet in the proffered lunch box.

Kusunoki-kun’s fingers were trembling––

Sakurazaka-san picked it up first.

“I’ll take it! Munch!”

“Hm…so Sakurazaka-san is also eating. Well, that’s fine…hey, you guys can eat it too.”

Koori noticed that he wasn’t just encouraging Kusunoki-kun, he was encouraging her too.

––The chairman’s cooking!?

As a chef, Suou-senpai was famous and known to have excellent skills. Since he had become a Globalizer, he was indifferent to international contests, but the lunch that he had been eating quietly looked delicious.

The third years around them that noticed what was happening started to get noisy.

Like with Kusunoki-kun, Koori started to get more nervous.

“Erm…Le-let’s eat.”

“Yeah.”

The end of the fork was quivering.

She took an omelet and put it in her mouth.

The flavor of the egg: a sweet flavor and a faint dashi flavor spreading from the top of her tongue. Although it was sweet, it wasn’t blunt like confectionary, it felt modest and refined. Despite the firmness of the outside, a viscous liquid spilled out from the inside. She thought it was amazing that she was able to enjoy soft-boiled egg from a lunchbox.

“It’s, it’s delicious.”

Koori reflexively gave her honest impression of it.

Kusunoki-kun looked serious.

“…The dashi and the fried flavor are completely different…yet they mixed together nicely.”

Suou-senpai nodded.

“Well, there isn’t a right answer in cooking.”

“But…I want to be able to make something like this.”

“I see. Do you cook too?”

“Yes! Ah, yes. I made this…”

Kusunoki-kun showed him the box. It was a madeleine cake. Was that also homemade?

It wasn’t just for Suou-senpai, Koori and Shirley were also allowed to eat it.

Sakurazaka-san picked it up delightfully. Wouldn’t it be difficult for her stomach to hold all that food she had eaten?

Even so, it had become a very luxurious lunch.

“Let’s eat.”

Koori took her slice of the madeleine cake.

The texture of the cake was soft, and the sweetness spread out through her moist mouth.

She wished there was some refreshing iced tea.

Suou-senpai gave a small nod.

“It isn’t bad.”

“Ah, thank you very much!”

“Unfortunately, the school cafeteria doesn’t have black tea that suits this flavor.”

She thought that he didn’t like it because he wasn’t smiling, but she wouldn’t have known from that in the first place since Suou-senpai wasn’t the type of person to smile.

Kusunoki-kun nodded earnestly as If he was in cla.s.s.

Sakurazaka-san ate silently.

Koori didn’t say anything.

The mood was heavy.

Even though we’re eating such delicious food––Koori thought. She looked for another topic.

“Ah…speaking of sweets, I’ve recently heard about a patisserie that seems to be really famous.”

“A patisserie? What shop?”

“Are his cakes delicious? Have you eaten there?”

Their reactions were above her expectations.

Since it was only supposed to be small talk, Koori instinctively got impatient.

“Erm, well…it’s called ‘Café de Mancio’, I haven’t been there myself but it seems to have a good reputation. I’ve heard various rumors that say things like if you eat the cake there your wish will come true or you’ll find a lover.”

Now that she said it herself, she thought it sounded a little dubious.

Suou-senpai looked puzzled.

“Rumors?”

“Your wishes will come true…?”

Kusunoki-kun was lost in thought.

Only Sakurazaka-san was eating energetically as usual.

Koori confirmed it.

“There are also rumors that say that it’ll raise your level. In Canaan, there is a lot of gossip about things like that…we should probably investigate it, right?”

“Of course.”

“Yes, if you heard something like that, we should.”

“That’s right. This is the kind of place where there are always a lot of rumors flying around, but if you’re worried about it then you should investigate.”

Suou-senpai shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter whether or not it’s a rumor. If they say the cake is delicious, we should eat it. It’s common sense.”

“I want to eat it too.”

Kusunoki-kun was also curious about the taste.

Koori’s eyebrows knitted up.

“Erm…well…aren’t you worried about the fact that there are rumors saying that the cake makes your wishes come true?”

Suou-senpai shrugged.

He didn’t seem like he was interested in it.

“That’s ridiculous. How could things like the color of shoelaces, the directions of mirrors, breakfast menus make wishes come true? Can they really be a.s.sociated with each other?”

“I think that it’s also important to investigate the rumors…but I’m still curious about what the cake tastes like.”

Kusunoki-kun looked apologetic while he scratched his cheek.

Sakurazaka-san raised both of her hands.

“If the cake is delicious then we should eat it!”

“……Right.”

Koori nodded although she wasn’t fully satisfied with their answers.

The chairman of Breaker and the Level 7s in the ace cla.s.s were more worried about the cake than the suspicious rumors, that was what had been revealed…

Could it be that, in this place, she was the only one that was devoted to Breaker’s work?

––Am I on a different wavelength from them?