Volume 4 - Me, Her, and our Changing World
Chapter 13
Chinatsu woke up in her own room. Recently, on school days, she had stopped staying over and went home instead. She had heard sounds earlier, so her mother must have already left for work.
Unlike before, the atmosphere between them wasn’t awkwardly distant. They still didn’t see each other in the morning, but it wasn’t because of avoidance anymore. Her mother understood Chinatsu’s schedule and feelings, and simply left without waking her. Even though she still woke up alone in an empty house, it no longer felt lonely.
It had already been about two weeks since the day she and Hajime stopped hiding their relationship. Although there was the dissatisfaction of not being able to go out and have fun due to tests at the beginning of the semester, it wasn't as if Chinatsu and Hajime's lives had drastically changed.
To be precise, it had changed.
They could now openly go to school together, spend break times together, eat lunch together, and go home together as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Chinatsu was able to live the school life with Hajime that she had always imagined. Saki and the others had even told them, ‘Don't worry about us. For now, until things calm down, just be together and be as lovey-dovey as you want.’ And perhaps because they were following that advice, or because the groundwork that had been laid was proving effective, or maybe it was just the calm before the storm, but Chinatsu and Hajime were no longer being bothered in the same way Ishizawa had on the first day.
At one point, Yuuko had told Chinatsu that she and Hajime were probably oblivious to it, but that it would take someone with serious nerve to get between them. Also, rumor had it that Ishizawa’s public self-destruction on the first day had served as an effective deterrent. Incidentally, Yuuko’s bentou idea turned out to be even more effective than expected. Honestly, Chinatsu would have liked to tell her past self not to do it only because it really worked too well.
Hajime, as Chinatsu knew, had a bit of an obsessive personality. The day they announced their relationship was a Friday, so from that night through the weekend, Chinatsu had been receiving messages from various girls and, through them, from boys, asking questions. She replied to every single one, confirming that she was dating Hajime. On the other hand, Hajime, partly because he hadn't exchanged contact information with many people in the first place, didn't seem to be getting a mountain of messages. Therefore, while Chinatsu was at home replying to everyone, Hajime had apparently been diligently preparing to make a bentou, looking at various videos and recipe-sharing sites. They had spent the weekend together, but he had told her, ‘I'm just practicing,’ and wouldn't let her see, so Chinatsu had been looking forward to it.
As a result, during lunch break the following Monday, the bentou they spread out on their desks, which they had pushed together in the middle of the classroom, was, for lack of a better word, amazing. Hajime had said, ‘I used some pictures I saw on Instagram as a reference, but I couldn't make it look quite like it,’ but she was sure that any difference was not in the cooking itself, but in things like lighting and photo editing.
It was just that well-made. The ingredients themselves were normal.
Although, the meaning of "normal" for a bentou made by a high school boy was debatable. For some reason, the rice, which should have been cold, looked fluffy, and on top was an incredibly cute face made out of nori. The tamagoyaki was perfectly shaped and was very delicious. There were also grilled rolls of thin pork wrapped around cheese and shiso with plum, which Chinatsu loved and which was apparently also on the menu at Hajime’s part-time job. And likely for the color balance, there was handmade potato salad, accompanied by bell peppers and broccoli. You could feel the care that had gone into its appearance. Furthermore, in a separate container, there were apple slices for dessert, cut into the classic rabbit shape. Since they were trying to make their relationship as obvious as possible, Hajime had deliberately placed it so that it was slightly visible to others, and just as expected, they were asked questions by a group of girls who had been watching them.
Initially, the questions came to Chinatsu. Seeing the rumored couple gathered around a homemade bento, people asked her things like, ‘That's amazing, is it homemade?’ At the same time, she was well aware that the envious stares of the other boys were all directed at Hajime.
To state it clearly one more time, Chinatsu could have never made this.
She would never forget the atmosphere in the classroom at the moment she said, ‘Hajime’s the one who makes them for me, I only specialize in the eating part.’
One curious girl came over to take a look, and then, one after another, they all gathered around. And Hajime politely answered each and every one of the girls who asked if they could take a picture or for the recipe.
Hajime had always been gentle and articulate, which meant that he was good at structuring his thoughts and explaining things. Because of his meticulous nature, he had researched a lot, so he could answer almost any question immediately, and for the girls who were genuinely interested, he even told them the sites he had used as a reference.
Somewhere in that process, she did have to block an attempt by a few girls who tried to force their contact info on him.
Possessive? No, this was legitimate self-defense.
To make matters even more interesting, Endou-kun from the volleyball club, who was one of the more popular boys, turned out to be learning to cook because his parents were always busy. After seeing Hajime’s bentou, he started treating him with respect, almost like a role model. Combined with Hajime’s previous interactions with Shinji, this helped normalize his connections with the other boys too. Before long, Hajime’s reputation in class shifted from “that quiet guy” to “the gentle, skilled boyfriend of Minamino Chinatsu.”
People often said, ‘Things always look better when they belong to someone else,’ but Chinatsu could tell it wasn’t just that, Hajime’s reputation among the girls had noticeably risen. Actually, too much, in her opinion. She didn't think it was just because of the cooking, but she did think, You girls weren't even interested in him at all before, and now you all are? Although, she chose not to consider the fact that she would have been the same if not for their chance meeting.
And Hajime, being Hajime, was needlessly kind to everyone. When Chinatsu told him he could be a little colder to them, Saki and the others just looked at her with exasperated expressions, as if to say, ‘What is this girl talking about?’
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Another small thing that had changed was that the number of boys confessing to Chinatsu, whether they were upperclassmen or from other classes in her year, had increased slightly. According to Yuuko and the others, ‘The bentou was amazing, but I guess it doesn't have enough punch to reach the boys in other classes or the upperclassmen.’
Since Chinatsu had made it clear that she already had a boyfriend, she basically ignored any summons from people she didn't know. However, there were still times when she was approached suddenly or asked through an acquaintance, and in those cases, she couldn't completely refuse. Honestly, she thought it was a pain and exhausting, but if she handled it badly, she feared some of the hate might be directed at Hajime, so she always responded properly.
However, she honestly wondered if those boys even understood.
She believed that the words Saki had said to her after she had complained, “I mean, just the fact that they’re confessing after knowing I’m dating Hajime means they are massive red flags, right?" said it all.
"First off, the fact that they can look at Satou and think, 'I might have a chance,' just shows how much of an inflated ego they have. Second, they're such cowards they couldn't say anything until they thought they had an opening. They don't even get that by looking down on the guy you care about, they're showing they're not even worthy of being your friend. Yep. Every single one of them is a red flag."
Chinatsu completely agreed.
She even felt like explaining all of Hajime's good qualities to every person who said she had settled for him. In fact, no matter who they brought before her, there was no one Chinatsu could find more charming than Hajime. Her thoughts gradually shifted away from how others saw him to how she felt about him.
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It wasn't yet to the point of saying countless times, but no matter how many times they had been intimate, Hajime had never once treated Chinatsu carelessly. As his cooking had shown, Hajime was meticulous by nature. He learned each thing step by step and did it with care and his basketball skills were likely a result of the same diligent and steady practice too.
Maybe because of that, he seemed to understand what made her feel good a little more each time. From what she’d heard from her more experienced friends, she’d thought guys tended to be selfish in that area. But Hajime was never rough or one-sided. Because he was that kind of person, she didn't dislike it at all, she simply accepted him, melted into him. It was something she almost wanted to brag about, but of course, she couldn’t tell anyone.
The possessive desire that she should be the only one who knows him, the heart that wants others to know more about him, and this maiden's heart of hers that desperately wants to boast but can't—Hajime probably didn't understand any of it.
Well, it wasn't as if she wanted him to understand.
Now that they were openly dating and the secrecy was gone. She thought things would calm down once time passed, but Chinatsu's feelings of love showed no signs of settling. And yet Hajime remained so calm and unchanged. She felt it was unfair.
――And the part of herself that would say that and then still rely on him, was even more unfair.
Whenever she needed him, he was always there. Whenever she needed words of comfort, he always said the right thing. Could she really give back as much as he gave her?
As she got ready in the morning, she vaguely thought about such things.
Once school ended that day, the weekend would begin.
The tests were finally over, and she and Hajime had planned their first real date. One where they no longer had to hide or disguise themselves. She was very much looking forward to it.
