The three of them walked together, preparing to head back and eat. Ryunosuke didn't mind Ayanokouji's habit of mooching food and drink, as he had grown quite used to it.
The trio arrived at the dormitory. Suzune went straight to the kitchen to cook. Ryunosuke and Ayanokouji sat quietly on the tatami, sipping the tea that Suzune had brewed.
After one sip, Ryunosuke finally felt uneasy letting her work alone; he stood up to take over Suzune's position.
"Suzune, take a rest first. How about you sleep for a bit?"
Ryunosuke approached Suzune, untied her apron strings from behind, and then put it on himself. He signaled for the girl to rest, especially since the dark circles under Suzune's eyes were quite visible.
Suzune hesitated for a moment, her beautiful brows furrowing, but eventually, she nodded in agreement. She headed toward Ryunosuke's bed, intending to take a short afternoon nap.
Ryunosuke pressed his index finger to his lips toward Ayanokouji, signaling him to be quiet so as not to disturb Suzune's sleep. Ayanokouji showed his understanding with an expressionless nod. His movements began to slow down; even when picking up his teacup, he did so with extreme caution and stillness.
Unconsciously, Ryunosuke wanted to put on a signature "Cooking Master Boy" headband, but his hand stopped mid-air.
"Turns out I've just gotten used to it. Even though I don't need a headband to enter chuunibyou mode, I always seem to forget."
Ryunosuke closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, the look in his eyes had changed. Ayanokouji noticed the strange shift and asked curiously. "Can that chuunibyou mode of yours be activated anytime and anywhere now?"
Ryunosuke answered while cooking. "You could say that, but... it's no different than it was before."
He didn't tell the truth, as he was still quite wary of Ayanokouji.
Ayanokouji nodded slowly, not bothered much, but he noted this in his heart. There was no telling what kind of plan he was formulating.
Ryunosuke cooked very quietly, afraid the sound would wake Suzune.
Suzune slept very soundly; even when the cooking was finished, she had not yet woken up. Ryunosuke set aside a portion of food specifically for her and didn't have the heart to wake her. After gently covering her with a blanket, he went to eat with Ayanokouji.
The two of them ate very slowly. It couldn't be helped; Ryunosuke had threatened Ayanokouji; if he dared to wake Suzune, his food supply would be cut off!
Because the cooking was so delicious, Ayanokouji didn't dare to argue.
Ryunosuke actually felt curious. "After eating my cooking, why doesn't this guy give any reaction at all?"
(Chisato and Shino always let out sounds of delicious moaning after eating, but this deadpan face truly doesn't react in the slightest...) Ryunosuke thought irritably.
Ayanokouji's way of eating was actually quite fast—perhaps because it really was delicious—and his eyes even seemed to shine a little. If only he could provide a little expression, it would be better. Unfortunately, this deadpan face did not provide enough emotional value for Ryunosuke.
Finished with lunch, they poured tea and began to chat casually. Ryunosuke asked, "While I was gone, what was the condition of the class?"
After all, he had just returned and didn't know the situation yet. After being away for over a month, the other classes must have started making moves, right?
Ayanokouji then explained the contents of the special exam during the past month.
"While you were absent, a special exam was held. The content was similar to a wilderness survival test."
"Fortunate that there was Kouenji, who liked hunting wild boars in the forest. He solved the food problem for the classmates."
Ryunosuke cut into the conversation while drinking tea. "Maybe he didn't do it for the sake of the class, but purely as a personal hobby of wanting to catch wild boars."
Ayanokouji strongly agreed with that, even joining in with a comment. "His physical structure is truly extraordinary. He just shouldered that wild boar like that when he arrived; it really shocked everyone. Including me."
He didn't forget to mention that he too was shocked, because that wild boar weighed at least 150 to 200 kilograms. Carrying a load that heavy so casually must be very exhausting.
Ryunosuke gave a "dead fish eyes" look toward this high-level expert who was claiming to have difficulties.
"Are you Admiral Kizaru from the Marines? Why haven't I heard about you contributing anything to this exam?"
Ayanokouji, who had indeed just been passing through from the start, put down his tea and spoke with an extremely serious tone.
"Pretending to be an ordinary person is also very exhausting, you know."
"Whatever! You always have an excuse!" Ryunosuke felt annoyed. Before he left, he had requested that Ayanokouji help Suzune a lot, but what did he do? He just enjoyed himself by relaxing.
Ayanokouji knew that if he stayed there, he might get lectured, so he immediately found an excuse to escape. In any case, the food had entered his stomach; it was impossible for him to spit it back out. With cooking this delicious, he would have to find another opportunity to mooch a meal in the future.
Ryunosuke let him go, locked the room door, and prepared to take an afternoon nap on the bed. Seeing the sleeping Suzune, he didn't do anything other than pull her into his embrace.
"Hmm~" Suzune, who wasn't sleeping very deeply, felt something different. While still keeping her eyes closed, she spoke softly. "Have you guys... finished chatting?"
Ryunosuke rested his chin on Suzune's head. "We're finished. Sleep soundly. I've washed the dishes; later when you wake up on your own, I will warm up the food for you."
Suzune didn't ask further and went back to sleep peacefully.
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Around 5 in the evening, the two of them woke up. Ryunosuke warmed up the food for Suzune, while Suzune prepared to go down to take out the trash; by the time she returned, the food would be ready. Their relationship pattern was truly like a husband and wife, a treatment that was not obtained by anyone else.
This could be called a special privilege for Suzune; eating together, sleeping together, they were almost like living under one roof. If it weren't for considering Ai's feelings, perhaps they would have had a child by now. After all, when doing it, both of them equally disliked using "protection." Suzune would calculate the timing carefully; the time in which she wouldn't get pregnant no matter how often they did it.
Night arrived. After dinner, Suzune still chose not to rest. She brought home Student Council work to continue in the dormitory. She had just taken over Ryunosuke's position and still felt quite unaccustomed. After all, this was the position she had dreamed of—becoming the Student Council President just like her older brother used to be.
Seeing Suzune busy alone at the study desk, Ryunosuke decided that when the school day arrived, he would go to the Student Council room to help her. After all, he was the one who had thrown that work at her for the sake of his selfishness in winning back the deck of cards for Ai. He felt a little bit of a debt of gratitude for making the girl become this busy all by herself.