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During the lunch break.
As per his usual routine, Kai headed up to the rooftop, once again being the absolute last one to arrive.
Yukino Yukinoshita and Hitori Gotoh had both arrived early and were currently sitting there.
The only problem was, one of them had crippling social anxiety, and the other had absolutely zero experience talking to friends. They were both just sitting there blankly in complete silence, causing the atmosphere to gradually curdle into suffocating awkwardness.
"Since you're already here, why don't you just come out? Or are you just trying to watch us make fools of ourselves?"
Noticing Kai casually leaning against the rooftop doorway without stepping outside, Yukino immediately fired off a venomous remark.
"You really have a terrible personality, Kai-kun."
"You're so mean, Yukinoshita-san."
Kai laughed and walked over. The absolute second she saw him, a flash of pure joy lit up Hitori's face, but then, remembering something, she couldn't help but immediately drop her head.
She didn't dare to look him in the eye.
"I was actually really looking forward to seeing you and little Bocchi-chan become friends, Yukino."
"You don't need to waste your energy worrying about something like that."
Despite her sharp words, Yukino's tone had actually softened considerably.
At this stage in her timeline, alongside her venomous tongue, Yukino also had a slight tsundere streak. Being a tsundere wasn't necessarily a bad thing—as long as it wasn't exaggerated to Eriri Spencer Sawamura's insane levels, it was perfectly fine.
Kai casually strolled over and sat down right in front of the two girls, offering a warm smile to Hitori beside him.
"You're doing great today, Bocchi-chan."
"R-Really?"
Hitori raised her head, looking genuinely pleasantly surprised.
"Yep. At the very least, you didn't instantly dive behind the boxes to hide the second you got here like you did yesterday."
"..."
That honestly didn't sound like a compliment at all.
Yukino shot him a completely speechless look, but in the very next second, Hitori—acting as if she completely missed the backhanded nature of the comment—nodded enthusiastically in sheer delight.
"I'll keep doing my absolute best!"
"..."
She really was a total idiot.
But strangely enough, because of that exact endearing foolishness, Yukino found herself genuinely starting to enjoy the feeling of eating lunch together.
"Alright, alright! We don't have that much time left. Let's eat while we chat. I'm actually starving."
As he spoke, Kai casually pulled out the convenience store bread he had just bought.
"That kind of bread has absolutely zero nutritional value."
Staring at Kai's pathetic excuse for a lunch, Yukino couldn't help but knit her brows together in disapproval.
"Well, prepping a proper lunch is just way too much of a hassle. Besides, my physical specs are top-tier. Nutrition doesn't even matter as long as it fills my stomach."
Kai looked completely and utterly unbothered.
He had originally considered making his own bento, but the sheer effort required was just too annoying. It was vastly easier to just grab some cheap bread from the school cafeteria and call it a day.
"You're only saying that because you're young right now."
Yukino couldn't stop herself from shifting into lecture mode.
Eating like that was a guaranteed way to completely ruin his health down the line. But seeing that Kai clearly couldn't care less, Yukino just shook her head and smoothly pulled out the extra bento she had prepared.
"Don't read too much into this. I just happened to prepare slightly too many ingredients this morning, so I—"
"I have extra right here!"
Almost at the exact same time.
Yukino Yukinoshita and Hitori Gotoh both pulled out an extra bento box, each extending one out toward Kai.
"..."
As their gazes locked together, the expression on Hitori's face rapidly morphed into sheer guilt.
'I'm doomed. The way Yukinoshita is staring at me... is she actually trying to murder me with her eyes??'
Yukino didn't say a word. She clearly hadn't expected Hitori to have the exact same idea. Finally, she shifted her piercing gaze onto Kai, her expression effectively screaming: Make your choice.
"..."
A literal romantic standoff?
Good lord... He had barely been in this transmigrated world for a few days, and he was already caught in a textbook love triangle.
However, since he had the sheer audacity to bring these two girls together in the first place, Kai absolutely was not worried about a little crossfire.
He smoothly reached out and accepted both bento boxes at the exact same time.
"Awesome! I was actually just thinking that a single piece of bread wasn't going to be enough. You two are incredibly thoughtful. Honestly, my appetite has been expanding like crazy lately, so having two bentos is absolutely perfect."
As he spoke.
Kai popped open the lids to both lunchboxes.
They were both incredibly exquisite, top-tier bentos. It was painfully obvious that a massive amount of care had gone into preparing them.
"This tastes incredible. Your culinary skills are seriously impressive, Yukino."
"I already know that. You didn't need to point it out."
A faintly arrogant, entirely tsundere smirk tugged at the corner of Yukino's mouth. She opened her own bento and began to eat, her mood clearly skyrocketing.
Kai seamlessly took a bite from the bento Hitori had brought as well.
"Bocchi-chan's bento is absolutely delicious too. Please pass my thanks on to your mom."
"I-It's really nothing!"
Hitori scratched the back of her head, completely flushed with embarrassment. Seeing Kai eating so happily made her own heart swell with joy.
As for the whole romantic standoff situation? With Hitori's crippling social anxiety, her brain literally lacked the capacity to even process the interaction from that angle.
Honestly, even if Kai had completely ignored hers and exclusively eaten Yukino's bento, Hitori probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.
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"It's getting late. I'm going to head back to the classroom first."
Yukino was the first to finish her meal. Noting the time, she stood up and prepared to leave.
"Alright. It's a massive shame though—tomorrow's the weekend, which means I won't get to eat your incredible cooking."
Kai waved goodbye first before dropping that heavily regretful remark.
"Don't flatter yourself. I already told you, I just had too many ingredients."
Seeing just how much Kai loved her cooking made Yukino genuinely want to smile. She threw out one last classic tsundere deflection before walking away with a noticeably light, brisk step.
It was such a textbook teenage girl reaction.
It made Kai let out a genuine chuckle.
Who kept calling her an unmelting Ice Queen? She was incredibly easy to read. It was just her freezing, unapproachable aura that terrified normal people from getting too close.
"Bocchi-chan?"
Once Yukino had fully left the rooftop.
Kai pulled his gaze back, leaned forward, and locked his eyes intensely onto Hitori Gotoh.
"Looks like it's just the two of us now."
"K-Kai-kun!"
A highly specific, deeply intimate tension began to spread across the roof. Hitori instantly dropped her head again, absolutely terrified of meeting his gaze.
But this time...
Kai directly reached out, hooked a finger under her chin, and tilted her head up, forcing her to look him dead in the eyes.
"Let's pick up exactly where we left off yesterday. Is that okay?"
"B-But..."
"We're friends, remember? Friends do stuff like this all the time. It's completely normal."
"..."
LIAR!
She couldn't stop her internal voice from screaming in protest.
She was socially stunted at worst, but she definitely wasn't stupid. How could she possibly not see right through such a blatantly manipulative line?
Sometimes, the dynamic between a guy and a girl was a game of unspoken mutual understanding.
It all boiled down to whether or not you were willing. If you weren't, no amount of smooth talking would ever change the outcome.
"Mhm!"
After a fraction of a second of silence, Hitori simply nodded. Deep down, she didn't possess a single shred of desire to reject him.
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