Chapter 16
By now, Class D had developed a lunchtime reflex.
The bell rang, chairs scraped, bags opened, and nearly half the room turned toward the door.
Nobody admitted they were waiting.
Everybody was waiting.
Ike leaned forward with the grave seriousness of a soldier watching the horizon. "She'll come in ten seconds."
Yamauchi checked the hallway through the crack of the sliding door. "No, fifteen. Honami always appears after the second hallway wave."
Sudo frowned. "Why are you two studying this?"
"Because history is important," Ike said.
Hirata smiled helplessly from his seat. "I'm not sure this counts as history."
Chiaki, leaning beside Kei's desk, looked amused. "It counts as evidence."
Kei crossed her arms and looked away. "Evidence for what?"
Chiaki's eyes slid toward her necklace, the small crescent pendant resting prettily against her uniform.
Kei instantly covered it with one hand. "Don't look at that."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking something."
"That's your guilt talking."
Kei's face warmed. "I'm not guilty of anything."
Maya, seated nearby with her repaired penguin plush peeking from her bag like a tiny court witness, smiled brightly. "Kei, you've touched your necklace eight times since morning."
Kei snapped her gaze toward her. "Why are you counting?"
Maya hugged her bag closer. "I notice romantic evidence."
"It is not romantic evidence."
The door slid open before Chiaki could pounce on that sentence.
Honami entered with a smile bright enough to trigger three separate whisper chains at once. Mako, Chihiro, Yume, and the others followed behind her, looking like a support squad that had already accepted its leader was beyond rescue.
Honami's eyes found Kiyotaka immediately.
"Kiyotaka-kun."
The room's invisible gossip meter detonated.
Kiyotaka looked up from his phone. "Honami."
Mako sighed from behind Honami. "There it is. The name exchange. The daily ritual."
Chihiro whispered, "At least she hasn't grabbed his hand yet."
Honami took one graceful step forward.
Kikyo rose from her seat.
The classroom temperature changed so quickly that Yamauchi actually leaned back.
Kikyo's smile was angelic, polished, and extremely unsafe.
"Honami-san, you're early today."
Honami's smile stayed gentle, but her eyes sharpened into satin-covered knives. "I didn't realize Class D had visiting hours."
"It doesn't," Kikyo replied sweetly. "That's why I was curious."
Mako slowly grabbed Chihiro's sleeve. "They started before lunch. This is terrible scheduling."
Chihiro looked concerned. "Should we stop them?"
Mako watched Kikyo and Honami smile at each other like two queens negotiating over a poisoned cake.
"No. I mean yes. I mean I value my life."
Kokoro, near Kikyo's side, gave a nervous laugh. "Kikyo, maybe we should all go together?"
Nene nodded quickly. "Food first. War later."
Kayano muttered, "At this point, lunch is war."
Kiyotaka stood.
Both Honami and Kikyo looked at him.
That was when Maya made her move.
She stepped forward, holding her bag with both hands and wearing the kind of bright expression that looked innocent until someone noticed her eyes were aimed entirely at Kiyotaka.
"Kiyotaka-kun, do you want to eat together today?"
The room paused.
Kikyo's smile twitched.
Honami's eyes turned toward Maya with terrifying politeness.
Mako placed both hands on Chihiro's shoulders from behind. "A new contender has entered the court."
Maya smiled wider, cheeks faintly pink. "I mean, since we're classmates. And because Pengu wants to visit the cafeteria."
Kei stared at her. "You're using the penguin as an excuse?"
Maya looked offended. "He has social needs."
Kiyotaka glanced at the crooked-eyed plush peeking from her bag. "He does look lonely."
Maya's face lit up. "See?"
Kikyo's eyes narrowed slightly. "Kiyotaka-kun, if it's about classmates, I can eat with you too."
Honami stepped closer. "He already promised nothing."
Kikyo smiled at her. "Exactly. That means the schedule is open."
Honami's smile became prettier, which in Class D now meant everyone should evacuate.
Then Kei stood.
Chiaki immediately looked at her.
Kei crossed her arms and tried to sound casual. "I'll go too."
Maya blinked. "You will?"
Kei's face warmed. "I'm accompanying Maya."
Chiaki coughed into her hand.
Maya tilted her head. "But I didn't ask you to accompany me."
"I'm doing it anyway."
"Why?"
"Because you're carrying a traumatized penguin and might need help."
The penguin plush stared from Maya's bag with one crooked eye, somehow making the excuse look even worse.
Kiyotaka's smile curved.
"Kei, that reason is weak."
Kei's face turned red instantly. "Shut up. I didn't ask for a review."
Mako whispered from the doorway, "She joined with a worse excuse than Honami's medical handholding."
Chihiro nodded faintly. "At least the penguin excuse has a mascot."
The hallway outside suddenly filled with a low whistle.
Ryūen stood at the door with Ishizaki and Albert nearby, clearly passing through and absolutely choosing not to pass through anymore. His grin widened as he looked from Honami to Kikyo to Maya to Kei, then finally to Kiyotaka.
"Kukuku... Kiyotaka, your harem candidates are blocking traffic."
The classroom erupted.
Kei nearly threw her bag. "Harem?!"
Maya hugged her penguin. "C-candidates?"
Honami smiled gently at Ryūen, which somehow made him stop grinning for half a second.
Kikyo's angel face stayed perfect, though her voice carried honeyed violence. "Ryūen-kun, that joke is a little rude."
Ryūen laughed harder. "Rude? This doorway looks like a marriage interview tournament."
Ishizaki leaned in and grinned. "Bro, are you eating lunch or holding auditions?"
Hirata covered his face with one hand. "Please don't encourage this."
Kiyotaka looked at Ryūen calmly. "You're loud."
"Yeah, and you're surrounded."
Kiyotaka glanced at the four girls.
"They're only asking for lunch."
Ryūen's grin turned savage. "That's how wars start."
Honami looked at Kiyotaka. "Let's go before more people misunderstand."
Kikyo smiled. "Yes, before rumors become ridiculous."
Kei muttered, "They're already ridiculous."
Maya hugged her bag tighter. "Pengu thinks so too."
Kiyotaka began walking.
The four girls moved with him at once.
Ryūen stepped aside, still laughing under his breath. "Kukuku... good luck, bro."
Kiyotaka passed him with a faint smile. "I'll need less luck than you think."
Ryūen's grin widened. "That's what makes it funny."
The cafeteria felt the disturbance before Kiyotaka's group entered.
Students turned as if guided by instinct. Conversations dropped, phones lifted slightly, and someone near the vending machines whispered, "Today it's four."
The group reached a table near the side.
Kiyotaka sat first.
Alone.
That was his mistake, or possibly his strategy.
The table had seats around it, but the moment he sat down, Honami, Kikyo, Maya, and Kei all stopped at once.
Each girl looked at the seat beside him.
Then at each other.
The silence became too sweet to be trusted.
Mako, Chiaki, Chihiro, Kokoro, Nene, and the others immediately chose the table beside them instead, not because it was comfortable, but because survival instincts were important.
Mako sat down and exhaled. "We are sitting here because the main table has too much sugar."
Chiaki nodded. "If we stay too close, we'll get diabetes from the sweetness and high blood pressure from the hostility."
Chihiro looked worried. "Should we really leave them alone?"
Kokoro glanced at Kikyo's smile, then Honami's, then Kei's blush, then Maya hugging her penguin like a shield.
"Alone? No. Observed from a safe distance? Yes."
Yume opened her drink. "This is basically lunch theater."
Kayano muttered, "Except the theater can bite."
At Kiyotaka's table, the seating war began.
Honami smiled first. "I usually sit beside Kiyotaka-kun."
Kikyo's eyes curved sweetly. "Usually is not a rule."
Maya raised the penguin slightly. "Pengu wants the seat beside him."
Kei stared at her. "You can't use that penguin for everything."
"He's been through a lot."
"So have I."
The table went quiet for a second.
Kiyotaka looked at Kei, amused.
Kei realized what she had said and turned red. "Not like that. I mean... never mind."
Honami leaned slightly toward Kiyotaka. "Kiyotaka-kun, where should I sit?"
Kikyo immediately smiled brighter. "That's unfair. You can't ask him with that voice."
"What voice?"
"The one that sounds like you already packed his lunch."
Honami's smile sharpened. "And you sound like you want to poison it."
Kikyo placed a hand over her chest. "How cruel. I would never."
Maya tilted her head. "That sounded like you would."
Kikyo turned to her with a dazzling smile. "Maya, you're very honest today."
Maya hugged the penguin. "Kiyotaka-kun said honest things are good."
Kei looked at Kiyotaka. "Don't teach her things."
Kiyotaka rested his chin lightly against one hand.
"I didn't expect the penguin to become my disciple."
Maya gasped. "He has a name."
"Pengu?"
"That's his stage name."
Kei stared. "Why does the penguin have a stage name?"
Maya looked proud. "He has trauma and branding."
From the other table, Mako nearly choked on her drink. "Maya has evolved."
Chiaki smiled. "Kiyotaka's influence is spreading."
Kei pointed at Chiaki. "Don't narrate us."
"You're making it easy."
Honami finally took the seat on Kiyotaka's right.
Kikyo immediately sat on his left.
Maya froze, offended.
Kei also froze, then pretended she hadn't cared.
Kiyotaka looked at the two girls beside him.
"Efficient."
Honami smiled warmly. "Yes."
Kikyo smiled just as warmly. "Very."
Maya slowly sat across from him, placing the penguin on the table so its crooked eye faced Kikyo like a tiny angry judge.
Kei sat beside Maya, directly across from Kiyotaka, then crossed her arms.
"I'm only sitting here because Maya looked lonely."
Maya blinked. "I did?"
Kei whispered, "Support me."
Maya nodded quickly. "Yes. I was very lonely."
Chiaki called from the other table, "You both need acting lessons."
Kei's face flushed. "Eat your lunch!"
The first few minutes looked peaceful.
That was because nobody had attacked yet.
Kiyotaka opened his drink. Honami neatly placed napkins near him as if she had been waiting for an excuse.
Kikyo slid a pair of chopsticks toward him with the smile of someone declaring silent war.
Maya pushed a small dessert cup across the table, and Kei tried to pretend she hadn't bought him the same flavor he chose yesterday.
Kiyotaka looked at the growing collection of offerings.
"I'm being well supplied."
Honami smiled. "You sometimes forget to eat properly."
Kikyo tilted her head. "That sounds like you've been watching him closely."
Honami's eyes turned toward her. "I pay attention."
"So do I."
Maya gently pushed the dessert closer. "I brought this because Kiyotaka-kun said it wasn't too sweet last time."
Kei looked away. "I just happened to buy an extra drink."
Kiyotaka glanced at the unopened drink in front of him.
"You bought my usual."
Kei's cheeks reddened. "Coincidence."
"You don't drink this flavor."
"I might start."
Maya looked at the bottle. "You said yesterday that flavor tasted boring."
Kei's eyes widened. "Maya!"
Maya covered her mouth. "Sorry. Pengu made me honest."
Kikyo laughed softly. "What a dangerous plush."
Honami looked at the penguin. "Maybe it should sit farther from Kiyotaka-kun."
Maya pulled the plush protectively back. "Pengu respects boundaries."
Kei muttered, "Unlike some people."
Honami and Kikyo both turned toward her.
Kei stiffened.
"I meant rumors."
Kiyotaka smiled. "Did you?"
Kei's face burned. "Don't add oil to this."
"I was asking."
"You were enjoying it."
Kiyotaka's smile deepened.
That answer was silent and unforgivable.
Honami leaned slightly closer to him. "Kiyotaka-kun, do you want some of my food?"
Kikyo's chopsticks paused.
Maya's eyes widened.
Kei's eyebrow twitched.
Kiyotaka looked at Honami's lunch. "What are you offering?"
Honami's smile turned radiant. "Anything."
Mako groaned from the other table. "She said anything. Someone stop her."
Kikyo immediately lifted a bite from her own tray. "Kiyotaka-kun, you should try mine first."
Honami's eyes darkened by a shade. "Kikyo-san, you're very quick."
"I'm sitting beside him."
"Temporarily."
Kikyo smiled. "Everything is temporary if you lose it."
Maya leaned forward with her dessert spoon. "Kiyotaka-kun, sweet things after food are important too."
Kei stared at the three of them, then quickly opened the drink she bought and placed it in front of him.
"He needs water. You're all overfeeding him."
"It's not water," Kiyotaka said. "It's peach tea."
Kei turned red. "Drink it quietly."
He picked it up.
Honami watched.
Kikyo watched.
Maya watched.
Kei tried not to watch but failed.
Kiyotaka took a sip, then looked at Kei.
"Good choice."
Kei's face betrayed her instantly.
Maya puffed her cheeks. "Kiyotaka-kun, you praised Kei first."
Honami smiled, but her eyes remained fixed on him. "Do you like peach tea that much?"
Kikyo's voice became sweet. "Maybe he likes gifts from Kei."
Kei nearly dropped her chopsticks. "It wasn't a gift!"
Kiyotaka turned to Kikyo.
"Are you jealous?"
Kikyo's angel mask flickered beautifully.
"Kiyotaka-kun, you shouldn't ask girls things like that during lunch."
Honami's smile sharpened. "Because the answer would be yes?"
Kikyo looked at her. "Speaking from experience?"
Maya whispered to the penguin, "This is getting scary."
Kiyotaka looked at Maya. "What does Pengu think?"
Maya looked startled. "He thinks you should eat my dessert."
Kei groaned. "Of course he does."
Kiyotaka accepted Maya's spoonful of dessert.
Maya's face lit up.
Honami went very still.
Kikyo's smile tightened.
Kei stared at the spoon with betrayed outrage.
From the other table, Mako whispered, "He's rotating affection like a professional disaster manager."
Chiaki replied, "No, he's not managing the disaster. He's feeding it."
Chihiro looked genuinely concerned. "Should we rescue him?"
Mako watched Kiyotaka calmly eat dessert while four girls emotionally sharpened knives around him.
"No. I think he's the arsonist."
The argument shifted from food to seating again when Kiyotaka leaned back slightly.
Honami immediately noticed. "Are you uncomfortable?"
Kikyo smiled. "Maybe because both sides are crowded."
Maya raised her hand. "Then I can switch seats."
Kei turned to her. "You'd move?"
Maya nodded. "Yes."
Kei narrowed her eyes. "To where?"
Maya pointed innocently to Kikyo's seat.
Kikyo's smile became divine and terrifying. "How bold."
Maya hugged the penguin. "Pengu supports boldness."
Kei muttered, "Pengu supports chaos."
Kiyotaka looked at the plush. "I respect his political stance."
Maya beamed.
Kei pointed at him. "Don't encourage the penguin."
Honami lightly touched Kiyotaka's sleeve. "If Maya switches, then I should also switch."
Kikyo looked at her. "Why?"
"To make things fair."
"Fair would be everyone staying where they are."
"Fair would be Kiyotaka-kun choosing."
The table froze.
Kiyotaka felt all four gazes turn to him.
He smiled.
"That sounds dangerous."
Kei's eyes narrowed. "You started half of this."
"I only sat down."
Kikyo smiled. "You accepted food from Maya."
Honami added, "And drank Kei's tea first."
Maya raised the spoon. "And said my dessert was good."
Kei crossed her arms. "And asked Kikyo if she was jealous."
Kiyotaka looked thoughtful.
"So I contributed."
Mako's voice came from the other table. "He admits it!"
Ike, who had migrated near the cafeteria entrance with Yamauchi and Sudo to observe the chaos, clasped his hands together dramatically.
"Our boy is conducting romance like an orchestra."
Yamauchi wiped imaginary tears. "We taught him well."
Sudo frowned. "You taught him nothing."
Hirata stood beside them, smiling with exhausted kindness. "Maybe we should let them eat."
Ike looked at him in disbelief. "Hirata, this is history."
Hirata sighed. "Everyone keeps using that word incorrectly today."
At Kiyotaka's table, Honami smiled sweetly.
"Kiyotaka-kun, between the four of us, who is the easiest to eat lunch with?"
Maya's eyes widened. "That's unfair."
Kei looked alarmed. "Why would you ask that?"
Kikyo's smile sharpened. "Yes, Kiyotaka-kun. I'm curious too."
Kiyotaka looked around the table.
Then he answered calmly.
"The penguin."
Silence.
Then Maya burst into laughter.
Kei stared at him. "You chose the plush?"
"He doesn't argue."
Honami's pout appeared immediately. "Kiyotaka-kun..."
Kikyo placed a hand against her cheek. "How cruel. Losing to a plush toy."
Maya hugged Pengu proudly. "He won."
Kei's lips twitched, but she fought the smile. "That thing has no personality."
Kiyotaka looked at Kei.
"It resembles you when you pretend not to care."
Kei's entire face turned red. "What does that mean?"
Maya lifted the penguin beside Kei's face.
Chiaki leaned over from the other table and nearly died laughing.
Kei slapped the plush away gently. "Don't compare me to Pengu!"
Kiyotaka tilted his head. "You both pout."
"I do not!"
"You're doing it now."
Maya gasped. "He's right."
Kei looked at her in betrayal. "You're supposed to be my excuse partner."
"I'm sorry. Pengu values truth."
Kikyo laughed, but then Kiyotaka turned toward her.
"You resemble him too."
Kikyo blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Cute on the surface. Suspicious underneath."
Kikyo's smile froze.
The other table went silent.
Then Mako whispered, "He chose violence with plush analysis."
Honami's eyes curved with satisfaction until Kiyotaka looked at her too.
"Honami is also similar."
Honami's smile remained. "How?"
"Soft-looking, but capable of staring someone into confession."
Mako nodded gravely. "Accurate."
Chihiro whispered, "Very accurate."
Honami's cheeks turned pink, but she looked pleased.
Kei pointed at Kiyotaka. "You're just insulting everyone with a plush as your weapon."
Kiyotaka looked at her.
"You noticed quickly."
Kei's blush deepened. "Don't praise me after comparing me to a penguin."
Maya hugged the penguin tighter. "Pengu is honored."
Lunch somehow became louder and sweeter at the same time.
Honami offered Kiyotaka part of her lunch with a smile that made Kikyo's chopsticks pause midair.
Kikyo countered by wiping a tiny sauce mark near his tray and saying it was "careless" in a voice that sounded far too intimate.
Maya fed him a bite of dessert after claiming Pengu would feel rejected otherwise.
Kei pretended to be above it all, then opened another drink for him because "his hands were busy dealing with ridiculous people. "
Kiyotaka accepted all of it with the calm of a man actively worsening the weather.
"You're all very thoughtful," he said.
Honami smiled. "Of course."
Kikyo's eyes curved. "Naturally."
Maya looked proud. "Pengu helped."
Kei scoffed. "I'm not being thoughtful. I'm preventing you from choking because they're overwhelming."
Kiyotaka looked at Kei.
"You were worried?"
Her face went red. "No."
"You said prevention."
"That's different."
"How?"
"It sounds less embarrassing."
Maya pointed at her. "She admitted embarrassment."
Kei snapped, "You're one to talk. You brought a penguin to lunch with him."
Maya held up the plush. "Pengu is emotionally important."
Kikyo smiled. "Maybe Kei's necklace is emotionally important too."
Kei's hand flew to her crescent pendant.
Honami's eyes immediately followed the movement.
Maya noticed too.
The air shifted.
Kiyotaka picked up his drink slowly, clearly entertained.
Honami's voice stayed gentle. "That necklace is pretty, Kei."
Kei stiffened. "Thanks."
Kikyo's smile turned knowing. "A gift?"
Kei's face heated. "No."
Maya tilted her head. "But you weren't wearing it before."
Kei looked trapped.
Kiyotaka supplied help in the worst possible way.
"It suited her."
Every girl at the table turned toward him.
Kei nearly combusted. "Why would you say that here?"
Honami's smile went dangerously still. "Kiyotaka-kun chose it?"
Kikyo's eyes darkened with interest. "How romantic."
Maya's penguin slowly lowered.
Kiyotaka looked at Kei, then at the others.
"Yes."
Kei slammed both hands lightly onto the table. "Don't just say yes!"
"You asked me not to lie."
"I did not ask you to confess evidence!"
Mako put her head down on the other table. "I can feel my blood sugar rising."
Chiaki patted her shoulder. "Stay with us."
Chihiro murmured, "It is sweet though."
Mako lifted her head. "That's the problem. It's too sweet and too dangerous. It's romance with teeth."
Kiyotaka glanced at the other table.
"Are you all eating?"
Mako pointed at him. "We're trying, but you keep making the main table explode."
Kiyotaka smiled.
"I haven't done much."
The entire cafeteria section seemed to disagree through silence.
Kei glared. "You are the problem."
Honami smiled. "A pleasant problem."
Kikyo tilted her head. "A troublesome problem."
Maya hugged Pengu. "A cool problem."
Kiyotaka looked at them one by one.
"You all agree I'm a problem."
Honami, Kikyo, Maya, and Kei answered at the same time.
"Yes."
For half a second, they stared at each other.
Then all four looked away, each embarrassed for a different reason.
Kiyotaka's smile softened.
"Good. Agreement is progress."
Kei groaned. "Don't make this sound productive."
Kikyo laughed softly. "It might be. We have established a shared concern."
Honami nodded. "Kiyotaka-kun's safety and lunch schedule."
Maya raised Pengu slightly. "And dessert rights."
Kei stared at all of them. "I can't believe I'm part of this."
Chiaki called from the other table, "You joined voluntarily."
Kei pointed at her. "I said I was accompanying Maya."
Maya blinked. "I still don't know why."
Kiyotaka smiled at Kei.
"Neither does she."
Kei's face went crimson. "I know exactly why!"
Everyone looked at her.
She froze.
Then grabbed her drink and hid behind it.
"Because Maya needed support," she muttered.
Mako sighed dreamily. "A noble lie."
Kikyo looked at Kei with a sweet smile. "How admirable."
Honami smiled too. "Very selfless."
Maya leaned closer to Kei and whispered loudly, "Thank you for using me as an excuse."
Kei nearly dropped her drink.
By the time lunch neared its end, nothing had been resolved.
Honami still claimed her daily lunch visits were normal.
Kikyo insisted classmates had priority.
Maya argued that shared trauma with Pengu created special rights.
Kei maintained she was only there because everyone else was suspicious, which fooled absolutely no one.
Kiyotaka had eaten from all four of them, accepted two drinks, praised Kei's necklace, compared everyone to a penguin, and somehow looked like the least guilty person at the table.
Ryūen passed the cafeteria entrance again on his way out, saw the four girls still orbiting Kiyotaka's table, and laughed loud enough to be heard across the room.
"Kukuku... still alive, Kiyotaka?"
Kiyotaka looked over.
"For now."
Ryūen whistled. "Better be careful. At this rate, Crown Hearts won't need to fight you. The lunch table will do it first."
Honami smiled at Ryūen.
Kikyo smiled too.
Maya pouted.
Kei glared.
Ryūen lifted both hands, still grinning. "I'm leaving. I value my organs."
Ishizaki looked confused. "Boss, organs?"
Ryūen walked away laughing. "You'll understand when women start smiling at you like that."
Kiyotaka looked back at the table.
"You scared Ryūen away."
Honami's smile was serene. "Did we?"
Kikyo's was angelic. "How strange."
Maya hugged Pengu. "Maybe he was busy."
Kei muttered, "He was being annoying anyway."
Kiyotaka leaned back slightly.
"If this continues tomorrow, we may need a seating chart."
All four girls looked at him.
Kiyotaka's smile deepened.
"I'll make one."
The reaction was immediate.
Honami leaned forward. "Will I be beside you?"
Kikyo tilted her head. "Classmate privilege should matter."
Maya lifted Pengu. "Pengu requests representation."
Kei crossed her arms. "I don't care where I sit."
Chiaki called from the other table, "Then you won't mind being far from him."
Kei slammed her palms on the table. "I didn't say that!"
The cafeteria erupted into laughter, whispers, and fresh rumors.
Kiyotaka watched the chaos with a calm smile, eyes glinting with quiet amusement.
Class D's lunch had once been a simple meal.
Now it was a battlefield of bright smiles, jealous pouts, suspicious penguins, and four girls pretending they had perfectly reasonable reasons to sit near him.
Kiyotaka picked up the last bite of dessert and looked around the table.
"Same time tomorrow?"
Honami smiled warmly.
Kikyo's eyes curved.
Maya hugged Pengu with determination.
Kei looked away, cheeks pink, fingers brushing the crescent necklace at her throat.
Nobody answered directly.
They didn't need to.
The war had already scheduled itself.