I paid off the debt for the most beautiful sisters in the school, and then they barged into my house where I live alone. “Please go back home; you don’t need to repay the favor.” “No way.” “We don’t want to~☆”

I was awakened by the chime.

It must be lunchtime. I slept through today as well.

“Yawn…”

After one yawn, I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a convenience store bread roll.

Though bread is sold at the school store, I don’t like going there since it’s always crowded.

I can buy a drink from the vending machine… but I’ll do that after I finish eating.

Feeling too lazy right after waking up, I opened the bread packaging and started munching.

Suddenly, Kami-shiro’s figure caught my eye.

As usual, she seemed to be starting her meal, surrounded by a few girls.

“Huh? Kami-shiro-san, you’re not having a lunchbox today?”

“Eh? Ah, yes. I’ve been busy these last few days, so…”

Kami-shiro also had a pastry on her desk.

Apparently, this was unusual, and the girls around her were curious.

“I usually don’t eat like this.”

“Ah, I get it. Kami-shiro-san doesn’t seem like someone who would eat convenience store bread. You seem like someone who would only eat a perfectly balanced lunchbox.”

“A balanced lunchbox… Yes, that’s usually what I have.”

I also have the image that “Kami-shiro doesn’t usually eat convenience store bread,” but it’s probably for a completely different reason than they think.

The reason being frugality: homemade food is cheaper than convenience store bread.

A few days ago, when she prepared breakfast for me for the first time, she said something like, “I usually don’t shop at convenience stores. It’s too expensive.”

As I ate my bread, I absentmindedly watched Kami-shiro munching on hers.

“…Will one bread roll be enough for her?”

Considering her meals at home, she eats quite a lot, that Kami-shiro.

“Oh? It’s rare to see Kaga-mi-kun captivated by Taka-ne-chan.”

“Captivated…? What are you talking about, Kusunoki?”

I was only worried about my housemate’s stomach, but somehow it was misunderstood.

The guy who spoke to me was a friend… a friend? Kusunoki.

I put a question mark because I’ve never played with him after school or even know his contact information. Well, I’ve never told him, anyway.

Basically, I’m a loner in the class, or rather, I’m sinking into the shadows. But Kusunoki finds that “different and interesting,” and sometimes talks to me during lunch. He’s a strange guy.

“You were staring at her. It’s okay, don’t be shy. There’s probably no boy in this class who hasn’t been captivated by Taka-ne-chan at least once.”

He sat in the empty seat in front of me, holding bread and a juice box, and apparently decided to bother me today. He must have been very bored with no other interesting topics.

“Ah. Well, I guess so.”

Kusunoki started calling Kami-shiro “Taka-ne-chan from the high peak,” and that nickname has stuck among the boys. She’s treated like an unattainable flower.

“Well, I think it’s best to just be captivated by her. After all, she’s not interested in boys.”

“…Really?”

“Whoever tries, she doesn’t even give her contact information.”

That’s probably because she doesn’t have any means of contact. She might feel uncomfortable giving her home phone number.

Speaking of which, there’s no landline in the house where she’s currently living. Because I didn’t have one installed.

…Should I provide her with a tool for communication? No, she would definitely refuse.

“All the guys who invited her to hang out after school were rejected. As far as I know, all the well-known boys in this grade have given up.”

That’s probably just because she was busy with part-time jobs.

Now she’s—working at my house, for some reason. Really, why did this happen?

“So when you went home with Kaga-mi-kun the other day, everyone was gossiping about it. But since things were back to normal the next day, the rumors died down. What was that all about?”

“…It was nothing, just official business. By the way, I think you should stop calling her Taka-ne-chan.”

I finished eating my bread and said with a sigh.

I don’t know how much Kami-shiro would care if she heard it, but she certainly wouldn’t be pleased to be called Taka-ne-chan.

“Of course, I don’t call her that in front of her.”

“Did you call me?”

“Huh!? Ka-Kami-shiro-chan?”

Before I knew it, Kami-shiro had walked right behind Kusunoki. Thanks to him, I had to hear his strange voice.

“Eh, did you hear that?”

Kusunoki seemed flustered, which served him right.

“I’m sorry. I only heard that you were calling me.”

“Ah, okay. Don’t worry about it then.”

“Is that so?”

What did she come here for if she didn’t hear the conversation?

“Um, Kaga-mi-kun.”

“Huh?”

Me? What does she want with me at school?

“What is it?”

“Do you always have bread like this for lunch?”

“O-Oh. Yeah, why?”

Kami-shiro picked up the packaging of the pastry she had eaten, looked at the back with a focused eye, and then picked up the packaging I had left on my desk.

“The protein is… but only fats and sugars… the nutritional balance is…”

She was mumbling something.

Apparently, she was checking the nutritional information on the back of the bag?

“Kaga-mi-kun—your b… never mind, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Huh? Oh, okay?”

In the end, Kami-shiro left without saying anything specific.

What on earth did she come here for?

“Kaga-mi-kun.”

“Huh? What?”

Kusunoki, who had been listening to the conversation between Kami-shiro and me with a stunned expression, looked at me with strange eyes, as if looking at a rare animal.

“What kind of magic did you use to catch Taka-ne-chan’s attention?”

I ignored him, too bothered to think of a response, and stood up to buy a juice from the vending machine.