Every Morning the Most Popular Girl at School Sits Next to Me on the Train

"I'm now dating Kii-san."

"…What…?"

It was now lunch, and after telling my best friend Sagami about my relationship with Kii-san, he was now showing a shocked expression.

He then let out a tired sigh.

"Hey, don't joke with me like that. Even if you make it up, at least make it something believable."

"Ah~ then, look at this."

I showed a two-shot picture of Kii-san and I to Sagami who didn't believe me. Sagami's expression changed into shock, as if he was suddenly hit by lightning. His eyes and mouth were opened so wide, that I was honestly impressed by the expressions that humans can make.

"Y-you, really…?"

"Yeah"

"…Can I kill you?"

"I would like you to not kill me, please."

Sagami was looking at me with anger. After a while, I swallowed and lowered my head.

"So it was you~. You being her boyfriend~. Somehow, that feels weird~."

"What do you mean by weird…?"

"No, I mean there would've been nothing I could've said if he was an older college student or something, but when it's you…"

Sagami's anger disappeared as he groaned to himself.

Ignoring what he was saying, I continue speaking.

"Also, don't tell anyone else about this. I don't want any trouble from anyone else."

"Ah, of course. Actually, why did you end up telling me?"

"For some reason, I don't like the idea of hiding it from you. It feels like it would be rude to you."

"No, isn't you telling me rude? Even now, I still like Kii-san. It was quite a shock. It would've been better to just hide it."

"Sorry about that."

Overwhelmed by his energy, I obediently apologized.

I thought I was being sincere when I told him, but I guess I didn't have enough consideration.

"W-well, things are like that so, umm… from now on as well, I'll be relying on you."

I didn't know what to say so for now, I told him that I'll be relying on him. Then, I stood up and left the classroom. At that time, Sagami was lying on his desk, depressed. I guess it really would have been better if I didn't tell him.

Our school normally has the rooftop open. Despite that, the rooftop isn't that popular of a location.

At the beginning, first years might gather there out of curiosity, but the number eventually decreases. The reason is that it's quite annoying to get to the rooftop. To get to the rooftop, you need to get to another building next to the normal building with all the classrooms. Because of this, it's generally better to stay in the classroom. With the amount of time that it takes to get to the rooftop, it's not worth the better view.

As such, the rooftop became a place with very little people.

However, today, I was heading towards the rooftop. The reason is simple, I was going to eat lunch with Kii-san. She did say that she wanted to eat at the cafeteria, but eating where there was so many people would be troublesome, so we ended up eating at the rooftop.

"Ah, Yoshiki-kun!"

When I arrived at the rooftop, I was greeted by a smiling Kii-san, who was sitting down. As I thought, she is really cute.

"Sorry, did I make you wait?"

"It's okay, I didn't wait too long. More than that, hurry up and eat!"

Kii-san takes out a bento box with excitement. There were two boxes for some reason. Kii-san is a surprisingly big eater, I thought, as I took out my own bento. My mom always makes a bento for me.

"Eh…?"

Seeing my bento, Kii-san was surprised.

"I-is something wrong?"

"…That, why a bento box…?"

"…Umm, I brought one, is something wrong?"

"As I thought, you didn't see my LINE1."

Hearing what Kii-san said, I check my smartphone. When I open my LINE app, to my surprise, there was over 100 notifications. I normally keep my notifications off so I completely didn't notice.

Then, checking the notifications, I find out there they're all from Kii-san. The first few said things like "I'm so happy that we're really dating now" or "Take care of me from now on", but since I didn't respond, later ones became more negative like, "Do you hate me?" and so on. Within all the messages, there was one that said that she would be making a bento for me, like she said earlier.

I did something bad…

I should've actually checked these messages. Even then, she sent way too much. After sending about 10, it should be obvious that the person receiving it didn't notice. I thought that, but really, I was the one at fault, so with my feelings of hunger, I open my mouth to speak.

"Sorry, I completely didn't notice. However, it's okay, I'll properly eat Kii-san's bento as well."

To be honest, I'm worried that I won't be able to eat it all, but now, I can only try my best. Having said that, Kii-san had a worried expression for some reason.

"Are you sure, you just didn't see it?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"T-that's good~. I actually thought you hated me and that made me nervous~. I was so afraid to even bring it up~."

"Is that so. I'm really sorry."

"No, it's fine. But, from now one, please read them properly…"

"I understand."

I smile gently at her and open my own bento box. It was a bento filled with nutrition as usual. It's fine though because it's delicious.

After that, I was able to withstand Kii-san's bento as well. Before lunch ended, we promised each other that we would eat lunch on the rooftop and that Kii-san would be making bentos for me from now on. Then we returned to the classroom.

By the way, Kii-san's bento was really good.

That evening, when I got back home, unlike usual, my mom was already back. I put the bento box in the kitchen and sat down in the living room.

"How was the bento today?"

"As usual, it was good."

"That's good."

After saying that, my mom took out the bento box and began washing the container. Ah, that's right, I need to tell her that I won't need a bento anymore since Kii-san will be making them.

"Mom, starting tomorrow, I won't need a bento."

"Why is that?"

Looking this way, my mom tilts her head. I replied to her slowly.

"I have a girlfriend now, so she will be making me bentos from now on."

She went stiff for a moment, and then suddenly started clapping.

"Congratulations Yoshiki! I thought you could do it!"

My mom was so moved that a few tears came to her eyes. Going that far makes me a little bit embarrassed… A parent crying after I get a girlfriend…

Then, the living room opened, and my little sister entered. It seems like she just came out of the bath, as she had a towel around her neck, and was only in her underwear. You might think that being able to see my sister like this is nice, but since we're siblings, I don't really feel anything. My little sister looked at my mom weirdly.

"It's so noisy, did something happen?"

"Yui, listen to this. Your brother got a girlfriend!"

My mom was very excited.

I'm sure my little sister will be just as happy, I thought.

"…Is that so, that's good."

After saying just that, she quickly returned to her room. Usually she's full of energy, I wonder what's wrong with her today.

"Is she not feeling very good?"

"No idea, she has tests coming up so she probably has a lot to worry about. More than that, tonight we should have sekihan, you know? Sekihan2!"

I was worried about my little sister, but seeing my mother, that worry disappeared. For the next few days, my little sister stopped talking to me, even though we used to talk to each other a lot. However, that's a story for another time.

TL Note:

For those of you that don't know, LINE is a popular messaging app in a few Asian countries like Japan. Sekihan is a traditional Japanese sticky rice dish. It's basically steamed sticky rice with red beans. It's usually served on special occasions like weddings, for instance.