I started dating a cute girlfriend I met during my eighth grade days when we reunited in high school. - Chapter 4

TL: Mowaso

ED: Anima

Chapter 4-Bento <Pandora Box>.

We decided to have lunch in an empty classroom. It wasn’t officially an unoccupied classroom, though. I was a ghost member of the astronomy club, which was on the verge of shutting down, and I had the key to unlock this vacant space.

“You can be yourself here.”

“Thanks, I was saved. I wonder if this is your hideout.”

She took a deep breath to relax. It seemed that Beni could see through my intentions of using this place as a hideout. Incidentally, this place also served as a hiding place in case a terrorist came to take over the school, in which emergency rations and air guns were stored.

“Here, it’s my homemade. You should be grateful for it.”

“Oh, it’s my girlfriend’s (fake) home cooking!”

I happily took the lunch box that was given to me and opened it. What I found inside the lunch box was chaos! There was a boiled egg in the shape of an eyeball and something that looked like fried chicken, but for some reason it was completely black. No, it wasn’t just the fried chicken. The rice was black, too! I’ve seen white rice but never black rice. What is this? What the hell is this? Was it Pandora’s box that I had just opened?

I looked at her and she was looking at me proudly. Her eyes are telling me to eat quickly. Do I really have to eat this? No, well, I don’t have an option to leave it uneaten.

“Ughー that looks pretty goodー”

I took a bite of the fried chicken with a bit of hesitation. It was pitch black, but it wasn’t burnt, and it probably wouldn’t kill me. Was Beni a classic messy type heroine?

“It’s… delicious.”

It’s really good. I also tried the boiled egg and found it to be exquisitely seasoned. Eh, there’s no magic that destroys the taste buds…?

“Of course, I went to an all girls private school, so I’ve been taught how to cook, sew, and do general housework.”

“Wellー I imagined you’re the type of character who can’t cook, someone who mistakes salt for sugar…”

“What are you talking about? …A person with common sense would never mistake salt for sugar. Like you said in the old days, I had trouble making the entire contents of the lunchbox black.”

“Huh…? You remembered that?”

I raised my face at Beni’s boastful words. I remembered the conversation I had with her when we were eating rice balls on the riverbank.

After all, white rice is not good for my body… I prefer black rice… I have the black dragon residing in my body, and white, which is blessed by the light, is my natural enemy… 

I get what you mean. I don’t like white because it is associated with holiness. But ketchup is good, isn’t it? It looks like blood, and it seems to enhance magic.

While saying that, I remembered Beni was eating some kind of meat covered with ketchup that I couldn’t comprehend. I also remembered a nearby parent and child saying, “Mom, why are those two eating in that place, dressed up like that?”  “Shh, don’t look at them.” Sorry kid, I hope you didn’t end up like us…

“Of course, I haven’t forgotten our past conversations. It was a lot of work to not only make it look good, but to make it taste good as well. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“Thanks for the very delicious lunch. As expected from Benihana, the person who has experienced Hades.”

“It was nothing compared to the trials of Hades for this Benihana!. Did the meal fit the Black Dragon knight’s stomach?”

Beni said with a proud look. I shivered with emotion as I enjoyed the lunch Beni had made for me. I have to give her something in return. What kind of thing would make her happy? I wonder if she’d be happy if I gave her some kind of robe that looked like something a witch would wear?

“By the way, what kind of relationship do Shinya and Saito-san have? You call each other by your given names, so are you two really close?”

“Yeah, we’re childhood friends. Our parents are pretty close, too.”

“That’s very common in manga. Maybe your houses are also next to each other?”

“That’s not true, I live about a five minute walk away from her house… And by the way, we haven’t made any promises to get married…”

Even though we were childhood friends, things don’t go as well as they do in manga. Well, we get along just fine. We play together, and we keep in touch with each other. I wonder if Eriko and I had become friends since we started going home together. She’s a nice person to everyone  except for a few people, she can’t relate to otaku’s hobbies, but she accepts me as a person and understands me though.

“I really like that girl. I thought we wouldn’t get along at first because of her gal-like appearance, but I really appreciate her caring for me since I just transferred here.”

“Yeah, she’s a bit foul-mouthed, but she’s kind and caring.”

“Humphー.”

I took advantage of Beni’s words and complimented Eriko, but for some reason she gave me a slightly grumpy look. Why? Did I say something wrong?

“Well, that’s fine and all. But is it okay? Being a fake couple with me might make Saito-san misunderstand.”

“No, nothing to worry about. Ahー but you might get teased a lot…”

“Well, if that’s fine with you, I guess it’s good… And Saito-san invited me to have tea with her after school, so I’m going. Are you disappointed that we can’t have an after-school date?”

“Ah, that’s a shame, but we’ll be seeing each other more often. Be careful not to blow your cover.”

I was relieved to see Beni making friends at school. I finished my lunch and headed back to the classroom. As I got up from my seat, I looked at my trembling smartphone.

『You understand what this mean, right? Come to the back of the gym after school.』

Well, it looks like I’ve got an appointment after school. Just in case, I decided to bring the weapon I kept to combat terrorists.


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