My Childhood Friend, Who I Made a Promise To Spend the Future With, Dumped Me... But Ever Since I Started Dating a Beautiful Girl From School, My Childhood Friend Has Been Acting Strange - Episode 20

When morning came, my mood had settled.

Tōma Suzuki started his day energetically, taking out the side dishes he had prepared the night before.

After warming up some tamagoyaki in the microwave, he began neatly packing it into a bento box.

The rice balls, however, were made fresh in the morning.

Although he had umeboshi as a filling option, he decided to go with tuna mayo instead.

Tōma carefully shaped the rice into a triangle with both hands before wrapping it with seaweed.

He then covered the onigiri with plastic wrap.

The bento he had prepared for Suzuha was completed before leaving for school, giving him a small sense of accomplishment in the morning.

“Big brother, it’s time to go!”

His sister’s voice called from the living room.

“Yeah, I know,” he replied.

At that moment, Tōma was eating the leftover food as his breakfast and washing the dishes in the kitchen.

After putting his bento box and onigiri into his school backpack, he hurried to the entrance.

Standing there, already wearing her shoes, was his sister, Emi.

“Big brother, did you pack your bento properly?”

“Yeah, don’t worry.”

“That’s good. You look pretty lively today.”

“I made a bento I’m really proud of. But that’s thanks to you too, Emi.”

As he talked with his sister, Tōma put on his shoes, locked the front door, and started walking toward school with her.

“That bento is all because of your hard work, big brother. It’s your effort that made it happen.”

Hearing that made him happy.

No one dislikes being praised.

“Well, let’s just say that’s true. As a thank-you for helping me, I’ll buy you some snacks later.”

“Really?! Then I want cookies or potato chips!”

“Alright, I’ll try to get exactly what you want.”

“Okay, then it’s a deal. See you later, big brother!”

“Yeah, see you.”

As usual, they parted ways at the crosswalk at the intersection.

By the time Tōma arrived at school, the classroom was as noisy as ever.

He sat down in his seat and spent time as usual.

Kamiya Suzuha had not arrived yet, and her seat was still empty.

He couldn’t help but look forward to her arrival.

Just then, Saori Azusa walked into the classroom.

The unpleasant memories from yesterday flashed through his mind, making him feel down.

His good mood from the morning was ruined.

Though his childhood friend kept glancing at him, she didn’t say a word.

Even though it was shaping up to be an unpleasant morning, when he saw Suzuha approaching the school through the classroom window, he felt a little more at ease.

Kamiya Suzuha arrived in the classroom before the morning homeroom began.

About five minutes later, the homeroom teacher stood at the front of the class, marking the start of the school day.

Tōma spent the morning classes as usual.

As soon as lunchtime arrived, he began getting ready.

He took out the bento from his school backpack and walked over to Suzuha.

Then, the two of them left the classroom together and headed to the rooftop, just like always.

“I made a bento today.”

“Really? Thank you! I’m so happy you made one for me!”

“I think it tastes pretty good. Try it and see.”

Tōma unwrapped the bento and opened the lid.

Inside, there was tamagoyaki, store-bought potato salad from yesterday, some chicken nuggets from the fridge, and carefully seasoned ginger pork.

Suzuha praised his cooking, which made him genuinely happy.

“Hey, can I eat now?”

“Go ahead.”

“Then… can you feed me today?”

She asked him directly.

Feeding a girl was something he had never really done before.

Feeling a little nervous, Tōma picked up his chopsticks and carefully lifted a piece of tamagoyaki.

As he brought it closer to her mouth, Suzuha closed her eyes.

Seeing her like that made him even more conscious of what he was doing.

His heart raced, but he carefully fed her.

“Mmm…,” Suzuha hummed as she chewed, slowly opening her eyes again.

“How is it?” he asked.

“It’s pretty good! Did you make this all by yourself?”

“My little sister helped a bit—mainly taste-testing. But I did all the cooking myself.”

“Wow, that’s impressive! You can do so many things, Tōma.”

“Yeah, I put in a lot of effort. It’s nice to hear that. Actually, I made a bento yesterday too, but I wasn’t happy with the flavor, so I didn’t bring it. This time, I finally made one I’m proud of.”

As they ate together, Tōma explained how he made the meal.

“It was well-prepared and easy to eat. Thank you for the bento!”

“No problem. I planned to make one anyway.”

The two of them enjoyed their conversation as they finished lunch.

Suzuha also ate the onigiri he had prepared.

After they finished eating, Tōma packed up the empty bento box.

At that moment, Suzuha looked like she had something to say.

“Um… hey, do you have time later today?”

“Later? Yeah, I should be free. Why?”

“There’s something I want to talk about.”

“We could talk here.”

“What I want to say is pretty important. I’d rather talk about it when we’re alone. If you’re free, I’d like you to come over to my house.”

“Your house? Sure, that’s fine.”

It would be his first time visiting Suzuha’s house.

He had always wanted to see what it was like, so the idea excited him.

“Hey, Tōma?”

“Yeah?”

“Whatever happens when we’re alone, you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“It’s that important?”

“Yes. So promise me we’ll be alone when we talk.”

“Alright. If it’s that serious, I won’t say anything.”

Seeing the serious look on her face, Tōma nodded lightly.

“But… why tell me something so important?”

“That’s a secret. It’s just… I finally made up my mind to say it. Besides, keeping secrets while being in a relationship isn’t good, right?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t like that.”

“That’s why I want to tell you. But you’ll have to wait until later.”

She winked at him playfully, teasing him a little.

“Oh, by the way, about that manga you were talking about—I finally started reading it.”

“You mean that adventure series?”

“Yeah. It has over 100 volumes, so I can’t finish it quickly. But you said you’re only on volume 15, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I want to experience the story at the same pace as you. I’ll try to catch up soon.”

Suzuha smiled as she spoke.

“I’m really looking forward to it. I wanted to have a shared interest with you. So, I thought I’d give that manga a try.”

“I’m glad. If we have something to talk about together, it makes things even more fun.”

The two of them continued talking about the adventure manga, sharing their thoughts on the story.

Having a common interest made school life more enjoyable.

As lunch break continued, Tōma found himself smiling as he talked about the manga.