Vol 1 Chapter 9 (1/2)
What I was surprised by first when I entered the dining hall was the background noise.
If we’re talking about my old school’s cafeteria, that place had been a confined s.p.a.ce for which hungry students rushed screaming ‘That please!’ or ‘This please!’ at the auntie, all the while the ‘chattering’ around us was h.e.l.la noisy…
That ‘ambient noise’ (I heard that voice actor term from Ery) was different here.
It was calm and felt ’rounder’, a pleasant experience for the ears.
Maybe it was the way they used their voices, or their word choice, or maybe their topics. I didn’t hear a word of ‘don’t you love that actor’ or ‘how do you like xyz-cool-guy’.
The floor was vast. A deep red, high-cla.s.s, carpet was spread across it and, on the opposing side, the wall was made completely out of gla.s.s.
Enc.u.mbered by the soft light which peaked through from the green garden, the ojou-samas sat at the round tables all smiling.
And then…
The second they became aware of my presence—— the dining hall fell dead silent.
RUUUUUUUUUUUSTLE—! Like a u-turn from how it was before, they stirred in a big commotion.
“The commoner.”, “He is…”, “Oh my!”—Could be heard from numerous tables.
I was walking across the marble floor, guided by Arisugawa-san, all the while being stared at by ojou-samas from kindergarten to junior college.
I felt as if their stares were licking me all over from top to toe.
“That’s how a commoner walks…”
Eh?! You’re looking that hard?!
Being way too nervous I, “GA—!” tripped.
“He tripped.”
“He stumbled in his steps!”
“Did this have a certain significance, too…?”
It didn’t!
We reached a high cla.s.s round table.
Arisugawa-san and company had their chairs drawn back by the dining hall maids and sat down. I sat down by myself, as I always did.
Again, a slight uproar. The smaller children tried to imitate me while the maids tried to stop them.
Even after I’d sat down, their ‘my curiosity is endless!’-gazes remained locked onto me and were stabbing me in the back.
Then the maids came handing over the menu. My fingers stiffened on the leather-covered menu with the high cla.s.s touch to it.
With two menus, a western and an eastern one, it felt like the western was chosen more often. Even though it wasn’t even written in English, it had many dishes I’d never heard of. The heck’s ‘s.h.i.+njou’?
A maid glanced at me.
“…! E-Ehm… Then I’ll have the j.a.panese menu.”
“My. I’ll take the same then, please.”
Arisugawa-san said. And so the other ojou-samas followed,
“Me too.” “Me too.” “The same as Kimito-sama.”
It wasn’t just our table, I could hear them from all around ordering the j.a.panese choice.
Eh? Because I…?!
“Very well.”
The maid bowed and stepped back.
*sigh*… I corrected my posture on the chair. The cus.h.i.+on had a superbly fluffy feel to it.
On the other side, Arisugawa-san smiled elegantly.
What’s with this calm atmosphere… Aren’t people usually more hurried and restless in the morning?
“Be that as it may, I was surprised.”
Arisugawa-san started the conversation.
“For Aika-sama to be there.”
“Ah, well, we kinda met by chance…”
“It’s the first time that I’ve seen Aika-sama being with someone. More than anything, she seemed to have… opened her heart.”
“Well…”
That’s because she doesn’t really care about me.
“Which means that we really do have our share of shortcomings to us, doesn’t it…”
She hung her head. She looked like a lonesome flower in a vase.
——No, that’s not it.
She just doesn’t want to get hated by you all.
I thought about saying it for a second, but I got the feeling that I shouldn’t speak of the deeper reasoning of someone I’ve only just met, so I stopped.
“It might be just me, but I don’t think it’s anything like that. She probably has her reasons. ——So please don’t hate her.”
She stared at me in puzzlement.
“Why would I hate Aika-sama?”
She asked bearing a terrifically innocent expression.
“Eh, well… because it makes you feel super bad when she runs away every time you call out to her? Without any real reason, that is. ‘What’s wrong with her?’ …Or something? No?”
“…………”
With a bunch of question marks above her head, she slowly inclined her head.
Touching her forehead with her finger, she looked like she was thinking hard, going ‘Hmm, hmm…’.
Eh, did I say something that confusing…?
“——Ah!”
She clapped her hands together.
“I see, it’s like that, isn’t it? …I’ve completely understood.”
She nodded slowly a few times,
“Putting this aside, Kimito-sama, regarding commoners…”
“Eh?! We’re done already?!”
I tsukkomi’ed before I knew it.
“Ah…”
After Arisugawa-san got exceedingly bashful—— she expressed a smile like a white rose.
“Just being told by Kimito-sama that we’re not being thought of as an unpleasantness by Aika-sama is putting me at ease.”
A pure white rose without even one dirty spot.
“If this is the case, then we will surely be able to become friends.”
…Really, I’ve still underestimated her.
That’s—— what they call ‘different upbringing’, huh?
“Reiko-sama is our aspiration!”
Toujou-san said from the right. She was an attractive and cheerful girl – just like an idol.
“Yes, without doubt.”
Mizuho-san agreed from the left. A spectacled girl with the feel of a library committee member.
“It’s always said that Reiko-sama has never hated or gotten angry at anyone. If there was one thing I could wish for, then it’d surely be to become a maiden as pure as Reiko-sama!”
Toujou-san said and sent a gaze full of admiration to Arisugawa-san. If I were to put it cheaply, she was like, ‘LOVE-LOVE BEAM!’.
I see now. So even these young ladies have people they look up to.
“P-Please stop it already. Aah, what’s keeping our meals, I wonder.”
Arisugawa-san hid her embarra.s.sment… They really exist, huh… these kinda people.
——If it’s like this, won’t it be simple?
It got me thinking. Just by giving Aika a little push, she should easily fit into this cla.s.s.
“E-Ehm… I was told something about an explanatory meeting after this, but I haven’t heard any details?”
Thereupon—— Arisugawa-san and company exchanged meaningful looks.
“…What now?”
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
Arisugawa-san smiled.
“You’re not hiding something, are you?”
“I-I’m not hiding anything—”
“Really…?”
I stared at her.
Thereupon, Arisugawa-san’s cheeks blushed, casted her eyes down, and got all fidgety.
With that kind of amusing reaction, I started grinning before I knew it. And then the cooking finally arrived.