Vol 2 Chapter 11 (1/2)
A tense atmosphere filled the room.
Sitting around Hakua who was sitting on a cus.h.i.+on while reading manga——
“…………”
“…………”
“…………”
Aika, Reiko and Karen fidgeted in their places as none of them dared to open their mouths.
‘Let’s… sit down with her and talk it over’——although they said it like that, they didn’t know what to ask.
Ojou-samas like them have no experiences of going through a war of words, as well as having little or no imagination. To be frank, they were just kind of like puppets controlled by their strings.
Thus, if something goes wrong in a plan, they usually would not know what to do. It was because of this that their omiai¹ were often unsuccessful.
“Th-that’s right! I forgot to bring tea!”
“Right!”
“Y-yeah!”
Thus, the table was now spread with the usual snacks.
Aika and co. sipped their red tea nervously as they awkwardly tried to pa.s.s the time.
However, Hakua didn’t even do as much as taking a look at the snacks on top of the table, let alone eat it.
“W-what is wrong Hakua-sama? Why do you not help yourself?”
Reiko had a troubled face as she whispered in Aika’s ear.
(Wh-what is wrong? The refreshments prepared are the same as usual.)
(Maybe it’s…because she doesn’t have an appet.i.te?)
(——Nope, you’re all mistaken.)
Karen stood up suddenly.
“Then, what is the problem?”
Karen didn’t reply to her as she took a cookie in her hand with a ‘Leave it to me’ expression on her face.
“Hakua only eats when someone gives her food with their hands.
With a serious face, she kneeled in front of Hakua and…slowly brought the biscuit near her mouth.
Hakua’s head turned away.
“Why not!?”
“Well, it happens all the time.”
Aika retorted without care.
“……Ugh…it can’t be helped!”
Karen suddenly walked towards the wardrobe.
From there, she took out Kimito’s clothes as she changed in the corner of the room.
“Sup! Me, Kimito!”
She pointed at herself with her finger.
“I love muscular men and grade-school girls!”
They were all horrible attributes one could have.
“Hey Hakua, eat this cookie from my hand, will you?”
Karen who had worn Kimito’s clothes approached Hakua again.
Hakua’s head turned away again.
“Why not……!?”
Aika and Reiko had only kept quiet as they only looked at her with sympathetic eyes.
Grumble~~~
Hakua’s stomach grumbled loudly.
Although she must be hungry, Hakua only continued reading the manga as if nothing had happened.
“Ha-Hakua-sama, let me feed you, please……?”
Reiko held out a piece of lime cake on a plate——but there was no reaction from her.
“Look, aren’t you hungry? Eat this.”
Aika forcefully thrusted a piece of chocolate to Hakua’s mouth, but she was still unwilling to open her mouth.
“………It can’t be helped.”
Karen had a strange face on, as she bit on the end of a Pocky biscuit in her mouth.
“FuaFua”
The biscuit was blocked by the manga in Hakua’s hand.”
“……Why does she not eat……?”
The table was spread fully with food brought over from the pantry.
Among these, were snacks that Kimito usually fed Hakua with.
But she didn’t even glance at them.
……GRUMBLE~~~~~……!
The grumbling noise got louder, but the owner of the stomach herself won’t do anything about it. This had made Aika and co. troubled.
“Aika-sama, what do we do now?”
“As if I know!”
The two of them panicked.
“……Kiryu! Kiryu!”
“At your service, Reiko-sama.”
Reiko explained the situation to the maid that had come forward.
“Hakua-sama only eats the scheduled food everyday.”
“Ah? So that is the case……?”
“Hold on, that can’t be right. The food Kimito feeds her is always some random snacks.”
“About that, I am afraid I do not know of the cause.”
“On a side note, what is she having for today?”
“It should be tuna sus.h.i.+ rolls.”
“Then, please prepare some.”
“Understood.”
A few moments later.
“Sorry for the wait.”
“Thank you. You may leave the room.”。
Accepting the dish from Kiryu, Reiko sent a message to Aika with her eyes.
And then approached Hakua to put the sus.h.i.+ rolls beside her.
“Ha-Hakua sama, we have some tuna sus.h.i.+ rolls prepared for you here.
“……”
Hakua had a reaction for the first time to their words.
Moving her line of sight from the book, she glanced at the tuna sus.h.i.+ rolls on the plate. Stretching out her hand, she took one from the plate and put it in her mouth.
She closed her mouth as she chewed it slowly.
“……Hah…….”