Chapter 286 Green Peppers Appear Again
Eriri's words indeed left Uchimaki Subaru a bit puzzled, but he also knew that she wasn't someone who spoke without purpose, so he could only ponder by himself.
Looking at Eriri beside him, Kaede asked in a low voice, "Still no progress?"
"Uh-huh."
Eriri nodded, replying softly, "I'll tell you at noon."
Kaede understood that it wasn't a good time to talk while they were on the road, so he suppressed his curiosity.
However, looking at Uchimaki Subaru, who was a seat away, Kaede knew that there hadn't been much good progress regarding Usami's previous invitation for him to hang out.
Indeed, if progress had been swift, this person wouldn't be Uchimaki Subaru.
When they arrived at school, Kitamura Yusaku was, as usual, on duty by the school gate. He immediately spotted Kaede and Eriri, who stood out significantly in the crowd.
After they approached, Kitamura said with a smile, "Hahaha, you two really grab attention."
"Good morning."
Kaede raised his hand in greeting and said, "You're really early, but are you the only one? Kano Senpai didn't come with you?"
"Hmm, the President has other things to do elsewhere, so this morning was left to me."
Looking again at Kaede and Eriri's scarf, Kitamura Yusaku clicked his tongue and said, "You two should pay attention to the occasion when showing affection. There are so many single people in school. Hurry up and go inside."
Patting Kitamura's shoulder, Kaede smiled and led Eriri through the school gate, naturally feeling the envious glances of the students arriving at the same time.
And as Takasu Ryuji passed Kitamura, he whispered, "I estimate those two will continue to have similar antics in the future."
"I think so too." Kitamura Yusaku said with a wry smile, "It's just our school doesn't prohibit dating anymore, and these two are also celebrities in the school. As long as they don't go too far, no one can control them."
Takasu Ryuji shrugged and didn't chat much with Kitamura, entering the school gate.
As for Uchimaki Subaru?
That guy was still lost in thought, completely oblivious to his surroundings, which was truly something else.
Inside the school building, under the gaze of many students, Kaede took off the scarf wrapped around his and Eriri's necks, folded it, and said with a smile, "This, where should we put it? It's a bit too big."
"Hehe, how about we put it in the Art Club?"
Kaede thought about it; it did seem better to put it in the Art Club? The classroom drawers were definitely too small, so only the Art Club room had space for it.
"Okay, then I'll go to the classroom first, and then to the Art Club room to put away the scarf."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Kaede-kun!"
Over the past six months, Eriri had grown accustomed to the gazes of her peers. And she could tell that, whether boys or girls, most of their looks were envious.
Hmph hmph~~ You all have plenty to envy; Kaede-kun and I still have two more years to study here!
At noon, Kaede and Eriri had already made plans, so they naturally didn't go to the cafeteria with others, heading straight to the Art Club room.
They turned on the air conditioning, and after the room temperature slowly rose, the two sat together and ate lunch.
"Ugh... Although it's an insulated box, it's still not very hot by noon. I like to eat hot lunch."
"Today was a mistake. Tomorrow, we'll go to the staff office first, borrow their microwave to heat it up before eating."
"Hehe, let's do that then."
Taking the miso soup Kaede poured for her and taking a sip, Eriri finally warmed up and happily leaned on Kaede as she ate.
While eating, Eriri brought up what she hadn't said in the morning.
"Didn't I suggest to Mizuki before that she ask Uchimaki out? She actually did, and she even invited Uchimaki to Akihabara, and they even went to a cosplay shop I recommended. It's just a pity..."
"Hmm? A pity what?"
Kaede listened, thinking that the follow-up should have been quite easy. Whether it was experiencing cosplay together or having Uchimaki show Usami around Akihabara, both could effectively bring them closer. When Kaede and Eriri first met, besides games, they also got to know each other gradually by hanging out in such places.
With her mouth full of meat, Eriri said indignantly, "The result was, Usami didn't have the courage to pull Uchimaki into cosplaying with her, and in the end, she became Uchimaki's ruthless changing machine, and they didn't even take pictures together. Later, when they were exploring Akihabara, it got a little better, but Uchimaki didn't consider Mizuki's capacity to absorb information and talked non-stop from beginning to end. Sigh... I still overestimated Mizuki's initiative and underestimated Uchimaki's denseness."
Listening to Eriri's sigh, Kaede chuckled, "It's pretty much what I expected. Although Uchimaki is an otaku, I think what's more important is his straightforward personality. He's too much of a'straight man,' which often prevents him from understanding a girl's feelings well. You can see this from how he constantly annoys Usami after joining the Art Club, and it's not even intentional; he genuinely didn't realize."
"Oh dear~ What should we do then?"
"What else can we do? It's up to their own fate." Kaede said calmly, "For these kinds of things, no matter how much we care, the advice we can give is still limited, because in the end, they can only act on their own. Until a result appears, everything is just an unknown."
"You're right, Kaede-kun, that's all we can do."
Eriri nodded, glanced at her bento, her expression changed, and she said grumpily, "Kaede-kun, why did you make green peppers again! When did you even buy them? I should have supervised you making the bento!"
"Hehe." Kaede said with a smile, "Didn't I buy the vegetables yesterday? And this tastes different, Eriri, try it. Stuffed green peppers are delicious! If it's not good, I'll do all the housework for the next month."
"O-one month?!"
Eriri was shocked. A month of housework, what a huge bet!
"Exactly, one month." Kaede nodded, "Conversely, if what I make is delicious, then Eriri, you can't be a picky eater anymore! Don't worry, I'll try to make the things you didn't like before taste good."
"..."
Listening to Kaede's words, Eriri frowned, but finally said, "Okay... okay, I'll try it, since you put it that way, Kaede-kun."
With that, her trembling hand picked up a whole green pepper, saw the meat stuffed inside the opening, and it didn't smell bad.
She opened her mouth and took a small bite, but the taste she had expected didn't come out.
"Huh? Surprisingly delicious?"