"Thanks, Kitahara-kun~"

Takashi replied listlessly, "Don't mention it. Next."

At a university cafeteria drink bar, Takashi stood behind the counter like a lunch lady, helping one girl after another fill their drinks.

The girls, smiling and giggling, walked off with their drinks.

"Get me an orange juice, thanks."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at him oddly, unable to figure out why he was playing cafeteria auntie—but still handed over his empty cup.

"Don't you have hands of your own?"

Takashi replied grumpily.

He glanced around and, seeing no one else he recognized, picked up his tray and left—leaving behind a very confused Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had no idea what he'd done wrong.

Finding an empty seat, Takashi sat down and picked up the noodles from his oversized bowl.

Slurping them into his mouth, he nodded in satisfaction—they weren't bad.

As he focused on eating, a girl carrying a tray stacked with dishes scanned the cafeteria, spotted him, and happily made her way over.

"Kitahara-kun, what a coincidence! I didn't expect to run into you here."

Lifting his head from his massive bowl, Takashi smiled in recognition. "Hello, Nakano-san."

Itsuki set down her tray and said with delight, "I'm the only one who got assigned to this school. I thought I'd have to eat alone."

"It's so nice to run into you here, Kitahara-kun."

Glancing subtly at her over-the-top tray—even more loaded than his own—Takashi silently eyed her waist, thinking, If she eats that much, she's bound to get a belly.

"I—I don't usually eat this much!" Itsuki stammered.

Takashi had only flicked his eyes at her for a second, confident he'd been discreet, yet she caught it perfectly.

Her face and ears turned red as she rushed to explain, "Normally, I don't eat much! I don't know why I'm so hungry today. I just… accidentally ordered a tiny bit more than usual…"

"Maybe it's because of the exams."

Takashi nodded with a faint smile. "Yeah, I get it."

Seeing that fake smile on his face, Itsuki panicked even more.

"Really! All five of us sisters together only weigh 250 kilograms. We weighed ourselves!"

"…Why would you weigh yourselves together?"

Takashi was a bit confused.

Isn't height and weight usually measured individually?

Itsuki: "Don't we five sisters look exactly the same?"

Takashi: "Yeah…"

Itsuki: "So if beauty can be divided five ways, then our weight can be too, right?"

Takashi: "…?"

Itsuki: "Each of us is exactly 50kg. That's the ideal healthy weight for a girl. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

Takashi: "???"

What kind of logic is that?

"There's nothing wrong with that!!!"

Itsuki gave him a deadly sweet smile, staring him down word by word. Even the ahoge on top of her head was standing straight up.

Takashi, sensing danger, quickly gave her a thumbs-up. "You're absolutely right."

As expected, whoever inherited that ahoge also inherited the stomach of a king.

"Whew!"

Seeing Takashi so cooperative, Itsuki let out a quiet breath of relief.

After clapping her hands together with a "let's eat," she pulled her hair back, picked up some udon noodles, and began eating gracefully.

Takashi resumed eating as well—except unlike her elegant style, he wolfed it down like a man possessed.

Under Itsuki's stunned gaze, Takashi finished his noodles and soup in less than a minute, as if he were a reincarnated starving ghost.

Then he moved on to his steak and rice.

"Kitahara-kun, you're amazing!"

Itsuki had thought she was a fast eater, but apparently someone was even more ferocious.

Takashi ignored her, continuing to devour his food.

To him, eating was eating. He wasn't a fan of chatting during meals.

"Kitahara-kun, are you super smart because you eat so much?"

Takashi glanced at her and swallowed.

"Intelligence is something you're born with. Has nothing to do with how much you eat. Eating too much will just make you fat."

"I'm not fat!"

"Oh."

"I really am not fat! Last year I weighed only—" Mid-sentence, she saw Takashi slumped on the table, fast asleep after finishing his meal.

A moment later, she could hear the sound of even breathing.

"He… he fell asleep?"

Nakano Itsuki was dumbfounded.

"Don't worry about it. He's just in a food coma."

Yukino walked past with her empty tray, eyes straight ahead.

"Excuse me, can I sit here?"

Itsuki opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, a girl approached—every strand of hair sparkling like a special effect, flawless beauty radiating from her.

"Sure."

"Hi there. I'm Umaru, a first-year student at Arayata High."

Umaru placed her half-eaten tray down and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Nakano Itsuki, a first-year at Aoba."

"Nakano-san, may I ask what your relationship is with Kitahara-kun?"

Umaru asked casually, but she cared a lot more than she let on.

When Takashi was eating alone earlier, she had wanted to join him, but hesitated.

No one else was going over. If she had, everyone would notice her special relationship with him.

Takashi had lots of female fans. Thinking about his future, Umaru restrained herself even though she wanted to go.

But she hadn't expected that while she was still hesitating, someone else would dare to steal her pig.

How could she just sit back and accept that?

To assert ownership, Umaru approached Nakano Itsuki.

My relationship with Kitahara-kun…?

Umaru's question stumped Itsuki.

She hadn't really thought about her relationship with Takashi.

They hadn't met many times, and when they did, her sisters were usually around too.

They chatted online fairly often—but it wasn't really "chatting," more like her asking him academic questions.

That didn't really count as friendship, did it?

After thinking for a while, Itsuki answered uncertainly, "I guess… he's kind of like half a tutor to me?"

Umaru was instantly relieved.

"Actually, I have pretty good grades too. I ranked fourth on the last mock exam. If you don't understand anything, you can come ask me."

Umaru offered herself up.

She wasn't really eager to tutor Itsuki—she just wanted to reduce how often they interacted.

Who knows what might happen if tutoring turned into something more?

Never overestimate a man's self-control.

Umaru had learned that the hard way.

"Really?"

Itsuki looked at her in surprise. Fourth in the country? Way more reliable than the tutor Dad found. And Umaru-san seems so patient, too.

"Really."

Just as Umaru answered, she saw someone sit down next to Takashi right in front of her.

Umaru narrowed her eyes and looked over—it was Komi Shouko.

"Komi-san, may I ask what your relationship is with Takashi?"

Komi Shouko expressionlessly replied, "Besties."

A fox in disguise is still a fox.

'Besties'?

As if there's pure friendship between guys and girls.

Umaru glared daggers at Komi, her expression turning hostile.

Komi, growing nervous under Umaru's stare, added a clarification: "Really close besties."

That made Umaru's gaze even colder.

She felt like Komi was provoking her.

She's so scary! QAQ

Komi's face remained calm, but inside she was panicking.

She had no idea why her explanation only made Umaru angrier.

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