I paid off the debt for the most beautiful sisters in the school, and then they barged into my house where I live alone. “Please go back home; you don’t need to repay the favor.” “No way.” “We don’t want to~☆”

The holiday was over, and sure enough, Karen came to wake me up for school as promised.

I used to sleep until the last minute, especially when I was gaming late into the night. Breakfast was always prepared for me, but from today on, she seems intent on waking me up.

However, I’m not some weakling who can easily change his lifestyle.

I have to resist and make her realize that reforming me is pointless.

I can’t lose to Karen.

“Just five more minutes, then I’ll wake up…”

“Are you sure you’re counting in the right unit?”

“I’m not mistaken… just go ahead to school… it’s fine.”

“Alright, we’re just getting started on the ‘Life Improvement Presentation’ anyway.”

Leaving behind unsettling words about future plans, Karen seemed to give up for today and went ahead to school.

Haha, fool. Like I’d suddenly become a morning person.

— I wish I could punch the me who thought that this morning.

“Kagami-kun, may I have a moment?”

“Hm? Ah, sure.”

I was about to unwrap my bread for lunch when Karen came to talk to me.

“It’s not that convenience store bread is bad, but eating it every day isn’t nutritious in the long run.”

The class beauty is standing next to the most socially awkward boy in the class, drawing increasing attention. Stop looking, everyone.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your lunch. So, would you like a balanced bento—”

“Ah, right! I remembered something. Let’s talk outside, Shindai-san!”

Seeing the two packages in her hand, I understood everything.

If Karen said, “Here’s your share,” and handed me a lunchbox in the classroom, I couldn’t imagine what would happen next.

So, quite forcibly, I grabbed Karen’s arm and pulled her out of the classroom, ignoring the murmurs of my classmates.

“What the hell are you doing, handing out lunch boxes in the classroom? Why today of all days?”

In a deserted corner of the hallway, I finally let go of Karen’s arm and asked her. She looked puzzled.

“Well, I was going to give it to you this morning, but leaving it next to your sleeping face didn’t seem right, so…”

It was my fault! If only I’d woken up then!

“But still, even if you gave it to me this morning, the lunch would be the same, right?”

“Yes, it’s a special by Erika. Ah, but this time, I helped a little. Just one dish, but…”

“Thanks. But what do you think will happen if the class sees us eating the same lunch?”

Karen pondered for a bit and then said, “Do people really care about that?”

“Yes, they do! Especially when I’m often eating alone.”

“Ah, then shall we eat together?”

“Are you crazy? No way. I’ll find some deserted place and eat there.”

“That’s a shame.”

Back in the classroom after secretly finishing my lunch near the rooftop, I was cornered by Kunugi, a classmate, as soon as I took my seat.

“What did you do with Takane-chan? She came back alone and got asked by the other girls what happened. Guess what she said?”

“What did she say?”

“She said she invited you to eat together for nutritional enlightenment, but you refused. Now she’s considering studying nutritional science.”

Is she stupid?

“Ah, well, you know, I always eat junk food, so from her kind-hearted perspective—”

My flimsy explanation didn’t seem to register with Kunugi.

“—You holding some leverage over her?”

He probably meant it as a joke, but it’s uncomfortably close to the truth, making it hard for me to answer.

And that’s how my day went. I took the lunchbox from Karen and walked away, hearing her say, “Please tell Erika your thoughts on the lunch, and me too if you can.”

Sure, but this is absolutely something the other guys should not hear.