Chaoskouji

Arc 6 Chapter 9 - Festival Part 4

Once the cavalry event was over, the school gave us an hour's break for lunch. I was surprised that they could fit such a long break into the schedule, but we had been rushing through events, so a long break was necessary.

Most of the grade had spread out amongst themselves, and even for a moment it felt like the barrier between classes had dropped. There was mingling between classes, people eating lunch together. It was something that had been happening more and more since the start of term.

This surprised me a little, since we were in the midst of a competition, but it seemed like human nature to seek out friendship. If our school hadn't organised it so we would compete, this likely would have been the state of our grade since the beginning of the year.

Even with the competition there were plenty of people who had friends across classes. People like Ichinose and Kikyou who were endlessly friendly with everyone had already breached that barrier, so now that there was less to fear from Class C it was easy enough for everyone to branch out.

Kikyou had insisted on making me lunch today, and so we sat down a little way away from everyone where we probably wouldn't be heard to eat. She handed me a bento box with a smile, and watched slightly nervously as I opened it.

It was a perfectly ordinary lunch, complete with rice, teriyaki chicken and some greens. I could have easily made a much more impressive lunch than this. And yet, there was something special about having a meal made for you, that made it much more enticing.

"It looks nice. Thank you."

The nervousness disappeared, and Kikyou relaxed slightly, having gotten approval for my meal. "Ah, it's no trouble. I wanted to practice the cooking you've taught me."

We dug into our respective lunches, only to find it was a lot better than I had expected. Simple, but well prepared.

"I'm surprised you can have lunch with me," I said.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kikyou growled. We were far enough away from people that she could let down her mask somewhat. "Do you not want to eat my food, is that it?"

"No, it's delicious. But I thought you would have to be spending time with other people and cultivating more friendships."

Kikyou's life goal was to learn the secrets of everyone around her. To that end, she spent most of her time surrounded by classmates and friends, trying to worm her way into their lives as a confidant and trusted friend. It was insidious and effective.

She slumped a little at my question. "It's a big day. I wanted some time away from everyone when I could just be me." And I was the only person she could do that around.

"An exhausting day," I surmised.

"No, school is exhausting. Sitting in a class and having lunch with every bitch there is, listening to the woes of ugly boys who want a girlfriend and will never get one is exhausting. Today isn't exhausting. It's complete and utter fucking torture." She kept her voice low so that no one would hear what she was saying, but the anger was just as prevalent, perhaps even more scary than if she had been screaming it out.

"I have to cheer for people I despise, be happy when they succeed. Constantly motivate people I want nothing more for than to snap their ankle while they run. Do you have any idea how many times I've stopped Class A fighting amongst themselves? Ichinose isn't even stepping in at all, she's just watching with an upset look. The happiest I felt all day was when Horikita hurt herself. At least then I can annoy her by being overly caring."

She tilted to the side and let herself fall until she was resting her head on my shoulder. "You're my only real friend," Kikyou bitterly admitted. "I just wanted to spend time with someone who actually cares about me, and someone I can actually care about."