CHAPTER 181: KIERA’S HARD TIME [1]

"You loser. Don’t tell me you’ve never had a girl make you a meal before?"

Before morning assembly even started, Kiera stormed into our classroom like she owned the place—because of course she did—and dropped something onto my desk with a loud thunk.

It was a lunchbox.

She stood there with her arms crossed, looking smug, like she’d just handed me a grenade and was waiting for me to pull the pin.

I stared at it, a little suspicious.

Unless Kiera had suddenly developed a grudge and decided to assassinate me via lunchbox bomb, I had to assume this was food. Homemade food.

I glanced down. The corners of the box were neatly taped shut, probably to keep it from spilling. There were a few awkward smudges near the lid, like she’d wiped something off in a hurry. And her right hand—covered in two fresh band-aids.

It wasn’t much, but it told me enough.

She’d put in effort.

That part... I didn’t expect.

"Well," I said, lifting the box carefully, "this is either really thoughtful or the start of a very slow, very mild poisoning."

"Don’t flatter yourself. I’m just being nice to a pathetic underclassman who clearly needs it."

"Right. So this isn’t out of concern or anything. Got it."

"I had leftovers," she added quickly. "Made too much during cooking club."

That was a lie. A very obvious one.

Kiera looked away, pretending to examine the posters on the classroom wall like they were suddenly fascinating. Her ears were a little red.

I didn’t call her out on it.

Mostly because I was already feeling a tiny pang of guilt.

"...You really made this?" I asked.

"I said I did, didn’t I?" she snapped, turning back toward me with a scowl. "Tried a new recipe. Simple stuff. Don’t expect some gourmet level crap."

There was a pause.

"...Thanks," I said, quieter this time.

Kiera blinked, like she wasn’t expecting that.

Then she coughed into her fist, fidgeted, and muttered, "Don’t make it weird."

I held back a laugh. Classic Kiera.

But the timing was kind of funny.

Because the truth was... I’d already eaten something this morning. A proper breakfast. Cooked by someone else. By a girl.

Leona had woken up early and made eggs, rice, and miso soup, saying something about making sure I didn’t "run on sugar and vending machine coffee like a delinquent."

I’d tried to act like it was no big deal, but it was.

It had been a long time since someone made me breakfast just because they cared.

So Kiera’s lunchbox wasn’t the first meal a girl had ever made for me.

But I wasn’t about to rub that in her face.

She’d made this for me. Clumsily, sure. Probably with a lot of effort and frustration along the way. Bandaged fingers proved that. So even if I wasn’t hungry, I wasn’t going to turn her down.

I opened the lid slightly to peek inside.

The presentation was rough. A little uneven. The rice was squished into the wrong shape, and some of the tamagoyaki was browned too much on one side.

But honestly?

It smelled... really good.

My stomach growled on cue. Loudly.

Kiera smirked.

"I knew you’d forgotten to pack lunch again. You’re hopeless."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, closing the lid carefully. "Guess I’ll rely on you just this once."

"You better," she said, flicking my forehead. "Or I’ll shove it down your throat next time."

I winced, rubbing my forehead. "Seriously, what kind of tsundere threat is that?"

Before I could even recover, a voice piped up from behind me.

"Well, well. Look who’s getting popular."

"I didn’t think Kiera would go that far. Are you two having lunch together now? How romantic."

I turned around slowly.

There they were—Leona and Ryen—waltzing over with smug grins plastered across their faces like this was the highlight of their morning.

And honestly?

It probably was.

They were enjoying every second of this.

That was so immature.

Did they seriously think I’d get flustered over something like this?

I mean, mentally, I’m way past the age where this kind of thing gets to me.

...Or at least, I should be.

"Shut up," I muttered, already feeling the heat crawl up my neck.

Yep. I was pretty embarrassed.

I wasn’t used to this kind of sweet, youthful energy. These guys lived in it, breathed it like air. Meanwhile, I was on the outside looking in, and sometimes it stung more than I’d admit.

"Aw, look at that," Leona said with a mock gasp. "Rin’s blushing."

"Don’t bully the poor guy," Ryen chimed in, draping an arm around my shoulder like we were best friends. "He’s sensitive."

"Hey! If you say it out loud like that, what do you think will happen to him?" Leona said dramatically. "You’re a real villain, Ryen."

"You act all sweet," I muttered, brushing his arm off, "but you’re the worst out of all of them."

"Oh, come on," Ryen said, laughing. "You like

the attention. Admit it. A cute girl made you lunch."

He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

I deadpan stared at him.

"You’re all annoying."

They burst out laughing.

Even if the others were messing around, the fact that Ryen was playing the good cop with that overly handsome face of his just made it worse. He was the type who’d charm people with a smile, then twist the knife in your back—only socially, of course.

Seriously, Ryen. You absolute bastard.

But they were missing something.

I cleared my throat.

"Anyway, joke’s on you. I’ve already got plans for lunch."

That shut them up for half a second.

"Oh?" Leona raised an eyebrow. "Plans? With who?"

"Secret," I said, turning away and casually slipping the lunchbox into my bag. "But I won’t be eating in the cafeteria or classroom."

Technically true.

I didn’t want to say it out loud because it would completely kill the mood—but I’d promised to meet with someone else at lunch today. Nothing dramatic. Just... important.

And I really didn’t want to look like the guy juggling lunch dates.

Leona narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Ryen’s grin widened.

"Ohhh, a secret lunch date?" he said. "Now I really want to know."

"Good," I replied. "Because you won’t."

They both groaned in unison.

"Rin," Leona said with a sigh, "you’ve become such a tease lately."

"I have not."

"See?" Ryen said. "Only a tease would say that."

I gave up. There was no winning against these two.

I just hoped lunch wouldn’t turn into some weird romantic misunderstanding war zone.

But with Kiera involved... I had a bad feeling.