Chapter 3 – Slow Steps
Volume 1
The classroom is very busy during lunch break.
Part of it is because people are eating lunch, but the other part is that it’s a longer period. The longer the time, the wider the range of things you can do naturally.
So, here are the groupings.
When class is over, the cafeteria group is the first to leave the classroom. The remainder of the students in the lunch group move to different seats or stick together to eat together with their friends. Ichiya and I are part of this group. I’m the one with the chair facing the back.
Here, the lunch group is divided into two groups. Those who eat quickly and those who eat slowly. There is no reason for the latter. There is no reason to hurry, so they just eat slowly. On the other hand, those who eat quickly have their reasons. They want to go to the open gym to play, they want to do the assignments they haven’t done yet, and so on.
Now that a third of the lunch break has been used up, many of the cafeteria and lunch group early eaters have left, and only about a quarter of the students remain in the classroom.
Now, I’m sitting alone in my classroom, lost in thought. My elbows are propped up on the desk, my chin supported by my palms, and I’m gazing at the blackboard. The reason why I have tried to divide my behavior into different types is that I am bored.
Just a few minutes ago, I was eating lunch with Ichiya as usual. However, I sent him out to buy some juice because he snatched one of my pork cutlets during lunch. I had to make him pay for stealing the last bit of pork cutlet that I had saved for myself.
That was all well and good, but then I was bored. Just out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my dear classmate Kayoko Iuchi, posing with a peace sign for a picture. But I decided to ignore her for now. I feel like I’m going to get into a lot of trouble if I bother her.
…… I’m bored.
As I was trying to find someone to talk to, one of them approached me from the other side. It was a friend from my class.
[Do you know Nacchi?]
[Know what? And don’t call me Nacchi.]
It was a good start, not too far off the average.
[As a matter of fact, third and fourth period, the third-year art class had home economics class.]
My friend sat down in the empty seat in front of me and got right to the point.
[What’s wrong with that? There are home economics classes every week, you know.]
Well, I’m curious about the art department in the third year. It’s Katase Senpai’s class.
[Just listen to me.]
[Then talk to me.]
The point was unclear, so I couldn’t understand what he wanted to talk about. I urged him to go on.
[I heard that they had a cooking class and made cookies.]
[Oh.]
[Aren’t you curious about the whereabouts of those cookies? Especially Katase Senpai’s.]
[Aren’t you supposed to eat them yourself?]
[Are you stupid?]
I think I’m better than you in terms of academics, common sense, and normal thinking.
[It’s a tradition to take these things to the guy you like.]
[Is that so?]
[It is so]
Ah, so that’s how it is. Freshly baked cookies certainly look delicious. Most men think that lunch boxes are not enough to eat. And if they were offered them with a hint of affection, it would be quite pleasant.
Just then, Ichiya returned to the class.
[I’m sorry, Nachi. Can you take this first?]
[Uwa.!]
In addition to the juice I ordered and a can of coffee for himself, he was also holding something in his hands that was brightly colored and decorated. Some of them were fancy bags, some were paper napkins tied up with ribbons, and some were small tins of sweets.
At any rate, I pulled the juice I had ordered out of Ichiya’s hand, careful not to let the other things fall apart when I took it.
[What’s this?]
[I have no idea. They were shoved one after the other into my hand in the hallway. I think they said they were cookies.]
In other words, Ichiya was immediately presented with a gift.
[It’s quite a big haul.]
As usual, he’s a popular guy.
I also moved them, which were supposed to be cookies, to the desk of Ichiya.
There were ribbons, bags, tins, and even a message card ……. These were not improvised items, they had been prepared in advance from home. They must have gone to the cooking practice with the intention of giving them to someone from the start. It seems that my friend was right.
I’m really curious about the whereabouts of Katase-senpai’s cookies. I wonder if senpai will also give it to someone too.
[Right. I’m going to do a little reconnaissance.]
My friend sat up vigorously. It’s not that he was perceptive to my concerns, he was merely following his interests. I admire his energy.
[Well, good luck.]
Since we’re on the subject, let me also know what you find out.
[Nachi, do you want to eat some?]
As I stared at the door through which the idiot had dashed off, Ichiya asked me. It was either an apology for the bite of pork cutlet he had recently taken or perhaps he was too distressed by the sheer volume of cookies to eat. The reason may be the latter, as you can see a slight look of disgust in his cold expression.
[I want it. Please give it to me is what I want to say ……, but that’s what Ichiya was given.]
[It’s a lot to take in. I can’t eat all of it].
[Don’t say that you can’t finish it all till you eat it. It’s not something you should give away before you’ve even touched it because it was given to you out of the kindness of someone’s heart.]
[……]
[……]
[…… All right. I will do that].
After thinking about it for a while, Ichiya was convinced. He put the cookies away in his bag……It’s a bit of a shame, isn’t it? I would have liked to try one or two, if possible. No, it’s okay.
And my thoughts shifted again to Katase Senpai’s cookies.
–If Senpai were to give it to someone, it would normally be a third-year student. In terms of imagination, an excellent student in the same art department, a brilliant student in a special class, or a captain of some athletic club in the physical education department. Any of these would suit her.
I let out a sigh as I considered this.
No matter what kind of person I imagined, my heart was in turmoil. I’d rather she ate it herself than give it to someone else.
An uncomfortable feeling.
I felt like I had something uncontrollable going on inside of me.
Also, I found Iuchi-san posing out of the corner of my eye again, and even closer than before……. should I go over and deal with her? This is a difficult situation.
Today is Wednesday.
There is no seventh-hour class, and our class ends in the sixth hour like all the other classes. But only when we can go home early, they don’t let us go home honestly. To make matters worse, I was on cleaning duty today.
After school, at the end of the assembly, I grabbed a mop and went out into the hallway when someone called out to me.
[Chiaki-kun, Chiaki-kun!]
I turned around to see a small, twin-tailed girl standing there. She looked a bit more mature than the other girls around me, so I guessed she was a senior. Or perhaps I’ve seen her before. She was from the art department, I believe.
[Is Ichiya-kun here? Ichiya-kun.?]
[Eh? Ah, if it’s Ichiya, he just left a while ago. You’re a step behind.]
[What a pity.]
The person slumped her shoulders deliberately and drooped her head.
[Do you need something? I think you can catch up with him in time. He just left a while ago.]
[Oh, no. No, it’s okay. Then, I’ll give this to Chiaki-kun.]
What was presented to me was a bag with a Kasumi grass pattern tied with a ribbon. You can see the cookies through the printed pattern.
[Well, you’re going to give it to Ichiya, right? If I give it to him, he won’t get it until tomorrow. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better if you gave it to him?]
The difference in time is probably only a few hours.
[It’s indeed for Ichiya-kun, but I wanted him to eat it with Chiaki-kun together.]
[…You meant it for Ichiya and me?]
[That’s right.]
That’s a new pattern. Well, since you say so, I’ll respect your opinion to the fullest extent.
[Well, I’ll take half today at home, and the rest tomorrow with him.]
[ No, no. That’s not it, I would like you two to eat together and I’d be happy if you two could deepen your friendship.]
[……]
What a detailed specification. In addition, why do we even need to deepen our friendship… Where can I confirm the hidden parameters?
[And if Chiaki-kun can feed these to Ichiya-kun, this big sister will be happy enough to cry.]
[So, should we face each other at a distance of about five meters and I throw it towards the night?]
[Yes, yes. Like “here.. ahm “ and ”here…ahm”..tte, that’s not it.. ]
[…….]
Seems like I have the skill of Nori-tsukkomi (TN: Nori-tsukkomi: going along with jokes etc at the beginning and then pointing out the ridiculousness of it). I’ll add a line to the skills section of the character sheet.
[Then, so long. I delivered it to you]
[Eh? Oh, yes. Thank you very much…….]
I was completely consumed by the other person’s momentum, and finally realized that I had been given a cookie, and belatedly thanked her.
I looked over at the senpai who was hurriedly running back as if I was in a daze.
I’ll do my best to meet your expectations now that you’ve given them to me. I can’t be responsible for whether or not my friendship with Ichiya will increase or not.
I went into the classroom for a while as I couldn’t clean the place with this in my hand. After putting it away in my bag, I went out into the hallway again.
[Ah, Chiaki-kun]
[Huh?]
I was called out again.
This time it was a very mature woman who I could tell at a glance was a third-year student. The glossy blur at the corner of her left eye was impressive.
[Um, this is …….]
She held out a small can to me. It was a can with a scene from a fairy tale featuring a bear printed on it. It must have originally contained candy.
[Would you like to try some?]
[For me?]
Not for Ichiya?
[Yeah.]
Senpai smiled. It’s a mature smile, though it looks like a crying smile because of her glossy brow.
[I made this for cooking class today.]
[Ah, thank you very much.]
I never thought I’d get something like this for myself ……. No, well, I just got some earlier… Half.
[You can tell me what you think of it the next time we meet…… See you]
Then she smiled again and walked away.
At that moment, I casually glanced down the corridor, and a figure disappeared around the corner as if to evade my eyes.
[ Huh? That was …….]
Unless I’m mistaken, it was Katase-senpai.
I was looking at that place for a while, but there was no sign of her appearing again. I’m not sure if it was just a mistake or if she was just about to turn the corner. Either way, it seemed unlikely that she would still be there even if I went to see her now.
After cleaning up, I left the school entrance about thirty minutes later than usual. The difference of 30 minutes was quite large, and by this time most of the students were either going straight out the school gate or going to their club activities, so there were very few students leaving the school.
[Oh…….]
And then I saw Katase-senpai there.
She stood there with a depressed look on her face. She looked up at the presence of someone newly appearing from the entrance, and when she saw it was me, she moved her mouth as if to pronounce “ah”.
Hello, senpai. Are you waiting for someone?
[Huh? Let’s see….. Madoka! Yes! I’m waiting for Madoka!]
After answering that, Katase Senpai let out a dry laugh. A deceptive laugh? Perhaps it was a bad idea to talk to her.
[If you’ve waited till this long, does that mean Madoka senpai hasn’t arrived yet?]
[Yes, it seems so.]
And this time Senpai exhales a sigh.
[Hey, Nachi-kun. Would you like to join me on the way home?]
[U~e? No, I mean, you are waiting for Madoka Senpai right……]
[No, it’s fine I don’t care about Madoka anymore. I’m sure she has club activities today.]
What the heck is that? You should have confirmed that in advance.
[Seems like it is useless to wait, and since Nachi-kun has come, I thought we could go together.]
[Of course, I don’t mind, but ……]
For some reason, I can’t help but be cautious with my words.
[Then let’s go home.]
But despite my concern, Katase-senpai immediately turned to the school gate.
We left the school gate side by side.
[…]
[…]
But for some reason, there was a silence.
I wanted to find out if Katase Senpai had been near the classroom earlier, but I felt like I shouldn’t ask her, so I hesitated to do so.
It would have been nice if the senior had said something, but even she remained silent at this moment.
As a result, We walked along the road to the station with a strange sense of tension intact.
[Ah, you see….]
After a while, it was Katase Senpai who opened her mouth first.
[Nachi-kun, did something good happen to you today?]
[Yes?]
I couldn’t help asking back.
[What’s with the extremely random question?]
[…… It’s fine. Forget about it.]
Senpai immediately rescinded it.
What was that question she just asked? Could it be that I’m making a happy face? I’ll try slapping my face…. yup. I do not understand.
[Um, um, Nachi-kun]
Katase Senpai started again.
[I think a girl from my class went to meet Nachi-kun today.]
[Yeah. someone had come]
I’m sure she meant the senior student with the shiny black hair.
[I got some cookies…… Huh? As I thought, did Senpai see me at that time?]
[N, no, that’s not the case. That girl said she was going to give it to Nachi-kun. I didn’t see the scene in person. ]
[……]
[……]
A slightly awkward silence.
Katase senpai cleared her throat with a cough.
[Then, did she say something to you? When she gave the cookies.?]
[What do you mean by something?]
[Well, something means …… something.]
[…….]
No. That’s too generic.
[She didn’t say anything to me in particular. She said she’d like to know what I thought about the cookies when we meet again. That’s about it.]
[Oh, I see. ……]
I could hear Katase’s sigh of exhaustion as I walked by her side.
[How was it, Nachi-kun, a girl like that.]
[What do you mean?]
[She’s pretty, isn’t she? She’s mature and has a sexy atmosphere. So I was wondering if you might like her.]
[No, I …….]
[Really? I thought she was quite good. Her name is Asami Kishi. If Nachi-kun is so inclined, I could introduce you to her–]
[M, more importantly…]
I interrupted Katase Senpai who was talking as if a dam had been broken.
[How did it go in your case Senpai? ]
[Mine?]
[Did you give the cookies to someone? ]
[I…….]
This time, Katase senpai turned away and became silent as if in thought.
[I heard that this kind of thing is supposed to be given to the guy you are interested in.]
[Yes, it seems so.]
Katase senpai chimed in as if it was someone else’s business.
[But there is no one like that].
I glanced sideways at Senpai. She walked with a straight back, looking only forward. It was a little bit like looking into faraway distance.
[Oh, I see……]
So, there is no guy you are interested in. And you did not give it to anyone. I was a little relieved.
[That’s why, here]
Suddenly, a red fancy paper bag was held out in front of me. The contents of the bag can …… probably be guessed.
[Ehhhh?]
I stopped in my tracks.
[Did something happen?]
Even senpai stopped behind me.
[No, it’s just that, this is …….]
[Ah yes. These are the cookies I made today. I’m sure the boy I’m closest to right now is Nachi-kun. That’s why….here ]
It was again presented to me in front of my chest.
[T,thank you very much…….]
I took it gingerly as if I were handling a precious and fragile piece of glass. In reality, it was unquestionably valuable.
[Can I open it here?]
[Sure]
Senpai smiled softly.
When I opened the neatly folded bag, a fragrant scent immediately tickled my nose. There was a paper napkin laying inside, and a refined number of cookies, neither too many nor too few.
[Wow, that looks delicious.]
[I’m glad you said that. I’m good at cooking and I’m also pretty good at baking.]
[Wow.]
This looks like it’s going to taste great.
[Let me have it for a bit.]
As I’ve been enjoying looking at them with my eyes, Katase senpai took the paper bag from my hand. And then she picked up one of the cookies from inside.
[Here, Nachi-kun. Say Aah.. ]
[No, no, that’s a little ……]
I’m embarrassed to do it in the street.
[Nope. I won’t give it to you unless you do this.]
[Uh-oh. ……]
What the heck. I can’t leave it here after coming this far. I looked around for a moment. It’s a sidewalk along a not-so-heavy traffic road. There are few people on the sidewalk, and none of them are wearing Seirei’s uniform. Oh well, I’ll be damned.
[Aah…….]
[Yes♪!]
She popped it into my mouth.
When I bit into it, the texture was light and crispy. The aroma instantly filled my mouth. The taste is a little on the sweet side, I guess.
[It’s delicious.]
[Yes. I’m glad you like it.]
Senpai smiled with satisfaction. She carefully folded the mouth of the cookie bag and put it in my hand again.
[If you need more, just let me know. I can make as many as you want]
[Then, please take care of me then.]
I feel like I’m being too brazen, but I can’t resist the magic of these cookies. I’d like to savor them slowly, but at this rate, I’ll probably never stop eating them.
[Hah, I feel refreshed. A lot of things have been gotten rid of.]
Katase Senpai moved her foot forward again.
[What is it?]
[Well, I guess it’s not good to worry too much. But that’s my business. It has probably nothing to do with you, Nachi-kun.]
Probably, huh? That’s very subtle.
I gave a single whimper of “mmm” and then followed Katase Senpai as she strode briskly along, a complete change from earlier.
TN: We have only one more chapter left in this Volume/Section. I wonder when will Tsukasa take the leap. I’ve decided to change the numering of the chapters to make it proper for NU. Hope it doesn’t bother you guys.. 😛 on another note, thanks to Anubisgodd#9426 on Discord server, I got the raws of LN for all 3 volumes. So i have added few images that matched the situation for the past chapters, including few colored ones from the front side of the book. Feel free to check them out. Join us on discord to talk and access rest of the images.
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Impatient MTL Reader 
Ok.
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