Editing Apocalypse Witch:Volume5 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 2===

Second Grimnoah was a crystal magic academy.

However, that did mean the students there fought magical battles year round. In fact, extreme kinds of action had to be built atop a strong foundation, so more general education could be the difference between life and death.

Just like someone who could not perform a back hip circle on the metal bar at a park wouldn’t be able to perform a giant swing at the gymnastics world championship.

So…

“Pant, pant, gasp. The bell. Kurent-sensei, the bell just rang!!”

“Tch. So you were saved by the bell, Utagai Karuta.”

The silver-haired, brown-skinned gym teacher who didn’t even bother hiding her tongue click was Letnahe Kurent. She wore a tank top and bright-colored leggings. She notably also had a ring and a mobile watch on her left hand.

“Why do your right arm and right leg start working in unison when you dance? It isn’t often I come across a student who can pull off such a cursed dance.”

“Do you realize that’s as cruel a question as asking someone who can’t swim why they sink in the water?”

“It takes talent to be that bad.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

The modern standards for teaching were to point out your student’s failings but to avoid giving them a complex about it, but this strict teacher must not have gotten the memo. She hit him with the competitive culture of “If you don’t want me to make fun of you, then get good.”

It didn’t help that he couldn’t look straight at her when she demonstrated the dance moves. That was due to how the yoga tank top and formfitting leggings showed off her curvy figure even more than a dancer in a fantasy world. Her navel was always exposed and any more intense jumps caused the rare sight that was underboob to greet him from below her tank top. But he knew saying so would only be adding fuel to the fire.

The Indian wife and teacher had worked up a healthy sweat, so she sipped at a bottle of some kind of protein drink.

“This exercise should help keep your weight down, so don’t ruin that by eating a bunch of sweet things during the Port Day.”

“Okay…”

The bell had already rung. If he got changed now, he would be too late for the lunchtime rush, so he chose to begin his quest for lunch while in his track suit.

Aine appeared at his side at some point.

“Sacri-sama, I did not observe you making a lunch today.”

“Because I’m going to the cafeteria today.”

He had shoved his wallet, phone, and other valuables in the locker along with his clothes, but he had made sure to keep a 1000 yen note in his track suit’s pocket. If you didn’t have a plan in place when you had gym for 4th period, you could never survive the high school lunchtime where so many people went hungry and thirsty.

“Aine, why are you keeping your distance all of a sudden?”

“I do not plan to eat anything myself, but I have no desire to be anywhere near someone thoughtless enough to choose curry or a meat sauce dish.”

The expressionless girl was apparently at the age where she worried about her white clothes. She must have been afraid of stray splashes. That said, Karuta had chosen katsu curry which was eaten with a spoon, so there wouldn’t be any hellish shotgun blasts like with curry udon.

“But now that you mention it, I kind of what to share it with you. Should I grab another spoon?”

“Sacri-sama.”

However, an unexpected problem presented itself.

He successfully acquired his katsu curry, but he had been too focused on that specific task. All the seats in the busy cafeteria were filled. He stood there, holding his tray and feeling at a loss. This was another challenge he had failed to consider. And for whatever reason, the cafeteria didn’t allow people to take the food out of the room to eat it.

“Sacri-sama, I see some people giving up and sitting on the floor to eat. See, with their back against the wall.”

“Because they got the set meal that’s divided into a few small plates. It’s not so easy with one big plate of curry. I need both hands just to hold the heavy plate.”

“How is that a problem?”

Karuta tilted his head and Aine made a scooping gesture.

“You can hold the plate in your hand and then I will spoon the curry into your mouth. I believe that solves the problem.”

“Karuta-kun.”

A soft voice interrupted.

He looked over to find Student Council President Omotesandou Kyouka was in the cafeteria too. She had a Japanese sashimi set spread out on the table in front of her and there was a small gap in the crowd around her. Probably because she needed a bit more space than an ordinary chair to maneuver her wheelchair.

The upperclassman with glossy black hair beckoned him over.

“Don’t even think about rudely sitting on the floor with Aine-chan. The spot next to me is open, so pull up a chair.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Omotesandou-san. …What is it, Aine? Why are you poking my cheek?”

“Mhh.”

The crystal girl somehow managed to look displeased and expressionless at the same time, but she was as obedient as ever.

Once Karuta had set his katsu curry on the table to secure his spot, he lugged over a spare chair.

“I’m kind of surprised to find you eat lunch in the cafeteria, Omotesandou-san.”

“Why? Did you think I spent hours leisurely dining on luxury dishes special made by a personal chef?”

That was more or less what he had imagined, so he declined to answer. But this did remind him that she had made (unusually sweet) curry rice when it was her turn to cook during their shared life in an RV while pursuing the Problem Solvers.

“I’m also surprised to see you alone. I thought you were always surrounded by people.”

“Even I want to be alone sometimes.”

“If you say so.”

“And sometimes I want a younger boy to just take care of everything for me.”

“Yeah, right.”

Upper class people apparently knew how to look graceful even with ordinary disposable chopsticks. The beautiful president even folded the long napkin into an origami puppy chopstick rest.

She stared intently at Karuta’s katsu curry.

“That does seem like the kind of thing a growing boy would be eating.”

“I can’t believe you can get through the afternoon eating so little. Even the biggest options here are free, so why would you order such a small lunch? Are you a living embodiment of SDGs?”

“Didn’t your gym teacher tell you not to eat too much?”

“Uh…”

Spartan Letnahe-sensei had told him not to eat a bunch of sweet things.

So a rice dish like this would be fine…probably.

But the black-haired teacher’s pet must have wanted an exciting new experience today because she pointed at the katsu curry she had just criticized.

“Give me a bite.”

“Sure, sure.”

Her “bite” ended up taking one of only seven strips of chicken cutlet he had. When she challenged herself to do something, she would see it through. But she also squeezed her eyes shut, gulped, and stuck out the tip of her tongue like a child.

“Ugh. It’s super spicy.”

“The curry rice you make is far below average spiciness. Most people don’t dump milk in the pot.”

“That was skim milk and maple syrup mixed in hot water.”

There was syrup in there too?

Omotesandou Kyouka trembled with tears in her eyes.

She could seem even more mature than the teachers in the faculty room at times, so the mismatch created by childishly sticking out her tongue with tears in her eyes felt wrong somehow. He knew now she could not be allowed to wear a plain school swimsuit.

“Hoo, hoo. Karuta-kun, how can you eat this challenging dish so easily? Because boy’s bodies are built differently?”

“I really don’t think this has anything to do with gender.”

If anything, he thought of a preference for super-spicy foods as a girl thing since it was commonly thought eating them would make you sweat and that would help detox your body and improve your beauty. It was Marika’s friend group he could imagine attempting some Korean, Thai, or Vietnamese food.

Kyouka was still sticking out the tip of her tongue as she pointed at something else.

She poked her slender finger against a glass full of a white liquid.

“What is this? It doesn’t look like cold water.”

“They were selling a drinkable yogurt. Simply cooling your tongue after eating something spicy only provides temporary relief. It’s more like pain than anything. Kurent-sensei said dairy products are the best palate cleanser for spiciness.”

“Ugh, so it is lassi or something like that?”

The president was so desperate for relief, she took a sip of his drink without asking permission first. Once she was freed from the tension of spiciness, she appeared to enter a light chill-out mode. For a while afterwards, she stared into the distance with the glass still in her hand. The unpredictable lowering of her guard left Karuta restless. It was like watching a beautiful girl sleeping.

Then she noticed the glass in her hand.

“Oh? Doesn’t this count as an indirect kiss?”

“Bff! Do you have to reclaim the upper hand like that, you gremlin!!”

Also, they had already reached the level of indirect kiss when she ate the curry from his spoon.

His yelling only made her place a hand on her cheek and smile. She liked messing with people. Meanwhile, he had a feeling Aine was glaring at him from where she stood next to him.

In fact, she was kind of scaring him.

“A-Aine-san? Why haven’t you said a word this entire time?”

“If you wish me to speak, you need only order me to do so.”

A blunt rejection.

Or maybe his jumpiness only made him interpret it that way and she was as emotionless as ever.

Then Omotesandou Kyouka spoke up like she hadn’t noticed any of that.

“Hmm. Taking food and drink from you for nothing in return would hurt my reputation as president, so I need to give you something as well. Karuta-kun, is there any part of my lunch you want?”

“Then how about the piece of sashimi you’re clearly saving for the very last? By which I mean, the shiny, red, super-rare medium-fat tun-”

“Karuta-kun☆”

She interrupted with a smile, so he decided to choose something else.

The world’s strongest boy turned his thoughts to his own status screen. What could he do to increase his courage stat?

“Then I’ll boldly go for the 2nd best option: that small plate of tatsuta-age.”

“Oh? That I just didn’t want to eat. First your katsu curry and now the tatsuta-age? Bboys really like friend foods, don’t they?”

He couldn’t deny it would be a surprise to receive fried chicken when you were in the mood for fish, but that wasn’t the tatsuta-age’s fault.

It was often said the heart of a gourmet program and an action movie came from the reactions of the opponents, not the actions of the lead, and sure enough, Kyouka made the cafeteria’s 540-yen daily special really shine. She even looked graceful as she lifted the tatsuta-age from the plate with her chopsticks. With movements like that, she could be a hand model. Although with her looks, she would shine even more modeling the rest of her too.

“Okay, let’s complete the trade☆ Hee hee. This feels like we’re real friends.”

“What are you talking about?”

She tilted her head and started blowing on the tatsuta-age held by her chopsticks. She even held her other hand beneath in a super graceful big sister move.

“This was a surprisingly insightful choice, Karuta-kun. They do say to try the chicken rather than the fish if you want to quickly determine the quality of a restaurant.”

That hadn’t been his intention, but his policy was to never correct people when they favorably read too deeply into your actions. Although that was a lesson he had learned while clashing with the Problem Solvers, so he didn’t want to rely on it if he didn’t have to.

“Hoo, hoo. Okay, say ‘ah’…oh?”

In a rare display of clumsiness, she dropped the thing held between her chopsticks. But the small piece of tatsuta-age did not hit he floor. Nor the table. Then where did it end up?

“Oh, dear.”

She sounded troubled.

It was perfectly balanced. In a strange miracle, the tatsuta-age had made a soft landing atop her large chest.

But it took more than this to fluster Student Council President Omotesandou Kyouka.

She giggled with the chicken still sitting there.

“Want to eat it straight from here?”

And…

“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Mhh.”

“Hold that thought and take a look here, Omotesandou-san! Aine is pouting her lips and drawing her sword, so could you not make jokes like that!? Wait, why are you grinning!? You aren’t plotting to cause even more trouble, are you, you overgrown gremlin!?”