Chapter 13
Chinatsu woke up in her room. These days, she didn't stay over on school nights, but went home instead.
She had heard noises, so she figured her mom had already gone to work.
Unlike before, there was a somewhat reserved atmosphere between them now. While they still saw each other at work, they both understood each other's time and feelings. Her mom, knowing that, quietly left for work without waking Chinatsu. Despite not seeing each other, the way they handled things felt different, and Chinatsu had grown to not mind waking up alone at home.
It had already been about two weeks since that day when Chinatsu and Hajime stopped hiding their relationship. At the beginning of the term, with exams and the usual school bustle, there had been some complaints about not being able to go out, but their daily lives hadn’t changed drastically.
More accurately, they had changed, but not in ways that were obvious.
They could now walk to school together openly, spend their breaks together, eat lunch together, and go home together as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
They were living out the school life that Chinatsu had imagined with Hajime.
Saki and the others had told her, “It’s fine for you two to be together, just relax and enjoy it for now.”
And, as advised, they did stay together, and somehow, despite the change in their relationship, they hadn't received any strange attention like on the first day.
According to Yuko, while the two didn't seem to be fully aware of it, anyone trying to interrupt their relationship would need to be pretty bold. Additionally, the initial "explosion" with Ishizawa seemed to have worked as a deterrent, as they hadn't faced any more major issues.
By the way, Yuko's idea of the lunch event had unexpectedly had a huge impact.
Honestly, Chinatsu would have advised her past self to skip it. Why? Because it had worked too well.
Hajime had a tendency to get really absorbed in things.
The day they made their relationship public, which happened to be a Friday, Chinatsu had received a lot of messages from girls and some boys, all asking about her being with Hajime. She responded to each one, confirming their relationship.
Hajime, on the other hand, hadn’t received as many messages since he hadn’t exchanged many accounts. While Chinatsu was replying to all these messages at home, Hajime spent his time looking at videos and recipe sites, preparing for the lunch event.
They spent the weekend together, though Hajime didn’t let her see the final product of his work, so Chinatsu was eager to see it.
The result, when they finally shared the lunch on Monday, was... incredible.
Hajime had said he’d referenced some Instagram posts, but he couldn’t quite recreate them. Still, Chinatsu thought the result was far beyond what she could have imagined.
The contents of the lunch weren’t overly complicated but were impressive nonetheless.
The rice, though cold, somehow looked fluffy, and there was a cute face made of seaweed. The egg roll was perfectly shaped and delicious. There was also thinly sliced pork rolled with cheese and ume-shiso, just like at Chinatsu's part-time job, and it was also delicious. The handmade potato salad had colorful paprika and broccoli for a well-balanced appearance. And for dessert, there was a cute rabbit-shaped apple.
Since they were openly showing their lunch, the girls in class couldn’t resist asking about it.
At first, they were curious, wondering if the lunch was homemade, and there was a mix of admiration from the boys, too.
Chinatsu knew right away that she would never be able to make something like that.
When she jokingly said, “I only eat, Hajime makes it,” the classroom’s atmosphere changed. A girl who had been nervously watching came over, and soon everyone was gathered around to look at the lunch.
Hajime, ever the polite one, answered each question about how he made it and where he found his recipes. He even provided links to the websites he’d used. When a girl tried to slip her social media handle to him, Chinatsu quickly intervened to stop it.
It wasn’t jealousy, just a matter of self-defense.
Interestingly, the class’s popular volleyball player, Endou, started respecting Hajime after learning that Hajime was also into cooking. This shift in perception, combined with his kind demeanor, had solidified Hajime’s position in class. Among the boys, Hajime was now seen as the boyfriend of the kind and talented Chinatsu, and among the girls, he had become somewhat of a popular figure.
It was a bit much, Chinatsu thought, but it also made her proud. She couldn’t help but think that if they hadn’t crossed paths by chance, she would’ve never known just how wonderful Hajime was.
But Hajime, being his naturally kind self, wasn’t exactly difficult to get along with. Chinatsu’s friends, Saki and the others, would often roll their eyes when she expressed frustration about Hajime's overly polite nature.
---
Another change in their daily life was that Chinatsu had started receiving more confessions from boys, even some upperclassmen or boys from different classes. Saki and the others joked that while the lunch might have been impressive, it didn’t have quite the same punch with the older boys.
Chinatsu, though, was quite open about being in a relationship, so when boys called her out or tried to ask her out, she just ignored them. However, there were moments when she couldn’t completely brush them off, especially if the request came through someone she knew. She did her best to handle those situations without making things uncomfortable for Hajime.
Still, Chinatsu wondered if those boys realized how hopeless their chances were.
Saki summed it up perfectly when she said:
“Anyone who tries to confess to you after knowing about Hajime already being your boyfriend clearly has a seriously inflated sense of self-worth. And the ones who didn’t have the guts to confess before are just underestimating the person you care about. It’s just... no.”
Chinatsu fully agreed. She couldn’t imagine anyone more charming than Hajime.
---
As time passed, Chinatsu’s feelings for Hajime had deepened, moving from concerns about how others viewed their relationship to focusing more on her own emotions.
She found herself thinking about how thoughtful Hajime was. Even with their physical relationship, Hajime was never casual about it, always attentive to her needs. Whether it was cooking or sports, he approached everything with a diligent attitude, and that was what made him so special.
And yet, even as Chinatsu’s feelings became clearer, Hajime remained his usual self, not changing much at all. That, too, was something Chinatsu appreciated. It made her feel safe, loved, and, at times, like she was losing herself in the comfort of his presence.
She had always thought that their relationship would settle down as they became more open about it at school, but her feelings for Hajime showed no signs of waning.
The more time they spent together, the more Chinatsu felt drawn to him, and she couldn’t wait for the first official date they'd have without needing to hide.