CHAPTER SIX – Anpan

It`s about time for lunch break and Sunohara is still sleeping at his own desk.

"Hey, wake up."

"Hn...? Eh? Is the lesson over?"

"A long time ago."

"Long time? How long?"

"That`s right, it`s been over for about a hundred years."

"Ahaha, you`re dead then."

"Yeah, I`m just a hologram."

"Eh? Are you serious?"

"Yeah... you`ve been sleeping for a hundred years since then."

"So that means... this is one hundred years in the future...? What happened to the world...?"

"Destroyed."

"Are you serious?!"

"Yeah, so, treat me to my last lunch."

"Yeah... I`ll go treat you... So the world has been destroyed...Dad... mom... I`m sorry for being a fool until the end..."

"Hey, just hurry up and treat me."

"I`ll be strong... even if I`m alone..."

"I said hurry up and treat me." Tonk!

"Ow! I was kicked by a hologram! Damn you! You`re not a hologram! So the future is also a lie?!"

"Actually, I`m a cyborg."

"How`s the the world now then...?!"

"Destroyed."

"Are you serious?! Dad... mom... I`m sorry for being a fool until the end... I`ll combine my strength with Cyborg Okazaki and live..."

"No way."

"I`m the last human alive, so give me your cooperation!"

"Huh.. it`s crowded as usual..."

"Because we were late when we left. That`s because of your stupid lies."

"Don`t believe such things, you idiot."

"I was half asleep, so anything was believable!"

"Hey, hurry up and treat me."

"I don`t have any any more reason to treat you!"

"Tch."

"Don`t say such stupid things, just find a seat."

"What are you going to do?"

"Of course, we`re going to make a first-year group move. All right, here`s our seat." A group is pleasantly chatting with each other while Sunohara makes his way there.

"I don`t want to get involved in this..." I take out my meal coupon and exchange it for a kitsune udon. Holding that, I head to an empty seat in the corner

"Hey, Okazaki! The seat there is about to be free." Sunohara holds his meal tray and follows me.

"Hey, this is my seat, so move it!" He tells the guy sitting next to me to move.

"Hah?" But, he was a third year rugby club member.

"What? You want me to move while I`m still eating?"

"No... I thought you were a first year..."

"But if I was a first year, you`ll have me move even while I`m eating, right?"

"No, I won`t, I won`t..."

"This guy made me move while I was in the middle of my food before!" One of the first year rugby club members on the same table said loudly.

"Ah! Damn you, you had to say it, didn`t you!? All right, now I understand. Shall we go a little further to the back?"

"Eek! It`s a misunderstanding!" He grabs Sunohara by the scruff...

"Uh..."UWAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa--------..." He leaves a trail of screams while being dragged out.

I finish my lunch at the cafeteria and quickly leave.

"Hmm... so noisy there..."

"Look at that girl. That girl there."The girl is pointing at someone outside the window as she continues to talk to her friend.

"She looks kinda cute eating her bread alone. I wonder which class she belongs to. I haven`t seen her before." With only that, I began to imagine. I look out the window down at the courtyard. There, sitting on the edge of the stone steps, is a girl eating her bread all by herself. It was her.

"Sunohara won`t be back for a while... I guess I`ll head down there..."

"Yo!" I call out to her to get her attention.

"Why are you alone in a place like this?"

Chomp, chomp.

"Hmm?" I see... she`s definitely eating anpan. Chomp, chomp.

"Hey, are you listening?"

"I`m sorry, ...I`m in the middle of my lunch." She stopped munching her food just to say that.

"I see..." I sit beside her and wait.I can see the place where I was looking down from here. Nobody is watching us now. As she finishes eating her anpan, she takes out a small pack of milk and started drinking.

"..."

".... Well, what can I do for you?"

"Huh? That`s right… I was just wondering why you are eating alone in a place like this."

"Do you like this school?" I heard this line before. This time, the question was directed to me.

"Well, not really."

"Is that so... I really, really do. But, nothing... can remain the same. Even fun things and happy things. Nothing stays that way forever..." These were the same lines I heard yesterday morning.

"And so, you`ve become unable to like this place?" The last sentence was said by me.

"Yes, that`s it."

"You should be more clear. I don`t really understand."

"I was away from school for a long time because of a sickness."

"You?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"A very long time."

"Hmm... and then?"

"This school isn`t the same school where I had so much fun."

" I still don`t understand..."You have friends, right?"

"I don`t know whether you can call them friends, but there are a few people I talk to."

"It`s okay if you aren`t close to them, as long as you have one, right? In other words, it`s like this. It`s hard to talk to your friends after taking a long break. But during the time you were gone, your friendship should have become more firm. Am I right?"

"..."

"But, are your friends really that cruel? Normally, no matter how much time passes by, they would still cheerfully greet you."

"They can`t meet me."

"They`re really cold-hearted."

"... No, it`s my fault for taking a longbreak."

"Because we only spent a little time together... They`re not even in this school anymore..."

"... eh?" Why is that?"

"They`ve all have graduated this spring."

"... How long did you take a break for?"

"Nine months."

"I see..." A sudden, lonely exchange student. That`s the feeling I get when looking at her.

"I feel out of place like Urashima Tarou." So, she can express herself too...

"That`s why I spend my afternoons eating alone."

"Roger that. It`s all right, I understand."

"Yes."...I wonder why...I can talk to her without being so reserved.