CHAPTER THIRTEEN – He, his and himself…

I went back to the classroom, but Sunohara wasn`t there. 

"Is he resting for today...?" I head towards the school cafeteria.

I go to the counter. And as always, it`s hard getting near the place where they sell food.

"I guess... it`s more crowded than usual."

"Uwaaaaaa!" A student passes by me and dives into the crowd with determination.

"Uh..... uwaaaaaah.....!" Rubbing himself against the crowd just like that, he vanishes.

"Whoa...I have to buy some bread today though..."

"Should I go...?" I thrust myself inside the crowd when I see a little opening. And then, pushing aside the students blocking the way with my arm, I plunge forward. And on the way... I see the back of a familiar head.

"Sunohara... He didn`t appear during lesson, so why is he here..." I pulled him by the shoulder.

"Hey!"

"What is it?!! ... Huh? Oh, it`s just you, Okazaki."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to buy bread, of course!"

"What? Is there something special for today? It`s unusually crowded."

"You don`t know the reason yet...?"

"Look there." Sunohara is pointing somewhere... and there`ss omething hanging above the ceiling. Written there is "New Product: Ryuuta Sandwich - 150 yen"

"I see..." Now I understand.

"There was a notice last week too, and it was the hot topic among the students."

"So students are gossiping about it too..."

"What? You should know about what Ryuuta is too, then." 

"Ryuuta?"

"Look carefully. It`s not Tatsuta, it`s Ryuuta. True... The main focus point right now is to believe that a man named Ryuuta came up with this idea, but I wonder Sunohara if that`s what it really means..."

"The answer to the riddle is a riddle..." No, it`s got to be just a misprint of Tatsuta.

"Whoa?!" Sunohara fell on his shoulder.

"My foot got stuck in the crowd. Help me, Okazaki!" I avoid him as he stretches his hand to pull me.

"No way...Okazaki?! We`re friends, aren`t we?!"

"Sorry, Sunohara... I never thought of you as one..."

"Uh...." UWAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa------------------... Getting washed out by the wave of people, he disappeared like a seaweed.

"Anyway... I guess I don`t need to make a detour..." I cross over the crowd, and look in front of the people.

"Seriously you people, do you really like to buy bread with a misspelled name?" I recklessly charge in. And then...

"I bought it..." I was holding in my hand the new product. And written on the label was... Ryuuta sandwich.

"Is this really Ryuuta?!" I leave the noisy crowd and stand somewhere to eat. 

Munch, munch... I can`t describe its texture. Gulp.... I also can`t describe its taste.

"So right now, I`m eating the sandwiched Ryuuta..."......What is Ryuuta?

Sunohara is lying on his desk when I come back to the classroom. Probably, I think he didn`t get his hand on the Ryuuta bread that everyone was talking about. I was eating it a while ago but... Even if I ask, I probably won`t understand what he`ll tell me, so I decided to keep quiet.

Sunohara stayed disheartened even though it`s after class. He just spaced out without even moving an inch from his desk, he didn`t even take notice of the duty students cleaning around him. It seemed he didn`t have the willpower to go and play.

"Live strongly..." Leaving Sunohara there, I also left the classroom.... I end up being alone... well, I wonder what should I do now?