Finally Katsudon!

Okay, what was up with her intuition? Many things weren't adding up here.

Firstly, didn't she say it was weird to implement co-ed dormitories? She was worried about the girls earlier, but now she wanted to share the bed?

Secondly, how was I any different? Different as to how exactly? How did Ichinose's intuition just decide that I was qualified to take a nap with her?

Thirdly, if she considered me a friend, and I was different according to her, then she didn't have any male friends? I thought a beautiful girl like Ichinose would have a lot of them at her disposal.

"A very special friend at that..."

She really just doubled down on her statement. If it were anyone else, they would probably think that they caught a big fish named Ichinose swimming right toward them.

I didn't think that was the case, however. To be upfront while maintaining that innocent voice meant that she was troubled somehow in the past because there was no way any girl would ask to jump into bed with them on the first day.

It wasn't something I could ask out of nowhere, so I had to come up with something else.

"The bed is all yours. See it as a gift from your special friend and accept it. I'm not taking no for an answer."

Ichinose hesitated a bit. She was nibbling at her nails and was deep in thought before giving an answer, "Okay. I guess I couldn't do anything about it. Thank you, Hinode-kun."

"Anytime."

I luckily escaped that awkward situation and got to sleep again. Actually, I couldn't fall asleep because of what just happened. Ichinose might think it was a normal conversation, but it wasn't something I could take as a mere joke.

"You got nothing going on, right?"

I asked but didn't hear an answer. Well, I was hoping not to in the first place. I wasn't prepared for the answer that could come out of her.

Knowing that I couldn't fall asleep anymore, I went outside the bedroom to see the progress for dinner.

"Here you are! The dinner is almost already so call Ichinose up. Did you do something to her, hmm?"

"What're you talking about? Focus on preparing dinner."

I knew it would be disastrous if I had agreed to sleep on the same bed with Ichinose. Saki would be disgusted with me and Azuma would probably avoid me for the rest of my life. Even if I tried to explain the situation, I would still be marked as guilty. That's life.

Anyway, the dinner was finally ready after a long wait. The four of us sat around a small table with big smiles on our faces. We were starved to the point where we could hear our stomachs rumbling like lions.

"It smells so delicious. You're a great chef, Saki!"

"Hiryu-kun, you hear that? You should cherish me more and not bully me all the time," Saki pouted.

"You should, Hinode-san. She's a great kid, and she adores you very much," Azuma interjected.

"I know that."

"W-what're you saying?" Saki was blushing visibly while stuttering. Not wanting to deal with this situation anymore, I grabbed my chopsticks and dug in first.

"Alright, enjoy your meal."

Saying it was delicious was an understatement. It was mindboggling how Saki could turn simple ingredients into a lavish meal.

The rice was cooked perfectly, the meat was juicy and full of flavor, and the sliced cabbage was refreshing, cleansing our palate so we could savor the next piece of pork.  The sauce added a depth of flavor. This was perfection wrapped in a bowl, to say the least.

Everybody wowed. Everybody rolled their eyes in satisfaction. We sat eating in silence because it was too good. Sometimes, silence is all you need, and Saki knew that too. The silence was the biggest compliment for a cook like her.

She smiled brightly and continued eating her masterpiece. I was happy that her cooking skills were recognized by more people, and I hoped her food reach out to even more in this academy.

If it hadn't been for her passion for becoming a Repulsor, she would've been a celebrity chef by now. Her bubbly personality and her idol-like looks were weapons that could shoot her up towards international status. 

That wasn't what Saki wanted, though. It was something more of a simple dream that both of us shared two years ago.

...

At the back of my house, there was a garden. My father was a perfectionist, so he trimmed the grass until it was of equal height. He said it was good for sword training also because our footwork needed stability first. 

That place became my daily training ground. I don't know how many times I've swung my sword there, how many times I was beaten up so badly just to get a taste of what defeat is, how many times my foot was stabbed by sharp blades of grass poking out. 

I endured all of it, and those feelings were unforgettable. My dad was my precious mentor and master. He basically created this spot for me to relentlessly train me, so he took great care of it.

Day after day, night after night, from rainy to sunny days, from one season to another, I experienced them all in this garden. The same went for him. Just like how I never stopped training, he never stopped teaching and refining each blade of grass to perfection.

After my father disappeared, I let the grass grow uncontrollably. I thought, "He would come back and scold me for leaving it like this, right?"

It was dumb, but I waited until the grass flooded into my house. It slithered under the glass door that separated inside and outside. It came to capture me.

The ghost that had millions of arms was coming to haunt me, but I didn't dare to cut it. It overgrown more and more during the summer. The grass was dry to the point that the color turned from lively green to deadly brown. 

One small contact was enough for the blade to break off from its roots, and during the night of one hot summer day, Saki came to visit. I still remember that conversation between me and her vividly, like reading a page out of a book. It was merely a talk of dreams.