I am the emotional sustenance of your deceased

　[Not to mention that this is practicing what my father said, just making a girl who doesn't fit in with the group become your friend is enough to show your social skills! And she's covered in wounds, you also want to care about her, right?]

　"That's not the case at all! Eat quickly, ah... no, I mean..."

　Aine stood up, deciding to give Chitose some space of her own.

　"This lunch box is for you! I have something to do, so I'll leave first! Bye, bye!"

　"what?"

　As soon as she finished speaking, Aine ran away without looking back. No matter what the other person did to her, she just didn't look back.

　Although the means are a bit tough.

　But didn’t she succeed in feeding the little wild cat on the roadside?

　The inexplicable sense of accomplishment made Aiyin feel that everything was worth it.

　[Today, Chitose's right eye is covered with a medical patch, and a wound dressing is applied under her left eye.]

　Her face wasn't big, but it was mostly covered by various bandages.

　She is so special.

　……

　[Today, Chitose's right eye is covered with a medical patch, and there's a wound dressing under her left eye...Is it the same one from yesterday?]

　Aine developed a habit of looking back every day to check on Chitose Noshiro's injuries.

　It was already the next morning, and the classroom was empty except for a few people.

　Chitose and she are two of them.

　When Aine looked at Chitose, Chitose also noticed Aine.

　[She's pretty, even as pretty as me!]

　Aine thought.

　[Wait... why is she walking towards me?! ]

　"Chihaya..."

　"You can call me Aine too!"

　"Ah," Chitose sighed, looking quite listless, "Thank... you, Chihaya. I washed your lunch box for you yesterday."

　She placed the lunch box on Aine's desk. Aine looked at the clean box and inexplicably felt a sense of accomplishment.

　It's the sense of accomplishment when you find that the little wild cat on the roadside likes to eat the food you feed it and eats it all up.

　"Hey! You've finished eating. Isn't it delicious?"

　"It's delicious... but you're too long-winded."

　Aine wanted to laugh seeing Chitose's expression of being unable to bear any teasing and getting a little angry.

　She's so cute, and what she says is often just cool but not offensive.

　The more you look at it, the more it looks like a cat.

　Aine narrowed her eyes as she watched Noshiro Chitose leave.

　If Chitose Noshiro was the type who would be completely unresponsive, she would have given up long ago. But Aine just couldn't stand the outcome where her efforts were not rewarded.

　As long as she was given feedback, she was given hope. As long as there was feedback, she felt that she would never tire of getting close to Chitose Noshiro.

　【I always feel that it is a very happy thing to be in contact with others.】

　Although Noshiro Chitose's words are not as pleasant as those of her friends and she doesn't really consider her face, this is probably what makes Noshiro Chitose interesting.

　"Aine, what are you doing?"

　My neighbor, Haizuka, came to school with a bag.

　"Ah...it's okay."

　Chihaya Aine's hand was stroking the lunch box in the drawer, the dishes inside were still warm.

　Just another ordinary and interesting day.

　Ch274. Lunchtime built with lunch and scars

　"One, two, three."

　"Are you counting? What are you counting?"

　Noshiro Chitose turned around and glanced at Aine, but Aine was still staring at the Band-Aid on Chitose's right hand.

　[There are bandages on my index finger, middle finger, and thumb. How did they get hurt?]

　Today, Aine brought a lunch box to visit Chitose again.

　She has the Chihaya family's unyielding blood in her bones. Therefore, even if there are a few minor setbacks, as long as there is an effect, Aine will want to persevere.

　Looking at the lunch box in Chitose's hand today, Chihaya Aine's small sense of accomplishment was satisfied.

　"Meal money... I'll make it up to you when I have money. I won't eat your meal for free."

　Aine could see that Chitose was very hungry, but she seemed unable to let go so she kept eating in fits and starts.

　Many times I would turn my head away to avoid staring at it.

　"No need, after all, I..."

　"Yes. If you want this for my own good, you'd better accept it."

　Chitose's words carried an irresistible tone.

　But after all, with the mentality of being grateful for what one has done for someone, Qiansui's edge has been somewhat reduced.

　"Chihaya, why are you staring at me?"

　"Huh? Because Sui Sui is so cute."

　"Sui Sui...are you calling each other nicknames already? We're not that familiar with each other."

　"But it's really cute. And don't you think Sui Sui sounds super kawaii?"

　Aine moved towards Chitose, and Chitose moved away from Aine accordingly.

　They continued like this until the stairs next to Chitose reached the end, until their skirts were stained with dust.

　"Sigh...what's so cute about that?" Chitose pointed at her own face. "You think someone covered in wounds and wearing an eye patch is cute. Chihaya, there seems to be something wrong with your aesthetic sense."

　Look, he's angry again.

　So cute.

　Aine found that Chitose was so different from others, and this sense of novelty was unique among the people she knew.

　"It's just very cute. Don't you think you are super cute?"

　"I don't think so. I still think your aesthetic is abnormal."

　Aine ate her meal mumblingly, and when she was about to say a few more words, she suddenly froze.

　She saw that Chitose's earlobe was red... no, looking up, her entire ear was red.

　The blush spread from her ears to her cheeks. It seemed that this was the first time this girl was praised for being cute.

　The blushing face after being praised for being cute is also super cute. Thank you for the treat.

　"I...why are you still looking? If you're too close, it'll seem like you have ulterior motives."

　"Well, I already said I want to be friends with you, is that okay?"

　"Friends? It's really dangerous to say something like that right away."

　"Yeah, yeah, eat quickly, class will start soon."

　“It feels like you’re not listening at all.”

　"Yes, yes."

　"Tsk..."

　Aine thought that the story of today's lunch break would end here, but that was not the case.

　"Chihaya."

　"Ok?"

　"Whatever the reason... Anyway, thank you... Your craftsmanship..." Chitose's voice gradually faded away. "Excellent."

　The girl raised her head seriously, and the spring breeze lifted her hair high, revealing her delicate face to Chihaya Aine.

　The cherry blossoms are falling, but they seem vulgar compared to the girl; and the pinkness of the cherry blossoms can hardly be compared with Chitose's rosy cheeks.

　Chihaya Aine swallowed her saliva and swore that she would never forget this scene.

　Finally, Aine said, “Huh? I didn’t hear what you said.”

　"I didn't say anything."

　That's the way it is.

　……

　Spending time with Chitose Noshiro was just a new episode in Aine's life recently.

　She is still busy with the campaign for student union president every day.

　"Aine, your campaign speech is tomorrow. Are you ready?"

　"Oh, of course I have. I prepared the manuscript carefully."

　"Wow! As expected of Chihaya-san! Such efficiency! I'm already looking forward to it."

　"Yeah, yeah, it's about school bullying, Aine is so righteous!"

　"Haha, not really."

　Aine really likes this feeling now.

　The girls she knew surrounded her and coaxed her into submission with constant praise and countless nice words and sentences.

　Very happy, really like this feeling.

　There's one more class to go.

　After school, Chihaya Aine subconsciously looked back when everyone was talking about cosmetics and the newly opened stores nearby, only to see Chitose in the last row already packing up and getting ready to leave.

　[Huh? Did you ask for leave?]

　She wanted to stand up and ask, but the crowd around her prevented her from doing so.

　She seemed to be surrounded by a group of huge balloons. She couldn't push them away and would be entangled by the strings of the balloons.

　Ah, this is the first time I feel that having too many friends can be a bit troublesome.

　And she always felt that her friends were missing something compared to Chitose.

　What's missing?

　“Aine, what are you looking at?”

　"It's okay, where were we talking about?"

　……

　“Welcome to visit us next time…”

　Chitose greets, Chitose bows, Chitose stands up, he has mastered the whole set of movements to perfection.

　She had taken off her school uniform and was now wearing a convenience store employee uniform.

　This store was opened by her adoptive mother, and her current identity is [a little girl who was called back from school by her adoptive mother to help run the store].

　"Chitose, stop standing there in a daze and quickly move these things to the alley behind."

　The system, which has been fully integrated into the role, is now not at all ambiguous with Chitose.

　She seemed like that NPC, and had really implanted the vicious stepmother's program into her own processor.

　As long as I can use my hands, I will never use my mouth. It is common for children to go hungry for a few meals.

　[This is the first huge mountain that weighs on Chitose Noshiro.]