Kanae gave him a smile and then waved goodbye. Then he headed towards the cafeteria.

“Hey, so are you together or not?!”

Pretending not to hear the question, Kanae kept walking on.

He felt a hushed silence descend upon the area. As soon as he entered the cafeteria, everyone’s eyes gathered on Kanae. Yuichi was sitting in his regular seat.

“This is a rare pleasure, to have you come in so early. You’re usually not here until three o’clock.”

“But if I came in then, there wouldn’t have been anyone here.” Today he didn’t just have a coffee, but he also seemed to have eaten lunch. In front of Yuichi there was an empty plate on his tray. “The cafeteria food isn’t too bad, huh? It’s so annoying to have to prepare food when you get up in the morning.”

Kanae thought that Yuichi was being annoyingly lazy, but he couldn’t get into a verbal argument here. It was obvious that everyone’s ears were almost as large as Dumbo’s at the moment.

“I heard you’ve been spreading some weird rumors, Yuichi.”

“What rumors?” Yuichi was being evasive, determined not to lose. If they had been alone in a room, Kanae would have grabbed his shirt collar and throttled him.

It had to be him! “People are saying that we’re dating.”

“They’re always saying things like that. Why is it only today that you’re bothered by it? Did you and me date?”

Yuichi grinned at Kanae. Kanae wanted to hit him so badly, but shrugged.

“Well, I don’t care. But after second period someone came running up to me straightaway to ask. For some reason, they seemed fairly certain that the rumor was true this time. So it would have had to have come from a reputable source…namely, you.”

“And what would you do if I was the one who spread it?”

“You’d have to buy me lunch.”

“And if I didn’t say anything?”

“Then I’d have to say sorry.”

“Hmph, I see. Well, what do you want then?”

Yuichi smiled. Kanae sighed.

“…Curry and a salad.”

“Today’s special is pretty good.”

“Oh, well then…get me whatever’s most expensive. Get me tea as well.”

“Yep. Do you admit to it, then? Dating me, that is.” He knew that everyone around them was holding their breath. Kanae looked around the cafeteria. When he looked around, he could tell that even though everyone had averted their eyes, they were still listening very intensely.

“Let’s leave it to people’s imagination.”

“But I told everyone that I had sex with you already! I’m going to look like an idiot now if you say nothing.”

“…what?!”

What made him say that?! He stopped himself from screaming out loud. That was as good as admitting it.

Always stay cool. Always stay calm.

If he panicked, he would make it obvious.

“Oh, you did, did you? So, was sex with me good?”

Yuichi whistled in admiration.

“I get it. That’s how you’re going to play it, eh? You’re not going to make a fool out of me, but you’re not going to come straight out with it either. Oh and the sex...” Yuichi winked. “…was amazing.”