Time passed in the cafeteria at a snail's pace as the girls ate what remained on the table, and the five honey croissants that appeared in due course.
"At this rate, I'm going to have to try it. Honey is yellow, so it's sure to be good."
"I believe that color has nothing to do with flavor."
"But I like yellow."
"Nothing to do with it."
Hina and Atsumi were as usual, going along with each other like in a comedy show. Anyone would think they were best friends.
"But the honey is good…," Natsuki complained in a low voice.
The two friends finished eating a while ago, and they would have gone home if it weren't for the fact that Natsuki was on her sixth croissant.
They had been chatting for quite some time, considering Natsuki had asked them one by one, and occasionally added a comment. Hina and Atsumi were lucky enough to hear her, as she spoke in a low voice and looked to the side.
Hina yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Sorry if this sounds a bit selfish, but could you take it a little faster?"
Natsuki would never have misinterpreted her intention, and following Atsumi's request, she stopped being shy about taking bites so she could finish quickly. Hina noticed her yawn.
"Are you sleepy?"
"Yes, unlike you, I was up until the wee hours yesterday reviewing. I almost slept here."
"After you've had a coffee?"
"It may have even made me sleepier."
"And the food?"
Each question he threw at her exhausted Atsumi more and more, to the point where she had to complain to his face.
"This has been my meal, why so many questions?"
"I just wanted to know," Hina replied.
Atsumi crossed her arms and rested her head on them, her voice becoming muffled.
"And I want to go home."
The previous night was a nightmare for Atsumi. She felt incredibly insecure after her English exam, so she spent the entire night reviewing for today's final two exams.
Fortunately, the gods took pity on her, all of these being Natsuki's gluttony.
"Oof, I'm done!"
*¡ ♪ ♬ ! *
"And now what?"
Just after Natsuki celebrated her victory, stuffed from all the buns and honey, a song started playing from someone's pocket, and Atsumi was the culprit. This only tired and annoyed her more.
She looked up again and pulled out her phone. She assumed it was spam and that was it, so she planned to hang up and that's it.
But that didn't happen.
"I'll get it, give me a moment."
She got up to go to the bathroom without waiting for her friends' permission, which didn't bother any of them. Natsuki and Hina were left alone, something strangely common during the past week.
An opportunity for Hina.
…
"I suppose this will be your meal too."
Hina broke the silence that Atsumi had left as a gift, since Natsuki would almost never start the conversation, especially a stuffed Natsuki.
"Yes, I shouldn't have eaten so much, now I don't want to get up… But I want to go home…"
"You're lucky they called Atsumi."
Natsuki nodded in response, and when she didn't reply, Hina decided to add more things.
"I'd like to go home soon too. At this rate, I'm going to have to leave the cardboard boxes for tomorrow."
The more he thought about it, the more he felt about his entire planned schedule. The amount of work he'd been given, or rather, had given himself, was considerable.
Almost everything I was going to do was a bonus, something to make the classroom for the second B students even better than without those additions.
"You still have the whole afternoon ahead of you."
Hina managed to get her to talk.
"I only paint well from two in the afternoon until five in the afternoon."
Very specific, Natsuki thought. And Hina seemed to have read her mind.
"I know it's strange not being able to paint when you want to, but at any other time I can't concentrate and everything goes wrong."
Even Hina didn't understand the reason for her inconsistent artistic abilities, which only worked well for three hours a day. And although even her friend didn't understand, she seemed to.
"It's... similar to something that only happens to you in certain types of situations."
"Exactly, something like that. I have to be in my room too, so if I'm at school and I want to paint at three in the afternoon, it's bound to turn out awful."
Instead of interest or curiosity, hearing Hina's answer brought Natsuki a certain relief. It was music to her ears, another kind of art. And that music cheered her up again.
"How odd."
"Yes, very strange. Atsumi told me the same thing when I told her."
"What about me?"
The devil appeared at the end of the conversation, summoned to his chambers to witness what Hina said, causing Natsuki to widen her eyes slightly and adjust her posture. She was the one who answered first.
"Keeping me secrets just like that."
"It's not interesting at all."
Of course, Hina didn't think it was captivating; on the contrary, she saw it as a boring and even annoying anecdote to endure.
Atsumi ignored what they had said about her, partly because she was too lazy to complain or argue with Hina yet again about another silly thing, but mainly for something more important than that.
"Well, I know something that is interesting."
"And that's it?"
Hina turned her head slightly at Atsumi's proclamation, while Natsuki just fixed her eyes on Atsumi, which were no longer so wide open from the fright she had received.
Before saying anything, she put her phone in her skirt pocket. Unlike a few minutes ago, she was much more alert, smiling and all.
"Riku is coming on Saturday."