"Senpai, is this yours?"

  "Ah, yes, it is!!"

  I took back my phone from her. I bowed my head to her to show my appreciation.

  "Thank you so much, miss! You saved me a lot of time! I genuinely thought I was gonna spend the whole morning searching for it, and that would've made me miss class today!"

  "No problem, senpai!!"

  I took a quick look at the girl's appearance, and she had a vivacious expression on her face.

  The girl offered her hand to me for a handshake. I accepted her handshake.

  "My name is Miage Yuki, senpai! It's nice to meet you!"

  "My name is Fukibayashi Neo! Nice to meet you, too!"

  "So senpai, you're like the coolest guy in school, right?"

  "That is correct!!"

  "With no hesitation? Wow, senpai, you're so full of yourself!!"

  "Well, I did earn this status! I've worked hard every day to become the person I am today!"

  "Heeee? So, what would happen to this stature of yours if people know you're late to class?" said Yuki mockingly.

  *!!!*

  "OH NO! I COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT THE SCHOOL BELL ALREADY RANG!!"

  I immediately left the girl and ran to my classroom, but before I went up the stairs, the girl shouted something to me.

  "Senpai, your face is cute! Let's meet and talk more during recess later!"

  And the girl left. I was stunned by what she said so casually.

  "(W-Was that a love confession? I mean I know the girls in this school said they love me all the time, but that one just now felt like a proper confession to me! Oh no my heart is beating. . .)"

  Because I was frozen still on the stairs, I was late for class. My homeroom teacher was already inside when I reached the class. But since I was a role model student, the teacher suspected that I must have a good reason for being late. After explaining about how I lost my phone, my homeroom teacher easily excuses me because my teacher already knew I wasn't the type to just ditch class or be lazy to go to class, given my track record for the past 2 years.

  "Okay, class! Lecture starts now!"

  "Alright, Sensei!!" the class responds in harmony.

  An hour into the lecture, my mind started drifting away from school stuff.

  "(She said she wanted to meet me and talk? Was that a confession or not? I am so confused. Come to think of it, I have zero experience in romance! I have good friends, my relationship with my family is good, so a romantic relationship is the only one I'm lacking right now! Maybe I'll do it! I'll go out with her! She was quite pretty herself. . . Nah, what am I saying? She was gorgeous!! But her small stature is kinda funny. I am now 165cm, she is way too short for someone like me. . . Wait, wait, wait, why should I care about that? She may be short and small, but she was adorable, so I don't think our height difference matters.)"

  After that brief daydreaming, I snapped out of it and went back to focus on the lecture. But then, another hour later, I started mumbling in my head again.

  "(Wait wait wait wait wait!! Maybe that wasn't a confession! AH! I finally understand her intention! Hehehehehe! I've finally connected all the dots!! She's new to this school, so she was lonely! She didn't have any friends and struggled to make one!! Don't worry, my dear kouhai, this senpai of yours will give you the greatest aid in the history of all mankind!!)"

  After a few hours, the school bell rings, signalling recess time. After we bowed our heads towards our teacher, I left the classroom so swiftly and quickly that my homeroom teacher hadn't even left his seat.

  "Wow, he must've been holding back a huge one!" said my teacher.

  "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"

  "WAHAHAHHAAHAAAAA!!"

  "HAHAHHAAHHA!!"

  "I DON'T KNOW NEO WANTS TO SHIT SO BAD!!"

  "AHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!"

  My classmates and my homeroom teacher laughed together behind my back, but I had no idea of knowing. When I left the class, I immediately ran up the stairs. I ran down the stairs so fast and reached the 1st floor in just 8 seconds. I basically blitzed the entire 3 floors in one fell swoop, but this makes sense given my status as the fastest 100m sprinter in school.

  Once I reached the first floor, I immediately took a step forward towards the girls' class.

  . . . . . . .

  I immediately stopped myself because I realised I have no idea which one is her class. And then one by one, a lot of the new underclassmen of the 1st year of senior high school pour out of the classroom to enjoy recess.

  "Eh!! Neo-senpai!!"

  "Kyaaaaahh! It's Neo-senpai!!!"

  "Neo-senpaaaaaaaaaaaaiiii!!"

  And then the female students of almost the entire first year gathered around me near the staircase, causing traffic for other students.

  "Kyaaaahh! Neo-senpai!!"

  "Neo-senpai! Please go out with me!!"

  "Neo-senpai, you're so handsome!!!"

  "Neo-senpai so cooooll!!"

  "Umm, girls!! Please calm down! I have to go! I need to go to. . ."

  "(Ah crap! I won't be able to meet her like this.)"

  "Senpai, what are you here for?"

  "Neo-senpai, are you looking for a girlfriend candidate throughout the first year?"

  "EEEEEEEEHHHHHH?!"

  Every single female student around me gasped because of that one sentence.

  "S-Senpai, what about Karin-senpai!"

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  "Yeah, senpai! Aren't you two going out?!"

  "Wow, did you two break up, senpai?"

  "So, what is it, Neo-senpai?"

  "C-Calm down, girls!! One by one, alright! First off, no, Karin and I aren't dating! Secondly, no, I am not looking for any type of candidates whatsoever!"

  "EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH!!! NEO SENPAI IS SINGLE?????"

  "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"

  "NEO-SENPAI!! GO OUT WITH ME!!"

  "NO, WITH ME SENPAI!!"

  "FORGET THEM SENPAI!! I CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY!!"

  I was suddenly bombarded by so many love confessions from the crowd.

  "(I have to get out!!)"

  "Uh, excuse me, girls! Let me go! Let me go, alright!!"

  I walk back slowly while trying to slip through the crowd. After a few seconds of struggle, I finally slipped through the crowd and went back upstairs, straight to the 3rd floor.

  *pant pant pant*

  I tried to catch my break from the exhaustion of handling a crowd.

  "(This celebrity status has some negative aspect as well, I see now.)"

  *?!*

  As I tried to regain my stature, I saw someone, a female student, in the hallway of the third floor, who was looking left and right, trying to find someone. She didn't try to ask someone for help, strangely. I approached the girl after I regained my breath.

  "Hey, you're looking for someone?"

  The girl turned around and voila, it was the girl from before.

  "Ah, Neo-senpai?!"

  "Miage-san? What are you doing here?"

  "I was looking for you, senpai! What luck!"

  "So, what do you look for me for?"

  "Like I said before, I wanna talk to you more!" The girl smiles widely.

  "(Aaaaahhh! Just as I feared, this girl couldn't fit in with her class, so she looked for me, someone she's familiar with, because of what happened this morning. She's looking for someone to talk to so that she doesn't feel lonely! Alright, watch me become your greatest aid, my dear kouhai!!)"

  "Hey, that's cool! Fine by me! Let's chat as we explore the school! I'll show you everything! You're new in this school, right?"

  "Okay, senpai!"

  And then I took Yuki on a walk throughout the entire school, showing her everything I could think of. Along the way, she makes jokes here and there and keeps teasing me all the time. Her flirting technique was so direct and blatant that I think that's just her way of making jokes, so I never thought that those were genuine feelings.

  Afterwards, the school bell rings again, signalling the end of recess time.

  "Okay, we'll leave it at that! See you later, Miage-san!!"

  "Call me kouhai-kun or just kouhai, Neo-senpai!"

  "Ah! Is that alright? Well then, see you later, kouhai-kun."

  "See you later, senpai!!"

  As we went our own way back to our class, we continued our school day.

  And so, for the next few days and even weeks, Yuki kept going upstairs to look for me and spend her recess time with me every day without any breaks consecutively. As everyone in school keeps seeing us together all the time, a new rumour has started. Yuki and Neo-senpai are dating each other. Honestly, these rumours are so tiresome, but at the same time, their base of speculation is concrete and clear. If anyone sees how we are always together, they too would think of us as an item. However, as they are simply rumours, people don't actually bother us and bombard us with those questions, so at least they respect our distance. And then the word of mouth reaches Karin's ear.

  On the next day, during recess, she came to my class to compare our test scores as usual. It was a biology test, and I won yet again with a 100, a perfect score, while she got a 99, another 1-point difference from my score.

  "Grrrrrr!! I WON’T LOSE THE NEXT ONE!!"

  "Alright, alright, do your best! I will also do my best to keep myself above you!!"

  ". . .Neo-san, can you help me up with something?"

  "Huh? Oh, sure, Karin-san!!"

  Karin and I have gotten close enough through our rivalry that now we are addressing each other with our given name, but still with the honorific -san.

  Karin takes my hand and drags me out of class. She kept walking and dragging me along towards a place that only she knew. She dragged me towards the rooftop of our school. Up here, there were only the two of us.

  "What are we doing here, Karin-san?"

  And then all of a sudden, Karin pushed me towards the fence behind me that was placed all around the rooftop to prevent anyone from climbing or falling over the edge.

  *BAM*

  She cornered me, and she placed her left hand on the fence right next to my face.

  "Uhh, Karin-san??"

  ". . ..Wh. . .Wh. . .Who. . .Whoooo. . .Who is that girl. . ."

  "Huh?"

  Karin speaks so quietly, I genuinely didn't hear anything coming out of her mouth. Karin's face closes in on my face, and I can finally hear what she's saying.

  "Who. . .who is. . .who is that girl?"

  "Huh? Girl? . . . OH!! Yuki-san? She's a new student this year. She helped me return my phone on that first day of school. And then I saw her being troubled because she couldn't fit in with her classmates, so I befriended her! And ever since, we kept seeing each other during recess! I have to make sure she doesn't feel lonely at school!!" said me with such an honest smile and enthusiasm.

  Karin looked at my innocent and earnest expression and sighed to herself.

  "Neo-san, you're too nice for your own good! I almost believed the rumour, and my mind went so wild and haywire! Good thing I confirmed with you first before I did anything stupid!"

  ". . . .!! Ah! You're worried about me? Karin-san, you're too kind! Thanks for worrying about my well-being! I'll be sure to take care of myself."

  "(. . .What on earth is he talking about. . .?)"

  "So? What are you dragging me here for, Karin-san?"

  ". . .BUT I JUST. . .!! AH FORGET IT!!! YOU'RE SO DENSE I ALMOST MISTAKE YOU FOR A HAREM ANIME MAIN CHARACTER!! I'M GOING BACK TO MY CLASS! EXCUSE ME, NEO-SAN!! HAVE A NICE DAY!!"

  And then she slammed the door to the staircase leading downstairs from the rooftop.

  ". . . .Oh!!! OOOOOOOOOO!!!! I think she was on her period and she needed to relieve herself to avoid any stress building up, so she asked me to be a place she could lash out!! Ahahahahha! Glad I could help her!! I hope she feels better now!!"

  Yeah, I know, I was hopelessly denser than even a black hole at this point in my life. And then I went downstairs and continued my daily routine just like usual.

  A few weeks later, Yuki shocks the whole school. She came to my class during recess and even walked inside up to where I sat in my seat. All of my classmates are already forming small groups to give us space, like we're a married couple. They kinda annoyed me a bit.

  "Senpai, let's have lunch together!"

  "Ah, I'm sorry I forgot to bring my bento! But if you want, I can still keep you company while you eat yours! Or maybe we should eat at the school cafeteria? I can at least buy food that way."

  "No need, senpai! I actually made u a bento!! Here!!"

  Yuki lifts another bento from behind her back and shows it to me.

  *!!!*

  All of my classmates gasped. This underclassman is so bold in approaching me, the celebrity. They clapped and cheered for her in their heads because they were impressed.

  "Oh, really? For me!! Wow, I'm flattered! Okay, let's go eat! Where do you wanna eat?"

  "Let's go upstairs, senpai!"

  "Okay kouhai-kun!"

  I got out of my seat and followed Yuki towards the rooftop, but on our walk, there were so many eyes looking at us, and yet I was completely clueless and oblivious.

  On the rooftop, I sit down with Yuki on the floor near the fence so we can rest our backs against it. I finally opened the bento from Yuki.

  "Wooooww! This is so pretty!!"

  Inside the bento, I see rice with a drawing of my face drawn with soy sauce, burdock root fries, broccolis, French fries, a chicken cutlet and two fried meatballs. And then I took a bite of the rice and a bit of the burdock roots and some of the chicken cutlets.

  *!*

  "Mmmmmmhhh!! I-I'm so impressed, kouhai!! This is amazing! You did great kouhai!!"

  I was so happy I didn't realise my face was so close to hers.

  "O-Ohh, is that so, senpai! You're welcome then! I'm glad I did good! Do you enjoy the picture?"

  "Of course! You did so well with placing everything and made it look pretty within such a confined space. Good job!!"

  And then Yuki also opens her bento, and hers looks identical to mine, but the drawing is of her face this time.

  "Wow, you can even draw yourself! I see you're so good at this stuff!! You'll be a great wife someday!! I can guarantee it!!"

  *!*

  "W-W-W-Wi-Wi-Wi-Wiiiiii-Wiiiiii-Wi-Wiffeeeeeeeeee??" said Yuki as erratically as possible.

  I didn't notice her bashful reaction as I continued to gulp down her delicious bento. The flavour that she put into this one bento box is so heavenly, I honestly can only focus on tasting the different combinations of flavours. And then when I was about to try out the meatball---

  "Ah! Senpai, stop!!"

  Yuki raises her voice almost like she shouted. I was startled a bit.

  "I'm sorry, Senpai! But there's a neat trick to the meatballs, I want you to eat them last!!"

  "Aaaahh!! Okay okay! I trust you, chef!!"

  And so, I continue to eat her bento as she eats hers as well. We also chatted as we ate, and it was one of the most enjoyable and memorable school recesses of my life. And then finally, I get to try out her meatballs. The way she asked me to leave it last has me so excited about the surprise that she put inside.

  "Senpai, let me. . ."

  Yuki uses her chopsticks to take one of the meatballs.

  "Senpai, aaaaaa. . ."

  She offered me the meatballs and asked me to open my mouth wide.

  "Aaaaaa. . ."

  I opened my mouth, and she fed me her meatball. I take a bite of it and. . .

  "Mmmmmmhhhhh!! THERE'S CHEESE INSIDE!! OH, GREAT HEAVENS!! YOU ARE SO SMART!! YOU SHOULD BE A CHEF, KOUHAI! YOU ARE SO GIFTED!!"

  "I'm glad to hear that, senpai!"

  Yuki took the last meatball and then offered me once again.

  "Here's the last one, senpai! Aaaaaa. . ."

  I happily open my mouth for her.

  "Aaaaaaa. . ."

  I gobbled the entire thing in one bite. As I was munching on the meatball in my mouth, Yuki swiftly tidied up everything and cleaned up a few food bits on the floor. She then stands up and walks in front of me.

  "How is it, Senpai?" said Yuki with such a pretty smile towards me.