...
The lunch break bell was like an order temporarily releasing prisoners from the execution ground.
Students gathered in small groups, taking out their lunch boxes or arranging to head to the food trucks.
Karen intimately linked arms with Sousuke, and the two left the classroom chatting and laughing.
Keita turned a blind eye to this.
Carrying his lunch box, he walked toward a deserted area shrouded in shadows in the corner of the teaching building's first-floor courtyard.
There was a bench there, his newly discovered "sanctuary."
Here, he could block out most social noise and quietly enjoy his own peace.
More importantly, being away from the crowd slightly relieved the persistent throbbing in his temples.
He needed a plan.
A plan that would allow him to actively and safely approach Anna.
She was the only "key" he knew of so far that could effectively alleviate, or perhaps even completely solve, his physical condition.
But he didn't intend to make the first move.
That didn't fit his principles.
He needed an opportunity, a chance for her to seek him out of her own accord.
He had just sat down on the bench and hadn't even had time to open his lunch box when a subtle feeling of being watched made him stop.
Keita slowly turned around.
Not far away, Anna stood there hesitantly, holding a lunch box also wrapped in a cloth.
She seemingly hadn't expected him to turn around so suddenly; she froze, her face filled with the embarrassment of being caught.
The opportunity had arrived.
The surprise came even faster than expected.
Keita looked at her, his expression showing no ripples at all, as if he were just looking at an ordinary classmate.
"Nanami-san," he spoke in a flat tone, "is there something you need?"
Keita's voice wasn't loud, nor was it intentionally mocking, yet this simple calmness caused a blush to creep onto Anna's face.
"I... I..." Anna opened her mouth, her voice dry and stuttering, "I didn't eat with Sousuke... and the others, so... so I'm looking for a place..."
She tried to use a clumsy excuse to brush it off.
Keita didn't speak; he just watched her quietly, waiting for her to continue.
Anna's voice grew smaller and smaller until she finally couldn't go on.
Keita stepped forward helplessly, closing the distance between them, and asked with a resigned tone.
"What I'm asking is, why are you following me? Surely you have plenty of friends, don't you?"
Anna looked at the approaching Keita. When she heard him mention her friends, her eyes, which she had been trying so hard to avert, uncontrollably filled with tears.
"I..."
She choked up, her voice so faint it was almost inaudible. "I don't know... I don't know where to go..."
Tears slid down her cheeks, dripping onto the lunch box she held tightly against her chest.
"In the classroom... everyone watches me... It's the same everywhere else... If I eat with my old friends, even if they don't say anything, that sympathetic look in their eyes... it makes me feel so miserable..."
"I have nowhere to go... In the classroom... in the hallway... no matter where I am, I feel like people are watching me fail..."
Feeling the increasingly friendly sensation coming from Keita, Anna stuttered out her true feelings.
The persistent throbbing in Keita's temples also eased slightly.
"Only you, Imaizumi..."
Anna's voice carried a sob, with a desperate sense of having nothing left to lose. "You're the only one who knows all the terrible, embarrassing things about me..."
"In front of you, I... I can't possibly lose any more face..."
After saying this, she suddenly remembered what Keita had said to her before.
Right, this man believed in the cold theory of "investment" and "return."
She hurriedly added: "I... I won't bother you! I just... I just want to stay near you! That way... if others see us, they might think... think we're..."
She couldn't finish her sentence.
"Think we're friends"—she couldn't even bring herself to say those words.
Anna took a deep breath, as if she had made a decision, and fumbled in her pocket as if trying to pull something out.
"I... I remember what you said about 'investment'... I... I can pay! As long as you let me eat here, I can pay for it!"
"Pay?"
Keita's eyebrows quirked up slightly.
Looking at the girl before him who was trying to strike a deal using a theory he had offhandedly mentioned, he asked with some curiosity.
"Nanami-san, do you even have any money left after paying the restaurant bill?"
Anna froze.
"I remember," Keita explained, "two days ago at the Family Restaurant, Sousuke ran off for Karen. The things you ordered after that, plus the bill for your table—you must have been the one to pay, right?"
Anna didn't speak; she gave a stiff nod.
"It seems I guessed correctly."
Keita nodded and analyzed with a sympathetic tone, "He probably didn't even ask a single question, just took it for granted that you would handle everything. After all, you're the considerate 'best friend'."
"I..."
Anna lowered her head and explained softly, "I... I didn't have the heart... to ask him..."
"So, you paid for everything alone?"
"I... at that time... I didn't have enough money..."
Her voice was incredibly faint, feeling as though every word she spoke was accompanied by an indescribable sense of shame.
"I... I... pawned my phone... and some things in my wallet... to the restaurant..."
After saying this, she seemed drained of all her strength, her body barely able to stand steady.
I see.
In his heart, Keita confirmed the final piece of the puzzle regarding the miserable experience of the loser before him.
Abandoned by her childhood sweetheart, bearing the date's bill alone, even pawning her personal belongings for it, ending up penniless.
Having to force a smile at school the next day, accepting the "thanks" of her rival, and finally being gawked at by her classmates.
She had completely severed ties with her past; there couldn't be a more perfect "target."
That sense of comfort arising from her pleading and dependence invisibly pushed forward Keita's awakening progress, making his thought of helping her now clearer and a bit more enthusiastic.
Looking at the wretched, harmless girl before him, he decided to offer his "investment."
"Sigh."
Keita sighed softly, his tone a mix of helplessness and resignation.
He needed to play the role of someone forced into acceptance.
"You really are quite pathetic, Nanami-san."
Seeing Yanami look as if she were about to break, he feigned a softened heart.
"Fine. I'll make an exception just for today."
He pointed to the other end of the bench.
"Sit. But only for today."
Anna stood there blankly, only reacting after a long moment.
She hurriedly wiped her tears, walked to the other end of the bench, and sat down cautiously, maintaining a formal distance from him.
The first step of the plan was a success.