Everyone's Days Off
Living on a cruise ship like this comes with the problem of deciding where and what to eat for lunch every day.
Breakfast and dinner are provided by the school in the form of a buffet and are free of charge.
You’re free to decide whether to use it or not, but not only is there no charge, it’s also delicious and thus very popular with the students. It’s so popular that admission is divided into three intervals between 7am and 9am to avoid congestion.
The service is limited to 60 minutes or less, and you can make a reservation for your preferred time slot from your mobile phone.
I usually eat breakfast at 8am, but due to a late reservation, the 8-9am time slot was already fully booked for August 6th, so I had to eat a little earlier at 7am.
Because of that, I’m feeling strangely hungry despite it only being noon. Perhaps it’s because my calorie intake was minimal during the uninhabited island exam, but my body was craving energy.
The café terrace is a popular place to dine, but the food prices are especially expensive. If you want to buy a lunch set that comes with a drink, you’ll need to spend at least 2000 points.
If you wanted to eat while having fun with your friends, that might be fine, but I was alone today.
In this situation, it's natural to want to save as much money as possible.
That’s why I’m grateful for the existence of the shop.
It’s a place where we can easily purchase rice balls, sandwiches and other snacks, just like a convenience store.
I promptly went to the shop and bought a rice ball and a small bottle of tea for 250 points, and, carrying the plastic bag in my hand, went to find a place to eat.
Any adequate rest area would do, but most of them are already occupied, and I am firmly against the idea of sharing a small space with someone else.
When I think of places where I wouldn’t mind it even if there are a certain number of strangers in the vicinity, most of them would be outside.
After much searching, I found myself on the 6th floor on the deck nearest the bow overlooking the ocean. Of course, it doesn’t cost anything to use this area, so it's the perfect place to eat snacks bought from the shop.
I thought I’d have a quick snack whilst taking in the magnificent view of the ocean, but I seem to have chosen a bad time. There were a lot of students who had come here to enjoy the view, so it didn’t look like I would be able to relax.
It’s a spacious deck, but there were a lot of people using it, so it will be difficult to find a good spot. I looked around for a vacant space to sit and found Nanase’s back sitting alone on a bench.
A sandwich, probably bought from the shop, as well as a small carton of milk lay beside her.
It’s funny, it’s the opposite of yesterday, where she was the one that found me.
In addition to Nanase, I also saw my classmates Ijuuin and Okitani, Sakayanagi from Class A, and Nakaizumi and Suzuki from Ryuuen’s class. It seems many 2nd year students wanted to have lunch looking out to the ocean, just like Nanase.
Ultimately, people tend to think in the same way. I didn’t move from this spot and looked towards the ocean. Certainly, a meal eaten with this kind of view in front of you must be delicious.
But...Just as the number of students from the 2nd year is very high, this was also the case for the 3rd years.
Although it was still only a few, the 3rd years that noticed my appearance immediately began keeping an eye on me. However, if I instantly walked away, that would prove that I didn’t like the stares and I’d be seen as running away. Doing so would risk encouraging the 3rd years as they would judge the strategy effective.
Now that I think about it, Nanase seemed like she had something she needed to talk to me about yesterday. I remember that we were interrupted by Kobashi at the time, so I decided to call out to her.
It would give me a good excuse to stop by this place if I were to talk to her.
“Nanase.”
When I called her name, she turned around in surprise.
“Ah, senfai.”
It seems she had just taken a bite out of her sandwich, and, taking great care not to let the contents spill out, she looked at me.
I felt a little bad when I saw her hurriedly start gulping down her food.
I was just using her as a means to counter the 3rd years, but I seem to have made her panic unnecessarily.
“Oh, sorry. Should I come back later?”
I said that, but Nanase’s personality would not let that happen.
“Hold on, wait, I’m just a little flustered.”
(TN: This was a bit muffled because she still had food in her mouth. Didn’t know how to write it without it being too confusing so I didn’t bother. Also not even sure if she was saying flustered as the word wasn’t said properly.)
She couldn’t spit it out after putting it in her mouth, so she started to chew.
“Gulp...Um, I’m sorry, but actually... I was eating lunch.”
She spoke like she was confessing a secret, but I could tell she was eating lunch just by looking at her.
If anything, I knew it from the moment I saw her back.
“Um, Is there something I can help you with?”
Nanase was still looking somewhat flustered, which left me feeling a little strange.
Her gaze was restless and she looked as if she couldn’t concentrate on her conversation with me.
“Ah no, you seemed like you wanted to talk to me yesterday. I was just wondering what it was about. Back then, I was approached by Kobashi and you kind of drifted away.”
“Ah…”
Her thoughts were a little slow and the words didn’t come out right away.
After pondering for a moment, Nanase shook her head from side to side.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve already solved the problem myself, so could you just forget about it?”
“I see. If that’s the case then it’s fine.”
If Nanase had a problem, I was going to offer advice since she has helped me in many ways, but if she’s already solved it, then I don’t need to worry about it. Rather, the main reason was that I got a sense that this was something that just didn’t matter right now.
“I’m sorry for calling out to you so suddenly. Then I’m going to head back. There are more people than I thought there would be, so I can’t relax.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll see you later, senpai.”
I left as soon as I had finished my business.
When I turned to look back at the deck one last time, Nanase was facing forwards and had resumed eating her lunch.
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