Chapter 15 - A Nonsense Sandwich

Days have passed since the last time I saw Ari.

I thought she’d gone hiding, maybe because Ren learned that she was not really a student of ####. Honestly, I find this a bit surprising since I never thought someone would be that bold to sneak into the school and act like she was a real student here.

But that explains why Ari always appears unannounced, and sometimes even during the class. No one would be that dumb to barge inside the classroom and just do whatever she wanted to do.

She doesn’t have anything to lose. But, why would you even do that in the first place? I asked myself, still confused at the fact that Ari barged inside the room, answered the teacher’s question, and headed outside like nothing happened.

—Grumble…

“Crap. I’m getting hungry.” With a sandwich in my hand, I took a seat on the bench. It is currently lunch break, and I decided to eat my lunch in peace, avoiding eating inside the canteen.

I sighed in relief. “This is how lunch is supposed to be.” I muttered, taking a bite of the sandwich. But as I was about to swallow it, I was surprised by the figure of a person in front of me.

“!!!” I coughed, nearly choking on it. “A-Ari!?”

I didn’t notice her! I shouted in my head.

“Hello!” she greeted, waving her hand. “How are you?”

“Y-you almost killed me.” I stammered, facepalming.

“Why do you act like I’m the one you should blame for that.” she replied, frowning at me.

I calmed down and exhaled, “No, I was just hungry.”

She took a sit beside me. “I know you’re hungry but you don’t need to be that angry with me. So why don’t you just eat that sandwich?”

“I was about to. And I know I’m hungry.” I replied, taking another bite.

“You look like a rabbit.” she commented.

I raised an eyebrow and turned to her, “I don’t.” I replied, taking another bite. “So what are you doing here again? It’s been a while since the last time I saw you.”

“What am I supposed to do other than hang around with you? I can’t believe you question me that every time.” she answered.

“That’s it?”

She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean that’s it? You should’ve been grateful that you have someone like me who’s willing to hang around with you.”

“I am.” I said, swallowing the last bite. “I’m happy that you’re here.” I said sarcastically.

“Sometimes I wonder what actually goes through your mind when you say something like that.” she said as pulled out something from her bag. “Like this one.”

She brought out a sandwich.

“How can you eat this thing so peacefully?” she turned to me, showing the same type of sandwich I bought earlier. “I know it looked tasty, but…” she whispered, looking at the sandwich with worried eyes.

I blinked. “You’re starting something again…”

“Because think about it. This sandwich, it looks like a prison!” she said.

“Like what? A prison for the fillings inside?”

“Exactly!” she confirmed. “The breads are the walls—”

I grabbed her sandwich. “Stop. Or else I’ll eat this myself.”

“You’re no fun—”

“I am! And if you don’t want to get hungry, then eat this sandwich without making it complicated.”

She nodded slowly. “I get it…”

“Here.” I handed back the sandwich. “Now eat without spouting any more nonsense.”

She sighed. “This is how you treat your friend.” she whispered, sighing again.

“It’s only because you keep saying that nonsense whenever you’re about to eat something.”

She remained silent and took a bite of the sandwich.

“Good, right?” I asked, looking at her. “I know it’s good.”

“It’s fine.” she answered, unimpressed. “I think there’s a far better sandwich.”

“I know there are better sandwiches, but that’s not what we’re talking about. I was asking if it was good or not. Besides, where did you even get the sandwich? Did you buy it inside?”

“Where else would I get it then?” she asked back.

“Oh…” I paused then continued, “I can’t believe they let outsiders inside the school.” I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

She took the final bite and swallowed the sandwich. “It’s not like you can do something about it. Unlike you, I was able to do it without any problem.”

I raised an eyebrow, smiling at her. “Are you flexing the fact that you’re an outsider, or what?”

“That’s not it!” she retorted.

“But, that’s how it sounds to me. I mean unlike you, I am a normal student who doesn’t sneak around schools.” I said, messing with her. “I don’t think I would be that kind of a student.”

As I was messing with her, I didn’t notice that she suddenly brought out two of her hands and placed them on each side of my face with the palm facing my face.

“Ari… What’s this?”

“This is how it feels to be a sandwich.” she smiled.

With both of her palms, she held the two sides of my cheeks at the same time, pressing them together. “Now this is a better sandwich.” she muttered, nodding at herself.

“What are you doing?” I murmured, still locked up with Ari’s hands pressing onto my face.

“I’m making you a sandwich.” she said, grinning at me as if it was a normal thing to do. “This way you knew what it means for a sandwich to be a ‘prison’.”

I shook my head aggressively, but she didn’t stop and kept on holding my face in place. “If you don’t stop…”

“If I don’t stop what?”

“I’m giving you a second. If you don’t let go of my face, I’m going to sandwich you too.” I answered.

“You’re going to sandwich me too?” she asked, chuckling.

I took another chance to shake her hands off, but it didn’t work.

“What are you going to do?” she added.

Now, powered up by the annoyance, I took a deep breath. “Don’t blame me for this.” I said, grabbing her left shoulder with my left hand.

“!!!” Surprised, she immediately let go of her hands. “W-wai—”

But she was already late. As I held her shoulder, I pulled her into me and grabbed her head with my right hand. “This is what I call the ‘sandwich’.”

I formed a fist with my right hand and noogied her, softly knuckling the top of her head.

“Aw aw aw!!! Stop!” she begged for mercy.