Bonding Time

Despite being a Monday, the atmosphere was far from being gloomy. It was yet again a beautiful day. The blue sky was clear, the sun was bright, the tree branches rustled peacefully and the birds chirped in harmony. Yes, it was indeed a great day.

“I'm so excited for lunch!” Yui's smile beamed with excitement.

“Calm down, will you? It's not such a big deal.”

Kazuma tried to calm Yui down, however, the truth was that he was even more excited than her. The reason was that Emma would eat lunch together with the two today. He was really excited and yet he did not show it on his face because he knew that he would get teased for it. The only small change on his face were his small eye bags resulting from his lack of sleep due to being too excited.

“Not a big deal, huh?” she leaned closer on his face.

“W-what?” he stepped back.

“Gosh, you are like a kid.” she remarked giving a small sigh.

“A kid? What do you mean?” Kazuma tilted his head in confusion.

“Could it be that you hardly slept last night because you were too excited for lunch with Tachibana-san?”

She was spot on.

“N-not really... I was just busy last night!” he obviously lied.

Yui, who was able to instantly discover the lie, stared at him sharply.

“Is that so? Well, you're a boy after all. I don't care what you're doing at night.” she shrugged her shoulders.

“...”

Kazuma realized that telling the truth may had been the better option. But now Yui had the wrong idea about him.

As the two of them were almost at the school gates, they spotted a person waving at them.

“Good morning, Nagisa-san and Ichinose-san!” Emma greeted them.

“Good morning, Tachibana-san!”

“Good morning to you, too.”

They greeted her back.

“Did you wait for us here?” Yui asked.

“Yes, I wanted to ask you two where we should meet up later for lunch.”

“Meet up? Oh right! How could I forget. Hmmm... let me think...”

“How about the rooftop? Usually, there is no one so we won't get disturbed by anyone.” Kazuma answered.

“Yeah, that's a great idea!” Yui agreed.

“Alright, the rooftop then! I'm so excited, hehe.” Emma let out a cute laugh.

In the end, all three were more than eager to spend some time together during lunch. But now they had to focus on their classes first. The trio was diligently paying attention to class before the promised time. Well, at least two of them.

Kazuma was mentally absent as he looked out of the window and played out multiple potential scenarios during lunch in his mind. They would share their food, talk about trivial matters and laugh.

“Hehehe...”

Forgetting that he was still in class, Kazuma laughed creepily while drooling as he played out further scenarios in his head.

Then, the bell rang. It was now lunch time. After surviving hours of boring lessons or doing whatsoever, Kazuma, Yui and Emma went with their lunch boxes to the rooftop.

“Lucky! Seems like no one is here!” Yui observed.

Besides them, nobody was on the roof.

“Let's sit on the bench over there!” Yui pointed at a bench located on the other side of their current position.

Normally, many schools prohibited the students from entering the rooftop because it was dangerous, however, Tokubetsu High was less strict and even decorated it with benches and the like for the students.

After sitting down, they opened their lunch boxes.

“What a coincidence. Your boxes have the same content!” Emma commented after seeing the lunches of Kazuma and Yui.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Today was my turn to make lunches for us.” Kazuma explained.

“Yes. Kazuma and I take turns everyday to make lunches. It means, that I can sleep longer every second day!” Yui said shamelessly.

“Oh, that's really efficient!” Emma applauded the two.

And so, their lunch time continued as they ate, talked and laughed.

“Hey, do you want to exchange contact information with us, Tachibana-san?” Yui asked after they finished eating.

When Yui mentioned the idea, Kazuma clenched his fist and looked away from the two as he wanted to hide his joy from them. In his eyes, it was another nice assist from Yui.

“Sure! I would be delighted!” Emma's eye sparkled and her smile beamed with joy.

Then, the three exchanged their contacts.

“You know, I always wanted to talk to you and to become your friend, Tachibana-san.” Yui stated.

“Really? I'm glad to hear it! I also wanted to have a friend at school whom I could talk to!” Emma reciprocated her feelings.

“Hihi, then, do you want to go...”

Yui and Emma continued their talk as they planned to hang out the next time they had no school whereas Kazuma silently looked at his phone. From afar, it looked like Kazuma was holding his newborn child for the first time.

For him, it was yet another great achievement. Now Kazuma had Emma's contact information. He imagined the nights when the two of them would not sleep as they were too busy writing each other. He thought about the hour long calls or about sending each other pictures.

However, these were just his ideal scenarios again.

With the bell ringing, lunch time ended and Kazuma was back in the present time.

While Kazuma and Yui prepared to leave, Emma still sat on the bench.

“Is something wrong, Tachibana-san?” Yui asked.

“Uhm, is it alright if I call you by your first name?” Emma asked.

Her shyness and nervousness was written all over her body and face. Yet it was understandable. Due to certain circumstances, Emma was hardly able to make a friend her age. But after chatting with Yui, Emma thought that maybe she had a chance to get a close friend she always yearned for.

“Sure, why not! Can I call you by your first name, too?” Yui smiled at Emma wholeheartedly.

“Yes, but of course!" Emma exclaimed.

Seeing the two of them bonding, Kazuma could only stand there. He had to think.

Should he also ask her to call her by her first name? But he was still unsure. They were not close to each other yet like she was with Yui. It would be forced of him to do that. Besides, he would only embarrass himself if she declined him.

In the end he did not care.

He was the 'Master Of Rejections'. He confessed many times and faced many rejections thus far. Compared to a love confession, this was nothing. So why should hesitate now? It was a golden opportunity.

“Uhm, can I also call you Emma? You can call me Kazuma if you'd like to.” Kazuma asked with a determined expression.

“Sure! It would be my pleasure, Kazuma-san.” she happily answered.

“Good job!” Yui nudged Kazuma with her elbow as she wore a smug grin.

“Well, let's hurry up now. Or else, we will be late for our classes.” Yui said.

“Oh, you are right! Then, let's go, Yui-san and Kazuma-san!” Emma rashly packed her things.

And thus their clique was formed.

“I think I have to puke...” Ken said with a disgusted expression after they left the roof.

Ken, who arrived a little bit sooner, had to hear the entire conversation of the trio as he tried to sleep on the roof of the exit.

“Can I call you by your first name?” he tried to sarcastically mimic their talk.

“How old are they? Seven?” Ken continued to make fun of them.

“Whatever. It's not my time to shine yet. Not yet.” he grinned mischievously.

“?”

Ken received a message on his phone.

“Oh, speaking of the devil...” he commented after seeing whose message it was.

“Hehehe...” Ken could only laugh.

“Enjoy the next days to the fullest before the despair will come back to haunt you, Ichinose!” Ken stated.

Everyone thought that Ken would not lay a finger on Kazuma anymore. However, they forgot that Ken was infamous for ruining the lives of the people who annoyed him. It did not matter who the person was, in the end Ken would always make them miserable.

Kazuma was by no means an exception. Ken had the power and the resources to do it. He could care less about the methods he had to use.

Even if he had to seek contact with the most wicked gang in Tokyo, 'The Owls of Tokyo'.