Himegi-san a Bride from the Future Begs Me to Confess My Love to Her Again - Volume 1 Chapter 3.4

Bento 4

“Now, let’s all have lunch together!”

“That sounds good.”

So, each of us opened our bento on our desks.

Kanako’s bento was very girly, with sandwiches and fruits as the main items.

On the other hand, Harukawa-kun, being an athlete, had a bento filled with fried chicken, pork cutlet, and meat, giving it a hearty feel.

Surprisingly, Himegi-san’s bento featured a character bento (charaben) of a well-known character that everyone recognizes.

Even though it’s a charaben, it’s colorful and well-thought-out in terms of nutritional balance.

Quite unexpected. I had imagined that she might bring a traditional stacked bento box, like a daughter of a prestigious family. It caught me off guard.

“Wow, Touka-san’s bento is so cute!”

“It’s a bit embarrassing.”

“No, not at all! Touka-san, did you make this yourself?”

“No, it was made by our maid. She’s been really into making character bentos lately.”

“I see. A maid, huh? By the way, it’s unusual to see you with a bento.”

“…Well, yeah.”

As Kanako pointed out, I usually just buy bread from the cafeteria or the school store and eat lunch alone.

Kanako was somewhat intrigued by the fact that I had brought a bento.

“Is it homemade by your mom?”

Unfortunately, that answer was incorrect.

“Well, something like that.”

However, I couldn’t reveal the true answer.

So, for now, I decided to go with the story that my mother had made my lunch.

In reality, I really wanted to brag about it. I wanted to shout it out loud to the entire school that my future bride had made this lunch.

But I couldn’t do that. If I said that, people would think I’m a crazy student.

For now, I’ll endure it. Until one day, I can proudly declare this bento… With this thought in mind, I open my bento.

“——!”

And then, I quickly closed the lid with a bang, sealing it shut.

This is a bento that should not be revealed in public.

“Hey, don’t make such a loud noise out of nowhere! You’ll startle people!”

“Sorry, my hand slipped.”

I decided to put this bento back.

“Hakuba, why are you trying to put the bento back so forcefully?”

“…I, uh, I just remembered I’m on a diet.”

“Hmm. You, a slender guy, on a diet? You should stop sleep-talking.”

“Right…I just remembered something I have to do——”

Trying to maintain composure as much as possible, I put the bento back forcefully and stood up from my chair.

“Oh, really? Something you have to do?”

“Yes, I have something to do. You three enjoy yourselves.”

Saying that, as I was about to leave the club room——

“Takakyun, catch Hakuba!”

“Huh?”

“Just do it and don’t let the Pitiful Prince escape!”

“I, I got it!”

Takakyun obediently followed the little girl’s orders and stood up to catch me.

I couldn’t let myself be caught, so I roughly opened the door and dashed down the hallway at full speed.

I really gave it my all in that dash, but as expected of the ace striker of the soccer club, I was captured within seconds and ended up being held tightly by Takakyun.

“Let go! You traitor!”

“S-Sorry, but I can’t go against Kanako.”

What a pathetic man you are! I will never become such a weakling!

“…There’s no way you can beat Takakyun in a footrace.”

With a exasperated expression, Kanako took out a bento from the bag she had just snatched away.

“Apparently you don’t want anyone to see what’s inside this bento.I wonder what’s in this bento.”

“Stop! You must not open that! If you open that box, you’ll regret it!”

“Now, let’s see what the Pitiful Prince’s lunch is today!”

My plea fell on deaf ears, and Kanako opened my bento with a smug smile.

“This is… What is this…”

“…Ouji-kun, this bento…”

“…Don’t, don’t look… I’m begging you, please don’t look at it!”

The lunchbox that Touka-san handed to me was what is commonly referred to as an ‘Aisai Bento’ (loving wife’s bento).

On top of the white rice, there was a red heart mark made of salmon flakes, and below it was written 『Ha-kun, I love you』 in seaweed.

“Wow, seriously, I’m totally creeped out! This is seriously creepy! What a disappointing bento!”

I’m going to cry, I’m seriously going to cry.

Sadly, not only Kanako but also Takakyun seemed a bit put off.

Damn it. I never expected there to be a bomb like this.

Enough, it’s whatever. Let’s just eat it for now.

Having come to that realization, I returned to my seat and decided to eat Touka-san’s specially-made loving wife’s bento.

“…Itadakimasu.”

I clasped my hands together and offered thanks to Touka-san, who had made it for me since early in the morning.

“Chikada-san, making fun of someone’s hard-made bento is a shameful act.”

“Ugh, that’s true.”

“Ouji-kun, you shouldn’t worry about it either. Just be thankful that your mom made you lunch.”

Saying that, Himegi-san came to my defense.

By the way, it’s actually you from six years in the future who made this lunch…

“If you’d like, would you like to have some of this heart-shaped tamagoyaki?”

As a thank-you for her support, I offered Himegi-san some of the side dishes from my bento.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll have some of the tamagoyaki…”

Himegi-san picked up a piece of tamagoyaki with her pink chopsticks and playfully popped it into her cute mouth.

“Oh, it’s delicious. It’s seasoned just the way I like it.”

That’s to be expected. In a sense, it’s like she made the tamagoyaki herself.

It’s only natural that their tastes would be similar.

I thought to myself, this is truly a case of singing one’s own praises.

By the way, the taste of the Aisai Bento made for me was so perfect that there was absolutely no room for complaints.

(TN: 自画自賛, singing one’s own praises, it’s used when someone compliments or admires something they themselves created or did.)