I Can't Touch Girls, Otherwise They Go in Heat

Chapter 1.3

A deep sigh of relief escaped my lips as we heard the school bell ring outside our classroom. There were a few times where my eyes were about to drop out of boredom, so I forced myself to stay awake by listing down the names of my classmates, particularly the ones who introduced themselves to me earlier.

I should have known that the first day of classes would be just like this. But damn it, I thought that because I'm the only one who's supposed to introduce himself, we're going to move on to having normal lessons!

....Instead, we just wasted time going through orientation in almost every subject and at one point, one of our senseis just let us do whatever we wanted because he didn't want to deal with the whole thing.

On the bright side, I used that time to ask Haru-san for the names of our classmates so that particular problem won't be a bother in the future. As a member of the classroom, it's my duty and responsibility to be acquainted with all of my classmates so I can interact with them without any problems in the future.

Then again, I did say that I won't be approaching my female classmates because who knows what'll happen if I do, so I resorted to asking Haru-san for their names.

Of course, I told him not to include any perverted details regarding the girls in our class and thankfully, he considered my words and left that topic out of our conversation.

Anyway, it's lunch break right now, and I better spend my free time in a good way..... namely eating my homemade bento at the rooftop!

I quickly grabbed the bento that okaa-san made for me in my bag and walked out of the room, not looking behind even once. But as I got to the staircase heading upwards, a voice stopped me from going any further.

"Oi, Sawaru! Where do you think you're going?"

Taking a glance behind me, I saw Haru-san standing there with a confused look on his face. Sakurai-san was also present, his expression being the same as the former. Did they follow me?

".....I'm gonna have my lunch?"

"The cafeteria's downstairs, idiot. Why are you heading up instead?"

"I know that. I just want to spend my lunch at the rooftop, that's all."

"You're not gonna buy anything, Sawaru-kun?" asked Sakurai-san.

"No need, I have my lunch right here." I showed them my bento, while also sending them a confused look. What are they even trying to tell me?

".....Wait, are you worried that you might not get a seat at the cafeteria? Just stick with us, we'll find a good spot where we can eat."

"It's not like that at all. I'm just going to spend my lunch at the roof because I'm used to eating there. It's the place where I've always eaten, even back in my old school."

"......oh."

"Are you sure about that, Sawaru-kun?"

Why do they look so surprised? Have they never seen this being done before? Does no one here spend their lunch at the roof? I remember there were a handful of students back at Fukuoka who would rather eat at the rooftop instead of the cafeteria, even though I've never approached them or anything.

Hmm..... could it be that it's strictly prohibited to go upstairs and stay on the roof? That would explain why they seem confused with my actions.....

"Yeah, I just like how quiet it is upstairs. Is it against the school rules to go there?"

I waited patiently for Haru-san to answer my question, but he looked frozen for some reason. It was also during this that Sakurai-san moved on ahead and left the scene. Good, at least he understands where I'm going with this.

"....Uh...... not really, just..... we normally spend our lunch at the cafeteria instead....."

.....Okay, I consider myself a kind and patient person who doesn't get angry that easily, but I'm tempted to yell at him for that answer. Seriously, he could have told me that from the beginning.

"Don't worry about me, Haru-san..... I just prefer eating at the rooftop. Go on without me." I told him before continuing on my way, ignoring everything that came out of his mouth afterwards.

That conversation was pointless. Ugh, we wasted a few minutes of our time when we could have used it to eat lunch.

~XoX~

Being able to spend my lunch break at the rooftop where little to no people are around...... this brings me back to my first year in Fukuoka.

Upon reaching this place, I was quite surprised to see that there's no other person around here, even though it's lunch break and this is a good area to eat food. I suppose Haru-san was telling the truth about students normally having lunch at the cafeteria.

Well, I guess this makes things a lot more peaceful.

There were a few benches around here, but I chose to sit at the one that's nearest to the door. Anyway, about my classmates!

After I introduced myself earlier to them, they didn't really ask too many questions like what I feared, save for embarrassing ones like whether I have a girlfriend or not, or if I'm still a virgin or not anymore. I saw them coming and had a response in mind, but good thing I didn't have to answer those, because sensei gave the people who asked such questions a warning.

Apart from that, some of them just asked where I lived around here and what school I came from. In the end, I didn't even have to spend more than five minutes in front of everyone because if I did, I'm sure I would be in the spotlight for the rest of the day......

And then, classes continued on afterwards.

For my first day in this school, it wasn't all bad. Just boring. I can already tell that it'll just be orientation again for our two remaining classes after lunch, so I should make the most of my free time right now.

I opened my bento box, grabbed my chopsticks, and smiled at the lunch that okaa-san prepared for me.

Itadakimasu!

"......Sawaru-san, are you here....?"

What the— h-how did someone figure out I was here....? Did someone follow me or something?

I turned my head to look at the person who came up here as well, expecting it to be either Haru-san or Sakurai-san who came here to talk about something. They were the ones who saw me going upstairs earlier, after all. However, as soon as I got a good look at the person who just arrived, it was neither of them.

This person had long blonde wavy hair, gentle blue eyes, and bore an expression that showed worry. If I had to be honest, I think I'd punch myself in the face for making this person worry.

She was Kataoka Yumi (片岡優美), the so-called 'Angel of the Class', according to what Haru-san told me. I don't know if he was exaggerating or not, but I'll keep my mind open.

"Sawaru-san!"

Her face quickly brightened as soon as she laid eyes on me, as she ran over to where I was. She brought a lunch bag with her, which could only mean that she hasn't eaten yet. Huh.....

"Why are you here, Kataoka-san?"

"I was looking for you."

Blinking a few times in wonder, I stared at the girl standing before me with wide eyes. Why was she looking for me? This is literally the first time we've talked to one another.

"You were looking for me? Is there something you need?"

"I didn't see you at the cafeteria with everyone else, so I got worried that you might have gotten lost. I asked Itazura-san where you were. He told me that you were up here."

".......Uh, yeah.... didn't he tell you that I'm going to spend lunch break here?"

"He did, but... why didn't you go to the cafeteria with us? Is it because you don't want to be with us?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing and her eyes becoming sad. It also looked like she could burst into tears at any moment.

Oh, boy.....

Did I do something wrong? I must have.

....For some reason, I felt like I'd been caught doing a crime.

I need to make this right!

"I-I-It's not like that at all......! I'm just used to eating out here, that's it! I've been doing this for years! It's not because I don't like you, our classmates, or anything like that, trust me." I quickly said, even waving my hands to further emphasize my point.

"Really....?"

Phew. Looks like I've successfully prevented a disaster from happening.

"I'm telling the truth. And.... if you want, I'll go with everyone tomorrow! We can all eat at the canteen altogether! Would that be fine?"

"Yes, it is! I'm so happy you'll eat with us tomorrow. I want to be friends with everyone in class, and you're one of them, Sawaru-san."

Ugh, stop with the cuteness, please..... there's only so much I can take before I die of how adorable you are! I can't believe Haru-san was right, she really is the 'Angel of the Class'!

"Yeah, me too. So, are you going back downstairs to join— w-what are you doing?"

"I'm going to eat lunch here with you, Sawaru-san."

"......Why?"

"Friends eat together, right? You're my friend, so I'll spend lunch break here with you!"

I could only stare at this girl in disbelief as she sat down on the bench beside me and brought out her own bento like it was nothing. Friends eat together? Of course I know that, but does she really think we're like that? We just met today, for crying out loud! At least let a few days pass before calling me a friend!

"T-There's no need! You can go back to the cafeteria instead and eat with everyone else, Kataoka-san! I'll be fine here!"

"But I don't want you to eat alone, Sawaru-san. Nobody really goes up here when it's time for lunch, and I would feel really bad if I left you here without anyone around."

"T-T-T-There's really no need to—!"

I stopped myself from saying anything else. What am I doing? This is obviously the reason why I almost made her cry earlier. I don't want that to happen again.

".....Fine.... y-you can eat here with me....."

"I hope I'm not being a bother."

"Hehe..... you're not......."

We spent the next few minutes just talking while going through our respective lunches, asking questions about the other but not too much.

Kataoka-san asked a few questions about my family and what's it like in my old school, while I just asked her about what normally happens around here.

I'm not one to ask personal questions, because there's a chance that I may come off as disrespectful if I do. Plus, this girl is like an angel in a human body, and I'll be damned if I do anything that offends her in any way. Apart from those, we just remained quiet and focused on eating our meals.

After we were done eating, we wasted no time cleaning up after ourselves and making sure that no trash was left behind. I may like to spend my lunches here, but the scorching hot sun does make it uncomfortable to sit here for a long time. It's better to just head downstairs instead of staying up here any longer.

"Thank you for allowing me to eat with you today, Sawaru-san." Kataoka-san bowed her head the moment we stood up from the bench, which caused a warm feeling in my cheeks. I tried to fight back against it in my mind, but it's really hard.....

"It was nothing much but if I had to be honest, thank you for spending lunch with me. I was prepared to be alone here for an hour, but... you had to come and find me here for a ridiculous reason....."

"It's not a ridiculous reason, Sawaru-san. I just don't want you to be here all alone."

I think I felt a direct punch to my gut after hearing that. It felt more sincere than a damn love confession!

"I know, but you make it sound so easy. If you didn't show up earlier, I'm pretty sure that nobody else would come here looking for me. I'm not saying I don't appreciate what you did for me, though. Thank you again, Kataoka-san." I showed off a genuine smile, before I did the same thing as her and bowed my head.

"You don't have to thank me over and over, but you're welcome, Sawaru-san. And I told you earlier, we're friends, right? You can call me by my name. All my friends call me that way."

"Sure..... but only if you call me by my name too."

I extended my right hand towards her out of formality. All I need is a handshake, and I'll be good.

I don't know, it just felt a bit awkward to be referred as a friend when we never even interacted until now but after this, I can rest easy. I'm really happy too, because who would have ever guessed that a girl would willingly make friends with me?

In Fukuoka, I had to be the one to approach my female classmates so I could befriend them, but almost none of them ever really cared so I just gave up. On the other hand, on my first day here, one of the girls actually went out of their way to be friends with me!

Kataoka— I mean, Yumi-san, really is an angel in human skin.

For this, I swear on my high school life that I'll be the bestest friend she could have!

".....Okay, Tenko-san!"

With a big smile on her face, she accepted my gesture and we shook hands. I returned her smile with my own and held her hand for a good five seconds before letting go.

Before you even ask, no, there weren't any malicious intentions behind that.

"Well then, Yumi-san... we should head downstairs already."

I grabbed my bento with a smile and thought about what I just said. It feels a bit weird to call a girl who's not my imouto by her first name, but it's not unwelcome.

"Yumi-san, let's go—"

I turned back to face my new friend, but I was surprised to see her just standing there, completely frozen in place. She was looking down on the ground but I could tell her face was red. For some reason, her hand was still outstretched but it was shaking..... wait, even her legs were the same?

Oh, no.....

"Yumi-san!"

I rushed to try and catch her, but I was too late and she fell on her behind, letting out a squeak as she hit the ground. I let myself take in a deep breath regardless, relieved that she didn't fall on her head or worse.

"Come on, take my hand. I'll pull you up."

I offered her my hand so I could pull her up from the ground but what happened next caused my eyes to grow wide to the point that they might leave my skull…….