Distance and Bento

“Results tomorrow.”

After collecting the papers, homeroom teacher Kurose left the classroom, leaving behind a room full of exhausted students.
Mana let out a sigh of relief.

She’d been out of school for seven years—simple or not, the test had made her nervous.
She’d checked her answers five times after finishing.

“Yurina, how’d you do? I totally bombed.”
Rie Takashiro approached, fuming, clearly wanting Mana to join in bashing the teacher.
“That Kurose must’ve lost it. Questions that hard? Maybe his wife ditched him over his receding hairline and he’s taking it out on us…”

“Rie-chan, isn’t that a bit harsh on the teacher?”
Mana struggled to respond.

She understood her friend’s intent, but deep down, respecting teachers was important to her.
Badmouthing someone, especially mocking their appearance, felt instinctively wrong.

“Huh?”
Rie looked utterly confused.
“Yurina, what are you saying? Kurose deserves worse. Everyone knows he’s the most sarcastic teacher…”

“I can’t agree with that.”
A third voice cut in.
It was Kanzaki Takuya, flanked by three fangirls watching eagerly.
“Teacher Kurose is the most dedicated teacher I know. You can dislike his methods, but you shouldn’t mock his looks or insult his character.”

“Tch… My bad.”
Rie knew better than to openly challenge the school’s star.
She backed down, but her glare at Kanzaki was venomous.

The interruption killed Rie’s mood to talk.

But Mana didn’t feel relieved.
Even she could tell—Rie Takashiro was a delinquent.

Not that she discriminated.
Rebellion was normal for teens.

The problem: Rie’s ways clashed with Mana’s values.
And Rie’s behavior could easily affect her relationship with the Shizuki family.
Mana had no confidence in getting along with her.

She needed to swap back with Yurina soon.

What she couldn’t do, the perfect Yurina surely could.

Guilt crashed over her again.
Only the bell ringing improved her mood slightly.

The note-passing earlier was an accident.
Mana took classes seriously.

She’d never been a genius—if she didn’t work harder than others, she couldn’t succeed.
Well, even with effort, she hadn’t.

Some things effort couldn’t achieve.
But she’d rather regret after trying than give up from the start.

She didn’t know about her past self.
Now, this was who she was.

After class, while others lingered, Mana bolted to the bathroom.
She wasn’t stupid enough to use the men’s room in this body.
She finished as quickly as possible to ease her guilt.

“Yurina, where’d you go?”
Back in class, Rie stood at the door, arms crossed, clearly annoyed.

“I went to the bathroom.”

“Oh, really?”
Rie said flatly, brushing past her toward the restroom.

Aaaah, she’d messed up.
Girls went to the bathroom together—she knew that.
But she couldn’t do it.
Mana returned to her seat, dejected, unable to shake it off.

She’d promised not to repeat mistakes, yet in half a day, she’d cracked her friendship with Rie.
She was useless—

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”
Kanzaki again, turning to face her casually.

Yurina appreciated him acting like a boyfriend, but she didn’t need pity.

“There’s a Chinese saying: Stay near vermilion, get stained red; stay near ink, get stained black.”
Kanzaki continued, “If you don’t want to fall with her, cut ties early.”

What was he saying?
Mana started to get angry.
Even as a boyfriend, telling her to ditch her friend was too much.

But his words reminded her of the pain of giving up.
It gave her resolve.
“I won’t give up.”

She didn’t care about herself.
But Rie was Yurina’s friend.
No matter how different their values, she had to maintain this bond.

Kanzaki said no more.
Pushing further would expose their relationship.
Now, Mizushima Tomoki in front of Mana was getting suspicious.

“Hey, Kanzaki, you dating Shizuki? Were you passing love notes in class?”

“Even if I were, you’d have no chance if you don’t try harder.”
Kanzaki saw through Mizushima’s mischief and turned the tables.

“Tch, I’m not trying to be a heartthrob like you.”
Mizushima was a sporty heartthrob himself, popular with some girls, but no match for Kanzaki.
He had no interest in competing.

“Really? I think you can’t even land one.”

“Who says I can’t—wait, I lose. I’ll keep your secret.”
Seeing Kanzaki ready to call someone, Mizushima surrendered.

Their commotion drew the three fangirls.
The leader asked curiously, “Kanzaki-kun, what’re you talking about?”

“This guy wants me to cover for him dating Shizuki.”
Mizushima jumped in.

“Shizuki and I are academic rivals.”
Kanzaki calmly switched narratives, still not denying it.
He believed tomorrow’s results would prove it perfectly.

“Liar!”

Others took it as a joke.
They couldn’t imagine Kanzaki with the delinquent Yurina.
Of course, Yurina was quite pretty, and today she looked much more proper.
But first impressions stuck—they weren’t from the same world.

Before the next bell, Mana texted Rie an apology.
As expected of best friends, Rie didn’t plan to end things over this.
She replied quickly.
But Mana was more troubled—Rie invited her to lunch.

【Sorry, I have plans.】

Between trust and friendship, she chose trust.

Rie returned with a terrifyingly dark expression.
During class, she replied.
【Can’t cancel?】

【Sorry.】
Mana replied secretly while doing problems.

【Can I come?】
Rie responded instantly.

【Sorry.】

Mana typed it but couldn’t send.
She didn’t know how close they were, but even through the screen, she could tell Rie was trying to save their bond.

【Need to reschedule?】
Kanzaki tossed a note.

What the heck?
Mana knew she, a murderer, should feel guilty and obey the victim.
But facing Kanzaki always made her furious—like meeting a natural enemy.

She hit send on Rie’s message, then roughly wrote “No need” to Kanzaki.

Result: Rie was thoroughly angry.
No more replies, no matter what Mana sent.

Ah, she’d messed up.
Mana stared at her phone, heavy-hearted.
This was avoidable.
The chat history was there—if she’d looked, understood Rie’s personality, she wouldn’t have made such a basic mistake.
But she hadn’t.

Likely her obsession with rejecting her past self.
She didn’t want to invade Yurina and Rie’s privacy—something she saw as despicable.

But now she understood.
Her feelings didn’t matter.
She only needed to maintain Yurina’s relationships.

Taking a deep breath, she sent another message: she was having lunch with her boyfriend, but didn’t say who.
Glancing at Kanzaki, her inexplicable anger was gone.
She even managed a gentle smile.

Yes, like this.
Her thoughts didn’t matter.
She’d failed too many times by overthinking and prioritizing herself.
Her failure was fine.
But the Yurina she played couldn’t fail.

The opening ceremony took one period, so after this class, it was lunch.
Mana grabbed her bento and headed to the meeting spot with Kanzaki.
Rie tried to stop her, but Mana apologized with clasped hands from afar.

They’d agreed on an empty classroom in the club building.
To Mana’s surprise, Kanzaki was already waiting.

“How’d you get here so fast?”
She figured shaking off his fans would take time.

“I just told them I had plans. They didn’t follow.”

“Isn’t that rude?”
Mana’s first thought was that he’d been harsh.
She couldn’t help worrying.

“Nothing wrong with it. I was keeping our promise.”

Mana recalled their morning notes.
She’d only been playing the girlfriend role—she hadn’t expected him to listen.
Besides, after dating so long, if he still acted like that, Yurina must’ve accepted the fangirls… Wait, something felt off.

“Let’s eat first. Bad to be hungry.”
Kanzaki set up desks and chairs.
“This is the drama club room. No one comes at lunch. We can take our time.”

Right, can’t let this body go hungry.
Mana pushed down her questions, nodded, sat, and opened her bento.

“Yurina, your bento looks amazing.”

“Yours is nice too.”
Mana replied, but after thinking, she suspected he was hinting… But how could she manage that?!

She decided to eat silently, ignoring hints.

“I meant, when will you make me one again?”
Kanzaki stated plainly.

“This… Next time, if I get the chance.”

Mana glanced at his bento, calculating the cost—her first thought was whether it burdened the family.
She forgot Yurina couldn’t cook.
And she definitely didn’t realize this wasn’t the drama club room, but the band club’s secondary room.

“Yurina, remember our last date?”
Kanzaki’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.