The Cafeteria Encounter and Leidi’s Unexpected Authority

“Hey there~ We meet again.” The ‘Prince,’ with a bright, easy smile, waved at us from the adjacent lunch line. His towering height immediately drew the gazes of students already dining in the cafeteria. “……” – Leidi “……” – Protagonist Leidi and I offered him a somewhat sheepish and awkward smile in return. ‘Are you serious…?’ ‘He fell face-first from a tree roughly four meters high, and he wasn’t sent to the hospital?!’ ‘Did the school nurse really just let him go so easily?!’ ‘As a human, your body is far too resilient!’ After we finished clearing the debris from the lawn, our lunches had been utterly ruined by the ‘Prince’s’ unexpected descent. With our stomachs still empty, Leidi and I decided to head to the school cafeteria. After using a self-service ordering machine, which resembled a vending machine for drinks, and obtaining our meal tickets, we inexplicably found ourselves face-to-face with the ‘Prince,’ who was flanked by a throng of girls in the queue. ‘Wait a minute… aside from Takagi, Aki, and Ami, who were with us earlier, no one else’s bento was ruined, was it?’ ‘Why are all these other girls lining up?’ “L-Leidi-chan, w-what a coincidence…” His faltering voice clearly betrayed his unease. “So you finished cleaning up so quickly…” ‘Uh… it only takes about ten minutes to deal with it using a broom and dustpan, doesn’t it?’ ‘What exactly are you regretting?’ “Eh?! Why are you two at the cafeteria?!” ‘Hey, hey, we didn’t eat our packed lunches, so of course we’re starving!’ It seemed the other girls weren’t particularly thrilled to see Leidi and me. ‘What’s the deal with that?’ Carried along by the awkward, yet unavoidable, atmosphere the ‘Prince’ had created, the girls from our class gathered together again. This time, however, there was an additional boy. “Hey—look at that guy, he’s so handsome.” “He’s so tall!” “He really is, ah—what a shame, that table’s already full… I really want to go over there, even if it’s just to sit nearby.” As I ate the unagi donburi on my tray, a dish I hadn’t tried before, I pretended not to hear the whispers of the girls around me. ‘If only I could swap places with them right now.’ ‘Speaking of which, the girls’ gazes directed at him feel quite piercing, don’t they?’ ‘It’s truly impressive that he remains unfazed by it all.’ ‘Has he, as a handsome man, grown accustomed to being ‘pricked’ like a porcupine?’ ‘In a way, it’s rather enviable.’ “Wow~ a harem! I’m so jealous.” “Black Princess and her sister are there too!” “One, two, three… fourteen, fifteen. Ah! An entire class of girls! What a winner in life!” ‘Boys… be mindful… I genuinely can’t pretend not to hear your voices!’ ‘Everyone sitting together heard that!’ “U-um, Aoyama-kun, do you have Line?” “Mm-hmm, I wanted to ask that too.” The girls seated on either side of the ‘Prince’ began their offensive, their faces flushed with blushes. ‘However, can their hesitant, timid manner truly be described as an ‘offensive’?’ ‘It feels more like ‘the fish on the chopping block,’ doesn’t it?’ “Yes, I do~ if you don’t mind.” The ‘Prince’ smiled, his eyes narrowing, as he pulled out his phone. “Yah! I was first! Don’t push!” “I want it too! Me too!” “Me! Me! And me!” Everyone scrambled to take out their phones. ‘I mean… this is a public place, after all…’ ‘As girls, shouldn’t everyone try to be a bit more composed? (Even though I already know the tragic truth from Senior).’ “Sit down. Is this how a lady should behave?” Leidi, sitting beside me, suddenly snapped, a hint of anger in her eyes, startling me as well. “Yah! Black Princess is so cool~” “As expected of Black Princess, her aura is truly different from ordinary girls!” Girls’ shrieks and boys’ comments echoed from behind us. ‘Do you really not fear being beaten for saying such things?’ “Ugh—I’m sorry—” “I’ll be more careful…” “Everyone, let’s go one by one from left to right…” The girls, looking a little ashamed, adjusted their appearances as they settled back into their seats. ‘What’s happening?’ ‘Does Leidi actually have that much sway?’ “Uh, heheh—” The ‘Prince’ chuckled awkwardly as he passed his phone around to each of them. ‘Don’t tell me even you were intimidated by Leidi…’ After the phone had made its rounds, every girl, except for Leidi and me, beamed with satisfaction. ‘Being handsome truly is a sin!’ ‘To make girls look so incredibly happy, it makes me so ridiculously jealous!’ ‘Be careful, I can’t let it show.’ “Could you tell me your names?” Turning towards Leidi and me, he posed what seemed like a pick-up line, accompanied by an utterly captivating smile. ‘I mean… we just had the misfortune of sitting across from you; we’re not actually interested!’ ‘And seriously, shouldn’t you ask the other girls that question first?’ ‘I’m about to be pricked into a porcupine again by all these stares!’ “Leidi Colt.” With a polite, social smile, Leidi introduced herself simply, her slightly cool tone clearly indicating her lack of interest in him. ‘For the other girls, this might be a good thing, perhaps… after all, there’s one less formidable competitor.’ ‘But expressing it so overtly will surely incur the resentment of the other girls, won’t it?’ “This is my sister, Piengo Colt. Also, my sister doesn’t speak Japanese, so if you have any questions, please ask me.” When it was my turn for an introduction, there was still no superfluous information. ‘Thanks a lot, I’m not interested in him either.’ ‘In fact… my male jealousy is about to explode!’ ‘What’s the big deal?! Is being handsome so amazing?!’ “So, ‘Sister-san’ lent me a helping hand despite being unable to communicate at all?” “You truly are a girl whose heart is as radiant and beautiful as her appearance.” The ‘Prince’ turned to me, his smile growing even more enchanting. ‘Clatter!’ My expression froze, and the chopsticks in my hand tumbled onto the table, my face rapidly flushing crimson. ‘(Don’t misunderstand… this is from anger!)’ ‘I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I… I just got hit on!!!’ ‘So, you saw you had no chance with Leidi, and now you’re trying to flirt with me, is that it?!’ ‘And seriously, you’re way too practiced at this!’ ‘Even this one incident between us can be used as a pick-up line?!’ “Xiao Bai, calm down. You need to pretend you don’t understand right now.” Leidi timely reminded me in Chinese. ‘I’ll endure! I’ll endure! I’ll endure, endure, endure!!!’ I awkwardly picked up my chopsticks, forcing a smile, and continued eating. ‘Damn it! The unagi donburi has completely lost its taste!’ ‘You owe me for this!’ “Is ‘Sister-san’ alright? Are you feeling unwell? Should I take you to the infirmary?” The guy (there was no way I could still call him ‘Prince’!) showed a slightly concerned expression. ‘Who needs your superfluous concern?!’ “Eh?! Bye-chan is unwell? Then hurry to the infirmary!” “You should take care of yourself! Leidi-chan, quickly take Bye-chan there.” “……” Leidi smiled in silence. “……” That guy also smiled in silence. ‘They probably thought—it was a bit silly, right?’ The girls began to subtly ostracize Leidi and me, likely hoping we would leave. It was fortunate that Takagi, Aki, and Ami remained silent. ‘I mean… as someone who’s supposedly unable to understand Japanese, I’m completely innocent, alright!’ ‘And I won’t compete with you, okay?’ ‘I’ll even give you the air around him!’ “May I ask which class you’ll be transferring into next week?” Smiling at him, Leidi stood up, motioning for me to pick up my tray and leave. “First-year Class A.” The other party responded with an equally charming smile. “Prince Aoyama-kun. I’ll remember you.” Leidi gave him a captivating, goddess-like smile. Then she led me away. ‘You ask if that guy followed us? If he had, he’d truly be an idiot, wouldn’t he?’ **** “Honestly, they asked me to help them improve their ‘girly charm,’ and now they’re practically throwing themselves at him.” On the way back to class, Leidi grumbled with an air of nonchalance. “What exactly is your role in the class?” “I suppose I’m like a ‘guidance-oriented big sister’—a campus idol, if you will.” ‘Symbiotic? No, parasitic?!’ “Guidance? Not friends, then?” “As for those I can call friends, you saw them, didn’t you? Only Takagi, Aki, and Ami.” She paused. “Though even they didn’t come along.” ‘She’s quite direct, even when they’re not around, though they wouldn’t have understood anyway if they were.’ “It’s not entirely incomprehensible that they’d want to pursue that small possibility, is it? After all, he is a handsome guy.” I attempted to defend them. “You want to pursue him too?” Leidi teasingly began to prod me. “How could I possibly?!” ‘I’m practically gnashing my teeth in fury right now!’ “But you personally wiped his face earlier?” ‘Critical hit!!!!!’ “I-I-I-I-I-I-I-It was just maternal instincts overflowing!” “So you admit it, huh, haha?” Leidi’s laughter was brimming with delight. For a moment, I couldn’t find any excuse, and it was too late for regrets. ‘Honestly! I’ve never won an argument with Leidi!’