Episode 15: Say “Aah” — Let Me Feed You?

A lunchtime, some days later.
I was at my desk, quietly unwrapping my bento on my own.

The students around me had pulled their desks together into clusters, but I — sadly — had no friends of that sort.
Eating a nutritionally balanced meal alone, then getting a head start on the afternoon’s prep work. That was my lunchtime routine.

Or so it was supposed to be.

“…Here we go.”
“Hm?”

Something was set down at the edge of my vision without warning.
A convenience store bag containing a bread roll and a carton of vegetable juice.

I looked up to find Hiyori grabbing the chair from the desk in front of me, spinning it around with a grating screech, and dropping into it to face me as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“…Hiyori? What are you doing?”
“What do you mean, it’s lunch.”

Without so much as asking permission, she’d reversed the chair and plonked herself down as if it were her right.
Behind her, oversized cardigan sleeves dangling, came the usual flashy group — Airi, Yuina, and Meiko in tow.

“Go and eat at your own desk.”
“I came all the way over here especially, and Maya’s so cold about it.”

Hiyori jabbed a straw into her juice carton, pouting.
Airi, hovering behind her, jumped in with a grin.

“Right, right~! You two turned us down last time, but Mama-pi and Hiyori are a couple, aren’t you? You should be getting along!”
“Excuse me?! Don’t say ridiculous things! And actually — I’ve been meaning to ask for a while — what’s Mama-pi supposed to mean?!”

I frowned and demanded an answer. Airi and the others exchanged looks.

“Well, committee chair, you’re basically Hiyori’s doting wife, aren’t you? That makes you practically family, and Mama-pi’s cuter than just Mama, don’t you think?”
“Ahaha! That’s true~! Though Hiyori’s more of the child in this relationship, isn’t she?”
“…W-what is that?!”

I thought my face was going to catch fire.
Sounds like a nagging mother — that I could just about accept.
But being upgraded to the full married couple treatment without my knowledge was something else entirely.

“…Hey, Maya.”
“Wh-what.”
“Open my bread for me.”

Hiyori nudged the still-sealed roll toward my hands, with the serene expression of someone expecting to be waited on.

“…Open it yourself.”
“My nails are freshly done, it’s tricky. …Come on, quickly. I’m starving.”
“…What.”

(Wife? This isn’t even that. This is just caregiving!)

Muttering to myself internally, I noticed I was already obediently opening the packaging, and let out a long sigh.

“Mama-pi’s bento is incredible! The colours are amazing!”

Airi peered into my lunchbox, and that was the signal for the other two to drag their chairs over and crowd around my desk.

“That’s a lot of vegetables.”
“The tamagoyaki looks perfect though~”

Perfume and high, chattering voices.
My last sanctuary had been transformed into a vivid jungle in an instant.

“By the way, Hiyori — just bread and juice for lunch?”
“Yep. I’m watching what I eat.”

Quite an unhealthy diet for a high schooler.
I looked back and forth between my own bento and Hiyori’s dry-looking bread roll and let out a small sigh.

“…You’re slim enough already, you don’t need to lose weight. If anything…”
“If anything?”
“…I think a little more to you would be healthier.”

I mumbled it under my breath, and Hiyori’s eyes narrowed into a slow smile.

“Oh? So Maya prefers them with a bit more to hold onto?”
“That’s not what I said!”
“Ahaha! Mama-pi’s gone so red~!”
“Ohh, so she’s into curves — Mama-pi’s greedier than she looks?”

All three of them joined in the teasing at once.
Was making something of every single word their idea of entertainment?

This time it was me who pushed my lunchbox slightly toward her.

“…Do you want some?”
“Hm?”
“Tamagoyaki. …I made too much.”
“Really? Yes please.”

Hiyori narrowed her eyes just a little — and for some reason opened her mouth and waited.

“…aah.”
“Sorry?”
“I don’t have my own chopsticks.”
“Just pick it up with your fingers.”
“Ew, my nails will get dirty. …Hey, Maya. Feed me?”

As Hiyori looked up and wheedled, Airi and the others started up their “whoo~!” immediately.

“Go for it, Mama-pi!”
“Open wide! Open wide!”
“Isn’t this basically feeding a little kid? So wistful~”
“…! Ugh! Be quiet, all of you!”

Refusing any further would only keep drawing attention.
I gave in, picked up a piece of the yellow tamagoyaki with my own chopsticks, and held it out.

“Here, eat it quickly!”
“Mm. Aah…”

Soft, glossy lips.
I brought the chopsticks to them — the same ones I’d been eating with moments ago.
Hot breath from Hiyori’s nose drifted over my approaching fingertips, and I caught my breath involuntarily.

Mm.
Soft lips closed around the chopsticks along with the tamagoyaki.
A faint, wet sound — as though the tip of the chopsticks had been lightly licked clean.

(—!)

The illusory sensation of soft lips against the tip of the chopsticks travelled back through them.
Hiyori chewed, and her eyes went wide.

“…Mm. …That’s good.”
“…Oh, the seasoning’s not too strong? I think I got it slightly wrong today.”
“Not at all. It’s delicious. Sweet and fluffy. …Hey, did Maya make this herself?”
“Yes. Lunch I make in the morning… mum’s busy, so.”
“…That’s amazing. Maya’s tamagoyaki… she really is Mama-pi in every sense. Like, literally.”

As Hiyori praised it with unaffected delight, the gyarus around her started clamouring for a piece too.

“…No. This is mine. …Maya made it herself.”
“Ehh, that’s not fair, Hiyori~!”

Hiyori smiled, smug.

“…Oh.”

I looked at the chopsticks back in my hand and went still.

These had just been in Hiyori’s mouth.
The tip — faintly wet.

And I was going to use these to eat the rest of my lunch.
Which meant…

I hid the fact that my heart was about to detonate, and shovelled the rest of my bento down in a desperate escape.
The chopstick tips, still holding Hiyori’s warmth.
From them, just faintly, something seemed to taste sweet — and after that, I couldn’t taste the food at all.

◇◆◇◆◇

After school.
Just the two of us in the discipline room.
Hiyori sat perched on the desk, legs swinging idly, waiting for me.

“…So. Hug first again today?”

I set down my bag and asked. Hiyori tilted her head with a little “hmm” — and said something completely unexpected.