Cafeteria Jealousy Storm!

The cafeteria is quite crowded during the lunch rush. I carried my fried horse mackerel set to the table where Karen was waiting.

There are two cafeterias at this university, but this primary one features standard long communal tables in the center and circular four-person tables only by the windows. Naturally, the couples tend to monopolize these circular tables. Karen is obsessed with “securing a couple’s table,” so she always arrives early at the cafeteria to stake out this spot.

I sat 90 degrees to Karen’s right. We used to sit side-by-side, but ever since I found out about her affair, I’ve seemingly developed a habit of keeping my distance.

Karen brought a lunch box her mother made for her. Eating lunch together on Fridays has been a rule of ours since we started dating. Ostensibly, it’s to decide where we’re going to hang out on the weekend, but now this rule is nothing but a source of pain. However, since Toko-senpai gave me strict orders—“Do not change your routine! Women sense psychological shifts through even the slightest changes”—I still eat with her like this. From another perspective, since Karen cheats on Mondays or Thursdays, this is actually a good time to scout her behavior.

Less than three minutes into the meal, Karen was staring straight ahead with a sullen look. I knew exactly why she was in a bad mood, but I pretended not to notice, silently shoveling my fried mackerel into my mouth.

“Honestly…”

Karen muttered, followed by a deliberately loud “Haaah…” sigh. This was her signal for me to “Pay attention to me!”

…Fine, I’ll play along.

“What’s wrong, Karen?”

I knew exactly what was wrong, but I asked anyway, acting the part of the concerned boyfriend.

“That. That,” Karen said, gesturing with her chin toward a table five rows ahead so only I could see.

Toko-senpai and Kamokura were sitting there. Toko-senpai had made lunch boxes for two and was handing one over to him.

“Kamokura-senpai and Toko-senpai?”

“Yes!” Karen replied with a huff. “Isn’t Toko-senpai being an idiot? Flirting like that in a place like this. Doesn’t she think it’s embarrassing?”

Toko-senpai was smiling as she opened her homemade lunch and offered it to Kamokura. He looked delighted. To me, it didn’t look like they were “flirting” in any particularly egregious way. Normally, I’d say, “It’s fine, they’re dating,” but here, I had to align with Karen.

“You’re right.”

“You think so too, right, Yu-kun? The cafeteria is a place to eat, they shouldn’t be acting all lovey-dovey!”

Karen seemed quite dissatisfied.

“I mean, if you’re bringing a lunch box, you don’t even need to come to the cafeteria! They should just eat by themselves in an empty classroom or something. That would free up a seat. They should think about other people!”

I suppressed the urge to point out, “You brought a lunch box too,” and offered another hollow agreement.

“True. They really should eat in a classroom.”

Besides, this cafeteria has a “bring your own” policy. There’s no rule against bringing in lunch boxes or food bought elsewhere. In fact, many students other than Karen and Toko-senpai were eating brought-in food.

“Lately, those two are always eating lunch together like that.”

“Yeah, I see them often.”

I gave a vague nod. I looked over at them; they really did look happy, chatting while they ate.

Toko-senpai’s handmade lunch… Thinking about it made my heart stir. Even though I knew this was part of “Toko-senpai’s operation.”

“Is there anything a guy would be happy to have a girl do for him?”

Toko-senpai had asked me that over the phone about ten days ago.

“Did something happen?” I asked back.

“I was thinking of doing something to please Tetsuya, just to keep his feelings high,” she replied.

Currently, Toko-senpai and Kamokura are, on the surface, a successful couple. Meanwhile, Kamokura is regularly cheating with Karen. From what I can see, Toko-senpai is definitely his main priority. Karen is just the “convenient girl” he calls when he can’t see Toko-senpai. It seems Karen hasn’t realized this fact yet, though.

“Something to make a guy happy, huh?”

To be blunt, at the time, my mind only went to “adult” suggestions.

“Maybe a present?” I offered the most obvious answer.

“But it’s irritating to spend money on someone who’s cheating.”

“Then, if you don’t want to spend money, how about a hand-knitted muffler?”

“That would take us past X-Day. Besides, thinking about Tetsuya right now, I don’t have the motivation to put in that much effort.”

“In that case, a lunch box is all that’s left.”

Toko-senpai went silent for a moment.

“A lunch box… I thought of that, but I’m not very good at cooking.”

I figured she’d be perfect at housework, but she’s bad at cooking? Then it hit me.

“It’s okay. These days, you can make a whole lunch box using only frozen foods.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You just take them out of the bag and put them in the box. You don’t even need to microwave some of them.”

When I’m short on cash, I ask my mom to make me a lunch. But when she’s busy, I make it myself—just pack some rice and toss in some frozen items. Done.

“They have everything from hamburgers and omelets to tonkatsu and side dishes. You have a huge repertoire. It takes less than five minutes to make.”

“Is that so? Then even I could do it! Thanks, that’s a great tip.”

And so, Toko-senpai decided to make lunch for Kamokura once or twice a week so they could eat together. Since she had never done anything like that since they started dating, Kamokura was apparently overjoyed. I heard he even said something like:

“Toko is finally starting to realize her role as my future wife.”

“I used to think Toko-senpai was so ‘cool and sophisticated.’ But now I’m totally disillusioned!” Karen said, tilting her chin up.

“I guess so. It’s different from her usual image.”

I’d been saying nothing but “I guess so” for a while now, mostly because I had lost all interest in talking to her.

“Doing stuff like that just to suck up to a guy is pointless! Toko-senpai has no pride.”

Inside, I felt a flicker of cold anger at that. Did Karen think she had “won” against Toko-senpai just because she was having an affair with Kamokura?

To a man, the difference between his main girlfriend and a side piece is like heaven and earth, the moon and a turtle—no, the sun and a pond slider!