Ritsu Route act 2-1

The morning grogginess is almost enough to kill my newfound positivity.
Almost.
I’m definitely not a morning person.
Still, I somehow manage to pull myself into the shower, and from there the rest of the morning goes relatively smoothly.
I even catch myself humming on the way to class. I wanna be your dog, of course, it’s literally the only song I’ve heard in a whole week.
Not even a very cheerful looking Misha (with a very suspicious looking Shizune behind her) greeting me the moment I step in inside the room manage to destroy my otherwise good morning.
M: Heeeey, Romeo!
I wouldn’t know the words were directed at me if she wasn’t shouting them into my face.
H: Me?
M: wahahaha, who else would I be talking to?
H: It would have helped if you used my real name.
M: We noticed you spent all of yesterday with Tainaka, Romeo.
H: Stalking me again?
M: That’s not a very nice thing to say!
M: We also were not stalking you earlier either!
H: Wait, but you said…
M: It was a joke.
H: I didn’t get it.
M: that’s not my fault, wahahahaha.
It hits me that getting your joke across must be very hard for someone like Misha, who always talks with the same cheerful and obnoxiously loud voice, seeing how much of the joke lies in the delivery.
The same goes for Shizune, since all she says has to go through Misha.
I feel kinda bad for not getting what in retrospective obviously was a joke, I mean, what kind of student council devotes a whole day to stalking the new kid?
I’d still rather not have this conversation though, seeing where Misha was leading it before my derail.

Thankfully, I’m saved by the bell as it signals the start of the first lesson. I use the opportunity to excuse myself to go sit by my desk. I notice that Ritsu isn’t here yet. It makes sense, I can totally see her being as little a morning person as myself.
She does, however, arrive a few minutes later, rather closely followed by a very tired looking Mutou who enters the classroom, seemingly already halfway in today’s lesson.
The lesson is rather simple, and it’s something we have covered several times in class already, so I tune out until my attention is brought to someone lightly tapping my shoulder.
It’s Misha who is passing me a small note. Normally I would be concerned about the teacher catching us, but Mutou seems too enveloped in his current rambling to notice anything at all.
“Did you and Tainaka have fun yesterday?”
I see no reason to lie, but I don’t go into too much detail either, there’s only so much you can fit on a small paper-slip.
“Yes, how about you?”
“I was with Shicchan, we had lots of fun”
In the corner there is doodled small chibi Misha and Shizune playing some kind of festival game.
Before I get a chance to reply, Misha grabs the slip of paper and writes a new message.
“You and Tainaka are cute together”
I don’t know what to answer. A part of me wants to tell Misha to shut up, but if I don’t want that to happen, as that would leave me alone with Mutou’s physics lecture. I decide to go for something silly to avoid discussion.
“You and Shizune too”
I also doodle a small heart around Misha’s chibi drawing.
For some reason, Misha stops sending me notes and turns her attention to Shizune, maybe they’re also sending notes, in that case, I understand her, as our conversation wasn’t really going anywhere.
Still, I’m left bored and alone without Misha to talk to, and it’s just before I fall asleep when the clock rings out to lunch break.

Ritsu comes up to my desk merely seconds after the clock rings.
R: How are you eating lunch today?
H: Probably the cafeteria, unless you have some other plan.
R: Then I guess I am your patron saint, since I have brought two lunches today.
H: Why would you bring two?
R: I misread the recipe and made double portions, so it’s not like I make food for you in my free time or anything.
H: Isn’t that just what you have been doing though? Even If it was accidental.
R: You’re too sharp.
She flashes one of her adorable fish-pouts before walking out of the class room with me following her lead.
H: where are we going?
R: I was thinking the park around the school.
Sounds good to me, I haven’t really checked it out yet, but it seems to be a popular place for lunch.
I follow her out of the school and into the park where we settle under a rather big tree.

We sit down with our backs leaned against the tree, it gives off the illusion of being casual, but the bark is actually pretty unpleasant against my back.
Ritsu hands me a lunch box and a pair of chopsticks, her soft hand briefly brushes against mine in the exchange, but she hastily pulls her hand back.
I’m a getting a little confused by Ritsu’s seemingly two-sided personality, how she first goes out of her way to do something for me, and then plays it off as if she didn’t, like with her clothes yesterday.
This meal is another example; it’s just rice with a pre-made chili sauce, so she obviously wasn’t following any recipe that she could misread.
And yet she can’t admit she made it for me, I wonder if it’s a pride thing.
Or maybe she just doesn’t want to send the wrong signals.
I don’t really know what to think about it.

R: God, this tree is killing my back.
I guess I’m not the only one thinking so.
H: We could lie down.
She doesn’t answer, just  slides further back against the tree until she is essentially lying in the grass. I do the same shortly after.
Eating while lying down is slightly harder than when sitting, put the soft grass mattress against my back makes up for it.
The lunch actually tastes kind of nice, even if it’s just rice and pre-made sauce. I guess with how much rice Ritsu seems to be eating, she probably owns a pretty good rice-cooker.
 I wish I had some supplies for making food in my room. I’m getting tired of the same old cafeteria food, so I take a mental note to remind me of going shopping in the small town down the hill sometime after school.
It’s nice to just lay in the sun, I close my eyes to amplify the feeling.
A few minutes pass by, the warm sun against my skin reminds that it’s almost summer.
It’s strange, normally I would be thirsting after summer’s release finally arriving, but after spending four months in hospital, school doesn’t seem all that stressing.

When I open my eyes again, Ritsu is sitting upright and staring at me.
R: You’re cute when you’re sleeping.
H: I wasn’t sleeping.
R: You weren’t cute either.
She playfully sticks out her tongue and winks with one eye.
She is definitely cute though, especially when she does those extravagated facial expressions.
I feel like I should make some sort of comeback, but I can’t think of anything good.
Instead I settle for going back to my half slumber.
It doesn’t last for long however, as I’m rudely awakened by the bell signaling the end of lunch, and we get up to head inside.

R: You are a horrible lunch partner you know.
R: Just lying in the grass and sleeping.
H: first of all I wasn’t sleeping, and you didn’t exactly work hard to keep a conversation going either.
R: Whatever, I’ll be better tomorrow.
We reach the class room, and go to sit at our respective desks.
H: Thanks for the lunch!
She flashes me a smile, I can tell by the look in her eyes that it’s genuine.
It’s nice to see her so happy over something so small, maybe cooking is something special to her?