The arrogant young lady in the class works as a maid in my house

Jino repeatedly emphasized that she was "just saying it casually," but it felt like she was saying "this is the point."

"I see. Well, thank you very much..."

"Okay. I'll start preparing for you tomorrow then."

So they decided to find a chance to hang the lunch bag that Himeno brought on the hook next to Shinnosuke's desk.

Shinnosuke sat in the last seat by the window, and Himeno sat in front of him. Fortunately, they had a hook by the table against the wall, where they could hang their lunch bag without being noticed.

"I have to pay you extra for your work."

"No need. I didn't ask for your lunchbox just to get paid."

"That won't do. Nishikawa is a paid professional doing housework. I absolutely cannot use a professional's services for free."

Shinnosuke's father had been sending him money for living expenses. It was enough for him to buy a bento lunch at the convenience store, and more than enough. That's why he said he would give that money to Himeno as lunch money.

"Besides, this should give you a little extra money to live on your own."

"what……"

It turns out that Shinnosuke is so supportive of his ideas.

Besides, I am not capable of doing housework on my own, but he recognizes me as a professional.

Hearing Shinnosuke's unexpected words, Himeno was so happy that she felt a little embarrassed.

"Azuma-san..."

"Um?"

"Well……"

Ji Nai clearly wanted to express her gratitude to him, but she was too shy to speak.

"You're so serious."

So she decided to imitate Shinnosuke's tone and joked with him.

"I told you! I'm serious."

Shinnosuke answered emphatically, waving his fist like a sulking child.

“Puff…”

"Ah, you smiled!"

"Yeah. That's hilarious."

"What? I'm just a funny guy, sorry!"

"Yes... (Thank you)"

She finally managed to whisper her gratitude, which she was too shy to express.

"Eh? What did you say? You spoke so quietly, I couldn't hear you clearly."

"No. It's okay, don't worry about it."

"All right."

Himeno thought Shinnosuke, who was a little bit awkward, was cute. It was the first time she had chatted with a boy in the same class without any worries.

Her expression looked very happy.

◇ ◆ ◇

The next day, Himeno prepared her lunch box as promised and hung the bag containing it on the hook next to Shinnosuke's desk. Although she pretended to be nonchalant, she actually enjoyed the tension of doing this without telling anyone.

Meanwhile, Shinnosuke also noticed a lunch bag hanging next to the table. Like Himeno, he enjoyed the tension of making a secret deal without telling anyone.

Then it was lunchtime.

"Huh? Agatsuma-san, you brought a lunch box today! How rare!"

Before Haruru left her seat, Shinnosuke couldn't wait to take out his lunch box and opened the lid, so she saw it with her sharp eyes.

(Oops. I should have waited longer to open my lunchbox.)

If I did that, Haruru would have gone to another seat to eat her lunch with her friends and wouldn't have noticed I brought my own. It was too late to regret it.

Jino immediately gave an expression that said, "I can't stand you."

"Hey, Princess, come and eat!"

"OK."

Her friends gathered around and started eating their bento in the seats in front of Shinnosuke. But Himeno kept stealing glances at Shinnosuke's reaction from the corner of her eyes.

"Hey, Azuma-san, what's in your bento? Can you show me?"

Haruru said this playfully, peeking into the lunch box. Her innocent personality was truly endearing.

However, if Haruru takes a closer look at the lunch box prepared by Himeno, Shinnosuke feels that the secret will be exposed, so he is a little reluctant.

"Ah, Nanfeng-san, look, your friend is waiting for you."

The friend who usually ate lunch with Haruru was watching them.

Shinnosuke pointed at her friend, but Haruru did something unexpected.

"I'm having lunch with Azuma-san today!"

Haruru smiled and waved to her friends. Her friends waved back, "Go ahead if you want." They seemed generous and easygoing, not minding such a small matter.

"That's what's going on. Agatsuma-san, let's have lunch together!"

"Wait, wait, why do we have to eat together?"

"What's the matter? I'm actually quite interested in Azuma-san."

How could a boy not be happy when the girl who is considered the cutest in the whole school says she is interested in him?

Although Shinnosuke was overjoyed, he suddenly realized something.

(No, wait. The "interest" she's talking about here definitely doesn't mean she has feelings for me.)

Haruru had seen Shinnosuke and Himeno walking out of the reference room together earlier. It must have been because of that incident.

"Is it not possible?"

Haruru asked with an apologetic frown and tilted her head slightly.

This move is so cunning. When a girl who is already very cute does such a cute move, there is no boy in the world who can refuse it.

"No, it won't work without it."

"Very good!"

Haruru immediately smiled and moved her desk close to Shinnosuke's.

When Jino saw this scene out of the corner of her eye, her temple twitched.

"Wow, it looks delicious. Did your mom make it?"

This time it was embarrassing.

Shinnosuke panicked when Haruru asked him that. He couldn't say that Himeno was the one who did it.

His mind was racking with thought as to how to respond.

"No...I did it myself."

This is probably the safest answer.

"Hey, you're amazing! So Azuma-san can cook!"

"yes."

"That's really impressive!"

Haruru keeps praising Shinnosuke.

Shinnosuke felt a bit heartbroken for having deceived her, so he decided to eat his bento quickly and picked up his chopsticks.

Then, Haruru seemed to have thought of something and said to Himeno, who was sitting in the front seat:

"Hey, Hime-chan! Azuma-san made her own bento and brought it here! Don't you think that's impressive?"

"Huh? Oh, I see. That's amazing."

Himeno turned to Shinnosuke and looked at the bento.

There was a lunch box that I made myself, but I had to pretend that I knew nothing about it. It was really uncomfortable.

"Hime-chan, who made your bento?"

"The maid did it."

"So that's how the Hime family is."

Haruru said as she glanced at the bento dish Himeno had opened.

"Hmm...? Weird? Azuma-san's bento and Hime-chan's bento seem to have similar toppings."

Shinnosuke also took a look at Himeno's bento.

Since Himeno made two bento boxes at once, the side dishes were basically the same: a fried egg, fried chicken, sausages, and vegetables like cabbage.

It was obvious that Himeno, a novice in cooking, first practiced making common side dishes.

However, the size and design of their bento boxes are different, and the amount and presentation of the side dishes in the two bento boxes are also completely different.

(Nishikawa is amazing. She anticipated this situation and did this to confuse the audience so that at first glance they wouldn't look like the same bento.)

But perhaps because Haruru suddenly pointed this out, the usually calm Himeno became a little flustered.

"Is that so? I don't think so..."

(This is bad. If you don't do the denial well, it will only make the other person suspicious.)

Shinnosuke, thinking this, spoke louder than Himeno:

"Ah, really? What a coincidence!"

"I'm right, right?"

"Oh, right! That's it. Minamikaze-san, do you know what the top three most popular bento dishes are?"

"Eh? Sorry, I don't know. After all, I can't make my own bento."

"It's said that the top three most popular bento items are fried eggs, fried chicken, and sausages."

"Ah, I see!"

Haruru looked at their lunch boxes and nodded.

“That’s why the dishes look so similar.”

"That's probably the reason."

"As expected of someone who can make her own bento. You know everything, Agatsuma-san!"

"It's fine."

Himeno breathed a sigh of relief when Haruru nodded in agreement with Shinnosuke's words. She admired Shinnosuke's quick reaction, but of course she couldn't show it.

"It looks delicious. Hey, Azuma-san, can you give me a fried chicken nugget?"

Haruru and Shinnosuke had shared the side dishes yesterday, so it was impossible to be ungrateful and refuse her.

That being said, these side dishes were actually made by Himeno. If Shinnosuke casually shared them with Haruru, Himeno would probably be unhappy.

Shinnosuke hesitated for a moment, and Himeno spoke from the side:

"Azuma-san, what are you hesitating about? You're so petty."

"Huh? I didn't hesitate."

"Then hurry up and give Nanfeng-san some fried chicken."

Because the two of them suddenly started arguing, Haruru, who was watching from the side, also felt nervous.

"Alright, alright, you two, it's okay if you don't give me fried chicken..."

"No, Nishikawa is right. You gave me fried chicken yesterday, so I should return the favor. Here, have some."

Shinnosuke put the fried chicken nuggets into Haruru's lunch box.