Living on a cruise ship like this came with the problem of deciding where and what to eat for lunch every day.
Breakfast and dinner were provided by the school in the form of a buffet and were free of charge. We were free to decide whether to use it or not, but not only was there no charge, it was also delicious and thus very popular with the students. It was so popular that admission was divided into three intervals between 7am and 9am to avoid congestion. The service was limited to 60 minutes or less, and you could make a reservation for your preferred time slot from your phone.
I usually ate breakfast at 8am, but due to a late reservation, the 8-9am time slot was already fully booked for August 6th, so I had to eat a little earlier at 7am. Because of that, I was feeling strangely hungry despite it only being noon. Perhaps it was because my calorie intake was minimal during the uninhabited island exam, but my body was craving energy.
The café terrace was a popular place to dine, but the food prices were especially expensive. If you wanted to buy a lunch set that came with a drink, you'd need to spend at least 2000 points. If you wanted to eat while having fun with your friends, that might be fine, but I was alone today. In this situation, it was natural to want to save as much money as possible.
That was why I was grateful for the existence of the store. It was a place where one could easily purchase rice balls, sandwiches and other snacks, just like a convenience store.
I promptly went to the store and bought a rice ball and a small bottle of tea for 250 points, and, carrying the plastic bag in my hand, went to find a place to eat.
Any adequate rest area would do, but most of them were already occupied, and I was firmly against the idea of sharing a small space with someone else. When I think of places where I wouldn't mind it even if there were a certain number of strangers in the vicinity, most of them would be outside.
After much searching, I found myself on the deck nearest the bow on the sixth floor, overlooking the ocean. Naturally, it didn't cost anything to use this area, so it was the perfect place to eat snacks bought from the store.
I thought I'd have a quick snack whilst taking in the magnificent view of the ocean, but I seemed to have chosen a bad time. There were a lot of students who had come here to enjoy the view, so it didn't look like I'd be able to relax.
It was a spacious deck, but there were a lot of people using it, so it would be difficult to find a good spot. I looked around for a vacant space to sit and found one empty bench and Nanase's back sitting alone on the bench next to it. A sandwich, probably bought from the store, as well as a small carton of milk lay beside her. It was funny; it was the opposite of yesterday, where she was the one that found me.
In addition to Nanase, I also saw my classmates Ijūin and Okitani, Sakayanagi from Class A, and Nakaizumi and Suzuki from Ryūen's class. It seemed that many second-year students wanted to have lunch whilst looking out to the ocean, just like Nanase.
Ultimately, people tend to think in the same way.
I didn't move from the spot and looked towards the ocean. Certainly, a meal eaten with this kind of view in front of you must be delicious.
But...just as the number of students from the second-year was very high, this was also the case for the third-years.
Although it was still only a few, the third-years that noticed my arrival immediately began keeping an eye on me. However, if I instantly walked away, it would prove that I didn't like the stares and would be seen as running away. Doing so would risk encouraging the third-years as they would judge the strategy effective.
Now that I think about it, Nanase seemed like she had something she wanted to talk to me about yesterday. I remembered that we were interrupted by Kobashi at the time, so I decided to call out to her. It would give me a good excuse to stop by this place if I were to talk to her.
"Nanase."
When I called her name, she turned around in surprise.
"Ah, senfai."
It seemed she had just taken a bite out of her sandwich, and, taking great care not to let the contents spill out, she looked at me.
I felt a little bad when I saw her hurriedly start gulping down her food. I was just using her as a means to counter the third-years, but I seem to have made her panic unnecessarily.
"Oh, sorry. Should I come back later?" I said, but Nanase's personality would never let that happen.
"Howd om, pwease waihd a bihd" She couldn't spit it out after putting it in her mouth, so she started to chew. "Gulp...Um, I'm sorry, but actually...I was eating lunch."
She spoke like she was confessing a secret, but I could tell she was eating lunch just by looking at her. If anything, I knew it from the moment I saw her back.
"Um, is there something I can help you with?"
Nanase was still looking somewhat flustered, which left me feeling a little strange. Her gaze was restless and she looked as if she couldn't concentrate on her conversation with me.
"Ah no, you seemed like you wanted to talk to me yesterday. I was just wondering what it was about. Back then, I was approached by Kobashi and you kind of drifted away."
"Ah..."
Her thoughts were a little slow and the words didn't come out right away. After pondering for a moment, Nanase shook her head from side to side.
"I'm sorry, but I've already solved the problem myself, so could you just forget about it?"
"I see. If that's the case then it's fine."
If Nanase had a problem, I was going to offer advice since she had helped me in many ways, but if she'd already solved it, then I didn't need to worry about it. Rather, the main reason was that I got a sense that this was something that just didn't matter right now.
"I'm sorry for calling out to you so suddenly. Then I'm going to head back. There are more people than I thought there'd be, so I can't relax."
"Is that so? Then I'll see you later, senpai."
I left as soon as I had finished my business.
When I turned to look back at the deck one last time, Nanase was facing forwards and had resumed eating her lunch.