Shido reached his seat safe and sound, but he wasn't ready to relax yet. He glanced at the seat where Gabriel was supposed to sit, but she was nowhere to be found.
She must have skipped class, despite the fact that it was only the second day of school!
Shido sighed in disappointment. He wanted to talk to Gabriel about the spiritual power, hoping she would have an answer for him. But no luck today!
When the bell rang, a teacher walked in and marked the beginning of a most likely boring class.
In the middle of the class, Shido heard a noise behind him: It was Tomoya writing on a note in defiance.
Within a few seconds, Tomoya passed the note to Shido.
Shido was surprised that Tomoya considered him as a friend close enough to pass notes with. But when he opened the note, he realized it wasn't like that:
It was an election of the most beautiful girl in class!
Like the Presidential Election or any other ones, each boy had one vote.
Doing something like this was completely normal for boys in puberty, but Shido was an exception. After all, he had so many Spirits with him.
Of course, Shido felt the need to participate, since he wanted to be seen like a normal boy. He pretended to think very hard, as if making a tough decision.
However, he had no interest in voting for such an election. In fact, he was more worried about what he should have for lunch today!
Since Mukuro was clingy this morning, she did not have the time to make breakfast or bento. Therefore, Shido decided to eat at the school cafe.
Okay!
After figuring out what to have for lunch, Shido took a look at the votes for the leading girls: Yumiko Miura, Nino Nanako, and Umaru-chan tied for first place; Yui Yuigahama, Fumino Furuhashi, and Rizu Ogata tied for second place.
It was pretty normal since they were all beautiful girls with great taste in fashion style; what set them apart was their popularity in school.
The rest of the girls only had one vote or two, some of them were even unfamiliar to Shido. And on the bottom of the note, there was this phrase:
2D Girls for Life!
Shido bet this must be Tomoya's writing.
Since everyone was talking about 3D girls on the note, no wonder why Tomoya was upset!
Leaving him out of thoughts, Shido casted his sacred vote to Gabriel. The Dropout Gabriel.
She had zero votes, since she barely dressed up or socialized with others. In addition, she always lazed around and skipped classes. But, Shido believed that she deserved one vote.
After that, Shido passed the note to Hachiman, who opened his dead-fish eyes wide in surprise.
Shido wondered if he would vote for Yui. If he did, Oregairu's ending might be different...
But judging from Hachiman's character, he might actually vote for Saika Totsuka!
...
When it was time for lunch, Shido suddenly realized that his backpack became a bit heavier. He opened it and looked inside, finding a fancy bento letting off steam inside. It turned out that he was worried for nothing!
It was obvious that Mukuro activated the power of her Angel, Michael, to teleport the bento from home to his backpack. Shido had to give it to her: She's so considerate!
Actually, Shido could activate the power of the Angels as well, but he had tried so hard at being an ordinary high school student that he forgot about it sometimes.
Holding the warm bento in his hands, Shido headed to the roof where he could enjoy the meal in a quiet environment.
However...
When Shido reached the roof, he saw a familiar figure.
Totally shocked, Shido tried to turn around and run, but it was too late: The other party had already seen him.
She simply sneered:
"Well, if it isn't Shido-kun, the one with female phobia?"
Shido turned around and gave a wry smile. It was Utaha from yesterday, the girl that Shido tried to avoid interacting with.
"Sorry, Kasumigaoka-senpai, I am not used to eating with girls, so if you will excuse me..."
Shido tried to find an excuse to leave, but was soon stopped by her.
"Really?"
Utaha chuckled, taking her phone out of her pocket. She opened a photo on her phone and showed it to Shido:
It was Shido and Kotori holding hands together.
Shido's expression went from surprised to shocked, for he realized that the jig was up.
But, Shido quickly calmed himself down. He could still talk his way out of this.
Shido closed the door behind him, trying to explain:
"Here's the thing: That girl is my little sister."
"Who's gonna fall for that? I mean, who treated his little sister like a lover? After all, you two were holding hands with fingers locked together!"
True. It might be normal for siblings to hold hands, but locking fingers together seemed a little bit overboard.
"Fine, I will have to let you in on my secret."
Shido sighed in defeat. He knew Utaha's character. She wouldn't give an inch unless you gave a mile.
"Finally?"
Utaha smiled triumphantly, for she finally outsmarted this sly fox in disguise.
"The truth is..."
Shido took a deep breathe, and declared:
"I am a siscon!"
"!?"
Utaha tilted her head in confusion. What the heck was that supposed to mean?
"That's right, I am a siscon! In fact, my little sister is the only girl I can go out with. Because of this, I developed the condition of Female Phobia."
"What..."
Utaha was flabbergasted, unsure what to do.
"I love petting my little sister's head, holding her hands, taking her to movies, eating with her, and shopping with her, like the date from yesterday!
My little sister is my God, and the lollipop in her mouth is my utmost religion!"
Shido breathed heavily after saying all these, hoping it would scare Utaha away.
However, Utaha took out her phone and dialed 911!
"I'm calling the police!"
Utaha finally came to her senses and realized that this guy in front of her was a pervert beyond salvation!
Did I go too far?
Shido asked himself. He knew it sounded perverted, but it was true. He really loved Kotori that way.
But he calmed down again. How should the police believe her words since she did not record any of them?
Shido just smirked and stood there with arms across his chest.
With this, Utaha had no idea what to do. She just wanted to scare him, but he wasn't buying any of that.
She believed that Kotori was Shido's little sister. After all, he had no reason to lie about it. Even if she wasn't, he could just say that she was his childhood friend or girlfriend. It would be unnecessary to label himself as a siscon.
Trying to change the subject, Shido asked:
"If there's nothing else, I am gonna start having my lunch."
Shido sat down in one corner and started opening his bento.
Utaha wanted to leave the spot after all that crazy conversation, but her pride made her stay, since she didn't want Shido to have his way.
Shido didn't pay attention to Utaha. Instead, he was touched by the opulence of the bento prepared by Mukuro: Heart-shaped carrots, meatballs, and many other more.
Shido smiled, saying in his heart:
"Muku, I love you too!"
Mukuro always loved expressing her love through her bento. In fact, her cuisine skills were top-tier among the Spirits. However, she wasn't good at this in the beginning.
Mukuro worked really hard on learning cuisine skills for Shido, and he was deeply touched by that. Therefore, he started eating happily.
PS: Thank you for your support!