Ten minutes until homeroom. Ikari Shinji froze the moment he stepped into Class 2-1. ——It was there again. On his desk by the window. A small bento box wrapped in cloth, placed exactly like yesterday. Shinji glanced around cautiously. Only about ten students had arrived so far. No one was paying attention to his seat. He approached quietly and reached for the box—— "Ikari!! [excited] You got a girlfriend?!!" The shout exploded across the morning classroom. Shinji turned. A boy in gym clothes stood there, eyes wide. Suzuhara Touji——apparently from Kansai, with a tracksuit and high energy as his trademarks. He'd become Shinji's seatmate during yesterday's self-introductions. "N-No! That's not it! Someone I don't know left it here!" "[excited] Liar! I heard there was one yesterday too! First day of transfer and you're already killing it!!" Touji's voice carried across the room. The classroom erupted. "Wait, Ikari has a girlfriend?" "On his first day?!" "What's she like?" The girls turned to stare. The boys grinned from a distance. Shinji felt heat rise to his face. His ears were probably red by now. "N-No, really! I don't know who it is! Yesterday too, someone left it while I was in the bathroom, and nobody saw anything——!" "[laughing] That's too convenient!" They didn't believe him. Shinji looked down. His mind spun. ——But who was it, really? Both yesterday and today, placed while he was away. Someone with free access to this classroom was making him lunch. That was what scared him most. More than happy, it felt wrong. "Ikari, did you maybe meet someone on the roof?" "Ah……" The face of a white-haired girl flickered in his mind. But he didn't know if it mattered. As Shinji hesitated, the classroom door—— SLAM!! Kicked open from outside. Everyone turned reflexively. Shinji too. A girl stood silhouetted against the hallway light. Lustrous red hair flowed loosely from her shoulders down her back. Her eyes were vivid aqua blue——not clear blue, but provocative blue. Taller than Shinji. Her skirt hem perfectly aligned, chin slightly raised. A strong expression. Eyes that looked at everyone without hesitation. Shinji felt the pressure of that gaze and instinctively looked away. The girl walked toward the podium with sharp steps and stood before the empty blackboard. She surveyed the entire class, took a breath—— "[serious] I'm Souryuu Asuka Langley. I came from Germany. I speak Japanese, German, and English. I've always been top of my class. If you don't understand something, ask me. I'll teach you." ……Silence. The entire class was stunned. No one said anything. Asuka slowly scanned the room——and her eyes stopped on Shinji. "[cold] You're Ikari Shinji?" "……Huh? Y-Yeah." How did she know his name? As Shinji froze, Asuka looked him over from head to toe like she was appraising merchandise. "[sarcastic] ……Hmm. Less impressive than I thought." With that, she walked briskly to the empty seat diagonally in front of Shinji and sat down. Why had she called him out by name? Why that seat? He wanted to ask, but Asuka wasn't looking at him anymore. She faced forward, pulling out her textbook with composure. No openings. Touji leaned close to Shinji's ear. "[whispers] ……That's one incredible girl." Shinji nodded quietly. That was all he could do. The moment first period ended. As Shinji stretched, someone from the seat diagonally in front dropped a textbook onto his desk with a thud. Asuka. "[serious] This is from yesterday's lesson. It's hard, so work on it first." "Huh……wait, hold on——" "What? You don't understand this part? Then I'll teach you from the beginning." Asuka wasn't listening. She leaned over the desk, tapping the textbook page with her finger, and launched into an explanation at incredible speed. Shinji barely remembered yesterday's lesson. The conversation didn't connect. But Asuka didn't care. She kept going. Touji whispered beside him, "Ikari, you got a tutor." Shinji looked at Touji for help. Touji just grinned and looked away. No help. PE class was even worse. The moment warm-ups ended, Asuka shouted, "You're pairing with me! That's an order!" Shinji ran full speed in the opposite direction. "[angry] Hey!! Why are you running!!" "S-Sorry, I already paired with someone else!!" "You haven't paired with anyone!!" Footsteps chased him. Shinji sprinted along the edge of the gym, thinking somewhere in his head that he shouldn't run, but his feet wouldn't stop. The whole class laughed. Lunch break came. When Shinji returned to his seat, the cloth-wrapped bento was there again. As he reached to open it, Asuka slammed her own bento box down beside his desk. "[serious] Eating alone is depressing. Eat with me." Before Shinji could respond, Asuka saw the cloth-wrapped bento on his desk. Her eyes stopped. "……Whose is that?" "I-I don't know. I just found it again……" Asuka's eyes narrowed. Her mouth tightened. "……I see." That was all she said. Just that. But the air felt different. Asuka turned toward the window and silently opened her own bento. Shinji opened the mysterious bento without understanding. Tamagoyaki and salmon again. Neatly packed. It looked delicious. Beside him, Asuka ate very quietly. It was scary. The next morning. Third day of transfer. When Shinji entered the classroom——the bento was there. And—— "[excited] Here, this one! I made it for you, so be grateful!!" Asuka stood at the classroom door like a guardian statue, thrusting a bento box at Shinji. Classmates stirred. Touji reacted with "Oh, bento?!" and approached. Shinji took it. It was heavy. ……Really heavy. He opened the lid. His hands stopped. The tamagoyaki was pitch black. Coal black. The surface was charred crispy, the edges barely holding their original shape. The rice balls were……crushed by grip strength maybe, more mochi-dense than fluffy. The kinpira gobo was a normal color. That one seemed okay. About half the class held their breath watching from a distance. Shinji nervously picked up chopsticks. He pinched the edge of the tamagoyaki and put it in his mouth. ……Bitter. Incredibly bitter. The burnt taste spread through his mouth. And the inside was still half-raw. Outside charred black, inside raw——a mysterious tamagoyaki. "[serious] What do you think?!" Asuka stood with crossed arms, watching Shinji seriously. Shinji felt his face contort. What should he do? "U-Um……it's……d-delicious……maybe?" "[angry] Your face doesn't look like you think it's delicious!!" Asuka came at him with force. The classroom erupted in laughter. Touji was holding his stomach. The girls were desperately suppressing giggles. Shinji held his head in both hands, facing two bentos——one mysterious, one charred. "[angry] Why won't you be honest?! If it tastes bad, say so!!" "Y-You can't just say that to someone normally……!!" "[sarcastic] Normally?! If someone makes you a bad bento and asks what you think, you say it tastes bad!!" "But if I say that you'll get mad for sure!!" "Of course I'll get mad!! But I'll also get mad if you don't say it tastes bad!! Either way I'm getting mad!!" "Then what am I supposed to do——!!" The class laughed harder. Asuka's face turned red and she looked away. Shinji sat breathless, staring at the two bentos on his desk. How did this happen? Touji wiped tears and muttered, "Ikari, you got it rough……" Shinji sighed. After school. Fourth day of transfer. "[serious] Where's your house? I'll walk you. Be grateful." Asuka grabbed Shinji's arm at the shoe locker and pulled him out of the building. Before Shinji could say "I can go home alone," she was already moving. Namiki-dori Shopping Street——about eight minutes west of Daisan Middle. Three hundred fifty meters long, with about forty-two shops from food stalls to used bookstores. The convenience store Shinji had considered buying steamed buns from on his first night was here too. Asuka stopped without hesitation in front of one shop. Cake shop "Flügel." A German pastry specialty store, with unfamiliar-shaped cakes displayed in the window. "[gentle] Their Apfelstrudel here is better than the ones in Germany." Asuka said it like talking to herself and went inside. Shinji followed somehow. Apfelstrudel, apparently, was a baked pastry with thin dough rolled around apple filling. Asuka bought two without hesitation and thrust one at Shinji. "Eat it." "Um, what about the money——" "It's fine. I'm treating you. Be grateful." She says "be grateful" about everything, Shinji thought. They walked side by side down the shopping street, eating. The Apfelstrudel had crispy dough and sweet, slightly tart apples inside. It was delicious. For a while, they walked in silence. The bustle of the shopping street surrounded them. A fishmonger shouted prices. A child held her mother's hand. Asuka opened her mouth, still facing forward. "[whispers] ……In Germany, I didn't have many friends." Shinji was slightly surprised. Her voice was quieter than usual. "Returnees stand out everywhere. In Japan you look like a foreigner, in Germany they call you Japanese. When you speak English, people think you're being cocky." She spoke matter-of-factly, facing forward. Not bragging, not complaining——just stating facts. Shinji was quiet for a while. He didn't know what to say. But staying silent felt wrong too. "……I transferred a lot too." Asuka turned slightly toward him. "I didn't have friends. I figured I'd move again anyway, so I couldn't bring myself to get close to anyone." This was the first time Shinji had told Asuka about himself. Even as he spoke, he was slightly surprised. Why had he said that? Asuka said nothing for a while. She faced forward again. She bit into her Apfelstrudel. "……I see." That was all. Just that. But the air between them felt a little different than before. The silence between them seemed softer somehow. Maybe it was his imagination. But it felt that way. Shinji bit into the rest of his Apfelstrudel and vaguely thought that maybe Asuka's reason for clinging to him wasn't just about showing strength. Heights Shirakaba, Room 102. Night. Shinji lay on his bed with earbuds in. Cello music played. He stared at the white ceiling, turning over the day's events in his mind. The charred tamagoyaki. The laughing class. Asuka's voice saying "I didn't have friends." The mysterious bento——he still didn't know who left it today. Asuka had clearly said "I don't know anything about that." She didn't seem to be lying. So someone else really was—— Buzz. His phone vibrated. The screen showed "Unknown Number." Shinji pulled out his earbuds and pressed answer. "……Hello?" Nothing. Just a faint hiss of static for several seconds. Then the call cut off. Shinji stared at the screen. He tried calling back. Naturally, it didn't go through. Unknown number. It could have been a wrong number. But. Shinji looked at the ceiling again. Who was the mysterious bento maker? He thought of his father. The documents that came from Gehirn Educational Foundation's director's office. The fact that Ikari Gendou managed the schools in this city. Someone knew Shinji was here. The cello music leaked faintly from the earbuds. Shinji closed his eyes. He didn't think he could sleep.