“Honestly! Please don’t do anything reckless, Tachibana-kun.”

“My bad, my bad.”

The school tour ended and when we got back to the classroom it was lunch break.

As soon as I returned to my seat, Tatara-hama gave me a stern talking-to.

“That’s right, Tachibana-cchi. Boys are the ones who are supposed to be protected, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Mito chimed in with her own complaint, so for now I just agreed with them in words.

Still, leaving aside petite shota types like Haruto, I’m actually taller than the average guy in my previous world and by the time you’re a first-year in high school your growth spurt is mostly over and your body is basically that of an adult.

For a guy like that to be protected by girls… there’s a bit of psychological resistance there.

“Anyway, lunchtime. I’m planning to go to the cafeteria, what about you two?”

“Huh?”

Tatara-hama and Mito both stared at me in blank amazement.

Uh, what?

Did I say something weird again?

“What are you saying so casually, Tachibana-kun. A boy going to the cafeteria is unthinkable.”

“Exactly! No way, no way! You’d get surrounded by girls from other years!”

…Seriously? Just to use a school facility it turns into such a big deal?

“But I didn’t bring lunch or anything. I heard the food in the cafeteria here is good.”

Last night, I looked at the school pamphlet left on my desk at home and was actually looking forward to it.

After all, this isn’t a game, I can actually taste things with all five senses. As a Honey Academy fan, I figured a tasty cafeteria would be one of those hidden settings I should check out.

“No.”

“We properly brought a lunch for you too, Tachibana-kun.”

They shot me down without a shred of mercy. How tragic.

Come to think of it, there weren’t any scenes in the game where you went to the cafeteria either.

In other gal games, it’s standard to have an event where you’re eating alone in the cafeteria and just happen to get close to a girl from another class or grade, but it seems the seeds of those opportunities get crushed like this.

In a world that’s overprotective of boys, I can sort of see why.

They really thought the setting through in detail.

“I see. Then, since we’ve got a nice lunch, how about we eat outside?”

The weather’s nice today too.

It would feel great to sit on a bench in the courtyard or on the grassy lawn and eat with a picnic vibe.

“That’s still no good!”

“Eeh, you’re so stingy, Tatara-hama.”

“Tachibana-cchi, this time Minami-cchi’s right. Besides…”

“Besides?”

Mito trailed off like she had something on her mind and glanced back over her shoulder, so I asked.

“If we don’t deepen our connections with the other classmates soon, Minami-cchi and I are going to start standing out and getting isolated in class.”

“Ah… I get it.”

Before I knew it, behind Mito there was a group of girls from our class with lunch bundles in their hands, inching closer to us.

“Got it, got it. I do want to get along with everyone. But once I’ve socialized with the class, I’m definitely going to the cafeteria sometime, okay?”

I’ll give up for today, but I am absolutely going to sneak there on my own.

“We understand.”

“Then let’s split into three groups of ten according to attendance number and today Group 1 gets to have lunch with Tachibana-kun.”

“Yeeaah, hell yeeeaaahhh!!”

My classmates roared and pumped their fists over and over.

All we’d decided was that they get to have lunch with someone like me, yet they’re as happy as if they’d just won the lottery.

Their lives look pretty fun, I’m kind of jealous.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“Tachibana-kun! I’m really proud of this tamagoyaki! Please try it!”

“Thanks. Yeah, it’s got sugar, soy sauce and dashi in a nice balance, I really like it.”

“Hwawawa… ‘I really like it,’ does that mean you’re declaring ‘you’re mine now’? I love you…”

That’s quite the leap in logic from just praising her tamagoyaki.

“M-my fried chicken too!”

“Yeah. The seasoning’s soaked in properly, it’s delicious. You must have started getting it ready last night for me. Thanks.”

“Hauuu… he even praises the effort I put in behind the scenes… This is perfect fuel for my happy married-life fantasies…”

Well, I was a lifelong bachelor in my previous world, but I can cook decently.

“Me too!”

“Try mine too!”

Apparently, all the girls in class had packed way more lunch than usual just so they could share it with me.

Back in my previous high school life, I always wished some cute girl would make me a homemade lunch, but I never imagined my first experience would be with nine of them in a single day.

Wait, huh?

I’m pretty sure they said today’s group would be ten girls, right?

As I looked around at the bento group I realized there was one girl I hadn’t gotten any side dishes from.

While everyone else lit up with happy smiles when I turned my gaze their way, there was one girl who kept her head down, clutching her lunch box to her chest and eating while staring at her lap.

She probably thought she was making herself small and unnoticeable, but with her height that was unfortunately impossible.

Hold on, this girl is…

“Um, Kuruwa-san, right?”

“…Y-yes!”

I knew her well from the game, but here I played dumb and acted like it was our first meeting as I spoke to Kuruwa Kiyoka.

She was taller than me, with tanned skin and silver hair that made her really stand out and her sharp eyes gave her the vibe of a girl boss type.

“Thanks for stepping up for everyone in class during that scuffle with the Class 1 girls earlier.”

“Nah… With my scary mug and uselessly big frame, that’s about all I’m good for…”

Kuruwa answered bluntly and turned away.

But her red ears totally gave away how embarrassed she was.

What is with this girl boss?

She’s cute.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t gotten any side dishes from you yet, Kuruwa-san. Could you spare one for this lunchless guy here?”

“Huh!? N-no way, not mine! If you’re that hungry you can get as much as you want from the other girls.”

Saying that, Kuruwa hugged her lunch box to her stomach and hid it.

She was big enough that I genuinely couldn’t see the bento anymore.

“I want side dishes from your lunch, Kuruwa-san. Please? I’m a boy, you know?”

“Guh…”

Here I wielded my male privilege.

Not just in general society, but especially here at the venerable co-ed Honey Academy, it’s hard to argue back once a boy has spoken.

“Don’t laugh when you see it, okay…”

Drenched in shame and humiliation, she exposed the tightly guarded treasure she’d been hiding in front of her chest.

Being able to force a reluctant girl to open up her bento like this really drives home how amazing a position men hold in this world.

“Oh, octopus sausages.”

Contrary to her intimidating appearance, inside the cute little lunch box was a colorful, lovingly packed meal.

The star of the show, the octopus sausages, weren’t just sliced into eight legs, they even had little eyes made with black sesame seeds. A real labor of love.

“S-someone who looks as rough as me doesn’t suit this kind of thing… Laugh it up if you want.”

Ordered by me to put her lunch on display, Kuruwa was half in despair and on the verge of tears.

“Laugh? Not at all. It’s a really cute lunch, just like you, Kuruwa-san.”

“Cute? A girl who’s bigger than most boys is cute?”

“Yeah, I don’t care about how tall a girl is. Tiny girls are adorable the way they look up at you, girls the same height as you are fun because it’s easy to talk face-to-face and being wrapped up by a tall, stunning girl with a great figure is amazing too.”

Basically, girls are all wonderful beings.

That’s something I want the girls in this world, who have sadly gotten used to being treated lightly, to really understand.

“So in other words every girl on earth is in your strike zone?”

“Is this my chance?”

“No, I heard pretty-boy con men always look like angels at first…”

“Even if it’s a scam or a lie, if I can dream for a little while then…”

For some reason, the girls around Kuruwa all looked like they’d taken a critical hit.

Wait, was that not a single-target attack and actually an all-target spell?

“Okay, I’ll have one of your octopus sausages then, Kuruwa-san.”

While Kuruwa was frozen in shutdown mode, I snatched a side dish from her bento.

“Y-yeah, thank you… please, enjoy…”

Getting thanked even after stealing the main side dish… moments like this really hammer home just how warped this world is, where chastity roles are reversed.