Vol 5 Chapter 3 (1/2)

Stella

“…And that’s what happened I forgot to ask her about her fao out with her We’re gonna see each other at school Having lunch together at the cafeteria starting tomorrow,” Larry explained in the office

Opposite the coffee table sat Seron and Jenny It had not been long since the confession under the tree

“Wow…”

Unusually enough, Seron earing his surprise and happiness on his face Jenny was nodding gravely

“Hht You have permission to continue…for now”

“What are you, my mother?”

“The more you spend tiood and bad Saet serious after that Although she ht break up with you first Then that’s just another life experience under your belt”

“What, you seriously expect this to end before it’s even started?”

“Well, do your best I won’t even s half our members, what’s another absence?”

“I’ht you’d make me come to club every day anyway”

“You should prioritize her for the tiood to her”

“…Jenny”

“What?”

Larry thought for a moment Then,

“Nah Thanks for your support,” he finally said

“I don’t need your gratitude,” Jenny blew him off

“And while I’ I wanted your help with”

“Yeah?”

“Could you look into stuff about Stella Whitfield? I want some information about her,” Larry said

“What?” “Huh?”

Jenny and Seron blinked Seron spoke first

“You want us to investigate her?”

Then Jenny spoke

“You’re gonna spend a lot of time with her; ask her yourself”

“W-well, yeah But I wanted to know about other stuff too”

“Like?” Jenny asked, tilting her head

“Like…her reputation on cas out with? Stuff I couldn’t ask her myself, you knoish I could explain better”

Jenny looked a little offended

“Are you a detective? Are you planning toup dirt on a girl You’re the one who said we shouldn’t cover this story”

“I know, I know But…”

“But?”

“Well, I just…because”

“This is ridicu-” Jenny started, but Seron cut her off

“All right, Larry We’ll try and get as much information as we can”

“Huh?”

“Thanks, man!”

Jenny gave Seron a quizzical look Larry gave hirateful one

“What gives, Seron?”

“I just want to know a bit ood practice for newspaper club activities further down the line”

When Seron brought up the newspaper club, Jenny could not refuse She gave a disdainful harruonna stop you”

But Seron was not about to let her off the hook

“I can’t do this alone I need everyone else’s help—especially yours, Jenny”

“What?”

“You’re the only one who can utilize all the newspaper club’s fans And you’re the only one with an information network”

Larry’s jaw dropped at Seron’s earnest plea, but he quickly joined hi with Jenny

“I’ you, chief!”

Jenny was taken aback by Larry’s attitude She grew serious as well

“What’s gotten into you? Ibetter to do, but still”

“You mean it?”

“Thanks, Jenny”

“But I’ up dirt on her, you’ll see things about her you never wanted to see Ignorance is sometimes bliss Are you ready to meet all that head-on, Larry Hepburn?”

“Yeah! Knights of Hepburn ne’er shall turn! It’s the family motto,” Larry declared

“In other words, you’re allowed to walk backwards out of battle?” Jenny said snidely

“Sure! But we also have a reatest sht’ In other words, to me!”

“No worries about anything, huh Where do you get that confidence?”

“Dunno Doesn’t matter!”

“…One of these days, I’ative piece on how the Hepburn family’s lasted 400 years”

“And that’s what happened Larry can give you the details about the confession Right noant you guys to get whatever info you can get on Stella Whitfield”

“He’s fallen far, that Larry Where did his parents go wrong? Now I really feel like giving him a hand”

“Your words are not fitting front to back, Natalia But if I can help I wish to help Larry It is sure that Larry wishes to know s about her”

It was the 24th, the day after Stella’s confession The sky was clear

Jenny and Natalia, and Meg—as in the sa between classes Jenny conveyed Larry’s request to Natalia and Meg

They split up quickly, as they had to move on to their next classes

About an hour later

Larry walked past the very spot

He was the subject of azes

At his left side was Stella

Stella had her right ar so close they al froe in her left hand

“What the heck?” “Is that Larry Hepburn?” “Larry’s with a cute girl? No way!” “Tch! Show-off” “Go to hell, casanova!” “How indecent” “Isn’t this a criirl…” “Should I call a teacher?”

Larry had good ears He could hear every last word of gossip

“Er…hey, Stella?”

Larry’s posture was upright, but his voice betrayed his nervousness

Stella looked up at him blankly “Yes…?” She replied in a near-inaudible voice

Larry froze briefly when he locked gazes with Stella, so close to his face, but he finally ed to speak

“D-don’t you think it’s a bit hard to walk around like this?”

“I’ht”

“Oh…okay I see”

Larry gave up—in more ways than one—and faced forward once more And he walked down the hall, practically joined at the hip with Stella They had been stuck together since he had met her in front of a classroom

They entered the cafeteria, the eyes of every student on them

“So what do you wanna get?”

“I…brought our lunch” Stella slightly lifted up the large package in her left hand

Then she finally disentangled herself from him and strode forward, to a table near the orders counter exit—in other words, the most visible table in the cafeteria

“Can we sit here?”

“S-sure…”

When Larry took a seat, Stella quickly brought over two cups of tea and opened up her lunch

Inside was a triple-decker lunchbox

“I made it myself”

“Th-thanks Can I open it?”

“Let me…”

Stella trailed off and opened the lid The first level was packed with assorted vegetable sandwiches The second, with grilled chicken and boiled vegetables The third, with cherries, grapes, and other fruits

“Whoa! This is aazes for a moment The food looked almost professional in quality “You made all this, Stella?”

“Yes…I’ood cook”

“It looks really good! Let’s dig in!”

“Yes…”

Larry’s enthusiasazes as he and Stella wiped their hands with the hand towels she had brought

“Let’s start with the sandwiches—”

The moment Larry reached out, however, Stella picked up a sandwich

“Here”

And she held it out towards his mouth

Larry’s eyes turned to dinner plates He could feel the lares of the other students

“Pull it together, Larry! Be a man!” He whispered to himself, and took a bite

He chewed the rinned

“It’s great! This is really good, Stella! Your cooking definitely has my seal of approval!”

“Thank…you”

They were the very picture of a happy couple

“Curse you, blondie!” “That is disgusting!” “dairlfriend!” “It’s practically a honeymoon” “There’s a special place in hell for people like you, Hepburn” “Go somewhere else! There’s plenty of place on campus where you don’t show off to the entire school!” “Maybe I really should get a teacher…”

Larry and Stella are

“It’s really good I can feed h, Stella May I?”

“Y-yes Go ahead”

“C’mon, you should eat too!”

“Yes…”

Larry wolfed down his food, while Stella nibbled away blankly

It was hard to not notice them in the cafeteria

A pair of sixth-year boys passed by, and once the couple was out of earshot—

“They’re seriously dating? Bet the guy’s black”

“Yeah Or ood for him”

As they passed, their voices fell on the ears of—

“Hah! Sounds about right” “I suppose we should let them talk for now”

An a at a table for four along with Seron and Meg, at a distance from Larry

“It is a very good at remarked wistfully

Seron, who sat next to her—Seron, as eating with Meg in the campus cafeteria for the first time—went even more silent

Their table was laden with Meg and Nick’s lunchboxes and Natalia and Seron’s trays, and four cups of tea

Seron had ordered the roast beef sandith a bowl ofwith seafood pizza There was almost no room left on the table

Trying to keep their stack of belonging fro an eye on the nearly-conjoined Larry and Stella, they ate lunch and discussed the issue at hand

“Has anyone gathered any inforet?” Nick asked Natalia was first to answer

“Nope Ah, I’onna try the pizza first”

“What about you, Seron?”

Seron shook his head “I couldn’t just go around asking randomly”

“Of course And you, Megmica?”

“I have not gathered information too I will ask the chorus club’s senior-classmen after class”

“I see As for myself, I have acquired one piece of information”

“Yeah?” Natalia urged him

“It seeet is indeed connected to ‘Seron’s wrist’”

Aha The others nodded Seron glanced at the Whitfield watch on his left wrist

“A senior-class the same model, so I slipped in a compliment The model is of course excellent, but the senior-classman happens to be an expert on the topic He boasted about his et attends this very school The name seemed to have tipped him off”

The others were impressed

“So that’s all we have for now, huh Hope the chief turns up so,” said Natalia

Seron looked at Larry

Larry and Stella were still at their table, talking about so over their lunch

“I think we should get to know each other a little better,” Larry suggested as soon as they began to eat

“Oh…yes” Stella agreed feebly Larry asked her how much she knew bout him

“Not much I…just fell for you at the cafeteria”

“Then I guess I’ll tell you a bit about myself”

Larry began to tell her things like his birthday, his hobbies and interests, and his dreas about his family

Afterwards—

“I see…thank you”

“It’s nothing to be grateful about What about you, Stella? Tell me about yourself”

Stella looked at Larry’s smile and shook her head

“It’s…probably not interesting”

“C’mon, that’s not true”

“I don’t have hobbies…I study all the tiloomy”

“Don’t pay attention to those people! You’ve got plenty of tiure out a hobby,” Larry declared The other students were still giving hi looks “By the way, Stella What does your fauessing you’re related to them?”

“…Er…yes My great-grandfather is the founder…and randfather runs the company now My father is a watchmaker too…”

“I knew it!”

“So…I have bodyguards with me all the time outside”