Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume2 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 4===

The lunch break began.

Shiroyama Kyousuke tended to eat lunch alone.

This was simply due to the fact that his classmates would scatter as soon as the lunch break started. And as a summoner, they would forget about him as soon as he left their field of vision. They would forget any kind of promise they might have made, so any promises to eat lunch together were rendered invalid.

For that reason, he went to the cafeteria on his own, ordered some salt butter ramen, and took a seat. Then an upperclassman girl sat across from him.

It was Student Council President Benikomichi Fuuki.

“Do you mind if I sit with you, Shiroyama Boy?”

“No, go ahead. …What is that?”

As long as they were sitting across from him, a normal person would not forget about him. And their temporarily forgotten memories would return during those times and smoothly accumulate across meetings.

The boy’s puzzled question was in reference to the mysterious dish on her tray that was not registered in any of the cafeteria vending machines.

But this was not a luxurious lunch provided as a special privilege for the president.

“It’s low calorie konjac Chinese noodles. They’re testing it out for the cafeteria menu.”

“It’s not an orthodox dish, but it also doesn’t go far enough with the novelty factor either.”

“I think it’s a health food that’s abandoned trying to be good as food.”

“Health food? But even if you make the noodles out of konjac, doesn’t the sauce have a lot of fat?”

“I’m more worried about the taste. Describe it as fancily as you like, no one’s going to order something that tastes bad. That’s why you have that meaningless butter on top of your ramen.”

“Yeah, why does it seem so much more bourgeois just by adding a clump of butter on top?”

“I know what you mean. I don’t like the vinegary pickles on a burger, but when you make it a fresh slice of tomato instead, it seems so much more luxurious. And yet the pickle is actually more expensive.”

“The lemon next to karaage.”

“The vanilla ice cream in an ice cream float.”

“The grilled rice ball you make on the edge of the grill when cooking yakiniku or barbecue.”

“The sugar doll on top of a cake is just the best, isn’t it?”

For some reason, Shiroyama Kyousuke and Benikomichi Fuuki exchanged a firm handshake.

It felt like they had found someone who truly understood them.

The student council president looked like her flesh and blood were made of pianos, violins, tea ceremonies, horseback riding, and conversational English, but she seemed to know the “proper” way to eat ramen. She used wooden chopsticks like normal and she slurped up the noodles like normal. …Although the way she used one hand to brush her long hair up over her ear was pointlessly seductive.

It was rare to find someone who actually looked out of place ''not'' twirling it up like pasta.

“Hm? Do I have something on my face?”

“No.”

“It tastes okay, I guess. I have to admit I’m surprised how much the texture is just like ramen. I bet people will figure they might as well eat normal ramen, so I’m worried how they’ll advertise this flavor.”

“It would be perfect if you could simply say ‘the same taste with half the calories’.”

“Konjac noodles aren’t that effective. But it’s perfectly edible. Here, have a bite.”

“But my tongue is growing fat on salt butter, the top class ramen flavor!”

“That’s why I’m jealous. I’m telling you to give me a bite for a bite of this.”

They stuck their chopsticks in each other’s bowls and traded noodles. For some reason, there was no romantic feeling of, “Kyah! Is this what they call an indirect kiss?” Ramen was the ultimate food of the masses, but it was not even remotely suited for romance.

As for of the rumored konjac noodles…

“It tastes like normal ramen and you can eat it like normal. Yeah, it feels like an evolutionary dead end. I’m not sure how else they can improve this…”

“Right? This is the product you hate to have as a producer. And the developer hasn’t done anything wrong, so you can’t just abandon them. …But damn. I guess salt butter is the best after all. Just one more bite. No, let’s trade bowls! C’mon, this is your chance to have this mysterious new product all to yourself!!”

“Please stop that! Are you trying to steal all the joy from my life!? After eating this, those konjac noodles barely feel like eating anything! It’s like chewing on a flavorless sponge!!”

Kyousuke bent protectively over his bowl and glared at her with a fairly serious look in his eyes.

And then they overhead the conversation of an athletic-seeming group carrying their trays to an empty table.

“It’s true. A first year who stayed behind to clean up the equipment said he saw that Rainy Girl!!”

“Yeah, right. I bet he saw it online and decided to have some fun with it.”

“It’s based on a story of a girl who had a grass sickle swung down on her head nineteen times, right? And by a huge man who barely had a human skeletal structure thanks to genetic tuning. The murderer scares me way more than the ghost.”

The topic dried out the atmosphere.

After the group passed by, Benikomichi Fuuki took a sip from her cup of water.

“There’s been more and more talk of that around here lately. Based on the age of the ‘ghost’, the story probably started at an elementary school somewhere in Japan, but the school connection allowed it to spread to high schools like this. It’s spreading all over the country and the world thanks to the internet, so the age of the Rainy Girl probably changes to match the school, just like with Hanako-san.”

“Do you believe it?”

“Why would I? …Although hearing that would probably make my tearful and religious mother sad.”

That may have been the standard reaction.

At least, that is, for normal people who knew nothing of the summoning ceremony and had no fear of being forgotten by someone.

And as Kyousuke thought about that…

“Ahyhay, how hahout hoo hade hor hork hor hy haruho?” (Anyway, how about you trade your pork for my naruto?)

“Ah! Why would you suggest that ''after'' shoving my roast pork in your mouth!?”