The cafeteria was echoing with chatter and rustling as students passed by one another with trays in their hands.
Masachika had come here with his friends for lunch, and they were in the middle of staring at the menu at the entrance while they pondered what they would order.
"Oh, hey. Look. They've got something new."
One item with the word new underneath it had caught Masachika's attention: mapo-tofu ramen, a simple dish of spicy mapo tofu dumped on top of ramen—and a godsend for someone like Masachika, who loved ramen and spicy food.
"Mapo-tofu ramen? So it's Chinese food topped with Chinese food." Takeshi Maruyama laughed; he had been friends with Masachika ever since middle school. Takeshi had a shaved head and was slightly shorter than Masachika.
"Takeshi, ramen technically isn't Chinese food, though."
"Wait. It isn't?"
"Nope. The word ramen itself is actually Japanese."
Hikaru Kiyomiya was the one who shared that piece of trivia. He had also been friends with Masachika ever since middle school. He was a delicate, beautiful, androgynous young man with naturally light hair and eyes. He was one of the most gorgeous guys in the entire school, which was evident by the fact that every girl walking into the cafeteria gushed over him as they passed by.
"Have you two already decided what you're going to get?"
"Yep."
"Yes."
After exchanging brief nods, they walked into the cafeteria, then placed a handkerchief and some tissues on a table to claim their seats before heading over to the line for food. Once they put in their orders, they returned to their seats and began eating. Of course, it was Masachika's mapo-tofu ramen that became the focus of attention.
"Whoa… It's even redder than it was in the picture."
"That looks way too spicy."
"Not at all. It needs to be spicier if anything. Still tastes good, though."
Sitting across from Masachika, Takeshi and Hikaru watched in obvious disbelief as he slurped up his noodles, but Masachika himself was calm as could be.
"Hmm… Let me try some of your noodles."
"Ooh, me too."
"Sure."
"Thanks… What the…?! This is spicy as hell!"
"Ack! It burns going down…!"
They dug into the ramen with their chopsticks, but the instant they took a bite, they frowned and reached for their cups.
"Okay, guys. You can't call something spicy if the steam doesn't make your eyes water," Masachika chided.
"That is a bizarre definition of spicy."
"You can say that again."
"Real spicy ramen burns your lips to the point where you can't even slurp them up like ordinary noodles."
"'Spicy '? Sounds more like feisty. Am I right?"
"I can't even imagine ramen that spicy."
"It would tear through your stomach, too, of course."
"The hell, man? Don't eat stuff that you know's going to give you diarrhea," Takeshi replied promptly, when all of a sudden, there was commotion at the cafeteria's entrance. They instinctively looked toward the noise and saw three girls walk in.
"Oh, it's the student council… I don't see the president or the vice president anywhere, though. Still not every day you see three of them together like this. It's… Wow."
Takeshi gasped as he watched them walk by, his peers oohing and aahing the whole time. The guys were drooling over them while the girls looked up to them like idols.
"The Kujou sisters are so beautiful, aren't they?" Hikaru muttered softly as he looked at Alisa, who stood out the most due to her silver hair, and the slightly shorter girl walking in front of her.
This girl, Maria Mikhailovna Kujou, was a second-year student and the student council secretary. She was Alisa's older sister by one year and was called Masha by those close to her. However, neither her hair color nor style were anything like her sister's.
While Maria had fair skin, it was more like light compared with the average Japanese person's, unlike Alisa's almost translucent milky-white skin. Her shoulder-length wavy hair was light brown, and she had bright, chocolate-colored, gentle almond-shaped eyes. Her figure, including her baby face, was also closer to that of the average Japanese person. It was almost hard to tell which one of them was older at first glance when she stood next to Alisa, who had a slim, tall, and mature figure.
However, one glance below Maria's face would clear up any misunderstanding. She had the body of an older sister. More specifically, she had huge breasts. And a huge rear as well.
While Alisa had a figure that stood out from the average Japanese person's, Maria had an even more "feminine" body. Her voluptuous figure and inherently gentle personality and style gave her a very maternal appearance, which was unexpected from someone her age. In fact, she was even called Madonna by some of her peers.
"Maria is so cute. I'd love to get to know her."
"I heard she has a boyfriend, though," chimed in Hikaru.
"Yeah, I know! Dammit! Who's the lucky guy?!"
Takeshi's dreamy expression instantly turned into a teeth-grinding scowl, causing Masachika to raise an eyebrow in surprise.
"Wait. Takeshi? 'Who's the lucky guy' ? I thought you of all people would know."
"Not sure what you mean by 'you of all people,' but whatever. All I know is it's some Russian guy."
"Huh."
"I wonder if it's a long-distance relationship. I heard that Maria goes to Russia quite a bit."
Hikaru had a point. The Kujou sisters often went back and forth between Russia and Japan due to their father's work. Alisa had even lived in Russia until she was five, before coming to Japan for her first year of elementary school. She then went back to Russia during her fourth year and returned to Japan during her third year of middle school.
"I guess if they're long-distance, that means they've been dating for over a year now… I don't stand a chance."
"True… Besides, she's apparently turned down every guy who has asked her out so far because of this boyfriend."
"Takeshi wouldn't stand a chance, in any case," chimed in Masachika, forcing his friend to confront this cold, harsh fact.
"Oh, shut up! Don't act all cocky just 'cause you and Princess Alya are close!" Takeshi furiously snorted.
"Yeah, I don't know about that. It's more like she puts up with me."
"Still better than her being completely uninterested in you. She barely talks to anyone, and if you try to approach her, she basically just cuts you off with some businesslike reply."
"Well, we have been sitting next to each other for over a year now…"
"Even then, man. I mean, I'm pretty sure you're the only person who can get away with calling her by her nickname to her face."
"Yeah, I guess…"
"Man… I wish the solitary princess would let me call her by her nickname, too…"
"Why don't you try, then? Be aggressive. She's your classmate, too, you know?" suggested Masachika. Takeshi grimaced as he waved his hand in front of his face.
"No way, man. I wouldn't even know how to approach someone that perfect."
"Doesn't mean you should be sneaking photos of her."
"Can you blame me? Look how beautiful she is," argued Takeshi with an air of innocence before Masachika's reproachful gaze.
If it wasn't obvious already, Takeshi was one of the three guys who'd had his smartphone confiscated that morning for secretly taking pictures of Alisa. In fact, he was the ringleader of the group.
"Sigh… I could stare at her all day. She is legit eyegasm material. And her sister? Put those two together, and I'm gonna need an extra pair of underwear."
"Takeshi, that was seriously gross."
"Yeah, I legit threw up a little in my mouth."
Even Takeshi's two friends were disgusted by his euphoric expression as he gawked at the Kujou sisters, but Takeshi himself looked back at Masachika and Hikaru as if they were the ones with the problem.
"What? Don't tell me you guys disagree. I've never seen anyone as pretty as them in my life."
"I mean, I admit they're good-looking, but you shouldn't worship them. Alya's actually kind of funny once you get to know her…in more ways than one."
"'Ooh, look at me. I'm Masachika. I know the real Alya.' Humblebrag much?"
"I wasn't bragging."
"So she's 'kind of funny,' huh? I'm impressed you of all people can say something like that with a straight face."
"Do I detect a hint of sarcasm, Hikaru? Trying to tell me to know my place?"
"That's not what I meant. I was just saying how I admire that you could say something like that about someone who gets after you every single day."
"Oh…"
Masachika looked away and gave a slight nod.
One of the reasons Masachika was fine with Alisa scolding him every day was because she was right. But even more than that, it was because what she whispered to herself in Russian occasionally was always extremely sweet.
Plus, Alisa wouldn't be scolding him all the time if she actually hated him to begin with. She would just ignore him…which meant that deep down inside, she probably enjoyed their exchanges. That was why Masachika didn't let her complaints bother him. He would never be able to tell anyone that, though.