An Old Man in a Young Body

Haruna couldn't keep her excitement down throughout the day. Ever since she had heard about all the outings the Cooking Club planned to do during the orientations, she'd been looking forward to them if she was able to pass somehow.

And now, not only had she become an official member, their very first club session aside from the entrance test was a visit to a restaurant!

'Oh man I can't wait!!!'

Hina, who was sitting beside her during lunch, was not so excited on the other hand. It was time for another session of the reading club where she would inevitably have to meet Fujimoto-san and Ichihara-san.

Since they sort of parted on fairly bad terms, where she unintentionally questioned the integrity of their friend out of worry for her own, Hina was considering going straight home.

Reading Club's sessions weren't mandatory anyway, so she wouldn't get into trouble.

But.....

'No! I won't run! I made a mistake so I need to apologize. And.... I really need to find out'

"What's wrong Hina-tan? Why are you making a face as if you're going into some sort of battle?" Haruna chuckled.

"Um, Haruna-chan, how much do you know about Yagami-kun? You looked like you were on pretty good terms with him..."

She finally worked up the courage to ask the question she had been avoiding. Haruna's eyes widened in slight surprise, but then she smiled as if she was remembering a good memory.

"I think I know why you look so worried. But don't worry, the rumors about him are greatly exaggerated. In fact, I've been wanting to tell you that the things Riku-tan said he heard about Reiji-tan were completely untrue! I don't know where he got that information, but once you get to know him you'll find out that there's no way Reiji-tan would do horrible things like that!" Haruna laughed freely.

Hina blinked quizzically at her explanation.

She was expecting her to say that he isn't so bad, but it seemed like they were a lot closer than she was anticipating. Before she could ask for more details, Haruna continued unprompted.

"As for how he is... He's an old man in a young body with a sharp tongue and soft mind!"

"....What?"

'What type of description is that?'

Hina thought she'd finally be able to get a clearer picture, but that made absolutely no sense to her.

"I can't really explain it, you'd have to talk to him to find out," Haruna shook her head when she saw her confusion.

Actually, thinking back to their meeting on the bench, that odd profiling didn't seem completely ridiculous.

Well, it was still abnormal.

"So.... I made a mistake," Hina muttered as she plopped her head into her hands with embarrassment.

Haruna tilted her head and asked, "What do you mean? What mistake?"

With a guilty sigh, Hina recounted her prior encounters with Reiji in the mall and at the bench. Haruna listened quietly, occasionally showing different reactions as she proceeded with the story.

When she heard about the red haired girl in the mall, she made a strange expression that Hina couldn't quite decipher.

When she heard about Riku's behavior and how they had argued, both at the mall and in the morning before school, there was a furious look on her face.

When she heard about how Reiji had tried to help Hina who cowered in fear and forced him to leave, she burst out laughing for a solid two minutes, with a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

When she heard about how he cheered her up with a drink, a soft smile replaced the chuckles.

When she heard about Fujimoto-san and Ichihara-san talking to her at the club, she looked intrigued.

When she heard about how he had used his background to help Ichihara-san, she sighed both in relief and in worry.

And when she heard about how they had parted on bad terms at the library, she frowned at Hina.

"Hina-tan..... I know you were worried about me and I love you for that, but.... You should've talked to me first," She whispered softly.

"I know, but at the time I didn't know you two were close! When I heard from them that you knew him and were in the same club, my mind blanked out!"

"Well, it's fine. You can't change what happened but you should know that those two, as well as Reiji-tan, are good people. If you can, you should apologize to them today, okay?"

Hina nodded, her guilt growing as she found out for sure that she had misjudged someone and caused problems because of it.

"Don't mind that for now, let's finish eating because there isn't much time left," Haruna said with more vigor, trying to distract Hina who appeared to be struggling with her inner remorse.

***

Reiji quickly packed his bag as the school bell rang, signaling the end of today's classes. Greeny and Airi both came up to him to say goodbye, since he wouldn't be going with them towards the clubrooms.

"They said you have to meet at the front gate, right?" Airi asked.

"Yep, not sure how we're gonna get to the restaurant but for now they just gave us the gathering area."

"If it's g-good, tell us so that we can go together again," Greeny reminded him with hopeful eyes.

"Sure, sure. Good luck with your apology, and remember to not force anything," Reiji warned them lightly.

"Yeah you've said that like 10 times already! You really do have an old man's brain, getting Alzheimer's this early is crazy," Airi giggled.

Reiji rolled his eyes and gave her a flick on the forehead. Airi stomped her feet in frustration as she rubbed the sore spot.

She tried flicking him back but couldn't quite reach, which just made the other two laugh at her.

"Hmph, just you wait! I'll remember this!"

"Remember all you want, that isn't going to help you get taller," Reiji smirked.

"I'm hungry j-just imagining all the things you'll get to eat Reiji-kun," Greeny drooled, off daydreaming in his own world.

".....You're still hungry after eating so much? You took half of my portion too, you glutton!" Reiji grumbled.

"That's y-your fault Reiji-kun.... You should make more food for us!"

"I'm not a fucking catering service!"

"Oh that's not a bad idea! Maybe you can become a caterer after graduating," Airi clapped her hands gleefully.

Reiji massaged his temples. These two gave him headaches every day and his mind was going to explode at this rate.

Soon enough, they split up at the main entrance where Greeny and Airi walked off to the Reading Club and Reiji went to the gate.

Haruna was already waiting for him outside and she waved happily when she saw him. Hina couldn't be seen so she was probably at the club already, and Riku left for the E-sports club as soon as the bell rang without even saying goodbye to either of them.

"Ready?" Reiji asked.

"As ready as I can be!" Haruna said eagerly.

They saw a small group of people already standing around at the gate who they recognized as seniors from the Cooking Club.

Mizuno Senpai was talking with Tomoe Sensei, probably related to the trip they were about to take.

When they reached the group, she noticed their arrival and walked up to them.

"Hey, juniors! Excited about the outing?"

"Yeah! Where are we going?" Haruna rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

"Haha, all I can tell you is that we'll be going to a cafe! There has to be an element of surprise or it'll be no fun, I'm sure you'd just look it up online as soon as I reveal it!"

"By the way how are we getting there," Reiji asked despite Haruna's dissatisfaction.

"Oh we're going to be using the school's shuttle bus!" Mizuno Senpai said, pointing to the parking lot.

There was a mid-sized bus with the school's logo and name imprinted on the side on standby, making it easy for them to travel around for such field trips.

A huffing sound came from behind them, and they turned around to see a sweaty Yamaguchi who was doubled over with exhaustion.

"So-Sorry *huff*, sorry I'm late! I had to *huff* talk with my teacher about an assignment!" he panted, his large belly heaving with his breaths.

"Oh dear, you didn't have to run.... We're still waiting for a few members and the departure time is still 10 minutes away," Mizuno Senpai responded while struggling not to laugh.

"No way! So I *huff* ran for no reason?" Yamaguchi whimpered with dismay.

Reiji patted him on the back, helping him catch his breath as he sat down on the bench nearby. Haruna was hiding behind Reiji to cover the fact that she was also holding back her laughter.

The miserable expression he showed was simply too much for her.

"Thanks Yagami-kun," Yamaguchi sniffled as he regained his composure.

"Egh, just call me Reiji. I'm not a fan of my name."

"O-Oh, then you can call me Ren," he smiled happily.

'Hmmmmm... I really wanna call him Teddy though.'

Just as Reiji was contemplating, Mizuno Senpai announced that everyone had arrived and they were about to leave, asking them to get into the bus in a single file.

It was finally time for the first food tasting trip!

***

A/N

Tomoe Sensei's character image has been added to the collection on my Patreon, which you can check for free.