Bento Mixup

Ah, what a beautiful start to the day, Hanna thought to herself. Clear skies, and for once, Sherry was still sleeping peacefully. Perhaps activities with the mystery club really tired her out yesterday but either way Hanna wasn’t about to complain. How long had it been since she had a quiet morning?

The only interruption to the silence was the sound of eggs being cooked as Hanna made tamagoyaki for the two of them. Humming a tune to herself, Hanna seasoned the eggs perfectly and rolled them. Great! She thought. It was a lot easier to cook when she didn’t have to fend off a blue haired dog from begging for tiny bites every thirty seconds. She put together two boxes of side dishes, and two boxes of rice. Reminding herself to split them up and put one set in Sherry’s bag, she turned around to start washing.

“Hwah… Good morning Hanna…” A tired voice greeted Hanna from their bedroom. “Oh!” Her metaphorical tail stood up. “Lunch smells great!”

Hanna nodded and said with pride. “Of course! This is what I can do when I’m unbothered, so next time would you-” her request went unheard as Sherry bounded over to the counter where the bento boxes were. “Hey, save it for later!” Hanna slapped away at those grubby paws. “Eat it at lunch okay?!”

“Aw~” Sherry pouted.

This girl… Hanna sighed and opened the oven where she kept a plate. “Here, it’s breakfast.”

Her blue haired retriever bounded around the side and hugged Hanna tightly, almost causing the plate to fall. “Yay! You’re the best Hanna!”

“Yes, yes, yes, now hurry up and eat! I have to go soon, make sure you’re not late!” Hanna struggled to wriggle out of Sherry’s grasp. She grabbed a set of bento boxes on the counter and headed towards the doorway.

“O~kaaaahh!” Sherry responded through a mouthful of rice. She swallowed and watched Hanna put on her shoes. “I don’t really get why we have to go to school separately though, wouldn’t it be easier if we just went together?”

“Because idiot, I don’t want people to know we’re living together!”

“But why?”

“B-Because! Anyways! Finish and clean before you go! That should be enough time!” Hanna quickly left the apartment and started the way to school before Sherry could ask more questions. That thick headed idiot… She sighed. Well, it was fine. As much as she was loathe to admit it, she did have a little bit of fun with Sherry. Just a little! Enough to not want to look for a new apartment. It would be rude to turn down a friend’s invitation to live at their place right? Especially when Sherry lived the way she did. If anything, she was doing Sherry a favor!

“Good morning Hanna!” A cheerful voice interrupted her self justification. It was Ema, a fellow schoolmate of theirs.

“Ah, good morning to you Ema.” Hanna nodded. Right. Don’t think about that blue haired idiot. It was school time.

“Hey, is Sherry alright? I saw her running around town last night. Did she end up getting back home okay?” Ema asked innocently.

“H-H-How would I know?!” Hanna sputtered. W-why did Ema think she would know?

“Hm, don’t you two live to-”

“We do not!” Hanna almost yelled before realizing there were other people watching. “We do not…!” Hanna whispered loudly to Ema. “Okay! I-I could never live in the same apartment as that gorilla woman, let alone sleep in the same bedroom!”

“…Ah, right of course!” Ema smiled sympathetically. “O-of course you two wouldn’t live together haha!” Her laugh sounded fake to Hanna.

“…You don’t believe me do you.”

“N-no of course I do!” Ema tried to reassure Hanna. “O-oh look! I need to get to the classroom to talk to the teacher about something, see you later Hanna!”

Well, whatever. Hanna sighed. She’d have to clear up that misunderstanding later. For now, school! Hanna clapped herself on the cheeks.

“…Something feels off.” Hanna said to herself. But what was it? Did she forget something at home? Homework? No, she checked her bag this morning and it was there. Ah whatever. The school bell rung which meant it was lunch time. She’d think about it over lunch.

Reaching for her bag she pulled out the two bento boxes she grabbed this morning. She uncapped them both.

“Ah.”

Before her were two bento boxes filled with side dishes. She realized what she forgot to do. She forgot to split them into one rice box and one side dish box.

“…na!!!”

Thundering footsteps accompanied by a booming voice caused everyone in the class to look up at the door.

“Hanna!!!!!!!!” Sherry yelled as she threw open the door. “Why does my bento only have rice in it?! What did I do wrong?!”

Hanna looked from side to side and saw all her classmates looking at the two of them.

“I’ll apologize so please tell me what I did!!” Sherry pleaded with Hanna.

“I-I H-How would I know anything about your bento! I don’t know anything!”

“Hanna!!!!!” Sherry rushed over with tears in her eyes. “Was it me kicking you in your sleep two days ago?! Was it when I hugged you too tightly the night before? Was it-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH” Hanna raised her voice in an attempt to prevent anyone from hearing more of Sherry’s confessions. “Here! I don’t know about your bento but it seems I have an extra set of side dishes! I’ll trade one for your extra rice!”

Sherry blinked through her tears and looked at Hanna’s set of two side dishes. Then she started laughing. “Oh! You could’ve just told me that you mixed them-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” Hanna screamed again. “Go! Quickly! Go eat your lunch in your own class!”

“But I’m already here and-”

“F-fine! L-let’s go together and we can eat somewhere else!”

“Yay~!”

With a huff, Hanna got up out of her seat and brought her blue haired dog along outside the classroom.

“…Like does Hanna seriously expect any of us to believe they don’t live together, LOL”. Coco snickered from the back of the class.

“Mm!!!” Sherry couldn’t contain herself. “Zhish is sho good!!!”

“Geez, finish chewing first then talk! This girl… how many times do I have to tell you?” Hanna complained while wiping away the crumbs around Sherry’s lips.

“Mmrph!” Sherry was busy chewing while Hanna was wiping away. Finally, she swallowed. “We should eat lunch together more!”

“Idiot, I’d barely get time to eat while having to clean up after you!”

The two of them continued to eat, or well, if you could call Sherry funneling food into her mouth eating. Hanna had taken the two of them to the rooftop where she had hoped that nobody else would be around and thankfully it seemed that she was right.

Of course the reason nobody was here was simple. A strong gust of wind caused Hanna to shiver. Ah, if only she was capable of brutally shoving food into her mouth like this inconsiderate girl next to her. Sherry had already finished her food and was sipping away at a bottle of water she had brought along.

However, she wasn’t in the mystery club for nothing. Noting that Hanna was shivering, she quickly came to the conclusion that Hanna must be cold. But alas, without a jacket or a blanket what was a girl to do? Well, Sherry did have one thing available to her.

“…What are you doing?” Hanna asked.

“Keeping you warm!”

Sherry had hugged Hanna from behind to help shield her from the fierce cold winds. Hanna blushed having felt Sherry hug her from behind but didn’t want to turn around or say anything that would give it away that she was embarrassed. Silently she continued to eat until she could hear Sherry’s stomach rumble.

“Are you still hungry?”

“…A little?” Sherry sheepishly replied.

Sighing, Hanna grabbed a sausage with her chopsticks and lifted them up. “I guess there’s no helping it, here you go-” Hanna stopped though as she looked up and saw Margo staring at the two of them. “-not!” But was too late as Sherry had already grabbed the sausage with her teeth.

“Oh my…” Margo covered her mouth with her hand. “I didn’t meant to intrude, my apologies~”

“Wait-” Hanna reached out to them but it was too late. Margo had already closed the door and Hanna suddenly lunging surprised Sherry.

“Woah!” Sherry pulled Hanna back to make sure she didn’t fall and hugged her tighter, much to Hanna’s discomfort. “Careful!”

“C-careful?!” Hanna turned and pointed her chopsticks at Sherry. “You’re the one who needs to be careful! People are going to think we’re living together!”

“That’s not fair,” Sherry pouted, “you’re the one who took my side dish box!”

“T-that’s… Argh!” Hanna couldn’t properly retort to Sherry’s counterpoint. She instead returned back to her lunch, feeding Sherry bits and pieces every now and then to sate her unsatiable stomach.

Eventually Hanna’s box became empty. Hanna sighed a breath of relief. “Alright, you can let go now.”

However, Sherry instead tightened her grasp. Hanna repeated herself. “Sherry, you can let go now.”

“Mm… but I like hugging you Hanna!”

“Wha-”

“Gotcha!” Sherry reached over and grabbed Hanna’s drink she bought earlier. “Mine now! I’ll buy you a new one later!”

Recognizing a quick retreat was in order, Sherry turned around and started running. Hanna blinked out of shock before realizing what had just happened and quickly tried to gather everything and chase after Sherry.

“ARGH, Sherry!!!”

“I’ll get you one later Hanna I promise! Or at home!”

“At home- I’m thirsty now you stupid idiot!”

The two of them ran through the halls. Sherry smiled and laughed as she dodged and weaved between students and teachers. She might be in trouble later at home, but it was always worth it to see Hanna chase after her. She loved Hanna. And she hoped that Hanna loved her too.