I’m Back in the First Grade of Elementary School, so I’m Going to Live Well

Chapter 44

Sweets Exchange

AN: I’ve been absent for three days.

Sorry m(_ _)m

After a seemingly unhappy lunchtime excursion that turned out to be a great time thanks to the dedication of my classmates, we are now in the midst of snack time.

This is the time to eat the sweets brought by each person or to exchange them with friends.

“Ahhhh! My chocolate is gone!”

From a short distance away, I could hear Rinta’s shout.

Rinta seemed to be facing a certain development that one would expect on a field trip.

Well, well, let’s just leave him alone……

I’ve got my things to do, you know.

“Imai-kun. Do you have a minute?”

“Itosaki-kun? I have, but…”

I called out to Imai-kun, who was in the group to exchange sweets.

After all, it would be appropriate to call out to him first, as he was the first to share.

“Here. Take it if you want.”

I offer him an individually wrapped cookie, one of the sweets I bought for less than 300 yen.

“What? Why?”

He asks, not as a joke, but as a genuine question.

The reason for such a reaction is probably because, in his mind, the fact that he shared his lunch was not something to be thanked for.

Not only is he handsome in appearance, but he is also handsome in character.

I don’t think I’ll ever be jealous of him if he’s this good-looking.

“Well, you know, I was just thanking you for sharing your lunch with me…… Well, something like that.”

I’ve never had the experience of giving something to someone while thanking them face to face like this before, so it’s a little embarrassing.

I wonder if this is what it feels like to send a love letter. I’ve never sent or received one.

“Are you sure? Yes, thank you!”

He was genuinely happy to receive the gift, even though it wasn’t a big, insignificant gift.

When I see him like this, I realize that he’s just a kid.

As I was smiling for a moment…

“Ah! Only Imai is cheating! Give me one too, Itosaki!”

“Oh, yeah. No problem.”

A classmate of mine who often plays with Imai-kun asks me for a cookie.

I remember that he used to share his lunch with me.

I think it was all vegetables, but……

“I’m sharing, so give me some.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Itosaki-kun, are you giving away cookies? I want some too.”

“Sure.”

“Kakeru, please give me some too.”

“Sure, I’ll give one to Rinta.”

The number of children asking for cookies increased one after another, and soon there was a crowd of people around me.

In the end, even the kids who hadn’t shared their lunches came up to me, mistakenly thinking I was giving them away for free.

There were more than enough cookies for all the classmates, so there was no need to worry about running out.

If there weren’t enough, the children who didn’t get them might turn into a mob. I’m glad I bought a large quantity.

One after another, cookies were placed on the offered hands, and when the remaining cookies were less than half full, the rage of the classmates began to subside.

“Sho-kun♪”

As if to gauge the timing, Mizui-san holds out her hands with an expectant look in her eyes.

“Ah, yes. For you too, Mizui-san.”

I put a cookie in her hand almost as a conditional reflex, since I had been repeating the same process from earlier.

Mizui-san is still a child, after all, when she comes to me and asks for a cookie.

I was imagining how happy she would be to receive a cookie.

“…………”

“…… W-What’s wrong?”

For some reason, Mizui-san looked at the cookies on her hands with the disappointment of a child who received a book of problems as a birthday present.

What? It’s the same cookie that I gave to everyone else……

Are you asking me to give you more?　I’m sure Mizui-san isn’t that greedy.

I have no idea what her complaint is.

“Like…… everyone else?”

“Yes, it is.”

I’m not going to be mean and give something smaller or cheaper to Mizui-san than to everyone else.

I’m sure I’m giving out the same thing to everyone equally.

“Umm, you don’t like cookies, do you?”

“No, not at all――…… Is it really the same as everyone else?”

She asks in disbelief.

“It’s the same.”

“Even the ones you gave me?”

“Yes.”

“How did you feel when you gave it to me?”

“Feelings? Well, yeah. The same.”

I was just as grateful to Mizui-san as I was to my classmates for sharing it with me.

However, she was somewhat dissatisfied.

Was there something lacking as a thank you?

“………… How did you like the egg rolls I shared with you?”

“What? Well, it was good.”

Why are you talking about the food you shared with me at this time?

It was a very sophisticated and tasty egg omelet that you would not expect a first grader like Mizui-san to have made, and it certainly tasted even better than this.

“I’ve been practicing for a long time because I wanted Sho-kun to eat it before I separated it. I asked Sho-kun’s mother what kind of flavor he likes, and I made it sweet. I was also worried about whether he would like it or not, but I was also happy if he did. ――Unlike everyone else, unlike everyone else, I made it myself just for Sho-kun, just for Sho-kun.”

“Eh, hee, I, I see……”

Mizui-san takes a step or two closer to me, and I take a step or two backward in inverse proportion.

Why are you approaching me? And why did you say “unlike everyone else” twice?

Mizui-san gradually moves forward, and I gradually move back.

――Eventually, a tree blocked the way behind me, making it impossible to retreat any further.

Then she moved her face closer to mine.

“What do you think…?”

That’s what she asks me.

What do you mean, what do I think?

I’m supposed to listen to that story and tell you how I feel about it?

…… Well, you know, if you made it for me.

“Umm, thank… you…”