Spending A Lovey-Dovey College Life With A Spoiled Childhood Friend

Saturday, May 18th, just before noon. We had somehow gathered in the Byte editorial office. The activities of the Byte editorial department are to publish Byte, the public relations magazine of the Department of Computer Science. To put it another way, there is nothing else to do. That’s why we gathered in the room for some reason.

“Hey, Shun, we’re going out to eat, right?”

“Where should we go, Kazu?”

“How about Sutaji? I think they have a 500 yen discount.”

I heard such a voice from the desk across from me. It was Shun-san, the head of the department, and Yamada Kazuto, a.k.a. Kazu-san, who was talking. I haven’t talked to him that much, but I often saw him chatting with Shun-san, probably because he’s a first-year master’s student and close in age to Shun-san. Right now, the two of them seemed to be playing a certain Warriors Game together.

“What’s sutaji?”

I asked from the side.

“Sutaji is a short name for Sutamina Jirou. It’s an all-you-can-eat restaurant.”

“What kind of all-you-can-eat restaurant is it?”

“It’s supposed to be yakiniku, but they also have sushi, spaghetti, rice, and desserts, and today they’re offering a 500 yen discount.”

“How much is that?”

“It’s only 1,000 yen instead of the usual 1,500 yen.”

“That’s awesome…”

For us students, 1,000 yen per meal is not cheap, but for all-you-can-eat, it’s reasonable.

“Do you guys want to come?”

I’ve never really talked to Yamada-san, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk to him. I looked at Miyu and she nodded her head.

“By all means.”

“I guess it’s decided then. Shun, can you start the car?”

“All right.”

So we decided to have lunch at Sutaji. We took off using Shun-san’s car.

“Have you guys gotten used to your student life yet?”

Yamada-san, who’s in the passenger seat, asked us.

“I’ve been here almost two months. But, there are still a lot of things I don’t understand.”

“I’m the same way, though the atmosphere at Byte was surprising.”

“It’s a bit intimidating at first. So, how’s the lecture going?”

“Pretty normal. So far, it hasn’t been too difficult.”

“I’m still a little rusty in math. College math is different from high school math, isn’t it?”

That reminds me that I was stuck on Epsilon⊿ Argument the other day.

“Don’t they have computer labs in the first year?”

“It’s a little boring. I finish my assignments and then I go online.”

“Come to think of it, Asakura was doing something interesting.”

I guess it’s about her drawing on Excel.

“I was just copying what was being talked about on the Internet.”

Miyu said as if it was nothing.

“It’s not normal to be able to do that.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying it. It’s a boring class for someone who can use a computer.”

Yamada-san’s manner was unreserved.

“I think Asakura and Takato should take more developmental lectures.”

Shun-san advises us.

“What kind of lectures are there?”

Data structures and algorithms, formal languages and automata, the theory of computation, and other lectures I’ve never heard of. As far as I can tell, it looks quite difficult.

“Can we handle it?”

“Well, I think you guys will be fine. If you have any questions, you can ask Shun.”

Yamada-san said to us. After that, we continued to talk about the lectures at the university until we arrived at Sutamina Jirou.

The restaurant was quite empty, probably because it was past lunch time. We were soon shown to a table, where we could see a wide variety of meats on display. There was also spaghetti, miso soup, rice, sushi, juice, ice cream, pudding… and really anything else you could think of.

“We’ll save the meat for you, so you guys can choose something else.”

Shun-san said. It’s a buffet so Miyu and I put whatever we wanted on our plates. I had a few pieces of sushi, spaghetti, garlic rice, and fried potatoes. Miyu did the same with a few pieces of sushi and potato salad. These choices are all very individualistic.

When we returned to our seats, there was a mountain of meat on the table: beef ribs, beef liver, chicken thighs, tongue, and many more.

“Can you eat all that?”

Miyu looked a little worried.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. If there is a surplus, Kazu will handle it.”

“That’s how it is.”

“And that’s why your body is quite toned, isn’t it?”

Yamada-san seems to be a big eater, and he is over 180cm tall, as well as muscular and toned.

“If I don’t eat, I’ll lose weight. I even lost 500 grams the next day when I ate normally.”

“That’s amazing…”

“Kazu was the first-place winner in a national mountaineering competition when he was in high school.”

“”Eh?””

Many of us in the Department of Computer Science don’t do much physical activity. The Department of Computer Science is the only Department that has a physical education class for all four years. That’s why I was very surprised.

“If you can exercise so much, why did you come here?”

“Well, I just exercise out of habit.”

This guy is out of this world in so many ways. As we were eating and chatting like that, Shun-san suddenly asked.

“What are you going to do after this, Kazu?”

“I’ll probably just get a job. What about you, Shun?”

“I went to the doctoral degree somehow. I’m not sure if I should stay at the university or get a job.”

Yamada-san is in the first year of his master’s degree, but he had already decided to get a job.

“Yamada-san, why don’t you go on to a doctoral degree like Shun-san?

“I’m not cut out for research.”

“I think Kazu can do research…”

We’ve just started college, and it will be a few years before we can decide what to do with our future. But, our seniors seemed to be already thinking about their future.

“Well, let’s eat for now.”

Yamada-san and Shun-san put the meat on the grill. The meat juices sizzled and it was fragrant. We each took a plate of grilled meat and ate it. Yeah, it was delicious.

“By the way… Are you guys dating?”

I almost blew out the meat I was eating and Miyu almost choked on it.

“N-no, We’re not dating.”

“Y-yes that’s right, Ryu-kun is my childhood friend.” [TLN: ._.]

However, I’m halfway to confessing my feelings to Miyu.

“I see. I don’t mind either way, but you guys are really close with each other.”

That’s all he said, and Yamada-san started eating the meat again. It’s a great help to me that he doesn’t get deeply involved in these things. But I guess Miyu and I are really close with each other. After that, we continued eating meat, sushi, and dessert before heading home.

(But, dating, huh…)

I’m aware of Miyu as a woman, and I’m sure she likes me. But if only there was something I could do to take one more step. That’s what I thought about on the way home.

“Ryu-kun, Ryu-kun.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Is something bothering you?

“No, I was just thinking about the lecture.”

“I hope so…”

Miyu looks worried. I felt a little guilty when I saw such a face.

(Really, I need to end this soon…)

The conclusion has already been decided, it’s just a matter of when to take the first step. (EDN: BRUH JUST PUSH HER DOWN ALREADY) (TLN: I second this ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )