This Girl Is A Delinquent!, Vol. 2

Chapter 21: Commotion In The Courtyard

The sauntering figures of students heading to lunch passed Ken by as he made his way towards the student council room. Carrying a packaged school lunch in his free hand, he glanced down at the fare and made a grimace. After being spoiled by the lunches that Sonya had been bringing him, a feeling of sadness crossed through his mind. After confronting her last week, his rambunctious underclassman had returned to her usual self. He was happy that her guilt had subsided, but with it her daily visits to his dorm and gifts of food had also ceased. As he lamented this fact, a ray of sunlight could be seen shining through from one of the windows that faced the courtyard. Just as Ken turned his head to take in the serene view, a begrudging voice whispered to him.

"What are you doing! You're going to get spotted!

Leaping in shock, Ken glanced down beneath the windowsill to see both Lyra and Sonya crouching and taking turns peeking out into the courtyard. As the two girls switched roles, Sonya looked up and saw Ken towering over her. Her cheeks turned a light pink and her expression became sour. Reaching out and grabbing the side of his shirt, Sonya forcefully pulled Ken to a squat next to her while whispering.

"Don't just stand there! Get down here!"

"What are you two doing? Why do I have to-"

"Shh! There she is!"

Lyra's announcement cut Ken off before he could protest. Following Lyra's example, the three students watched as a worried looking blond haired girl paced around the courtyard. With a slow circular trajectory, she appeared from behind the large tree and meandered around before disappearing behind the tree once more. Instantly recognizing the girl, Ken gave Lyra and Sonya a peculiar look before asking the foremost question in his mind.

"Uhh... Why are you spying on Stella?"

Meeting each other's eyes and turning back to Ken, the girls proceeded to explain their reasoning with Lyra going first.

"Well, this morning the class decided to do a café for the Autumn Festival this year! So I said we should talk at lunch to make sure we all sign up for the same task so we can play... I mean, work together! But Stella said that she was going to have lunch with her brother. But, in a nefarious twist... Tell him what you saw, Sonya!"

The overly worded rendition of events caught Sonya off guard as she scrambled to keep the momentum going.

"I was in the courtyard feeding Pudding-Erk!"

Covering her mouth with her hand, Sonya paused in embarrassment while her eyes wavered and she tried to correct herself nonchalantly.

"...To myself... I was having a snack. Just me, no one else."

While her transition lacked finesse, it did let Ken know that she was still regularly visiting the cat that had become her schoolyard companion. Her nervousness elicited a smile from him, but it was short-lived as Sonya launched a swift elbow to his ribs before continuing.

"Anyways! Then I saw Stella walking around like she was looking for someone. So I messaged Lyra to set up a sting operation."

Ken rubbed the area that had been impacted and shook his head with an exasperated look.

"I think Lyra is rubbing off on you... Not necessarily in a good way. Why is it so weird for Stella to be walking around the courtyard?"

Unexpectedly, he was met with flat stares as if the answer to his question was obvious. Lyra clicked her tongue in frustration as she spat out her words.

"Jeez, big brother... Look at her hands! That's an envelope!"

"So...?"

"SO! That can only mean one thing..."