After the excitement of Nagakura-sensei's class, Chizuru was extra alert during the rest of the classes; before each lesson, she would check with Sen-chan to get the name of the teacher teaching it, and to make a good first impression, she diligently made notes for each class in separate notebooks. Sen-chan said that she didn't need to go that far, but really, it also served to make her feel a little better about herself… Especially considering what happened in the second class.

Four different notebooks later, she realized that the school bell marking the end of this particular class sounded different, and realized that it was time for lunch. Everyone in the class was tensed, and some of them – especially the boys – kept glancing at the clock on the wall and at the door as the teacher gave them their homework, to be handed in the next day.

She copied the assignment details into her notebook for the class, and gently rubbed her quietly growling stomach. Due to being in a rush for school in the morning, she didn't have time to prepare a bento for herself; when she told Sen-chan, the girl had immediately volunteered to show her to where the cafeteria was, so that she would be able to get herself some bread… But she also told her that the bread supply was usually limited, and some people would often get greedy and buy more than they needed, so they would have to make a rush for it in order to make it before they sold out.

"… And that's what you need to hand in tomorrow. You're dismissed now."

"RISE!"

The classmate in charge of calling sounded nervous and a little louder than usual; the class responded by rising quickly and almost impatiently.

"BOW!"

"Thank you, Itou-sensei!"

Unlike with the rest of the classes that morning, the students did not bother to wait for the teacher to leave the class before they acted. Instead, about half the class' occupants immediately rushed towards one of the two doors in the classroom, dramatically flinging it open; with what she would describe as a war cry of sorts, they then sprinted towards the direction of the cafeteria.

Thanks to Itou-sensei being longwinded and generally slow, their class was behind the whole school for "lunch rush hour", and nobody wanted to be delayed any longer. If she wasn't participating in this madness, she would probably have enjoyed watching the students climb over each other just to get out the door.

"Come on, Chizuru-chan!" Sen-chan had a firm grip on her hand as they left the classroom, forcing her to keep up as she led the way down the corridor, "This way! And then down the stairs! Try to keep up, alright?"

She could only nod, panting too heavily to reply.

After they reached the first floor, it wasn't long before they arrived at where a large group of students were gathered; to be honest, it resembled a warzone, with students shoving and squeezing each other instead of there being an organized queue, like back in her old school… Dread set in when she realized that she would have to get past all those students just to purchase a single piece of bread?

More than ever, she regretted sleeping in so late… There was no way she would ever do that again.

Since it was war, there was no opportunity for her to catch her breath. Instead, Sen-chan had dragged her over to the front lines, and thrust them straight into the heart of the bread war. Their hands were still linked, which Chizuru was thankful for since Sen-chan seemed to be really good at navigating her way through large groups of students, and it wasn't long before she found herself at the table displaying the different types of bread for sale.

She decided to just pick one at random, too overwhelmed to make a conscious decision. However, picking up the bread and paying for it meant that she had to let Sen-chan's hand go, and her friend soon disappeared into the crowd. Nervous about being left alone, she scanned the table.

"Maybe this -"

She grabbed onto the last yakisoba bread, since it was the closest to her, and was about to remove it from the table when someone else grabbed hold of it. Instantly, she froze, biting down on her lower lip; how could her first day of school be filled with this much misfortune?

"Oi, I don't care if you're a girl, but that's mine."

A male upperclassman – holding onto what looked like a mountain of bread in his arms – was her challenger, and with every second that ticked by, he looked more and more pissed off. She wanted to let go of the bread since conflict was never really her thing, but looking at how many he was already carrying in his arms, she wondered if this was one of the "greedy people" Sen-chan told her about… And she couldn't help feeling indignant when she thought about how, because of inconsiderate bullies like him, some students might end up without any lunch today.

It wasn't fair to give in to people like him, just because they were tall… And intimidating… And kind of scary when he's glaring at her in that manner.

"I'm sorry but I grabbed it first!" Her voice was shaking, but her eyes were narrowed and determined as she tightened her hold on the bread; she was going to take a stand, and she was not backing down, "A-anyway! You already have one, two, three-" She mentally counted the rest of the bread in his arms, "-seven! N-nobody can finish that much bread!"

"Oh yeah?" He practically growled as he forcefully snatched the bread away from her. As if to taunt her, he dangled the bread above her, just out of her reach. With a sneer, he leaned in dangerously close, "Maybe you're right… But what are you going to do about it?"

She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face so badly, but he was right… Although some students had noticed their little fight, she realized that they had just taken a step away from them as opposed to helping her stand up to the bully. Most of them were either disinterested or simply did not want to involve themselves. In the distance, she thought she heard Sen-chan's voice over the voices of the students gathered in the cafeteria, but she didn't want to look away.

She wanted to stare at the bully. Stare at him until he was uncomfortable, until he backed away, until he-

"Excuse me~" A student had walked out of the crowd surrounding them, a smile playing on his lips; he seemed blissfully unaware of the tension – or rather, upon closer inspection, she observed that he just didn't care. Humming a tuneless melody, he walked in between herself and the bully, casually raising his arm to grab the bread that the bully had been dangling out of her reach when he passed by.

"I'll have this please," He ignored the surprised faces of the students who had witnessed the scene, and proceeded to pay for the yakisoba bread. Once it was paid for, he opened the packaging and took a bite out of it on the spot. While eating the bread, he then walked back the way he came – in between herself and the bully, and towards the group of students surrounding them.

"OI, YOU BASTARD!" The bully, having just realized what happened, turned to grab the student by his shoulder, "That was my bread!"

"Huh?" The student's movement was almost lazy as he half turned, glancing at the hand on his shoulder. His smile still did not falter, but Chizuru shivered at the almost feral look in his green eyes – rather than avoiding a fight, he looked like he was egging the taller, larger student to make the first move, "Maybe you're right… But what are you going to do about it, hm?"

Her eyes widened at the words he chose to use; those were the exact words the bully used just now…

"Why you-" The bully had dumped the bread in his arms onto the table in order to free his hands.

Meanwhile, the other boy continued munching on the bread without a care in the world.

That nonchalant behavior probably fueled the bully's anger further, as he clenched his fist and pulled it back, ready to deliver a punch.

She gasped, launching herself forward without thinking.