The Lunch Incident (1) is the one hundred and seventh chapter of Takashi Shiina's Zettai Karen Children.
Synopsis[]
Chisato Hanai is being interrogated; her eyes are censored and her voice is changed to protect her identity. She talks about the day of her school field trip. All of the students were excited, but Kaoru Akashi, Shiho Sannomiya and Aoi Nogami were especially high-spirited. Chisato never thought the day would go as it did.
The students are on a coach. Shiho is eating chocolate, Aoi tells her they are not allowed to because it will melt, so Shiho continues to destroy the evidence. Kaoru asks whether they can eat their lunches. Masaru Tōno asks her not to talk about food because he gets carsick. Kaoru grabs his head and shakes him; he throws up.
Kaoru opens her backpack and takes out her lunch; without opening the lunch box, she presses it against her cheek to feel its warmth. Shiho asks how many time she has done that. Aoi suggests that the contents could disappoint her.
The previous night, at Kōichi Minamoto's apartment, Minamoto confirmed what The Children wanted for their lunches. There desires were non-descriptive, with Aoi wanting rice and colorful things, and Shiho wanting a wonderful sandwich; however Kaoru was particularly unhelpful in wanting something unrealistically amazing. Minamoto told them he would make something normal for them; they were not happy.
While hiking up a mountain, Chisato asks The Children about Minamoto. They tell her he is their lover; Masaru trips and falls into a tree. They claim to have been joking, then say that he is a distant relative of theirs but may become immediate family when they are no longer minors; Chisato can't tell if they are being serious.
Chisato remembers the only time she had met Minamoto, although he had only said hello to her, he seemed like nice person. She asks whether he is smart, The Children say he is and add that he is good at sports. The boys listening wish that he would die. Chisato wishes that she had an older brother like Minamoto. The boys think it would be better to kill Minamoto themselves. Kaoru adds that Minamoto is good at cooking, and offers to let Chisato have some of her lunch.
Masaru is being interrogated. He talks about the incident of the day.
Masaru took Kaoru's lunch from her. She attacks him, and he drops her lunch; it flies into the trees. Kaoru demands Masaru go get it. Aoi whisper to Shiho, asking whether she should go get it herself; Shiho says that it would be too risky since the other children don't know about their powers.
Since Minamoto always makes them too much food, Shiho decides they can share their lunch. She checks the content of her lunch using Psychometry and finds that Minamoto had made the lunch that she asked for. She checks Aoi's lunch and finds it is what she had asked for. Shiho breaks the bad news to Kaoru. Kaoru rushes downhill to find her lunch; Masaru goes after her. Knowing Kaoru can't use her powers with anyone watching, Aoi and Shiho decide to stop anyone else going to help her; they tell Chisato they can wait for them at the peak.
Kaoru is being interrogated. They were unable to find the lunch.
Masaru says that they should head back, and offers to share his lunch with her. Kaoru tells him to leave without her. Masaru refuses to leave her alone, worried about how Chisato would react. It starts to rain.
Aoi and Shiho are being interrogated. It was at that point that Shiho first thought things could end badly, but it was already too late for them to do anything.
Aoi worries because she can't teleport through the rain. Shiho is worried about Kaoru and Masru being alone together while soaking wet.