"Mm~~ Very good, very good! The three of you did a great job!"
A satisfied Azusa savored the okonomiyaki made by the trio.
The quality of this year's newcomers was quite high. In such a short time, they had already made okonomiyaki that could be sold.
Of course, that was excluding a certain Shiro. The okonomiyaki he made was basically an offering for summoning demons!
"Azusa-nee! Give me some feedback too!"
Completely unaware, Shiro beamed as he appeared next to Azusa, holding a plate of his newly made okonomiyaki!
Unlike before, this okonomiyaki was blue! He had added Sprite to it!
The moment Azusa laid eyes on the blue okonomiyaki, her appetite vanished. She even felt like throwing up the okonomiyaki she had just eaten!
Was this even okonomiyaki?!
This thing could totally be used as a sacrificial offering for cultists in some novel!
Shiro! If you don't know how to cook, just give up! You're already excellent in so many ways, there's no need to add cooking skills to the mix!
Seeing Shiro's expectant expression, Azusa ultimately couldn't bring herself to say it outright.
Sorry, Shiro. My stomach is for drinking alcohol, not for digesting demonic sacrifices!
"Shiro, I suggest you get rid of that quickly. If Toki and Bukki come back…"
Hearing Azusa's words, Shiro's face stiffened. Thinking of those two beast-like upperclassmen…
He turned and walked toward the trash can.
Sorry, my dream of becoming a chef. Tonight, you'll have to spend the night in the trash can!
—
On the other side, Iori and Kohei still hadn't given up. This time, they went for a direct approach and invited Chisa to drink a can of cold beer!
Unfortunately… she ruthlessly rejected them again. That cold beer ended up in Azusa's hands!
"Hah! Nothing beats beer in the summer!"
Azusa downed the beer in one go, smiling warmly at the two juniors. Now was the time to bond with them!
"As Nanaka said, you two really are adorable juniors~"
Iori was slightly surprised when he heard Azusa's words.
Was this person a friend of Nanaka-nee?
"Are you two close?"
"Mm, just the kind of friends who chat on the phone."
"Oh, just phone call friends…"
Hearing Azusa's explanation, the two nodded. If they were only talking on the phone, they probably weren't that close.
"So, I know quite a bit about you, Iori-kun~ All sorts of things~"
Iori looked at Azusa in confusion.
Wait…
Suddenly, he remembered something!
Every time he cleaned his room and got misunderstood by Nanaka-nee, she would say she was going to make a phone call!
Could it have been to this person?!
In an instant, Iori forgot to swallow his drink, and beer started leaking out of his mouth.
Kohei, who was watching, was stunned.
Was this some kind of human waterfall?! If you can't drink, just go sit with the kids, you bastard!
"What the hell are you doing~?"
Seeing this scene, Azusa laughed and took out a handkerchief to wipe Iori's face.
As that purple hue approached him, Iori snapped back to reality and quickly explained, "I-I'm sorry… but the whole AV and gay stuff is a misunderstanding!"
"Ahaha, no worries, no worries."
Azusa smiled carefreely.
But her smile only made Iori more terrified.
She totally misunderstood!
Azusa leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Actually, I swing both ways too~"
Iori froze.
Then he exploded!
He started shouting in a way no human could understand!
"ァ☆@●↗!!!"
"Ahahaha, it's great to have someone with the same interests! Next time, let's have a good talk about all sorts of things!"
Azusa waved with a bright smile. She figured Iori must be too excited right now, hahaha.
Chisa and Kohei, watching from the side, were completely confused.
Same interests? Did she mean diving?
Only Shiro, who had just finished throwing his dreams into the trash can, looked at Iori in horror!
He knew Azusa's tastes very well!
Having the same interests as her…
!!!
Is an all-boys school really this terrifying?!
No wonder Kitahara was always stripping so shamelessly!
So that's why!!!
Wait!
The money he owes me… Could that also be part of some scheme?!
Does he have… those kinds of feelings for me…?! Σ_(???」∠)!
In an instant, Shiro felt an overwhelming sense of danger!
He had to distance himself from that bastard Kitahara immediately!
As Iori and Azusa continued their lively conversation, Kohei felt that now was the time to intervene.
This was definitely not the time for this kind of talk!
Kouhei quickly grabbed Iori by the neck and pulled him aside.
"Oi! Kitahara! Now's not the time for this nonsense!"
"No!!! This is extremely important!!!"
Iori was on the verge of a breakdown. How could this not be important?! His very dignity was on the line!
But what they didn't realize was that while they were scheming, Azusa was watching them with an amused smile, her expression filled with mischief.
Looks like little Iori has finally found himself a boyfriend~
Shiro let out a sigh of relief.
Phew! Turns out Iori's target was Kohei! That makes sense, Kohei is quite the pretty boy.
That's great!
Kohei, Kitahara—I'll be rooting for you two!
Unaware of the misunderstanding, Iori and Kohei finally reached a new agreement. Without hesitation, they rushed toward the drink stand!
"We're grabbing some drinks!"
They stared at the fridge, struggling with their choices. There was only one way left to get Chisa drunk.
Turn all the drinks into PaB's special "oolong tea"!!!
It's do-or-die!
"Here! Have some oolong tea!"
They handed out five cups.
"I haven't finished my drink yet~"
"Same here."
"I don't really want to drink…"
Iori and Kohei nearly coughed up blood.
In desperation, they poured one cup down Shiro's throat and forcefully chugged the remaining four before dashing back for more.
"It's not over yet!"
"We're not giving up that easily, dammit!"
The scene suddenly turned heated with determination! Soon, they returned with five cups of PaB's special shaved ice.
"A beach trip isn't complete without shaved ice!"
"The syrup is special!"
Chisa sighed, feeling exhausted. "I'm already full…"
"You two can have it instead~"
"Can you at least ask me before force-feeding me?!"
Σ_(???」∠)
Completely ignoring Shiro's protests, they shoved three cups of shaved ice down his throat and finished the last two themselves.
Unfortunately, they had overestimated their endurance.
Moments later, all three of them collapsed onto the ground like dead dogs.
Shiro, who never even wanted to be part of this, still hadn't been asked for his opinion!
Azusa, watching the scene unfold, knew this was her moment.
With a smirk, she looked down at them.
"So… mind telling me what exactly you were trying to do? Get Chisa drunk?"
?!!!
They'd been exposed!
Were they about to be served a special "pork cutlet meal"?!
Iori and Kohei froze in terror.
Chisa, hearing Azusa's words, immediately hid behind her!
Azusa crouched down and poked the half-conscious Shiro.
"You guys are really bad liars~ Trying to get Chisa to drink was way too obvious. And more importantly…"
She pinched Shiro's cheek. "Your biggest mistake was bringing Shiro along~ I know him too well. I knew something was up from the start~"
!!!
Iori and Kohei glared at Shiro.
There was a traitor among them!
Shiro, just regaining consciousness, looked miserable.
It wasn't my fault! You two dragged me into this! Blame this woman's insane intuition!!!
Azusa grinned wickedly.
"So, what exactly were you planning to do once she was drunk~? Maybe I'd be interested in joining~?"
Iori and Kouhei panicked.
They had to act fast—
"Chisa!"
"Please enter the beauty pageant!"
"That's it!"
A perfectly standard 90-degree bow!
Iori and Kohei were showing the utmost sincerity!
Unfortunately...
"No way!"
Chisa rejected them without the slightest hesitation!
"This guy would even kneel naked and beg you, you know!"
Since sincerity didn't work, Kohei could only resort to indirect threats!
If it were any other girl, she might have caved under such a perverted threat. But unfortunately for them, they were dealing with Chisa!
"So can I step on you and sing 'Conquer' instead?"
A perverted threat would never work on her! After all, Iori was always walking around naked in front of her anyway!
Azusa, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, finally understood what was going on. She almost forgot that this year they were eligible to participate~
"No way~ You can't just beg someone like this~"
Azusa interrupted them. "When you ask for a favor, you should give a proper reason~"
However... what she got in response was silence from both of them...
"Uh… do you guys not have a reason?"
This year's freshmen were more ridiculous than she expected.
"What other reason could there be? They just want to avoid participating in the 'Manhood Contest.' The upperclassmen said that if Chisa participates, these two wouldn't have to."
Shiro, who had been eating his okonomiyaki on the side, exposed them without hesitation. At this point, there was no need to keep it a secret anymore.
"Eh? Is that how it is?!"
Azusa looked a bit surprised. So they were trying to dodge the Contest. Looking at it that way, the freshmen this year were all unexpectedly good-looking. Even Iori… could probably make a decent comedic relief contestant?
"I see~ Oh, wait! Hold on! Shiro, you're not avoiding it?"
"No, I'm participating."
"Then why…?"
Azusa looked at Shiro in confusion. If he was joining, then wasn't he basically guaranteed to win the Contest? Why did they need Iori and Kohei, too?
"Ah, the upperclassmen said it's just to prevent any unexpected accidents."
Seeing Azusa's understanding expression, Shiro quickly explained. Though he was a bit puzzled, what kind of unexpected accident were they talking about?
Was it something about public taste?
Thinking about Azusa's weird preferences… maybe someone out there actually liked an idiot like Kitahara!
Hearing Shiro's words, Azusa seemed to suddenly realize something and let out an awkward laugh.
Back when it was her turn, there was indeed an "unexpected accident."
Since she hadn't brought a swimsuit, she figured she could just go on stage in her underwear instead. But that damn judge disqualified her!
Every time she remembered that moment, Azusa got pissed!
It was practically the same thing! Why couldn't she wear underwear?!
As she recalled the incident, Azusa angrily snatched the okonomiyaki from Shiro's hands! It was all his fault! Making her remember something so unpleasant!
The ambushed Shiro stared blankly at his now-empty hands.
So… did he say something wrong just now? What did he even say?
Clueless, Shiro fell into deep thought~
…
After happily enjoying her spoils of war, Azusa suddenly remembered that the issue hadn't been resolved yet. She turned to Chisa with a teasing look. "So, Chisa~ wanna give it a try?"
"Absolutely not!"
Chisa turned her head away. There was no way she would ever participate in such a competition!
"Ugh…"
"As expected…"
Iori and Kohei sighed. Even though they knew this would be the result from the beginning… it still stung to hear it outright!!!