Is there a difference in these teas? I'm sorry, but I really don't know how to appreciate tea. If I had to choose, I think the iced tea from the supermarket tastes better...
Uchiha Ryo looked at the three cups of black tea, then slowly pushed his own juice forward.
"You're asking the wrong person.... I choose juice."
Yukinoshita gently touched her forehead. "Fine, do as you please. But there's a problem now. We don't have enough ingredients in the kitchen. We need to go out and buy some."
Uchiha Ryo raised his hand. "As the only man here, I'll go buy them."
Hearing Uchiha Ryo's spontaneous offer, Shinomiya Kaguya seemed to think of something and suddenly said, "It's for five people, after all. It's better to have two people go. So, I'll..."
Hayasaka Ai stood up. "Let's go, Ryo-kun. Don't be fooled by my appearance as a girl. I'm actually quite strong."
Shinomiya Kaguya: Hayasaka! You....
Uchiha Ryo didn't mind who went with him. He just asked Yukino what she wanted to eat tonight.
Yukinoshita: "Mhm, about that.... there are six of us. If we cook a normal meal, it will take some time."
Fujiwara Chika: "Me, me, me! I want to eat sukiyaki!"
Sukiyaki? The so-called sukiyaki in the Kanto region of Japan is basically a hot pot. In the Kansai region, there's an extra step of searing the ingredients with beef fat before pouring in the sauce.
But in essence, it's just like a hot pot. As the saying goes, anything can be put in a hot pot. So, grocery shopping would be simpler. Just get whatever you want to eat.
"Alright then, Hayasaka-san, let's go."
Uchiha Ryo stood up, and Hayasaka Ai immediately followed him out.
Seeing the two leave, Yukinoshita also put on an apron. "Since we've decided on sukiyaki, I'll go prepare the sauce."
Downstairs, Hayasaka Ai looked at Uchiha Ryo beside her.
Going out at night to buy ingredients for dinner together... this is just like a newlywed couple!
"Ryo-kun, you still have more than half a month before you go back to Shuchiin, right? You should stop being an exchange student."
Hayasaka Ai didn't want any more names added to her little notebook.
Uchiha Ryo: "Of course I'll be staying at Shuchiin. But at Toyogasaki, I'm planning to make a game with a few friends."
Just making a game. Hayasaka Ai felt that there probably wouldn't be any new enemies. But she'd heard that Uchiha Ryo's little brother was at Toyogasaki....
"Hey, Ryo-kun, you have a good relationship with your little brother, don't you?"
Uchiha Ryo: "That foolish otouto of mine? Of course our relationship is good. It's just that he's a little too gentle. I'm always worried he'll get into trouble."
Hayasaka Ai: "Have you thought about transferring him to Shuchiin? The Shinomiya family can easily handle the transfer procedures. It just takes one word from Lady Kaguya."
"No.... He has his own circle of friends. I've always felt that as an older brother, if I forcibly pave the way for my younger brother and plan his life in advance, it's very likely to backfire."
Uchiha Ryo: "So just let him stay at Toyogasaki. I'm doing fine at Shuchiin, too."
....
Yukinoshita: "Can you get the door? Are they back so soon?"
Hearing the knock, Yukinoshita Yukino, who was in the kitchen, poked her head out.
"I'll get it!"
Fujiwara Chika got up and went to the door. "Hayasaka-san! You're back... Eh! Hiratsuka-sensei!"
Standing at the door of Yukino's house at this moment was not Uchiha Ryo and Hayasaka, who were out buying groceries, but their Shuchiin Class 1-A homeroom teacher, Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Hiratsuka Shizuka: "Oh? Isn't this Fujiwara-san? Shinomiya-san is here too! And you're... Chitanda-san from Class B. Hic~ Yukino! Let me crash at your place for the night."
Hiratsuka Shizuka swaggered in, then sat directly on the sofa and looked at Yukino in the kitchen.
"Man, I just finished drinking, and it got a little late~ And that girl Haruno asked me to check on you, so just let me stay for one night."
Yukinoshita put the lid on the pot, walked out of the kitchen, and looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka speechlessly.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, I'll be fine by myself. You don't have to listen to my sister. If you're hungry, you should just go home and cook."
Hiratsuka Shizuka: "Hmm? There are so many of you. Are you having a girls' night? How nostalgic. Maidens gathering to dream about the future, whether it's their ideal job or their dream romance! Count me in~"
With that, Hiratsuka-sensei put her arm around Fujiwara Chika's shoulder.
"Hey, what are you talking about? I haven't had a girls' night among maidens in a long time."
Fujiwara Chika turned her head, trying not to smell the faint scent of alcohol on Hiratsuka Shizuka's breath.
"Eh... but Hiratsuka-sensei, for you to call yourself a maiden..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka: "What's that! I'm a youthful and cute beautiful maiden too, okay? Shinomiya-san, Chitanda-san, I'm right, aren't I!"
Shinomiya Kaguya didn't speak. Although her status at Shuchiin was transcendent, she still understood the principle of respecting her elders. She didn't plan to refute, nor did she plan to speak up for Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Chitanda, however, nodded. "Mhm, back in my hometown, any unmarried woman can be called a maiden."
Hiratsuka Shizuka: "...."
Yukinoshita Yukino sighed. "Please go home after you finish eating. Please have some self-awareness, Hiratsuka-sensei."
Hiratsuka Shizuka snorted lightly, then reached out and pinched her own crowd-gathering assets.
"Is this the problem? Just because they're big, I don't deserve to be called a maiden! Fujiwara-san also has...."
The light in Yukinoshita Yukino's and Shinomiya Kaguya's eyes gradually faded. Hiratsuka Shizuka and Fujiwara Chika could gather the crowd, but the two of them could only flatten the world... The atmosphere in the room suddenly felt a bit cold.
Fujiwara Chika was like a frightened fawn, held in Hiratsuka Shizuka's arms, not daring to move.
And Hiratsuka Shizuka was also shocked sober by the gazes of the two girls.
"Ahem, anyway, I'll just accompany you all today. You have school tomorrow, so remember not to play too late. By the way, what's for dinner tonight?"
Yukinoshita: "Sukiyaki. We've already sent people to prepare the ingredients."
Hiratsuka Shizuka: "Oho! That's great. If I could just have a few cups of sake to go with it, that would be one of the greatest joys in life!"
As soon as her voice fell, a knock was heard at the door again.
Fujiwara Chika took the opportunity to escape from Hiratsuka Shizuka's embrace and immediately ran to open the door.
Hayasaka Ai: "Wow, we bought a lot. If we can't finish it, Yukinoshita-san can just save it for tomorrow."
The gyaru Hayasaka walked into the living room carrying a bag.
"Ehh!! Hiratsuka-sensei, why are you here too?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka: "What's wrong? Am I not welcome at your girls' night? Don't look down on 'big' ones!"
Uchiha Ryo, behind her, walked in easily carrying four bags. After seeing Hiratsuka Shizuka, he also nodded.
They are indeed big. He's very welcome.
Uchiha Ryo didn't show much surprise at Hiratsuka Shizuka's presence, but Hiratsuka Shizuka shot up from her seat.
"What are you doing here, kid? Isn't this a girls' night!"
Uchiha Ryo: "Unfortunately, it's not. Today is just a club gathering, and we just invited Fujiwara-san and Shinomiya-san."
Hiratsuka Shizuka: "A club gathering... hmph, then you have even less reason to kick me out, Yukino. I'm the advisor for the Classic Literature Club."
Yukinoshita didn't want to talk. She just took the bags from Uchiha Ryo's hands and went to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients.
Hiratsuka Shizuka, on the other hand, skillfully went to the kitchen and got another can of beer. "Good! Then let's have all the members of the Classic Literature Club enjoy this sukiyaki hot pot! Eh? It seems someone is missing.... Oh right, it's Amakusa-san."
Far away in his own home, reading a book, Shirogane Miyuki sneezed, and then continued to study hard.