Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume7.5 Me and Lottery and The Pot of Darkness

Me and Lottery and The Pot of Darkness

A few days ago, we had a sports meet.

During one of the sports events, the summoned beast baseball tournament, we really betted on our lives and fought to the very end.

At that time, Fukumura-san collapsed as he caught the pickoff from Himeji-san; at that time, Fukumura-san was knocked to the ground after Takahashi-sensei’s hit; after that, Fukumura-san got hit by Takahashi-sensei’s hit.

After sacrificing our comrade, we finally won the match.

But that victory—to us, was the start of another test.

“Aki-kun, what is this?”

In my house’s living room, ane-san passed over the package the school sent over to me and started interrogating.

I tried my best not to look at her and answered, softly,

“…It’s some slightly pervy reference book.”

Really—this is another great test.

“I see. So then, what’s this?”

“…It’s a slightly embarrassing reference book.”

“I see. And this?”

“…It’s a reference book for me to become an adult.”

As we continued on, ane-san’s face started to give off a gentle smile.

To the bystander, maybe she might look really calm now as she remained still, but as a younger brother, I know very well that that’s an attacking expression. If I continue to agitate ane-san, my life will be immediately terminated by her. Now’s a time for a change in fortunes, I guess?

“…”

I slightly pondered for a while. In this situation where I need to make a big decision, I need to find someone to talk to. It’ll be great if I can have someone I can talk to in this situation…

‘Do you want to listen to my suggestion for this kind of thing?’

Oh my? Isn’t this the devil in my heart? It’s been a long time. I’m a little insecure that it’s the devil who came up, but it doesn’t matter now as long as I can talk to someone—

‘Wait a minute. If you don’t want to talk to the devil, you can talk to this angel here,’

Sooi!

‘Uoh! The angel that just appeared got sent flying the sky like a PET bottle!’

The angel in my heart, I think I told you not to appear again.

‘An, anyway, ane-san’s feeling extremely agitated right now. How about we think through the possible scenarios to prevent agitating her?’

I see. Going through a simulation in the mind to expect what will happen. That’s a good idea.

“Aki-kun, do you have anything you want to say to me?”

Ane-san asked me. How should I answer? I have to think through I carefully.

Scenario 1 ‘Play Dumb’ “They should be mistaken.”

“Really?”

“Mn, I don’t know why I would have those things.”

“But the slip that came with the package has the words ‘these are things confiscated from Yoshii Akihisa’.”

Nope. I can’t play dumb and say that the teacher messed up when the explanation slip came over as well.

Scenario 2 ‘Admit my own mistake’.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

“I see.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Then grit your teeth and get ready to die.”

My ane-san isn’t someone who will forgive others immediately after hearing an apology.

Scenario 3 ‘Push the blame to Yuuji’

“Actually, it’s all Yuuji’s fault.”

“I see.”

“I was framed.”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

You shouldn’t have asked in the first place then.

No matter whether I play dumb, admit my own mistake or push the blame to Yuuji, it seems that I won’t be able to escape from ane-san’s demonic clutches. In other words, the only answer that can allow me to survive is something other than this answer.

Okay, in the case, I’ll use the fourth choice to answer ane-san’s question.

I lifted my head and looked straight into ane-san’s eyes, took a deep breath, and said to her,

“It’s ane-san’s fault.”

‘Pushing the blame onto the person who’s fuming now!?’

‘That’s the worst answer you could think of.’

‘What were you think? How did you think of this answer…’

I just found out that I chose the worst possible answer. Though it’s normal to be shaken when I’m facing an unprecedented crisis, I still couldn’t hide the shock that I chose the worst answer.

Thinking about the terrifying corporal punishment that would happen on me anytime now, I became so scared that I can’t control my trembling—

“? Arre…?”

Unexpectedly, ane-san didn’t do anything really tragic to me.

“Haa…really, you…”

Ane-san said this and sighed. Ah, seems like she was willing to forgive me. This is a one in a million chance. Let’s use this chance to apologize honestly!

“Well, ane-san, I’m sorry. I did reflect on—”

“Kneel and bow down first.”

I stand corrected. She has no intention of forgiving me at all.

“Eh…ane-san, shouldn’t the classic line be ‘get over here and sit down’, right? ‘Kneel and bow down’ seems to be someone weird somewhere.”

“I afraid that I couldn’t help but kiss you once you lift your head.”

“…”

The floor feels so icy, so cooling, so comfortable.

“Aki-kun, ane-san never said that you can’t read these books at all.”

Ane-san picked my reference books up and says,

“I’m just saying that if you want to read it, you must be prepared to die.”

I guess this means that same thing as ‘you can’t read them at all’.

“Really, it can’t be helped that guys will be interested in these things, but there’s an age limit to reading these kinds of books. You need to wait till you’re of an old enough age to read. You have to endure it before that.”

“Uu…ane-san, you’re too serious…”

“Of course. I’m not just Aki-kun’s older sister, I’m your guardian too.”

Since you’re my ane-san and guardian, you shouldn’t be saying things like ‘kiss you’, right?

“Anyway, are you reflecting on this?”

“Yes, I’m thoroughly reflecting on them.”

“From today onwards, you shall follow the rules of society and study hard like a good student, okay?”

“Yes, I’ll study hard.”

“Will you live a healthy and orderly normal lifestyle?”

“Yes, I’ll live a healthy and orderly lifestyle.”

“Is ane-san the person you love the most in this world?”

“No, not to that extent.”

“…”

“OW! IT HURTS! ANE-SAN…! A SLAP’S REALLY…!”

“But you…really, Aki-kun’s troubles are really bothering me…”

“That’s not true. I’ll live my life seriously like a good student.”

“Really? Then why do you want to take back these ero-books?”

“Eh? Because these are reference books.”

“…”

“OW! IT HURTS! ANE-SAN…! AN ELBOW TO THE MOUTH IS TOO…!”

☆

“Here, Aki-kun. Hold this too.”

“Yes…”

On a warm and sunny Saturday, as my reference books (Ero-books) were discovered, I was forced to accompany ane-san on a shopping trip as a gofer as punishment.

“Uu…it’s really heavy…”

“It won’t be considered punishment if it’s light.”

Though we’re shopping, ane-san wasn’t buying things girls like to buy, like clothes or little ornaments, but daily necessities and electrical appliances. Thus, the trolley in front of me is really heavy.

“That’s right, ane-san, why did you buy the steam oven?”

I looked at the largest electrical appliance in the trolley as I asked ane-san.

Don’t we have one at home already?

“I just like the exterior design of it. I don’t intend to use it for something.”

Ane-san’s answer really puzzled me. She just liked the exterior design? Would people deliberately spend money to buy a steam oven? Ah, I got it. Speaking of which, I think the TV program I saw yesterday introduced some ‘simple and delicious baked cheese and chicken ‘. The method is to put the cheese and tomato paste on the chicken breast, steam it, and finally, add some lime or lemon juice on it to add to the flavor…That’s really a simple and delicious meal.

“I guess. The exterior design’s really nice.”

“Yes, I like it too.”

Actually, this dish doesn’t need a steam bowl to make, since the normal microwave in our house can do the job as well…but I guess I shouldn’t tell ane-san after all. It’s rare that she wants to cook.

Seeing ane-san working so hard, I really want to smile, but just when I was thinking about that, ane-san put fingers below her chin and muttered to herself while pondering.

“…The ingredients required are lime and cheese, and…”

So she wants to get the ingredients for the baked cheese and chicken. The ingredients listed on the program were lime, cheese, tomato paste and chicken breasts, four items—

“…Pig’s blood and chicken breast…” Uh oh. This person must have mistaken pig’s blood for tomato paste.

“Erm, well…ane-san…”

“…Lime, cheese, pig’s blood and chicken breast…”

Ane-san continued to focus on those ingredients as she ignored my voice completely. Really, even if ane-san wants to cook something and hide it from me, at least she should note down what ingredients she needs.

“Ane-san!”

I tried to call ane-san again. This time, she finally noticed me.

“Ahh, sorry, I was thinking about something. Is there something?”

Ane-san deliberately acted as if there was nothing wrong.

Since she wanted to work hard alone, I should pretend that nothing happened. However, I have to find a way to tell her the difference between pig’s blood and tomato paste.

“It’s a little sudden, but the red of the meat sauce is made from tomato paste. Do you know that?”

“Tomato paste?”

“Un, the type where they boil and press through.”

That’s definitely not the red made from pig’s blood.

“I see. I really had a lesson today.”

“Ahaha, that’s because ane-san lacks knowledge about cooking.”

I laughed as I ended the topic about food.

I gave a hint already; will ane-san realize that the red from that dish wasn’t from pig’s blood but from tomato paste?

“Let me see…the ingredients are lime, cheese, pig’s blood and—shears.”

DAMN IT! NOW SHE MISTOOK CHICKEN BREAST FOR METAL BAT BECAUSE HER ATTENTION WAS DIVERTED!

They sound similar to chicken breast [1], but ane-san’s really scary for mixing food and metal up. Looks like I have to remind her first.

“An, and also, ane-san…shears are metallic. They’re not ingredients.”

“Of course. Shears are to be used for cutting metal boards or metallic wires. They contain metal, but they’re different from the types humans need. Besides, the metals the human body needs to take in, iron, zinc and magnesium, and these aren’t to be consumed directly through the mouth.”

“U, un, that’s right. So please don’t treat shears as an ingredient.”

Ahh…I chose to say so much at this time. Now she would choose lime, cheese, tomato paste and chicken breast, right…

“Let me see. The ingredients are knives, beef, pig’s blood and shears…”

It’s over. These things can’t be used to cook baked cheese and chicken, but an unbelievable murder scene!

“Ane-san…I, I want to have chicken for dinner tonight. Can we buy lime, cheese, tomato paste and chicken breast…”

“I don’t mind, but what do you want to do with these ingredients?”

I really want to return those words back to you!

“Anyway, can we go to a supermarket first?”

“Okay, but before we leave this place, I want to check out the hardware area.”

“No need for that. We definitely won’t need to use hardware as ingredients.”

I forcefully grabbed ane-san’s hand, pushed the extremely heavy trolley with one hand and headed to the cashier.

Even if ane-san’s a real idiot at cooking, at least she wouldn’t put hardware into food…but a little added security won’t hurt. Besides, this is heavily related to my life.

“Oh yes, Aki-kun. Once we’re done with the shopping in the supermarket, can you follow ane-san to buy some underwear?”

“Eh…that, that’s a little…”

Even though we’re family, I can’t just accompany ane-san to an underwear shop! No, it’s because we’re family that I can’t go there with her. To this ane-san of mine who lacks common sense, the underwear shop may be just one stop on a shopping trip, but to me, that’s a shameless game. I can’t agree to that no matter what.

“You don’t want to?”

“I’m a guy after all. If it’s not urgent, you can go on your own, ane-san.”

“Sorry, but I really need it.”

“Heh? Really?”

“Yes, actually, before I bathed this morning, I took all my underwear to wash.”

She washed all her underwear before bathing? And now she needs to buy some urgently. Don’t tell me it’s because…

“Ho, hold on a minute! Don’t tell me, below ane-san’s clothing—”

“Are you talking about the underwear? If that, then I definitely—zchuu!”

“THEN WHAT!? WHAT’S AFTER ‘DEFINITELY’!?”

“Ara, this alarm clock’s really cute.”

“I DON’T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO THE ALARM CLOCK! HURRY UP AND ANSWER MY QUESTION! ARE YOU ‘WEARING IT’ OR ‘NOT WEARING IT’!? I HAVE TO USE THIS ANSWER TO DECIDE WHETHER I SHOULD TREAT MY OLDER SISTER’S AS A PERVERT!!”

Ane-san, treat it as I’m begging you. Please answer ‘I’m wearing’! Or else I’m going to be labeled the ungodly title of a ‘pervert’s little brother’!

“Of course I ‘wore it before’.”

“THERE’S A PERVERT HERE!!!”

PAST TENSE! WHY MUST IT BE THE PAST TENSE! IT’S A GOOD THING SHE’S WEARING PANTS NOW, OR ELSE I WOULD HAVE FAINTED IF SHE’S WEARING A SKIRT!

“You’re really noisy, Aki-kun. Don’t you feel ashamed at all?”

“NO! SHOULDN’T ANE-SAN BE ASHAMED ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE ALTOGETHER!?”

I WANT TO RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY FROM THIS PERSON HERE!

“Aki-kun, I was just joking.”

“Eh…joking?”

“Yes. Since I’ve been scolding you a lot recently, I thought I should joke around with you for a bit to ease your feelings.”

Ane-san smiled as she said that. That was a joke? I really couldn’t laugh at that one…I nearly believed it!

“Did I scare you?”

“More than scared, I think it was more like ‘so it was like that’ feeling…”

“How rude. Wouldn’t ane-san be like a pervert if you put it that way?”

“The ‘like’ is unnecessary, but it doesn’t matter now…”

Anyway, at least I can finally heave a sigh of relief and continue shopping.

After buying everything I need and settling the bill, the shop assistant passed me a few coupons. What are these?

“Are these lottery coupons? That’s great, Aki-kun.”

“Ah, yes.”

It seemed that as this was the 7th anniversary of the shop’s opening, so I could get lottery tickets once I bought a certain amount of stuff. Really, it feels like I earned something when I don’t even know of it.

“Then let’s go try it.”

“It’ll be great if we can draw something.”

After letting the shop assistant put aside our stuff for safekeeping, ane-san and I walked towards the the lottery area near the cashier. There were about 10 people queuing up for the lottery, and the shop assistants were dressed in traditional festive clothing in front of the lottery booth, shouting energetically.

“Congratulations customer! You've won the 4th prize, '3,000 yen worth of metal bats'!”

I guess any ordinary person who won this prize would be thinking that they didn't win anything at all.

“Dear customers, please don't be discouraged. The top prize '100,000 yen worth of metal bats' and special prize '500,000 yen worth of metal bats' weren't drawn yet!”

What's going on with this shop? Are there no other prizes other than metal bats? Did they not check on the customers' needs? Even the delinquents from the countryside don't need that many metal bats, right? Just when I was ready to leave the queue waiting for the lottery, I noticed the other prizes.

5th prize: Udzuki onsen 2-person's chalet ticket.

6th prize: Seafood deluxe set.

7th prize: 10,000 yen worth of shopping vouchers.

Shouldn't these prizes be in the front.

“There seemed to be a lot of prizes.”

“It's great if we could get those shopping vouchers before we bought these.”

The onsen chalet trip that was designated as the 5th prize seemed to be the biggest. On Thinking about, that customer who got 4th prize just gave a wry smile and left without accepting the prize.

“It'll be great if we could draw the onsen chalet trip.”

“That should be for couples, right?”

“Really? I think that it's alright for us siblings to go there.”

Go for an onsen bath with ane-san? That sounds good. Soak in an onsen, eat delicious food, now that will be wonderful. I also want to take my hardworking ane-san to an onsen everyday.

“Here's the coupons, ane-san.”

“Nope. Aki-kun, you can draw them all. Ane-san will just watch from the sideliens.”

“Eh? Is that good?”

“Un. I'll be watching.”

As ane-san refused, the 10 tries were in my hand. Okay, I have to get the 5th prize no matter what!

After queuing for a while, the person in front of me got some tissue paper and left. It's now my turn.

“Will the next customer step up please~”

“Sorry to bother you.”

I handed the tickets to the assistant in charge of the lottery, and put my hand onto the handle of the spinning lottery press.

“1, 2, 3...10 tickets altogether. You can draw 10 times.”

I close my eyes and concentrate. Here I go!

Tissue, tissue, metal bat, tissue, tissue, tissue, tissue, metal bat, tissue...

What the heck! Drawing the 4th prize occasionally made me really mad.

Standing in front of the small pile of tissues (naturally, I refused the metal bats), and took a deep breath.

“The final chance...watch me!”

I forcefully spun the lottery press for the last time, and the press let out sounds of little beads colliding. I spun it hard, and saw a blue bead drop out from the hole. Oh? What prize will this ball be?

“Congratulations, dear customer! You have won the 6th prize, the seafood deluxe set!”

The shop assistant took the bell that was beside the lottery press and shook it. RING! Oh! The seafood deluxe set! Now I really got a huge prize!

“The seafood deluxe set can be prepared for you immediately. Do you want to bring it back, or should we deliver it to your residence?”

The shop assistant asked me. What should I do?

The seafood deluxe set looks really heavy, and if possible, I hope that they would deliver it to my house. But in that case, I have to wait till tomorrow to receive it. It's rare that ane-san will be resting at home tomorrow. If I bring it home today, I can prepare a sumptuous meal for ane-san.

“I'll bring it back then.”

“Okay.”

I did intend on borrowing a trolley from them to bring the steam oven back. Now I might as well bring the seafood deluxe set home.

“Wow, the 6th set's already so good.”

A customer who was watching from afar let out this sound. I see, so that's the aim of this shop. If that customer queued up and saw the list of prizes, he would feel the same as me. Thinking about these useless things, I dumped everyone we bought just now onto the trolley and turned to leave this shop.

☆

“Akihisa-kun?”

“Hm?”

On our way home, I was pushing the trolley forward, only for someone behind me to call my name. Who's that?

“Ara, isn't that Mizuki-san? Hello.”

“Hello, Akira-san, Akihisa-kun.”

“Hello, Himeji-san.”

I turned around to look, and standing in front of us was Himeji-san, who was giving off a girlish presence with her neon green top and skirt. The comfortable looking casual clothes looks cute on her.

“Akihisa-kun, did you came out to shop today?”

“Ah, yes.”

The trolley I'm pushing now has a steam oven, some daily necessities and the seafood deluxe set just now. Speaking of which, we really bought a lot of things today.

“Wow...you bought a lot of things. Are you going to cook a feast?”

“No. Aki-kun won it in a lucky draw.”

Ane-san said as she pointed at the Styrofoam boxes that had all sorts of seafood inside. After seeing so many things, anyone would definitely think that there's a feast or something.

“Oh yes, Mizuki-san, where are you going?”

“I'm going to buy ingredients for dinner.”

As she said that, Himeji-san raised the bag she had in her hand slightly. It's really like Himeji-san to prepare her own bag when buying things.

“Speaking of which, you're in charge of dinner tonight, Mizuki-san?”

“Yes. I'm in charge o dinner, but daddy and mommy are out, so I'm just making my own share.”

Oh yes, I think I remember now. Himeji-san's a lone daughter.”

“You're having dinner alone, Mizuki-san? Will your parents be back late?”

“Ah, yes. They went to attend a friend's wedding far away, so they will be back late.”

Speaking of which, Himeji-san can only watch the house alone before her parents come back. I've often heard some shocking social news these days, so it's worrying that a girl's watching home alone.

Just when I thought about that, ane-san seemed to think the same thing. She asked Himeji-san,

“Mizuki-san, in that case, why don't you have dinner with us?”

“Eh?”

Himeji-san couldn't help but blink.

“It's too dangerous for a girl to be alone. How can I leave you like that after knowing your situation?”

“Eh? But that's...”

“Come along, Himeji-san. I just happened to win a seafood deluxe set. It's impossible for ane-san and me to finish all these up.”

As expected of a prize that's used for a lucky draw, the seafood deluxe set was too much. Raw seafood can't be kept for too long. It'll be great if Himeji-san can come over to help finish the food.

“I'll be bothering you in that case...”

“No need to worry. We don't feel bothered at all.”

“That's right. We can't finish that much seafood, so just come over and help us finish it up.”

Ane-san and I try our best to persuade Himeji-san, who's been refusing us,

“The, then I'll help myself then...”

Now Himeji-san finally nodded her head and agreed. Good, very good. It's rare to get good ingredients. If Himeji-san would come over to enjoy this food, it would be all the more reason why I should show off my skills. I must do my best today and make a good meal for ane-san and Himeji-san.

That's right, that's what I intended.

“Well, Akihisa-kun...”

“Hm? Himeji-san, what is it?”

“Since I'm going to your house, then, at least let me prepare dinner for tonight.”

But the situation developed in a bad way.

“Wha, wha what are you saying, Himeji-san? Ho, how, how, how can I let the guest do this?”

“But if I don't do so, I'll feel really bothered...”

But if I let you prepare dinner, my life will be at stake!

“Think about it, you're definitely not used to the utensils and stuff in my house, so you may get hurt accidentally...I think it's better to leave it to me—

“In that case, I'll bring my utensils over.”

“No no no. There's no need for such trouble. I'll handle dinner tonight.”

“No, Akihisa-kun cooked for us when we went to your house for the study meet. So it's my turn to cook.”

Himeji-san sounded gentle, but nobody can change her will.

Just when I was really exasperated over this and wondering how I should advise her from cooking—

“Okay, okay, you two, knock it off. In that case...”

Ane-san spoke up to stop us. Has she thought of a good idea?

“—In that case, both sides should step aside. Tonight's dinner will be prepared by Mizuki-san and me. How about it?”

“THAT'S THE WORST POSSIBLE SITUATION I COULD THINK OFF!!!”

THERE'S ONE MORE KILLER COOK HERE!

What should I say? This situation is completely out of my control!

“Akira-san and I will be making dinner tonight? In that case...”

Himeji-san didn't refuse ane-san's proposal. I'm begging you, Himeji-san! You should insist on your own thoughts!

“We, well, you two...I don't mean it that way...”

“Then it's decided, Mizuki-san, I'll hope to learn from you later.”

“Ye, yes. I'll be in your care, Akira-san.”

Not good. They're not listening to me at all.

“I'll get the ingredients now.”

“Ahh! Himeji-san hold on!”

Himeji-san never even listened to me as I tried to stop her, and hurriedly ran to a nearby pharmacy. EEEHHH!? ISN'T SHE GOING TO BUY INGREDIENTS!? WHY MUST SHE HEAD TO THE PHARMACY!? ISN'T THIS TOO WEIRD!?

“Okay, I should get some ingredients too.”

After saying that, ane-san went off to the store. That's too weird! Why are these two's basic sense in 'food' completely wrong!?

“...”

After both of them left, I was left alone with the trolley.

A combination of Himeji-san and ane-san...to be honest, I don't think I can stop them.

My mind suddenly remembered the terrifying feeling when I was forced fed with Himeji-san's rice balls.

The scene of Yuuji and Muttsurini betraying and stuffing the poison into my mouth flashed in my mind.

Why must I get stuck in this painful experience I had to go through? I shouldn't be the only victim, it's time for Yuuji and Muttsurini to suffer.

After thinking for a while, I finally came to a conclusion.

In that case, I'll at least,

“Uu, phone, phone...”

I took my handphone out from my pocket and searched out my bad friend's number.

“Hello? Is that Yuuji? I won something good in a lucky draw, but it's impossible for ane-san and me to finish them up, so—”

At least I can get a few bad-lucked people to die with me. Good friends are to go through thick and thin together.

☆

“Akihisa, we're here~”

Yuuji's voice came from the speaker. I'm really touched that he came here as promised.

“Welcome. You guys all came over.”

I opened the corridor entrance and welcomed everyone. Once the door opened, I found my usual good friends, Yuuji, Hideyoshi and Muttsurini standing at a door.

“It's rare that you'll have such good stuff. I'm somewhat feeling sorry for just coming here to eat.”

“It feels a little thick-skinned for me, but I'm rather happy to enjoy a bowl of soup.”

“...I'm looking forward to eat.”

“There's too much here, so it's a great help that you guys could help finish it with me.”

Even with so many people, there's still enough food. They didn't need to mind at all.

“Sorry for intruding.”

“Same here, sorry to bother you.”

“...Excuse me.”

“Here here, hurry up and come in.”

I tilted my body aside and let them into the house, put my hand behind the door to close it, and didn't forget to lock it.

“Mu? What's wrong? Is there a need to lock the door?” “Ahaha, security's been bad recently.”

For added precaution, I hooked like the chain lock on the door. This move is extremely important, enough to delay them long enough when they run away.

“...Akihisa, I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this.”

Yuuji, who was standing at the front porch, seems to be hesitating over whether he should move forward.

“As expected of Yuuji, your primitive instincts are as sharp as every.”

“What do you mean, Akihisa and Yuuji? Didn't we come here to enjoy a seafood meal? It's not like we're having some poisonous meal—”

As Hideyoshi spoke halfway, the door leading to the living room opened.

The person who appeared in front of us was...

“Ah, Sakamoto-kun, Kinoshita-kun, Tsuchiya-kun, hello.”

Dressed in an apron, the killer cook, Himeji-san was standing there.

“...UU!!”

“You're running away?”

Yuuji immediately turned around and tried to run to the corridor, but having expected this, I raised my leg, BAM, and hit it low against the wall of the front porch to block Yuuji's escape.

“A, Akihisa, you bastard!”

“Yuuji, it's now a one way trip to Hell. Don't think you can escape!”

Nobody's going think of escaping this trip to Hell. If we must curse, we shall curse all you people who came here excitedly thinking that you'r going to enjoy a great meal!

“A, Akihisa! Don't you find that doing this to your friends is too cruel!? I was wrong about you!”

“...(Nods head frantically)!”

Hideysohi and Muttsurini looked sad and angry. That's right, every guy present here knew the terror of Himeji-san's cooking, so it's expected that they would have this kind of response. However...

“It's alright, I understand. Even though you guys say so, you guys aren't willing to see me suffer on my own, right? Shouldn't we go through thick and thin as friends?”

I trust this group of guys.

“You could have just died alone!”

“I don't think anyone who'll do this is a friend!”

“...The Devil!”

The completely dishonest friends actually said such heartfelt words. How stupid. Even if they said so, I have picked up the true feelings you people couldn't hide at all.

(((Akihisa, we'll kill you...)))

You guys will die together with me!

“Akihisa, you bastard. You're thinking about taking revenge for that incident during the sports meet, right?”

“...Too heinous!”

“That has nothing to do with me, right?”

To be honest, I was hesitating over whether I should have gotten Hideyoshi involved in this, However, we're a four man gang with a great relationship with each other. I really couldn't bring myself to exclude Hideyoshi.

“Ara? Sakamoto, you guys are here? Hurry up and come in.”

Just when I was quarrelling with Yuuji and the rest, ane-san come over from the kitchen.

“There's really too much seafood, so I called everyone to come over to finish this.”

“This idea's not bad.”

With so many people eating, the serving each person will have will reduce a lot. If the situation's good, maybe I could save my precious life.

“In that case, shall we call Minami-san, Shouko-san and Aiko-san over for dinner? Everyone played together at the seaside before. It's not too bad to invite them over, right?”

“Eh? Can I?” As ane-san said a lot of vicious words before, I thought that she would be really angry if I called other girls over, especially since I got those secret reference books confiscated from me. I have to be especially careful now.

“You can. After seeing Aki-kun's actions, I should...perhaps ane-san restricted you too much and caused a negative effect. You can invite girls to our house to play as long as ane-san's around.”

Ohh! An unexpectedly happy outcome even after she found so many reference books. That's great!

“But your life will be in danger if there's any lewd things like physical contact or peeping. You have to remember that.”

“Un, I can expect that without ane-san reminding me.”

Of course, I knew that my ane-san isn't going to say such nice things.

“Yuuji, can you call Kirishima-san?”

“Ah, I remember she said that she had something on today...”

“I called Shouko-chan already. She said that she'll be here in a while.”

“That's too fast already, Himeji!”

Then, we confirmed that Minami and Kudou-san were alright. Now the members of the 2 day 1 night seaside trip are all gathered together.

☆

“Oi, Akihisa, what do we do now?”

“Even if you ask me, I...”

Yuuji, who's sitting on the sofa in the living room, raised his chin to point at the kitchen. I wanted to enter the kitchen to invigilate to prevent them from adding some suspicious things into the food, but ane-san and Himeji-san chased me out with the reason that 'the kitchen's a woman's battlefield'. It would be an apt description if this can be used to measure the number of casualties.

“Well, Akihisa-kun...”

“Hm? Wha, what is it, Himeji-san?”

Himeji-san poked her head out from the kitchen. What happened?

“I'm looking for something...”

Something? Ahh, I got it. Since it's someone else's kitchen, Himeji-san probably doesn't know where the utensils or seasonings are at. And besides, ane-san doesn't cook often, so of course she doesn't know.

“Ok, what are you looking for?”

I nodded my head and got up as I prepared to head to the kitchen. What does she want? A steamer to steam prawns or oyster? Or a large pot to boil soup—

“Actually...I'm looking for instant glue.”

At this moment, the very definition of food crumbled from the base up.

“Not good...I'll definitely die here today...”

“Damn it...I still have lots of things I haven't done yet...”

“...I want to live, live a little longer!”

On hearing Himeji-san's words, a burial-like atmosphere started to swarm around my bad friends. Everyone, don't give up! Now that we know of the existence of instant glue in this, we can find a way to avoid this tragedy!

Thus, I told Himeji-san in a warning tone.

“We, well...Himeji-san, I guess you should be clear that you can kill people if you add instant glue into food. It's really dangerous—”

“What are you saying, Akihisa-kun? Wouldn't it be bad if I add instant glue into the food?”

Himeji-san looked puzzled as she answered. Wha, what, so it wasn't to be added into the food...

“Tha, that's right. It'll be bad if you add instant glue into food! Everyone knows that!”

“Yes. Fufu, Akihisa-kun's really weird.”

On seeing that Himeji-san's smiling, the burial-like atmosphere in the living room gradually vanished. That's great. Since Himeji-san still had such common sense, there should be no problems, right?

I heaved a sigh of relief, and now, there's only a little doubt in my head. Hm? In that case...

“Why do you need instant glue?”

“Ahh, I wanted to make French seafood stew, but the pressure cooker broke right down the middle, so—”

“““I'M GOING BACK!!!”””

“ARGH! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! DON'T YOU DARE ESCAPE!”

Damn it, these idiots are leaving me behind!!

I chased after them to prevent them from leaving the trip to Hell. However, Yuuji opened the door and was about to run outside—

“...Why must you leave when I just arrived?”

“UWAAAHHH!! PLEASE, SHOUKO! LET GO OF ME!”

The moment he stepped out of the house, Yuuji was caught and grabbed tightly by Kirishima-san, who just arrived.

“Kinoshita, Tsuchiya, where are you going?”

“Muttsurini-kun, even if I'm here, you don't have to be so embarrassed that you must leave, right?”

Hideyoshi, and Muttsurini were cut off too. Such idiots, leaving me behind and running away? Things aren't that simple.

“Minami, Kirishima-san, Kudou-san, welcome. Here here, hurry and come in.”

“““Pardon us for intruding.”””

Yuuji was long caught in Kirishima-san’s grasp, and I grabbed Hideyoshi and Muttsurini’s hands tightly and dragged them back into the house. The trio who were brought back looked like prisoners who failed in their prison break.

“Aki, here’s a souvenir.”

“…I brought a little something from my house to Akira-san.”

“I brought something too.”

The girls all brought different gifts. Actually, they didn’t need to spend so much effort, but in this situation, they aren’t as used to this place as Yuuji, who I knew for quite a while.

“I’m really grateful to you people.”

I thanked them as I received their gifts. Besides the fruits like oranges and grapefruit, Kirishima-san gave me what looked like some high-class grape wine in a wooden box. I have to be careful not to let Himeji-san or Kirishima-san drink this wine…

Everyone walked into the living room. Would it be too packed with too many people here?

“Ah, everyone’s here. Hello.”

“Welcome.”

Ane-san and Himeji-san invited everyone in. Minami and the rest greeted them, and everyone randomly chose a seat.

“Mizuki, what did you intend to do?”

Minami sat on the sofa and asked Himeji-san.

“I wanted to make French seafood stew, but…”

“But what?”

“I failed a little, so I have to redo it again…”

Himeji-san muttered sadly.

Who would have thought that the ‘little failure’ Himeji-san said would be a complete destruction of the pressure cooker?

“Arre, Mizuki, don't be so disheartened. Anyone can fail.”

“...Failure's the mother of success.”

“I don't really understand cooking, but you can definitely succeed next time.”

The girls encouraged Himeji-san in an understanding manner. I really want to encourage her too, but if it's cooking, I may end up endangering my own life if I say something wrong. I guess I better watch myself and be quiet.

“But there's no time. How can we prepare such food now that needs such a long time to prepare...”

Himeji-san said in regret. At this moment, Kudou-san look around at everyone and suggested,

“In that case, why don't we have hotpot?”

“Eh? You're saying...hotpot?”

“Yeah. We have so many people, so a hotpot based on seafood should be good. There's no need to spend too much time preparing the food, and everyone can enjoy it. The problem is—

“Hotpot? I understand, I'll prepare it now.”

The problem is that this hotpot's going to be made from the hands of a killer chef.

“Ah, Himeji. Hotpot's my speciality, so just leave it to—”

“No, Sakamoto-kun, you and the rest can just wait for the start of the meal!”

Yuuji's proposal was instantly rejected.

“But Himeji, you just need to boil the soup for hotpot.”

“Why is Kinoshita-kun saying that as well? The soup's very important.”

It seems like she's determined to prepare dinner no matter what as she wasn't letting us guys help. Yuuji, Hideyoshi and Muttsurini were chased out of the kitchen by her. Uu...now, what do we do...

“How about we have some dark hotpot?”

At this moment, ane-san suddenly raised this mysterious proposal in a mindless manner.

“Dark hotpot?”

“Yes. I heard that amongst all hotpots, the dark hotpot's the best kind.”

“No, ane-san, that's...”

That's not true—just when I was about to say this, I suddenly thought.

Hold on...this may be a good idea!

Even if us guys stand up and say that we can prepare a dish in a short time, Himeji-san will feel troubled and would insist on cooking. As long as Himeji-san's around, it'll be futile no matter what kind of food we cook.

But it'll be different if it's dark hotpot. Since we're going to add all our current ingredients, it will have nothing to do with Himeji-san's help. If it has nothing to do with her own culinary skills, she can't possibly create some dangerous dish. Maybe...maybe we can really come back safetly!

I shot a glance at Yuuji, Hideyoshi and Muttsurini. They seemed to have the same idea as well as everyone gave the same look. No matter what, we have to make this dark hotpot the dinner for tonight. Great! Then it's decided!

“Well...Akira-san, dark hotpot's a little different from a normal hotpot...”

“This idea's good! I think that the dark hotpot's a rather good suggestion!”

“That's right! Dark hotpot's the hotpot amongst hotpots!”

“...Dark hotpot's the best!”

“As expected of ane-san! This is really great!”

We shouted out in agreement and deliberately shut off Minami's voice. It's definitely the correct choice to have dark hotpot today. It's not our bad intentions; this is for Minami's precious life's sake as well!

“I'm interested in dark hotpot as well, and I've never tried it before.”

“...Me too. It doesn't seem to be a bad idea to try it out.”

Kudou-san and Kirishima-san added on. You two really helped out a lot!

“Ah, but our house doesn't have a cassette gas stove...”

At this point, I finally remembered something important. My house's cassette gas stove was spoilt a while back, and we haven't bought a new one since then. But this is a life-and-death situation. It seems that I can only ask ane-san to buy one...

“Akihisa-kun, I can get a cassette gas stove from my house if you need to. My house's nearby anyway.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Of course. I intend to bring some other things over as well, so I can bring them all in one go.”

Himeji-san proposed happily. In that case, I'll just ask her to bring it over.

“Then, before Mizuki comes back, I'll make a few appetisers. Aki, can I use these ingredients?”

“Mn, you can.”

Minami asked as she pointed at the box with lots of seafood inside. This is really a proposal I really wanted. It's rare to have so many good ingredients, so it's a waste to use them for the dark hotpot.”

“...In that case, I'll help out as well.”

“I'll help out too~”

After Minami said so, Kirishima-san and Kudou-san followed. I don't know how's Kirishima-san's culinary skills, but since Yuuji didn't stop her, at least it won't be fatal. Kudou-san definitely won't add some weird things inside as well, so there shouldn't be any problems with leaving it to them.

“Minami-chan, I might need to spend some time, so if you need to do something, you can start on your own without me.”

“Is that so? I understand then.”

“I'm going back then.”

After Himeji-san said that to Minami, she ran towards the entrance in small steps.

“I'll prepare the soup base for the dark hotpot then.”

“A, ane-san! I'll boil the soup base late, so just sit over and rest for a while!”

I continued to try and stop ane-san, who intended to walk to the kitchen.

In the end, Minami, Kirishima-san and Kudou-san all entered the kitchen. Himeji-san went back home to get some stuff, and the rest are just waiting for the execution in the living room.

☆

“Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting. The appetiser's done.”

“...Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long.”

After we waited in the living room, Minami and Kirishima-san brought a large plate as they walked towards us. What kind of appetiser did they prepare for us?

“As there's grape wine, we tried to make seafood cold dish.”

“““WWOOOOHHH!!!”””

The entire plate was filled with fresh fish, and the fish was surrounded with lush green vegetables. There's also the beautiful lines of sauce on it. This fish should be the one drawn from the lucky draw, right? I remember that this fish wasn't sliced...

“Minami, did you slice this fish?”

“No, I was in charge of the sauce and the arrangement. The fish was—”

“I sliced it.”

“Wow, so Kirishima-san did that?”

The fish that was arranged aren't inferior to the sashimi sold outside, as every single piece was sliced to perfection. I had never known that Kirishima-san can cook.

“...Because this is a part a bride has to learn.”

Kirishima-san explained shyly.

I see. She always dreamt of being a bride when she was young, so she worked hard to learn how to be a good wife. Kirishima-san's really hardworking, and passionately devoted.

“There's sashimi, steamed oysters and seafood salad~!”

Then, Kudou-san served up a large plate. The plate has steamed oysters with the shells on and a salad that's laced with shrimp and cuttlefish.

“But then again, I was just in charge of washing the vegetable and arranging the dish~”

“No no no, this is already impressive enough.”

There's such appetizing food on the table. The most important thing about eating seafood is the freshness, and we have to savor the food before the cold dish becomes warm.

“Well, it's a bit bad to Mizuki, but we better start first.”

Minami took off the apron and then sat on the carpet. Kirishima-san and Kudou-san found their seats as well.

“Shouldn't we wait for Himeji-san.”

“We can wait for her...but if we do that, Mizuki will be troubled that she kept us waiting. That's her personality after all.”

“That's true. Himeji-san did say that 'you can start first' before she left. I think we should just follow what Minami said.

“Then, I'm a little sorry to Mizuki, but let's tuck in.”

“Let's have a toast first then. Didn't Kirishima-san just give us a bottle of grape wine? Why don't you open it and drink it, ane-san?”

I don't really understand wine, but since it's white grape wine that's iced, it should be suitable to go along with these dishes.

“That's true, but it's a little awkward when I'm the only one drinking.”

“It couldn't be helped then. We're all underaged here.”

“Yeah. Why don't we replace wine with juice?”

“Ah, Kinoshita, hold on a minute! We just prepared some drink as well. I'll bring them over.”

Minami said as she stood up. Speaking of which, she just borrowed a juice blender from me. So she wanted to make fruit juice.

“Here we here. This is my specially-made fresh fruit juice.”

Minami took out a few glasses of fruit juice from the kitchen. They sure looks good. Minami herself said that she had no confidence in cooking, but she should be rather good at that, right?

“Then, cheers!”

“““Cheers!”””

After everyone called out 'cheers' in unison, I slowly brought the cup to my mouth. The sweet and sour taste of the freshly squeezed juice is about to reach my mouth. This glass of fruit juice should have lots of assorted fruits in them, and I smelt lots of different aromas in my nose. It's rare to get a chance to drink freshly squeezed juice. I have to enjoy this.

Tilting the glass, I took a sip of fruit juice and swirled it with my tongue twice. The fruit juice in my mouth let out a rather familiar taste, but it was a taste I never tried before.

The strong taste that's full of intensity.

incomplete

☆ ☆ ☆