By noon, lunch was ready. In addition to the three king-crab seafood dishes, there were several other richly prepared dishes as well.
Taking out a bottle of cola and a bottle of juice, Ichin looked at the table piled high with food and said, "Eating this lavishly at noon… I honestly have no idea what we're supposed to eat for dinner."
Utaha, helping to hand out cups, smiled and said, "Then let's just eat something simple tonight."
"Sure. We'll make some noodles," Ichin replied.
With that, he sat down and started lunch together with everyone.
The cats at home also had a feast this time. All seven cats were gathered here, each with a small bowl in front of them. Aside from cat food, there were also finely chopped salmon and chicken breast inside—it was safe to say they were eating very well.
"Let's dig in!"
Taking a sip of cola, Kō was the first to grab a cheese-covered crab leg. Using her chopsticks, she pulled out the entire piece of crab meat in one go and took a big bite along with the cheese.
"Mmm! So good!"
Everyone else followed suit and began eating as well.
Fresh seafood, once properly handled, rarely tasted bad even with simple cooking—let alone when it was carefully prepared like this.
After finishing a crab leg, Ichin picked up the small bowl beside him and scooped some crab-roe steamed egg. The flavor was just as good.
Since there were four king crabs in total, when making the steamed egg, Ichin prepared a separate bowl for each person and steamed them individually, ensuring everyone could eat their fill.
After eating a crab leg and then a piece of curry-fried crab, Kō Yagami suddenly realized something. "Ah! I forgot to take pictures! I should've taken some photos and posted them in the group chat!"
Seeing that the dishes on the table hadn't been too badly disturbed yet, Kō hurriedly took out her phone, snapped several photos in rapid succession, and sent them to the company group to provoke envy.
Seeing this, Ichin said helplessly, "Kō, that's really immoral."
"Hehe, who cares? I'm the one who bought the king crabs!"
Kō lifted her chin smugly. After checking the flood of jealous and resentful messages in the group chat, she put her phone away with satisfaction and continued eating.
Well, since Kō Yagami was the supplier of the king crabs, no one really had grounds to complain. They just let her be.
As for whatever might happen when they went back to the office on Monday—that was Monday's problem. At least today, Kō was happy.
The meal lasted a full hour, and everyone ended up completely stuffed. Afterward—no one even knew how many times this had happened already—they all sat side by side on the sofa to rest.
After clearing the table and putting the dishes into the dishwasher, Ichin and Yukino brewed some tea and brought it out for everyone.
Handing a cup to Haruno, Ichin looked at her clutching her stomach and couldn't help laughing. "Haruno-nee, it's not that bad. Really, it's not."
"But I'm seriously stuffed…"
Leaning her head back, Haruno muttered, "Once I digest a bit, I'm definitely going to weigh myself properly. Come to think of it, I haven't checked my weight in ages—ever since I moved here."
Ichin thought for a moment and casually looked at Haruno's limbs. "I don't think you've gained that much weight, right?"
Well—not that much, not none at all.
Ichin's eye for detail was pretty good. He was certain that from the time Haruno moved in until now, her weight had definitely gone up—just like Yukino's.
Haruno wasn't as thin as Yukino to begin with, but due to the pressure of studying and work, her weight back then definitely hadn't been healthy either.
"..."
Haruno immediately shot Ichin a dead-fish stare, then kicked his calf lightly with her slippered foot.
"Don't you know you're not supposed to say things like that to a girl? Kicking you once is already going easy on you!"
But Ichin wasn't really afraid of Haruno at this point. Everything he could've been tricked into had already happened long ago. Calmly dodging her continued kicks, he said, "Kicking me won't help. You'd be better off using that energy to exercise more in your free time. Learn from Yukino—she got up early this morning to go jogging, while you were still fast asleep."
Propping herself up, Haruno protested, "I work all week, you know! What's wrong with sleeping in on the weekend? And it's not just me—Utaha sleeps in too, doesn't she?"
Utaha hadn't expected the topic to suddenly shift to her. She put down her cup, looked at Haruno with a smile in her eyes, and said, "Haruno-san, using me as an example doesn't really work. I'm different from you—I'm not single. My nighttime exercise levels are pretty high, you know."
"Ooooooh~~~"
Kō looked at Ichin and Utaha with a gossip-hungry expression, covering her mouth with one hand. "Is this something I'm allowed to hear without paying?"
Utaha calmly shot Kō a look. "Isn't this perfectly normal? Even if I didn't say it, you all probably already knew. And Kō-san, don't you and Rin-san do something at night too? Speaking of which, I'm really curious—which one of you is the top?"
At that, Haruno also perked up with interest. "Oh! I'm curious about that too!"
Utaha's remark instantly put Kō in an awkward position where she had no idea how to respond. As for Rin, she had already covered her face. Still, from her visibly red ears, everyone could tell exactly how she was feeling right now.
Scratching her cheek awkwardly, Kō looked around and laughed sheepishly. "Ahaha… well, we don't really divide things like that."
Ichin smiled and shook his head, took a sip of tea, then stood up. "Alright, you guys can figure out your own afternoon entertainment. I've rested enough—I should go buy groceries. Even though dinner will be simple, we're out of stuff at home. We need to restock. Utaha, I'll leave hosting everyone to you."
Utaha waved her hand. "Leave it to me. Ichin, are you okay going alone? Want Yukino to come with you?"
"Yukino?"
Ichin looked at her. After thinking for a moment, Yukino said, "I'll go too. We're also running low on cat food—it was last bought around Christmas last year."
"Alright, let's go together." Ichin nodded, then looked toward Haruno. "Haruno-nee, want to come too? You can help carry things—get some exercise."
Haruno shook her head repeatedly. "Nope! I'm staying right here on the sofa. I'm not going out—you two go by yourselves! Oh, and remember to buy milk tea on the way back!"
She had just eaten her fill, and now she was already thinking about milk tea again?
You're going to get fat to death.
Of course, Ichin kept that complaint to himself. If he actually said it out loud, even with Haruno stuffed like this, she would still jump up and fight him to the death.
After asking everyone what flavors of milk tea they wanted, Ichin noted them down and headed out with Yukino.
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