Chisa drank the oolong tea herself. For a long time after that, Miyazawa Yu couldn't find an opportunity to suggest a drink again.
Helpless, he could only honestly make okonomiyaki and finally presented his finished product to Azusa Hamaoka for her review.
"Hmm— very good, very good. You four are all so skillful~"
Azusa Hamaoka closed her eyes and tasted it carefully. In the end, she gave them a high evaluation. At least for beginners, being able to add the right amount of salt was already very good.
But why did all the works seem a little burnt? Was it because she didn't specifically emphasize the heat?
"That's good, but it's still too far from Azusa-senpai's level."
Chisa Kotegawa also took a bite. When she remembered the taste of her senpai's cooking, she felt a little dejected—the gap was too big. The texture and taste were completely different!
"It's fine. Anyway, we're just selling it at the university festival. This level is good enough. Try this one."
"Okay."
She picked up the okonomiyaki Azusa Hamaoka handed her and put it in her mouth. Chisa was surprised to find that the taste was noticeably better than hers, even though it was a little overcooked!
"This is Yu-kun's, right? It's very good, very good! Did you study cooking before?"
"Yes, I did. I studied at Totsuki Culinary Academy for a while during summer vacation, but people looked down on me."
When he talked about his cooking skills, Miyazawa Yu laughed awkwardly. His expression became a little grim. After all, the time he spent being brutally tortured there wasn't very pleasant.
And the girls at Totsuki were all like kitchen utensils that had come to life. They had nothing but cooking in their minds, and he couldn't win them over at all!
"Huh? They would look down on this level of cooking? They're so picky..."
"I agree!"
Iori and Kohei left their mediocre works for the senpais to try. The two of them were very quick and immediately split the rest of Miyazawa Yu's okonomiyaki.
After replenishing their energy, Iori Kitahara was revitalized. He looked at the blue ocean with its rising and falling tides and said with emotion, "Oh, wow— seeing this scenery makes me think of that, Chisa."
"What?"
Chisa Kotegawa took back the hand she had reached out to get another piece of the high-quality okonomiyaki. With a half-moon-eyed, speechless expression, she looked at Iori, who had stolen her food.
"It makes you want to drink beer, right!"
"So we've already prepared some for you ☆"
It turned out that Iori was very good at destroying a beautiful atmosphere.
Chisa Kotegawa looked at the flattering Iori and Kohei, who were handing her a can of beer. She refused expressionlessly, "I don't want to drink."
"..."
The plan failed, and the two of them were left with frozen smiles.
Miyazawa Yu immediately pushed his good-for-nothing teammates away and reprimanded them, "Chisa is a girl! How can you be like them and have a beer in your hand all day? An elegant lady would drink a cocktail, right, Chisa!"
"I already said I don't want to drink!"
Chisa Kotegawa pushed the cocktail away from her again. She felt that these guys were acting strangely today. They kept trying to get her to drink something.
"Ah! Can I have it this time?"
"Yes, please..."
Miyazawa Yu lowered his head and humbly offered the cocktail to his love rival. He felt a sense of defeat and withdrew to the side, grinding his teeth.
"Wow, this is delicious! You're so thoughtful, Yu~"
Damn it! You're getting a bargain and still being a show-off! Do you believe me if I say I'll kill you with "water of life"!"
He felt his dignity was being provoked. A vein popped on Miyazawa Yu's forehead. He really wanted to get tough and snap back at her, but Iori Kitahara grabbed his arm in time.
"Hold it in! Think about the Tough Guy Battle!"
Listening to the soft reminder in his ear, he had to forcefully suppress the urge to kill and humbly say with a face full of humiliation, "No, it's nothing. It's an honor to serve you!"
"Is that so? You're so cute~"
"Ugh—"
Hearing the flirtatious "cute," Miyazawa Yu's entire body was instantly coated with a layer of red-hot debuff. His expression was as ferocious as a demon from hell.
At this point, even Iori Kitahara, who was at odds with him, couldn't stand it anymore.
He quickly found a bag of ice from the freezer and put it on Yu's face. At the same time, he loudly reprimanded, "That's too much! Azusa-senpai, that's really too much!"
"Haha~ You can't even handle this? Iori-kun, I actually know a lot about you too!"
Azusa Hamaoka leaned on the table, laughing so hard that her stomach hurt. The reactions of these juniors were just too interesting.
One moment they were trying to set each other up, and the next they were supporting each other and working together. And their inner thoughts were so rich!
With these two in the club, there was no way the Pab club wouldn't prosper!
"Huh? You know a lot about me?"
He just wanted to stand up for Yu. He didn't expect the topic to turn back to him. Iori Kitahara looked at Azusa-senpai with a face full of question marks.
"Mm-hmm! That's right, you. Nanaka told me a lot over the phone. About everything about you and Yu~"
"Sister Nanaka told you over the phone..."
Iori Kitahara took two sips of beer. He suddenly remembered something Nanaka-san said when she was tidying up his room—
"Sorry, Iori. I... I have to go make a phone call to a friend..."
"Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh—"
His entire body turned into a sketch of colored blocks. Iori Kitahara's jaw uncontrollably dropped open, and a beer waterfall continuously poured out of his mouth.
"Whoa! That's so dirty!"
Miyazawa Yu almost got splashed by the beer waterfall. He quickly dodged before Iori's waterfall could reach him, avoiding a wet fate.
"Iori! Iori, what's wrong with you? Damn it! It's not enough that you hurt me, now you're hurting my brother!"
"Oh my, oh my, oh my. What's this mess?"
Azusa Hamaoka realized her joke had gone a little too far. She looked embarrassed.
Amidst Miyazawa Yu's still-shaken angry reprimands, she picked up a towel and wiped the beer off Iori's legs before it could soak into his pants.
"I-I'm sorry... Actually, all those AV and male-male decorations were a misunderstanding!"
Iori Kitahara finally came back to his senses and manually shut off the floodgate. Seeing the curious look on Azusa-senpai's face, he quickly whispered an explanation, trying to clear his name!
"Hahaha, it's okay, it's okay!"
"It doesn't look like it's okay..."
Miyazawa Yu looked up and admired Iori Kitahara's flustered expression. Maybe I'd be like that too if I got caught?
Thinking this, Azusa Hamaoka tilted her head and whispered, "It's okay, because I'm also a 'two-sword style' enthusiast."
"..."
His brain questioned what his ears were hearing. Iori Kitahara's eyes lost their sparkle. He debated and thought about it for a long time before finally concluding that "two-sword style" meant being into both men and women.
"O X - + ☆!?"
"Wow! It's so great to have a junior with the same hobby! Let's find some time to talk about it later!"
Azusa Hamaoka didn't care that Iori was so shocked he was frozen in place. She laughed out loud and patted his shoulder, speaking to him as if they were long-lost soulmates.
"The same hobby?"
"She probably means diving, right?"
"No, no! I think it might be something worse."
Chisa and Kohei were confused, but Azusa Hamaoka's personality was a little crazy to begin with, so they didn't suspect anything else.
But Miyazawa Yu was different. As a love rival, he figured out what their shared hobby was without much thought.
His expression instantly became one of disdain. After Iori's male-male hobby, the Pab club had another major character.
He didn't care if the girl he liked was a lesbian, but he couldn't accept being cuckolded!
"Mm-hmm! You've got it down! As long as your charm is enough to attract people, nothing else matters!"
"Ugh!"
Iori Kitahara shook his head frantically. Azusa Hamaoka was pressing on his leg, so he couldn't run away, and he didn't dare to ask for help.
He could only widen his eyes and frantically wink at his accomplices. Unfortunately, those two scoundrels were still bickering with each other.
"The charm of diving is indeed very attractive, Yu. I think you're overthinking it."
"What a childish thought! To be honest, isn't Riko-chan more attractive to Kohei than diving is?"
"That's true... as long as the charm is high enough, I'll accept any anime. I wonder what their shared hobby is?"
"Ugh!!!"
Iori Kitahara let out a high-pitched, wailing scream in despair. Two lines of bloody tears flowed from his eyes, signaling to these two scoundrels that they should stop overthinking! They needed to save him first!