[【Off Collab】I heard that a takoyaki party is the best way to get closer! #KainohIzumi#SuzuhaKoga#TsurusakiTsukasa#KaguyaAoba#StarsFlow]
“Uuuu….”
– Right now, I genuinely feel sorry for Izumi.
– It’s punishment time.
– I’m definitely gonna confess to her after this broadcast ends…
“It’s unfair…. I didn’t do anything wrong….”
In this situation, I probably don’t have a single sin, so why do I have to suffer like this….
Suzuha Koga initially frowned after eating the pineapple takoyaki, calmed herself after the chocolate takoyaki, and then burst into laughter after the hXXX takoyaki.
Tsurusaki seemed to have a strange taste and casually ate all three pieces of takoyaki, now smiling sweetly as if she was used to it.
Kaguya said she could handle the pineapple and chocolate takoyaki, but after eating the hXXX takoyaki she must have gotten choked and spewed it out.
And these three shared two common points: the first being that they all ended with the cocktail shrimp takoyaki I made.
The second is….
“Izumi. Everyone’s waiting, so shouldn’t you eat quickly?”
Right now, everyone is waiting for me to eat this takoyaki.
Why do I have to taste this hell created by these people…?
“Ehehe….”
Shaking hands, I first reached for the X libo takoyaki, presumably the weirdest in taste.
Calculated with my brilliant brain, the order should definitely make it taste bad: hXXX, pineapple, chocolate.
There’s no need to keep the bad food until the end.
It smells like an ordinary takoyaki, no problem at all…
“Uhhhhh….”
After a big sigh, I slowly put the takoyaki in my mouth… and chewed.
The crispy outer shell crumbled, and the soft filling specific to takoyaki flowed out.
Fortunately, at first, it had the texture and taste of a normal takoyaki.
“Uuuuuu?!”
The moment the hXXX hit my teeth, my evaluation flipped immediately.
As the sticky texture and aroma of the jelly spread in my mouth, it created an indescribably unpleasant taste that rose to the tip of my tongue.
I want to spit it out. I want to spit it out. I want to spit it out…!
But it looked like that wasn’t acceptable as Suzuha smiled and stared at me.
Even Kaguya, who got choked, eventually chewed until the end and swallowed it.
But I brought normal ingredients…!
“You know this is not a situation where such words will work, right?”
With those words from Suzuha, I finally chewed on the last of the X libo takoyaki and swallowed.
“Ugh…. It’s delicious….”
Once I finished all the chocolate takoyaki, I could finally enjoy my cocktail shrimp takoyaki happily.
Isn’t this real happiness? I think I just gained some enlightenment.
“Definitely, cocktail shrimp is the best.”
“Yeah. I think this one’s the best too!”
Please stop acting like it’s a profound realization, alright….
★
“Now it’s ti, time to end….”
It was already past 10 PM.
Considering subway timings, it was time to wrap up the broadcast.
“Then, l-lastly, let’s hear how it was from you, Suzuha….”
“Hmm. Even though this takopa was sudden… it was super fun! I hope we can do it again next time!”
Certainly, it’d be great to have another takopa next time.
But we absolutely shouldn’t include any weird ingredients.
I really don’t want to taste hell again….
“I also hope we can gather again next time, even if it’s not a takopa….”
Tsurusaki said that and looked at me with a sweet smile.
I felt a bit uneasy about that expression, but it’s probably just my imagination.
I know Tsurusaki is very kind to Izutomo.
Surely, such a person wouldn’t do anything bad to me, right?
“Then last of all….”
With that, I looked at Kaguya.
She seemed a bit shy and turned her gaze around, her face slightly red.
“Um. This mo… I had an amazing time too. I really want to thank you, Izumi-senpai and Suzuha-senpai, for not minding my sudden interruption to suggest this takopa….”
– Such a polite leader seems super awkward.
– So she wasn’t just an average chuunibyou idiot…
“Eh? Aoba, what about me?”
“You’re my bodyguard, so it’s natural!”
“Ehh?”
– It looks like she really is an average chuunibyou idiot.
“Anyway… and Izumi-senpai, it’s the first time I met you today, but thank you for being so kind….”
“Oh, uh? Me? Ah, no! I feel really happy to, to meet K-kaguya too….”
“Ugh…!”
“I’ll always join these things if they happen again anytime! I’m also a respectable se, senpai…!”
“Ah….”
Kaguya buried her face in embarrassment after my words.
Yup! I’m a senpai, so you can always rely on me, Kaguya!
“Then last of all, it’s my, my turn….”
With that, I recalled all the moments from today’s takopa.
It was fun. Since it was my first takopa, I felt that it was quite refreshing. Of course, the last takoyaki I had to eat, I never want to eat again…
Yet, even those would eventually become a memory.
“Yeah. I also, I had an amazing time! I hope there’s a gathering like this again next time!”
– Are we eating things like pineapple takoyaki next time…?
“No…. I really don’t need that… It’s garbage I absolutely do not want to eat…”
– But I’m sure you must have worked hard to prepare those ingredients…
– To belittle the efforts of the collab members… This is definitely Yeo-sang.
“Why?!”
I’m not that bad, am I?!
– No matter how you put it, calling it garbage is too harsh.
No. If you guys tried it, I’m sure you’d say the same thing as me…
“Um, anyway… I had a lot of fun today, and let’s all definitely meet again next time…!”
“Otsuha~!”
“Otsukasa!”
“Let’s end it here today!”
– Bye, boys!
– Otsukasa!メ
– Otsuha~
– For Atlas!
★
“Hey, K-Kaguya….”
“Aoba. Is something wrong?”
Tsukasa interrupted, but Aoba had caught it clearly.
She heard Izumi’s voice trying to take care of her.
Aoba looked at Izumi just in case, and Izumi smiled gently and nodded.
‘What? How did she notice?’
It’s understandable that Tsukasa figured it out.
Members of Atlas had met many times in person, and several people had picked up on Aoba’s personality to some degree.
But Izumi had met Aoba for the first time today, and there hadn’t been any prior conversations.
Of course, that was because Izumi was someone who best understood Aoba’s personality…
But what mattered to Aoba right now wasn’t that.
“I’m, I’m understanding, Kaguya…!”
“Huh?”
“Suz, Suzuha’s and Tsurusaki’s photos turned out to be mu-much better, right…?”
‘You understand me? You don’t think I’m an idiot, you’re understanding like this? Really? When I said these things during high school, everyone called me an idiot and told me to stop being weird. But Izumi-senpai understands me? So, does that mean she likes me?’
Her fellow third-year members from Stars Flow understand and accommodate Aoba’s quirks.
But that was purely due to being tied to the RP of Atlas… Aoba thought that way.
Yet now she was speaking to Izumi, a senior from one cohort ahead.
Sure, they were both colleagues in the same company, but still, the fact that a senior was considering her made Aoba feel overwhelmingly touched.
“This is it!”
“Are you a kid…?!”
‘Bringing this type of tsukkomi too? How cute, even her voice is beautiful. What’s up with her? Is Izumi-senpai really an angel? I want to get closer, want to be more intimate. I like her.’
That Izumi was genuinely flustered didn’t matter to Aoba anymore.
What was most important was that she reacted to her words.
“Ugh…. It’s delicious….”
“Definitely, cocktail shrimp is the best.”
“Yeah. I think this one’s the best too!”
‘Since it’s something Izumi-senpai prepared, whatever she brought would be delicious. Yup, senpai is an angel. Everything is just perfect.’
That’s right. Aoba was already in deep.
“Uh, uh? Me? A-a-no! I feel really happy to, to meet K-Kaguya too….”
‘I see. I joined Stars Flow to meet this senpai. I’ve had a lot of tough times, but as long as this one thing holds, it’s enough for me.’
But…
“If there’s anything like this in the future, you can, you can call me anytime! I’m, I’m a respectable se, senpai too…!”
‘Ah…. Thinking about it I guess ultimately you and I are in a senpai-kouhai relationship. So all that smiling you’ve done at me before was just because you’re a senpai, not because you wanted to get close to me….’
Easy gotten happiness vanishes easily.
‘What was I even expecting? I’m such an idiot. I want to die….’
Aoba thought that while quietly logging into her Nator after reaching home.
‘But still, Izumi-senpai really felt like an angel…. I hope I can get closer….’
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