"Wait... I didn't expect Kagami-kun to dislike sashimi."
At that moment, Sayuri and the others also looked over with smiles.
"Do you all actually like it?" Tsushima Kagami asked, looking at the other girls.
Each of them was holding a plate of beef cheek sashimi. Following the same steps Yukinoshita Shizuku had taken earlier, they finished preparing the meat and began to eat.
"It's not bad."
"Mainly because it's such high-end, expensive stuff—we have to at least give it a taste!" Hiroi Kikuri chimed in from the side.
Tsushima Kagami suddenly recalled his old class reunions. Every time they ordered, the girls would always order silkworm pupae. In the end, not a single boy would dare touch them, so the girls would finish them all off.
Girls really did have a mysterious, thrill-seeking side to them that remained hidden from others.
Just then, he noticed Shimizu Nayotake, who was sitting next to Yukinoshita Shizuku. She was silently picking grilled meat out of the fire and frantically stuffing it into her mouth.
Tsushima Kagami smiled; at least there was one other person here who didn't care for sashimi.
The nine of them chatted and ate, platter after platter of beef being cleared and replaced.
Suddenly, Tsushima Kagami felt a wave of discomfort in his stomach.
"What's wrong?" Yukinoshita Shizuku asked with concern, seeing him suddenly clutch his stomach.
"It's nothing. I just need to use the restroom."
"Lazy people really do have a lot of 'business' to attend to," Shizuku whispered into his ear with a giggle.
Tsushima Kagami ignored her tease, stood up, and looked at the others with an apologetic smile. "Bathroom break, bathroom break! Order whatever you want, don't be shy."
With that, Kagami hurriedly ran out of the booth and found a waiter to lead him to the restroom.
By then, everyone had finished their drinks. A waiter happened to bring in a fresh round of beverages to replace them.
Hiroi Kikuri was feeling a bit thirsty, so she picked up a glass and downed it in one go. Then, she froze.
Beside her, Ijichi Seika and PA-san noticed her reaction and gave her a nudge.
"What is it, Kikuri?"
Hiroi Kikuri turned her gaze toward Kosaka Akane. "Senpai... is this alcohol?"
Hearing this, Sayuri, Machida Sonoko, Yukinoshita Shizuku, Ijichi Seika, and PA-san all took a small sip.
Kosaka Akane gave a faint smile. "It's fine. They're just low-alcohol drinks, only two or three percent. I'll have my driver take everyone home one by one later."
After hearing that, Hiroi Kikuri drained her glass in a single gulp. She looked at Kosaka Akane with the bold, boisterous expression of someone who had already caught a buzz. "Senpai, can I get another dozen of these?"
Watching Hiroi Kikuri chugging away—laughing one moment and crying the next, getting more energized the more she drank—Kosaka Akane began to wonder if she had made a mistake.
After everyone had a little bit to drink, they were all feeling a bit tipsy. With Hiroi Kikuri becoming the star of the show—transforming from her earlier introverted self into a social butterfly with zero boundaries—she drove the atmosphere to a new peak of harmony.
"So, which one of you senpais is actually dating Kagami-senpai?"
Hiroi Kikuri suddenly dropped the question out of nowhere. The previously lively atmosphere froze instantly.
PA-san and Ijichi Seika laughed apologetically as they covered Kikuri's mouth to stop her from prying further, hurriedly dragging her back into her seat and stuffing her face with grilled beef.
Shimizu Nayotake also looked over curiously, though she continued to silently snatch meat from the grill and stuff it into her mouth.
Yukinoshita Shizuku remained calm, picking up a piece of beef with her chopsticks while taking a sip of her drink.
Instead, it was Sayuri's trio who laughed awkwardly.
"Ahaha... Kagami-kun and I have a perfectly wholesome friendship! We aren't dating or anything. Right, Akane-senpai? Sonoko-senpai?" Sayuri said, looking toward Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko.
Both of them smiled and nodded. "Yes, that's right."
After answering, they glanced at Yukinoshita Shizuku.
At that moment, Hiroi Kikuri spoke up again, her voice muffled. "Mmph... none of you are dating him? Senpai's standards must be so high. Or is he secretly dating some other girl we don't know about?"
"Stop talking already!" PA-san whispered urgently into her ear.
Ijichi Seika stuffed her mouth full again. "Mmph! Mmph!"
Kosaka Akane and the other two then looked at Yukinoshita Shizuku and asked with smiles, "Shizuku, do you know if Kagami-kun is dating anyone else?"
Yukinoshita Shizuku set down her chopsticks, wiped the corners of her mouth, and looked at the three of them with a smile. Being looked at like that made the three of them look down in embarrassment.
"Probably not."
"Really? None at all?" The three of them looked back up at her.
Shizuku thought for a moment before saying, "At least, that's what Kagami says."
Sayuri and the others nodded upon hearing this. Aside from the time he spent with them in the Manga Research Club, Kagami was basically inseparable from his 'sister.' If even Shizuku said he didn't have a girlfriend, then he really didn't.
The three of them shared a look, then raised their drinks to the group with smiles.
"Ahaha, let's just eat, eat!"
"? Then what kind of girls does Kagami-senpai like?"
Even if Hiroi Kikuri were dead and nailed into a coffin, she would still use her rotting vocal cords to shout out one last question from the grave!
Kosaka Akane and the others held their breath once more, turning their eyes back to Yukinoshita Shizuku.
This time, PA-san and Ijichi Seika followed suit out of curiosity. Even Shimizu Nayotake, who had been silently devouring beef, stopped her movements to listen intently.
Yukinoshita Shizuku sank into thought. The booth fell deathly silent; only the sizzling of the charcoal could be heard, as if everyone was afraid that a single sound would make them miss a crucial detail of Shizuku's thoughts.
"Kagami said he likes beautiful older sisters."
"How 'big' are we talking?" Sayuri blurted out, gesturing toward her own chest. Was it 'big' there, or was it about age?
"Maybe... a bit of both?"
"Are there any specific, suspicious examples?"
Shizuku thought again. "Ah, you all know Douraku Utage-sensei and Tsukuyomi Komoe-sensei, right?"
Everyone nodded.
Then Shizuku looked over at Ijichi Seika's trio. "And that Miss Hayase who was with them last time."
"I have a bit of an impression of her," Ijichi Seika said.
"Kagami seems to really enjoy interacting with them. In short, the vibe he gives off is completely different from when he's with us."
As soon as she finished, Sayuri slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "This! Isn't this just being a lolicon?!"
Kosaka Akane corrected her. "But those teachers are all adults. They can't really be called lolis, can they?"
Machida Sonoko added thoughtfully, "Didn't he also tell the editor-in-chief from Akansha today that he wanted to draw something about 'Eternal Maidens'?"
"So Kagami-kun likes mature women with loli bodies?!"
As the three of them analyzed the situation, the entire booth fell into silence once more.
Just then, Shimizu Nayotake reached out and said, "Um, has Kagami been in the bathroom for a really long time?"
Only then did everyone remember that Tsushima Kagami was still in the restroom.
Just as they were debating who should go check on him, Tsushima Kagami returned to the booth with heavy, dragging steps.
"Kagami-kun, are you okay?" everyone asked with concern, seeing his haggard state.
Ignoring everyone, Tsushima Kagami slumped down beside Yukinoshita Shizuku and said weakly, "Water... give me some water..."
Shizuku quickly picked up one of the nearby drinks and handed it to him.
Kagami gulped it down in one go and let out a burp.
"Wait... why does this taste like alcohol?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he passed out cold.