Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051597934651646/episodes/2912051599566697169
It was bubbling away.
A violently appetizing aroma rose from the cast-iron pot sitting on the tabletop portable stove.
The sweet-and-salty special sauce and the fat from the Wagyu beef, marbled with exquisite fat, melted together, filling the room with a rich fragrance.
“Mmm, mmm. So good!”
Seika brought a large piece of meat, generously coated in golden-yellow beaten egg, to her mouth and bit into it with sparkling eyes.
The rich flavor of the piping-hot meat spread throughout her mouth, making her cheeks feel like they were about to melt.
“Ouch. You’re right, this is delicious.”
Across the table, Houtarou—who was usually expressionless—was savoring the sukiyaki with his eyes slightly widened.
Just seeing him eat so heartily made Seika’s heart feel warm and fuzzy.
Seika broke into a silly grin at the warmth of sharing a meal face-to-face with the person she loved.
She wagged her invisible tail so hard it almost snapped, and announced in a bubbly voice,
“The meat is amazing, but… I guess it’s really because I’m eating with Achi-kun, hehehe.”
It just slipped out.
In a moment of complete carelessness and vulnerability, her true feelings—which she couldn’t hide—just burst out.
Immediately afterward, Seika belatedly realized the gravity of her words and stopped her chopsticks dead in their tracks.
(Gyaaah! What a bold thing for me to say!?)
In an instant, her face grew so hot it felt like it was on fire, turning bright red all the way to the backs of her ears.
Her 530,000-IQ brain sounded a shrill alarm, and a fierce internal self-reprimand began raging in her mind.
(Wait, if I think about it calmly, wasn’t that basically a confession!? It’s like I just said the food doesn’t taste good without Achi-kun!)
She’d pushed herself past her limits all on her own, clutching her head and lurching backward.
Her invisible dog ears flattened against her head, and she was overcome by the urge to crawl under the table and hide right now.
(No, that’s not it! I decided I’d confess in a place with more mood, somewhere romantic with a nice atmosphere!)
(Wait, I might get rejected anyway. Ugh! I’m such an idiot, an idiot, an idiot! I want to dive into the sukiyaki pot and erase my memory!)
The worst-case scenarios spun around and around in her head.
Seeing Seika freeze with a bright red face, pulling all sorts of funny faces, Houtarou tilted his head in puzzlement.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh…?”
Seika let out a dazed sound.
She timidly stole a glance at Houtarou’s face, but his calm eyes showed not a trace of embarrassment or confusion at her bold statement.
He was simply tilting his head in puzzlement at the person next to him who had suddenly started clutching her head.
His chopsticks never stopped; he picked up a piece of grilled tofu that had absorbed the flavor just right from the pot and blew on it to cool it down.
(Ugh! He doesn’t care at all! Or rather, he’s completely ignoring me!)
Her subtle hint of affection having been completely ignored, Seika puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.
While she was relieved she hadn’t been rejected, the fact that he wasn’t even aware of her feminine charm left her feeling utterly dejected.
(That’s really annoying in its own way. Haa…)
Exhausted from her grand, futile efforts, Seika let out a deep, dramatic sigh.
Seeing her like that, Hotarou’s lips curled into a faint smile.
“Hirugami-san, you’re interesting.”
“Huh?”
Startled by the sudden remark, Seika blinked in confusion.
Houtarou kept his gaze fixed on the small plate in front of him as he continued in a voice that was somehow gentle yet passionate.
“I have fun when I’m with you.”
For someone whose emotions were usually so subdued, this was his way of expressing his deepest, most sincere affection—without any pretense.
His unadorned, straightforward words pierced the very center of Seika’s heart.
Caught off guard by this unexpected declaration, the innocent gal’s heart leapt violently.
Forgetting to hide her flushed face, Seika could do nothing but stare, frozen in place, at the boy she loved so dearly, who was smiling faintly right before her eyes.
In the quiet room, only the sound of the pot bubbling away and the sound of Seika’s heart pounding like a drum echoed endlessly, sweetly filling the air.
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