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Now then, since everyone’s here, I stopped cooking for a moment and gathered everyone. It’s always best to start with a toast. No matter how small, this is a party after all.

「Opening speech?」
「No need for that. Let’s just start. Cheers!」
「「「Cheers!」」」

What do you even mean by opening speech, Akane? Don’t ask too much of me. While I am offering my room for use, I’m not a host or anything. Good job stopping her, Teacher Saeki.

「Now then, let’s continue.」
「I’m still in the middle of cooking myself.」

We stopped the fire and the other preparations just to make a toast, after all. The edamame are already prepared, so the adults are focused on munching down. It’s only a matter of time before they empty it out.

「The okonomiyaki and yakisoba are done.」
「I’m pretty much done on my side too.」

While Kishita cooked two dishes, I made a random assortment of stuff. Mostly alcohol sides. Still, it’ll fill the stomach, so it shouldn’t be any issue. Today, snacks take precedence over rice.

「There’s only about 40 mins before it starts, right?」
「That’s right. Rather than wait for the fireworks before eating, it might be better to eat now instead.」

I wonder if Kishita’s the type to watch silently. How about me? My friends tend to cause a ruckus, so I’m always occupied with them. I don’t remember ever having a quiet relaxing watch. I wonder if those guys are watching the fireworks too.

「More edamame~」

While I did expect this, they’re going at a high pace. I probably won’t be able to have a quiet relaxing watch this time either. Mostly because of cooking. But it’s peaceful, so it’s all good.

「I made yakitori, would you rather have it plain salted or with sauce?」
「「Both!」」

Yeah, yeah. Both, right? Then I’ll do half and half. Kishita immediately started eating the food she made. Understandable, since if she doesn’t get a bite in soon, those will likely end up as their drink sides. Please portion out my share too.

「Are the two of them always like this?」
「They’re aaalways like this. On the other hand, they do pay for their stay, so I don’t mind it that much.」

The money mostly disappears into snacks and side dishes, but I do get the leftover ingredients. Since it helps with my household expenses, I don’t mind it at all. And the leftover cash goes to my savings too, since there’s the electric bill and all.

「How do I say this, it’s strange how accustomed you seem to be with this.」
「One of them comes to eat breakfast everyday, after all. You get used to it.」
「Um, just asking, but you are a member of the Kisaragi family, right?」
「Yesh.」

I answered while stuffing my cheeks with yakitori. Seeing how I am right now, no one would think of me as a high-class lady. Hooray commoner. To the poor guys attending the party right now, sad to be you.

「Ah, it’s about to start soon. Let’s bring some of the food and move to the windowside.」
「I really don’t want to mix in with those two, though.」

They aren’t drunk yet, but Akane is pretty troublesome when she’s tipsy. I’ll ignore the mountain of empty beer cans. This is going to be a pain to clean up.

「The bottles aren’t cold, right?」
「Not unless they put those in the freezer. It’ll be dangerous though, so I don’t allow it.」

Since those are practically hot, it’ll take some time to cool them in the fridge. However, I feel like we’re going to run out of chilled stuff in the fridge soon.

「Teacher Saeki seems… quite strong with alcohol.」

She’s beyond strong. Seeing the amount of empty cans, Kishita was taken aback. Please don’t think of alcohol as something one can just drink casually. You’ll end up risking embarrassment on your first drink, okay?

「Don’t take how they drink as a standard.」
「Even I know that much.」

That’s good. Let’s ignore the two booing me from the side. You’re just reaping what you sow.

「I think I’m still better off though.」
「Akane, do you know the saying “only fifty of a hundred steps away”?¹」

From the side, Akane’s a pretty heavy drinker herself. It’s amazing enough that she can keep up with Teacher Saeki. She tends to fall asleep when drinking too much though.

「Still, I really find it curious, you know? Kotone, you’ve had alcohol before, haven’t you?」

Akane’s got me there. After talking that much, I guess it’s hard not to slip up, huh. After all, some of the things I talk about can only come from someone who’s drunk alcohol. But I’ll deny it.

「Do you think my previous environment would even allow underage drinking?」
「Well that’s true… But somehow, you really give off that vibe.」

Incidentally, I’m not going to deny verbally. Just answer ambiguously. After all, if I deny it and they somehow figure I’ve had alcohol experience, they’ll definitely call me out. Yup, let’s change the topic.

「Your husband busy?」
「It’s profit time after all. Also, it seems like there’s always a reservation for after the fireworks display every year. So probably this year too.」

A bar reservation. In other words, they’re renting the whole place, I guess? Definitely rich people. And as I thought so, I recalled a certain event. It’s for the afterparty, huh.

「I think it’s because only Shizuo can take them. Since in a regular bar, there could be all sorts of issues.」
「Ah, you can tell? It’d be bad if those people get loose lipped from the drinks, after all.」

Shizuo probably told Akane about the kind of people who’d be there. He was from that side, after all. Considering the possibility of information leakage, he’s likely the safest bet.

「Why does Kotone know so much about your husband? You haven’t even told me his name.」

Okay, the topic’s derailed now. I knew Teacher Saeki would bite if I brought up Akane’s husband. By the way, it seems like she settled on calling me by first name in private. At the academy, by my family name. This has happened a lot lately, huh.

「We’ve had yakiniku together before.」
「Why wasn’t I invited!」

1. Lyly: Idiom lesson time~ Yay~ This is a reference to an old story where soldiers ran away. In short, some soldiers ran only 50 steps away from the battle field while some others ran a hundred steps away. A king said, the 50 step soldiers denounce the 100 step soldiers as cowards, but are there really any difference when both of them ran from the battlefield all the same?