บท 688: BBQ Time
After turning off the faucet and drying her hands with a towel, Mafuyu gazed at herself in the mirror attentively.
"Huffft..."
Exhaling deeply, she was relieved to find her carefully applied makeup remained unblemished.
In the Japanese workplace, wearing makeup was basic etiquette for women. Although not particularly fond of it, Mafuyu would still apply a light touch of makeup for business matters. Upon returning home, she could wash it off with just a splash of water. Convenient, to say the least.
Of course, she wasn't so emotional that she would cry even with such light makeup, and she didn't shed a tear.
However, Mafuyu didn't want her students to see her like this, so she escaped.
"Insulting. Truly embarrassing..."
Facing the mirror reflecting only herself, Mafuyu forced a bitter smile.
Yet, her hand tightly clenched the pink handkerchief, and her teeth bit into her lip.
"Am I truly deserving of it..."
Receive thanks from the students.
"Can I really overcome it..."
Rectify the mistakes she made.
Should she accept her current self and move forward, or should she heal the wounds of the past and engage with the students again?
"Enough, I don't know what to do..."
With her hands on the sink and head bowed, Mafuyu sighed.
△
When she exited the restroom, an oven with raw meat and porcelain plates covered with layers of browned, sizzling cooked meat awaited her.
"Yotsuba, if you want to grill vegetables there..." Itsuki quickly extended her chopsticks.
"Don't pick the green peppers! If you don't like eating them, I'll grill them for you."
Yotsuba smiled awkwardly.
"Ahaha, I understand. Itsuki really is like an old lady~"
"Itsuki, your meat is about to flip, please pay attention..." Before Shinichi finished his reminder, he shifted his gaze and shouted.
"Ichika, put the meat I just grilled! How many times has this happened!"
"Ahhaha, I won't let Shinichi-kun's grilled meat go to anyone else~" Ichika smirked but noticed a piece of grilled meat in front of Shinichi suddenly missing. She quickly waved her chopsticks and started yelling.
"Yotsuba, you secretly ate it. Onee-san is very disappointed in you!"
Yotsuba widened her eyes and covered her mouth.
"Oops, it smelled too good, and I didn't realize... Sorry, Ichika, can I grill a piece for you?"
Shinichi tapped the grill grate with tongs, looked at Ichika, and snorted.
"Yotsuba, just ignore him and let him grill it himself."
Ichika shrugged and paid little attention.
"Well, let me serve you all."
"But..." Itsuki looked at the discarded pieces of meat with an unbearable expression. "Didn't you just burn some pieces? All wasted..."
Ichika stuck out her tongue while smiling, turning her embarrassment into cheerfulness.
"If not for Itsuki's cute reaction to the slices of meat, I wouldn't have made a mistake~"
"Eh?! Are you blaming me?"
Itsuki looked surprised.
"..."
Seeing the peaceful scene, Mafuyu felt a bit lighter.
"I worried you."
"Ah, welcome back!" Seeing her calm face, Itsuki placed a freshly grilled piece of meat on a plate.
"This is a unique sauce I requested from Nakiri-san at Totsuki Academy. If Sensei doesn't like it, we can ask the service staff for a basic sauce."
"I'll use this plate," Mafuyu nodded and sat next to Itsuki.
At this moment, she noticed Shinichi across from her not diverting his gaze, seemingly observing her expression.
"What's wrong?" Mafuyu said a bit displeased.
"I haven't forgotten—Asada-kun, it seems you wanted to make me angry just now, right?"
Shinichi didn't answer with a guilty expression on his face.
"Haaa..." Mafuyu sighed, then spoke with a cold tone.
"Good or bad, the idea of tribute should be yours. I've noted this intention, but it doesn't mean I'll turn a blind eye to your deliberate teasing, Sensei... If you do it again, you'll bear the consequences!"
Shinichi raised his hand and saluted:
"I understand! Kirisu Sensei forgives me!"
Mafuyu took the chopsticks and began to eat the meat grilled by the students.
She didn't know if it was the difference in the person grilling it or her own illusion, but she always felt that this meat was much tastier than when she had dinner with everyone...
"Sensei, how is it going?"
Stared at by Itsuki's shining eyes, Mafuyu covered half of her face with her hand and used a calm tone to hide her embarrassment.
"It's delicious... Itsuki-san, you can eat your food. I'll grill my own meat after you finish, so you don't need to pay too much attention to me."
"It's okay! Asada-kun will also help me grill the meat. Students should serve Sensei, so just sit quietly!" Itsuki leaned her shoulder against Mafuyu.
Above them was a large pile of barbecue that could be called a mountain of meat.
"This..."
Mafuyu realized that at this moment, Shinichi was like a clockmaker. Two-thirds of the barbecue on the stove were grilled by his hands.
"These meat slices have only ten seconds left... Flip this piece in one second... Brush the sauce in three seconds... Yotsuba, wake up!"
"Ha!" Yotsuba lifted a piece of meat from the stove, accurately landing it on the plate in front of Mafuyu, then wiped her nose with her thumb.
"Sensei, please enjoy that!"
"Thank you."
Mafuyu put the piece of meat into her mouth.
Her eyes immediately widened.
—Spicy.
Trying hard to resist the urge to open her mouth and close her eyes to breathe in front of the students, Mafuyu chewed the piece of meat in her mouth and swallowed it after a few seconds.
Closing her mouth, she licked her lips and opened her eyes slightly in surprise.
"Even more delicious..."
"As long as it's tasty, that's good!" Shinichi wiped his sweat, turned off the chat interface with Soma on his phone, and handed the barbecue to the others. "Sensei, give this part to yourself and give me this part."
"No, I just said..."
"Please don't be polite; there's still plenty of meat!" Itsuki insisted. "Asada-kun will also help me grill. Students should serve Sensei, so just sit quietly!"
Ichika looked happily at Itsuki heading to the drink bar with a cup and whispered to Yotsuba.
"Do you feel like Itsuki has returned to the past and is acting like a spoiled child to her mother?"
Yotsuba nodded enthusiastically: "Exactly! Although not excessive, like always hugging by her mother's side, the feeling of dependence is like going back to the past, a replica of Itsuki!"
"...Haha."
Shinichi looked towards Mafuyu, who was rubbing her temples, with an expression of helplessness but no signs of boredom.
As the night grew darker, despite being reluctant to leave, this joyful celebration party ultimately came to an end.
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