Chapter 210: Afternoon Activities, Drawing Lots
Lunch was prepared jointly by Kaede and Takasu Ryuji. Kaede had originally said he could handle it, but Takasu Ryuji offered to help out of gratitude, as he could come over here and pet the Cats.
Kaede naturally didn't refuse and entrusted the job of entertaining the others to Eriri.
After Takasu Yasuko arrived, the atmosphere among everyone didn't change much, mainly because Takasu Yasuko had always maintained a youthful attitude, and she was indeed very young, having given birth to Takasu Ryuji at the age of 16, which was quite remarkable.
Watching his mother chat happily with the others, Takasu Ryuji sighed in relief. "I thought the atmosphere might change after she arrived. Thankfully, it didn't turn out that way."
"I'd say you underestimate Yasuko," Kaede said with a laugh as he took the finished roast meat out of the oven. "Putting everything else aside, as long as Yasuko is here, you don't have to worry about the atmosphere at all. It's a shame her son didn't inherit any of that."
"... Don't say it. That's too hurtful."
Takasu Ryuji smiled bitterly and shook his head, silently channeling his frustration into cooking motivation.
Today's meal still featured a wide variety of cuisine—Chinese, Japanese, and Western—all available. Since Kaede's cooking skills had improved recently, the lunch he and Takasu Ryuji prepared left everyone with round, full bellies.
After the meal, Usami, leaning on the sofa and sipping tea, counted everything she had just eaten and couldn't help but glance at her stomach. "I feel like if I come to Eriri's house a few more times, I'm going to gain weight around my belly..."
Kushieda Minori heard her and laughed. "Hehe, I don't have that worry. With my club training and part-time work combined, I can't hold onto fat, so I can basically eat whatever I want!"
"I'm so jealous..."
Usami looked at Kushieda Minori's healthy, lean figure with great envy. Although she didn't have much excess fat herself, the other girl's physique clearly looked healthier and more energetic than hers, while her own was just slightly ordinary.
After looking at Kushieda Minori, Usami then looked over to Utaha, who was sitting with Eriri on the other side.
Hmm... Compared to Kasumigaoka-senpai, it seems like everyone else pales in comparison.
As for Eriri and Oosaka Taiga, they weren't even listening to what Usami was saying. They had eaten too much and were currently dazed.
After the boys finished cleaning up, Kaede walked over with a teacup, patted Eriri's head, and said with a smile, "It looks like you all enjoyed the meal. That's wonderful."
Exhaling, Oosaka Taiga, who had snapped back to reality, said, "I think the rabbit meat dish was the best. It's my first time realizing rabbit is so delicious."
After deciding to invite everyone for a meal, Kaede called last night to reserve the rabbit meat. Fortunately, there was still some stock, and Kaede went to pick it up just before preparing lunch. He was able to use the spicy stir-fried rabbit recipe his mother had taught him.
Although everyone was surprised when the dish was first served, within a few seconds, after Eriri took the first bite, everyone was hooked.
The previous impression of rabbits being cute did not conflict at all with the current idea of rabbits being delicious. Cute and delicious—those are the best rabbits.
Takasu Yasuko also highly praised Kaede's cooking skills, clapping her hands and saying, "Kaede is amazing. Ryuji had to practice for a long time to get his cooking skills this good. Kaede, I remember you only started cooking consistently after you moved here, right?"
"That's right. Although I learned a bit from my mother before, I never had to lift a finger at home, so I forgot most of it. I only really picked it up again and learned bit by bit after moving out."
Squeezing Oosaka Taiga aside and sitting next to Eriri, Kaede smiled and said, "But Eriri is the truly amazing one. She learned quite a bit without me knowing, which surprised me at the time."
Praised by Kaede, Eriri smiled shyly and said, "Hehehe, I'm not that great. My mom is the amazing one; she taught me."
Ah, these two are starting again.
This thought popped up in everyone's minds, but fortunately, the two of them didn't go too far, so everyone just let them be.
After looking at Kaede and Eriri, Takasu Yasuko's gaze involuntarily shifted to her son, and then she thoughtfully looked at Oosaka Taiga and Kushieda Minori.
Oh dear~~ This is giving me a bit of a headache.
After resting for a while, everyone had different ideas for the afternoon entertainment.
Finally, Eriri suggested, "How about this: we decide by drawing lots!"
After speaking, she ran to the studio, brought out a piece of white paper and several pens, folded the paper into small slips, and distributed them to everyone. "Let's all write down what we want to do, and then we'll draw lots to decide. Whatever we pick, that's what we'll play!"
There was no other way. Some wanted to play Monopoly, some suggested playing cards, and some even wanted to go out and play baseball. Ideas were endless, so this was the only way to handle it.
Everyone took the paper and pens, wrote down their ideas, folded them up, and dropped them into a small box Eriri had brought.
Once everything was inside, Eriri shook the box vigorously. After scanning the group, she finally handed the box to Takasu Yasuko. "Yasuko, please draw one!"
"Eh? Me?"
Takasu Yasuko said in surprise, finally unable to resist everyone's urging, she put her hand in, "Then I... I'll choose this one!"
Taking out the slip of paper she had drawn, Takasu Yasuko curiously opened it and revealed a somewhat helpless expression.
"Who... wrote this?"
Everyone quickly gathered around and saw the single word "Horror" briefly written on the slip.
It was naturally impossible for the girls to write such a suggestion, so they immediately shifted their gaze to the remaining boys.
Uchimaki Subaru, Kitamura Yusaku, and Takasu Ryuji all shook their heads: "Not me, I didn't write it!"
Then, they all looked toward the last person who hadn't spoken.
Facing everyone's scrutiny, Kaede spread his hands and said, "Well, I think this is quite interesting, and I just bought a projector, so we might as well use it. Of course, if you guys are scared, we can change it, that's fine too."
Naturally, none of the boys were afraid, they just hadn't expected it to be a horror movie.
As for the girls, they glanced at each other. Although they felt a strange resistance toward horror movies, they didn't want to show it, so they could only brace themselves.
While Kaede went to set up the projector, Utaha asked, "Asakura-kun, what movie are you planning to show everyone? It's best if it's not something we've seen, that would be boring."
Utaha was one of the girls who had watched more horror movies; she had seen things like Sadako, Ju-On, and Alien.
After setting up the projector, connecting it to the USB drive containing the downloaded movie source, and turning it on, Kaede replied, "The Conjuring. Have you seen it?"
"Hmm~~ I've heard of it. They say it's quite scary, but I haven't watched it."
Utaha became somewhat interested.
Pulling the curtains shut and taking the drinks out of the refrigerator, Kaede said, "It's a 2013 movie, but it's excellent in every aspect. I watched it a long time ago and was planning to revisit it anyway, so let's all watch it together today."
It was also a good chance to see everyone's reactions to a horror movie; that should be very interesting.