Chapter 276: I Think You Guys Can Be Idols
The final result was obvious: in front of Honoka, who might become Fruit Emperor in the future, Eriri's dancing skills were simply not worth watching.
Even though Honoka was still a little innocent now, her innate talent could still easily overpower Eriri's barely passing stamina and reaction speed.
"Ha... ha..."
After a song, Eriri panted, looking at the score on the TV, and said incredulously, "Honoka, why is your score getting higher and higher?"
"Ah haha~~~"
Honoka smiled, rubbing her head, and said, "I feel like I'm quite suited for this game. After getting used to it, I always feel like I can keep up with the rhythm. It's really fun!"
Really... really fun?
At this moment, on the other side, which Eriri hadn't noticed, Umi also caught her breath and said, "Hmm, I wasn't used to it at first, but now I feel it's alright. I think I can go a bit faster."
This girl had been studying traditional dance since childhood, so she had a solid foundation. After overcoming her initial unfamiliarity with the game, she also began to display strength not inferior to Honoka's.
Including Minami Kotori, although her score was slightly lower than the others, it wasn't too much lower. The main reason was that this girl didn't dare to make many of her movements too big while playing.
As for Yukiho, she seemed to be slacking off the whole time, as if her attention was focused on the others who were engrossed in the game.
Eriri felt her stamina was running out. She turned to Kaede, raising her right hand with the controller strapped to it, and said, "Kaede-kun, you take over for a round!"
"Me?"
Kaede shook his head desperately with a speed he had never shown before, saying, "Don't try to get me into trouble. I wouldn't dare play this game. You just want to embarrass me!"
"Ah!!!"
Unfortunately, not just Eriri, but everyone else wanted Kaede to play. Honoka even ran over directly, pulling Kaede's arm and saying, "Kaede-nii! Come play with us, just one song!"
Yukiho also followed her sister's footsteps, running over and saying with sparkling eyes, "Don't worry, Kaede-nii, none of us will laugh at you!"
"...Isn't that just a case of protesting too much?"
Pulled by the two girls, with the other three also staring intently, Kaede sighed deeply, raised his hand and said, "I surrender, I'll play one round."
Replacing Eriri, strapping on the controller, Kaede started the game with a look of utter resignation.
Although Kaede could generally keep up with the game's difficulty, as long as it wasn't the hardest song, his movements weren't very graceful. After all, he had no dance background whatsoever, so just keeping up with the in-game prompts was good enough.
When it was over, his score wasn't low, but Eriri, sitting next to him, was clutching her stomach, laughing so hard she was about to fall over.
"Hahahaha~~~ It's been so long since I've seen Kaede-kun play this. Hahahaha, it has a unique charm!"
"..."
Kaede silently took off the controller, walked over to Eriri, squatted down, and then reached out his hand to her waist and started tickling her.
"Ugh... Uh hahahaha~~~ I'm sorry, I'm sorry, stop tickling me! Ah hahahaha~~~~"
"This is punishment for laughing at me, Eriri~~"
Kaede narrowed his eyes, tickled mercilessly for a while, then finally stopped, exhaled, and turned to Honoka and the others, who dared not make a sound, saying, "You all keep playing, but don't play too hard. We'll be eating in about half an hour."
"Okay~~~~" x4
After Kaede went back to cooking, the recovered Eriri finally got up, her face flushed, and said, "Didn't any of you think to save me?"
Kotori covered her mouth and chuckled, "Hehe, we wouldn't dare. What if Senpai punished us too? I laughed while playing the game earlier."
"No, he wouldn't~"
Picking up the controller and strapping it back on, Eriri said, "Annoying as it is, Kaede-kun knows what he can and cannot do. If anyone's going to be unlucky, it's probably me. You're all guests, he wouldn't get angry at you. Alright, let's not play songs that are too difficult. Let's play a few easy ones, then rest and play something else!"
After picking another song, everyone finally stopped playing that and switched to Mario Party.
When it was time, Kaede's lunch was ready, so everyone had to stop their halfway-finished game and prepare to eat.
Seeing the table full of various dishes, Honoka swallowed, then was forcibly dragged by Yukiho to wash her hands. After washing, she eagerly sat down at the chair, looking at the dishes and saying, "So many dishes from different countries, they all look so delicious!"
Pouring the drinks, Kaede smiled and said, "Eriri and I both really enjoy eating. After moving out, we naturally started learning all sorts of cooking. As long as the dishes from various countries are delicious, we've found recipes and learned them little by little. Come on, everyone, try it. I'm quite confident in my cooking skills."
"Let's eat!!!"
Honoka, being the most eager, immediately picked up a sparerib and put it in her mouth, her eyes instantly narrowing: "Mmm~~~ Sweet and sour, so delicious!"
Kotori looked at the dish and said, "I know this one, it's Chinese Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, right? There are the most Chinese dishes on the table."
"That's right," Kaede nodded, "After all, there are eight major culinary traditions, and you can't learn them all. There are countless delicious things, and it's the most interesting to research them. Kotori, Umi, don't be shy. Pick what you like and eat more, otherwise Honoka will finish it all."
"Wuwuwu, I won't finish it!"
Honoka, with her mouth full of food, looked at Kaede in dissatisfaction, refuting him with indistinct words, only to elicit a helpless look from her sister.
After the initial amazement, Honoka's eating speed finally slowed down a bit. Everyone ate and chatted.
Eriri looked at the girls opposite her and said, "Just now, playing Just Dance, I found you all to be amazing dancers, with such great rhythm. Umi has a foundation, and Honoka, I remember you're a beginner, right? How are you so good too?"
Honoka returned a smug smile: "Hehe, actually, I'm a genius!"
"You, a genius?" Kaede said with a laugh, "Then don't ask Kotori and Umi to help you study before the entrance exams!"
"Huh? No, that won't do! That won't do!"
The little girl instantly broke down, afraid that her good friends really wouldn't help her with tutoring.
Kotori gave Kaede a helpless look and said, "Senpai, don't say that. Honoka takes things very seriously."
"Alright, alright, no more jokes." Kaede nodded, looking at the pouting Honoka staring at him, "However, you all really do have talent in dance. I think you could totally choose to become idols in the future."
"Huh? Become idols?"
The girls were all stunned.