Tri-color dango—one kind of small snack—was mostly made from glutinous rice flour. Some had filling, some didn't. People liked to drizzle a not-too-sweet low-calorie syrup over it and mix-and-match as they ate.
Of course, after trying it once, Yukio had always felt that low-cal syrup was basically just watered-down honey.
But when he saw the dango, he wasn't thinking about the taste at all. Instead, a light, bouncy tune vaguely echoed in his head.
Dango, dango, dango daikazoku…
"Heh-heh~" Amasawa obviously had no idea what Yukio was thinking. Right now her face was full of that little-devil smile. "Senpai, don't let the dango's cute looks fool you. This isn't ordinary tri-color dango."
"?" Yukio was in the middle of replaying the melody when Amasawa cut in, making him suspicious.
"This is rare treasure I found at Keyaki Center—super thrilling loaded dango!" Amasawa looked like she was presenting a prized artifact, proud as hell. "There are three balls on each skewer, and one of them—randomly—has extra-spicy wasabi inside!"
"Senpai, let's compete. Eat them with a straight face, then guess which dango ball in the other person's set was the loaded one~!"
Yukio's cheek twitched. What kind of demon game was this? If all six balls were loaded, both sides would be suffering—there wouldn't even be a winner.
"So… why would I play?"
"Eh?" Amasawa's mischievous grin froze. It was like a wind-up key in her back had suddenly hit the end and all her power cut out.
"S-Senpai doesn't think it's… fun?" Amasawa paused, then tried to persuade him again. "You could watch your adorable kouhai eat a wasabi dango and desperately hold in the spice… but still end up tearing up in embarrassment, you know?"
"Doesn't that make your heart flutter?"
"…" Inside Yukio's head, it felt like a crow flew by screaming caw caw caw. "By that logic, wouldn't you also get to watch me get wrecked by wasabi?"
"Th-That…" Amasawa went blank for a second, but she still refused to give up. The craving in those amber-gold eyes grew thicker and thicker. Finally, she just started rolling around on the sofa.
"Pleaaase, pleaaase, senpai!"
She looked exactly like a little girl throwing a tantrum to get her parents to buy a toy.
And honestly, it wasn't that different. Ten-plus years in the White Room—how would she ever get to play something this exciting and fun?
Now that she'd finally escaped that hellhole and enrolled in a school only normal people could attend, of course Amasawa wanted to play to her heart's content~!
Yukio's forehead practically turned black with lines. He sighed. "If you agree to do one extra thing for me, then sure—I can play with you."
"What thing?!" Amasawa popped upright instantly, eyes shining. Then her expression abruptly froze as she pulled both hands tight to her chest. "D-Don't tell me… it's that kind of thing? Dame yo, dame dame… Aunt Flo is visiting today, you know."
"If senpai really needs it, please wait patiently for a week, okay?"
Yukio's expression was basically the subway-grandpa-staring-at-his-phone meme, full of question marks. This kouhai really was a little devil who specialized in giving boys headaches.
"Stop imagining things. It's simple. Help me ask Tsukishiro what he's really trying to do."
Yukio trusted Tsukishiro would understand what that meant.
As the time drew closer and closer for former Chairman Sakayanagi to return from the investigation group, Yukio was already preparing to replace the chairman.
If Tsukishiro still hadn't accomplished what he truly wanted by then, Yukio wasn't planning to keep waiting. Their friendly history would, at most, buy Tsukishiro a few more months.
Hearing that, Amasawa's face turned serious for a beat—then it brightened even more.
"Easy, easy~ Okay then, senpai—do I go first, or…?"
Yukio made a go ahead gesture. Amasawa didn't hesitate. She grabbed the skewer closest to her, bit into the first dango ball, and chewed. At first she looked steady, but halfway through she started squirming.
She hurriedly set it down and jumped to her feet, suddenly restless like her whole body was on fire, looking left and right—then she charged straight at the electric kettle in Yukio's room. She didn't even bother finding a cup.
Amasawa grabbed the kettle with both hands and just started chugging straight from the spout.
Yukio stared, dumbfounded. What the hell? You can do that?!
"Haa… I-I'm alive… again…" Amasawa put the kettle down and sat back on the sofa, eyes watery, sweat beading on her forehead.
It was so over-the-top you honestly couldn't tell if it was acting or a genuine reflex.
Yukio didn't decide yet. He just watched as Amasawa ate her second dango ball.
This time she looked like she was enjoying it, chewing with real enthusiasm. But when she reached the third ball, she immediately put on this exaggerated, on-the-verge-of-tears act.
"I guess it's—" Yukio started to speak, but Amasawa cut him off urgently.
"W-Wait… wait a sec!" She sounded like she'd gotten hit with spice, her words not even fully clear. "Senpai, senpai—you have to eat too! Eat, then we guess each other's!"
"Sure." Yukio didn't care at all. He picked up his own skewer—
One ball, one bite. He didn't even chew. He just swallowed.
In a few seconds, without his expression changing even once, he had downed all three.
They were tiny anyway. Not even as big as the oysters he used to swallow whole.
Amasawa's eyes went huge. If she pushed any harder, it felt like her eyeballs were going to pop right out.
"Ch-Che—cheating, senpai!! You're cheating!! Who eats loaded dango without chewing?!"
"Then you can't even taste the wasabi inside!"
Yukio calmly set the skewer down, smiling gently—like a cram-school teacher.
"Learn from your mistakes, kouhai. Remember this lesson well. Next time you play games, think a little harder first."
"Now can we guess? No matter how you performed at the start, your chewing gave you away."
"First ball: eighteen chews. Second ball: you acted like you were enjoying it, but you only chewed nine times before swallowing in a hurry. Third ball: seventeen chews."
"Pretty simple, right? The worse something tastes, the less you want to eat it—so you chew less and swallow more."
"So, kouhai… your second ball was the loaded one, wasn't it?"
Amasawa was speechless. Completely correct. Which meant… Yukio swallowed his straight down to hide his chewing count—and avoid tasting wasabi at all?
She'd just gotten taught a real lesson.
And now, as the wasabi burn finally crept up, Amasawa truly felt like crying.
"Waaah… senpai, you're so shameless…"
"High praise, kouhai."
"I'm not praising you!!"