Thankfully, my little slip-up was met with only light laughter before everyone moved on. It seemed they'd chalked it up to a joke, playing on the pseudo-narcissism I'd just revealed.
Honestly, I was grateful they didn't make a big deal out of it… because it was really embarrassing.
After that, we changed locations and began our tour of the food stalls in earnest.
As we walked, however, one thing started to bother me.
Why were all four of us wearing white-themed swimsuits?
My eye-catching monokini and Nagisa's bikini with a wrap skirt were intentionally bought as a matching set, so that made sense. But Noah was wearing a rather provocative ring bikini that just so happened to be white. Haruna, too, was in a white monokini, similar to mine but relatively more modest, with a light, wing-like fabric draped over her arms.
Ah, I take back my comment about Haruna's monokini being modest. Upon closer inspection, it had several diamond-shaped cutouts along her side that were mischievous in more ways than one.
Honestly, how could she be so lewd? That shy yet alluringly revealed skin was enough to stimulate one's most primitive desires. It made me want to just… poke it.
In any case, the sight of four girls with fair skin, each in a unique white swimsuit, was naturally drawing a lot of attention as we made our way through the stalls.
On top of that, the fact that two of us were Trinity's student presidents, one was clearly a Gehenna student, and the last, while not as famous, was the secretary of Millennium's student council, made for a bizarre combination that was impossible to ignore, even setting aside our looks.
As the number of onlookers grew, Nagisa began to restrain herself from openly antagonizing Haruna. As a student president who had to maintain a certain level of dignity, it was an unavoidable choice.
"Ah, this yakitori… this is from the stall that was in the eating contest yesterday. What do you all think?"
"…Oh my. I've heard about this place from Akari-san and Izumi-san. They said that while not top-tier, the savory-sweet flavor has an exquisite umami that captivates the tongue. As they say, tasting is believing. Let's give it a try!"
Haruna casually opened her wallet and handed each of us a skewer. We were a group that didn't really need to worry about who was paying, but everyone, even a reluctant Nagisa, made sure to say thank you.
I mean, Nagisa and I were set, of course. Haruna was a young lady wealthy enough to enjoy fine dining, and Noah, as a member of Millennium's student council, was hardly wanting for money. It was simply a matter of whoever pulled out their card first got to pay.
With that in mind, for the sake of Nagisa's mental health, it was probably best to make sure Haruna didn't get to use her card again today.
"Well then, time to eat."
The yakitori tasted… pretty much as I expected.
It wasn't special or amazing, but it was good enough to be called tasty. The price wasn't overly expensive for a festival, and the three distinct flavors blended well enough in my mouth.
So, in my book, it earned a solid "decently edible" rating.
"It was a taste that proves the old saying, 'great expectations lead to great disappointments.' For yakitori lovers expecting the quality of a specialty restaurant in Millennium, the texture of the meat and the sauce would be a letdown. But for anyone else, it's a perfectly acceptable flavor. Overall rating: 2.5 stars."
But what was this? After one bite, Noah put her yakitori down, pulled out a notebook, and started scribbling furiously.
"…Noah-chan, what's that?"
"Ah… Haruna-san and I are planning to upload a column about the food at this festival to Millennium's forum. I thought a review from Haruna-san, a member of the Millennium Idol Project with notoriously high standards for food, would get a good response… Fufu. Perhaps I chose the wrong partner."
Noah clipped her pen to the notebook and smiled pleasantly, watching Haruna, who was too busy slowly savoring her yakitori to notice.
Haruna was the type to be more influenced by her surroundings than the taste of the food itself, so the fact that I was with her was a major factor. That's why she was reacting like that to a fairly average yakitori skewer. But I had a feeling Noah's judgment might have been a bit premature.
"I don't think you have to worry about that, Noah-chan. She might be like that now, but when it comes to food, Haruna-chan knows how to separate business from pleasure. I'd bet on it☆"
I could guarantee it. She might be enjoying it now, but if you asked for her actual review, she would hold nothing back.
And sure enough.
"Phew, that was delicious… Well then, Noah-san. Allow me to give you my review. The chicken, likely due to it being a hot summer day at an outdoor stall, was of poor quality and rather disappointing. The sauce and the salt seasoning did not blend cleanly, which was also a shame. It might have been better if they had omitted the sauce entirely, but the texture of the meat was so substandard that it still would have been unsatisfying. Even so, I can say that it at least met the minimum standards for festival food. Overall rating: 2 stars."
"…Wow, Haruna-san, you're ruthless. You say things that would hurt the owner's feelings without a second thought."
"If you weren't here, Mika-san, my hand would have already been on my detonator."
Fortunately, the robot running the stall was busy looking for something in the back and didn't hear her.
Still, what an interesting hobby they'd found. It seemed like the most likely thing Noah and Haruna would do if they hung out together. They were like a pair of wandering food critics… Hmm, it looked fun. If my mere presence could stop Haruna from blowing up stalls, that was more than enough reason to tag along, wasn't it?
"Ahaha! What's this, it looks fun! Hey, Noah-chan! Can I write a line in there too?"
"Of course. I see no reason why not, Mika-san. I hear you're the vice president of the Gourmet Research Society…"
"No, that's… that's a vicious rumor. Don't fall for Haruna-chan's tricks."
I pointed at Haruna with the pen I'd received from Noah. Haruna just gave me an innocent smile, as if she had no idea what I was talking about. She was shamelessly relying on her pretty face.
"Nagi-chan, you too—hmm…"
I took the notebook and, below Noah's elegant handwriting, added my own three-star review in a neat script. I was about to ask Nagisa if she wanted to write something too, but then I noticed her. After taking a single bite of her skewer, she hadn't touched it since, and was just staring at me with an indescribable expression.
It was a face that seemed envious yet tinged with jealousy, sorrowful yet holding a faint, happy smile. I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"Sorry, Nagi-chan. I wasn't paying enough attention to you, was I…?"
"What? Ah, no. This isn't something you need to apologize for at all. As long as you're having fun, Mika-san, I'm happy too. Please don't worry about me."
Maybe, but even if she said she was fine… this was clearly a situation that required my attention.
And her saying she was happy as long as I was having fun sounded so genuinely like her that it scared me a little. It was like she was saying she wouldn't hate me even if I neglected her, and I couldn't just let that be.
"Ahaha… If you didn't like the yakitori, how about we find something you want to eat next? Yeah, let's do that. That's okay with everyone, right?"
I shot a desperate look at Haruna and Noah. The two of them, catching my silent plea to agree, let out a small chuckle.
"Yes, of course it's okay♪"
"Fufu, as long as it doesn't have mint in it, I'm fine with anything."
"…Thank you, Ushio-san… and you as well, Kurodate-san."
Since their goal was to visit every stall anyway, it probably didn't matter to them. Still, I was glad they were both kind enough to play along.
Nagisa still looked like she wanted to keep her distance from Haruna, but it would be strange to expect them to suddenly become friends after they'd been at each other's throats just moments before.
Anyway, I never intended to be the one holding Haruna's leash, but it seemed I'd somehow become her personal restraint system…
Later, Nagisa strongly insisted that being overly considerate of her made her uncomfortable, and that I should just forget about her and have fun.
She said she had only come today because she was worried about Haruna and me developing an inappropriate relationship, and that with Noah here, she actually felt relieved… but I had my doubts.
From what I'd gathered so far, Noah seemed to be here for the dual purposes of advancing my relationship with Haruna and writing her food column. But I had a feeling that wasn't the whole story. The occasional glances Noah sent my way supported that hunch.
Could Nagisa, who was competent enough to lead Tea Party by herself for a time in the original story, really not have noticed this?
That meant Nagisa's statement about feeling relieved with Noah here was likely a lie. It was probably a ploy to subtly probe Noah's reactions.
Noah, a first-year who had already secured a position in the student council Seminar, was no easy opponent and didn't fall for it, but it was clear that a new, subtle line of conflict had been drawn.
"This yakisoba has quite a bit of meat in it… While it's true that most people who seek out yakisoba enjoy its distinct, polarizing flavor, having plenty of toppings to soften that taste is not necessarily a bad thing. More cabbage and meat adds to the satisfaction of the chew. I find this to be a very thoughtful recipe. Fufu, I think this deserves about four stars."
Haruna's assessment after we bought and shared a serving of yakisoba was spot on. As someone with lingering Korean taste buds, I much preferred this version to the yakisoba commonly found in Japan.
We continued our tour, buying and tasting choco bananas, ikayaki, and grilled corn, and the three of us continued to fill out our column.
In the midst of it all, as I was dutifully feeding Nagisa a bite of everything, an incident occurred where Haruna offered me a bite of the choco banana she had just bitten into.
That sparked another war of nerves between Nagisa and Haruna, and while they were distracted, Noah, who must have bought it at some point, mischievously offered me a ringo ame, a candy apple, with a playful smile.
"The beach, a festival, and grilled corn. Each of these words is wonderful on its own, but when you put them together, could a more perfect combination possibly exist? I declare that it would be a loss not to eat this while you are here. Overall rating: 5 stars."
With Haruna's heavily biased rating for the grilled corn, we had only one stall left.
The water-skiing finals were about to begin, so it was a good thing we had hurried.
The last stall was for takoyaki. The flashy hand movements of the Savannah Cat beastman making the takoyaki with his skewers automatically raised my expectations. After placing the takoyaki balls one by one into a paper box, he drizzled them with Worcester sauce and mayonnaise and topped them with bonito flakes, creating a mouth-watering treat.
I was quite fond of takoyaki, so I had high hopes. I picked one up with a toothpick and offered it to Nagisa first. She accepted it without much fuss, a sign of how comfortable we'd become with each other. It was a little disappointing, but also gratifying.
"…Hah."
As I was about to bring a takoyaki to my own mouth, I heard an ominous sigh from beside me.
For some reason, Haruna's eyes had grown dark. No, it would be better to say they were completely dead.
It was a familiar look, one I felt I'd seen somewhere before. Racking my brain, one thing came to mind.
Haruna's New Year version EX Skill animation.
In other words, she was about to go ballistic and blow a stall to kingdom come.
"Uh, hey. Haruna-chan…? I don't know what's going on, but let's just calm down…"
"…It's squid."
"Eh?"
"Instead of octopus, they used squid. And they dared to do it… in takoyaki."
The moment I saw Haruna raise a detonator, my body moved before I could even think.
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