"I recommend this place most of all! The dishes have a real tropical flair, but they're also very much suited to Japanese tastes!"
"Oh! You're right—it tastes even better than Japanese curry..."
"Heh-heh—"
Lifting her small head with pride written all over her face, Kujo Maki curled her lips upward, triumphantly soaking in the approval of her companions!
Picking up a wrap from the table, Miyazawa Yuu smiled and leaned back against his chair, watching the heartwarming scene before him. He then stood up and moved to the sofa where Kotegawa Nanaka was lying.
"Stomach still bothering you? That shouldn't be right; I don't remember this happening before."
"Emmm... still a little bit."
Lying on the sofa, although Kotegawa Nanaka's expression was calm, a layer of cold sweat remained on her forehead, proving that her physical condition was definitely not as good as she let on.
Situations where an "old married couple" played a bit too hard had happened before, but this time, the discomfort was exceptionally intense. Specifically, she felt a weakness in her limbs, low spirits, and a faint, dull ache in her lower abdomen.
Pressing her fair fingers against her belly, the mature older woman ruffled her young boyfriend's hair and comforted him with a smile. "It's fine. It's probably just a bit of travel fatigue; don't worry about me~"
"Well~ it's because Nanaka-san always says that that I worry the most..."
With a soft sigh—if only Nanaka would cry out in pain or complain like Aina did, Yu could feel a bit more at ease, since the symptoms would be visible to the naked eye. But unfortunately, she had the kind of personality where she'd rather sacrifice herself just so everyone could have a good time, which made things difficult.
Lifting Nanaka's bangs, he leaned down with a worried face and gave her sweat-beaded forehead a gentle kiss, then lowered his head to press his own forehead against the kiss mark.
"If it gets really bad, tell me. If we have to go to the hospital for something like this, the worst that happens is I get a scolding and it'll be over."
"Mm!"
"Good girl~"
Stuffing the wrap into Nanaka's mouth, Miyazawa Yuu stood up and rubbed his face to reset his expression. After unloading all his worry, he walked over to Kohei and Aina with a swagger.
Even though it was a group dinner, given the current "injured and pregnant" state of the PaB club, a full half of the members couldn't eat at the table normally.
Regarding this, the culprit, Chisa, could ignore Iori's suffering and even twist the knife, but if Imamura Kohei dared to ignore Aina, he would likely be finely minced into meat sauce by everyone present!
"How is it? Is Aina still unable to move?"
"Mm... wait! Actually, I can move just a tiny bit~"
Deep in a daydream where she had pinned Kohei to the bed, doing this and that, and finally leaving him a complete mess, weeping behind his hands—Yoshiwara Aina blanked for two seconds before realizing Yu was talking to her.
With a slurp, she quickly sucked back all the drool that had escaped, wiped the rest with her sleeve, and frantically tried to shift her body with a red face to prove she wasn't doing anything too outrageous!
However, everyone's constitution is different. Aina clearly belonged to the "pull one hair and the whole body moves" type; despite only moving her limbs slightly, a sharp pain immediately shot through her stomach.
"Eek!"
"What the hell are you doing, you bastard!"
"Chotto matte! This isn't my fault at all, okay!"
His eyes sharpened—the moment Aina let out that cry of pain, Miyazawa Yuu sensed trouble and dodged backward. But even so, he couldn't escape Imamura Kohei's precision collar-grab.
Matching Kohei's murderous gaze with his own dead-fish eyes, no matter what, he resolutely refused to admit fault! After all, who was the real culprit here? If you're so brave, go hang yourself from a tree to prove your resolve; what kind of hero targets an innocent bystander!
"Wait! Kohei, stop messing around!"
"Tsk! For Aina's sake, I'll kill you if there's a next time!"
"I told you, it's not my f-ing fault!"
Finally escaping the grip, Miyazawa Yuu watched Kohei fly back to the dining table like a busy little bee, then back to the sofa to feed Aina. Yu let out a deep sigh.
"How long has he been showing these symptoms? Is there any risk of recovery?"
"Don't make it sound like a disease! It's just... well, Yu and Nanaka do this kind of thing often too, right? Feeding play?"
Shyly hiding half her face behind a blanket, Yoshiwara Aina stared with watery eyes, her gaze darting wildly left and right in an attempt to dodge Miyazawa Yuu's playful stare.
But honestly, she quite enjoyed Kohei's service; it felt like being held in the palm of someone's hand and spoiled.
"Well~ do we or don't we?"
Sitting at Aina's feet, Miyazawa Yuu teased her with a drawn-out tone. He waited until Aina was about to cry from embarrassment before waving his hand to get down to business.
"Let's just say we do. So Aina, what are your plans after going back? Getting married, staying in Izu after graduation, or returning to your hometown?"
"Mm... Kohei and I discussed getting married and staying in Izu. After all, my grandpa and dad are looking after the fields back home."
Slowly curling up her legs, Yoshiwara Aina turned her head to look at the still-naive Kohei, her eyes filled to the brim with trust and affection. Although he seemed unreliable now, she had no doubt he could support a farm girl like her in finding her place in the city.
Of course, most of the reason for staying in Izu came down to the PaB club; after all, you wouldn't find a place anywhere else where everyone could cast aside all restraints and truly mingle!
"Not bad. Congratulations. I guess that counts as a dream coming true?"
"Exactly~ Sorry for scaring you guys back when school first started!"
"Hahaha~ that was so long ago."
He said it was long ago, but it felt like it was right before his eyes. After all, a bizarre scene like a "Cakey" girl wailing and crying is something you never forget after seeing it once!
Miyazawa Yuu shook his head with a smile and stood up. So, next...
"So what are you doing? A PaB club satisfaction survey?"
"Something like that. A lot has happened, hasn't it? Tell me, Mr. Iori, how does it feel to have your plans go up in smoke?"
"You bastard..."
If there was one thing that never changed about the jerk Yu since he joined PaB, it was his ability to annoy people. Naturally, Kitahara Iori didn't let the kid off and boldly went on the offensive.
"Ugh... Okay, now for the first question!"
Locked in a rear-naked choke on the sofa, Miyazawa Yuu relied on his powerful neck muscles to ignore the risk of suffocation. With great interest, he pulled out a pen and paper to gossip. "May I ask what the current relationship is between Mr. Iori and Miss Chisa?"
"...Boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Oh! That is quite the unexpected bombshell! A factual romance between a naked scumbag and the ice-cold campus belle? Sounds like a real bestseller!"
Adjusting a pair of non-existent glasses, Miyazawa Yuu wickedly changed the title to a clickbait style, hoping to gain more traction!
Watching the jerk who was already deep in character, Kitahara Iori really wanted to give him a few whacks. But considering it was the farewell party, he decided to give this busybody a bit of face.
"So? If there are no more questions, get lost!"
"One more: what are the post-marriage arrangements for you two? Going back to inherit the family business?"
"Heh? Unless you move back to Tokyo, that's absolutely impossible!"
"Yoshi! So that means you're staying in Izu too. Looks like I don't have to swap your tableware for disposables after all!"
"It's not that I'm saying..."
Suddenly sensing something was off, Kitahara Iori narrowed his eyes suspiciously and pointed a finger at Miyazawa Yuu, speaking hesitantly: "You... you're not doing this survey because you're afraid that once we all have girlfriends, we'll go our separate ways, are you?"
"Huh?!"
Yuu shoulders instantly stiffened. He slowly turned his head away, gave a couple of awkward laughs, and struggled to retort: "H-how is that possible? Iori, don't talk nonsense!"
"Bastard! That's exactly what you're thinking!"
Rarely catching a moment of Yuu vulnerability, Kitahara Iori was stunned for two seconds before his mouth immediately split into a maniacal grin that reached his ears!
"Everyone! We have someone being sentimental over here!"
Excitedly, his legs suddenly became incredibly strong, locking Yuu head in a death grip. He opened his big mouth and started hollering toward the dining table, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
"Eh? Yu?"
"That really is big news. The last person who was afraid of being sidelined because Yu got a girlfriend was Aina, wasn't it?"
Tilting her head, Kotegawa Chisa thought back carefully—the last person to be this sentimental was indeed Aina! It seemed that, to some extent, Yu and Aina were quite alike. At least compared to Iori and Kohei, this guy wasn't truly heartless.
"Yamero! Damn it, Iori, I'm going all out against you!"
"Bring it on!"
"Ha, hiss..."
Just as she was about to laugh, Kotegawa Nanaka suddenly felt a dull ache in her stomach, accompanied by a faint sensation of heaviness and swelling...