Evening.
Two grills had already been set up on the beach.
The sparks from the charcoal flickered across Barbatos's face, and the aroma of grilling fish wafted through the air.
Renting one grill probably would've been more than enough for the few of them, but with Special Week back in action, the grilling speed couldn't keep up with the eating speed at all.
So she ended up sharing one grill with Seiun Sky, while Grass Wonder and King Halo used the other.
"Nom nom nom!!!"
The sound of Special Week munching away was relentless.
Barbatos briefly considered getting Special Week to help with the grilling instead of just focusing on eating, but after a moment's thought, she didn't bring it up.
Special Week had been cramming during the fishing trip, and now she was in charge of eating during the grilling. But hey, the girl failed her exams, right? Poor thing, probably slacked off during summer school.
She glanced at the grill. Besides the mostly fish, there were also scattered items like grilled potato slices, grilled radishes, and skewers of beef and lamb.
The potato slices cooked quickly, but the fish and meat took much longer.
They usually just ate at the cafeteria, so grilling was more of a concept they were familiar with than something they actually did.
The results were all over the place—some salty, some bland, some spicy—but everything was at least edible.
In an atmosphere like this, hanging out with friends, with the sea breeze blowing every now and then, even a bland, tasteless grilled fish starts to taste pretty good.
At least, Special Week wasn't complaining.
"This one should be about done..."
Barbatos picked up a lamb skewer, checked to make sure it was cooked through, and sprinkled some cumin on it.
She was about to hand the skewer over to Seiun Sky.
But then she thought better of it and took a bite first, just to taste it.
Her palate was pretty similar to Seiun Sky's, so if she found it too salty or too spicy, she'd just eat the whole thing herself.
Tasted fine.
Barbatos held the slightly-nibbled skewer up to Seiun Sky's lips. Seiun Sky naturally opened her mouth and finished it off in two bites.
Mumbling around the food, she said, "Isn't that fish over there about to burn?"
"Huh? Is it?"
Startled, Barbatos flipped the fish on the grill and noticed the edge had gotten a little charred from her distraction with the skewer.
"Save the burnt one for Spe."
"She can still eat it if you scrape off the burnt part."
Seiun Sky thought about the possibility of Special Week having an upset stomach later that night and offered the suggestion anyway.
"Got it, I'll tell her. I'm not about to make her cram all day and then deal with a stomachache at night, right?"
Otherwise, wouldn't that be the perfect world where only Special Week gets hurt?
Then again, Twin Turbo also failed her exams.
About another half hour passed like that.
The sea breeze hitting them carried a strong chill, a noticeable temperature drop from the daytime. Barbatos started packing up the grilling gear, calling it a night for dinner.
The fish they'd caught and the ingredients they'd bought were completely wiped out by Special Week. Her appetite alone surpassed the combined appetites of Barbatos and the other three.
This eventually led to the four of them essentially just grilling fish for Special Week.
At one point, Special Week, either impatient or too embarrassed to just wait to be fed, joined in on grilling fish for herself.
This being Special Week's first time grilling fish, she ended up burning several.
They still got eaten, so no food went to waste, but Barbatos seriously wondered if it was really okay for Special Week to eat like that.
After returning the grilling gear.
Full and finally recovered from the nightmare of summer school, Special Week gave everyone a deep bow. "Thanks so much for the food today!"
"Next time, I'll grill fish for everyone."
That was just her personality. A bit dense, but she got along well with her friends.
"B-chan, got any fun stuff planned for tonight?"
Seeing Special Week look her way, Barbatos immediately thought of something. "How about a thrilling game of cabin Ludo?"
"Huh?"
"Ludo?"
Special Week had never encountered something as novel as Ludo. As an Uma Musume, her only joy growing up had been running.
But the daytime cramming had nearly made her lose all hope for this summer school. Now, with the evening offering the most free time to themselves, she was full of anticipation for any kind of activity.
King Halo, leaning on her crutch, spoke up, "Ludo's only for four players."
Meaning, with five of them, someone would be left out. They didn't have a Ludo board now, but where there's a will, there's a way. Buying one wasn't a big deal.
Barbatos nodded. "True. I guess we'll just have to play it with the four of us while Spe's at cram school."
"Huh?"
Special Week looked totally confused.
"Eheh, just kidding. If you really want to do something tonight,"
"We could have a pajama party, have a pillow fight, or tell some scary stories."
Barbatos revealed some of the plans she'd made before summer school started.
Lucky for them, her roommates this time were all good friends.
If it were other, less familiar Uma Musume, activities like this would probably have to wait a week or even half a month until they got to know each other.
"Pillow fight?!"
Unlike Ludo, even if she'd never had one, just hearing the word immediately conjured up the meaning.
"A pillow fight? I'll show you all..."
King Halo, oblivious to her own mobility issues with a broken leg, was as confident as ever.
But Barbatos immediately cut her off mid-declaration.
"If we're really going to have a pillow fight, it'll have to be a bit later."
"I think I ate a little too much. Gotta go for a walk to digest. See you guys later!"
Barbatos waved, grabbed Seiun Sky's hand, and headed off in another direction. Special Week, who had been about to follow, was promptly stopped by Grass Wonder.
Humans are social creatures. Same goes for Uma Musume.
Especially during summer school, playing together just helps everyone relax.
But in this moment, Grass Wonder instinctively stopped Special Week. Little Ba had pretty clearly hinted she wanted some alone time. Better not let Special Week intrude.
Thinking about it, Grass Wonder's gaze subtly flickered towards King Halo out of the corner of her eye. Could she and Special Week also have some alone time...
The fleeting thought startled her for a second, but she quickly composed herself.
Her smile was as gentle as ever.
"Let's head back to the cabin first. B-chan and the others should be back soon."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.