After the most awkward pre-dinner conversation, the appetizers were shortly served to us. "Well, that was fast..." I said.
"Only the best and fastest service for my daughter's friends." Mrs. Sayuri warmly replied with a smile. Seeing that smile, it really hides the fact she is a scary person.
The appetizer fit the theme of tonight's dinner, 'simple and reminds of home'. It was bread sticks.
"Ah, my favorite food any time of the day, specially at three in the morning... This really does remind me of home. I still remember almost getting hit with a baseball bat because my dad thought I was a thief who broke into our home! Hahaha!" I joked to clear the earlier tense atmosphere. "Hahaha, the same happened for me! Mom called the cops and we had to explain that I just wanted some cheese sticks from the fridge!" Hotaka added.
"You know, you young-lings have to sleep early. Your body is still growing, staying up too late would hinder your growth and learning capacity." Mrs. Sayuri said through the loud speaker. Someone please turn that down...
"Yes, Ma'am..." we all said in unison.
Moving on, I took a bite of the warm bread stick, it's softness and warmth made me squeal in joy. Bread sticks really are the best! "This tastes so good!" Haruka yelled in delight. "Oh, yeah? Try dipping it!" Kana said as she nudged over a tray full of dip. "Bro, there's like twenty different dips, which one would we even try first?!" I said in disbelief. One, two... Alright, there are seven dips in total, but I need to save some space in my stomach for the stew...
I thought long and hard about my choices while the rest dug in. "This is so good! Even more so with the dip!" said Haruka as she took a bite of her bread dipped in some sort of white sauce. "I also like the spicy garlic sauce. Good to hear that someone has similar taste to mine." Mr. Sayuri said. "Haruka, you've gotta try this one." as Hotaru fed Haruka a stick with a dip colored red. "Bleh! This is ketchup! Why'd you feed me ketchup?! Who eats bread with ketchup?!" The entire room burst into laughter as Haruka playfully smacked Hotaru.
Amidst everyone's laughter, I finally decided on what dips I'm gonna eat. It wasn't really hard to. I mean, we all know cream cheese is the number one dip. Followed by, of course, Tomato Sauce. I have no idea what it's called, but it tastes like tomatoes, therefore, it shall be titled Tomato Sauce. Sigh, why did I have to think about this? I should just probably enjoy the dinner- "Take this!" Haruka shoved a bread stick into my mouth. "Hahaha! What dip did you put in that?" Hotaka laughed at the choking me.
"Now, now. It was funny at first, but you have to be careful now, children." Mr. Sayuri had to cut us off. We all heeded his warning and settled down. The respect this guy has is actually unbelievable. He managed to quiet down THE Media and Entertainment Club. Much respect.
At last, the main course has arrived. "Oh, dude! I forgot about the beef stew! But my stomach can only take so much..." the bloated Hotaru complained. "That's what you get for fooling around." the proud Kana replied, "Look, I only ate like three sticks because I knew the stew was coming, now I can eat them at the same time." Kana, even more prideful, added. "Okay, props to you, rich girl. Hahaha!" Haruka decided to poke fun at the proud Kana.
I giggled hearing this. Kana is acting like a high princess towards us and it's ironic. Why? Didn't she not want to be recognized as a rich girl, yet she's doing prideful acts like these... Very ironic if I do say so myself.
"Alright, settle down and let's eat now. Shall we?" Hotaka interrupted the bantering. I see that the white knight has arrived... Never mind that, this beef stew was supposed to be simple... Why does it have golden covered meat?! Everything looks normal, the gold coated beef is the only thing that looks expensive in this dish. "Apologies for the odd beef, we didn't have any regular meat lying around, so we decided to just use our less expensive cuts of steak." The chef apologized.
"Less expensive, you say? How much did the meat cost?" I asked with a smile. "Oh, it's a little over a thousand bucks, no need to fret over the budget! Just enjoy the meal!" Mrs. Sayuri replied just after the chef had opened his mouth. I managed to prevent my jaw from completely separating from my body and just nodded. Yes, a thousand bucks is indeed very. very, cheap.