"Everyone! it's done grilling over here! I've prepared a secret sauce. Brush the sauce of your preferred flavor on your own!"
"Finally! It felt like hours had passed!" Honoka exclaimed eagerly.
"Honoka, you're... too... impatient..." Nico mumbled incoherently, rolling her eyes after taking a bite.
"Ahh! Nico-chan, you're cheating! You've already started eating!" Upon seeing everyone enjoying their food, Honoka decided not to say anything further and promptly grabbed a small bowl, pulling out a grilled fish.
"Mmm... It smells so good." After taking a bite, her eyes lit up, and she added some sauce. "It has a different flavor! It's amazing!"
"You all should start eating too," Homura said, inviting the others. He himself carved the meat from the grilled fish and put it in the little one's bowl.
Haru, who had been eagerly waiting, drooled and pounced as soon as Homura finished preparing. With a face full of happiness, she ate to her heart's content!
Homura smiled as he looked at her and suddenly turned to everyone, saying, "Seeing Haru's expression will really sharpen your appetite, right?"
Sagiri and the others exchanged smiles because they knew exactly what kind of expression Haru had when she came to eat.
The girls who didn't know, like Muse's group, Light Music Club's group, and Saori's group, all turned their gazes toward the little one...
"...How? How can a cat have such a blissful expression?" Mio said incredulously, and then her expression gradually became excited. "I never thought I would witness such a scene! I need to capture it! Where's my phone... Ahh! Here it is!"
*Snap!* *Snap!*
Not just Mio, but everyone except for Homura, Sagiri, and the initial members of Another Dimension, had never seen Haru in this state.
Izumi even wanted to draw it. However, she suddenly remembered that she didn't have her drawing tools with her...
"Ah... Haru-chan is so adorable... It's like my heart has melted..." Kotori and Hanayo flushed, their eyes fixated on Haru who was eating blissfully. They even forgot to continue eating the grilled fish they had taken a bite of!
Rin looked on with envy but didn't dare to get too close to the little one. However, no one had noticed this for the time being.
"I thought you looked cool, like the envoy of the Demon King... but now, you seem to shine like an angel..." Kuroneko muttered to herself while watching Haru. "Which one are you truly?"
Kirino gave Kuroneko a deadpan look. She had expected that with so many people around, Kuroneko would at least restrain her chuunibyou tendencies, but apparently, she couldn't do it.
Actually, if it weren't for Ritsu and Elf who 'break the ice' earlier, Kuroneko might have been able to restrain herself. But now, she had become a bit more open.
"No wonder she becomes a symbol of Another Dimension." Eli sighed. "I have to admit, Haru-chan is just too adorable."
"Exactly!" Homura proudly patted his chest. "Haru is my treasure!"
"No one praised you..." Eli looked speechless.
"It's okay, it's okay! Praising the little one is no different than praising me!"
Eli: "..."
Elf laughed and said, "Give up! Right now, Homura is like a silly parent. Praising Haru makes him even happier than praising himself!"
Shaking her head helplessly, Eli felt that Homura at this moment was truly unique.
"Alright! Now that we have appetizers, let's start eating. Grilled fish doesn't taste as good when it's cold," reminded Homura.
With his reminder, the girls who had regained their senses continued eating, and he himself took a piece and took a bite. "Not bad..."
Eating with one hand, he busily grilled other things with the other hand. He also grilled some chicken breast for Haru.
Then it became a continuous process. Homura focused on grilling, while everyone enjoyed their food. Each person was incredibly satisfied, except for himself, who didn't eat much.
"Come on, Senpai! Open your mouth... Aa~" Nayuta held a skewer of grilled meat and offered it to his mouth.
But it wasn't Homura who opened his mouth first, it was Eriri! She was dumbfounded when seeing this scene. The meat that had just entered her mouth fell out!
"Aa~" Homura naturally opened his mouth and took a bite casually, pulling off a piece of meat from the skewer on Nayuta's hand. He then said to everyone, "Go ahead and eat, there's still plenty."
"..."
"Hmm? Why is everyone silent?" Homura looked at the scene, which had suddenly quieted down, and asked in confusion.
"Homura... do you know what you just did?" Elf stopped what she was doing and asked him.
"Oyy! Don't stop! What if it burns!" Homura reached out to help her flip the meat, but Elf slapped his hand away and then continued working while ignoring him.
Homura: "..."
The hell? Could it be, because of Nayuta feeding him?
"It was just a reflex, okay!" Homura suddenly pointed to the sky. "What does that cloud look like?"
With this sudden gesture, all the women's gazes were drawn to it. Homura took a cooked skewer and handed it to Elf's mouth.
"Here, Aa~" Homura said and Elf directly bit it, but then she froze.
Homura, seeing her lack of response, pulled out the skewer, leaving the meat in Elf's mouth.
"See! We were all busy, and it's the same for anyone." Homura smiled. "Think about it yourselves. When you're engrossed in playing with your phone, don't you subconsciously catch anything that's handed to you? And if someone says, 'Aa~' you'll reflexively open your mouth, right? Even if you're unsure if it's food or not, you'll still bite."
The girls were all dumbfounded; his example and reasoning were too extreme and sounded like nonsense! But that still sounded reasonable... However...
"Here, Senpai, Aa~" Nayuta ignored the commotion and continued to feed him.
Homura opened his mouth and bit nothing.
Homura: "..."
When he turned around, his meat had been snatched by Sagiri!
Sagiri grabbed Nayuta's hand and devoured the entire skewer in one bite!
'Well done!' Utaha and Eriri secretly praised Sagiri.
Nayuta pouted, "Sagiri-chan! Why?!"
"It's nothing, that skewer happened to be my favorite. I'll give you another one in return. Here, Nayuta-chan, Aa..." Sagiri also took a skewer and offered it to Nayuta's mouth.
Nayuta: "..."
Homura: "..."
Where did Sagiri learn this?!
After that, although there weren't any more accidents, the women spontaneously divided the tasks and took turns feeding the three people who were helping with the barbecue.
Grilling and being fed at the same time felt really nice! Homura secretly admired Nayuta for setting a good example for everyone.
Feeding Elf and Muramasa was fine, as they were all girls. But feeding Homura was awkward and embarrassing! In the end, this duty was taken up by Megumi, Nayuta, Mashiro, and Saori. Only these four reached a point of not feeling shy with him.
Actually, Elf could also do it, but now she was the one being fed...
Muramasa felt a bit awkward being fed by someone, it was too embarrassing. She didn't want to do it until someone suddenly put the meat in her mouth...
The girls also fed each other to strengthen their relationships, and Tsumugi was watching with a satisfied expression.
The lively barbecue lasted for nearly three hours before it ended...