Tokyo: Let the wicked women pay the price!

"Radish...corn...beef...tofu...shiitake mushrooms..."

Saki checked the groceries in the shopping bag and pulled Fujino towards home.

Making sukiyaki can be complicated, but it can also be incredibly simple.

To put it bluntly, it's just putting ingredients in a pot and cooking them.

Just like tempura is made by coating something in breadcrumbs and then frying it.

If you're not particular, you can add anything to sukiyaki, and you can make anything into tempura.

Saki was holding a shopping bag in her arms, but in her mind she was planning how to confront that hateful Yui later.

It's so difficult. I want to get rid of her, but I don't want to hurt Fujino-san.

If this woman feels embarrassed right now, I wish she would just leave on her own!

Unfortunately, even Saki herself knew that this was impossible.

Seeing Saki's ever-changing expression, sometimes pouting and sometimes chuckling, Fujino found it amusing.

I wonder what mischief she's plotting now.

However, Saki has been noticeably healthier lately.

She no longer looks malnourished like she did when we first met.

He put his hands in his pockets.

It wasn't that he deliberately didn't take the shopping bag; it's just that Saki was holding him too close, and he couldn't take it from her.

Fujino watched the moon slowly climb into the sky, feeling the whistling wind.

Suddenly, the thought arose that "this is actually not bad."

Tsk.

What winter illusion?

And so, the two figures, one tall and one short, slowly walked home.

......

Glug glug, glug glug—

Those who frequently eat hot pot know that waiting is the most awkward time.

Especially if one or two people at the dinner table don't get along.

Fujino understood this deeply.

He sat on one side of the kotatsu, Saki sat on his left, and Yui sat on his right.

The two were staring at each other, speechless.

The heat from the kotatsu warmed Fujino's lower body, but he still felt a slight chill.

Feed.

The two women in front of me were practically spitting fire in their eyes. Wasn't anyone going to do anything about it?

He coughed lightly twice and looked at Saki.

She still has her classic skin, wearing a school uniform shirt, and is poking at the empty bowl absentmindedly.

"Saki-chan, could you get me some soy sauce?"

"oh."

She reluctantly hummed in agreement and walked towards the stove.

After emerging from the kotatsu, her lower body was completely exposed. Underneath her kimono-colored skirt was a pair of 40D black stockings that revealed glimpses of her flesh.

Come to think of it, ever since I helped her find a job, she's no longer struggling to afford stockings.

Fujino unconsciously recalled the embarrassing scene when he first met her, when she couldn't afford to wear stockings.

Those knees, red from the cold, and those legs, so pale they seemed unreal...

"Eh, eh!"

"Fujino-sama, don't get too absorbed in watching~"

Yui's voice rang out from behind his ear, startling Fujino.

He turned his head abruptly.

Yui leaned over from her position, her mouth almost touching his ear, and her warm breath made his face feel hot.

"Feed...Yui..."

"Your eyes are practically glued to Saki-chan, do you like her that much? Let me see..."

Yui's voice carried a teasing and seductive tone; she slurped and licked her lips.

"So you were looking at her legs, Fujino-sama. Why not try on Yui's?"

Upon hearing this, Fujino froze.

It wasn't because I stood up; it was probably just because a hand reached out from under the kotatsu.

Slender and soft, it was gently stroking his thigh.

That hand even slowly reached for his hand resting on his knee and gently clasped it.

Fujino glanced at Yui.

You've gone a little too far.

To stop this audacious young lady, he cleared his throat and whispered in her ear:

"Don't do that while eating!"

"So, does that mean it's been tacitly approved now, Fujino-sama~~"

"And you're not allowed to make any strange noises!"

Hehehehe~

Yui covered her mouth with her right hand on the table and chuckled softly. She was wearing a gray sweater, which made her skin look even whiter.

Although she was joking with Fujino, her eyes had already wandered to the other side.

He even flashed a provocative smile.

Saki stood in the entryway, holding a bottle of soy sauce.

She lowered her head, her body trembling slightly.

In a corner of the fairly bright room, there was a warm kotatsu (heated table).

Inside the kotatsu, that bitch Yui was laughing and chatting with Fujino.

At this moment, she could only stand in the unlit entryway, feeling the lingering coldness in the air.

Watching them sit together like a couple, waiting for the sukiyaki to boil.

And all she could do was stand aside like a waitress, carrying a soy sauce bottle?

She can't accept it!

She silently sat back down to Fujino's left and quietly handed him the soy sauce.

Fujino must be his close friend!

Not Yui's plaything!!

She's determined to snatch Fujino back from that wicked woman, Yui!

thump—

The sound of soy sauce bottles clattering on the table broke the warm atmosphere between Yui and Fujino.

"Hey, Fujino-san."

Looking at Saki's cold, ambiguous expression, Fujino swallowed hard.

I asked you to get the soy sauce so you wouldn't start fighting and to ease the tension.

Why is it even colder now that I'm back?!

Saki is not actually cold.

She sat to Fujino's left, looking slightly awkward.

Those who know her well know that she's struggling with whether or not to do something...

Fujino noticed, but he didn't have mind-reading abilities.

We don't know what Saki is thinking yet.

Asking at this point wouldn't be a very good idea, would it?

Tsk.

The two women's auras clashed again.

But that's normal, Fujino thought. After all, Saki used to be a young lady, so it's understandable that she and Yui don't get along.

Glug glug, glug glug—

The sukiyaki is ready.

This is a lifesaver, Sukiyaki-san!

Fujino chuckled awkwardly twice:

"Ladies, shall we eat first?"

He picked up a shiitake mushroom and put it in Saki's bowl, then picked up a piece of tofu and put it in Yui's bowl.

The three people put their hands together and said in unison:

"I'm starting!"

Watching the two of them eat their food in small bites, Fujino felt he needed to say something.

"Yui-chan. You've seen the apartment, so when can we go check out your listing?"

Yui still had that warm, inviting smile:

"Fujino-sama, your apartment is indeed a bit small... It's not very convenient for you to live with Saki-chan..."

"Well......"

Her expression suddenly became strange, as if she was clenching her teeth and suppressing the sound in her throat.

She looked at Fujino with a pleading expression, her lips turned down, and she shook her head slightly.

Fujino, expressionless, exerted force with his foot, launching a fierce attack on Yui with his right foot.

Hmph, this is your punishment.

Eh...

He realized the sensation on his feet was wrong. Yui was sitting cross-legged, posing no threat to him.

He lowered his gaze slightly, and with his left hand gently lifted the quilt under the kotatsu, glancing at what was underneath.

Whose foot is this on my body?