Who Dips Meat in Water Before Eating It?

"Cheers!" ×4

In Room 1201, four young people were putting this so-called youth into practice.

One drank boldly, one drank demurely, one drank elegantly, and one drank energetically, but all of them were drinking milk.

After taking a huge gulp of milk, Kamigami Haruo let out a breath and sighed.

"I'm exhausted. Just to get this meal, I had to spend both money and effort."

"It wasn't just you. I contributed money and effort too!"

Like a lively little girl raising her hand to ask a question in class, Ichinose raised her hand and stated her contribution.

"Well, everyone worked hard, so let's have a feast today."

Kamigami Haruo took another large gulp of milk before speaking.

"Why are you making it sound like tomorrow will be hell?"

Holding her cup blankly, Shiranami Chihiro voiced her confusion.

"At least, next month will be hell for Class D. If I end up in dire straits too, don't forget to help me out."

"No problem. If you have any difficulties, I'll do my best to help."

Kamigami Haruo had been waiting for those words. He immediately turned around, put on a pair of highly reflective glasses, curled up the corners of his mouth, and smiled stupidly with drool hanging from his lips as his cheeks puffed into two round lumps. Then he turned to Ichinose.

"Then please, give me a kiss. I've been cursed like The Frog Prince, and only a kiss from a beautiful girl can break it. If you don't believe me, I can grant you the right to become my queen first—"

Before he could finish, the sound of dialing abruptly rang out from a phone, followed by—

"Room 1201. Someone in my room is attempting to commit a cri—"

Before she could finish either, the panicked Kamigami Haruo snatched the phone away.

He had intended to hang up immediately, only to find that the screen was still on the dialing page.

"Who are you? Where is my Horikita-san? She wouldn't pull such a tasteless prank."

"Kamigami, shut up."

"Prison Sister, did you go train at Litang?"

"Oh..."

"Hmph. Don't make jokes like that again. It wasn't funny at all."

Shiranami Chihiro said angrily.

"I just wanted to change her naïveté and let her see how dangerous people can be. Look at her—some blond guy could say a few sweet words and have her wrapped around his finger. I... sigh, you... sigh, me and you... sigh... forget it."

"Is this the helpless feeling of being a parent? I should have a son in the future. At least I could use him as a punching bag when I'm upset."

Kamigami Haruo spoke with a touch of emotion. It was clear that having a troublesome girl was truly a headache. He couldn't bear to hit her, either.

"..."

"But how could I possibly agree to something like kissing?"

"And next time, don't help others at the expense of your own image."

The clever Ichinose teased him while also exposing the boy's good intentions.

"Yeah, yeah, got it."

Kamigami Haruo replied perfunctorily as he lifted the pot lid, revealing the yin-yang hot pot beneath it, divided into a red side and a white side.

The rich aroma hit their noses, making everyone eager to dig in.

"It's so red! Isn't it going to be really spicy?"

Hearing Shiranami Chihiro's shocked cry, Kamigami Haruo, who was adding slices of beef, honestly told her the harsh truth.

"Kids should go eat the Miso Flavor. Don't mess around with my Spicy Flavor—you'll cry from the heat."

"You!"

"Fine, fine, here you go."

He fished out several slices of meat from the spicy broth and placed them in Shiranami Chihiro's bowl.

"Here, and here."

Kamigami Haruo fished out more meat and placed it into the other two girls' bowls, signaling them to experience the crushing spice of a faraway country.

"Then..."

"Let's eat!" ×4

The four of them used their chopsticks to pick up rice along with the meat and put it into their mouths.

The intense spiciness rushed straight to their heads. The stimulation made them feel as though they were floating in the clouds, followed by a numbness on their tongues that made them want to drink water to ease it. But no—this was the most satisfying feeling.

"So spicy!" ×2

The two from Class B had barely chewed a few times before hastily swallowing through the pain of the heat. They stuck out their tongues, fanned their mouths with their hands, and grabbed their cups to drink milk and ease the pain.

Just Class B, after all. Looking at the two from Class D, neither of them showed any reaction.

Wait, why was Prison Sister's face red? She had even picked up her cup to drink.

Fine, today's winner was still Kamigami Haruo. All he had to say was, train more if you're weak.

"Alright, go over to the Miso Flavor side. Mine is for adults. Kids, get out of the way."

After that, the three who keenly felt their own lack of ability could only retreat to the Miso Flavor side.

The four of them put all the other ingredients besides the meat into the pot, waiting until they were ready before fishing them out to eat.

Kamigami Haruo ate by himself with great relish, but he felt like something was missing.

Right, dipping sauce.

He took some spare bowls, went to the fridge to find scallions, garlic, and small chili peppers, washed and chopped them, then put them into the bowls with Japanese soy sauce and vinegar.

Then, under everyone's curious gazes, he returned to his seat, picked up some meat, dipped it into the sauce, and put it into his mouth.

But this method seemed to flip some sort of switch.

At some point, the Class B brats who were both weak and loved showing off had filled bowls with water.

The appearance of two pairs of chopsticks in his personal territory drew Kamigami Haruo's attention.

Who? Oh, you two.

Then he watched as they picked up slices of meat, swirled them around in bowls filled with plain water, then picked them up again and put them into their mouths.

"Mmm~" ×2

Their expressions seemed to say that this level of spice was just right. This was how they should eat it.

At that, Kamigami Haruo's mouth twitched. All he could say was—

"Everyone in Class B, you're freaking awesome."

After that, only one person remained eating from the Miso Flavor side. She probably wanted to avoid embarrassment while still being able to enjoy her meal.

How lame.

Kamigami Haruo leaned close to Horikita Suzune's ear and whispered.

"Ah, how strange. Why aren't you eating the Spicy Flavor anymore? Are you scared?"

"I'm merely making a reasonable choice to avoid harm and pursue benefit. Eating too much will damage the stomach and intestines. I don't want to become a patient who has to take cough medicine and stomachache medicine every day."

"And your attempt at provocation is far too obvious. It might work on someone naïve."

The cool beauty went offline; the queen of verbal sparring came online.

"So you retreat too. You'd retreat even from spicy food. It's hard to imagine how you'll face your oniichan in the future."

"The milk in your hand proves your cowardice."

Kamigami Haruo pointed at the milk in Horikita Suzune's hand and mocked her. The provocation succeeded.

Now, the Miso Flavor side was basically deserted, while the Spicy Flavor side was full of food.

Fortunately, they had bought several cartons of milk before the gathering. Otherwise, at this pace of eating spicy food, they would be finished sooner or later.

When they got tired of drinking milk, Kamigami Haruo even made a pot of milk tea.

With the ice cubes they had frozen beforehand, it was simply heavenly.

As the gathering came to an end, their first month after enrolling also came to an end. Next came Classroom of the Elite.

And finally, there were three more people who would have diarrhea and wear masks to class tomorrow.

The reason was that, after gradually getting used to the flavor, they had eventually started eating it directly and stopped dipping the meat in water.

After the gathering ended, none of them even joined the evening workout. That was probably the consequence of forcing themselves, though the food had been delicious.