“By the way… the chocolate? We didn’t buy any, did we?”
“I prepared that in advance.”
Saying so, Arisa took out chocolate bars and fresh cream from her backpack.
It seemed she had bought them together when making the handmade chocolates.
“I’ll melt the chocolate, so Yuzuru, please cut the ingredients and skewer them. …You can do that, right?”
Yuzuru nodded.
He headed to the kitchen, cut the ingredients, stuck them onto skewers, and arranged them on a large plate.
By the time he finished, Arisa had already melted the chocolate.
Inside a small pot was a thick, glossy brown liquid.
“Alright, let’s eat.”
“Yeah.”
After a moment of consideration, Yuzuru picked the safest option—banana.
He dipped it lightly in chocolate and took a bite.
“It’s like a chocolate banana… but somehow different.”
Unlike typical chocolate bananas where the chocolate hardens, this one was warm and melted.
That changed both the texture and taste.
“Mmm… it’s delicious…!”
Arisa, holding her cheek, smiled happily.
She had chosen a marshmallow.
Yuzuru had hesitated to try that combination—thinking it might be too sweet—
But seeing her enjoy it made him curious.
“…Yeah.”
After trying it, he slightly regretted it.
Sweet plus sweet.
An overload of sweetness.
Someone with a sweet tooth might love it, but for Yuzuru, it was a bit too much.
“…Coffee tastes amazing.”
He muttered while taking a sip.
Choosing coffee over water or tea had clearly been the right decision.
After resetting his palate, he picked his next item.
Avoiding sweet-on-sweet, he chose a strawberry.
“Yeah, this is the right answer.”
The tartness of the strawberry paired perfectly with the sweetness of the chocolate.
A great balance.
After that, Yuzuru tried various things—fruit, bread, even snacks.
He had thought he might get bored, since everything was dipped in chocolate—
But surprisingly, he didn’t.
The variety of flavours—sweet, sour, salty—kept it interesting.
“This is actually pretty fun.”
At his words, Arisa smiled brightly.
“I’m glad you think so! I’ve always wanted to try chocolate fondue!”
“…This is your first time?”
“It’s not really something you do alone.”
He nodded. That made sense.
“Doing it with a group and bringing different ingredients could be fun too.”
“That sounds great! Like a mystery hot pot!”
“…Yeah… something like that.”
Arisa’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Meanwhile, Yuzuru imagined Ayaka definitely messing around with weird ingredients—and felt slightly uneasy about his own suggestion.
“By the way, Yuzuru… Yuzuru.”
“What is it?”
“Here, say ahh.”
Arisa held out a chocolate-covered marshmallow towards his mouth.
He didn’t particularly like that combination—
But he wasn’t clueless enough to refuse in this situation.
He opened his mouth and accepted it.
“How is it?”
“…Yeah. Sweet.”
“I’m glad!”
Apparently, for Arisa, “sweet” equaled “delicious.”
After a sip of coffee, Yuzuru picked up a banana.
“…Arisa. Your turn.”
“Thank you.”
He brought the chocolate-covered banana to her lips.
She took a bite.
“It’s delicious. …I’ll return the favour.”
Saying that, Arisa reached for another marshmallow.
“Wait, Arisa.”
This time, Yuzuru stopped her.
He could read the mood—
But he wasn’t willing to keep eating something he didn’t like just for that.
“Marshmallows are a bit… too sweet. Can you pick something else?”
“Really? They’re so good though…”
She tilted her head, clearly thinking he was strange.
Still, without complaint, she chose a salty snack instead, dipped it in chocolate, and offered it to him.
“How about this?”
“This is good.”
As he answered, Yuzuru thought about what to feed her next.
After a moment, he asked—
“What do you want?”
“Marshmallows.”
As if saying, If you won’t eat them, I will, Arisa opened her mouth.
Yuzuru dropped a marshmallow into it.
“It’s delicious… give me more.”
“Alright, here you go.”
Encouraged by her blissful expression, he kept feeding her marshmallows one after another.
Arisa happily swallowed them.
“Ah—”
“S-sorry…!”
He got carried away.
Chocolate dripped down—
Staining her pale skin, across her chest.
“Did you get burned?”
“It’s not that hot, so I’m fine.”
She reached for a tissue to wipe it—
But froze mid-motion.
“…Arisa?”
“Um, Yuzuru…”
With a mischievous look,
She pointed to her chest.
“It’d be a waste… so could you eat it?”
