Chapter 188: Feed Yours, Feed Yours, Feed Yours, Feed Yours!

"How... how could this be!"

Reize let go of Natsuki Subaru's hand in a daze and dropped backward onto the floor. Tears streaked her face like rain on pear blossoms, and she just sat there in a stunned duck-legged sprawl, utterly at a loss.

In the end, it was Subaru who caught Ram's eye and signaled her with a glance, asking her to take Reize away to calm down for a while.

As the last surviving kin besides her sister Rem, Ram couldn't bear to watch Reize looking so pitiful either. She nodded at Subaru, then went over and, with some difficulty, helped Reize to her feet, murmuring words of comfort.

Supporting the half-sobbing girl, Ram walked her out of the dining room and off toward one of the empty rooms.

"Everyone, sit down and eat. Ram, Rem, you two as well."

Subaru waved a hand in front of him, gesturing for everyone to settle, and then — having already been through so much this morning — he wasted no time diving into the food on the table like a small storm.

Only after he'd filled his stomach somewhat did he remember he still had two little ones in his lap.

Betty was fine; if there was one thing a Great Spirit never lacked, it was patience.

In fact, while Subaru had been wolfing down his meal, she'd been cutely waving her tiny hands in front of him, urging him to slow down, her eyes full of concern and worry.

Betty knew all too well how fragile humans were as a species — even something as simple as eating carried the risk of being taken down by a single grain of rice and choking to death!

And Subaru was careless at the best of times, so honestly, who could say it wouldn't happen, I suppose!

"Beako, you're worrying yourself over nothing here. I'm not going to die that easily, you know?"

Subaru laughed helplessly as he said it, privately thinking that dying and coming back to life was another matter entirely.

Ah! Betty's eyes went wide — she'd just remembered that Subaru could use Return by Death.

But right after that, her brow furrowed again. That wasn't any better! Even once was too many times — Betty never wanted to experience the despair of losing Subaru forever! Never, ever!

But just as Betty's emotions were spiraling, Subaru timed it perfectly and popped a meatball straight into her open mouth the moment she parted her lips, making her instinctively close it and start chewing.

"That's right, that's right, eating well is what keeps you healthy! Don't let your worries hijack that brain of yours, Beako~"

Subaru flashed his white teeth and gave a thumbs-up to Betty, who puffed her cheeks out like a hamster and chewed away with a resentful pout on her face.

A moment later, out of the corner of his eye, Subaru noticed Meili on the other side of his lap, staring over at him with a look full of envy and longing.

So he smiled softly, turning that same sunny, cheerful grin toward Meili as well.

"Don't worry, you'll get your turn too. I'm about full now, so I'll help feed you next."

As he spoke, Subaru picked up another meatball with his chopsticks and slowly brought it toward Meili's mouth.

On the other side, faced with the intimate feeding she'd been waiting for, Meili's eyes flickered.

As the meatball approached her lips, she tilted her slender white neck to meet it, opening her mouth without a hint of caution to reveal the tender pink inside.

Because of the angle, Subaru could actually see the little tongue at the back of Meili's throat, wrapped in soft flesh, trembling faintly as it was exposed to the air — impossibly cute.

"Ah... mmh!"

Meili took the meatball into her mouth along with the chopsticks, then closed her eyes, her nimble tongue swirling around to catch every last drop of the sauce.

Subaru froze mid-motion, chopsticks still in hand, his whole body going rigid.

But then he snapped out of it and tried to pull the chopsticks free from her mouth, wanting to end this indecent scene as quickly as possible.

But Meili didn't seem finished savoring it — she suckled on the chopsticks, pulling Subaru's face in close as he tugged, until the two of them could feel each other's breath.

Only then did Meili's lashes flutter open, her eyes reflecting Subaru's entire face.

It didn't take her long to realize what was happening — her face flushed bright red instantly, and she sat back down properly on Subaru's lap, poking her fingers together and staying quiet, too embarrassed to speak.

"Snap!"

Petra, who had watched the entire scene unfold beside them, gripped her chopsticks so hard they creaked, then quickly snapped them in half.

She was practically boiling over — nobody had told her the treatment on Subaru's lap was this good!

Even though she was sitting closest to Subaru's right hand, she still hadn't gotten fed once!

Damn it, damn it, damn it — all because she'd been one step too slow!

If she'd only been a bit faster, it would be her sitting on Subaru's lap enjoying this right now!

Petra bit down on a small napkin she'd swiped from who-knows-where, glaring at Meili and Betty across the table — both blissfully full from being fed — like some vengeful spirit.

Staring... intently.

Just then, Subaru seemed to sense something and turned his head to glance at Petra on his right — only to find her smiling at him with an angelic, restrained little smile.

So Subaru smiled back.

But once he'd turned his head back, he couldn't help scratching his head in confusion, wondering if he'd imagined it.

He could have sworn he'd felt some terrifying, resentful ghost glaring at him from Petra's direction.

Shrugging it off with a laugh, Subaru picked up more food with his chopsticks, happily preparing to feed Betty and Meili again.

But just as he brought the chopsticks toward Betty, that hair-raising gaze from his right returned!

Subaru whipped his head around!

And there was Petra's cute smile again — the strange gaze had vanished.

He turned back and tried offering his chopsticks to Meili this time, and once again, that resentful gaze appeared!

Subaru finally understood. This time he turned his head with an equally resentful expression to stare Petra down.

Petra, pretending not to notice anything, kept up her perfect smile at Subaru.

Fine then — let's see who can hold out longer.

Subaru got fired up too, matching her stare for stare.

One second, two seconds... before long, cracks began to show in Petra's smile. She couldn't hold it together any longer, and finally it broke completely!

"Hahaha, Subaru, I give up! Stop looking at me like that, it's too funny!"

Petra doubled over laughing.

Subaru crossed his arms and watched her fondly.

Once Petra's laughter had died down, Subaru finally spoke.

"If you wanted me to feed you too, you could've just said so instead of sulking all by yourself."

Subaru let out a small sigh, suddenly wondering if Petra was really the only one sulking.

He turned around and found a whole row of girls on the other side looking at him with complicated expressions.

Emilia, Rem, and Elsa all looked distinctly unhappy.

Uh-oh...

Subaru covered his face — there was no way out of this now. Once he'd set the precedent, he couldn't just feed one or two people and leave the rest out.

It's not scarcity people resent, but unfairness, after all.

And so, Subaru transformed into a feeding machine, having to juggle different chopsticks to bring food to different mouths.

Before long, he was drenched in sweat from the effort, but looking around, there was still a whole row of people watching him with bright, expectant eyes.

It was giving him a headache, but he showed no sign of giving up.

"Easy, easy! One at a time!"

Instead, drenched in sweat, Subaru looked like a diligent farmer tending his fields, or like a father bird returning from a hunt to feed his chicks.

"One at a time, one at a time!"

"Fed you, now it's your turn — fed you, now it's your turn!"

____

🔥 HELP UNLOCK THE NEXT EXTRA RELEASE!

Early Access: Can't stand the cliffhangers?

🔥 New history: COTE: My High School Life Became Jujutsu Kaisen — posted on The_Mikudayo