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37th Meal
Friends and Saltiness
After eating lunch at a popular Ramen restaurant in the neighborhood, Aoba and I walked along the path to the high school. There were a few people around us, probably parents who had also come to watch the Sports Festival, looking at the program list that we had received from Mahiru.
“…Wasn't that ramen shop kind of bad in spite of its reputation?”
“Really? I thought it was good enough.”
“I mean, it was still delicious, but…”
However, I am not sure if it was worth the 40-minute wait in line. Besides, even though a bowl of ramen is within the normal range of ¥950…it’s still a painful blow to my wallet poor college student. I usually don't invest more than 500 yen for lunch.
“Yuu, you have a poor tongue, so maybe you don't like the taste of popular restaurants like that?”
“Shut up, who’re you calling poor tongue?”
…Well, I am sure that I have a poor tongue. To be honest, if you ask me which I like better, today's ramen or the 100-yen cup ramen I eat every day, I would choose the latter. But I felt uncomfortable admitting it.
(......I wonder if that ramen would have tasted a little better if Mahiru was with us…)
Suddenly, the image of the high school girl next door who said she was going to buy bread from the cafeteria comes to mind.
Since I started teaching her how to cook, we often share breakfast and dinner together, and she always eats things as if they were really delicious. Whether it is my cheesy bacon and eggs, burnt ginger yaki, or instant miso soup, she always seems to enjoy her meal.
And for some strange reason, the meals I share with her always taste good. Even if the food is far from sumptuous, and is made from ingredients that are on special sale at the supermarket.
Just because she’s on the other side of the table, eating with a smile on her face…
“What’s wrong, Yuu? Thinking about something?”
“Hmm…? Oh, it's nothing serious. I just thought that the ramen wasn't good, and I wondered if the person I ate has got to do with it.”
“What do you mean by that!? Are you saying it’s my fault!?”
“That’s…ahh…Well, never mind.”
“Don’t give up explaining! Put yourself in my shoes, being held accountable for something you had no context for!?”
While ignoring my noisy friend, I went through the gate of the high school. I showed my invitation at the reception desk, just as I had done when I entered earlier, and headed toward the grounds as I was swept along by the crowd.
“What event is Mahiru-chan going to compete in after this?”
“Let's see…Mahiru only had the inter-grade relay left, I think. And then I heard Kotsubaki is going to be in the cavalry battle.”
“Cavalry battle!? That’s nice, I remember doing it at our Sports Festival when I was in High School. I was fighting as the horsemen, so I kicked an enemy horse in the shin, and because of it they kicked me out.”
“You haven't changed a bit in that annoying way of yours, have you?”
“You're the type of person who won't be bothered if you miss the gym, huh?”
“Don't talk about people like they're useless…Well, It's true that I don't remember playing an active part in anything.”
As I was thinking back to the local high school's Sports Festival, which I have rather more bitter memories of, I saw a girl in a familiar long-sleeved jersey fluttering out from the main school building. It was Mahiru's friend, Kotsubaki-san.
“Hey–! Kotsubaki-san!”
“!”
I waved my hand from a distance and she seemed to have noticed me. I looked closely and saw the two people behind me who had been so smitten with Aoba earlier. If I remember correctly, they were Fuyushima-san and Akabane-san.
“Yamori-san, I'm so glad you found me.”
“?”
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When I leaned toward Kotsubaki-san as if she had been looking for me, she held out a small package of something.
—It was an onigiri covered in food wrap.
“Huh, what’s this?”
“...Hima made this for ‘Onii-san’ to eat.”
“!”
Hearing this, I looked down again at the package in my hand. The Onigiri, which was large enough to completely cover both of my hands, was indeed just like the one that Mahiru had been practicing every now and then.
Ever since that first day we made onigiri, she always said, “No, not yet!” and she never made one for me…but now it's in the palm of my hand.
“...Hima, she actually woke up early today to make lunch for Onii-san.”
“Ehh…?”
“Well, she couldn't give it to you at the last minute, so we had these kids eat all but one of them…But, I think she really wanted Yamori-san to eat it.”
When Kotsubaki said this, her two friends behind her concurred, saying, “You looked so obviously disappointed~” “Right~?”
“Hima—Mahiru did her best to make that Onigiri in her own clumsy way…So, would you please let her eat it?”
“.......”
Once again, I look down into my own hands. It was somewhat out of shape, the same as when she made it, or did it become this way while being carried here….probably the former.
As I smile involuntarily at the thought, my female friend next to me, who is known for her boisterousness, smirks and gives me a teasing look.
“Fufu~ She really likes you, huh, Yuu~kun~? I’m so jealous~”
“Can’t you just shut up?”
I pouted and unwrapped the Onigiri right then and there.
It was a plain, perhaps ordinary Salted Onigiri. But it was incomparably better than the first time I made it—at least in terms of appearance.
“...Thanks for the food.”
I mumbled to myself and stood there and bit into the Onigiri. I won't say that I didn't mind eating in a place like this with my friend and three high school girls watching me, but more than that…I felt I had an obligation to eat this.
“W-What do you think…?”
“.......”
I chewed my first mouthful and swallowed it before answering Kotsubaki-san, who asked me with a nervous look on her face.
“....She was so bad at it at first, but now, she had gotten better at this.”
Then the Mahiru’s friends look at each other and then smile softly as if they were being complimented.
“Hee~~~?” the drunken woman kept smirking while saying that, so I turned my head away with a click of my tongue and took another bite of the Onigiri.
“...Well if only she adjust the saltiness a bit, it would be perfect.”
The girls laughed at my sarcastic comment, and this time they seemed very happy.
(Tired: Kotsubaki MVP.)
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“...Hima, I actually woke up early today to make lunch for her Onii-san.”
ReplyDeleteShould've been "she actually woke up..."?
Fixed it, ty~!
Delete