Summer vacation started and I became bored. Then, due to the incident at the shrine the other day, outings became distant again, making me even more bored. On top of that, my precious playmate, my sister Koto-chan, has been bad at keeping me company lately.
Koto-chan is in her second year of middle school. She will be an examinee next year, so I assumed she was studying at the library. But when I thought about it, Takamine Academy is an escalator school (automatic promotion), so unless her grades are terribly bad, she’s fine, meaning entrance exams don’t exist for her.
Hmm? Then where is Koto-chan going, leaving her bored sister behind?
“——Hah! Could it be, Koto-chan is with a bad man!”
“No, that’s not it. Kotone is bad with that type of crowd.”
Feeling a sense of crisis regarding Koto-chan, I summoned Oba-onii-chan as a guest.
“This won’t do. Koto-chan’s age is the most dangerous, you know?”
“Fi-five-year-old…”
Oops, Oba-onii-chan seems terrified by the honest thought that slipped out.
“That being the case, Oba-onii-chan, let’s go.”
“…Huh? Why?”
Oba-onii-chan is confused by his five-year-old sister suddenly saying that.
“Because me and Oba-onii-chan are the most bored.”
“…Then, I guess it can’t be helped… maybe?”
He doesn’t seem fully convinced, but the sister-loving Oba-onii-chan thought about it for a bit and nodded.
“Oba-onii-chan, you’re worried about Koto-chan too, right? If she just made a new friend normally, that’s fine, but Koto-chan is deeply compassionate, so doesn’t it seem like she might be financially supporting some middle-aged man with kids?”
“…Y-you are surprisingly harsh.”
Oba-onii-chan shudders at my honest impression.
It just means I’m that worried about Koto-chan. It is definitely not because I am bored!
Now, let’s depart. According to the driver, Koto-chan today got out of the car near a shopping district on the opposite side of town from our house on her way back from club activities. And not just this time; she’s apparently been going there several times since early spring.
“Suspicious.”
“Suspicious… is it? No, I’m actually starting to get excited too.”
We really are siblings in this regard. …No, wait? In front of me, they are like that, but I recall both Onii-chan and Koto-chan used to be more polite normally? Oh well.
“Master Oba, Miss Yuzu. Miss Kotone is here.”
“What?! Follow her!”
“Understood.”
Oba-onii-chan and the driver excitedly begin the tailing operation. No, that’s fine and all, but won’t Koto-chan notice immediately if she sees this car?
“She’s holding a bag. was she shopping at the supermarket in the shopping district?”
“She stands out in her Takamine uniform.”
Before that, at our house, ingredients are either delivered or bought by the housekeeper, so there’s no need for us to buy them. Once a month or so, when Mother cooks, we go shopping as a family, but there is no reason to use a small supermarket in a distant shopping district like this.
“Could it be… she’s supporting a freeter (part-time worker) old guy?”
“No no no no, that can’t be it! And why does every version of Kotone in your imagination involve an ‘old guy’ without fail, Yuzu?!”
Well, isn’t a dandy gentleman better than some young punk around here?
I, too, have a modest dream that when I grow up, I will be spoiled rotten by a wonderful gentleman and live an elegant life.
Anyway, our large car slowly followed Koto-chan, receiving honks from the cars behind us several times, but Koto-chan, walking through the shopping district in a strangely happy mood, didn’t notice at all.
“Ah, Kotone is entering somewhere! …A ramen shop?”
What did you say?! No way!
“Is it just appetite?!”
“Is it just appetite?!”
“Think back, Oba-onii-chan. Lately, Koto-chan has been strangely glossy, or rather, doesn’t she look like she’s eaten something greasy?”
Even for a second-year middle schooler who could eat deep-fried butter, I think there is a limit.
“No no no no! Wait, Yuzu. Y-Yeah! There was talk recently about developing a new noodle product at our company…”
“Then why would Koto-chan go to a ramen shop alone?”
“Ugh…”
Oba-onii-chan recoils at my precise point.
From the looks of it, it’s a normal ramen shop you’d find in any shopping district. Whatever the reason, it’s impossible that Koto-chan would be involved in the company’s new product development. And there’s no meaning in keeping it a secret from us siblings, right?
“I want to peek inside secretly. Onii-chan.”
“No, ‘secretly’ is impossible, isn’t it?!”
For some reason, Oba-onii-chan shows reluctance at his cute sister’s cute request. Since it can’t be helped, I put my hand on the door to go see by myself, and Oba-onii-chan reluctantly agreed.
“Alright then, I’ll go take a peek from the back!”
“Eh…”
You were reluctant, so why are you strangely excited? You could just look from the front, so why go around to the back of the shop? Aren’t you actually enjoying this, despite everything you said?
And so, a five-year-old little girl was left all alone in front of a ramen shop in the shopping district. Were you not told by Father and the others that you shouldn’t leave me alone…?
But, it’s okay. I am not the only child. In the side street next to the ramen shop, a small girl holding a rubber ball was staring blankly at me.
I say small, but maybe about the same size as me? The cute girl with a Kokeshi-doll hairstyle and a single stray hair sticking up flinched when I gave her a vague social smile, but she still toddled over to me.
“Hey, are you a princess?”
“Huh?”
It’s been a while since I was called that… Huh? Have I been called that before? Anyway, she doesn’t seem afraid of me, having become “doll-like” in appearance.
“Nope, I’m not. Why did you think that?”
“Because you’re wearing pretty clothes, and you’re cute!”
True, my clothes are in the ‘good’ category even for ready-made, which almost got me kidnapped, but that doesn’t mean she is dressed strangely; she was dressed like a girl from a certain long-running family anime.
Since she also has a cute face, if she dressed up beautifully, she wouldn’t look unlike a rich young lady… Hm? Have I seen this child somewhere?
“What’s wrooong?”
“Nothing~. I am called Yuzu. And you?”
“Yuzu-chan! I am ‘Misa’.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
And so, completely forgetting my reconnaissance mission, I ended up playing with the Kokeshi-hair Misa. And because I am clumsy, the rubber ball game did not work out.
Umm, what was it again? The game where you draw circles on the ground and jump. Thinking I might remember if I drew it, I started drawing circles on the road with a pebble, and Misa picked up a pebble too, turning it into a drawing game.
“What is that?”
“Umm you see, Ramen!”
Indeed, it looks like a bowl with a fish cake (naruto) on top.
“Do you like Ramen?”
“Yup. When I grow up, I’m gonna be a ramen shop owner!”
“Hoh-hoh.”
“Yuzu-chan, is this a dancing seaweed?”
“…It’s a giraffe.”
Why?! It looks like a living creature, doesn’t it!?
As we were playing happily like that…
“——Yuzu!”
Suddenly, I heard a voice calling me. When I turned around, a slightly angry-looking Koto-chan and Oba-onii-chan, hanging his head like a scolded puppy, were standing there, and behind them stood a tall man.
Man? Or should I say, maybe in his thirties? Well, people in their thirties look young these days, so personally, I prefer a slightly older, wonderful gentleman.
Hah! Could it be, this old guy is with the middle schooler Koto-chan!?
“Ah, is work overrr?”
Misa toddles over to that man. Could this person be!
“Misa’s Father!”
“I am still nineteen!”
Haha, you jokester.
“…I see.”
Since standing around talking wasn’t ideal, and the customers had cleared out, we listened to the story inside the shop. It turns out he is an employee of this ramen shop and is not Misa’s “Dad” but her “Big Brother.” …Eh? Seriously?
“Geez, Brother, dragging Yuzu into this, what are you doing?”
“Eh, I was…”
“Silence.”
Koto-chan dismisses the excuse of Oba-onii-chan, who is sitting in seiza (kneeling) on the floor. It must be tough.
“Yuzu, you too. A long outing is tiring, right? Do you have a fever?”
“Sorry, Koto-chan. But, why are you at a ramen shop?”
“Ah… um, yeah.”
Koto-chan, seemingly choosing her words vaguely, glanced momentarily at Misa’s brother. Oh my?
“You see, Yuzu. He and Misa-chan are our ‘second cousins.’ So I just came to see how they were doing.”
Oh. Second cousins? The reason Misa looked familiar was that there was a blood connection, so she resembled Koto-chan and me. That’s fine, but why is Koto-chan blushing? Well, whatever?
Since I am a toddler, they won’t tell me the details, but I somewhat understood.
Misa’s father, who is our relative, had done business with our company through that connection, but after a dispute over a client, the company went under, and due to the stress, both parents passed away.
The company’s debt was managed by selling off their land and house, but Misa and her brother were left almost penniless and lost their home.
The brother couldn’t rely on the relatives his late father had feuded with over work, so he was allowed to live in this ramen shop with young Misa while working as an employee.
However, the one who caused the problem was their father, not them. Koto-chan, who coincidentally heard our parents talking about the two of them, tracked them down relying only on the shop name and names she overheard. You may praise me for decoding this much, you know?
“And so? What is Koto-chan doing here?”
She seemed to be shopping for missing ingredients, but it’s not a part-time job, right?
“I-I am just helping the two of them a little…”
At that obvious attitude, Oba-onii-chan and I involuntarily looked at each other.
Eh, seriously? Koto-chan, you like this kind of Showa-style face?
“Hey now! I’m indebted to Koto-chan, but I’m working here because I like ‘Ra-men,’ so don’t worry about it!”
“Yeah yeah, Big Brother’s ramen is delicious!”
“Oops, Misa! It’s not [Ramen], it’s [Ra-men]! You guys, eat some of our ‘Ra-men’ before you go! Don’t worry, I won’t take money from kids!”
It’s nice that he says that in a tone I can’t tell is natural or an act, but is it okay for an employee to decide to give it away for free? Won’t you get scolded?
Thinking that, I glanced toward the person who seemed to be the elderly owner in the back. The owner just smiled and nodded at me as I worried.
“Is the food ready yet…”
Are you senile or just spacing out? Please make it clear!
“Hey, ‘Ra-men’ is up!”
“‘Ra-men’…”
Not Ramen, but “Ra-men.” I think it’s his own specific preference, and I feel like I understand it, though I can’t explain it.
The “Ra-men” served to Koto-chan and Oba-onii-chan was a full serving, but the portion for Misa and me was a small bowl, about one serving split between two.
I probably won’t taste the savoriness anyway, but I will slurp it properly.
Tourists from overseas seem to misunderstand, but Japanese people slurping noodles loudly is neither manners nor custom; it is a spirit of respect toward the chef to eat it deliciously while it’s fresh and before it gets soggy.
Looking casually at Koto-chan and the others’ “Ra-men,” Misa’s and my portions had wakame seaweed and corn added as toppings. Considering children’s nutrition properly—good job.
Now, as I reached for my chopsticks to eat… Oh? The wakame swaying in the hot soup suddenly “sat up” and waved one hand (?) at me, didn’t it? …Excuse me?
Eh… what? [I am not a bad wakame]? Eh, really? For some reason, that wakame wriggled for a bit, then sank into the soup as if drowning, leaving behind a hallucination that sounded like a death cry.
You reckless thing…
Next to me, Misa opened her mouth wide in shock, looking back and forth between my bowl and hers, then gently returned the wakame she had picked up with her chopsticks back into the soup.
Unfortunately, it seems it wasn’t a hallucination…
Harboring various feelings of disappointment, I slurped the moderately cooled “Ra-men”—Zuzuuu—and, oh? Ooooooh? It actually has a “delicious taste”!?
“Dad… I mean, Brother, it’s delicious!”
“I am not Misa’s Dad, I’m her Brother!”
I’m sorry, my soul refuses to acknowledge that, so it seems impossible.
Even so, food with flavor is rare. I don’t know why, but I feel like things that aren’t made for just anyone, but prepared properly for “Me,” have a “taste.” In fact, the “offering” I received at that shrine had a slight taste too.
…Since that park, I haven’t displayed any strange “power,” but really, what on earth am “I”?
TLNOTE:
Hopefully the English publisher won’t ask me to stop translating this series!
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