Chapter 116: Just Talk
As Shishio said before, gyuudon had become a staple food for the people in this country. It was cheap and delicious, so most people in this country would eat it, and because of the demands, there were three famous restaurants that had become a big chain gyuudon restaurant, and those three restaurants were Yoshinoya, Sukiya, and Matsuya. It could be said those three restaurants had monopolized the gyuudon business in this country and created a cartel, colluding with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market.
Those three restaurants wouldn"t allow a new restaurant to disturb their market, and if there was a naughty one who dared to do that, the three restaurants would lower their price until their compet.i.tor died, of course, normal people didn"t know about that, or rather, they didn"t have the energy to do that since they were all tired from their work, or rather if a price war really happened, those people would be very happy since the price of their food would be lowered.
In the previous chapter, Shishio ate at Yoshinoya, but this time, he was going to Matsuya, which was located quite nearby from the previous Yoshinoya, to meet Saki.
Both of them had made an appointment to meet each other and Saki had promised to treat Shishio to a gyuudon restaurant, if it was before, she might bring him to Yoshinoya, but after what had happened to her before, she didn"t dare to walk on that area, which was why she decided to treat him at Matsuya.
Saki was standing outside of the restaurant, wearing a jacket, a scrunchy on her hand, and her ponytail dangling behind her back as usual. Even though she was very beautiful, her expression was very stern and from this expression alone, everyone could tell that she told everyone to not get close to her, not to talk to her, nor even breathe near her, etc, etc.
But somehow, her expression changed slightly when she saw looking at the clock that was located outside of the store. It might be because she wanted to meet him that it made her come too early, but somehow when the time got closer to the appointment time, she somehow got nervous since she wasn"t sure what to talk about with him.
When Saki was deep in thought, she heard someone call out her name.
"Kawasaki-san!"
Saki quickly looked up and saw him walking toward her with a light smile on his face. In truth, she had dreamed about him several times during her sleep and he was the cause of her oversleeping, but she had to admit that the real one was more handsome.
"Sorry to make you wait," Shishio said with an apologetic expression. As a gentleman, it was his rule to come 15 minutes early before the appointment time, but he didn"t expect this girl to come earlier than him, which somehow made him a bit sorry for her.
"It - it"s alright, I didn"t wait too long." Saki somehow couldn"t look at him straight, and quickly turned her head. "Le - let"s enter the restaurant." Her voice might seem quite cold, but the blush on her face and her shaky voice somehow made her quite cute.
"Alright." Shishio smiled and followed her inside, but when he followed from behind, her dangling ponytail hair, just happened to be so close and he smelled a familiar shampoo-like scent, which somehow made him relax. Fortunately, she didn"t notice him, smelling her hair, if she knew, he would be treated as a pervert.
Both of them quickly sat down at the seat which was located on the edge.
Saki sat down on the edge right near the wall, and then she noticed Shishio who sat right next to her. She felt a bit shy, but she didn"t say much, after all, it would be weird if they weren"t sitting next to each other. She had held his hand before, so sitting next to each other should be alright, right?
A restaurant such as Motsuya, Yoshinoya, and Sukiya had a small size, and usually, there wouldn"t be a table-seat, but mostly, a counter seat, which was quite similar to a bar, where the staff and the customers were separated by a single table in the middle.
"You can order what you want, I"ll treat you," Saki said.
"Are you sure?" Shishio asked.
"Yes." Saki nodded and said, "This thing is cheap compared to what you have done to me." She might need money to go to a college, but treating Shishio with gyuudon was nothing, after all, it was very cheap, and she had quite enough money from her part-time job.
"Then I won"t hold back." Shishio raised his hand.
Saki nodded and didn"t really mind, she had prepared herself to treat him, but...
"Can you give me a normal size gyuudon and kimchi? For a drink, warm tea is good," Shishio said.
"....." Saki was speechless and said, "Don"t you order more? You should get the bigger size for the gyuudon."
"I have eaten before, I can"t eat that much." Shishio shook his head, even though his metabolism and food intake might increase because his physical ability was doubled, well, he was also sure that he wouldn"t get fat no matter how much he had eaten because of the system, he still couldn"t let Saki treat him so much, after all, he knew very well that this girl"s economic condition wasn"t good and she needed money for her college, based on the information he knew about her.
Shishio also had to admit that the situation between Saki and Miu quite resembled each other, both of them had a little brother and a little sister, and their parents" economic condition also wasn"t that good, and in terms of personality, they were also quite similar, after all, both of them had trouble with communication, but their reason was very different.
If Miu was very shy, then Saki was too awkward, but deep inside, both of them were very loving older sisters.
Saki felt a bit guilty and said, "I"m sorry for inviting you now." She felt that she shouldn"t invite him to eat, or rather, drink? She wasn"t sure, after all, she didn"t have that much experience with the opposite gender, besides her father and little brother.
Shishio was a bit speechless, but he quickly shook his head and said, "No, you don"t need to apologize since I"m happy to meet you again."
"Wha--?!" Saki blushed, then quickly looked away. "Wh - What are you talking about?!"
"..." Shishio was lost for words. "By the way, are you not going to order anything?"
"It"s alright, I don"t feel hungry," Saki said simply.
"....." Shishio felt guilty somehow, letting himself be treated by Saki.
"Your order is ready."
Shishio saw his order right in front of him and decided to eat right away, after all, he felt a bit uncomfortable when Saki didn"t eat anything, so he wanted to go out quickly.
Saki then looked at Shishio who ate the food, and couldn"t help but smile, but then, she saw a grain of rice on his cheek, and couldn"t help but sigh helplessly. "There"s a grain of rice on your cheek."
"Oh? Where?" Shishio asked.
"Over there," Saki said while pointing her finger.
"Where?" Shishio asked again.
"Let me help you," Saki said then took the grain of rice on Shishio"s cheek before she ate it.
"...." Shishio and Saki.
Saki"s face quickly turned red and said, "Thi - This, don"t misunderstand! I often did this to my sister so I subconsciously..." Her voice became lower and lower since she knew that her action was very embarra.s.sing!
"..." The staff and the other customers could only feel their hearts hurt since they didn"t have such a cute girl who would take the grain of rice on their cheeks!
Shishio somehow felt a bit guilty for tricking this cute girl, but he couldn"t help it since she was too cute, right? "By the way, do you have a sister?"
"Um, I have both a little brother and a little sister." Saki nodded and started to tell Shishio about her siblings.
Shishio nodded and gave her a response from time to time, and from this conversation alone, he could tell that Saki was a doting and a kind older sister, which somehow made him a bit jealous of Saki"s siblings, after all, he had always been a single child.
Saki told Shishio about the story of her siblings and Shishio listened attentively, and it was great to see her telling the story of her siblings since she was the most beautiful when she talked about her family. Unlike her awkward and cold expression before, she showed a sweet smile at this moment, which made him unable to look away.
Their conversation was very happy, but time waited for no one, their conversation ended shortly after Shishio had eaten all the gyuudon, and in this kind of restaurant, it wasn"t good manners to stay in their seats for a long time.
Then Saki and Shishio left the restaurant, he still wanted to talk with her, and asked, "Are you going back? Do you need me to send you back home?"
"Sorry, I need to go to my part-time job," Saki said with regret, after all, she still wanted to talk with him, but she needed to go to her part-time job.
"Part-time job?" Shishio asked.
Saki thought for a while and said, "Well, I work at a cafe." She worked at a cafe late at night, after all, so she was afraid that Shishio might have a prejudice about her.
Shishio was a bit surprised since he didn"t expect her to work at the bar so early, or rather, at the beginning of school. He had a feeling that this girl might have worked during her 1st year, looking at her eyes, he could see a slight eye bag on it. He had to admit that her hard work really touched him. "Then can I visit the cafe?"
"Well...?" Saki was surprised.
"Is that not okay?" Shishio asked.
Saki quickly shook her head and said, "Sure, let"s go, though, I can"t give you a discount there, and I won"t treat you." There was a smile forming on her mouth at that moment, feeling happy that they might be able to continue their conversation, and at the same time, she also wanted to know him better. She still remembered his conversation with Togo, especially about the "entrance ceremony" part, so she was wondering whether Shishio was a college student.
"Don"t worry, I"ll pay for it myself," Shishio said with a smile.
---
As Shishio and Saki walked toward the cafe, he stopped right in front of a hotel in front of him. His expression turned slightly weird, and he only stared at the huge hotel in front of him.
Saki quickly realized and her face was burning red, seeming very panicked. "Th - The cafe is at the top of the hotel! I - I didn"t bring you to the hotel!"
"....." Shishio was lost for words since this girl was too perverted, right? In truth, he didn"t think that Saki would bring him to the hotel to do the act of an adult, but rather, the reason why he was stunned was that the location of the cafe where she worked was located at his hotel...
"Well, it"s a good chance to check into my hotel, after all."
With such a thought, Shishio decided to tease Saki since her reaction was very nice.