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“It really is a pleasure to be working with you, Arato-san. I hope you’ll give my regards to Erina-sama too.”
“Of course, Hagiwara-dono, I will be sure to tell Erina-sama of your regards.”
Hagiwara Seishirou had a warm smile on his face, genuinely enjoying the fact that Arato Hisako had grown to be such a lovely young woman. He had been around to see her always having her head down, walking a few steps behind Erina-sama as her secretary and admirer and nothing else. But nowadays Seishirou had seen her walking alongside her mistress, smiling and joking as friends do, and he might have heard her calling the first woman director of Tootsuki Culinary Arts Academy ‘Erina-chan’ in some private conversations, but Hagiwara decided to keep that little thing for himself and nobody else.
“How is she doing, by the way? Still consulting around the world?”
Arato-san had a temperate smile on her face, yet she looked exasperatedly fond. Something had happened then, something concerning Erina-sama and yet it was something out of work. The young woman cleared her throat and nodded her head. “Yes, well,” she began with a sigh. “It has been busy, as usual. Erina-sama is trying out new things in her life and the company she picked are not the most convenient people. But she is having fun...” Seishirou smiled as he drank the medicinal tea Arato-san had prepared for him. It was good for his aching head and had a calming effect every time he drank the tea and he contemplated asking Arato-san for the recipe. “Well, I sure am glad that Erina-sama does not branch off to the path of restaurateur,” Seishirou joked with a laugh. “We will definitely lose customers if she does.”
Arato Hisako laughed alongside him, polite yet genuine, as she wiped the tear on the corner of her eye. “Well, Erina-sama does own a restaurant now, Hagiwara-dono. But because she can get too busy to take care of it, she co-owned it with somebody who takes care of the daily affairs.” Seishirou’s eyes widened, nearly spilling his tea as Arato-san continued to laugh. “I’ll tell you something since you are one of Erina-sama’s favorite clients. Are you familiar with the Sumiredouri shopping district?”
And when Seishirou shook his head with a clearly surprised look on his face, Arato-san laughed.
It was a beautiful Saturday, the first day of summer where the weather hasn’t quite moved on from the breezy spring to the sweltering heat of summer. Hagiwara Seishirou was feeling horribly out of place in his expensive suits and wooden walking cane right at the middle of the shopping district bustling with schoolchildren on their way to summer club activities.
And yet he persevered, enjoying the feeling of bursting youth and bustling district as children discussed about the next practice camp with mixed feelings of vigor and dread around him and it took him back to his own childhood more than 30 years ago, when he never thought that he was going to be a restaurateur and was focused on getting into Koushien. He laughed. How long has it been since he even held a baseball? A long time ago. The only ball he ever held nowadays would be a ball of dough he would roll into a thin dumpling sheet. Ah, young blood.
Seishirou shook his head, taking a deep breath as he tried to find the place Arato-san had told him about. “Yukihira diner...” He whispered to himself, trying to find the green roof Arato-san had mentioned. Then suddenly, there was a dainty tap on his shoulder. “Uhh, I’m sorry...” There was a young woman with short brown hair, looking up to him with a shy smile. “I can’t help but overhear that you are looking for Yukihira diner? C-Can I help you with that?” Seishirou smiled and took off his hat as he bowed. “Oh, thank you very much, uh...”
“I-I’m Kurase Mayumi, I live around here.”
“Well thank you very much, Kurase-san,”
The young woman smiled shyly as she showed him the way, conversing about weather and spring flower-viewing events as they strolled to the diner Arato-san mentioned. It took only a meagre 10 minutes from his previous spot into a simple-looking diner in a quaint neighborhood. Kurase smiled and bowed to him. “Well, this is Yukihira diner. You will love it, Hagiwara-san, the food here always makes you feel like you’re home.” Kurase-san was about to open the door when suddenly, a young man with the brightest red hair and molten golden eyes opened the door with a sudden gesture that surprised the young lady.
“Oh, hi Kurase! Perfect timing! I need to make special delivery for Granny for a sec. Can you help mind the store for a bit? Or you have summer class to teach?” The young man had a pack of bento in his hands, carefully made and prepared. Kurase-san looked flustered, but she nodded her head. “Sweet! Just hang around for a bit, it’s a little slow today so you can relax. Just shout your orders to the kitchen and the food will be right up. I’m not the chef today.”
“Oh my, she’s cooking today? Sir this really is your lucky day!” Kurase-san beamed as the young man bowed to him and went along his merry way. “That’s Yukihira Souma-kun, he took over this diner from his father a few years ago, but he’s been cooking here since he was a child. Please, come inside.” There was a fond look on Kurase-san’s smile and Seishirou went along with her inside the diner.
The interior of the restaurant was as quaint and simple as it was outside, it felt nice since it reminded him of his hometown back in Nagoya, but he didn’t understand why Arato-san would recommend him to visit this place. There was nothing gourmet about a simple diner, and there was definitely no connection between this place and the gourmet world.
Kurase-san sat down on the bar, gesturing him to sit next to her as she handed him a menu with practiced ease. There weren’t anyone else in the restaurant and that further affirmed his thoughts about this diner being simple and ordinary because it was struggling like any other diner. And yet...
“Kurase-san, do you know where the owner of this restaurant went to school before?”
“Umm Yukihira-kun went to a very famous cooking school before. I think it’s called Tootsuki Academy...”
Okay, that settled it. He knew why Arato-san would recommend this diner to him. This diner was owned by a Tootsuki alumnus, and judging from the context of their previous conversation, that boy from earlier must be a part of Erina-sama’s faction when she was still in school. Seishirou smiled as he relished in the fact that he was going to eat in a place approved by Erina-sama’s tongue and ordered a simple oyakodon from the menu.
“Oh, for oyakodon, you can get the French-style, normal style, or Rebellious Daughter style. Which one would you prefer, Hagiwara-san?”
Oh? Interesting...
“Well, I suppose I might get the Rebellious Daughter style. It sounds interesting.”
Kurase-san giggled. “Okay then, we’ll get Oyakodon Rebellious Daughter style and Mapo Noodles please!” There was a tinkling sound of bells coming from the kitchen, signaling that their order has been received. Hagiwara decided to fill the silence with a chatter to find out more about the chef that had been a part of Erina-sama’s faction, Yukihira Souma.
It was clear for him that Kurase-san held a childhood feeling of crush and admiration towards the man because she was blushing as she answered his questions. But then she let out a sigh and smiled a wistful smile. “Well, I’m not the person Yukihira-kun wants to cook for. That person would be his wife...”
“Oh? Yukihira-kun already has a wife?” The redheaded man they met earlier looked young, probably as young as Arato-san, somewhere on his mid-twenties. But Kurase-san smiled as she nodded. “They only got married a few months ago, and his wife is apparently a very important person in her work because she can only work in the diner once every few weeks even though they co-owned the place now. Her name is—“
“Sorry to keep you waiting, here are your Oyakodon Rebellious Daughters style and Mapo Noodles!”
Coming out of the kitchen wearing a navy-colored t-shirt and white apron over it was a person Hagiwara thought he’d never ever see in a place such as this one. He let his jaw drop as she placed their orders on the table with a conversational smile. Kurase-san beamed happily as the wonderful smell of spicy Mapo Noodles filled the room. “Thank you, Nakiri—I mean, Yukihira-san!”
“Oh please, Kurase-san, it gets confusing if you refer to me that way. Just call me Erina like everyone else in this Shopping District does.”
Seishirou couldn’t believe his eyes. Here she was. The Goddess of Tootsuki Culinary Art Academy, possessor of God Tongue, the infallible head of Nakiri household, dressed in a diner uniform of navy-colored t-shirt with her hair tied to a simple bun. Nakiri Erina in the flesh.
“E-Erina-sama?!”
There was a smile, one she never bestowed upon anyone whenever she was in Tootsuki or anywhere else. Her eyes warm, posture relaxed, Erina-sama was positively glowing. “Oh, if it isn’t Hagiwara Seishirou-dono! Welcome to Yukihira Diner! I’m surprised that you enjoy eating in places like this one.” Erina-sama really did seem genuinely surprised, flustered even. They both looked at each other in disbelief.
“I’m back! Oh what’s up with them, Kurase?”
“I don’t know, Yukihira-kun, they just stare each other like they’ve seen a ghost or something.”
The young man with red hair laughed as he went over to Erina-sama’s place and placed a hand on her waist. “What’s going on, Erina? You look like a cat had just gotten your tongue!” He was sneering and that seemed to snap Erina-sama out of her reverie. “Oh shut up, Yuki—S-Souma-kun! I was just surprised to see one of my clients here after all. Welcome back by the way—“ Erina-sama placed a quick peck on the man’s lips, earning a dumbfounded look on the other’s face. “Ha! Seems like you still need to learn not to mess with the Nakiri Erina after all!” She turned on her heels and went over to the kitchen, a satisfied smile plastered across her face as the man chased after her with a quick ‘wait! Let’s have a shokugeki to settle this!’ And Kurase-san, in the middle of it all, laughed as she saw the expression on Seishirou’s face.
“Yeah, they’re always like that.”
Ever since then, Hagiwara Seishirou learned that the best-tasting food isn’t only available in the gourmet world, it was also available in diners, especially the diner run by the possessor of God Tongue.
(Later on, Seishirou found out that Yukihira Souma was a former first seat of Tootsuki who had revolutionized Tootsuki’s shokugeki system. And had thoroughly confronted Arato-san about the existence of a small-time diner run by two of the best chefs Tootsuki Culinary Arts Academy had to offer only to earn another amused laughter by the young woman.)