By the time Mikage Touji and Morishita Ai reached a temporary Phase One ceasefire agreement, the sun had mostly set, and the moon had climbed onto the branches.
After checking the doors and windows, the three of them left the classroom.
Morishita Ai walked in the front, Mikage Touji followed behind, and Yamamura Miki trailed far in the back.
As the streetlights flickered on, their three shadows stretched out unevenly across the campus path.
As they walked, Mikage Touji realized something was wrong.
“Morishita, this isn’t the way to the student cafeteria, is it?”
Morishita Ai paused for a moment, then continued forward as if nothing had happened.
‘She’s absolutely pretending she didn’t hear me, right?’
Mikage Touji stared gloomily at Morishita Ai, whose pace had noticeably quickened, and continued to follow her.
It didn’t take long before Morishita Ai reached her destination.
Mikage Touji looked up at the sign above.
“A ramen shop?
No wonder you dragged me all the way here.”
As far as Mikage Touji knew, places like ramen shops and beef bowl shops were seen as default “male-only” territories in Japan; a girl going alone would be considered “unable to read the atmosphere.”
Morishita Ai tapped her chin with a finger, assuming a pensive pose.
“To be honest, I’ve been quite curious about this place.”
“You’ve never been?” Mikage Touji was surprised.
Morishita Ai wasn’t the type of person to care about others’ opinions.
Logically, she should have been able to walk into a shop alone and tell the owner, “One ramen, please,” without batting an eye.
“Never,” a trace of excitement flashed in Morishita Ai’s eyes.
“My family wouldn’t let me go to places like this.”
It seemed this girl was planning to let loose now that she was at school.
Mikage Touji turned to look at Yamamura Miki.
“What about you, Yamamura-san?”
“Eh?
Me?
I haven’t been either.”
“Go!” Morishita Ai pointed a slender hand, a flame igniting in her eyes.
“From now on, you shall lead us in exploring this unknown new world.”
“I haven’t been either,” Mikage Touji answered calmly.
“…”
A breeze blew by, swirling the fallen leaves from the roadside trees.
“Morishita Ai, plan failed…” Morishita Ai covered her forehead and muttered with her head down.
‘Are you kidding?’
As a transmigrator, being able to speak Japanese was already a blessing; his handwriting still looked like chicken scratch.
A minor setback clearly wasn’t enough to stop Morishita Ai.
She quickly regained her spirits and launched another charge toward the ramen shop.
“We’ve already come this far, we can’t back down now!”
“Then can you stop pushing me?” Mikage Touji said, exasperated as he felt her hands shoving his back.
“As the ‘Light,’ you cannot retreat.”
“Now you’re admitting I’m the Light?”
The two of them pushed and shoved their way into the shop.
Yamamura Miki, still outside, pinched the hem of her clothes.
After a moment of hesitation, she summoned her courage and followed them inside.
There weren’t many customers, but there was one person there that everyone recognized.
Mashima Tomonari, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A.
“Yo!
Mashima-sensei, you’re here for ramen too?” Mikage Touji was the first to greet him.
“Mashima-sensei, good evening,” Morishita Ai poked her head out from behind, speaking quite politely.
Mashima Tomonari also noticed this strange trio barging in.
He put down his chopsticks, took a napkin from the table to wipe his mouth, and then nodded to the three of them.
“Mikage-kun, Morishita-kun, Yamamura-kun, good evening.”
“G-good evening to you too,” Yamamura Miki said, lowering her head as she entered last, appearing a bit startled.
Mikage Touji sat down next to Mashima Tomonari and picked up a menu.
“This is our first time here.
Does Mashima-sensei have any recommendations?”
Mashima Tomonari crossed his arms and thought seriously for a while, then offered an enthusiastic recommendation: “The soy sauce ramen here is quite good.
If you have a big
appetite, the chashu is a must-have at this shop; you can order an extra portion of it.” After saying that, he turned toward Morishita Ai and Yamamura Miki.
“For girls, the tonkotsu ramen should suit you, but remember to ask the owner to make the broth a bit lighter.”
Morishita Ai seemed to ignore Mashima Tomonari’s suggestion entirely.
She stared fixedly at the menu in Mikage Touji’s hand, pointing at a very brightly colored ramen.
“Mikage Touji, I want this one!”
“Are you serious?
That thing looks incredibly spicy just by looking at it.”
“The Morishita family does not fear any challenge!”
‘This girl isn’t just childish, she has a death wish!’
In the end, Mikage Touji didn’t stop Morishita Ai’s suicide charge.
He and Yamamura Miki ordered the soy sauce and tonkotsu ramen recommended by Mashima-sensei.
When the ramen was served, Morishita Ai stared at the bright red broth bubbling like lava.
She was silent for a moment, then turned.
“Mikage Touji, swap with me.”
“Don’t even think about it!” Mikage Touji shielded his ramen.
When the ramen chef had given that “kind” smile earlier, Mikage Touji already knew that this was a battle to the death involving the chef’s pride.
Morishita Ai looked at her ramen, which was emitting clouds of steam, and decided to let it cool down first.
She started a conversation with Mikage Touji.
“The school rules…
are you going to tell the rest of the class?”
Beside them, Mashima Tomonari, who was eating his noodles, silently pricked up his ears.
“I think either way is fine; the current state of the class is pretty good,” Mikage Touji said as he ate, scratching his forehead with his thumb, appearing somewhat hesitant.
“But if this stuff leaks out, the ones in trouble will be us in Class A.”
Given Class A’s level of self-discipline, they would likely achieve excellent results even without knowing about the behavioral exam.
However, if the other classes found out, a narrowing of the gap would definitely occur.
“Besides, you two have a share in this intel.
I can’t decide on my own.”
“I…
you don’t need to worry about my share, Mikage-kun,” Yamamura Miki, who was sipping her soup, looked up quickly like a startled squirrel. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
“As long as it helps Mikage-kun, it’s fine.”
“Do whatever you want with that stuff, I don’t care about it,” Morishita Ai said, cautiously picking out a single noodle from the crimson broth.
Her pink tongue touched it briefly before immediately retracting.
Her face wrinkled up, but she stubbornly tried again.
“The problem is, someone has to watch over the students to prevent them from acting as recklessly as you did last time, right?”
“True.
First, they have to have some ability, otherwise, they won’t be able to keep the students in line,” Mikage Touji said.
“Second, they should ideally have a sense of responsibility and be able to lead Class A into battle,” Morishita Ai followed up.
“Ideally, they’d be the type to work hard without complaint, being happy to slave away for the class’s affairs.”
“The problem is, where can we find such a person?”
“Yeah, I’d like to meet someone like that too.”
“…”
The two of them stopped simultaneously, looked at each other, and said in unison:
“Katsuragi Kohei!”
.
.
.
Mashima Tomonari put down his chopsticks, straightened his suit, and left with a look of satisfaction.
In the end, Morishita Ai finished her first experience at a ramen shop with a “stellar” record of five and a half noodles.
Naturally, she didn’t pay; Mashima Tomonari had paid for all three of their meals before he left.
“Is this the challenge of the Morishita family?
Amazing, truly an eye-opener.”
Mikage Touji walked along the road, laughing.
“That was a tactical adjustment.
In truth, it has already been conquered by me.”
Morishita Ai retorted expressionlessly, but her red lips and the fine sweat constantly appearing on her forehead betrayed her.
Yamamura lowered her head and giggled, hiding her mouth.
“Hey, hey, Morishita, this isn’t the direction to the dorms, is it?” Morishita Ai had led them the wrong way again.
“It is.
I’ve decided to go to the convenience store to make up for the dinner I didn’t eat.”
“Then I’m heading back first.”
“In this dead of night, in this darkness-filled Advanced Nurturing, you’re actually going to abandon two girls and run away yourself?
You heartless guy!”
“You’re the heartless one, Morishita Ai, you seat-stealer!”
“You’re the one who stole the seat!”
“You…”
“You!”
.
.
.
The spicy defeat and the collaborative conspiracy both melted into the humid wind of late spring in Tokyo, blowing away together into the distance.