Chapter 127: Suddenly, a Cooking Story
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 127: Suddenly, a Cooking Story
“Hey, wake up.”
“...Don’t wanna...” Miyuki whined in her sleep.
Even though I’d already finished my shower, she showed no signs of getting up.
Did she enjoy the two-hour massage I gave her yesterday that much?
“You told your mother you were coming home today. I’ll drive you. Get up.”
“What time is it...?”
“Six-thirty.”
“What the...! It’s still dawn...”
She was beautiful even as she scrunched up her face and pouted.
I neatly brushed her messy bangs aside and said, “We have to leave now, that’s why.”
“I’ll go by myself later...”
“Should I go first, then?”
“Yeah...”
“Alright. I’m leaving?”
“Mmm... wait a sec...”
With a languid hand, Miyuki grabbed my arm, her lips puckering.
Eyes still closed, she moved her lips like a goldfish, a cute plea for a kiss.
I chuckled and gave her what she wanted.
After carefully tucking her back into the blankets, I opened the window, and a refreshing breeze brushed against my cheek.
The weather is ridiculously nice. A day like this should be spent on a date with Miyuki.
Grumbling to myself, I got in the car and entered the location Renka had sent me into the GPS.
The place she’d summoned me to was near a large park on the outskirts of Tokyo.
To be more precise, it was near a food alley popular with tourists.
I parked in the public lot and followed the still-quiet street to the location, about to call Renka.
Just then,
“You’re early.”
The door to the sushi restaurant behind me opened, and Renka stepped out.
I turned to her and replied, “Yes. Good morning.”
“Morning. Aren’t you curious about this place?”
“It’s a sushi place. The name is... Inoo Family Sushi? Is it a family-run restaurant?”
“That’s right. My uncles run it. It looks like a specialty sushi restaurant, but they sell a bit of everything. Today, you’ll be working here until nine p.m.”
I knew it.
Given our current relationship, the things she could ask of me were pretty limited.
I nodded nonchalantly.
“Understood.”
“We open at eleven, and you’ll just be doing odd jobs. I’ll tell you what to do, so don’t worry.”
“Are you working too, Captain?”
“I have to. Where did you park?”
“The public parking lot.”
“You have to pay for that. There’s a small empty lot behind the restaurant. Move your car over there.”
“You should have told me earlier.”
“I didn’t think you’d actually park there. Move your car and come inside.”
“Got it.”
As Renka said, I parked in the empty lot and entered the restaurant, where I saw two huge, identical, bald, middle-aged men.
So her uncles were twins. They looked incredibly fierce.
They were chatting quietly with Renka, but their gazes turned to me.
“So you’re Matsuda Ken.”
The one who seemed to be the older brother spoke.
I bowed my head slightly and greeted him.
“Hello. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.”
His tone was gruff, but it held a certain warmth.
Normally, this is where they’d say something like, “So you’re the punk who’s been giving our Renka a hard time,” but...
The fact that they didn’t suggested Renka had probably given them a brief, glossed-over version of my personality.
Still, I was a little curious.
Honestly, I’m a liability.
From Renka’s perspective, I’m a rebel who could cause trouble at any moment.
It would have been better to ask that pushover Tetsuya for help, so why did she call only me?
I found out the answer soon enough.
“You’re as handsome as Renka said.”
The smaller of the two uncles said it.
So they needed a figurehead.
It seems they called me because it was a win-win situation: they could use me under the pretext of a wish, and they wouldn’t have to pay me.
Yeah, of course. In an open kitchen where customers can see the staff, it makes sense to have someone who’s at least a little easy on the eyes.
If plain, gloomy Tetsuya were here, the customers would probably lose their appetites.
By the way, Renka said I was handsome?
So even though she dislikes me, she acknowledges my looks?
As a reward, I’ll go easy on the spanking.
“You’re too kind. What should I be doing?”
When I asked with a bright smile, the larger uncle grinned, revealing his teeth.
“Renka will tell you. We’re counting on you today.”
Hmm... one of his molars has a gold crown. It really stands out.
With faces like theirs, they’re probably scaring all the customers away.
“Understood. The pleasure is all mine.”
“You don’t know how to slice sashimi, do you?”
Slice sashimi...? The way he said it made it sound less like preparing fish and more like taking someone out.
I feel like I’m at a yakuza job interview.
“No, I don’t.”
“What about prepping ingredients?”
“I can handle that much.”
“Then you can assist Renka. The restaurant itself is pretty quiet, so it won’t be too hard.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You can relax. We might look like this, but we’re not picky people.”
“Instead of saying you’re not picky, shouldn’t you be saying you’re not scary?”
At my playful tone, the twins looked at each other before bursting into hearty laughter.
Are they letting it slide because they think I’m just being friendly?
I’m glad I’m not about to get whacked.
* * *
A towel tied around my forehead, a top designed like a yukata, and an apron around my waist.
Dressed in an outfit one would expect to see in a sushi or ramen shop, I filled my stomach with sushi made by the twins.
I don’t know if they use high-quality ingredients or if they just have a magic touch, but the sushi was absolutely delicious.
At this level, they should have plenty of regulars who come just for the taste... Did they really have to open a shop in a tourist spot?
Well... none of my business.
After breakfast, I helped with kitchen prep and odd jobs, and soon it was opening time.
And the restaurant was, just as the twins had said, quiet.
It wasn’t that there were no customers.
Thanks to Renka’s beauty as she stood at the counter by the door and the A-board out front advertising a discount, people often stopped by.
But the sight of the fierce-looking twins stationed in the open kitchen scared them off, and many ended up going to the restaurant next door instead.
Even if they did come in to eat, they’d get so tense that the atmosphere in the restaurant naturally became silent.
To make matters worse, the twins’ worried faces, concerned about their business, looked like they were angry, leading to further misunderstandings from the customers.
It wasn’t bad enough to ruin the business, but their appearances were definitely having a major impact.
It’s hard for restaurants in tourist areas to get regulars.
Aside from the local residents, most customers are one-timers.
That means you have to win them over with atmosphere, and on that front, they were failing.
The food is good, so if they could just fix this one thing...
In times like these, it’s best to inject some energy into the place and help the customers relax.
Let’s create a bustling atmosphere, then make the customers feel a sense of familiarity with the twins.
‘Hmm...’
The character for ‘family’ (家) on the restaurant’s sign was a device that immediately told you this was a personal, family-run establishment.
At first, I thought it was a pretty tasteless name, but now, it seems perfect to exploit.
The best approach would be to make people think this is a place run by a close-knit family.
And since the twins have the faces they do... the concept will be a happy yakuza family, with the added feel of gruff but simple-hearted brothers.
It’s a childish concept, but it’ll work.
As noon passed, customers slowly started to trickle in.
Fewer than the other restaurants, but still, about half the tables were filled, mostly with new faces.
It got busy enough that even Renka had to leave the counter to help.
Deciding this was the right time, I waited for a customer to finish ordering and then shouted towards the kitchen in a loud voice.
“Small Uncle! Two bowls of shrimp tempura udon over here!”
Renka flinched and glanced my way.
She looked surprised by the natural-sounding title.
Her uncle, on the other hand, answered my call nonchalantly.
“Two shrimp tempura! Order up!”
“And stop snacking while you cook! Get it out here quickly!”
Caught off guard by the sudden jab, Small Uncle’s eyes went wide.
But it was only for a moment. Realizing what I was trying to do, he quickly started huffing in protest.
“Wh-What!? I don’t do that!”
“What do you mean you don’t? Then what’s with that potbelly?”
“This is muscle!”
In a normal situation, this might be seen as crossing a line, but thanks to the title and the restaurant’s name, the customers would think we were just a close family, exactly as I’d planned.
And my prediction was spot on.
The customers in the restaurant let out light chuckles.
The heavy air was cleared, and the atmosphere brightened.
“Big Uncle! Are those three plates of chutoro ready yet!?”
Big Uncle, having caught on to the situation from the previous exchange, immediately shouted back.
“Coming right up!”
“Hurry it up! The customer’s waiting!”
When I used my hands to make an exasperated gesture, Big Uncle scrambled to prepare the ingredients.
“Alright! Sorry!”
Was it the sight of a bear-like man with a grim face looking so flustered?
The restaurant grew even brighter and more lively.
Now, all I have to do is open the door, let this atmosphere spill outside, and draw in more customers.
The restaurant is hot anyway, thanks to the nice weather and the heat from the kitchen... so leaving the door slightly ajar should be fine.
If the customers at the table right by the door complain, I can just give them a few things on the house.
If they still don’t like it, well, can’t be helped.
Wait, why am I acting like the protagonist of a cooking manga?
I don’t know. I’ll just have to work hard.
* * *
“We’ve run out of ingredients, so we have to close early! We’re very sorry!”
At Renka’s nervous shout, a few customers waiting outside groaned in disappointment.
The twins used the few remaining ingredients to make simple sushi, gave it out for free, and handed out coupons for an additional 30 percent off the next day to appease the customers.
They have some business sense, just like how they played along with me earlier.
While Renka was dealing with the customers, Big Uncle came over and clapped me on the shoulder.
“Good work, Ken.”
Even though we’d known each other for less than half a day, he was already calling me by my first name.
I untied the towel from my forehead, wiped the sweat from my face, and asked playfully, “You too. But I thought you said it was quiet here?”
“I never expected this to happen. It’s all thanks to you. This is your pay for the day. I packed it thick.”
He held out a fat envelope.
I shook my head firmly.
“It’s okay. I didn’t come here to get paid.”
“I can’t not give it to you after all this. I suggest you take it before I bury you in the floor.”
If he’d said that when we first met, it would have been scary, but not now.
I waved a hand dismissively and replied, “I said it’s fine. Just buy me a meal.”
“I’m not gonna ask again.”
“Yeah. I’m good.”
“Alright. You wanna work part-time here?”
I was wondering when he’d ask that.
“No.”
“You’re merciless...”
The two of them looked genuinely disappointed.
Seeing these two huge men cross their arms and sigh in disappointment was somehow funny.
A part-time job, though...
Couldn’t this be an opportunity to increase the number of wishes I get?
With that thought, I stood up and said, “I can help out from time to time.”
“Really? If you do, I’ll feed you sushi until you burst.”
He sounds like one of those passionate restaurant owners from a cooking story.
It kind of suits him.
“I’ll be taking my pay from next time on, though.”
As I was joking around with the twins in the friendly atmosphere, Renka, having sent all the customers away, came back inside.
Just then, Small Uncle shoved a Polaroid camera at her.
Where did he even get that?
“Renka! Take a picture of us.”
“What picture... Why are you taking that...”
“We need to hang a picture out front so the female customers will know this guy is part of our family and come visit.”
“You shouldn’t hope for that kind of luck...!”
“Are you nagging again? Just take the picture.”
“Hah... Fine, get in position.”
As a resigned Renka, who had been grimacing, raised the camera, the twins pulled me into the kitchen with them.
I stood behind the two large men and raised my hands to either side, striking a pose as if I were showing off my muscles.
Adding a smug, annoying expression to the mix, Renka just shook her head and took the picture.
After finishing everything and taking a shower, I changed my clothes and went outside.
The sun hasn’t even set yet... but I’m exhausted.
Manual labor really is tough.
“My uncles have been worried lately because business was slow... I’m glad they seem to have found a direction. Thanks for today.”
Renka, who had approached me at some point, offered her sincere praise.
I nodded slowly and turned to look at her.
“The food is good, so it would have taken off eventually. We finished earlier than expected, so this fulfills my wish, right?”
“It’s fulfilled. You worked hard.”
“Then I’ll make my wish right away.”
“What...? R-Right now?”
“Yes. Tomorrow is Sunday, isn’t it?”
Renka’s eyes darted around.
She must have seen my sly expression and felt a sense of dread.
As she gulped, I gave her a meaningful smile and continued.
“For two days, from tomorrow until club activities on Monday, you will report everything you do to me before you do it.”
“...What... are you talking about?”
“It’s exactly as it sounds. When you eat, when you go to the bathroom, when you shower, when you study... and everything else, you are to report it all to me. Oh, and you will address me as ‘Master’.”
“Whaaat...?”
The look on Renka’s face as her jaw dropped was the most emotional I had ever seen from her.
It’s a wish that will certainly tank the high marks I earned today, but who cares? As long as my reputation doesn’t hit rock bottom, it’s fine.
I worked so passionately today and built up my image precisely to offset this burdensome wish, so you’d better play along.