Hello folks, ZelgadisGW is speaking.
I'll make this author notes brief. This is the first story for The World God Only Knows series, featuring Sumire Uemoto. Unfortunately, anime adaptation kinda screwed the character over by not covering her story arc, so I decided to share some of my love for the character via writing this. This one-shot is very loosely based around mere-exposure effect in psychology (although I think this was more visible in initial drafts of the story). Any ways, I hope you enjoy what I wrote.
Cheers
ZelgadisGW
Mere-exposure effect
Sumire Uemoto had every reason to be utterly content with her life. She had fulfilled her dream of taking over the ramen restaurant, which happened shortly after the previous owner – her father – reconciled with her and acknowledged her talents as a chef.
That was truly a wonderful moment, with her reaching her goal, her opening her heart to her father and vice versa, finally receiving his full support and help in running the restaurant. What was even better, the Sumire-ya, as it was now called, was actually prospering and became really popular thanks to Sumire's own invention – her now famous sweet ramen. She had had that extraordinary idea in mind for some time, and it had taken her even more effort than creativity to finally make it right. She ultimately did, thanks to a certain food sampler who used to work here briefly.
It was Friday. Sumire was leaning over the counter, her chin propped on her palm, observing some customers finishing their ramen for a while. And soon enough, the restaurant was empty. It wasn't the rush hour yet, so the girl was not affected by it in the slightest. She knew she'll have plenty of customers to feed pretty soon and in order to kill some time, she decided to think about something that bugged her recently.
Just like it was stated before, she had every reason to be content with her life. But, if there was something she felt that was missing, it was the fact that her memories of the boy, who used to be her food sampler were… blurry at best. That boy helped her a whole lot, and somehow, she barely remembered him. That was absurd! All she knew about him is that he was not from Narusawa, was wearing glasses and was rather helpful, as much to her as to her father. And everything she had heard about the food sampler from her father had been vague at best. The matter shouldn't be any problem, but she couldn't even recall if she had thanked him properly for everything that he'd done.
The black-haired girl livened up considerably, as she saw a group of six people, apparently highschoolers, entering the restaurant. She brought a charming smile on her face in no time at all and appeared before the group. Her father might think that welcoming each customer like that is pointless, but the qipao-clad girl disagreed. She liked interacting with her customers and she considered it good manners. The group consisted mostly of girls: there was long-haired freckled girl, the short haired-energetic looking one, the cute clumsy-looking one, the one with short hair holding a guitar and two boys… Wait, another girl and a boy, because the girl was obviously dressed in high school uniform for boys. And the last boy in question looked positively nerdy, with glasses, unkempt hair and eyes glued to his gaming console.
"Welcome to Sumire-ya!" she greeted them cheerfully with polite bow "What would your orders be? Naturally, I recommend the Sweet Special!"
"Sweet Special?" the freckled girl repeated with a small smile. "So the rumors are true? There really is sweet ramen served here?"
"Of course it is!" Uemoto replied with pride in her voice "So, what shall it be?"
"I'll get the Sweet Special, then!" the freckled girl responded, and Sumire wrote down the order "How about you?" she asked the rest of the group.
"Same for me!" the genki girl announced.
"Miso ramen for me" the tomboyish one said.
"I'll go with the Sweet Special!" was what short-haired girl said.
"Me too! Extra sweet!" the loud girl exclaimed, and as Sumire noted that, the customer's attention shifted towards the boy "What you will be ordering, nii-sama?!" she asked loud enough for half of Narusawa city to hear her.
The boy in question raised his eyes from his gaming console and glared at her.
"Stop being so loud, geez" he told her and then paused for a moment "I'll order to-… shio ramen for me" he decided, his eyes glued to his console again. Sumire smiled and nodded at that, writing it down. Then she blinked once or twice, having an impression that it wasn't the first time she saw that boy. But she couldn't recall any memory associated with him, so she brushed that thought aside.
"Please take your seats, it will be ready in no time!" she exclaimed with energy, before rushing behind the counter. She had some work to do.
Some time later the group was enjoying the ramen and Sumire was once again behind the counter, observing her customers. It didn't take her long to learn some things about them. Like names, be they first or family ones. And some random information. The noisiest girl named Eri was apparently the sister of the boy (to whom some girls referred as "Keima-kun" while others as "Katsuragi"), who didn't appear to be very enthusiastic about the entire situation. Well, he gave an impression of a nerd who was dragged here by his… friends and who wouldn't really come here on his own. The cross-dressing girl, her name was Yui, clearly had a crush on him, which invoked very defensive reactions from him and jealously of the short haired girl. Chihiro, because that was apparently her name, looked like she was torn between amused, worried and intend on marking her territory. Was she his girlfriend? The two other girls just enjoyed the situation and, to Sumire's delight, her ramen.
What Sumire did there was nothing out of ordinary. In time, she developed a habit of learning some things about customers, just in case they decided to visit the restaurant again. She wasn't doing it because of sheer curiosity, but because she valued considered keeping good relations with people really important to her business.
Eventually, the group finished, thanked and paid for their meals and Sumire thanked them for their patronage and wished them a good day. Of course, she hoped they'll visit again. After that, the day at the restaurant continued as normal and soon the ramen chef had her hands busy with work. But she didn't mind, she loved her job.
The next time she saw that group again was just about a week later, when they once again decide to visit Sumire-ya. However, the group was one person short – the boy was not there this time. Well, Sumire didn't mind much, she still had five customers to feed and she did her job with glee. About the boy, Katsuragi-kun, as she recalled, she was not surprised. Judging from his overall look and disposition (like the fact that she recalled him being glued to his console) he was a typical nerd. He probably wanted to be left alone with his games.
The ramen girl did her duty as usual and then she was free to observe her customers once again. They talked and gossiped a lot while enjoying their meal and after some time the cross-dressing girl mentioned Katsuragi-kun, all to short-haired one's embarrassment. Then it was followed by even more teasing, and even more defensive reactions from the girl. Only the nerd's sister didn't join the teasing, stating that she is just happy for her "nii-sama". She couldn't help but react with a smile to what ditzy sister was saying. It appears that nerd or not, she really admired her brother and stretched the notion of "sisterly love" to its limit. Because seriously, who calls her brother "nii-sama"?
She wondered if the nerdy boy deserved such admiration from his sister.
If Sumire assumed this particular group of customers would visit her once per week, then she was mistaken. The group did not visit her restaurant next Friday. While that was objectively not a reason to worry, the ramen chef hoped it didn't indicate they were not interested in her restaurant anymore. Or at least, if they really weren't, that her ramen quality has nothing to do with that fact. Maybe they were just curious about the whole sweet ramen thing…
It was Wednesday and Sumire had just returned home from her school. She barely had any time to relax after classes, however, as she had to change and then get back to work as a chef. She was very much aware that her daily routines, consisting of school and job left her very little time for herself, but then again… can you really consider something a job, when you enjoy it immensely?
It happened about two hours later, two people entered the restaurant. And the ramen chef swiftly identified them as part of that group. The short-haired girl and surprisingly the nerd. Sumire smiled cheerfully.
"Welcome back to the Sumire-ya!" she welcomed the pair enthusiastically "What's your order?"
"Sweet Special for both of us!" the girl replied immediately, earning a glare from the nerd.
"What are you saying?" he questioned her, while still playing on his console "You know I dislike sweet things" well, that was new bit of information for Sumire.
"And what are YOU saying, Katsuragi?" the girl obviously faked offense "You DO like sweet things!" she smirked.
"You're delusional" he retorted, his tone of voice irritated.
"Oh? Don't you like me?" the girl questioned.
"What that has to do with anything?"
"Well, you like me, Otamega!" she exclaimed and then gave his a sly smile "Are you trying to say I'm not sweet?!"
"That's… that's completely different!" he barked back at her.
And then their exchange followed, Sumire gaze traveling between two of them like she was watching a ping-pong match. If that was sample of their behaviour, then no wonder they were a viable subject for teasing from their friends. And what's with the whole "Otamega" thing? Well, it made sense, since the boy's disposition was much otaku-like, and he did wear glasses. Just why would the girl…, well his girlfriend, call him that? Was that his pet name or something? She giggled at that and both customers remembered when they were, enabling Uemoto to finally take orders. In the end, she prepared only one Sweet Special and ordinary shio ramen. Then, in moments when she could allow it, Sumire proceeded to observe their customers. There were several of them in the whole restaurant, but for some reason the ramen chef focused on the pair of highschoolers. They were similar to each other appearance-wise, and they could be mistaken for siblings, if Sumire already hadn't known otherwise. They were girlfriend and boyfriend. This tension between them could not be mistaken for anything else. Even if it was a little bit belligerent.
They were interesting, however. They may have some things in common, regarding appearance, but the ramen girl was sure that inside they were nothing alike. She was more casual, lively, chaotic and sociable than him, that's for sure. If the guitar case she was often carrying was of any indication, she was really into music. The dark-haired girl briefly wondered how these two ended up together. What does that girl see in him? Is there more than meets the eye?
He has a serous case of bed hair, but that could be dealt with. He has a rather slim build, but Sumire noticed he was rather tall. And tall is good. He wears a glasses, but these aren't a problem. What about his eyes? Sumire didn't get to take a good look at them, so she wasn't sure.
Probably it was not about appearance. Maybe it was about his personality or some traits that can be easily missed. But hey, Uemoto, no time to think about this. Here come more customers to feed!
It was late November when Sumire saw the nerdy boy again. This time around, he visited the restaurant together with his loud sister and his mother as well, if the age difference was of any indication. The dress-clad girl smiled widely and welcomed the orange-haired woman warmly. After all the first impression was really important.
"My, what a well-mannered staff" the woman smiled brightly at the ramen chef "So do you really serve sweet ramen here?" she asked, slight disbelief in her voice. Sumire was used to this by this point.
"Of course we do" Sumire replied politely "I am author of the idea and I can assure you of the quality. We also have different levels of sweetness, as per your preferences"
"I think I'll try that ramen. How about you, Eri, Keima?"
"Sweet special!" the girl exclaimed loudly.
"Shio ramen for me" the boy named Keima ordered his usual in dry tone.
Sumire noted and then proceeded to execute the orders. She wished her customers a good meal and they started eating. It didn't last long until Mrs. Katsuragi commented on the ramen:
"This is really good. I'm impressed!" she stated and Sumie smiled radiantly "I wouldn't thought this was possible"
"See, mom? I told you!" Eri Katsuragi exclaimed loudly and her brother winced at the sheer volume of her voice. Soon, the daughter had a casual (although quite loud on her part) talk with her mother, but Mari Katsuragi knew exactly how to make her daughter go silent.
"So, Eri. About your last test results..." she started, silencing her daughter in an instant "I know that's still progress, but I know you could have done better" she stated.
"I'm sorry, mom..." she replied, fidgeting with her fingers "I promise I will do better next time!"
"Keima, you need to help Eri with her grades" the mother has said to her son. To which, the nerd has sighed.
"Mom..." he started
"Don't 'mom' me, young man!" Mrs. Katsuragi cut him off "You have an excellent grades and your sister needs help. You will tutor Eri once again!" she ordered, emphasizing the "will" part, as her palm ventured to her glasses and for some reason Sumire felt very uncomfortable with that motion.
Obviously, the boy was forced to comply. It was kinda interesting. Clearly, the boy was a nerd, but Sumire couldn't say that she would think that his grades were really good. She assumed that all he did was playing games, and therefore his grades would suffer because of that. She assumed people like him were an excellent NEET materials. But maybe she was wrong, maybe there really is more than meets the eye.
"One more thing, if I may ask" Mrs. Katsuragi questioned some time later after paying for a meal "How did you manage to come up with just the right taste? It must have taken a lot of time and effort. That's really impressive!"
"It did, but I had a food sampler" Sumire answered politely with a bow "And I don't think it would be possible without him" she added and noticed that Eri Katsuragi shifted in place uncomfortably, while her brother looked away. That simple action reminded her to take a good look at his eyes, but unfortunately soon the family left Sumire-ya, making that task impossible for now.
Sumire had to admit that she found herself to be curious about the nerd. He seemed to be like a small mystery to solve. He's apparently glued to his game console nearly constantly, yet he has excellent grades, has sister and girlfriend, both utterly not like him. And apparently, he's very intelligent person, if grades at school are indication of this. Curious case, indeed. She was also curious about one more thing.
She knew that both his mother and sister enjoyed her ramen. But what about him? She would like to find out, it was like another small mystery for her.
The next time Sumire saw the highschoolers group was in early December. In particular, it was 3rd of December and it was a birthday of one of the girls. The short haired one's. Uemoto had learned about this a few days before the event via phone call, when the birthday person in question had called to make a reservation.
And so, 3rd of December came and the birthday party was held in the restaurant, Sumire, with her father's help of course, contributed to the event as much as she could with her cooking skills and arrangements. Aside from the "group of six", as she called them, there were more highschoolers here, a shy dark haired girl with ribbons in her hair, holding a book, an equally shy girl with big bows in her hair and a short, glamours-looking blonde who gave an impression she was here mainly due to courtesy. And if Sumire's ears worked correctly, apparently Kanon Nakagawa herself was invited, but couldn't come due to her schedule. Seriously? Visit of freaking Kanon Nakagawa would be a great advertisement for Sumire-ya!
It was almost like a hen party, but Chihiro Kosaka's (as she was called) boyfriend was also here. And it surely looked like them being together was the only reason the boy was here in the first place. He clearly didn't enjoy such gatherings.
After bringing out the birthday cake and initial serving of the ramen, Sumire Uemoto didn't have much to do. True, she was taking the dishes and bringing drinks (non-alcoholic, of course!) when needed, but that was pretty much it. She couldn't complain, since her restaurant definitely profited from hosting a birthday party (and Sumire was thinking about expanding the business model anyways). And of course, she could take her time to observe the gathering. Kosaka yet again tried to make her boyfriend to try sweet ramen, but he unsurprisingly declined. This time however, instead of arguing, he sweet-talked (how ironic) his way out of the situation, resulting in apparent blush on his girlfriend's face. This of course was not missed by the rest of the gathering and was followed by lots of teasing. Of course, the ramen chef didn't miss that out as well. So, the nerd has a smooth tongue, eh?
Sumire then focused most of her attention towards the new girls in the group, as usual hoping to learn something about her new customers. It didn't bring out much of a results, since these girls weren't all that talkative. She might have caught either first or second names, though. She eventually shifted her attention towards the birthday person and her boyfriend.
It must be very nice, Sumire thought with a warm smile, to have a boyfriend dedicated enough to put up with situations definitely not to his liking. Maybe I'll find someone like that some day, she daydreamed.
And it felt good to learn some new opinions about her ramen. Especially from the new blonde girl, who aside from the taste commented on beautiful arrangement. But she still didn't get any feedback from the boy. She forgot to ask about it, given the circumstances.
December went on and Sumire Uemoto didn't see anyone from that group for some time. She didn't know why, but she hoped she'll see them again. Losing customers was obviously a bad thing, but then again, it was a restaurant. People come and go, and no-one had any obligation to become a regular patron, Sumire knew that. But still, she felt bad for some reason. Maybe it was just because of it being December and obviously the because of the winter…
She got to spend Christmas with her dad, and it was of course nice. She loved her father and wanted the best for him, and vice versa. Yet, her mother had been unwilling to spend that day with them, being still on bad terms with Sumire's dad. As a result, the daughter met her mother some other day and while she was glad to see her mom, it didn't appear as if the relationship between her parents were to improve anytime soon.
It was a depressing thought, but the dark-haired girl was not going to give up on her parent's relationship. She remained hopeful, but she still felt hurt.
Soon enough, during January's cold evening, she saw two familiar faces again. It was that Kosaka girl, together with her friend. Sumire greeted them in her usual cheerful manner and soon enough she ended up preparing two meals. Nothing unusual, expect not quite…
It seemed that Kosaka girl was in rather unpleasant mood and her friend wanted to talk to her about it. Sumire had a habit of trying to learn something about her customers, sure, but in instances like this common decency required to not involve yourself into not your business. And so, the ramen girl continued her job as normal, this time around being closer to the kitchen to not eavesdrop anything by accident. Her tactics ultimately failed, however, when she distinctly heard the word "Katsuragi" coming from one of the girls, just that resulted in Sumire's attention snapping towards them. It was hard for the girl to pretend she didn't heard anything, and every attempt on it failed miserably. She heard more than she should have, evidently things were not looking very good between the boy and that girl as of late.
Ok, Sumire, you heard enough. Now you focus all of your willpower on something else…
"Compromise?" the short haired girl voiced more loudly that she should have "I do that already! He should be the one to compromise more!"
"Calm down, Chihiro!" was her friend's response "I get it, he is the otamega. He's not perfect boyfriend material. And it's not like he isn't compromising already."
"But I'm not at fault here. I do compromise, Ayumi! But in the long run, I'm not okay with him preferring to spend time on those… things more than dating his girlfriend."
"Then talk to him about it!" her friend advised "Just do it honestly and with best intentions. Maybe you need to find something you could play together… or maybe just let him take his PFP on dates?"
"And to be compared to those…. Things? No way!" she objected.
"Come on. He's the most resourceful person we know, I bet there is something you two could do!"
This definitely was not something Sumire hoped to hear today. Luckily, another group of customers came to her rescue, taking her attention from the two girls.
It was in the middle of January when she saw the group again in her restaurant. The loud little sister. The genki girl. The freckled girl. The cross-dresser. And the short-haired one. But the group was short of one person. Short of the boyfriend of that Kosaka girl.
Sumire got up and greeted the group, like usual, giving them the usual cheerful smile. And took the usual orders. But for her, it was not the usual. Something felt off.
Something felt wrong. Something felt hollow. Was it related to the previous conversation she heard?
Sumire's overall mood hasn't improved. It was not December anymore, but it was still the winter season. A season that often comes with general lowering of mood. Yes, that was it.
Not two weeks later Sumire saw the group of familiar customers again. This time, that Katsuragi nerd was here again, in company of his sister, his girlfriend and the sporty girl. The owner of the restaurant smiled widely at the sight and moved to greet them. As she did, something felt strange. Something between that Kosaka girl and Katsuragi. They didn't look at each other. There was tension between them, sure, but it was different kind of tension. A very unpleasant one at that. Both tried to sound normal while making their orders, but ramen chief wouldn't be fooled by that. Even the two other girls acted uneasy.
The couple most likely had a fight, and the two other girls apparently wanted them to get along once again. It seemed like that.
Sumire decided to focus solely on her duty this time and for the most part, she succeeded. Well, her father had to remind her she was spacing out once or twice before she served the ramen to her patrons. Why was that happening? She didn't want to pry into their affairs, it was wrong and unprofessional thing to do…
Yet, she couldn't help but to be present relatively close to the counter, and unwillingly she could hear things. Things that were not sounding good, even if she did her best to not focus on exact words. Both the boy and the girl talked to the two other people in a civil manner, but the tone of their voices spelled danger. In time, it was apparent that neither the genki girl nor the loud sister had any real plan for this… meeting. This led to thing going downhill from there.
The couple started arguing and it sounded pretty harsh. The Kosaka girl was pretty much shouting by this point, venting her irritation and unmet expectations. The boy fared better, but he still raised his voice and was unwilling to pull back, voicing how she is pushing too hard. Neither the panic of his sister, nor the other girl's attempts to call them down bore any fruit.
They had enough, Sumire noticed, as they were standing face to face and arguing intensively, their voices rising in volume, enough for the entire room to focus on them. Sumire then watched as Kosaka slapped the boy on his face, all sounds in the restaurant dying. The ramen chef was well aware she should interfere by that point, in fact earlier even, but she found herself unable to move due to shock she felt.
The girl realized where her emotions had led her, as she lowered down her hand and her expression became less angry, and more regretful. The painful silence lasted for a while longer, before it was broken by Katsuragi.
"I had enough. This route is no longer a possibility." he exclaimed quietly, before turning his back to the girl and walking towards the counter. Sumire watched in dead silence as he put money on it. Then, he raised his gaze and their eyes met for the first time. Sumire Uemoto found his eyes striking, strong and very sad and hurt.
"This should be enough for ramen for two. Keep the change" was what he said, before walking out of the restaurant. His sister swiftly followed with "Nii-sama!". The girl was always loud, but it had been the first time Sumire found those exact words so heart-wrenching.
The daughter of Uemoto family have known empathy. An ability to know hat others are feeling, or at least to imagine how things feel like. But never before she actually feel the pain as well. Never like this. She felt as if her heart was broken, as if she ended a relationship with someone dear.
And Chihiro Kosaka was now sitting down, her friend beside her comforting her the best she could. They were talking quietly now, and Sumire didn't really want to hear it any more, unless she wanted to feel only worse.
Sumire couldn't sleep that night. It may not be the first time when she had witnessed an argument in her restaurant, but it definitely had been the first time when she had felt utterly helpless. Normally, she was more assertive and usually told the customers to keep it down. Sometimes, she asked father for his help. But this time, she had been utterly helpless and unable to act. She had found herself able to only watch, and it had been a painful situation to witness. She rolled to her other side, her brain refusing to give it a rest.
She had felt hollow before, but now she felt depressed for some reason. Get a grip girl, she told herself, it is not your business! Why are you thinking so much about it? You might be a nice girl that cares abut relations with her patrons, but that's way too much!
But at least she felt not quite so hollow any more. At least, it was something – better being depressed than feeling hollow. Needless to say, she didn't slept well that night.
The days continued like always, and Sumire kept up her daily activities. School, work, sometimes hanging out after school a bit, although not too often. She had responsibilities and she didn't want to burden her father with work. She didn't saw anyone from that particular group of highschoolers at all during February and that fact was not surprising. The place held unpleasant memories for them, especially for people who argued back then. Sumire knew that it was foolish to expect them to visit again, especially the boy. He was dragged there, basically. She knew all that, but against her better judgment, this hurt and made her sad.
March didn't turn out any better. True, her overall disposition improved, especially later in the month when she graduated from high school, but something still felt off. It was more like there was part of her that required attention or care, despite the fact that objectively speaking things were looking up to her.
Come on, she had graduated and could focus on the restaurant more. She had more time to experiment with new types of sweet ramen. She had more time to hang out with her friends from school now and had more time to spend with her dad and help him. It was good. But some side of her was left unsatisfied.
She couldn't complain about business though, that much was sure. Many highschoolers were celebrating late March and short break from school by feasting in her restaurant. Surely, it didn't matter this one particular group had stopped visiting the Sumire-ya.
On one April night Sumire was lying on her bed after a busy and fruitful day. But she definitely didn't feel like sleeping, her thoughts were not letting her. Part of her still felt off since that memorable day and she was more than willing to get to the bottom of this. She had felt this way for some time now and it had kept draining her ever since.
The black-haired girl was positively puzzled as to why one group of teenagers not coming to her restaurant was affecting her so much. Customers come and go, it made no sense! There must be some other explanation!
Okay, there was that group. So what about them? What's so special about them? Sumire didn't know much about their members and since she didn't see them for some time now, she wasn't even sure she still remembered their family names. There was the cross-dresser, apparently from some influential family. There was the sporty energetic girl. There was the one with freckles. There was the adorable scatter-brained one. There was the short-haired girl… And then there was…
Sumire cursed under her breath, rolling over to the other side. The nerdy boy. Katsuragi, was he? She inspected her memory and then her feelings. Nothing made sense. From all members of this group, he appeared the fewest number of times. He never complimented the place, nor her ramen. He probably had never wanted to go to the restaurant on his own. She barely interacted with him, keeping it to the minimum, even given the circumstances.
Nothing about it made sense.
So why was she feeling a weird sensation in her heart when she thought of him?
Sumire lay on her back, her eyes focused on her uninteresting ceiling and her palms placed around the place of her aching heart. It was absurd, Sumire realized, it didn't make any sense. But she had to admit it to herself.
"…I see..." she whispered "… I think I'm in love with him..." she concluded absent-mindedly. Then the yet another, much more serious realization hit her. She didn't know where to look for him. And since he was not going to visit her restaurant on his own, she will probably never see him again…
At that, tears began running down Sumire's cheeks, as she rolled over on her back. She hid her face in the pillow, wanting nothing more than crying her heart to sleep.
It was a late afternoon in the Sumire-ya. The restaurant was not closed yet, but there patrons were all gone already and the owner of the place concluded that soon she'll have to finish up cleaning before closing the place for today. But the qipao-clad girl didn't quite feel like doing that just yet. She was currently sitting behind the counter, her arms crossed before her as she was thinking about that boy. The realization she had had two days ago still hurt and she hoped that in time the thing she felt towards the pretty much stranger boy will fade. It still puzzled her as to why she had to fall for her customer, a nerd and stranger instead of one of her friends or classmates. It was absurd, she knew it and was forced to accept it. Her heart was obviously not working on logic.
"The restaurant isn't already closed, is it?" Sumire heard a dry, but quite polite voice to her left and she immediately was put out from her thoughts. She looked in the direction of the voice and she could swear that her stupid, illogical heart just skipped a beat or two.
The glasses. The unkempt hair. The overall disposition. A gaming console in his hands. And more importantly, those eyes. Yes, it was him. As soon as she realized that, her stupid, illogical heart began to beat much faster, as if trying to overcompensate for skipping a few beats a moment ago.
"N- no, we're still open" she responded while straightening herself, feeling the heat invading her cheeks. She tried her best to summon her usual smile on her face, hoping the result was good enough "Excuse me, then. What you will be having?" she questioned, but the boy didn't reply immediately. "Shio ramen, a-as usual?" she tried, cursing herself inwardly for stuttering.
"I think ye-… no" the boy hesitated, and after consideration he said "Tonkotsu this time, please."
"Tonkotsu?" Sumire replied before she briefly felt stinging pain in her head. What was that? "Of course, one tonkotsu ramen!" she quickly said, realizing that she shouldn't be questioning her customers "Take your seat, it will be ready in no time!" she assured him, after which she immediately rushed to the kitchen.
She gave herself a few seconds to cool down. Steady, proceed like usual. Be professional for now. You can talk to him when he'll be eating. You have perfect excuse for that, there are no other customers!
Not much time later she served the ordered ramen to the boy.
"Have a good meal!" she added cheerfully and the boy put off his gaming console and nodded, picking the chopsticks. Sumire made a few steps backwards, so that her back rested against the counter. After some time spend observing the boy devouring the dish, she decided to speak "So..." she started uncertainly, getting his attention once again "How do you like it?" she questioned with a smile. It was very basic thing to ask, but she wanted that answer to that since a long ago.
"I don't normally care much for food..." was the answer and Sumire felt disappointment at that. So, no good? Before she could do something about that disappointment of hers, she could hear him once again: "But I certainly can tell this ramen is well made. It stands out" he added and to that Sumire's blush intensified, as she looked away.
"T- thank you" she mumbled.
"Actually..." he started for a moment, as if considering something important "I think I will order another bowl"
The black-haired girl was positively surprised at that sentence. And it was a nice kind of surprise.
"So, another tonkotsu? Or will it be shio?" she questioned, trying and failing to force her heartbeat to slow down.
"No. It will be the Sweet Special" the boy clarified, surprising the ramen chef once again.
"Sweet special?" she repeated nervously "But I've thought you didn't like sweet things!" she stated.
"You remembered that?" the boy questioned, looking at her and raising his eyebrow in slight surprise.
"Y- yeah..." the girl admitted "B- but I always try to remember some details about our patrons!" she added quickly, as if in her defence.
"That's very commendable" the boy responded, making her blush even more. Damn, apparently he wasn't even trying anything, but it still felt as if he was hitting on her "So, I would like to have the Sweet Special, level 1 please" he told her and his attention shifted to the tonkotsu ramen he hasn't finished yet.
Sumire responded with carrying out the order, as she was pretty much speechless. Get a freaking grip, girl! In time, a bowl full of her Sweet Special was served to the boy, who had already finished tonkotsu, and as his attention was directed towards it, the ramen chef decided to take a seat ahead of him. The boy looked at her.
"Don't mind me..." she said, looking aside "Just enjoy your meal, this one is on the house!" she added cheerfully.
The boy showed a slight surprise, but nonetheless grabbed the chopsticks and proceed with consumption. Sumire observed him as he was eating slowly. And she could clearly see him wincing as he tried the dish. She sighed internally. Good thing it she made it a free meal. She was thinking about a potential conversation topic when she heard his voice.
"It is definitely better than before" he stated, surprising the girl once again. Wait what?
"What?" she questioned in disbelief, her eyes widening "But you have never eaten it before!"
"Actually, I have" he responded calmly.
"But that doesn't make sense!" she claimed in confusion "I don't remember you ever ordering it..."
"I have tried it more than year ago, actually" he explained to her, stopping his meal completely. He saw her opening her mouth, but he beat her to it "You most likely don't remember, but I was the food sampler here."
The flash of stinging pain attacked her skull once again, as she tried to recall the event. She definitely remember she had a food sampler, but as embarrassing as it was, she couldn't recall much about that food sampler. All she knew is that this person was not from Narusawa and that he proved himself to be very, very helpful.
And he was wearing glasses. Sumire couldn't figure out how her memory worked. Or rather, how it not worked properly. Especially now, when her face was coloured pink and her heart was beating like mad and her mind felt fuzzy.
"T- that was you?" she mumbled in embarrassment.
"Yes" the nerd answered with a straight face.
"W- why?"
"Because my sister insisted" he replied, and after seeing the look on the girl's face, he sighed and added reluctantly: "let's just say my sister loves ramen and was very eager to help other people, dragging me around in the progress". To Sumire, this explanation of his was bizarre, but it had to do for now.
"I… see..." was what she managed to say, her head too fuzzy to actually question that.
"So I repeat: you have made a significant improvement since that time."
"Thank you..." she responded with visible blush and looked away while fidgeting. She didn't notice that, but Keima smiled faintly at the sight.
He actually meant what he had said. While he still hated sweet things in general, he could genuinely tell the difference in quality of what he was eating. Back then when he had become her food sampler he had thought he was going to die, until she had served him something he considered actually edible. The ramen he was eating right now was obviously also edible, but Keima felt even less discomfort with eating it.
He knew that the Real was a shitty game, but as he had learned to know in time, it was a game worth playing. And during his playthrought of the Real, he had met many people, mostly girls. And each of them tried their best in that shitty game, each of them either was or became special in her own way. Ayumi, an excellent athlete. Mio managed to move on from her father's death. Kanon became a shinning star. Shiori, being able to remember each book she have read and finally getting courage to open up to people – this was a trait Keima very much appreciated. Kusunoki, being able to dedicate herself towards a goal, while not sacrificing an important part of herself. Even Chihiro, who sought to find a way to make herself special, and who eventually started shinning in her own way. And naturally, Keima concluded, he could count Sumire special as well. She managed to take an absurd concept of a Sweet Ramen and not only make it work, but also make it popular. And although Keima couldn't really say he enjoyed her Sweet Ramen, he couldn't dismiss her skill and dedication.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, real girls, his former conquest targets in particular, were not that far from his game heroines. Naturally, the capabilities of the Real were finite and thus it was unable to produce pure, perfect game heroine. But, hasn't he agreed that imperfections aren't all that bad?
"Excuse me..." the girl started once again, not looking at him "That might be a strange question, but… why are you here?" she asked him, and he raised an eyebrow in response. The girl's blush deepened "D- Don't make me wrong, but I've though… you have been dragged to come here… And you were not coming here for sometime now..."
"If I truly didn't want to come here, no force on the earth could make me do it" he explained, although that was pretty much a bit far-fetched. His mother could force him to do that pretty easily if she only wanted. And Chihiro too, at least until not so long ago.
"So, you are here on your own even after... what happened that one time?" Sumire managed to gather courage to ask that. She would need to get to the point eventually. But the boy didn't answer immediately, and his expression darkened. The girl understood that the question had been a mistake and felt pain at looking at his expression. The same type of pain as she had felt back then. "I… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked..." she admitted, and hang her head low.
"That event back then… It was unpleasant and painful. But it's not really important as of right now" he explained after some time, then went silent, looking at the leftovers of his ramen.
"I'm sorry… I really shouldn't pry" Sumire apologized once again.
"No need to be sorry. Actually, I don't mind speaking about it" he assured her firmly and he didn't even lie. His break up with Chihiro was not pleasant and if there are people in the Real Keima could talk to, it was his family and friends. He had very few friends, mainly his former conquests targets. And from all conquest targets, the likes of Sumire were the least biased regarding his current situation. They normally wouldn't make good conversation partners due to lack of memories, but this instance was a little bit different.
"After some time we talked to each other once more." Keima started speaking again, his gaze distant "We have made mistakes, both me and her. We understand them now, and we came to agreement..."
"Agreement...?"
"Yes. We decided to rebuild our friendship and stay as friends" he explained slowly "We decided that would work the best for both of us. Currently we are on a good terms"
"That seems a good think. I'm glad..." Sumire replied, feeling relieved for some reason. Some reason, that's a good one. She knew exactly why she felt that way, it was because he was feeling better as well. Still… "Though excuse me… But I don't think you're okay with that..." at that the boy shrugged in response.
"I guess I'm not" he agreed, finally finishing his ramen. Of course, the girl was right in that regard. He has finished a relationship with the girl he had feeling for, so naturally he needed time for recovery "But that can't be helped. Anyway, that event back then didn't change anything. I still would visit here from time to time".
"Really? You would?" the girl questioned.
"Yes. I made a promise about that. It was back then when I was your food sampler" he answered while looking her in the eyes, and Sumire felt a strangest sensation she had felt in a long time. A sensation that was absurd to describe, and a sensation she had heard about. Just the very notion of butterflies dancing in her stomach was as absurd as it felt wonderful. She touched her heated cheeks with her palms.
As for Keima, he had made that promise while still being in conquest mode. It had been for the conquest, but after all he had been through, including his search for goddesses, breaking hearts and saving the world, he could not treat such promises just as a part of the conquest. His playthrought of the Real had changed him to an extent, and he now considered such promises a matter of his honour and pride as a gamer. More than just as a gamer – as a gaming god. Even if the girl in question didn't remembered the promise, it was of no consequence. The promise must be kept.
"Anyway" he took up "Thank you for the meal" he stood up and left a calculated amount of money on the table and started directing himself towards the exit. To this, Sumire panicked and her heart ached once more.
No, she wasn't going to let it end like this!
"Katsuragi-kun!" she bravely spoke his family name, while standing up. The boy in question was about to exit the restaurant, but he stopped and looked back at her, his gaming console in his hand. Seeing her approaching him, he has faced her direction.
"Yes?" he questioned her, although he could see some flags. But he wasn't his old self, he wouldn't escape the reality - only shitty players ragequit. Sumire approached him nervously, her hands behind her back.
"There is just one more thing..." she started, and then bravely looked him in the eyes. His strong, brown and striking eyes, eyes that could easily melt her "I don't recall thanking you for being my food sampler..." she said with a small, pink blush.
"Oh… if it's about that, there is no need to-..." Keima's words were brutally interrupted by one of the gentlest actions in the world. Sumire Uemoto leaned forward to place her lips on his and in this moment they both felt the world stopping for an instant. The girl moved her lips over his, being equally gentle and guilty about this. She knew she was intruding.
During the time of his contract with New Hell, Keima Katsuragi was forced to do things he regret, if not immediately then surely now. Ultimately, he ended up helping every one of his conquest targets, but still, he was forced to pretend, to lie, to seduce, all in order to close the gap in the heart of a possessed girl. To be most effective, he used the weapon he was familiar with, or so he thought.
Love.
He knew that more often than not that him joining his lips with girl's was deciding factor in a successful ending to his capture. He knew it was enough, along with helping a conquest target to deal with her problems, to get rid of the loose spirit. And he got to experience how bad loose soul victims can have it, back during Yui conquest.
But he certainly didn't expect the effect this short kiss would have on him. He felt as if he was the one who's gap in heart was closing. And the taste he felt was nice. And that taste was...
"I'm sorry..." Sumire spoke, after pulling away from the kiss and before tears appeared in her eyes "I know I shouldn't have done that…" she admitted, looking away "and I know that you need to have some time… But I can't help it..." she forced herself to look at him again "I… I like you!" she confessed, feeling mix of overwhelming and contrasting emotions, and then looked away once more with embarrassment. She then smiled sadly.
"I know you don't like me back…" she admitted, tears threatening to spill out. But before Keima could react to that, she dried them with her fingers "That's okay..." she admitted "But I wanted to thank you properly… And I hope you still would visit me again..."
"Would you like to exchange phone numbers?" he asked her suddenly.
"W- what?" was her response. She had misheard, hasn't she?
"Would you like to exchange phone numbers?" he asked her again, and when he still didn't receive any response, he explained: "I can't say I like you as much as you like me, but after all, I wouldn't mind"
"What? You wouldn't mind…? But why…?" she questioned him, sincerely not understanding, although she couldn't help but feel a warm feeling overwhelming her.
"This came up very suddenly, at least for me..." he said to her seriously "I' have ended a relationship quite recently. And I didn't felt good about that. I still felt rather bad, actually. But what you did just there… I think after all, I need something like that" he explained… world would be hollow without love, after all. And his time spend in the Real without it seemed hollow too.
"S- so..." Sumire stuttered, her heart beating like crazy "You would date me?"
"I can't promise it will last, but I do..." he responded with a serious face and the girl felt like her legs were about to give up. "However" he stated, making the girl tense up "I don't want to make the same mistakes. I will be direct and honest about this. I love games and I will be spending a lot of time gaming. I can be antisocial, insensitive and cold. I can't say I understand real girl's hearts. Most likely I won't share your hobbies and I won't be the prince charming. And I definitely wouldn't want to eat your sweet ramen more often than once per few months. Are you still okay with this?"
"Y- yes… I am" Sumire whispered in response. Daring the person right before her is not going to be a cakewalk, she knew it. But this is what her stubborn, stupid heart wanted. The boy acknowledged her answer with a nod. "I think… I think we can exchange numbers..." she mumbled, feeling nothing but fuzziness in her head. She couldn't think clearly, so she just gave him her phone, so he could save his number there. "I'm Sumire. Sumire Uemoto" she said, since she never formally introduced herself to him.
"Keima. Keima Katsuragi" he responded after they exchange their numbers "Send me a message later" he told her with a small smile, before he turned around to exit the restaurant. Before Sumire could react, however, he stopped and faced her once again. "You know, one more thing. There is actually one sweet thing I like from you".
"Sweet thing?" Sumire questioned, wondering why her legs still hasn't given up.
"Yes" he approached her, his console already in his pocket, leaving his hands free. "This" as he said it, he walked into her personal space, embracing her and placed a kiss on her lips. And this is when Sumire Uemoto felt herself and the world around her melting. It felt warm. It felt lively. It felt good. And it definitely felt sweet. And it seemed her stupid, illogical heart will be sated after this.
Alas, nothing can last forever and so Keima pulled back, giving the girl some room to breath again. It seemed like the girl's brain needed some time to reboot.
"I'll message you later. Goodnight" he told the girl, turned around and exited the restaurant. It took Sumire some time before she realized she was standing by the exit of her restaurant a few minutes. Finally, she realized she has not much time any more. She moved swiftly behind the counter and yelled:
"Dad!"
"What it is?" the voice of her father came to her from the kitchen.
"Can you handle the cleaning!?"
"Huh? Are you suggesting I'm too old to deal with such mundane task…? Hey!" he added, not hearing the response from his daughter.
Because at the moment Sumire Uemoto was running up the stairs and then to her room, before her legs finally gave up. She slid down the closed door as she laughed cheerfully.
How did that happen? She didn't know. Hardly any prior contact, hardly any interactions. Hell, she didn't even remember him being her food sampler, or worse, she couldn't remember anything about him around that time! How the hell did she end up liking him, not to mention making any progress?
I guess there is no rhyme nor reason for being in love.
So, here is where the one-shot ends and I hope you enjoyed. I also hope I won't be brutally eradicated by Chihiro and Keima shippers, given their sheer number. I really do, I have so many things to do in life yet!
Just a little bit of trivia. One scene was inspired by an Amourshipping scene from Pokemon XY&Z, but it's really not a big inspiration. Just my mental image was kinda similar. Aside from that, there shouldn't be any special references in this oneshot.
Once again, hope you enjoyed. See ya sometimes.