Present Day.
'I'll be late. Extended class review. I'm in a hurry so see you in a bit!' She's never sent email before as it would be better to just talk without the hassle of typing in the keys, according to her. The reason for typing an email instead especially now that she was in a hurry has escaped me completely.
As if the staff had been waiting all along, they laid out the menu open in front of me as I pocketed my phone. For a specialized okonomiyaki place, the menu sure had a large variety, including some salads and sandwiches, "Modanyaki and oolong tea please!" I said to the staffer as she jotted down on her notepad. Normally it takes quite a while for a chef to properly make it, especially if you don't see them, but being seated right in front of the griddle with a chef marching around with the ingredients and utensils behind it assured me of a treat for tonight, and I wouldn't have to wait very long.
The plate and chopsticks were laid in front of me as another staffer pours oolong tea, "Will that be all?" The staffer asked as she took the menu,
"Yes, that'll be all," I said, motioning to her that everything was in order. She bowed lightly before disappearing somewhere to the back area of the kitchen. It was a lucky break for tonight, I thought, as I arrived a few minutes ago wondering if I picked the wrong time to try out a new place. From the outside, fans of a national baseball team seemed to have taken over the place as they cheered and downed their beer mugs while watching the finals on a flat screen TV hanging high above the counter.
The shop owner was standing outside when she noticed me inching away to the restaurant next door. And like magic, and with a little feminine charm from the youthful shop owner, she managed to lead me inside to a vacant seat by the counter. I guess she was all too happy to have an unfamiliar customer in her shop – the rows of sake bottles with names of people hanging around it, baseball memorabilia lining the walls, and the group of baseball fans who seem very familiar with the staff, as noted by their very loose demeanor… meant this was an okonomiyaki place catering to a specific set of customers.
The air smelt of burning oil, burnt food, and mayonnaise when I noticed the air conditioning wasn't helping at all to ease the summer heat, "Should've ordered beer…" I mumbled as the batter scored a homerun with three runners on the field. The place erupted in a short frenzy of cheering and beer-chugging as the camera panned towards the cheering fans and then to the distraught coach of the opposing team. I don't know anything at all about baseball except that the team just scored some points. The staffer offered a reassuring smile when I turned to her standing by the counter; she must've noticed me sigh in being the only person ignorant of baseball… even the person who will be late knows the game.
Surely, like the fans seated all around me, she would cheer without restraint for her team outside the premises of her school, and most importantly, away from the sight of her classmates. She wasn't bullied or feeling insecure or anything, it's that she has a reputation for being very reserved around campus. I used to think that her personality was sort of repressed when I found about what she did outside school and the things she wanted to do.
But, more importantly above all else, in some ways we shared the same outlook – enjoy every moment every day and be thank for it. I know it's a saying definitely worth living up to. I already died once remember? Not to mention had far too many chances of dying again?
Turning to the chef whose brows were all scrunched up as beads of sweat formed on his forehead, his military precision in preparation and cleanliness astounded me - the shredded cabbage was already 'cooked' as he prepared the batter beside the sliced leeks, pieces of pork, squid, shrimp, and beef, and a pan of ramen noodles behind it. The apron was messy as it should be while his knives and other utensils were either shiny as a mirror or immediately cleaned to be like one in seconds right after usage.
I thought of ordering a glass of beer again as heat emanated from the griddle in front of me; the only thing that was stopping me was the fact that 'she' told me not to drink any alcohol. Apparently, it would ruin the taste of the desert she was bringing. I suspect that was what's making her late – she talked about making it especially for tonight like it was a birthday.
I initially wondered why she would say that it was like a birthday when it was neither ours, until I remembered what date it was tonight…
Sipping from the cold glass of oolong tea, I managed to suffocate a chuckle as I turned the clocks back a year to that evening… when I was officially made in charge of the Tohno Mansion.