OKONOMIYAKI SUMMER WARS
a story written by
DELICIOUS GEARS
DAY THREE: Escalation in Moderation
Ukyou didn't need an alarm to wake up. She and Konatsu were early risers by necessity, for the good of their business. Which meant that they were usually the first to rise in the small little beach house they were sharing with Ranma and the Tendou family.
Ukyou slipped out of the small futon that she used, noting that Konatsu's was already empty. The Tendou sisters, each in their own futon, were still in a deep sleep. Quietly, Ukyou crept out of the room, grabbing her swimsuit, happi coat and a towel to take with her into the bathroom.
One quick hot shower later, she emerged from the bathroom to see Konatsu quietly tending to the rice cooker in the small kitchen area. "Mornin' Natsu-chan," she said, stepping up to the counter. "You ready for business today?"
Konatsu smiled at Ukyou. "As always, Ukyou-sama." She pulled out the grill drawer, and placed several fish on the rack, ready to cook. "If business is going to be anything like it was yesterday, I think we might need to be prepared for demand."
Ukyou nodded. "I called ahead, and got some extra supplies in. I'm not going to risk running out in the middle of a busy day like yesterday was." She went around the counter, taking out the miso and vegetables to make soup with. "And with Fujinami next door, we need all the preparation we can get together. I'm not gonna lose any customers to her!"
Ukyou's thoughts were suddenly derailed by a rapid knocking on the front door. She gave Konatsu a confused look, before quickly crossing over the living room and foyer to open the door.
To say that Ukyou was somewhat surprised to see a gigantic pig glaring down at her would be an understatement. In fact, she was scared stiff, barely even able to move. She couldn't back away from the door without her body making loud creaking sounds, like an ancient door.
"Is this where the Tendous are staying?" A high, musical voice came from somewhere behind the giant pig. There was the sound of feet hitting the wooden veranda, before a beautiful young woman stepped around the pig, wearing a flowing white cotton sundress and a wide-brimmed straw hat.
"It's a pleasure to meet you! I am Unryuu Akari!" She motioned towards the pig. "This is my pig, Katsunishiki." She bowed low, while the pig respectfully raised a trotter in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Ukyou shrank back from the young woman and her giant pig, her mouth hanging open. She couldn't muster the mental capacity to even speak, let alone formulate a proper greeting.
Konatsu quickly dashed up to her mistress' side. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Unryuu-sama!" She knelt down and bowed to her. "This is the Tendou residence. I'm Konatsu, kunoichi and faithful servant."
Akari smiled down at Konatsu. "How interesting! I had only found out about this place last night, from a call from one of Akane-chan's sisters. She told me that Ryouga-kun was brought here, and she said she might be needing help with something. So I brought Katsunishiki with me to come help!"
Konatsu beamed happily. "That's wonderful!" She turned to look at Ukyou-sama, who still seemed to be completely lost, and now left out of the conversation. "Isn't it wonderful, Ukyou-sama? We've got somebody to come and help us!"
Slowly, Kasumi walked into the living room, clutching a towel and toiletries to her chest, her eyes bleary. "Good morning, Ukyou-san, Konatsu-san..." She paused as she saw Akari and Katsunishiki. "Oh, Akari-chan, Katsunishiki! I didn't expect you to be visiting too!" She continued on to the bathroom without even missing a step.
Ukyou turned to look at Konatsu, confusion all over her face. "Uhm, Natsu-chan... Are we really gonna have that pig help run our shop?"
Konatsu blinked, and looked over at Katsunishiki. "Well, maybe we could have him help pull in customers? After all, we're kind of outnumbered on the poster girl count, compared to..." She paused, remembering how upset Ukyou seemed while dealing with the rivals next door. "Well, he would probably help to draw some extra eyes in that Ranma couldn't by herself..."
Ukyou looked back at Akari. "Alright, fine. You can be a poster girl, and Katsunishiki could carry a banner or something." And then she pointed a finger at Akari's nose. "But you'd best be able to pull your weight around here. I don't expect anything other than the best!"
Akari blinked, but nodded firmly. "Of course, Ukyou-san! I'll do my very best!"
The bedroom door opened once more and Nabiki stumbled out in dishevelled pajamas, looking incredibly haggard. She staggered blindly into the kitchen, and started rooting through the cabinets, grumbling to herself.
Everyone watched Nabiki's foraging silently, somewhat taken aback. Then Konatsu's eyes widened as something twigged in her mind.
"The coffee!" She said, a look of panic on her face. "I forgot to make the coffee!" She quickly dashed into the kitchen, grabbing the coffee, kettle, and various other items. In a flash, Konatsu produced a steaming cup of black coffee for Nabiki.
Nabiki took the coffee silently, and took a sip. She hummed for a moment, the dark cloud on her face quickly disappearing. "This is actually pretty good..." She looked back at Konatsu. "Nice to know that somebody is on the ball around here..."
Konatsu bowed low to Nabiki. "I am ever so grateful, Nabiki-sama..."
"Well, that's nice," Ukyou said, her face a mask of indifference. "I just hope that you can help us when it counts, to defeat Fujinami and those losers."
Nabiki gave Ukyou an icy look. "Oh ye of little faith. Who do you think asked this cutie here to be your poster girl this weekend?" She motioned over to Akari, who gave Ukyou a nervous smile. "I've been keeping my ear to the ground all evening, trying to find out more about the shop next door."
"Oh yeah?" Ukyou asked, a sceptical look on her face. "Maybe you could tell me something I don't already know?"
"Well, our rival is in pretty close with the family that owns everything on this beach." Nabiki took a long sip of her coffee before continuing. "So I'm guessing that they have access to those deep Mendou pockets in case something goes wrong." She smiled a little as Ukyou blinked at her in surprise. "You want to know anything else?"
Ukyou paused, before stepping up to Nabiki. "You've got to come to Ucchan's with me today! Maybe you could help give the place a boost!" She paused, her face flushing. "I mean, if you're willing to go that far an' all..."
Nabiki snorted. "Well, I think you got more than enough poster girls. But Kasumi's saying she's gonna pitch in as a waitress." She turned her head as the bathroom door opened. "Oh, right on cue. Hey sis, you ready to help our buddy Ucchan out?"
Kasumi stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a light blue strapless onepiece, her hair tied back in a braid that hung over her shoulder. "Of course, Nabiki-chan. I'm always ready to help."
Another bedroom door opened, and Ranma stepped out, still in female form, while Ryouga followed behind.
"Dang, Ryouga!" Ranma said, looking back at the boy following her. "We should probably share rooms again tonight. What you did to Pop this morning was unbelievable!" She turned her head back, and suddenly stopped short as she saw several people giving her funny looks.
Ryouga stopped right behind Ranma, his eyes bugging out at the gathering of people. And then his eyes bugged out even further when he noticed Akari among the group. "A-A-A-Akari?!"
"Ryouga!" Akari moved around the group, and dashed over to all but leap into Ryouga's arms. Ryouga could only stand there, staring into space as Akari hugged him tightly, in a mixture of romantic bliss and absolute confusion.
While that was going on, Nabiki drank the rest of her coffee, placing the cup in the sink. "I sure hope that we can see some more hustle out there," she said, turning to look at Ranma. "Especially from you, Ranma."
"Why me?" Ranma asked warily.
"Because you're the poster girl, of course!" Nabiki said. "Well, a poster girl, really. Akari and Katsunishiki are gonna be helping you."
Ranma stared at Nabiki. "What's a sumo pig gonna do as a poster girl?" She looked at the pig out of the corner of her eye. "I don't think he's even a girl!"
In response, Katsunishiki glared at her and rose up on his hindquarters, puffing out its chest to look more intimidating. The effect was enough to make Ranma swallow hard, and reconsider her words.
"You don't need to have a pretty face to sell a product," Nabiki replied, "just a memorable one. And you gotta admit, there's not much else around here that would be about as memorable as Katsunishiki here." She gave the sumo pig a bit of a smile, which caused him to puff his chest out even further.
Then Nabiki turned to look at Ranma. "I'm expecting a tough fight out there today. I bet you would be too." She grabbed her towel and swimsuit. "So let's see some real hustle out there today, huh?"
Ranma was silent as Nabiki walked into the bathroom, locking it behind her. "If she wants hustle, fine! I'll give her all the hustle she wants!"
"That's the spirit, Ranchan!" Ukyou said, clenching a fist. "Today, we're sure to leave Fujinami choking in our dust! She won't even see it coming!"
Ryuunosuke awoke with a slight headache, and a strange tightness constricting over her chest. Which was a funny thing, since she never slept with her sarashi on, and she definitely didn't sleep with it on last night. Then the rest of what happened last night drifted into her mind.
Ryuunosuke cracked open one eye, and saw a tide of deep brown in front of her face. Shinobu was clinging tightly against her front, her head tucked under Ryuunosuke's jaw. Which probably explained that tight feeling around her chest, she thought to herself.
After some moments acclimatising to the light, Ryuunosuke opened both eyes, and looked around. The first rays of dawn were just filtering in through the blinds of the bedroom. Lum, Ran and even Sakura were slumbering in their own futons.
Ryuunosuke groaned as she gazed down at the curtain of brown hair resting against her chest. She was pretty sure that there was a wet spot growing on the collar of her pajama top. And even then, that was hardly a reason to try and dislodge Shinobu so she could get up.
Nevertheless, Ryuunosuke prodded at Shinobu's cheek gently. "Shinobu," she hissed in her ear. "Shinobu! I need to get up now!" The prod turned into a pinch. "Shinobu, wake up!"
Shinobu stirred slightly, nuzzling against Ryuunosuke's shoulder. But she just wrapped her arms tighter around Ryuunosuke's chest, murmuring softly.
"Dammit, Shinobu..." Ryuunosuke growled as she clumsily sat up in the futon, lifting Shinobu up against her. She grunted as she slid her hands underneath Shinobu, and got up to her feet, carrying Shinobu in an awkward bridal carry. Slowly, Ryuunosuke lugged Shinobu over to the door, opening in with a hand, and carried her out of the bedroom in what could possibly be the most strangest morning of her life.
Thankfully, Shinobu moved her hands, wrapping them around Ryuunosuke's shoulders. It made her easier to carry, but it still meant that she still needed to be carried around. And it meant that Shinobu's face was only a couple of inches away from hers, which was pretty damned distracting. Now she was trying to fight the urge to kiss those pretty lips...
Out in the kitchen, Nagisa was standing in front of the rice cooker, watching the steam rise with bleary eyes. As Ryuunosuke passed by, Nagisa turned to look at her with a smile.
"Good morning Ryuunos..." Nagisa trailed off as she saw Shinobu clinging tightly to Ryuunosuke's shoulders.
Ryuunosuke felt a cold sweat start to break out as she stared at Nagisa's face. This was probably not the ideal way to be greeting your fiance in the morning.
Nagisa's face was completely still, unreadable, as she gazed at Shinobu clinging to Ryuunosuke. Staring at that face, Ryuunosuke could imagine practically every emotion possible from that moment, from silent resignation to murderous rage.
Slowly, Nagisa stepped forward, up to Ryuunosuke and Shinobu. Ryuunosuke gripped Shinobu tighter, desperately wishing that Shinobu would wake up any second now. Any second now!
Nagisa reached out, and roughly pinched Shinobu's cheek. And tugged.
Shinobu's eyes flew open.
Nagisa grinned down at her, inches away from her face.
Shinobu shrieked at the top of her lungs, and slapped Nagisa hard across the cheek. The next few seconds were non-stop flailing as Ryuunosuke struggled to keep her balance, Nagisa stumbled backwards from the slap, and Shinobu still was struggling to escape.
Ryuunosuke landed hard on the floor, Shinobu sprawling out on top of her, knocking the wind out of her lungs. Nagisa landed hard against the kitchen counter, barely managing to miss the rice cooker.
The bedroom door opened, and Lum and Ran dashed out into the living room. They stopped in surprise at the scene in front of them.
Shinobu blinked down at Ryuunosuke, her eyes wide. "Ryuunosuke-kun?" She looked around the living room. "What am I doing out here? Where's the bed?" She stared back down at Ryuunosuke in confusion.
Ryuunosuke could feel her face start to burn. "You wouldn't let me go. I had to carry you out of bed." She looked away, feeling completely embarrassed. "I thought maybe if I carried you around a bit, you would've let me go."
Shinobu stared at Ryuunosuke for a good long while. Everyone was staring at Ryuunosuke, all on tenterhooks about what was going to happen next.
Then Shinobu burst into giggles, sliding off Ryuunosuke and flopping to her side on the floor. She curled up into a ball as the giggles turned into outright laughter.
Ryuunosuke knelt there, staring at the ground. She tried to ignore Shinobu's laughter, but it was hard, because she was like, right there in front of her. She also tried to ignore the tears of shame gathering in her eyes, but that was just as hard.
Shinobu, for her part, seemed to have noticed, because she raised herself up to Ryuunosuke's level, and leaned in against her, hugging her gently. "I'm so sorry! It's just so absurd!" She held on to Ryuunosuke as she tried to control her giggles, burying her face into her shoulder.
"Well, I think it's very gallant and romantic!" Ran said as she stepped out into the living room. "I bet Lum would like to see Darling do that for her in the morning!"
"Ran-chan!" Lum blushed deeply. "That doesn't make any sense!" She looked over at Ryuunosuke, who was still staring at the floor. "Oh, don't be like that! Shinobu wasn't laughing at you like that! She still loves you!"
"Oh, Ryuunosuke-kun..." Shinbou slid her arms under Ryuunosuke's and hugged tightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to take that the wrong way."
Ryuunosuke sighed deeply. "Fine, whatever." She rose up from the floor, slipping out of Shinobu's arms. "I'm gonna go get ready now." She quickly went into the bathroom, and within moments, the rush of the shower could be heard.
Shinobu turned to look at all the people standing around the living room, all of them staring at her. She flushed deeply with embarrassment, and got to her feet again. "What's for breakfast?"
When Ryuunosuke returned from the shower, she was dressed in her black Hamachaya T-shirt and jean shorts. Shinobu and Nagisa were finishing making breakfast, grilling some fish to go with the rice. Ataru was leaning over the counter, watching them intently. Lum was watching Ataru as well, jealous sparks of electricity flying from her body. Mendou was staring out of the window, concern written all over his face.
Ryuunosuke went over to Mendou, arms crossed. "What're you looking all down about?" She peered out the window, but could see nothing but the calm ocean and Sakura leaning against the balcony, staring off into the horizon.
"Have you ever contemplated such a sight, Ryuunosuke-san?" Mendou asked, his eyes faraway. "Something so beautiful that you couldn't ever see anywhere else?"
"Well yeah," Ryuunosuke said. "That's one thing I like about living on the beach." She gazed out into the horizon, contemplating the deep blue waters ahead of her. "You get a lot of moments where you can just stop and admire the sight in front of you."
Mendou nodded. "Of course, Ryuunosuke-san. In this world, the most wonderful views can only be found on the beach."
Ryuunosuke nodded back. "Yeah, I can get that." She gazed back at the sea once more. "You certainly have a good view out here, Mendou."
"Of course," Mendou replied. "That gorgeous figure... That flawless complexion... Those long legs..."
Ryuunosuke blinked. Then she noticed Sakura leaning against the balcony, her hair flowing in the wind. And almost immediately, everything fell into place.
"Such a beautiful woman, dressed in such a revealing way..." Mendou went on, clenching a fist so hard that it was shaking. "Ah, to behold such a sight as this on my own property! I am so blessed to be born so wealthy!"
Ryuunosuke scowled at Mendou. "You do know that she's, like, a decade older than you, right?" Her eyes narrowed as she stepped closer. "And she's already engaged?"
Mendou just laughed, loudly. "Oh, ye of little faith! Have you even met Sakura's fiance? Even with his advanced age, he has nothing that can match my style and good looks! How ridiculous it is, to think that he could ever hope to land a beauty like that!"
Ryuunosuke's scowl deepened, and she turned away from Mendou, stalking back to the kitchen. Maybe she was better off not talking to Mendou outside of work hours. Otherwise, she was probably going to end up losing brain cells or something.
Shinobu smiled as Ryuunosuke stepped up beside her. "Ryuunosuke-kun! You seem to be getting along with Mendou-san back there. He was even laughing!" She glanced over at Mendou, still looking out the window, a smile on his face.
Ryuunosuke gave Shinobu a strained smile. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." She quickly opened the fridge, and grabbed some spring onions to chop up for making miso soup. "I'm surprised that he managed to not hit on me back there."
"That means he's getting better!" Shinobu said brightly. "I knew he would mature someday."
Ryuunosuke snorted as she picked up a knife and started chopping. "That's probably still gonna be a long, long time."
While spooning out the rice into various bowls, Nagisa stepped over to Ryuunosuke, who was busy grilling the fish. "So what's gonna be the plan for today, anyway?" he asked her. "Considering yesterday's performance, we're bound to get a lot of people in straight out the gate. Especially considering that Sakura-san's coming for lunch today..."
Ryuunosuke paused in front of the grill. "I dunno, I thought of a few ideas. Maybe something to attract more than just people looking for something to eat." She pulled out the minigrill, and plucked several freshly grilled sides of mackerel and salmon onto a plate. "I am getting a little bored of just making the usual okonomiyaki. I need to stand out a little bit."
"Stand out?" Lum asked, hovering over Nagisa and Ryuunosuke's heads. "Stand out how?"
Ryuunosuke paused, and turned to look at Lum, still unloading and loading the minigrill. For a moment, Ryuunosuke just stared at Lum in silence. Lum stared back in confusion, wondering what had gotten into Ryuunosuke.
Then Ryuunosuke turned back to Nagisa. "Yeah, I think I got an idea." She nodded over to Mendou, who was still watching Sakura as she made her way inside for breakfast. "Ask Mendou over there to bring us some extra stuff. Like chilli peppers, habaneros or something. Something really spicy."
Lum's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Chilli peppers? Habaneros? I love those!" She swooped around excitedly, giggling. "They're just about the only Earth-born food that isn't anything other than bland!"
Nagisa blinked in surprise, then looked at Ryuunosuke. "I think I might be getting the idea of what you got in mind." He gave Ryuunosuke a charming smile. "Leave it to me, Ryuunosuke-sama."
After breakfast, everyone headed straight for the Hamachaya. The beach was already filling up with tourists, and Ryuunosuke wanted to be open as soon as possible. Her father's Hamachaya would be kept open for as long as possible, never pausing for breaks; a minute wasted, as her father would put it, is a customer lost. It was wise words from a man who usually could never draw a dime.
As soon as Ryuunosuke got inside the Hamachaya stall, she was off and running, setting up the griddle and the supplies for the long day ahead. There was a red plastic carrier bag full of goods. She smiled as she peered inside; it looks like the Mendous had pulled through for her.
Shinobu stood at the grill, now wearing a cute pink bikini. She looked at the small red carrier bag. "What's that for, Ryuunosuke-kun?"
Lum floated over Ryuunosuke and Shinobu, beaming from ear to ear. "It's the stuff we need for my personal take on okonomiyaki." Her eyes glittered as Ryuunosuke pulled out several plastic boxes full of various chili peppers, all chopped up ready for the grill.
"We got jalapenos," Ryuunosuke said, "we got habaneros, we got Carolina Reapers and ghost peppers. We also got some more sriracha and some American-style hot sauce too." She drew out several bottles of hot sauce to stack with the chopped peppers. "Lum said she wanted something really spicy, so I just asked for the spiciest stuff that Mendou can get a hold of."
"To tell the truth though, only these Carolina Reapers seem to do anything." Lum motioned to one box. "But Ryuunosuke thought it would be easier to offer softer options."
"Could you really call habaneros a softer option?" Shinobu asked, slightly confused. "That's still really spicy! Spicier than most Earth people can handle!"
"Well, Darling seems to handle the stuff I make just fine!" Lum replied.
"Ataru-kun is a freak of nature," Shinobu said angrily, "so you can't use him as a reference point for the average human! Besides, isn't he always trying to avoid you whenever you're trying to cook him dinner?"
Ryuunosuke rolled her eyes, anticipating the spat that was about to follow. She turned her attention instead to the whiteboards and marker pens that were supplied with the stalls. She only put out one the day before, with a basic menu written out on it. But now, with the new supplies, she decided to make a second one for the day's special.
This second board was mostly taken up by a rather cute drawing of Lum done by Ran, that actually accurately managed to convey her down to a tee. At the top Ryuunosuke had written the words:
TODAY'S SPECIAL: LUMCHAN-YAKI
Spice Level 1-Jalapenos: 450yen
Spice Level 2-Habaneros: 500yen
Spice Level MAX-Carolina Reapers: 800yen (warning, extremely dangerous) (Lum-chan's favourite)
She hung the little whiteboard next to the first, taking pride of place as her personal Hamachaya's first speciality. The Lumchan-yaki would also be the Hamachaya's greatest challenge yet, both for its customers and its staff.
Ryuunosuke grinned as she noticed some curious faces peering into the stall, wondering about what was going on. Lum turned from arguing with Shinobu to float over to the curious people and chat with them. She was already trying to sell them on the Lumchan-yaki, Ryuunosuke guessed.
Before long, there was already a line starting to form outside the front of the Hamachaya. Which meant that whatever magic that Lum was working out there was working like a charm. Which also meant, of course, that Ryuunosuke was probably going to be in for another busy day.
Over in Ucchan's, Ukyou presided over the morning preparations for the day. Already Akari had understood about what she needed to do to be a poster girl, her pig Katsunishiki also lending in a trotter or two to try and help gather customers. For her, it was slipping into a style that she was always used to.
Ukyou had gotten a hold of some genuine Black Berkshire pork a couple of days ago, a special from one of her usual meat suppliers, and she had been looking for an excuse to use the stuff ever since. Now that she had the Fujinamis right beside her, trying to compete, now was as good a time as any.
Now, alongside the usual menu, there was another menu board, blaring out the day's special: Kurobuta Okonomiyaki, with thick slices of the Black Berkshire pork on top, at 850 yen for a super deluxe size. It would be sure to be a hell of an attention-getter, especially as she drilled the pronunciation of "Berkshire" into Ranma and Akari on the way into the stall.
Ranma was wearing one of her usual sporty one-pieces, as usual: a bright pink one with thin straps. Akari, on the other hand, was going for a simple white bikini with a colourful sarong around her hips. Akari in particular seemed to be really excited to be working as a poster girl; she had never really done anything beyond working at her pig farm before.
Konatsu was standing ready by the yatai, dressed in her shirt and sarong, looking at Ukyou expectantly. "Everything's ready, Ukyou-sama. We should be open in a couple of minutes."
Ukyou turned towards the small analogue clock hanging against the wall. "Looks like it's time for us to open up!" She turned towards her poster girls. "Get out there and start bringing in those customers!"
Ranma and Akari nodded, and then they were out the door and on the beach, looking for potential customers. Akane and Konatsu watched in silence as the two girls disappeared, then fanned out to the tables, ready for the first influx of customers. Everyone was ready.
Ukyou grinned, and ignited the flames beneath the yatai's griddle. Within minutes, the shining surface of the griddle would be red hot, and she would be ready for battle. And Fujinami wouldn't know what hit her.
Out on the beach, many of the people were surprised to see a giant pig wandering about the sands, close to where the tide was. Some of the children ran up to the pig, laughing and shouting as they circled the massive animal.
A pair of massive banners were draped over its flanks, on each of which was written in big block characters:
THE BEST PORK OKONOMIYAKI IS ONLY AT UCCHAN'S.
Some of the more philosophical beachgoers wondered if this was some kind of strange cosmic irony. If the pig would know what it was that he was advertising, he definitely wouldn't be happy to find out. The other beachgoers, on the other hand, just thought it was certainly an attention-getter.
Katsunishiki, for his part, didn't really seem to care either way. He just wanted to do what his mistress had told him to do. Though he definitely preferred that he was able to do it without all these screaming children around him, circling like vultures.
Meanwhile, Lum was floating over the beach, looking at the people gathered below. She had definitely noticed the pig shilling for their neighbours, given that he was big enough to draw attention wherever he would go.
When it came to competing, Ryuunosuke had given her one simple policy: don't bother them, but watch your ass. As far as Ryuunosuke cared, she could afford to ignore Ukyou and make her own path. Unlike her father, who probably would be trying to sabotage her before they were even open, Ryuunosuke wanted to compete with Ukyou on an equal standing.
Which was why Lum was floating above the beach, checking out spots of people she could swoop over to try and get their attention.
Speaking of which, Lum already spotted some boys hanging out over by the west, over where that pig hadn't reached them yet. That was the perfect opportunity. In a matter of moments, Lum swooped down towards the boys, taking them by surprise. But when she hovered over their heads, gazing down at them, they quickly warmed up to her.
"Hey guys!" Lum said, starting off on her practised patter. "Are you looking for something spicy for lunch?"
The boys looked at each other, before giving Lum a grin. "Maybe? What're you offering?"
Lum beamed. "I'm from the Hamachaya over there!" She pointed in the direction of the row of beachside stalls. "The white tent over there with the big blue banner. See it? Anyway, we're serving something pretty special over there. It's a special dish I came up with called the Lumchan-yaki!"
The boys were somewhat interested after that. Even after Lum explained about the three types on offer, including her personal favourite Level MAX. Though she remembered to point out the various "normal" kinds of okonomiyaki on offer too.
After Lum was finished with her pitch, the boys seemed certainly interested. "So where did you say this place was?" One of them asked.
Lum just smiled. "I'll take you there right now! You better be quick, because there's a gonna be a real big line forming by now." She took one of the boys' hands, and floated off, leading them to the Hamachaya.
Ryuunosuke quickly turned as Lum fluttered in through the door, grinning widely. She led a small gaggle of love-struck boys behind her, holding on to each other's hands or waistbands like a small chain of people.
"Have you got a few tables ready, Ryuunosuke?" Lum said, her smile impossibly bright. "I managed to catch all these boys by myself!"
Ryuunosuke casually twirled a spatula in her hand, like the hilt of a dagger. "I'm sure we can fit 'em in somewhere, Lum. Just lead them to a table and let Shinobu take their orders, okay?"
"Shinobu's still busy on the other end. But if you don't mind, I'm sure that could help."
Ryuunosuke turned to see Sakura tying her hair up into a messy bun, a frilly apron around her waist. She blinked a little in surprise. "You too, Sakura-sensei? But I thought you were staying out of this."
"I'm not 'staying out of this', Ryuunosuke." Sakura gave Ryuunosuke an irritated glare. "I wanted to have my lunch here, and your tightfisted fiance said that I should pay like all the others!"
Behind Sakura's back, Ryuunosuke noticed that Nagisa was smirking at her in a decidedly not-nice fashion. She looked back at Sakura with half-lidded eyes. "Well, that's just how it works, y'know. I mean..." she scratched her cheek, looking away for a moment, "...you're one of the most beautiful women I know, but I don't give away my food to the first pretty face I see."
Sakura scowled at Ryuunosuke, before turning to glare at Nagisa. "I should have warded this entire place against you. See how you like it." Her gaze was so laser-sharp that Ryuunosuke could swear that Nagisa was actually trembling.
Ryuunosuke groaned, and nudged Sakura. "Look, Lum just brought in some new customers." She pointed towards a small grouping of tables, where Lum had seated her latest catch. "Go serve them, alright? And try to be a bit more friendly while you're at it."
Sakura glowered at Ryuunosuke for a bit more, before turning towards the assortment of young men sitting at that table. As she approached, almost slinking towards the tables, Ryuunosuke could see their eyes become entranced. For some reason, it reminded her of the way some of the girls at school would look at her sometimes.
Sakura stood at the table, a sort of friendly smile on her face. At least, Ryuunosuke kind of thought it was friendly; she had never seen Sakura really smile before. "Welcome to the Hamachaya. I'm Sakura. May I take your order?"
The group of boys all looked at each other in confusion for a moment.
Sakura's eye twitched slightly. "Don't tell me you didn't decide on what you wanted to eat already?" She paused for a long moment, waiting for an answer. Then she took a long heaving sigh, which made the boys sigh in response, which in turn made Ryuunosuke gag slightly.
"If you're not going to decide on something to eat," Sakura said, a note of iron in her voice, "then I'm going to decide for you!" She turned towards Ryuunosuke at the griddle. "Ryuunosuke! Four of the Super Deluxe Okonomiyaki! And two of the fried rice!"
Ryuunosuke cringed slightly, but looked over at the boys. "Yeah? Should I put it all on one plate for ya?"
Sakura sighed, rubbing her shoulder gently. "If you would, my dear." She purred in such a way that would make an ice cube melt. "It would be such a pain to be carrying four plates at once!"
The boys still sat there, entranced by Sakura's beauty. For all Ryuunosuke knew, none of them seemed to care that their waitress was picking their food for them.
Ryuunosuke sighed as she oiled up the surface of her griddle. "Fine. Four Super Deluxe, two fried rice, coming right up!" And in a second, she was working again, spreading batter and veggies, frying eggs and noodles, smearing sauce.
Sakura smirked as she walked back over to the griddle. "Not bad for a first-timer, huh?"
Ryuunosuke just scowled and pointed Sakura over to another table of freshly seated customers. As Sakura slinked her way over, grinning all the while, she got back to work.
Once again, it was another busy day at the Hamachaya.
Of course, that didn't mean that things were slouching at Ucchan's. As Ukyou had figured, her new Kurobuta Okonomiyaki was a bit of a hit, even at premium pricing. Kasumi, Akane and Konatsu were barely just keeping up with demand, and more and more people were filing in thanks to the work being done outside.
Quietly beside the grill, Nabiki watched the comings and goings of their rival out through the canopy window, only looking away to flick through an old-style abacus. Ukyou found the sight kind of funny, usually because most people still looked at her and thought of her as some money grubber from Osaka. Ukyou never liked those people, especially because she wasn't from Osaka.
"Hey, Nabiki!" Ukyou said, after slinging the last of an order of Kurobuta Okonomiyaki onto some plates for Akane to serve out. "How's Fujinami doing over there? I bet their customers are slowing to a trickle by now!"
Nabiki snorted, pushing over another bead on her abacus. "Sorry to disappoint you, Ucchan. Our esteemed competition is lagging behind, but not by much. They've still got a substantial line around their little stall."
Ukyou blinked, and dashed over to the window. True to Nabiki's words, the line for the Hamachaya was curling around the back of the stall. "You gotta be kiddin' me! That no-name fraud is still packing them in!" Her face started to burn as she gazed at the growing line. "I don't understand how they can still be drawing them in like that!"
"You want my honest advice?" Nabiki asked, crossing her legs at the knee. "Let it go. You're making bank here, and I don't want you ruining your business just because you want to get back at somebody who barely knows about you. Have a little more respect for yourself."
Ukyou glared at Nabiki as she returned to her grill. "That's a laugh, somebody who makes her living selling sneaky snaps of Ranchan telling me that I lack self-respect..."
Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "Remind me who it was who just last night came pleading to me about trying to 'defeat' Fujinami again?"
"Now, now, girls." Kasumi came over, metal serving tray held against her. "I thought you would be working together more nicely." She looked over at Nabiki. "Well, I thought you would be working as a waitress, too..."
"Why should I?" Nabiki said, waving her hand dismissively. "You, Akane-chan and Konatsu-san are doing plenty by yourselves, I would probably just be getting in the way..."
Kasumi continued to stare at Nabiki.
Nabiki's face became slightly strained. "Besides, I'm doing plenty right here, sorting through the profits and keeping tabs on our competitors. I mean, I couldn't possibly..."
Ukyou joined in staring at Nabiki.
The strain started to grow on Nabiki's face as both girls gazed at her. "I couldn't possibly... I mean, in this outfit?" She pointed to her rather attractive red bikini.
Ukyou reached into the yatai, and pulled out a frilly white apron, holding it out in front of Nabiki.
Nabiki deflated, a look of pure despair on her face. "What did I ever do to you, Kuonji?"
"Just put on the damn apron," Ukyou said, "and get to work."
Moments later, Akane was somewhat surprised to see Nabiki taking orders from customers. "Sis? I thought you were doing the accounts."
"Apparently," Nabiki said testily, "I didn't do them good enough."
Over in the Hamachaya, Ryuunosuke was still busy at work. To her surprise, Sakura seemed to be even bigger a hit with the customers than the Lumchan-yaki was. Usually, Ryuunosuke didn't expect the waitstaff to be a draw. Though in retrospect, the waitstaff usually consisted of herself and her father, which might have coloured her opinion a little.
Even so, there were still some brave souls that would come in and order a Lumchan-yaki. Most of them ordered a Level 1, with some here and there ordering a Level 2. Nobody seemed to have the guts to order a MAX Level yet, which suited Ryuunosuke just fine. She had no idea what kind of safety precautions she would need to take for that.
As Ryuunosuke served out the last of the okonomiyaki cooking on the griddle, she took a moment to breathe, wiping the oil from her spatulas and griddle, before stretching her arms out. Out the window beside her she could see what was going on at Ucchan's next door. Another long line, as usual; it seemed that they were more popular than anyone else on the beach, as far as Ryuunosuke could tell.
Shinobu came up to the griddle, stretching a little bit. "How are things going? You look like you've been sweating buckets out here!"
Ryuunosuke nodded. "Yeah, that's summer for ya." She wiped her brow absently. "When you've spent most of your life on the beach here, you get used to it."
Shinobu nodded, heading over to the coolers. "You'll be needing a drink, then. Otherwise you might dehydrate yourself or something." She rooted through the cans and bottles. "Would you like some cola, or ramune? Maybe just some water?"
"Hey, wait just a second here!" Ryuunosuke said, "I can't take a drink from there! That's supposed to be for the customers!"
"It's okay!" Shinobu said, returning with two bottles of cola in hand. "You're running the place, aren't you?"
"Come on, Shinobu..." Ryuunosuke gave Shinobu a pleading look. "My old man would never let me take a drink without paying for it..."
Shinobu just sighed. "Well first of all, your father's not here right now. It's just us. And second, I imagine he'd just take a drink for himself behind your back." She held out the bottle of cola to Ryuunosuke. "Come on, take it. It's only two hundred yen, after all..."
Ryuunosuke looked at the offered bottle for a long while. Thirst warred with her honesty for several seconds, before just barely winning out.
"I guess I could..." Ryuunosuke murmured, taking the bottle from Shinobu's hand. "But you better earn that two hundred yen back today." She popped the top open on the edge of her griddle, casually catching it in her hand.
Shinobu smiled brightly at Ryuunosuke. "Well, that doesn't seem too hard, does it?"
Ryuunosuke smirked, and took a long drink.
At that moment, Lum came darting in once more, grinning widely. "I got some more for you, Ryuunosuke!" She turned to face the front as some familiar faces came pouring in: Mendou, Ataru, and Lum's four creepy fanboys. As the gaggle gathered in front of Lum, the four geeks each put on a disturbingly wide smile.
"I was wondering whether you guys were coming over for lunch," Ryuunosuke said, oiling up her griddle once more. "You better get them over to a table quick, Lum." She scraped the excess oil across the searing hot metal. "And make sure they don't get into trouble or anything."
Lum nodded, and floated over to her group of six. "Just follow me, and we'll get you boys seated right away." She reached forward to try and grab Ataru's arm...
And the next moment, Ataru was squashed flat beneath several different people, as Megane's boys surged forward and piled into him. As the five struggled, Mendou smoothly stepped forward and took Lum's hand.
"Guide the way, Lum-san."
The violent struggle immediately paused the second that Ataru noticed Mendou stepping forward; long enough that Ataru could break free and get to his feet. "Yeah, yeah, just show us where to go already."
Lum sighed and floated over to an empty set of tables. "Here you go..." She reached forward and dragged one table to sit flush with the other. "Table for six!"
Mendou quickly went to the other table, grabbing it by its edges. "Allow me, milady..." But at the same time that he pulled the table back, Ataru grabbed the other side and pushed. And he pushed a lot more faster and harder than Mendou expected.
The result was that the tables managed to catch Mendou's fingers in between them, quite painfully. Painful enough to make Mendou scream in a very undignified manner.
Lum frowned as Mendou danced around the tables with gritted teeth, clutching at his bruised fingers. "I could have gotten that other table just fine!" She floated over to Ataru. "Well, Darling, what would you like?"
Ataru barely got the chance to open his mouth before he was shoved out of the way, stumbling into Mendou and sending the two of them toppling to the floor like Jenga towers. Instead, Megane stood before Lum, a wild look in his eyes.
"Anything that Lum-san likes will be fine by me!" He blurted out, a little too quickly and enthusiastically for someone ordering food.
"Y-yeah!" Perm added. "We want whatever it is that you wanna eat! So you could eat it with us!"
Lum looked between Perm and Megane, and then over at Kakugari and Chibi, who only nodded their heads. Then she looked down at the human tangle made of Ataru and Mendou. "What about you, Darling?"
Ataru craned his neck from around Mendou's back. "Just gimme the normal Super Deluxe. I'm not feeling like having the special today." He paused for a moment, looking over at Mendou's slightly dazed face. "I guess Mendou's having the same as me..."
Lum scribbled in her notebook. "So that's four of the MAX Level Lumchan-yaki, and two of the normal Super Deluxe." She looked down at Ataru, still struggling to disengage himself from Mendou. "I'll be right on it! Will you be okay there?"
"Oh yeah," Ataru replied, straining to get an arm free. "Just peachy!"
Lum nodded happily, and floated over to Ryuunosuke, tearing the order page from her notebook. "Four Level MAX Lumchan-yaki, two Super Deluxe!"
Ryuunosuke's head jerked up. "Level MAX?" She asked incredulously. "Four of them?!"
Lum just nodded. "Yep! Those four boys said they wanted anything I'd like for lunch, so I picked the okonomiyaki you created for me!" She twirled happily in the air over the griddle. "I can't wait! It's the first time today that someone's ordered a Level MAX!" She rose up in the air higher, still twirling. "Go ahead and cook another Level MAX for me, Ryuunosuke!"
Then Lum darted off, out into the sunshine once more. Ryuunosuke sighed as she watched Lum go. No wonder people seemed to love the girl so much. That bright nature never failed to light up a room.
But after that, Ryuunosuke gazed down at the grill. No time for love or fun right now. Now it was time for business. Serious business.
She ran the edges of her spatulas over the grill once more, feeling out the distances she'd need to be able to pull the order off. After all, making a Level MAX Lumchan-yaki had risks that not even the other Lumchan-yaki levels did, and she wanted to make this just right.
Ryuunosuke grabbed the batter jug and poured out seven identical circles of batter on the hot surface, and spread them out to the required size. Two of the batter circles sat together, spaced exactly two inches away from the other five; a precaution Ryuunosuke took to avoid contamination. As the batter started to cook up, she spread the customary shredded kelp, shredded cabbage, tempura bits and so on.
But for the five circles grouped together, that wasn't all she added. For those, she popped the top off of a small tupperware container filled with finely chopped Carolina Reapers. She carefully spooned some out of the box, and spread the mass of red chillies across each of the okonomiyaki, a fine layer that coloured each pile bright red.
Ryuunosuke took extra care to make sure that none of the peppers or their juices touched the lone two Super Deluxes, lest the people having those get a nasty surprise part way through their meal. The very thought of it gave her chills, and made the palms of her hands sweat.
Ryuunosuke added in the rest of the ingredients, with some bulgogi steak over the Lumchan-yaki in place of the Super Deluxe's thinly sliced pork. She flipped the okonomiyaki quickly, keeping the two groups as far from each other as possible, to the point that she used one spatula for the Super Deluxes, and the other for the Lumchan-yaki, using a pair of cooking chopsticks in place of the other spatula.
Then came the yakisoba, fried beside their respective okonomiyaki. The noodles for the Lumchan-yaki got a fine dusting of ground shichimi pepper. And instead of the sea urchin, the Lumchan-yaki got shrimp. Nagisa told Ryuunosuke that Lum had originally wanted to have ghost peppers in with the noodles, but Nagisa vetoed: there was more than enough in amongst the cabbage inside the okonomiyaki, and it didn't really need to be on top.
Finally, Ryuunosuke added egg to each, squashed flat under her spatulas, before noodles and okonomiyaki were placed on top, and then flipped over. Then a thick layer of sauce was spread over the top of each. The Lumchan-yaki also each got a generous drizzle of sriracha sauce, and another dusting of shichimi pepper.
"Order up!" Ryuunosuke said, wiping off her spatulas. "Five Lumchan-yaki, Level MAX! Two Super Deluxe!"
In a flash, the seven okonomiyaki were each swiped off the griddle, and deposited on plates arranged in a line in front, ready to be carried over. Lum floated over to the griddle, a hungry smile on her face.
"Oh wow," she said, leaning in close to the Lumchan-yaki. "They all look so beautiful..."
"Yeah," Ryuunosuke said, wiping down her griddle once more. "If those guys around you can't make it, I guess you could finish theirs off for them." She kept her eyes trained away from Lum and that table, not wanting to witness the carnage that would happen.
Shinobu approached the griddle warily, taking the two Super Deluxes on her own little serving tray. "Remember, Ryuunosuke-kun," she said, her face set in stone. "No matter what happens, remember that they asked for this."
As Lum and Shinobu carried the orders over, the table (or rather, tables) were uncomfortably tense: Ataru and Mendou sat opposite each other, each eyeing the other warily. Megane sat to Ataru's left, while Perm sat at his right; Chibi sat at Mendou's right, and Kakugari sat at his left. None of them spoke to each other. None of them even bothered to look, preferring to train their eyes elsewhere.
But when Lum arrived at the tables, all the tension quickly faded away. Lum's Guards all collectively started waving and cheering as Lum drew closer, and Mendou seemed genuinely excited. Only Ataru, having watched what Ryuunosuke was doing as she cooked the Lumchan-yaki, wasn't smiling. Instead, he looked more worried and irritated than anything else.
The cheering stopped as Lum placed the Lumchan-yaki in front of each of the four Guards, and they actually got to see their meal for the first time. Of course, it didn't seem that different to the usual okonomiyaki, aside from all of the red over it. But it was different enough to give them all pause.
Ataru just grunted as Shinobu placed his Super Deluxe in front of him, while Mendou stared down at his in indignation.
Shinobu noticed, however, a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong, Mendou-san? I thought you'd like the Super Deluxe."
"I suppose you could say that," Mendou said, "but that wasn't what I ordered, and you know it. If it wasn't for that blustering idiot in front of me, I would be enjoying a Lumchan-yaki like these gentlemen here!"
"Yeah," Ataru said, snapping apart a pair of disposable chopsticks. "Enjoying. That's the word I'd use for anything that Lum put her name to."
Mendou glared at Ataru. "You, with your uncultured palate and disdain for Lum-san?" He looked over at Chibi. "And you, aren't you going to eat that?"
Chibi looked down at his Lumchan-yaki warily. "Well..."
Shinobu's sighed deeply, imagining where it was going to go. "Chibi, you can have the Super Deluxe if you give Mendou your Lumchan-yaki, okay?"
Chibi quickly nodded, and the two plates were switched. Ataru smirked at him mirthlessly as he said a quick "itadakimasu" and started eating.
"Smart man!" He said, before digging into his Super Deluxe. Beside him, Lum sat at the edge of the table, already taking a big mouthful of her own Lumchan-yaki.
Mendou snorted, and took up his own chopsticks. "You people are cowards, to not enjoy this with Lum-san by your side!"
Megane nodded, grabbing his own chopsticks. "Of course! How bad could this possibly be?"
And with that, Mendou and the rest of the guards each took a big mouthful of Lumchan-yaki.
For the sake of illumination, the Carolina Reaper pepper that Ryuunosuke used as a primary ingredient in the Level MAX Lumchan-yaki had once taken pride of place as the world's hottest chilli pepper, as recorded by the Guinness Book of Records in 2013. The heat levels of such a pepper are usually recorded by the Scoville Scale, which measures the intensity of heat.
The jalapeno peppers that Ryuunosuke used in the Level 1 Lumchan-yaki would on average measure around five thousand to fifteen thousand Scovilles, which is incredibly hot in itself. The habanero peppers used for the Level 2 usually register around the fifty thousand to one hundred thousand scale, which is an significant step up in heat.
Carolina Reapers were officially measured to have around 1.5 million Scovilles on average, but could go up to 2.2 million on the scale. For reference, that's about on par with law-enforcement-grade pepper spray. So to say that the Level MAX Lumchan-yaki was much hotter than Mendou or the Guards thought would be putting it lightly, to say the very least.
Megane emitted a strange, strangled squeal, his head suddenly jerking up like he had been zapped by Lum's lightning, bits of okonomiyaki spilling out of his mouth. His eyes were wide open and quivering behind his glasses, and his face was already starting to turn red. Across from Ataru, Mendou had a similar expression on his face. And Ataru and Lum didn't have to look to know that Perm and Kakugari probably had similar expressions on their faces, too.
"What's wrong?" Ataru asked, a sleazy smile on his sauce-smeared face. "Don't you like your Lumchan-yaki?"
Megane turned to glare at Ataru, somehow, even as his eyes seemed to dilated back and forth. His jaw shuddered and ground as he chewed up the burning mass of Lumchan-yaki in his mouth, like the grinding gears of some rusted old machine, before he forced the accursed lump of food down his gullet.
And then Megane's reddened lips twisted into a demented slash of a smile. "Anything Lum-san likes... I love!"
Ataru could only watch in horror as Megane jammed another chunk of his Lumchan-yaki into his mouth, and started chewing. In front of him, Mendou was doing the same thing, his handsome face twisted and stretched and reddened by the unrelenting burn.
Perm rocketed out of his seat and dashed out of the Hamachaya, grabbing at his mouth with both hands. Kakugari took two more mouthfuls, but slid bonelessly out of his chair and flopped on the floor. Chibi quietly murmured a grateful "gochisousama" before sneaking away from the table, trying not to be noticed. Ataru and Lum's plates were picked clean, left forgotten in the face of the show they had right in front of them.
Only Mendou and Megane soldiered on, bloodshot eyes fixed on their plates, skin turning from pink to puce. Most of the other patrons were now watching the two, in various mixtures of amusement and horror as they very slowly worked away at their Lumchan-yaki.
With the last mouthfuls, they slammed their empty plates on the tabletop, and loudly recited "gochisousamadeshita!" Then they both stood up, bowed respectfully to one another, bowed respectfully to the confused Lum, and walked away from the table, side by side.
And then they both collapsed on the floor, flat on their faces, still side by side.
Ryuunosuke sighed as she watched people crowd around the two prone bodies. "Guess this must mean something. But if it does, I don't even want to know."
Moments later, while Sakura dragged Mendou and Megane's unconscious bodies outside, Ran fluttered in with a bright smile on her face. "Ryuunosuke-kun!" She sang out, leading a green-haired young man wearing a tiger-striped jumpsuit inside. "Rei's here!"
Ryuunosuke turned to look at the two, somewhat surprised. "Rei's here?" She looked over Rei, appraising him from foot to toe, then looked back at Ran. "Alright, bring him in. I'm gonna go check my stores for supplies."
Ran beamed as she led Rei over to an empty table. Every pair of eyes seemed to follow them, ranging from jealous, to entranced, to outright lustful. Ran didn't seem to even care, if she noticed at all. She just wanted to hold on to Rei's arm as tightly as she could. As for Rei? Well, food is food, no matter who makes it.
Ryuunosuke watched Rei being sat at his table, and quickly remembered all the times she had seen Ran lugging around massive hampers that looked almost twice the size of her body. She always insisted they were for her boyfriend, every last bit of it; Ryuunosuke once asked if Ran had anything in there for herself, but she just grinned and shook her head. She usually had a quick snack by herself, before she met with him for their picnics.
So if a typical dinner for the guy looked to be twice Ran's body weight in mass, Ryuunosuke didn't want to take any chances. No matter how much he was willing to pay, she wanted to play it safe.
Ryuunosuke popped open the big cooler at the back of the shop, which was packed to fullness with bags of all the necessary ingredients she needed to make okonomiyaki for the day, along with several massive chunks of ice for the shaved ice maker. Unfortunately, at that moment, all she could see was the ice, and a single bag of beansprouts.
Shinobu came up behind Ryuunosuke, and peered into the cooler. And then she swallowed hard. "Did we go through all our stock?" She asked. "This quickly?" She looked over at Ryuunosuke, who was still staring down at the almost empty cooler. "Ryuunosuke-kun?"
Nagisa quickly dashed to Ryuunosuke's side, peering down. "Oh my," he said, his voice squeaking slightly. "This is... This is really bad."
Shinobu waved a hand in front of Ryuunosuke's eyes. "Ryuunosuke-kun?" No reaction. Then she looked at Nagisa. "I'll go get Mendou for help! Hang on!" Then she dashed outside of the Hamachaya, in search of Mendou.
Ryuunosuke continued to stare at the cooler silently. Her mind, once again, was lost in a blaze of emotions: on one side, there was elation that she was so popular that she had run out of supplies this early on in the day. On the other side was panic, on having to either close, or take okonomiyaki off the menu, both of which would result in lost sales. In her mind's eye, she could already see the image of Ukyou and her okonomiyaki, receding away into the distance, a plateau that would be more and more unreachable.
After a minute of desperate rushing around, Shinobu finally managed to find Shutarou, resting on a deck chair under the shadow of a massive parasol, held up by one of his kuromegane servants, clad in his usual black suit and tie. Another was next to him, fanning him with a massive rigid fan, and another was dabbing a cool wet towel on his forehead. All of this, of course, was compounded by the state of his face, formerly handsome, now puffed out like baked rice, red and swollen.
"Mendou-san!" Shinobu called out, standing at the foot of his chair. "Mendou-san! Are you alright?"
"Just barely," one of the kuromegane servants said. "Our young master is still recovering from the effects of that accursed okonomiyaki he ate."
"I'd hate to see what'll it be like later on," another kuromegane said, a worrisome look on his face. "Spicy foods can only be worse coming out than going in."
Shinobu winced in sympathetic pain, having remembered one of her bad experiences with Lum's cooking. "It's just that we've run out of supplies at Hamachaya." She clasped her hands together, putting on her most sweetest expression of pleading possible. "All we have left is ice, and we can't just fob these people off with shaved ice! We don't even have sea urchin anymore!"
Shutarou's eye opened a crack, looking at Shinobu. Then he reached out, pushing away the hand pressing the towel to his forehead. "Githe me duh rajio!" He turned to glare at his servant. "Gibe me da rajio!"
The kuromegane stared at Shutarou for a moment. Shinobu didn't know if it was because of indecision, or if he was trying to process what Shutarou had just said. Then he picked up the shortwave radio for contacting home base, and handed it over.
Shutarou slowly raised himself up to sitting position, looking like a rusty old drawbridge being raised up, before he put the radio to his ear. "Thizz is Thudaro. Hamachaya needth rethuppy! Dubble prethious amound!" He was silent for a moment as the voice on the other end crackled. "Nether mine my boiy-my boithhthh-nethe min dat! Juss rethuppy now!" He scowled as the voice returned, then handed it back to the kuromegane servant.
Shinobu smiled happily. hands still clasped. "Mendou-san, you're wonderful!"
Shutarou just laughed good-naturedly in response, though his tongue was still so swollen that it came out funny, like a drain being unclogged.
Back in the Hamachaya, Ryuunosuke stared down at the okonomiyaki that was almost done cooking on the grill. With the amount of ingredients she had to hand, she would have enough for one, maybe two more okonomiyaki. After that, there was gonna be no more okonomiyaki in the Hamachaya until tomorrow.
That was daunting in itself, but what made matters worse was that Rei had paid her not in yen, but in a tiny blue gem that seemed to glow. Ran had told her that it was a power crystal; one of the few units of value suitable for barter on multiple planets across the galaxy. Most of the explanations of galactic currency flew right over Ryuunosuke's head, but one thing was clear: the one little gem was a couple of decimal points more valuable than all of the most precious substance on the planet.
Which meant that Ryuunosuke was personally appointed to be Rei's oncall chef for the day. Which was difficult, when you only had enough supplies to make two more okonomiyaki left.
Thankfully, it was at that moment that Shinobu dashed back into the Hamachaya. "Ryuunosuke-kun! I told Mendou-san the problem, and he's handling everything right now!"
Ryuunosuke blinked at Shinobu, while covering the okonomiyaki with sauce and aonori. "Mendou? What's he doing now?"
Before Shinobu could explain, a low deep rumble started to fill the air. The ground below started to tremble, making tables and chairs rattle and shake across the floor.
Ryuunosuke and Shinobu exchanged glances, before Shinobu quickly dashed outside. Ryuunosuke swiped the okonomiyaki off the griddle and onto a plate, handing it over to Ran to take over to Rei, before following Shinobu outside.
What greeted Ryuunosuke outside wasn't what she had expected; the people on the beach had all stopped to see stare in terror at what looked to be a massive jet plane looming over their heads. It couldn't be anything else than a plane, mostly by the broad silhouette the machine made, though it looked much bigger than any plane that might have been seen before.
Shinobu was staring at the gigantic plane as well, but not in terror; rather, she seemed to be more elated than anything else.
And then, all of a sudden, the plane opened all of its thrusters to full and kicked in the afterburners; the only warning the crowds below got were the VTOL exhausts on the bottom of the plane opening up before they fired, kicking up a massive backwash behind it that blew a veritable sandstorm across the beach.
Ryuunosuke and Shinobu threw up their hands to shield their faces from the massive blast of sand washing over their bodies, the force buffeting their bodies back. Other beachgoers weren't so lucky, being bowled over by the blast of wind, and pinned down to the ground by the force.
As the wind died down, Ryuunosuke lowered her arms to watch the plane recede up into the sky, slowly shrinking into a black dot on the horizon.
Beside her, Shinobu looked up, scanning the sky above her. And then she hopped back, pointing up to the sky. "Look! Ryuunosuke-kun, the resupply is here!"
Ryuunosuke followed Shinobu's gaze, and saw a gigantic blue plastic cooler slowly falling to earth, hanging from a bright orange parachute. "Goddamn, those guys are fast."
Over at Ucchan's, Ukyou was left staring out of the doorway in shock. As the cooler touched down, Ryuunosuke and Shinobu quickly picked it up, and freed it from the parachute, before dashing back into the Hamachaya. Behind them, several beachgoers, having seen the entire display for themselves, followed behind them. They were clearly awestruck by such a display.
As the two girls carried the cooler back inside, Ukyou could swear that Ryuunosuke was smiling. Smiling at her stroke of luck. Happy.
And all Ukyou had to show for it was a whole load of sand across the floor and tables. The sand reached back, from the entrance inside the stall right to the back wall, just barely managing to miss the food supplies she kept in her cooler and her yatai. The okonomiyaki currently cooking on the griddle, however, were completely covered in sand. Ruined.
As she watched beachgoers flock into the Hamachaya after the two girls, something dark and vicious started to bubble up inside of Ukyou.
Konatsu quickly grabbed a broom, and started sweeping the sand out of the shop. She could see Ukyou trembling with rage and anger, but she didn't want to approach just yet. She didn't want to risk setting off the powderkeg, until she was definitely sure than she could defuse it.
After all the sand was swept away, Konatsu went over to the griddle. Thankfully, the oil reserves, the batter, the aonori, the bonito flakes, the sauce and the mayo were all covered, and therefore grit-free. The tempura bits, eggs, sliced pork and spring onion were kept under the griddle, safe from the sand. But the cabbage, the beansprouts, and her valuable kurobuta were definitely ruined, along with the okonomiyaki still cooking on the grill.
Konatsu slowly scraped the ruined okonomiyaki off the griddle, and scraped away the traces of sand from the metal. Everything contimated was piled into a trashbag, and tied up. Within a space of ten minutes, Ucchan's was back to its old self, with not a grain of sand anywhere.
That just left Ukyou to deal with.
"Ukyou-sama...?" Konatsu's voice was soft and hesitant. "I cleared away all of the sand. It should be okay now."
Ukyou turned to face Konatsu, and the sight of her face made the kunoichi gasp. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her eyes were red and puffy.
"Is the grill fired up, Konatsu?" There was a calm in Ukyou's voice. But it didn't sound like control. It sounded more like it was missing something. Missing emotion, maybe? "Is it hot enough? Is the food okay?"
"The Berkshire pork is ruined," Konatsu replied, hanging her head. "Everything else is fine, though."
Ukyou didn't seem to respond. She just walked straight over to the griddle, and picked up her spatulas. "Let's just finish today, then." When she looked at Konatsu, there was a strange gleam in her eye that she couldn't miss. "And then tomorrow, we crush them all."
Konatsu blinked, a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek. "Y-yes, Ukyou-sama…"
Ryuunosuke was hard at work again, dishing out as much okonomiyaki as she could to keep the line going and the people happy. With the batter and egg sizzling in the heat, Ryuunosuke could forget all of her troubles. She wanted to keep working. She had to keep working, to make herself worthy of the name Hamachaya.
But even then, something clawed at Ryuunosuke. When she and Shinobu grabbed the cooler from the parachute and carried it inside, Ryuunosuke turned her head and noticed Ukyou staring at them from the doorway into Ucchan's. It was a look of pure shock and disappointment, so much so that it struck Ryuunosuke right in her feelings, and left a scar in her that didn't seem to go away. But even then, she had to keep working.
As she worked, she caught snatches of conversation from the other customers. Most of them seemed the usual boring stuff. At least until a young couple passed by her griddle, chatting with each other.
"I feel so bad for the girls next door, though." The young woman had said. "Being left in there, alone, with all their customers leaving them like that…"
"But it's okay here, isn't it?" The young man replied. "We got food here, haven't we? We don't have to worry about next door, Tanko-san! Well, except what you want to eat..."
And with those careless words, Ryuunosuke finally realised what was latched onto her ever since she saw that look on Ukyou's face.
It was guilt. Pure, unabashed guilt.
Mendou helped her where it mattered back there. But she didn't know if he was willing to go to such trouble for Ukyou, too. Even if he could afford to do it, he could easily just refuse. So even though both girls shared the same beach, that meant Ryuunosuke still had an unfair advantage.
Ryuunosuke could imagine what her father might do in a similar situation. He wouldn't have cared one bit about what anyone else thought about a single thing he did. He barely even cared anything about how his daughter felt about anything. But Ryuunosuke couldn't leave it off like that; she wanted to redress the balance.
Ryuunosuke plated up the last of the okonomiyaki on the griddle, ready to be sent out, wiped off her griddle, and quickly ran over to the empty cooler, filling it with some of Mendou's resupply cooler. It was barely a dent in the massive amount in the cooler, but it was enough that Ryuunosuke thought she could help.
"Shinobu! Nagisa! Watch over the griddle for me!" Ryuunosuke hefted the cooler up onto her shoulder, and ran out of the Hamachaya, crossing over into Ucchan's.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Then Lum and Shinobu sped out after her.
Ukyou looked up from her grill as Ryuunosuke burst in. She was in the middle of cooking several okonomiyaki, all of them as substantial looking as the one served to Ryuunosuke yesterday.
But as Ryuunosuke carried the cooler full of food inside and set it down at her feet, her look turned from surprise, to confusion, to baleful contempt. She turned away from the other woman in disgust, tending to her food.
"I thought you might need some more supplies, too." Ryuunosuke said breathlessly. "I got way more of this stuff than I needed, and I thought it wouldn't be fair to..."
Ukyou looked back at Ryuunosuke, her eyes burning with rage. "You thought you could come in here and lord it over me and my shop, huh?" She swept several okonomiyaki off the searing surface of the griddle with savage swipes of her spatulas, sliding them down into separate plates.
"What? No!" Ryuunosuke's brow creased. "I'm trying to help you here! It wouldn't be fair otherwise..."
As Konatsu quickly served the okonomiyaki to customers, Ukyou turned fully to regard Ryuunosuke. "Well, look at you! Thinking you could be the better woman! Instead of just some upstart punk looking to steal my thunder behind my back when I'm not looking, just like your old man!"
Ryuunosuke's jaw worked for a moment, before she could find suitable words. "I'm telling you, I'm trying to be helpful." She ground out slowly. "You want me to admit that my okonomiyaki isn't as good as yours? Fine, I admit it! But I'm not going to let you throw my help in my face!"
Ukyou didn't answer. She turned back to the griddle, turning her back on Ryuunosuke, and poured out another bowl of okonomiyaki onto the griddle. Then she worked furiously at the griddle, tending to the okonomiyaki in front of her, flipping it over to cook on the other side.
"I really mean it too," Ryuunosuke said desperately, stepping closer to Ukyou. "That okonomiyaki might've been half-warm and a few hours from fresh, but it was one of the best I ever tasted. And I ain't too proud to admit that!"
Ukyou flipped the okonomiyaki over, and then let her hands fall at her sides, her spatulas limp in her hands.
"You really think my okonomiyaki is that good?" She asked softly, still facing away from Ryuunosuke. She put one spatula down on the side, then spread sauce, mayonnaise and a fine dustin of aonori over the top of the okonomiyaki.
"I swear it, honest and pure." Ryuunosuke answered.
"Then have a fresh one on the house!" In one fluid, savage motion, Ukyou swiped the okonomiyaki off the griddle, and flung it full bore at Ryuunosuke.
Ryuunosuke didn't have the time to realize what Ukyou had done before the burning hot okonomiyaki smashed into her face, sauce and mayo splattering down into her shirt.
Lum and Shinobu watched in horror as Ryuunosuke staggered blindly backwards, nearly toppling over onto her ass as she clawed the okonomiyaki off her face. They quickly flanked her, supporting her sides to keep her on her feet.
"Now get the hell out of my place!" Ukyou snarled, levelling one of her spatulas at them. "Before I boot your slimy asses out for you!"
Lum and Shinobu took one look at Ukyou's angry face, before they quickly dragged Ryuunosuke back out of Ucchan's. Ryuunosuke still carried the splattered remains of Ukyou's parting gift in her hands, the intense heat burning into her palms and fingers.
Lum and Shinobu dragged her back into the Hamachaya, garnering surprised stares from the customers and staff. Shinobu quickly pulled Ryuunosuke over to the chair, letting her flop into it
"Ryuunosuke-kun!" Shinobu said, grabbing Ryuunosuke's still sauce-smeared face in her hands. "Are you alright? Speak to me! Say something!"
Ryuunosuke didn't say anything. She just ate the smashed okonomiyaki, ignoring the intense pain in her hands and face.
Lum stared at Ryuunosuke as she jammed the okonomiyaki into her mouth. "I guess she's doing okay?"
"No, she's really not," Shinobu said quietly. "If that girl is really upset with us, we might as well be at war with her." She looked over at Lum, her brow creased with worry. "I heard from Ataru-kun that she is a student at Furinkan High School, and so are the other workers there, too! I've heard the most scary stories about the students there! They make Sanrinbou look like an elementary school!"
Ryuunosuke was still silent as she scooped more of Ucchan's smashed okonomiyaki into her mouth. She kept her eyes shut, mostly to avoid getting sauce in her eyes, but also because she wanted to not look at anybody's faces.
"Aren't you worried, Ryuunosuke?" Lum asked. "We've just made some really dangerous enemies next door. Don't you have anything to say about that?"
Ryuunosuke licked the last of the sauce and mayo left on her hand. "Well, her okonomiyaki sure tastes better when it's fresh off the grill..."
"Hold still, Ryuunosuke!"
Ryuunosuke hissed, flinching back from another cooling plaster being stuck onto her face. She was pretty sure that her face now looked like some kind of tadpole right now. Not only was it red and swollen from all the burns, but now it was covered in burn dressings and cooling plasters covering every bit of red in gel-soaked cotton.
The Hamachaya had to close early after that incident, so Ryuunosuke could be taken over to the villa to get her face and hands treated. Ryuunosuke was always hardy, but even she didn't know how fast she would recover from hot food burns. So Ryuunosuke was left by herself to appreciate the irony of it all. The only relief she got was that Ucchan's closed not long afterwards, Ukyou apparently being way too upset to continue working.
Shinobu huffed, keeping a tight hold on Ryuunosuke's shoulder. "I told you to hold still! I know how much it hurts!" She smoothed the new bandage over Ryuunosuke's face. "I don't think you should bother going anywhere near that Kuonji girl any more. She just seems to get madder whenever you're around her."
"Can't help it," Ryuunosuke replied, slightly distorted under all the bandages. "She's a girl who makes great food, I thought we had something in common. How was I to know that my old man ruined my chances before I could even try?"
Shinobu frowned at Ryuunosuke. "Maybe it's just as well she doesn't like you, then." She turned to pack the cooling plasters and gauze into the first-aid kit. "That means I'm not going to end up getting left holding the bag yet again..."
Ryuunosuke just stared at Shinobu silently. Long enough that Shinobu couldn't look at her face without feeling awkward. She looked away, somewhat shamefaced.
"I'm sorry..." She mumbled. "I've just been passed up for other girls too many times. I don't want to go through that again, not with you." She closed the first aid kit silently. "Not when I finally found a chance at happiness."
Ryuunosuke heaved a deep sigh, and leaned over, pulling Shinobu closer against her. Shinobu squeaked in surprise as she found herself pressed tightly against Ryuunosuke's side, an arm draped around her shoulders.
Shinobu gazed up at Ryuunosuke, her eyes wide. "Um, Ryuunosuke-kun?"
Ryuunosuke just smiled down at her. "What? I thought you were feeling neglected for a moment there?" She brushed Shinobu's hair back gently with her fingers. "In that case, you'll need a little more attention."
Shinobu flushed deeply as she stared up at Ryuunosuke. "You don't have to just grab me like that..." But she settled in against Ryuunosuke, closing her eyes. "I can come to you perfectly by myself, thank you."
Ryuunosuke smiled down at Shinobu, poking her cheek gently. "Where's the fun in that?"
Shinobu giggled softly, raising herself up so that she could gaze at Ryuunosuke. "Has being around Ataru too long rubbed off on you, Ryuunosuke-kun?"
Ryuunosuke snorted, a crooked smile on her face. "Not likely."
Shinobu smiled back. "That's good to hear." She leaned in and pressed her lips gently against Ryuunosuke's, curling her arms around the other girl's shoulders. As Ryuunosuke's arms encircled her waist, she let herself sink into the embrace.
"I suppose that you think I should be feeling sorry for myself," Ukyou said quietly, staring out into the sea. "Blowing up at the Fujinami girl like that."
Ranma sat beside her, dangling her legs out of the window she sat in. "Well, it ain't like you've done somethin' like that before, Ucchan. You're always slinging okonomiyaki at people."
"But it ain't just about the okonomiyaki, Ranchan!" Ukyou clenched her fists tightly. "For as long as I could remember, Old Man Fujinami has been screwing me and my family over. What makes you think that his daughter ain't doing the same?"
"She was trying to share her supplies with you, Ukyou-san." Akane was resolute, fixing Ukyou with a steely gaze. "She was willing to do anything short of kneeling down in front of you and begging for forgiveness!"
"Yeah, well, maybe if she did that and dragged her sorry ass outta my sight, then maybe I would've forgiven her!" Ukyou snarled, turning to face Akane. "I ain't working another minute with that punk on this beach!"
"Fine, then!" Akane said, her gaze hardening. "I'm not going to sit by and let this stupid feud go on any longer!"
Ukyou looked over at Ranma. "Well, you'll be helping me, won't you?" She quailed as Ranma turned away, silent. "Hey, don't think I don't remember everything I've done for you!"
"Ukyou-sama!"
Ukyou halted, and turned to look at Konatsu coming up to her with a pleading look on her face. "Konatsu... Not you too?"
Konatsu nodded quietly. "Ukyou-sama, this has to stop. We all thought we could come here and enjoy ourselves, without worrying about people making trouble." She clasped her hands together, her eyes starting to shimmer. "We don't want the fighting to go on. Please, Ukyou-sama..."
Ukyou quailed at Konatsu's pleading expression. "Fine, already!" She took a couple of steps back, her face flushing. "Just don't look at me like that!"
Akane sighed in relief. "Thank goodness for that. Maybe tomorrow we can have less trouble..."
Unfortunately for Akane, she would be proved wrong.
Because, under the dark of night, as the waves rolled across the dark sands, a single solitary figure crept up to Ucchan's. Cutting through the red canvas with a box cutter, the figure slipped inside, ready to carry out some sinister plans.
Moments later, the figure emerged, carefully wheeling out the rickety wooden yatai behind it, stuffed full with supplies. The yatai was pulled out onto the sand, and quickly dragged out into the night.
And because of this, the Okonomiyaki Summer Wars would reach a violent climax the very next day.
to be concluded
NOTES: Yay, I finally finished the third chapter! And it's longer than both previous chapters combined! Does this mean I have to make the final chapter even longer?! Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Seriously, this story is ballooning out more than I expected. I wanted to add more scenes with Ukyou and the Ucchan's side, which I had apparently done in abundance. I had to take one other scene that was in this chapter in the previous draft, and moved it to the final chapter. It's important, thought it will survive being moved over. Next is having to write the whole of the concluding chapters, along with extra stuff for the Ucchan's side, the whole clothes shopping scene and a whole new epilogue where everyone gets drunk or something.
So just wait for whenever I can finish that!
