Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go.
Chapter 10 : A mealy-mouthed man
In the same time, Shibuya
" I can not believe this," said Seiji as he now was standing in front of a ramen shop looking up to read the signboard, " I bought you a T-bone steak but you take me here?" A cheap ramen shop…I should have foreseen this coming.
" Com'on, you'll like it, I promise," Hikaru told him with a smile, " Let's go inside," he said cheerfully as he dragged his unwilling friend into the said shop.
" Welcome, Oh! Shindou-kun! Welcome! Welcome," the owner greeted lively, " Here have a seat," he offered him a seat at the counter.
" Thanks, Ichida-san, I bring a friend today," the blond told him happily as he pushed the displeased Jyudan to the seat. Seiji involuntarily sat down, he was a bit annoyed. Stop treating me like a child!
" Good! So what do you want? As usual?" the 30-year-old cook asked loudly as if Hikaru was his friend not his customer.
" Yeah, as usual, him too," the lighthearted boy made the order for both of them, the disturbed pro didn't say anything or even ask him what ' As usual' meant, he was still in a bad mood that the boy brought him here…to this Cheap, nosily, low-class ramen shop.
" Right away, Hikaru-kun," then the man went back to his work.
Hikaru knew what Seiji was thinking, he was the head of the new wave who held 2 titles, Of course, he wouldn't want to waste his time and money in a small ramen shop like this.
" Open your mind, try the new thing, Seiji-san, you're gonna like this," he smiled but the crabby man only glanced briefly at him giving him a ruffling look, " Ichida-san used to be the French cuisine chef in a hotel!" he tried to cheer up his ill-tempered friend.
" Then why does he become a ramen cook?" the silver-haired pro didn't mean to ask that, he didn't want to know who the hell Ichida was, it was just a natural reaction.
" Because I love ramen," Ichida answered with a wide grin as he placed a bowl of his best selling ramen in front of each one of them before he went to talk with other customers.
Seiji kept staring at his ramen for minutes, it almost looked like a normal ramen in a pork soup except there was….something like a small mountain of ice flake in the middle of it, " What is it?" Poking the unidentified mountain with his chopsticks, he asked.
" Parmesan cheese," the good-natured boy answered with a mouthful.
" What! Cheese! In ramen!" Gross! The Gosei mentally shouted in disgust.
" Yeah, give it a chance, Seiji-san," Hikaru uttered, " It's good than you've ever imagine,"
Parmesan cheese in ramen? Those grey eyes bored at the weird ramen in distrust.
" Here, this is how we eat it," said the ramen expert as he took Seiji's chopsticks. Then he destructed the mountain mixing cheese and the noodle together.
" Give it a try," Giving back the chopsticks, he convinced his friend.
Seiji stared hesitatingly at the blow but his green-eyed friend kept looking at him with a hopeful look. He knew that the blond wouldn't quit it until he ate it. He sighed in defeat and took a deep breath in as he reluctantly ate it.
It was amazingly delicious! The noodle was boiled in a perfect timing! It was cooked but wasn't too soft! Each stripe was coated with Parmesan cheese, he could sense and taste a delicate fragrance of the Italian cheese! The soup was also good! Parmesan melted and became one with the pork soup, it made the soup become rich, it was incredible good!
" See, I've told you," Hikaru grinned triumphantly before he went back to finish his ramen.
" Well, it's not that bad," Seeing that ' I've told you so,' smile didn't make the self-centered Gosei quite happy, " At least, it's edible,"
" Edible?...you're so damn arrogant,"
" Look who's talking," Seiji snorted.
" Isn't that the reason you like me?" the tricky pro smirked.
" Who likes whom?" Damn you!
Hikaru didn't answer, he only gave his winning smile in return, " You bought me a T-bone steak so I guess maybe you like Western cuisine, that's why I bring you here,"
" So you can make me eat this odd ramen," the pokerfaced guy mocked.
" Well…yeah," Turning to his friend, he pressed him, " Accept it, you like it,"
…I can't say that I don't, it's quite tasty…Okay, very tasty, But I won't let him win… " As I said, it's edible,"
The playful blond curved a smile, " A mealy-mouthed thief," he noted.
" What did you just say!" A mealy-mouth thief! Did he just call me a thief ! ME? Ogata Jyudan and Gosei! The Sensei cried out.
" You know, a mealy-mouthed person…a person who doesn't speak directly what he really think," Hikaru lectured him.
" I know what it means!" the glacial faced turned red, " What I mean is why did you call me ' a mealy-mouth thief'!"
" Ichida-san..nn, another bowl, please," the annoying boy ignored his angry friend.
" Hey! Don't you dare ignoring me!" Who does he think he is? Ruffling me like this!
" Shh, Seiji-san, don't disturb the others," the mischievous boy lectured him again. Well, he got a point because now every living life was looking at the famous 10 Dans wondering what the hell was going on. Seiji felt very awkward, nodding his head, he embarrassingly apologized to the others.
" What a loud-mouthed you are," the blond sniggered.
" What!"
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" Ahh, I'm so happy," Standing in front of the shop, Hikaru stretched his arms. He quickly glanced at his frustrated friend, " Seiji-san, Don't tell me that you're angry at me, I bought you lunch, you know,"
" Because you lost the bet, what's more, it costs only 800 Yen!" the angry man retorted.
" I've told you to eat as much as you wanted but you only had one," the bleached bangs pro got defensive.
" Not everyone can devour 3 bowls of ramen, you monster," The Jyudan snapped back, " I can't come here again, not when everybody recognize me as a loud-mouthed customer," Ogata Seiji had never been this embarrassing in his life, " What're you smiling at?"
" You just said you couldn't come here again, right? It means that you do want to come here again but you don't dare to," He likes it here! HA! I win! Hikaru smiled wickedly.
Damn it! I just lost! Damn it!
" Don't worry, Seiji-san, We can come here again, no one will remember you by that title. Nobody can ever be a better loud-mouthed than me after all," he declared proudly.
" Tell me about it ," Smiling slightly, the grey-eyed man brought out his cigarette. Seiji was about to take his lighter out but Hikaru was faster than him. Then the said boy lit it for him.
" See you tomorrow, Seiji-san," he winked before he ran to Tokyo Station.
" Annoying brat," Seiji mumbled but he didn't get angry anymore.
A/N : As I've told you, I've never been to Japan before but I saw this Parmesan-ramen in a TV program. It does exist.
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