Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu.
~ Hachiman and Yumiko Indulges Green Tea ~
- 3 -
Yumiko picked up a pamphlet from the directory before we ventured into the green tea-themed resort. It was a cold sunny Sunday afternoon, somewhere in the low fifties, and this was how Yumiko wanted to spend the day after doing laundry.
This was actually our first time being here. We passed this place on so many occasions Yumiko figured it was time to check it out.
"Where to first?" Yumiko asked, eyes locked onto the pamphlet's contents in her hands. I kept my arm around her shoulder to maneuver pass oncoming people, while her attention was elsewhere. Even though she wore a thick orange faux-fur coat, I felt her soft skin underneath somehow.
"Um..." I glanced at the pamphlet. There were nine options you can select from and one of them was ramen. Easy choice. "Let's go for green-tea ramen." The surety in my voice caused Yumiko to nod once, twice, golden locks bouncing with each nod. She loved it when I'm decisive rather than passive.
"Ramen, it is," Yumiko said, smiling.
...
The ramen shop, positioned in the far left of the area, opposite that of the 100-yen store, was packed with people, bustling in overlapping chatter. Yumiko and I sat at a small square two-person table in the corner, waiting for someone to serve us. We were done looking at the menus, with our orders in mind. I understood the place was busy, but we were waiting quite a while. By this time, we could get some mochi ice cream at a stand nearby.
"What's taking so long?" I expressed my thoughts for her to hear. As I repeatedly tapped my right index finger on the table, I let out a sigh.
"I'm sure they'll get to us soon," Yumiko said reassuringly. Two servers passed us by as she said this, ironically enough. I knew they were servers because they wore human-sized green tea bags as uniform. There was even a string in the back. Seriously... I'd kill myself before I wear that crap.
"Let's just go," I suggested. "We'll come ba—"
As I stood, Yumiko called for one of them to come over with a "excuse me." Now standing at the edge of our table was now a giant tea bag man, holding a closed notepad.
"Um, excuse me, can you please take our order? Me and my husband have been waiting."
"Sorry for the inconvenience. Three tables are ahead. Satoshi or I will get to you when humanly poss—"
"Pleaseee..." Yumiko's gloved-clad hand briefly made contact with his costume, albeit slightly. Her voice sounded so soft and cute. Didn't know you'd use that skill here, Yumi. His eyes stared at the spot she touched, he was trembling through his tea bag. Instantly, the flap of the notepad opening indicated the poor guy was now under her spell.
"W-what would you like to order?" Hey, don't ogle at her chest!
"Two large bowls of green-tea ramen. Two green teas. Oooh, and some pickled vegetables on the side, too, for me." Yumiko ordered for both of us in a cheery, polite tone.
"Right away!" After he written it down, he ran off so quick his urgency overpowered the smell of green tea and ramen broth wafting in the air. The food must've vanished out of thin air because before I could steal a glance at Yumiko, he was running back over with a full tray, anime-style smoke on his trail.
...
"I was thinking we'd hit up the foot spa next, Hachi."
I watched as Yumiko slurped on her noodles, her cheeks faint red. I finished my ramen so I watched her eat, with the occasional sip of tea. She looked so innocent trying to select which pickled vegetable to choose with her chopsticks as if it mattered. My heart raced a bit.
I nod in agreement. "Yeah. If you want, we could stop for mochi, too. I mean, if you're not full, that is."
Acknowledging my words, Yumiko looked down at her bowl of ramen, chopsticks in hand. "Guess I shouldn't have ordered the large then, huh?" She smiled as if realizing her error. "Help me?" She knew I would.
My only response was the push of the porcelain bowl.
She transferred the majority of her ramen into my bowl along with the half the green broth, and we ate our respective shares. Once we were done with our meal, Yumiko left money at the table and we left for mochi.
The mochi stand was surprisingly void of customers, so unlike the ramen shop, there was no hassle. Obviously all the mochi was green tea-flavored, we each had a tray of six.
"This is pretty good, huh?" Yumiko gave me a look, olive green eyes seeking for my opinion.
"Yeah, not bad at all," I answered, truthfully. "The one at—"
"C'mon, let's hurry. Feet are freezing." Yumiko sprinted off in the direction of the foot spa while I picked up the pace, hands in my pockets.
...
Barricaded inside bamboo fences, forming a large circle, sat the rectangular-shaped foot spa: a small knee-deep pool of bubbling water—er, I mean green tea. Smoke was hovering above the green tea's surface. There were others here, most of them elders. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves to their heart's content.
Nearby was several baskets by a locker area several meters from the spa. Yumiko pulled off her grayish-black boots, placing them in a vacant basket along with her purse. Then she rolled up her jeans several notches before dipping her feet into the bubbly dark green liquid.
"Aaaaah~"
As I place my belongings (shoes and socks) in the same basket and rolled up my pants up to knee-level, I sidled up next to her in the pool. While we weren't alone, at least there was a good radius between us and other people. The green tea was hot, but just the right amount of hot. My feet—and knees—felt purified by the detoxification of green tea, I almost let out an audible sigh. This, combined with the frostiness of the air, was a heavenly duo. Being next to Yumiko made it significantly better.
Yumiko pulled out the pamphlet from her coat pocket, and planned out our next location. "Hachi, let's save the shrine for last."
"Okay."
"This feels so good," she said. "We should install one at home."
"You serious?"
"Why not?" Yumiko beamed, steam rising over her face. "That way, we don't have to share it with anybody."
"That's not a bad idea..." You had me at 'don't have to share.'
I felt the weight of her head on my shoulder as she pointed a finger to GREEN TEA VILLAGE on the pamphlet. "We'll go to the village after."
"Okay..." I muttered, taking in her scent.
An hour passed until we rendezvoused to the green tea village not too far away.
The village wasn't really a "village" as advertised, but rather six game booths parallel to each other: tea bag ring toss, tea bag ping pong, tea bag fishing, tea bag scoop, tea bag stuff-a-animal, and tea bag kite flying.
"This is weird." Yumiko took the words out of my mouth, her face saying, Where's the village?
"Just wanna go to the shrine," I suggested, raising a brow.
"Hmm... let's go to the green tea shop first."
The shop was adjacent to the booths, inside a small hut. Yumiko purchased some expensive green tea brand, and then we head off to the shrine.
...
The shrine was sitting beyond a steep set of stone stairs, torii gates at regular intervals. It felt like climbing Mount Fuji in a way, albeit not really. I kept a snail's pace while a certain blonde had me beat by ten steps at a time, though I caught up at some point.
At the shrine, you had to write your wish on a ema before tossing it into a boiling cauldron of green tea that rested nearby. A pelicular twist on the traditional format.
"No peeking, 'kay?"
"I won't."
Yumiko looked over her shoulders, ensuring my words held truth. Now I'm strangely curious about what she was wishing for. Once she finished, she handed me a ema and the marker, before dropping her ema into the cauldron.
I wrote down my wish and let it fall into the boiling green tea.
I had everything I could ever ask for...
Thus, free MAX for life was my wish.
While I knew it wouldn't come true (obviously), it wouldn't hurt to try.
I turned over to see Yumiko covering her mouth, chuckling. "You really are a idiot, Hachi."
"Yeah, yeah... let's go home," I said, descending the stairs first. Yumiko followed suit.
A/N: Twenty-minute drabble.
Would like to hear your thoughts on it.
As always, thanks for reading.