After the club meeting, Alicia invites Hyoga to eat ramen, only for him not to know what ramen is. So, she does the courtesy of bringing him to a ramen shop. She explains the basics of ramen, from ordering to eating style, which includes slurping, which he finds unmannered. Alicia points out this is commonly given that ramen is served hot and says there's nothing wrong. So they chat about each other, and she wants to know him better. Then she asks how he ends up attending school, and he says he's a rebel who ran away from home. Alicia takes his response literally.
The weather for today is sunny.
This week concludes the April chapter.
[April 23, Monday - week 4]
After the club meeting ends, Alicia approaches Hyoga to ask a favor.
"Hey, are you free?" Alicia asks.
"What for?" Hyoga asks.
"I want to invite you."
He isn't up for it, but Saori's words from yesterday echo in his mind.
"Okay, so to where?"
"To eat ramen, of course."
"What's that?"
"You have to be joking, right?"
He stares at her, confused, as silence echoes through the empty room.
"You really don't know, huh? Alright! I'll do a one-time courtesy and teach. Sounds good?"
"I can always learn, sure," Hyoga shrugs.
"Okay, I'll take you there."
They take the subway to a neighborhood said to serve ramen for beginners. They take their seat once they enter, and Alicia orders two bowls. The chef then serves the two bowls to them.
"How come yours has more things on it?" he asks.
"I've already eaten ramen before. So I ordered with nothing but basic noodles."
"I get it. Okay, so what's this liquid thing?"
"It's broth. But really, it's just water with soy sauce."
"It's too hot to eat. I should let it cool."
"Nah, you don't want to. You have to eat it while it's still hot. Letting it cool defeats the whole purpose."
"Is that so?"
"You know how to use chopsticks, right?"
"Yeah, my friend taught me the past weekend."
"That's good. Watch and learn how I consume it."
Alicia consumes the entire bowl down to drinking the broth.
"Wait a minute, what's that sound you made?" he asks.
"I slurp," Alicia responds with a stare.
"That's not good."
"Why not? Everybody does it."
"I don't understand." Hyoga sighs.
"You claim to be half-Japanese, huh? Where do you come from? Is your name really your name? I don't want to be skeptical, but everything about you is mysterious."
"You seem to be losing your patience."
"I felt sorry for you, but now I have the same doubts. It shouldn't be that way. You reminded me of myself when I came to this country many years ago." Alicia sighs. "You head there, right? I've lived here since middle school because of my parents' work. They teach English in different schools."
"You seem to know those two."
"You mean Kazuki and Futaba? We were at the same middle school. That's it."
"So you didn't have any friends then?"
"They thought I was a study abroad student because of my looks. And when I said the truth, they ignored me. That's how it was for all three years of middle school."
"That must have been difficult."
"It was." Alicia sighs.
Alicia turns her attention to his bowl, surprised to see it empty.
"Look at you! You ate the ramen."
"I was hungry, and I kind of liked it."
"You don't mind if I order a second one?"
"Go ahead. This is new for me anyway."
Alicia orders the second bowl, and the chef prepares it.
"Alright! I ordered the second bowl." Alicia gasps, noticing his first bowl has broth remaining. "Wait a minute! You didn't drink the broth! You ate the noodles, but you didn't drink the broth."
"I don't see the point. I already ate."
"You didn't make any sound."
"What's with you?!" he speaks up.
"How polite are you?" Her eyes widen.
"That is not how I eat, and I wasn't taught that."
"Want to know the context? Making sounds shows respect."
Hyoga makes a facepalm. "I'm not going to comment."
"Let's talk about something else. You tell me your story because I said mine."
The chef then delivers the second bowl. Alicia waits for him to eat halfway.
"So I live in this dorm with four other guys."
"Four other guys, so there's five of you?"
"It's a special dorm for me and my friends."
"Wow! How did you get there in the first place?"
Telling her the truth would be too intense, so he needs to make up something.
"I could tell her, but it's too early, and this is our first meeting. I don't know how she'll react, so I need to come up with something that she can understand."
"I… kind of ran away from home," he says.
"Wow! That's so cool!" Alicia seems to buy it.
"Yeah, and I ended up there after that."
"I didn't know you're such a rebel."
She turns her attention to his second bowl.
"You got the second one. Make a sound!"
"Okay, fine…" He sighs, and his eyes roll up. He slurps at her command.
"Okay, That's pretty low," Alicia says, disappointed.
"I told you I don't want to do this."
"You really are something else." Alicia chuckles. "Hey! You don't mind us being friends? I like talking to you. Even though we're two blue-eyed blondes speaking Japanese, oh my gosh!" Alicia laughs.
"How about a common language?"
"Nah, this is enough. So are we in?"
"You're an odd one, but okay, I'll accept."
"Odd one, what?!" Alicia asks, surprised. "Fine! I would've been so offended if it wasn't from you."
"She is so different from the blondes I've met before. She is loud! But she is nice enough, so I'll stick around. I'm stuck for three years, after all."
"Okay, so we're friends. We'll meet outside the club more often. Don't ignore me, okay?"
"Fine, if you say so," Hyoga says with a shiver.
"You know how to return by yourself, right?"
"We take the same train, yes?"
"Yeah! It will leave you at school. I don't live in a dorm, so I must remain until I reach the station."
"So you commute?"
"Of course! I take the train."
"How long does it take?"
"It takes around one hour, back and forth."
"Sounds close and far at the same time."
"It does. I wish I could live in the dorm, but circumstances won't let me."
"The way you say it makes me the lucky one."
"I envy you for that alone. Okay, it's getting late. Let's go."
They pick up their bags, Alicia pays, and they leave.
To be continued...