"Slurp... ah~"
Holding the ran in his hands, Shido drank the remaining soup in one gulp and let out a satisfied breath. "Chewy noodles, incredibly rich soup, and the appropriate side dishes not only didn't lessen the deliciousness of the original ran, but actually elevated each other to another level. As expected of the ran made by the Boss Lady, it's as delicious as always."
"Hehe, this level is just a piece of cake."
Unlike when she was serious and strict during work, Yutsuki now showed a very relaxed smile on her face.
"It's really unbelievable... Although I can make ran a little bit too, I always feel like it can't compare."
A bit of curiosity showed on Shido's face. He had borrowed the shop's kitchen from Yutsuki before to try making ran. Although the taste could be considered good, compared to Yutsuki's ran, he could feel a clear gap.
How should I put it... Yutsuki's ran has a power that makes people feel satisfied and warm, a taste that leaves a lingering aftertaste. Shido couldn't do this.
"Is it really the Boss Lady's homade secret recipe like the rumors say?"
"Well, in a way, it is..."
After a silence, Yutsuki nodded with a sowhat mysterious smile.
Although saying in a way always gives off the feeling of a hidden aning, since she admitted it herself, then it must be the truth.
Noodles fernted through a special thod? Soup made with special ingredients? Or maybe so rare, special ingredients were used? As soone who likes cooking, his heart itched with curiosity about the truth behind this deliciousness.
"Um, Boss Lady, although I know this request is very rude, could you please satisfy my curiosity and tell the contents of that secret recipe? Just a little bit is fine!"
Shido pleaded with Yutsuki with his hands clasped together.
"Well..." Yutsuki thought for a mont, and a smile appeared on her face. "If you cast off that ♂, marry as a woman, and inherit this Yutsukiya, I could tell you~"
"Uh... I'm a little lacking in that level of resolve..."
Hearing these words, cold sweat broke out on Shido's back involuntarily. Seeing this from the side, Yutsuki couldn't hold back and laughed out loud with a "Pfft!".
"You actually took it seriously. It was obviously a joke. Young man~ People need to learn to have a sense of humor, understand?"
"Haha..."
Shido could only give an awkward smile and stay silent.
"The shop is already closed, and it's about ti I prepare dinner for my little sister, so..."
Just as Shido was planning to pack his things and leave, Yutsuki suddenly pressed his shoulders from behind.
"Wait a mont~ About Shido being late for work today... do you have anything you want to say?"
"Eh, eh? Didn't I already apologize?!"
"If apologizing could solve problems, the world wouldn't need police. Hehe, actually I'm trying out a new kind of ran, and I was just worrying about having no one to be my experi... taste-tester. Young man Shido, try eating this as an apology~"
"Experint subject! You definitely about to said experint subject just now!"
Feeling a massive sense of danger, Shido retorted loudly.
"My... I don't understand what you're talking about. The young man must have misheard."
Pretending not to hear Shido's retort, Yutsuki practically skipped into the kitchen and brought out a new bowl of ran.
Is this ran?! This was Shido's first thought upon seeing the real thing.
A yellowish white paste like soup, pale noodles with a subtle translucence, and dried squid toppings on top radiating an aura of intent. Just looking at its appearance, it completely made one lose the desire to eat.
"This is mayonnaise-flavored dried scallop and squid ran. As a takeout bonus this ti, I added honey as a hidden flavor~"
"Um... I don't really have an appetite, so I'll pass."
"If you refuse, your salary this month will shrink by half~"
In that mont, the smile on Yutsuki's face, which would normally make anyone's heart flutter, looked no different from a devil in Shido's eyes.
"Then... just one bite..."
After hesitating for a mont, weighing money against his own tongue, Shido made a sowhat difficult choice.
"Mhm, mhm, co, I'll feed you, say ah~"
Perhaps from a third person's perspective, Itsuka Shido was currently being gently fed by an unparalleled beautiful girl, an enviable and rare event... if you didn't count the dark aura radiating from the food held in the girl's chopsticks.
Looking at the food in front of him with twitching eyes, and then looking at Yutsuki who was deliberately showing a bright smile, Shido gulped. Finally, he hardened his heart and ate the food suspected to be ran.
—Uwaah! The sweetness of the honey and the saltiness of the squid clashed unbelievably with each other, forcing each other to rapidly develop in a bad direction. The sticky mayonnaise mixed with the noodles, giving one the illusion of eating not food but so kind of excrent. His esophagus instinctively resisted swallowing it. As if a spice rack had been knocked over, various intentional flavors crashed around in his mouth, tornting his nerves, making Shido have the urge to bite off his tongue for a split second.
This wasn't just at the level of tasting bad anymore; it was the destruction of the sense of taste.
Then, in the next second, relying on the last shred of his consciousness, Shido covered his mouth and ran frantically towards the restroom.
"And with that~ Yutsukiya is closed for today."
Yutsuki said with a satisfied face.
...
"Hah, it's a miracle I actually survived."
After returning ho, Shido collapsed onto the sofa. With lingering fear, he rubbed his stomach and slowly let out a long breath.
"I guess because she knows exactly how to make food delicious, making food taste bad is also no difficult task for her. As expected of the Boss Lady... Uwaah..."
Accidentally recalling that taste from earlier, Shido's face instantly turned pale. Covering his mouth, his stomach, which felt like it had already been emptied, seed to show signs of churning again.
"Welco back, Onii-chan!. What are we having for dinner tonight?"
"...Kotori, I'm sorry. I really don't have the mood to cook today. Just buy so bento from the convenience store to settle dinner."
"Oh! Then I want to buy the special takeout from the family restaurant!"
"Didn't you hear what I just said... Uh, I left my phone and my wallet with my bus pass at Yutsukiya."
Feeling his empty pockets and looking at the sky that had already turned dark, a troubled look appeared on Shido's face.
(I'd better go back for a bit. Hopefully the Boss Lady hasn't locked up the shop yet.)
Shido jogged back to the shopping district. At this ti, the sky was already dark, and the dayti bustling shopping district had quieted down a lot. Moreover, it was currently Yutsukiya's closing ti, and the Tonomachiya across the street didn't have any popularity either. So the flow of people on this street was different from the dayti; it was so quiet you could barely see anyone.
"Hah... as expected, it's already closed."
Although he had guessed this situation to so extent, when he confird that all the doors had been tightly locked, Shido still dropped his shoulders in disappointnt.
Eh? Why is there a folding ladder here?
Looking sowhat surprised at the folding ladder that wasn't there before he left, Shido looked up and found that a small hole had been cut into the window above, which was originally deadbolted, and the window was opened.
Yutsuki had no need to enter her own shop in such a sneaky way, which ans... a thief?!
Realizing this, a surge of anxiety rose in Shido's heart. He wanted to take out his phone to call the police, and then the next second he rembered that his phone was currently inside the shop.
For a mont, Shido showed a troubled expression.
"Uh... although trespassing on private property is illegal, if I discover a thief and do nothing, I'll definitely be scolded to death by the Boss Lady. Plus, my phone and wallet are in there too."
Shido muttered to himself in a low voice. After giving himself a few relatively reasonable excuses, he climbed up the folding ladder and climbed in through that pried-open window.
"Hehe... finally found the exclusive secret recipe. Now... my Tonomachiya will finally usher in its glorious era..."
Not long after entering the room, he saw a masked person dressed entirely in black acting sneakily and rummaging through the cupboards in the brightly lit kitchen. After finding a piece of paper, he let out a pathetic crying sound, and then carefully put the paper into his pocket.
That guy, ca to steal Yutsukiya's exclusive recipe?!
Although he had never seen it, Shido knew that Yutsukiya's secret recipe was the foundation of Yutsukiya, sothing Yutsuki worked hard to research independently to make her business prosper. If it were stolen, how huge of a blow would it be to Yutsuki.
If the other party had just co to steal so ordinary money, Shido probably would have just hid in the dark, looked for a chance to secretly identify the other party, and then called the police later. However, the other party's actions were desecrating the efforts of soone he respected, which indeed ignited Shido's anger.
"You thief, stop right there!"
"Wah, this is bad! I have to run!"
Shido's sudden appearance instantly startled the other party. The thief clearly looked very panicked. After glancing left and right and seeing another door he could escape through, he hurriedly ran towards that exit.
"Stop right there, give back the Boss Lady's secret recipe!"
Shido hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the other party. Although looking just at their build, the other party was much taller and bigger than Shido, but it seed like this was also his first ti being a thief. After being discovered, he was completely panicked, and was actually locked in place by Shido, unable to move.
"Ugh, my dream... how could I be caught here? I have the grand ambition of making my Tonomachiya the number one ran shop in the shopping district. Before realizing it, I—Tonomachi Hiroto—will absolutely not be caught!"
Say... you've already blurted out your personal information.
"Take this! Secret technique—Golden Cicada Shedding its Shell!"
The feeling of restraint in his arms suddenly disappeared. Shido looked down and found that he was only holding the night-walking clothes the other party had been wearing.
"Hehe... a normal person like you cannot stop my ambition. You're five hundred years too early to catch ."
At the doorway, the masked thief wearing only a loincloth... or rather, masked flasher, proudly looked up and laughed, then turned and fled the scene.
Even if you say that... Tonomachiya is just across the street.
Shido watched the other party enter the building, his forehead covered in black lines.
"I say... what's all this noise... I'm currently catching up on my sleep..."
"Boss Lady, this is bad, just now a... appeared here!!!"
Suddenly, a familiar muttering ca from behind. Shido turned his head and looked, and his face instantly turned bright red.
Yutsuki currently wasn't wearing pajama tops at all. Except for a sarashi (chest binding cloth) wrapping Yutsuki's chest, her slender waist, delicate navel, and a girl's tender, water-like skin were completely exposed to Shido's line of sight.
Perhaps because she was woken up from a deep sleep, there was still so sleepiness on Yutsuki's face. She rubbed her eyes, looking completely dazed.
"...Shido... is it already this ti... this is bad, I need to go prepare the soup base..."
"No! Boss Lady! Clothes, clothes!"
"...?"
Tilting her head in confusion, Yutsuki's mind gradually cleared up. After seeing clearly the ti, place, person, and her own attire, she quickly understood her current situation.
Subsequently, the gaze she directed at Shido beca very piercing.
"...Moshi moshi, police station? Soone has illegally trespassed here and intends to commit acts of sexual assault against ."
"Wait, wait, wait! Boss Lady, listen to my explanation!!!!!!!!!!"
Shido hurriedly explained the course of events to Yutsuki.
"I see... The person from Tonomachiya across the street really has too much free ti. Having ti but not properly thinking about the shortcomings of their own shop, and actually coming to do this kind of petty thievery. And you too, Shido, why did you run out and confront him for no reason? Trying to act cool? If the other party got anxious and casually grabbed a kitchen knife from the kitchen, you wouldn't be laughing."
Yutsuki, having changed clothes, explained to Shido with a serious face.
"I have already deeply realized my mistake, Boss Lady. So could you please put away that kitchen knife pointing at sowhere else."
Maintaining his dogeza posture, Shido looked at the cold blade resting just inches from his nose, cold sweat dripping down his back.
"Hmph... honestly." Slowly exhaling, Yutsuki's expression finally cald down a bit, and she slowly put the kitchen knife down.
"Isn't it just a thing from the shop getting stolen? Compared to your life, which is more important? Don't tell you don't know."
"...Sorry."
Feeling the other party's concern for him, Shido also felt very guilty about his mont of impulse.
"Well, I've known for a long ti that you're an idiot. I'll forgive you this ti."
Having received Yutsuki's forgiveness, Shido sighed in relief, then asked with so concern.
"Then, what about Tonomachiya?"
"Hm? Just leave it alone."
Seeing Yutsuki's uncaring attitude, Shido showed a dumbfounded expression.
"Eh? But the other party took our shop's secret recipe..."
"I don't recall leaving any exclusive secret recipe note in the shop. Besides, it wasn't anything special to begin with. It doesn't matter if it was stolen. Oh... right, speaking of which, the other party pried open our window and rummaged through our kitchen. We really need to properly extort... claim compensation."
"Haha..." Seeing Yutsuki showing a malicious smile, Shido gave two speechless dry laughs, then asked with so curiosity again. "Eh? Then what was the thing Tonomachi stole earlier?"
"That should be the recipe for the Top 10 dark cuisines I've researched so far."
Shido suddenly began to sympathize with the boss of Tonomachiya.
(Tonomachi (foaming at the mouth ing): "Tonomachiya's... ambition... glug glug blegh...")
"Alright, since you've got your things, hurry back. Tomorrow is Saturday, the custor flow will be more than double today's. If you don't want to eat the 'new dish', don't be late again, chore boy!"
"Yes!"
—The next day.
"In the end, Boss Lady, what exactly is the exclusive secret recipe you ntioned?"
Taking advantage of a mont of free ti during work, Shido couldn't hold back the doubt and curiosity in his heart and asked Yutsuki.
"Well, it can't really be called an exclusive secret recipe actually. If I had to say..." Yutsuki slightly paused her work, looked up and thought for a mont, then answered with a smile, "Love!"
Being full of love for her own shop, hoping that every custor can show a satisfied smile in this space, hoping that this shop becos the number one ran shop in the world.
At the sa ti, also hoping that the people she cares about can be happy because of her efforts, so that she will also feel happy.
Then, taking this as motivation, continuously working hard to research cooking, using each failure as nourishnt, and finally achieving satisfactory results.
Well... saying it like this, it's actually just a reason that allows oneself to keep moving forward. Yutsuki looked at the utterly bewildered Shido and "Pfft!" laughed out loud.
"Eh? What does that an."
"Well... you'll have to figure that out yourself."
To the dumbfounded Shido, Yutsuki playfully blinked her eye.
"Hey, is my clear broth ran not ready yet?"
"What is the chore boy dawdling for? Hurry up and get to work!"
"Eh? Please, please wait a mont."
And so, today at Yutsukiya, business was booming as usual.
As his consciousness gradually cleared, Shido opened his eyes. Looking at the classroom under the twilight, with no one else but himself and Yutsuki, who had just woken up in another seat, he tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh? This is the classroom... Yutsuki, shouldn't you be in the class next door... By the way, what about the ran shop? ...Then, what just happened was... a dream?"
Hearing Shido's words, the corners of Yutsuki's mouth twitched slightly.
"Uh... Hearing you say that, I can basically confirm that the dream we had should be the sa one... I'm a bit relieved. Arusu, co out and explain."
"Understood."
The voice suddenly rang out, and Arusu suddenly appeared from who knows where, explaining to Shido and Yutsuki.
"The situation just now was a simulation of a non-daily romantic scenario that I conducted through my permissions. By observing the reactions of choosing the other party when with Itsuka Shido, through a relationship different from ordinary days. Thus more efficiently dissecting and understanding the essence of love."
"Well... non daily romantic plots, huh. Finally so ga settings worth seeing have appeared. Speaking of which, I didn't feel any doubt about my identity at all, and the scenes were made very realistically, without any sense of incongruity."
Yutsuki said with so admiration.
"Mhm. Regarding correlations and situational changes, there is an extrely rich amount of data existing in this world."
"That's really sothing. I thought we would spend peaceful school days like in reality... Well, it's okay."
Recalling the beautiful sight of Yutsuki bare chested with just a sarashi back then, Shido couldn't help but think to himself, Not a bad deal.
"...Chore boy. If you don't forget the mories that just floated into your mind within three seconds, I don't mind using so physical thods."
Crisp cracking sounds ca from Yutsuki's clenched fist.
"Reporting to the Boss Lady, I have already forgotten it completely!"
...
Dinner ti. Due to the special circumstances, today Tohka, Origami, and the others all gathered at Shido's house for a al.
And tonight, Yutsuki was in charge of dinner.
"Oh, oh, is dinner tonight ran? It's very delicious, Yutsuki!"
"...As expected, an enemy who cannot be underestimated."
"Kuku... A long-awaited reunion, your skills have improved quite a bit. As your comrade, I feel very gratified."
"Well, the taste is indeed very good, but Shido's cooking isn't bad either..."
"Uh... Kotori, you saying that actually puts a bit of pressure on ."
"Ah, this is the first ti Yoshinon has eaten such delicious ran~ Yutsuki-chan, you should just go open a ran shop. Business will definitely boom."
"...Mhm! (Thumbs up!)"
"Mhm, delicious! As expected of my Honey."
"Ran, huh... I didn't expect Yutsuki-san to be able to make this kind of thing. I'm slightly surprised."
"Curiosity. For such amazing ran, did you add any special secret recipe, Yutsuki?"
"About that..."
Yutsuki chuckled, blinked her eye, and slowly answered: "It's, a, se-cret (゜▽＾*)"
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