BITTERSWEET

CHAPTER 55 / SUSHI RESTAURANT

Although everyone was exhausted from a mild jet lag, they all agreed to the late lunch and walked downtown to the restaurant. Inside, they were welcomed by a pleasant setting of the diner. 

There were at least a dozen open rooms filled with people seated on bar stools, enjoying the food that was cooked and served in front of them on teppanyaki grills. 

The group were ushered across the restaurant to an empty slot for them all without using another table. They were greeted by two young men, around the age of twenty-five. One with jet black hair and chocolate-brown eyes, while the second had brunette hair and chestnut eyes. 

"Hey there, I'm Mitchell and this is Thomas, we'll be your cooks today," The brunette one said in perfect English, with a slight tinge of a Japanese accent. 

"What can we get for you all today?" the jet-black-haired one - Mitchell - asked as he flipped a pair of knives with perfect momentum that he easily caught back in his hands. 

"What is there to have?" Nana questioned, eyeing each of the available food, with a smile. The food looked so close to home as it was, which brought a brilliant start to the trip that warmed her up inside.

Remmi, Travis and Aphmau all looked as if they also liked the contents presented before them. A majority of the rest of the group were uneasy with the unfamiliar setting before them. 

Some of the food gave off bad smells and the chopsticks provided didn't give any sense of a normal stance. 

Katelyn swore under her breath as she couldn't work out how to handle the twin sticks. Luckily for Travis, his father had taught him how to operate the sticks enough that he could teach Katelyn how to work them out. Lucinda, nor Melissa, looked particularly happy with the situation at hand either but were convinced to just try for the sake of the trip Zane had loosely planned out. 

"Standard chicken, rice, cucumber sushi, with fried shrimp, all round, thank you," Nana said and the cooks replied with a nod. The girl figured the group would try the simple meal, even though their taste buds varied through each person. 

Thomas and Mitchell immediately set off to work as green tea was passed down with servings of fluffy rice. 

As if on cue, Aphmau began to add sugar and honey to her tea, and took a sip of it. 

Remmi scoffed and almost laughed at the girl when she drank it. The defying disgust on Aphmau's face was priceless, and even Aaron couldn't help but laugh at his clueless wife. 

Nana peered down at her friends and checked what Aphmau had done. "What did you add to it?" She asked as Aphmau put down the drink. 

"Two sugars and a dash of honey. That's what I always have in my tea," Aph answered. 

Raising an eyebrow, Nana took a sip of the tea and laughed. "Aphmau, this is green tea."

"So?" Aph questioned with a shrug. 

Kim interrupted just as Nana tried to open her mouth to reply. A favour, really. "Green tea is made to be consumed by itself."

"Then, what's the honey and tea for?" Laurance asked, lifting the ceramic honey bowl and placing it down again. 

"It's for the rice. Almost like a porridge. You'll be seeing quite a lot of this. It's usually used for breakfast, but here it's an appetiser," Remmi clarified and used the chopsticks to pick up a mouthful of the rice. 

Once they had the rice, they were served the sushi, with fired shrimp and square-cooked salmon. Travis found himself mesmerised by the quick swipes of the knives. Travis also asked the question if he could have a try, and was surprisingly very good. 

Business level, talented. Both Mitchell and Thomas were impressed, to say the least. They paid and commended their goodbyes to the restaurant before passing the streets of the early evening around everything the futurised city had to offer. 

Once they checked in at the capsule hotel, they settled in their units, and, exhausted by their productive day, they dozed off.