Akabane Karma, one of the reasons why I have high standards for guys
(5802 words)
Kasumi Aika's POV
"AIKA-CHAN!! YOU'LL BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" Alice yelled. I shot straight up, and looked at my alarm clock. I breathed a sigh of relief, then glared at Alice who scared the daylights out of me.
"But I still have one hour!"
"My cars are under repair. They suddenly needed maintenance, so you've gotta walk to school today."
"WHAT?! ONE HOUR WON'T EVEN BE ENOUGH TIME!" I zoomed to the bathroom to take a 5 minute shower, changed into my uniform, ate my breakfast, and headed out. "Bye, Alice!"
"Bye!"
As I ran outside, I met a certain redhead who was a few feet away from me, walking to school. He looked at me, and smiled. "Ohayou, Aika-chan. You usually go there by car. What happened?"
"Cars... need maintenance... have to walk..." I panted, hunching over my knees. Rushing over things seriously knocked the air out of my lungs a lot faster than I thought.
"That means you're stuck with me for a while!" Karma slung his arm over my neck and dragged me a quarter way to the school until I managed to escape his headlock.
~~~~~
"The people from the main building are putting their fighting spirit into it." I awed as I watched them prepared for the 11th Kunugigaoka Festival.
"Well, our school is known well for their fierce wars." Karma continued, "The profits are donated, but the profits are ranked and posted everywhere around school. The students from the class that gains the most profit can put that in their resume to give them more appeal, as people who can achieve results in the trading when they go job hunting. That's why everyone's serious about this. There's also a lot of stalls here that wouldn't lose when compared to professional stores."
Interesting...
"I wonder if E Class going to do something again this time. They have this strange kind of explosion this year, they're definitely gonna try sell more than A Class." I overheard one of the main campus students said.
"Nah, it'll be impossible for them this time. They have to open their shop on that mountain, no customer would want to climb all the way up there. Also, A Class has Asano-kun." Another said.
"That's right, they also lost badly during the midterm tests. I guess that's what E Class is made of after all."
I scowled as I overheard their conversation. I really wanted to beat them up.
"Hey, I get that you want to beat them, but we're in enemy territory."
"I know that, Karma-kun. Besides, if I slap them, that would be animal abuse."
Karma laughed at my sarcasm.
~~~~~
"The main campus sure is getting hyped about this year's festival." Kataoka sighed after I told her what happened in the main campus.
"Probably figure we're up to something, even if we can't win."
"I hear that Asano actually contracted with a restaurant." What kind of junior-high student could get a sponsor so easily?!
"I wouldn't put it past him."
"We'll just have to go for the win. This match will likely hinge on a complication of everything but assassination and studying." Korosensei said.
"I really don't want to lose to the A Class... but what can we do?" Sugino seemed to be crushed with hopelessness.
"Asano-kun is right. You need to have some kind of specialty, so that customers will come if you produce something that greatly exceeds the value of your cheap budget."
"Well, yeah, but..."
"The answers are all around you!"
It took a me several seconds to process what he said, until everything pieced together. "Of course! The forest!"
"Indeed, Kasumi-san! The value of the E Class here lies from something such as this!" Korosensei showed the class an acorn.
"An... acorn?" Isogai questioned.
"Thousands of acorns fall in these mountains. There are several types of them, but the Japanese stone oaks is the most suitable for what we're going to do with them because their fruit is big and it has few impurities. Please go pick up all the fruits you could find. Considering your mobility and with the help of Mobile Ritsu, you should be able to gather more than enough of them from around the mountain in less than an hour.
"Put them in water and throw away any that float, then break the shell, leaving only the interior. Once you have blended the interior, put them into a sack made of cloth and leave them in the river for a week so that any impurities are washed away. And then, leave them dry in the sun for three days in the school yard, then grind them to make the fine acorn flour. We will use that instead of wheat flower. The thing we're going to use to attract customers will be ramen."
"Did you say... ramen?" Muramatsu asked.
"Hai! We have these too." He showed us a basket full of berries. "This plant. The peculiarity of this plant are these small potato-like fruits called mukago. And if you dig carefully at the base of these roots..." Korosensei rushed outside, so we followed him. He gave us the result which was...
"YAM?!" I screamed, gaping.
"It's name is the 'jinenjyo' or dioscorea japonica. Naturally grown ones of these can price up to several thousands of yen in stores."
I tapped my chin. "If you grate these yams, its smell and connective properties are on a totally different level to the ones you can buy! And we can use it to make a good dough!"
Isogai rubbed his cheek against the yam. "When I finish middle school, I'm going to be a yam digger~"
"Isogai-kun?!" Kataoka yelled. "His future is being led astray after setting his hands on some high quality ingredients!"
"Using this method, we have basically obtained the ingredients for the noodles for free. With the remaining money, we can buy good stuff at the supermarket."
"...I see..." Muramatsu hummed. "Then, it would be better to make spiced noodles for the ramen. The fragrance of the wild ingredients is more compatible with a dense soup. There aren't many kinds of spiced noodles on the market, so it's quite profitable. But, what about the tools for making it? Who will be the taste tester? And isn't it a little sad to just make a menu with just ramen?"
"Everyone else is working on that as we speak."
Terasaka and Kurahashi managed to fish some salmons, char, minnows... prawns, too.
Kimura and Yada picked lots of chestnuts, persimmons, and walnuts. "Are these edible, Korosensei?" Yada asked, dangling a bunch of berries.
"The crimson flory vine, huh?" Korosensei hummed. "It's like a sweet vinegar, so it's delicious. With the right amount of sugar,it can become a splendid juice. But, be careful of the yamahobou out there, because it is poisonous. That chocolate vine there has a fruit with a jelly inside of it that can be eaten just like that with a spoon. And its skin can be fried with miso to make something appealing to adults."
"What do you think of those mushrooms, Korosensei?" I heard Karma yelled, sliding a basket full of mushrooms to him. "Let me take care of the poisonous mushrooms, I'll be in charge of throwing them away."
What are you going to use them for, Karma-kun? (˵¯͒ བ¯͒˵)
Karma picked up a mushroom that was shaped like an umbrella. "This one's clearly poisonous."
"Incorrect, Karma-kun." I said. "Known in the western countries as the 'emperor mushroom', the tamagotake is a rich delicacy when fried with butter. It's a rare ingredient that were still unable to grow ourselves."
"I see..." He had this unimpressive face. I inspected the mushrooms, tutting for a bit.
"Half of these mushroom are poisonous-" My eyes immediately locked on a certain mushroom. "Holy crabsticks! I can't believe you found this!" I gingerly picked it up. "Behold... a matsutake! If you bought this at a store and made a full course with it in... one serving of it would cost around 3000 yen!"
"These ingredients are just like you; hidden away in these mountains so no one realizes their potential." Korosensei said.
"So we'll attack our customers with hidden weapons." Terasaka snickered. "Makes for a pretty assassin-y restaurant!"
"We'll sell these items to the customers with our usual bloodlust, using the mountain's produce as our ingredients!"
~~~~~
"Welcome, ma'am!" I greeted warmly at our customers. "Please, have a seat!" I led them to a seat, and set menus in front of them. "Please call one of us if you've picked your orders." I gave them a small bow before leaving them.
"Aika-chan, I didn't know that you have good hosting skills." Karma said.
"Pfft! Please. When you're out in the battlefield, you must know how to make up an act and staying calm. Serving customers is way easier than disarming a bomb while pretending to be an enemy soldier."
"Uh... right..." She disarmed a bomb before?! He thought.
"Huh. Nice place ya got here." I heard a familiar voice said.
"Hey! It's the high-school guys from our class trip!" Sugino pointed out. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh? Come to abduct another girl, have you?" Karma asked.
"Guys, please. These are our customers! We must treat them like the others." I scolded them. "But if I see one, measly, suspicious thing, I won't hesitate to kick you out." I gave them a warning smile.
"...Whatever. Wouldn't want your freak of a teacher to show up again, anyways. But I don't need to get physical to wreck your day. I could... start shoutin' that your food tastes like crap? Or put a few choice of words online?"
Sugino glared at them, gritting his teeth.
"Well? Bring it out already."
Despite my hatred for the abductors, I pretended like that never happened and gave them a small bow. "As you wish." I went to the E Class building, and returned with a dish in hand. "Our signature dish: acorn noodles. Enjoy."
"Whoa, this looks great! Hey, Ryuki, can I order a Mont Blanc, too?" One of his goons asked.
"Yeah! I wanna try the smoked fish!" His other goon blurted.
"Hey, cool it! Your stupid is showin'!" The leader, Ryuki, presumably that's his name, dipped the noodles into the ramen, stirred it a bit, and took a slurp. His eyes widened. "S-So good!" He cried. Literally.
"It took us 1634 words to get to that reaction, but that's another story's forte."
(A/N: She... she broke the 4th wall! I REPEAT, SHE BROKE THE FOURTH WALL.)
"This is ramen, but... I've never tasted anything like this." One of Ryuki's goons said as he slurped more of the ramen.
"Not bad, right? I spent a solid week on research." Muramatsu told them. "Using Aika-chan's food science and molecular gastronomy text books, this was the result of my research for the ultimate balance.
"It was really difficult working with ingredients that all have strong flavors, but since Aika-chan helped me by giving advice to keep the balance and her surprisingly professional critiques, these are the acorn noodles in Tonkotsu soup I obtained after searching for the ultimate balance in flavor."
Ehe, what can I say? I can be a major foodie sometimes.
"For Muramatsu, it's downright miraculous. So much for your mediocre flavor being a selling point." Itona said as he ate some of his ramen.
"Shut up, Itona! Get to work!" Muramatsu yelled.
"Let's try something else! C'mon!" The goons looked over the menu, drooling as they looked at the food.
"What's this 'Slender Caesar' mushroom? Never had that before!"
"Hey, you jokers!" Ryuki slammed the table. "Say it tastes like crap!"
"Oh? It does?" Irina! "Oh, dear... Did you not like my student's cooking?" She asked seductively.
"Nononono! It's crazy good!" Ryuki said, stirring up a stream of nosebleed.
"Oh? Then how about this persimmon-loquat gelatin? It's exactly as soft as my skin."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"And if you eat one of everything, it would make me so happy." She leaned closer to the gang leader, tracing over his scar. Eww... I still don't know how she could pull that off.
"B-but I don't have the cash..."
"There's one right by the train station." She whispered in his ear, "An A... T... M."
They immediately ran back down. "Time to make a withdrawal!"
"Okay! I'll be waiting!"
That's one tribute course down. (；☉_☉)
"With Yada-san at the bottom drawing in customers and bitch-sensei at the top... that's one mean master-disciple combo." Kimura awed as he chatted away with Korosensei, who was hiding as a Shachihoko.
"We have Sugaya-kun's posters, Okajima-kun's food photos, Hazama-san's menu descriptions, and Mimura-kun's special-edition website, everything we need to pique our customers' interests. It's only day one. The battle is just getting started."
"According to my recon, it looks like the A Class is better at getting the customers interested." Itona said, using his remote controlled helicopter to give them a view of the A Class.
"NANI?!" I screamed as I looked over the camera. Itona nearly dropped it, surprised of my presence.
"A-Aika?! When did you get here?!"
"Hmm? I was here this whole time. Anyways, how come they have K Project there?! that's unfairrr!" I whined. "Sooner or later, Hatsune Miku and Kaito will be waltzing on stage or something. Hmph! And Asano-kun plays a mean electric guitar!"
My ears perked up when I heard familiar voices called my name.
"Aika-chan! We're here!" I looked up to see two very familiar twins, along with their ex-teacher.
"Aoi! Kiroi! You guys are here! Along with Sakura-san, Matsukata-san and the rest of the kids!" I greeted with Nagisa.
"Of course I'd come for you, my sweet Aika-chan." Kiroi wrapped his hand around my right hand and softly kissed the back of it, giving me a flirtatious smile.
"Seriously? -_- I'm the hostess/waitress here."
"Oh, come on, Aika-chan, I missed you so much-"
"Oi." I felt someone pulled my other hand, pulling me away from Kiroi. I ended up being pulled into Karma's chest. "Who are you? And why are you touching her. Guests aren't allowed to harass our staff, y'know." He kept his cool smile, but I could see him glaring daggers at Kiroi.
But Kiroi simply smiled. "Oh? I'll have you know that I know Aika-chan longer than you do."
"And you're far older than her, you pedophile."
"Whoa." I whistled, but patted Karma's shoulder. "Don't take an ounce of his playboy-ish behavior. He's a married man, but still flirty as always. Consider him as how Maehara-kun would be like in the future."
"HEY!" I could hear Maehara yell at me in the background. Kiroi simply grinned.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Akabane Karma."
"Wait, how did you know my name-?"
"Well, Aoi, we should join the others. I totally want the roasted salmon."
"No, you should try the acorn ramen! Don't always eat salmon!" Aoi and Kiroi began chatting away as they walked to the table with Matsukata and the other kids. After a few seconds, I face Karma, smirking.
"Were you jealous?"
Karma's face bursted into a bright, crimson, red. "Wh-What?! Pfft, no... no way. Just seeing strangers flirting with my classmates, especially older ones, would send an alarm in my head. Wouldn't anyone?"
"Well, of course, but..." I leaned closer to him, "You shouldn't call one of our customers a pedophile. The competition depends on them." I turned around. "Welp, let's go back to serving customers! We got no time for slacking!" I raced back to the E Class campus, taking some orders and writing them on checks.
~~~~~
"Yo, Nagisa-kun, Nakamura-san." I greeted them as I washed my hands.
"Pfft! Please, at least call me Rio. I prefer it that way, Aika-chan." She said.
"A-Alright, R-Rio-san." So weird to call people by their first name sometimes O.o
"Uhm... I guess that'll do. By the way, Nagisa, I heard about why your hair's so long." She faced the bluenette, guilt evident on her face. "I'm sorry, I unknowingly made fun of you... did I hurt your feelings?"
"Ah, not at all! As long as it's you, Aika-chan, or Karma-kun, it's fine."
I teased him before?!
"I see. I won't tease you about it anymore." She promised.
"Hey~!" I heard a frivolous voice sang.
Oh crab... isn't that...?!
"Hey, Nagisa-chan! I came to see you!" ...-chan. He called him with a -chan.
"Yu, Yuuji-kun?!" The girl-ish looking boy squeaked.
"Yuuji...?" Naka- I mean, Rio tapped her chin while thinking, then smirked. "Ah... the guy who confused you as a girl and fell in love with you when we were on the southern island?" She muttered. I could see that she's planning something. Probably that has something to do with Nagisa and Yuuji. She whispered her plan to me, and my face lighted up.
Oh hell to the yes I would do this!
"H-How did you know that this was my school?!" Nagisa asked.
"I looked up the island's guest records. When I checked your school's website, I saw your festival was underway!"
"O-Oh, okay-! Ah! Hey! Whoa! Aika-chan, what are you doing?!" Nagisa whisper-yelled as I unbuckled his pants and replaced it with my skirt.
You have no idea how happy I am just by wearing pants instead of a skirt ('∀｀)♡
While Nagisa seemed to be in a depressed state ●︿●
"One last time! One last time!" Rio smirked.
"The words were barely out of your mouth!"
"Technically, I didn't promise." I told him.
"Don't be in this too, Aika-chan!"
"Gomen, she bribed ice cream into this. There's no turning back now! Besides, he's rich, isn't he? We gotta raise our per-customer average any way we can."
(｡-人-｡) (<- Nagisa's reaction)
"Go get 'em, Nagisa-chan!" Rio cheered. "The fate of the class rests on your hostess skills!" And she literally kicked him out through the window.
~~~~~
（^・^ ）♡ (<- Me)
(;﹏;) (<- Nagisa)
Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ (<- Rio)
"Rio-san, where's Nagisa-chan?" I asked her.
"Over there." She pointed at the bushes. Lol. We headed over there, Rio holding a large sketchbook and pencil, probably to help Nagisa.
"I'm so happy I came to the school festival~ to think that you would serve me personally." Yuuji said. "Also, I'm really excited because you told me 'go to eat to a place where nobody else can see us'~"
Lol, it's probably because Nagisa-chan doesn't want people he knows to see him.
I saw Rio scribbling something down, then lifted up behind Yuuji, so he wouldn't see it.
Nagisa: I want you to eat allll my favorites~! <3
Holy crab, she's making cue cards XD
"I-I want you to eat alllll my favorites!" Nagisa said, raising the pitch of his voice to make himself sound like a girl.
"Sure, sure! Say the words and I'll get the whole menu!" Yuuji pulled out his wallet, revealing wads of cash.
I wonder how many tubs of ice cream I could buy with that money (๑♡⌓♡๑)
"Oh, I quit smoking those sketchy herbs. After all, you were worried about me!"
"Oh, really?"
I saw Kurahashi bringing up their dish, and Karma walking beside her.
"Here you are!" She said when she served them Mont Blanc.
"Yo, what'cha up to?" He asked as he walked towards us. He frowned when he saw me. "Akito-kun?"
I shook my head, frowning. "I'm just wearing Nagisa-chan's pants." Wait... that sounds a lot weirder now that I said it out loud O.o
"Nagisa-chan-?!"
I placed my index finger over my lip, then pointed at Rio's sketchbook, and then to Nagisa and Yuuji. He seemed to get the idea, and silently chuckled. He took Rio's pencil, jotted something down on the sketchbook, then lifted it up for Nagisa to see.
See if he'll pay ¥10K for a date!
Really, Karma-kun? No -_-*
"Hey!" I heard an oddly familiar voice. "Karasuma-san! Brought you something!"
Red Eye! And he brought a green pheasant!
"I'm liking all the rich colors on this mountain! Full of interesting things."
"Red Eye!" Karasuma and I exclaimed at the same time. Karasuma gave me a weirded out look, which I replied with a shrug.
"Kasumi-san??" He looked at me, then grinned. "It's a pleasant surprise seeing you here!" He ruffled my hair. "Where were you during the school trip? I didn't see you at all!"
"In the middle of things. But..." I poked my index finger on his chest. "I heard that the Shinigami got you."
"I was on the verge of death at that time, but I was able to heal because of my youth."
"You sound like you're so young." I scoffed.
"More importantly," Karasuma whisper-yelled, "Put your gun away!"
"Calm down, man. I have a valid hunting license for all countries in the world."
"Who's that?" Yuuji seemed confused and alarmed. "He has a gun! Maybe I should call the police..." He was about to dial the police until Nagisa grabbed his hands.
"Whoa! Whoa! N-No, that guy is, uh..."
I quickly jotted down an excuse on the sketchbook and showed it to the bluenette.
"Y-Yoshioka-san from the local hunt club..." The bluenette sweatdropped.
"Yoshioka-san?! But he's totally a foreigner!"
I wrote down another excuse.
"H-He's naturalized. A big fan of anime." Oh my god, this is hilarious XD
"Oh, really? Well, enough about Yoshioka-san... Nagisa-chan, be honest. What do you think of me- AHHH!!!!" He screamed.
Hhh... Lovro-sensei, please don't come out of nowhere like that...
"Wh-What's with the scary old dude? He's no ordinary guy..."
It was Karma's turn to write down a lie.
"M-Mild Yagyu. A big name in the Asakusa theater scene."
"HE'S A COMEDIAN?!" Yuuji's jaw dropped.
"Th-That conversation, they were discussing a bit. His pupil quit comedy, see, and became a teacher here, so..."
That's a terrible lie!
I looked at the guests that came to our place. Uhmm... most of them were assassins that failed to kill Korosensei... It's quite a sight seeing them all gathered here, too. Korosensei must've called them. They're only acting calm because they know Korosensei's here. HEY, EVEN KANTOU-KUN AND LOOF IS HERE!
"F-Fellow comedians! From Asakusa! And the guy eating the wasabi Mont Blanc is doing a reaction schtick he learned directly from Mild Yagyu!"
I silently dragged Karma away from the scene, confiscating his wasabi into my pocket.
"Aika-chan~! C'mon, that was funny!"
"No- I mean, yes, but no!" I sat next to Rio as she giggled.
"I ship you two." She whispered to us.
"Wh-What?!" Karma and I yelled at the same time.
"I might have to put some wasabi into your lunch one day, Rio-san." I said, pointing Karma's confiscated wasabi sauce at her.
"I'll admit defeat, then." She raised her arms up in defeat.
"Oh! I nearly forgot about something! I'll be right back." Karma skidded away to who-knows-where. I gave him a weirded look before shrugging. I decided to pick up from where the two left off.
"I can tell when people put up a front, wear a fake smile." Yuuji said. "The girl I met at that island hotel? She wouldn't smile like that." He's got a good eye.
"Wow. Good eye." Nagisa said. Exactly as I thought!
"Nothing good about it." Yuuji sat back down, crossing his legs. "Just an unwanted talent I got from my skeevy environment."
Nagisa paused a bit, then sighed. "You're right. I was lying to you. I've looked like this since I was a little boy, I can't help it. And I always hated it." He said. HE DROPPED THE B-WORD! THE B-WORD!
"Wait. 'Boy'?"
"But lately I've learned that if it can help others, even an unwanted talent can give you confidence. So I don't hate it that much now." Nagisa, too, sat down by crossing his legs. "I'm sorry. I'm a guy."
Yuuji blinked. And he blinked again. "Another lie?"
"No, really." Nagisa sweatdropped.
"Another one?"
Nagisa sweatdropped even more. "No, really."
Rio scribbled something down at Nagisa and showed it to him.
Show him and he'll believe you!
She also accompanied those words with an elephant (wink wink).
"Does this look like a lying face?" Nagisa asked the boy. Yuuji swallowed audibly.
"No way..."
"Examined from another angle, your faults and weaknesses can be weapons. What I've learned in this classroom is how to do just that. It's how we put together this cafe, and it's the connection that brought all these people here today. It's really exciting, and fun."
Yuuji stared at Nagisa for a moment before standing up.
"Oh, b-but since I tricked you, I'll give you your money back!" Nagisa fiddled with his wallet, but Yuuji just shook his head as he walked away.
"Nah. I just... I feel like such a dummy. I'm out."
Aww, I feel bad for the guy. Imagine, the girl you've been crushing for is actually a guy... that could be real confusing... ^.^*
"Huh? He left already?" Karma spoke up.
HUH?! WHAT?! HOW?! I thought he was just... when did he appear right next to Nagisa-kun?!
"I was going to soak him for a cosplay photo shoot." He said, holding a maid outfit in his hands. Heart Pounding Maid Costume?!
"Just how much were you trying to make off me?!" Nagisa yelled. Karma shrugged.
"Well, I guess I don't have my source of entertainment. Hmm... Aika-chan, care to put it on?" He showed me the maid outfit.
"NOPE. DEFINITELY NOPE." I hid behind Rio. "Why would I wear such thing?!" I prefer Haruhi's outfit! It's easy to wear, and she wore glasses on the first episode!
"Because I want you to soak me with pictures of you in a maid cosplay." He stuck his tongue out.
"AS IF!" I smacked him right upside the head for that, my face flaming red.
"Oh c'mon, you might look kawaii with it~"
"Never! If anything, you wear it!"
"And why would I wear such thing?" He asked, mimicking me.
"Because, I want you to soak me with pictures of you in a maid cosplay." I stuck my tongue out, mimicking him as well.
"Aww, you guys are so cute." Rio teased, taking photos of us. I froze, then gave Karma a look.
"She'll wear the maid cosplay."
"Definitely."
We then chased Rio around, forcing her to wear the maid outfit.
~~~~~
"Well, our first day went alright..." Kurahashi said.
"The sales reports have been chosen. At this rate, we won't get anywhere near the A Class." Mimura sighed in defeat.
I was about to cheer them up until I heard rushed footsteps, getting louder. "Wait." I told them, stepping aside. A TV crew ran up the steps.
"Hurry, or we'll miss the morning broadcast!" The reporter said to his cameraman.
"Huh?" Mimura cocked his head to the left. "A TV crew?"
"Covering what?" Kurahashi wondered.
My eyes widened at this. "Guys, let's go. Go, go, go!" I began running.
"Why?" Karma yawned.
"The only thing up ahead is E Class, obviously!"
Their eyes widened at this, and began running with me. Once we reached the top, we saw a long, long, line of customers.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" The guys and I yelled. Wait, is that Kuroko Tetsuya over there?! O.O
"You guys! This online review is spreading like wildfire!" Fuwa told us, showing her phone.
"I dug around a little to find the source." Ritsu said, popping up from the screen. "And what I found..." She showed us a new tab. "Was Yuuji Norita, the most influential food blogger today!"
"Of course!" I smacked myself on the head for not thinking of this one. "Thanks to having grown up eating lots of good food, his taste buds are, annoyingly enough, the real deal. His money-is-no-object wandering-gourmet reviews are so reliable!" I used to read several articles of his before, but I usually look at the dessert ones.
"Then what are we waiting for? We got lots of customers to serve today!" Kurahashi cheered. On out way to school, I met several assassins that I was well acquaintances with, and -oh my lords- Kuroko Tetsuya and Saiki Kusou. Sometimes, I wonder if this anime will crossover with ours. (A/N: Stop breaking the 4th wall, guys!)
~~~~~
"Uh oh! We're about to run out of acorn noodles!" Okuda alarmed.
"We sold more than we thought we would." Isogai frowned.
"But the A Class will have made more money."
"The 'tastes of the mountain' side menu is selling well, too. Let's stick it out with those in the time we have left!" Hara suggested.
"If we go a little deeper into the mountain, we can build up our reserves a bit." Kimura added. I hummed.
"That would be a great idea, but... I think that we should stop."
"Hmm? End it here? But, then we can't win." Nagisa reminded me.
"Hmm... that's all right. We may not win, but our ranking should be high enough to make their jaws drop." I shrugged. "It's better than ruining our environment, right?"
"Correct, Kasumi-san! Any more foraging and we'll destroy the mountain's ecosystem."
"Yeah..." Kurahashi hummed to agreement.
"The actions of all creatures contribute to our deeper interconnection. Did you sense all the connections fate has blessed you with? Those who've taught you, those you've helped, those you've caused trouble for, those who've caused trouble for you. Those you've fought as rivals, only to better one other." Korosensei lectured.
I chuckled. "So today turned out to be another lesson after all."
"Dammit. I really wanted to win, too." Muramatsu sighed.
"Well then. Let's clean up, now, shall we?"
~~~~~
I hummed 'River Flows in You' as I cleaned the tables. And as I did them, I noticed a small silhouette, growing bigger and bigger as it came closer to the classroom. I then realized it was Nagisa's mom.
"Y-You must be N-Nagisa's m-mother!" I stuttered once she reached the entrance.
"Hmm, is everything sold out already? Well, you were very popular."
"Mom..." I heard from behind me. It was then my queue to leave. With a small bow, I stepped away from the two and continued cleaning the rest of the tables.
I then heard heavier footsteps, seemingly coming toward me. Another customer?
"S-Sorry, but we're sold-?!" My eyes widened as I dropped the duster, my heart beat wildly against my rib cage. Why... why are you here? "...Otōsama." I muttered in a dark tone.
(Aika-chan's father ^^)
Seeing my father here was rather frightening. It's even frightening that he's an unpredictable man. He could be standing here, and the next second, the entire campus could already be burnt down. He's about 39, but his young appearance made him look around his twenties. It's kind of unsettling. Must be because of his habit of eating things with spices. His dark hair that resembled the night and piercing violet eyes stared at me with coldness as he flicked away his cigarette.
"It seems like I'm late to see your... progress." He spoke. "Is it still possible for me to have something to eat?"
"...Of course. What would you like to-"
"My usual." He spoke. I flinched.
"B-But, we don't have Kobe Beef-"
"The ingredients." He handed me a grocery bag. I bowed once took the bag, then led him to a designated seat.
"Right away." I ran to the 3-E campus, straight to the kitchen, and started cooking.
"Aika-chan, who is that man? Didn't you tell him this place is clos-" Kanzaki's question was immediately cut off when I nearly tried to stab her with the kitchen knife for spooking me. I took a shaky breath to calm myself.
"He is a customer. A very important customer." I replied as I cut the beef and then diced the king trumpet mushrooms.
My classmates looked at me with their jaws dropped. "Is that a... KOBE BEEF?!"
"But those are so expensive!!"
"Are they the real ones, though?"
"They are, of course. He gave them to me. He wants me to cook it." I told them.
"YOU KNOW HOW TO SERVE KOBE STEAK?!"
"It's mandatory for me to know how to make one. It's his usual weekend meal."
"HE'S RICH?!"
I ignored them. I tossed in the mushrooms into the pan, seasoning them with salt and pepper. As that cooked, I put a skillet on high heat, and put the steak in. After a while, I flipped the steak over and added a bit of rosemary butter, as well as a bit of honey for the sweet and tenderness.
The others looked at me in awe as I cooked up a Kobe Steak, the king of steaks, with ease. Once I was done, I placed it on a plate and cut the beef in half to check if it's medium. The entire room was wafted with the smell of tender steak.
Okay, good.
I then garnished it with the mushrooms and drizzled a bit of rosemary butter from the pan onto the beef. I then pulled out a wine glass and poured in some Cabernet Sauvignon wine.
"Done..." I sighed. I checked the time, then frowned. "Hmm... twenty minutes. That took a bit longer than usual."
"THE AVERAGE TIME IS AT LEAST HALF AN HOUR!" They yelled at me. I sweatdropped as I lifted up the tray. I went outside and served it.
"Here, you go. One Kobe Steak with the side of sauteed king trumpet mushrooms." I placed it on the table. He took a bite, and chewed it slowly.
"The steak was a few seconds overcooked. The mushrooms were a slight shade darker than it's supposed to be."
I bowed. "I'm very sorry. I was a bit flustered from your sudden arrival."
"No assassin is allowed to be distracted for one second. Within one second, a knife could be stabbed on you eight times."
"Understood." I bowed again.
"Give me reports on him once you've returned home. I shall be waiting there."
"Of course, otōsama."
Once he finished his meal, he stood up. "Don't forget. We had a deal."
"I remember, Otōsama." I said. He then walked away. Once I made sure he was too far to hear me, I fell down to my knees, frustrated tears welling up in my eyes.
This will only be for now. One day, I will defeat you,Otōsama.
End of Chapter Thirty One
HA, I UPDATED ON TIME THIS TIME *DAB- oh wait, I didn't T^T AT LEAST IT'S JUST A DAY LATE. *ahem* Anyways, I made this chapter a thousand or two longer, I hope it made up for at least part of my weeks of absence. I'll be sure to update more frequently (aka ON TIME), unless I have to be MIA for personal reasons.
Closing brought to you by Persona 5 (I seriously love Joker rn),
Pocky-chan, out!