Chapter 67. Executing Operation, Codename: Date, Afternoon. (3/4)
“Oh? What are those?” Rosa asked curiously when she noticed the items in my hands.
“They’re momentous or souvenirs I guess. Here, you can have them.” I tossed the fox over to her and she caught it. I also handed over the circular capsule with the necklace inside. While hugging the red fox up against her chest, she immediately opened the small capsule to reveal a necklace with a heart-shaped frame ornament with a crescent moon at the center of the heart.
Rosa’s eyes lit up when she saw it, it seems she liked it a lot. She didn’t waste any time and immediately put the necklace on.
“You like it?”
“Do you even need to ask? If I didn’t like it, would I have put it on so fast? The stuffed animal is also really cute.”
“I’m relieved to hear that.”
“Oh, but what about the other ones you have?”
“Well, I got them both by accident. I was aiming for the fox but ended up getting the bunny next to it first. It was bad luck so I had to spend more than expected to get the fox. As for the capsule I was down to my last coin and figured I’d just use it. I ended up fishing up two of these with one attempt out of pure luck.”
“The bunny doesn’t really suit you though, I figured I’d just give these to her as a thank you for letting me rest and also accompanying Rosa for so long playing DDR.”
“What? There’s no way I can accept it. Just let Rosa have it. She’s your girlfriend.”
“But he’s right though, a yellow bunny like that really doesn’t suit me. I’d rather not take it, to be honest. If you don’t take it, this guy is the type to just throw it away you know. It’s just going to go to waste. It’s the same with the capsule. I don’t need two necklaces and would never wear two after all.”
“You’d really just go and throw them away if I don’t take it?”
“Yeah. So just accept them. It’s not a big deal.”
I tossed the two items over at once. Flustered, she just barely caught them.
“You should throw things like that. The bunny has feelings too. You could have also broken the time in here if I missed and didn’t catch it.”
“I was sure you’d catch them.”
“Liar. You just didn’t care, right?”
“Right, right. I didn’t care at all, so you can take them without worry.”
She puffed out her cheek then shortly after averted her eyes to the side. She opened up the capsule in her hands and this time the necklace revealed was quite similar to the one Rosa pulled out. The only difference being, in place of Rosa’s crescent moon, was a sun in the middle of the heart frame.
I couldn’t help but feel the two necklaces reached their rightful owners. A sun for someone who stood out so much and a moon for the one who hid themselves away in the night.
She seemed a bit happy with the necklace, but she didn’t put it on right away the way Rosa had. She was about to put it away in her pocket when Rosa, without any warning, snatched it out of her hands.
“Jeez, what are you doing? You should just put it on, it suits you well.”
“I can’t do that, it’s too embarrassing… with the heart and all.”
“Oh? So you dislike the necklace then?” Rosa asked.
“N-No… I quite like it, it just doesn’t feel appropriate for me to wear it…”
“Stop getting so hung up on the little things and just wear it already.” Rosa forcefully put it on around Alicia’s neck despite her protests.
Seeing the two wear them I had a strange feeling while looking at the scene. It was too harmonious. These two friends, that is. Was this sort of thing normal for friends? I wouldn’t know since I didn’t have any to make a direct comparison to. Though looking at other friends I’d seen as a third-party observer from the outside, it didn’t seem normal at all.
Rosa was obviously up to something. Something I didn’t like. Behind my back, outside of where I could see. She was definitely plotting something…
When she said she wouldn’t mind playing for the wrong team, perhaps this was what she meant. She’d be willing to take the side of the girl I declared as my enemy. Meaning… Rosa was trying to get me to accept Alicia as a friend.
But it still didn’t feel like that was all. Was she trying to set me up with her? But why? Why would she want to do that?
Was she planning to break up with me post-graduation after all, then leave Alicia and me behind while she runs off on her own? I had no way to know. It was something I had to clarify with her again at some point to make certain.
If she planned to run off… I would accept her decision. I’m not going to try and force someone to stay if there’s something they want to do. It could be that she’s realizing this sort of laid-back lifestyle really isn’t for her after all. She might want something more exciting.
But still, I will never allow her to succeed if she plans to try and push Alicia onto me. That’s not for you to decide, Rosa. She and I are the only ones who get to make such a decision.
As my suspicions toward Rosa’s true intentions grew, the two in question were getting along swimmingly without me saying anything. They were, to be frank, two peas in a pod.
Haaaaah. It seems I may be dumped in the near future and go back to how life had always been for me.
Nothing lasts forever. You should enjoy what you have while you still have it. I guess that’s all our relationship means to her in the end.
There’s no point worrying over it. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. My ideal style of life is a worry-free one.
I will still ask her about her intentions after this date to confirm everything. Actually, wait. I was just about to think to myself that I have plenty of time to do so, but is that really true? That sounds like a shit flag if I’ve ever heard one. Isn’t that like an awful omen? Some real shit tier foreshadowing that I hate the most in stories.
You know what? Fuck this shit! I’m done. I’m not going to follow the natural flow of those stupid things I hate. I see these braindead, dumbass scenarios in stories all the time, and honestly, from the bottom of my heart, they piss me the fuck off! Like what the hell! Everything could be resolved if they just aren’t a goddamn pussy and ask things outright without holding anything back.
There’s no need for this forced drama bullshit just for the sake of ‘deepening a relationship’ through some nonsense. Fuck you. Fuck your shitty stories. Fuck the dumbasses who can’t write a good fucking romance to save their lives without the melodramatic bullshit that stretches on for what feels like an eternity just to milk the story until it’s dead. Yes, fuck all of that to hell! I’ll burn your shit into the ground if I ever find those jackasses! You got that!
“Rosa, do you plan on breaking up with me after graduation?” I just came out and said it right then and there without giving a damn about any complicated crap. Yeah, I’d read too many romance stories that ticked me off in my lifetime, I admit it. It got me pretty heated as both a reader and author.
Rosa’s eyes widened like she was looking at someone so dumb she couldn’t even fathom it, “What the hell are you asking me something so stupid for out of nowhere? Are you an idiot? Do you think for a second I’m going to go and abandon the boyfriend I’ve worked so hard for?”
“Thanks. That’s all I needed to know. It’s a weight off my back. Anyway, let’s move on with the date. We should head over to the book store now.”
“Yeah, sure. Hey, by the way, Alicia. Do you want to go to a restaurant with us after this? I’m sure you’re hungry after the workout we just had, right?”
“A restaurant? Should I really be going with you? Isn’t something like that supposed to be set for a romantic mood?” It seemed Alicia didn’t even care about my outburst just now. Even she thought my question was one of the dumbest things she’d ever heard me ask.
I really wanted to laugh. What the heck? My girlfriend’s not doing that? Then what is she doing?
Oh well… I’m sure I’ll find out soon. After that outburst just now, I’m sure she’s realized I know she’s up to something and she will end up revealing it to me. I’ve just got to patiently wait at this point for when that happens.
“Rosa, what are you plotting?”
Ah, it seems I’m not even willing to wait patiently and pretend I don’t know. Whatever had gotten into me?
“Plotting? What do you mean?” She put on a face like she truly did not know.
Meanwhile, Alicia’s eyes were frantically darting back and forth between the two of us in a panic, convinced this development had all been because of her.
Damn, I really feel represented in this chapter, I get REALLY pissed off with a novel stretching a harem only to the development be discarded like garbage in the end, or you either focus the romance on 1 girl or go for a f*cking harem end for christ's sake.
I get that. It's frustrating when relationships get developed with a bunch of different people then the MC makes no choice at all in the end. Keep every member strung along just to choose 1 or sometimes even none because of indecisiveness. Worse is when they pick all, but then they do absolutely nothing further with any of the girls and most or all get put on the back burner. Then you've got those ones where you do get the potential for a steamy scene to build some emotional rapport and attachment, only for one of the other girls to walk in out of nowhere and ruin everything.
In my opinion you need to try other restaurants that sell ramen or yakisoba to try if that maid cafe sold bad tasting ramen.
I mean call me biased but I do not expect good tasting food from a maid cafe (I expect HOT looking girls in a maid costume ).
But yeah I know how you feel. Childhood fantasies of japanese food always taste better than the real stuff
I feel like the main problem here was that the author tried to get food from a maid cafe of all places, those kind of places rely on service not food for their business and so don't have the greatest food. I'd recommend going to an actual ramen place, they're pretty good if really salty
Yeah, I kind of also figured that it wouldn't be that great, but the rating was 4.5/5 with over 650 reviews. Some reviews went on to claim It was the best place for Japanese cuisine. They said other places they had gone to in the city don't come close(there aren't that many in this city compared to Chinese restaurants to begin with). For small online order lunches at work, it was their go-to Japanese place. Claims of the potions being great(it was average at best) and the food tasting delicious(definitely not from what I had at least).
Some said something along the lines of, out of everything, the ramen was the absolute best(my ass it was, how much did they pay you for this review!). Plenty of stuff to add into the soup and very delicious(no, just no.). Though difficult to eat as a takeaway as there was no way to combine the broth and the noodles due to the noodles being in a small rectangular container and the broth/soup being in a small cylindrical container completely full(yes, this was the worst part. The flat rectangular plastic container. Dumped it into a bowl at home, but still, come on. This city is so damn green these days it's irritating. Long gone are the days of styrofoam bowls.)
Oh my God, dude I am so sorry for your loss. Like really, eating food you put on a pedestal that doesn't match up is the the worst. My condolences to your inner child.
Yet don't give up on your potential dreams and friendships! Always try to make it homemade once or eat an edible gummy with food that tickles your fancy.
I have a dark secret that binds my inner-weeb to the rock and Boulder that the likes of Promethus would shudder in despair.... I have an allergy to the soya bean... therefore most if not all of Asian cheap food. Ramen, the taste? I know not. But, I like to think pioneers like yourself abate the sadness in my soul by exploring the world's weeb culture.
God speed
RIP YOUR SOUL
Thanks for the chapter. I have a hate and love relationship with ramen. I hate it's taste but I can't stop having more of that disgusting miso and seaweed flavor.
It was also my first time trying seaweed. I didn't expect to like it, but I still went in with an open mind thinking it couldn't be so bad. All I can say is, it was worse than I expected. If I rated things in order, pork(some taste) > soup with broth & noodles(bland) > seaweed(sour/bitter) > soft boiled egg(I have no words, it's been blocked out from my memory as my tastebuds were stricken with a sense of trauma on first bite.)
@KiraMinoru I feel you.
Damn i really love this story and fvck those author who waste our precious fvcking time stretching those f*cking drama hahaha lastly Rip $28
I’ll make a tombstone for this $28 and mark it on my calendar. Maybe next year I’ll pay tribute to it by visiting another ramen place if I’ve recovered from this trauma. Actually... I kind of want to try Takoyaki. I really haven’t learned my lesson. But surely nobody can mess up Takoyaki, right? I mean it looks so simple, there’s no way you can mess it up. I’ve never even eaten octopus before.
@KiraMinoru thats a flag right there haha
I agree with rockow. That sort of place is really only for the experience and not the food. I'd say don't give up on finding some good ramen and let your dreams come true.
If only such a magical land existed in my city. Out of all the Japanese restaurants in my city, this one has the most reviews by a pretty wide margin. Double the competitors. The competitors are typically sushi restaurants that don't even sell ramen. There's probably about a handful of places that sell ramen in my city.
I might as well just try making ramen myself and put in stuff I'd actually want to eat in a bowl of ramen. A variety of meat with some more normal vegetables. Maybe stuff like some carrots coated in sugar and baked(tastes good on its own) before letting it soak into a seasoned meat based broth/soup. I'm curious how that'd taste in ramen. Green onions and cilantro too. Soy sauce and some oyster sauce as well. Pork, chicken, and beef all in one.
Would this even be ramen anymore lol.
I mourn for your loss of 28$ and any possible future where you eat good real ramen........
Maybe one day... maybe one day. I definitely am not a fan of the half boiled egg in the ramen though, that's for sure.
@KiraMinoru I mean, you can have soft-boiled eggs; was it that?
@Ehitogami Yeah soft boiled eggs. Forgot what they were called tbh. The middle was dreadful when I ate it. Maybe it's because it took half an hour before I ate it though. But I have my doubts on that.