Chapter 35



“Ohayou Ishikawa-san!!!”

“O..ha..you…” Rika was somewhat shocked to see the two sisters NOT fighting this morning… and she was really shocked when they greeted her at the same time…

“Hey, could you come with us on lunch break?” Miki asked.

“Yeah, I cooked some pasta and sushi..” Hitomi showed her somewhat big bento box.

“I appreciate your efforts but… I have to turn it down again today… I’ll meet up with my friend.

“The one I bumped into yesterday?”

“Hai… she’ll go back to her place today. She was just visiting me.”

“Oh… So I guess you’ll be free to eat with us tomorrow?” Miki asked. Hitomi grinned at her sister.

“I’m right, she’s really gay”
Her smile suddenly disappeared when she thought about her feelings towards their new classmate. She had no power to go against her sister. Miki has a strong character, while she’s the shy type one. Other people view her as a strong person because of their everyday argument at school, but in reality, their argument was only half meant and not a real one. After that, they act like nothing happened. They haven’t had any real argument and she doesn’t want to enter into one. She saw how her sister intimidated even the number one terror boy in their school and because of that; other students thought that she’s a bully too.

“I guess I’m free…”

“Yatta! Did you hear that Hitomi? She’ll eat with us tomorrow…” Miki excitedly said. She shook Hitomi’s shoulder violently.

“Stop it… You’re making me dizzy!!” Hitomi removed her sister’s hands and hit her in the forehead. She was surprised that Miki didn’t bother to hit her back. She just smiled and asked Rika what she wanted to eat tomorrow. Hitomi leaned back on her chair. It’s clear that her sister really liked Rika.

………….
“Want to say goodbye to Ayumi? She’ll go back today?” Rika went to Eri’s seat. It’s almost lunch time and their teacher left to get something for their assignment tomorrow.

“Ok, I’ll tell it to Reina and Sayu too.” Eri smiled at her and Rika quickly went back to her seat when she heard that their teacher was approaching. Eri went immediately to the next room after the school bell rang. She emerges with Sayu and Reina after a few seconds. The four of them went out of their school gate and saw Ayumi waiting for them near the waiting shed.

“Hey, want to eat in a restaurant? It’s my treat today!” Ayumi declared.

“Won’t you have enough money to go back home?” Reina laughed. She remembered Ayumi treating them after their practice in futsal in their elementary days. Maki and Rika did not go with them. They ate a lot and when it was almost time to go home, Ayumi borrowed some money for her fare because all her money had been spent already.

“Hey, I know how to budget my money now… It won’t happen again.”

The six of them went to a restaurant in the mall. They were having a good time when Rika saw someone entering the restaurant.

“Is she a stalker now?” Rika mumbled to herself.

“What? Who?” Ayumi looked at the direction that Rika was looking. Everyone followed.

“Miki-san…” Eri gasped.
The six of them watched the waiters bowed down before her. It’s different from the usual greeting that they give to the customers.

“Wow, even the waiters here are afraid of her..” Reina said and returned to her lunch.

“I think that she didn’t notice us yet… Don’t make any noise…” Sayu whispered to them and lowered her head. Fear was etched on her face.

“Woah, you’re scared of her? “ How’s that? She’s not that intimidating yesterday when she bumped to me…” Ayumi caused the other 3 to look at her weirdly. “What? Did I say something bad?”

“I guess that she hadn’t seen Miki’s terror full force… She’s been nice lately, especially when Rika came.” Eri exclaimed.

Ayumi looked at her bestfriend… “Now that explains it… She was really annoyed when she bumped into me, but then she immediately said sorry after seeing Rika…” All of them looked at Miki’s direction. She sat near the window and then a waiter gave her a glass of water. After a while, a stern-looking woman approached her. They saw Miki kissed her on her cheek. The woman gave Miki a book. Rika squinted her eyes and saw that it’s a cookbook about Japanese cuisines. Rika remembered their conversation earlier.

……..
“So, what do you want to eat tomorrow?”

“I guess I would like to eat some Okonomiyaki…”

………..
Rika was stirred back to reality when Sayu accidentally spill some juice when she was refilling her glass. Her scream caused some commotion inside the restaurant, everyone looked at their direction.

“Great Sayu! Now, Miki’s gonna see us..” Reina whispered.

True enough, Miki went to their table. “I didn’t notice earlier that you’re here… Hey, Tadayoshi, get some towel here!” Miki shouted towards the waiter near the counter. The woman joined her after a while.

“What’s the problem here?”

“Ano, my friend spilt some juice, accidentally…” Eri explained to the woman. She was somewhat scared at her strict-looking face.

“Did your uniform get wet? There’s a dry-cleaning shop in the 2nd floor.” The woman got the towel from the waiter and wiped the table.

“Mom, I’ll do it, they’re my classmates… Just go back to the kitchen… Thanks for the cookbook.” Miki took the towel and wiped the table.

“Alright then, I’ll go now. Tell Hitomi to go home early. Your father wants to talk to her…. She flashed a smile and bowed to the 5 who were somewhat surprised at the situation “Nice meeting you… ”. The woman went inside the kitchen. Reina gathered her courage and asked Miki.

“Your mom?”

“Hai, we own this restaurant…”

“EHH?!?!?” The four were really surprised at what Miki said.

“Oh yeah, I borrowed this to my mom… I’ll cook Okonomiyaki for our lunch tomorrow… I hope we’ll get to know each other better…. I’ll go now. Hitomi’s waiting for me in our school… See you later!” Miki gave the towel to the waiter and went outside the restaurant, leaving the five, stunned.