Chapter 208

"I'm not doing it. I don't really know. Sorry."

"I haven't even told you why I'm here yet."

"Whatever it is, the answer is no."

"Why?"

"Because you're obviously about to spout some nonsense."

"I'm hurt."

"You don't look hurt at all. Just go."

This was already getting fun.

There was still plenty of entertainment left, but if things were starting off like this, the smile wouldn't leave my face all vacation.

*

"Ken, you're here!?"

As soon as I parked the car in the Parking Lot, my uncles rushed out of the restaurant, roaring with laughter and clapping me on the back.

They were obviously thrilled to see me. It felt like the two of them viewed me as some sort of all-around entertainer.

Sure, sales had spiked that day, but all I'd done was serve tables with a little extra energy...

Their expectations were way too high. I wouldn't get buried alive if sales fell short, right?

Taking hits from those impossibly massive hands actually hurt, even if it was just a warm welcome.

A heavy, bruising sensation jolted through me every time my uncles' thick bones slammed against my spine.

Pulling my shoulders in and flexing my back muscles to brace myself, I grimaced.

"It hurts. Please stop hitting me."

"Huh? Did that hurt? Sorry 'bout that."

It was a genuine apology, but with faces that fierce, they sounded like yakuza taunting a guy right before they killed him.

After finishing our little reunion, I headed into the restaurant, tossed my bag into the Changing Room, and came right back out.

Then, I took a look around the interior.

I had only worked here once, but for some reason, I felt a strange sense of affection for the place.

I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the various family photos plastered around the entrance, radiating a warm, familiar vibe.

"The vents changed spots?"

"We swapped them all out for bigger, grander ones. We can't have our customers leaving with their clothes smelling like fried food, can we? And just in case it still smells, we moved the table layout toward the windows, too."

They'd actually made improvements. Their bald heads were still the exact same, though.

"I see."

"Got any orders for us? Like how we should arrange the tables or whatever."

"Huh...? You two should be giving me orders. Why would I be ordering you around?"

"Because you've got a good sense for this stuff."

"I'm not a businessman, what good is my sense? What time is it right now, anyway?"

"Right now? A little past eight."

"Still a ways off from opening time, huh? I saw a massive stack of flyers in the Changing Room earlier—did you post them on the tourist bulletin boards?"

"Ah, I didn't think of that."

They hadn't even done something that basic?

I took back my thought about them making improvements.

"Then Inoo-sunbae and I will go stick the flyers up first."

"Got it. Be back by nine. We need to eat breakfast before we start."

"Okay."

Coming out of the Changing Room with an armful of flyers, I walked over to Renka, who was standing outside looking at the photos by the entrance.

"What are you looking at?"

"The photos."

"I mean, which ones."

"Just looking at this and that. How many flyers is that?"

"Should be around two hundred."

"Why did you bring so many? There aren't that many bulletin boards to put them on."

"I figured we could hand them out to locals or early tourists while we're on our way."

"That's a good idea. Let's hurry."

I could feel Renka's motivation spiking slightly; it seemed she really wanted my uncles' restaurant to do well.

I split the stack of flyers in half, handed a pile to Renka, and walked with her down the still-quiet streets.

"How did you tell them apart, by the way?"

Renka asked this after pinning a flyer to one of the bulletin boards.

I double-checked to make sure the paper wasn't wrinkled before replying.

"Tell who apart?"

"Your older uncle and your younger uncle. How do you distinguish them? Most people get super confused because they look exactly alike."

"Last time I was here, I noticed my older uncle mostly handled the sushi, while my younger uncle took care of the fried food. It looks like they divided the work like that, so it was easy to tell them apart since the younger uncle has a bunch of burn scars on his arms from the hot oil."

"You're very observant. But you're only half right."

"What do you mean, half right?"

"Your older and younger uncles do everything together. The older uncle handles the frying a lot, too. It's just that he's a bit... cowardly. He always wears long sleeves when frying, which is why he doesn't have any scars."

An image flashed through my mind of my older uncle, with his fierce face and massive bulk, squealing like a little girl at a popping splash of hot oil.

Suddenly, my mood soured a bit. Let's not think about that.

"That's a new one. How do you tell them apart, President?"

"I can tell just by hearing their voices."

"Their voices sound exactly the same, though."

"There's a subtle difference. In their way of speaking, too."

"Even for family, it seems like it'd be hard to tell them apart just from their voices..."

"When you spend enough time with them, you naturally learn to distinguish them. Should I put this one here?"

"That's too high up. It'll be hard for shorter people to see, so stick it lower."

"Got it."

"Make sure you stick it on meticulously, just like how you pinned up the newspaper with me in it."

"...Could you not be so annoying first thing in the morning?"

"So strict. If you're done posting that, go hand a flyer to that guy over there. He looks like a local, so don't go asking him if he's enjoying his sightseeing or anything."

Renka flinched when I pointed to a middle-aged man jogging toward us from a distance.

"Me? I haven't thought of what to say yet..."

"You can just say exactly what's written on the flyer."

"I guess...? Okay."

Unlike how she acted around me, Renka approached the man with timid, quick steps and flashed a pretty smile.

"Hello! Sorry for stopping you out of the blue. Inoo Family Sushi is offering a ten percent discount on tuna for our lunch and dinner specials... Would you like to come by if you have the time?"

"Hm? At Inoo Family Sushi? The tuna there is delicious. I'll definitely have to stop by. But who are you...? A part-timer? You actually look a bit familiar..."

"You must have seen the photos posted in front of the restaurant. I'm the owner's niece."

"W-what...? Niece...?"

The man's eyes went wide as he stared at Renka's face.

He apparently couldn't believe such a pretty girl was the niece of those terrifying uncles.

I understood how he felt. I hadn't believed it at first, either.

Chuckling at the man taking the flyer with a bewildered expression, I approached a young woman walking her dog on the opposite side of the street.

I decided I'd only hand my flyers out to women.

"Younger uncle! Two bowls of Ebiten Udon!"

My voice rang out over the noisy dining tables, and my younger uncle, busy frying tempura and boiling noodles, shouted back.

"Two Ebiten Udon confirmed!"

"Older uncle, hurry with two plates of Otoro!"

"You got it!"

I raised my voice playfully, keeping it just under the threshold of being obnoxiously loud.

For a tourist spot, a lively atmosphere was better than a quiet restaurant vibe.

That went for the customers as well as the staff.

Since there were also customers who preferred a quiet meal, we gave them a heads-up and seated them in corner spots or at the outdoor tables slightly away from the building.

"Um... can we sit at the outdoor tables? There are four of us..."

When four female customers who looked to be around my age asked this, Renka replied with a bright expression.

"Of course. Let me show you to your seats."

They were the girls I had handed flyers to earlier.

They had been giggling and whispering among themselves back when I handed them out, so I figured they might show up.

When Renka returned after kindly guiding them to their table, I spoke up.

"Did you take their order?"

"No. They said they want to take their time looking at the menu before ordering."

"Got it."

"Do you want to take a break if you're tired? Once we get the order for the outdoor table, we're totally full, so we'll have some time to catch our breath."

"I'm fine. We have a break time later anyway, so what's the point of resting now?"

"If you're fine, then... whatever..."

Renka trailed off coyly and looked outside.

Seeing the customers at the outdoor table raise their hands, she quickly hurried back out.

For someone just taking an order, Renka stayed at the outdoor table for quite a long time.

One of the girls was pointing a finger at me and saying something while I relayed another customer's request to the kitchen.

And Renka was saying something back with a troubled expression...

They kept glancing over at me as they chatted, and I started to get a feeling.

I had a feeling that one of them wanted my contact info.

I calmly kept working, and when Renka called me over after passing their order to my uncles, I approached her.

"What's up? Is there a problem?"

"Not a problem... but I'll handle all the serving for that outdoor table."

"Any particular reason?"

"One of the girls in that group seems interested in you. If you go over there, they'll just waste your time, so it's better if I do it."

Just as I expected.

It wouldn't be a rom-com without a classic jealousy-inducing trope over asking for a phone number.

The problem was that Renka and I weren't in that kind of flirtatious relationship, so she wouldn't actually get jealous... but I decided to see how it played out.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. They even asked if we were siblings."

"Siblings?"

"They must have heard both of us calling them 'uncle' out in the hall."

"Really? I guess it's easy for others to get confused hearing that. So, what did you say?"

"I said we were siblings."

"Huh? Why?"

"If I said no right then, it would've taken time to explain. So I just said yes."

That was typical of cool, level-headed Renka.

And honestly, that definitely made things easier.

"Really? I thought you'd be totally disgusted by the idea, but you're surprisingly calm about it."

"Disgusted? By what?"

"By the two of us being siblings."

"It's not even true, so who cares."

"True enough."

"You like getting the attention? Wipe that smirk off your face."

Mm... I liked that line just now.

It gave off the vibe of a slightly jealous girlfriend.

Of course, she wasn't reacting like that out of genuine jealousy—it was probably just because seeing me look pleased rubbed her the wrong way—but let's just consider it a good thing regardless.

"Kids! One box of assorted sushi, all packed and ready!"

While Renka and I were quietly bickering, my younger uncle shouted in his booming voice and placed a beautifully packaged box on the counter.

Grinning at Renka, I pointed to the box.

"Sis, the takeout is ready, so go hand it to the customer."

"W-what...?"

Renka's eyes doubled in size.

She seemed completely flustered by me calling her "Sis" and dropping the formalities so naturally.

Chuckling quietly at her reaction, I corrected myself.

"Just kidding. Please take the packed food over to the customer."

If I wanted to tease Renka, I had to keep it in moderation.

If I cluelessly dragged the skit out, there was a risk my affection level with her would plummet.

Tossing a joke out casually to startle her like just now was the perfect amount.

"You scared me... What a funny guy... Unbelievable..."

Placing a hand over her chest, Renka unconsciously let out a sigh and muttered quietly to herself before carefully slipping the packaged sushi into a plastic bag.

*

Business had been decently steady throughout the morning, but the moment our short break ended, the restaurant became frantically busy.

It was partly because more tourists were swarming the area, but the table turnover rate was completely insane, as if everyone was trying to eat quickly so they could go see the sights.

We had passed out more flyers during the break, and it seemed like that had helped.

The fact that it was the New Year's holiday, combined with the lively atmosphere echoing out of the restaurant, probably played a role in drawing customers in, too.

Regardless, thanks to the flood of customers, Renka and I worked without even a moment to chat.

"Ken! Hurry up and get us some clean bowls!"

"Coming!"

Even the kitchen needed an extra set of hands, so I left all the serving to Renka and stepped in to help with the dishes whenever I had a spare moment.

And when Renka was too swamped to take orders alone, I thoroughly washed my hands and came out to help her.

Because it was an open kitchen, the customers could generally see what I was doing.

Acting cleanly and meticulously like this built up their trust in our hygiene.

Even when taking orders, I made an effort not to speak too quickly and to act relaxed.

If we looked like we were rushing, the customers might worry that we were rushing to make their food, too.

Of course, I might be overthinking it, but it was still better than acting carelessly and getting into an argument over it.

"I'd like to order four plates of akami, one Tendon, and one tsukemen. For drinks... four draft beers, please."

"Four plates of akami, one Tendon, one tsukemen, and four draft beers, is that correct?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Double-checking orders to prevent mistakes was basic etiquette.

At this rate, I wouldn't end up as a rising star in the Kendo World, but a rising star of the restaurant serving world.

"Confirmed. Please wait just a moment. Sis! Pour out four draft beers!"

After taking the order, I casually addressed Renka and asked her for the draft beers.

I wasn't doing it to tease her this time.

It was just to give off the vibe of a family running the restaurant together, like in the old days.

"Got it!"