22 Dinners... Are Even Worse?? (2)

Art and Soran sat next to each other of course. Soran moved his chair suspiciously close to Art's under the excuse that one of the table legs was directly in front of him where he was before. The table stood on one central stand without any legs though....

Jake and Martin sat on either side of them, and Youran occupied the remaining seat opposite Art and Soran while mumbling about needing to add another girl to their group.

As they were about to open their menus, Soran suddenly proposed that they just go ahead and order every dish on the menu and then share as they wished.

"Uhmm... Soran... You are joking right?" Martin asked.

"Nope." Soran brightly responded.

Apart from Art, who had half been expecting something like this, the rest of table just stared at him blankly for a moment, before unanimously turning to Art to talk some sense into him for whatever reason.

"Uhmm... Guys... I don't disagree with you... It is an outrageous amount of food... But the thing is I think he'll probably eat it all. In fact we will likely be fighting to even get any..." Art responded, thinking back on yesterday's lunch and the black hole that was Soran's stomach. It was a good thing Ao Bai wasn't here to start another eating contest.

(For anyone wondering, Art set Ao Bai loose in the back mountains of the school that morning to give him a bit of freedom while he attended boring meetings, and Ao Bai would make his own way back when he wanted.)

A new round of staring ensued.

At this moment, the waiter, who happened to overhear their conversation while bringing water for the table, spoke up.

"Hmm... Actually it would seem we have the perfect solution for you. To commemorate the start of the new year (actually to take advantage of the influx of new students by using oversized bowls), our restaurant is holding a promotion of our famous Giant Ramen Bowl."

"Actually, the promotion is more of a challenge. Starting from your second bowl, for each Giant Ramen Bowl you manage to finish you will receive a ten percent discount on your meal. Eat 5 bowls, you get 40 percent off! More than 10 bowls, and your meal is free!"

The waiter chose not to mention that the current record stagnated at two bowls. Giant Ramen Bowl, was in fact an understatement of a name. However, the Giant Ramen Bowl had yet to compete with the Giant Soran Stomach! A fire lit in Soran's eyes as he heard the waiter's words. This was simply tailor made for him!

"Heh, I'll do that then." Soran said with one evil smirk.

Art sighed in pity for the restaurant. Perhaps they would end up with no ramen ingredients by the end of the night...

"Very well. Are the rest of you ready to order as well?"

"Yep! The seared ahi tuna for me please!" Youran went first.

"I'll have the miso glazed salmon." Art spoke after.

Jake and Martin both ordered ramen bowls after, but normal sized ones. Jake got Tonkotsu (pork bone based) ramen, while Martin asked for the Shoyu (soy based) ramen.

The waiter left to put in their orders, leaving the group to chat amongst themselves. Youran looked doubtfully at Soran once the waiter left.

"Soran... you know these types of deals are always scams, right? They charge a little extra in the first place, so even if you do manage to finish two bowls you'll at best be paying the normal price. My family owns a restaurant chain so I know all about these kinds of techniques."

"Hmmm... that may be so, but I'm not planning on only eating two bowls hehe *evil smile*. Anyway, you said your family owns a restaurant chain?" Soran responded.

"Yeah, it's a fairly big franchise. Even though everyone in my family is mage, they have a bizarre love of cooking, so they decided to open a restaurant anyway. It's to the extent that cooking is treated with more importance than magic in my family... and I hate cooking... But anyway, enough about restaurants and cooking, what about you Soran, do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, I have an older brother. He's pretty awesome, a dual fire and lightning bloodline mage. He's also a kendo master, he's the one who teaches me how to use a sword." Soran's eyes seemed to light up with admiration as he talked about his brother - there was clearly a strong bond between them.

Art lowered his eyes, his hand unconsciously clenching into a fist as everyone talked about their family. The loss of his parents had left a deep scar on his heart. A moment of bleak loneliness swept through him. The warm love of a parent was something he could only cherish in his memories, not something he could ever look forward to or rely on for comfort.

He barely heard Jake and Martin talking about their family; Jake animatedly discussing his family's famous training dojo and Martin detailing his family's business in the IT and Electronics industries with a trace of pride. He didn't know why. Maybe it was the stress of the duel, the excitement of starting school and meeting friends, maybe he had just suppressed them for far too long, but his emotions suddenly bubbled up within him with heart-wrenching strength.

Soran was happily listening to Martin talk about his family's business - it turned out they had designed one of his favorite video games. The excited voice of Jake, the animated gestures of Youran, Martin's calm reflections; the warm atmosphere gave rise to equally warm feelings inside him as they talked about where they were from and their families. Especially the boy beside him, his cool, gentle temperament was like a refreshing spring breeze that revitalized the soul of all who basked in its presence. He suddenly felt a deep sadness momentarily burst out of that same boy.

Turning his head, he noticed a single crystalline tear forming under Art's left eye that froze just as quickly as it formed at the corner of his eye, before falling down the side of Art's face to shatter into a thousand dazzling pieces on the wood floor. Its tiny form seemed to contain endless pain and sadness, and Soran felt a knife pierce through his heart for each fragment it shattered into. Soran reached out his hand to gently clasp Art's clenched fist beneath the table without thinking.

Art sat up as if he were electrocuted. Soren's skin was surprisingly smooth and soft, likely thanks to his strong magic power and bloodline that lent him a formidable vitality and regeneration. Calluses could be felt in the upper ridge of his palm, however. They were a testament to the harsh hours of combat and sword practice he had put in. But their most notable trait was their soothing warmth. They radiated a gentle warmth that reached down into the depths of one's bones. Art felt enveloped in haze of warmth and security just from having one of his hands covered one of those palms.

However, none of this was what provoked such a strong reaction from Art. Instead, it was the simple tenderness of the gesture that seemed to melt away his sadness in an instant, and would have done so even if those hands did not feel quite so divine. He marveled at the feeling. Was this friendship? Love? He wasn't quite sure of his own feelings, or the feelings communicated through the hand that grasped his own, but he knew one thing - he felt happy.

Although it had felt like an eternity to Art, this quick exchange and storm of emotions took place in heartbeat in reality. Martin was still speaking when Art recovered from his momentary burst of sadness, so no one noticed apart from Soran, who now stared at Art with eyes full questions and didn't yet remove his hand from Art's. They did however, pick up on the slightly weird atmosphere between Art and Soran, apart from Jake who was too excited (or dense).

"What about you Art, where are you from? Are you from a mage family? You must be to have such a high tier bloodline." Jake cluelessly asked.

Art smiled sadly.

"I'm from California originally. But my parents were killed by criminals a while back, and I've been traveling around on my own since. They were also mages, yes." A hint of grief returned to Art's voice as he spoke.

Youran let out a small gasp and covered her mouth, sadness filling her eyes, and Martin frowned. An awkward silence filled the air as Jake instantly regretted his words.

"O...Oh... I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Jake stammered out an apology.

"It's ok, there's no way you could have known."