Instant Ramen

"Is it really alright for me to come?" Jun asked once again since she felt that she had turned into the third wheel between two of them but she was also curious what kind of ramen that both of them would eat together.

"It is okay," Koizumi answered.

Yuuki nodded, "It's alright, the merrier."

Jun nodded and sighed in relief hearing their answer.

They walked for a while and they had arrived at their destination.

"Bar Sakura?" Yuuki and Jun said at the same time. Both of them felt weird since it was a bar and not a ramen shop.

Koizumi didn't answer and entered the shop.

Yuuki didn't think much and entered the bar.

Jun also followed even though she was a bit hesitant, "The sign says it's a bar."

"Look," Yuuki suddenly said.

Jun turned and was surprised.

Both of them saw a variety of instant noodles from many varieties of prefectures and cities.

"Hokkaido, Northeast Kanto, Tokai North..." Yuuki didn't eat instant ramen that much since most of his food was cooked by his girlfriends but it didn't mean that he had never eaten it. Though, he would never have expected there would be a vast variety of instant noodles in this country.

"An entire wall of it! I have never seen any of them," Jun said.

"So you have noticed?" Koizumi suddenly said and explained, "The ramens they have here are local instant noodles from every nook and cranny of this country."

Yuuki nodded and could see that each of the instant ramen was sorted by their region.

"But you can get that now in the supermarket chains," Koizumi said.

"Hmm, I've often eaten it when my parents went home late, I might buy some to take home," Jun said.

"We will eat them here," Koizumi said while looking at him.

Yuuki nodded and was a bit surprised since he could eat it in this place.

"Eh? You can eat it here?!" Jun was surprised.

Koizumi seemed depressed and said, "In my case, I usually make a mistake...." She started to tell them that she had often made the soup became muddy because she used a small amount of water. She also told them that she also often made the noodles became hard and stuck together.

Yuuki patted her head and was wondering whether she would spend her life buying ramen instead of making it, "You're kind of clumsy."

Koizumi pouted and looked away at him.

"....."

'What is this?' Jun held her chest since it felt quite tight seeing them flirting with each other. She felt very envious of both of them.

Yuuki looked at Jun and asked, "How about you eat here too?"

"Me too?" Jun thought for a while and nodded, "Alright, I think that the noodle will be better when it is cooked by the professional."

Yuuki looked at the variety of noodles and asked, "Koizumi, do you have a recommendation?" He didn't know which one was the good one.

"Everyone has their own preferences, so..." Koizumi explained and said, "If I'd to pick, however, I'd say that the products from Hokkaido are all cut above the rest. They have a lot of collaborations with the famous shop, too. And beginning with the Maruyama Zoo Ramen, the ramens associated with each region's zoo have they have cute packaging, but also their taste seriously too...." She started to enter ramen professor mode and explained everything to two of them.

Yuuki and Jun listened seriously and could see that Koizumi really loved her ramen. However, her explanation was a bit too much for both of them who only wanted to eat ramen now.

'Wait....'

"You have eaten all of them?" Yuuki was surprised that Koizumi could explain the taste of each ramen very well.

Koizumi nodded, "Of course I have eaten all of them." She had this obvious expression on her face.

"....."

Jun thought that Koizumi really wanted to work in the ramen industry in the future.

Yuuki thought that this girl might be addicted to ramen. He was wondering whether her bowel was alright after eating a lot of ramen in her life. He was sure that she ate ramen every day from cup, instant, and from the shop too.

Her explanation was over and they decided to order their ramen now.

---

The three of them sat down together.

Koizumi showed him her back and Yuuki helped her tie her hair into a ponytail to make it easier to eat.

Jun looked at both of them and asked, "Do you often do this?"

"Do what?" Yuuki and Koizumi asked at the same time.

"....."

"Nothing," Jun answered and tied her hair alone.

Three of them waited for a while and their order had come.

"So anyway, I went to pick up Hokkaido Rishiri Kelp Ramen," Jun said.

"I picked the Ichiki Kushino Speciality Tuna Ramen from Kagoshima prefecture with powdered wasabi," Koizumi said.

"Lastly, I am picking Sapporo Maruyama Zoo Salt Ramen," Yuuki said. He picked this ramen because he thought that the polar bear packaging was quite cute.

"The packaging is very cute," Jun said.

"Yes, but the taste is also very delicious," Koizumi said.

"Well...."

"Time to eat," everyone said at the same time and they started to eat their ramen together.

Yuuki spooned the clear soup on his ramen and sipped it. He was kinda surprised that the taste was quite strong even though the soup was clear. He picked up his chopsticks and started to eat his noodles. He slurped it and the taste of the soup became mellow with the noodles. He couldn't stop eating this and started to imagine that he was fishing a fish together with a polar bear.

"It's good!"

They continued to eat until Jun said that Koizumi wanted to work in the ramen industry in the future since she had researched a lot of ramen taste. Only Koizumi didn't hear from her since she was focussed on eating her ramen.

Jun asked once again what her dream was but Koizumi answered that it was a secret.

They had eaten their ramen and Jun said goodbye to both of them.

Yuuki had bought a lot of ramen for his girlfriends at home. He looked at her and asked, "So why is it a secret?"

"..." Koizumi didn't answer him immediately.

"Because I am embarrassed," Koizumi answered.

"So, what's your dream?" Yuuki asked.

"To become the wife of someone," Koizumi said with a red face and said, "I - I will go back now."

"Let's eat ramen again," Yuuki said.

Koizumi nodded and went back.

"...."

'Cute.....' Yuuki thought inwardly.

Koizumi suddenly stopped and went back.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Yuuki asked.

"Can you accompany me eating ramen again?" Koizumi asked.

Yuuki was wondering whether ramen that entered her stomach would be sent to another dimension but he could think about that later, "Sure, let's go."

Koizumi nodded in response and both of them went out to eat ramen together.