Chapter 13 – I’m Full

We passed another group of students as we rounded the drugstore and entered the restaurant where Asanagi previously made her reservation.

"This is… Kushikatsu restaurant?" (T/N: Kushikatsu is deep-fried skewered meat/veggies)

"Yeah. I mean, isn't it obvious from the signboard?"

As Asanagi said, there was a signboard with the store's name, lighting up the narrow alley. Obviously, I could read it, but that wasn't what I meant when I asked her the question.

"This place looks more like an  Izakaya than anything… Are we really going to eat here?" (T/N: Izakaya is essentially a Japanese-styled bar)

The time was right before the peak hours, so the place wasn't packed, but most of the customers were businessmen in their suits and the youngest among them were university students…

If two high school students like us entered such a place, wouldn't it seem a bit out of place?

"It's fine. This is a chain restaurant. I heard that they recently added family-friendly menus too. Everything will be okay as long as you don't drink alcohol. Besides, this place is cheap and during this time of the day, it isn't crowded."

There were a lot of family restaurants and fast-food chains nearby, but most of them were filled to the brim with people. They were mostly high school students like us, which was understandable since it was the weekend after all.

Eating at such a place would be one of the worst things we could do today, so, if we were to fulfill our current 'goal', which was filling our stomachs, eating in a less crowded place would be preferable.

"Ah, it's time, c'mon let's go in."

"Alright, alright, stop pushing me."

"But, it's my first time coming here, you know?"

"It's your first time?"

I thought they would reject our entry, but when Asanagi told them about our reservation, the waitress immediately led us to a private room. Because the restaurant looked like a bar, I was worried that the smell of alcohol would get me drunk, but it seemed like the staff had taken that into consideration, so there should be no problem.

The signboard gave me the impression that this place would be the kind of restaurant that only adults could enter, but in reality, this place was more like a family restaurant that happened to serve alcohol rather than an actual izakaya.

Still, I never thought that I would end up having dinner at a kushikatsu restaurant after not going out of my house for a while.

It isn't like I've never had any interest in this kind of place, but places like this always intimidated me. It was as if this place was from another world.

"Hehe… This is a private room, so there's no need to worry about accidentally meeting our classmates."

"This being a private room isn't the problem here…"

This place still felt like a place that high school students like us shouldn't casually visit. Sure, they let us in, but I felt restless.

Maybe it was because I was nervous or too excited about it, but I felt uncomfortable.

"It's fine. Just treat this as our little adventure. C'mon, don't just sit there, let's order something. What do you want to eat?"

"I don't know, it's my first time here… Huh, is that an all-you-can-eat buffet?"

"Yep."

All-you-can-eat buffet (soft drink included) for only 1.500 yen, evenings only. That was still within the range of my 2.000 yen budget.

Then to order we have to use… This touchpad over here?

"Alright, for now, let's order pork and ham… maybe also onions and lotus roots?"

"Picking the safe options, huh?"

"So what? How about you, Asanagi? What do you want?"

"Red ginger."

"Daring aren't we?"

Asanagi started to look less and less like a minor.

For the time being, we decided to order food and drinks that are easier to consume.

Maybe I ordered too much of them, but I'm hungry, I'm confident I can finish it all. Besides, Asanagi could eat more food than I ever could.

"First thing first, a toast."

"Ah, cheers!"

We toasted using the glasses of Coke before drinking them up.

The pleasant cold feeling of the soft drink blessed my throat. Perhaps it was because it was chilled, but it tasted three times better than the plastic bottle one.

Soon after that, some of the kushikatsu I had ordered were brought out.

Of course, they came out fresh. It had been a while since I had eaten freshly fried food like this, after all, most of the dinners I usually had were leftovers.

"…Let's dig in."

I poured the sauce that was placed on the table and took a bite.

"—Yum!"

Involuntarily, that word escaped my mouth.

The crunchy texture of the fried batter, and the juiciness of the pork, filled my mouth as I bit into it. In addition, the sauce enhanced the flavor, leaving my mouth with a pleasant sensation.

I didn't know that freshly fried food could taste this good. Compared to the usual soggy stuff I ate, the difference was like heaven and earth.

"Huh… So Maehara could make such a face… That's surprising."

"W-what about it? Leave me alone."

Asanagi looked at me and smiled.

My cheeks heated up as I realized that she had caught me in such an embarrassing situation.

I'm gonna be completely at her mercy today, huh?

"Well, whatever. …This tastes really good, I'll order four more."

After that, we continued to eat for the whole hour without starting any conversation. I could proudly say that we both fully enjoyed our meal.