Chapter 29: Convenience Store Bags and Cup Noodles – Part 2
Kyouya didn’t let his guard down.
After returning to the table, he carefully watched s.h.i.+on, who sat towards the left behind him, as he started to eat his lunch.
She now had the cup noodles in front of her.
She’d gotten as far as removing the plastic wrap around it, but didn’t seem to be making any progress beyond that.
All she had to do now was open the lid halfway and pour in some hot water. If the lack of hot water was the problem, Megumi’s kettle was always full.
s.h.i.+on made a move.
She was opening the lid.
Or so he thought. Instead, s.h.i.+on pulled the whole lid out and threw it away.
Uh-oh.
s.h.i.+on then took the dehydrated Noodles out of the cup, held it with both hands like a hamburger, and brought it towards her wide-open mouth.
“Wait, wait, wait! Wait a minute!”
Kyouya jumped up, unable to hold himself anymore.
“What are you doing, s.h.i.+on-san!?”
“Well, I was just eating my meal.”
She said, holding the circular chunk of noodles in her hands.
He tried to convince her to, at least, put the noodles back in the cup for the time being.
“I’m quite sure I saw Mao eating them like this the other day though…”
s.h.i.+on was showing some unusual resistance.
“That was Chicken Ramen(1)! Sure, you can eat it like that too! But that’s just like eating a giant Baby Star(2)!”
s.h.i.+on jumped, surprised at his reaction.
It was then that Kyouya realized he’d been shouting.
He took a deep breath, taking a moment to calm down.
It was probably her first time eating something like cup noodles.
She had never prepared cup noodles before, which is why she didn’t know how. She didn’t even know about convenience store bags! That had to be the case.
As her knight of common sense, he had to explain to her in detail.
“This here is called cup noodles.”
“Yes, I’ve wanted to try them for a while now.”
s.h.i.+on nodded with an earnest expression.
“But my brothers wouldn’t let me, saying it wasn’t good for the body, so I’ve never actually tried it. Not just bro-two, but even bro-four stopped me, and they even say that bro-six eats it as many as 7 a day. Don’t you think that’s unfair?”
Kyouya nodded, even though he didn’t really understand it well.
It was quite fun seeing s.h.i.+on getting so emotional from wanting to eat ramen and showing him the unknown side of her; inadvertently calling her brothers by their personal, intimate nicknames “bro-two”, “bro-four” and “bro-six”.
“Cup noodles are simple and tasty. It just takes pouring some hot water and waiting three minutes.”
s.h.i.+on listened as Kyouya continued his explanation.
“The way you do it is… let’s see… look, it’s written right here.”
He picked up the neglected lid that she had discarded and showed it to her.
“I’m sorry. I have a principle to never read the instructions.”
How do you learn the rules for the games you play then? What about that chess primer you showed me the other day? He was about to ask her, but instead wondered whether he had calmed down yet or not.
Right now what he needed was the patience needed when dealing with little children.
“First you put in the flavored powder. Next, the seasoning. Then, you pour in hot water until it reaches this line drawn on the inside.”
Kyouya prepared the noodles, explaining each step to her as he followed the instructions.
s.h.i.+on, with a serious look on her face, payed close attention to everything he did.
He borrowed a three minute hourgla.s.s from Megumi’s tea corner and placed it on the table, allowing the green sand inside to flow. To replace the missing lid, Kyouya used a plate.
They both waited, staring at the cup until the sand had finished falling.
He opened the cover and…
A soft, enticing smell enveloped them.
s.h.i.+on’s face sparkled with excitement. It contrasted with her usually sophisticated appearance, but it was still kind of cute.
She was having trouble again with figuring out how to separate the chopsticks, so Kyouya did it for her and handed them over before returning to his chair.
He didn’t want to bother s.h.i.+on, seeing as she seemed to be enjoying the food a lot.
As he half-heartedly ate his lunch, he revised his impression of s.h.i.+on.
It seemed that the genius of games was completely lacking in common sense.
Master Siblings?
s.h.i.+on’s bloodline carries a genius trait.
Among her brothers and sisters, everyone is a master at something.
s.h.i.+on is a “game master“.
Her second oldest brother is a “Cooking master“.
Her lunchbox is always prepared by her genius brother.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
(1) A popular brand of instant noodles. Some people like to eat it raw with the flavored powder that comes with it.
(2) A snack that literally consists of small pieces of dry ramen with flavoring.
