“Let’s take our lunch break now,” Takina said when the café emptied of customers.
The staff exchanged wary glances. It was the sixth business day since the “protein shake incident.” And that meant it was Takina’s turn to make lunch for everyone again.
They were reluctant, watching Takina in the kitchen out of the corners of their eyes. Then they sat down at a table, and only fifteen minutes later, Takina came over carrying a large tray with several bowls on it.
“I’m sure you will be happy with today’s lunch,” she said.
What was in the bowls…? The small ones had soup, and the bigger ones had rice topped with marinated fish that looked very familiar to Chisato. While everyone else gasped in surprise, Chisato clutched her head with her hands, despairing over Takina, who always took everything to the extremes instead of finding a middle ground.
“It’s marinated sea bream with rice. You do not need to add any sauce. It already has plenty of flavor. The soup is fish head broth. I will serve the milt tempura shortly.”
“What’s happening? Somebody pinch me!” Mizuki cried in a high-pitched voice. “A restaurant-quality lunch?!”
Unable to wait any longer, Mizuki pressed her hands together so quickly that they made a clapping sound, and the next moment, she was already eating. The others thanked Takina for the food and also began eating with the same urgency Chisato had felt that day at the sushi bar.
Chisato tried the food without hurry… To her surprise, the flavor was the same as at the sushi bar, although Takina used only sea bream and no shrimp or amberjack. However, having only one type of fish, each uniform slice seasoned with kombu stock marinade, made the dish seem more refined, each piece of fish boasting unfailing quality.
Takina hadn’t simply copied the lunch from the sushi bar. She’d elevated it to new heights.
“Honestly, this is delicious! I’ve never had donburi make me crave a drink so much before!”
“It is tasty. What happened, Takina?”
Mizuki started looking longingly at bottles of booze at the back. Mika smiled. Kurumi devoured most of her food, and when there was only a bit of rice left, she dumped the fish broth into the rice bowl and began to drink it unashamedly as soup.
Even the normally reserved Takina had to smile, seeing everyone enjoy the food so much.
“Chisato showed me that this is what staff lunches should be like.”
Mizuki gave Chisato a thumbs-up.
“Thanks, but… Sorry, Takina. I’ve been wondering, how did you get this sea bream? You didn’t buy an entire sushi-quality sea bream for our lunch, right…?”
“No, of course not. That would be over the budget.”
“Right! That’s too expensive for a staff lunch! Ha-ha! You got me worried for a second! But then, how did you get the fish? It’s not leftovers from yesterday for sure…”
“No. Yesterday’s lunch was stew, after all.”
Mika, who’d been sipping the fish broth, froze with the bowl in his hand, alarm bells ringing in his head. With mounting fear, he lifted a large bream head out of the bowl. It was cut in half and grilled to remove any unpleasant odors.
“Takina… This sea bream…must have been huge?”
“It was very large indeed.”
Every reply from Takina was frustratingly missing the point.
Mizuki and Kurumi carried on eating, but Mika and Chisato, confused and increasingly worried, sat still and stared blankly.
“Milt tempura coming up!”
“Huh…?”
Chisato looked up… A middle-aged man came in carrying a plate.
“Whoa, what’s this?!”
“The milt tempura,” Takina said patiently.
“No, Takina, I mean, what’s this man doing here…? Hold up… That’s…the sushi chef…?”
Chisato recognized the chef from that sushi bar they’d gone to with Mr. Doi.
Mika asked Takina to explain how the sushi chef had gotten involved in their staff lunch.
“Chisato showed me an exemplary lunch, which, at first, I wanted to recreate myself, but I soon realized the costs and the skill required made it unrealistic. I sought advice from the chef, who told me to leave it to him.”
“And…how did you pay him to cook for us?”
The chef laughed cordially at Mika’s question.
“You don’t need to pay me nada. I got the sea bream from a friend who goes fishing. Gave it to me for free when I told him I’d be cooking it for some very nice girls.”
“Anglers rock!” said Mizuki.
Kurumi, with her cheeks stuffed full of food, making her look like a squirrel, raised her fist in triumph.
“Enjoy the food; it’s my pleasure. Here’s the milt tempura. It goes well with just a dash of salt.”
“Oh-ho-ho! So creamy inside! Unbelievable! This tempura is the best!”
Mizuki was loud and commented on everything, while Chisato and Mika quietly groaned as if suffering from a bad headache.
“Hey, you two,” said Kurumi, having finished the rice and soup first despite being the smallest, ready to move on to the tempura. “Why so glum? This is probably the best lunch we’ve ever had here.”
Chisato honestly didn’t know what to say. Takina looked from her to Mika, puzzled.
“Is something wrong? Do you not like the food?”
“No, no, it’s great. I mean it. Everything’s amazing!”
Chisato decided there was no point in feeling bad. She should enjoy the food and the company to the fullest! That was the thing about Chisato Nishikigi; she was quick to change gears.
Takina cocked her head, confused by Chisato’s unpredictable behavior. Chisato thought it looked cute. She stuffed a piece of tempura in her mouth. Crunchy on the outside, melty on the inside… Delish. That was a flavor that brought a smile to your face.
Out of the corner of her eye, Chisato could see Mika bowing his head deeply in apology to the sushi chef. She unconcernedly thought it was a tough job being the guardian of a girl like Takina.