Chapter 152: First Date (2)
Osaka, Namba Station.
There were so many people crowded near the station that it was hard to believe that there was an indiscriminate terror attack by the Hippocampus faction a few days before.
“Whoa, there are so many people. There was such a ruckus a couple of days ago.”
“I guess Namba Station is a bit distant from where the terror attacks took place.”
“Still, people are wandering around just fine when something like that happened.”
“Well… maybe they’re used to it.”
They could’ve built up a tolerance to those kinds of situations because they had experienced their cities getting ambushed by monsters numerous times.
“Khm. Yeah, this is a lot better than having a ghost town for our monumental first date.”
Ha-eun cleared her throat as her eyes sparkled.
It was the day they would have their first date after becoming lovers.
The stance and connection they had with each other was different compared to when they’d gone out for fun together in the past.
‘Our first overseas trip! Our first date!’
Ha-eun puffed air out of her nose like she couldn’t control her boiling excitement and grabbed Ohjin.
“Was it Dotonbori? I heard that there are a lot of things to eat there! Let’s hurry up and go, Ohjin!”
“Let’s take things slow. We have a lot of time today.”
“Hey, there’s no time to waste! We need to go around as much as we can in times like this!”
She laughed excitedly and made Ohjin hurry his steps.
Ohjin looked at how elated she was and smiled.
Well, her being that happy wasn’t unreasonable.
‘This is something we couldn’t even dream of a year ago.’
Inside the cramped home full of mold… Back when they’d washed their bodies with cold water because hot water wouldn’t come out, and when he’d taken care of Ha-eun while she was blind…
Forget overseas trips, it was just one year ago when she couldn’t even leave their house with an easy mind.
Not even in their dreams could Ohjin or Ha-eun imagine that they would be able to go overseas and happily enjoy a date.
“Come to think of it, it’s almost winter already.”
Ohjin smiled faintly while getting hit by the chilly autumn breeze.
Was it because too many things happened lately? Winter was already approaching when it felt like it hadn’t been long since the years had changed.
“Why? Are you cold?”
“That wasn’t exactly my point…”
“I’ll hold your hand if it’s cold. Here.”
Ha-eun smiled sheepishly and lent out her hand.
Ohjin held her extended hand while feeling some kind of unknown ticklish sensation from her attitude that was as if she was confronting a puppy.
The hand he held was warm like a hot pack.
“It’s warm, right?”
“Yeah.”
“It’ll be even warmer if you hold it like this.”
Ha-eun interlocked her fingers with him, and cozy warmth spread out from their contacting palms.
Not only from the warmth, but the soft and squishy sensation of her palm also made his head heat up.
“How does it feel to hold my hand like this?”
“I don’t think I’ll have to worry about the heating bills in winter.”
“Hey!”
Ha-eun frowned because of Ohjin’s words ruining the mood. She unnecessarily kicked an empty can on the street and glared at Ohjin.
‘Just when the atmosphere was nice…’
He was exactly the same as when they weren’t lovers.
“I’m saying that we should keep holding our hands like this through the winter.”
“…Ah.”
Ha-eun’s eyes opened like a rabbit’s after being hit by Ohjin’s curveball.
“K-Khm! Y-You’re making me cringe again.”
“You’re the one who started it.”
“Heh. I don’t know about that.”
Ha-eun shrugged her shoulders and pulled Ohjin’s hand.
“Well then, let’s get started! We need to drain out the old man’s cash!”
“Alright. We should take full advantage of this opportunity since we were told to use as much as we’d like.”
Ohjin and Ha-eun cackled out and headed to Dotonbori.
A date where they could enjoy themselves using someone else’s card?
What else in the world could be more exciting?
* * *
* * *
A long market street was laid out north of Namba Station.
After passing through the street that was crowded with people and stores that sold miscellaneous goods, they arrived at a place that had a flowing river.
The first thing they saw once they arrived at Dotonbori Street was a signboard with a huge red crab. Once they walked down the street, they could see that a bunch of restaurants were lined up.
“Ooh! This street kind of looks like it would sell tteokbokki and sundaes.”
“I bet the atmosphere would be similar as well.”
“Ohjin, is there anything you want to eat? I don’t know anything about Japanese food.”
“I wonder… I’ve never eaten it before, either.”
Ohjin’s diet before awakening the Black Heaven was calorie bars that were literally made only for ‘survival’. Ha-eun also mainly ate frozen hamburgers or sandwiches because other foods were uncomfortable to eat. She had nearly never eaten Japanese foods that were relatively expensive compared to other foods.
“Let’s walk around for now and find something we want to eat.”
“Alright.”
After all, the main reason she went there in the first place wasn’t to eat something, but to enjoy her date with Ohjin.
Ohjin and Ha-eun took their time looking around while walking down the street.
There were stores that made sizzling sounds while stir-frying noodles on top of a griddle and stores that were barbecuing chicken skewers that were glazed with teriyaki sauce.
In the middle of looking around the stores that made them subconsciously gulp just from the smell…
“Ohjin, how about that?”
The thing that drew Ha-eun’s attention was a store that was rolling around batter in a grill pan with round holes. Using the translator, he could realize that the word ‘Takoyaki’ was written on the store’s sign board.
“It smells good. Do you want to give it a shot?”
“Sure~!”
Ha-eun approached the store with elated steps.
The closer they got to the store, the more appetizing the smell stimulating their noses was.
Ohjin placed an order to the employee, who was making takoyakis with precise movements like he was a machine.
“Please give us two plates of takiyakis.”
“What kind of toppings would you like?”
“Everything that’s available.”
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
The price was not to be sneezed at for street food, but because they had a reliable weapon that was the sucker’s… no, Sakaki’s card, there was no reason to hold back.
“Please wait a moment~”
The employee poured the batter that was contained within a jug into the round holes.
Sizzle!—
A savory smell spread out with a sizzling sound.
With long tongs, he put large pieces of octopus and pizza cheese into the batter. Once the bottom of the batter was cooked, he used skewers to flip the takoyakis around.
After placing the cooked takoyakis that were the size of a tennis ball on a plate, he sprayed teriyaki sauce, mayonnaise, and katsuobushi on top.
For toppings, he put finely cut green onions, poached eggs with a bit of sugar, and finished it off by sprinkling cheese on top.
Gulp—
He could see Ha-eun gulping in front of him.
If they thought about the food’s quality, the food they were treated to in Kuroushi by Sakaki was dozens of times more expensive, but street food had that strong flavor and a special kind of charm.
To Ohjin and Ha-eun, who had always eaten cheap junk food, the food in front of them felt much more familiar and appetizing than the expensive foods in Kuroushi.
“That looks damn good.”
After receiving the plate full of takoyakis, Ha-eun pierced a takoyaki with a toothpick and put it in her mouth.
“Hot, hot, hot!”
Ha-eun took deep breaths in and out with her mouth shaped into a circle as the hot batter inside the takoyaki flowed out.
She let the takoyaki cool down for around ten seconds and started to chew.
The taste of the strong sauce and cheese spread out in her mouth, and the marvelous harmony of sugared poached eggs and finely cut green onions danced on top of her tongue.
“Fuaaa.”
Ha-eun took a breath out of happiness and swallowed the takoyaki.
“Ohjin! This is really good!”
“Street food really is the best for our tastes.”
They’d slightly steered away from their original plan of taking advantage of Sakaki’s money, but did it really matter?
It was all good as long as it was tasty.
“Ohjin.”
“Yeah?”
Once Ha-eun pierced a takoyaki with a toothpick and blew on it, she held it towards Ohjin’s mouth.
“Here, eat my pearl.”
“But you don’t have one.”
“I do if you look hard enough.”
“…”
Ohjin opened his mouth from the response that seemed to punch him across the face.
“Hehe, it’s tasty, right?”
“It is, but for some reason, I don’t think I should say it is.”
“Well, then! Let’s go looking for the next food if we’re done eating!”
Ha-eun, who had finished clearing up the plates holding takoyakis, pulled Ohjin’s hand.
Ohjin was dragged around by her with a dumbfounded expression as the shocking conversation that just took place hadn’t yet been erased from his head.
“Let’s try that next, Ohjin!”
He slightly chuckled while looking at her pulling him around with elated steps.
‘I guess it’s fine to get devastated every now and then.’
Her volubility couldn’t be disregarded, as she took after a certain person.
* * *
It had become 5PM before they knew it after they’d filled themselves with the food that looked good while walking past Dotonbori Street, entering a cafe to drink some coffee, and having a bunch of fun at a nearby arcade.
While walking by the riverside and looking at the sun that was gradually setting…
“Let’s check out another place as well since it feels like a bit of a waste to only spend our time here.”
“Sure. Where do you want to go?”
“Hm… How about Denden Town? It seems to be quite famous on the internet.”
“Denden Town?”
Ohjin searched out of curiosity and found people talking about that place being the second sacred ground for Otakus and about it being the Akihabara of the Kansai Region.
He didn’t have much interest in anime or manga, but…
“Let’s go.”
It was iffy to have dinner anyways, as they had already eaten so many kinds of foods using Sakaki’s card.
As they walked to Denden Town while digesting food, stores that had anime and manga posters hung outside gradually started to make an appearance.
“How is there not a single series I know?”
“Don’t you have nearly no interest in things like manga in the first place?”
“I still read a bit back then, though I wasn’t able to after that incident.”
“…Ah.”
Ohjin frowned as he recalled the times when Ha-eun had been cursed and blind.
“Do you want to go take a look?”
“What’s the point when I can’t read it.”
Ha-eun shrugged and looked around.
“Ohjin, what’s that bowling-pin-shaped thing?”
“I don’t know… I’ve never seen it before.”
The store she pointed to had a huge bowling pin with red and white stripes.
‘Ten…ga? What’s that?’
Ohjin and Ha-eun tilted their heads as they looked at the store.
“Should we take a look?”
“Yeah. I’m curious as to what they sell.”
Ha-eun nodded her head as she entered the store.
Ring—
The sound of clear bells rang
-Aaah! Ang! Oshioki!
Like some broken machine, Japanese that wasn’t translated properly could be heard.
Despite not being able to understand the meaning, it wasn’t difficult to understand what kind of products the store sold.
“Oh, fuck.”
“…”
Unsurprisingly, the store was plastered with posters that showed an excessive ratio of skin.
“Is this… an adult store?”
Ha-eun, dumbfounded, had her mouth drop open in surprise.
