Actually, the Hungry Gyaru Who Eats a Lot Was Being Cheated On, so I Decided to Win Her Heart (And Stomach) From Her Jerk Boyfriend - 76

Chapter 76: The Misunderstanding at the Food Stalls with the Hungry Gyaru

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“Hey, hey, what should we eat first?”

Her cheeks were still faintly red, but before long Shizuku had returned to her usual self. I looked around at our surroundings.

Wow, there’s quite a variety.

Of the two lanes lined with stalls, I looked down one side first. Takoyaki, yakitori, cotton candy, chocolate-covered bananas. On the opposite side were grilled squid, fried chicken, candied apples, shaved ice, and ramune. There was truly plenty to choose from. And considering there was still another row of food stalls left, there were probably close to twenty food options alone.

With this many choices, it was hard to decide where to start, but..

“…For now, why don’t we just start with takoyaki?”

I pointed at the nearest takoyaki stand. Honestly, as long as we didn’t end up with some weird food combination, anything was fine.

“Okaaay! Then let’s go ahead and buy some!”

Pulled along by Shizuku, I moved in front of the takoyaki stall.

“Excuse me! Three orders of takoyaki, please!”

“Got it! That’ll be fifteen hundred yen!”

The stout middle-aged vendor replied cheerfully and, with practiced hands, quickly packed the takoyaki into containers. After finishing two of them in no time, he glanced our way.

“Two sets of chopsticks okay?”

“Oh, just one is fine! He’s ordering separately!”

“…Huh?”

The vendor’s hand stopped dead. He probably hadn’t imagined that Shizuku was planning to eat three by herself. His reaction made that obvious.

“Sorry, I’ll have three takoyaki as well.”

“You too, huh, kid?! You two sure can eat! …Ah well, since you’re buying this much at once, I’ll knock off five hundred yen each.”

“Really!? Yay!”

“Yep, it’s the couple’s discount!”

With that, the vendor let out a hearty laugh. Instantly, Shizuku’s face turned bright red. That said, my own heart skipped a beat when he said it. Still, I couldn’t blame him for the misunderstanding. After all, Shizuku and I were still holding hands.

Since I had been the one to grab her hand, it felt awkward to be the one to let go, so I’d left things as they were but it seemed she hadn’t even realized we were still holding hands, and I could tell she was internally freaking out. Even so, she neither denied nor affirmed what the vendor said, and she didn’t immediately pull her hand away. In the end, she reluctantly let go but only because she needed to take her wallet out of the black drawstring basket bag she was carrying.

“Thanks! Enjoy yourselves!”

After paying and leaving with the vendor’s cheerful send-off behind us, we stepped away from the stall. Of the six we bought, four were placed in a plastic bag, and we decided to eat the remaining one each while walking.

“Mmm—freshly made takoyaki is sooo good!”

“Yeah, we bought it at the perfect timing.”

As Shizuku puffed lightly and brought it to her mouth, her face breaking into a smile, I nodded beside her. No matter what it was, food tasted better when eaten hot. I picked one up with my chopsticks and popped the whole thing into my mouth. The seaweed’s ocean-like aroma spread softly inside my mouth, and when I bit into the outside, there was a light crisp texture followed immediately by piping hot, creamy batter spilling out.

Carefully chewing to avoid burning myself, the batter mixed with the sauce and mayonnaise, while the bonito flakes enhanced the chewy octopus’s flavor.

“…Festival stall food isn’t bad, after all.”

It probably paled in comparison to specialty shops, yet somehow it tasted just as good. It was a strangely pleasant sensation.

“Right? I kinda love how food from festival stalls feels special. Oh yeah, Suou-kun, do you ever come to festivals like this?”

“No. At least not once during middle school. I didn’t have anyone to go with, and I don’t like crowds in the first place, so I never even thought about going.”

The last time I clearly remembered was when my sister dragged me out under the pretense of making me look after Ichika. That was when Ichika was still in kindergarten, so it must have been nearly five years ago.

“I figured.”

Shizuku let out a soft laugh.

“…And yet, you invited me.”

“It was a promise. Even if I haven’t fully kept it.”

“It was supposed to be the pool or the beach originally, huh? But honestly, even though I said that, I’m totally satisfied just being able to go out together like this.”

Saying that, Shizuku popped another takoyaki into her mouth and narrowed her eyes fondly. Around the time we were about to finish our first ones, I checked with her.

“What next? Want to keep eating while walking?”

“Hmm, carrying even more stuff while eating might be tough… If we drop something, that’d be bad. Why don’t we just buy as much as we can first and then head to the main area to wait? We can sit down and eat the rest!”

“Got it. …Oh, in that case, how about we split up and buy things, then meet back up? I’ll take the stalls on that side, so you handle this side.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea! ’Kay! Leave it to me!”

Shizuku gave a thumbs-up and finished it off with a wink.

“Then let’s meet up farther down.”

And with that, we parted ways temporarily to buy as much food as we could carry.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー