Actually, There’s Someone at Your Workplace Who Likes You ~ I’m Being Transferred to a Sales Office Filled With Only Beautiful Women!? - Chapter 21: "If It’s Not Tonkotsu, It’s Not Ramen!" Honoka Shouted

The three of us—Honoka, Ruka, and I—decided to go for ramen.

The manager said she was too full to eat any more and started walking toward the station to head home.

However, she seemed quite drunk, her steps unsteady. Concerned, I turned to the other two.

“Hey, Honoka, Ruka. The manager looks pretty drunk. Are we sure it’s okay to let her go home alone?”

“Yeah, yeah! She drank more than usual, but Reika-manager will be fine! She sometimes loses her memory a bit, but she always makes it home properly.”

…Hey, hold on!

Was she really going to be okay!?

Honoka’s carefree response only made me more anxious.

Seeing me watching the manager’s retreating figure with a worried expression, Ruka reassured me.

“She’s gotten quite drunk a few times before, but even when she was worse than this, she still made it home. She’s a responsible adult, after all. Her place is just one stop away, and it’s close to the station, so she’ll be fine.”

“I see… Well, if you say so, Ruka, I guess it’ll be okay.”

“Aah! Hirarin, that’s so mean! You don’t believe me, but you believe Ruka-tan!?”

Honoka pouted, puffing out her cheeks while placing her hands on her hips. She swayed her upper body from side to side, making her chest bounce in the process.

I didn’t mean it in a weird way, but it was seriously distracting. I wished she would stop.

“It’s not like that…”

“But it totally is!”

“Well… I guess so. Ahaha.”

“Knew it! Booo!”

“Alright, anyway, let’s go get some ramen.”

“Yes! Honoka-senpai, if you don’t cheer up quickly, the ramen will run away.”

“Oh! You’re right. Ramen, ramen!”

Just hearing the word “ramen” instantly lifted her mood.

Honoka was a serious foodie.

“What kind of ramen are we getting?”

At my question, Honoka proudly held up her index finger and instantly declared, “Of course, tonkotsu ramen!”

“Tonkotsu, huh? Ruka, is that okay with you?”

“Oh, I like tonkotsu too, but chicken paitan is also hard to resist. What about you, Rinta-senpai?”

“Hmm, they all have their merits, so I’m fine with anything.”

The moment I said that, Honoka pointed her finger straight at me, looking deadly serious.

“If it’s not tonkotsu, it’s not ramen!”

“…Huh?”

That was quite the extreme opinion.

If a soy sauce ramen fan heard that, they’d go ballistic.

“Wait a second, Honoka-senpai. Didn’t you already admit that there are delicious types of ramen besides tonkotsu?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Did they already have a debate about ramen before?

“You see, the day before you arrived, Honoka-senpai said the exact same thing—‘If it’s not tonkotsu, it’s not ramen’. But… after that, I thought she had finally acknowledged that other types of ramen could be good too.”

“Did you all go to a ramen shop together?”

“No, we didn’t eat ramen that day. That’s why I’m really looking forward to having some delicious ramen today. Right, Honoka-senpai?”

“U-uh… well… um…”

Honoka suddenly started fumbling over her words.

Why was she getting flustered over something like this?

“You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

“I-I have no idea…!”

“Oh really? Got it.”

Honoka’s vague attempt at playing dumb was met with a cold response from Ruka.

For some reason, she kept glancing sideways at Honoka while directing her words toward me.

“Rinta-senpai, since Honoka-senpai insists that only tonkotsu is real ramen, we should just go with that. She refuses to acknowledge anything that doesn’t match her own preferences.”

“I-Is that so?”

Honoka was surprisingly stubborn.

“W-wait a second, Ruka-tan! You’re making me sound like a narrow-minded woman!”

“Aren’t you, though?”

“I’m not!”

“But Honoka-senpai, you also said that if it’s not an ikemen, then—”

…Huh?

What did ramen and ikemen have to do with each other?

—Ah, I got it!

It was a pun!

Ramen, tsukemen, boku ikemen!

These two were hilarious.

At first, I thought they’d be hard to approach because they were both absolute beauties, but that was just my own mistaken assumption.

Hmm… something to reflect on.

—As I was thinking that, Honoka suddenly started panicking beside me.

“Waah! Waah! Waah!”

Her hair was flying everywhere as she wildly waved her hands at Ruka. All that beauty, wasted.

—Actually, now that I think about it, Honoka did a lot of things that completely ruined her graceful image.

In contrast, Ruka remained composed, her flawless beauty intact, as she calmly handled Honoka.

“What is it?”

“Ugh, Ruka-tan, you’re so mean! Fine, fine! Let’s go with chicken paitan today! Ahh, now I really feel like eating chicken paitan ramen!”

At Honoka’s sudden change of heart, Ruka let out a small chuckle.

What just happened? Why did she suddenly change her stance?

—Oh, I see. She was trying to be considerate of Ruka.

Honoka was a good person after all.

“I was just joking. I was teasing you a little, Honoka-senpai. Honestly, I’m in the mood for tonkotsu today too. Let’s go for tonkotsu ramen. Is that okay, Rinta-senpai?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m good with anything. Alright, shall we go get some tonkotsu ramen, Honoka?”

“U… ugh. Yeah, let’s go…”

Honoka was breathing heavily, her shoulders rising and falling. Her face was filled with exhaustion, like an athlete who had just finished an intense match.

But why was she this desperate over a bowl of ramen? She really did have the strangest reactions.

…And the fact that I was getting used to them was honestly a little scary.

Despite everything, we ultimately decided on tonkotsu ramen.

Honoka had a highly recommended place nearby, so the three of us headed there.

And just as she had said, the ramen was absolutely incredible.

After finishing our meal, we parted ways.

Since Honoka commuted by train, she walked toward the station.

Ruka and I, on the other hand, had our homes within walking distance. Apparently, Ruka still lived with her family.

After walking for a bit, we reached a fork in the road and split up, each heading home.