It’s Too Early to be Having Newlywed Syndrome! ~Childhood Friends Who Rekindled their Love for Each Other ~ - 4 - 7 - A Dining Table Full of Smiles
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- It’s Too Early to be Having Newlywed Syndrome! ~Childhood Friends Who Rekindled their Love for Each Other ~
- 4 - 7 - A Dining Table Full of Smiles
A Dining Table Full of Smiles
After Haruka stopped crying, Naoto left to call the neglected Iida.
“Fuu, I learned about her circumstances for the most part. As I thought, Tachibana-san is a good person after all. We are fools not to believe in her. We need to reflect on it, don’t we?”
While sitting on the seat in front of Iida, Naoto forced a smile.
“I see. For now, just with that outcome it’s good that we came here to meet her, right?”
Iida waved his hand to the direction of the table where Natsuki and the others were, looking happy.
“Iida, what will you do? Will you join them up there?”
“Did she say it’s okay for me to go there?”
“Not only is she okay with it, Tachibana san also said ‘I’m sorry for making you wait.’”
“Then, well, I did come here to talk. If it’s okay to link up with them, then I want to see her closer.”
“Once you arrive there, don’t get mad about her making you wait a long time.”
“No way I will do something like that. I got to enjoy a meal courtesy of Tachibana-san, I’m very happy instead.”
“Then, should we move over there?”
“Wait a minute. Er, it looked like Morita was not nervous at all back there, but I’m on the edge here. Back me up there, I beg you.”
“No, at the start of our reunion, I can only say nothing but ‘yeah’ myself. But, maybe, I think even just listening to her will be good. If anything, you shouldn’t act weirdly rattled out there.”
“Got it, here I go.”
“Ah, I forgot to tell you, but you’re not allowed to touch Tachibana-san, or take the seat beside Tachibana-san.”
“You know I’m incapable of doing such a thing.”
Iida picked up the voucher for the drink bar, stood up and started walking. From Naoto’s view, he saw that Iida’s fingertips are shaking.
“Can you walk?”
“Barely, maybe. So pathetic.”
Iida weakly laughed.
“Well, even if you fall over, those people will not laugh about it one bit. I’ll lend you my shoulder if you want.”
“Right.”
“Iida-kun, I’m sorry for making you wait.”
As the two guys approached, Haruka repeated the line that she had Naoto pass on to Iida just earlier.
“It’s because I made Tachibana-san cry that it took so long. Sorry.”
From behind, Naoto told Iida.
“So it’s your fault.”
Iida pushed Naoto.
“Iida, where will you sit? As long as it’s not beside me, you can sit anywhere.”
“So it’s okay if I sit beside Oshida-san?”
Iida inadvertently asked.
“You can’t sit beside Natsuki. You can’t sit beside me. You can’t seat beside Tachibana-san.”
“Then, I can’t really sit anywhere I want now, can I? I can only sit at the edge.”
Iida grumble while having trouble finding where to sit.
“Uwa, Morita-kun looks more domineering than he was in middle school.”
Haruka laughed while looking at the two of them.
“Iida-kun, do you want to sit here? It’ll be better if you’re facing Tachibana-san, right?”
Sakurako vacated the seat beside her.
“You’re right, then I’ll sit there.”
After Iida sat beside Sakurako,
“Ah, thank you for slicing up my pizza. Sliced pizza is more delicious since it has more corners.”
He said his thanks to Sakurako.
Sakurako was surprised.
Even though in front of him is the first love he hasn’t seen after a long time, he thought about her first, and talked to her. That fact gradually warmed her heart.
“That’s just a small thing. I’ll do it anytime.”
After saying that, Sakurako’s mind was in utter confusion.
She always found it bothersome when her father asks her to do something, but when it’s Iida asking her, she doesn’t feel bitter, on the contrary, she felt happy.
Feeling somewhat uneasy, Sakurako grasped the hand of the nearby Natsuki.
There is one more instance before when Natsuki had her hands held like that by Sakurako. That was when there was a scary scene in a video game that they were playing together. Why Sakurako grabbed her hand this time, Natsuki had a vague idea.
“Iida-kun, you see, I——”
Just like what she told Naoto, Haruka talked about that time, about her parents, about herself, and about her mental state at that time.
“——That’s why I ended up crying and made Iida-kun wait longer. I was prepared to receive words of anger from Morita-kun, so I didn’t expect to receive thanks instead, it just made me happy.”
“No, that was really awesome about Morita. What’s more, in the case of this guy, it’s because he’s really thinking of thanking you.
Even when he came to escort me to this table, he told me how we need to reflect on our actions for not having complete trust in you. When I heard the whole story just now, I though not bad, Morita.”
“That’s right! It’s me who ended up feeling embarrassed.”
“Me too. I still feel embarrassed right now. Yesterday and today as well. That I was able to come here to talk and listen to you, it’s all thanks to Morita. Everything that happened this past two days where all thought about by Morita.”
“Wah, that’s amazing. I’m caught me by surprise too——.”
“Speaking of, we just suddenly came here to meet you, but was it alright?”
“Yeah. Since my parents properly divorced, I have recently calmed down a bit. That’s why I wondered about meeting up with you as well.”
“Earlier, Morita told me not to get too close to you, but is this distance okay?”
“Um, I’m not good if it’s like crowded train distance. Even if they’re far enough, I’m still not good at distance where I could get yelled at, or be violently hit, or be sexually harassed.”
“Eh, then Iida shouldn’t have come here after all.”
Naoto said in surprise.
“Why is that?”
Iida asked Naoto.
“Iida’s dangerous, you know. It’s better not to open your mouth anymore, you’ll end up being hated. Just go eat your food.”
“That’s the image Morita has of me.”
“Here, have some chicken.”
As Naoto moved a plate in front of Iida,
“Huh, speaking of, aren’t you hungry, Tachibana-san?
You did cry, your throat must be dry and your stomach empty, right? How about taking a bite while talking?”
He urged Haruka to have some food and drinks. He had the experience of having a headache after crying the day before, so he casually got worried.
“Speaking of, we haven’t eaten anything yet! What did everyone had?”
Makoto said, then she checked the bill.
Haruka met eyes with Naoto,
“Morita-kun, did you eat until you’re full? I want to see more of Morita-kun enjoying the food though.”
She asked.
“I have already eaten quite a lot. Based on the current state of my stomach, I would say everything in small amount and somewhat extravagant, I kinda feel sorry about it.”
“Eh, what is it?”
“First would be chorizo. Just talking about it like this right now is enough to make me drool, that’s how much I like it, but when I compared to a gyudon restaurant, the amount is just too large. I end up thinking that it’s better to eat gyudon on the way home.”
“Ah, I want to eat chorizo too so I’ll go ahead and order that. How about we share it in half? Whenever I eat with my mom, we go halfsies as well.”
“Then, I’ll take you on that offer.”
“Is there something else you want to eat?”
“What’s with this atmosphere like you’re feeding me.”
Naoto felt odd, that he started laughing unintentionally.
“It’s my thanks. Or rather than thanks, it’s might be better to call it my apology? Let’s just say it’s both for apology and thanks, and also to see you eating.”
“I don’t really understand, but well, I won’t thin much about it. Er……”
Naoto stared at the menu.
“Speaking of, I never had most of the other menu of this restaurant, it’s not like I hate them though, but this escargot thing, I’m very wary of it, I haven’t even eaten it but I decided I don’t like it. Is my diet really that unbalanced?”
“I’m the same too. I haven’t eaten it but I’m not a fan.”
Said Natsuki.
“Escargot doesn’t really have an aura of being edible, so not liking it even without having eaten is not unusual.”
“Just seeing it makes me not want to eat it too.”
Aki and Sakurako are of the same opinion.
“Looks disgusting, isn’t i——t, Haruka can eat it, so I thought about challenging myself once, but once I ordered it, it was disgusting as I thought, I excused myself saying I’m going to finish mine farther away.”
Makoto also made a face saying she doesn’t like it.
“So you can eat it, Tachibana-san?”
“Yeah, my mom often eats it whenever she’s drinking. We go halfsies when we order it. During the time my reluctance to eat it lessened a bit, I was hungry and the escargot and bread was brought out by the staff first, when I put it on bread I was fine with it.”
“Hmmmm. In my case, I feel like I’m more game eating escargot then bitter-tasting food.”
“Then should I order escargot as well, then you can look at how I eat it?”
“Let’s go with that.”
Naoto was peering into the order of escargot that was placed in front of Haruka.
“Uwaa, I really haven’t seen it that often, but when I look at it this close, it’s kinda amazing…… so it gets served simmering like this.”
“Not to your liking?”
Haruka looked at Naoto’s complexion.
“No, at this point, it looks like I can still go at it. So, how do you eat this?”
“You can eat it however you want, but until you get used to eat, you can put it in bread or such.”
“Then, please put some on a bread for me, not the whole thing, just a little bit. H, I don’t think I need too much of that veggie-like thing.”
“Hmm… there…. like this?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks.”
When Naoto received the bread with filling, he looked at Natsuki who’s beside him. Natsuki, who appeared like looking at something scary, was staring at the bread in Naoto’s hand. Even though she’s not the one who will be eating it, Natsuki has a nervous expression on her face. Thinking how kinda weird that was, Naoto calmed down a bit.
“Here goes nothing, itadakimasu.”
As if thinking it’s the right time, Naoto carried the bread to his mouth. Nervously, he chewed many times before swallowing, and as if to cleanse his palette, he bit on some chorizo.
“……Yeah. It tastes just like shellfish. It’s not bad. Can you put the rest of it on the bread?”
“Got it. Here you go.”
“As I thought, I really like this kind of scent. I love garlic toast and garlic rice after all.”
After smelling it, this time, he took a bite without worry.
“——Somehow, it’s like a bitter version of garlic butter clam. Personally, I really am bad with the part that has vegetables in it. Maybe I just can’t eat things like turban shell.”
“My mom also said it’s like turban shell!”
“Sure enough? Well, they’re somewhat similar.”
Saying that, Naoto took a bite of chorizo.
“——However, yup…… chorizo is incredibly tasty. Chorizo is too delicious, you know. I know now that I can eat escargot, but if they’re the same price, I prefer chorizo after all, so I might not be eating that again.”
“Ah, then you can have all of the chorizo. I’ll be having escargot with bread.”
“That so? I’m sorry, somehow. I thought it would be more to my liking, but I failed to see the vegetable in the menu picture.”
“Don’t be, I can eat any of the two after all. It’s admirable that you at least tried it. Makoto wasn’t even able to take a bite of it.”
“Natsuki would make me food sometimes, but I know cooking is a lot of work, so I’m working on lessening the things that I can’t eat. I’m now a bit less objectionable to carrots.”
“Ah, even though during our barbecue lunch during our field trip when I said ‘this carrot is sweeter and more delicious than those served at our school cafeteria’, you told me that you only want to eat meat.”
“That’s because, Tachibana-san didn’t make me hamburgers that time.
You know, Natsuki made me two types of hamburger – one with onions and the other without, and whenever she asked me things like ‘Are these chopped onions small enough?’ or ‘Is it good?’, I just can’t contain my happiness. It made me want to taste more kinds of dishes.
I have a set goal to be able to eat a new food every month. Wouldn’t the number of my choices in food be different if I end up throwing up when eating food that has such ingredient or if I decided I don’t like such food just a bit?”
“I see——, if that much happens to you then you would lose all will to try eating vegetables.”
“Natsuki want me to be able to eat eggplant. She said if she could only make chocolate eggplant.”
“What’s a chocolate eggplant?”
“I hard it’s delicious. I don’t really know much about it, but it seems like there are people overseas who drink it with wine.”
“Ah, then my mom might’ve eaten some before! I’ll try asking her.”
“I haven’t really read about it in detail, but maybe obscure in here in Japan. If you mom had eaten it before, I want you to ask how does it taste like.”
“Even if she hasn’t eaten it I think she will make it. She’s always looking for a snack to eat when she drinks after all. She has also made weird awful tasting ones, so she might find chocolate eggplant interesting and try to make it.”
“So Tachibana-san’s mother is that interesting of a person. Back in middle school, I haven’t really heard you talking about your mother.”
“I haven’t thought I will be talking about her this much since our graduation.”
“If it suits you, that’s because Tachibana-san’s the longest I’ve conversed with today. Mealtime is really important, right?”
“It’s weird hearing it from Morita-kun who always had a face like he’s in hell when eating school lunch.”
When Haruka said that, everyone laughed while looking at Naoto’s face.
“I can’t really take the school lunch. Right now, eating a variety of things with everyone is like heaven to me. ……Ah, of course, Natsuki’s cooked food is the most delicious of them all.”
Said Naoto.
“Don’t add on such phrase at times like this. It’s okay if you just said eating with everyone makes everything even more delicious.”
Natsuki, with a voice that sound like she’s talking to a kid, kindly told Naoto.
“Eh— even though I thought you would get mad at me if I don’t say it in the end. I don’t really understand.”
“There’s no way I would get mad seeing the person I love happily eating now, can I?”
When Natsuki said that, Naoto’s face reddened.
Once again, everyone laughed while looking at Naoto’s face.