Cote: Retelling

(2) Chapter 1.1: Wait... after all that, he never got the name?

"Come to think of it, I never introduced myself. Shiina Hiyori from class 1-C. Nice to meet you."

She says as we check out our respective books. I ended up with "Farewell my Lovely" while she got "The Big Sleep," also by Raymond Chandler.

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, class 1-D. Nice to meet you too."

"Oh, Yoshimoto-kun spoke about you. I hear you're both in the soccer club?"

"Yoshimoto? Oh, you mean Kotetsu. Yeah, we are."

"A first-name basis? You two seem close."

"He told everyone in the soccer club to call him that, not just me. If anything, he's closest to Watanabe."

We leave the library and head towards pallet for dinner. She was quite forward in inviting me out, saying she doesn't have many friends to talk about books with. Since a cute girl was offering me free food, I accepted without hesitation.

"He's also told me about Watanabe-kun. I think it's wonderful they've been able to remain good friends despite being placed in different classes."

"Well, there's no need to alienate people just because they're from a different class. Besides, there hasn't been any sort of competition thus far."

"Yes, and I hope it remains that way... I feel like competition will make goodwill between classes difficult, especially in the following years."

"I haven't thought about that, but you're probably right."

It will depend on the person, but I agree inter-class relations will get more difficult as time goes on. I can't imagine how tense the third years are with people beyond their class. No matter how pleasant they pretend to be, all of them must be acutely aware that everyone else is an enemy. I imagine the third-year halls are quite suffocating, especially to class A.

That reminds me, President Horikita, Secretary Tachibana and Isagi-senpai are all in 3-A. Maybe I can use seeing them as an excuse to check out the third-year students. Perhaps another day.

"Well, let's not dwell on it too much. Talking about such depressing things might sour our appetite. We're here to eat, so let's enjoy ourselves and eat."

Shiina looks up at me with a small smile.

"Yes, you're right. I am also interested in this restaurant you mentioned. A Chinese restaurant with Takoyaki?"

"Has Kotetsu not mentioned this one to you?"

"No, not at all. Well, we've only just started talking recently."

Now that I'm thinking about it, Shiina must be the "this one quiet, cute girl" Kotetsu mentioned. I wonder if he's been making moves on her? Will I get to see a romance bloom with my own two eyes? I would be interested in that. Kotetsu, you better not disappoint me.

"Well, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. This restaurant is great."

Saying that, we turn the corner to... wait, now that I think about it, I don't know the name of the restaurant. I've always just remembered it as the "Chinease place with Takoyaki". How could this be? I've been there about five times these past two months, yet I never checked the name. Well, I suppose I'll fix that now.

We turn the corner and the restaurant comes into view. Just what is the name of this restaurant? I'll finally know. As we get close, I look up and finally read the nameplate. It reads...

Chinese Restaurant with Takoyaki!

...

...

...

Seriously?

"Wow, I never knew you were saying the restaurant's name. I thought you were just describing its food."

Who names the things in this school? First the ultra deluxe lunch meal combo set super set meal, now this?

"Ayanokouji-kun?"

I barge through the restaurant door and walk up to the owner.

"Excuse me, could I ask who named this restaurant?"

The owner looks up.

"Well, the school chairman, of course! He also came up with the name ultra deluxe lunch meal combo set super set meal, you know?"

...Seriously? This chairman is just as bad with names as I am with jokes. I feel like my trust in the administration of this place has just nosedived. Why is the chairman naming random cafeteria menus and restaurants, anyway? Where does he find the time for this nonsense? I can't help but sigh with disappointment.

"Ayanokouji-kun, what's wrong? You look sad about something."

"I'm fine Shiina. It's nothing."

Suddenly, the owner takes on a bright smile. "Oh, that reminds me, we came up with a new menu item! It's our first fusion dish, combining the flavours of the classic mapo tofu and katsu curry. This one was also named by the chairman, and it's called..."

Afterwards, we had a delightful dinner eating Chinese Restaurant with Takoyaki!'s new fusion dish, the spicy red redemption tofu cutlet and pig C & C deluxe set meal. The C & C apparently stood for Cutlet & Curry, though I think Crazy & Chairman would've been more appropriate. Seriously, what is it with these names? Hopefully the chairman doesn't have any children, otherwise I can't imagine what horrifying eldritch linguistic composition he came up with for their name. Anyway, the food was thankfully good.

Somehow, it annoys me that my cooking is worse than something with an egregious name like this. I'll redouble my cooking efforts.