Dylan King and His New Roommate Called Goddess Athena [1st Book]

CHAPTER 12

POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN

Friday, October 13, 2028, around 07.20 P.M

Thirty seven minutes later, the booked taxi dropped them right in front of a clothing store. Getting out of the taxi, Athena took in her surroundings. "Is this the outstanding place you want to show me?"

"Of course not. Follow me now," he said as he walked to the alley adjacent to the clothing store.

The alley was quite narrow, even a normal taxi would not be able to pass through it. There were many people with different attires heading further in, straight towards the wall where there were yellow light sources coming from the left and right side. As Dylan and Athena got closer to the light sources, laughs and conversation were clearly heard. He turned to the left aisle and stopped. Looking back at Athena, he said, "This is the outstanding place I told you about earlier."

Athena's eyes had flown wide with amazement. She then stepped to the right and studied the row of shops with various Japanese noren, shop boards and some red lanterns. Facing Dylan again, she asked, "What is this place?"

"It is Carlasco's first izakaya-style alley."

"Iza – what?"

"Izakaya Style."

"What is this style actually?"

"Mmm ... it's kind of difficult to explain it in words. Let's just Google it when we get home."

"Okay then."

"Now we're going to have dinner there," Dylan said as he pointed at a hanging red sign with Japanese characters 'Umaikune', located at the left row.

Dylan walked straight to the store, and Athena followed him. They had to pass through three other restaurants to reach Umaikune. When they had just arrived in front of the entrance, Dylan took a deep breath; he expressed satisfaction on his face. After exhaling, Dylan looked at Athena and said, "The food here is called Yakitori. They are skewers made from various parts of a chicken. In simpler words, they are chunks of chicken meat impaled onto a wooden stick."

"That sounds strange," Athena said. "But I have to admit the smell is nice. I cannot wait to taste it."

"Hey, Dylan!" Suddenly a man showed up from the window adjacent to the entrance. "Long time no see!"

"Long time no see too, Makoto-San," Dylan smiled as he bowed down his head.

"Come ... come, there's two empty tables inside. Pick the one you like."

"I will," Dylan said as he put his hand on the door and slid it open.

There were six tables inside the restaurant. Like Makoto said, two of them were unoccupied. Dylan pointed to the one near a fridge, and he walked sideways towards it. Athena tilted her head and confusion flashed across her face, but she then also walked sideways towards the table.

"Dylan! How are you?" a lady called as soon as Athena sat.

"I'm fine, Hosokawa-san. "I'm sorry I haven't visited lately."

"It's okay," Hosokawa replied. She then turned to Athena. "A friend or a gi –. ?"

"A distant cousin," Dylan interrupted. "She happened to visit here, and thus I decided to bring her here."

"I see," Hosokawa nodded. "So, what drink do you want today? Soda, Nihonshu, or Beer?"

"Hmm ... ," Dylan mumbled, then he looked back at Athena. "Do you want to drink the Cola or try another drink?"

"Another drink is fine."

"Well, let's try beer then."

"One bottle of beer is coming right up," Hosokawa said as she opened the fridge and took out a bottle and two glass cups. She opened the bottle lid and helped pour the drink into the two cups. "How about the food? The usual one?"