The Return of the Beloved Son

The Statue

Chapter 3: The Statue

The plaza was located near the town square. There were two entrances/exits, one across from the other. Each was an alleyway that consisted of shops, the end of each opened up into a large, circular space. The place was bustling with people and full of smells that fought for dominance over Subaru's nose.

The plaza was lined with markets all of which had merchants trying to sell their goods to anyone passing by. The loud merchants each yelled their stock at no one in particular. A short fellow in a brown coat was selling fruits, a white haired woman was selling flowers and other flower essentials, and a boy Subaru's age with gray hair and a green hat was trying desperately to sell oil. Many others yelled but none of their products stuck to his ears. All he had on his mind was the thought of food....a-and Rem. Rem was also on his mind too, but mainly the food.

The rest of the plaza was a spread of tables and chairs for people to sit, eat, and talk. In the center of the plaza stood a great fountain with a statue of a man on top.

"Where do you want to eat, Rem?" Subaru looked at Rem who stayed right by his side ever since they left the house.

"I don't know, Subaru-kun. I'm not very hungry. You choose for Rem." Rem puts forth a cute face that Subaru can't help but smile at.

Subaru puts his foot onto the nearest lamppost, raises a fist and declared his decision, "Well then daisukiyaki it is!"

In this world daisukiyaki was basically okonomiyaki in Subaru's world. A pancake shaped food option that consisted of pork and seafood. What made it better was the option to douse it in mayonnaise.

Subaru marched across the plaza to the the little restaurant built into the side of a wall. It consisted of a small kitchen and a counter long enough to go from one end of the kitchen to the other while leaving enough room for the lone chef to work his magic. Subaru walked up to the end of the counter where one orders their food and rung a bell on the counter, signaling his arrival.

The chef, who was previously having a conversation with a customer about the raise in price on shrimp, heard the bell and saw the tracksuit wearing son of a gun.

"What'll it be, Subaru?" The large man lumbered over to Subaru and Rem. This friendly demeanor he had was only reserved for friends of his. It wasn't easy getting on his good side which explained why he refused to work with other random people. So he opened up his own restaurant where he was his only boss.

"Depends. Got enough mayo for me, Oki?" Subaru clearly had done this before.

"Ah Subaru you know I'll always have enough here for you!" Oki reached under the counter and fiddled for a bit before bringing up a large squeeze bottle filled with a white substance one can only classify as mayonnaise. On the bottle, in bold lettering, was written the name "Subaru".

Now Oki didn't always have mayonnaise in his shop. He had Subaru to thank for that.

After inventing mayonnaise in the mansion months ago, Subaru and Rem began to make it again in their own house. Like before Subaru worshipped the taste of mayonnaise and when it came to daisukiyaki Subaru couldn't stop himself from adding the mayonnaise that it desperately needed. Since daisukiyaki was basically okonomiyaki then it did traditionally need mayonnaise on top of it.

A few months ago after coming to Oki's little restaurant for the third time Subaru finally brought his own bottle of mayonnaise. Oki was curious as it caught his attention. Like a good restaurant owner, Oki would on occasion strike up a conversation with his customers. Oki asked of the purpose of the substance to which Subaru replied that it was the condiment of all condiments. Interested Oki tried the mayonnaise and was amazed at how well it went with the daisukiyaki.