mighty novel x (takoyaki scene)

The sound of steel utensils clashing rang throughout the shop.

It was the last night of our extended holiday. We'd come to eat at an old okonomiyaki shop near the hospital.

Large, steel-topped tables meant for four were distributed snugly throughout the shop.

The only people in here were myself, Poppy, Parad, Hiiro, Kiriya, Taiga, and Nico. Seven of us in total. There were no other customers.

Now that I thought about it, this was the first time all of us had gone out to eat together. Possibly because we'd all had our own busy schedules as doctors to worry about before, but probably just because no one had ever bothered to initiate or plan something like this.

I was the one who'd suggested this. Nico was due to fly back to America the next morning, so I'd thought we should all gather at least once.

"Alright! I'm gonna make you guys the tastiest okonomiyaki ever!" Nico declared from the next table.

We'd split ourselves over two tables.

At this one were myself and Kiriya, and opposite us Poppy and Parad.

At the other table were Hiiro and Taiga, and Nico opposite.

Nico was starting to make the okonomiyaki over there, having dumped a portion of pork onto the grill to cook.

Just at that moment, the old lady who ran the shop handed Hiiro a stainless steel bowl and set of okonomiyaki utensils. He must have gone and ordered his own set at some point.

"Thanks," Hiiro said, and raised his utensils. Taking half of the grill that Nico was using, he began to prepare his own.

"Hey, Brave, when did you order that!? Are you saying mine isn't good enough!?" Nico demanded unhappily.

"I say no thank you to you. I'll make my own portion."

Having said that, Hiiro began to grill... blobs of chestnut cream.

I knew this shop had all kinds of strange menu items that nobody would normally order, but this was the first time I'd actually seem somebody order one. Well, just as expected of Hiiro and his sweet tooth.

"I'm taking half of this grill as my operating field, got it? Don't touch anything here."

Even with okonomiyaki, Hiiro still treated it like an operation like always. Yeah, everything was just like usual.

Talking with Hiiro had caused Nico to leave her okonomiyaki for too long. Frantically, she scraped it off the grill and flipped it.

"Oops. I burnt it slightly..."

Nico kept sneaking worried glances at Taiga.

"...It doesn't matter. It's all the same once you eat it," Taiga retorted.

"Hah? Look, someone's over here doing her best to make you food, so don't say it doesn't matter!"

"That's not it, Nico," I tried to interrupt. "That's Taiga's own way of being kind."

"No, no. You don't get it, Emu. This really is what he's like," Nico countered immediately.

"It's all just flour and meat and vegetables anyway," Taiga pointed out.

"Then why don't you go eat the flour by yourself!?"

"Hah? Like anyone could stomach just plain flour!"

Taiga and Nico had started fighting. Just like usual.

"Emu. Don't get involved with that table. You'll get burnt."

As he spoke, Kiriya began to carefully grill up some meat.

"You're right. And hey, Kiriya, you're really good at this! You're really handy, huh?"

"Oh? Didn't I tell you? My family runs a okonomiyaki shop."

"Yeah, right. I'm not going along with that lie."

"What? That's no fun."

While we bantered, Poppy and Parad listened intently.

Now that I looked at them again, I noticed they were both clutching chopsticks in one hand and a plate in the other while they sat and stared at the grill.

"Uh, Poppy, Parad. Are you just going to keep doing that until it's done?"

"...I mean, it's my first time having okonomiyaki. I don't know what else I should do," Poppy admittedly hesitantly.

I guess that was only natural.

Poppy and Parad had both only been in this world for thirteen years. That was only about as long as a human middle schooler. There were still a lot of things they'd never tried before.

"I'm so excited. Can I try it yet?" Parad asked with sparkling eyes, reaching for the okonomiyaki with his chopsticks.

"Nooope! Sit still and wait!" Kiriya parried Parad's chopsticks with his own.

Parad pressed his lips together into a pout.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Like sing a song of encouragement?" Poppy offered.

But Kiriya only ignored her, his full attention now on the okonomiyaki.

Poppy's face fell, turning monochrome. She seemed pretty dejected.

Watching all these exchanges happen, I found a smile sliding onto my face unconsciously.