kscans

Chapter 130 - A Sense of Destiny

"Sorry Saku-chan, made you wait."

"Not at all. Don't worry. Good work today."

After I finished work, I headed to our meeting spot and met up with Saku-chan. The two of us were going out to eat. It was to celebrate the start of his life at his new school. No, that's not quite it. It was more like a bit of encouragement. I had actually made a reservation for yesterday, but the restaurant had to suddenly push it back a day due to their own circumstances. We could have gone somewhere else, but when I told him, Saku-chan seemed to be really looking forward to it.

"By the way, Saku-chan. Today's your second day, how's it going?"

I figured he was more nervous than anything on the first day, but by the second, his perspective should have widened a bit. I imagine he had gotten a feel for the atmosphere, at least a little.

"Let's see... I'm sure there are still things I haven't seen, but there are a lot of nice people, so I think I'll be able to do just fine."

"I see. How about your studies?"

"Thanks to you picking a school at a similar level to my old one, there's hardly any difference. Maybe the new one is a little faster? But only just."

I see. I don't know much about schoolwork, so I had someone who does handle it. I'm glad to hear there don't seem to be any problems. Even though he's stepped into the underworld, his main life is still on the surface. It would be putting the cart before the horse if his life on the surface suffered when he's trying to build the strength to live there. Well, I'm sure juggling his studies and training will be tough, but I want him to do his best.

"Oh, here it is."

"It has a nice atmosphere. I'm getting nervous."

"It's fine, it's fine. The taisho is a friendly guy."

I laughed and we entered the restaurant, where a vigorous voice greeted us.

"Hey, sorry about that, Hide-san. After you went to the trouble of making a reservation."

"It's fine, it's fine. Your master suddenly collapsed. Of course you'd rush to his side."

"Well, that same master punched me and asked what the hell I was doing, leaving the restaurant."

"Haha, sounds like a stubborn old man. You filled in for him with the knife for just one day, was it?"

I think he said some important customers were coming.

"Yeah. I have a junior apprentice who's good enough to run the place, but he happened to be on his honeymoon."

"Can't be helped, then. What about the restaurant?"

"My junior apprentice got back today, so we'll be back to normal business tomorrow."

That's excellent.

"Well, anyway! I'll give you plenty of extra service to make up for the trouble!"

"Yeah, I'll be looking forward to it."

"You bet! By the way, is he really your relative, Hide-san? He gives off a very intelligent impression."

"You want me to fillet you with my amateur cooking skills?"

"Ahaha, you two get along so well."

Saku-chan said with a laugh as he sipped the tea he was served.

"Well, Hide-san and I have known each other for... how long has it been?"

"Since I was twenty, so almost fifteen years."

"I see. It's been that long already."

"Reminiscing is nice and all, but I'm hungry. Just give us whatever you recommend."

"You got it. Oh, right, young man. Is there anything you can't eat?"

"No! I'm fine! I don't have any dislikes or allergies!"

"Is that so, is that so. That's good to hear."

Saku-chan seemed curious too, so I figured I would take over the storytelling while the taisho started preparing our food.

"I met this old guy when I was twenty, just like he said."

"When you were still a fresh-faced new member of society."

"Yep. I was the life of the party with my bursting freshness."

That day, I had been drinking until late at night and was completely plastered. We finally decided to call it a night and broke up. But I was in such a good mood that it felt silly to go straight home, so I decided to indulge in a little night walk.

"Then I had to go, so I staggered into a nearby park. And there was this old guy on a bench."

"That must have been pretty late, right?"

"Yeah. He was hanging his head with a sake cup in his hand."

He was so gloomy you couldn't imagine it from the lively man he is now.

"It was my third year of apprenticeship. All I ever got was yelled at, I'd never been praised once."

"He was sulking, thinking he probably didn't have what it takes and that he should just give up and find another job."

And that's when a drunk me came over and started talking to him. That's how we met.

"Here you go!"

"Wow, that looks delicious... Well then, time to eat."

Saku-chan politely put his hands together and picked up his chopsticks. First up was squid. Squid is delicious. I love it too.

"So good!?"

"Hahaha! Glad to hear it!"

"Taisho-san, you were right not to give up when you were young!"

Heaping praise on him, Saku-chan added, "It might be presumptuous for an amateur like me to say, but you can make sushi this delicious!" I know he called himself an amateur, but he can make osechi of that quality. He must have a discerning palate, so I think he's earned the right to say that much.

"That's all thanks to Hide-san."

"Hero Uncle?"

"I'm sure you know, but you see, this guy is pathologically smooth-tongued, right?"

"Yes, I know that very well. When he comes home at the end of the year, he runs the conversation like a professional emcee."

"And he managed to charm me and get me all fired up. And now, here I am."

He says that, but it's all based on his own skill, so I don't think it was thanks to me. He was just feeling a little down. I bet things would have been fine even if I hadn't been there.

"Don't be so modest. You're my benefactor, Hide-san."

"Even if you say that... Taisho, with a name like yours, it's like you were born to be a sushi chef anyway."

"What's his name? Is it Maguro or something?"

"Ohira Shogo."

"Huh, oh, so taisho is...!?"

Yep. Me calling him taisho is a nickname.

"When a guy who's likely to get a nickname like taisho wants to be a sushi chef, that's just fate."

"Eeeh..."

Well, taisho isn't a title exclusive to sushi chefs, I guess. But you have to feel a sense of fate when someone who seems destined for that nickname is training at a sushi restaurant. And in fact, he's now independent and running his own fine establishment, so the destiny I felt wasn't wrong, was it?

"Motivations aside, he really helped me out. He lifted my spirits when I was down and kept me company while I taste-tested my creations."

"W, well... if I hadn't heard your motivation, I could have been genuinely moved... but I guess that's very Hero Uncle of you."

"Right? This meddler just has to help out anyone he meets for the first time."

"Here you go," he said, placing my order down as well.

"Wha!?"

Saku-chan gasped when he saw my sushi plate.

"Eh... a, a salad roll? And..."

"That's roast beef."

"I know what you're thinking, Saku-chan. You wouldn't expect a high-end place like this to serve these things, though you might see them at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, right?"

"Young man, you don't like salad rolls?"

"No, I like them... They're delicious."

"Right! I love them too. I always pick one up when I buy food at a convenience store, and I order at least five plates when I go to a conveyor belt sushi place."

"A sushi chef goes to conveyor belt sushi!?"

What a great reaction.

"Of course I do. It's delicious, it's fun, it's an invincible genre of food."

"He even has one of those home conveyor belt sushi machines."

On birthdays and anniversaries, he makes the sushi himself, puts it on plates, and sends them around. I was invited for my birthday once, and it was a ton of fun.

"From what I hear, your master is a pretty old-fashioned person, Taisho-san, right? Don't you get in trouble?"

"He's strict about the quality of my work, but his stance is that ultimately, it's the customer who eats the sushi."

The taisho laughed, explaining that while there are things his master believes should never be changed, he's flexible about everything else.

"Besides, quite a few non-conveyor belt sushi places serve things like salad rolls."

"I, I see..."

"But I get what you mean, Saku-chan. The image you have in your head comes first."

That's exactly why I brought him here. The idea of a non-conveyor belt sushi restaurant makes people tense up. But this place, while serving authentic sushi made by a skilled chef, also puts out a lot of casual items, so you can relax naturally.

"W, well then... could I ask for something like that next?"

"Leave it to me!"

The taisho thumped his chest in response to Saku-chan's expectant gaze.

Hehehe, I was right to bring him here.