Omi Fushimi/Photographer at Dawn

The Hungry Trio

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2Part 3

Tasuku	Fushimi, can you pass that wrench over there?
Omi	This one?
Juza	I’m back.
Omi	Welcome home, Juza.
	Did you go out?
Juza	Yeah.
	Are you two doin’ maintenance right now?
Tasuku	Yeah. Just a bit on the chain.
Omi	How far did you ride?
Juza	I went all the way to the beach with Kumon in the back.
Tasuku	A touring trip with the brothers, huh?
	That’s nice.
Juza	The roads were a bit backed up since it was a holiday, but I’m glad it looks like Kumon had fun.
Omi	I’ve been wanting to go for a ride too.
	I haven’t gone far at all these days, just nearby places.
Tasuku	If that’s the case, a friend of mine recommended a touring spot the other day that seemed pretty nice.
	…Here. Look.
Omi	Oh, I see.
	It does look relaxing with lots of nature.
Juza	Yeah.
Tasuku	If you’re interested, then why don’t we go there together on our next day off?
	I was thinking of going myself, but making it a trio doesn’t sound bad either.
Omi	Sounds great to me.
Juza	I wanna go.
Tasuku	Great, it’s decided then.
	Apparently, there’s a store where we can eat tasty tempura bowls nearby, so maybe we can stop by for a lunch break.
Omi	I can’t wait.
Izumi	Oh, Omi-kun, are you washing the dishes?
	I’ll lend you a hand.
Omi	Thanks.
	I’ll leave the drying to you.
Izumi	You got it!
	By the way, the pudding a la mode today really hit the spot~.
Omi	I’m glad to hear that. Honestly, I was worried it was a little too sweet.
Izumi	Not at all. It was just right!
	I guess I’ve been a tad tired these days.
	My sweet tooth’s been acting up.
Omi	Aren’t you too busy with everything?
	Don’t push yourself too hard, alright?
Izumi	Same to you, Omi-kun. Thanks for always making delicious meals even though you’re busy with your job.
Omi	Haha. Well, I like doing it.
	I’m happy to hear you and everyone say it’s delicious just like earlier.
Izumi	Juza-kun was eating the pudding with sparkles in his eyes too.
Omi	Yeah. It’s worth making since all the guys at the dorm have great reactions, just like Juza.
	Oh, right. Speaking of Juza, we plan to head out bright and early tomorrow.
	So I doubt I’ll be able to make something elaborate for breakfast…
Izumi	I’ll make it tomorrow in that case. Don’t worry about it and just go on your way.
Omi	Are you sure?
	That helps. Thanks.
Izumi	Are you going out with Juza-kun?
Omi	Yeah. Tasuku, Juza and I are all going on a touring trip.
	It’s kind of far, but we heard there’s a good spot.
Izumi	Touring, huh? The weather tomorrow’s gonna be nice too. I’m sure it’ll feel great.
Omi	Would you like to come with us, Director?
	If you’re alright with sitting behind me, that is.
Izumi	The offer is super tempting…
	But I have some things to take care of tomorrow.
Omi	That’s too bad, but I guess there’s no way around it.
	I’ll invite you at the next opportunity.
Izumi	Yeah, please do!
	I’ll take care of breakfast tomorrow, so you can just have fun without any worries!
Omi	Awesome, thanks.

Omi	This really is a nice spot.
	The air’s fresh and it feels great.
Juza	The road was wide, so we had a smooth ride too.
Tasuku	The skies were totally clear today.
	It was great touring weather.
Omi	I’m looking forward to the tempura bowls Tasuku-san told us about.
Juza	Same. I’m starvin’.
Tasuku	Oh yeah. The restaurant should be around here—.
Omi	Ah, isn’t it over there?
Juza	The shop name is right.
Tasuku	It’s totally deserted. I heard the restaurant’s always busy with people, but…
Juza	…There’s a piece of paper that says, “temporarily closed due to the shopkeeper’s back pain”.
Omi	It’s closed temporarily, huh…
Tasuku	*Sigh*… so that’s why there’s no one around?
Omi	That’s too bad. But how about we look for another shop?
	I mean, that’s what I say, but as far as I can see, there’s no other restaurants in the area…
Tasuku	It’s quite rural, after all. The selling point around here is the nature.
Juza	—Ah.
Omi	What’s up?
Juza	…Ain’t that a soba restaurant over there?
Tasuku	Really?
Juza	That banner has soba shop written on it.
	Over there.
Omi	You’re right.
	The banner’s out, so that means the restaurant’s open.
Tasuku	We don’t have any other alternatives anyways.
	Let’s head over.
Shop clerk	Welcome.
	For a table of three, over there, please.
Omi	Thanks
	…Alright, what should we have?
Tasuku	Is this the menu?
	Everything sounds good.
Shop clerk	Our shop recently added wanko soba as a new menu item, so please consider it if you’d like.
Omi	Wanko soba, huh?
Juza	I’m hungry as hell right now, so I feel like I could just keep eatin’ and eatin’.
Tasuku	I ate over 100 bowls the last time I attempted it. I’m sure these members could do pretty well.
Omi	So you’ve done it before, Tasuku-san?
Juza	And you can eat that much?
Tasuku	Well, that was back in my school days.
	I won’t know how much I can finish now if I don’t try.
Omi	Alright, shall we take up the challenge?
	All three of us are absolutely starving right now.
Juza	Thank god for all-you-can-eat.
Tasuku	It’s settled then.
Omi	Excuse me.
	All three of us will have wanko soba, please!

Omi	We’re home.
Izumi	Welcome back!
Taichi	How’d the touring go?
Tasuku	The ride felt great.
	The weather held up too.
Citron	That’s good to hear~!
	So, what soup and ears did you get?
Taichi	Uh, it’s souvenirs!
Omi	Ahh, about that…
	Actually, we weren’t able to buy anything this time.
Tasuku	It was fine in the morning, but the roads were pretty congested on the way back.
	We were going to buy some at the rest stop, but we gave up on dropping by. Sorry about that.
Izumi	That sounds rough…
Citron	Oh! That’s a shame, but I understand.
Juza	This ain’t a souvenir, but I got this.
Taichi	“Wanko certification ticket”…?
	What’s this?
Omi	It’s a certification that we ate over 100 wanko soba bowls.
	Tasuku-san and I got them too.
Izumi	Wait, you’re telling me the three of you ate over 300 bowls!?
	Amazing…!
Taichi	How many bowls did you end up with at the end?
Juza	The shop workers stopped countin’ after we went past 100, so I dunno the actual number.
Tasuku	The restaurant ran out of stock while we were eating, so it was over before we could give up.
Citron	You ate them clean!?
	That’s an unexpected smackdown!
Taichi	I mean, that expression’s not exactly wrong.
Omi	We were relieved when the shopkeepers told us we helped them out since not many people come due to them being in the countryside.
Izumi	That’s good to hear.
	(I’ve gotten to a good place to stop in my work, so maybe I’ll have some coffee…)
	Huh, Omi-kun?
	What are you doing at this hour?
Omi	Director.
	Haha, I was spotted.
	I was making some sweets an apology for not being able to buy any souvenirs for everyone.
Izumi	You don’t have to worry about that, you know?
Omi	No, no. I left breakfast to you, yet I came back empty-handed. At least allow me to do this much.
Izumi	That’s so like you, Omi-kun.
	By the way, what are you making?
Omi	Buckwheat flour muffins.
	I remembered we had some leftover buckwheat flour from when we bought it before.
Izumi	It’s soba-related!
Omi	You got me. The truth is, this buckwheat flour has been on my mind ever since I was on my 30th bowl or so.
Izumi	Really?
Omi	You said your sweet tooth has been acting up lately, didn’t you?
	That’s another reason I wanted to make sweets tonight.
CHOICE 1: That’s very kind of you [+] Izumi I only briefly mentioned sweets to you yesterday. That’s very kind of you. Omi Well… you also mentioned you had things to take care of today. I felt like you’ve been a little too busy these days. Izumi I’m getting as much rest as I can, so it’s fine. Omi I thought you’d say that. All I can do is make sweets like this, so please have some if you’d like.
CHOICE 2: I can’t wait [+] Izumi Buckwheat flour muffins~. I can’t wait to see how they taste. Omi They’re not bad. They’re not as moist as with regular flour, but they have a crumbly texture. Izumi I see. …Wow, there’s a great smell coming from the oven! Omi It looks like they came out well.
	*ding*
Izumi	Looks like they’re done!
Omi	Shall we take them out quickly?
	By the way, did you need something from the kitchen, Director?
Izumi	Ah, right. I reached a good stopping point in my work, so I came to make some coffee.
Omi	You’re still working at this hour? That’s a lot.
	I’ll let our hardworking Director eat these freshly baked muffins before anyone else then.
Izumi	Are you sure?
	I appreciate the thought… but I think Azami-kun’s going to get mad at me if I eat sweets this late.
Omi	Alright, it’ll be our very own secret then.
	That solves that, right?
	If you’d prefer, how about I feed you directly?
	Here. Say ahh—.
Izumi	I-I’m fine. I can eat it myself!
Omi	Haha, just joking.
Izumi	(It doesn’t sound like a joke when Omi-kun says it…)
	Alright, I’m taking a bite.
	…Yep, it’s tasty alright! It has a really gentle flavour.
Omi	I’m glad if it suits your taste.
	Here, you can take a few to your room too.
Izumi	Thanks!
	I’m going to eat these and get back to burning the midnight oil!
Omi	Once again, please don’t push yourself too hard.

Anna