May 26th.
Just after 5 PM, the sky gradually turned gloomy, with a faint sense that rain was approaching.
Glancing up at the weather, Luo Shu, carrying a plastic bag in his left hand and holding a bottle of coconut water in his right, entered a park in Ikebukuro alone. By the park fountain, on a bench, he saw his date for this meeting, Utau Hoshina.
Although it was billed as a meeting, it was more a matter of recognising her, for Utau Hoshina, as an idol singer, was somewhat of a well-known figure throughout Tokyo.
To avoid being noticed, especially by the media catching her meeting a man privately, she had taken some precautions.
The girl had carefully pinned up her golden hair and donned a large brown beret that covered most of it.
At the same time, she wore round-frame sunglasses that obscured nearly a third of her face, stylish yet concealing the majority of her features.
Of course, this level of disguise would be child's play for some reporters, but from Luo Shu's observation, she had even worn coloured contact lenses beneath the sunglasses and applied a natural-looking makeup completely different from her usual style.
Looking at the girl's elaborate efforts, Luo Shu suddenly felt his own casual attire was somewhat inadequate in the face of her careful preparation.
He should have bought a pair of similarly large sunglasses and worn a face mask before coming out.
Just as Luo Shu was observing Utau Hoshina, she—sitting on a bench feeding pigeons with breadcrumbs—looked up and gave him a sidelong glance:
"What are you standing there gawking for?"
"I was just a little surprised."
Luo Shu spoke as he approached, giving Utau Hoshina a once-over before smiling and saying:
"It seems the idol business really is tough."
"No one in this world has it easy."
As she spoke, Utau Hoshina took a white face mask from her pocket and put it on, then studied Luo Shu through her sunglasses before finally fixing her gaze on his hands:
"Is that a gift inside?"
"No, I just happened to buy an extra drink." Luo Shu said, taking the coconut water from the plastic bag and offering it to Utau Hoshina: "Want it?"
Utau Hoshina glanced at Luo Shu upon seeing this, then sighed:
"You should have brought it out before I put on my mask."
"Then consider it a small dessert for after the meal." Luo Shu said, casting a glance at Utau Hoshina: "Speaking of which, have you decided where to have dinner?"
Hearing this, Utau Hoshina looked up and gave Luo Shu a somewhat surprised look.
Even through the sunglasses, Luo Shu could sense her astonishment.
This instead made Luo Shu quite puzzled:
"Why are you looking at me so surprised?""
"No, I just simply didn't expect you wouldn't have prepared which restaurant to take me to..." Utau Hoshina said with a mix of amusement and exasperation: "Normally, shouldn't the man decide on the location?"
To this, Luo Shu directly countered: "What if you don't like the food, but feel obliged to accompany me anyway? Wouldn't that make things awkward for everyone?"
"That's true..." Utau Hoshina nodded in understanding, then glanced at Luo Shu: "So do you have any dietary restrictions?"
"Less spicy, savoury flavours. I absolutely can't accept combinations like noodles with rice, dumplings with rice, or bread with rice - pairing staple foods together."
"Other than that, I'm fine with most things."
Hearing this, Utau Hoshina thought for a moment before tentatively asking:
"Then... can you accept garlic?"
"Garlic is fine." Luo Shu answered honestly, adding by way of explanation: "A bit more is no problem either - I've tried eating a bowl of noodles with a whole clove of garlic before."
"...Noodles?"
Utau Hoshina seemed to think of something upon hearing "noodles", then said:
"In that case, I do have a place in mind I'd like to go..."
...
20 minutes later.
Luo Shu sat in the ramen shop, sinking into deep contemplation.
Just then, Utau Hoshina came over from the side, holding two completed ramen order slips. She handed them to the ramen chef before walking over to Luo Shu and taking a seat in the inner booth, calmly stating:
"Already ordered. Yours is tonkotsu ramen with an extra portion of garlic."
"Just to be clear, I'm only bringing you here because you said you could accept anything."
Hearing Utau Hoshina's deliberately added remark, Luo Shu hardly needed to look up to imagine the triumphant smile on her face.
"So our dinner tonight is ramen?"
"Correct." Utau Hoshina picked up the disposable chopsticks in front of her, split them apart, and handed them to Luo Shu.
"Ramen for a first date?" Luo Shu made one last attempt at questioning.
"Don't you think I'm being very economical?"
Utau Hoshina said with a smile playing on her lips, her tone carrying a hint of teasing:
"It's not a high-end French restaurant, nor exquisite kaiseki cuisine, nor fresh fugu sashimi, but ordinary ramen that only costs 1200 yen even with extra toppings. Doesn't this prove my sincerity?"
Luo Shu's mouth twitched as he accepted the chopsticks Utau Hoshina handed over, sighing:
"I don't see any sincerity, but I do think you genuinely like ramen."
"You don't come here often normally?"
Utau Hoshina nodded at this, taking a pair of disposable chopsticks for herself:
"Right, I need to control calorie intake. Of course, most importantly, a girl coming to a ramen shop alone tends to attract too much attention."
"Girls eating ramen... seems like there really are news reports in Japan saying girls shouldn't eat bento alone or have ramen alone, that they should live refined lives..."
Luo Shu clicked his tongue at this, then said with deep emotion:
"The alienation of women by capitalism..."
Utau Hoshina didn't refute this, even though she was the daughter of capitalists herself.
Instead, she felt somewhat embarrassed about dragging Luo Shu to where she wanted to go:
"Do you rarely come to ramen shops?"
"I used to come often, less recently." After saying this, Luo Shu added, "But the canteen on the second floor of our department serves ramen. If I want some, I can just eat there."
"What?" Utau Hoshina looked surprised, hearing this: "Your canteen actually hired a ramen chef?"
"Yes, and it's a master from Totsuki." Luo Shu nodded, then turned to look at Utau Hoshina's clearly tempted expression and suddenly understood something, saying thoughtfully:
"I remember your company should be in Chiyoda Ward too? Not far from Akihabara, right?"
"I think Miss Utau would really like to get a canteen card with unlimited spending now, wouldn't you?"
"What do you mean by that?" Utau Hoshina glared at Luo Shu somewhat awkwardly.
Luo Shu just smiled at this:
"Mind if I give you one? Consider it a gift for our first date."
Hearing this, even Utau Hoshina was stunned by Luo Shu's unconventional move:
"Who gives a canteen card on a first date?"
Luo Shu smiled: "Just tell me if you want it or not!"
"Yes!!"
"Then that's settled! Might as well take advantage of public benefits when you can!"
"But aren't you the head of that public organisation?"
"Even better, then. If I don't mind, why should you..."
Utau Hoshina fell silent at this.
She suddenly felt that Luo Shu seemed somewhat different from everyone else she'd met before.