stonecrandall Page 364
Page 364
"I'm running away too, bye-bye, Hayakawa-sensei!"
The fantasy is over.
……
"hateful!"
Hayakawa's face darkened at this thought. If that were the case, then all her studious behavior before May must have been a pretense. In reality, she was an even more wicked woman than the other four sisters!
"No, we can't make any promises right now. We need to look for May at home first."
Hayakawa walked to the door, looking at the red door with some hesitation.
The color and the location suggest it's May.
"May, are you inside?"
I knocked gently on the door, but there was no response.
"Ugh…"
Hayakawa sighed, already certain that May was probably not in this room or in this house, but he still reached out and pushed the door open to confirm one last time: "I'm coming in."
"Squeak."
The door wasn't locked; it opened easily with a gentle press of the handle in the morning.
Hayakawa looked inside and saw Nakano Satsuki lying on the bed, half-covered by a blanket and her clothes, looking exhausted.
"Huh? He's sleeping?"
Hayakawa looked puzzled. It was only noon, so why would anyone be taking a nap at this time? Could it be that May stayed up all night last night?
Hayakawa hesitated, looking at the sleeping girl in front of him, wondering whether to wake her up. However, just as he was pondering this, May seemed to sense that someone was in the room, her eyebrows twitched slightly, and she opened her eyes.
……
When May opened her eyes, she stared blankly at the ceiling, remaining silent for a long time before finally uttering a soft murmur.
"hungry."
Are you hungry now?
A helpless voice suddenly came from the side, which startled Nakano Satsuki. She quickly turned her head and met Hayakawa's gaze.
"Hayakawa-san, what are you doing here?"
Nakano Satsuki blushed deeply: "Isn't this my room?"
"How dare you say that? I looked for you everywhere after I finished reading, but you weren't downstairs at all. I thought you had gone out."
Hayakawa said expressionlessly, "I had no choice but to go upstairs to check, and that's when I found you sleeping."
"this…"
Nakano Satsuki felt a little ashamed and lowered her head, whispering, "I'm sorry."
However, as soon as she finished speaking, a strange "gurgling" sound came from the girl's abdomen. Instantly, Nakano Satsuki's head made a gurgling sound like a steam engine, and her round, apple-like baby face turned blood red. She stammered in panic, "No... it's not like that. That was... the sound of my bed moving. I accidentally shook it. Ahaha, this bed has been used for too long. It's a bit unstable underneath. It really should be replaced."
After saying that, she blushed and covered her stomach, trying to appear nonchalant.
"..."
So that's how it is! It seems that May's sleepiness just now wasn't due to insufficient sleep last night, but entirely because her body lacked energy, which is why she couldn't move!
"Yeah...that's true."
Hayakawa turned his head silently and said calmly, "Let's not talk about the bed for now. Speaking of which, I'm a little hungry. Although it's not noon yet, we should probably go get something to eat."
"what…"
May's face turned even redder, but her voice betrayed a hint of glee as she whispered, "Well... since Hayakawa-san said so, even though it's still early, I'll go with her."
“…Oh, the cage*er, the sansbaba temple.”
If this guy put even a little bit of the effort he put into eating into studying, his grades wouldn't be in such a dismal state now!
……
Although it was only 10:30 a.m. just now, it would probably be 11 a.m. by the time we could eat, and it would be close to 12 p.m. by the time we finished eating. Rounding up, it was about the same as the average person's mealtime, so Hayakawa could barely accept it.
"Should we eat out? Or cook?"
Nakano Satsuki blinked at Hayakawa expectantly, seemingly wanting to try Hayakawa's cooking.
"I won't cook, and I won't go out to eat either."
Hayakawa said expressionlessly, "Order takeout."
Cooking at Nakano's house definitely requires a stove, and Hayakawa doesn't have the habit of tampering with other people's kitchen utensils. Eating out would waste a lot of time going back and forth, so by process of elimination, the best option is to order takeout.
"Oh well."
Nakano Satsuki had no objections; she was already happy to be able to eat.
"Um... tell me what you want to order."
Hayakawa took out his phone and handed it to May, saying, "This is near your house. I don't know what kind of takeout you like, so you can order it and I can come and pay later."
"How is this possible?!"
Upon hearing this, Nakano Satsuki immediately objected: "Hayakawa-san came to our house for tutoring, so it should be my turn to treat everyone to dinner. How can you, Hayakawa-san, treat us?"
"It doesn't matter who pays, right?"
Hayakawa answered without hesitation, but in his heart he actually wanted to pay for it himself. After all, in Hayakawa's view, although he was just a tutor, he was still a teacher, and how could a teacher let his student treat him to a meal?
There's no logic in teachers buying food for students, let alone students buying food for teachers.
However, May did not want to give him that opportunity.
Chapter 579 The Warring States Meal in May
"Okay, stop talking."
Nakano Satsuki returned Hayakawa's phone, then took out her own phone and opened a food delivery app, saying, "There's a new eel rice restaurant nearby. I recently went there with Yotsuba, and it was really good. If you don't mind, I'll order that. Hayakawa-kun shouldn't have any dietary restrictions, right?"
"No, you can have whatever you want."
Hayakawa had no choice but to agree.
"Then I'll order two super deluxe eel rice bowls, then one takoyaki, one tofu soup, one wasabi octopus, one Chinese sturgeon, and one..."
Nakano Satsuki rambled on, her fingers tapping rapidly across the screen: "Last, bring two servings of kept-warm orange juice, and then..."
That's way too much.
Hayakawa's face immediately darkened. He could only eat one serving of eel rice; what were the rest of the food?!
So if I had put a little more effort into studying instead of eating, my grades would be much better now!
“No need to order so much…” Hayakawa couldn’t help but say from the side, “That’s enough.”
"It's alright, Hayakawa-kun. It's okay to eat a little more for lunch."
Nakano Satsuki smiled and said, "There's a saying that breakfast should be hearty, lunch should be filling, and dinner should be light. So you should eat more at lunch to keep your energy up."
Hayakawa thought to herself, "That's true, but it's completely meaningless for May. Even though you've increased the quantity and quality of your breakfasts and lunches because of that, your dinners haven't decreased at all. In fact, besides the three main meals, your afternoon tea, desserts, and snacks haven't decreased at all. How can you tell me to eat more for lunch too?"
As Hayakawa thought of this, he couldn't help but glance at May, his gaze lingering on her alluring, curvaceous body, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.
She had noticed before that although the five sisters said that everyone's bodies were the same, there were actually differences upon closer observation. The biggest difference was that compared to the other sisters, May's figure was relatively fuller, especially her abdomen. Ichika, Nino, and Miku all had flat, fair, and delicate abdomens, while Yotsuba had a healthy, athletic-looking abdomen with subtle muscles, while May could be pinched into a small belly and was also noticeably heavier.
Hayakawa previously thought that May's weight gain was due to her inability to control her appetite, but now, looking at her enormous appetite every day, it seems insignificant compared to her extra weight. From this perspective, May is not only not fat at all, but is also extremely good at losing weight, making her someone that Furuhashi Fumino envies. After all, Furuhashi usually has to desperately lose weight even if she eats just a little, while May only gains a little weight despite eating so much.
"Hayakawa-san, stop looking at me like that..."
Suddenly, May's voice came from beside him. Hayakawa looked up and saw that May had noticed his gaze at some point and was now looking at him with a look that was seven parts shy and three parts disgust, her eyes darting around uncertainly.
"Uh…"
Hayakawa was unusually embarrassed and said expressionlessly, "I was just thinking about something."
"Humph…"
Nakano Satsuki clearly didn't believe her, gave a light snort and turned her head away. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Speaking of which, Hayakawa-san is a local from Tokyo, right?"
"Uh...yes, what's wrong?"
Hayakawa looked at her.
"That's great. Tokyo is the capital, one of the most prosperous cities in Asia. There must be a lot of special delicacies there."
Nakano Satsuki couldn't help but show a hint of envy, and asked with some curiosity, "I haven't been there yet. I wonder if Hayakawa-san has had any memorable dishes there? Tell me about them."
Are you a gourmet?
Hayakawa remained expressionless, took a sip of tea, and said, "Why are you so interested in this kind of gossip? As a student, you should focus on your studies."
“We just finished studying,” May said, sounding a little aggrieved. “We’re waiting for lunch now, so what’s wrong with chatting for a bit? Hayakawa-kun, you just keep poking at people’s sore spots.”
"Uh…"
Hayakawa's hand holding the teacup stiffened slightly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Speaking of which, I went to an interesting restaurant when I was in junior high school. If I go back to Tokyo to visit relatives, I should probably go back and check it out again."
"Oh, even Hayakawa-san goes to this restaurant a second time!"
Nakano Satsuki's eyes lit up: "Tell me about it!"
"It's a restaurant specializing in 'antique cuisine',"
Hayakawa explained, "We don't focus on the cuisine, but rather on the history and unique features. In the past, people mainly came to enjoy the atmosphere."
"Hmm? I still don't quite understand." Nakano Satsuki blinked. "Could you explain in more detail?"
"Hmm... let me explain it this way: when I went to eat there that time, the theme of the cuisine was 'Warring States Period'."
Hayakawa thought for a moment and said, "The dishes on the menu at that time were all the pre-war food of the Shogun during the Sengoku period of Japan, the dishes that the Daimyo liked, such as the sweet Nanban wagashi that Oda Nobunaga liked, salmon ochazuke, and even the rations of ordinary Sengoku soldiers, such as the sambar, cooked mutton soup served at the oath-taking banquet, and the special rations of ninjas, such as sambar. They all belonged to the characteristics of that theme."
"This... there are restaurants like this?"
Nakano Satsuki's eyes widened: "This is the first time I've ever heard of this."
"some."
Hayakawa nodded: "High-end restaurants will change their culinary themes according to the season and the time of year. After all, the freshness of ingredients changes with time, and the dishes and themes must also change accordingly. If you make bamboo shoot dishes in winter, the ingredients are not fresh, and picky customers will not buy it."
"I know this."
May nodded: "For example, when you go to a restaurant in the fall, the theme is usually 'autumn season' or 'saury,' because that's when saury is at its fattest and most delicious."
"Correct."
Hayakawa nodded: "However, the restaurant I went to also follows the time, but it mainly depends on the time of the story. For example, if the Sengoku War took place in July in history, the restaurant would hold a 'Sengoku Meal' themed event in July."
"I see, that's interesting."
Nakano Satsuki asked curiously, "I wonder what it tastes like?"
"The taste was still very good, quite unique." Hayakawa recalled, "After all, although it is ancient cuisine, the process and ingredients are top-notch, without any compromise. And since it was eaten by those important figures in ancient times, the taste must have been excellent."
Chapter 580 Acting is a Flower
"Even Hayakawa-san said it was good."
Nakano Satsuki's eyes lit up, and she said expectantly, "Then I'd like to go."
"This... probably won't work, it's in Tokyo."
Upon hearing this, Hayakawa glanced at May, hesitated for a long time, and then said awkwardly, "Besides... it's quite expensive."
"Is it expensive?"
Nakano Satsuki blinked, then checked her savings on her phone and immediately became confident: "How much money?"
"Um…"
Hayakawa hesitated for a moment, then leaned close to May's ear and whispered a number.
"So expensive?!" Two big question marks immediately appeared in Nakano Satsuki's eyes, and her ahoge (cowlick) stood up in surprise like an antenna.
"Mmm." Hayakawa slowly clicked on it, then added, "And that shop is members-only. You have to be a member to make a reservation in advance, otherwise they don't accept outsiders."
"..."
This is too much!
Just as May was feeling down and thought she had missed out on another delicious restaurant, the doorbell suddenly rang.