Chapter 174: Eel Rice

The inside of Masayoshi Kishimoto’s stomach suddenly sent out a signal reminding him that he needed to eat. He understood that hugging Natsui Makoto could go on and on like this, but without solving the problem of his belly hunger.

Masayoshi Kishimoto calmly asked, “For lunch, what would you like to eat?”

Natsui Makoto looked at him sideways, pursed her lips and said, “You’re hungry?”

Masayoshi Kishimoto, still holding her with both hands, admitted, “Everything I ate in the morning is pretty much digested. Can one not be hungry?”

Natsui Makoto thought briefly, “Let’s just go eat monjayaki! I know of a monjayaki here that’s not only affordable, but also delicious.”

Masayoshi Kishimoto smiled bitterly and voiced his objection, “I don’t want to eat monjayaki, I want to eat something with rice, can we change it?”

Natsui Makoto blurted out, “Beef and rice.”

When Masayoshi Kishimoto heard the words “beef and rice”, he immediately thought of Yoshinoya. He had gotten tired of eating it in his previous life.

If he had to eat it again in this lifetime, he definitely wouldn’t do it, “Let’s go eat eel rice! I know of a place within the Taito district that has first-class eel rice.”

“How expensive would that be!” Natsui Makoto had lived a hard life for nearly twenty years, and had already developed the habit of living frugally. Unagi rice was a once-a-year luxury for her.

The Japanese have a tradition of eating eel rice on hot days. According to them, it is a tonic to get through the summer heat, similar to the Chinese autumn fat. Only, the two time is not the same above, the essence of the meaning is exactly the same.

Currently it is January, winter has not yet passed. Unagi rice is definitely available for sale, and the price is much more expensive than eating unagi rice in the summer.

“I want to eat eel rice for lunch today.” Masayoshi Kishimoto said with a tone that didn’t budge.

Natsui Makoto suddenly smiled to herself, she still thought of him as that one poor person like her in the past. The two of them had waited in line for half an hour on Christmas Eve inside the middle of winter just to eat snapper yaki from a street side store.

The fact that Masayoshi Kishimoto was even able to live in Nishi-Azabu, Minato, meant that he could eat whatever he wanted, and could not care less about the price at all.

“Alright! I’ll just listen to you.” Natsui Makoto said without sticking to her guns.

Masayoshi Kishimoto loosened his hold on her hands, then held both sides of her arms left and right on one side, and pushed the other person to sit up and said, “Put the door key away. We’re leaving right now.”

Only then did Natsui Makoto go and take the door key that he had placed on top of the glass coffee table in her hand. The first thing she felt in her hand was that it wasn’t light and flimsy like her own door key, but rather had a certain weight to it that made it quite heavy.

She then took a look at the key in her hand, and it was obvious that the workmanship was even finer. Her own heart sighed with emotion, rich people’s door keys are different.

Two people hand in hand, ten fingers tightly interlocked left. As they walked down the road, they looked no different from other young couples.

Masayoshi Kishimoto wasn’t afraid to meet anyone. Even if it was Rie Sakai’s friend, it didn’t matter. He could buy her off with a brand-name bag, a brand-name dress, or a pair of brand-name shoes, and she would keep her mouth shut and pretend that she hadn’t seen anything.

If one is not enough, then two. It was just a matter of money. The word would never reach Rie Sakai’s ears. Who made her friends just ordinary kids from middle-class families?

Although Masayoshi Kishimoto had moved to Nishi-Azabu in Minato-ku and had to spend more time on the road to work than in the past, there were significant benefits that greatly reduced the chance of Rie Sakai running into an embarrassing scene with Makoto Natsui.

After all, Rie Sakai’s time spent moving around the Taito district had decreased quite a bit. She would return to the Minato district in addition to studying at Tokyo University of the Arts.

Even if she participated in the activities of the Roses Club, she would mainly be placed within the Minato Ward. Those who lived in Minato Ward were born with a sense of superiority and exclusivity.

This sense of superiority was different from those who lived in Setagaya. The latter always liked to say “Setagaya” in order to show that they were different.

Masayoshi Kishimoto guessed that after Rie Sakai graduated from university, she could count on one hand the number of times she went to the Taito district throughout the year.

Ueno and Asakusa would be as lively and bustling as Roppongi, Azabujuban, Shirokane Koron, Akasaka, and the Tokyo Tower?

In Masayoshi Kishimoto’s opinion, it was a good arrangement for one to live in Nishi-Azabu, Minato Ward, and the other in Ueno, Taito Ward. Even if one ran around some between the two districts, it was still worth doing.

Natsui Makoto walked along with Kishimoto Masayoshi just as soon as she reached the front of the store, and from its high-flying facade decoration, she knew that the consumption wouldn’t be plebeian, but rather, it was a high-class cuisine store.

She didn’t say anything, in her heart she couldn’t help but start to get nervous, after all, it was the first time in her life that she walked into such a high-class place.

Natsui Makoto’s inner lack of confidence and worry immediately reacted on top of her body movements. She grasped Kishimoto Masayoshi’s hand very tightly, just as a child likes to grasp an adult’s hand tightly to seek protection when it encounters something that makes its heart feel uneasy.

Masayoshi Kishimoto felt the tension from her, and did not feel overly surprised. He believed that if she came to this kind of high-class store a few more times in the future, she would gradually become accustomed to it and become more comfortable.

The two were led into a small private room by the waitress. She waited until the guests were seated face to face and then waited patiently for their orders.

Masayoshi Kishimoto didn’t bother to look at the menu in front of him and said, “Give us each a bowl of your signature eel rice.”

The waitress said, “Please wait,” and closed the door to the private room before retreating.

Only then did Natsui Makoto have the guts to flip through the menu that was placed in front of her. If she didn’t look at it, she couldn’t stand it, as if her head was starting to run out of oxygen. For herself, the price was simply too expensive.

“A normal eel rice is nothing more than a layer of grilled eel meat covering the top. The so-called super eel rice, the big deal is that it’s just an extra layer of grilled eel meat in the middle of the rice, which means it forms the top and middle layers.

This one’s signature eel rice is very unique. It is a top, middle and bottom layer of grilled eel sandwiched between rice. Not only that, but they use wild eel instead of captive-bred eel.

This wild eel is served with an exclusive seasoning sauce that has a good flavor and a large portion, so one bowl will surely fill you up.” Masayoshi Kishimoto introduced with a smile.

Natsui Makoto did a double take when she stopped the menu at the page with the signature eel rice. She looked at the price on there and laughed bitterly, “A meal like ours is more expensive than what I spend on meals in a month. Can it not taste good and have a good portion?”