The Nameless Restaurant

The morning work mainly consisted of checking that guests had checked out and cleaning the entire guesthouse.

【White Snake】 was a renovated two-story traditional house, with the first floor serving as a common area and the second floor as the lodging area.

A guesthouse was, after all, a facility meant simply to provide a cheap place to sleep, so it was built differently from an ordinary hotel. There were private rooms, but the main accommodations were shared sleeping rooms called dormitories, separated by gender.

Six bunk beds were lined up in each room, allowing twelve people to sleep there at once. They could be used for group stays, but normally, complete strangers slept together in the same room.

I put the used bedsheets into the washing machine and vacuumed while they were being washed. Cleaning the kitchen, toilets, and shower rooms was also my job. At least once a week, I cleaned the windows too, and I hung the laundry outside to dry.

“All right, cleaning finished!”

“You were unusually fast today.”

“I worked hard.”

I puffed out my chest inside the perfectly cleaned building and reported to Fuzuki-san that I’d finished that part of the work. Fuzuki-san smiled like a goddess of good fortune and pointed outside.

“Then let’s head over to Riichi-kun’s restaurant. Would you mind driving?”

“Of course.”

I took the key to the small car parked outside the guesthouse and set off for Yūha’s workplace.

I was looking forward to seeing Riichi-san too, so I’d gotten unusually enthusiastic today. Fuzuki-san, sitting in the passenger seat, looked at me and said,

“You haven’t changed at all when it comes to Yū-chan. You’re always so serious about her.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I always live more seriously than anyone else on Earth.”

“Hehe. Perhaps you do.”

“I’m pulling out. Got your seat belt on?”

“Yes.”

I started the engine and drove off. Apparently, walking from here to our destination would have been difficult for someone Fuzuki-san’s age.

Her legs were still sturdy, and she cooked enormous amounts of food every day, but age must have been steadily taking its toll on her body. Compared to two years ago, she looked just a little smaller.

Onahebi Village was rural, so traffic lights barely existed. The few scattered around were pedestrian signals operated by push buttons. Except during the morning and evening school commute hours, they almost never turned red.

As I drove comfortably along, I spoke to the lady beside me.

“Fuzuki-san, you haven’t asked anything about me and Yūha.”

“Oh? Would you have preferred that I did?”

“Of course not. I’m saying I appreciate it. I don’t really mind, but Yūha might get hurt.”

Our parents’ divorce, and the fact that we had been separated from them and were now living like this—I had no way of knowing how much emotional damage she had suffered from it.

She acted fine on the surface, but even if we weren’t related by blood, she was still my little sister. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was hiding a lie or two.

“You really do treasure Yū-chan, don’t you?”

“I care about my family too, you know.”

“That’s a wonderful thing.”

While we talked, our destination came into view. I already knew where Riichi-san lived, so I didn’t need Fuzuki-san to guide me. The place with the sign out front was probably the restaurant famous for its delicious pizza.

“…Huh? There’s nothing written on that sign.”

“Riichi-kun’s restaurant doesn’t have a name.”

“How did that happen?”

“That boy can be rather indecisive, can’t he? He kept agonizing over the name until the restaurant was finished, then work on the sign started too, and in the end he had no choice but to put up a blank board.”

“Does that actually happen?”

What was supposed to have become a sign was nothing more than a board with a little paint on it.

“But in the end, I suppose being known as that delicious restaurant with no name gave it a sense of exclusivity. Apparently, people come from distant prefectures just to eat here.”

“Huh. Somehow, even that feels very Riichi-san.”

I parked the car and looked at the restaurant from outside. It was a stylish brick-patterned building with a chimney. Its cute appearance probably appealed to women, and combined with its location deep in the mountains, it certainly did feel special.

“Oh, right, Fuzuki-san. Could I borrow the car sometime?”

“Of course. Is there somewhere you’d like to go?”

“I was thinking of taking Yūha out for a drive. The scenery around here is nice.”

“Ohohohoho.”

“What’s with that laugh?”

Fuzuki-san covered her mouth and made a sound I’d never heard from her before. And what was with that excessively gentle look in her eyes?

“Ohohoho. By all means, by all means. As long as you refill the gas, you’re welcome to use it however you like on your days off. Ohohoho.”

“Your energy is weird right now.”

“I finally understand what Misuzu meant. So this is what it feels like when something is ‘precious.’”

Fuzuki-san’s eyes sparkled with an enthusiasm far too youthful for her age, leaving me at a loss for how to respond. Between our positions and the simple fact that she had decades more experience than me, she had the advantage. I wanted to avoid doing anything foolish that would only give her more ammunition to tease me.

“Come along, Roku-chan. Honestly, this is why I can never get enough of young people.”

I followed behind Fuzuki-san as she strode forward, feeling strangely conflicted. Uh, going into that restaurant with Fuzuki-san acting like this was making me a little uncomfortable.

…She wasn’t going to say anything weird, was she? She wouldn’t. Please.

I quickly moved ahead and opened the restaurant door. I let Fuzuki-san enter first, then followed her inside.

Since the restaurant had only just opened, there were no other customers yet.

Behind the counter, a head of dark brown hair turned toward us, and Riichi-san raised one hand. I nodded in greeting, and he glanced to the side.

Yūha came over from that direction with her hair tied back. She wore a simple work uniform consisting of a black apron over a white dress shirt. Moving somewhat stiffly, she said,

“Welcome. A table for two?”

Our eyes met for the briefest instant before she immediately looked away. Maybe she really was still mad. Sorry, my personality is terrible. I actually came, just like I said I would.

“I’ll show you to your table.”

We sat at a table by the window, and Yūha placed the menus on the table.

“Please call me when you’re ready to order.”

She bowed and walked away.

On the way back, she tripped over something and let out, “Whoa!” Her face went red as she spun around, and our eyes met dead-on. Sorry. I saw the whole thing.

Still, your customer service was great, so I gave her a thumbs-up as a good-job sign. Yūha glared at me furiously. I wasn’t mocking you.

“You look happy.”

“I’m relieved she seems to be doing fine. She’s really grown up.”

“At this rate, I imagine you’ll cry when Yū-chan gets married.”

“…………Who knows.”

I imagined it for a moment, then immediately stopped.

I picked up the menu and looked over what they offered. Apparently, the lunch set was recommended at this hour. For 1,500 yen, it came with a drink, pizza, salad, and dessert.

I called Yūha over and had her take our order. I ordered the Japanese-style pizza topped with wild mountain vegetables, which was apparently their specialty, then chatted with Fuzuki-san for a while.

It was nothing more than small talk. The temperature swings had been severe lately, someone in the neighborhood was debating whether to move in with her son’s family, fewer women were marrying into farming families than in the past, and so on. I listened while giving appropriate responses to a conversation that seemed capable of continuing forever if left unchecked.

Fuzuki-san had once taught me that even pretending to listen made people happy. Though I really was listening. I paid attention when Fuzuki-san talked. She was someone I owed a lot to, after all.

By the time our order arrived, the other tables were gradually starting to fill up too. Apparently, some local ladies had come for a tea gathering. The gender ratio leaned heavily toward women.

I took a bite of the popular pizza.

“…Oh, this is good. It tastes kind of fresh.”

Perhaps to bring out the depth of flavor in the mountain vegetables, the crust barely asserted itself. I could smell the toasted wheat, but once I actually ate it, the entire flavor profile felt distinctly Japanese.

“Riichi-kun had always been famous for being a good cook, but I never expected him to get this good.”

“It’s impressive. He trained, came back, and opened his own restaurant.”

“If it’s him, I can entrust Misuzu to him without worry.”

The manager of this restaurant was still behind the counter, continuously baking pizzas. Right beside him, Kagari was working diligently with hearts practically visible in her eyes. Was it even possible to look that happy while working?

I had no idea what Riichi-san thought of Kagari, but I figured things would work out somehow in the end. No, they had better work out. Make it happen somehow, you idiot Kagari. Charging straight ahead at full power is your one redeeming quality.

We enjoyed dessert too, and of course I had Yūha handle the bill before we left the restaurant. Other than tripping once, she hadn’t made a single mistake at work. At this point, I might have no choice but to attach a camera crew to her like one of those shows following a child’s first solo errand.

After leaving the restaurant, I psyched myself up to work hard for the afternoon too.

“Fuzuki-san, what do I need to do next?”

“There’ll be more children today than yesterday. We’ve been flooded with people saying, ‘I want you to look after mine too.’”

Yeah, there went my motivation again.