Still Not Enough

Seeing how completely dejected I looked, Ren tilted his head.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Rinsir-san?”

With frustration seeping into my voice, I answered.

“Hmph… Ren, I envy you. I wish I had been born in the world where you and Taisho came from. Then I too could have spent my entire life eating countless kinds of ramen…”

Ren simply nodded as though it were nothing.

“Oh, is that all? You just wanna try ramen with different flavors? Then I’ll make ’em for you.”

I sprang to my feet in surprise.

“W-What!? Ren… you… you can do that?”

Ren nodded casually.

“Sure can. Remember what I told you before? I’ve trained at all kinds of famous shops over the years. Of course, I can’t make perfect copies, but I can recreate ramen that tastes pretty damn close. Though getting the ingredients and doing all the prep takes time, so I can’t whip ’em up right away.”

Overcome with emotion, I shouted,

“O-Ohhh! That is wonderful! Ren, I beg you, please! Let me eat more and more kinds of ramen!”

Ren flashed a grin and gave me a thumbs-up.

“Yeah, leave it to me! I’ll feed you some top-class ramen.”

Brad chuckled at our exchange.

“Maybe we got so caught up chasing after Taisho-san’s ramen that we ended up trapped by our own preconceptions…”

Ouri said pensively,

“Well, you can hardly blame us. Taisho’s ramen really was something special.”

Then he continued,

“Still, I think Taisho’s ramen is my favorite after all. I could eat his ramen every single day and never get tired of it.”

Remembering those days long ago, I nodded as well.

“Indeed. Ren’s ramen is delicious, but eating something that rich every night might be a little heavy.”

Brad also spoke hesitantly.

“There’s one thing that’s been bothering me too… This ramen has incredible impact, and it’s wonderful. But… I feel like Ren-san’s ramen is still missing some mysterious ‘something’ that I always sensed in Taisho-san’s ramen.”

I stroked my chin.

“Something is missing, you say… Hmm?”

Truth be told, I had also felt as though something were missing.

It had been extremely delicious. It had moved me. It had surprised me.

And yet, there was something about the sense of fulfillment after eating ramen… something in the lingering aftertaste.

Looking back now, I felt as though that had been what kept me from fully accepting his ramen until the very end.

Ren furrowed his brow.

“If we’re talking about eating it every day, yeah, this stuff definitely isn’t suited for that… but still. I don’t think my ramen loses to Dad’s in terms of flavor.”

We all strongly agreed with Ren.

“Indeed, in terms of flavor, yours is not inferior at all! And your ramen contained just as much surprise and wonder as Taisho’s.”

“Ren, your ramen is insanely good! But Taisho’s ramen still had this strange sense of nostalgia to it.”

“Yes. What we mean isn’t that your ramen tastes worse…”

“Ren-san’s ramen is rich and I love it! I might even prefer this to Taisho-san’s ramen… but now that you mention it, it does feel just a little unsatisfying somehow.”

None of us were merely being polite. Everyone genuinely felt that way and spoke with serious expressions.

Ren looked somewhat relieved after learning that we did not think his ramen lost in flavor, but the mystery remained unsolved.

“…All four of you feel like my ramen is lacking something compared to Dad’s…? Doesn’t sound like it’s just a matter of preference. What the hell is missing?”

Brad looked saddened.

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be struggling so much. Because whatever it is, my ramen is missing it too. If I could find it, my ramen might finally get closer to Taisho-san’s…”

Ren looked up at the moon and sank into thought.

“Something Dad’s ramen had that neither the ramen in this world nor mine has… something strange and nostalgic enough that you could eat it every day without getting tired of it…?”

After a while, Ren suddenly smacked his palm.

“Ahhh! I got it!”