COLD SOBA / 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐨̄𝐭𝐨

xxvi.

chapter 26 | body? yes. heart? no. mind? debatable. hotel? trivago.

"will you marry me?"

she smiled, sweating nervously. "sorry, i'm currently not on the menu. come back tomorrow?"

did he find out my massive crush on him? oh shit oh shit oh shit don't tell me it's one of these obligatory proposals-

"i was joking." his face was undeniably stoic, his eyes holding a deadpan look.

"oh. ok." she picked up her pen, stabbing herself in the palm.

he raised an eyebrow at her action. "are you alright?"

she grit her teeth, taking the pen out of the reddening skin. "just. peachy. sir."

pushing her stray hairs behind her ear, she threw him a fake smile. "now, what would you like to order, sir?"

he furrowed his eyebrows, noticing the already irritated skin. "are you sure you're-"

"i said," her words came out perforated, her pen that was squeezed in a tight grasp hitting the pad with every word.

"what. would. you. like. to. order. sir?"

he gulped, nervous for the first time. "i'll have 5 of the chaliapin steak donburi set meals."

"right away, sir. it will be out as soon as possible, sir. would you like to have plain miso or wakame miso, sir?"

it was unnerving how many times she had called him 'sir' in the last minute. he shook his head, telling her that she can choose.

promptly nodding her head, she swiveled on her heels, and gracefully...er, stomped into the kitchen, swishing the draped curtains behind her.

grabbing the pieces of cloth hanging from the wall, she shoved the navy-blue apron with red accents on and tied the [f/c] bandana around her head aggressively. taking one of the many pork roasts that were hanging from the skewer, she started hacking the meat into perfect slices, thin enough for garnishing on top of ramen.

tazuki, who finally managed to show up for once, glanced up from his sleepin- i mean, work at a particularly loud 'bang' of her butcher's knife. he nearly dropped the towel he was holding in his hand at the viciousness and bloodlust pouring out of [name] like gamma waves.

slowly, he approached her lightly, ready to spring back on his heels at any given time. "are you-"

b a m .

she didn't give him any warning at all, ripped the top of the receipt pad off and slammed it harshly against the metal countertop, making the chef jump three feet in the air. saying nothing the whole time, she went back to her task, this time taking a slab of beef and carved a section off, tenderizing it with a mallet, albeit a smidgen less aggressive than before.

quick as a fox, he snatched the paper up, carefully avoiding breaking her workflow and diverting her anger onto him. the chef wordlessly got to work, frying up the rice with daikon slivers and garlic mixed in and the now-tenderized meat that [name] handed him.

when he handed it over to name to plate and serve, tazuki felt that it was an appropriate time to bring up the topic again.

"so...you doing ok?"

her hold on the sauce bottle tightened, squirting the mayo a little too much in one area. he tensed, hoping that she wouldn't hurt him.

then, she huffed, firmly planting the bottle down and picking up the seaweed flakes to dust on top. "body? yes. heart? no. mind? debatable. hotel? trivago."

he was left dumbfounded and confuzzled as she grabbed 5 miso bowls, filled them up with wakame miso soup, and left the kitchen, balancing everything on 2 trays.

edit from 11.05.20

one of the reasons
why this took so long
to publish was because
of my exams plus
what i had said
in my activity.

sorry about that

probably won't be
doing that anymore
because i don't
have an excuse lmao

edit from 08.28.23

so i totally didn't just dip out and not give you the rest of the written chapters that are published on a different site. no sir/ma'am/ma'amsir

also, mental health is going to shits again, so might write an update for this, who knows

completed 10.11.20
1:39:10 a.m. a.e.s.t.
(australian eastern
standard time)

published 11.05.20
9:44:12 p.m. a.e.s.t.
(australian eastern
standard time)

republished on wattpad 08.28.23
10:11:31 p.m. a.e.s.t.
(australian eastern
standard time)