When the rainy season ended, the skies became a beautiful clear blue and summer weather soon arrived.

The cloudless blue summer sky was pleasant. Maybe because it was just before summer vacation that I was getting excited? However, since it didn’t rain, my work at Evening Rain was drastically reduced.

At times like this, I sometimes think about the concept of only opening for business on rainy nights.

But I don’t feel comfortable sending a private email to the Owner.

 

The last time I invited the Owner on a date, I was pushed on by Ryoko-chan to send that email.

As for the email I was writing, I wrote and erased it over and over again.

I put my face on the table and sighed.

One more hour until the next lecture.  When I got up and opened my bag to read a book, I heard a cat’s meow, telling me I had received an email. The Owner was the one I had registered with a cat’s meow as the notification tone.

I immediately let go of the bag in my hand and picked up my smartphone on the desk.

When I opened the message–

 

We’re going to eat Kangiku this evening. Come to the Evening Rain tonight.

 

Oh wow, an invitation from the Owner!

I’m so happy that he can directly talk to me like this, although it’s not so good for him to decide on something without asking about my schedule.

 

In addition, he said to contact him before I go over, so apparently he will come to pick me up.

The lecture in the next time slot will be the last one. So, that means I would be free in 90 minutes.

It would still be early. It was too long until the evening.

I thought I could go home and change my clothes first, but if I did that, I was sure that I would get too drawn into it.

Today’s clothes were a thin chiffon tunic and jeans. Well, it’s not that bad.

Are you busy at noon?

When I messaged him, he replied that he had no issues with that timing.

Since that was the case, I decided to use the free time I had after my lecture to redo my makeup.

In summer, makeup comes off easily, so I carry a pouch with makeup tools with me.

If I went to my lecture with makeup on, the professor would hit me with a comment of ‘Hidaka-san is quite unusual with makeup on today’.

So I thought I should be a little more modest with my makeup.

 

When the lecture finished, I rushed out of the lecture hall. The professor’s lecture was long and had been extended by 30 minutes.

I had set the meeting time to be 40 minutes after the lecture finished.

If I didn’t hurry, I would be late.

 

On the way, I heard some girls gossiping as I passed by.

There was a handsome guy with a stern face just at the bottom of the hill.

I was sure it was the Owner.

 

Sure enough, a handsome but stern man was leaning against a stone wall at the bottom of the hill from the university.

 

「Uwa~~, I’m sorry, I’m late.」

「No, I just arrived.」

 

Uwa, that’s definitely a lie~~!

 

But I didn’t point it out and just replied with ‘That’s good’ and a smile.

I think he said that just so that I wouldn’t worry about being late.

 

The Owner and I headed for the Evening Rain.

 

◇◇◇

 

–I just want to say one thing.

 

The Dutch Slopes is a really nice name, like somewhere you would go on a date.

My legs went up and down. The stone pavement absorbed the energy from the shining sun and the heat from the ground was amazing.

It’s hot, too hot!

For a moment, I started thinking that meat on a hot plate was like this. But it was just me trying to escape from reality.

 

Ahh, I want to have some cold barley tea right now. I want to put a lot of ice in a glass and gulp it down in one go while listening to that cool sound. Such thoughts went through my mind.

 

Finally, we arrived at the Evening Rain.

I thought that there were a lot of differences between coming here at night and during the day. Maybe it just felt that way because it was summer.

 

Going around to the back of the shop, we opened the door and went inside.

The Owner looked back and asked me a wonderful question.

 

「Would you like iced coffee, iced tea or barley tea?」

 

Both the Owner’s iced coffee and tea were delicious, but for today, the best choice was barley tea.

I tried to follow the Owner into the kitchen to help with preparations, but I was told to take a seat after he pushed my forehead with his finger.

 

Waiting for a while, the Owner came back with a tray.

First, a coaster made of bamboo was placed on the table, then a glass of barley tea was placed on it.

Next, a plate with Kangiku was presented.

 

「T-This is Nagasaki’s rare traditional sweet.」

「It’s also the first time I’ve seen it.」

 

A pure white sweet served on a black plate.

Kangiku originated from a long time ago during trade with the Ming dynasty. It is also called Cold Chrysanthemum because it was made during winter. The sweet looks like a Chrysanthemum covered with snow, so that’s why it was named that way.

 

「How does it taste?」

「Well, try it.」

 

There was no tea for the Owner, and instead of sitting down, he just looked at me.

 

It’s hard to eat like this……

 

However, I couldn’t win against my thirst and interest in the Kangiku.

First, I put a straw into the glass of barley tea before taking a sip. Oh, delicious. Barley tea in summer is the best.

Next, I picked up a Kangiku.

The pure white, dry confectionery looked delicate as snow.

When I put it into my mouth, it crumbled with a crisp sound.

The sweetness of the confectionery and flavour of ginger spread through my mouth.

 

「Uwa, it’s delicious. It’s moderately sweet and has a good ginger accent, and then it has a fragrant feel……」

 

Maybe because my description of the taste and delicacy didn’t really get through to him, the Owner picked up a Sweet Chrysanthemum from the plate and started eating it.

After putting it into his mouth, he frowned and muttered ‘Hard’.

 

「But it’s delicious.」

「That’s right! This is my first time eating such a sweet.」

 

It was a very precious sweet, so I decided to savour it slowly.

 

◇◇◇

 

After that, the Owner sat down on a chair and started filling in what looked like the shop’s ledger.

I also took out the text I had brought to study.

About an hour and a half later, the Owner said that it was time for a break and brewed some coffee.

And with that came some French toast, which was prefaced by the Owner saying that its best before date was today.

 

「Oh, ohhh……!」

 

Made from thick bread, it was completely covered with banana, cream and vanilla ice cream before being topped with caramel sauce and nuts.

 

「This is amazing! It looks like a stylish French toast that would come from a cafe.」

「That’s because it was actually served in a cafe.」

「?」

 

This French toast also has some hidden Nagasaki elements?

I listened patiently, but the Owner said it didn’t.

 

「I learned to make it at my part time job when I was still a student.」

「Ahh, I see.」

 

The Owner seems to have been a kitchen staff at a cafe for four years during university. At that time, he obtained a chef’s license at the suggestion of the store manager. The experience seems to have been useful for his management of the Evening Rain cafe.

 

It was the first time the Owner told me about himself.

I was so happy that I looked forward to what he would talk about next and was warned to eat quickly because the ice cream was melting.

 

「Then, I’ll do as you say.」

 

Cutting it with a knife, there was a soft feeling. The egg had been soaked all the way inside. This was it. One that was soaked overnight. I thought it was quite elaborate.

I cut it into bite sized pieces to eat.

The surface was crisp, the inside fluffy and the texture smooth. It quickly disappeared.

Next, eating it with the ice cream. Looking closely, the ice cream was a special one with vanilla beans.

I was impressed as I savoured the French toast and ice cream. The combination of cold and warm things was indescribable. It was too delicious for words.

 

「Thank you very much……」

 

I thanked the Owner for making the French toast.

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