「Eh, that’s all?」

 

Komada-san looked at me with a surprised expression,

It’s been a month since I started dating the Owner. When I was asked what we had done, I said that we had gone to Saga’s big Inari shrine and received an incredulous expression in response.

I was a little embarrassed, but I sometimes held hands with him along the way, when I said that Komada-san said ‘That’s all?’.

 

「There’s more right? Like going to a high class restaurant or buying a branded bag.」

「That, not really.」

「No way! Are you actually dating a working man?」

 

Giving a quick nod towards Komada-san, she gave a shout of disbelief.

The Owner and I don’t seem to have a standard relationship. But that’s fine because we’re happy and having fun.

 

「But, I don’t think it’s a good idea just to hold hands and enjoy yourself like a high school couple going to school.」

 

Ryoko-chan, who was sitting next to Komada-san, commented with a grumpy expression.

 

「Oto-chan’s boyfriend respects Oto-chan. I don’t think Komada-san, who keeps swapping boyfriends, can understand!」

「Is that so?」

「It’s definitely so!」

「But~, going on dates to places like shrines.」

「Oh, I was the one who said I wanted to go to a shrine.」

 

For the honour of the Owner(?), I corrected her.

The Inari shrine in Saga is said to be one of the three major Inari shrines in Japan (※there are various theories!), so I’ve always been curious.

 

「Oh, is that so. Hmm, that’s boring.」

 

Hearing Komada-san’s remarks, Ryoko-chan suddenly hit the desk and shouted.

 

「Ah~~, Komada-san, I really dislike you~~!」

「What part of me?」

「All of it!」

「Eh, that’s terrible.」

「It’s Komada-san who’s terrible. Go away! You live in a completely different world from us!」

 

We live in a completely different world. Now that I think about it, that is true.

Komada-san, who falls in love whenever she feels like it, and me, who falls in love at the pace of a turtle are completely different.

What we considered to be happiness was also very different. Our sense of values might be as far apart as a carnivore and a herbivore.

 

But, thanks to Komada-san’s view on love, I was able to take a step forward.

If I hadn’t known anything, I would have probably given up without noticing the Owner’s special behaviour towards me.

Komada-san’s words were harsh, but she’s honest and doesn’t lie, so I didn’t dislike her. Ryoko-chan doesn’t seem to get along with her though.

 

◇◇◇

 

It was raining today.

The winter raindrops were sharp, pointed, cold and piercing.

But, I’m also happy that it was raining. Because it means its a working day for the Evening Rain.

In the evening, the Owner came to the university to pick me up.

 

One of my friends, who had a boyfriend, said that it was good to share an umbrella on a rainy day, but the Owner and I went down the hill with an umbrella each.

A shared umbrella sounds good, but I’m afraid one of our shoulders would get wet.

But when I said that, my friend said that I couldn’t read the mood.

 

When we arrived at the Evening Rain, the Owner and I had a meeting before opening the shop.

Today’s menu, Kinsenpan and coffee, was written onto the paper menu. As usual, I was still fascinated by his handwritten characters.

 

I looked at the Kinsenpan on the table. They were bite sized and covered in sesame.

 

「Is it mochi in the shape of money?」

「You are correct, it is meant to imitate gold, but it isn’t mochi.」

「Eh~!」

 

The Owner picked up a piece of Kinsenpan and threw it into my mouth.

 

「–Mm?」

 

As he said, the texture wasn’t like mochi but was crispy.

This is a cookie! Kinsenpan was basically a baked confectionery with the savoury flavour of sesame.

 

「This is a confection that imitates ancient Chinese money and was presented to a Chinese emperor three thousand years ago.」

「Hou, hou!」

 

It was about 400 years ago, the Sengoku era, when it first arrived here?

At a famous festival in Nagasaki called Okunchi, it was chosen to be the contents inside wrapped money offerings.

 

After cleaning up, the shop opened at 6pm.

A few minutes after placing the wooden open sign outside, customers started coming to the shop.

 

「Welcome!」

「Hello, good evening.」

 

It was Iida-san who came. He said ‘I got caught in the rain again~’ while looking happy. Did something good happen?

The Owner also welcomed Iida-san in.

 

「Today, I have a report to the two of you–」

 

It seemed that the deal that he had been having difficulty negotiating had been successfully concluded.

 

「Uwa, congratulations!」

「Thank you!」

 

Iida-san was very modest and said that it wasn’t just his own efforts.

 

「It was thanks to the Confeito that you told me about last time. With that gift, I think I won their heart.」

 

It seems that the person who signed the contract was a big fan of Oda Nobunaga. He hadn’t known of the anecdote regarding the Confeito before and was very excited by the story.

 

I introduced today’s confectionery to the happy Iida-san.

 

「Oh, Kinsenpan is it? The name has a good ring to it.」

「Yes. It seems to be an auspicious treat.」

「What kind of mochi is it?」

「As for that–look forward to it!」

 

Soon, I brought over the Kinsenpan and coffee brewed by the Owner.

Iida-san said ‘thanks for the food’ before eating the bite sized cookies.

 

Maybe because the taste was outside his expectations, he choked lightly.

 

「Are you okay?」

「Yes, I’m fine. It wasn’t mochi but a cookie.」

「Pardon me, I should have told you.」

「No, no, I’m glad there was a surprise」

 

Iida-san was also someone who liked to enjoy what he was eating and it would have been harder for him to enjoy it if I had told him beforehand.

The Owner came over and explained Chinese mochi.

 

「The first thing to note is that the definition of mochi in China is different from Japan’s mochi.」

 

Japanese mochi was made by steaming glutinous rice, but Chinese mochi seemed to include a wide range of products including those made from wheat flour. Speaking of that, Chinese confectionery like moon cakes were very different from Japanese mochi.

 

「I had been given some moon cakes at a business clients house. It was definitely made from wheat flour.」

 

The moon cake was made with white bean paste with nuts.

He recalled that many Chinese confectioneries with the character for mochi in it.

 

「Well, Owner Mukai’s story has been very informative.」

 

Yes, yes, I agree.

Iida-san had to go to a drinking party after. Although he was busy, he still managed to find some time to report to us.

 

「Well, I’ll come again.」

「Yes, we look forward to seeing you again.」

 

Going outside, the Owner and I saw Iida-san off.

Iida-san waved his hand as he went down the Dutch Slopes.

Since the rain had stopped, I brought the open sign back into the shop.

 

On the table was a cake that had been given by Iida-san.

We thanked him for going out of his way to buy it.

As I stared at the lovely floral wrapping paper, the Owner suddenly picked it up.

 

「It’s nothing special, just baked goods.」

「Is that so.」

 

Being able to see what’s inside just by looking at the wrapping paper. As expected of the confectionery professor!

 

「Do you want to eat it?」

「If you ask it like that.」

 

When I said that, the Owner frowned his eyebrows.

Did he think I was being gluttonous? I became embarrassed.

 

「What are you embarrassed by?」

「No, I was wondering if you thought I was a glutton.」

「I wasn’t.」

 

He wasn’t?

As I tilted my head, the Owner put the cake box on the table and came over to me.

I was afraid of his expression, so I slowly moved backward.

 

I stretched out my arms to block him. Dangerous!

He was going to pinch me to see if I was getting fat. Recently, I’ve gained weight because of what I’ve been eating with the Owner.

If he continues to try to grab me, I’ll run away desperately.

However, I was immediately captured.

I was cornered by the wall and he put his arms behind my waist.

 

「No~~!」

「What are you yelling about!」

 

I was sure I wouldn’t be able to resist, so I just stayed quiet like a person captured by a policeman’s rope.

However, he didn’t check my body at all.

Maybe he decided I hadn’t gotten fatter?

I didn’t understand, so I asked.

 

「Ah, um~~, is there anything wrong?」

「It’s not good for you to eat the confectionery brought by other men.」

「Ahh~~.」

 

So that was why.

Oh, is this what they call jealousy?

Then his actions were to show affection! Or something like that.

 

「The Owner’s confectionary is the best in the world!」

 

When I said that, he hugged me even tighter.

I was so flustered that I couldn’t say anything.

 

While I was enjoying this happy time, the shop door suddenly opened with a bang.

 

「–You didn’t lock it?」

「Sorry, I thought you did.」

 

We seemed to have assumed the other had locked the door.

As he told me to be more careful, I could hear the sound of footsteps running over.

The Owner hid me behind him and confronted the person who came in.

 

「–Congratulations Shinonome-sensei! Detective Nakajima Kaoru is your first work to be adapted to film!」

 

It was Nanase-san who came in.

Just I felt relieved, I question mark appeared over my head.

 

「In addition, a large part of your series will be receiving a second print run–ah, sensei, aren’t you happy about it?」

 

When I popped my head out from behind the Owner, Nanase-san a gave a surprised ‘Ah!’.

 

Umm, what does all this mean?

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