Spice of Life

It's 4 o'clock in the middle of the night. Wait, at night, do you mean in the morning?

It's 4 a.m. It's night. We didn't yet go to sleep, so it is not morning. Akari was finishing the quarterly report that the Prime Minister asked of her.

It was done, and she sent it. Everything is okay now. Except that I need to work the whole day and then go on a "date." Also, everything is not okay. Where am I going to find a boyfriend, and should I even be doing this? I should stand my ground to the Prime Minister. Akari was thinking all of this, knowing full well that she had already made up her mind a long time ago.

The work was done. She didn't want to go to her apartment and lose time on dressing up or changing her outfit, so she slowly strolled down to the place Toma sent her a message to meet.

The dark alley down the stairs was covered with dim light from neon signs and lamps. The noodle shop was a little bit busy, but nothing special. The smell of the noodles was, as per usual, spreading in every little crack of this alley. Some people in suits were slurping on their noodles and enjoying themselves and some sake on the table in front of the noodle shop. After-work meal, rich in nutrients and stuff.

Akari slowly, with not too much emotion on her face, walked slowly towards me.

I was here holding flowers I got for her, in my red suit, hoping that she would like the flowers and my suit, my looks. I waved to her a little bit. I kind of raised my hand as if I wanted to answer the question that a teacher asked me. She was not smiling much, but I could not take the smile off my face. She was gorgeous.

Don't smile, don't smile. I was repeating it to myself. I wanted to look serious.

"What is all of this?" Akari asked, surprised by Shirakawa.

"This is for you. I hope you will like them." I handed her these flowers that, honestly, I had no idea what they were. It was not roses. The lady in the shop was nicely explaining what it was, but I forgot.

"They are so nice. You shouldn't have. It is too much. I can't accept such a wonderful thing. I didn't even deserve it or anything." Akari was taking the flowers and going in for the smell while saying all of this traditional mumbo jumbo stuff that she thought should be said when receiving a gift or anything.

"I am glad that you like them. Would you maybe want to eat prime noodles, best in Tokyo?" I asked, a little bit nervous because this was maybe not the most fancy thing ever.

"Oh, where are we going? I thought we were going to eat here?"

"Ha ha, well, you are in luck because right here are the best noodles in Tokyo."

Akari almost smiled. "Okay, let's go."

We ordered two bowls of noodles, a lot of meat, thick noodles. Also, both of us took the spicy version that the old shop owner made with happiness. Also, we got two Cokes.

The shop owner looked at me and Ms. Asahina and said, "Good to see you both again. I like making noodles for you two. You always take spicy ones. You are not afraid of life."

I thanked him, and Ms. Asahina thanked him as well with a smile and a small bow.

When we took a seat on the wobbly wooden table with even rougher-looking chairs, I asked Ms. Asahina, "Do you come here often then, so that the shop owner remembered you?"

"Yes, I come here sometimes."

"Me too. I can't believe we didn't see each other before." I said, but I think I saw her somewhere before, probably on the stairs that lead to this alley. I am pretty sure about it now.

"Well, we just probably didn't pay attention so much," Akari said coldly while grabbing chopsticks and a spoon to start eating.

She doesn't look like she is enjoying this very much, or maybe something is bothering her. What do I do? "Em, are you okay with this date? Is something maybe bothering you? Am I being boring?"

Akari slurped a noodle and then asked, "No, everything is fine. Why are you being insecure?"

"I am not sure. I just didn't go on many dates like this before..."

"What, noodle dates?"

"No, no. The dates where I actually like the person I am with." I said, realizing and cringing a little bit. I felt it. It is cheesy to say something like that.

"What do you like so much about me? Do you have a thing for older women? Also, in that debate, what was with you and addiction? I saw that you were rattled then." Akari asked this and just continued eating noodles normally, not bothered by the spiciness.

"I am not sure really what I like about you. I am just somehow drawn to you. I think you are interesting. You are not boring to me for some reason. Sometimes I get bored, even though I love many people. I love my friends and everyone. It can just get boring sometimes." As Ms. Asahina was on half of her bowl of noodles, I already finished mine and was now sipping on cold Coke.

"What about addiction, Mr. Shirakawa? Are you dodging the question?" Akari repeated.

"Please call me Toma."

"Okay, Toma. You can call me Akari. And also, tell me about the addiction thing. Are you an addict?" Akari's piercing eyes were staring at Toma like a psychologist reading a human or a librarian reading a book.

"Me? No, no. I am okay with addictions. I learned from my father a little bit about how bad they can get."

"Oh, so your father taught you some good values. Good for you to have instilled good values like that. It is not easy to teach that."

"Yes, he taught me by showing me. He would gamble, he would drink, he would..."

"Oh, sorry about that. I didn't know that was what you meant."

"It's okay. Sorry for even mentioning it." I said, afraid that I was boring her. Maybe I should change the topic to something happier.

Akari was getting more invested in Toma without even realizing it. She was drawn to him as well. Akari and Toma were chatting about work, about their families, about life in general, just drinking Coke after Coke, then some water with ice. The night was slowly passing, and both were in something like a flow state of conversation. They felt like they were playing some fun game and not even thinking about how to play it well. They were just naturally good at this... everything was going perfect.

Akari made a big smile that made Toma's heart beat as fast as a bullet train. The smile on her face faded. She put her head down, took a deep breath, and asked:

"Toma, will you be with me?"