Wheelchair Girl: Chapter 6-3

RAWS:  https://novel18.syosetu.com/n2611p/32/

Chapter 6-3: Restaurant

―4―

The breeze was gentle and the sunlight felt pleasant.

The waves were calm and the clouds were lingering in the sky.

It almost felt as if time was flowing more slowly than usual.

Seeing the sheer size of the sea made them feel foolish for stressing out about trivial things like the upcoming exams.

(TLN: That’s just procrastination bro. You’re too young for that talk. Smh)

Kazutaka and Haruka strolled along the coastline, engaging in a conversation about the sea and the two main characters of ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.’ They pondered how those two must have felt when seeing the ocean for the very first time in their lives.

Kazutaka checked his watch and brought their conversation to a halt.

“It’s almost lunchtime, wanna go eat out somewhere?”

Haruka asked in response:

“Are there restaurants nearby?”

“Just gimme a second…”

Kazutaka fumbled through his coat pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper.

It was a printout of a certain Italian restaurant’s website.

(TLN: 2010 is ghetto, love it.)

“Somewhere around this area, there is a place that sells delicious pasta. Are you okay with those?”

“Pasta? Ah, yeah I’d like to try that.”

Haruka nodded in agreement.

“Gotcha, then let’s go there.”

Kazutaka used the printout as a makeshift map to find his way.

To make sure Haruka wouldn’t go through a hard time at this unfamiliar place they’d be visiting, Kazutaka had done some research in advance.

According to it, the atmosphere of that Italian restaurant was quite pleasant and the taste of the food was praised.

But most importantly, according to the homepage, they were equipped with toilets for disabled people. In other words, they would most likely let disabled people in as well.

.That’d mean Haruka wouldn’t go through any unpleasant experiences and could just focus on enjoying the food.

After wandering for a while, they found the place they were looking for.

That Italian restaurant had the appearance of a log house. The menu was written on a signboard placed in front of it. A weathercock was placed on top of the roof.

Haruka checked out the building and said:

“It’s kind of cute, isn’t it?”

The entrance had a small difference from normal entrances, there was a small slope as well.

Both of them entered the store.

The waiter glanced at Haruka but didn’t show any signs of surprise, instead, welcoming her as if she were a regular customer.

“Welcome! How many seats would you like?”

“Just for two, please.”

“Would you like to eat inside or outside on the terrace?”

“Any preferences?”

Kazutaka asked Haruka.

“Hm… Since we’ve gone out of our way to come here, how about eating outside?”

“Gotcha, we’ll go with the terrace option.”

The two of them moved outside to the terrace seats.

Since the store was facing the ocean. They had a very good view of the sea from their seats.

They checked out the menu and made their orders.

Kazutaka went with ikasumi pasta whereas Haruka with seafood pasta.

Haruka started to fidget in her wheelchair for some reason.

“Uhm, I’ll go quickly to the toilet, okay?”

“Okay, if it’s too difficult by yourself, feel free to call me for help.”

“Will do, thanks.”

Haruka moved her wheelchair by herself and went back to the inside of the restaurant.

She came back after a while.

“Was it okay?”

“Yes, the toilet was very clean and there was plenty of space for me.”

Haruka was never bored. Even while they were waiting for their food, she found herself admiring the view and taking pictures of it with her cell phone camera.

Eventually, their food arrived.

Haruka was giving Kazutaka a questioning look as there was a plate with pitch-black ikasumi pasta placed in front of him.

“…Are you able to eat that?”

“What are you talking about? Of course, I am.”

“But it doesn’t look like this food comes from our planet. It doesn’t look too appetizing…”

It seemed she had never eaten ikasumi pasta before as she was giving it the look, as if it was some alien thing that seemed dangerous to ingest.

“Well, I guess its appearance is a bit rough but it’s quite delicious, y’know?”

Kazutaka used his fork to roll up the ikasumi pasta. The cream-colored pasta noodles soon become darker and darker, turning black eventually. 

Watching him do that, Haruka really couldn’t think of this as edible.

“Will you really eat that…?”

“Of course. Food is there to be eaten. What are you saying?”

Haruka muttered to herself.

“I mean… it looks like coal tar was sloshed onto it…”

“Oi, what are you saying about someone’s favorite food? Apologise to everyone who likes ikasumi in Japan right now.”

Haruka asked.

“Is it really tasty?”

“It should be.”

After turning his fork a while, he finally took a bite.

“…And?”

“Yup, delicious.”

“You’re lying!”

She really couldn’t believe it.

It’s a prime example of disliking food without trying. Or did ikasumi pasta really just look that bad?

Kazutaka asked Haruka.

“Wanna take a bite?”

“…No… I think I’m good.”

Haruka quickly shook her head, as if she was facing the devil’s food or something.

Seeing her reaction, Kazutaka got a greater desire to make her try it at least once.

“Don’t be like that. The proof of the pudding in the eating, right? Just one bit is enough, try it.”

“But…”

“It’s super delicious, here.”

Kazutaka scooped up a bit of the pasta with his fork and held it in front of Haruka’s mouth, trying to feed her.

Haruka was almost like a wary cat, cautiously sniffing it first and remaining hesitant.

Then, she closed her eyes and took a bite.

She chewed it thoroughly. 

“And? Good, right?”

In response to Kazutaka’s smiling face that was seeking agreement, Haruka felt rather troubled.

“Ah… yes… Yes?… Yes…”

She honestly wasn’t sure anymore, replying with her eyebrows furrowed.

In fact, she hadn’t swallowed it yet, kept chewing it, and felt like she had been tricked.

Eventually, she got it down her throat with a cup of water.

“How should I put it… It has a peculiar taste”

Haruka was trying to keep her impressions moderate to avoid offending Kazutaka. In other words, she didn’t like it after all.

Kazutaka looked down at his ikasumi pasta and grumbled.

“But it’s so delicious though…”

It’s a shame that she wasn’t able to experience such exquisite taste, he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, to clean her mouth, Haruka began to eat up her sea pasta plate.

“Mhm, delicious.”

She finally felt like she was eating ‘real’ pasta and nodded to herself.

Haruka couldn’t help but ask in the end.

Akasaka-kun, do you like ikazumi that much?

“Ikazumi? Rather than that, I just like squid.”

(TLN: Ikazumi translates to squid ink. So his response is actually, ‘instead of ikazumi, I like ika.’)

“Squid?”

Haruka tilted her head.

“The one they sell during summer festivals. Maruyaki is also quite delicious actually. Soumen with thinly cut squid is so good too. And then there is the one with rice stuffed into it. And the squid ink is delicious too. Indeed, it’s the ultimate living form. The squid!

(TLN: Contrary to what I thought, squid ink is actually edible. Huh…)

 Haruka was surprised about Kazutaka’s sudden enthusiasm about squids and could only find herself replying: ‘You like that much?’ with amusement.

“Didn’t you know? Even after mankind perishes, squids will take over.

(TLN: Splatoon lore apparently. Wait, Splatoon wasn’t around in the 2010s… From where the fu-)

At least that’s what some guy on TV claimed once.

While looking at the ikasumi pasta, Haruka said in a casual tone.

“There is ikasumi pasta and also ikasumi risotto but why it’s never used with takosumi?”

(TLN: Tako = Octopus, Iko = Squid)

“Octopi and squids are very different from each other, the way their ink is used is completely different because of that.”

Kazutaka started to explain like a school teacher while gesturing with his fork.

“Octopi use their ink as a smoke screen to quickly escape from danger. Squids on the other hand kind of use their ink as a distraction, making their opponent enjoy the taste of their ink and giving them enough time to escape.”

“Heh”

“Ikasumi contains a lot of amino acids, that’s why it’s often used for cooking. It is also sticky, making the ingredients mesh well with each other.”

“Ho.”

“Takosumi on the other hand is inedible.”

“I see, the more you know.”

Haruka couldn’t help but just nod there.

“Actually, why do you know so much about squids and octopi?”

Haruka asked.

Kazutaka stopped eating and replied with a serious face.

“To be honest, I actually wanted to be a squid in the past.”

(TLN: Me too bro, I ain’t the protagonist but tentacles, let’s go.)

“Eh?”

Haruka was at a loss for words.

“You wanted to be a s-squid?”

She gave him a rather suspicious look there.

“It’s a story of the past when I was still in kindergarten.”

“Ha…?”

“Y’know, squids are really amazing. They have ten legs and can move all of them simultaneously. They live 3,000 meters below sea level and there are even some monstrous ones that are over 20 meters long! Did you know that the ‘Kraken’ was modelled after a Giant Squid? Some of them are also luminous… ah, indeed, they are the ultimate life forms. The romance of the sea!”

Kazutaka really got hyped when he went on about squids there, fervently listing all this squid trivia.

Unfortunately, he didn’t really manage to convince Haruka about it. She was just confused.

She absent-mindedly responded with a “Fuuun?” and fiddled with her phone instead.

“Oi, are you listening to me?”

Kazutaka made a sour face.

“Nee, don’t make that face. Smile with a ‘Niii’”

Haruka ignored Kazutaka’s speech and urged him to just smile instead.

“Hah?  Why?”

“Isn’t it fine, just try it. Say ‘Niiii’”

He went along with Haruka’s request and smiled with his teeth.

As he did that, she immediately took a picture of him without asking.

She looked at the display and giggled to herself happily.

“Ah?? What are you doing!”

Haruka responded by showing him her phone screen.”

“Look look, Your teeth are black!”

Since Kazutaka had been eating black ikasumi pasta, his teeth were dyed blackish.

He confirmed this with the back of his spoon and also noticed that his tongue had turned black as well.

Seeing that, Haruka found herself laughing innocently and suggesting to send this picture to Watanabe.

“What the heck, listen to what people are saying…”

Although he was sulking slightly there, he couldn’t help it either and relaxed his shoulders and laughed as well.

“Shame on you for not understanding the charms of squids.”

Kazutaka began once again to eat his ikasumi pasta.

Haruka also put her phone away.

“Sorry, sorry but I was surprised. You really do like squids, don’t you Akasaka–kun?”

I also had squid rings yesterday for dinner.

(TLN: If you google イカリング, it literally looks like onion rings but made with squid meat.)

“Really?”

She laughed, wondering if he was eating squid perhaps every day or something.

“But if you eat this much squid, you might end up smelling like one Akasaka-kun.”

Haruka said this rather casually, in other words, she was just joking but just after Kazutaka heard her words he almost spat out the pasta in his mouth.

He coughed.

“H-hey, are you okay?”

Haruka quickly presented him with a cup of water.

“You…”

Kazutaka looked at Haruka with an amazed expression.

“Eh, did I say something weird?”

Seemingly having no idea what her words could have alluded to, she tilted her head.

This must be your natural airhead, Kazutaka thought.

He looked her deep in the eyes and admonished her a bit.

“You, please don’t a healthy high school boy that he smells like squid, okay?”

Seriously, if that guy happened to have a weak heart, he’d become a shut-in for real.

“B-but why?”

“Just don’t.”

Following that, the word ‘chestnut flower became taboo as well.

“Does ‘smelling like squid’ have some hidden meaning?”

“I think it’s better if you don’t know.”

Kazutaka told her with the expression of a strict father or something.

Haruka meanwhile was left confused, muttering ‘smell of squid’ again and again to herself, wondering what it could possibly mean.

Translator’s Note:

So apparently ‘smelling like squid’ actually refers to a guy smelling like sperm. The chestnut flower also smells like sperm apparently. So yeah, if a girl suddenly tells you that you smell like squid and you’re a healthy high school boy who jacks off regularly and your mentality is not the strongest, you’ll probably become a shut-in out of embarrassment for being called out like that, lol.