PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter3

Chapter 3: Letter from the Desert

On the way back home that day, Jin and Yuuya stopped by the restaurant on the back of the school, Alf Layla.

Alf Layla was a restaurant for special Persian dishes. But, because the shop was catering to the current fashionable female university students, the ethnic atmosphere wasn't as large.

Even so, the shop had not changed into just a place to go for cheap meals. There were tables, chairs, and counter seats, and above the table stood chopsticks, and on the wall there was an unskillfully written menu hanging.

“W~elcome!”

Jin and Yuuya, as they opened the door and entered the shop, were greeted by a waitress with a powerful, pleasant voice. She was a girl with darkish skin, and precisely bound golden hair. The only daughter of the shopkeeper, she was Alf Shamshir.

“The attractive shop girl Alf. Cute right? You know she's the same age as us.”

In the kitchen, the shopkeeper with dark skin and black hair was joggling the frying pan, as his counterpart, Alf, with her golden hair, was grilling some meat for shishkabobs. Directing Jin to a seat at the counter, Yuuya lifted his voice to the shopkeeper.

“Hey Unks, I'd like to put today's order on a tab, is that alright?”

“Watch it ya bloody fool. I'm young and my stomach's still small, so don't be calling me 'Unks'!”

An authoritative shopkeeper, he answered like a true Tokyoite. Yuuya sat in his seat, turning to talk to Jin.

“By the way, your little sister is still pretty cute herself you know.”

“She's not my sister, just a kid from my old neighborhood.”

“Whatever it's all the same If you compare them to Zadou, they're still just acorns.”

Alf came over, hitting Yuuya on the head with a silver tray. In a strong mood, her lips were bound together in a straight line. Pressing his head, Yuuya let out a shout.

“That freakin hurts! That's why I said they were different, Zadou isn't as tomboyish as this.”

“You think so?”

Jin let out what he was thinking. Yuuya turned to glare at him.

“What's up with your question!”

“Ah, no. Nothing really.”

What happened yesterday was a secret. There's no way he could tell anyone. With his sense of duty, there was no way Jin was going to talk. Nearly spitting, Yuuya was shaking his fists as he dropped his claim.

“Listen up, Jin. It looks like you've got another opinion but, there's no room for you to doubt her gentle kindness. Well, there's not really any proof that she's reached perfection, but something like that is fine isn't it? There's no dignity in dragging down such a girl. Don't you think so?”

“Nope. I've never gone out with a girl up till now after all.”

At Jin's response, Yuuya clutched his hand to his chest.

“......Ah, I see.”

“Since the past I've never really cared much about girls. It's a bit different from you, as you're always listening to music and stuff to learn more about them and stuff.”

“Nah that's...”

Struggling for words, Yuuya spoke in a small voice.

“Actually for me too......as I've never gone out with someone before...”

“Eh!? Is that how it is?”

Under Jin's shocked gaze, Yuuya grew red, turning angry.

“Don't friggin stare at me like that!”

“What, you want me to stare at you with a fuzzy warm look?”

“Besides that, during lunch break, you taught Zadou archeology? So what kind of thing is she interested in?”

“A, ahh. That's......”

“You can tell me. There's no way it's a secret is it? If everyone in class finds out there's a secret between just you and Sierra, they'll hang you from jealousy.

“No. There's absolutely positively no way it's anything good like that.”

Jin affirmed his earlier denial. Familiar with his mannerisms, Yuuya placed his hand on Jin's shoulder, preparing to ask again.

“Well then, tell me. Even though I listen to light music to try and understand about women, it hasn't worked at all. Since I'm interested in Zadou, I feel like I've got to do my best.”

“I see. It deals with the ancient silk road, and how good would be......”

“Zzzz.”

“You went to sleep pretty quickly.”

Jin looked at Yuuya, with his head lying prostrate on the counter, in surprise. At that moment, Alf came over two the place where they were, roughly setting down their cups of water.

“Look here, if you're going to sit, then place your orders already! Else the shops routine is going to be interrupted.”

Looking surprised, Jin turned his gaze up to look at Alf.

“Your Japanese is great. Just like a true Tokyoite.”

“Well that's obvious. I was born and raised here after all.”

“Hey, Young'un! It's way too early for ya to be flirtin'! If you lay a hand on my daughter, you'll be gettin' a surprise in your curry!”

Alf's father could multi-task quite well, shouting those things while still managing to keep the frying pan going. Yuuya turned to speak to Jin.

“The owner was born after his parents came to Japan. “The third generation will continue as a Tokyoite,” is something he's said as well. And that third generation is Alf.”

“You two, what are you going to do about your order?”

With her hand on her hip, Alf had asked Jin. All Yuuya could do was laugh.

“Even if you ask what we're going to do, without the menu there isn't much we can do, right Jin? Something like a shishkabob sounds like some kind of incantation. With that said, two shishkabob specials please.”

After making his order, Alf responded by restating it.

“Understood, two special shishkabobs!”

Next, she began putting the servings of rice on two plates. When the meat on skewers was being grilled on the gridiron, Jin turned a curious gaze over to watch.

“So there was a Persian restaurant this close after all......”

He began looking around the shop. Just like Yuuya had said, the restaurant did indeed have a lot of cheaper dishes, and it really was full of classmates from Harusha Academy.

“The wait's over! Here's the two sets of shishkabob!”

With some force, Alf set the tray down before Jin and Yuuya. On top of the large plate, was a donburi bowl filled with a mountain of rice, on top of which was spread the beef skewers, which was spiced with a curry smell. There were even true green vegetables. There was also a tomato stew to top it all off.

“Excellent. Amazing,” is all Jin could utter in his overwhelmed state. Yuuya was already digging in.

“In the grilled chicken bowl, there's even salad and miso soup. It was the same for me when I was in middle school and a senior took me here, I was extremely nervous thinking about this place being a foreign restaurant. But since the food from the middle east is soft, you can use chopsticks to eat it.”

Jin picked up his skewer, covered with meat. The mix of herbs and spices was combined to form a miraculous flavor. After the teeth bit into the meet, the flavors in the condensed bullion were released.

“SUPERB!”

Jin screamed out his thoughts. Even though he had never seen the endless Arabian sands, the images seemed to surface on the inside of his eyelids. Due to the added smell of the salt used, it seemed to draw out a feeling of the flavor of rock salt. Standing with a caravan of camels in the desert, were the ruins of an ancient city in the sand.

“So that's the kind of place my parents are working at......” Jin thought to himself.

Solomon's Treasure huh...I wonder where it could be...

Jin was thinking deeply as he savored the meal. Jin's parents were searching with many archaeologists and adventurers, but had yet to find anything. The treasure had yet to be found. The last resort he could see, was only in thinking about the birthplace of the magic lamp which was Sierra's, that, and the fact he didn't know what else to do as he couldn't contact his parents. At his wits ends, Jin could only cradle his head in his arms.

Just then, a plate was placed in front of him. It was a massive omelet with spinach inside.

“I'll be leaving this with you~”

Jin quickly tried to hand the plate of omelets back to Alf, only to have her shake her head and push the omelets back towards him.

“That's my specialty. Haha, the Persian Wind Omelets.”

“Specialty.....how come?”

“The spinach has a lot of nutrients in it. It's something that was carried over from Persia along the Silk Road here to Japan. Since you mentioned the Middle East, and the Japanese culture is thought to have been graced with a great deal from there.”

“But, I'm eating on credit, so how can you give me something like this?”

“It doesn't disturb the business to keep the mood in the shop bright.”

Alf puffed out her cheeks while crossing her arms. The muscles in Jin's face were twitching rapidly.

“Sorry. It's really delicious, it's just I had to think for a bit.”

“Don't worry, I'm a girl yet I couldn't explain very well. But what you said earlier, actually made me really pleased with you.”

Raising his finger to point at Jin, Yuuya smacked his head on the tray, causing Alf to turn a bit red.

“Don't say weird things to this dope!”

“Quit hitting me with each and every tray! This isn't Yoshimoto Shinkigeki!”

Rubbing his face Yuuya drew himself towards Alf, and indicating Jin's thumb, he pushed it into Jin's mouth.

“If it's Jin...You know he's a weirdo, it's like he's always looking up stuff about the Middle East. Until yesterday, our dorm room was stuffed full of book after book about that stuff. And since he likes the Middle East so much, he must like Alf too.”

“Don't say such stupid stuff! You're troubling her!”

Jin scolded Yuuya seriously. But, surprised, Alf rested her elbow on Jin's shoulder.

“Heeeh, so you've got some interest in the Middle East.”

“Not really. You say interest but......it's just thinking about if the magic lamp from Arabian Nights could have made it to Japan. After Jin's statement, both Alf and her Father's faces froze, followed by a stiffening expression.

“N, n, n, n, n, no way. That's just talk right? Right Dad?”

Looking a bit confused, Alf turned the direction of her speech to the shopkeeper. He also turned a cold shoulder on the conversation.

“T, t, t, t, t, that's right, bloody fool! What's up with ya? Something like a lamp from Arabia having a Genie of the Lamp come rumbling out, you believe that?”

“Jin, even though you're always thinking and studying about archeology, you're still thinking about stuff like that? Unexpectedly, you're pretty childish.”

Yuuya was bouncing around in his laughter. Jin simply put his elbows on the table, crossed his fingers, and though about how disappointing it was.

“I see...no matter how many Middle Easter people there are, they don't know after all. If it's a Japanese person, there's no way anybody would know anything about a wicked pedestal.”

“U, uhm...that there was a magic lamp in Japan, who did you hear that from?”

Calmly, Alf took hold of both of Jin's shoulders, and enquired of him with serious eyes. Because what had happened between Sierra and him was a secret, Jin could only shake his head in negation.

“It's fine. I'm sorry for asking about such a strange thing.”

“Ah, it's fine, don't worry don't worry. For us too, we're sorry we couldn't be of more use.”

Even though Alf ended it like that, Jin suddenly noticed something for the first time, and sniffed at his surroundings. Becoming a bit worried, Jin asked about it.

“You smell something?”

“Ah, no. It's nothing.”

Sniffing quickly, Alf turned to her side. Just then Jin was elbowed by Yuuya.

“You know, it's probably because off all the garbage in the dorm room, so you just smell like mold.”

“I wonder if it's an outbreak of a new life-form.”

Someone like Jin, who always cares about his manners, to be wearing dirty clothes that hadn't been washed, was completely unthinkable. Yuuya sniffed at Jin's surroundings, simply saying “Ahh.”

“Isn't this the smell from the Dorm Head?”

“Ah, you mean that whatever it's called incense?”

In the morning, when Ukyou had gripped Jin's collar, the incense he was wearing had probably been captured by Jin. Alf, who couldn't have thought of this, was taking this in stride.

“That's right. It's that smell, that smell. Ah, while I've been talking, you've already finished eating everything. You know, you eat pretty quick.”

Alf was looking at Jin's plate. There was nothing left. Yet on Yuuya's plate, there was still at least half of his meal left. Jin's reply came as he took a swig of water.

“Really, I don't think I eat all that fast.”

“It's fast, fast, yet you're still so thin even with your gluttony.”

Come to think of it, when he had gone searching for Solomon's Treasure on a day off and gone mountain climbing and excavating, he had gotten really hungry from using his stamina, so he might have to eat more than others......Thinking so, Jin pushed against his stomach. Yuuya spoke while he was still chewing a mouthful of shishkabob.

“This shop, fits you doesn't it? The food tastes good, it's not too expensive......Next time how about we challenge that extra large Persian Curry? If you can eat it within 30 minutes, it's free. That right, Alf.”

With Yuuya's statement finished, Alf had been engrossed in sniffing with her nose around Jin, when her body started to shake.

“A, Ahh. That's a delicious scent.”

“Delicious?”

Wondering what she was talking about suddenly, Jin lifted his eyebrow in puzzlement. Giving a short start, Alf proceeded to shake her head.

“Ah, no. I just misspoke.”

“Alf, you're drooling.”

Being pointed at by Yuuya, Alf quickly shut her mouth. It was kind of suspicious.

“Ah, that's right. What you said about coming to eat again, it can't be today,” said Alf as she focused her attention onto Jin.

Rubbing his stomach, Yuuya could only shake his head.

“It's alright, today's fine as it is. Anymore and we'll get fat.”

“I wasn't talking to you. So Jin, you won't come to eat again today?”

Alf's waitress side was so developed. Different from how she had curtly given him the omelets earlier, she used the voice of a cat, and a mysterious smell was coming from her body.

It would be his evening meal, so he wanted to go on eating more and more, but he couldn't eat too much on credit, he had also received quite a lot of shishkabob, so he wouldn't be able to really fit much else into his stomach. So showing his restraint, Jin shook his head.

“I'm good with today as well.”

“Well, if you say you won't eat anymore. Our Persian Curry is made with pomegranates so they will restore your energy, and you can eat as much as you'd like.”

“To someone eating on credit, to make a recommendation like that...”

“It's fine. Isn't that right Dad.”

Alf raised her voice so it would carry to the kitchen, following which a response came from the shopkeeper.

“Yep. If that's what Alf said, then eat as much as you'd like. Blood Fool!”

“Yeah, like he said, so you don't have to show restraint. So eat to your hearts desire, and become round round fat.”

“Round round fat, what's with that?

A part of what Alf had just said was strange. Before Jin could think too hard about it, Alf had already stretched out her arms deceivingly.

“Ah, ah, no you don't need to worry about it. So, come on over tomorrow for some more great service!”

Alf was laughing sweetly. For her to not smile......was unthinkable, indeed whatever it seemed, her habit was her smiling face. But there was something else besides her smiling face that Jin had become conscious of, looking like he wanted to reply, he was stuck on her chest, unable to say anything.

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