Fujiwara Chika continued chatting enthusiastically with Tanaka Masao.
"Tanaka-kun, what year are you in right now?"
"First year."
"Oh~ I'm a second-year, you know. Come on, Tanaka-kun, call me senpai and let me hear it."
At this point, Fujiwara Chika had already decided that Tanaka Masao was her personal little fanboy.
Being called senpai by an underclassman—or onee-senpai, to be precise—greatly satisfied Fujiwara Chika's vanity and gave her a strong sense of accomplishment.
Looking into Fujiwara Chika's sparkling eyes, Tanaka Masao chose his response.
"Kotowaru (I refuse)."
He had no intention of lowering himself for no reason, and more importantly—Fujiwara Chika really didn't have any "senpai aura" to speak of.
"Nande! (Why?!)"
Fujiwara Chika instantly became unhappy. She demanded an explanation.
Tanaka Masao's reasoning was simple.
"We're not from the same school, so you're not my senpai."
It was a perfectly valid argument—but Fujiwara Chika didn't care about logic at all. Right now, all she wanted was to hear Tanaka Masao call her senpai.
So she switched tactics and went straight into full-on cutesy mode.
"Come on~ what does it matter? Is there any law that says you can't call someone senpai just because you're from different schools?"
"All students in Japan are classmates, so as long as someone's older than you, they're your senpai."
She raised one finger solemnly, speaking as if she were laying down universal truth, trying to persuade Tanaka Masao.
"As expected of Fujiwara-san. That actually makes a lot of sense."
"Ehehe~ then, Tanaka-kun..."
Seeing that Tanaka Masao seemed to agree with her logic, she once again looked at him with sparkling anticipation.
"But there's also no law saying you have to call a senpai 'senpai' or 'senior,' right?"
Having her own logic turned against her, Fujiwara Chika's smile stiffened on the spot.
She puffed out her cheeks, clearly upset.
"Tanaka-kun, you're mean! You're teasing me! I don't care, I don't care—I want you to call me senpai!"
When both the "reasoning" strategy and the "cutesy" strategy failed, Fujiwara Chika deployed her final move: throwing a tantrum.
She raised her voice and shook her head wildly, as if she couldn't hear anything except the word [senpai].
Seeing her go full brat mode, Tanaka Masao felt a bit helpless.
[As expected of someone who dreams of becoming Japan's Prime Minister… is this already a glimpse of her potential?]
Tanaka Masao could clearly feel the gazes of the other two people in the shop turning toward them.
That made him extremely embarrassed—his ears even started turning red.
[Damn it. Why is she the one doing something this shameless, but I'm the one feeling embarrassed?
Is it because I'm just too shy and pure?]
Left with no other choice, Tanaka Masao reluctantly muttered,
"Se… senpai."
"What was that? I didn't hear you."
Tanaka Masao took a deep breath, shut his eyes like a man resigning himself to fate, and raised his voice slightly.
"Fujiwara-senpai."
This finally satisfied Fujiwara Chika. She put on a gentle, benevolent smile, as if looking at a younger brother, lightly patted the air above Tanaka Masao's head, and said,
"Very good, very good, Tanaka-kouhai."
Tanaka Masao clenched his fist.
[I'll remember this grudge!]
While the two were chatting, the ramen shop owner had already finished preparing the ramen.
Since the three of them had entered and ordered one after another, their bowls were brought out almost simultaneously.
Looking at the beautifully presented ramen in front of her, Fujiwara Chika's feet dangled happily in the air, a bright smile spreading across her face.
"It smells so good~! Time to eat!"
She snapped apart her disposable chopsticks, ready to dig in.
Smelling the rich aroma of his own ramen, Tanaka Masao couldn't help swallowing.
He broke his chopsticks apart—and suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into his head. A mischievous smile crept onto his face.
Tanaka Masao picked up a slice of chashu from his bowl with his chopsticks, pretending to offer it to Fujiwara Chika, and asked with a smile,
"Fujiwara-senpai, do you eat chashu?"
Just as she was about to start eating, Fujiwara Chika turned her head and looked at the chashu in Tanaka Masao's bowl.
She really wanted it—but as a senpai, how could she possibly snatch food from her kouhai? So she replied,
"I don't. You should eat it yourself, kouhai."
As she spoke, she even put on what she believed was a very mature, composed smile, fully displaying her senpai charm.
"Then I'll eat it."
Already prepared, Tanaka Masao didn't hesitate for a second. He reached out with his chopsticks and plucked the chashu straight out of Fujiwara Chika's bowl, transferring it to his own.
Fujiwara Chika: (・∀・)?
She stared, completely stunned, as her chashu was calmly taken away. Her brain short-circuited for a moment, unable to process what had just happened.
She looked down at her ramen—now missing its chashu—then at Tanaka Masao's bowl, which now had two slices of chashu.
Facing Tanaka Masao's perfectly polite smile, Fujiwara Chika finally realized the truth.
She'd been completely played.
[I need to get revenge.]
That was the first thought that popped into her head as she spoke.
"Tanaka-kouhai, do you eat eggs?"
Aside from chashu, the best part of ramen was obviously the half of perfectly soft-boiled seasoned egg.
"Ah, I do. Thank you, senpai."
Tanaka Masao once again flashed a polite smile—and promptly picked the egg out of Fujiwara Chika's bowl.
Fujiwara Chika: (・∀・)?
She stared at Tanaka Masao's smiling face, then at his bowl, now piled high with toppings—and finally at her own.
All that remained were a few scraps: ginger strips, chopped scallions, nori… a pitiful handful of side ingredients.
The atmosphere in the ramen shop became deathly quiet.
Aside from Tanaka Masao, the other three people seemed frozen in place, as if hit by a paralysis spell, their hands suspended mid-motion.
Odajima Saburō was completely numb.
He had actually been watching the whole interaction. Seeing two strangers strike up such a lively conversation almost instantly, he couldn't help thinking:
[Ah… youth is wonderful.]
But once the ramen was served, and he saw Tanaka Masao systematically scam Fujiwara Chika out of her chashu and her egg, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
[He took the chashu and the egg? That's the soul of ramen!
This kid is a heretic among heretics—an enemy of ramen itself.
Oh, that poor girl… she's going to cry, isn't she? Kid, how are you going to clean up this mess?]
As a devoted ramen lover, he completely forgot about enjoying his freshly made bowl. All his attention was fixed on the two of them, desperate to see how this would end.
Even the usually calm and serious owner slightly turned his body, watching the situation unfold.
After all—no one can resist watching drama, especially when it's premium-grade drama happening right in front of them.