Hello, summer rants, my old friend. I've come to talk about you again.

No we're not really friends.

I'm a very subjective person, and I realized that all I have talked about is my and Nagi's scorching complaints about the summer heat as per our experiences. They may sometimes be exaggerated but we at least have the right to say our sentiments especially since humans these days look on their smartphones more than the TV most of the time.

Also, side note; even if unofficially, I think it's most likely that G might be diagnosed with Misophonia.

※ Noogle might help you.

Anyway, what I was trying to say is that smartphone technology has gone so much that I in 2013 when I first got my smartphone will knock his socks off. And one of those things are the weather apps… well, at least if you're in a different country.

Here in Orio, the forecasts on those weather apps are always 50-50 in accuracy unless you refer to the legitimate meteorological agency of the country which can only be found in a social media. Thus, that can only mean that the third party forecasts half of the time is an utter lie inaccurate. Ahum, excuse me for that.

That is the reason why I juggle around many trusted weather apps out there, but to no avail.

One app says it's 35°C and say that the heat index is the same regardless of the humidity rate. Then another says that it is the same temperature but the heat index says that I'm going to burn in what feels like 42°C in 78% humidity. Pretty accurate, and I would go for the latter for the mere fact that I am very subjective. It was what I feel.

Chances of rain is where I shake my head and vigorously at that. It's very rare that I get a very accurate reading. Most of the time I get triggered by the app saying there is 0% chance of rain or low precipitation volume for the next six hours when it is flooding outside at knee height.

Is anyone counting the pet peeves I have shared until this point?

Although my greatest suspect to those inaccuracies is that the tech of the country is still developing despite the wave dampeners or even the AMM. I don't think we're at that point where we can solely rely on those apps aside from the weather agency that ought to use some funds and get some software engineers on their side. Another thing is probably the satellites, in which I can't really support this statement as I am not an educated person. However, what they tell on the news is what I believe to be accurate and credible. Who knows, they might get a Step Up 5 if they do that.

But my sentiments, really, is that I hope that there is a more accessible way to glance at the weather instead of me reluctantly opening my SNS just to look at my weather today.

And on that note, today's weather is clear and super humid. Thank you, Master Ken for teaching me the ways to prevent my hypertension.

▪ ▪ ▪

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH?!?!?!"

Still, Rin is incapable of letting out an ear-shattering shout but this is plenty loud.

"I was only out for a day yesterday and this is what I come home to…?!"

Rin-san, this is not your house yet.

"Y-Y-Your hair…

H-How cute…!!!!"

I'm pretty sure that I put my AC at full blast, so why are Rin's cheeks so red? Oh, silly me.

But my heart pounded for some reason when she said that I am cute, or my hair at least.

"I-I never expected this… but I can't believe that it can actually suit you, Potato…

I didn't know that you also look good on short hair…!!!

Hah… Hah… Hah… Hah…"

"Um, Rin-san? Can you calm down?"

"No I can't… This is too much of a surprise…"

"I'm pretty sure that I didn't react like this whenever you cut your hair, but I guess I really can't blame you," and then I gave her a glass of cold water.

"Do you have a lighter, Potato? I just need to make sure."

"Oi, I know that that's a joke, but how come you know that reference? Want some oolong tea after that anyway?"

"No thank you."

Explanation time.

I have an ability called "dragging out a very short story into a long one," and I won't be using that this time.

So to put it into perspective, I don't really have a very short hair; it's actually on the borderline of the longer ones. Sometimes my bangs would even touch my eyebrows or even reach to the bridge of my nose.

And now my hair has gotten short, but not with a "really." It's probably close to when G forgets to get his hair cut in a month as he gets it cut in that interval. In reality, I only get my hair trimmed and have it on a medium length that I usually sport.

But my barber kind of messed up accidentally. He almost slipped for some reason while holding the scissors, and as scary as it is, nearly stabbed my cheek. I however docked just in the nick of time but it took a good amount of my hair. To not make him guilty, I never told him about an accident that nearly happened and made do with having my hair cut on the bit that got yeeted.

Thus, I am now living with hair with the length of four of my fingers together. I could opt to brush my half-forehead length fringes a bit but it for some reason made me look like G. Nonetheless, it felt really cool in my head and I've never felt so free with my sideburns not touching my ears.

"Well, that's about it but it isn't really all that bad."

"I know that I loved that a lot but I didn't expect you to also like it plenty."

"I might tell my barber to make this my regular."

"Seriously?!"

"Anyway, it works out nicely since it's summer right now and we're going away for a bit, right?"

"…

Ah, that's right. It's exactly next week, huh."

"Yuuuuup."

Explanation time #2.

*inhales uglily*

We're going to the beach.

But sorry as I will have to manage your expectations. We're going to be there for work instead of a swim. I can't even swim anyway!

We got an offer to use quite a large beach shop to liven up the already lively summer on the seashore for two days. And so, in urgency, we closed the restaurant for a day to make an entire menu with an emphasis to seafoods which took a hit on our budget in only that one day of research and experiments. Along that, the desk people also went ham with the online promotion and announcements to have our voices reach our destination, and with surveying the area to boot.

Destination it is; and so we are going to put up shop on the extreme northern region of Orio. The province is called Hitoretsu. You may recall in the chapter 1 of NoFutsuu that Orio was found by Japanese people cruising on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Well, they named that place, yet there are no records whatsoever as to what the real meaning of the name is. Maybe it was just named on the spot, who knows. Heck, if you're feeling it, you could have gone to Minamidaitō or straight up Okinawa by a motor boat.

But it is a beach, which is rather unusual on the north of Orio. Truly, anything going nord is mountains and a bit of cold places like Payns or Goci, which I would really prefer in this season, but you descends once again after three small provinces and you have arrived. The unusual thing is that it is the only portion of the shore that has abundance of sand compared to others. Hence, the tourism competes with the other major beaches especially in summer.

It is amazing and all, but to put it simply, you will literally see me on the edge of our country land-wise.

Wait, since I'm half-blood, I am almost going to merge this two in one as though I have the power. I'm a stupid potato.

▪ ▪ ▪

I really wanted to know if I have less or more tendency to throw up on hotter temperatures in our travel, but too bad I won't be able to gather "primary data" in regards to that. We in Giotto's South pretty much had to compress our schedule and so traveling on land is not an option anymore. It was a very short flight, however.

Nonetheless, we have arrived here in Hitoretsu with great delight, at least for me. A drop of degree Celsius is enough to put a smile on my tepid face. Ironic as it is, it felt cooler on the beach.

Well yes, being under the sun on a clear day is very much the same as being rotated over a charcoal fire like a lechon, but at least the gusts of wind compensated to that suffering of mine. But really, this is the first time that I am going to be near the sea, let alone the beach. I am already slowly forgetting that Orio is a tropical country for the entirety of history until four years ago. And lookie, lookie. We have palm trees.

It definitely is a sight of contrast. The seaside that we came to midway to Goci was once a lively beach but it has gotten cold, and that's just one example of beaches calming down after the changes in climate. But Hitoretsu sure is one lively place.

It was a short flight but in a rather early time. Our time of arrival was around nine, which wasn't very far to the time when we then arrived at the beach itself, but apples, the shore has already been busy this early.

But while we were still ogling on the sight, the bossman loudly clapped.

"Aaaaalright, time to work!"

The acceptable complaints of the crew may have reached my ears, but we really don't have a choice at this point. We have four days to spend in this province with two of those to be allotted for working. That being said, however, we have the entire day to clean up and set up our popup Giotto's before we open up. And I have to say, our preparations for our own popup branch back in high school felt so slow. What looked like weeks of prep is being packed in a single day. But I suppose credits are to be given to the adults before me. No time was wasted as they immediately started.

While here I am with Rin dilly-dallying like some idiots under the sun. You may remember, but we have a gesture in the kitchen about putting your hand on one's shoulder. Well, we did it simultaneously and gave a thumbs up at each other.

"Just remember that we had an agreement, Rin."

"I shall not let you down, Potato."

Explanation time #3.

A bacouple. Or… bakaple?

Anyway, we did a pledge before this trip.

"I, Ringo Akanami, hereby pledge to bear no responsibility in the event that Potato succumbs to the heat and is rendered incapable to work unless caused by gravely unforeseen circumstances. Furthermore, I promise to also watch over my health amidst the effect of my pledge."

"I, Potato, hereby pledge to bear full responsibility in the event that an object or a situation becomes a detriment to Ringo Akanami's health. And on my word, I will do my utmost with the help of my fellows to make our new experience fruitful, safe, and secure."

Please forgive our cringe.

…

But then I realized.

"Oh my word. Doesn't this look like our first days in Kyoto all over again, Jean?"

"Oh, wow. And you tell me that I'm now a full time chef here? Sheesh.

Now I wonder if I'm actually going to tire out here quicker than those times… I don't really want to go over that again."

"And then you'll say next, 'I wish I could've brought Ai(-san) with me.'"

"I wish I could've brought Ai with me…

NANI?!"

"Yo, that actually worked?

But while we're at it, how are you and Ai-san after that? It hasn't been that long, huh?"

"Yeah… There weren't many things that changed, but the distinction as a boyfriend still hasn't really sunk in… It's bizarre, really."

"I see that your conversations still go all over the place," came Yuzuri-san.

"Oh, we were talking about the time back in Kyoto. Looking back, you were still in Anew, right?"

"Although I missed to tell you that I resigned back in February."

"Ohh. Are you going to continue working here in the foreseeable future?"

"Yes. We'll give way to Kaizo-kun's wedding first, and anyway, we still don't have an exact date. Regardless, we would be moving here for good afterwards."

"Should we call you Yuzuri Yugare-san then~?"

This flustered, beautiful engaged lady shall not be allowed to go outside.

…

Nevertheless, the process of setting up the place was going smoothly, and midway that, a package of ingredients came to the shop just before we were about to grab lunch. Unsurprisingly, the ingredients were mostly seafood, but our first thought—we are going to make our menu for lunch, and they ought to taste differently with the quality of ingredients differing.

But as to where the ingredients came from, this goes a ways away. We wouldn't be in this province without a long planning, which our sponsor did for us. With that, they sponsored the location of the shop, the procurement of ingredients, and a place to stay that is only a few minutes of walk from here.

That being said… we haven't even checked in to our hotel! But I guess it would he meaningless since we'll be in this shop until night.

Needless to say, I've never tasted scallops and lobsters this good. Actually, the first time I, or probably some of us, tasted scallops would be in our time of research. Still, I refuse to eat squid and oysters.

"Uhhhh… Does someone know what this wooden board is for?" a waiter asked.

"Hm? How does it look?"

"It's quite thick and sturdy. Feels like a new one."

"Maybe the people who used this place once just left it here…

No, don't throw that out! That's for our signboard!"

"Wait, did we really forget about that this whole time?!" Hiro finally realized, "Gin, Ringo, Jean! Can you make a layout on the spot?!"

"We can't make a miracle but if you leave us on our own, we can do something about it. Is there paint lying around here?"

"Y-Yeah… you leave all the prep to us… Just focus on that for the time being."

"Rooooger."

~ ~ ~

7pm.

Everything that was needed to be done was thankfully finished just an hour after sundown. We have finally checked in to our hotel rooms and dropped off our stuff. It is no surprise that I was rooming with Jean otherwise he will just feel out of place. There is also an unspoken fact that Giotto's actually has a lot of female employees even without including Rin to the roster, but I think that Yuzuri-san might be feeling lonely as she is the only woman in the kitchen, while the majority are in waitering and deskwork.

With that out of the way, I was surprised that the two sisters suddenly invited me to go to the sea.

Even though it was still early at night, the crowd seems to have died down significantly at this time of the day. The surroundings have mostly gone quiet, yet the sound of the waves have been greatly amplified. The wind was fair, while it still feels very humid even at this time, which is probably the reason why they opted to go out for a stroll… or probably a dip.

"Uwaah! The water is cold…!"

Suddenly, I was brought back to my history classes back in high school. I had forgotten that even this country has its own bizarre parts of history, but not to the point that I will blatantly exclaim that it was utterly weird. In contrast, I actually favor that tiny part of history, and probably only me.

But most likely… I may just be avoiding this topic for my entire life. And after getting a read about this tangent of mine, can you really blame me? I grew up without a requisite perception of the world apart from its dark side, and I am generally an ignorant (human).

Anyway…

All this time, for some reason… (let's just say) eloquent swimwear on women was never really a thing in this country; and I may have committed many sins, but I am not one that goes directly under a waterfall to extinguish worldly desires. I am too hateful and depressed to ever think about those things.

But I may actually try to go under a waterfall just to know how it feels.

However, history says that Orion women have only ever bathed in (the once) clean rivers and other bodies of water with white clothing as long as the body is still covered to an extent. For several generations, apparently, there was a point where women became the leaders of several tribes and villages even on the times where barters with other nations occur.

In the records, it was a woman named Raela that governed the abovementioned tradition which has been preserved for… well, until this day. Truly, that has been observed even in this beach that there are a few that are dissimilar, especially foreigners, which is not really a bad thing culturally. Raela did not make it a law, but a choice that people followed.

However, Raela is known in this contemporary world as a gentle and caring leader, while being cruel at the same time, which is a fact. Even as a female leader, she was very objective and judged fairly in her times. But different eras, same world. Men will always be seen as wolves. That however is the reason why she created that tradition, because the same things have happened in the past, but just not to the degree that people have seen in present. And because of that, those who have been deemed to have committed a vulgar action… Nggghhhh…

…Have been castrated…

That may not be a practice in our present society anymore… but hearing or even mentioning that managed to bring up a huge chill on my spine. I am genuinely scared right now.

And that is why I am here, sitting on a rock with three hermit crabs as my companions, watching over the sisters on the water, who follows the culture with a rash guard or a swimming shirt that you can only ever found in this country, from a distance. Man, I wish I could also talk to hermit crabs. I really would want to know its final words when I had it as a pet in the past. I even gave him bigger shells but of course life is finite…

…

So the only pet I had was a hermit crab?

And I love how my tangents also go to another tangent, and so on and so forth. But I won't be surprised if people hate me for that.

▪ ▪ ▪

Rise and shine, Hitoretsu. Giotto's has arrived.

It was just after dawn and I felt like walking around the beach with a hum and whistle, and a few people have already gone down to the beach while it was not yet as hot in the midday. While this is not the east, I have already expected that I won't be able to see much of the sun rising unless I face east of north. Truly, I am standing on the apex of this country's geographical ordinate. But I haven't really seen the sunrise these days, and it was nice to see the pale blue sky with the generous touch of the wind which is typically absent on the roof of my house, let alone the suburbs.

It still felt unreal. I never really wanted to go to the beach for the typical experience, but even so, I am glad that I was able to come here to see this scene. In the end, my definition of the experience on the beach is rather bent from the normal thinking.

And with a few more steps to my stroll, I have finally realized that I am actually standing on the sand. I then tried to spot an empty space in front of our popup restaurant, and threw my slippers from where I was and started running over unusual earth.

~ ~ ~

"Hello, Potato? Where did you run off to?"

"Oh…? I guess… huff… good morning? Huff… huff…"

"Potato, you are a potato, not a dog. But good morning, Hachi."

"Sorry I was so focused on running I forgot to tell you I went out early."

"Are you going to be back soon? We're about to have breakfast."

"Oh, I see. Then I'll be right there shortly-?! Almost didn't step on my brakes, my word…!!"

"Eek…?! P-Potato?!"

It has been a while since the last time I almost lost control of my Step. One wrong move and I may have busted a hole on the wall of the hotel's hallway on the fifth floor.

"Umm… Have a ever seen you drenched in sweat in the past… or is this the first time…?" she asked with a frown, while not even hiding that she is distancing herself from me.

Well, I look disgusting so she has all the right.

But since I was still stuck on the thought, I just silently ate breakfast while contemplating on the results of more than an hour of a run on an uneven, and ever-changing surface under my foot. Seriously, my body is a cheat. It may not be what Kagetora intended his experiments to be, but at this point, it felt like I am that captain from the Av*ngers—a specimen with a body surpassing human limits.

…

But that being said, we are once again stepping in unknown territory. First it was Kyoto, and now Hitoretsu. Even if we did our extensive research before coming here, we didn't have the primary data that can support the calculations we made. I suppose… data won't really be a match to the taste buds of the native.

Eight in the morning; and the fresh ingredients that were apparently procured from the sea arrived literally just early this morning, and are still inside cooler boxes. I thought to myself, this maybe be the freshest ingredients that I will get a hold on to.

That may sound like something nice, but it's not all that good. These seafoods literally came out of the waters, but like I said, this could be the freshest supplies that I have gotten my hands on to. That pretty much means that I have literally no experience on preparing them, and it may well be the same for my significant other or our rookie subordinate.

"Hahh… We'll be in your hands, Hiro…"

"Do you guys need me to demonstrate first?"

"Nah, I have read so much culinary books, Jean is just as committed, and your little sister is a student of CCI. You can obviously worry but have some faith. We're not really that new in this, but scold us if we're doing something wrong."

"What a modest sous chef…

Alright, let's open up!"

…

I say that, but we haven't gotten a customer in the first ten minutes of our opening.

"Not like we didn't expect this," Sean commented.

"Yeeeaaahhh. We may be aware of that… but we really didn't set up a plan B, huh?"

"Haaaaaiiii," I raised my hand, "my stomach is basically on a different dimension, so I can do probably a recon on the entire beach."

"Oi… are you seriously going while wearing that shirt…?"

Ah, yes. I am a proud member of the Giotto's South crew, and that's why I'm wearing a shirt with our named plastered on it.

"Yawn~ I'm just a hungry man. It's up to them if they'll see it like spying on them. Anyway, we're outsiders so they definitely think that we are their enemies.

Catch you later, then."

"I guess I'll also do my part…"

Rin then walked deeper inside the kitchen and rested her arms on the counter momentarily, as though with a deep thought hiding behind the shade of her cap.

"Let's see what we can do here…"

She raised her head, removed her cap, tied her hair, and put the hat back on.

They all thought, "Gin would definitely freak out in joy if he sees her appearance right now."

‹Rin›

I can't believe I'm actually saying this…

Food W*rs may be a bit exaggerated in how the food is being describe along with the analogies… while also being rather indecent, but I guess culinary students can also be theoretical. Aside from studying new concepts and enhancing existing ones, I took the opportunity to do a whole lot of myth busting.

And it seems that some of them are true, although not to the extent depicted in the material at all. But the theories about aromatics and spices were actually true.

And under my cap, I watch even the eyes of the crew being astonished with the aroma spreading to the entire shop. Then weakly, my ears picked up the chuckling of Jean.

"Ahahaha… I forgot that it has been a year since you last set foot in the kitchen of Giotto's…

Obviously, none of us were slacking off, huh?"

With that, he ran towards the kitchen and swiftly whipped up a dish… which was something that has been in the conventional menu of Giotto's for so long.

"Did you pick up what I was trying to do, Jean?"

"It wasn't really that hard. The scent was not something you would smell in food stalls in a beach, so I improvised the menu to be appropriate to the place.

I guess our convention is unconventional in this place…?"

Then, Hiro-nii flicked his fingers loudly, which brought the entire shop in silence.

"I see now what you're doing here… Currently, our Giotto's right now is basically no different to other shops. So your take is that we do reverse psychology…"

"And then we can throw at them what we actually have for this event…!"

"Let's see if this will work…

Great job, you two rooks…!"