c7 (1/2)

3 MINUTES BOY MEETS GIRL – CHAPTER 7/19: POUR SOME WATER

3minutes139

Author: Takaaki Kaima (Author of Gakkou no Kaidan…the non-horror version)

Ill.u.s.trator: s.h.i.+rabi

On a certain day, the cup ramen pixie appeared to Yuuki Tanaka, telling him,

“Eating cup ramen every day, and every day is not a good balance to your diet.”

She had the appearance of a cute girl, her wavy blond hair reminiscent of ramen strands. She, the size of a palm, was sitting on the cover of the cup ramen with its cover sealed, looking up at him. She was seated at where the lid was capped.

“…”

Yuuki rubbed his eyes, and again looked down. Again, he could see it. He tried flicking it off with a finger, and the pixie let out a shriek, slapping at his finger.

“What are you doing? It hurts!”

“…Ow. This isn’t an illusion?”

Yuuki shook his head. There was only a few months until he entered college, and he a.s.sumed that he was so lonely living alone that he started to have hallucinations. However, it did hurt when the pixie hit him; it was not an illusion.”

“Well, as a cup ramen pixie, I do have the urge to tell you to have cup ramen for all 3 meals a day, but I do feel that it is important for the person eating the cup ramen to control his body. By living longer, you can have cup ramen for a longer time, so that’ll mean that you’ll be able to eat more, right? Well, thinking about that, I hope that you’ll add more vegetable too–”

Yuuki stare at this pixie who was nagging at me like his mother, and folded his elbows. If this was not a hallucination, how should he deal with her?

“Ah, it’s about time.”

While Yuuki was pondering about this, the pixie suddenly stood up, lifted her head, and waved at him, saying, “Bye bye” before vanis.h.i.+ng in an instant.

“…Ah, 3 minutes.”

Yuuki realized that he forgot to set the timer, and hurriedly took off the lid, only to be taken aback. It was perfect. A fragrant scent rose along with the steam. He stirred the noodle strands with his chopsticks; they were neither overly hard or tender, and seemed perfect.

He slurped at the noodles, spent another 5 minutes or so finis.h.i.+ng them, exhaled, and folded his elbows.

“…This cup ramen pixie is really amazing.”

Ever since then, the pixie would appear every day.

Of course, Yuuki continued to eat cup ramen every day, but whenever he did so, the pixie would lecture him on his eating habits. He gradually got used to that lifestyle, and sometimes even refuted the pixie’s words, grumbling about the actual lifestyle of a college student.

The pixie seemed to be interested in Yuuki’s words, but whenever the topic was about cup ramen, she would become exceptionally stern. There were times when Yuuki would open the lid before 3 minutes pa.s.sed, and she would growl.

“Stop it! You’re terrible, trying to pry this open! Idiot! Pervert!”

As she was utterly furious, Yuuki could only apologize. The pixie was muttering away ‘There’s no delicacy’, and ‘I need to prepare myself’, she was always feeling so displeased before the 3 minutes ended.

Unexpectedly, he discovered her weakness.

“…I don’t think I can hang on.”

After 3 minutes pa.s.sed, the pixie fidgeted about, looking peeved. It seemed her agitation was at its limit at 3 minutes. Yuuki had not been paying attention, but whenever he bought cup ramen that would not be done in 5 minutes, she would shake her legs about, looking bashful as she lowered her head, sitting on the lid.

“Are you Ultraman?”

Yuuki joked, having given up on her. She was so energetic 3 minutes ago, yet after that, she was demure, as though she was a completely different person. Whenever he p.r.i.c.ked her shoulder with his finger, she would let out a strange ‘hyyah!’, her face red. She would then clench her fists, s.h.i.+vering, yapping away with teary eyes ‘I-I’ll remember that…’

“Alright, I’ll go buy some 5 minutes cap ramen this time.”

Yuuki answered, but in fact, he did not plan to do so.

It had been a while since Yuuki last spoke to the pixie.

His senior at college (forcefully) requested for him to stay inside the research lab. The professors there were kind enough to pay for everyone’s food, including Yuuki’s, so the latter often bought bentos from the nearby convenience stores and eateries to eat, and did not have to eat at home.

“Senpai, don’t you want want to eat cup ramen or something?”

Yuuki suddenly mentioned this as he dealt with a few complicated figures in the research lab. The uppercla.s.sman stared at the PC, responding uninterestedly, “Ah?”

“Sick of bentos? Go get a takeout from someone then. There’s a curry shop nearby.”

“No, that’s not what I mean…well, erm…”

“What? There’s a ramen shop if you’re asking.”

“No, it’s not ramen…”

“Then what is it?”

“…Don’t you have a moment when you just feel like eating cup ramen instead?”

“Ah, yeah, but since it’s rare for us to have some leftover food money, I want to get something better.”

“I guess…”