"Cheers!"
Inside Dixies Family Restaurant, Kobayashi Tetsu and Yuji Naka clinked their glasses—not with alcohol, but with soft drinks.
Japan was a strange country: you could get married young, but you couldn't drink until much later. Perhaps, between the two, drinking was considered the more dangerous act.
Strictly speaking, both of them were still minors under Japanese law.
Yuji Naka rubbed his excited hands together.
"Do you think this game is good enough to put up a fight against Nintendo?"
Kobayashi Tetsu shook his head. "Hard to say. I'll need to take a look at the exhibition matches first. Maybe all my predictions will turn out wrong."
Yuji Naka nodded vigorously.
"Right now I don't care about any of that. What I want to know is—when do I get to eat tonkatsu rice bowl?"
He kept rubbing his hands, like a jittery oversized fly.
Last time he never managed to get one, and clearly his 'nutritional needs' had suffered. This time, Yuji was determined to eat a proper tonkatsu bowl no matter what.
"Ah… tonkatsu?" Ezaki Nene bowed apologetically. "I'm very sorry, but we're sold out. The new shipment hasn't arrived yet."
Yuji Naka: ?
In an instant, Kobayashi saw Yuji's face twist into a tragic expression.
His nutrition was once again in peril!
Ezaki Nene bowed repeatedly. "I'm terribly sorry. However, we still have other options—oyakodon, gyudon—both are very popular dishes here."
Yuji cried out in anguish, "But I just want a tonkatsu rice bowl! If I had one bowl I'd be full and all my nutrition would be topped off! Now I can't have tonkatsu—so who's supposed to fix my nutritional deficiency?!"
Kobayashi nearly burst out laughing.
"All right, all right. Tonkatsu isn't the only food in the world."
He patted Yuji's shoulder, then suddenly looked up at Ezaki Nene.
"By the way, Miss Ezaki, does your restaurant allow self-service? For example… letting a customer into the kitchen?"
"This…"
Ezaki looked troubled, but after speaking with the manager, she returned and bowed.
"The manager agreed."
"Excellent."
Kobayashi took off his baseball cap, rolled up his sleeves, and made a "ready for action" pose.
"Then I'll show a little skill—how about zucchini stewed with eggplant? Add some meat, and it's delicious. You'll eat a whole bowl of it."
Yuji stared at him. "You're going to cook? But what even is zucchini stewed with eggplant? It sounds disgusting!"
Kobayashi shrugged, tied on an apron, and stepped into the kitchen.
The kitchen was spotless—after all, in a family restaurant you could see it from the dining area, so cleanliness was non-negotiable.
He weighed the chef's knife in his hand. Japanese cooks favored pointed knives; not like the Chinese cleaver he was used to, but better for delicate work like deboning.
The manager—also the head chef—watched with a cheerful smile, making no move to stop him.
Kobayashi slit the chicken thigh along the bone and removed it. His movements weren't professional, but definitely not amateur either.
Ezaki Nene peeked in from the counter, brushing her hair aside.
"Customer, do you need help?"
"No need. This is pretty simple."
Kobayashi flattened the chicken, pounded it with a tenderizing hammer, coated it, and set it aside to marinate.
Ezaki blinked, her light brown eyes filled with faint confusion.
This wasn't normal. Normally everyone relied on her. It was rare for someone to say they didn't need her help.
But looking at Kobayashi—focused, steady, confident—it really did seem he needed no help at all.
After a bit of chopping and frying, Kobayashi finally finished. A fresh, steaming chicken cutlet rice bowl, perhaps not the prettiest, but certainly delicious enough, was done.
"Here." Kobayashi removed the apron and placed the bowl before Yuji Naka.
"Try it. Don't say your bro doesn't take care of you. Most people never get the chance to eat my cooking."
Yuji stared at the bowl, stunned.
This was the first time he had ever seen a Japanese man—outside a restaurant kitchen—actually cook.
At home, Japanese men almost never cooked. Yuji himself could barely manage boiling water and instant ramen.
He tasted the first bite with caution. The moment it entered his mouth, his expression changed dramatically.
Unexpectedly…
It was delicious.
Yuji was nearly moved to tears.
Kobayashi Tetsu was technically his boss—and his boss had cooked for him. Not only that, it tasted amazing.
Yuji wanted to fall to his knees.
If Tetsu does not forsake me, I, Yuji, will recognize him as my honorable foster father!
Kobayashi sat across from him, arms folded, watching with amusement.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed Ezaki Nene nervously twisting the hem of her uniform as she approached.
"That… truly, you don't need any help?"
"Of course not." Kobayashi lifted his head, smiling casually.
"It's just a normal thing. Why would I need help every time?"
Ezaki nodded quietly.
"True…"
And yet, for some reason, not being needed left her with a faint, inexplicable sadness.
After finishing their "celebratory" meal, the two young men—freshly graduated and burning with enthusiasm—felt their fatigue melt away. Even a simple chicken cutlet bowl was enough.
"Let's go," Kobayashi said. "We'll stop by the game shop. And while we're at it, we'll leak a bit of news to Shimayori."
Yuji gave him a big thumbs-up.
Fake Sega Uncle: Shimayori Yosuke.
Real Sega Uncle: Kobayashi Tetsu!
They said their goodbyes to the restaurant staff.
Ezaki Nene collected the plates, her thoughts drifting.
She wasn't needed at all.
So unsettling!
"Who are those customers anyway? I feel like I see them constantly."
The manager shrugged. "Probably Sega employees. I heard bits of their conversation. And didn't they buy iced water earlier for the Sega tournament promotion?"
Ezaki thought it over.
Sega, huh?
Never heard of it.
…
…
"Yuji, have you heard this theory?" Kobayashi said as they walked toward the game shop, hands in his pockets. "The more someone is relied upon, the more they secretly want someone to rely on themselves."
"No idea," Yuji said. "Sounds deep though. Who said that?"
"A great American emotional master—Wozki Bender."
Of course, Kobayashi made it up. It was simply a known psychological compensatory behavior: people heavily depended on by others often longed to lean on someone too. Constantly clinging to them and seeking comfort might actually be a burden.
"But I'm just talking. Don't mind it too much."
Kobayashi stopped walking and waved at Shimayori Yosuke, who stood at the shop entrance.
"Uncle Yosuke! How's business?"
"Oho! If it isn't Tetsu-kun!" Shimayori's face lit up instantly.
Last time, Tetsu had brought in a wave of customers—and his information had been spot-on. Within the week, the new Sega arcade machine, Doctor Kobayashi, had arrived.
Kobayashi straightened his posture, speaking in a serious tone.
"I'll tell you a secret. Don't spread it. Sega will be releasing two games soon—one is a port of an old arcade title, and the other is an entirely new work."
Shimayori scribbled it down at lightning speed.
August 30th, 1983!
Tetsu-kun's Supreme Directive!
Sega will release TWO new games!
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