At Block 12 of 9-Chome in Haido Town, there was a ramen shop called Antarctic. The exterior looked small and stylish, decorated mainly in white and blue tones.
Standing outside the shop, Ritsu sized it up carefully. If Hayasaka hadn't brought him here, he probably never would have realized it was a ramen shop. From the outside, it looked exactly like a café owned by someone with pretty refined taste.
Hayasaka skillfully operated the ticket machine by the entrance. After choosing her ramen, she turned toward Ritsu behind her and asked,
"What do you want?"
"I'll have the same thing as you."
"Oh~ okay then."
Seeing the strange expression on Hayasaka's face, Ritsu raised a brow in confusion. Had he said something wrong? She couldn't possibly be planning to prank him by ordering the worst ramen on the menu, right?
They sat directly at the counter seats. The middle-aged owner, dressed in a white chef's uniform with dazzling blond hair, stared in surprise at Ritsu's hair color and exclaimed excitedly:
"Whoa! Kid, your hair color is awesome! Maybe next month I'll dye mine white too. It'd match the shop's vibe even better!"
"…Thanks for the compliment."
Hayasaka was clearly familiar with the owner. She laughed and said,
"His is natural. You should really stop dyeing your hair so much, Boss. It's terrible for your hair quality. Be careful or you'll go bald in a few years!"
"Yuna-chan, stop bullying an old man like me."
The owner picked up the order slips and looked surprised. "Kid, you're pretty hardcore. First time in my shop and you're already ordering the signature Special Antarctic Ramen!"
"I just ordered the same thing as Hayasaka," Ritsu explained.
The owner gave him a meaningful smile before turning around to start preparing the Antarctic Ramen.
About a minute later, Ritsu caught a somewhat choking smell in the air. He instinctively craned his neck to peek at the ramen being made.
Why did he suddenly have such a bad feeling about this?
"Signature Special Antarctic Ramen is ready! Enjoy!"
Hayasaka happily picked up the disposable chopsticks beside her and pressed her hands together.
"Time to eat!"
The springy handmade noodles paired with the bright-red, rich tonkotsu broth looked absolutely intense. On top was a generous sprinkle of cheese powder with a creamy aroma. The combination of flavors was enough to make people unable to stop eating.
After taking two bites of noodles, Hayasaka prepared to drink some soup when she noticed Ritsu staring blankly at his bowl.
"Not to your taste?"
"…No. Thanks for the meal."
Although Ritsu could handle spicy food, this bowl of Antarctic Ramen was clearly far beyond his limits. Forget the magma-like broth, even the toppings looked like they'd been marinated in chili powder and spicy sauce.
He finally understood the excitement in Hayasaka's expression and the meaning behind the owner calling him "hardcore."
Normally, the very first thing Ritsu did when eating ramen was taste the broth.
Today, however, he decisively broke that habit. He was pretty sure that if he drank even one sip, he'd end up reporting to the nearest hospital.
He picked up the noodles with his chopsticks. As he lifted them from the red broth, they came out coated in an absurd amount of chili powder.
The corner of Ritsu's mouth twitched.
If chili peppers ever skyrocketed in price, this ramen shop would definitely be responsible.
Very carefully, he avoided slurping the noodles and instead placed them directly into his mouth. The first sensation was the rich flavor of the tonkotsu broth mixed with a subtle spice aroma. Then, lingering afterward, there was even the faint sweetness of the cheese powder.
'Huh… It's actually not that spicy?'
Ritsu blinked twice and examined the broth suspiciously. Was this one of those dishes that looked terrifyingly spicy but actually wasn't?
Still, staying cautious, he continued avoiding slurping the noodles. Very soon, he realized his caution had been entirely justified.
Right as he prepared to eat the third bite, it suddenly felt like Vodka had shoved several bombs into his mouth. The spiciness exploded across his entire oral cavity in an instant. A raging army of heat charged straight for his stomach without the slightest pause.
"Boss, the cheese powder you added really makes the spice level feel way milder. I can even drink the broth easily now," Hayasaka said after taking a huge sip of soup, casually chatting with the owner.
"Hahaha! That's because so many customers failed the challenge. But I really love Antarctic Ramen and wanted more people to enjoy it, so I made a few adjustments!" the owner explained.
As the two of them chatted back and forth, Ritsu lowered his head silently. At this point, his tongue was already numb from the spice. Did they seriously even put Sichuan peppercorns in this?
Sweat began forming at his temples, and warmth spread throughout his entire body. Ritsu finally understood the meaning behind the name Antarctic Ramen.
You could probably eat this bowl in Antarctica itself and still get so hot you'd strip off all your clothes and party in the snow.
"Yuna-chan, you're really evil, bullying your friend with this on his first visit," the owner teased with a grin. "What, did you two lovebirds have a fight? Is this your way of pranking him?"
"W-We're not a couple! He's my boss!" Hayasaka stammered immediately. Having never dated before, she was incredibly thin-skinned and completely unable to handle teasing like this.
"Oh, your boss? Then he's a detective too? If I remember correctly, Yuna-chan, your rank is Assistant Inspector, right?"
The owner looked at Ritsu, who had practically ascended into a spicy-food-induced state of enlightenment and exclaimed in shock, "Whoa! You're an Inspector? You're really young. Career-track officer?"
Turns out this middle-aged guy knew quite a bit. Recovering slightly, Ritsu nodded.
"Yeah. Career track."
"That explains it. If you're career track, making Inspector at your age is pretty normal."
The owner placed two bottles of yogurt drink on the counter. "Stop forcing yourself. You're not good with spicy food, are you?"
"Yeah, I don't usually eat much spicy food. Thanks."
The rich yogurt soothed the burning in his mouth considerably. After downing both bottles in one go, Ritsu actually felt somewhat full already.
Looking up at the handwritten menu hanging above, he said, "Can I get an order of black pork gyoza?"
"Of course."
After completely finishing her ramen, Hayasaka flashed Ritsu a smug little expression that practically screamed.
'So I finally found your weakness.'
Ritsu drooped his eyelids and pointed at the corner of his own mouth, silently hinting at her.
The smug Hayasaka instantly transformed into a panicked ostrich. Blushing furiously, she hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away the soup around her lips. She even took out a small mirror from her handbag to fix her appearance.
On the back of the pink mirror was an engraving shaped like Usagi Tsukino's transformation brooch from Sailor Moon.
Ritsu narrowed his eyes slightly. 'She really does love that anime…'
No way she secretly plays magical girl transformations at home, right? Just imagining the scene made it difficult for him to suppress the smile tugging at his lips.
After finishing touching up her appearance, Hayasaka noticed Ritsu staring at her and frowned.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Checking whether there was still soup on your face."
'…I never should've asked.'
She knew perfectly well that nothing good ever came out of this guy's mouth. Hayasaka rolled her eyes and revealed the classic villain smile straight out of a TV drama.
"What a shame. I didn't get to see you cry from the spice. Never thought Inspector Onizawa would be scared of spicy food."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Ritsu leaned slightly to the left, resting his head against one hand as he tilted it lazily. He looked exactly like the delinquent thug from the first chapter of a shojo manga, the kind who exists solely to get beaten up by the male lead after harassing the heroine. The upward tilt of his eyes and his teasing smile made him seem frivolous and shameless.
"Then beg me. If you beg me, I'll cry for you."
The middle-aged owner, who had been about to bring out the black pork gyoza, instantly turned around and snickered to himself upon seeing the scene.
These two really were comedy gold. If they came to the shop every day and performed a few skits for him, life would be perfect.
Hayasaka clearly hadn't expected Ritsu to be this utterly shameless.
Was his face made out of castle walls or something?! Grinding her teeth, she spat out.
"Get lost."