After opening the restaurant for Saiba, Tsuna took a look at the ingredients. He noticed all the ingredients were available.
While Saiba was sitting down, Tsuna turned on the rice cooker, using a lower amount of water to ensure it was dry enough to fry.
"Eh? You don't even have the rice ready?"
Saiba called him out, scratching his head awkwardly.
Tsuna noticed Saiba seemed to be considering going out to another restaurant as he thought of a way to persuade the guy to stay so he could earn money.
Then, something caught his eye, and an idea sparked in his mind.
He nodded, "Yeah, I just came back from a week-long training camp. So, I wasn't able to prepare the rice beforehand."
"Anyway, old man, give me some time to clean up..." Tsuna grabbed a jar of crackers and placed it on the table where the middle-aged man sat. "Here, you can have them for free. I made them myself."
"Training camp?"
Saiba's interest was piqued at Tsuna's mention of a training camp. He knew Soma should also be attending one this week.
He looked at Tsuna, suddenly intrigued, "Oh? Is he also from Totsuki?"
"Hmm... Crackers, huh? I suppose they could delay my hunger a bit," Saiba murmured as he opened the lid and took out a cracker, biting into it.
Crunch...
"...!"
Saiba widened his eyes at the delightfully crispy crackers, the satisfying crunch echoing with each bite.
"The umami flavor... MSG?"
Saiba examined the cracker with a hint of surprise. It was unusual to find crackers seasoned with MSG.
However...
Despite its unusual flavoring, it was undeniably one of the best crackers he had ever tasted.
Saiba smiled appreciatively, "Now... You've piqued my interest, young man. I'm looking forward to trying your fried rice..."
After a while...
"Ohoho! It's open! Finally, it's been five days! Five days! Ohohoho, I'm so happy..."
"Hmm?"
Saiba turned to look at the entrance after hearing the peculiar laughter and excited remarks, only to open his mouth wide in shock as he saw a large yellow octopus walking in with a wide smirk on its face.
He mumbled, "...What in the world?"
Another man in a suit walked in and saw this.
"That's why I told you to bring your mask," he sighed as the yellow octopus chuckled.
"Ohoho, come on, Karasuma, you can get him to sign the NDA..."
However...
To their surprise, Saiba approached with his eyes sparkling in curiosity while his hands reached out to touch the unusual creature before him.
"Oh, you don't seem to be afraid of me..."
Korosensei watched with intrigue as Saiba didn't seem to fear him, his tentacles twitching slightly in response to Saiba's touch.
"You..."
"Yes?"
Korosensei's response was met with an eager grin from Saiba, his eyes gleaming with excitement, "Can I get a piece of your tentacles?"
"...Huh? What did you say?"
Both Korosensei and Karasuma couldn't believe their ears as they looked at Saiba in confusion.
"This... is my new experiment with octopus meat..."
Saiba reached into his pocket and produced a jar filled with octopus tentacles coated in a mysterious darkened liquid.
With a sigh, he explained, "But the taste just doesn't mix well with the tentacles, so I wonder if yours would. Anyway, do you want to try and tell me what you think?"
"That's quite a disturbing request. Besides, it would essentially be cannibalism, no?" Karasuma furrowed his eyebrows as he crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression.
"That's so rude of you. I was also once human and ate octopus..."
The words seemed to strike a nerve with Korosensei, his body flushing red with indignation along with his tentacles that were waving agitatedly.
His expression grew increasingly heated.
"Kekeke, you're so interesting..."
Saiba's chuckle echoed through the air, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he eyed Korosensei.
"...!"
A sudden shiver coursed through Korosensei's body as he saw Saiba lick his lips.
However...
"Here, try it..."
Before Korosensei could react, Saiba extended a chopstick, offering a piece of his experimental dish.
Korosensei peered at the peculiar-looking tentacles on the chopstick, "...Ah, can I?"
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let me know what you think..."
Unfortunately...
"Blerrggggghh!"
The moment the tentacles touched his tongue, Korosensei's whole body convulsed and immediately turned purple.
"#^!(^#(@^^#"
He let out an incomprehensible string of gibberish as he writhed on the ground, trying to rid himself of the taste.
"Seems like he doesn't like it," Saiba muttered, disappointment evident in his tone as he watched Korosensei's reaction.
"...What the hell did you just feed him?"
Karasuma looked at Saiba in shock, eyeing him with a new level of wariness as his hand instinctively reached out for his weapon.
"Y'all need to give me an explanation for this..."
A voice was heard as everyone turned to Tsuna, who walked down the stairs, his expression speechless as he observed Korosensei rolling on the ground, screaming gibberish while his body changed color like a chameleon.
"Kekeke, it's nothing. He just got a taste of my experimental dish, and let me tell you..."
Saiba's tone was playful, almost gleeful, as he grinned widely, "It tastes terrible..."
"..."
Tsuna scratched his head at this, now understanding why this middle-aged man seemed so familiar to him as he spoke, "Like father, like son, huh?"
"You must be Soma's dad..."
"Oh, you know Soma?"
"...Yeah, I transferred with him to Totsuki a while ago, so we know each other."
He sighed, deciding to ignore the rolling octopus and get to his station since the rice seemed ready by now.
As Tsuna turned the stove on and began cooking, Saiba sat back in his seat, watching with interest.
However...
"Huh?"
He also glanced around before his eyes widened as he saw the price.
He exclaimed, "Wait a second, your fried rice costs 5,000 Yen? That's like $30! Are you sure you wrote the price correctly?"
"Nope, it's the correct price," Tsuna replied, keeping his focus on the wok in his hand as he started to add all the ingredients, spreading their aroma throughout the restaurant.
"...Young man, why don't you give me a bit of a discount? You know my son, don't you?"
"Even if Soma were here, he'd have to pay the same price," Tsuna responded firmly.
Saiba scratched his forehead as he continued to negotiate, "Come on, just this once. You know money can't buy you happiness, right? Giving me a discount will do..."
"I do agree money can't buy you happiness," Tsuna nodded as his hand swiftly moved, coating the rice with the wok hay.
He then turned to look at Saiba with a serious expression and spoke, "But a LOT of money can..."
"..."
Saiba fell into silence, at a loss for words.
"Hahaha, old man, you won't stand a chance arguing with him..." Korosensei chuckled, seeming to have recovered from his earlier ordeal thanks to the aroma.
He sat down in a corner, apparently avoiding Saiba, while Karasuma lightly smiled, seemingly in agreement.
"...I guess, yeah," Saiba scratched his head, conceding defeat.
Tsuna, appearing to have finished cooking, then brought the plate of fried rice over to Saiba's table.
He confidently spoke, "Go ahead, give it a try, and let me know if you want to order more..."
"As if I would..."
Saiba grumbled, feeling like he'd been duped.
"...Huh?"
However, the words got stuck in his throat as he saw the fried rice glisten in the light, each grain shimmering with a golden hue that hinted at the delicious flavors within.
---
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