CHAPTER 274: PLAIN WHITE RICE.

"Old hag! I’m back!"

Pushing aside the door to the Bowl of Fortune, Dante raised his voice to alert the owner. There was no need to do so as the shop was empty, making it easy to hear the bell attached to the door, but he still felt like announcing his arrival.

"Old hag?"

A few seconds passed, but there was no reply. A strange feeling slowly crept into the back of his mind, and all of a sudden, Dante was the one on high alert.

"Boy, is that you?"

The sudden scare almost caused his heart to jump out, and with it came a flash of pain that spread all over his body. Sudden turns were a no-go, so he had to rotate his body slowly. He looked down and saw the old shop owner, wearing her usual kimono, and carrying a small basket.

"Old hag! Where have you been?"

"Visiting a neighbor," Nobara said, looking at him with half-lidded eyes. "You could have sent a message if you were coming."

"I... wanted it to be a surprise." He moved aside, making way for the old lady. "You... didn’t lock the door..."

"I wasn’t gone for long. No need to fret." Nobara replied.

"No, seriously," Dante turned to follow after her. "You should lock when you leave. This isn’t a good neighborhood, you know."

"Yes, yes, I know."

As she made her way to the counter, Dante stopped in his tracks.

"Um... Are you... Are you angry at me?"

"Can’t you tell?"

"And the reason..."

A sudden slam shattered the calm enveloping the shop’s interior.

"Your timing, idiot! It’s your timing!" Nobara shouted, slamming a hand on the counter repeatedly. "How do you keep showing up at the worst time possible!!!"

Dante recoiled, letting the loud voice slam into him without saying anything.

"Two weeks! Two bloody weeks!" Said Nobara. "You vanish for all that time, and when you decide to show up, you choose now!!? You aren’t doing this on purpose, are you!!?"

"I.. I’m not so sure I understand..."

After waking up, Dante sent a message to the old woman informing her that he was going to be away for a while. Even before that, he contacted Finn and asked him to drop by the noodle shop from time to time. He made sure to inform everyone who might be inconvenienced by his absence, so he didn’t understand why she would be angry at him.

"How in the world does this keep happening?" Nobara let out a long sigh.

"Uh... did something happen while I was away?" He asked.

"Not much." She said. "Where were you anyway? Don’t tell me you were sleeping all this time."

"Oh, nice guess!" Dante wore the best smile he could. "And on that note, I’m practically starving. Mind fixing me something, grandma?"

"You got no shame, huh?" Letting out a sigh, Nobara jumped down from her stool. "Wait here a little. I will see what I can do."

It was already three in the afternoon, meaning the lunch rush had ended not that long ago. Most of what had been prepared in the morning should have run out by now, so the old cook had no choice but to prepare something new. Dante felt a little guilty because of that, but right now, only Nobara’s cooking could help fill his stomach.

"It has gotten a little cold recently." He said while taking his usual seat. "Are you taking good care of yourself?"

"You don’t have to worry about that." Nobara said from the kitchen. "I have someone to look after me now."

"Oh, really?" A few points surfaced in Dante’s mind, and as he connected them, he suddenly had an epiphany. Turning to the entrance to the kitchen, he felt the corners of his mouth rise. "Don’t tell me... did your granddaughter visit?"

"Took you long enough."

"Seriously..."

Dante had known Nobara for more than a year now, and in that time, she had brought up her granddaughter so frequently that she became a common topic of their conversations. Despite that, to this day, he had yet to meet her even once.

She comes to visit whenever he is away for work, and even when he’s around, the two somehow miss each other every time. Fate wasn’t something he believed in, but even he couldn’t help but think something felt strange about all of it.

"One of her big projects was completed recently, so she’s going to be free for a while." Said Nobara. "She stayed over for almost two weeks now, yet for some reason you only showed up when she decided to go out."

Nobara returned before long, bringing with her a simple tray. She placed its contents on the counter then turned back to the kitchen.

"Chew on this for now." She said.

It was only a bowl of plain white rice and some miso soup, but Dante wasn’t about to complain. He took a pair of chopsticks and was about to dive into the food, but a thought occurred to him just then.

"Your granddaughter, are you sure I don’t know her from somewhere?"

"I showed her your photo. She was sure the two of you had never met."

"That’s strange..." Chewing on some rice, Dante thought for a moment then added. "Feels like she’s trying to avoid me."

That would be a little of a stretch. It wasn’t like he visited the noodles shop on a fixed schedule, and from the looks of it, the girl’s outings were planned beforehand. Even if she’s somehow tracking all of his movements all the time, it could be too difficult to plan a course of action that completely evades him, since he does things spontaneously a lot of the time.

"I thought the same at one point, but..." Heaving a sigh, Nobara shook her head. "What reason would she have for avoiding you?"

"Right... well, if she’s around, I’m sure we will run into each other soon enough."

"I’m starting to lose hope of that happening."

Despite what she said before, Dante was well aware that the old shop owner was trying to play matchmaker. He didn’t understand why she would want her granddaughter, who’s a student at one of the country’s top universities and has a very promising future, to end up with a bum like him, but he was willing to play along. Once the two of them finally meet and he’s ultimately rejected, they could finally put the whole thing behind them and go on with their lives.