[TaroTre] My Blind Date is My Childhood Friend - Chapter 6

Tregear pushed open the door to the fried chicken shop, coffee in hand, and immediately spotted the Taro father-and-son duo looking for a seat with their order.

“Why did you only order this much?” Tregear leaned over to glance at the tray, sounding a bit dissatisfied. Why even bother calling him over for such a small amount? What was he supposed to do sit there drinking coffee while watching them eat?

“There’s more on the way; I’ll go grab the rest in a bit. Let’s find a place to sit first so Taiga can start eating,” Taro explained.

“Good afternoon, Uncle Tregear,” Taiga said, looking up to greet him.

“Good afternoon, brat.” Tregear reached out and ruffled Taiga’s hair with enough force to make the boy scowl before finally letting go. “I assume you got your parents called to school again today?”

“Didn’t you skip work too? You’re one to talk,” Taiga retorted as he found a seat and let his father set the tray down. Gone was the polite “Uncle” act from a moment ago.

“Heh. You little brat. Can you really call it ‘skipping’ when an adult does it? This is a ‘reasonable break.’ As for you? I bet you lost your head again and got into a scrap, forcing your dad to go apologize for you. How pathetic.” Tregear had no concept of “humility” or “yielding”; he only knew that an Ultra should never come out on the losing end of an exchange even if his opponent was a child.

“When I was your age, I had already stopped getting my parents called in for things like this.” Well, technically, it was because Taro always took the blame when they got in trouble for breaking into restricted areas.

“You’re still too green,” Tregear added, picking up a piece of fried chicken and taking a bite. “This place is actually pretty good.”

“Yeah, it’s new. Brother Ace bought some for the office the other day, and I thought it tasted great, so I brought Taiga here today.” Taro had conveniently forgotten that Ace had actually bought that chicken for Zett’s lunch break. Taro had been chased around by Ace for stealing the kid’s food.

“Is this the shop Zett said was really good?” Taiga asked, remembering something.

“That’s the one. Do you like it?” Taro asked.

“It’s great! I wish I could eat this every day,” Taiga said, already dreaming of his next meal before finishing this one.

“Forget it. If Grandma found out we ate fried chicken, she wouldn’t even let us through the door,” Taro said dryly.

“Exactly. Learn to be content. Don’t be so greedy at such a young age.” With that, Tregear pushed his coffee toward Taro and swiped Taro’s cup of cola, taking a satisfying gulp.

Ah, much better. Fried chicken really needs cola.

“How can you drink Dad’s soda? Don’t you have your own coffee?” Taiga grew anxious the moment he saw Tregear hijack the drink.

“I’m drinking it, so what?” Tregear even gave the cup a taunting little shake in front of the boy.

“That’s Dad’s! Give it back!” Taiga reached out to snatch it, but Taro held the boy back to keep him from falling off his chair.

“Hah, nope. You think I don’t know what you’re up to? Even if I gave this back to your dad, you still wouldn’t get a sip. Do you really think he’d let you have that much sugar?” Tregear instantly exposed Taiga’s little scheme. “Just cherish your own cup.”

The two were on the verge of a full-blown argument. Taro felt helpless; for some reason, whenever Tregear and Taiga were together, they clashed. Taiga was just a child, but Tregear was thousands of years old and yet remained just as immature. Taro sighed and pressed a hand on the struggling Taiga. “Alright, Taiga. Today is a special occasion. I’ll buy you another cup later. Can you sit still and eat now?”

“But Tregear started it…” Taiga was clearly still fuming.

“Tregear, stop teasing him. Let him finish his meal in peace,” Taro said.

“Tch. The brat picked the fight first,” Tregear grumbled. But seeing the serious look in Taro’s eyes, he gave in. “Fine, fine. I won’t lower myself to a child’s level.”

“Good. You two behave. I’m going to the front to pick up the rest of the food.” Seeing them settle down and confirming they wouldn’t fight again, Taro stood up to retrieve the fresh order.

Tregear and Taiga didn’t dare argue while Taro was watching, but the “eye-daggers” didn’t stop for a second after he left.

Taiga glared with all his might, while Tregear responded with a provocative smirk, shaking the half-empty cola cup. He even called out: “Taro! My cola is almost empty. Buy me another one!”

“Is one more enough?” Taro asked from the counter.

“Just use your best judgment,” Tregear replied with a beaming smile directed right at Taiga.

“Okay.” Taro had no idea what kind of silent war was happening. He waited for the soda to be filled and brought the rest of the food back to the table.

Ugh, this annoying Blue Ultra. Taiga was absolutely fuming, but he knew that if he tried to hit him, Tregear would definitely use it as leverage to tattle to his dad. He had to endure it.

Watching Taiga’s silent fury, Tregear’s mood soared.

Kids are so much fun to play with.  Indeed, teasing a child is much more entertaining than working. And since Taiga is so much like Taro, it’s like teasing a mini-Taro. How interesting.