[TaroTre] My Blind Date is My Childhood Friend - Chapter 9

At 12:30 PM, the woman finally arrived. She took a seat across from Taro and said, “I am so sorry. I spent too much time on my makeup and I mixed up the time. Is Taiga hungry?”

Taro was speechless. He could clearly see Taiga was already eating, yet she still asked. “It’s fine; I had Taiga eat first. Have you had lunch? Would you like to order something?”

“Sure. Actually, I don’t eat very much, so my lunch hours are usually quite late. I’ll be done in just a moment.” She took the menu from the waiter and leafed through it. “Is there anything you want to eat, Taro?”

“I’m fine with anything. You can just order,” Taro replied. If you’re asking what I want, then hand me the menu! Even though Taro was screaming on the inside, he maintained a gentle expression. Fine, he wasn’t picky.

“Then I’ll just order whatever,” she said with a smile, quickly selecting a few things and handing the menu back to the waiter.

Seeing how fast she had finished, Taro felt a sudden pang of doubt regarding exactly how much food she had ordered.

“Sir, all your dishes have arrived,” the waiter said, placing the food on the table.

Taro looked at the single plate of greens in front of him, and his mouth couldn’t help but twitch. Being forced to eat “grass” was one thing, but there was only one plate for both of them…

“Thank you,” she smiled at the waiter before turning to Taro. “I’ve been dieting lately, so I only eat vegetable salad for lunch. You don’t mind, do you?”

Taro forced a smile. “Not at all. Salad is quite tasty.” It’s such a tiny portion. Do you think I have a stomach the size of a bird’s like you? Taro grumbled fiercely in his mind, but because he was starving, he picked up his chopsticks and began eating the greens.

What else could he do? He couldn’t very well go without even the salad. Taro wept silent tears in his heart.

Beside them, Taiga finished his last bite of food and glanced at his father, who had waited an hour and a half only to be forced to eat grass. He felt incredibly lucky that he was still a child; he got to eat first, and he didn’t have to eat grass.

“Does Taiga want some too? Do you want a taste?” Noticing the boy peeking at his father, the woman poked a piece of bok choy with her fork and offered it to him.

“No thanks, I’m full. Thank you, Auntie,” Taiga replied with a polite smile, successfully rejecting the attempt to feed him grass.

“As long as you’re full. I was worried you hadn’t had enough,” she said with a laugh.

Taro thought the ordeal would end after the meal, but to his surprise, she invited them to a movie. Thus, the half-starved Taro was forced to take Taiga to the cinema before he finally managed to escape and head home.

The moment he got home, Taro began rummaging through the kitchen for food.

He stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth, set a pot of water to boil, and pulled out several packs of instant noodles. He tore them open and prepared the seasoning packets while waiting for the water to bubble.

After finishing the bread, Taro washed an apple, intending to have a snack to tide him over until the noodles were ready.

“What’s wrong with your father?” In the living room, Marie had intended to ask Taro about the date, only to see her son bolt straight for the kitchen. Hearing the sound of him turning the cabinets upside down, she curiously asked Taiga, who had collapsed onto the sofa the moment they arrived.

“The date was an hour and a half late, and she only ordered a single plate of vegetable salad for Dad. Then she made Dad go to a movie with her. Now that he’s home, he’s trying to find something else to fill his stomach,” Taiga explained concisely.

“If Taro wasn’t full, he could have just ordered more,” Ken said, not quite understanding.

“Uh…” Taiga thought back. “Auntie asked Dad, ‘I’m dieting, so I only eat salad for lunch. Do you mind eating salad?’ She also said, ‘I eat so little that I can’t even finish this salad. Taro, can you finish it for me? Are you too full to eat more?'”

Taiga continued, “Just as Dad finished her leftovers and was about to order something else, she looked at her watch and said, ‘Oh, the movie I booked is about to start. Let’s go!’ Then she dragged Dad and me off to the theater.”

Marie & Ken: Wait, that girl sounds like she did that on purpose.

The water boiled, and Taro tossed in the noodles and seasoning. He stirred them with chopsticks while munching on his apple. By the time he tossed the core into the bin, the noodles were done. Taro carried the pot out of the kitchen, using a heat mat in one hand. He set the pot down and began to eat.

Only after inhaling a pack and a half of noodles did Taro’s pace finally slow down enough for him to talk about the date. “Mom, that woman eats way too little. I don’t think we’re a good match. Plus, she doesn’t even like meat.”

Marie: I also think it’s a bad match, but not because of her appetite or her being a vegetarian.

“Then we’ll move on to someone else,” Marie said. “I’ll let her know.”

“Okay,” Taro said, before burying his head back into the pot. The sound of his slurping was incredibly loud.

Listening to him made Taiga hungry. The boy trotted over and said, “Dad, I want some noodles too.”

“You already ate so much today,” Taro grumbled, yet he instinctively pulled Taiga onto his lap and fed him a mouthful of noodles.