"Morning, Teuchi. The usual."
"Listen, Toneri, I'm only twenty. Why do you keep calling me 'Mister'?" Teuchi grumbled, but his hands never stopped moving as he expertly blanched the noodles and prepared the toppings one by one.
Thump—
Then he took a super-sized bowl from the cupboard, easily three or four times larger than an ordinary ramen bowl.
It was Toneri's personal ramen bowl, and the only one of its kind in all of Ichiraku Ramen.
Toneri's appetite was so monstrous that if Teuchi had to serve him bowl after bowl, he figured he'd have to spend all his time looking after just one customer. So he'd specially prepared this enormous bowl—or maybe it was more like a basin?
Toneri shifted on his stool to get comfortable, then said, "Teuchi, shouldn't I call you 'Mister'? I'm only six, after all. You're about... fourteen years older than me."
At that, Teuchi shot Toneri an exasperated glare. Sure, he was a little short and looked young, but there was no way he looked six.
He glanced at the sign by the entrance. It read, "This month's special: Children six and under get half off."
That little rascal had his eye on the half-price deal.
Teuchi couldn't do much about it. If Toneri kept insisting he was only six, there wasn't a thing Teuchi could do. He had no proof.
He was exasperated, but not angry.
Ever since the little guy had started eating at his shop, he seemed to have fallen in love with Teuchi's ramen. He came by almost every day.
It was the best compliment a newly opened shop could receive.
And the kid was good company, too. Though they were far apart in age, the two of them had become friends.
"Teuchi, you're already twenty. How come you still