"I'm digging in!"
Kogoro Mouri eagerly scooped a large portion of curry rice into his mouth.
"Ah, hot, hot, hot! It's burning me!"
"Idiot, didn't you see the steam?" Eri Kisaki shook her head helplessly.
She blew on her curry rice until it cooled slightly, then took a small bite.
"Hmm? This is amazing! Much better than Uncle Mouri's."
"What? No way! Dad's curry rice was the best!" Kogoro protested, glaring at Eri's delighted expression.
He scooped another spoonful, this time mimicking Eri by blowing on it before eating.
"Uh… it's… acceptable," Kogoro mumbled reluctantly.
Though he hated to admit it, the rice was perfectly cooked—neither too soft nor too hard. The sauce was fragrant and rich, with the curry's spice blending seamlessly with the rice's mellow flavor, teasing his taste buds and urging him to take another bite.
"Hmph, it's at most as good as Dad's!" Kogoro said, then fell silent, seemingly lost in thought as he focused on his meal.
Eri, standing nearby, smiled and said nothing more.
Hayashi Shuichi grabbed his utensils and served himself a plate.
With the izakaya about to open, he needed to eat his fill to have the energy to cook for customers.
After Shuichi finished, Kogoro and Eri had also cleaned their plates. Kogoro even went for seconds.
Shuichi took the three plates to the sink.
Eri quickly volunteered to wash them.
Shuichi couldn't refuse, but less than half a minute later, a plate shattered.
"…Sorry," Eri said with a sheepish chuckle. "It slipped."
"It's fine, I'll handle it," Shuichi said, shooing her out of the kitchen. He swept the broken plate into the trash and washed the remaining two.
"I've seen Shuichi help Dad before," Kogoro said, sitting at a table and watching his busy friend. "But I never tasted your cooking. Didn't expect it to be this good."
Before moving to the Mouri building, Shuichi lived with relatives. Though they were kind, he wasn't truly a child and avoided imposing on them. He rarely invited Kogoro or Eri over, so they'd never tried his cooking.
"You'll get sick of it if you eat it too much," Shuichi said, glancing at the clock. It was 6:30 PM. "Alright, it's time to open the shop."
It was Shuichi's first day running the izakaya, so Kogoro and Eri stayed to help. Kogoro hung the noren and greeted customers in the hall, while Eri handled accounting and cash.
Despite Shuichi's excellent cooking, only about twenty customers came during the three hours the izakaya was open.
Compared to when Kogoro's father ran it, customer traffic had dropped by nearly half.
This was expected. After being closed for over a month, many regulars had found new spots. Restoring the old customer flow would take one or two months of steady management.
Still, every customer praised Shuichi's cooking, boosting the trio's confidence.
At 10 PM, Shuichi prepared to close.
This was Mrs. Mouri's rule. Though the izakaya could get busy after 10 PM, Shuichi was still a high school student, and she worried about his studies.
"One thousand, two thousand… twenty-five thousand, twenty-six thousand…" Eri counted the night's earnings. "Total: 67,500 yen!"
"Sixty-seven thousand? In one night?" Kogoro danced with excitement.
"It's not that much," Shuichi said. "After subtracting the cost of ingredients and drinks, tonight's profit is just over 20,000 yen."
"Twenty thousand? That's huge!" Kogoro grinned. "My judo club seniors said they earn only four or five thousand yen for a night's work at a convenience store."
Shuichi was satisfied with the profit. Though customer flow was low, over 20,000 yen in one night meant a monthly profit of at least 600,000 yen.
He and Mrs. Mouri had agreed to split the profits equally. Renting out the izakaya would bring 300,000 to 400,000 yen monthly. If they maintained this profit, the Mouris would earn about the same as rent.
The Mouri family had always been kind to Shuichi, and now they'd entrusted him with the izakaya. He couldn't let them lose out.
"Alright, time to close—"
Before Shuichi could finish, the noren lifted, and a square-faced young man peeked in. It was Inspector Megure, whom they'd met earlier that day.
"It's you?" Megure blinked, surprised. "This shop…"
Shuichi was about to say they were closing, but Kogoro enthusiastically pulled Megure inside.
"Inspector Megure, welcome!"
"Wait, Inspector Samezaki and the others are outside," Megure said, stepping out to call them.
Shuichi glanced at Eri helplessly. "It's already late, you…"
Though Eri's home wasn't far from the Mouri building, it was too late for a girl to walk alone.
"It's fine, I'll stay a bit," Eri said with a smile. "And then…"
"Don't worry, Shuichi, I'll take Eri home!" Kogoro said, thumping his chest.
"I don't need you to take me home!" Eri snorted. "Some people freeze up around pretty girls."
"Tch, I'm not the only one," Kogoro muttered, disgruntled.
"Why doesn't Shuichi have that problem?"
"Because you don't know—Shuichi's secretly…"
"Cough, cough!" Shuichi interrupted with a loud cough. "Stop bickering. We'll close after Inspector Megure and the others leave. Then I'll walk Eri home."
The final customers included Inspector Megure, Inspector Samezaki, and the two assistant officers, Matsumoto and Morimura, whom they'd seen earlier that day.