Chapter Text
pi pi pi
Ryuji's ears perked up at the chirping of his smartphone. He glanced down at it, eager to see the message. His face fell a second later, and he scrolled up through the chat:
Ryuji: Hey, anyone down to grab some ramen?
Yusuke: Normally I'm game for food, but I must continue working on this painting. My next exhibition is coming up, and I've spent too much time agonizing over the details.
Ann: Sorry, can't. Got a shoot today.
Futaba: Ehhh...maybe. I'm kinda trying to cut back on all the junk food.
Haru: Oh, I'm so sorry, Mako-chan and I were supposed to meet up to study today. :(
And the final text had been the nail in the coffin.
Makoto: Sorry, Ryuji. Maybe some other time.
Ryuji sighed. He should have known better at this point. Everyone had their own lives, and so did he. He knew that even if Ren had been in Tokyo, he might have been busy too, but Ryuji couldn't help but feel that no, his best friend would have made time for him. But it wasn't like he could just text Ren and ask him to come all the way out just for ramen.
Resigned to the fact that he'd be eating alone again (if Futaba was hedging like that, it was probably a no), Ryuji got in line at the place he and Ren (and occasionally Yusuke) had frequented. The smells of the spices and broths was comforting, and Ryuji found himself perking up just a bit.
The bell on the door rang. Ryuji instinctively scooted forward just a bit to make sure that whoever was trying to enter had room. He turned to see if it would be enough, and found himself staring at a girl. She was about his age, and definitely a cutie. She was dressed in a black uniform similar to the ones worn by the staff here. Something was odd about that. She obviously didn't work here, but why would she be in that uniform?
Ryuji was very aware that he wasn't exactly the smartest of the Phantom Thieves, but his brain was going into overdrive trying to work out this mystery. Supposing she was also a ramen chef, was she here on her break? But then why not just eat at the place she worked at? Unless she was tired of their food and wanted to try the competition's? That just raised more questions. Well, he supposed the only way to find out was to just ask.
"Here on your break?" Ryuji asked, in what he hoped was a friendly and unassuming manner. If the girl understood him, he certainly couldn't understand her response.
She was decidedly not speaking Japanese.
"Oh, uh, sorry, I don't speak Chinese," Ryuji said. At least he hoped to God it was Chinese she was speaking.
The girl didn't answer, but she didn't seem perturbed.
Finally, Ryuji got a seat at the bar and placed his order. The mystery girl was soon sitting in the seat beside him. She took off her black head covering, revealing hair that was as blonde as Ryuji's, although it seemed to be natural as opposed to Ryuji's bleached hair. Her eyebrows however were thick and green, like her bright eyes. She gave Ryuji a friendly smile and shook out her hair, giving a sigh of relief.
Ryuji returned the smile, and returned his attention to his smartphone game. Before long, they had both received their orders.
"Itadakimasu!" Ryuji declared before ravenously diving into his ramen. His neighbor had also received hers and was enjoying it with as much gusto.
"Pretty good, right?" Ryuji said, the language barrier forgotten. "They have noodles like this where you're from?"
The girl nodded enthusiastically. So it seemed she at least understood him. She reached into a pocket in her pants and pulled out a card and gave it to Ryuji.
"Mintendo Noodle House," Ryuji read, grateful that there was katakana on the card alongside kanji. "Is that where you work? I've never heard of it."
The girl nodded again, pointed to herself and said "Min Min."
He guessed that was her name? "Ryuji," he said, pointing at himself.
Min Min was good company, even if she couldn't talk to Ryuji very much. At any rate, they had a love of ramen in common, that much was clear. Ryuji excused himself, needing to take a leak. As he stood, however, he found himself accidentally swiping his arm into the bottles of ginger, garlic, and other sundry seasonings.
"Aw man!" He yelped as he found himself in that bizarre slow motion state where he could see what was going to happen but was powerless to stop it.
Min Min's eyes flashed, and in an instant, her arms shot behind Ryuji and snatched the bottles out of the air.
That on its own would have been impressive, but Ryuji's jaw dropped when he saw that Min Min's arms had transformed into coiled noodles! What was more, her hands were now shaped like dragon heads.
Yeah, that tracked.
In that instant, her outfit had changed too. It resembled traditional Chinese garb, largely green and orange, and her head was now adorned with an orange hat that looked all the world like an overturned bowl, with her hair being the noodles.
"Uh.....thanks." Ryuji said. His call of nature was a bit less important than whatever this was. "Say, do you happen to know someone named Joker?"
A spark of recognition lit up Min Min's eyes.
"Smash Bros.?" She asked in her thick accent.
"Smash Bros.! Yes! So you do know him! We're buds! I'll have to tell him I ran into you!"
Min Min excitedly said something that Ryuji still couldn't understand. He wondered if there was a free translation app he could download. But for now, he had that leak to take. One hurried apology later, and Ryuji was in and out of the bathroom in a flash. It occurred to him that he was extremely fortunate that something like that had never come up in the Metaverse. That would have been mortifying.
Min Min was finishing her ramen, and looking about ready to go. Ryuji waved and pointed at the card to acknowledge that he intended to try it out if he ever could. Next time he saw Ren he'd have to ask him more about her.
Ryuji left the ramen place in higher spirits. Futaba had texted him, her resolve to eat healthier wavering, but Ryuji had told her not to worry about it.
There would be other times.