The day was bright and sunny, it was lunchtime, and as anyone could've guessed, Sano was hungry. Should he head for Jou-chan's, or try his luck at one of Tokyo's busy restaurants? Tsubame's piping voice raised to welcome customers to the Akabeko decided him, and he made a bee-line for one of his favorite lunching spots. Settling himself at one of the low tables, he looked up as Tae approached, expecting his usual welcome. Much to his surprise, the proprietress' face was starkly disapproving, maybe even... angry. Odd. Smiling as disarmingly as he knew how, he proclaimed expansively, "Tae-san, I'm starving! I think I'll need a triple order today."

In response Tae's brows lowered even more, and putting her tray down on his table she leaned in close to ask: Whose table have you been lingering over?

As Sano stared back, momentarily wordless, music picked up somewhere in the back of the restaurant, and suddenly Tae was singing:

Whose table have you been lingering over?
And whose waitress did you charm, I wonder?
This time did your tummy thunder, baby?
Whose table have you been lingering over?

Punctuating her last question with a reproving shake of her finger, she leaned back and crossed her arms in a way that clearly said she was fed up.

Don't look so hungry
Don't act so blue
I know mine's not the only
Restaurant you run to.

Sano's eyes widened, thinking he understood what had set her off - but, chikushou, he could eat anywhere he pleased!

I know about Morita's
Where they cook over open flame,
I've seen you around at Torita's
The soba bar down the lane.

Before he could protest, Tsubame suddenly appeared beside Tae, and now they were both castigating him in song:

Whose table have you been lingering over?
And whose waitress did you charm, I wonder?
This time did your tummy thunder, baby?
And who did you run to?
And whose fish have you been eatin'?
And whose sake did you make a wish in?
Is that the food that you've been missin', baby?
Whose table have you been lingering over?

Picking up her tray, Tae waved it in Sano's face as she began the second verse:

I heard you been moochin'
Almost without stop,
And about your weekend
In the tempura shop.

Cringing, Sano sank further down in his seat, realizing that his first assumption was wrong: Tae wasn't upset that he had been eating at other restaurants. She'd had it with his "eat now, pay later" routine.

You went out walkin'
And stopped for sashimi.
Then later at dinner,
Begged seconds off Megumi.

As Tae repeated the chorus -- dancing around and waving her tray while she was at it -- Tsubame crept close to murmur, "How can you eat so much, Sanosuke-san?"

He looked away and folded his arms, growling defensively, "I'm a growing boy."

The little girl's eyes were wide above the rim of her tray, but glowed with laughter rather than fear as Tae returned to stand behind her. As one they sang in tones of frank disbelief:

Come on Zanza...

Grabbing his arm, Tae hauled him up and out of his seat - succeeding only because he was too flummoxed to resist. Dusting him off she hustled him toward the front of the restaurant, explaining as they went:

So next time you're hungry,
Don't call on me
Try the hashutsujo
The food there's always free!

With that, the Akabeko's doors slammed closed in his face, leaving Sano standing alone -- and hungry -- on Tokyo's busiest street.

Sano jerked awake as the slamming door in his dream was echoed in the waking world. Sitting straight up in bed, he listened with heart pounding as his drunken neighbors returned home, slowly realizing that the episode in the Akabeko had been nothing more than a nightmare. Rubbing a shaking hand across his face, he muttered resignedly, "I'd better pay Tae-san in the morning, before she really decides to throw me out."

Sekihara Tae
tae@sekihara.dreamhost.com
August 21, 2000

Fanfiction || Out Drink Sano! || The Perfect... || Nishiki-e || Site Seeing
Sukiyaki || Awards || Spoiler Warning || Disclaimer || Mind Your Manners! || E-mail Tae