Chapter 198: Back-to-Back Events

After showing Yato and the others around, I switched gears and joined the organizing side of things.

Everyone we’d invited came, and it looked like they were having a great time at the summer festival.

Especially Ren and his group — maybe it was nostalgia, but they looked like they were genuinely having fun, acting their age for the first time in a while.

The preparations had been rough, but it really was worth hosting the festival.

Even Rose, who was usually shy around people, seemed satisfied, and Isabella spent the whole evening smiling just from watching her.

We didn’t get much of a chance to talk properly this time, but I hope they’ll come visit again soon.

After the festival wrapped up, the next day we had a flowing somen (nagashi-somen) party, with just a light cleanup in between.

Since everyone had taken the trouble to come all this way, I decided we’d hold two events in a row.

Rose and Isabella had already returned home, but most of the others stayed overnight, so I was sure they’d enjoy the second day too.

And once again, the bamboo flume for the somen was crafted by Rozzo and Sid.

We could’ve reused the one from last year, but since it was made of natural bamboo, it had started growing mold after sitting unused for a year. So we had to make a new one.

It ended up adding to their workload, but they didn’t seem to mind — they said it was easy work, and the DVD player set I’d given them as a gift seemed to have boosted their motivation.

“Sato, the flume is ready! Are you taking the top position again this year?”

“Yes. Sheila, take your usual spot near the middle.”

“Understood. I won’t let anything get past me this year either!”

Sheila rolled her shoulders, full of competitive spirit.

The lineup this time was:
Yato → Joel → Helena → Mika → Yui → Sheila → Sid → Rozzo → Shoji → Ren.

The second bamboo flume’s line was:
Brittany → Portia → Lois → Lua → Donnie → Page → Georges → Velvet.

Sid and Rozzo, still traumatized from last year’s “Sheila Incident,” had refused to be in the same line as her, but they lost at rock-paper-scissors, so here they were again.

Shoji and Ren, who hadn’t been around last year, were standing right behind Sheila, blissfully unaware of the danger they were in.

We planned to send a much larger flow of noodles this year, so no one knew what would happen.

Excited, I released the first batch of noodles down the bamboo chute.

Over on the second flume, Norman was handling the flow on his end, syncing with me so both lines started at the same time.

“Wahh! Too fast!”

“Ahhh! I practiced and still missed it!”

Right from the start, Yato and Joel, at the front of the line, were crying out in frustration.

Yato hadn’t participated last year, so getting to see this chaos up close was entertaining for me.

“Yato, no grabbing with your hands, please.”

“Grr! Catching them with chopsticks is impossible!”

“It’s not! Look, Sheila’s managing it just fine.”

I’d already sent down five bundles of noodles, and Shira had caught two of them.

While Mika and Yui were struggling, Sheila — last year’s undefeated champion — was in a league of her own.

Her chopstick skills had even surpassed mine at this point, and her passion for food was unmatched.

Ren and Shoji, watching her technique for the first time, were in awe.

“Whoa, Sheila’s amazing! Her chopstick technique is like a manners instructor’s!”

“For real. We’ve been using chopsticks way longer than her, and we can’t even compare.”

“Don’t get distracted, guys! That woman will literally eat everything if you give her the chance!”

“Wait, are we going to go another year without getting a single bite of somen!?”

“…I won’t let any get past me!”

Sheila’s eyes burned with determination — she clearly intended to shut out everyone behind her again this year.

Laughing at their lively back-and-forth, I kept sending more noodles down the chute.

Meanwhile, Norman’s side was perfectly peaceful — well-balanced and calm.

With Velvet, the best with chopsticks, positioned at the very end, the noodles were evenly distributed down the line.

However, Velvet seemed to be taking on most of the leftovers, rubbing her stomach already.

We’d prepared a few flavor variations this year, so hopefully that’d keep things interesting for her.

“Velvet, if it gets too much, just let me know. I can switch with you.”

“I’m fine. I can still eat more.”

“Switch with me instead! Sheila’s eating everything on our side!”

Rozzo immediately tried to swap lines upon spotting the slightly stuffed Velvet, but she wasn’t ready to give up her spot yet — she hadn’t even tried all the condiments.

“All right, sending down more! Sheila, don’t worry about catching them all — if you can’t finish, just let them go downstream.”

“Understood! But I can still eat plenty!”

“Hey! Let some through! I’m not going another year without food!”

“For real, being behind Sheila is no fun at all.”

“Now I finally get why Rozzo and Sid were complaining last year…”

Ren and Shoji seemed to finally understand.

Still, I was planning to send so many noodles that even Sheila couldn’t possibly keep up, so everyone would get their share eventually.

With renewed enthusiasm, I sent a steady stream of noodles racing down the bamboo, determined to make sure even those in the back got to eat this year.

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