【July】"Hiyajiru and Chicken Nanban Set Meal" to Survive the Intense Heat

"An oasis in the desert.” That’s exactly what it was.

 

I spotted the Yayoi Ken sign through my heat-distorted vision, and forced myself to keep going.

 

"When you feel like you're in a bad way, just drink some miso soup."

 

Those words, taught to me long ago, flickered through my mind. Thinking any set meal would do, I entered the restaurant and was about to press a button without really looking at the menu, when my eyes became glued to a single spot.

 

The Hiyajiru and Chicken Nanban Set Meal. In that instant, memories came flooding back to me. That’s right. After saying that, he had added this: "Well, in the summer, Hiyajiru is the best option, if they have it." I pressed the button without hesitation.

 

As I tried to steady my shallow breathing, the set meal was brought to me without much of a wait.

 

As I picked up the bowl, I heard the ice cubes floating in the miso soup clink against the sides. I took a sip and was startled by how much colder it felt going down than I had imagined, as well as its saltiness; yet, at the same time, the heat and lethargy began to drain from my entire body.

 

Come to think of it, isn't the standard way to eat this by mixing it with the rice?

 

I dropped a large clump of rice into the soup bowl with a plop. For the past few days, I hadn’t felt like eating solid food, but with the Hiyajiru, the rice flowed easily into my stomach. The crunchy texture of the cucumbers, their juiciness... Everything was healing my body.

 

Then, I finally noticed a small bowl of grilled mackerel placed next to the Chicken Nanban. Flaking the grilled fish and adding it to the soup is also the right way to eat it. As I followed what I had been taught, the flavor of the dashi stock became richer, and I couldn't stop myself from shoveling it in. Thinking to myself that he was right to recommend it to me, I recalled his face for the first time in a long while.

 

He was a man full of hometown pride. We had joined the company together as fresh graduates, and since we were the only ones still single in our thirties, we naturally started going out for drinks more often. There wasn't anything romantic between us, but just once, when he was leaving the company to take over his family business, he said something to me.

 

"I really wanted you to try the Hiyajiru from my hometown, though."

 

If I had been able to ask, "Then, will you take me there?" would things have turned out differently? But I couldn't say it. He had told me that the way I worked was noble, like a lily—that he admired me. I wanted to cherish those words more than anything.

 

If I was a lily, he was like an evergreen. A man who brought comfort to everyone around him. Whenever summer arrives, if I come to Yayoi Ken, I can remember his kindness along with the Hiyajiru. Even when I’m in my forties or my fifties, I know I’ll be able to keep going.

 

Story by Momo Tachibana Illustration by Mog Hatakeyama