That Ramen Tasted Like All For One [#MonokaKingdom2023]

It must have been about eight years ago.

Working as a local government official, I was incredibly poor at the time. This was because I prioritized socializing so much that I couldn't make ends meet.

My workplace back then had many drinking parties, and there was a sort of custom to go out for drinks at every opportunity. In addition, wanting to be a "good young employee," I basically never turned down an invitation. Combined with the fact that I enjoyed drinking parties myself, I kept attending them as I was invited.

Of course, since bosses and seniors often paid more, it wasn't a huge expense on a single-event basis. However, as the saying goes, "dust piled up makes a mountain," and by showing my face in various communities, my money dwindled away before my eyes. Before I knew it, I had broken into the savings I had spent three years building up, and even that was on the verge of depletion. Looking back on that time, I think my spirit was being worn down along with my money.

I think now that I should have just turned them down a little, but that wasn't an option for me back then. I felt that if I turned them down once, they would never invite me again, and that was very scary. So, no matter how unenthusiastic I was about a gathering, I always attended unless I had a prior engagement.

And that was the same when I hung out with friends.

It happened one day when I was hanging out with friends from my university days.
There were nine of us in total, including me, and we were enjoying karaoke until late at night. It was the youth of our twenties. Now I get sleepy by 10 p.m., so staying up late might be a privilege of the young.

I love karaoke, so I sang and danced a lot to anime songs, special effects songs, and KinKi Kids songs. It was a lot of fun.

However, on the other hand, a flicker of anxiety crossed my mind about the emptiness of my wallet. I could probably pay for the karaoke, but my remaining balance was close to zero.

While we were having a great time, the time had passed midnight before we knew it. The young people, satisfied after singing their hearts out, left the karaoke box.

It was the middle of the night. There were few cars on the road, and almost no one was around. Just as I thought, "Time to go home," one of my friends spoke up.

"Let's all go get some ramen!"

Emergency situation. Emergency situation. An emergency call rang out in my brain. I have no money. I have no money. The price of a bowl of ramen is not much, but I was so destitute that I couldn't even pay for that.

However, my friends had no way of knowing that. Looking around, the eight people who were completely on board were already excitedly getting into their cars.
I couldn't turn this down. Okay, I don't have to eat, I'll just stick with them until the end.

We arrived at a nearby Yamaokaya that was open late at night. At the ticket machine near the entrance, my friends chose the ramen they wanted one after another.
Lacking the financial power to eat ramen, I naturally passed. Even gyoza or a seasoned egg topping had become things out of my reach.

However, the stomachs of young people who had sung their hearts out at karaoke were definitely craving calories. Moreover, since the greasy smell unique to a ramen shop was whetting my appetite, there was no way I didn't want to eat.

I want to eat ramen. But I can't.

When we sat down, everyone there noticed that there was one person without a meal ticket.

"Aruron, aren't you eating?"

It was embarrassing to answer that question, but a reply like "I'm on a diet right now," like an office lady in Marunouchi, was impossible for the thin, young Aruron.

Resigned, I confessed that I simply didn't have the money and couldn't eat even though I wanted to.

Then, my friends started discussing something.

"Everyone, how many service coupons do you have?"

At Yamaokaya, you get one service coupon for every bowl of ramen you buy. If you collect 10 of them, you can exchange them for a bowl of ramen.

The eight of them pooled the service coupons they had just received. Some even took out service coupons that were sleeping in their wallets.
The 10 service coupons collected in this way were presented in front of me.

"Aruron, you can eat ramen with this."

I was moved. They had given me their service coupons for my sake.
The ramen I slurped down while crying, saying thank you, thank you, was very warm and soaked into my desolate heart.

Eight years have passed since then. The environment surrounding us has changed quite a bit. Some people I see regularly, and others I have completely lost touch with. It is probably inevitable that as we get older, our memories of them will fade little by little.
However, I will never forget the taste of that ramen, the All For One ramen.

This article is an entry for the project "#MonokaKingdom2023" by Kotoba to Kokoku.

The theme is "warm," and while I thought about twisting it a bit with some wordplay, this time I wrote with pure feelings.

Thank you for reading.