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After he became one of two winners of an ¥18 million lottery prize, Takemichi’s life experienced a dramatic turnaround.
From being able to finally afford the cleaning supplies he needed to get the apartment (which he eventually move out of) in order, to enrolling in a community college and traveling throughout the Philippines, Takemichi is now the owner of a Filipino-themed food truck called Astra.
Built upon a brand new Mitsubishi Fuso chassis, the food truck was painted in a shade of vibrant yellow with three white stars and one large sun which integrated traditional Filipino weaving patterns in the eight rays. Takemichi’s food truck is known by foodies as the truck that never stays in one place for more than a week - with a new location being frequently announced on its official Twitter account. One pattern his usual customers noticed is that Astra stayed close to universities, high schools and local shopping arcades.
Tonight, however, the food truck was parked in a business area near Ginza. Once he had let Chifuyu, his manager, head home after his shift was over, Takemichi was alone in closing down his mobile kitchen for the night.
He had stored away the large menu boards, cleaned up the stainless surfaces and utensils in the kitchen and disposed the waste his business generated in the proper disposal area. The dark-haired man triple-checked everything before approaching the driver’s side door.
The young business owner was about to pull the food truck’s door handle when a muscular, blonde man walked up to him. Takemichi knew the individual as Draken since he showcased a large dragon tattoo on a shaved portion of his head. While he was never involved with any of Tokyo’s shady underground scene, Takemichi did find himself in the very uncommon position of being good friends with some of them.
“Are you closed for the night?” Draken inquired.
“Yup,” Takemichi honestly answered the taller man. “All the food I’ve stocked for today sold out quickly here… I also didn’t get any direct reservation message from Mikey-kun too, so I decided not to save a large bowl of tapsilog for him.”
“Seems like looking up this truck’s Twitter account and driving my bike here was a complete waste of time,” Draken sighed. “Too be fair, it’s Mikey’s fault for being a lazy ass earlier and not placing a reservation.”
“I'd fire up the kitchen and make him his usual but I’m really out of ingredients,” Takemichi explained with a slight frown. “I didn’t expect for today to go as well as it did.”
“You deserve the paying customers,” Draken said. “You care about your products plus you and your staff work hard.”
“I appreciate the complement,” Takemichi grinned. “Tell Mikey-kun that if he comes at two in the afternoon tomorrow at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Shibuya, there will be a large bowl of tapsilog and a cold bottle of Canada Dry waiting for him. I’ll give his food for free too…”
“Yeah, I’m definitely not going to say it’s free,” Draken scoffed. “He has a ton money and you genuinely deserve some of that cash. I have to ask though; why are you setting up Astra at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium tomorrow?”
“The start of Spring High or the All Japan High School Volleyball Championship Tournament is on Monday next week,” Takemichi explained. “I normally set Monday and Tuesdays as my own weekends off but since I’m not familiar with the area, I have to set up shop there for a bit. While I haven’t said anything on yet Astra’s Twitter, I do plan to stay there until the games are over.”
“Are you really betting on a bunch of teenagers to buy your food?” Draken questioned the dark-haired food truck owner.
“Athletes and my food go like peanut butter and jelly,” Takemichi smiled at the larger male. “My proprietary garlic rice recipe draws them in. The garlic rice itself provides the carbs while the two eggs and my varied choice of meats gives them the fats and protein for their muscles. It’s honestly a win-win situation; they pay me and I serve them some of Asia’s greatest breakfast foods hits.”
“Hmm, I can’t argue with that business logic,” Draken commented before slightly turning away from him. “I’ll see you around Takemitchy. I hope you do well tomorrow and in next week’s volleyball event too. I have to head back since I still need to be a bearer of bad news for Mikey. I also have to get something for Toman’s dinner too.”
“Stay safe on your way back Draken-kun!” the food truck owner called out the tall blonde, who just waved casually waved back a hand at him as a symbolic sign of acknowledgement as he walked away from him. “Don’t forget to pass my message to Mikey-kun too!”
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As Baji and Kazutora watched a Korean drama on the TV’s Netflix app from the denim blue fabric couch, Mikey was sitting on the floor as he assembled a red Ducati - one of the three LEGO technic motorcycle kits he bought from a store earlier in the day.
Mikey was preoccupied on installing the front suspension fork when Draken suddenly came inside their quaint Toman headquarters within the Shinagawa area. The tall, muscular blonde man placed a large, eight-piece bucket of KFC fried chicken, sodas and sides on one of the smooth concrete countertops.
The blonde leader frowned at his best friend’s food haul, “You didn’t get my food from Takemitchy?”
“According to him, his tapsilog and other menu items were sold out today in Ginza,” answered Draken. “Takemitchy also told me that he'll give you your usual order if you head to his food truck tomorrow by 2 P.M. Of course, you need to pay him - he’s reserving food that he can easily sell to another person after all.”
“Takemitchy relocates his food truck every few days, right?” Kazutora inquired, which Draken responded back to with a curt nod. “Where will he set up shop this time?”
“The Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium located in Shibuya,” The second-in-command of Toman said. “Since he’s not familiar with that area, Takemitchy’s planning to stay there from tomorrow until the end of Spring High - or the national high school volleyball tournament.”
“Will Chifuyu be there too?” Baji asked Draken, causing Kazutora to roll his eyes.
“If you like the person, you would’ve asked that manager of Takemitchy’s for a schedule,” Draken replied back. “I'm getting pretty annoyed by you skirting around him but not actually asking him out.”
“Right?” Kazutora added. “If Baji had asked out that Chifuyu dude by now, he would definitely be busy in railroading that guy’s ass to next month and back, not asking if he has a shift tomorrow.”
“Baji wouldn’t also be waiting for a new picture or story from Chifuyu-kun’s Instagram account like an otaku too,” Mikey piled on with a laugh. “Honestly, it’s both hilarious and sad to see him slowly devolve into degeneracy for Takemitchy-kun’s dog-loving manager.”
“Can I please kill Kazu and Mikey?” Baji flatly asked Draken while the blonde Toman leader managed to install the front suspension fork of his LEGO model Ducati.
“Remember, we’re trying to keep our body count as low as we can,” Draken reminded him. “We can’t be bothered to think of where to bury your body after all, considering we have a thing already going on with Bonten.”
“Wait…” Baji trailed before he realized the way Draken worded his sentence. “You think I’d die if I took on those idiots?”
“You’re the mega idiot here since you actually imagine yourself winning against, of all people, Mikey,” Draken told him as he now approached the fast food meal he bought for all of them. “If you forgot, Mikey easily inflicts one-hit knockout kicks on people he’s up against.”
“Baji, just grow a pair and ask Chifuyu out on a date,” Mikey said with a soft grin on his face as he turned to the long-haired male. “If you want, we can ask out the boys we like together.”
“What do you mean?” Baji questioned.
“I’m planning to ask Takemitchy out tomorrow,” Mikey revealed, causing the long-haired male’s eyes to widen. “Since his days off are Mondays and Tuesdays, I have a bit of time to plan out a great day for him. To really encourage you on asking out Chifuyu-kun, Takemitchy told me his days off are Wednesdays and Thursdays. They only work together on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - their busiest days. They have a part-timer who fills in for them on their off days too.”
“Fine, I’ll go with you tomorrow and ask Chifuyu out,” Baji quickly agreed. “I want to go on a date with him as soon as I can.”
“That was fast,” Kazutora commented before he turned to Draken, who was still somehow busy in unpacking their KFC meal for dinner. “You’re really taking your sweet time over there... do you need some help?”
“Can you buy us rice at the FamilyMart down the street?” Draken noticeably sighed. “My ass forgot to order rice with this meal and the receipt says I didn’t… it’s no wonder why I felt something was missing on my way back.”
“Since that’s our dinner…” Kazutora started as he casually stood up from their couch and walked towards the space’s main door. “I’ll be back in 10 minutes.”
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After parking their motorcycles at a nearby parking lot, Mikey and Baji were walking down the brick-paved pedestrian area of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym, heading towards the yellow Astra food truck.
Even from a distance, the two Toman members can easily smell the aromatic scent emanating from the mobile stall’s signature garlic rice. It is also around this time that Baji noticed the short line that had neatly formed in front of Astra. He was able to quickly see the blonde man he had been eyeing for quite a while now too.
Mikey lowly whistled at the sight before them, “Damn, I still haven’t seen my Takemitchy around here yet you’ve already seen your Chifuyu-kun. That’s pretty unfair if you ask me; I’m the reason why we’re here after all.”
Not too far from them were four men, two of whom were in Black Jackals shirts while one was in a Schweiden Adlers one. The other man with them wore a smart casual outfit and thin pair of reading glasses. Each of the four men held a large white plastic bowl in one hand and a disposable wooden spoon in the other.
“Koutarou,” The elegant, glasses-clad male frowned at the tall, athletic male who had a hairstyle similar to that of an owl. “Your food won’t run away from you, don’t eat fast.”
“But it’s so good Keiji!” The loud Koutarou guy chirped. “I’ve never had rice with tapas and eggs like this before! Eating from that food truck was the right call!”
“We’re all eating the same thing here,” The Keiji guy pointed out before he turned to a short redhead in a Black Jackals shirt and another tall, athletic male in the Schweiden Adlers apparel. “Kageyama-kun, Hinata-kun, I hope you two aren’t consuming your food at breakneck speed…”
Mikey and Baji saw the two males that the Keiji individual addressed nearly choke on their food thanks to them eating their meals at a lightning pace. Almost immediately, and with coordinated elegance, the Keiji man placed his plastic bowl of food down at a bench beside them before he opened and handed them two bottles of water.
As the short redhead in the Black Jackals shirt alongside the tall, athletic male wearing the Schweiden Adlers one drank the cold bottles of water in relief, the Keiji guy sighed.
“No wonder Kenma said you two were a match made in volleyball heaven,” the Keiji man said. “You two share the same brain from two different bodies.”
As they passed the group of four men, a smiled formed on Mikey’s face, “If I end up dead from Takemitchy’s cooking, I won’t complain one bit. There are worse ways to go after all.”
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When they arrived at Astra, Takemichi let Chifuyu go on his lunch break with Baji while Mikey consumed his large bowl of tapsilog on a foldable seat which the vehicle’s owner brought out just for him.
“You’re really not going to eat?” Mikey asked.
“I took my break an hour ago,” Takemichi said as he reorganized some empty but used plastic containers that formerly held his proprietary red and white rice mix submerged in garlic oil, which gave his mobile stall its signature scent when cooked on the griddle. “That’s the reason why I let Chifuyu-kun go along with Baji-kun… he earned his break.”
“How’s business here so far?”
“It’s going pretty well since there are a lot of workers here who're prepping for the high school volleyball games next Monday.”
“Think you’ll get some loyal customers in the process?”
“I hope so… every sale counts. A food truck is just as challenging to run and needs the same amount of dedication as any restaurant after all. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar.”
After Takemichi had squirreled his containers away, he effortlessly pulled out from the drinks freezer a bottle of Canada Dry he promised to Mikey via Draken the other night in Ginza.
“Something to wash down the garlic rice, eggs and cured beef with,” Takemichi smiled towards him as he handed it to the Toman leader. Mikey reciprocated the smile as he accepted the cold bottle of ginger ale. While Mikey opened up the cap, the blue-eyed owner looked out from the large opening of his custom truck and into the brick-paved grounds of the sizable gymnasium. “Cold days like today remind me why I liked the warm weather back in the Philippines in the winter months.”
“I’ve been there too, you know,” Mikey revealed to the dark-haired male. “It’s the reason why I’m familiar with your menu items and why my guys tell me I have a ‘Manila Mikey’ look these days.”
“Manileños don’t have blonde hair Mikey,” said Takemichi, softly teasing him. “The majority of them naturally have black hair like mine.”
“Well, I have natural blonde hair,” Mikey told him. “Mitsuya said he can dye it black or any other color of the rainbow but I’m not one for coloring my strands unless necessary.”
“You’d actually look good with black hair.”
“You think so?”
Takemichi nodded, “While I’m aware you run a powerful underground organization, you’re still a handsome guy.”
Mikey snorted at the cook’s statement, “I bet you got a lot of action with that cooking of yours when you were traveling around the Philippines, am I right?”
“No, you are not,” Takemichi smiled as he looked to where Mikey was seated. “While I did travel around the Philippines, I only stayed in just one place for most of my time there.”
“Really?” Mikey blinked after swallowing down his food. “Where?”
“Clark, located in the Province of Pampanga,” Takemichi told the blonde male. “One of the instructors at the community college I used to go to has a close contact within the area named Grandma Carolina. It’s a great place to learn Filipino cuisine since Pampanga Province is like their own version of Osaka. Clark has an airport with international flights going here and domestic flights around the Philippines too.”
“Why does the name ‘Clark’ sound Western?” Mikey asked.
“It's a former U.S. military base,” Takemichi responded. “Today. it’s like a major commercial hub for the Northern Luzon region since it’s like two hours away from Metro Manila.”
“How long were you in the Philippines for? And did you have fun?” Mikey followed up.
“I was there for a couple of years, researching and learning the cuisine,” Takemichi said. “And yeah, I definitely had fun. The people there are very friendly and hospitable. They’re also pretty heavy drinkers as well.”
“Yeah, you’ve been there alright,” Mikey softly chuckled. “Have you experienced how seriously they take Christmas too?”
“Oh definitely,” Takemichi laughed. “I was so surprised when Grandma Carolina told me they unofficially but popularly start the Christmas season from freaking September… still, I’m glad that their version of Christmas isn’t some big bucket meal from the Kentucky colonel himself.”
“Yeah, any major feast spread out on banana leaves is a major upgrade over a KFC bucket meal you can get anytime of the year,” The Toman leader agreed with the industrious cook. “Ever since my older brother brought me there when I was like 15 with some friends, I make it a point now to celebrate Christmas over in the Philippines if I can.”
“If you ask me, I think you made a good call in celebrating your Christmas days over there,” Takemichi shared.
“What do you mean?” Mikey said with slightly widened eyes.
“Once the past is gone, you can’t bring it back,” Takemichi stated. “You could end up smiling or regretting once you start reminiscing. Nobody wants to think about something they’ll regret for the rest of their lives after all. As they say, Carpe Diem - Latin for ‘seize the day’.”
“Do you have any regrets in your life?” Mikey carefully asked the man he liked.
“That I kinda wasted four years of it after high school by working at a book store,” Takemichi said. “But after I won the lottery, I knew I had an opportunity to reinvent myself. I had to take the chance since there’s no guarantee I can get one again. I’m happy that I took that opportunity to invest in myself since I’m generally stable now and it’s clearly paying off.”
“It’s sounds like an advice I should take so it’s now or never,” Mikey said before he took in a deep breathe to relax his body. “Would you like to go out with me?”
“Are you asking me out on a date?”
“I am…”
“I’ll say yes as long as you let me get home later so I can clean myself up,” Takemichi started. “I also want us to be moving around in my personal car and not on your motorcycle.”
“But I love my bike!” Mikey protested.
“I thought you wanted to go with me on a date, Mikey-kun?” Takemichi winked at him.
“Fuck… fine,” Mikey quickly caved in. “You can use your car. Shit, why do you have to be goddamn cute and such a good cook?”
The blue-eyed food truck owner laughed, “It’s a combo of luck and hard work I guess.”
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Mikey was bored as he was stuck inside a blue Opel Combo Life van which Takemichi owned. One of the reasons why he loved his Babu was the ability to seamlessly weave through the traffic jams that Tokyo can produce. To distract himself from boredom, the Toman leader was repeatedly pushing a switch that operated the electric blinds for the panoramic sunroof.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Takemichi said to Mikey with an amused tone as the blinds for the panoramic sunroof finally stayed open.
“If we took my motorcycle instead, we’d be at that pizzeria earlier,” Mikey said.
“Taking my van is way more comfortable compared to anything on two wheels though,” Takemichi reasoned. “I doubt your cool Honda bike has a wireless phone charger that you're currently using or a screen for Apple CarPlay so Google Maps can help us get to said pizzeria.”
“I’ll admit, the wireless charging pad is nifty but vans are SUPER boring compared to bikes,” Mikey told him. “And why did you buy a van instead of something cooler?”
“It’s spacious but not ridiculously large to move around in Tokyo,” Takemichi explained as lights from the surrounding cars, signs and buildings lit his face in a colorful glow. “I also use my van for supply runs too, which is why I accessorized it with a protective cargo mat in the trunk.”
“If you have this van, where do you park your big food truck?” Mikey inquired.
“At a taxi depot near my apartment,” Takemichi answered. “I pay the operator there a set fee so my food truck can be parked there.”
“Doesn't that eat into your bottom line?”
“It does but I don’t have a choice. The parking area within my apartment complex has height restrictions. I can’t park it there even if I tried… anyway, I’m pretty happy that Baji-kun asked out Chifuyu-kun today too.”
“I’m just relived the bastard finally got to ask out that manager of yours,” Mikey sighed. “I was concerned that he would chicken out today. Baji is ultra tough as hell and a great fighter too but when it comes to Chifuyu, he becomes a puddle.”
“Chifuyu-kun is tough himself too,” Takemichi described the manager who worked for him. “He can take a good whacking if he push comes to shove.”
“I’m sure Baji would tear anyone’s head off if they try laying a finger on your manager,” Mikey chuckled. “Baji doesn’t look like it but he’s very protective of people he cares about.”
“They’d make for a cute couple,” Takemichi said as he slowly lurched his blue Opel van forward.
“How about us?” Mikey cheekily asked the dark-haired man. “Think we’ll make for a cute couple?”
“Whoa, hold your horses Mikey-kun,” Takemichi laughed. “We haven’t even arrived at our first date yet!”
“It’s because you insisted on using your van,” Mikey pointed out with a smile. “If you let me use my Babu, not only we would’ve arrived at that pizzeria faster, I’d bring you to a ton of cool places too!”
“Hmm, maybe you can drive us on our second date,” Takemichi entertained.
Mikey grinned at the male in the driver’s seat, “Oh? We’re not even at our first date but you’re already thinking of a second one?”
“I’m a small business owner,” Takemichi smiled. “I need to be flexible and have contingencies.”
“Are you physically flexible yourself?” Mikey nonchalantly inquired. “This van of yours isn’t the biggest after all.”
Takemichi knew what the blonde Toman leader was implying, “Hey, I don’t put out on the first date and we’re never going to do that in either my van or food truck.”
“Sure,” Mikey snickered. “I wonder if that will age well though… I’m the Invincible Mikey of Toman after all. If you're not flexible, I can try helping you out in that department soon.”
Takemichi blushed at the statement, “I’d rather not find out…”
Mikey sensually traced his index finger along the thigh of Takemichi’s left leg, “With your full consent, it’s gonna happen Takemitchy - maybe not tonight but it’s inevitable. It’s a great way to show off my strength too.”
“You could show your strength by helping me around with my business,” Takemichi smiled at him. “I could use someone who can carry a bag of rice without another person helping them.”
“Nah, I’d rather carry you to my big, plush bed and blow your mind,” Mikey softly laughed. “It never fails to impress.”
“Sounds like others have experienced being in bed with the Invincible Mikey of Toman then,” Takemichi noted with an undetectable sliver of jealousy.
“Since I’m confident we’ll hit it off, I’m sure that you’ll be able to exclusively experience what I’m capable of in the bedroom for yourself,” Mikey reassured him. “By the way, do you like having pineapple on your pizzas? For full disclosure, I don’t like Hawaiian - which is an awful Canadian invention.”
“Hawaiian’s popular in the Philippines but if I can choose any type of pizza, I’m in if it doesn’t have pineapples,” Takemichi smiled.
Mikey grinned at the revelation, “Being attracted to you and asking you out are some of the best things that I’ve did in my life.”