It was 7AM in the morningRei walked towards Ruka's house pulling out her coat from her bag. The midnight rain had made the weather turn cold. As she walked down the path , she heard her cellphone ring. 

"Who could it be at this time ? And who's Number is this? " Rei said as she shook her head in confusion and answered the call.

"Moshi Moshi?" she said curiously.

"Rei-chan? Is that you?" asked the voice from the other end.

"Umm.. Yeah.. May I Know Who is speaking?" she replied.

"Yuta desu. Just called to check if your cellphone number was the right one" the voice replied giving out a slight laugh.

"Yuta-kun ...haha" Rei trailed off.

"What's Wrong? You dont sound good " Yuta asked in confusion.

"Ahaha Its nothing ~ I'm walking towards Ruka-chan's house and the weather is getting colder " she replied with a shake in her voice.

"Oh then i guess we should talk later ~ I have to go out with my bandmates ~ Jyaa" he replied hanging up.

"Jyaa " Rei smiled to herself as she put her phone into her bag and walked along.

Rei looked around to find the turn towards Ruka's house but she couldnt find any place familiar to what she had seen before.

"Where am I?" she said to herself turning around to see all sorts of signboards that were there around , but to her dismay she could see only one signboard that said Murakami Ramen House. Rei walked around looking confused for a few minutes and finally decided to walk into the Ramen Shop. It was a really tiny shop with a few low tables and dusty mats by which one could easily make out that people rarely visited this place and also that the family taking care of this place was poor.

"Umm.. Hello ...Anyone here?" Rei said as she entered.

"Yes ~How can i help you young lady? " another voice called out from the other end.

The voice seemed all shaky and weak , just like that of an old woman's. Rei looked around to see where the voice was coming from. Before she could go search for the person , the old woman herself arrived in front of her with a young boy holding her by the arm.

"oo.. Konnichiwa ~ how can i help you young lady?" the old woman asked as she bowed to her.

"Ano... I am Kind of lost .. i was supposed to go to my friend's house in the park area , but i got a phone call and then i got lost and landed up coming here....could you help me get back to that place again?" Rei requested to the old woman.

"Yes Of Course young lady, My grandson Kouji will leave you there " The old woman replied with a smile.

"Thank you Obaa-san" Rei replied bowing to the old woman.

"Ah ~ Young lady , You must be cold ... Let me help you by making you some hot Ramen before you leave" The old woman said walking into the kitchen.

" Ano... Obaa-san ...Demo..." Rei faltered but the young boy stopped her by shaking his head.

"We dont often have visitors here , so whenever there is one ... my grandmother feels happy.. So.. please dont say no" The young boy said bowing down to her.

"Aah .. Iya Iya daijoubu desu! you need not bow " Rei stuttered.

The guy smiled back to her as he requested her to sit down. Rei sat down at the table beside her and waited patiently. The guy walked over to the old lady as he saw her coming out with a tray in her hand and helped her by holding the tray. Rei got up and walked towards the old lady and helped her sit down near the table. She was shocked as she saw the old lady sit in a perfect position at the table. 

"Ahah.. Grandma is used to sitting like this in tea ceremonies " the guy said laughing slightly at Rei's rection

"Ah! so you're Obaa-san's grandson? ... I'm Rei... Nice to Meet you" Rei asked curiously as the guy responded with a nod.

"Young Lady , I am the wife of the late Hideki Murakami... the owner of this shop... My husband had a dream, to own a ramen shop... Well.. to be precise.. He was the best cook around. But Ramen was his speciality... He gave in his best.. and went through all pains and hardships until this shop opened. ...but..."  the old lady said as she broke down in to silent tears. Her grandson comforted her by hugging her.

"but... what?" Rei asked worriedly.

"Grandfather , was a really strong man... he had too much guts ... i say... He walked right from our hometown Chiba to Hokkaido on foot selling ramen ... and came back with a victorious grin on his face.... but that day... we realised ... that he had been sacricficing for the whole time... living only on water and steamed rice...Several days after his return ... He opened this little shop. Earlier , this place used to be really crowded ...like hundreds would line up outside , fighting to get into the line first. But.. not less than a month of this shop being one of the best here in this part of Tokyo , the person who brought the smile of satisfaction on the people's faces vanished from this world with a smile on his face....." the guy said lowering his head to hide the obvious tears in his eyes.

Rei couldn't control herself , but cry ... She had never cried this much before ever since she had been to Japan but this story , it really pierced her heart.

"Obaa-san... Look what you have done! ... you made another customer cry... ! How many times have i told you... not to tell the story..." the guy scolded his grandmother earning a glare from Rei.

"Kouji-kun... Its alright... You shouldn't shout at her that way... afterall she told me the story because i was the one who started it...." Rei said wiping off her tears.

"Here Young lady I have something for you specially prepared~  some Murakami Special Ramen... To keep you warm and beautiful." said the old lady placing the bowl in front of Rei.

"Thank You So Much for preparing This~" Rei said before she could begin eating. As she began eating , the old lady and her grandson watched her face beam with happiness and satifaction. After several minutes of her having enjoyes the best of the ramen , Rei placed the empty bowl on the table and the chopsticks beside them on the rest.

"It was so delicious!" she said as she bowed down to the old woman.

"Ah! You're such a beautiful lady with such good manners! you're most welcome !" the old lady said bowing back to Rei.

"Ah.. Murakami-san.. i should get going... its already ten am and i need to go to Cafe BaNaNa.. where my friend works ..." she replied looking at her watch.

"Oh.. Rei-San... I can walk you till there ...." said Kouji , the grandson as he got up and grabbed his coat..

"Haha No Its alright! you need to look after you grandmother ... you can just tell me which way to.. ne?" Rei said giving him a heartwarming smile.

"Oh No.. since she was the one who told me to go with you .. I shall obey her and do so !" he replied politely.

Rei smiled at him impressed by his extremely good manners. She bowed at the old woman again and gave her a heartwarming smile.

"You are always welcome to come over again ~ whenever you wish to " the old woman replied waving to Rei.

"Definitely Murakami-san , " Rei replied waving back to the old lady.

Meanwhile Kouji waited there kicking some stones and playing around , he immediately stopped as he saw Rei coming in the direction where he stood.

"So...? Shall we go then? " he asked her as she responed with a nod as they started walking.

There was an awkward silence in between the two

"So... Kouji-kun... are you a student?" asked Rei in an attempt to start up a conversation.

"I'm seventeen ... and in my last year of High School ..And Rei-san?" he replied smiling faintly as he kicked a can on the street while walking.

"Ah ~ Well... me ...I'm in search of a University ...and a job that pays me well enough to pay my rent  ..." Rei replied laughing shyly.

"So... you need a job?" asked Kouji stopping for a while. He widened his eyes and then grinned widely .

"Umm... yes?" said Rei surprised by his sudden reaction.

"Well.. Rei-san ~ You can call me an angel... because ... you have gotten work at our shop! we always needed someone who could help us with the shop ! an now i would like to request if  you would like to work at our shop ~ would you?" asked Kouji talking really fast as he was excited.

"Hahah ~ Surely I would love to work here ~ I wouldnt make my friend visit me for free here then " Rei said as she and Kouji both laughed at her statement.

"Haha definitely ! I will Talk to Grandma about this ! and here we reach the main street .. I'm sure you know the way from here ~ Do you still want me to leave you Rei-san?" Kouji asked Rei curiously.

"Ahhh Thank you so much ! Ahh no its alright ~ You already have done a lot for me . Thank you so much ! " Said Rei bowing down gently .

"Your welcome ~ Take care okay? " Said Kouji bowing back and waved her . 

"Surely ~ and you too .. Take care of Obaachan!" said Rei smiling as she waved back to him and walked towards her apartment which was quite near from the place where she currently was.

Rei hummed happily to herself as she walked to her apartment and unlocked to door. In the meanwhile Yuta was sitting at his window with a mug of coffee and smiled to himself as he saw Rei humming to herself happily as she entered in her apartment room.

"Oh No! I had to go to Ruka's place today! " said Rei suddenly screaming to herself making the boy-next-door , Yuta startle.

"I wonder what's happened to her...Probably she must have read my text messge " he said shaking his head and then smiled

AUTHOR'S NOTE

OMG... I'm Updating RIGHT after two months of hiatus

Dear Tomodachi ;w; I'm SO SO SO SO SO SORRY for not updating this on time ;w; i was so busy ~

I'm sorry if this chapter is a fail ;w;

About this chapter ~ i wanted to concentrate on Rei's life more :) She's just returned from abroad.. and she possibly cannot have one friend on whom she'll survive right? so i decided to include more characters and there will be still more characters coming up in the upcoming chapters.

And the reason why i chose a Ramen shop was.... err.. how do i explain XD
Imma Ramen-holic *^* ...//shot for being selfish// XD

Hope you like this chapter ;w;  If not then you have ful rights to whack me

[RUKA]