DC Comics: The Bookstore Witch
Chapter 68 68: Ichiraku Ramen
[3rd POV]
Sitting in one of the stools in Ichiraku ramen, Wanda watched in amusement as her two children devoured the ramen in front of them. Naruto had challenged Milim to an eating contest, to see who could eat more ramen. With Naruto wishing to protect his honor as the lover of ramen.
While Wanda just ate her bowl with a smile, finding that the ramen was delicious, not as good as her own, but very very close. She decided to give the man some pointers once they were done, as she imagined with a bit of tweaking, he could make ramen just as good as hers, which is a massive accomplishment.
Although, she planned on eventually connecting her shop to Food Wars, so he wouldn't be on par with her for much longer. She only really wanted Food Wars because of the delicious recipes she could learn from that.
Watching her two children devour ramen bowl after ramen bowl, Wanda let out a giggle, as she brought out a paper towel, wiping away the stray noodles that were on their cheeks.
"Try not to make too big of a mess, my dears" Wanda said, as the two of them blushed, embarrassed as they nodded, before going back to devouring their meals, but making sure not to make a huge mess this time. They didn't want to make their Mama mad, afterall.
"So...you're the one that Naruto talks about, huh? The mysterious auntie that has been helping him so much" Ayame, the daughter of Teuchi asked. Naruto had talked about Wanda a lot when he was at the ramen shop, so they knew all about her.
"I am. And you must be Ayame, the one that has been feeding him for all these years, making sure he always had a meal to eat" Wanda responded with a smile, as she inwardly gave the girl and her father a blessing of hers.
It would basically just give them good fortune, so they don't need to worry about sickness or their shop getting destroyed in some attack or anything of the sort. It was the least Wanda could do considering everything they had done for Naruto over the years.
They gave him ramen and fed him when nobody else would, they gave him fair prices unlike other stores, and most importantly, they fed him even when he could not afford it, for one reason or another.
She honestly was contemplating giving them a bigger blessing, but decided on just limiting it to this for now.
"I didn't do anything special, Maximoff-San. My father and I just fed him when he needed it, it's the right thing to do, afterall" Ayame responded.
'It's more than that, Ayame. You and your father mean a great deal to Naruto, and therefore, you matter a lot to me as well. What you've done for him is not something anyone else can claim, and for everything you have done for him, I must thank you" Wanda said, as the girl waved her off, not wanting to get praised like that.
"Again, it was just the right thing to do, Maximoff-San, no reason to praise me like that" Ayame responded, embarrassed as Wanda just chuckled.
"Very well. But I will insist that you just call me Wanda, no need to be all serious and proper with me" Wanda said, as the girl in front of her nodded. Teuchi listened into their conversation with a smile on his face, happy that Naruto seemed to have someone to care for him, someone that seemed to be more than just an auntie to the boy.
"So, Wanda, how long have you been running that bookstore of yours?" Teuchi asked, as the conversation flipped to something less serious and embarrassing.
"A few months now. It's only recently started to get more popular" Wanda responded as she took a bite of her ramen, ignoring her children at her side who were slurping on their noodles greedily.
"Wow, so you've only been in the business for a short while now, huh? Need any tips from a seasoned pro?" Teuchi asked with a smirk as Ayame snorted.
"Seasoned pro? Dad, last time you tried to advertise the business, you hired a guy to paint the name and address of the shop on a wall in the village. The man took the money and painted it on a wooden fence, and that fence was painted over by Genin like a day later" Ayame said with an amused smirk on her face, especially once she saw the pout on her fathers face.
"Ayame, I already told you that that worked! We have three more customers than usual, that's an increase!" Teuchi said, as Ayame just shook her head in amusement, while Wanda listened with a warm smile on her face.
"I'm quite alright, Teuchi-San. I've got enough customers as it is, and my business has been booming over the past couple of weeks. I appreciate the offer though" Wanda said.
"Smart decision" Ayame muttered, as Teuchi gave her a fake glare, before pouting and walking into the back upon seeing that Naruto and Milim were nearly finished with their bowls, and were asking for more.
"Your father is certainly an interesting man, isn't he" Wanda said in amusement as Ayame giggled.
"That's an understatement. That fence story? That's only one of a few dozen marketing attempts he's tried over the years. Almost all of them fail, but a couple did work so business is good here" Ayame said with a shake of her head, remembering the many other cases of him attempting to advertise.
Even with Naruto regularly shopping at the store, they got a decent bit of customers. It was because their ramen was simply that delicious, that as long as Naruto wasn't personally there when they wanted ramen, they'd come and eat. It was thanks to this that they've stayed in business over the years.
"Well that's good. Say, am I allowed to pay ahead for meals that Naruto and Milim might eat in the future?" Wanda asked, as Ayame raised an eyebrow at the question.
"Sure, I don't see why not" Ayame responded. Nobody had ever done this before, but paying ahead was a thing that was allowed in the village, so she didn't see why they wouldn't do it.
"Great, here. This should pay for their meals for a while" Wanda said, reaching into her pocket, pulling out a decently sized sack of around ten million ryo. It was enough to feed the two of them for years, at least, as long as they didn't go completely crazy with it.
"H-How much is that?" Ayame asked, wide eyed as the sack was placed on the counter. It was a lot of money, that much she could tell.
"Around 10 million ryo. If this isn't enough I can get more" Wanda said, as she had infinite wealth, so it literally didn't matter to her how much she needed to pay. She could summon a trillion ryo casually like it was nothing, so a mere 10 million was nothing to her.
Ten million ryo was equivalent to around 10 S rank missions, meaning it was a LOT of money, and wasn't something that just anyone could get. It was the equivalent to around 2000 D rank missions, showing just how much money it was.
"That-that is way too much, Wanda-San!" Ayame exclaimed, wide eyed as she gazed at the money. It was the most she had ever seen in one place before, and was the equivalent to around a year or two of their profits.
"Nonsense. You've taken such good care of Naruto, and this money is nothing to me, so take it. Because trust me, Milim is going to be a frequent customer here" Wanda said, glancing at the two, as they were finally beginning to finish their competition.
One that Milim was winning. She was at 62 bowls, while Naruto was at 40. She had already obliterated the previous record amount and was surpassing Naruto by a lot.
"...Fine, okay. Um...thank you for this Wanda-San. This amount of money could make a huge difference to this place...granted my father doesn't do anything stupid with it" Ayame said with a sweat drop, already imagining what he could do with it.
She'd need to keep an eye on him so he doesn't do anything stupid.
With the meal paid for, and her children finally finished eating, Wanda looked at them, before speaking.
"So...where to next?"
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That's the end of the chapter!
Sorry about the late upload, but...I got COVID. Which is just great...not. Turns out sitting in a car with three other people makes it very easy for one person to spread it to the others.
So I am home now, but my entire family has COVID right now, so chapters aren't going to be the best. Because quite frankly, I feel like shit right now.
I should be better in a couple of days.
Anyways, have a good day!