Chapter 6 – Episode 6. Outing (2)
-Screech.
Yuka and I stopped our bikes in front of a small corner store, about a 10-minute ride away.
The name of the corner store was…
‘Hanaya (花屋)?’
It was a flower shop name.
So at first, I thought I had come to the wrong place, but soon after, I realized I was mistaken.
That’s because the sign said Hanaya (はなや), but in the corner of the letters, it also said Hanaya (ハナ屋) in different characters.
Maybe it was some kind of gag? I thought.
While I was thinking that,
-Slide.
Yuka was already inside the store.
“Takuya, aren’t you coming in?”
“Ah. I’ll be right there.”
Following Yuka inside, the store had a rather quaint atmosphere.
To be precise, it felt like looking at a nostalgic old scene.
‘It’s the kind of place that makes me think of the snacks I used to eat in front of elementary school.’
Of course, it looked much older than the place I remembered.
I thought to myself as I carefully looked around the interior.
Inside the store, there were various food ingredients and snacks.
Among them, I found one product in the corner that particularly caught my eye.
It was Umaibo (美味棒).
Umaibo is a famous snack, so much so that it’s considered a representative snack of Japan. The taste is roughly similar to what we think of as Chakan, I saw on Wikipedia before.
Well, if you say it’s not, then you’re right.
‘Hmm. It looks delicious, should I ask her to buy me one too?’
I had never eaten Umaibo before, so I was curious about its taste and considered buying one.
‘But still, is this a bit too much?’
It felt a bit awkward to ask people who weren’t my mom for such a favor on the second day of being possessed.
While I was debating whether to ask for it or not,
“What are you looking at so intently?”
Yuka approached me, who was staring intently at the Umaibo, grabbed my shoulder, and looked at what I was looking at.
When I casually pointed at the Umaibo with my finger, her eyes widened and she said in surprise.
“Oh. Umaibo? It’s been a while. I used to eat them a lot when I was in school.”
Yuka, saying that, picked up an Umaibo and seemed to examine it closely.
Very seriously, too.
After examining it for a while, she nodded and said.
“Hmm~ It hasn’t really changed.”
Yuka said that and grabbed a handful of Umaibo.
I was about to say something in surprise at that sight, when.
Yuka smiled brightly at me and said.
“Delicious things should be eaten together in large quantities. Don’t you think?”
At that smile, I nodded without realizing it, and Yuka, pleased with my answer, patted my head and said.
“Good answer! Then, let’s buy the soy sauce Ayaka mentioned and some snacks.”
“Yes.”
She said that and took her hand off my head, but strangely, her warmth seemed to linger on my head.
Of course, not in a weird way.
Just…
‘I missed it.’
It was just a misunderstanding caused by the unfamiliarity of someone’s touch after a long time.
Yeah. It’s probably a misunderstanding.
After thinking that, Yuka and I, who had chosen soy sauce, snacks, and ice cream to eat on the way, stood at the checkout counter.
And we said to the owner inside.
“Haruna Grandma! Come out!”
The owner of this Hanaya was a 70-year-old grandmother. Her husband had died during the war.
I heard that the unit he was conscripted into happened to be the one with that Mutaguchi, and the operation he was thrown into was the infamous Imphal operation, so he died right away.
Of course, there was no compensation.
So, Haruna Grandma hates the Japanese government.
This was too much TMI.
Haruna Grandma wasn’t coming out, so I was digging through Takuya’s memories and spewing out all this useless information.
‘No. But, why isn’t she coming out? Is something wrong?’
Yuka also seemed to find it strange that Haruna Grandma wasn’t coming out, and she was about to go into the room behind the counter.
Then.
-Slide.
The door behind the counter opened, and someone popped out.
And it wasn’t Haruna Grandma.
“Haaam…”
A young woman with messy hair, wearing a tracksuit and glasses, yawned widely.
To be clear, she wasn’t just young compared to Haruna Grandma, but she looked like a fresh graduate just starting her career.
Yuka, surprised by the sudden appearance of the young woman, asked in an awkward voice.
“Who are you?”
At that question, the woman stopped yawning and answered nonchalantly.
“I’m Haruna Machiko (春名 真知子). I’m Haruna Grandma’s granddaughter and a university student. I’m working part-time now because it’s university vacation.”
With a very detailed explanation, Yuka and I couldn’t help but nod.
Perhaps this Haruna person had said it more than once, as the words came out like a machine gun.
‘By the way, her way of speaking is unique.’
She spoke in some kind of dialect, but the endings were strange. It was like she was dragging out her words?
Anyway, after hearing Haruna’s self-introduction, we started to pay.
Unexpectedly, she was also good at math, and Haruna, who finished the calculations very quickly, told us the price.
“It’s 600 yen in total.”
At that, Yuka nodded and took out coins from her coin purse.
And in the meantime.
‘What is this?’
I started to see a strange screen in front of my eyes again.
To be exact.
‘Why is that in front of Haruna?’
In front of Haruna.
Something seemed strange, but I was very curious about what would happen if I pressed it.
‘Honestly, I’m curious…’
I wondered if there would be some kind of event if I pressed it, but it was a bit awkward to check while Yuka was there.
While I was looking at the window that appeared in front of Haruna and pondering, Yuka, who had finished paying, walked towards the entrance and said.
“Takuya. Let’s go now.”
“Ah. Yes!”
It seemed better to come back later and check it out.
I thought that and left the store.
“Come again~”
Haruna’s listless greeting was a bonus.
After coming outside, Yuka and I unwrapped our ice creams and walked.
Step. Step.
-Ting-a-ling.
We walked in silence, licking our ice creams.
It might have looked awkward to someone else, but since it was the same atmosphere when Takuya and I used to walk together, I didn’t think much of it.
After walking for a while.
I arrived at the park where I had originally planned to part ways.
For reference, the park I mentioned was the same park where I played with Souta last time.
It seemed that Yuka and I often parted ways here, so I decided to part ways here.
Just as I was about to say goodbye to Yuka and leave, a strong floral scent suddenly wafted by.
“Wait a minute.”
Yuka’s slender finger brushed my ear.
I was surprised for a moment.
When I looked at Yuka, she picked up a speck of dust and said nonchalantly.
“There was some dust on you. Poof~”
Then, after blowing away the dust, she smiled casually and said.
“Then, see you tonight~ Be careful not to get hurt!”
At that, I replied unconsciously.
“Okay…”
“Okay, okay. Takuya, you’re a good boy.”
Yuka, who patted my head again, headed home with the things she bought from Hanaya.
I watched her for a while, and when she was out of sight, I turned my bike around and went back to Hanaya.
Slide.
When I opened the door and entered Hanaya again, I saw Haruna dozing off at the counter.
“What is it? What do you need?”
She looked at me and immediately asked with a questioning look, and I answered by slightly nodding my head.
At that answer, she nodded without any suspicion and said.
“Then, find what you left behind and leave when you’re done~”
Haruna started to doze off again, and in that gap, I quickly clicked on the screen that appeared in front of her, and what appeared was.
[Elixir of Stamina]
[Elixir of Strength]
[Elixir of Luck]
[Aphrodisiac]
[Elixir of Conversation]
[Elixir]
.
.
,
‘Could this be, a game shop?’
It was a shop window that was commonly seen in adult games.
And also.
‘Jackpot. The scroll is super long. And the prices are mostly a steal?’
It was a shop that boasted an endless amount of items at very reasonable prices.
Because of that shop window, I thought about canceling today’s schedule and just looking at the shop items here.
‘If I stay here too long, I’ll probably be misunderstood, so I should check it out later when I get closer to her.’
Thinking that, I was about to go outside again.
‘Come to think of it. There’s something else next to the shop window?’
There was something else next to the shop window, so I clicked on it.
[Sub-Episode: Purchase Haruna Machiko, the granddaughter of the corner store grandmother.]
A screen with absurd words started to pop up.
While I was thinking what the hell this was, an explanation started to appear on the screen automatically.
[TIP 1. Give her 10 yen and say, ‘Noona, my dick is weird,’ and she will take you to the inner room.]
Unlike with Miyuki, it was a very kind explanation.
The problem was that it was a bit embarrassing…
‘But she’s saying she’ll have sex with me, can I really pass this up?’
At that explanation, I eventually swallowed hard, steeled my heart, and handed Haruna the 10 yen I had in my pocket and said.
“N-Noona…”
“Uh-huh. What is it?”
“M-My, my dick is weird…”
Damn it, I’m over 20 years old and I have to say these words.
I couldn’t lift my face in embarrassment.
But, whether my words were really effective or not.
“Hmm~ Is that so?”
Her face, which had been dozing off just now, instantly changed into a lioness-like expression, and she said to me.
“Then, come to the inner room for a bit and let me help you~?”
“Ah. Yes!”
At her words, I smiled brightly inside and thought.
The screen is invincible and godlike.
***
[Sub-episodes can be activated with any woman.]
