episode_0006

Ms. Yuka and I stopped our bicycles in front of a small general store, about a ten-minute ride away.

The general store’s name was… ‘Hanaya?’

It was a flower shop name. So at first, I thought I had come to the wrong place, but a moment later, I realized that was my misunderstanding.

This was because the signboard read ‘Hanaya,’ but in a corner of the lettering, it said ‘Hanaya’ using different characters.

Perhaps, a unique joke? I wondered if that was the case.

As I was thinking that, -Clatter.

Ms. Yuka had already opened the door and entered.

“Takuya. Aren’t you coming in?”

“Ah. I’ll be right there.”

The inside of the store, which I followed Ms. Yuka into, had quite a charm.

More precisely, it felt like seeing a nostalgic old scene.

‘This is the kind of place that reminds me of the snacks I used to eat in front of elementary school.’

Of course, it looked much older than the places I remembered.

Thinking that to myself, I carefully looked around the interior.

Inside the store, there were various food ingredients and snacks.

Among them, I found one particular product in the corner that caught my eye.

It was Umaibong.

Umaibong is a famous snack, popular enough to be called a representative Japanese snack, and its taste is roughly similar to what we’d think of as Chakani. I read that on a wiki a long time ago.

Well, if you say it’s not, then you’re right.

‘Hmm. It looks delicious, should I ask her to buy me one?’

I had never tried Umaibong before, so I wondered what it tasted like and considered buying one, but…

‘Still, isn’t this a bit too much?’

It felt a bit awkward to ask for such a thing from people who weren’t even my mom, especially on only the second day after possessing this body.

As a result, while I was debating whether or not to ask for it,

“What are you looking at so intently?”

Ms. Yuka approached me, who was diligently looking at Umaibong by myself, grabbed my shoulder, and looked at what I was seeing.

When I nonchalantly pointed to the Umaibong, her eyes widened, and she spoke in a surprised tone.

“Oh, it’s Umaibong? It’s been a really long time. I ate quite a lot of these back in my school days.”

Ms. Yuka, saying that, picked up an Umaibong and seemed to examine it from various angles.

And very seriously at that.

After examining it for a long time, she finally nodded and said,

“Hmm~ it hasn’t really changed, after all.”

Saying that, Ms. Yuka grabbed a handful of Umaibong.

Just as I was about to say something in a surprised voice at that sight,

Ms. Yuka smiled refreshingly at me and said,

“Delicious things should be eaten a lot, together. Don’t you think?”

At her smile, I unconsciously nodded, and Ms. Yuka, pleased with my answer, patted my head and said,

“That’s a good answer! Now, let’s buy the soy sauce Ayaka mentioned, and a few snacks.”

“Yes.”

She said that and took her hand off my head, but strangely, her warmth seemed to linger on my head.

Of course, it wasn’t a strange meaning.

It was just…

‘I missed it.’

It was just a misunderstanding caused by the unfamiliar touch of someone after a long time.

Yes. It’s probably a misunderstanding.

After thinking that, Ms. Yuka and I, having chosen soy sauce, crackers, and ice cream to eat on the way, stood at the counter.

And spoke to the owner inside.

“Grandmother Haruna! Come out!”

The owner of this Hanaya was a grandmother in her 70s. Her husband reportedly died during the war.

I heard that the unit he was drafted into and arrived at happened to be the one with Mutaguchi, and the operation he was deployed to immediately upon arrival was the Imphal Operation, a rare and absurd operation, so he died in action there.

Naturally, there was no compensation.

That’s why Grandmother Haruna dislikes the Japanese government.

This was too much TMI.

Grandmother Haruna wasn’t coming out, so I rummaged through Takuya’s memories and blurted out all this useless information.

‘No. But seriously, why isn’t she coming out? Is something wrong?’

Ms. Yuka also seemed to find Grandmother Haruna’s prolonged absence strange, so she tried to enter the room behind the counter.

Just then. -Clatter.

The door behind the counter opened, and a person popped out.

And it wasn’t Grandmother Haruna.

“Yaaawn…”

It was a young woman wearing a tracksuit, with greasy hair and glasses, yawning widely.

She wasn’t just young compared to Grandmother Haruna; she genuinely looked like a woman who had just become a fresh graduate.

At the sudden appearance of the young woman, Ms. Yuka asked in an awkward voice,

“Who are you?”

At that question, the woman stopped yawning and replied casually,

“I’m Haruna Michiko. I’m Grandmother Haruna’s granddaughter, and I’m a university student. I’m working part-time now because of university break.”

At the very detailed explanation, Ms. Yuka and I couldn’t help but nod.

Perhaps this Haruna person had said it more than once or twice, as the words poured out like a machine gun.

‘By the way, her way of speaking is unique.’

She spoke in a dialect-like way, but only the endings were strange. Should I say she spoke in a drawn-out manner?

Anyway, after listening to Ms. Haruna’s self-introduction, we began to pay.

Unexpectedly intelligent, Ms. Haruna finished the calculation at an incredibly fast pace and told us the price.

“The total is 600 yen.”

At her words, Ms. Yuka nodded and took coins from her coin purse.

And in the meantime.

‘What is this?’

An odd screen began to appear before my eyes again.

More precisely.

‘Why is that in front of Ms. Haruna?’

In front of Ms. Haruna, that is.

Something clearly looked strange, but I was extremely curious what would happen if I pressed it.

‘Honestly, I’m curious…’

I wondered if pressing it would trigger some kind of event, but it was a bit awkward to check with Ms. Yuka present.

While I was pondering, looking at the window that appeared in front of Ms. Haruna, Ms. Yuka, who had already finished paying, walked towards the exit and said,

“Takuya. Let’s go now.”

“Ah. Yes!”

It seemed best to come back and check it later.

Thinking that, I left the store.

“Please come again next time~”

Ms. Haruna’s languid farewell was a bonus.

Having stepped outside, Ms. Yuka and I walked, unwrapping an ice cream each.

Step. Step.

-Chime.

As we walked, we licked our ice creams in silence.

To someone observing, the atmosphere might have seemed awkward, but since this was the usual atmosphere when walking together as the original Takuya, I didn’t think much of it and continued walking.

After walking for a while,

We arrived at the park where I had originally decided in my mind to part ways.

For reference, the park I mentioned was the one where I played with Sōta last time.

Apparently, Ms. Yuka and I often parted ways here anyway, so I decided to separate here.

Just as I was about to say goodbye to Ms. Yuka, telling her I’d see her in the evening, and leave,

A strong floral scent suddenly wafted intensely, and then

“Just a moment.”

Ms. Yuka’s slender finger brushed my ear.

Surprised by the situation for a moment,

When I looked at Ms. Yuka, she picked up a speck of dust and said nonchalantly,

“There was a speck of dust on you. Poof~”

Then, after blowing the dust away, she smiled faintly with an indifferent expression and said,

“Well, I’ll see you this evening~ Be careful not to get hurt!”

At that sight, I replied without thinking,

“Yes…”

“Alright, alright. Takuya, you’re a good boy.”

Ms. Yuka, who had patted my head again, then headed home carrying the items she bought from Hanaya.

I watched her for a moment, and only when Ms. Yuka was out of sight did I turn my bicycle around and head back to the Hanaya I had just visited.

Clatter.

I opened the door and re-entered Hanaya, where I saw Ms. Haruna dozing off at the counter.

“What– What do you need?”

Seeing me, she immediately asked me with questioning eyes, and I replied by merely nodding my head.

At my answer, she nodded without any suspicion and said,

“Then find what you left behind and leave whenever~”

Ms. Haruna then started dozing off again, and in that moment, I quickly clicked the screen that had appeared in front of her. What appeared was:

[Elixir of Vigor] [Elixir of Stamina] [Elixir of Luck] [Aphrodisiac] [Elixir of Communication] [Elixir] . . ,

‘Could this be, perhaps, an erotic game shop?’

It was exactly the kind of shop window commonly found in erotic games.

And what’s more.

‘Wow. The scroll is incredibly long. And the prices are mostly super generous?’

It was a shop that boasted an endless number of items at very favorable prices.

Thanks to that, after seeing the shop window, I considered canceling my plans for the day and just browsing the shop’s items here, but…

‘If I stay here too long, I’ll likely be misunderstood, so I’ll check it later once we’re closer.’

Thinking that, I was about to head outside again, but.

‘Now that I think about it. There’s something else next to the shop window?’

Since there was something else next to the shop window, I clicked it, and

[Sub-Episode: Purchase General Store Grandmother’s Granddaughter, Haruna Michiko.]

A screen with absurd words written on it began to pop up.

For a moment, I wondered what nonsense that screen was.

An explanation automatically appeared on the screen.

[TIP 1. Give her 10 yen and say, ‘Nuna, my pee-pee is acting strange,’ and she will take you to the inner room.]

Unlike with Ms. Miyuki, this was a rather friendly explanation.

The problem was that it was a bit embarrassing…

‘But they’re saying they’ll let me have sex, can I really hold back?’

At that explanation, I finally swallowed hard, steeled myself, and then handed Ms. Haruna the 10 yen from my pocket, saying,

“Nu, Nuna…”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“My pe-pee is acting straaange…”

Damn it, to have to say something like this after being over 20 years old.

I became so embarrassed that I couldn’t lift my face.

But perhaps my words really had an effect,

“Hmm~. Is that so?”

Her sleepy expression from moments ago vanished instantly, transforming into the fierce gaze of a lioness as she spoke to me.

“Then, would you like to come to the inner room for a moment so I can help you~?”

“Ah. Yes!”

At her words, I inwardly grinned broadly and thought,

The screen was invincible and a god.

***

[Sub-Episodes can be activated with any woman.]