Chapter 53: Is this what ordinary people usually eat?

As soon as she entered the large shopping center, Ishikawa Yuka pulled Anmiya Marina straight toward the food court.

Although there were regular seated restaurants here as well, going to those stores would have defeated the purpose.

Today’s goal was to let Marina, who was accustomed to a refined life, experience the daily life of ordinary commoners; going to regular restaurants or cafes wouldn’t achieve that effect.

“Wow… it’s a sea of people…”

“Yeah. Ah! Right, Marina, let’s hold hands so we don’t get separated.”

“Uh… alright…”

Yuka tightly gripped the hand that Marina hesitantly extended.

At this moment, she was wearing a hat to cover her long hair and was dressed in casual pants, so to others, they probably looked like a pair of elementary school lovers.

Marina seemed a bit shy, shrinking in on herself, but she gripped Yuka’s hand back tightly, appearing particularly cute.

The two threaded their way through the crowded throng, and it was definitely Marina’s first time in such a place.

She had certainly been to places with crowds before; there were plenty of audience members at operas and concerts.

However, in those settings, people followed the rules and walked quietly along the passageways, completely different from the noisy scene before them.

As for what a shopping center was like on holidays, every ordinary person knew it all too well.

Yuka had frequented such places in her past life.

The real upper class would never set foot here; not to mention the members of the Ōka Association, likely most students of Ōka Academy had never even been to such a place.

“Um… there are a lot of restaurants here… have we decided where to eat?”

Seeing Yuka walk past the entire row of restaurants while acting as if she didn’t see them, Marina couldn’t help but ask with curiosity.

“Hmm, we aren’t going to those stores; we’re heading straight to the food court.”

“However, if you’re interested in the restaurants here, we can change our minds…”

Yuka’s intention was to let Marina experience the food court, but if she preferred to try a regular restaurant, she was happy to comply.

After all, the most important thing was to pique Marina’s interest in new things.

“Um… going to the food court is fine, but could we take a look at these stores while we’re at it?”

“Sure, let’s take a look as we walk.”

Marina seemed very interested in the food models in the windows, gazing intently while pressed up against the glass display case.

“Wow… this…”

She practically plastered her entire face against the glass, focusing on observing the food models with an adorable expression.

“Do you see anything you want to eat?”

“Uh… I can’t really say…”
This reaction was just as Yuka had expected.

Born into a family that could enter the Ōka Academy, Marina had surely never eaten in a place like this.

Even when dining out, she would go to restaurants where they listened to the daily specials and ordered based on seasonal ingredients; never would it be this kind of store with plastic models displayed in the windows.

Of course, she surely knew about ramen and donburi, and she had likely eaten them before, but looking at the menu and the food models to order must be very novel to her.

“Tell me if there’s a store that interests you; we can change our plans.”

“Okay… but honestly, I don’t really know… I’ll leave it up to Yuka.”

Although Marina was interested in the food models of various restaurants, she didn’t particularly want to enter any specific store or eat anything in particular.

Or rather, she simply didn’t know how to choose.

In the end, they finished browsing the entire row of restaurants without entering a single one and headed to the food court as planned.

Although it was still a bit early for the lunch rush, it was already quite crowded here.

“A-Are we going to eat here?”

“Yeah. If you don’t think it’s okay, we can go back to those restaurants earlier. What do you think?”
Marina was clearly taken aback.

This was only natural; eating among a noisy and chaotic crowd, sharing a table with strangers, sitting at long tables or counters—this was definitely a first for her.

With so many people, she might also be concerned about hygiene.

Children from affluent backgrounds often cared about these details.

“N-No… it’s fine. I want to try it.”

Marina’s expression as she tightly clenched her fists and made that solemn declaration was extremely cute, completely different from her usual composed self who didn’t seem like a first-grader.

Perhaps this was her true self.

“Pfft, then let’s choose what to eat.”

Yuka surveyed the food court for familiar fast-food chains, ramen shops, donburi restaurants, and other establishments that served food quickly.

“Have you decided what to order, Marina?”

“Um… I’ll have that one…”
Marina was pointing at a ramen shop.

“Eh!? You’re eating ramen, Marina?!”
This was completely beyond Yuka’s expectations.

It wasn’t that anything was wrong with it; Marina had surely eaten ramen before, but it must have been a specially made version at a high-end restaurant…

“Is, is it strange? Then I’ll change my order…”

“Ah! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I was just a little surprised. Then let’s eat that ramen.”
Yuka hurriedly soothed Marina, who had suddenly slumped.

She didn’t think there was anything wrong with ramen; it was just that it was such a stark contrast to Marina’s usual image.

Furthermore, Yuka hadn’t eaten ramen since reincarnating; she herself was very much longing for that taste.

Marina’s choice was exactly what she wanted.

“Um… what should we do next?”

“Hmm~ let’s start by lining up here and order at the counter. After paying, we’ll get a number or a pager, then find a seat and wait for our number to be called to exchange the ticket for our food.”

The process was about the same at most food courts.
Some stores gave number cards, while others gave pagers; that was all.

“You have to decide what to order while lining up, okay.”

“Okay…”

Marina nodded with a tense expression, seeming to have already made her decision.

Usually, they would look at the menu after sitting down, but doing so here would hold up the people behind them.

Seeing how confident Marina looked, it should be fine.

“Have you decided what to order?”

“I’ll have the soy sauce ramen… what about you, Marina?”

“Um… I’ll take the tonkotsu ramen.”

When it was their turn, Yuka stated their orders.

Marina had actually chosen tonkotsu ramen.

After paying and receiving the tickets, they needed to find seats.

Usually, one person could save the seats, but it might not be realistic to let Marina go get the food by herself.

“When your number is called, you have to take your ticket to exchange for the food and bring it back yourself.”

“Mmhmm. I saw others doing it; I think I understand. It’ll be fine.”

‘Oh? Underestimating Marina.’

She was observing very carefully; this should be fine.

After waiting for a while, their number was called.

The two retrieved their ramen and prepared to eat.

By the way, Yuka was treating—Marina hadn’t expected to come to a place like this, so she didn’t bring any cash.

Her credit cards were usually kept by her attendants, and even if she had them, it wouldn’t be realistic for a child to swipe a card here.

“Well then, let’s eat.”

“Okay…”
Marina curiously snapped apart her disposable chopsticks and carefully slurped up a mouthful of noodles.

And then…

“This… how should I put it…”

“You don’t need to be polite in these situations; just say it tastes cheap.”

“Ahaha…”

Yuka suggested to Marina, who was at a loss for words.

There was no need to force herself to say it was delicious; a young lady accustomed to delicacies certainly wouldn’t find the food in this kind of place appetizing.

Yuka herself, however, didn’t dislike this kind of commoner flavor; she would sometimes suddenly crave it.

“Compared to ramen made with high-end ingredients, cooked by famous chefs, and costing tens of thousands of yen a bowl, the taste is indeed worlds apart; it simply can’t compare to what you usually eat.”

“But this is what you call a commoner’s flavor.”

“Although it’s not exactly delicious, it’s not bad to try it out occasionally, right?”

“Y-You’re right… I’ve never eaten anything like this before… is this what ordinary people usually eat…”
Indeed.

The taste of a shopping center food court could fully represent the everyday diet of commoners.

For some people, even eating this could be considered a luxurious improvement in their meals.
While chatting, Yuka and Marina blended into the crowd, enjoying their commoner meal.

“Ah! What do you think of this?”

“Hmm… it’s rather cute…”

After finishing their meal at the food court, the two browsed through the mall, looking around.

At this moment, they were in a girls’ accessories store.

Every place they visited, Marina looked amazed.

In the shops they usually frequented, the staff would diligently open the door to welcome them, provide personalized service, and warmly recommend products.

The shopping process was often a conversation while selecting items based on the staff’s recommendations.

But in these shops they were browsing now, staff wouldn’t actively greet them at all.

Ordinary shop employees naturally wouldn’t bother recommending anything to two elementary schoolers, and some stores even eyed them with a “where are your parents?” look.

All of this was surely a first experience for Marina.

Today, she was no longer the composed little adult; she was finally showing the expression that a first-grade girl should have.

Just seeing that made Yuka feel content.

“What’s on the top floor?”

“Hmm? Ah, the top floor is just the parking garage.”

Yuka thought the top floor would have more shops, but she found it was a rooftop parking lot.
Since there were no stores, there was no need to go up there, but Marina kept looking up at it.

Could she be interested?

“Do you want to go see? Although it’s just a rooftop parking lot, do you want to go?”

“Eh? Can we?”

What was there to say they couldn’t?

There was no rule saying you couldn’t go on the roof if you weren’t parking.

“Let’s go feel the wind and look at the scenery.”

“Okay!”
As expected, she wanted to go to the rooftop.

To Yuka, it was just a parking lot, but to Marina, it might be a grand adventure.

Thinking about it that way, Yuka also began to look forward to it.

The two rode the escalator to the rooftop parking lot.

“Hmm… as expected, all you can see are the surrounding buildings…”

Yuka had hoped they would see some nice scenery, but it was only natural for a rooftop parking lot in a city shopping center to have a limited view.

There were only rows of cars and neighboring buildings.

Would Marina be disappointed?

“The wind feels nice, doesn’t it. Let’s go look at the edge.”

She had expected Marina to be disappointed, but she didn’t seem to be.

There weren’t many cars in the parking lot, and there weren’t many cars driving around either.

The gentle breeze was indeed pleasant, and even the smell of exhaust was faint.

Yuka accompanied Marina toward the edge of the building to see the view.

That was when they faintly heard the sound of an argument.

Judging from the tone and the fragmentary dialogue, it definitely wasn’t anything good.

But Marina glanced at Yuka and continued walking forward, so Yuka had no choice but to follow.

“Stop it!”

“Ah? You little punks are getting cocky, huh!”

Following the sound, they saw three lower-grade boys surrounded by five or six fourth or fifth-grade boys, being pushed and scolded.