Chapter 66: Yuka seems quite skilled.

Yuka had already finished all the assignments given by Ōka Academy.

The workload at this prestigious school was indeed different from regular elementary school, but it wasn’t as extraordinary as she had imagined.

There were no typical assignments like “draw a summer vacation diary”; it was mainly workbooks, kanji practice, and reading reports, much like her past life’s elementary school homework.

This sense of familiarity, which was both unexpected and relieving, gave her a subtle feeling.

However, today marked the last special event of her summer vacation: a shopping trip with Matsuyama Shoko.

Although the vacation hadn’t officially ended, the remaining days were packed with various classes and talent lessons, making this her final moment of leisure.

“Miss Yuka, if you try to sneak away this time, I will definitely report it to the mistress.”

“Ah, okay…”

While waiting at the designated meeting point, Yuka received a severe warning from Emi.

Her mother seemed to have a good impression of Shoko and readily approved this outing, but Emi was clearly still affected by the previous “disappearance incident,” radiating an aura that would not tolerate half-hearted answers.

Yuka actually had no intention of sneaking away every time.

Even if she planned to, it wouldn’t be so soon.

“Miss Yuka? Do you really understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Noticing Emi’s suspicious gaze, Yuka immediately straightened her back and answered, looking straight ahead.

The more guilty one looked, the easier it was to be seen through, so she had to appear open and natural.

“Sigh~ I’ll be following you every step of the way today.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Since she had no intention of sneaking away today anyway, Yuka agreed readily.

Even if Emi followed her to the restroom, she wouldn’t follow her into the stall, so it was still within an acceptable range.

If Emi continued this “strict monitoring” for a few more times, she would eventually lower her guard, and it wouldn’t be too late to look for another opportunity then.

“Miss Yuka? Do you really, truly understand?”

“Yes! I understand!”

Yuka quickly regained her focus.

Her mother and Emi were always quick to notice her distraction; it was safer to think about important matters only when she was alone.

****

Just as she was thinking this…

“Big Sister Yuka! I’m so sorry for making you wait!”

Shoko ran over breathlessly, with her attendants looking exhausted behind her.

This lively young lady truly wore people out.

“Shoko, good day. There’s no need to run so fast; it’s still early for our appointment.”

Although not as punctual as Yuka and Marina, who always arrived early, Shoko was always on time at school.

Due to her past life habits, Yuka always arrived half an hour early for appointments; Marina arrived even earlier than her for school; and Yuko, who had waited two hours at the villa, was an anomaly…

By contrast, although Shoko arrived a bit later, she maintained the punctuality expected of a young lady.

“By the way, Shoko, where are we planning to shop today?”

Yuka had only been told to come to this location and knew nothing about the specific plans.

Encountering this situation again after Yuko, she hoped Shoko wouldn’t have some wild idea like Yuko’s.

That senior was truly difficult to handle.

But at least she knew they were here to shop.

It was just that there didn’t seem to be any stores here that either the Ishikawa or Matsuyama families would frequent…

“Mhm! We’re going over there!”

“…There?”

The direction Shoko was pointing at was a bustling, covered commercial street.

‘No way… how could the young ladies of the Ishikawa and Matsuyama families go to a place like that?’

Setting aside the fact that the difficulty of the bodyguards’ job would increase exponentially, getting their clothes dirty would be minor compared to the risk of kidnapping.

This request should never have been approved.

Did she mean… the area behind the commercial street, where there seemed to be a boutique store?

She should be going there, right?

“That place with the archway is the shopping street! We’re going there today!”

“Eh!?”

It actually was the commercial street?!

Are you kidding me… there was no way the attendants would agree to that?

Yuka looked at Shoko’s attendant…

“……”

The attendant shook his head silently with his eyes closed.

It seemed Shoko was serious.

Yuka herself didn’t mind; she often frequented places like this in her past life.

But could Shoko truly handle that noisy environment?

“Let’s hurry, Big Sister Yuka!”

“Ah! Wait!”

Shoko grabbed Yuka’s hand without a care and walked toward the commercial street.

Yuka instinctively looked at Emi, only to find the maid wasn’t stopping them.

Was going to the commercial street actually permitted?

Yuka had no choice but to let Shoko pull her along.

“Wow! What is that?”

“Uh… that’s probably the mascot for this shopping street.”

At the entrance stood a bizarrely shaped mascot in a costume, a character Yuka didn’t recognize, likely a local specialty.

“It has a special smell.”

“It’s the scent of croquettes…”

Just as she entered the commercial street, she smelled the fried aroma from a butcher shop.

Yuka had eaten this kind of snack in her past life, but Shoko surely hadn’t—even if she had eaten croquettes before, they would have been a special version from a high-end restaurant, never this kind of commoner food.

“Big Sister Yuka! Let’s try it!”

“Eh?… Alright, give us two.”

“Here you go! Come on, lovely young ladies, fifty yen each.”

“I’ll pay for both.”

Yuka handed over a hundred yen coin in exchange for two croquettes wrapped in paper.

“……Big Sister Yuka seems very practiced at this?”

“Eh! Not at all?”

Shoko’s words made Yuka’s heart tighten.

“And why do you have hundred-yen coins?”

“Well… uh… I just happened to bring some…”

Indeed, given their family status, they didn’t need to carry cash for shopping; attendants paid or swiped cards.

Yuka had only secretly brought some spare change just in case; she normally wouldn’t carry it—and certainly not to prepare for sneaking away.

“……”

Emi was also staring intently at her, her gaze clearly saying “This person really is experienced.”

“Ah, Shoko, croquettes taste best when they’re hot!”

“Eh? There’s no table or knife and fork; where and how do we eat them?”

“Eh? Just like this… open the paper… and bite directly into it.”

Yuka demonstrated by rolling up the paper wrapper, revealing the top part of the croquette, and took a bite.

“Whew… it’s hot… but delicious.”

“……”

Eh? Why were even Shoko’s attendants staring at her?

“I never thought Big Sister Yuka would eat like this…”

‘Oh no… was that too unrefined?’

She had let her past life’s habits take over without realizing it.

Normally, she paid close attention to etiquette, but she would still reveal herself if she wasn’t careful.

“Miss Yuka? You don’t mean you’ve often come to places like this and done things like this before, have you?”

“Ah~… um… didn’t I go out with Emi before? How could I possibly do something like this…”

Was that excuse a bit of a stretch?

After all, she acted far too practiced.

“That’s true…”

Oh? Emi was starting to waver.

It was true that Emi accompanied Yuka on all her outings; the only exception was the last disappearance incident.

In a sense, Emi herself was the proof of Yuka’s “innocence.”

“Ah! More importantly, Shoko! It won’t taste good if it gets cold!”

“O-Okay!”

Yuka forcibly changed the subject, and Shoko also started eating the croquette, mimicking her.

“Mmm! It’s hot! But it’s really delicious!”

“Right? Let’s hurry and finish eating.”

Although it was an attempt to cover up, it went unexpectedly smoothly.

Shoko’s attendants still eyed Yuka suspiciously, but it was already good enough to have fooled the other two.

Afterward, Yuka and Shoko wandered and browsed through the covered commercial street.

Although she felt many gazes around them, Yuka didn’t care.

She did have to watch out for criminal activity—two young ladies in expensive clothes with attendants walking down the street were practically moving targets.

“Wow… what is that noisy shop?”

“That’s a pachinko parlor… children aren’t allowed inside; let’s go somewhere else.”

“What is that glass box filled with dolls?”

“That’s a claw machine. This is an arcade.”

Shoko was curious about everything and ran around asking questions constantly.

“Why does Miss Yuka know so much?”

“Hmm…”

Emi’s questioning was especially sharp today… was she still dwelling on the incident at the villa?

“How do you play this?”

“Eh? The claw machine? You insert coins and operate this button. If you can grab the prize and drop it here, you win it. Do you want to try?”

Yuka took out spare change again and inserted it into the machine, letting Shoko operate it herself.

“Ah~! I didn’t get it!”

As expected.

These machines were usually set up so the claw would only tighten after a certain amount of money was inserted.

Although it was possible that the coins inserted by previous people had reached the critical point, allowing for an easy win on the first try, it was more likely that one had to spend thousands or even tens of thousands of yen to win anything.

Ultimately, it would be much more cost-effective to just buy the desired stuffed animal directly.

But the appeal of this game wasn’t about cost-effectiveness; it was about the thrill of “getting lucky,” which was why it was so addictive.

“Just, just one more time!”

“Ah~… Shoko… this kind of game is specifically designed to be difficult, to make people addicted…”

Yuka reminded her tactfully.

Given the financial power of the Ishikawa and Matsuyama families, they could certainly keep inserting coins until they won, but precisely because they could, getting addicted was even more dangerous.

She didn’t want to cause Shoko to become addicted to claw machines and possibly lose her family fortune… although unlikely, excessive obsession was never good.

“Mmm… but I want a souvenir with Big Sister Yuka… ah! Right! Then Big Sister Yuka, please try it!”

“If you can’t get it, I’ll give up.”

Oh? She was surprisingly obedient.

As expected of a young lady; she wouldn’t easily become addicted to this kind of game.

“Then I’ll try one more time, and this will be the end regardless of the result.”

Yuka had played a few times in her past life; although she wasn’t an expert, she had some tips.

She aimed for a stuffed animal with a tag on it—that was the one!

“Ah… ah… ah! Success! Big Sister Yuka! You grabbed it!”

“Looks like I got lucky.”

She successfully hooked the string of the stuffed animal with the claw.

She had only given herself a 50% chance, so she hadn’t expected to actually succeed.

Wait?

“Ah! It brought another one down! That’s great!”

“Indeed, you grabbed two at once.”

The grabbed stuffed animal had another one attached to it, and both fell into the prize chute.

Yuka retrieved the prizes.

“Big Sister Yuka! We should each keep one as a souvenir!”

“Eh? Okay… alright…”

They were two cheap little stuffed animals… Yuka had intended to give both to Shoko, but it turned out they each kept one.

Although they were only worth a few hundred yen, it was fine… this way.

Afterward, the two browsed the commercial street until they were satisfied and headed home before evening fell.