Chapter 41: I want to eat plus chicken

“Ugh, I don’t want to.”

“Minah, isn’t it a bit harsh to say that to your mom after such a long time…?”

Mom had gone on a business trip before collaborating with Kurokami-sempai, back on September 13.

And today is September 30.

It’s been about three weeks since I last saw her, so her saying it’s been a while was fitting.

“But that doesn’t mean I have to do a favor I don’t want to.”

“That’s true, but…”

If I weren’t at a certain level, she would definitely not recognize it, but Mom pouted slightly as if she was sulking.

Still, I didn’t feel guilty.

My refusal was justified.

“Do you really dislike shopping with me that much?”

“Yes.”

If someone saw how firmly I had just responded, they might say it was rude.

But I wouldn’t be able to respond confidently to such a person.

Still, I thought to myself, I’m not being bad.

“It’s been a really long time, hasn’t it? It’s been over a year since we last went, right?”

“Still, I don’t want to…”

I hope no one misinterprets this scene.

The reason I’m acting this way isn’t that I dislike going out; it’s that I don’t want to go ‘shopping’ with Mom.

I would have followed along without any complaints if it were to eat out, go to an amusement park, a theme park, the zoo, or an aquarium.

But shopping is just something I really hate.

“Ughhh.”

“…Even if you stare at me like that, I’m not going.”

“Then how about this? If you go shopping with me today…”

With Mom’s whisper, I…

“Minah, try this on.”

“….”

This time, Mom brought a pure white dress that had an innocent vibe.

“Haah…”

I sighed as I received the dress and entered the fitting room.

…How many times is this now?

If I look at the time, it’s already been over an hour doing this.

“I want to go home soon…”

I let out a wish that wouldn’t come true as I changed clothes.

This was the reason I disliked shopping with Mom.

Wearing women’s clothes?

I didn’t particularly feel any aversion to that part.

Basically, I was an ultra cute girl, so I looked good in just about any outfit.

Above all, even if my mental state was much closer to that of a boy, I had already lived as a girl for 16 years. By now, saying something like “I’m embarrassed to wear girl’s clothes!”—a common phrase among TS works—was far behind me.

Well, I did feel a bit of aversion when the memories of my previous life first came back.

Anyway, the reason I disliked shopping with Mom was that once I went out, I had to be her doll for at least two hours.

As someone who preferred staying at home, going around to different stores was obviously an enormous ordeal for me.

Unlike eating out or going to an amusement park, which generally have a set purpose, shopping with Mom has no set purpose.

She just wanted to dress me up in various outfits.

For instance, during the last time I went shopping with Mom a year ago, we didn’t eat at all and spent four hours just changing clothes. That was truly hell…

“I should have refused…”

Despite that, the reason I followed Mom this time was that I had made a deal to buy the limited edition album for the

first anniversary of Natchan.

Now that I was earning money from my VTuber activities, there wasn’t an issue with my wallet, but it’s not like I had

enough money to buy every limited edition merchandise that came out.

Being an otaku is fundamentally an expensive hobby.

…Of course, I’m honestly regretting it now.

“Here you go…”

I stepped out of the fitting room, now fully dressed in the dress.

Mom once again scanned my whole figure seriously for her evaluation.

“…Hmm. I think it looks good on you, what do you think, Minah?”

“I’m indifferent…”

“Then should we buy this too?”

Mom said that and gestured for an employee.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll take this.”

“Understood. Would you like to wear it out?”

“Hmm, what do you think, Minah?”

“I’ll just wear it out…”

“Yes. Then let me get the price tag… huh?”

As I lowered my gaze and curled up, for some reason, the employee stood quietly in front of me.

W-What’s going on? Could it be that I look incredibly mismatched? Am I supposed to ask her to change it to something else…?

“Are you… no, Kaya no-chan?”

“…Huh?”

Suddenly hearing my name startled me, and I unintentionally looked up to see a female employee staring at me, clearly surprised.

W-What the heck?

How does she know my name?

I tried my best to avoid making eye contact while examining the employee’s appearance.

She had pink-blond half twin tails and slightly sharp cat-like features.

She was a bit taller than me.

W-Who on earth is she…?

“Oh, come to think of it, when I last saw you, your hair was still uncolored.”

But her voice was, for some reason, extremely familiar.

“If I say this, you’ll understand right away?”

The employee brought her face close to my ear and whispered,

“Akakat.”

“Ah, A-Aka, ba…!” Oh…!

“Hey.”

As I tried to call her name, Akabane immediately stopped me.

Right. It could be dangerous to casually call a VTuber’s name outside.

Then, s-she must be…

“Um, A-Akasaki-chan?”

“Hmm. You remembered.”

At my words, Akabane’s expression brightened.

Akasaki Sakura smiled widely.

She then asked if I could wait a moment since it was almost break time, and I sat down in a chair with Mom in the department store aisle.

After about five minutes, Akabane, wearing the store uniform, quietly approached and sat down.

“Thank you for waiting.”

“It’s fine. You’re Minah’s classmate, so this is nothing.”

“I-I’m okay…”

“You don’t seem okay at all…”

At my words, Akabane giggled.

She was sitting next to my mom, not me.

At first, she tried to sit next to me, but seeing me flinch, she immediately moved to my mom’s side.

…Akabane is such a kind person.

“Well, I didn’t really have anything in particular to do, but I thought it was fate that we met like this, so I asked you to wait.”

“Ah, um, yeah…”

“Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“N-No! It’s just that my personality is like this…”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

“…”

After that, silence lingered between Akabane and me, and surprisingly, it was Mom who broke it.

“You said your name was Akasaki, right? When do you finish work?”

“Oh, I finish at 5, so there’s still about two hours left.”

“Two hours, huh… How about I come back in two hours, and we can have dinner together? I’ll treat you.”

“…Mom?”

“Isn’t that too rude?”

“It’s not rude, so don’t worry about it.”

“…Um…”

“Is that okay?”

“Ah, understood.”

“Then I’ll come back in two hours. Let’s go, Minah.”

Um, Mom. What about my wishes…?

Mom dragged me around for two hours of shopping, and just as she said, at 5 o’clock, we went to the store where

Akabane worked to pick her up.

“Is there anything you both want to eat?”

“Ah, I’m fine with anything.”

“Me too…”

With our responses, Mom headed toward a pasta restaurant, where I ordered Aglio e Olio, Mom had Carbonara, and

Akabane chose Neapolitan spaghetti.

“Alright, let’s eat well…”

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Enjoy your meal.”

The Aglio e Olio I hadn’t had in a long time was quite delicious.

The balanced garlic aroma and smooth olive oil blended perfectly, allowing me to eat without any hesitation, and the

umami from the bacon finished it off nicely.

And the richness was complemented by cola.

Hmm…

I feel like eating chicken.

After finishing about half of my dish and glancing around, I noticed Mom and Akabane had already eaten everything

and were wiping their mouths with napkins.

“Minah, you can take your time eating. After all, you wanted to chat with Akasaki-chan.”

“Is Kaya no-chan a slow eater?”

“Hmm, not really.”

How unfair.

In my previous life, everyone recognized me as a fast eater…

But now, eating quickly makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, so I’ve been eating slowly.

Well, they say this is better for health, so good is good.

“Minah, how are you doing? I’ve been a bit busy, so I hardly get to watch live streams. But from the clips, it seems like you’re doing quite well, though knowing your personality, I’m a bit worried.”

“You don’t need to worry. Among our classmates, Kaya no-chan is the most popular.”

“But I’ve heard the nickname ‘Yunsang-gye VTuber’ attached to you…”

“With popularity comes rumors. Well, it’s not entirely wrong to call me a Yunsang-gye VTuber…”

But it would be nice if you could deny that a little…

“Then that’s a relief.”

“Yes.”

“Akasaki-chan, can I ask you one favor?”

With that, Mom took Akabane’s hand and smiled sweetly as she began to speak.

…Well, to outsiders, it probably looked like her usual expression.

“Please stay close with Minah. Because of her personality, she doesn’t have many friends. I’ve heard she made a friend named Koya after starting as a VTuber, but still… As a mom, I hope she can build more relationships.”

“Um, Mom! I’m not a child anymore…”

“Yes. I actually wanted to get closer to Kaya no-chan.”

“Yeah. Please take care of her.”

“Sure!”

My objections went unanswered until the end, and Akabane smiled widely and nodded.

Um, what about my wishes…?

★

[【Membership Exclusive】 Major Announcement #KainoIzumi #StarsFlowy

“Um, so, on October 7th… Ah, I’ll be collaborating with Akabane…”

• I don’t quite understand.

“…Right?”

I’m still a bit dazed…

After returning from dinner, I checked Miscode and found DMs from Akabane piled up.

Naturally, it was a collaboration proposal that required no explanation.

There was no justification to decline, nor was there really any reason to refuse, so accepting was the only option.

• I hope it goes well.

Yukari: I also wanted to collaborate with Izumi like Suzuhas…

[Akabane]

[Kaino Izumi: Yes…]

[Kaino Izumi: No…]

Yukari: Is there anything uncomfortable or something you dislike?

[Akabane]

[Akabane Yukari: Then let’s go with the collaboration on October 7th!]