After walking for half the day, they could finally see the Chiba Shopping Mall in the distance.
Kotomi Izumi let out a long breath of relief and said, "Next time we come to the Chiba Shopping Mall, let's just ride shared e-bikes."
"I feel like walking hand in hand with you like this is also pretty nice."
Megumi Kato didn't feel tired at all. She enjoyed this time alone with Kotomi. Every time she was with Kotomi, she secretly wished that time would slow down… slower and slower.
Just one more traffic light and they would reach the Chiba Shopping Mall. While waiting for the green light, Kotomi took out her phone to check Amazon. The PS5 she had added to her shopping cart earlier still hadn't dropped in price or gotten any discounts.
Although she already had a PS4, which was enough to play most games, and she mainly played games on her computer anyway, both the PS4 and Switch she bought ended up barely being used.
Especially the Switch—along with the Xenoblade Chronicles limited edition Pro Controller. After finishing the Xenoblade series, it had just sat on her desk as a display piece, unused for months.
Even so, Kotomi still wanted to buy a PS5. The reason she wanted it so much was mainly because she had recently watched a YouTube review, where someone said: the PS5 controller feels silky smooth, just like touching a beautiful girl's thighs.
The moment she saw that line, Kotomi realized—she had to buy a PS5! Even if only for the controller!
She definitely had the money. In fact, with her manuscript fee this month, if she wanted, she could buy ten PS5s—keep one to play, and display the other nine just to look at.
But Kotomi didn't want to buy one right after release. Right now the PS5 was still full price. What if she waited a while longer and the price dropped? Or Amazon had a discount campaign?
"What are you looking at? Can I see too?"
Standing beside her, Megumi noticed Kotomi had been staring at her phone and asked curiously. Even though she wanted to know, she didn't lean over directly. She felt that even though she was already Kotomi's girlfriend, she should still wait for Kotomi's permission before looking.
"Of course."
Kotomi nodded, letting Megumi lean closer.
"What's this?" Megumi glanced at the Amazon product page on Kotomi's phone and asked in confusion.
Megumi had never been very interested in games. She barely even played mobile games. After all, her phone only had 32GB of storage, so even if she wanted to, she couldn't download many.
Until she met Kotomi. Wanting to have common topics with her, she cleared out half her phone's storage just to download Azur Lane.
When she realized Kotomi often played PC and console games, she knew she couldn't play those herself since she only had a tablet and no consoles. But she had Google Chrome on her phone. Every time Kotomi mentioned a game, Megumi would jot down the name in her notes, then go home and look up playthroughs and commentary videos online.
For example, Kotomi often played the Dark Souls and Bloodborne series.
Megumi had never played them, but by watching walkthroughs she went through the entire series story, over and over again, even looking through artbooks and lore explanations, memorizing a large chunk of the game's setting.
This way, when Kotomi talked about those games, she could join in and chat with her. That way, she and Kotomi could share more common topics!
"PS5, a gaming console. If I buy it, I'm thinking of buying a TV with it too. But as you can see, the price is pretty steep." Kotomi shrugged with a smile.
Leaving aside the price, her main concern was that she wanted to buy both the console and the TV at once. But since there was already a TV at home, there wasn't really a need to buy another one yet. How was she going to convince her parents that she needed another TV?
That was also why Kotomi still hadn't bought the PS5.
She couldn't possibly bring it home and tell her parents: Mom, Dad, look! I bought a new router and got a raffle ticket with it. I tried my luck and won a brand-new TV! Huh? How much was the router? Only 1,000 yen!
Thinking of this, Kotomi let out an awkward laugh in her heart. After all, her PS4 had been bought for her by her dad, and both her parents enjoyed gaming too. There was no way they'd believe a PS5 came from a router raffle.
Sometimes when Kotomi was playing CS:GO, her mom would happen to come into her room. Standing by her side watching for a bit, she would smile and ask: "Wow, a Factory New AK-47 Fire Serpent? Press F to inspect it. Oh~ it even has a StatTrak counter. Switch to the knife—wow! A Factory New Karambit Lore! So, how much did you spend on this? Next round, let me see you snipe with an AWP."
"This game console and gaming TV really are expensive…"
Megumi Kato glanced at the price of the PS5 and the XR-75X90J gaming TV below it, then looked at Kotomi's eager expression. She began thinking about how much New Year's money she still had left.
It seemed she still had around 20,000 yen. Should she keep saving up? Maybe then she could buy this PS5 and gaming TV for Kotomi and give it to her as a birthday gift.
If Kotomi was happy, then no matter how much money she spent, it would all be worth it! Megumi thought.
The light turned green.
"The light's green, let's cross." Kotomi put away her phone, took Megumi Kato's hand, and said.
"Mm, okay." Megumi nodded, though in her heart she was already thinking about buying Kotomi that PS5 and TV.
Stepping into the Chiba Shopping Mall, the cold air from outside was instantly shut out.
"Where to first?" Kotomi asked. She wasn't very used to shopping, so she planned to follow Megumi's lead.
"Let's go to the 5th floor to look at clothes. Winter's almost here, I want to buy a down jacket first."
Taking the elevator to the 5th floor of the mall—
Before they even decided which store to visit, Kotomi spotted her target first. Not far away was a McDonald's, and she wanted to get some ice cream!
"Megumi!"
"Alright~ let's go get ice cream."
Megumi already knew Kotomi's habit of wanting ice cream as soon as they entered somewhere warm. Without hesitation, she took Kotomi's hand and walked with her to McDonald's to buy ice cream.
In fact, even if Kotomi hadn't said anything, the moment they stepped out of the elevator and she saw McDonald's, Megumi had already planned to bring Kotomi there for ice cream.
"There are quite a lot of people in line. Why don't you sit here and wait for me? I'll go line up. What flavor ice cream do you want?"
"Just a plain cone is fine."
When she reached the McDonald's dessert counter, Megumi Kato realized the line was unusually long. Thinking that Kotomi had already walked all the way from home to the mall, she probably wouldn't be in the mood to stand in line anymore, so she told Kotomi to sit on a nearby bench and wait for her.
While Megumi was lining up, Kotomi sat on the bench and looked toward the dessert counter. Her eyes were suddenly drawn to a poster outside.
McDonald's new dessert — Frozen Heart Croissant .
Originally, Kotomi only wanted a plain cone. She had never been very interested in McDonald's new dessert items. Just like how she only ate glazed or honey-flavored donuts, when it came to ice cream, she stuck to plain cones.
Until she saw the poster for the new Frozen Heart—soft bread paired with vanilla ice cream. Just imagining the taste in her mind was enough to make her drool.
Kotomi swallowed. She didn't want a cone anymore. She wanted the Frozen Heart. She hurriedly ran over to Megumi. Seeing her little penguin suddenly run toward her, Megumi thought Kotomi had gotten restless and wanted to be held. So the moment Kotomi reached her, Megumi wrapped her arms around her.
"Megumi, I don't want a cone anymore, I want that Frozen Heart." Kotomi tugged at Megumi's sleeve.
"Call me 'wife.'"
"Wife~"
Kotomi's sweet voice was irresistible. Megumi bent down and kissed her on the cheek, satisfied, then said:
"Got it, one Frozen Heart. I'll remember. Now go sit back down and wait for me. Didn't you say you were tired just now?"
"Mm!"
Kotomi nodded firmly. Before leaving, she even gave Megumi another quick kiss—so small she thought no one noticed.
But behind them, a few middle school girls in line had all seen it and showed expressions of thanks, I've been sweetened. One of them even looked at her own best friend differently on the spot.
"Hello, welcome to McDonald's Dessert Counter. What would you like to order?"
"One strawberry sundae and one Frozen Heart. By the way, the black syrup on the ice cream inside the Frozen Heart—is that blueberry sauce?"
The server turned to check. "On the Frozen Heart? Oh, no, that's chocolate syrup. Vanilla ice cream and soft bread with chocolate syrup tastes great together."
"Sorry, could you change it to strawberry or another fruit sauce? My girlfriend doesn't like chocolate."
"She doesn't like chocolate? Of course, no problem. How about strawberry syrup?"
"That works, thank you."
After preparing the Frozen Heart and strawberry sundae, the server handed them over to Megumi, only then realizing—wait, did this girl just say girlfriend?
Girlfriend?
G-Girlfriend?!
"Here, hold this."
Megumi handed the Frozen Heart to Kotomi. Since it was just wrapped in paper, with ice cream and syrup inside, it couldn't be put in a bag.
"Eh? Did you change the syrup on top?"
"Mm, it was chocolate originally. Since you don't like chocolate, I had them switch it to strawberry. Ta-da~ same syrup as my sundae." Megumi smiled as she showed her strawberry sundae.
The two sat together on the bench and finished their ice cream. Then Megumi asked, "Should we just eat lunch here at McDonald's?"
"I saw Burger King on the first floor earlier. I want a Whopper." Kotomi replied. If Burger King was an option, she would definitely choose that first.
On the 5th floor, Megumi found a down jacket that felt soft and comfortable just by touching it.
"This women's down jacket is a versatile khaki long coat. How about we each get one?" Megumi suggested.
Kotomi didn't really want to buy it. Mainly because she thought she already had enough down jackets at home. "I already have several down jackets. You should just buy yours."
Kotomi had never liked shopping, mainly because she disliked trying on clothes over and over again.
The salesgirl standing nearby, seeing that one of the two coats might go unsold, wasn't about to just let the deal slip away. She quickly urged:
"Miss, you can't put it that way. For us women, new clothes are like vitality. Even if you don't wear them often, just buying them brings happiness. A cold front is coming soon, and the whole Tokyo area and surrounding cities will drop in temperature. It'll be especially cold in the mornings and evenings. This long down jacket is perfect for winter—you'll understand once you wear it when it gets colder. It's super warm."
"Let's just buy two, one for each of us. We can wear them as matching couple outfits," Megumi Kato leaned in and whispered into Kotomi's ear.
As Megumi spoke, Kotomi was silently thinking: So the cold weather really is coming… Winter is almost here.
Tokyo winters were very cold, so indeed it was time to prepare warm clothes in advance.
The salesgirl took advantage of the fact that both Kotomi and Megumi were beautiful girls and showered them with endless flattery.
That was the skill of a salesperson—turning the ordinary into something extraordinary. And since Kotomi and Megumi were already beautiful, the compliments only felt more convincing.
The salesgirl kept praising them nonstop, thankful she had just drunk some water, otherwise her throat would have gone dry. She practically wanted to praise them straight into the heavens.
For Megumi, she had always been told she was pretty since childhood, so hearing compliments didn't faze her much.
Kotomi, on the other hand, whenever people praised her a few times, she could add ten more lines of self-admiration on her own.
Megumi wanted this long down jacket mostly because she wanted a matching couple outfit with Kotomi. Seeing Kotomi stay silent, she nudged her lightly: "Don't you think khaki looks nice? Let's buy two."
"Alright then." Kotomi reluctantly nodded. She didn't want to buy new clothes, but since Megumi wanted it, she would go along with her.
Besides, after hearing the salesgirl mention the coming cold front, Kotomi also felt it might not be a bad idea.
The salesgirl helped Megumi pick a size that fit, and Megumi took it to the fitting room. Kotomi, however, said: "I don't need to try it on. This size is the same as mine. Just bring me a brand new one from the stockroom."
The salesgirl kept on praising, her mouth running like it was rented and about to expire:
"Miss, I've been a sales assistant here for years, and you two are the most elegant I've ever seen—more beautiful than celebrities. Once you put on our down jackets, it'll be flawless, absolutely stunning."
Kotomi glanced at the rack, then lifted her hand slightly, as if signaling the salesgirl to stop. The salesgirl, good at reading the mood, shut her mouth immediately. Once it was quiet, Kotomi spoke again:
"Do you have this down jacket in other colors?"
"Of course we do."
"Then can you ship it? I mean, if I buy it here, but don't take it with me, instead leave an address, can you pack it and deliver it there? This jacket really does look nice. I want to buy another one for a friend."
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven