Half a minute later, Hayashi emerged from the changing room, adjusting the hem of his T-shirt as he asked, "So? How do I look?"
"Hmm—"
Erina and Hisako rested their chins on their hands, circling Hayashi thoughtfully before nodding in unison.
"Very lively!" Erina remarked with a grin. "And that shirt suits you well, hehe."
"Yeah, sure—"
Hayashi twitched his lips. Only after taking the shirt into the changing room had he noticed that it wasn't just the crossed fork and knife design on the front—the back also bore bold letters: I'm a Foodie!
"Pfft—HAHAHA!"
Seeing Hayashi's resigned expression, Erina and Hisako burst into laughter, delighted by the success of their prank.
"Hey, hey, stop laughing. I actually kinda like this shirt," Hayashi said, raising an eyebrow before spinning around confidently in front of them. "Well, I might not eat that much, but I do love snacks, so I guess I qualify as a... snack fiend?"
Erina pouted, crossing her arms in dissatisfaction. "Come on, we picked this shirt to prank you! If you act like you love it, doesn't that mean our prank failed?"
"Oh~"
Hayashi smirked. "Then just to make your prank fail, I have to love this shirt. Ehe~"
"Ehe this!"
Erina puffed her cheeks, stomping her foot in frustration before turning to Hisako. "Hisako, let's go! We have to find him an actually ugly outfit!"
Hisako quickly followed Erina toward the display area, casting a sympathetic glance at Hayashi before leaving.
Good luck surviving this!
"Aw, geez—" Hayashi scratched his head, muttering under his breath, "Gengar, Eevee, you guys think Erina's gonna make me wear green with red or something?"
Red and green? A fashion catastrophe?
"Geehee?"
Gengar blinked, tilting its head before patting Hayashi's shoulder reassuringly.
Don't worry, Boss! You'll rock anything!
"Eevee!"
Eevee nodded enthusiastically.
We'll love whatever you wear!
I appreciate the encouragement, but... Hayashi rubbed his temples with a wry smile. "That doesn't mean I can handle it!"
Erina, please go easy on me!
...
...
In the end, Erina did go easy on him.
"Should I be grateful you didn't pick that..." Hayashi glanced at a nearby rack, where T-shirts featuring a Jynx and Machamp in a lip-lock made his eye twitch violently. "Thank goodness it's not Jynx. Bless."
Erina shuddered at the eyesore of a design. "Mainly because I can't stand seeing that monstrosity around either—no way I'm trading 800 of my sanity for 1000 of yours."
"No, it should be 'inflict 1500 damage while taking 150 in return'," Hayashi quipped. "After all, once you wear that shirt, you can't see the design unless you look down—but it's a whole different story face-to-face."
And that 150 self-damage comes from social embarrassment, right? Someone who doesn't care about embarrassment wouldn't even take that 150.
Erina fell silent for a few seconds before nodding in reluctant agreement—Hayashi was right. At the very least, since he himself didn't feel awkward, he could indeed use that T-shirt to take 150 damage while dealing 1500 in return.
Hisako chuckled from the side. "Alright, you two, let's go check out first—the clerk has been staring at us for quite a while now."
For the record, the clerk was actually staring at the little Eevee wagging its tail on Hayashi's head, occasionally giggling to herself with a "Hehehe, Eevee, such a cute Eevee~"
She was quite the character.
When the trio brought their selected clothes to the checkout counter, the clerk—still sneaking glances at the Eevee—enthusiastically announced, "You've spent over 50,000 yen today, which qualifies you for our store's free lucky draw promotion!"
"A lucky draw!?" The moment those words registered, Hayashi's interest immediately skyrocketed. He had been lazily leaning against the counter, idly scanning the hallway, but now he whipped his head around to stare eagerly at the clerk. "Single pull or ten-pull? Is there a pity system?"
A lucky draw! Ah, a lucky draw!!
What a mesmerizing phrase! Whenever Hayashi saved up enough in-game currency for a ten-pull, he'd turn red-faced and breathless, staring intensely at his phone screen before excitedly tapping the ten-pull button—only to slump lifelessly into his seat moments later, whimpering at the guaranteed (or sometimes not even guaranteed) four-star card with tears streaming down his face, muttering, "How.old.are.you?"
However, after partnering with the Nakiri Family, Hayashi lost all interest in gacha mechanics in mobile or PC games. With the Nakiri fortune, even if he whaled ten packs a day, it'd be like child's play—ironically leaving him feeling hollow, gradually sapping his enthusiasm for mobile games. He hadn't touched gacha in ages.
Now, like rainfall after a long drought, Hayashi's excitement was palpable—his nostrils even flared slightly. His mind was completely consumed by one thought: I want to pull! Let me get the grand prize in one try!
Watching Hayashi's excitement reach grotesque levels, Erina facepalmed helplessly. "Hisako, his gacha addiction is acting up again."
Hisako nodded with a wry smile. She had witnessed firsthand how obsessive Hayashi was with gacha during his early days, spending over ten million yen in just a week or two.
"Uh...?"
The clerk was startled by Hayashi's reaction, instinctively taking half a step back before stammering, "W-well, spending 50,000 yen gives you one draw—just one..."
So just a single pull then? No problem. After such a long gacha drought, Hayashi's fingers were practically itching.
Rubbing his hands together eagerly, he declared, "Fine, single pull it is! The rules are on that banner over there, right?"
"Yes—"
Hayashi, Erina, and Hisako Arato glanced at the banner on the wall—
First Prize: A limited-edition suit identical to Steven Stone's
Second Prize: 20% off this purchase
Third Prize: A pair of Balenciaga logo stockings
There were consolation prizes and participation awards listed below, but Hayashi couldn't be bothered to read further—his attention was completely captured by the third prize!
First Prize? That thing was utterly beyond the reach of mere mortals like him! Better leave it to Steven, that ridiculously handsome, talented, and wealthy champion who effortlessly took first place.
Clasping his hands together, Hayashi muttered a quiet prayer: "Third prize! Third prize! I want to see Erina wear it! Third prize! Third prize!"
Behind him, Erina's face flushed crimson as she clenched her fists—If you keep this up, I'm going to punch you twice!!
Soon, the shop assistant brought out the lottery box. Hayashi licked his lips, reached inside, and decisively grabbed a small ball before pulling it out.
"Ah—"
The assistant took the ball, gently twisted it open, then looked up at Hayashi. "Oh, sir, you've drawn the consolation prize—two T-shirts."
"Ah, well…" Hayashi pouted, clicking his tongue in disappointment. "Figures. My luck's only good for the bare minimum—at least it's not the participation award."
If he'd gotten a Poké Ball, that would've truly been just "participation."
"Please wait a moment, sir. I'll prepare your prize now." The assistant bowed before heading toward the shelves.
Hayashi awkwardly shuffled back to Erina and Hisako, chuckling. "Same old terrible luck! Tch, I really thought I'd at least get second prize."
Second prize? Are you sure you didn't mean third prize?
Erina shot him a sidelong glance and curled her lip. As if I'd bother calling out your little fantasy!
Soon, the assistant returned with two white T-shirts, smiling brightly. "Here you go! These are our best-selling couple's T-shirts! Do you like them? If not, we have other designs to choose from—"
The left T-shirt had a blue Minun printed on the chest, its tail stretching toward the right side.
The right T-shirt had a red Plusle printed on the chest, its tail stretching toward the left side.
Clearly, the idea was that when the couple stood side by side, Plusle and Minun's tails would meet, creating a "couple" gimmick.
But…
Hayashi's lips twitched as he accepted the T-shirts, then subtly glanced at Erina—sure enough, her face was so red it could boil water.
"Uh, s-so, um…" Hayashi held up the shirts, awkwardly looking at Erina before mumbling, "What do we… do with these?"
Erina's eyes darted away as she stammered, "H-how should I know?!"
Just as an awkward yet ambiguous atmosphere lingered between Hayashi and Erina, Hisako decisively stepped forward. Under Erina's grateful gaze that seemed to say, "Hisako, my savior," she suggested to Hayashi, "Since it's already been taken out, just accept it for now! It wouldn't be good to trouble the shop assistant to exchange it again!"
Hayashi quickly nodded and said, "That makes sense! Let's just take it for now—ahem! Anyway, since we've bought the clothes, shouldn't we get going?"
"Right, right," Erina also hurriedly nodded and said, "Let's go, let's go! We still have to catch the train later!"
Hisako covered her mouth as she watched Hayashi and Erina walk out of the clothing store in perfect sync, their steps oddly matched. After bowing to the shop assistant, who looked utterly bewildered (0.0), she cheerfully followed them out, carrying the bags.
'My, my, did the shop assistant just give them a little push?' Hisako's lips curled into a grin, eager for some juicy gossip. 'If only that thin layer of hesitation could be pierced through—'
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