Shichen took Kanna to Akihabara for video game shopping.
Under the friendly smiles and farewells of the other passengers, Shichen carried Kanna off the train, heading directly west along the main avenue. This was not his first time here; on a previous visit he'd briefly checked out a nearby game store, so he had a general idea of what he wanted to buy.
Although today was a weekday, there were still quite a few people around. Many wore glasses, carried backpacks, and had long hair, walking solo—clearly they were here to shop for goods.
Nowadays, with so many ways to make a living, some people can earn money just by staying at home, playing games, making videos, writing novels, or drawing illustrations. Even seeing them out on a weekday, Shichen wouldn't mistakenly assume they were just mooching off their parents.
"Shichen~ Shichen, what is this place?" Kanna looked around curiously, asking him.
"This is Akihabara, a place to buy games."
"Games?"
"Mm-hmm. By buying some games, we can play them together at home."
"Are games fun?"
"I guarantee they're fun."
"Then I want to play them with Shichen."
"No problem."
"Shichen, wait, it's a red light. We have to stop."
"Kanna's so smart."
"Heh heh!"
While waiting at the red light, Shichen let Kanna ride on his shoulders, holding onto her little ankles, taking her on a tour around Akihabara.
Akihabara is famous for its maid culture. One can see employees dressed in maid outfits handing out flyers everywhere. Most of them are from maid-themed eateries. Because it was still early, and Shichen was just there for games, he didn't plan on dining. Plus, none of those maids looked as good as Tohru, so he wasn't interested.
But Kanna was a bit taken with their outfits.
"Shichen~ Shichen, why are those people wearing the same sort of clothes as Tohru?"
"That's called a maid uniform."
"Maid?"
"Means someone who takes care of others."
"So Tohru is there to take care of Shichen?"
"That's right."
"Then should I also wear a maid outfit?"
"Why would you? You don't need to be a maid."
"I want to take care of Shichen too."
"Haha, I'm the one taking care of you, rather. You're still little—just do whatever you like."
"I can do that?"
"Of course." Shichen smiled.
"Shichen, you're so nice."
"Haha~ Actually, the real reason is that a maid outfit wouldn't suit you."
"Huh?"
"Well, you see how cute Tohru looks in a maid outfit? I just liked seeing her in one, that's why she became a maid."
"But I can look good too." Kanna insisted seriously.
"You're already cute. That's enough. I like cute."
"Oh, okay."
"Alright, let's pick up the pace—almost at the game store!"
"Let's go!" Kanna wrapped one arm around Shichen's head and pointed forward with the other.
"Off we go!"
This world's games came in many varieties, but Shichen wasn't especially familiar with them all, so he planned to buy whichever ones he recognized. He could branch out later.
He discovered the Nintendo brand, which was perfect for Kanna. Deciding to focus mainly on Nintendo, he bought Super Mario series, Pokémon series, Kirby, etc. He got both handheld systems and cartridges. By the time he finished, he was loaded with bags.
Of course, there was no issue getting them back; with space-warping magic, it was only a blink. If not for wanting to teach Kanna a bit more about society, he would have teleported to begin with.
Besides consoles and cartridges, he also bought a large display. Nintendo's games are best played on a bigger screen. That way he could have Tohru and the others join in.
The display was the biggest headache. He sent it all home first, and then brought Kanna to browse other titles.
In Japan, you can't talk about games without mentioning galgames. He definitely had to grab some, but they weren't suitable for Kanna. The covers often featured beautiful girls, and some had R-18 content. That would be a bad influence on her.
Still, some romantic, adventure-type galgames were all-ages. Kanna could try those out, while Shichen quietly picked up some adult ones for himself.
He even came across a galgame he remembered: "little·love." It reminded him of that golden-haired twin-tail girl. Speaking of which, he hadn't actually met her yet. Yesterday, Kasumigaoka Utaha mentioned something, but he wasn't sure what. "Prince-oniichan"… It was hard not to suspect that his future self might have time-traveled and met her in her childhood. Possibly something extraordinary happened.
After more or less finishing his game-shopping, it was already midday. Shichen had all the games sent home, then took Kanna to a maid café for lunch. The little one was quite curious about maid cafés. He wasn't too keen, but had no reason not to indulge her.
Just as he predicted, she was disappointed. The maids were nowhere near as cute as Tohru, and the food was nothing special. The magical "It'll be more delicious!" chant had zero effect on her.
So the pair left the café, having eaten only a basic omurice.
"Shichen, this is so boring." Leaving the café, Kanna sagged in his arms, looking uninterested.
"Haha~ Told you it wasn't anything special."
"Then why were those humans in there so excited?"
Kanna was referring to the other customers who'd been in the café with them.
"Because they like that sort of thing," Shichen replied simply.
"Don't get it."
"You don't have to. If you don't like it, that's fine. No need to be like other people."
"Oh… Then I'll just listen to Shichen."
"Mm, let's head back. We'll set up the new equipment, and we can play games."
"Okay!" Kanna straightened, looking more energetic.
"Then we'll just go straight home?"
"Hmm, can we not go back so soon? I still want to look around."
"Sure, no problem."
"Shichen, you're so nice."
"Haha~"
With a laugh, Shichen carried Kanna toward the station. By coincidence, just as they arrived, a train pulled in. He carried Kanna aboard.
Even at this hour, the train was fairly empty, but there was still a high-school girl in uniform inside.
Shichen wouldn't have cared except that a man diagonally opposite them was suspicious. He wore a cap, clutching a cloth-wrapped bundle as if it was precious. Faint beeping came from within.
He cast frequent sideways glances around him. Shichen was half-convinced he was smuggling something questionable.
Suddenly, the high-school girl stood up from a bit further away and strolled over idly. He assumed they might know each other, but as soon as she reached the man, she swiftly drew a pistol from the pocket of her pleated skirt!
At a glance, the color, the texture, the visible weight—it was undoubtedly real.
The muzzle pressed against the man's forehead. Before he could react, the girl pulled the trigger.
Pfft!
A silenced shot rang out; a bullet hole appeared in the man's forehead. He collapsed against his seat.
"…?" Seeing this scene, Shichen froze.
A JK assassin?
Though he himself wasn't afraid, seeing such a scene in broad daylight was unthinkable.
The high-school girl was very calm. She took the cloth-wrapped object from the man's arms and lifted the cover. Inside was a ticking bomb!
That explained it… In that instant, Shichen realized who this girl was.
Lycoris Recoil!
The secretive all-female special ops group, never officially acknowledged, preempting criminals and terrorists by striking before incidents can happen.
Chisato Nishikigi used to be one of them, after all.
~~~
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