Chapter 5 - The One Who Attacks From Behind (1/11)

"I'm going to ask you one more time."

"What?"

"Are you insane!?"

"I already said no."

They stepped off the bus.

The giant shopping mall SeeDWalK was located alongside the town's biggest road. It was also a one minute walk from a bus stop, which one was one reason Mutsuki and the others often used it.

He and Ange entered that busy mall again today.

It was a sunny Saturday, making it perfect for shopping.

"I can only conclude you're an idiot to go out of your way to live somewhere the enemy knows about. You're putting yourself in danger, you know?"

"Sorry. I know it's more work for you. But…"

He could not think of Ibekusa or Lucia as enemies.

He knew saying that would only anger her, so he dodged the issue.

"W-well, anyway, I've already made up my mind."

"…If you're that insistent, I guess I have to go along with it."

"Let's try to enjoy the move for now. You don't hate shopping, right?"

"Hmph."

"I'll pour my heart and soul into dinner tonight. I'll make us a feast."

"…Please don't. At least don't act so excited about it."

"?"

Her second sentence was muttered too quietly to hear, so he was left tilting his head.

"Hey, over here, over here!"

They met up with Micha in the motorcycle parking area.

All three of them were moving, so they were of course all going shopping. Mutsuki and Ange had taken the bus while Micha had taken her big motorcycle. The Latin beauty's outfit left her navel and cleavage fully exposed as she operated a motorcycle two sizes larger than all the others. She stood out in a variety of ways, so finding her had been easy.

"Okay, let's get going."

She took the lead without showing any concern for the gazes of the passersby.

Mutsuki followed, and…

"♪"

Despite seeming displeased, Ange's expression relaxed and she followed in the rear.

SeeDWalK was the largest shopping mall in the area.

Its grounds covered 1.8x3 kilometers, it had over 100 establishments that ranged from clothing stores to restaurants, and it brought in plenty of guests from other prefectures on the weekend.

"This place is as busy as ever. Why do humans gather in places like this?"

"The main reason is how convenient it is, but I'll admit there might be some group psychology at work making us want to go somewhere so lively."

"…Heh heh♪"

She still had a twisted view of things, but a smile still reached the girl's face in the crowd.

Ange liked this mall. It was filled with too many stores to remember and countless people walked here and there. She seemed to enjoy it as much as the excitement in a multi-day festival. It was incredibly cute how her uncontained cheer found its way to her face.

"Where should we go?"

"We need to check out the electrical appliances first. While we can skip on a TV, a vacuum cleaner and washing machine are a must living with you, Micha-san. And we can have those delivered, so we won't have to carry anything around with us."

"Okay. …Neh heh heh♡ Looks like I can finally go nuts again."

Micha grinned and waved around a black credit card she pulled from somewhere. She had previously shown off that card which could produce as much money as necessary.

"…"

A warm sensation came over Mutsuki as he viewed his two excited roommates from behind.

He had already been away from his family for a month and it was thanks to living with those two that he could confidently say he was enjoying himself.

If Ange could always smile like she was now, he would have no complaints.

"Attention, shoppers."

An announcement played from a nearby speaker.

"A taste-testing event for regional beers from all over the country is being held in the basement specialty section. Please feel free to take part."

Micha completely ignored the next statement ("If you will be driving home, please refrain from attending the event.") and turned toward the other two. Her red eyes were opened so wide it scared Mutsuki.

His month living with her told him it was no use telling her she had come on her motorcycle, so he raised three fingers.

"You will be going home on the bus with us. Do not ask for any more than they provide at the event. Only buy as much as will fit in the fridge."

"Got it!"

She ran off in no time.

"~♪ ~♪ Hm? Where'd Micha go?"

Ange had been so entranced by the dondurma being mixed at a nearby ice cream shop that she had missed the exchange, so she was left tilting her head.

Mutsuki killed some time with the girl who held a five-scoop ice cream cone in both hands.

A mall was useful for times like this. SeeDWalK's third floor was the amusement floor. With books, CDs, miscellany, and a movie theatre, there was a lot they could enjoy just by window shopping.

"I want to go the arcade."

"The arcade?"

"Yeah. That's what you call the place with all the games, right?"

She did not know much about the human world, so she apparently wanted to show off the words she had learned. She nearly dropped her ice cream when she stuck her chest out in pride.

After thinking about it for a moment, Mutsuki decided that was a decent idea.

They had been forced to wait for Micha in this mall once before and the two of them had killed time at the mall's arcade which was known as Game Master City.

He had made her mad at the end, but they had enjoyed themselves up until then. He was confident he would not make that same mistake this time. They rode the escalator up and made their way to that corner of the third floor.

Even as large as SeeDWalK was, Game Master City took up a third of its third floor. It was the largest amusement park in the prefecture.

It included standard boxy arcade games, token games, crane games, ping-pong, billiards, karaoke, bowling, and a manga café. Part of the roof was used for tennis, basketball, volleyball, futsal, a golf driving range, and a batting center. One could even enjoy archery in the massive entertainment center.

"It's pretty busy today."

"It was a weekday last time we came. It's always like this on Saturdays."

"What's that weird creature? A monster? Should I defeat it?"

"That's a character suit. They're just handing out balloons, so leave them alone."

"Hmm… A character suit, huh? The human world is full of strange creatures."

The ice cream would have gotten in the way, so they waited for her to finish before going inside.

The inside was full of people. The area near the entrance contained the prize games popular with more casual players, so there were a lot of couples and parents with their children.

"…"

Suddenly…

(I wonder what we look like to the other people around here.)

It started bothering him and his face grew warm.

(Ange may be short, but surely we don't look like father and daughter. Brother and sister maybe? No…)

"Mutsuki?"

"Hawah!? W-what?"

He thought his heart would leap from his throat when she suddenly turned around. She was shorter than him, so hanging his head had made him look directly into her raised eyes.