9 Going to the Mall

I rubbed my eyes as I squinted from the vivid sunlight drowning into my room. My habit of waking up bright and early was imbedded into me as I looked up to find the clock to display it was 6AM. I guessed old habits die hard as Luke always woke me up at 5:50AM during our time together.

I opened my humble closet to change out of my elementary school uniform. My fine tailored uniform became crumpled and wrinkled when I slept in them. Even though was a shame to see my uniform oddly wrecked, I didn't want to iron them to restore them to their former glory.

Unfortunately, there was not a single piece of clothing that I could find that fit my current size. My closet was almost empty in the sense that the only clothes I possessed was from when I was about four years old.

I sighed in the void of the familiar tablet that I could use which spring up some clothes out of thin air. I realized life was really convenient in the first district as long as you had an affluent amount of points. I apologized to Luke again in my heart with my low grades bringing him down as we had struggled in elementary school due to my never improving grades.

I walked downstairs into the dining room located in the end of the staircase. I didn't bother to change out of my school uniform as I had nothing to change into.

I unintentionally gasped when I found a middle-aged couple dining upon a small moderate breakfast laid upon a medium wooden table lined with glass on top.

The woman that left me in the early days of my reincarnation had greatly aged. Even though her loveliness didn't change, the bright energetic youthful face had waned into a more serious undertone. The man who sat in front of her studied me intensely with his familiar orange speckled eyes that reflected in my mirror every day.

"Are you Rika?" The middle-aged man tried to urge me into an empty seat beside him.

The humble table had a total of three seats. It was like they were expecting me with the number of seats perfectly matching the number of people in the room.

I found a piece of French toast with a cabbage salad on the side mixed with fruits on the plate in front of me. I hungrily took a bite as I didn't eat dinner last night.

"If I'm not Rika, who else do you think I am?" I asked my middle-aged couple that were likely my parents.

"It's just that we didn't think that you'd be coming back today." My mother awkwardly commented.

"I'll be staying for about a week and I'll be returning to school afterwards," I replied coldly due to their impassive welcome.

My father studied the young toddler who grew into a small child. The small child who possessed similar features from him was greatly unfamiliar.

The awfully wrinkled uniform could not hide its former glory with its layers of lavish fabric and shiny silk glistening in the sunlight and the fine seam lines attaching the design together.

Her cold stare reflected back into his eyes like she didn't acknowledge them as her parents. It was a hard choice to send her to the first district at such a young age. He only wished she understood that they made this choice so that she would step into a brighter future than the rest.

"You grew up so much while you were in school." My father softened.

"I see," I focused my attention back on finishing the plate full of food in front of me.

The table transitioned into a moment of complete silence except for the sound of utensils being used. No one dared to break the awkward atmosphere that materialised from my sudden appearance.

"When I looked through my closet, I couldn't find anything to wear," I gestured to my ruined uniform as I broke the silence that occupied the room.

My mother suddenly ran upstairs to quickly come back down with a thin flimsy card in her hands. It was a piece of rectangular plastic that reminded me of a credit card from my former life.

"While you weren't here, we put all your allowance in this card. You can use it today to buy some clothes at the nearby shopping mall." My mother looked like she was trying to apologize for leaving me in the first district alone with no explanation.

While I didn't have any sort of an attachment to my current family due to staying with them for a little more than a week after my reincarnation, a bittersweet feeling welled up in my chest. The tiny consistent action of putting all money I couldn't receive during the holidays showed that they were at least thinking of me.

"More like you can use it all now because we don't know when you're coming back." My father tragically grumbled.

"Thank you very much," I replied with some tears beginning to swell up in my eyes.

"Although, we can't go shopping with you today. We have to work." My mother shattered the emotional moment of reunion.

"It's fine, I'll call a friend to go together." I nodded to show that I understood the importance of going to work while hiding my disappointment.

I didn't expect them to drop everything for me when I initially thought of visiting. My parents were busy enough with their own lives as they paid for the bills.

After I finished breakfast, I went up to my room and pulled out a transparent blue marble from my pocket. I poured my mana into the tiny marble ball to call Helena and Michelle.

The marble lit up to project a transient screen with a bunch of options that resembled the tablet at the school. However, the marble served a different purpose. The tablet was used to buy stuff while the marble was more like an inventory where you could contact other people to transfer things in and out.

I pressed a faint button to go my contact list to call Helena first. I smiled as Helena picked up the call on the first ring in her mansion.

"Ellen!" I greeted her pleasantly with joy.

This was her nickname from kindergarten after we started to get really close.

"Don't call me Helena anymore," Helena waved her hand in disapproval.

The three of us sat in the field of grass while observing the beautiful maple trees filled with colourful shades of neutral red, orange and yellows.

The leaves slowly fell onto the cool fall breeze as a small tea set was placed on a plaid picnic blanket that matched the colourful atmosphere of our surroundings.

"What should I call you then?" I playfully answered.

"Ellen. My family and close friends call me Ellen," Ellen explained.

"Helena seems too long and formal," She complained while lifting one of her hands up to grab a maple leaf about to fall onto the ground.

"Call me Shelly too!" Michelle joined in.

"We've known each other for a while by now," Shelly grumbled

It was true we were together for close to a year. But, the fact was that we were all we had to each other due to the low enrolment rates.

I was stuck with Ellen and Shelly more by force than by my own will as I didn't want to be alone in the vast campus.

After being stuck with Luke as my only companion after my initial enrolment, I started to feel lonely. Especially after my mom trying to hide her tears like she was leaving me here forever.

Luke couldn't fill in the absence of a warm family that I experienced during my first few days in this world. No matter how much Luke tried to keep me busy with school work, I had trouble sleeping at night with my death springing up in my dreams as if I had died yesterday.

The lovely singing voice that kept the memories of my former life away was now gone. The familiar smoothing pats until I fell into an abyss of calming peace by a simple lullaby wasn't there to comfort me anymore.

I immersed myself with Helena and Shelly who welcomed me into their group with unwavering acceptance. Maybe they were just as lonely as I was, trying to fill the absence of family with a small number of friends who were the same.

"Rika!" Ellen warmly answered me back with her tired face.

"Do you have some free time in the afternoon today to go shopping in the third district together?" I reluctantly asked her after pitying her greatly exhausted expression.

Ellen was about to cry as she apologized, "my parents are making me study to get ready for middle school. Maybe ten years later when I'm out of school?"

I knew that people from the first district were really strict with their children. Ellen looked more fatigued than when she was in school. I was glad that I could at least visit my parent's house to get some rest. I could already imagine Ellen going through the piles of endless books with her family tutors.

"It's ok, I'll ask Shelly instead." I instantly scrolled through my contacts for her number.

"I think it's better not to ask." Ellen frowned.

"Why not?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"Shelly's family is even worse than mine. She is probably even busier than I am with the large number of things assigned to complete to get ready for school." Ellen explained.

I wasn't surprised. When I was about to give up, Ellen suggested to ask Luke. Since going with Luke was better than going alone, I decided to call Luke.

"But wouldn't Luke be even busier than you guys?" I initially refuted.

"I heard that Luke's parents were away on another business trip. So, they just assigned him things to finish while they were away." Ellen pulled out the gossip from our inner circle.

"So, Luke should be free," I concluded.

Luke was to type to complete everything as soon as it was assigned. I knew he would have completed everything last night by using the time-space room that was readily available in the first district.

I ended my call with Ellen and called Luke as my last resort. "Are you free today? I heard from Ellen that you aren't so busy this week. Let's meet at this location one hour from now."

I abruptly ended the call while looking at a glimpse of his flustered expression before Luke had a chance to respond. Luke grew up to be a responsible person who kept his promises. I knew Luke would be there at the promised time.

I originally planned to go shopping in the afternoon with either Shelly and Ellen, but I didn't feel like I would have to wait that long if I was going with Luke.

I was more casual with Luke than Shelly and Ellen. He was like another childhood friend of mine who I didn't choose to be with. We grew up together as I struggled to adapt to the cruel school system in kindergarten and elementary school.

My dreams of just napping and playing in my next reincarnation was instantly shattered. I quickly became intensely stressed with the fast-paced materials squeezed into me every single day with no breaks.

However, Luke diligently helped me with the work in elementary school when I was done with reviewing things that I had learnt in my former life. I guilty spent most of my time with Luke while I finally adjusted to the quick pace by the end of my first year in elementary school.

I said farewell to my parents as I started to walk towards the nearest bus station on the map. I got on the bus with the bus card I received from my parents when I told them I was leaving.

I wondered why I was getting weird looks from my surroundings while I sat down silently on a large blue plastic chair supported with metal railings.

"Are you here alone?" An adolescent teen with long pigtails asked.

"Yes." I shyly replied with a small voice.

"Are you here to do some errands for your parents?" Another commuter smiled at me gently.

I instantly realized the reason for the weird glances. The current age of this body was ten years old. Since the third district was similar to the environment and culture of where I lived in my past life, I understood why my fellow commuters got concerned about a young child riding the bus all alone.

"No, I'm here to get to the nearby shopping mall to meet my friend." I confidently answered.

"Oh! Then you should get off at the next stop!" The teen said while looking flustered while gesturing to the map located near the roof of the bus.

"I will. Thank you!" I replied while getting off the bus a few minutes.

I was dropped off right in front the 3rd entrance of the mall. Coincidentally, Luke was standing near in front of the doors at the same entrance.

He glanced at his fancy watch used more as an accessory to compliment his overall outfit. He wore an ironed white collared shirt with formal blue shorts and navy blue dress shoes. Thankfully, it didn't appear he waited for me for a long time as he looked up with no signs of sweat or exhaustion from the burning summer heat.

I instantly felt ashamed for wearing my uniform for two days straight from his formal attire.

"How long did you wait for me?" I frankly asked.

"Ten minutes. I wasn't familiar with the location so I just entered the location inside the teleportation gate near my house and arrived here ten minutes earlier." Luke answered with no expression.

Luke's face was set to no expression as a default. He only reacted to certain subjects to follow the social norms of etiquette. Since I was familiar with how he acted, I just grabbed his hand and dragged him inside the mall.

"Well then let's go in!" I entered the mall while we stepped inside together.

"What kind of place is this?" Luke asked curiously while he turned his head in various directions to take in his surroundings.

I didn't tell him what kind of place the mall in the district was to make him come. Luke didn't like to go to places he was unfamiliar with and unfortunately this notion was somehow extended to me as well. Luke liked to keep me in his sight.

It wasn't like I didn't understand. We were almost together 24-7. If I was a young child with no other person to rely on, I would try to stick to the most familiar person as much as possible.

"This is something called a 'shopping mall' where people come to buy things that they need because they don't have something like a tablet from school or the first district." I answered like I had abundant knowledge about a place I rarely visited.

"I see," Luke nodded as we explored the large mall together.

After taking in the familiar shopping mall that resembled the one from my former life, I ran to the map nearby while shaking off Luke's hand. By chance, we were near a series of clothing shores dedicated towards children!

Luke frowned as he suddenly grabbed my hand to stop me from running toward the nearest shop, ""Don't run around everywhere or we'll get separated!"

"It's fine, I'm sure we'll find each other soon even if we get separated for a little while." I tried to dismiss his source of concern.

"Since it's the weekday, it doesn't look that crowded today." I attempted to convince him.

Luke's grip on my hand was too strong that I couldn't shake his hand off again. He carefully held onto my hand so that we couldn't be separated from each other, but not tightly enough to inflict pain.

"I think you can let go of my hand now?" I tried to reason with him.

Luke didn't loosen his grip as he narrowed his eyes and started to frown again, "from what I read about the third district, I think it's best to stick together for now -"

Before Luke had the chance to finish his sentence, I dragged him to the shop and quickly chose an article of clothing to get him to stop talking.

I grabbed a pastel yellow dress that caught my eyes. The dress' fluttering yellow ribbons shaped into a butterfly's wing in combination with fine lace near the collar grabbed my attention.

"How about this?" I asked while hanging the dress in front of his face.

Before Luke had the chance to respond, I shook Luke's hand off and ran towards the dressing room.

"I'm going to get changed so tell me how it looks," I playfully winked to ease the tension between us.

After I stepped out of the dressing room to take a look in the mirror, I admired the cute girl with bright orange speckled eyes wearing the pastel yellow dress.

'I suppose I do look cute in this dress,' I thought.

"What do you think?" I asked Luke while light-heartedly posing like a magazine model.

"Pretty ordinary." Luke answered with his default expression.

Luke was a chibi ikemen that would look good with anything that he wears. In his eyes, the standard of beauty could be much higher than mine with his other-worldly looks.

"Then what do you think would match me the best here?" I challenged him.

Luke quickly scanned the shop and efficiently grabbed some articles of clothing and coordinated 3 outfits within five minutes.

I grabbed the pieces of clothing nicely laid out in his hands and got changed in the dressing room while trying to hide my flustered face.

My face flushed as he finished my task much faster I thought he would be able to. The first outfit I tried on was a white floral dress whose length went to the middle of my thighs with short sleeves. I also had a soft pink ribbon tied around my collar bone to match the dress.

When I looked at myself in the mirror, I had to admit that Luke was better at this than I was. I looked way prettier in the white dress than the gaudy yellow dress I picked out for myself.

After admiring my own looks with the rest of the outfits Luke coordinated in the small dressing room mirror, I went to the counter to pay for the clothes. I took out my debit card and tapped against the machine.

The cashier smiled from my big purchase as she carefully wrapped my clothes in a fancy box and placed it inside a similar cute bag.

I handed the bag to Luke while I ran off to the next shop. Luke quickly followed as until I quickly finished shopping for my clothes within an hour.

While Luke struggled to carry all my bags behind me, I switched my target to shoes instead of more clothes. I spotted a shop with cute shoes and quickly ran in to put on my favourite running shoes.

I was sick and tired of wearing those typical formal and uncomfortable dress shoes every day in school ever since kindergarten. I rarely had the chance to wear something like sneakers excluding wearing them for physical education.

"How about you get these as well?" Luke gestured to a pair of flats and slippers while I was in a dilemma on which running shoes went along with my red hair.

I agreed I needed to get more shoes other than the fancy dress shoes that were lined up in my closet at school. While I tried out the running shoes, I left the other selection of shoes to Luke after letting him know my size.

I handed another set of bags to Luke after buying about five pairs shoes while I looked for a place to sit. I sighed as shopping was hard work.

We eventually sat down in the food court while Luke placed all the bags on the floor before sitting down.

"Do you usually run around to buy all these kinds of stuff at the 'mall'?" Luke asked while panting and looking much more exhausted than I was.

"No, this is my first time since I entered kindergarten. We would be too busy trying to accumulate more points that we didn't have room to think about other stuff." I sadly replied while remembering those miserable memories where we struggled to survive.

I started to look around the food court to find a place to eat as I was getting hungry after all the shopping.

This was when I spotted a restaurant that resembled a 'Italian eatery' in my past life.

"Let's enter this restaurant behind us since I'm starting to get hungry now." I suggested.

Luke nodded as he tiredly picked up all the bags to follow me into the restaurant while the server immediately led us to a table for two.

"Two sets of spaghetti and meatballs with a salad as a side and two cups of tea flavoured soda" I ordered after glancing at the menu.

The waiter efficiently took our order as Luke looked purely fascinated while waiting for the food. "It's quite fascinating how there is actual people making and serving the food."