Chapter 10

Renge's words about numbers needing friends made Takashi bite his lower lip.

She had cut straight through their polite pretenses with the blunt honesty only a child could wield.

Takashi studied each reaction from his place near the candy display.

Kaede's shoulders pulled back, her fingers drumming against the wooden counter in an uneven rhythm.

Natsumi stopped mid-bounce, her usual restless energy freezing as she processed the words.

Hotaru's calm expression broke—her eyes snapped to Kaede, showing her fear.

His police experience had trained him to spot quick facial changes.

Each small detail proved what he knew about the store's money troubles.

The numbers in Kaede's books revealed dropping sales and growing bills.

Renge saw the full picture with clear eyes.

Nothing changed these basic facts.

Kaede's hands moved across the counter, shifting candy jars and fixing boxes that needed no fixing.

Her movements grew more precise with each item she touched.

"It's nothing to worry about," she said. The smile she forced onto her face stopped at her mouth, never reaching her eyes.

"Business is just a bit slow." Her voice carried the same hollow note he'd heard countless times from people trying to minimize their problems.

The candy store's silence pressed in, broken only by the soft scrape of glass jars being shifted across wood.

The words tasted of partial truth—the situation wasn't exactly a lie, but its gravity was being deliberately understated.

The golden glow around Kaede's words dimmed, mixing with traces of purple that confirmed Takashi's suspicions.

Takashi noticed how she avoided meeting anyone's gaze directly, her fingers still fidgeting with the counter's contents.

"But 'Candy Store' is important to all of us," Ai said softly, her voice carrying the gentle strength Takashi had come to recognize.

Her eyes fixed on the old wooden counter, tracing the grooves worn smooth by years of customers leaning against it.

"Maybe we can help?"

She glanced at him as she spoke, and Takashi nodded, understanding flowing between them.

Even in their short time here, they'd recognized something special in this place—in Kaede's quiet strength, in the way the store served as more than just a business.

The shelves of candy and snacks stood as silent witnesses to countless moments of joy and connection.

It was a sanctuary of sorts, much like the ryokan had become for them.

A place where masks could slip, where truth could breathe easier.

His ability showed him the pure truth in Ai's words—their genuine desire to help, despite having just met Kaede.

The golden light around Ai blazed bright and steady, warming the space between them.

Something about this place, about these people, invited trust.

Like the well-worn path to its door, it drew people in with an honest simplicity that couldn't be faked.

Natsumi bounced back to her usual self, jumping up like a spring released from pressure.

Her orange hair whipped around as she spun to face the group, bouncing on the worn floorboards.

"Let's give this place a makeover!" she declared, punching the air with enthusiasm.

Her fist shot up toward the ceiling beams.

"We can attract more customers!" Her eyes sparkled with possibilities, her whole body practically vibrating with the need to take action.

She started pacing between the candy shelves, pointing at different spots as ideas clearly raced through her mind.

Hotaru's more measured voice provided a counterpoint to Natsumi's excitement.

She stepped forward, her tall frame allowing her to see over the displays.

"Perhaps rearranging the displays would make the candies more appealing," she suggested, her Tokyo-trained eye already assessing the store's layout.

Her fingers traced along the edge of a shelf, brushing away a thin layer of dust.

Takashi noticed how she was mentally cataloging potential improvements, her gaze methodically moving from section to section.

"We could host a special event to bring people in," Komari added, drawing herself up to her full (limited) height beside one of the lower shelves.

Her attempt at a businesslike tone was endearing, especially given how she had to tilt her head back to meet everyone's eyes.

She crossed her arms, trying to project authority despite barely reaching Hotaru's shoulder.

Takashi's mind, already processing the various suggestions, began fitting pieces together like a complex case.

Each person's idea held merit, but combined...

"If we combine everyone's ideas," he said slowly, watching the reactions around him, "we can create a plan to boost the store's popularity."

The golden glow of possibility surrounded his words, showing him the potential truth in this collaborative approach.

"Yes!" Renge's voice rang out with absolute conviction.

She brandished her crayon like a conductor's baton, her pigtails bouncing with enthusiasm.

"Let's make Candy Store shine brighter than the moon!"

The energy in the room shifted, possibility solidifying into action.

Hotaru moved first, her height and natural grace making her perfectly suited for display arrangement.

She began sorting candies by color and type, creating visual patterns that drew the eye.

Her Tokyo-trained sensibilities showed in the sophisticated arrangements she created, transforming simple shelf displays into something more artful.

Komari, determined to contribute despite her stature, dragged a wooden stool across the floor.

The metal scraped against the floor as she moved it close to the tall shelves, her jaw set firm.

"I'll handle the dusting up high," she announced, already reaching for a cloth.

Ai gravitated naturally toward Kaede, their movements falling into the same careful rhythm Takashi recognized from their ryokan training.

They began sorting through inventory, Ai's suggestions for gift packages drawing on both her idol-in-training experience with presentation and their recent lessons in traditional service.

Takashi pulled out his notebook, jotting down ideas for promoting the candy store.

Old habits from his detective days surfaced as he sorted each promotional concept by how well it might work and what they could actually accomplish.

His eyes tracked the customers coming and going through the aisles, and from in and out of the Candy Store.

Grade schoolers clustered near the penny candies after classes.

Adults browsed the drinks during lunch breaks.

Middle school students lingered by the ice cream freezer in the afternoons.

The steady routine of restocking ended abruptly when Natsumi started grabbing too many of the candy boxes, scattering several as she ran between shelves.

Her shoes squeaked against the wooden floor, leaving scuff marks in her wake.

She bounced on her toes, her earlier restraint vanishing.

Her messy orange-red hair swayed with each movement, half-tied ribbon threatening to come loose.

"I can move these faster!" Her hands snatched box after box, stacking them into a tower that defied stability.

The cardboard corners dug into her palms as she piled them higher and higher.

The boxes tilted left, then right, as she hoisted them up. Her wide smile never dimmed, even as the stack grew more precarious.

A few boxes at the bottom started to buckle under the weight.

"Natsumi is like a superhero!" Renge's voice rang out, her half-lidded eyes fixed on the growing monument of candy boxes.

She stood in the doorway, recorder dangling from her neck by its yellow string.

Takashi noted the subtle lean in the stack, picked up the telltale signs of impending disaster from his detective training.

The bottom row had shifted three centimeters off-center. His mouth opened to warn her—

Too late.

Natsumi spun around, her elbow catching the edge of the lowest box.

The tower swayed left, right, and fell apart.

Boxes fell down like rain. The sound of cardboard hitting wood rang through the store.

The noise made Komari lose her balance on her stool.

She grabbed for stability, her hand catching a nearby curtain.

The fabric tore with a loud snap alongside the noise around them. The curtain split, and both the cloth and girl crashed to the ground.

Hotaru, always ready to lend a hand, stepped in to help—only to find that the scattered candies created a slippery situation.

Her normally smooth movements became a clumsy slip, causing her to crash into a nearby shelf.

More objects dropped to the floor, adding new layers to the messy pile.

Everything stopped moving.

Everyone froze, surveying the spectacular results of their combined efforts to help.

Takashi caught Ai's eye across the chaos, saw the way her lips twitched as she tried to maintain composure.

A small sound escaped her—something between a gasp and a giggle.

It broke the spell.

"Well," Takashi said, unable to keep his own amusement from showing, "that escalated quickly."

Natsumi stood in the middle of the mess, rubbing the back of her neck while her face mixed guilt with leftover thrill.

"Um," she said, looking at the candy scattered on the floor. "I went too far, didn't I?"

The understatement hung in the air for a moment before Kaede's laughter broke through—deep, genuine, and utterly contagious.

It started low, building slowly like a wave, until it filled the store with its warmth.

One by one, they joined in.

Ai's careful control dissolved into helpless giggles.

Hotaru laughed, her shoulders shaking as she sat by the spilled candies.

Komari giggled while wrapped up in the fallen curtain, forgetting she'd tried to act grown-up earlier.

Natsumi burst into loud laughter when she saw what she had done.

Even Takashi found himself chuckling, his detective's seriousness giving way to the simple joy of shared chaos.

"This is the most fun Candy Store has ever been!" Renge declared with absolute certainty, her voice rising above the general merriment.

She stood in the middle of the chaos, crayon raised like a victory flag, her expression suggesting that this outcome was exactly what she'd planned all along.

The laughter rang through the small store, turning what could have been a mess into a good time, full of real, unexpected fun.

Takashi watched Kaede laugh and wipe her eyes. Her shoulders relaxed as she caught her breath.

Sometimes, he realized, chaos could be its own kind of solution.

His ability revealed the meaning in their shared laughter—it made them a team, it made the store's troubles smaller and 'easier' to fix.

The golden light bathed the group, showing the truth of what they shared.

The scattered candy on the floor seemed to glow too. The mess turned out better than any careful planning could have done.

While they laughed at their clumsy attempts to help, something changed between them.

The store's problems stayed, but they looked smaller when everyone pitched in and kept smiling.

Even if those hands had just created a spectacular mess.

The candy store meant more than just business now.

The space held their shared work and happy mess while they helped each other.

People kept laughing while they worked. City met country here, where careful plans mixed with excited energy, creating something they hadn't expected to turn out so good.