Chapter 209 – Selling yukatas

Higashini Town Yukata Shop is a small store that has been in operation for only a few years. Located in Higashini Town, it aptly takes its name from its location.

People living nearby are likely to shop here if they want to buy a yukata, as the name suggests a sense of reliability, implying that the shop won't easily close down or relocate.

This reliability means that if there are any issues with the yukata purchased, customers can easily return to the store to resolve them.

Yukatas are typically worn at various firework festivals or other celebrations and are also often rented out to tourists. During other times of the year, customer traffic is relatively low. Hence, the shop chose this name to attract more customers and develop a loyal clientele.

Ishizaki, Manabe, and their group arrived at the shop, comparing the map location with the records Shiina had sent in the chatroom. "This seems to be the place. The name and address match up," Ishizaki said.

"Then let's go in," Manabe led the way, followed by Nanami and her friends, along with Ishizaki, Nomura, Komiya, and others.

Seeing nearly ten students entering together, the shop owner was a bit puzzled. Isn't today a regular school day? Why aren't these students in class? And why do those uniforms look familiar? They must be from some prestigious school. But do students from prestigious schools skip classes like this? And in such large numbers?

Since it was still working hours, the shop only had the owner and one sales assistant present. Typically, customers wouldn't start arriving until midday or evening.

Deciding not to dwell on it, the owner welcomed them enthusiastically. Having so many new customers was an opportunity to make money. Why worry about whether they were skipping classes? It wouldn't make him any money to worry about that.

Besides, if he did try to reprimand them, his store's reputation among students could be ruined. It's worth noting that students are the main customers for yukatas nowadays.

So, the owner greeted them warmly, launching into a detailed introduction of the materials and craftsmanship, eager to impress Manabe and the other girls.

Manabe and her friends were really treating this like a shopping trip, ignoring the shop owner's sales pitch as background noise while they chatted happily among themselves. "Hey, this blue yukata would look great on you, Nanami," one of them said.

"Ugh, but the pattern isn't cute at all. Why would it suit me? If you like it, just buy it yourself!"

The shop owner smiled, listening to the high school girls' chatter. He didn't mind being ignored by the JKs; he was almost used to it.

Meanwhile, the boys who had accompanied the girls, including Ishizaki, looked bored and restless, clearly not enjoying the shopping trip. Their expressions showed they would rather be anywhere else, which the shop owner could relate to. He also disliked going shopping with his wife—it was too tiring.

After a bit more chatting, Manabe and the others finally decided to shop, each picking out a yukata they liked and heading to the fitting rooms to try them on.

The shop owner was delighted and quickly led the way. "This way, this way, the fitting rooms are over here."

He knew that if girls tried on the clothes, they were likely to buy them. Once they put them on, if the yukatas looked even half decent, they would probably make a purchase. Trying on clothes usually meant they were interested; it was better than those who just looked and left.

As the three girls went into the fitting rooms, the shop owner waited outside, racking his brain for compliments to persuade the high school girls to buy the yukatas.

Unfortunately, just as he thought of some good phrases, he heard Manabe exclaim from the fitting room, "Ah!"

The shop owner was confused. What happened? Was there a cockroach or some other bug in the fitting room? Impossible! His shop was meticulously clean!

"What happened, Shiho?"

"What's going on, Manabe?" Not only did Nanami ask, but Ishizaki and the others also finally found a reason to act, rushing to stand guard outside the fitting rooms.

Moments later, Manabe emerged, her face filled with anger, pointing her left finger towards the inside. "Disgusting! Pervert! Why is there a hidden camera in the fitting room!"

"What, what?!" The shop owner's eyes almost popped out of his head. What nonsense was this girl JK talking about?! How could there be a camera in their store?! Or rather, what clothing store would be bold enough to install a camera in a fitting room?

If something like this got out, the entire store would have to shut down!

"You bastard! How dare you! Filming girls in secret!" Ishizaki's anger flared up as soon as he heard this, and he grabbed the shop owner's collar, advancing on him with a menacing look.

The terrified owner quickly waved his hands in denial, "No, no, no, it's not possible! It's a misunderstanding, definitely a misunderstanding! This student must be mistaken! There's no way our store would have a camera in the fitting room!"

"Still denying it!" Manabe signaled to Ishizaki, who immediately dragged the owner into the fitting room. There, they saw a very hidden camera, tucked away at the top of the mirror.

And it was the kind that didn't require wiring, storing all data internally and powered by an internal battery. The owner was dumbfounded; there really was a camera in his store?

"No, no way!"

Taking the opportunity, Nanami started recording on her phone, preserving "evidence": "What do you mean no way! We found it in your store's fitting room, and you still want to deny it?! I've recorded everything!"

The owner looked back at Nanami and then at Manabe, who was filled with anger. As he tried to explain, he gradually realized that their store never installed hidden cameras! And even though it was well-hidden, anyone who looked closely could see it. If they had installed it, why would they place it there?

So the owner realized something was wrong: "It's you! You students did this! I'm calling the police!"

Nanami had already stopped recording, ensuring she didn't capture this part. Manabe's anger subsided, while only the menacing Ishizaki remained unfazed: "Fine, we admit it. The camera is ours. We did it on purpose."

"But are you sure you want to escalate this and call the police? If this gets out on the internet, who will care about the real story? Everyone will just focus on the danger of hidden cameras in fitting rooms. Won't that ruin you?"

"Even if it doesn't ruin you, we are still minors," Ishizaki recited the lines that Manabe had taught him.

This way of speaking easily quelled any further thoughts the owner might have had about protecting minors.

"..." The owner glared at Ishizaki and his group, silently thinking that they were too arrogant, but he also knew that blowing things up might lead to trouble.

If it went online, even if he clarified things, there would be plenty of "internet justice warriors" siding with the girls. When rumors start to spread, trying to clear them up would be an uphill battle.

And as Ishizaki said, these students being minors meant that even if he pursued legal action, it wouldn't help much.

Realizing this potential headache, the owner gradually calmed down and bravely made eye contact with Ishizaki: "So, what do you want?"

He was determined that if these people made outrageous demands, he would risk it all and call the police. No matter what, he would have these people taken in first.

"It's simple." Ishizaki finally breathed a sigh of relief, following Yukio's instructions and making a minimum demand: "Order ten pieces of yukata from Takahashi Yukata Shop. It's not a lot of money."

Yes, this was Yukio's way of promoting sales, as unpleasant as it was. A few small cameras were bought with class funds.

The class funds came from the extra money they got from other classes.

And the yukata shop owner wouldn't have to spend much. Just a few orders were enough. When weighed against a big trouble, a small cost seemed insignificant.

Even if they occasionally encountered a serious owner who called the police, they could just run.

Considering they were minors, how much trouble could really follow?

"?" The owner was even more confused. He had thought these delinquents were there to extort him, but it turned out they were just doing sales in this underhanded way? And only for ten pieces? That was nothing!

Unbelievable, Takahashi Yukata? After this, he would blacklist them and urge other shops to avoid buying yukatas from them! Playing such sneaky tricks? They would face retribution!

In the distance, Ryuen and Yukio were comfortably sitting on the bus, waiting. Ryuen, sipping on his iced coffee through a straw, asked a similar question to the shop owner: "Aren't you ruining Takahashi Yukata Shop's reputation and cutting them off from the market by doing this?"

"What's that got to do with me?" Yukio leaned back comfortably in his seat and brought up an old topic: "I've said it many times, there are three kinds of people: our own, those we can use, and enemies. Do you think Takahashi counts as one of our own?"

Ryuen immediately understood, grinning: "Of course not. But you think I don't know? You're deliberately getting revenge, aren't you? Yesterday, Takahashi prioritized President Horikita and ignored you, which pissed you off, right?"

"You're nothing but a thoroughgoing villain."

"You're too kind." Yukio gave Ryuen a sly look, feeling no shame. If he was a villain, then what was Ryuen? Certainly not a saint.

"Besides, getting a few small orders back will score us high points. This is just a temporary plan. My real core plan is far more than that. It can genuinely help him increase his income, but the cost for Takahashi will be quite high."