"Hehe..."
Although Kotomi Izumi's laughter was cute—so cute that one might want to record it and loop it endlessly—hearing her laugh at this moment left Yukino both charmed and slightly exasperated.
"Kotomi, don't tell me the return ticket you bought is really for today—and not only did you buy it, you forgot to tell Yui and me?"
Yukino Yukinoshita tugged at the corner of her mouth. Faced with Kotomi's silly smile, she genuinely didn't know what to say.
"Hehe..."
Kotomi Izumi giggled foolishly for a while longer, then, like a little girl who had done something wrong, obediently lowered her head and said,
"Yeah, it's for midnight tonight... At the time I booked the return ticket, Grandma Funamoto hadn't told me yet that we could extend our stay. By the time she did, I was too busy thinking about where to go with the extra days, and I completely forgot about the departure time. Sorry."
"If it were just an electronic ticket, you could probably change the time directly on the app. But you've already printed the ticket..."
Yukino Yukinoshita sighed helplessly.
"Whether we leave tonight or stay a few more days, I'm fine with either. But this is probably Yui's first time in Kyoto. When she was at Kiyomizu-dera, she looked just like a child seeing everything for the first time. She definitely wants to stay and play longer."
"Then we'll tell her when she gets back. Next time we come to Kyoto, we'll spend more time properly exploring," Kotomi Izumi said lightly.
"That works. But come to think of it... where did Yui go? I remember the three of us came back together."
Only now did Yukino realize that Yui Yuigahama, who had returned with them, was nowhere to be seen.
"Her? When we were coming back from the hot springs earlier, didn't we pass by that capsule toy machine surrounded by a bunch of kids? She wanted to try it, but she didn't have her wallet on her. After coming back to get it, she went to buy a capsule."
"Now that you mention it... I do remember seeing one on the way back. But what kind of prizes does it have that it attracted her so much? I thought she didn't like capsule toys."
"They're expensive, and you can't guarantee you'll get the one you want, so she usually doesn't like them. But the machine at Harugamo Inn is featuring Anpanman."
"Anpanman? What's that?" Yukino asked, puzzled.
"You didn't watch it when you were little?
'He has a round face with bright red cheeks, a plump and healthy figure, a head filled with sweet red bean paste, a small bread nose that can be taken off, and a smiling emblem on his chest. He wears a red cape that's resistant to both fire and water.'
Does that ring a bell now?"
"Ah, I remember now. There was also someone called Melonpanman, right?"
Yukino Yukinoshita finally recalled a bit, then couldn't help but add,
"If I remember correctly, Anpanman is an anime from 1988. Something that old—do toy companies still make capsule toys of it?"
"Maybe they figured that the kids who watched Anpanman back then have grown up and now have the spending power to buy capsule toys," Kotomi Izumi joked. Then she added for Yukino's sake,
"You don't really watch anime, so you wouldn't know. But its influence is still huge even now. Sometimes when I pass by kindergartens, I still see kids playing pretend as Anpanman. Not long ago, an animation company even released a trailer for a new Anpanman movie—it's coming out next year. When it does, let's go watch it together, the three of us."
"The three of us high school girls going to watch Anpanman?" Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but laugh.
"What's wrong with that? Do you think high schoolers aren't allowed to watch Anpanman?"
"No, it's just a little... childish."
"How could it be childish? It might be a bit childish for elementary school kids. But for high schoolers and college students, it's just right," Kotomi Izumi declared confidently.
"...Honestly, I don't know what to do with you two. If you really want to watch it when the time comes, I'll go with you," Yukino said.
Even though she thought it was childish, she still agreed to accompany Kotomi and Yui. That was Yukino's tsundere charm.
Corridor.
After returning to the guest room with Kotomi and Yukino, Yui didn't waste any time. She grabbed her wallet and hurried back to the capsule toy machine she had spotted earlier.
"Oh, there it is! Thank goodness... Looks like there are still plenty left. When I saw so many kids gathered around earlier, I was worried that by the time I came back after getting my wallet, everything would already be sold out."
Yui Yuigahama let out a small sigh of relief and stood behind the children, quietly lining up.
While waiting, she read the instructions on the machine. Since she had never bought a capsule toy before, she had no idea how it worked.
If she stood there fumbling in front of the machine and couldn't even get one out, that would be really embarrassing in front of all these kids...
"Mm... looking closely, it's actually pretty simple. First, insert coins, then turn the knob a few times. Once it's done, press the knob, and you'll get a random capsule. The price is..."
300 yen?!
It costs 300 yen for a single turn?!
That's way too expensive. No wonder there are so many kids around, but the number of capsules inside hasn't decreased much.
The bread at my family's cake shop only costs about 220 yen, and this tiny capsule is even more expensive than that...
Learning the price for the first time, Yui Yuigahama was genuinely shocked.
Her hand, which had already been on her wallet zipper, froze. She had originally planned to buy several since Yuka also liked Anpanman. But after seeing the price, her hand even started trembling slightly.
After thinking it over, Yui let out a soft sigh and opened her wallet, taking out three 100-yen coins.
"Forget it... I already came all the way back with my wallet. I'll just buy one. I'll give it to Yuka when I get back."
Thinking of Yuka, the sting of spending money immediately lessened.
That was just how Yui was. When it came to buying things for herself, she might hesitate for a long time over even a single yen. But when buying things for Kotomi, her mother, or Yuka, she would spend money freely—and even try her best to get the very best.
Even now, she was still calculating in her mind: how many cakes would she need to buy to treat Kotomi to a full meal in Ginza?
"Onee-san, did you know? For most capsule machines, once you insert the coins and turn the knob once, the capsule comes out. But this machine is different—you can turn the knob as many times as you want, and only after you finish turning it do you press the knob to release the capsule."
A childish, innocent voice suddenly spoke beside Yui Yuigahama.
Yui looked around, then lowered her gaze slightly, only to realize that at some point, a little girl holding a small basket had appeared next to her.
The girl looked very young—probably still in kindergarten.
Yet for some reason, compared to the other children, there was something strangely out of place about her.
It was as if none of the other kids could see her at all.
What also drew attention was the small basket in her hands.
It was completely empty.
"Little sister, what's your name?"
Yui Yuigahama crouched down and asked with a gentle smile.
When the girl with the empty basket saw Yui kneel down to talk to her, her eyes lit up. She looked so delighted, as if two good things had happened to her in a row.
"Oh! Onee-san, you can see me too? That's amazing! Two good things in a row—I'm so lucky!"
The little girl jumped up and down happily, shaking her empty basket vigorously before speaking, slightly out of breath,
"My name is Yuuji. I'm seven years old!"
After saying that, Yuuji stretched out her small hand.
Although Yui was a bit concerned about what Yuuji had just said about "two good things in a row," she still smiled and gently shook the girl's hand.
"My name is Yui. I'm sixteen!"
"Yui-neechan, do you want to try that capsule machine?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Then what's your lucky number this month?"
"Lucky number?"
Yui Yuigahama wasn't unfamiliar with the term. Back in the day, newspapers used to have a section listing each zodiac sign's lucky number for the month.
Later, with the rise of smartphones and the internet, even though newspapers were still widely used, many young people had switched to checking their monthly lucky numbers online.
Lucky numbers, along with lucky colors...
"Well..."
Although she knew what a lucky number was, Yui had never actually looked hers up, so she had no idea what it was this month. She smiled awkwardly.
"Sorry, little sister, I don't know what my lucky number is this month."
"I see..."
Just as Yui was about to ask why she wanted to know her lucky number, Yuuji suddenly spoke again.
"Then, Onee-san, you can call a friend and ask them."
"A friend?"
"Mm! The reason I asked for your lucky number is because when you turn the knob later, you can try using that number as the number of turns. That way, you might get a surprise~"
"I see. But since I don't know my lucky number, give me a moment—I'll look it up online. I heard there's a website where you can enter your zodiac sign and birthday to find out your lucky color and number for the month."
"Hehe, actually there's another way too," Yuuji said sweetly.
"What way?"
"Just like I said—call a friend. For example, you can ask, 'I want to spin the capsule machine—how many turns do you think I should make?' But don't tell them I suggested it, okay? It's a secret~"
"Oh, okay."
Yui nodded. Although she didn't know what kind of surprise using a lucky number would bring, seeing Yuuji standing here all alone with no other children talking to her made her feel a bit sorry for the girl, so she decided to keep her company for a while.
"If I call a friend, can it be anyone?" Yui asked.
"It's best if their name has 'Ka' or 'Megumi' in it," Yuuji reminded her.
"'Ka' or 'Megumi'?"
Yui was a little surprised. Could there really be such a coincidence? A friend whose name contained both 'Ka' and 'Megumi'—wouldn't that perfectly match Megumi Kato?
In fact, it wasn't just a match—it was perfect. Her name had both characters.
"I have a friend whose name contains both. Is that okay?"
"Of course! Having both is absolutely perfect! Yui-neechan, call her quickly."
After saying that, Yuuji shook the empty basket in her hand again.
Yui Yuigahama dialed Megumi Kato's number.
"Hello, Yui. Good evening. What's up?"
Last night, Kotomi had flown back overnight from Kyoto to Chiba on a private plane to coax Megumi Kato back into a good mood. Although this morning Kotomi had overslept at Ayani Kika's house and almost missed their agreed 10 AM call—nearly causing Megumi to fall into a dark mood again—Kotomi had handled it smoothly.
Every word she said hit exactly where it needed to, and in the end, she managed to cheer Megumi up, pulling her back from the edge.
So now, Megumi Kato was back to her normal state of mind.
Though... she still planned to invite Yui over to her house for meat sauce lasagna.
However, in her normal state, the "lasagna" she prepared would at least use perfectly normal pasta sheets and meat sauce.
Back to the point—after receiving Yui's call, Megumi found it a little strange. Normally, they chatted through LINE.
Kotomi Izumi, Megumi Kato, Yui Yuigahama, and Yukino Yukinoshita had formed a group chat when they first met at the start of school. When they had nothing to do, they would chat there or share pictures.
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