"…Kobayashi?" Yomikawa Aiho's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Why did you zone out all of a sudden?"
Kobayashi shook his head and nodded. "Yeah… I was reflecting a bit. I probably shouldn't have spent all my money."
Right now, his account balance was down to a mere ¥235—barely enough to buy a drink. He had definitely gone overboard.
The main reason was that he had bought a huge batch of limited-edition items at once, and the store, thinking he was a die-hard Guata fan, even directed him to a fan forum.
After getting home, Kobayashi logged in and found links to even more rare Guata merchandise…
Over the next three days, he continued to place orders, adding more and more Guata items to his collection. Now, they were stacked in a corner of his room.
Yomikawa Aiho sighed. "Budgeting properly is a good habit… but I'm not scolding you, Kobayashi. Having a hobby isn't a bad thing."
From her perspective, this cute little hobby was a perfect way to heal Kobayashi's heart a bit.
Sure, the Guata series was a bit childish—but that was the point. It needed to be playful and fun! If Kobayashi's hobby were something violent or gory, that would've been a real headache.
"Don't worry about money," Yomikawa Aiho said. "If it's not enough, I can give you some pocket money."
"Ah, no need," Kobayashi shook his head politely.
At that moment, rough knocking sounded at the door—Toumi had returned.
Kobayashi quickly opened the door for her.
"Kobayashi! Just how many of these frogs did you buy?!" Toumi barreled in, hugging a cardboard box taller than herself, immediately complaining loudly.
"I didn't expect it to be such a big box!" Kobayashi hurried over to help carry it. "Thanks for bringing it in!"
Although the box was huge, it was surprisingly light, so one girl could manage to carry it alone.
When they opened it, the interior was stuffed with bubble wrap and foam padding. At the very center, carefully protected, sat a single Guata plushie, about the size of a book, in its original packaging.
"This is overkill!" Toumi grumbled. "Do they have to be this dramatic?"
"It's careful for a reason. Could it be… a really rare version?" Kobayashi murmured, a flicker of excitement in his chest.
These items had been purchased from other Guata fans via the forum. Clearly, for real collectors, these plushies were genuinely valuable.
With that in mind, Kobayashi carefully returned the plushie to its packaging, re-protected it with foam, and moved on to the next box.
Toumi watched with curiosity, eager to see what she had just helped haul upstairs.
The next one was a blue Guata; the third, a yellow one…
To anyone unfamiliar with the series, these were just frog toys in different colors.
Toumi quickly lost interest. "How can you like such childish toys, Kobayashi? Boys are supposed to like dinosaurs or robots, right?"
Kobayashi inspected the merchandise while replying, "It's not about liking them, it's an investment. Haven't you noticed I only buy limited or collector's editions? And I haven't even opened the packaging."
Yomikawa Aiho finally understood. "So you're planning to sell them later when their value goes up?"
Kobayashi nodded. "Something like that."
He couldn't exactly admit it was also a way to curry favor with Misaka Mikoto. Technically, he hadn't even met her yet.
Toumi snorted. "Who even collects this stuff? It's not like it's jewelry or antiques."
"Who knows? If it wasn't worth collecting, they wouldn't make collector's editions," Kobayashi replied.
Yomikawa Aiho studied him for a while and believed he wasn't lying; he genuinely intended to collect and resell them, even if his choice of "investment items" was a bit… unusual.
But, on second thought, he was only fourteen, and having spent most of his life in orphanages and experimental facilities, these odd choices were understandable.
Seeing Yomikawa Aiho's thoughtful expression, Kobayashi knew she was probably filling in the gaps in her head again, but that was exactly one of his goals.
Once all the boxes were accounted for, Kobayashi moved them to his room, stacking them neatly in a corner like a small fortress.
Though his hobby was quirky, it didn't inconvenience anyone, so the little episode passed without incident.
Life at Yomikawa Aiho's apartment remained calm.
Meanwhile, inside the Talent Workshop, currents of change were quietly stirring. Without the ordinary researchers or experimental subjects noticing, the facility underwent a silent internal shake-up.
Due to investigations into illegal detainment, the first lab cut ties with the Talent Workshop and voluntarily allowed security forces to inspect the entire building.
There were closures, internal audits, answering inquiries, and paying fines, but eventually, everything cleared inspection.
Shokuhou Misaki's third lab, "Internal Evolution," remained completely calm. As one of the security force's cooperating espers, her presence extended protection to the lab's researchers, reducing much of the hassle.
The strict inspections indirectly improved conditions for the children in the Talent Workshop.
Although compared to other experimental facilities, life for the children here was already relatively comfortable, they were cared for by lower-level researchers who genuinely liked and cared about them.
Still, this was a research facility with multiple confidential projects, so the children's activities were strictly limited.
Only Shokuhou Misaki and Mitsuari Aiyu, the two psychology-type espers, could move about freely.
In recent days, the adult researchers had been busy with meetings and inspections, leaving the children largely unsupervised.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shokuhou Misaki visited the second lab and spent time with those children.
Having already decided to recruit them all into her future faction, she paid close attention to the second lab.
Her choice to stay in the Talent Workshop during this period was partly because of this.
(End of Chapter)