5 "Pleasure"
After dinner Seina went back to his room quickly, he had plenty of reasons to be tired, and he had to go shopping the next day. Airi was planning to have a banquet all night in Seina's room, but fortunately, this was a GP dormitory, so drinking in rooms with underage boys was prohibited, even Airi, the president of the academy, couldn't enter Seina's room without special permission.
Airi's dissatisfaction was eventually directed towards others, and everyone but Seina was forced to participate in Airi's banquet. The banquet took place in Kiriko's room, and when Seina got up to go to the bathroom at midnight, the light from Kiriko's room was still on.
----I guess he can see her place from his? this setting has never been described in proper detail----
The next morning, Seina got up a little early so he wouldn't cross paths with Kiriko and went downstairs, he was going to have breakfast in the cafeteria. he was headed there when ... ...
"Where are you going?"
"ahk!?"
Suddenly a voice from his side called to him . he froze up.
Not only Amane and Kiriko but also Airi and Hakuren were on the sofa next to Seina.
"You're still up ...?"
"None of us slept."
"Seina, why do you have a lunch box with you? Where are you going?"
"uhm ... ... I got a call from Kenneth."
"Is it because you just got paid Seina?"Kiriko said with a strange tension in her voice.
"uhm.... yeah! that's it."
"Blow them off! Wouldn't you rather go out with me somewhere?"
"The only place you should go is bed Amane! he should go with me and..."
"Sorry I made a promise ... well then I'll just excuse myself!"
Seina dashed to the exit between the gap where Amane and Kiriko were fighting.
the others didn't give chase.
"Hehe he seems to blown both of you off."
Gyokuren smiled
----------
"Where is he going!"
"He's with NB, let's use it to watch him!"
"Kiriko! This is no time to be watching him from behind a screen! Let's follow him!"
"But he's already gone."
"That won't stop me! I'm a first class detective you know!"
"Second class... and you got demoted."
"Shut up!! ............ as if I care ...... Look,we got to go quickly or I'll lose sight of him!" Amane ran away from Kiriko, Kiriko pursued.
Hakuren looked at Airi with a surprised face.
"Oh Airi-san aren't you going to follow them?"
"Fuhh, I trust in Seina... unlike those girls I'm an adult."
"Why are you hacking into NB's camera while saying that?" Karen looked at the monitor with Seina on it over Airi 's shoulder.
"I want to watch Amane and Kiriko-chan make fools of themselves... let's make breakfast and then watch them."
she turned off the monitor and got up but looked around the area.
"... Oh! Where's Erma?"
"She must have snuck out...."
"Oh well... sucks for her."Airi headed for the dining hall.
As Airi and Hakuren headed for the dining hall, Erma came down from the elevator . she silently and quickly walked towards the exit.
--------
Near the dormitory where Seina was staying, there was the biggest commercial entertainment district within a thousand kilometers, it was about a ten minute trip by train. it was the size of a small city.
Seina downloaded a special brochure last night and marked the places he wanted to go. but finding them was harder then he expected
"hmmm this seems to be the place that NB placed that order at."He said double checking his location.
He went around the corner past a hedge to his destination and stopped
"……seriously?"it was a lingerie shop. He hadn't been able to tell that from the name of the store.
"What did he buy from such a place?"He went in
"Welcome"
Seina headed for the counter quickly where a young lady clerk greeted him gently.
"Uhm ... ..., I was told I had an item for pick up here ... ...."
"Yes, please give me your ID so we can confirm it"
Seina launched his ID on the counter plate. The received data turned blue.
"Yes, for Mr. NB... please wait here."
A plate with a discoid shape that was in front of the counter floated in front of Seina with its inverted face up. Seina sat down at an angle so his face could not be seen from the customers who were there picking out items.Advertisements started to play.
"What is ...? .... Is that Amane ......?"
There was Amane on the, screen lightly swaying and dancing. she was a little bit younger and thinner then she was now but it was her. the Models who took turns with her were also beautiful women, but Amane had a commanding presence over them.
"Wow ..."He forgot the embarrassment of being in shop and looked at the screen mesmerized.
------
Kiriko was watching Seina sitting at the counter from the fitting rooms at the back of the store. Kiriko 's face was obscured with optically camouflaged sunglasses that made her have a different person' s face.
"So, what do you think?" Kiriko spoke to Amane beside her.
"It feels nice." Amane said while watching a pair of underwear she was trying on.
"I'm not talking about the underwear!"Kiriko gave amane the sunglasses and pulled Amane's ears violently to turn her towards Seina.
"Owch!"
"Pay attention"
"Oh come on you're having fun too...You don't look so bad yourself."
Kiriko concealed some bright red undergarments she was trying on with both hands to shield Amane's line of sight.
"Shit whatever you wear is gonna look good. Must be hard to choose."
"Amane!"Kirko tried to drag her back to watch seina but her grasp missed and Amane headed to the fitting room again.
Kiriko stopped paying attention to her and focused on seina again.
-----
15 minutes later, the store clerk returned to Seina.\
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
However, he didn't notice her voice, Seina was looking at the ad still. the clerk watched Seina with a smile.
"Did you like it?" The clerk asked after it was over.
"Oh ... oh, sorry I got distracted"
"Here you go! Please come with me." Seina stood up as soon the clerk said that and handed him the order and passed through a door to a place surrounded by a lattice windowed partition.
"You seem to like the video, Seina Yamada."
"An acquaintance of mine was in it ... .... I was a little surprised."
"That video was originally for over-the-counter promotion, it's a special extended version that was not broadcast on the TV, it isn't meant for distribution but I can give it to you if you like since you're a friend of Amane's. Here's the data of all the promotions and commercials data that we have, please take them."
"……Oh, thank you!"
"Please confirm the items in your order for me."
The clerk took out underwear one by one from the box and started showing it to Seina.
----
"No way!No way! Seina would never come to such a shop by himself."
"Well he's a man, can you blame him?"Amane came beside Kiriko wearing sky blue underwear.
"Being interested in ladies in their panties and coming to buy them are two different things!"
"Maybe he just wants some to play with."
"Don't say such stupid things!"
"He could have just asked Gyokuren, I'm sure she would have taken hers off right on the spot if he did, ha ha ha."
Kiriko could see that in her head and it angered her.
"Gaaaaaaaaah!" Kiriko turned red. but she soon shook out the delusion in her head.
"............ it may be a present for someone ...!"
"Underwear?"
"Oh!"
"Whatever it's for I'm having trouble seeing what he's doing from here." Amane and Kiriko tried to move over there but a woman pushed the two back into the fitting rooms
"Amane, Lady, Kiriko-sama! Please do not go out of the changing room dressed such a matter."
"Oh, ... ... oops, sorry Nanami."
Coincidentally, Amane and Kiriko were acquainted with Nanami, the owner of this shop.
Amane knew her from her days as a model, Kiriko from Minaho.
"We don't allow indecent exposure in our store."
"Ha ha ha ... Sorry my bad ... By the way Nanami ...... What did Seina buy?
"we don't deal with items other than what you see here."
"Is that what Seina's buying, is not it someone else 's order?"
"I can't say for privacy reason.s"
"Ms. Nanami, does Seina-chan ...come here often?"
"I can't say for privacy reasons."Nanami responded clerically.
"Seina is a minor we're his guardians ..."
"There is no age restriction to buy underwear."
"But it's for women!"
"Oh no, Ms. Kiriko, there are quite a few men like to wear it."Nanami said .
Kiriko and Amane were frozen.
"Oh!!" They wondered if that was why he bought it.
----
"... .... Check, check ..." The clerk said as seina showed her each pair... she was enjoying the reaction of Seina who was bright red. When the last item was confirmed Seina felt quite mentally fatigued, he wiped the sweat off of his head and sighed.
The clerk transferred the item to the place designated by NB.
"We need your biometric authentication, please put your palm here."
The clerk pointed to the monitor on the table. When Seina put his hands there, the monitor disappeared.
"The procedure has been completed. Thank you ♡"
"Mr. Yamada please contact us anytime if you want any more gifts." The clerk smiled and handed a business card to Seina. Seina ran out as soon as he got it.
--------
"Hey! Hey! Kiriko!Seina just left!"
"No!"Nanami caught the hands of the two as they tried to run after him .
"Both of you, please change your clothes before you leave!
Did you like the items you tried on?"
"Ah!"
Kiriko and Amane remembered that they were in their underwear and turned red and jumped back into the fitting room. Within ten seconds the two were dressed and came out.
"Nanami, We will take those outfits! Please send us the bill."
"Thank you !A pleasure as always. Please be careful."
The two took off and Nanami picked up the pairs they left to send to them.
"Oh, both of them are slightly larger now ... I have to update their profiles."
"Ms Manager!" The clerk who was with seina called out she came to see her.
"How did things go with mr. yamada?"
"Good. He was very embarrassed he turned bright red."
"I hate to give our store a bad reputation.... but... well... get the footage of it and send it on over to seto for me please."
"Right away!"
"Oh... and send a copy to Ringo,"Nanami laughed mischievously.
-------------
Next, Seina reached a baby-shaped building.
"What is this? A toy store?" Seina was relieved. He entered the shop.
----
"Hey! He went into that shop!" Amane said to Kiriko as if surprised.
" A toy shop? Why are you so surprised? "
"Look up..."
Kiriko looked up....above the baby was spread legs in fishnets.
Clearly t was a sex toy shop.
"Aaaaaaaaaah! Is that ..."
"Yes, its a toy shop.... an adult toy shop."
"Seiiiiinaaa! What is he doing shopping for such things!
"Calm down ...... We need to approach him about this in a calm manner."
"... ... fine," Kiriko took a deep breath to calm herself.
"But ... ... what if Seina is buying something to uhm.... eliminate his desires in there...?"
"... ... Do you think that's what it is?"
"Look, there are lots of women around Seina...and he's a growing boy...."
Seina came out of the store again. as he walked away the lips part of the sign for the store fell off as kiriko and amane left to follow him.
Luckily it got caught in the tree
Amane and Kiriko kept talking without noticing.
"Why would he be going to such places?!"
"Maybe someone put him up to it...."
"But who?"
" I'd bet it's Airi-sama ..."
"I bet it's Gyokuren ... ...."
"Either way we need to take this cautiously and ask him without jumping to conclusions."
They hurriedly ran after Seina.
------
"What is wrong with NB why did he do this? .... Maybe it's that character software Amane installed.... I don't know why he would think that kiriko would want such things..."
Seina was blocked from his next destination.
"You probably don't mean to enter here kid..."
A young policeman stopped Seina with a polite but intimidating voice.
Seina hastily confirmed his position on the map. He wasn't in the wrong place.
"No this is right."
"You're a little to young to have a hobby like this.. ... ... oh!"
The policeman noticed seina's rank from his uniform.
"I didn't realize you were a captain! Go on ahead."
The policemen saluted and opened the road.
"Uhm thank you ... ...."
Seina entered the alley and went up the stairs to a building. Seina stood in front of the door and confirmed again that it was the destination.
At the door there was no nameplate he didn't know what it was.
He rang. The door opened and a strange man appeared.
"Our shop is members only. Do you have a referral?"
"NB ... ..."
"Oh Mr. NB, I have been waiting, come in!"
He was ushered in, the armored shutter in front of him opened and a door closed behind him with a heavy sound. But there was a dead end in front of him Seina suddenly felt a light shock.
(Oh, it's a transfer!)
He felt that cause it was a cheap transfer machine.
He had experienced it several times in many commercial places.
Seina arrived in what looked like a cheap hotel waiting room.
"Wait here"
On the sofa that the man pointed him to was a woman in evening wear, she had tiger like make up on and she was pretty.
"Hey, is he a customer?"
"That's right ......"Two women came out wearing corsets.
"" ~~~ Well, then, come with us pretty boy."The two of them dragged him to a transfer gate.
----
".... d...dd...dd..." Kiriko kept staring at the door that Seina entered. Amane had no idea why she looked at it puzzled. But kiriko had heard from others what this place was.
"Dream ... This is a dream ......... This isn't happening... just a dream."
"We can make it a dream if you like..."A female voice called out
"Is that!?" Amane looked and saw three women smiling with whips. The three people stood to block their way, and a small vibration sound was heard from the whips which they had. the woman who had been sitting next to Seina with tiger like came out one step ahead.
"Oh, is that you Amane?"
"Yumino!"
"Wow! Long time no see Amane."A woman who was called Yumino jump over to Amane and hugged her.
"Wait is that Amane Kaunaq do you know her yumi-chan?"The other two powered down their whips.
"I'm happy, you finally came to visit. I've been waiting for you forever, but you never came!"
"I didn't come to play!"
"Hmm~ ~! too bad... Because you're not going to escape."
-------this pic is of who they put in as Yumino in the anime very different from her description----
Yumino not only clung to Amane, but also to Kiriko 's hands firmly. The two other women also quickly surrounded them.
"Relax you might look good in leather, It might suit you demon instructor."
they began to drag them off to the transfer gate.
------------
"sorry to have kept you waiting, this is the data NB sensei requested."
The intense man pointed to a 2 centimeters thick black cube in the palm of his hand.
"Put your hands on the cube" Seina put his palm on the cube. And that cube snapped onto Seina's palm.
"What!?"
"Oh, is the first time you've done this? It's okay, it's not fused to your body, it's sticking to the surface and spreading out till it's thinner then a nano-meter no need to panic"
"uhm ... ...."
he looked at and touched his palm but saw no traces of it.
"later if you touch the key program to unlock it, it will be rebuilt."
"Okay ... ... but this data is it uhm ... ...." Seina was concerned about the legality of the contents of the data.
"Oh, you do not need to worry - it's personal hobby data, nothing illegal."the intense man said with a laugh.
"So... Do you want to play while your here?"The woman with the man put a hand on seina as she asked him "Hey cool it... this is not that kind of customer, he isn't age fixed, he's a genuine minor." the intense man pulled the woman's hand off as one would swat away a kittens paw.
"go out through the gate at the end, please be careful not to get lost as the transfer destination will be different from where you entered."
"Bye.... come and see me as an adult."
"Uhm.... thanks... I guess ... ...." Seina went into the gate that the man pointed at.
"hmm... its' a shame I could have shown him what a real girl was like!"the woman said
"actually, I hear he lives with some of the most finely beautiful woman there are, you are probably a 5 to him..."
"That's an Awful thing to say... You're my manager!"
"Ha ha ha ha, but it's true. ... Hey were did yumino go?" The man launched a monitor
"What the?"
In front of the monitor, the women who had dragged off kiriko and amane were tied up with their own whips.
-----------------
"whew... I'm finally done..."
Seina saw everything was checked off on the list.
he sat down on a bench.
"... ...What the heck is wrong with that NB thing?... ... ... I'm going to have erma do a serious scan on that thing."
"Oh, What's wrong with it?"
"Huh?" Seina heard a voice and looked up to find Erma looking at him.
-----
"wow that was close ..." Kiriko and Amane sat on the bench where Seina was sitting previously
"I didn't know you knew such awesome techniques."
"... ... It's just basic GP capture and evasion techniques...how do you know that girl anyways?"
"She used to model with me..... oh look over there." amane pointed off in the distance. Kiriko looked and saw Seina with Erma walking side by side.
"No... no way ... .... Seina bought all that to go on a date with erma?"
"Well... I don't think that's it... ... philosophers have a reputation for this sort of thing... And Erma is Airi's secretary ......... .... "
"So Maybe it's Airi... oh is that why airi suddenly came over last night ...?"
"Less talk more following... we're gonna loose them."
--------------
"Oh so you're looking for gifts?"
"... ... I'd never thought I'd run into you here Erma."
"Don't worry I'll keep it a secret. Why don't I help you out?"
"Ha ha ha ... ... well... no pressure or anything ... ...." Behind them Amane and Kiriko followed.
"Hey Seina, I know a great place a little a hole in the wall that Airi showed me before . lets go."
"Oh... well I already checked everyplace online so ...."
"Oh no It's not listed online."
"Oh.... Well I guess it can't hurt to check...."
"Alright then... let's go the transfer pad is right over there." Erma pulled Seina into a transfer pad on the side of the street.
------
"Where did they go !!"
"Erma must have noticed us ...... She won't be able to escape a first class detective like me!"
"Former and second class!"
"Who Cares! Let's go! We have to find them!"
"Wait a minute!"Kiriko accessed the transfer gate management system and tried to find out where they had gone but it wasn't clear
---
"Seina, It's over here"She pointed to a large bazaar in a park across from the highway in front of them
"Let's go"Erma took him by the hand and led him..
"There are so many bargains here, It's mostly used and junk items, but there are some retired craftsmen and technicians who sell their handmade goods to the general public. Their work is top notch."
"Oh, is it really that good?"
"It's good enough that professional buyers to come here for their purchase, so I'm sure you will find something good."
"But there are so many shops, I feel like I'll get lost."
"Well ... ... ... ...at least we have time." they came to a stall with stuffed toys
"Hmm a Stuffed doll ... ... This would be perfect for Mitoto ... ... but.. maybe not for seto..."
The stuffed animals there were, of course, not imitations of the earth's animals. There were some that he had seen in Seto 's ship and some he had seen from images, but he had no idea what most of them were.
"What's wrong? ..." Erma noticed seina was distracted. he noticed the dolls had no seams and the material it was made of quickly regained its shape when squished and it also felt a little warm.
"Oh nothing... This just some amazing technology..."
"Have you found one you like?"
"Is it a bit difficult to choose..."
"Then let's move on. We can always come back. No need to decide now." Erma smiled
They went looking for another good shop.
"Oh!", Seina stopped at a certain tent shop. Things from the earth were lined up there.
"Sup bro is there anything here you like?"
A girl with a big scarf wrapped around her head and big sunglasses and blue jean overalls over an olive shirt called to him. --------------It's Washu--------
"Oh, this looks interesting."Erma said as she examined something
"Hey Seina, wouldn't this be great for tea or alcohol? It's a very good shape to put in a wine cooler and cool it."
"What ?! ... That!"Said Seina unconsciously.
He was very familiar with the item she had.
Erma smiled as she showed it off. as a hospital regular...
it gave him a sense of nostalgia.
-----It's a hospital urinal------
"uhm... Erma ... ... that's ..."
"ba ha ha ha ha ha ha ~ ~ Yes, that is certainly a nice use for it." The girl laughed hard.
"Is that so? Is it a rare Item? should I buy it?"
Erma said smiling. Seina held back the urge to say what it was.
"No, Erma-san .... It's very common, Kiriko and I are Earthlings, and Amane and Airi are also familiar it's usage on the earth and that is a bit off ..."
"Oh, is that so, should I put it back ...?"
"Hey Bro, quit getting in the way of my business."
"Then don't sell stuff like this !............ By the way, that's a brand new one, right?"
Seina cried in a loud voice.
"Yeah... something like that.."
"You're not just going to let someone use that for tea are you?"
"............ shit... maybe.... " the girl thought about it for a while
"Why did you have to ruin my fun so soon Seina?"
"What do you mean ...... why do you know my name?"
"She called you that while ago, and we're dealing with things from the earth, and there's no one who doesn't know your name Seina."
"Oh I see."
"Fuhuh, but you could use it for that... you never know it might become it's main use here."she said
"Please don't do that"Seina appealed to the girl.
"Eh ~~~"
"I don't intend to disturb your business, but please don't sell those to be used for drinks ..."
"Fine but .... But it's not my job to see how they use these items once they buy them! Tell you what... I'll give you something if you just go away..."
"So you're doing this intentionally ... ... ... ...?"
Seina thought that further persuasion seemed pointless,
He looked inside the store and found a bell attacked to a small ribbon
He pointed at it.
"I'll take that"
" Hmm... ok then... pleasure doing business with you bro." The girl smiled
-------- not to spoil anything but that's clearly the bell fuku gets.... and it's also... probably chibi the cat's bell from episode 1 of the OVA... #deepestloretheories
Where else would washu get one... she almost never leaves the house.
-------------
"Oh look it's Seina and Erma too" Airi came up to them holding a big backpack
" Airi!"
"What kind of hello is that? "
"Uh I uh just didn't expect to see you at such a place ............ although Erma did tell me you told her about this place ..."
"Airi, are you here shopping?" Erma asked
"I'm doing some shopping for the restaurant."
From Airi 's backpack, an animal like a bird with a long neck looked out and stared seina. And from the backpack a number of muffled small barks echoed.
(Eh.... maybe she's adopting some pets.... I'm sure those aren't for the shop ... ...)
Seina shook his head in a hurry to stop thinking about it.
"Never mind me... you two seem to be getting along well ..."
"Oh, no, it's not like that ... ... ... ... She's helping me pick out presents for my friends"
"Huh, gifts? really Erma?Wow ~ ~ Well, this is the best place for that."
Suddenly Airi started a brochure monitor, Airi pointed to a necklace.
"Get me this."
"... uhm... What?"
"Well then I'll be waiting for you to bring it by tonight." Airi waived and ran off.
"What was that about..."
"That's just how Airi is... But she has a good point. Women love jewelry."
"Oh! Right!" Seina looked at the pamphlet that Airi left with him. However, the necklace pointed to by Airi was unbelievably expensive.
(No way am I buying that ... ...)Seina looked around for a store
"Oh!" Seina, who noticed something, took Erma 's hand and ran for the store.
"Oh!!"Erma turned red as she noticed him holding her hand.
"Hey, Seina slow down!"
They went into the stylish jewelry shop, which was built by refurbishing a large two - story bus
-------
"Wow, this is cute ..."Erma saw a necklace she liked.
"It's nice.
"I rarely buy accessories, but if that were for me ... I know I would... oh oops, I'm here to help you shop... I got carried away looking for me."
"No, your input has been extremely helpful."
Seina specifically began thinking about to whom mhe would gift to the various reasonably priced jewelry pieces in the showcase.
─── Erma.
"huh!" Suddenly, Elma who had been smiling changed her expression to an odd one. A man's voice came to be heard by her.
They were using a biometric communication that was hard to intercept, but only worked over short distances. Erma tried to look around for them and spotted them.
─ ─ ─ Why are you following me?
─── We're here to help you escape.
─ ─ ─ Oh really are you sure your not here to make sure I don't get away either?
─── Don't flatter yourself.
─ ─ ─ I don't need your help.
─── You better hope not.A lot of people are counting on you.
They broke off communication and disappeared.
--------------
"............"
"Erma, Erma ... ...."
"……huh?"Erma snapped back to reality and noticed Seina looking at her anxiously.
"I haven't eaten since last night ... ... Can we take a break?"
"Oh ... Ok, I was just busy thinking about what to buy."
"Why don't you think about it while we take a break.... uhm... I don't have any idea what to buy myself.... but I've got some Ideas ... but I'm way too hungry."
"Well ... ... then shall we go?"
Erma diverted her eyes from Seina and walked out of the store.
---------------------
"No sign of erma here either!"
Amane and Kiriko were pursuing Seina and Erma,by trying various transfer gates destinations and looking for clues.
Fortunately white Waus are rare, so it was relatively easy to find witnesses.
" ... ... which way did they go?"
"If Seina had taken NB, it would have been easier to find him but ...."
"Wait... didn't he? Where did NB go? Maybe we should try to access it?"
"No time. We have to find him." Amane thought about it a bit and chose the most likely destination and soon they transferred again.
-------------
Seina and Erma bought some small snacks from the bazaar, and went to a nearby park are with big trees.It was a quiet place where you couldn't hear the sound the cars running on the highway or the noise of people nearby.
They sat on the bench, Seina are, Erma was watching the scenery with some bottled tea in her hands.
About 30 minutes later, Seina finished eating, he drank his drink and took a big breath before quickly looking at Erma's appearance.
"Are you okay?"
"... .... Yes, I'm fine." Something seemed off about Erma as she smiled.
"Hey, Seina, please go back shopping without me, okay?"
"But what about you?"
"I'm tired. I need to rest a bit. Airi kept us all last night so let me rest here.Hurry, if you don't then the things you want might be sold out."
"Oh, that's right ............ OK. I'll see you in a while."
"……See you soon." Seina threw away his trash and ran to the nearby transfer gate.
Erma took out a small handgun from her coat pocket and stared at it sadly.
-----
"Okay, thank you." Amane and Kiriko finally reached the gate where Seina and Erma came out last. someone had spotted him and Erma in a near bye park.
"Let's go!"
-------
When Seina came back, there was quite a line in that accessory shop. However, it seemed that the customer base had changed over to a less rich crowd then before.
(I wonder if they still have them. ...)
"Excuse me, if you want to get in that store, the end of the line is over there."
A man who seemed to be in charge of queuing customer said to Seina with a polite tone.
"It seems that the situation here is quite different from when I came a while ago ...."
"Because the owner of this store is here making an appearance."
seina looked past the man. there was an elderly person who was talking closely with customers and a woman who was her secretary. Coincidentally, the secretary looked at Seina and smiled.
"!" Surprised, Seina bowed her to reflexively, and turned to leave.
"Please wait, Mr. Seina Yamada"
The secretary who was in the store rushed towards him.
"You are Seina Yamada right?"
"Yes, how do you do."
"Did you by chance want something from here?"
"Yes, that's right ... but ..."
"I saw you looking at it a while ago..... I saved it for you"
"Well ... but ..."
The woman invited Seina inside the store, everyone lined up outside gazed at him surprised.
"Oh, are you a customer?"
The old owner smiled towards Koyuki the secretary, and Seina,
Seina bowed.
"Yes, thank you for letting me in."
The secretary bowed to the old owner and her guests, and took Seina to the back of the shop.
---------------
"Here you go"
The back of the store seems to be a compressed space larger on the inside, and there was a space like small exhibition room that seemed to be too big to fit in the large two-storied bus. here were lots of accessories and glittery decorations in the glass pillar case. It was nothing but fine items, much more elaborately made and expensive than those NB and Airi asked for.
"If you would like them, we will sell them to you at an amount that isn't much more then the ones you were looking at earlier."The woman said with a smile. seina's face was filled with anxiety.
"No, no I couldn't!"
Nothing was free and it was unnatural for him to get things so cheap.
"I am sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, I am Koyuki Tatsuki , so I'm a member of the royal Tastuki family of Jurai"
"Oh you are...? Whew..."
"The items lined up here and the items in the store are products that the craftsman wanted to make,but they are the prototypes the craftsman made before the final release. The Materials are actually cheap and the jewelry is all synthetic. " Koyuki noticed Seina 's anxiety and explained the reason for the cheapness.
"But their pretty beautiful, and the workmanship is fine and superb ... .... and they're very rare ..."
"Please sit down; I wan't to show you something."
Koyuki pointed to a high chair like one used in a bar. When Seina sat on the chair, a large glass display case appeared from the ceiling.
"...... Wow, it's beautiful"
pearls ranging from one centimeter to ten centimeters floated in the pillar. It was like a wide variety of marbles
"These are made of amber found only on Jurai."
"Amber?"
"The resin of the trees there that solidified in the ground and became fossils.
When amber is made into jewelry, it is polished like other precious stones, but these here came naturally in this shape..."
"I don't know much about amber at all, so I'm not quite sure, but isn't that rare?"
"Yes, although it has different shades of colors, most amber here is a sort of caramel-color, but as you can see here we have a variety of colors and Some are unique to Jurai. In particular the ones that are naturally spherical. often times they were given to royalty as gifts. "
"Really? ......... They must be very expensive ..."
"Don't think of the price it's pointless.These are not normally for sale. They're all a part of my private collection, so all I will charge is the basic jewelry setting fee's and the cost of the case. "
"Is that really okay? The're so valuable." Seina was naturally uneasy
"It may be bad business but there are enough for me to spare a few to give my acquaintances."
"Even if I am an acquaintance, today is only our first meeting isn't it a bit soon... ....?"
"I'm sorry, Minaho and Ringo often talk about you ... and I bet your gifts are probably gifts for them, I think they would enjoy it."
"Oh ... ....!"Seina noticed something.
"Are the customers who are waiting outside ... ..."
"Yes, people who want amber pearls of their own. Whenever the owner comes out, they swarm her to get to know her."
In other words, those who didn't know that the actual owner was Koyuki rushed to the old lady.
"So am I right? Are you giving gifts to those who took care of you with your first paycheck?"
"Why would you assume that?"
"There are many such customers at this time of the year, half of the customers you saw this morning were doing that, and they're half of our business It's how we manage to stay so popular in such an unadvertised place. It's all word of mouth. "
"Oh I see."
"So I definitely would like to let you purchase these Seina."
"Okay ......... uhm but such a valuable item, is it okay for them to wear it after I give them it?"
Seina worried that if they wore it they would be mugged for showing off as being rich and he knew that if his luck was involved the possibility would go up.
.
"Plenty of people wear fakes... I think they will be okay."
"Really?"
"An ordinary person can't tell from a glance the difference but of course, the real thing has a nano-sized serial number and many small fine features that are kept in a secret ledger but it's not available to the public. "
"Oh, so then it's fine... alright."
" Seina, if you don't mind, please tell me who your giving gifts to, so I can help you decide to fit their tastes and pick a good color for them."
Koyuki then started to access her customer list for all her stores.
-------
"They must have stopped around here"
"Hey beautiful lady Where ya Goin. Buy something!"Kiriko went wide eyed when she saw who was calling her
"Wa, wa wa washu ..." Kiriko blurted out after seeing but she put her index finger on her lips and covered kiriko's mouth.
"Are you lookin for Seina?"
"Did you see him?"
Kiriko asked in a loud voice.
"He was with a white Wau girl, about an hour ago, but I saw him here a lone a while ago so he must still be here. "
"Okay, thank you."
"Oh, Kiriko" Amane caught Kiriko as she tried to run off
"Wouldn't this be great to have." Amane had the bottle that Erma had wanted before.
"uhmm amane..." Just as Seina did, Kiriko also knew what it was.
"It would be great for putting drinks in!"
"Don't say such a stupid thing! This is ... ...."
"Da ha ha ha ha ~ ~! By the way, that's not brand new; It's used!"
The girl laughed. Kiriko turned pale blue and panicked.
"How can you sell such things!"
"Uhm Was it at least properly washed and sterilized?"
"You don't want to drink alcohol out of that Amane.."
"uhuhuhuhu, that's the same reaction Seina had, the white Wau was trying to use it the same way too."
"Please do not sell such things, please."
"But i got it from the waste bin at a nearby hospital, it's entirely possible Seina may have been the one to have used it... you sure you don't want to buy it."
"NO! I do not have such a fetish."
"Eh ~~~ oh well ......... Things were getting dull at the old Masaki house. Neither Tenchi nor Ayeka were doing anything interesting .... so I thought i'd have a bit of fun ..."
"Amane,Put that down!"
Kiriko picked up the bottle from Amane, ignoring the girl, and put it down and dragged Amane away from the store.
"We have to find seina."
As kiriko left a young man and women picked up the urine bottle. this couple saw Amane messing with it earlier. and that made them want to buy it.
"How much is this."The lady lifted the bottle. By the way, they thought it was supposed to be used the same way as Amane did.
"It works every time ~~~. Nha haha ~~"
Washu did not mean to be malicious. She was only interested in how people in space would use the things from earth.
---------------------
Amane, Kiriko spotted Seina entering transfer gate. they ran quickly to catch him but didn't make it in time. They went in to go after him but it beeped and no transfer was done.
"Why!?"
" The transfer gate is blocked !!"
"Then we go to the nearest gate!"
"It's also blocked!"
"Then we run! Amane, jumped out of the gate, and started running. Kiriko followed her.
-------------------
Erma kept sitting on the bench staring at the handgun she had with cold eyes. the little birds around her flew off
"!"
Erma hid the pistol in her pocket
"Sorry I took so long!" Seina came up to her with a case full of valuables. Erma stood up to greet him expressionlessly.
"There were so many stores. I got lost, Ahahaha."
"............"
"But the shop owner gave me some advice ... ...."
"Seina-kun ... ... those gifts ... Who are they for?"
"uhm well ... ...."
"Tell me ... ... I'll ... ... I'll make sure they get them."Elma took out the gun from her pocket slowly and aimed it at Seina.
"What!!"The moment he saw the black muzzle of the gun, his body stiffened.
He tried to say something, but no sound came out.
His ears rang.
"I see... you're still traumatized from the last time this happened."
Erma's cold tone and eyes overlapped with Tarrant's in his mind.
"Ah ... ... ah ......" He wanted to think that it was a dream or a joke. But ironically, Seina's intuition was telling him that the crisis in front of him was genuine. The ringing in his ear stopped. He calmed down.
There were only two people there Elma and Seina. In other words, the victim was only Seina. on the rinamiku, Mitoto and the crew were there. He was paralyzed by the fear that they would be killed.
(But this time it's just me ... ...)
"Please... don't try and run."
Erma sighed sadly, looking at Seina.
──When ever he gets something he loses it too soon .... He's too used to it.
Erma remembered what she had said about him when miki died.
Erma remembered the way he acted when she took him to the dorm.
He seemed to be in the same mood.
Erma had emptied a hole in seina that she had helped fill with their many encounters.
(Now I'm the cause.)
Erma who wanted to fill those vacant holes felt buried by the guilt of making one.
"If you were just another GP crew member ... ... I wouldn't have had to do this"
Erma said
"If I hadn't gone into space,I would've never met you erma or everyone else. I Have no regrets."
"But ... then I never would've had to point a gun at you!"
"I'm sorry you have to do this Elma , I don't know why you're doing it but ... I'm sorry ... ...." Seina said sadly. he wasn't worried about his own luck but that he was a bother to Erma.
"... ... Seina ... why did it have to be you.."
"But I'm glad that I came here, although there were sad things, it was really fun ... I felt alive .... I really thought ...."
"You fool!!" Erma shouted and the next moment, a strange thing happened to Erma 's body.
"How can you say such a thing.........., stop it." Her voice changed in the middle of her talking
"...... Eh? Ryoko ??"
In front of Seina, Erma changed into Ryoko · Balta.
"I am also Erma ............ Seina... Life with you ... It was fun, I wanted to stay like that as long as I could ... ... if I could ..."
From Ryoko's eyes, tears were overflowing.
"For me, this was finally a place where I could live as myself ..."
Ryoko had realized this the other night in her room on her ship as she looked at the picture she had taken with Seina.
"……However!" Ryoko held the handgun with both hands.
"However……" If she didn't shoot Seina, Ryoko's crew and family would be in danger.
"However……"
"Why! Why won't you run away!" Ryoko screamed she was convinced that Seina wouldn't run away.
Seina looked straight at Ryoko without any emotion, same as the back when miki died. Seina was ready to take the little bit of happiness he had and end his life for her ─ ─ ─ At that time, what Ryoko felt was not guilt, It was lament.
──── Ryoko · Balta! hurry up!
The agents surveying her sent a Biological communication that time was running out.
If she wasted any more time, it would be recognized as betrayal, and her crew and their family may have been executed.
Ryoko lost the power in her hands and her grip loosened.
"... ... It's no use." Ryoko smiled silently,she chose seina over her crew.
"Ryoko!" she got a short distance away from Seina, and Ryoko pushed the guns she had to her own head.
─ ─ ─ ─ ─ are you doing !?
The surveillance person was confused by Ryoko's behavior.
"Sorry……"
When Ryoko went to pull the trigger, a loud siren sound rang out.
"Seina! We found you!"
A mini patrol car rushed and came in between Seina and Ryoko!
"Why are you on a date with Erma and not me, wait what ..." Amane shouted
Ss she jumped out of the car However, her and Kiriko were surprised when they saw ryoko.
" Ryoko · Balta!"
Pew! Ryoko immediately shot her handgun at Kiriko.
A moment before that, Amane moved in front of them to guard her and Seina and her guardian blocked it.
A GP Special Special Forces platoon jumped out of the nearby gate and turned their guns on Ryoko.
"Ryoko · Balta! Surrender!"
Ignoring the captain's words, Ryoko fired at the special forces while activating her own guardian.
"Be careful, it's an S class guardian!"
As Ryoko's guardian was supplied by Airi, even though it was going against the special forces, it would be a challenge for them.
However, the end came abruptly.
Ryoko's guardian attacked one of the forces guardian,it broke theirs instantly.
One of the members of the special forces shot off an energy bomb at her
Boom ─ ─ ─ ─ The energy bomb bypassed her guardian and evaporated Ryoko's upper body in an instant.
"Don't look!Kiriko shielded seina's eyes.
"... Ryoko-san!" Seina heard what knew could only be the sound of Ryoko's lower body collapsing to the ground.
----------
Amane was reporting what had happened to Airi who had arrived on the scene.
"How's he doing?"
Amane leaned against Kiriko who took care of Seina who was stunned.
"Kiriko, Seina are you alright"
Airi came into the armored trailer that had arrived to keep them safe.
A bag containing Ryoko's body was carried in a stretcher in front of Seina who had sat down on a small bench installed on the walls of the van.
"Airi!"
Kiriko was angry at the insensitivity of Airi putting the body with Seina, but Airi ordered the van to start without saying anything.
the armored car began moving, Seina remained silent, taking out a package from the bag.
"What is that?"
Kiriko asked.
Seina slowly opened his mouth.
"I wanted to thank the people who took care of me with my first paycheck ... ..."
"Is that why you went to that bazaar ...?"
"Erma helped find it and helped me buy things."
"Oh so that's what happened ... ... ....So what is this?"
seina took out another package.
"This is Erma's, and well... this is Ms. Ryoko's."Seina said, staring at the two packets.
"Seina-chan ...?"
"... .... Ryoko ...... After meeting Seto, you invited me to to join you and the pirates.Of course, I wouldn't but ... .... "seina stopped as he cried and took a deep breath and resumed speaking.
"... ... ... ... ... ... Kiriko you said that the recidivism rate after catching pirates was small"
"Is that why?"
"... ...I figured if we caught you, you would have stopped being a Space pirate, I thought I could give it to you."
"Seina-chan ... ..."
"Why did you do it? ... I don't quite understand."
Seina rose slowly and tried to place the two packets on Ryoko's body
The dead body bag suddenly moved.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaa "
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa " Seina and everyone else fell on the floor.
"what? what? what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?what?" Amane shouted loudly, pointing to the body bag moving.
"Oh.....Well about that...
Airi seemed to know what was going on
"Ahh! Get me out of here already! "
NB 's voice shouted from the bag.
"yeah yeah yeah!"
Airi detached the seal on the bag. And the lower body of Ryoko stood up from inside and changed into a pearl colored orb.
"Eh, NB? Why are you here ???"Seina got up.
"Master, when Ms. kiriko drove the car between you two, I was lurking in subspace. I camouflaged myself and took Ryoko's place. "
"So what about Ryoko?"
"She's fine."
"Whew that's good……"Seina sighed a sigh of relief.
"Could you explain what that thing meant?" Amane glared at Airi
"Eh ~ ~ ~, well I'm not sure where to start with the explanation ..."Airi said with a cute voice.
"From the very beginning Airi, did you know that Erma was Ryoko, when did you find out?"
"When I hired her, she was clearly a spy, we've been using her to purposely leak this information to the pirates."
"So you've been using erma huh ..."
"Ahahahaha, well something like that"airi said
Kiriko had a complicated expression on her face.
"Hey Kiriko-chan, it was planned that NB would have taken seina's place if this had happened earlier... relax...."
"You've planned for this situation since way back then?"
"Yeah ♡"
"I was not worried much, though, from the perspective of the daruma Guild, Seina at that time was not that big of a threat, they just sent spies, There was no reason for it... but the guild must be really suffering and seina's bias is practically occult so we sort of knew this would happen eventually. We had people tailing them the whole time"
"Why didn't you have seina switched this time?"
"Was Ryoko more important then seina?" Kiriko glanced at Airi with a mean look.
What Airi did implied that saving Ryoko · Balta was important, because Seina was used as a tool to do it.
"Ryoko · Balta is a popular Space pirate within the GP, so it makes sense..." amane said
"............ Still ... ...."
"And you even went as far as to acquire Ryoko · Balta's personal data!"
"Well ... I made it from various sources..."
"sure..." It was certain that Ryoko · Balta's personal was not made by Airi from her expression.
"This seems to go deeper than I thought" amane said
Kiriko nodded .
The two judged that pursuing airi further about Ryoko · Balta was a waste.
"Airi, what will happen to Ryoko now?"
"Everything depends on her, but Seina has decided what he wants... haven't you?"
Airi held out her hand.
"I have………"
Seina was puzzled for a moment, but handed the two packets he had to Airi. Airi placed it in the side pocket of the backpack.
"Oh, I just remembered we got a communication from Seiryo for seina via Komachi · Kyo"
"For me?"
"... ...I WILL DEFEAT YOU! "
"What does that mean?"
"It seems he's joined the daruma guild ... Seiryo's father signed a business deal with them ... ...."
"Oh..."
"... Wow it's just like Amane predicted..."
"Airi-sama, if I encounter that idiot, can I blow him up without question?"
" Ahahahaha ~~~"
"Wow, why are you laughing?"Airi sat down next to Seina and leaned on him.
"We can't. Humans have freedom of travel here ... Even if he's an idiot, we should respect that. and well even if he is a Space pirate the Tennan special rules still applies, that said if he does something piratey please don't hesitate to shoot. "
"Eh!?"
"Now Seina.... what about me.... where's my first paycheck gift ♡"
"Well ... uhm ... I got that in my bag... ... Kiriko-san's as well" he said diverting his eyes from Airi.
"Oh you didn't have to get me anything ... ... ..."kiriko said
"Wait a moment! That gift... it's not what you bought before going to that bazaar, is it?" amane asked
"Ahh!!" Kiriko also remembered Seina's shopping.
"Before going to the bazaar ... ... No way!"
"Seina! Why did you go buy Underwear, and adult toys, who was that for, and that other dubious place too..."
"That was all NB ... ...."
"NB?"
"Mr. Master you promised to keep it a secret!
"No I promised to pick it up. why did you make me go to such strange places! I was so embarrassed!"
"NB ...... you ..."
Kiriko approached with the face of a demon instructor.
"Aaaah! I was forced to by someone else!It was Airi"
"I couldn't stop it she took control over NB!"
It was Kirche who was manipulating NB when he said that last part.
"Airi-samaaaaaaaaa ... ...."
"Uhm.... I can explain" Airi ran to try to get out of the van.
"Get her!"Kiriko grabbed Airi and looked at her with an evil expression.
"aaaahh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
The pathetic Airi was caught by Kiriko and dragged from the armored trailer to the interrogation room inside the Gp ship which the trailer had been loaded on. she looked like prey caught by a carnivorous beast.
"Help me !!" Airi desperately shouted, but all the special forces on the ship were sided with Kiriko, so no one tried to help Airi.
--------end of chapter----------------------
Enjoyed my translations? Wanna donate?
Click here