“Iroha? What’s taking you so long?”

I spent all day with Carol yesterday, so my plan for today was to go to the other world, but that’s not how my day went. One thing led to the other, and now I’m at the mall. There’s nothing pressing going on right now, so I can take some time to unwind. There’s Ririna… I know, but… I can’t bring myself to face her just yet… I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Tomorrow, for sure… Either way, I shouldn’t think about that for now. I’m here to have fun and unwind, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve had to deal with one thing right after the other non-stop for so long, I think I’ve earned myself a break.

The mall is packed with lots of people walking and talking all over the place. It’s a bit like a festival without the blaring music and drunks on every corner. It’s a mess with so many people, but that’s to be expected. It’s mall. Malls are always packed to the brim! At least this one is. It’s after school hours too, and with so many schools in the area, a lot of students gather here as part of their routine. I myself can’t complain about the mess since I’m accompanied by a boisterous little devil as well—Miyuki.

“Sorry, there was a crowd in the way. Where are we going?”

“Uhmm… I think it’s on the other end, actually. We kinda entered through the wrong side…” Miyuki pointed in the right direction and tugged on my sleeve, triggering the beginning of our not-very-long journey. We may have entered through the wrong side, but going around on the outside would take longer. It’s not like we’re in a rush. It’s nice to have some time to talk. “It’s crazy in here today, Iroha! Did everyone just decide to copy us or what?”

“Hanging out at the mall after school. What an original idea from us! Who else would ever come up with that?”

“Ahahahahahaha! True! So what? Did we copy them instead? Are we that unoriginal?”

“I mean… Isn’t it just normal? It’s the mall, of course it’s crazy. You should be used to it by now.”

“Yep! You got me! As a mall expert, I can tell you this is pretty much just a normal day in here.” Miyuki laughed while walking backwards in front of me. She’s all over the place whenever we hang out. It’s quite troubleso-

“Watch out!” I pulled Miyuki out of the way of a group of girls walking while looking down at their phones. This sort of stuff always happens when we hang out together. How does this girl survive when she’s on her own? Is she bumping into strangers all the time when she comes here by herself?

“Ooops! Ahahaha! Thanks, Iroha. You’re a lifesaver as always.” And now we’re in a bit of a passionate embrace, even though there’s no passion involved. It makes little difference since my weak heart goes crazy either way. I can’t blame myself for that. Miyuki is on a whole other level of beauty… It’d be weirder if my heart wasn’t pounding.

“D- don’t mention it. They were walking in the wrong direction, so… It’s not your fault.” Miyuki broke away from me, and we got back to walking.

“What do you mean ‘wrong direction’? There’s no right or wrong direction when walking.”

“I know it’s not written anywhere, but you usually follow the same rules as cars, right? You drive on the right, so you stick to the right. Everyone knows that.”

“You got a point… But you’re forgetting something, Iroha. Three Records City is a special case, but the rest of the country drives on the left. A good chunk of the people here are wired the other way around, so you can’t really blame them. Like me, for example.” Oh… That makes sense… She’s a transfer student, not someone who’s been here most of her life.

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“Yeah… I kinda forgot about that. So anyway, what’s the charity for?” That’s right. The reason we’re here is not just to fool around. It’s for charity. Apparently, they’re doing a lottery where we can get random stuff for cheap, and the money goes to charity. Miyuki found out about it, and she invited me to come gambling with her. It’s technically not gambling since it seems we always get something of higher value than what we pay for. I guess it’s more like loot boxes in real life. Not that loot boxes are a good return on investment most of the time…

“I’m not really sure… It just seemed like a good deal, so I thought it’d be fun to try our luck.” Miyuki shrugs her shoulders completely indifferently. She doesn’t even care about the charity, does she? I mean… Our princess here is such a good girl that she’s happy to support the cause and help people no matter what. She’s still willing to help, even if she doesn’t know exactly how she’s helping. Oh well, it’s not like she’s completely wrong. The mall set up the charity with help from the various stores here. The stores wouldn’t donate to the lottery if it wasn’t for a serious cause, so it’s unlikely this is some sort of scam.

Eventually, we arrived at the place where the lottery was being held. There was a big booth in the middle of the wide corridor, with some people in a queue. The two of us joined the line, and it didn’t take long until it was our turn. “Wish me luck, Iroha.” Miyuki was up first. She gave me a wink before taking her turn. She got a little lucky bag from the booth, and then it was my turn. I approached the isle, got a lucky bag just like her, and then we met up again. She was waiting for me nearby, so we could open our prizes together.

“Have you taken a peek yet? What did you get?” Miyuki was fiddling around with her bag, trying to figure out the prize without opening it. Now that I’m looking at it, her bag’s smaller than mine. Given that smaller things are often worth more than big stuff, I think she got me. Her prize is probably better. Not that it matters much. We’re

“Of course I haven’t peeked yet! I was waiting for you, Iroha.” Now that we were together, Miyuki opened her bag and got her prize out. “Oh… I got… Tada~! 50% off for two people at one of the sushi places here at the mall! I guess we know where we’re going next!”

“Oh, wow!” That’s not too bad… Sushi gets really expensive really quickly. “I don’t really mind. If that’s what you want to do, I’ll go.” It’s a bit weird to eat sushi as an afternoon snack, but whatever.

“Nice! But first, let’s see what you get. Come on, Iroha. Don’t keep me waiting.” Miyuki tiptoed to try to see what was inside my bag. She’s really excited, isn’t she? I opened my bag and took out what was inside.

“Huh…? Is this a pouch?” Inside the bag was a red pouch. One of those small side pouches, usually worn around the waist. I think Ririna has something similar. It doesn’t really suit me, though.

“Ahahahaha! Too bad, huh, Iroha? Why don’t you try wearing it? I bet it’d look really cute on you.” I knew it… The smaller bags are better… Miyuki is having a blast at my expense now.

“You wish… I’m not gonna wear… I’d look like a little kid.”

“That’s not true… Who knows? Maybe it’d fit you incredibly well! It’s one of those things that’s hard to imagine, so you just have to try for yourself to make sure.” Miyuki tried to take the pouch off my hands so she could make me wear it. I swear she’s having way too much fun with this.

“No way! I’m not falling for that!” We were messing around when we both noticed something. The pouch may also be lucky. There’s something inside.

“Wait… There’s more to it, Iroha.” Miyuki looked at the pouch with excitement, eager to know what it held.

“Yeah… Is it also part of the prize?” I opened the pouch and took out two small paper boxes. “Is this jewelry?” I showed Miyuki the boxes, and she tilted her head in confusion. The packaging seemed to indicate as such… Inside one of the boxes was a silver ring with a small red gem decorating it, and in the other box was a matching necklace. They definitely weren’t using real silver or gems, but the quality was pretty good.

“Wow… You actually got a lot out of it, Iroha. This is kinda good.”

“Is it?” Unexpected, sure… Having a prize inside a prize is pretty funny, but good? I’m so not sure.

“You don’t like it?”

“That’s not it…” Isn’t jewelry and things like that for classier, more stylish girls? “I don’t think it suits me very much.”

“You always say that, but I’ve never seen you wearing something that doesn’t suit you.” Oh yeah? She must have forgotten the time she put rabbit ears on my head. “The pouch I understand, but the ring and the necklace are cool.”

“Hmm… You think so?” I brought the ring close to my face and took another look. It’s nice, but it’s too much for me. Miyuki was staring at me when I extended the ring to her. “Do you want it, then?”

“Eh? You sure? You paid for it. I can’t just take it…” Paid is overexaggerating. I won it for practically nothing. I’m still left with the necklace, even if I give her the ring.

“I’m sure. It’s not like I’m ever going to use it.” Miyuki has this elegant mystique about her. Jewelry suits her much better.

Miyuki quickly swiped the ring off my hand and clutched it between her hands. “Thanks, Iroha. I’ll take good care of it. I’ll give it a bath and three meals a day, so don’t worry.” What’s she saying? That’s a ring, not a pet.

I’ve been on autopilot for a while, and seeing Miyuki’s blinding smile snapped me out of it. Did I just do that? I wasn’t even thinking about it. Did I just gift a ring to a girl? Not just to any girl—to Miyuki, of all people. Oh no… I’m blushing so hard right now! I can’t even look her in the eye! “Y- you’re welcome…”

“Well, we’re done here, so let’s eat. Come on, Iroha!” Miyuki headed for the food court with an exaggerated stride and waved at me to follow her. We’re going to eat sushi… Hmm… That’s a good opportunity for us to talk more at length. Miyuki… I decided I was going to make an effort to learn more about the other world and what’s really going on. If that’s the case, I really need to ask her more about the portal and what happened on the first day we met. I may be imagining things, but I think she knows more than what she’s told me. We’ve been getting along nicely today, so I’m definitely going to ask her about it again.