Chapter 6: Convenience Store
It was early in April, and the temperature was quite cold.
Shishio blew warm air from his mouth to both of his hands to get some warmth, but it wasn't enough and he felt a bit regretful for not wearing more clothes besides his baggy sweater. His body shuddered and he looked toward the sky. He couldn't see the stars unlike when he stayed in Kyoto since the air was quite clean and there weren't many cars there, but he didn't hate this city since as he had said before, this city was similar to the city where he lived in his previous life.
Shishio then looked at the sakura tree that was blooming and understood why this flower was the signature of this country, however, he didn't care much about the beauty of this tree since the temperature was very cold and he was very hungry. He quickly ran toward the convenience store since he remembered that the inside of the convenience store should be warm.
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After 15 minutes, Shishio finally arrived at the convenience store. His aunt had told him that this place was quite nearby, however, in his opinion, it was quite far, though, he had to admit because of running his body was quite warm.
Walking toward the convenience store, the automatic door opened and Shishio heard a welcome voice from the staff of the store.
"Welcome..."
The voice of the staff was quite lifeless, showing how tired the staff was, however, Shishio wasn't surprised, considering how monotone it was to work on the convenience store, from morning to night, or from night to morning, welcoming the people who entered the convenience store and sorted the things which were sold on the convenience store.
Shishio was sure that the staff did all the things that he mentioned above for days, weeks, months, or years.
Even if someone had a cheerful personality from the beginning, they would become lifeless after being hit by "reality".
Shishio didn't think too much about the greeting and walked toward the food sections. He had to admit that the convenience store in this country was very rich, considering there were a lot of various foods from onigiri, bento, fried foods, oden, etc and once the time had reached nine at night, the price of those foods would be discounted in half.
Shishio had to admit that waiting until nine at night was quite good, but he was very hungry and he needed to wait at least a few hours before it was nine at night.
Looking at the variety of foods in the food sections, Shishio took two onigiris, one with mayo tuna filling, and the other one was umeboshi. He had chosen his food then he decided to choose his drink, and couldn't help but look at the alcohol section.
Shishio was wondering whether with his looks it was possible for him to buy alcohol, however, he felt that it was a bit impossible and he also didn't have an interest in alcohol. He then chose mineral water and walked toward the cashier to pay for his food.
Shishio had to admit that the convenience store culture in this country had amazed him, however, he wanted to eat street food and enjoyed the beauty of the community in this country, but he knew very well that it was simply impossible to search for street food in Tokyo.
Even if there was street food, the price wasn't that much different from the store one which made him sigh at the street food culture in the Kanto region.
Shishio was coming from the Kansai region, even though he was coming from Kyoto, the street food culture in Kyoto was quite rich, especially in the shopping district area. It was his first time in Tokyo and he wondered whether there was a shopping district in this city.
In front of the cashier, Shishio smelled the hot oden and felt quite tempted by the smell.
"Welcome!"
The cashier checked the price of all the things that were bought by Shishio then asked, "Is this all?"
"Can I get an oden too?" Shishio asked.
"Yes, what kind of oden do you want?"
Shishio could see a lot of types of oden and said, "I will take daikon, boiled egg, and fishcake."
The cashier nodded and prepared Shishio's oden then he totaled the price of all the things that had been bought by Shishio.
"All of it...."
Shishio nodded and paid the money before bringing all of his food to the eating area inside the convenience store. He was alone in the dorm after all and there was nothing wrong with eating outside.
Though, the only thing that he felt regret about was that there were no people that entered the convenience store besides him so he couldn't do an experiment with his system.
After he sat down, he didn't waste his time and ate all of his food since he was starving. He started with oden and drank the broth.
The taste of the broth was quite heavy and he also understood there were a lot of mistakes in the preparation of the broth.
'Is it because of "Japanese Food Cooking Mastery"?'
Shishio knew that he could make a better oden. He put down his oden then took his onigiri and directly ate it, however, he didn't immediately chew it down, but rather gulped a small amount of oden broth, eating the onigiri with the oden broth.
Shishio closed his eyes and nodded since it tasted better. He had to admit the combination of cold rice and the warm broth was quite nice. He didn't have any hesitation anymore and ate all the foods that he had brought in an instant since he was quite hungry.
Shishio felt comfortable then cleaned up his mouth with mineral water. He then stood up, put the packages of his food in the trash, and got ready to go home, however, he stopped when he passed the magazine area.
Unlike his previous life, there was no porn magazine in the convenience store, however, there was one in this country.
Shishio once again felt amazed by the convenience store culture of this country. He took the magazine without hesitation and saw that it was a collection photo of a maid. He rubbed his chin and nodded since he understood the culture of this city better.
In Kyoto, most women in porn magazines wore kimonos, but in Tokyo, there were a lot of varieties.
'I see... I see... I learn a lot...'
Shishio once again, felt that he was a lion cub, and he hadn't become a real lion yet, but soon, he was going to become a lion, probably.
Luckily no one besides him and the cashier were inside this convenience store, or else, they would be weirded out by him since he was reading porn magazines with a serious expression. If someone didn't look at him closer, then they would think that he was reading an education book or something.
"Welcome..."
Then at this moment, the door of the convenience store opened and a lifeless "welcome" voice was heard once again.
Shishio didn't care much and kept reading the magazine since he knew that with the culture of people in this country, most people would ignore him, and with his height, a lot of people would think of him as an adult so he should be alright for reading a porn magazine in the convenience store.
Shishio kept reading and his brows raised since he had to admit that the maid in the magazine was very cute. Even though he might not have an interest in romance during high school, there was no problem for him to appreciate a beautiful woman, right?
While Shishio was reading, suddenly he felt that someone was staring at him which made him uncomfortable but, he decided to ignore it, however after he ignored it for a while, he could feel someone's presence beside him. He knew that this presence wasn't a ghost, and it should be a human since he could smell a sweet smell, standing beside him.
'Well, this person's smell is quite good.'
"Do you guys love this kind of outfit?"
Hearing such a monotone yet feminine voice, Shishio knew instantly that the one that asked him that question and stood beside him was a girl, however, he didn't care much and continued to read.
"I am not sure."
"...You're not sure?" The woman seemed quite confused by Shishio's answer since she could tell that he was very interested in the maid outfit since she saw his serious expression when he read the maid photo collection magazine.
"I like it, but it doesn't mean other guys also like it. Each person has their own taste, I guess?" Shishio answered with an uncomfortable expression.
"I see."
The woman nodded and answered with a monotone voice again. It seemed that she had accepted Shishio's explanation.
However, Shishio couldn't handle it anymore.
Shishio closed the magazine then turned to see the woman that had been asking him a question, however...
'.....Huh?'