04—She really is Gravure Idol!

With heavy steps, Toma approached the old woman who owned the shop.

"Um, excuse me, ma'am." Toma bowed politely. "I'd like to trade my dress shirt for this tee?"

The old woman looked Toma up and down, then took a long drag from her clove cigarette. "You sure 'bout that, young blood?"

"Yeah, pretty sure," Toma nodded in resignation.

"Lemme see it," the old woman extended her hand. "I'mma check it out."

Toma took off his shirt and handed it over. The moment her fingers touched the fabric, her eyes went wide.

"HOLD UP!" The old woman shot up from her chair, Toma's shirt still in her grip. "The quality on this thing... this right here is Shifu-level craftmanship!"

"Shifu?" Toma raised a confused eyebrow.

"Boy... You from Itokyo, ain't you?!" The old woman stared at Toma with eyes sparkling like diamonds.

"Oh, yeah, I am from Tokyo." Toma gave a small nod. Technically, he was from Tokyo—capital of Japan.

"Luck done walked right through my door today! Praise Goddess Ame no Nuno!" The old woman clapped her hands. "I knew it from the jump—you one of them noble clan folk from Itokyo!"

"Itokyo?" Toma blinked.

Not Tokyo? And wait, I look like nobility? Toma instinctively slicked his hair back, taking it as a compliment.

"Ah, yeah, something like that." Toma shrugged casually and flashed a proud smile. He had zero intention of correcting the old woman's misunderstanding.

"But you look beat down, child. That attitude of yours... you one of them noble clans that went broke, ain't you?!"

"Ack!" Toma choked. Turns out it wasn't a compliment. "Yeah, you got me. I'm broke."

"Aight then!" The old woman smiled with satisfaction. "I'll take that deal! But this shirt way too nice, so I'mma throw in a little bonus!"

She disappeared into the shop and came back carrying a cloth pouch and the blonde-girl tee.

"Here's 1000 Kinito coins." She handed the pouch to Toma. "Probably ain't even your pocket change for a day—before you went broke. But it's enough to feed you for a whole month."

"SERIOUSLY?!" Toma's eyes lit up like fireworks. He never expected his shirt was worth that much.

1000 coins covers food for an entire month?! That's like 30,000 to 40,000 yen in Japan! I've never had that much money in my LIFE!

Ding!

A devious idea sparked in Toma's head. He glanced down at the black dress pants he was wearing.

"Ma'am..." Toma grinned wide. "Interested in buying my pants too?"

WHIP!

Toma dropped his pants without a shred of hesitation right in front of the old woman, leaving nothing but his black boxer briefs covered in emoji prints.

"LORDRESS HAVE MERCY!" The old woman jumped again at the quality of Toma's pants. "This is Shifu work too! How much you want for it?"

"I trust you're a wise buyer," Toma replied with a forcibly cool expression—one eyebrow twitching.

"So I'll leave the pricing to you, ma'am." He pulled the blonde-girl tee over his head as he spoke.

"Aight! 2000 Kinito coins!" The old woman immediately fetched another pouch from the shop.

Toma fought the urge to burst out laughing.

THWACK!

"How about these shoes and socks too, ma'am?"

Toma, moving at the speed of light, slapped his shoes and unwashed socks onto the counter.

"Boy, you done lost your whole mind!" The old woman lifted the shoes like she was hoisting a trophy. Completely ignoring the stench assaulting her nostrils.

"Aight! 500 Kinito coins for the shoes!"

"Deal!" Toma beamed as he accepted the second pouch. I've finally got 3500 Kinito coins!!! I can eat like a KING here!!!

Meanwhile, the old woman smiled slyly to herself. Even though I dipped into 500 coins of my savings, a full set of this kid's clothes resold in Itokyo would fetch over 10,000 coins! Big profit!

"Oh, right." The old woman gave a friendly smile. "I ain't even introduce myself. Name's Bota Nakeguramomo. Good doin' business with you, young blood. And don't be a stranger—come back to my shop anytime!"

What kind of name is that? Toma thought.

"I'm Houku Toma—er, I mean Toma Houku. Good doing business with you too. And thank you for the offer, Granny Bota!" Toma bowed deeply.

"But remember one thing, child." Bota raised a finger at the money pouches in Toma's hands. "Keep that money close. Lotta pickpockets 'round Hiho-mura. Especially in them narrow alleys."

After saying his goodbyes, Toma left Bota's shop wearing nothing but the blonde-girl tee, his emoji boxer briefs, and a pair of wooden geta Granny Bota had given him for free. He felt a little embarrassed, but hey—at least he had money!

"Splendid! Now head to the dead-end alley beside Bota's shop," Ame-chan's voice popped back into his head.

"Why a dead-end alley?" Toma asked as he walked toward it.

"Fufufu—thou shalt know soon enough," Ame-chan answered in a mysterious tone.

Meanwhile, Bota swiftly carried Toma's set of clothes to the second floor of her shop. She grabbed an empty tin can with a string attached to its bottom. At a glance, it looked like a child's tin-can telephone toy—and that was essentially what it was. The device was called an Itopon.

But this Itopon was odd. The frayed string dangling from the can wasn't connected to anything. Yet the moment Bota brought her lips close to the cylinder, the string went taut on its own, rising upward and phasing through the shop's ceiling as if pulled by something invisible. Its fibers vibrated faintly, like it was catching a voice from somewhere impossibly far away.

"Moshi-moshi, Saiya-chan," Bota said eagerly.

On the other side, Toma had reached the end of the narrow, dark dead-end alley, lit only by a dim gas lamp.

"Now then, recite this Mantra," Ame-chan instructed. "Enkai!"

"Enkai?!" Toma broke into a wide grin. "That sounds like a parody of Bankai from Bleach!"

"Bankai? Bleach? Your world has those as well?" Ame-chan sounded mildly surprised.

"Uh, not really. It's just an anime about—ah, forget it," Toma shook his head, then smiled eagerly. "But Enkai? You throwing me a welcome banquet or something?"

"The Enkai I speak of derives from the word 'Enso.' A complete circle—the symbol of a garment's button in this world. However... if thou dost wish for a feast, I could arrange one!" Ame-chan offered, her voice dripping with playful temptation.

"Ah, so that's what you mean by Enso. In my old world it means circle too," Toma nodded in understanding, but then his brow furrowed. "But why not just call it Botan-kai? That literally means button."

"Oi! You'd need to live a thousand years before you've earned the right to critique a Heavenly concept! So just say the bloody Mantra already!"

"Uh, okay..."

Confused as he was, Toma obeyed. He drew a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"ENKAI!"

KA-BOOOOM!

An explosion of white smoke erupted from the tee Toma was wearing and swallowed his entire body for several seconds. The smoke spiraled like a miniature tornado, laced with blinding flashes of light.

When the smoke cleared, Toma emerged completely unchanged. But the blonde girl who had only been a print on his shirt was now standing in front of him in the flesh—still holding that same pose. Leaning slightly forward, one eye winking playfully, blowing a flirty finger-kiss.

"Hiya, Toma-kun!" The girl greeted him with a voice he knew all too well—the voice that had been living inside his head this whole time. "I'm Ame-chan, your boss and also a Goddess of this world!"

Toma stared at Ame-chan with eyes blown wide. She was tall and slender, with bright blue eyes like a summer sky and long, shimmering blonde hair. Her white crop top showed off curves that were... that made Toma's cheeks flush crimson and his pupils morph into little hearts.

"A-Ame-chan... You... your chest..." Toma stammered.

She really IS a gravure idol!

"Now then, I shall explain all the details of thy employment, but before that—"

KYAAAA!

Toma spun like a top, blood spraying from his nose like a lawn sprinkler.

CLANG!

The next instant, his head accidentally slammed into a steam pipe.

"Your chest... killed me..." Toma slumped over and passed out in a heap of garbage.

Ame-chan's expression went flat—shocked for just a moment, naturally. Before it erupted into pure rage.

"IT'S NOT MY CHEST THAT'S THE PROBLEM, IT'S YOUR DISGUSTING REACTION, YOU BLOODY BRAT!"

From the second-floor window of her secondhand shop, Bota watched the whole thing with eyes wide as saucers. She couldn't see Ame-chan, but that smoke explosion triggered by a Mantra was unmistakable...

"No way..." Bota murmured, her voice trembling. "That ratty old tee was actually... a Suppafuku!"

On the other end, a woman's voice answered her Itopon call.

"Hello, Granny Bota. What's up with calling this late at night?"

"Saiya-chan." Bota spoke in a dead-serious tone, her eyes still locked on the alley below. "Get word to the heads at Nudo-Gun! 'Cause it looks like the one who was promised... has arrived!"