Chapter 5: It Is a Model Store

(Author note: next chapter may be delayed while we do research).

As we took our time to walk to the model store, I glanced over at Kara, whose eyes darted towards me for a moment. My hand reached for Kara’s, closing in until I could feel the heat radiating from her palm, but then shied away. Then, again, I thwarted my attempt. Let us be fair here; there was more than just nervousness holding me back. Although we played off our date as an outing between friends, this also made it harder to hold hands. Friends don’t exactly walk holding hands. Maybe linking arms, but that was different.

In the end, we made it to the model store without any hand-holding. Arriving at the shop, I unconsciously checked that my disguise remained there. So, sometimes an idol needs to take on some extra work beyond just singing and dancing. And sometimes that results in a somewhat tangible presence. Like a standee with an idol’s image on it. Not my fault, though.

No, really. How is a girl supposed to resist when their favorite rugged fighter anime suddenly has a larger than usual model? 1:4 scale! The figure came up to my waist, and he was totally a hunk. I wanted to punch out baddies just like he did. The gig didn’t hurt my image, came with a signed copy of the figure, and would help spread my image. No problems at all!

No problems until now, that is. I had a big problem, and that problem stared me in the eye with a smile. Although I forgot about it, with it so obviously there, I couldn’t ignore it. My hand grabbed Kara’s sleeve, and I gave her a bright, childlike smile.

“Big Sis, I want to look further in!”

A wry smile flickered on her face when she snuck a glance at the cutout. Grabbing my hand, she quickly led us further in, away from the evidence of our misdeeds. Once we had gained enough distance from the other customers, Kara spoke up.

“That was a shock.”

“I forgot about that. Did they put it out early because of the concert? Or is this just their model store?”

“Do you want to go somewhere else?”

“No, it is fine. Just need to make sure nothing slips.”

Although I appreciated the thought, if we were already here, I intended to make the most of it. I wanted to show her all the cool models lined up neatly on the shelves in their pristine boxes. The mecha models on the nearby shelf could be posed easily, and some people even used them to play games involving dice. I didn’t know how to play those games, though. I never had the time to learn, but if Kara was at all interested…

Well, looking at her face, that probably wasn’t happening. Never hurt to check though. They say looks can be deceiving. You know, like when a bus driver mistakes an adult for a child because of looks? Ow, I think I just shot myself.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just took some recoil damage. While we are here, did you have any interest in tabletop games with these figurines?”

“Well… I can’t say I’d hate the idea.”

“Thought as much.”

No surprise that Kara lacked interest in these sorts of things. She was here for me, not for herself. Although I wanted to take her somewhere she actually wanted, I knew better than to ignore her goodwill. Looking around, I walked over to a few of the models that my collection still lacked. I wouldn’t buy them, but just examining them and imagining them in my collection granted me satisfaction. Of course, I placed them back where I found them like a responsible shopper.

After filling up my satisfaction gauge, I took Kara to my favorite spot in the store—the discount bin. Saying it like that might give some misunderstandings though. Despite being haphazardly tossed into a bin like a to-do pile that someone forgot to organize, the goods within that barrel were fine goods. The store just couldn’t keep older stock around. Sometimes, really rare items found their way into the bin simply because the store ordered too many.

“The trick is to ignore the top layers of the bin. You need to dive in a little and dig a little.”

Nope, already had that one. Oh, that one was an easy build for beginners. I’ll set that to the side. Not this one. Ah, this one seemed good. They must have made too many mechs and not enough pilots, and I had a spare pilot for the store bonus. Since we were on a date, I needed to limit myself, but stopping here felt like a waste.

Wait, was that? What luck! A rare model of last season’s Swordbuster Giovanni! Even if this wasn’t a popular model, you almost couldn’t find it. I must have missed it last dive, but I needed it!

“Huh?”

“M—Sis!?”

So, let me play a game of guess what happens when a somewhat compact girl leans over the rim of a bin. The legs keep the girl from falling into the bin, of course. Now, what happens when the same girl leans even further and even lifts her legs to reach deep into the barrel? I think anyone could guess that the girl slides right in. I thought I felt a hand brush against my ankle, though. Kara probably tried to grab me.

“I’m fine, Big Sis!”

Not really a problem. Not even the first time that this has happened, for that matter. Still embarrassing, though. With a little squirming, I righted myself and popped out—with my prize, obviously.

“Pwah!”

“Hold on, I’ll help you out.”

Tussling with my hair, Kara brushed it a bit, shifting the disguise back in place, before she lifted me from under my arms.

“Aww, what a good sister, rescuing her little sister like that.”

“So precious.”

“I hope my kids are so kind to each other when they grow up.”

See? embarrassing! I resisted the urge to cover my face; I checked the location of the goods and swept them up as soon as Kara placed me back on the ground. Then, after shoveling the spilled boxes back into the bin, I rushed to the counter and paid for them. The cashier gave me such a tender smile as she handed me the change, even congratulating me for a chore well done. It was okay to cry, right?

Setting that episode aside, I looked at Kara as we exited the store.

“I want to see a store that you like next.”

“Are you certain? I imagine you would find it boring.”

“You wanted to know more about me, right? I feel the same about you.”

“There are some makeup products I wanted to see.”

“Oh, I know a good store then.”

Seeing Kara nod, I led the way. I knew just who to take her to.