kscans

Chapter 220 - Interlude: The Great Actress of the Future

"Esha-san, let's go shopping tomorrow."

"Were there any ingredients we needed to buy?"

"That's not it. I mean, let's go shopping for fun, not for work. It's a bit of a walk, but there's a shopping mall. Let's buy some clothes there."

"Clothes? Wouldn't you rather go eat something delicious? There's actually an all-you-can-eat sweets event with a time limit--"

"Let's go there later. But, Esha-san, I think this is something I shouldn't say even to family, but lately, your stomach area has been--"

"Say one more word and it's war, you know?"

"...Maybe you should, um, try calculating your calories?"

"I wouldn't, even if I had a supercomputer."

"Then let's take a little trip for a walk and go look at some clothes."

"It's true I've been lacking exercise lately. Alright. Shall we walk to the shopping mall tomorrow? I don't know if I'll buy any clothes, though."

"It's settled then."

At the Crown Cafe, Esha and Ren were having this conversation during their break.

Inwardly, Ren pumped her fist.

Her plan was to have Esha wear some lovely clothes to appeal to Hayato.

Ren had made something of a declaration of war to Esha regarding Hayato. However, it was more like a way to spur Esha on. Ren wanted to get the two of them together.

If nothing happened after three years, she would give up, accepting that they were not meant to be. At that point, she thought maybe she could date Hayato herself. She liked him that much, but everyone has a couple they root for. No, it was not something as lukewarm as rooting for them.

It was fate, causality, a foregone conclusion. In other words, the will of God.

For Ren, that was Hayato and Esha.

It was virtual reality, and it was before she had regained her memories, but Hayato and Esha had been holding hands in a room on the second floor of the base.

Hayato had told her Esha seemed to be in pain and asked her to take a look. She had rushed to the base immediately. And Ren burst into the room without even knocking.

That was the scene she saw.

It was less that they were holding hands and more that Esha was clinging to Hayato's hand as if to say, "Don't go." Esha, who never showed such weakness, was feebly holding his hand.

She did not know what the reality of the situation was. But Ren thought, this is it. She finally understood what Esha meant by "precious."

She had not realized it at the time, but now she understood. That was the pain of her memories returning. And upon asking for more details, she heard that Esha had apparently been carried by Hayato in his arms, princess-style.

Ren had asked them to reenact it several times, saying she needed it as a reference for a movie. They never did.

Putting that aside, quite some time has passed since then, yet the two of them remain in a state of being neither too close nor too distant. In that case, she would use every trick in the book to bring them together.

After her break, Ren spent the rest of her time thinking about an outfit that would suit Esha and make Hayato's heart skip a beat.

The next day, Ren and Esha took a fair amount of time to get to the shopping mall. It boasted the largest size in the Factory Colony.

"Movies say this is a good place to run to if zombies appear. You'd want to secure the food court."

"That's how my mother got done in, though. The thing that's truly scary is... people."

"That's deep."

Esha and Ren walked through the shopping mall, talking about common movie tropes.

Ideally, it would be best to shop on Earth, but that would be far too expensive. Besides, she was prioritizing variety over quality.

To begin with, she did not really know Hayato's taste. So, Ren's strategy was to win with numbers. Not a one-shot kill with a sniper rifle, but a concept of firing enough shots with a machine gun that one is bound to hit.

"I hope I can find a nice T-shirt."

"Let's buy something for going out, not just casual loungewear. Besides, Esha-san, aren't you usually too lazy? Doesn't Hayato-san ever come into that room?"

"He doesn't. The second floor is my sacred ground."

"Even though it's Hayato-san's room."

For a time, Ren had lived at the coffee shop. She had nowhere to live until the paperwork for her apartment was finished, so Ren had lived with Esha in Hayato's room.

At that time, Esha's attire consisted of a baggy T-shirt and just her underwear. That might be fine between women, and there were probably men who would find that to be the best thing ever, but it could also become a situation that would kill a hundred-year love.

They were not even dating, yet they were living together. Ren wondered what Hayato was thinking in such a situation, but if that was the case, she wanted them to at least create a bit more of a bittersweet atmosphere.

From Ren's perspective, the two of them were already like a seasoned married couple.

Even at work in the coffee shop, the two of them coordinated with a flowing rhythm. They moved as if they knew what the other was thinking without having to ask.

That in itself was a wonderful thing, but for Ren, it was not enough. Shouldn't there be a moment when their hands touch as one passes a plate, and they both get embarrassed? No, there should be.

Ren steeled herself.

She would do her best to coordinate an outfit that would make Hayato see Esha in a new light.

With that resolve, she stepped into the first store.

"We bought a lot of T-shirts, didn't we."

"...Yes, we did."

On the way back to the coffee shop, Esha had a delighted look on her face, but Ren walked with a gloomy expression.

Shopping with a time limit must have been a high degree of difficulty. Perhaps because of that, she had achieved nothing. All they had bought were T-shirts that Esha liked.

She did have her try things on. Esha had been reasonably cooperative. But the nice things were expensive. After consulting their budget, all that remained were the T-shirts.

They would have to take a day off together and try again for revenge. Ren made a firm decision in her heart.

"I had fun today, Ren-san."

"Eh?"

"I never would have imagined going shopping with someone in the old days. These are good times."

Ren realized something.

Esha and Ren were born in an era of resource depletion. Back then, there were few types of clothes, and they were expensive.

Ren's father, Veru, was a famous actor, so she never had to worry about money, but she had never heard about Esha's circumstances. She had only heard that Esha had been working as a programmer before she came of age.

Back then, most shopping was done online. Shopping in a store was something only the very rich could do.

There was probably the act of shopping in virtual reality, but that was just virtual reality. This might have been her first time shopping with a friend in the real world.

It was the same for Ren. She had been shopping with Ash in the real world, but now that she thought about it, this was her first time shopping with a friend. In the first place, she never had anyone she could call a friend.

Ren felt even more down, thinking she should have enjoyed it more. But she tried to think positively, telling herself there would be plenty of chances from now on.

"Let's all come shopping together next time. It seems like it would be more fun that way."

"You're right. There must be days when Hayato doesn't play the game, so let's invite Ash-san too and all come shopping. In times like these, it's normal to make the men carry the bags. Oh, if we win prize money from the game, it might be a good idea to have Hayato pay for our clothes."

"Eh? Wouldn't he get angry about that?"

"It'll be fine. In Hayato's case, he seems to be the type to spend any prize money he gets from the game all at once. He treated me to yakiniku the other day. It was special prime karubi, you know, special prime karubi. It was a dreamlike dinner."

"That's not very romantic. But if that's the case, I wish he'd treated me too...!"

"If the movie's a hit, you'll get a decent amount of money. Treat me when you become a great actress, okay?"

"Alright. In that case, I'll buy you all the clothes in that shopping mall."

"You're going big. Well, I'll look forward to it. Oh, about the movie credits, the staff roll, was it? Could you put the coffee shop's name in there? We did our meetings there, so maybe something like 'location provided by'?"

"Never mind the staff roll, the coffee shop itself will be in the movie."

"Eh?"

"What? Haven't you heard? The movie I'm shooting is a romance about the master of a coffee shop that serves bad coffee. The heroine is a female sniper with a complicated past who ends up working as a waitress. I pushed really hard for it."

Esha's eyes narrowed. In contrast, Ren beamed with a wide smile.

"How much money do I get?"

"You don't get any. We're going to use this as seed money to make another movie. This time I was 'Cafe Customer A who breaks up with her lover,' but next time I'll get a much better role!"

"Is that customer's backstory necessary? Well, that aside, if you used my heroine's story without permission, then the promise of just the shopping mall clothes when I become a great actress won't be enough. You'll have to buy me clothes from Earth too."

"Alright. Let's buy out all the clothes from the boutiques in Central. And it won't just be special prime karubi, I'll treat you to some fancy beef steak too. Because after all, I'm the great actress of the future!"

There was no telling if such a future would come, but the possibility was not zero. Even if it was an absurd dream, there was still a chance.

The two of them talked about a future that might just be possible as they made their way home.