Chapter 88: Suddenly Missing
[Previous TL comment: Oh man, if this novel was an action-drama one, you would have raised a death flag.] [TL now: Oops, commented too soon.]
We had come to see a movie at a shopping mall complex. In addition to the movie theater, there were various stores, so you could spend a whole day there and never get bored. It wasn’t bad to wander around, but the two girls wanted to eat crepes, so we moved to the food court.
“Well. I’ll get you some crepes, what would you like to eat?”
“Yes, yes! A custard crème chocolate banana then!”
“I’ll have custard strawberry & mixed berry whipped cream, please.”
Rika-chan wanted the standard chocolate banana and Kaede-san the strawberry. It was as if the girls could come up with the names so easily. I only memorized the chocolate banana combo.
“I’ll go get some then, and you two can wait here quietly. If you fight, I’ll confiscate your crepes, okay?”
‘‘Eeh!?’’ I left the two of them protesting and headed for the store. It was indeed the weekend of spring break. There was quite a line. And most of them were women or couples. I felt embarrassed because I was the only man there alone. I had to endure the embarrassment for less than a minute. Finally, I was able to order. After a few more minutes of waiting, I received two crepes and was on my way back to my seat when my phone, which was tucked in my pants pocket, vibrated. I wondered who it was. As much as I wanted to leave, I couldn’t do it right away because my hands were full. First, I have to get back to Kaede and the others.
“Ah! Yuya-kun! You’re finally back!”
“Kaede? What’s wrong? Hey, where’s Rika-chan? She’s not with you?”
“That’s right! I came back from the bathroom and she was nowhere to be found… what should I do!?”
Kaede’s face was pale and she looked like she was about to cry. I couldn’t understand what was happening right away, but I made her sit down first to calm her down as she was more panicked than I was.
“Where did she go… we have to go find her now… if anything happens to her, we’ll be in trouble!”
“Calm down, Kaede. I know you’re panicking, but you need to stay cool. Here, take a bite of a crepe and calm down, okay?”
“Ah… what should I do? I left her alone because I thought she’d be fine since she was so well-behaved… but Rika-chan is so cute, you don’t think someone took her away? If anything happens to Rika-chan, I…”
“—Calm down, Kaede!”
I couldn’t help but call out her name in a strong tone. Kaede’s shoulders trembled as I thrust the crepe into her mouth and fed it to her. I wondered if she had cooled down a bit by munching on the cream along with the batter.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure she just couldn’t wait to get here and wandered off somewhere to play. We’ll find her soon.”
“Ugh… I hope so…”
Kaede looked depressed even as she munched on her crepe. I was also panicking in my mind. In a situation like this, the best thing to do was to go to the general information counter and ask them to announce that she was lost. That said, if we both left here at the same time, there was a possibility that Rika-chan and we would get separated. So it would be better for Kaede to stay behind and for me to go.
“Okay, Kaede, you stay here. I’ll go to the general information counter to have the lost child announcement played. In the meantime, if Rika-chan comes back, call me. Okay?”
“Yes, I understand…”
After patting Kaede’s downcast head, I was about to walk away when someone called out to me fearfully.
“U-um, excuse me. I can probably tell you where the elementary school-aged girl who was sitting there went.”
The person who approached us was a mother with a girl about the same age as Rika-chan. That person seemed to know the information we wanted to know the most right now. Clinging to a newfound hope, Kaede jumped up and asked.
“Y-you’ve seen Rika-chan!? Where!? Where did you see her!?”
The mother and the child froze in shock. Because your agitation might prevent her from listening, I gently hugged Kaede’s shoulder.
“Kaede, calm down. I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to startle you. So, where did the girl who was here go?”
“Y-yes. That’s the girl, but I’m sure she’s headed towards the movie theater.”
Movie theater? We were here just a minute ago. Why?
“You know what! Before onii-chan and onee-chan came back, a Pikachu passed by here! I saw her follow it!”
The electric mouse from the nation’s most popular cartoon has shown up here? Eh? I’m getting more and more confused. What do you mean?
“They’re having a photo shoot event to promote a movie that’s coming out in the summer. They were parading around announcing it, and I think she happened to see it and followed it.”
So that was how it went. If I was bored waiting by myself and saw a stuffed animal walking by, I would want to follow it. Furthermore, the mother told me that the photo shooting event was still going on.
I thanked her politely and Kaede and I hurried to the cinema, taking a chance that Rika-chan might still be there. I really wanted Kaede to stay behind, but she stubbornly refused to listen.
“I don’t want to! I’m coming with you! I don’t want to be left alone to wait!”
“…Okay. Then we’ll go together.”
There was no time for pushing and shoving, so we decided to go together. Please be there, Rika-chan!
—
Chapter 88: Suddenly Missing
[Previous TL comment: Oh man, if this novel was an action-drama one, you would have raised a death flag.] [TL now: Oops, commented too soon.]
We had come to see a movie at a shopping mall complex. In addition to the movie theater, there were various stores, so you could spend a whole day there and never get bored. It wasn’t bad to wander around, but the two girls wanted to eat crepes, so we moved to the food court.
“Well. I’ll get you some crepes, what would you like to eat?”
“Yes, yes! A custard crème chocolate banana then!”
“I’ll have custard strawberry & mixed berry whipped cream, please.”
Rika-chan wanted the standard chocolate banana and Kaede-san the strawberry. It was as if the girls could come up with the names so easily. I only memorized the chocolate banana combo.
“I’ll go get some then, and you two can wait here quietly. If you fight, I’ll confiscate your crepes, okay?”
‘‘Eeh!?’’ I left the two of them protesting and headed for the store. It was indeed the weekend of spring break. There was quite a line. And most of them were women or couples. I felt embarrassed because I was the only man there alone. I had to endure the embarrassment for less than a minute. Finally, I was able to order. After a few more minutes of waiting, I received two crepes and was on my way back to my seat when my phone, which was tucked in my pants pocket, vibrated. I wondered who it was. As much as I wanted to leave, I couldn’t do it right away because my hands were full. First, I have to get back to Kaede and the others.
“Ah! Yuya-kun! You’re finally back!”
“Kaede? What’s wrong? Hey, where’s Rika-chan? She’s not with you?”
“That’s right! I came back from the bathroom and she was nowhere to be found… what should I do!?”
Kaede’s face was pale and she looked like she was about to cry. I couldn’t understand what was happening right away, but I made her sit down first to calm her down as she was more panicked than I was.
“Where did she go… we have to go find her now… if anything happens to her, we’ll be in trouble!”
“Calm down, Kaede. I know you’re panicking, but you need to stay cool. Here, take a bite of a crepe and calm down, okay?”
“Ah… what should I do? I left her alone because I thought she’d be fine since she was so well-behaved… but Rika-chan is so cute, you don’t think someone took her away? If anything happens to Rika-chan, I…”
“—Calm down, Kaede!”
I couldn’t help but call out her name in a strong tone. Kaede’s shoulders trembled as I thrust the crepe into her mouth and fed it to her. I wondered if she had cooled down a bit by munching on the cream along with the batter.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure she just couldn’t wait to get here and wandered off somewhere to play. We’ll find her soon.”
“Ugh… I hope so…”
Kaede looked depressed even as she munched on her crepe. I was also panicking in my mind. In a situation like this, the best thing to do was to go to the general information counter and ask them to announce that she was lost. That said, if we both left here at the same time, there was a possibility that Rika-chan and we would get separated. So it would be better for Kaede to stay behind and for me to go.
“Okay, Kaede, you stay here. I’ll go to the general information counter to have the lost child announcement played. In the meantime, if Rika-chan comes back, call me. Okay?”
“Yes, I understand…”
After patting Kaede’s downcast head, I was about to walk away when someone called out to me fearfully.
“U-um, excuse me. I can probably tell you where the elementary school-aged girl who was sitting there went.”
The person who approached us was a mother with a girl about the same age as Rika-chan. That person seemed to know the information we wanted to know the most right now. Clinging to a newfound hope, Kaede jumped up and asked.
“Y-you’ve seen Rika-chan!? Where!? Where did you see her!?”
The mother and the child froze in shock. Because your agitation might prevent her from listening, I gently hugged Kaede’s shoulder.
“Kaede, calm down. I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to startle you. So, where did the girl who was here go?”
“Y-yes. That’s the girl, but I’m sure she’s headed towards the movie theater.”
Movie theater? We were here just a minute ago. Why?
“You know what! Before onii-chan and onee-chan came back, a Pikachu passed by here! I saw her follow it!”
The electric mouse from the nation’s most popular cartoon has shown up here? Eh? I’m getting more and more confused. What do you mean?
“They’re having a photo shoot event to promote a movie that’s coming out in the summer. They were parading around announcing it, and I think she happened to see it and followed it.”
So that was how it went. If I was bored waiting by myself and saw a stuffed animal walking by, I would want to follow it. Furthermore, the mother told me that the photo shooting event was still going on.
I thanked her politely and Kaede and I hurried to the cinema, taking a chance that Rika-chan might still be there. I really wanted Kaede to stay behind, but she stubbornly refused to listen.
“I don’t want to! I’m coming with you! I don’t want to be left alone to wait!”
“…Okay. Then we’ll go together.”
There was no time for pushing and shoving, so we decided to go together. Please be there, Rika-chan!
—
