Market~
Since it's a coastal city, the market has an incredibly rich variety of fish, many of which Shiro had never seen before.
The upperclassmen gave them a task: each person had to choose the ingredients they needed and make one dish! (Except for Shiro—he was the one in charge of cooking the rice…)
"So why the hell are you following me?! Weren't we supposed to split up and move around freely?"
Iori snapped at Shiro with a murderous glare.
This guy had been tagging along ever since they split up, so how was he supposed to carry out his plan?!
"Ha~ Like I want to follow you, alright? I'm just making sure I'm safe. Who knows what weird stuff you might buy. Besides, I'm only in charge of cooking the rice—I don't need to buy anything."
Shiro was eyeing a fish at a stall and then gently put it back.
For some reason, the fishmonger's eyes looked a bit intimidating, like he was part of some underworld gang… though that pink apron really ruined the image.
"That's exactly why a guy like you, who can't cook, should've just stayed at home and watched the place!"
"How can you say something so heartless? By the way, what are you even trying to do?"
Shiro still didn't get it—why was this guy suddenly trying to poison them? Was it a debt issue?
But didn't he only owe him money? Was he just sending two more people to the grave with him as companions?
Shiro was super curious!
"..."
Iori didn't answer. Like hell he was going to tell this scumbag anything!
Seeing his expression, Shiro didn't press the issue. Rather than asking directly, he preferred doing his own investigation.
He wasn't in charge of cooking, so he had plenty of free time—perfect for killing boredom (??ω??)
...
The two of them continued wandering through the market. The sheer variety of ingredients dazzled them.
"What are you planning to cook?"
"I don't know. There's too much. Maybe we should check what the others are buying?"
Right now, Iori just wanted to shake Shiro off and go find out where they sold poisonous fish!
Suddenly, he spotted a familiar figure with purple hair. "Azusa-senpai looks like she's over there. I'll go ask her!"
Without waiting for Shiro to respond, he dashed off. His plan was to observe what Azusa bought and then slip away quietly with the crowd.
"Wait—"
Watching Iori run off into the distance, Shiro silently pulled out his phone.
GPS tracking mode activated!
Detective Shiro is online!
As a professionally trained person, knowing a little bit about tracking was perfectly normal~
Shiro secretly tailed Iori. He wanted to see what this guy was up to—that way he could get the right antidote in time!
As he got closer, he overheard Azusa talking to the stall owner.
"I want to eat some oji-san~"
!!!
{{(°△°; "}}!
That one line shocked all three onlookers: Iori, who was just about to sneak away; Aina, who was about to greet Azusa; and Shiro, who was tailing them.
The three of them stared blankly at Azusa...
What the hell was going on?!
Why had everyone started acting so weird since entering this market?!
Shiro was dumbfounded. He knew Azusa well—she might be a bit carefree and loud, but there's no way she'd say something like that.
Especially not to some random middle-aged man!
Could this guy be using hypnotism?
Or was Azusa a Tokyo Ghoul?!
Each of the three reacted differently.
Aina, with a face full of existential crisis, slowly backed away—probably planning to share this with her two buddies.
Iori, pretending nothing happened, crouched down and slinked off to the next location.
Azusa was too scary right now!
Shiro, on the other hand, no longer cared about Iori—he needed answers!
"Stop right there!"
He strode forward and pulled Azusa behind him, then turned to glare furiously at the fish stall owner.
"You scumbag! Hypnotizing an innocent girl like that—I won't let you get away with it!"
The stall owner stared blankly at this righteous young man. "Hypnotizing an innocent girl? Bro, we don't sell that kind of fish here."
"Fish? Damn it, that's your codeword, huh?!"
Shiro looked tense, scanning the surroundings. The guy might be working with a whole gang!
"Um, Shiro…"
"Azusa-nee, don't say anything. I'll protect you!"
"But—"
"No buts! Just trust me, Azusa-nee!"
"..."
With more and more people gathering to watch, Azusa silently took out a face mask from her pocket and put it on. Then she picked up a book next to the fish stall.
Poke poke~
Shiro, tense and alert, immediately turned to see what she was doing.
He saw a page in a fish guidebook… one that explained that in Okinawa, there's a type of fish nicknamed "oji-san."
╭(°A°`)╮
Shiro stared at the picture for a few seconds, frozen.
Looking around at the crowd he had just drawn, Shiro suddenly understood the meaning of social death. And more than anything, he wanted to strangle his past self from just a few minutes ago for yelling so loudly!
Why had his younger, dumber self been so loud?! Also… is there a time machine nearby?
"Azusa-nee, what's that on your face?"
"A mask."
"Why are you wearing a mask?"
"Well… maybe because I don't want to show up on Okinawa's evening news?"
Shiro fell silent, fumbling in his pocket, hoping to find a mask for himself too—but all he found were IOUs.
Too late now—there was no other choice.
He rushed into the fish stall, rummaging through everything. He'd just bitten his tongue and realized it wasn't a dream. That meant—he had to find a time machine!
"Shiro, what are you looking for…"
"A time machine!"
"..."
Azusa seriously considered just walking away. Who told him there'd be a time machine in a fish stall?! Doraemon?
Seriously, this fish stall didn't even have a drawer. Saying there's a Ponyo inside would've been more believable than a time machine!
Under the stall owner's increasingly murderous glare, Azusa silently dragged Shiro away, who had just been trying to pry open a king crab's shell.
This is ridiculous. Why would there be a time machine inside a king crab?!
"??????!!!"
Amid a high-frequency stream of profanity from the stall owner, the two finally left the fish stall—Azusa's precious oji-san fish completely out of reach…
Pinch!
"You little brat—did you come here just to mess things up?!"
Azusa pinched Shiro's cheeks, pulling them hard. She didn't usually care much about public attention, but… this was just too outrageous!
All she'd done was talk about buying a fish. Why did this guy start looking for a time machine?!
"Uuuu X﹏X It was an accident! I really didn't know that's how they named fish in Okinawa… You guys never told us!"
Shiro protested in a small voice. They weren't gangsters—why were they using codewords like that? What if someone said, "I want to eat some fish," would that mean—
(′｀;)?
"You didn't know?"
"Should we have?"
(???)
"...Then what did you guys do with the books we gave you before?"
The upperclassmen had given them books introducing Okinawa right after they arrived—those books definitely had that info!
Only then did Shiro remember. Those books… seemed to have been used as bricks. Nothing else.
"Umm… ahahahaha, looks like Iori might be in trouble over there! I'll just go check! Azusa-nee, you go ahead and keep looking for 'oji-san'!"
Shiro immediately fled. If you can't explain yourself, just run!
Damn it!
In the time he wasn't paying attention, that idiot Kitahara had already run off so far—he had to catch up quick!
...