"I've decided to become Yashiemon." That was what Yachii stated all of a sudden, having run into me on my way back home from school. "What? What are you talking about?" All the kids from my school that passed us did so with their eyes turned towards Yachii. Made sense; her head was quite the sight to behold. Each time she moved it, particles of light shot out, dancing in the air around her like flower petals. Likewise, the ribbon of hair behind her head, tied like the wings of a butterfly, practically shone with spring. "To get accustomed to this planet as well as this town, I was thinking that I'd first become famous." "What?" Something about that sounded off. "I can't afford people to discover that I'm an alien, after all." There was a very sharp expression on her face, just like the first time we'd met and she'd spoken to me. "Yes, I'm so much smarter than my brethren. Hehe." "Anyway, Yachii. Is it true that you don't go to school?" I asked while simultaneously circling behind her, only to see that no school backpack was being carried on her pale shoulders. If she lived nearby, then I figured that we must have gone to the same school. However, not once had I seen her there. "Are you skipping?" Was she the same way as Sis? Well, to be fair, she wasn't doing that all that often these days. "Hahaha! What are you talking about, Shou? Didn't I tell you? I've long since graduated." "Really? Even though you're smaller than me?" "No, I'm the bigger one." Her feet appeared to tremble for some reason as she said this. Taking a look, I saw that she was standing on her toes. Coward. Determined not to lose, I stood on my toes as well, and just like hers, my feet also began to tremble. We competed like that for a while, trying to see which one could make themselves appear taller, until suddenly, Yachii leapt upwards. Her toes reached the level of my eyes, and... Wait what? I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, but by the time I took another look, she'd already returned to the ground as if nothing had happened. "This makes me the winner." "Huh? Right..." I shook my head back and forth as if disregarding her proclamation, far more occupied with trying to make sense of what had just happened. "You jumped pretty high just now, didn't you?" "No? It was pretty average, I think." Really, "average"? In what world? Yachii did look foreign. Could it be, where she was from, everyone jumped that high? "Now, to start with, name an item. Anything. And I'll pull it out from my pocket for you", she stated while emphasizing her front pocket. There was something about it that made it feel pasted on. I peered inside, but there didn't seem to be anything inside. "Anything?" "Yes, anything." "Well then, strawberry shortcake. Pull out a strawberry shortcake." I'd just been thinking about how I wouldn't mind eating one of those right now. Urging her, I pushed out my hand. Not that I was expecting much. Obviously not. There was no way that she could do something like that. "A short cake?" "No, not a cake that's short. A shortcake." "Cake?" Puzzled, Yachii tilted her head. I couldn't help but act a bit surprised myself. "What's cake?" "Huh? You don't know what cake is?" "Nope", she stated while puffing out her chest. I wasn't sure why, but she seemed quite proud in her ignorance. "Cakes are round, like this. And sweet. Well, there are some that aren't sweet, but not that many. Anyway, I like the normal kind, or rather, the ones with strawberries and whipped cream, and—" I could see Yachii's eyes visibly roll from left to right as she listened to my explanation. "Hmm, I don't think I'll understand without seeing a real one." "A real one? Oh, they might have some at that place." By "that place" I meant the convenience store a bit up ahead. Yeah, there should definitely be cakes on sale there. But, before going, there was something that I wanted to confirm. "Can you really do it?"
"I certainly can." While I was talking about her pulling the cake out of her pocket, something about the way Yachii replied made it sound like she was referring to her ability to create one. And so, I ended up making a detour to the convenience store. It honestly wasn't a good idea for kids as young as us to go by ourselves, but then again, seeing how Yachii had claimed to be 680 years old, I figured that it'd be fine. Was it 680? I couldn't tell; the precise digits had left my mind. A large assortment of western-style sweets lay lined up on the shelf next to the section where they sold sandwiches. You could pick from over a dozen different varieties of pudding. However, as far as cake went, there were only two types available: Mille Crêpes and Mont Blanc. I picked up a slice of Mille Crepes as it most resembled a shortcake in shape and showed it to Yachii. "This is what cakes are like. Although, this one doesn't have any strawberries." "Hmm, hmm." She took the slice off my hands, and carrying it, began moving towards the cash register. "You're going to buy it?" "Of course. I have to see what it tastes like." "...Yachii, do you have money?" I decided to ask while following after her. I was a bit worried. Naturally, I didn't have any with me. "Money..." she mumbled back, her eyes drifting off to the side. She then continued in an equally vague fashion: "Lii-laa." Was this really going to work out? I couldn't help but feel slightly nervous as I stood there in front of the cash register alongside her. Usually when I came shopping, I did so with Mom or Sis, but now, there was no wall between me and the adult. I would have to face them alone, by myself. It didn't help that the old lady standing behind the counter appeared very large and very stern. In contrast to how I was, Yachii didn't seem frightened by her in the slightest. "This, please", she said while presenting the cake to the lady. She then put her hand in her pocket and began rummaging through it, and while the woman was busy staring at her hair in awe, pulled out a piggy bank shaped like a sitting teddy bear. I was left speechless. The bear bank was clearly far too large to have fit in her pocket. Although the lady hadn't seen it with the counter blocking off the lower half of Yachii's body, since I was standing right next to her, I certainly had. It was almost like an illusion, a magic trick, a sleight of hand. In any case, Yachii proceeded to pull out 500-yen coins from the bear bank as if nothing had happened, lining them up next to the cash register one after another. "How much is it?" she asked. A pretty strange question; why hadn't she checked the price? In slightly awkward fashion, the lady told her that a single one of the coins was enough, to which Yachii replied by stating "Oh, really?" before putting the rest back. After this, she tossed the bear bank into her pocket as if there was nothing weird about what she was doing. I couldn't help but let out a silent shriek as I watched it vanish. Yachii then ran off without accepting change. I tried to follow after her, but before I could, the lady behind the counter offered the change to me instead. My heart began pounding as I took the coins. It felt I was going beyond what I was capable of. My cheeks grew itchy. With that done, I exited the store myself, only to find that Yachii had already opened the plastic case and pulled out the cake slice within. Using a plastic fork, she cut off a piece and brought it to her mouth. It was there that I noticed something I hadn't been conscious of this whole time: Her lips, too, were faintly blue. What was up with that? I found it impossible to avert my eyes. I was left staring at her, and even forgot to hand her the change. ...Her eyebrows were so pretty. She probably put in a lot of time making them look that way, huh? Same with her hair. At the same time, I had a feeling that the particles of blue light emitting from it wouldn't like it if I kept touching them, and would eventually fly away. "This is good. Very sweet", Yachii praised the cake, all the while moving her soft cheeks around. "Here. You have some too, Shou." Those words barely out of her mouth, she cut off a second piece using the fork and stuck it out towards me. At first, I was left a bit confused: Was I supposed to grab the fork or what? However, seeing how the piece would likely fall off if I kept thinking about that for too long, I decided to just go for it and extended my neck. The prongs stabbed my tongue slightly, although being plastic, they didn't really hurt. Just like Yachii had said, the cake was really sweet. In addition, as I bit into it, my heart once again began pounding. There was something special about it, eating sweets outside on my way back from school. Plus, I was hanging out with Yachii, who with all her impossibilities made it so that I simply couldn't calm down. Not even in manga did you see girls like her. "One more bite?" "Huh? No, it's yours." "Here it comes", Yachii stated while presenting me with another piece she had cut off, completely ignoring what I'd just said. There was not much I could do other than let her feed it to me again. I didn't even do this stuff with Sis anymore, yet for some reason, when it was with Yachii, I wasn't able to say no. I was once more left to savour the sweetness. I wonder, if I were to lick her pale fingertips, would they taste the same way? That was something I couldn't help but think of as I stared at them, witnessing all of their fine details up close. Once I was done eating, Yachii licked her lips clean of any cake scraps, chewed thoroughly, and then spoke: "Alright, I now have a reasonable understanding of the taste and shape. This should work. Just a second, please." She then turned her back towards me. From what I could see, she appeared to be fiddling with her pocket. Don't tell me, what happened earlier with the piggy bank was going to be happening again? "What are you doing?" I asked while trying to take a closer look, to which Yachii replied "No looking!" before trotting away. She almost resembled a crane, like the ones I'd seen in picture books. Soon enough, she trotted back to me. An object lay on her extended hand, an object which I couldn't help but stare at with my eyes wide open. "Here you go." There was no denying it; what she was holding up was a slice of cake. Sure, it looked like it might crumble any second now as it rested directly on her palm with no plate in between, but still, a cake was a cake. "Ooh! What's this?!" "A short cake, like you asked." "Hmm. No, I think it's a bit off." Regardless, she'd done it. She'd really pulled out a cake from nowhere. Was this a magic trick? Perhaps she'd actually bought two cakes and hidden the other one? Wait, no... That couldn't be. I'd been there at the store with her, and could confirm that she had bought just a single one. The slice she was holding also seemed a good as new. No bits were missing, no pieces had been cut off anywhere. "Hmmm." I didn't get it. Was this a mere trick, or was there really something magical about her pocket? "Hehehe. So, what do you think, Shou? I'm famous now, right?", Yachii asked me, sounding extremely proud of herself. I got the feeling that she didn't really understand how the concept of being famous worked. As I stared at the pocket by her stomach, I instinctively found my brows furrowing. All she'd really accomplished was making herself more suspicious. Oh, but I wasn't going to tell her that. Not before I'd eaten the cake. Wouldn't want her to take it back.
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