「 I’m back~ Huh? Nia? 」
I came back from the Yakuza’s place but Nia wasn’t home.
The PC is left on, and the speakers are playing Western music we often hear in short videos, but Nia, who was supposed to be watching it, wasn’t there…
I wondered what happened to her for a moment, but when I looked closer, I saw her two cute little animal ears growing out of the sofa side.
「 Nia, why are you hiding? 」
I called her on the sofa and she popped out.
「 Daiki-nii! It’s you! I thought that I had to hide if it was someone else. That’s why I did 」
I see. She sensed someone was coming because of her detection skills.
But, why would you peek out your ears while you’re hiding? What’s your aim?
I feel suddenly judgmental but she’s just being cute.
When she realized that it was me, she was relieved, and she came in trotter steps with a big smile on her face.
「 I’m done with my business, so why don’t we go outside? You must be getting hungry 」
「 Hungry! What are we eating? 」
「 Anything Nia wants. Do you have anything in mind? 」
「 Mumu, T-Then, I have something I want to eat. Daiki-nii knows what it is. Let’s see, it’s the kind of food where you put an egg on top of red rice! The one where the eggs are fluffy 」
For a moment, I was thinking that she wanted to eat some mysterious food where you pour egg over red rice, then I realized after some thinking that she wanted omelet rice.
「 Omelette rice? Where did you find that? 」
「 I saw it in the moving photos. I saw at least 10 of them. They look so delicious 」
I see. She discovered it from a short and now she wants it.
I watched a lot of cooking videos and stuff so it was easy to figure out.
「 Okay, let’s go look for a delicious one! Nia, prepare to leave 」
「 Ooh! Yes! Yes! 」
Nia, who had been hugging me, let go, pulled away, and put on a short-sleeved hoodie over her favorite shirt, which she was also wearing today, hiding her ears and tail with her backpack.
She wears shorts below and she’s all set.
I left the room with Nia who changed her clothes, and as we were leaving, she held my hand.
「 Ehehehe, I’m afraid we’ll get separated, so can we hold hands? 」
「 Sure. I’ll worry to death if Nia gets lost, so let’s do that 」
The thought of Nia getting lost in this world was so ominous that it gave me shivers.
This fear, once aroused, will not calm down for a while, so let’s move while holding hands.
After some searching, I found a restaurant in the neighborhood that had a reasonable reputation and went there.
We also rode a taxi again, but Nia’s used to it, she got herself in and was absorbed with the view outside.
Arriving at the restaurant that I wanted to visit, I got to sit down without waiting for the line.
「 Eeh? So it tastes like this! Delicious! So good! 」
「 You don’t need to rush. Look, you have rice on your cheeks 」
Nia’s excited about her first omelet.
She never had food that tastes like this in the other world, so I guess this is some kind of revolution in her taste buds.
Her tail is buzzing around her backpack, and she can’t contain her excitement.
Thank goodness our seat was at the end of the hall, and there was nobody next to us.
Still, this is to be expected for a kid who missed meals before.
She still hasn’t gotten over her habit of shoveling down food.
In the end, Nia’s able to stomach one serving of omelet rice and a third of the fried pork and ginger I ordered
It’s fine to binge eat coming here, but it’s a good thing that we don’t come here often.
As we left the restaurant, I spoke to Nia who was holding my hand again.
「 We’re already full, what should we do next? What do you think, Nia? 」
「 Hmm, I dunno! 」
「 None? Okay, is there anything you want? How about we buy something cute, like this T-shirt? 」
「 Hmm, I’ll do that when we come with Euphy-nee. Ah, I have something I want. You see, I want to learn the language of this world, so I need a book with letters 」
「 I see. You want to learn the language. That’s good. It also helps me a lot 」
「 Oh? Will it help Daiki-nii? 」
「 Yes. If you learn the language, maybe Nia can do some jobs for me 」
「 Ooh, that’s good. If I start working I’ll be useful for Daiki-nii 」
Nia jumped in pleasure.
「 I don’t know why you’re happy because you’re getting a job. Still, why would you want to learn the language? 」
「 Hmm, if I learn it, I can read what’s on the game, right? That means I can play other games, Daiki-nii said that before 」
「 Oh, I see… 」
It’s the same idea for foreigners who want to learn Japanese to enjoy Japanese content.
Well, the motive doesn’t matter, it’s seriously helpful to have Nia learn Japanese.
It’s important to have someone who can read and understand what is being brought to Japan, as well as how to act.
But it will take a long time to get there.
And so, we decided to walk to the station which can be reached by a short walk.
As the building is one of the busiest train stations in the world, it also houses a large bookstore that sells many Japanese language materials.
I went to a stationery store and bought some writing materials and notebooks, and then Nia received them with sparkling eyes and clutched them on her chest.
She’s happy with anything, and I’m also enjoying it.
「 What’s next? Do you have anything else you want to do? 」
「 Hmm… Nothing more today! 」
「 Don’t hold back, you can be selfish you know? 」
「 What do I want to do? Ah, I have one, I want to stay at home and watch things with Daii-nii. Also, I want to play games 」
「 So it’s all indoors… 」
That’s a surprising request for Nia who’s usually so active.
But I feel like she just wants to spend time with me instead of going outside and doing something.
I guess her craving has grown because I’ve left her for a while.
「 Anything that will make Nia happy. Okay, why don’t we eat at home tonight? Then… Okay, I know a good place 」
「 Ooh? A good place? 」
As usual Nia’s so reactive, and I pull her down the escalator.
We went to the basement floor of the building.
Once there, Nia’s eyes widened at the sight of the grocery stores lined up in the underground.
「 There are a lot of eateries! Ooh! Is that meat!? Sausages too! There’s some cake too!!! Aaah! Looks delicious! 」
She’s looking around everywhere looking like she’s about to drool from her mouth.
Her reaction when it comes to food is so good.
She’s interested in her next meal even though she just ate earlier.
I need to be careful so she doesn’t get fat.
But you know, let’s pretend not to see that for today.
Come to think of it, it’s the first time we’ve been alone together for so long.
I’ll let her eat as much as she wants today.
「 Nia, you can pick whatever you want 」
「 Err, err, what do I do? Ah, I want to eat that 」
「 Hmm, Gyoza? You know what to pick. Anything else? 」
「 Err, I can get another one? 」
「 Sure, you can pick whatever you want. You can eat as much as you want 」
「 Then, can I also buy one for tomorrow and dinner? 」
「 Huh? Are you going to stay home tomorrow? 」
「 Hm. I’d rather stay home because I want to stay close to Daiki-nii. That’s why I’m getting a lot today 」
「 You want to be with me that much? Okay, let’s go buy and stock up! 」
「 Yes! Yes! I want two parts off that cake! 」
Nia sticks to the one cake per day rule, and she goes to half of the stores and buys all the food she can.
Our hands are full after shopping.
Not forgetting to buy souvenirs, Nia happily went home.
I got out of the taxi, entered the apartment, and went up to the third floor.
「 We bought a lot. 」
「 Yeah, we bought too much. You’re going to eat all these? 」
Nia looked happy with her luggage, so we came back not using our magic bag, but this was a bit too much.
「 I can eat the leftovers later 」
「 It’s not like they’ll go bad easily, and we have a fridge so you don’t have to rush. 」
While we’re having this conversation, the elevator arrives at the third floor and the doors open.
A mature woman in front of the door saw me and looked surprised.
「 Oh? Kotori-san. It has been a while 」
「 Ah yes, It has been a while 」
This is the wife who lives next door, she’s a polite neighbor who greets us every time we see each other like this.
「 We haven’t seen each other recently, and the police have been coming and going, so I’ve been worried 」
「 Oh, I’m sorry for the trouble. I went on a long trip without telling anyone so I was reported as missing 」
「 Oh? Is that so? 」 I’m glad that you seem fine. This girl, is she a foreigner? 」
「 Yes, she’s the daughter of a traveler I met on a trip, and she’s interested in Japan so I’m showing her around 」
「 Oh? Is that so? She’s such a cute girl, and her eyes are beautiful. She seems to be happy with her shopping 」
Nia doesn’t understand our conversation but she smiles when the eyes fall on her.
The wife looked at the smiling face pleasantly but then she looked at me as if she remembered something.
「 Oh, I’m sorry. I have to go shopping too. Kotori-san, are the eggs there cheap? I might still make it in time
「 Yes, you’re right. It’s better to get there sooner or they might get sold out 」
「 Oh, you’re right. If you’d excuse me 」
The wife nodded as she got into the elevator, and I gave a nod back.
At that moment, the wife looked up and laughed, probably because Nia mimicked and bowed her head.
Hmm, I was seen with Nia.
I should’ve gone back to the room while we were in the elevator, but there’s no way around it.
Well, there’s no use in worrying about it.