Shiori Fuyutsuki watched Ho Fei-yu and Yui Nakaizumi chatting enthusiastically in front of her with a sense of helplessness. She could only hope her sweet, naive best friend wouldn't be snatched away so quickly by the "big bad wolf," Ho Fei-yu.
Unable to join the conversation, Shiori Fuyutsuki distractedly looked at the shoulder bag she was carrying. It should contain her convenience store uniform, some cosmetics, and the nearly expired instant food from the store.
"Huh?" Shiori Fuyutsuki suddenly noticed that there was no nearly expired instant food in her bag today. Her small head quickly processed the information, and she remembered putting the item in her locker when she changed, and must have forgotten to take it when she left.
Shiori Fuyutsuki was a frugal person. Last night, just before closing, she found some unsold instant food. Not wanting it to go to waste, she casually took one. Sure enough, this morning, she saw Yoshihiro Shimoda throwing away all the nearly expired instant food from the previous night into the trash.
So, driven by her desire to be frugal, she took another one when she left just now. It wasn't expensive, only about 240 yen.
It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but she usually only ate one bowl of rice. If Auntie Mao didn't serve her more, she wouldn't help herself to another. So, the instant food she took home became her midnight snack.
That's why Shiori Fuyutsuki decided to go back and retrieve it.
"Fei-yu... kun, could I borrow your key? I... I forgot to take something." Shiori Fuyutsuki spoke nervously. Although it was an act of frugality, it was still technically wrong, but she just couldn't bear to see the food wasted.
"Sure." Ho Fei-yu found her shy demeanor amusing. He never thought the girl who looked strong and tsundere on the outside would have such a side.
"Thank you, Fei-yu-kun."
"Please wait here for a moment. I'll be right back." Shiori Fuyutsuki said to the two people in front of her. She estimated that they had walked about three hundred meters. A quick jog would take only four or five minutes.
After saying this, Shiori Fuyutsuki quickly walked away, only starting to jog once she rounded the corner.
"Fei-yu-kun, let's wait here for a bit." Yui Nakaizumi's face was flushed. Only after her best friend's back disappeared did she realize that it was just her and Ho Fei-yu now. Her brown eyes occasionally glanced at Ho Fei-yu, and she felt her heart beating rapidly.
"No, something is wrong." Ho Fei-yu suddenly remembered that in the anime of his past life, Shiori Fuyutsuki also returned to the convenience store to retrieve something she forgot. There, she was threatened by Yoshihiro Shimoda and willingly offered herself, eventually dragging her best friend into despair with her.
"Yui-chan, wait here. I'm a little worried." Ho Fei-yu said and didn't wait for Yui Nakaizumi's reply before running toward the convenience store.
'Heh heh, Fei-yu-kun actually called me Yui-chan. Does he like me too? Heh heh.' Yui Nakaizumi seemed to have only heard the first half of Ho Fei-yu's sentence, paying no attention to the latter part.
'I can't let Yui-chan and Fei-yu-kun wait for too long.' Shiori Fuyutsuki thought, quickening her pace. She soon arrived at the convenience store. Just as she was about to unlock the door, she realized the store wasn't locked.
"Did Yoshihiro Shimoda forget to lock it?"
With suspicion, Shiori Fuyutsuki cautiously opened the convenience store door. Since the automated voice had been turned off, there was no sound.
'A thief?' Shiori Fuyutsuki crept toward the changing room, but noticed a few beams of light coming from inside. She guessed what was happening.
She stopped her approaching steps. Her heart pounded rapidly, and her breathing involuntarily deepened, sounding strange in the otherwise silent convenience store.
"Heh heh! Tomorrow morning, I'll get a live broadcast of those two bitches changing clothes."
"Looks like I should rest my hands tonight. I'll finish the job twice as much tomorrow morning. Hahaha."
"Installing three cameras should be enough."
'Yoshihiro Shimoda? Cameras? Secret filming!' Shiori Fuyutsuki heard the familiar voice coming from inside. Just listening to the sound made her feel greasy.
If you needed an example, it was like the short video Ho Fei-yu saw in his past life saying, "Why won't you look at me?"—so greasy it made your skin crawl.
"Yoshihiro Shimoda, I can't believe you're secretly filming! Yui-chan is your niece!" Shiori Fuyutsuki was a very righteous person, especially when it concerned her best friend. Without thinking, she pulled open the half-closed door and sternly shouted at Yoshihiro Shimoda.
"Ah!? I'm... not... no! Don't talk nonsense!" Yoshihiro Shimoda was placing the third camera. Just as he finished and wiped the sweat from his forehead (because his frequent indulgence made his body ache and feel drained with slight movement), he heard someone shouting at him. He panicked and fell off the stool, landing on his butt on the floor, but still trying to deny it.
"Is that so? The surveillance equipment here shouldn't lie!" Shiori Fuyutsuki's pale finger pointed to the spot Yoshihiro Shimoda had just been rummaging through. There were a few boxes there, which were likely used to conceal the cameras.
"These... these were all installed by General Manager Takahiro. Someone has been stealing in this area recently, so he asked me to install them." Yoshihiro Shimoda got up, rubbing his buttocks with his hand, wincing in pain. His mind quickly fabricated an excuse, transferring all the blame to Taro Takahiro in a flash of inspiration.
"But you, what are you doing coming back so late?" Yoshihiro Shimoda's eyes darted around, looking for a way to escape this predicament. If Shiori Fuyutsuki still bothered him tomorrow, he would just stubbornly deny it. Anyway, his sister would be there, so let her worry about it.
"Hmm? What's in your locker? Aha, I never thought you, Shiori Fuyutsuki, who looks so honest, would steal things!" Yoshihiro Shimoda suddenly noticed a packet of instant food in Shiori Fuyutsuki's locker. He had noticed yesterday that Shiori Fuyutsuki had taken one without permission, but thinking it was about to expire, he hadn't stopped her. But now, he could only rely on this method to see if he could escape this crisis.
"Ah... This... I saw... it was about... to expire, so I just..."
"So you can just steal it?"
"Who taught you that? Was it my sister? I guess I need to have a serious talk with her." Yoshihiro Shimoda saw the uneasy look on Shiori Fuyutsuki's face and realized he had the advantage. Without waiting for her to explain, he delivered a final blow, speaking with feigned righteous indignation.
Shiori Fuyutsuki instinctively wanted to explain, but when she heard Yoshihiro Shimoda mention talking to Auntie Mao, she panicked instantly and was speechless.
"Heh heh, so my sister, Mao, doesn't know about this, huh?"
"How sad would she be if she found out? Would she be disappointed in you? Or if I reported this, would she be implicated too?"
"W-What do you want?" Shiori Fuyutsuki's mind went blank. Especially when she heard that Auntie Mao would be implicated, a surge of guilt overwhelmed her. Her eyes began to redden, and tears visibly rolled down her cheeks. She spoke meekly.
"Heh heh, what do I want?"
"Your Uncle here loves JK girls like you the most! If you can give me some pleasure, maybe I'll be happy and won't say anything." Yoshihiro Shimoda never expected such a turnaround. Seeing Shiori Fuyutsuki looking so fragile, without the arrogance she had earlier, his bean-sized eyes scrutinized her body. A wave of lust surged in his heart, wanting to violently defile her. The words coming out of his mouth were vile.
"N-Never!"
"Is that so, Shiori-chan? You don't want my sister to know about your theft, do you?" Yoshihiro Shimoda said with a mocking smile on his greasy face, acting as if cornering Shiori Fuyutsuki was a done deal.
Shiori Fuyutsuki took a step back. If she turned and ran now, Yoshihiro Shimoda couldn't possibly catch her, but the image of Mao Nakaizumi's kindness to her flashed in her mind. She could only close her eyes. A tear rolled down her pale cheek, finally dropping and leaving a streak of moisture.
"Hahaha, here I come, little darling~" Yoshihiro Shimoda laughed loudly, wearing a winner's smile. Shiori Fuyutsuki was now fish on a chopping block, completely at his mercy.