At the Waterfall Soup Noodles shop, Hoshimi Aya, Belle, and Wise sat side by side eating ramen.
Hoshimi Aya polished off three large bowls of ramen and flashed a satisfied smile.
After being hungry for so long, she was finally full.
Moreover, her housing situation was resolved, she didn't have to worry about food or clothing, and she could even get her Denny expenses reimbursed by Belle and Wise.
After finishing the ramen, Hoshimi Aya dragged Belle along to buy clothes; after all, she had nothing but the outfit she was wearing. She also needed to buy daily necessities and a pillow.
However, one thing needed to be emphasized: the Video Store only had two bedrooms, so in the future, she would always be sleeping with Belle.
This was quite nice; the perks were actually very good.
At least, that's what she thought.
...
After they finished shopping together,
Hoshimi Aya changed out of her clothes and took a shower.
After all, her H.S.O.S 6 uniform was far too conspicuous.
Once she had changed, Hoshimi Aya went down into the secret room below.
"Aya, now that you're home, there's no need to keep holding onto your sword all the time, right?"
Belle asked, looking at Hoshimi Aya who was still gripping her blade.
Hoshimi Aya froze for a moment upon hearing this.
True, she wasn't in any danger now, but she had subconsciously brought the sword along.
"Sorry, force of habit,"
Hoshimi Aya explained.
It really was a habit to never let the sword leave her side; it was mostly muscle memory, and she probably couldn't change it since it had become an instinctive habit.
"I came here to talk to you about your future missions."
"Although we've taken you in for now, you can't just sit around idle, aside from protecting our safety here."
"If needed... you'll also need to follow us into The Hollow to help out."
"Is that okay with you?"
Wise looked at Hoshimi Aya and asked.
"No problem, I'm confident in that,"
Hoshimi Aya nodded.
This wasn't a big issue; even Phaethon couldn't go into The Hollow every single day. If they did, wouldn't this Video Store be a waste of space?
Besides, Belle and Wise rarely encountered danger here, so except for trips to The Hollow, it could all be considered her free time.
"During normal times, you'll also need to help manage the Video Store."
"After all, this is New Eridu; public security is quite reliable, so there basically won't be any danger."
"So when you have nothing else to do, you'll need to help run the store."
"Is that okay?"
Wise asked again.
Since they had decided to take Hoshimi Aya in, some things needed to be made clear.
"I usually need to practice my swordplay."
"Otherwise, I'm afraid my martial skills will get rusty."
"So I might not be able to help out sometimes."
Hoshimi Aya said after a moment of thought.
This was the truth, not just her wanting to slack off—though that was a small part of it.
But the sword practice was real; she needed to get familiar with her body. If she hadn't run fast enough in The Hollow last time, how could she have escaped the H.S.O.S 6 encirclement unharmed with this unfamiliar body?
Furthermore, through that incident, she discovered that Hoshimi Miyabi wasn't as fast as her when it came to running away, which was one of the key factors in her escape.
"...That works!"
"However, you'll need to set aside one day each week to handle the store's business."
Wise considered it.
Hoshimi Aya was a martial artist, after all, so practicing was normal. Based on her own description, her strength was great, likely due to frequent training.
And considering that martial arts training is exhausting, this one day of work could even be seen as a way to let Hoshimi Aya relax.
After all, managing the shop was much easier than training.
Of course, these thoughts were based on Wise not knowing Hoshimi Aya's true intentions.
"No problem!"
"I'll go find Number 18 later to get familiar with the work."
Hoshimi Aya nodded with a smile.
Working only one day a week, excluding the extra workload in The Hollow—this was simply too good!
Room and board provided, money to spend, and even clothes bought for her.
Only needing to work one day a week—that's just five days a month. Her happiness meter was completely maxed out.
"Aya, you can just ask me."
"I can teach you personally."
"Number 18 is a Bangboo, so there will inevitably be some discrepancies in that regard."
"I'll talk to you about it later."
Belle chimed in from the side.
"Okay, I understand."
"Is there anything else you need me to do?"
Hoshimi Aya nodded and asked.
It was just a Video Store, after all; it shouldn't be too hard.
Letting her coast like this actually made her feel a bit embarrassed.
She had to find some proper work to do; otherwise, working only four or five days a month with room, board, and expenses covered... her skin wasn't thick enough to just idle her life away like that.
"Not for the time being."
"Brother and I usually leave the store's business to Number 18."
"We rarely do it ourselves; we just need to restock and categorize things on the shelves."
"Number 18 usually handles everything else, unless it's particularly busy, then we help out."
Belle explained.
Hoshimi Aya was stunned for a moment before it clicked.
Being a Proxy was their main job; the Video Store work was just a side business to avoid suspicion.
In the game, it was only because their Phaethon account on the Inter-Knot was lost that they started managing the Video Store business seriously.
It was still early for that; their current income mainly relied on Proxy commissions.
Everything else was just the icing on the cake.
"I see."
"In that case, can the car in the garage be parked to the side?"
"I need a patch of open space to practice my swordplay."
Hoshimi Aya said after some thought.
Although she knew that for now, they wouldn't encounter any Etheralss she couldn't handle, she still needed to practice—at least to start getting slowly re-acquainted.
When she swung her blade in The Hollow before, it was entirely based on physical instinct and the images in her memory.
While it looked professional, she knew her touch was still very rusty.
"I'll go move the car now. Do you need to practice right away?"
Wise asked.
"Uh..."
"It's already close to evening."
"I don't think I have a habit of practicing the sword at night yet."
Hoshimi Aya said.
Today had been spent buying clothes and daily necessities, which took quite a while; it was already nearing sunset.
How could she start practicing at this hour, especially when there was nothing urgent?
"Then let's wait until after dinner."
"Brother, what are we eating tonight?"
"There are three of us now, how about we go for hot pot?"
Belle suggested.
"I'm in!"
Hoshimi Aya raised her hand.
How could ramen possibly compare to hot pot!
"Hot pot it is, then."
"Consider it a celebration for Aya joining us."
Wise pondered.
Seeing this, Belle excitedly pulled Hoshimi Aya toward the garage. Wise shook his head with a smile and followed them to the garage to open the door.
...
Nightfall.
Belle and Hoshimi Aya had both changed into pajamas and were lying in bed.
"Belle, aren't you sleeping yet?"
Hoshimi Aya lay on the inner side of the bed, her face slightly flushed as she looked at Belle sitting on the edge of the bed checking her phone.
This was the first time she had ever slept with a girl, even though she was a girl herself now.
But she was still a little excited.
Belle froze for a moment before realizing she wasn't sleeping alone anymore. She turned off the light, crawled under the covers, and hugged Hoshimi Aya while they looked at the phone together.
Hoshimi Aya also had a new phone Belle had bought for her, but she was still figuring it out; many of the apps were a bit different from her previous phone.
Besides, how could a phone be better than a cute sister like Belle?
Belle, who was also hugging Hoshimi Aya, thought the same. After hugging Hoshimi Aya, her attention wasn't on the phone anymore, but had shifted to the fox ears on top of Hoshimi Aya's head.
However, considering they had known each other for less than two days, Belle temporarily gave up the idea of touching them. For some Humens, these areas were very sensitive.
If Hoshimi Aya was like that with her ears, it would be a bit impolite. Better to wait a couple of days.
She'd touch them once they were better acquainted. Besides, the luster of Hoshimi Aya's ears looked quite good; they probably felt great to the touch.
Similarly, Hoshimi Aya was too embarrassed to hug Belle back directly, so the two of them just lay in bed properly and fell asleep.
...
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