About an hour or so passed.
Belle finished all the tasks assigned by the client and marked all the materials that needed to be found.
"Finally, it's done."
"I'm exhausted, Aya."
"Big Brother won't be back for a while. Shall we watch a movie while we wait for him?"
Belle disconnected, stretched, and leaned back in her chair, speaking lazily.
Hoshimi Aya's eyes lit up at the suggestion; she had been wanting to see this world's movies for a while.
Hoshimi Aya trotted out and returned shortly after, carrying three videotapes in her hands.
"Belle, let's pick one of these three to watch."
Hoshimi Aya said excitedly.
In Hoshimi Aya's hands were the videotapes for Starlight Knight, Port Mountain, and Fast and Family.
"...Then let's watch Port Mountain!"
Belle said after some careful consideration.
Hoshimi Aya likely hadn't seen Port Mountain; in fact, she probably hadn't seen any of these three videotapes.
She probably didn't know Port Mountain was a horror film. Belle felt a bit of excitement imagining how scared Hoshimi Aya would be later.
"Okay, let's go with this one!"
With that, Hoshimi Aya pulled Belle up to the second floor, remembering that was where they could watch the tapes.
When Proxies came to borrow videotapes, Belle would sometimes let some of them watch with her on the second floor.
"Don't be in such a rush."
"The videotape isn't going to fly away!"
Belle, being pulled quickly upstairs by Hoshimi Aya, laughed as she looked at her friend's excitement.
"Let's try to finish it before dinner!"
"And then we can watch the other two."
Hoshimi Aya said excitedly once they reached the second floor.
"Alright, alright."
"I really can't do anything with you."
Having said that, Belle opened the door to Wise's room, drew the curtains, and closed the door.
The two of them began watching the movie Port Mountain.
Midway through, during the most intense part, Wise's sudden entrance gave them both a fright.
Soon it was dinner time, and the three of them went to Waterfall Soup Noodles.
"General Chop, I'd like a large bowl of Seafood Noodles."
Hoshimi Aya said, looking at the red-faced General Chop.
Meanwhile, Wise and Belle ordered the Chili Pork and Green Pepper Pork respectively.
Before long, the three of them had finished their ramen.
"I want to go out for a walk, look around, and get to know the area."
"Could you two come with me?"
Hoshimi Aya asked.
In the game, you could just teleport. To get to Sixth Street, she had to ask many people and walk a long way to find this place.
So she wanted to learn the routes. That way, if she wanted to clear her head alone later, she wouldn't end up getting lost.
But if they were busy, she would forget about it. After all, she could go for a walk anytime; there was no rush.
Belle glanced at Hoshimi Aya, thought for a moment, and then looked at Wise.
"Big Brother, we haven't been to Light Reflection Square in a long time."
"It's the perfect chance for the three of us to go to Light Reflection Square together!"
Belle asked, looking at Wise.
"...Belle, you two go ahead. I won't go."
"I still need to coordinate with the client. I'll go take care of that."
"I won't join you. Have a great time!"
Wise laughed awkwardly as he looked at them.
In this situation, he'd only end up carrying bags if he went along. He wasn't stupid, and besides, he really did have things to do.
Belle nodded and pulled Hoshimi Aya toward the garage, driving the car toward Light Reflection Square.
...
Light Reflection Square
After finding a parking spot, Belle took Hoshimi Aya for a stroll down the street.
This wasn't a game anymore. In the game, only a small area was open, and it wasn't complete.
But now this was reality. It was completely open, and there was no such thing as an inaccessible area.
"Belle, where are we going next?"
Hoshimi Aya said, holding a cup of milk tea in one hand while her blade was in the other.
At that moment, the two of them were sitting on a long bench across the road from a KTV.
"Aya, I'm looking at the map."
"It's night now, so there's not much of a view at the seaside."
"The scenery is only good during the day... How about we come out to play again tomorrow, Aya?"
Belle asked.
They had already visited quite a few places today.
"That works. I'll go buy a few more cups of milk tea."
"I'm almost finished with the one I have."
"I'll get one for Wise too."
Hoshimi Aya nodded.
It was indeed getting late; it was time to head back.
Suddenly, Hoshimi Aya noticed a few familiar figures coming out of the KTV across the street—it was the four members of H.S.O.S 6.
It looked like they had just finished a gathering with the other classes.
Seeing this, Hoshimi Aya quickly turned her back. If she were spotted, they would undoubtedly come to arrest her.
She didn't want to be locked up, and being caught would surely bring a mountain of trouble.
"Aya, what's wrong?"
Belle looked over as she spoke.
She also spotted Hoshimi Miyabi and the others, and understood why Hoshimi Aya was acting this way.
She still remembered Hoshimi Aya saying she had barely managed to escape from them, so she was clearly trying to avoid being seen now.
Seeing this, Belle helped provide cover. The two of them walked with their backs to H.S.O.S 6, heading toward their car.
Hoshimi Miyabi also noticed them, but she didn't realize that the Fox-Haired Person was the Hoshimi Aya she was looking for. She only felt the figure looked familiar, but since they were quite far away, she just had a feeling she had seen them somewhere before.
Besides, she was feeling a bit sleepy now, so she didn't pay it much mind.
She already had a plan regarding Hoshimi Aya. Whenever she had free time, she would go to Sixth Street to look; she could sense that Hoshimi Aya was definitely there.
As long as she checked often during her time off, she was bound to run into her. And she absolutely had to clarify Hoshimi Aya's identity.
What was certain now was that Hoshimi Aya was indeed her father's daughter, which meant they were biological sisters.
She was happy to have another sister, but there seemed to be some misunderstanding between them. She needed to find Hoshimi Aya to clear it up and mend their sisterly bond.
...
Meanwhile, only after making sure Hoshimi Miyabi was out of sight did Hoshimi Aya breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness I wasn't spotted."
Hoshimi Aya said with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, I've memorized this spot, Aya."
"Next time we come out to play, we'll steer clear of here."
Belle said, a bit sheepishly.
It would be disastrous if they actually met. They would definitely end up fighting, and Hoshimi Aya was certainly no match for that person, so it was better to avoid them.
"Let's go, time to head back."
"They were probably just here for a gathering. We'll just avoid this place in the future."
Hoshimi Aya said, looking back once more. After confirming everything was fine, the two of them returned to the Video Store.
...
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