According to my childhood friend, “Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean you should waste money on it. That’s what they call penny-wise and pound-foolish,” apparently.

She’s right, and thinking back to when I got my New Year’s money, I really was pretty carried away.

I was trying to buy every game that caught my eye during the sale, so from the outside it probably looked like I was on the verge of wasting money.

When I was told something like that by the childhood friend in question, being lectured in that way by this idiot of a childhood friend… honestly got under my skin a little.

And yet, despite cutting back on how much I bought, even now my game list is still full of titles I’ve barely ever launched. In the end, things turned out exactly the way that childhood friend said they would.

Lately, whenever I look at that game list, I end up imagining an imaginary version of my childhood friend inside my head, smugly saying, “See, I told you,” and even though I know it’s unreasonable, I still get a little irritated. That’s been my gaming situation recently.

Now then, as for the childhood friend who gave me those oh-so-helpful words that make me feel conflicted every time I see my game list…

“Since we’re high school students now, I think I’ll try doing something we can only do because of that!”

“Huh.”

“That is… eating while walking home! So let’s take a little detour and go to the dagashi shop! Gin-chan!”

“Haa…”

After parting ways with our other friends and classmates at the station we passed by on the way home, it was just the two of us.

At that moment, my childhood friend, Sakura Ayuri, who secretly claims to be a reincarnator, energetically declared that to me.

“Oh my, Gin-chan, your energy’s low. You’ve become a blossoming high school girl and you’ve already reached old age?”

“If anything, what’s with your energy? You go to the dagashi shop all the time anyway, don’t you?”

There’s only one dagashi shop around here, and it’s obviously the one she’s talking about.

I honestly don’t understand what there is to get so excited about when it’s just going to a dagashi shop we’ve already gone to countless times.

“You really don’t get it at all, Gin-chan. We’re high school students now, you know?”

“Sure.”

“Unlike when we were in middle school, the amount of money we can openly carry around has increased, right?”

“Sure.”

“So if that’s the case, what else is there to do but buy snacks on the way home with our increased funds!”

“…Wouldn’t the convenience store be fine? It’s more expensive, but they sell lots of different things, and they’ve got hot snacks too…”

“Haa… good grief. You really don’t get it, Gin-chan…”

Ah, yeah, she’s clearly making fun of me right now. When she’s this blatant about it, it seriously ticks me off.

So, without saying a word, I poked her in the side at a fairly quick pace.

“Hmph.”

“Ugh.”

“Come on, come on, tell me what it is that I supposedly don’t get.”

“Hey, sorry, I’ll apologize so stop—ugh.”

Good grief, I’ve won again. This so-called reincarnator gets cocky way too easily despite being ridiculously weak.

That aside, while I’m not exactly thrilled, I’m not against going to the dagashi shop itself.

Snacking on cheap sweets while finally tackling the games I’ve been putting off could have its own appeal.

“Well, whatever. If we’re going to the dagashi shop today, let’s hurry up and go.”

“O-okay…”

And just like that, we strayed from our usual route home and headed off on a detour.

* * *

“What should I get…”

“Yeah, yeah, a high school girl agonizing over choices at a dagashi shop—what a picture.”

Click.

“Hey, don’t take pictures without permission.”

Even if everything’s cheap, there are still things you feel like eating and things you don’t, depending on your mood.

At worst, I could give leftovers to family or friends, but cheap or not, it’s still my own money. I should start by picking what I actually want to eat. As I stood there thinking that, Ayu was pointing her phone at me and taking photos.

“I got permission from the lady, so it’s fine.”

“No, get permission from the subject before the shop.”

“I already took it!”

“That’s consent after the fact.”

Well, whatever. Ayu casually taking photos is nothing new, and she’s actually the type who dislikes putting private stuff online, so I’ll let it slide.

Of course, I’ll check later to make sure they’re not weird photos.

“You should hurry up and choose too, Ayu. This was your idea.”

“Ehh, I want to soak in this situation a bit longer…”

“Don’t tell me you came here just for that.”

“Just kidding, I’ll choose properly.”

She put her phone away and started looking over the shelves next to me, muttering “hmm…” as she did.

…I see. I’ve seen Ayu agonize over what to buy in this shop plenty of times before. It’s an everyday sight, something I’m well used to.

But this time is a little different. Right now, we’re high school students, still wearing our uniforms and stopping by straight after school. It really does feel just a bit fresh, like we’ve grown up, and I find myself gradually realizing that.

Feeling slightly nostalgic, I can sort of understand why Ayu, acting a bit like an older sister, wanted to take pictures. Though I still think taking photos without permission is questionable.

“I see…”

“Hm? What’s up, Gin-chan?”

“No, just thinking that we’ve grown up.”

“…But nothing’s really changed yet, so where are you getting that feeling from?”

So that’s not it? Was she just drunk on the situation earlier?

Half annoyed at having the ladder kicked out from under me, and half embarrassed that I myself had been getting swept up in the mood, I poked Ayu in the side again.

“There!”

She’s weak, so I only gave her a light jab, but with enough force to make it sting.

“Ugh, I was joking! It does feel kind of fresh coming here in our uniforms, right?!”

Since she confessed, I poked her once more. If you know that, don’t pull the rug out from under me.

* * *

“Man, we bought a lot.”

“How much did you spend?”

“About 500 yen.”

“For a dagashi shop that’s… well, maybe normal? Or not?”

We spread out what we’d bought and started eating right away on the bench out front.

I’d kept mine to around 200 to 300 yen and ended up with a decent amount of small snacks, while Ayu had bought some bigger sweets on top of the small ones.

“You bought Choco Baby. You can get that pretty much anywhere, no need to come here just to buy it.”

“I saw a drama before where there was a scene of someone eating this at a dagashi shop. I thought it looked kind of nice.”

“Huh.”

That sounds about right. She does like situations and atmosphere, so it’s very Ayu-like.

“According to that drama, ‘Kids eat them one by one because it’d be a waste, but I’m an adult so I eat them all in one go,’ or something like that. You were talking about growth earlier too, Gin-chan, so I thought I might try it as well.”

“Oh really… want me to do a chant for you?”

“A chant?”

“You know, ‘Go, go, chug! Chug!’ Like college students or working adults do at drinking parties.”

“Isn’t that just something adults do, but still kind of childish?”

I wasn’t really planning to do it anyway since it’d be embarrassing.

She opened the container and tilted it, pouring about a third of it into her palm to form a small pile. Come to think of it, I don’t remember ever seeing Ayu eat these all at once.

“So that’s how you do it.”

“Hm?”

“I thought you’d just pour them straight into your mouth.”

“In that drama they did, but normally that’s kind of unrefined, Gin-chan.”

“Haa.”

This girl lecturing me on what’s unrefined.

Before long, Ayu tossed the small pile into her mouth. I could argue that eating a bunch at once is unrefined to begin with, but I’ll let that slide.

“Yeah, not bad.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Fhai… mmm.”

“Huh? What?”

“Mng… you’re eating some too, right, Gin-chan?”

She held the container out toward me. She probably avoided chugging directly from it because she planned to do this.

“Then I’ll take some.”

“Of course! …Here you go!”

“…Huh? Hey, wait!”

Chocolate pellets piled into my left palm as she tipped the container upside down, showing no sign of stopping. I hurriedly used both hands to catch them before they spilled.

“Say stop when you want me to stop!”

“You say that now?! Stop! Stop!”

At my “stop,” the gentle avalanche finally came to an end.

As a result, the pile in my hands ended up two or three times bigger than the one Ayu had earlier. And the container was completely empty.

“Wow, you’re greedy, Gin-chan.”

“…If ‘stop’ was the only stopping word, shouldn’t you have said that first?”

“…Go, go! Chug! Chug!”

“Don’t ignore me.”

She was reluctant when I suggested it earlier, yet now that she’s on the giving end she’s leading the chant. What is that about?

Anyway, the real problem is the mountain of chocolate pellets in my hands.

It would probably fit in my mouth, but opening my mouth wide like that feels wrong. More than that, I don’t want to stuff my mouth full of chocolate.

“Hey Ayu, to sum up what you said earlier, eating it all at once is proof of being an adult, right?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Then here, hold out your hand.”

“Huh? Okay… whoa.”

I tipped my pile straight into her outstretched palm.

My pile shrank as hers grew, and once the two piles were about the same height, I stopped.

“It’s true that we’ve grown by moving from middle school to high school.”

“Yeah.”

“But from society’s point of view, high schoolers are still kids. Honestly, we wouldn’t be out of place being treated like middle schoolers.”

“Fair enough.”

“So for us, that earlier amount for a chug is still too much. This feels just right.”

“You have a point… but…”

“…Why are you hesitating? You bought these in the first place.”

Ayu looked thoughtful as she stared at the pellets she’d gotten back.

“Well, honestly… don’t get mad, okay?”

“That depends.”

“…I tried chugging a little earlier as a test, and while it wasn’t bad, it’s not really my thing.”

“Haa.”

“And if I eat them little by little like usual, I’ll probably end up right near the expiration date again, and then I’ll have to go around giving them away, which is a hassle.”

“So you tried to make me consume a huge amount instead.”

“Pretty much.”

That explains why she was so forceful.

“Well, growing up means doing things that don’t suit you sometimes. Or do you want to try putting them back in the container?”

“That’d be even more of a pain… so I guess I’ll do it… chug.”

“Go on, go on.”

Honestly, the chocolate sitting in my hands was starting to get annoying.

When I tipped the pile into my mouth and started eating, Ayu followed suit. It’s been a while, but they’re pretty good.

“Mmm, it’s tasty, but… rather than a waste… there’s this vague sense of guilt…”

“Feeling guilty just because you chugged some cheap candy.”

“Well, that’s kind of a habit from my previous life… over there, I’d eat this kind of snack slowly to enjoy it longer.”

“Oh, so that’s what you meant by it not suiting you…”

If it’s a habit carried over from a whole previous lifetime, I guess it can’t be helped. Still, if it’s not an important memory, it might be better to forget it and enjoy this life properly.

“If we go by that drama you mentioned, then even though this is your second life, the fact that you can’t enjoy this honestly means you’re still a kid.”

“Ugh… being outwitted by a girl on her first life.”

“Who are you calling a girl, you short little brat.”

* * *

“Alright then, it’s about time for… the final fun event!”

“Huh? What, all of a sudden?”

Having finished off the chocolate pellets and eaten a fair amount of the other snacks, Ayu stood up with a lollipop in her mouth and declared that.

“Look, Gin-chan, you’re taking the rest home, right? So I thought we’d do one last thing before heading back.”

“One last thing… buying more to bring to school?”

“No, no! Come on, we’re going back into the shop!”

“Haa… fine.”

Leaving me behind with her mysterious energy, Ayu opened the shop door again and I slowly followed.

I still had no idea what she was planning.

“Ma’am! Let me draw a lottery! The super ball one!”

“…I can see the punchline already.”

What Ayu asked the shopkeeper for was the super ball lottery. There were still plenty left, and none of the big prizes numbered ten or under had been taken yet.

“Gin-chan, don’t you think it’s sad how young people these days complain about gacha in mobile games and talk about bad pulls?”

“The person around me who plays those gacha games the most is you.”

“…Anyway! Modern gacha, whether real or digital, is expensive! But this one is only 50 yen a try! Even ten pulls are just 500 yen! I’m going to vent my gacha urges with this!”

“I see. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

A textbook case of mixing up means and ends.

She handed over 500 yen and quickly took the lottery tickets, apparently planning to flip them all at once.

“What’s your goal?”

“Obviously! The big number one with the Earth pattern! Alright, first one… 75!”

“That’s high.”

“Next! 53!”

“A bit closer.”

“26!”

“Oh.”

It feels like it might work. But with lotteries and gacha, whenever it feels like it might…

“84! 65! 97!”

…

* * *

“So, did you get your gacha urge out of your system?”

“…I guess I did… in the sense that it convinced me not to pull gacha at all.”

With the sun starting to set, we finally headed home for real.

In Ayu’s bag, alongside her textbooks and notebooks, were not so much the dagashi she’d bought earlier as a massive number of super balls from the lottery, a full 1000 yen’s worth.

“When I pulled 26, I thought I might get ten or under…”

“After that, you hardly pulled anything under 50.”

“And on top of that, the one from 26 had this pattern…”

The super ball she rolled around in her palm was kind of… egg-yolk colored and a little gross.

If there were a ‘luck’ stat in the world, then based on experience, Ayu’s would probably be low. In the end, it turned out exactly like I’d imagined.

“So I couldn’t grasp the Earth with these hands…”

“…Alright. I’ll give you a phrase, as consolation for unlucky Ayu.”

“What?”

Honestly, it’s mostly just me venting daily frustrations, but I don’t know any words more fitting right now.

So I say it.

“Do you know the saying ‘penny-wise and pound-foolish’?”

I’m probably wearing a bit of a smug expression.