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mimosacafe
"It feels like time has been flying since I came here. But if life goes on this way, I can sense I've got even more treasures to look forward to than before."
"Treasure Hunt: BANRI - PART 1”
Banri: (Looks like this is all the sparkling water they have left. Guess I’ll go ahead and take them all.)
(Hm? This new milk tea product…)
(This must be the tasty one that Nee-chan has been mentioning. Maybe once in a while, I should try——)
……
(Or maybe not. Something as stupid sweet as this shit is sure to be the target of Hyodo’s sweet tooth. He might even drink it without asking.)
(I’ll just grab some gum then…)
Geh…
(The register’s all crowded. I’m gonna line up anyway but damn….)
……
Taichi: Cola!
Itaru:double that order
Banri: (There’s the usual instant replies…. Oh? Someone rare has entered the chat.)
Banri: (Is there something like that ‘round here? ….Sweets aisle, sweets aisle…)
Ah, found it. This must be it huh?
Banri: (A code… No, is this the name of the snack?)
(Talk about fancy, this stuff. Never mind that— So he can actually send texts with barely any typos after all.)
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Banri: I’m home.
Taichi: Ban-chan, welcome home!
Banri: The hell is this mountain of sweets?
Kumon: Muku brought back a bunch of souvenirs from his amusement park trip, so now everyone’s having a dessert party~
Muku: You can have some if you’d like, Banri-san!
Banri: Oh… Thanks then.
Muku: Ah, speaking of… It seems like they’ll be doing Zombie Run Night again this year. There were posters about it all around the park.
Izumi: Zombie Run Night! That sure brings back memories!
Banri: I’m guessing they’re taking freshmen from our course to join in for part-time again.
Azami: Hohh… If they’re doing it again I might wanna join in. Last time was a good experience after all.
Kazunari: I’m gonna be meeting the prof who’s in charge of the contact desk there soon. Want me to ask them for you?
Azami: For real? That’d be a big help if you could. Thanks, Kazunari-san.
Citron: Banri, welcome homey! Did you get us our snacks?
Banri:These, right?
Citron: Thank you very much!!
Hisoka: My marshmallows?
Banri: Here you go.
Hisoka: Thanks.
Muku: Citron-sama, Hisoka-san! Please help yourselves to some souvenir treats!
Citron: Ohh, these also look delish! I’ll have some!
Hisoka: ….I’ll eat them with the marshmallows.
Banri: I’ll grab some too. There’s a report I gotta finish by tonight, so I’ll have these with coffee to keep me up later.
Azami: Like hell you’re staying up. You’re got the photo shoot for your birthday bromide soon.
Banri: Ohhhh, right. There’s that coming up too.
Taichi: If we’re talking about the birthday bromide, that also means the treasure-hunting project, right!
Kumon: Banri’s always going to escape room games with Chikage-san, so he’ll probably find the treasures right away.
Muku: Then the ones in charge of his presents this time should make the hints extra difficult.
Banri: Feels like the goal of the project is a lil’ different now. Well, either way, I’m looking forward to seeing what sort of hints I’ll get.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Izumi: Alright. Here’s the project’s main camera, and your first hint.
Banri: “Belting King♪” ….?
The hurdle’s too high right off the bat. What’s the point of a BD gift treasure hunt if I can’t find it?
Izumi: Uhm… Would you like me to give you another hint? On the house?
Banri: (Belting…. King…… Maybe there’s a vital clue in the words themselves…. Which only means…)
……He didn’t make any translation error on this, did he?
Izumi: …..Fufu. I’m in no authority to say anything.
Banri: With the way you're answering, there must be no other person than him.
✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦
"Treasure Hunt: BANRI - PART 2”
Citron: You finally came. I’ve grown elastic just waiting for you, you know~
Banri: You’re the one who gave such a difficult hint. Also, it’s “exhausted”, not “elastic”.
Citron: Ohh sorry sorry♪ In any case, let’s get in!
Banri: Hang on, I still haven’t found even one of the treasures yet—
Citron: We’re already here in front of the karaoke place anyway! Just one song!
Banri:Wh– OKAY! Okay, I get it! You don’t need to pull my arm!
[FLASHBACK]
Banri: I’m back.
Citron: Welcome home!
You’re not as I expected, Banri. You’re a delinquent, but you come back home early like a good kid~
Banri: Huh?
Citron: If I remember right, you’re pretty smart right, Banri?
Banri: Hm? I guess.
Citron: Then I want you to help me out in my Japanese studies!
Banri: Who, me?
Citron: I had planned to ask Itaru or Masumi, but both of them said they couldn’t go.
Banri: I can somehow understand asking Itaru-san, but Masumi? You sure it’s not better to ask Tsuzuru or Sakuya instead?
And when he meant “can’t go”, he must’ve totally meant he’d rather stay in the dorms than go to a library or something.
Citron: Anyway! Let’s hurry up! Before they change to the night rates…!!
Banri: Night rates……?
——Wh–H-Hey! Don’t pull me around—
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Banri: (...So that’s what he meant by night rates. I see why he wanted to ask Masumi then.)
But why did you think of karaoke to help you with your Japanese?
Citron: From the start, I’ve been able to recognize Japanese by ear. That’s why I think studying through song is the perfect way for me.
But it’s lonely to sing by myself. Since I wanted to use the karaoke either way, it’d be nice to enjoy it with someone else too.
Then, I came up with the decision to take whoever was the first person I’d greet after they arrived at the front door.
Banri: I see.
(He dragged me along with quite some force, but improving Citron’s Japanese is gonna be important for the theatre troupe too, so…)
Well, I do like karaoke so I’ll play along.
Citron: Thanks so much!
Banri: You got a song in mind?
Citron: Not quite yet. I want to hear what you’d recommend, Banri.
Banri: Even if you ask me…
[KNOCK KNOCK]
Clerk: Thank you for waiting, here’s your order for one snack set.
Banri: Since when did you make that order…
Citron: …What do you call this cute, pink snack? It reminds me of cherry blossoms!
Banri: Those are plum rice crackers, aren’t they? They play the CM for it quite a lot on TV.
“Umeumeumeee ~ Umejirou’s Plum Rice Crackers~”[1] …Something like that. Ever heard of it?
Citron: I’ve heard of it! I’m gonna go sing that one!
Banri: You serious!?
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Banri: Yooo, that’s not too bad.
Citron: But there are a lot of parts that I couldn’t sing.
Banri: Well there’s not really a lot of people who’d even know the second part of the song, much less the last chorus.
Karaoke Box: YOUR TOTAL SCORE…. IS 60 PTS!
Banri: Oh it’s been on auto-scoring mode, huh.
Citron: It’s so low…
Banri: Considering you got through the parts you didn’t know, it’s still good isn’t it?
Citron: Absolutely not good! I will sing until I get 100 Pts!!
Banri: HUH!?
(I mean, I suppose Citron is learning a thing or two along the way. Fine, I’ll keep at it too.)
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Karaoke Box: YOUR TOTAL SCORE…. IS 95.7 PTS!
Citron: That’s barely above the 96 pts hurdle! One more….
Banri: …Isn’t that enough?
Citron: It means nothing if it’s not 100 pts.
Banri: Why do you want to get 100 pts so badly? It’s only karaoke, so it’s fine to not get a perfect score, right?
Citron: ——
Banri: Besides, it seems like you already got the title achievement too.
Citron: Title?
Banri: Look at the screen.
Citron: “You are… the Belting King♪” …..?
Banri: Seems like if you play a song 100 times, you’ve got the vocal cords to belt it. Thus, “Belting King”.
Citron: “Belting King”... That’s not a bad title. With this, I’ll show them office ranks just for today.
Banri: That’s “forgiveness”. What kind of office ranks do you have the power to give even.
Citron: (Up until now, I’ve always thought it’s supposed to be natural for me to always be perfect in everything. I’ve slipped into that frantic thinking again…)
….Banri, is there anything you’re bad at?
Banri: …’ Course not.
Citron: Ohh! You must be so precipice then!
Banri: “Perfect”, right. You must’ve made THAT error on purpose, didn’t you.
[FLASHBACK ENDS]
Banri: (...And now here we’re doing the same kind of karaoke together, just like that time, huh.)
(Well. Except the fact that it’s not under the pretext of studying Japanese anymore.)
[KNOCK KNOCK]
Clerk: Thank you for waiting, here’s your order for one snack set.
Banri: …Don’t tell me this is the present?
Citron: Oh, but of course not! I’m a celebrity even here, I wouldn’t be that stingy.
This here is your present!
Banri: An envelope?
Citron: Hurry and open it!
Banri: …Free-time complimentary coupons?
Citron: With this, you can sing to your heart’s content without worrying about paying for a whole day’s session!
Banri: Which part of this is supposed to say “celebrity present”?
…Well I’m still thankful. I’ll be sure to use them.
Citron: Happy birthday, Banri! Now then, let’s have one song to celebrate….
Banri: Before that, mind passing me the note for the next hint first?
Citron: Oh, I forgot!
✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦——✦
"Treasure Hunt: BANRI - PART 3”
Banri: The next hint…. “Z’s scratch marks”...?
This hint sure feels like a chuuninbyou wrote it down…. Do they really have any intention to give me a present at all?
Child: Hey~! I wanna go there too~!
Mother: This zombie chase event? You might end up crying scared if you go, you know.
Banri: (Zombie…?)
…….
Could it be….
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Azami: Nice work getting here. You figured that out fast. I was sure you’d fail on the challenge too.
Banri: Then just give me an easier hint next time while you’re at it.
Azami: Hah. You really are amazing, Banri-san.
Banri: Well…. I suppose the timing’s right too. Or should I say stroke of fate instead?
Azami: I guess I can say the same.
I’ve been given the job to do the makeup for this year’s Zombie Run Night.
It just so happened that I also had to come to the amusement park to get the rundown training for it.
Banri: That so? That really is good timing then.
But did you have to do that kind of thing last time?
Azami: I think that was a special case.
Banri: ??
Azami: I’m gonna be formally paid for it this year. In other words, I’m not just an assistant, but I’ll be doing the job for reals this time.
Banri: Hey, that’s awesome. ‘Grats.
Azami: Well… I guess I did get some sort of payment back then too...
[FLASHBACK]
College Student A: Good work today!
College Student B: Phew~ That was so fun!
Staff: Those of you who are being charged part-time and had to make commute expenses, as well as ones who had a hand in preparations, please come over to me for your compensation! Give me your name and your role titles once you do.
Azami: Role names huh…. You guys actually have that?
Banri: Kind of, yeah.
Azami: Banri-san, yours is….
Banri: “Zombie Z.” As basic as you can get.
Azami: You think so? Sounds pretty cool to me.
Banri: More like pretty lame. Though, probably still better than just “A” or “C” attached to the name.
Anyway, the line’s getting longer. We’d better take our part-time payment too.
Azami: Ah, I’m not entitled to that so you go on ahead. I’ve already gotten my commute compensation.
Banri: ……That so? Huh. Alright then.
Azami: I’m still a middle-schooler after all. Plus I’m hiding all this work from my old man.
I was just asked to help out, but it’s not like I’m looking to get paid for it.
Banri: …Hmmmm. Okay, I’ll just get my share then.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
College Student C: Thank you so much for your work on today’s makeup!
Azami: NP.
College Student C: Oh, is that the Mister Handsome Zombie over there?
College Student D: Ah, Zombie Z?
College Student E: Settsu, right?
College Student C: He sure was amazing~ He was even the lead when it came to the prisoner count, so he’s even getting extra pay for that.
College Student E: Actually, we should go over and greet him too, yeah? See you!
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Banri: Sorry I took a while. Seems like Director-chan and the others are waiting for us, so we’d better get going too.
Azami: Okay.
Banri: Before that…. Here you go.
Azami: …Is this juice?
Banri: “Zombie Run Drink: Taste so good that it would get even zombies running.” … At least that’s how they labeled their event-exclusive drink. It’s apparently pretty in demand.
… Y’know, even if you say it’s a question of your age, or that it’s just a little helping hand, your work is still honest work, Azami.
Even though I’m the one who gave you the idea to join in the Zombie side, but still.
Point is, I wanna give you this as a reward for all your work tonight. Sorry it’s just a meager one though.
Azami: A reward…..
Thanks, Banri-san.
Banri: Also, this is just between us, but I really think my compensation was a little too much to have all for myself.
Azami: Seriously? That’s a pretty hefty amount though.
Banri: Only all because I poked my nose in a fellow member’s business too… Well, in a way, it feels like the zombies left their scratch marks on us.
Azami: Weren’t you on the side of the hunters, not the hunted?
Banri: Point taken.
Azami: Well…. For helping with that sentiment, I guess I’ll be taking that reward.
Banri: Sure thing.
[FLASHBACK ENDS]
Azami: Being rewarded for my makeup, and getting me to realize that I worked for it… Both of them are thanks to you, Banri-san.
It really wasn’t just the fun of acting that you taught me back then.
That’s why I’m really grateful to you.
Banri: ….Wasn’t expecting that from you. But yeah. Thank you too.
Azami: Oh, I almost forgot to hand over the crucial part of this whole thing.
Happy Birthday, Banri-san.
Banri: A mascot charm? Hang on, doesn’t this guy look a lot like me?
Azami: “Zombie Z” from that Zombie Run was so popular that they made a limited supply of character merch of him.
‘Course, they got a different guy playing Zombie Z this year. I was told I might be in charge of his make-up too.
Banri: For real?
(...Even without me realizing it, there was another mark left by that zombie act, huh.)
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Banri: (...Oh right, it was mentioned I should take a pic of the presents I received and post them on Inste.)
[CAMERA CLICKS]
…That should do it.
(There sure was a lot that happened today that I hadn’t expected. And there I was thinking that this treasure-hunting thing would be a simple walk in the park….)
(Things that I’ve said and done… Without even me knowing it, I'd leave my own little marks throughout my surroundings. I’ve kinda always known that.)
(I’ve had my own experience in the other side— that someone else’s words and deeds have influenced my own. But then the feeling of being told directly by another person that I influenced them….)
…Yeah, it’s definitely a weird feeling.
(Maybe I should try to write down something a little more serious than usual for my Inste post this time——)
[DOOR OPENS]
Juza: Huh, you were already home.
Banri: …Hey, that milk tea—
Juza: This? I heard this new product’s pretty good so I bought it. Not gonna give you a single drop of it though.
Banri: As if I want it….
….Tch. Good thing I made the right call on not buying something that I wouldn’t normally get.
Juza: ??
Banri: Don’t mind me. Anyway, time to actually upload this to Inste and….
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[1] ume = Plum; “umee” is also colloquial for “umai” (delicious)