Drive ◎ Symphony/Câu chuyện

## Trung tâm thương mại

 **Maho:**𝅘𝅥𝅮

 **Rinku:**Someone’s in a good mood!

 **Maho:**Yeah, I finally found this analog record I’ve been searching for. It was totally worth the trip! Thanks for joining me, everybody 𝅘𝅥𝅮

 **Muni:**No kidding. You’ve been looking for over an hour. At least I got to hit up used game shops while we were out.

 **Rei:**I’m delighted you found what you were looking for. What a curious place this is, though.

 **Rinku:**You don’t come to places like these often, do you?

 **Rei:**Not particularly. I do visit regular stores on occasion, but places like these are a bit… Ah…

 **Muni:**Heheheh, it’s got that hole-in-the-wall charm. There are lots of regular stores, but you can find plenty of odd places if you know where to look.

 **Rei:**Yes, I see that. It does strike me as rather strange. Not in a bad way, of course. It’s just fascinating to me.

 **Maho:**Ahaha, then as long as we’re here, why don’t we hit up some other places in the area? You’ve all got time, right?

 **Rei:**Certainly!

 **Muni:**Let’s start here. It’s a huge used comic shop.

 **Rei:**A comic shop? A place that sells manga? Um…

 **Rinku:**Wow, they’re got a lot of stuff at the entrance! And lots of weird trinkets…

 **Rinku:**Ooh, I know the anime this is from! It was popular even overseas!

 **Rei:**Goodness. Is this some kind of shrine? What is this about?

 **Muni:**Heheheh, I see you’re getting the whole newcomer baptism experience.

 **Maho:**This whole area is considered holy ground for subcultures. So is the record store I went to.

 **Maho:**Music, anime, manga, fashion… It’s a gathering place for stores catering to lots of different genres.

 **Rei:**A holy ground… I never realized it was so important. Do I need to purify myself before entering? I’m so very new to this.

 **Maho:**Nah. If anything…

 **Muni:**Don’t worry. Most regular people don’t know about this place.

 **Rei:**Oh, I see. This rabbit hole goes quite deep.

 **Rinku:**Hey, Rei-chan! There’s a bunch of capsule machines over here!

 **Rei:**Really?! I’m coming over now!

 **Muni:**Where do we take her next?

 **Maho:**Hmm. Let’s just wander around the major places.

 **Rei:**Um, I’m sorry if I got carried away. This is just a whole world I’ve never seen before…

 **Muni:**It’s cool. Normal people do the same thing. Of course you would.

 **Maho:**It’s fun ‘cuz it feels like we’re in a scene straight out of the Showa era.

 **Rinku:**Hey, I bought this random stuffed animal at that last shop. Any idea what it is?

 **Muni:**I think “random” is a good descriptor.

 **Rei:**Thank you all so much for taking me out today. It was a very fun and enlightening experience.

 **Maho:**Glad to hear it. We’ve hit most of the main spots. I guess we can call it a day here…

 **Muni:**Are you kidding? When we visit here, there’s one place we have to go.

 **Maho:**One place? ...Oohh, that place? You want to take Rei there?! Isn’t that going a little overboard?!

 **Muni:**Not at all. It’d be rude not to!

 **Rei:**?

 **Rei:**Oh me, oh my! Um, girls, this is…

 **Muni:**Heh. You asked for their specialty, and you got it.

 **Rei:**P-Perhaps, but this is too much… How many layers of soft serve is this? One, two, three, four…

 **Rinku:**It’s eight. Eight layers, Rei-chan! It’s so cute 𝅘𝅥𝅮

 **Muni:**This is the must-have when you visit here. The famous eight-layer soft serve! There you have it.

 **Maho:**Have you ordered this before?

 **Muni:**Absolutely! And I absolutely regretted it.

 **Rei:**M-Muni-san!

 **Muni:**Kidding. It’s perfectly fine. Try it.

 **Rei:**But it’s twice as tall as my head. Can people really eat this?

 **Muni:**It’s light and easy to eat, don’t worry.

 **Maho:**Here, lemme take a bite. \*awmph\* Wow, you’re right. It goes down easy, and it’s not too sweet!

 **Rei:**...Goodness, you’re right. And all eight flavors are positively delicious.

 **Rinku:**Gimme a bite, too!

 **Maho:**Me, too.

 **Muni:**Hey, watch it! If you all go at it at once…

 **Rei:**Eep! The tower of soft serve is toppling!

 **Rinku:**Oh no, I’m sorry! Fix it, Maho-chan!

 **Maho:**What? How?! With my bare hands?

 **Rei:**You would pick up soft serve with your bare hands?!

 **Maho:**What else am I supposed to do?!

 **Rinku:**Use your tongue, Maho-chan! Lick it!

 **Maho:**My tongue?!

 **Rei:**Maho-san, please!

 **Maho:**O-Okay Rinku, let’s take this from both sides.

 **Rinku:**Nooo, I got ice cream on me!

 **Muni:**Whoops. Using your tongue warms it and makes it melt. Guess I should’ve pointed out they could use spoons. Oh well, no harm done.

 **Rei:**Ah! Rinku-san and Maho-san, you’ve both got ice cream on your noses!

 **Rinku:**You too, Rei-chan!

 **Rei:**Dear me! Hee hee 𝅘𝅥𝅮

 **Muni:**They seem happy enough.