Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16816927860895175888/episodes/16816927862868330934
I pull into a parking area, get out, and stretch out.
I was still a little over halfway to my destination, but I felt slightly tired, probably because I hadn’t driven in a long time.
“Heh, it’s a weekday, but there are more people here than I expected.”
Touko san looked around with her hair blowing in the wind.
In the parking lot, there were several large trucks parked by drivers who were probably taking a break, but there were also families who were probably on a trip.
“You’re right. Do you wanna go straight to the soft-serve ice cream shop, Touko san?”
“If Ken kun has nothing else to do, I might do that. Do you wanna buy some souvenirs for the company on the way home or near the inn?”
“Oh, souvenirs?”
It’s not like I’m going out that far, but I think it would be better to buy something and take it home.
I also told Ayana that I was going on a trip.
“I’ll buy them at the inn. Oh, I’m gonna go to the restroom.”
“Yes, I’ll wait for you over there then.”
Touko san headed for the building where stores were lined up.
It will be about another hour from now to our destination. We would be driving nonstop until we arrived.
I headed for the restroom.
As I was washing my hands after using the restroom, a pair of men came in.
“Hey, isn’t that woman we saw just now pretty damn hot?”
“Yeah, she was a really fine lady.”
Suddenly, I heard a voice and stopped my hand from flushing with water.
“Her face, her body,……or her atmosphere.”
“She was so sexy.”
The two men were having such a conversation while doing their business.
I was somewhat curious and listened to the conversation, although I should have just washed my hands and left quickly.
“Haa, if I hadn’t been with another woman, I definitely would have called out to her. It’s really bad to call out to other women while traveling.”
“Of course. I mean, a beautiful woman like her wouldn’t even look at us, a normal college student.”
“Well, you’re right.
The four men and four women probably came here to travel by car.
It doesn’t seem like they’re lovers, but I guess that’s the way their relationship was planned.
I saw them coming toward me in the mirror, laughing, and I left the restroom.
“Oh, Ken kun.”
I walked out of the restroom.
At that moment, there was such an aligned movement, as if she made a sound in a horror movie and all the zombies around her looked at me at once.
Moreover, there was something cold in their expressions and eyes.
Some of them sounded like they were slightly tongue-tied, but I’m sure it was just my imagination.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”
“It’s all right. Let’s go.”
Touko san ran up to me and folded her arms as if it were natural.
It hurts to look at those around me. To outsiders, we probably look like a couple on a date.
Feeling such stares, we arrived in front of the soft-serve ice cream shop that Toko-san had mentioned.
“Have you decided what flavor you want, Touko san?”
“Hmmm, I’m still thinking about it…….”
Touko san turns her attention to the travel magazine she was looking at earlier.
The article has a red circle on it that she must have circled in advance.
“I recommend this soft serve ice cream with mango gelato on top. But I thought regular chocolate would be good too.”
“Gelato? That’s very unusual.”
“That’s right. I heard that this soft serve ice cream shop is pushing a jellied type of ice cream. It’s a taste you can’t get anywhere else, and I’ve been curious about it for a while…….hmmm, I don’t know what to do.”
“I’ll have the chocolate one and you have the mango one. How about that?””
“Is that okay?”
“Yes, of course.”
I don’t dislike chocolate, in fact, I was going to choose it from the beginning.
I told her that, and she looked happy.
“Then, let’s feed each other. I’ll feed you while everyone watches.”
“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t do that…….”
Touko san said happily as she headed towards the store.
The look on her face and the tone of her voice gave the impression that she was really looking forward to it.
Before I knew it, I had forgotten how people were looking at me, and I was walking next to her, who looked younger than she looked, with a smile on her face.
—However.
As we approached the store, I felt a little uncomfortable.
Although they sell a rare type of soft-serve ice cream called “gelato,” the appearance of the shop is just like any other soft-serve ice cream shop in a food court.
There was nothing about it on the sign or the signboard.
“Welcome !”
“We’ll have one mango gelato ice cream and one chocolate ice cream, please.”
When she told this to the young female staff, she tilted her head.
“Um, what is mango gelato ice cream..?”
“Eh?”
She looked at the magazine with a surprised look on her face.
“Mango gelato ice cream? …Ah, maybe.”
The woman at the back of the store then blurts out something as if she has just remembered something.
“Maybe, but I heard that the previous manager planned a new product, mango gelato. I think you were talking about that.”
“Oh, now that I think about it, you said you used to do something like that. But that disappeared long before I started working.”
“That’s right. We’re sorry, dear customer…..we don’t sell gelato ice cream anymore.”
Touko san looked sad for a moment when she heard those words, but then she smiled bitterly.
“Too bad. This magazine I’m looking at is old…I knew it might no longer exist.”
She showed me the cover of the magazine.
“Ah, I remember the magazine you had. I think it was when the store manager…yes, it was three years ago !”
“Three years ago?”
Why do you have a magazine from three years ago?
Thinking so, I turned to Touko san,
“Well, what do you recommend now?”
Touko san asked the staff.
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