Traveling With a Beautiful Girl

While concentrating on editing, we arrived at Hamamatsu in no time.

“Oh, Hamamatsu is more prosperous than I thought.”

I said, looking up at the towering high-rise building reminiscent of a harmonica in front of the station.

“It seems that it has a larger population than Shizuoka, the prefectural capital. In terms of urbanization, which one is…”

“Stop that topic. It’s inflammatory.”

The battle of urbanization between cities of the same scale is a taboo area that shouldn’t be poked into. After stuffing our luggage into a coin locker, we headed to Sawaya. The target store was located in the restaurant district of a department store in front of the station.

“It’s very popular, isn’t it?”

It was around 11:30.

Although it was still early for lunchtime, there was already a queue in front of the store.

“Do you like waiting in line? By the way, I’m fine with it.”

“I’ve never experienced waiting in line, so I don’t know.”

“Huh. Do you not eat at restaurants in general?”

“Our housekeeper always cooked for me, so I basically didn’t eat out.”

“Turns out you’re a bourgeois.”

“I don’t know if I’m bourgeois, but I think my family was financially well-off.”

I wasn’t particularly surprised.

Nanase has an atmosphere that would make her indistinguishable from a well-bred young lady who has received an elite education. Moreover, she seems unfazed despite having spent a considerable amount on this trip, so her family must be wealthy.

Come to think of it, this might be the first time I’ve heard about Nanase’s family background.

I had consciously refrained from asking about it.

“About the waiting in line thing, if I objectively analyze my personality, I don’t think it’s mentally healthy to simply wait in line without doing anything productive.”

“Alright, let’s line up for now.”

“Wait a minute…”

Ignoring Nanase’s long-winded reasoning, I quickly wrote my name and sat down on the waiting chairs.

“You’ve got some nerve to completely ignore my opinion.”

Nanase glared at me reproachfully, and I said,

“If you’ve never experienced it, why don’t you give it a try? You might find it’s not so bad after all.”

“I can only think of it getting worse when I do nothing but space out.”

Nanase, who doesn’t have a habit of idly browsing SNS, probably feels restless.

“Alright, I’ll teach you some ways to kill time while waiting in line.”

“Didn’t I say I don’t believe in flooding myself with useless information?”

“Calm down. First, open YouTube, okay?”

“I’m already subscribed to the Yoshi Channel.”

“No, not Yoshi-san’s channel. Just think you’re being fooled and open it.”

“Muu… I’m sure it’s nothing good.”

I thought she was quite honest for actually doing it while grumbling.

“I’ve opened it.”

“Alright, now search for ‘Sawayaka Hamburger.'”

“A bunch of gourmet YouTubers’ videos showed up.”

“Don’t say ‘a bunch.’ If it’s a meat restaurant, Nikujiru TV or Akkun’s Gaishoku Gourmet videos are recommended.”

(T/N: I do not know if they exist because I couldn’t find them. If they do, please comment)

“What are you trying to make me do, Takahashi-kun?”

With a smug expression, I told Nanase, who looked like she was reading a suspicious self-help book,

“While waiting in line, keep watching the store’s review videos. Then, your appetite and expectations will rise to the extreme, and you can enjoy the excitement even while waiting!”

Nanase reacted as if a suspicious religion had come knocking.

“I can only see a future of spending meaningless time.”

“Come on, give it a try. Gourmet review videos can be surprisingly addictive.”

“You’re persistent. There’s no way I would get hooked on such unproductive videos.”

20 minutes later.

“…Um, Nanase?”

“Don’t talk to me; the actual eating scene is coming up soon.”

She was completely hooked. To be honest, I thought she would dismiss it as “ridiculous” after watching for about 20 seconds, so I was surprised.

Nanase might have a low threshold for entertainment after all.

“Takahashi-san, for two!”

As soon as our names were called, Nanase stood up faster than I did.

“Takahashi-kun, it’s time for the showdown.”