Everyone, Everything, All Over Again

Chapter 17: The Supermarket

-Hajime P. O. V.-

Chiaki and I went to the supermarket. We stepped inside and didn't see anyone.

"Weird. I thought Masaru and Kotoko were here?" I wondered aloud.

"And Leon." Chiaki added. "I wonder if they left?"

"RARGH!"

We suddenly jumped back, falling down onto the ground. Chiaki and I looked up at the source of the scream to find a laughing Masaru and a giggling Kotoko and Hiyoko behind him.

"Ha! Stupid demons! You're so easy to scare!" Masaru teased.

"Yeah! You may be adorbs, but you need to be brave!" Kotoko added.

"Geez Hajime, you need to grow a spine." Hiyoko said.

We stood up and dusted ourselves off. "Very funny. Hiyoko, what are you doing here?"

She held up a half open bag of gummy bears. "I wanted to buy more gummy bears!"

I should have known... "What do you mean 'buy'?"

She looked at me funny. "What? You mean you don't know? You have to use your monocoins to buy things here. These gummy bears cost 10 coins per bag!"

"Is there some sort of security?" Chiaki asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Actually, yes." Said a different voice.

We all turned to see Monomi who had appeared out of nowhere, like she always does, but it felt a bit different with her looking human.

"Hi Monomi." Chiaki said, waving slightly.

Monomi pointed to the entrance of the market. There were two things on either side of the doors, those things at grocery stores that detect stolen goods. "If someone doesn't pay the right number of monocoins at the register and tries to go through the detector with a stolen item, a loud siren will play all over the island."

Hmm... So I guess that means that nothing was stolen...

"Supermarket Detectors" have been added to the Truth Bullets section of your handbook.

"Wait, Monomi, is there a cashier? Who do we give the monocoins to?"

"Well, dis is my store afta' all! You give 'em here!"

We looked over at the checkout to see Kurokuma standing behind the register.

"Wheneva' you kids wanna buy somethin', ring that 'dere bell on da' counta' and I'll pop up to take yer coins away! Never to be seen again. Afta' you pay for what you want, you're free to leave 'ere!"

"So, you're in charge of the store?" Chiaki asked. "Are you a good choice for a cashier?"

"Why of course I am! I even put up a special rule! If any of you kids come in 'ere as a couple, I'll give ya anotha' of whateva' cost da' most for free! There are other specials, too! Buy two of somethin' get one free! Every third purchase gets a free Usami keychain! And best of all, everything's half off on Fridays! 'Course, it's Thursday, so you'll be payin' in full."

"Kurokuma's Account" has been added to the Truth Bullets section of your handbook.

"So, there are specials in this store?" Chiaki asked.

"Yeah. Duh, haven't you eva' been to a supamarket before?"

Chiaki walked over to a shelf and took a flashlight. "How much is this?"

"20 Monocoins, kiddo!"

Chiaki pulled some coins out of her pouch in her pocket and gave them to him. She then pocketed the flashlight.

"Pleasure doin' business with ya'! Now, do you kids want anything else before I get outta 'ere?"

"Do you know if anyone bought anything?" I asked, hoping to get a clue for the trial.

Kurokuma laughed. "Hey, I'm not allowed to tell ya who took away that servant and da nurse! But, I guess I can give you 'dis."

He then shoved a paper into my hand and disappeared, as quick as he appeared. Monomi then vanished in the same manner.

I took a look at the paper in my hand. It read 'Receipt of New Island Day 1'. I guess that's Izuru's way of counting the days here.

The items were as follows:

Bag of Gummy Bears - x1 - 10 coins - 10 total

Bottle of Chloroform - x1 - 10 coins - 10 total

Rope - x1 - 30 coins - 30 total

Rag - x1 - 5 coins - 5 total

Padlock - x1 - 10 coins - 10 total

Voice Changer - x1 - 15 coins - 15 total

Blanket - x3 - 10 coins - 30 total

Video Camera - x1 - 20 coins - 20 total

This might be useful...

"Supermarket Receipt #1" has been added to the Truth Bullets section of your handbook.

"Anyway, where's Leon?" I asked Masaru, realizing that the baseball star was missing.

Masaru shrugged. "I don't know. He left a few minutes after we got here. Dumb demon. Anyway, if you're looking for that guy we kidnapped before and that girl with the taser, they're in the backroom." He stuck his finger towards a direction.

I followed the direction to see a door in the back of the store. "Thanks." I said as Chiaki and I went over to it.

When we entered, we found Byakuya looking over a clipboard while Toko hovering over his shoulder. They looked up at up when we entered.

"What do you want?" Byakuya asked, adjusting his glasses.

Hello to you, too... "What are you two doing in here all by yourselves?" I asked, deciding not to comment on his lack of a hello.

"B-By ourselves...! M-Master Byakuya and I have been in here alone the whole time...!" Toko said to herself.

"You shut up." Byakuya told her. He stood up and walked over to us, handing the clipboard to me. "I came in here to see what items have been purchased and do some math. I got a list of the full inventory from Kurokuma earlier and started doing some calculations. I finished examining the shelves out front, so I came back here to see if anything else was different."

"Oh. About that..." I showed him the receipt. He looked over it with interest.

"Something is wrong here..." He said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"Look at my calculations." He answered plainly.

I glanced down at the sheet.

Items missing after Day 1: One bag of gummy bears, one bottle of chloroform, one rag, two ropes, one rag, one padlock, one voice changer, four blankets, an Usami keychain, and one video camera. Total spent: 130 monocoins.

"You're right! A few of these items are a bit off. If only we could know exactly who came through here yesterday..."

Now that I think about it, maybe Hiyoko saw something. I heard that she was here all day.

"Byakuya's Calculations" have been added to the Truth Bullets section of your handbook.

"Thanks, Byakuya. This will be handy. We'll see you later." I said, tucking the paper in my pocket.

"I didn't say you could keep it. But, I suppose you can. I finished up here after all. Toko, come. We'll check the pharmacy next."

The two left. We left the backroom, but stayed in the supermarket.

"Looks like Hiyoko left." Chiaki commented.

"Hey Masaru! Kotoko! Did you see where Hiyoko went? I need to talk to her." I asked.

"Oh that adorbs dancer? I heard her mumbling something about the music venue."

"Thank you." Chiaki and I left the supermarket.