“Yahoo!”
As soon as I left the vegetable section, I felt a surge of energy. I raised my arms and cheered, causing everyone around to stare at me. Feeling embarrassed, I quickly lowered my arms. What I just did was way too attention-seeking.
“Maru, let’s go to the meat section!”
“Okay, Hana.”
Maru said while pushing the shopping cart. I felt like I was riding a sled as we arrived at the meat section. There were all kinds of meats there—pork, beef, ribs—just looking at them made my mouth water.
“Maru, I want to eat ribeye steak!”
Since the building I live in has a cooking space on my floor, I could grill the meat myself without going to a restaurant. Of course, it’s dangerous for me to grill alone, so Bora or Haru usually helps me. It had been a while since I wanted to eat ribeye, the most delicious part of beef.
“Alright, alright. If Hana wants it, we gotta buy it!”
Maru agreed with me and put the ribeye steak from the display into the cart. Suddenly, I felt like I was trapped in the cart and got all heated up. I gestured to Maru to pick me up.
“Huh?”
“Get me out of the cart!”
I was tired of sitting in the cart. Now I wanted to move around and put the things I wanted to eat into the cart. Maru seemed to understand my feelings and picked me up, gently placing me on the floor. Feeling free, I ran from the meat section to the snack section.
The convenience store in our building sells snacks, but compared to the large supermarket, the variety is limited. There were many snacks sold at the supermarket that weren’t available at the convenience store. My eyes sparkled as I grabbed a bunch of snacks. I tried to put them in the cart, but I couldn’t reach, so Maru helped me.
Maru was buying something requested by her seniors. Maybe it was office supplies or something. I had eaten all the snacks in the break room, so she might be replenishing them.
“Maru, can I get more snacks?”
“Sure. But only buy enough to eat moderately! If you eat too many snacks and skip meals, that’s a no-go.”
“Okay~”
Maru and I split up for a bit. I ran back to the snack section. I preferred the snacks in paper boxes over the ones in bags. I grabbed a bunch of snacks that weren’t sold at the convenience store. After asking Maru to put them in the cart, I quietly slipped away from her side.
Maru seemed distracted. She didn’t even notice I had disappeared. I smirked and sneaked into the alcohol section. After buying beer at the convenience store last time, I became a person of interest and hadn’t touched alcohol since.
But the desire to drink was definitely there. Even if I got spanked, I wouldn’t give up drinking. Of course, I didn’t want to get drunk—just enough to wet my throat.
Even when I was an adult, having a drink with friends was a virtue, but after transforming into this body, I hadn’t had a single sip of alcohol. I never tried smoking, but if there’s such a thing as withdrawal symptoms, this must be it.
I smiled as I picked up a can of beer and slowly walked back to where Maru was. I planned to secretly hide it in the cart. The cart was already full of various food items, so one can of beer wouldn’t be a big deal.
“Huh…?”
But I felt something was off. The spot where Maru was supposed to be was empty, and only a void greeted me. I felt cold sweat dripping down my back. But as a modern society person, I was all too familiar with this kind of disconnection.
And there was an easy solution. This wasn’t the era of pagers; it was the digital age. I took out my phone to call Maru. No trial could stop me.
“Ah!”
But when I took out my phone, it was dead. I was sure I had charged it before leaving! The screen remained black, as if it had broken.
“Ugh…”
I had become a lost child in an instant. No, I had lost Maru. I wandered around to find her. The supermarket was big, but if I walked around, I might find her. I circled around the supermarket.
After about 10 minutes, I felt like tears were about to fall. To get lost over a single can of beer… This was something I hadn’t anticipated. The plan to borrow someone’s phone and call didn’t work either. Because I had saved her number in my contacts, I hadn’t memorized it.
Honestly, who memorizes phone numbers these days? You just save them in your contacts and tap to call, not typing them out one by one.
The person who contacts you quickly is probably not common in this world.
In the end, I had no choice but to pull out my secret weapon from my embrace. It was a secret button to press if I got kidnapped. It would immediately alert the connected computer of my location and send out a danger signal.
Should I really press it?
Just as I was deep in thought, I saw a familiar figure pulling a cart from afar. It was clear to my eyes. It was Maru!
“Maru!!!”
I ran to Maru excitedly. Maru seemed to have noticed I was missing, and as I got closer, she put down the cart and hugged me. Then, she gave me a light tap on the head.
“Ouch!”
“I told you not to go far! And why did you turn off your phone?”
“I didn’t turn it off on purpose, Maru… It’s broken…”
“Really? My heart dropped when you disappeared.”
“Hehe!”
But I was so happy that I accidentally showed Maru something I shouldn’t have.
“What’s this, Hana?”
Maru snatched the beer can with a fancy label from my hand. I couldn’t help but scream.
“No!!!”
Maru looked at the can and immediately realized it was beer.
“Hana, this is confiscated!”
“Ugh…”
My sneaky plan to hide the beer failed miserably. I had no choice but to stay by Maru’s side, feeling defeated. And because she had lost me earlier, Maru was paying even more attention to me now.
So, my plan to sneak away and grab the beer can again didn’t work. Maru’s surveillance was too strict. At this rate, I won’t achieve my goal and will just end up going home! I stomped my feet, trying to find a solution, but it was useless against Maru’s overwhelming watch.
In the end, my plan to buy the beer can went down the drain. But it didn’t matter because we bought a lot of food items, so it was fine. I decided to think of it as a blessing in disguise.
“Arrived!”
I got out of the car and spun around. Now, the building felt so familiar as my home. I’m probably the only one my age with such a big house. Maru also got out of the car and opened the trunk, starting to take out the items inside. There was so much stuff that we’d have to make two or three trips.
“I’ll help too!”
I stuck close to Maru, trying to help carry the luggage. Naturally, I tried to carry the heavy stuff. I was used to it since I was a guy. Girls usually carry lighter items, while stronger guys carry the heavy ones. It was common sense when bringing loads of stuff home during holidays.
“Ugh!”
But the heavy luggage didn’t lift as easily as I thought. It was so heavy that I couldn’t even drag it. I ended up defeated by the heavy load. Maru must have seen me struggling because she handed me a different bag and said,
“Hana, can you carry this for me?”
“Sure!”
I took the bag Maru was holding with both hands and lifted it with all my strength. Compared to the earlier luggage, this felt like a feather. But when I looked back, Maru was lifting the heavy luggage I had failed to carry earlier.
“Ah!”
Maru was so strong! When I tried to lift that luggage, it didn’t budge, but Maru lifted it effortlessly with one hand. I hadn’t used much strength since my body changed, and now I felt a sense of defeat.
This body was way too weak. Even now, I had to use both hands to carry the bag I was holding. If I had my old strength, I could’ve lifted it with just one finger.
I carried the luggage with a strange sense of defeat. I imagined myself taking protein or muscle supplements and hitting the gym. Maybe then I could lift heavy luggage like that with ease. Of course, Haru and Bora would probably strongly oppose it.
