Within the peaceful town of Narita where the Katami Dojo is located is a flea market with items being sold at discounted prices, some too good to be true. The market is full of people briskly walking from stall to stall to find their goods while Inami and Tsurugi are simply glancing at the stalls as they pass through the market, holding onto a bottle of blueberry and peach juice respectively.
“It’s been a while since we walked here…”
“Yeah. It has changed so much and yet somehow it looks the same.”
Tsurugi reminisces the past when both of them walked around the flea market looking for snacks after they’ve cleaned up the Katami Dojo every weekend. Back then it has always been Inami who would be pulling her around to random stalls, admiring the game stalls, toys and most importantly, food. Now it’s her bringing him around, refreshing his mind and recalling past memories.
“Ah, Katami-chan!”
One of the stall owners who’s selling takoyaki, or grilled octopus, call out to Tsurugi and waves at her as she turns to him.
“Jii-san!”
“Hey! How are things in the—” The stall owner abruptly pauses upon seeing Inami whom he has not seen for years but still somehow recognizes him. His mouth gapped with a soft gasp while Tsurugi still retains her cheery smile at the fact that he remembers him.
“A-Arisawa?”
Inami nods then bows to the old stallholder and greets him.
“Long time no see, Jii-san.”
Despite being absent for years, he still recognizes the stallholder as the stall happens to be one of the few where he frequently stops by when he was a child.
“Arisawa-kun! It’s been so long! How have you been?”
“I’ve been well, thank you! I see business has been good to you, Jii-san.”
“It has been all right. Had fun travelling around, eh?”
“T-Travelling? I wasn’t really—” Before Inami could reply to the stallholder’s claim, Tsurugi interrupts by pulling on his sleeve and clearing her throat. He turns to her with a confused look where she simply shakes her head lightly, gesturing him to play along.
“’Wasn’t really’…?”
“Well uh…! I mean it wasn’t really travelling, more like training. Carrying stuffs around and all…”
“I can definitely see that.” The stallholder notices that not only has Inami grown but he’s also physically fit, thinking he had just gone through a military training regime although he has absolutely no idea how right he is while Inami also doesn’t want him to know what he’s been up to during his absence.
Amused by Inami’s physique, the stallholder looks back to Tsurugi and catches sight of her face lightly blushing with her hand still pinching on his sleeve.
“All’s good then. Now that you’re here, Katami-chan will no longer feel lonely, right?”
It’s obvious to Tsurugi that the stallholder’s poking fun at when she confided to him about her loneliness during Inami’s absence. As much as she tries to hold back her embarrassment, her mind swirls as she stares wide-eyed at the stallholder then to Inami who’s looking at her with a raised brow.
“I-Ina-kun, that’s not what I meant! I mean, Jii-san…!” She flusters and releases his sleeve. As the stallholder laughs at her, Inami spots Cecilia amongst the crowd along with Ichika, Houki and the other Academy cadets.
‘What are they doing here…?’
“Oh-ho! Watch it, looks like an ISA student just caught his attention~!”
“What…?”
Tsurugi immediately turns to Inami as he resumes staring at the students, completely unaware that his childhood friend just summoned a demon’s fury at the sight of him suspiciously staring at a girl about two years younger than him. While Inami simply recognizes the students as he spotted them before in their shuttle bus when he flew over it after taking out a flight of Jabbers, Tsurugi wasn’t exactly pleased thinking that he might be into younger girls instead of her.
“Hey… Inami…”
“Hmm—?” Inami turns around just as Tsurugi pinches his ear hard. “OWW!” instantly shoots out of his mouth but she refuses to let go, being more jealous than enraged that someone else is able to rob his attention from her completely, let alone not realizing that she caught him staring at the cadet for more than five seconds.
“You got the hots for an Academy student now?”
“I wasn’t… Wait, how do you know she’s from the Academy?” He holds her hand that’s pinching his ear while Tsurugi, not having a clue to answer his question, turns to the stallholder who’s apparently enjoying their antics.
“Arisawa-kun… I know an Academy student when I see one. Judging from her looks and posture, I wouldn’t be a surprised if she turns out to be a Representative Cadet from a foreign nation.”
“Representative Cadet—OWW!”
Tsurugi pulls Inami by his ear closer to her face, thinking that he’s into girls with very high standards as well.
“You’re a perfectionist now too? Inami, what’s got into you?”
“I am NOT! Now get your hand off my ear!”
Heedless of his request, Tsurugi turns to the stallholder with a broken smile.
“We’ll be on our way now, Jii-san. See you around!”
“Have fun, you two!”