Vampire and His Pleasant Companions: Volume 2 - Extra

Previous TOC Next

Shopping with a Vampire

Finally, the line at the register thinned out. Hashimoto, who was working part-time, sighed with relief and checked her surroundings. Out of the three registers currently operating, two had a customer each. It was 7:30 PM, a bit late for dinner shopping, so the number of customers had started to dwindle. Still, it wasn’t completely deserted since some people were on the lookout for discounted bento boxes. If she stood idly at an open register with no customers, the store manager would likely reprimand her, telling her to find something to do. She debated whether to close her register and start stocking shelves.

Deciding to wait three more minutes and close the register if no customers came, she was adjusting the plastic bags for easy access when a tall figure crossed the aisle in front of her. Brown hair, gray eyes—a young, handsome foreign man who looked like an actor... Hashimoto silently muttered to herself, “Beautiful-san.”

The foreign man, attractive as always, was wearing his signature "美少女" (Beautiful Girl) t-shirt today as well. Every time she saw it, Hashimoto felt a bit guilty. He probably had no idea what it meant, she thought.

That t-shirt had been sold in the clothing corner of this small supermarket. But the clothing section here wasn’t anything special—mostly items like underwear, socks, t-shirts, and sweatpants, things people would wear at home. The "美少女" t-shirt was part of a batch of leftover stock that the store’s president had bought cheap from a friend of a friend, who had been stuck with unsold inventory.

Priced at ¥1,980, the t-shirt had initially been marked down by 30%, and basic designs with flowers or English text had sold gradually. The quality seemed decent, so when it was marked down by 50%, Hashimoto had bought one for herself using her employee discount. Even after all that, the remaining stock didn’t sell, and the price kept dropping, eventually hitting 70% off. The "美少女" t-shirt, along with designs featuring "Neko-mimi" and "Akihabara," were some of the last unsold items.

A few months ago, after the dinner rush had passed, and the store was quiet, Hashimoto had placed a sign on her register reading "This Register Is Closed" and gone over to the clothing section to tidy up a bin of socks that customers had rummaged through.

"I want this," came a halting voice in Japanese behind her.

Turning around, she saw the handsome foreigner standing by the discount t-shirt bin. His brown hair and good looks had earned him a reputation among the part-timers, who would occasionally comment, "That foreign guy who looks like an actor came in again."

She’d never heard him speak before, but his Japanese was still a bit clumsy.

"I really want... buy," he said, his speech broken but earnest.

Facing the handsome foreigner was a Japanese man with black hair. He also occasionally shopped at their supermarket. He was a good-looking man, too, and his presence was striking in a place as ordinary as this, but his expressionless face didn’t make him seem particularly approachable. Since he always wore a white shirt and black pants, Hashimoto had privately nicknamed him “Monochrome-san.”

Monochrome-san and the handsome foreigner were having a conversation. They had shopped together a few times before, and Hashimoto had assumed Monochrome-san was perhaps his host family.

"Please," the foreigner said, thrusting forward a t-shirt with "美少女" printed on it. Hashimoto couldn’t help but feel a little concerned—wasn't that shirt a bit too much? She was certain he didn’t know what the kanji meant. Sure enough, Monochrome-san crossed his arms and made a stern face that showed he was well aware of the issue.

“How about this one?” Monochrome-san pulled out T-shirts with “Neko-mimi” and “Akihabara” from the bin. While Hashimoto thought those were also a bit questionable, they were arguably less misleading than “美少女.” If he had to buy one, those might be better.

“But I like this,.” The handsome foreigner seemed attached to the “美少女” T-shirt, refusing to let it go. Hashimoto silently sent a wish that he would choose the “Neko-mimi” one instead, but the situation remained tense as the two discussed their options.

As Hashimoto nervously watched their exchange, the store's PA system chimed with an announcement: "Register 3, please return to your register."

The registers must have gotten busy. Hashimoto quickly placed the socks she had been arranging back into the bin and rushed to the register. The customers now crowding the two open registers appeared to be high school students, likely returning from club activities. Hashimoto hurriedly opened the third register and guided the students over.

Once the wave of high school students passed, the line thinned out again. Only one of the three registers had a customer. Considering the time, Hashimoto was about to close her register again when someone placed a green shopping basket on the counter.

The customer was Monochrome-san. And on top of the basket was a T-shirt. Could it be...? When she flipped it over, there it was, “美少女” printed in bold letters. So, they really bought it... she thought, but she couldn’t very well stop a customer from buying what they wanted, so she rang it up.

She glanced at Monochrome-san, who looked even more displeased than usual, while the foreigner behind him was beaming with a wide smile.

From that point on, the handsome foreigner started showing up at the supermarket regularly, wearing the "美少女" t-shirt even on days when it was quite chilly. Since he had bought it, it was, of course, up to him how to wear it, but that bold logo was definitely eye-catching.

Even other part-time workers had started to notice, asking, “Isn’t that T-shirt the one we used to sell here?” Before long, the handsome foreigner was nicknamed “Beautiful -san” by everyone.

Though he used to shop with Monochrome-san, he started coming alone more frequently. He often bought bread, vegetables, and snacks like chocolate.

One time, when Hashimoto was ringing up his items, the total came to ¥3,850, but he handed her only ¥3,500.

“You’re short by 350 yen,” she explained, and Beautiful-san's eyes widened in surprise

"No money... enough... what do...?" he stammered, clearly flustered. Though his speech was awkward, he seemed to understand well enough.

"If you put one item back, you’ll be fine," she suggested.

Relieved, he looked around but then admitted, "Which one stop... I don’t know." His face was a picture of confusion.

"You don’t know the prices?" she asked.

He nodded, looking helpless. It made sense—many items only had their prices marked in the aisles, not on the packaging.

“This chocolate sauce is 400 yen, so if you put this back, you’ll have enough.”

“Okay... enough?”

His gray eyes looked up at her, so beautiful that she almost got lost in them.

" Yes, that will be enough."

"Please, do that," he replied with a polite bow

" Got it. I’ll put the chocolate sauce aside for you."

Hashimoto set the chocolate sauce aside and rang up the rest of the items. Beautiful-san, who successfully managed to pay with the cash he had, said with a samurai-like politeness, " Very kind... thank you... thank you... for kind," and gave a big smile. Hashimoto almost burst out laughing at the slightly incorrect “thank you,” where he likely forgot to say some words but she held it in and replied, “Thank you as well for always shopping with us.”

Since then, Beautiful-san has been coming to the store almost every day. Sometimes he even lines up at Hashimoto’s register, and when he does, he’ll casually say things like, “Today, money okay?” or “Fish cheap?” When Hashimoto tells him, “Tomorrow, meat will be on sale,” he enthusiastically responds, “I come tomorrow!” It’s cute, especially since he’s about the same age as her son.

One day, Beautiful-san was shopping with a gloomy expression on his face. He usually chatted about something, but this time, he was silent. Hashimoto wondered if she should just leave him alone, but she was too concerned to do nothing. So, after ringing up all his items, she decided to share a little secret. “Bananas will be cheap tomorrow,” she said.

“Banana... just peel,” he murmured, lifting his downcast face before looking down again. There were no customers waiting behind him, so Hashimoto continued the conversation. “Bananas are delicious, aren’t they?”

Beautiful-san sighed and replied, “I... bad at cooking.”

“American... taste strange, he says.”

Considering how often he buys ingredients, Hashimoto had assumed he cooked regularly, but she never really pictured Beautiful-san actually cooking. She thought maybe the host family did the cooking, but apparently not.

Well, it makes sense that the seasoning would be different between Japan and America since they’re different countries.

“This is a recipe from our store. If you like, please take one.” Hashimoto offered Beautiful-san a flyer with recipes handwritten by the store manager, which were available for free inside the store.

“Me, not good at reading Japanese, but I practice, thank you,” he said as he accepted the flyer. Of course, she thought. Just speaking Japanese must be difficult enough for him... but still, she wasn’t sure how to comfort him.

“It’s okay. Even if you’re not good at it now, if you keep practicing, you can only get better.”

Beautiful-san looked up and nodded firmly, “Yes, I practice.” That day, Hashimoto consulted with the store manager and suggested making some of the recipes available in English. There were a few foreign customers who came to the store occasionally. The manager agreed, saying, “If it helps with sales, we can give it a try.”

The English version of the recipes was finally ready, and Hashimoto was waiting for Beautiful-san to show up so she could give them to him. But he didn’t come for a while. Just when she was starting to worry, he finally appeared today. Hashimoto was concerned that another part-timer might have given him the English recipes, but Beautiful-san came to her register.

She rang up his purchases. Then, at the end, she handed him the English recipes. “If you like, please take this.”

“This... recipe?” Beautiful-san asked.

“Yes, it’s a flyer with cooking instructions. We’ve started offering an English version.”

“I understand this. Happy,” Beautiful-san said, beaming with a big smile. Hashimoto felt glad that she had asked the manager for the favor.

“I make this. Akira say it’s delicious for sure.”

Akira? Hashimoto tilted her head in curiosity. Was he talking about Monochrome-san, who was often with him?

“I... want Akira healthy.”

Indeed, Monochrome-san often bought bento boxes. While there’s nothing wrong with them, they tend to include a lot of fried foods. The healthiest option is homemade meals with plenty of vegetables.

“You’re so kind to care about someone else’s health.”

Beautiful-san blinked his beautiful eyes, then smiled brightly like a poster for a refreshing drink commercial. “I like Akira,” he said, blushing and shyly looking down.

Seeing that, Hashimoto felt her heart skip a beat. Could it be that Beautiful-san has feelings for Monochrome-san? She had thought Monochrome-san was his host family, but they seemed to be living together. Could they actually be a couple?

A beautiful couple of handsome men, like something out of a manga—how amazing. Hashimoto’s heart started racing. A younger foreign boyfriend trying his best at cooking for his beloved, even though he’s not good at it... how romantic.

Then, a thought struck her. Perhaps the reason Monochrome-san allowed Beautiful-san to wear the "美少女" T-shirt was to subtly ward off anyone attracted to his handsome boyfriend. If that’s the case, the T-shirt is working brilliantly. It turns a handsome man into a slightly goofy one while still keeping his charm. That kind of subtle protectiveness from Monochrome-san is a bit cute.

Her son was already an adult, and all she had left at home was a high school-aged daughter. Her husband, who used to be somewhat cool, had become just another middle-aged man. Hashimoto herself was approaching her late forties and thought she was far removed from such feelings. Yet, she never imagined she’d encounter such high-class romance at her part-time job. Just imagining the two of them being sweet to each other made her heart flutter. From the corner of the supermarket, she wanted to support them with all her might. No, she would support them.

Returning the points card with a bit of extra force, Hashimoto said, “Um, good luck!”

Beautiful-san clenched both fists and responded, “Yes, I try my best.”

The supermarket then closed for about ten days for a minor renovation. As part of the reopening campaign, leftover products—things with outdated packaging or slightly damaged boxes—were wrapped in plastic and would be given as gifts to all customers while supplies lasted. Even leftover items make customers happy when they’re free. Hashimoto folded the Akihabara T-shirts for the giveaway into small packages and waited.

But Beautiful-san didn’t show up. She wondered if he wasn’t coming today. Just as she thought that, Monochrome-san arrived instead. His shopping basket contained a discounted bento and, probably for breakfast, some bread and milk.

As she rang up his items, Hashimoto couldn’t help but imagine Monochrome-san and Beautiful-san getting along. Just thinking about it made her blush and her heart race.

After ringing up all his items, Hashimoto said, “This is a gift to celebrate the store’s renovation,” and handed him a bag with the Akihabara T-shirt inside.

“Oh, thank you,” Monochrome-san muttered as he took it. Please let Beautiful-san wear this too. It’ll definitely keep other people from approaching him. I’m rooting for you two! Hashimoto silently cheered and then smiled at Monochrome-san, saying, “Your total is 2,045 yen.”

Previous TOC Next