Preparing Appleton's Gift
A day had passed since we returned from school. With nothing out of the ordinary happening, I headed to the office today just like any other normal day. I opened my laptop and let out a long sigh.
"Huuuuh..."
"What are you staring at so intently?"
A voice called out from behind me. It was Victor. He had a towel draped around his neck, looking as though he had just taken a quick shower after finishing his morning workout.
"I want to get a gift for a friend, but I don't know what would be good."
"A friend?"
"Yes. A new friend I made at school."
"Let's see..."
Hearing my reply, Victor stepped closer and began peering at my laptop screen.
"Jeff?"
"Yes?"
"Is this new friend of yours... on the older side, by any chance?"
"No. She's twelve, the same age as Shine and me."
Victor's expression turned bizarre at my answer. Was there something wrong with the gift candidates I was looking at? I began reading the items displayed on the screen more closely.
◈ Red Worm Tail Juice
◈ Pickled White Snake Brain
◈ Giant Boar Liver
◈ Big Owl Bear Paw
There was nothing particularly strange about these products. They were a bit pricey, but using the card Amy had given me, I could purchase them without any issue.
"Is it weird?"
"Do you really think a normal kid your age would be happy to receive gifts like these?"
"If it's Appleton, I'm sure she'd accept them gladly."
"Appleton?"
"Ah, that's the name of the friend I made this time."
Victor rolled his eyes at my response, pulled up a chair, and sat down next to me.
"Well, if I were Appleton, I don't think I'd be very happy about it."
"But Appleton has a weak constitution. She needs to eat healthy things like this to get stronger."
Regardless of what Victor said, I didn't care and went ahead with the payment.
I chose three items in total: the Red Worm Tail Juice, the Giant Boar Liver, and the Big Owl Bear Paw. No matter how good it was for the body, I couldn't bring myself to feed a young girl pickled snake brains.
"Seeing how you're already thinking about gifts, you two must have gotten quite close."
"Not really? I've only exchanged a few words with Appleton."
If asked whether we were close, that wasn't quite it yet. It was more accurate to say we were still in the process of becoming friends.
Victor stroked his chin at my words and glanced over at Amy.
"Let Jeff do as she pleases," Amy said.
"Mmm..." Victor groaned softly at Amy's intervention and stood up. "Fine."
With that, Victor returned to his own desk and sat down.
I pushed my chair sideways to slide over to Shine. The cute wheeled chair rolled smoothly, bringing me right next to her.
"Shine, did you finish picking?"
"Yeah."
Shine was also choosing health products. Her choice, however, was processed medicine. She was adding pills packed with all kinds of nutrients to her shopping cart.
"Do you think Appleton will be happy?"
"Of course. And even if she isn't, I'll make sure she is."
"Yeah. I hope she likes it."
I swung my legs back and forth, picturing Appleton. Although the only image that came to mind was her passed out on the floor, she was still my very first friend from school.
Come to think of it, I should probably get a gift for Rain too...
I rolled my chair back to my desk. Rain was fast asleep, using her comic book as a pillow.
"Hey, Shine. What do you think would be a good gift for Rain?"
"Rain?"
"Yeah. Rain is our friend too."
Shine stared at me blankly, her mouth slightly open. Looking momentarily shocked, she soon nodded and replied, "Right. I suppose so."
And so, Shine and I began picking out a gift for Rain as well. What would suit her? Having spent so much time with her, we knew her likes and dislikes well enough. That meant we had to choose something that would make her the happiest.
I typed the titles of the comic books scattered across Rain's desk into the search bar. Instantly, a long list of similar series popped up below. I wondered if a book would be a good gift, but recalling the massive stacks of books filling her room, it didn't seem like the best idea. It would be a disaster if I bought her something she already owned. I could just ask her before buying, but since I was preparing a gift anyway, I wanted it to be a surprise.
I clicked a small button next to the search bar.
Find Related Products
Click—
The moment the mouse made its quiet clicking sound, my face flushed bright red. The series was apparently quite famous, as countless pieces of merchandise were listed for sale. The problem was that they were far from ordinary. Shackles, handcuffs, and even furry tails... There was a whole assortment of items whose purposes I couldn't even begin to fathom.
"Jeff?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah?!"
"Did you find something?"
"No! I haven't found anything yet!"
Startled by Shine's question, I hastily closed the window. It seemed a simple book really would be the safest bet. As I clutched my pounding chest and tried to catch my breath, Shine spoke up.
"I've decided."
"Already?"
"Yeah."
I rolled my chair over to Shine once more and peeked at her screen.
"Oh..."
Shine had purchased something completely different from the gifts I had been agonizing over. A cute chick hoodie. It looked like something that would suit Rain perfectly.
"Do you know her size?"
"Yeah."
How on earth did she know Rain's clothing measurements? Well, that wasn't the important part anyway. I nodded as I looked at the gift Shine had prepared. A fitting gift for Rain had just crossed my mind.
Returning to my seat, I immediately added a pair of chick slippers to my cart. The slippers, which made a squeaking peep-peep sound when stepped on, seemed perfect for wearing comfortably around the office. However, a problem arose: I didn't know Rain's foot size. I stood up from my chair and crawled under the desk.
My target was Rain's feet. They were currently completely defenseless. Having kicked off her slippers, her limp feet suggested she was in a very deep sleep. I crept closer and gently touched her soles. Her small, white feet were clad in pristine white knee-high socks, offering a soft, smooth texture.
Perhaps feeling tickled, Rain began to wiggle her feet. It would be so much easier if you just stayed still. Letting out a soft sigh, I held her foot steady with one hand while pulling out my phone with the other to snap a photo. These days, you could easily determine someone's shoe size just from a photo of their feet.
I carefully set Rain's foot back down and returned to my seat to check the size. Rain's foot size was 190mm. However, the smallest size available for the slippers was 200mm.
"Hmm..."
After a brief moment of hesitation, I just clicked the purchase button. They were only casual slippers to wear around anyway, and since this design was by far the cutest, I didn't have much of a choice.
"Did you pick something too, Jeff?"
"Yeah."
Curious about what I had ordered, Shine slid over to check my screen. I showed her the gifts for Appleton and Rain listed in my order history.
"What do you think?"
"I think they'll both really like them."
"Right?"
"Yeah."
My daily tasks were all finished. I immediately started playing a video saved on my laptop. Noise-canceling headphones were a must. During this time, not even Shine would disturb me. That was how important this time was to me.
The Great Adventures of the Little Witch: Movie 1. The Birth of the Starlight World. It was a film that fully fleshed out the setting of the series. Staring at the starlight pouring down from the sky on screen, I began to lose myself in the movie.
Tap, tap.
I was deeply engrossed in the video when I felt a gentle nudge on my arm. I slowly turned my head to the side.
"Shine...?"
I didn't know when she had approached, but Shine was standing right beside me. I paused the video, took off my headphones, and let them rest around my neck.
"What is it?"
"It's lunchtime."
"Already?"
"Yeah."
At Shine's words, I checked the time in the corner of my laptop screen. Just as she said, lunchtime was indeed fast approaching. Rain and Victor also seemed to be getting ready for lunch, standing up to tidy their desks.
Peep! Peep! Peep!
And the moment the clock struck exactly lunchtime, Rain's lunch alarm blared loudly. Fast asleep until just a second ago, Rain bolted upright at the sound and quickly wiped her mouth. Fortunately, she hadn't drooled, and her comic book looked perfectly fine.
"Did you sleep well, Rain?"
"Huh? Oh, I wasn't sleeping! I was working..." Rain flusteredly picked up a stack of documents as she answered.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah!"
"Then were you awake when I was playing with your feet earlier?"
"M-my feet?"
"Yeah. They were so small and cute."
Hearing this, Rain's face turned beet red as she wriggled her toes. Since she was wearing slippers, I could see her tiny toes squirming clearly.
"You were sleeping, weren't you?"
"Ugh... Y-yeah..."
Rain couldn't even muster a proper reply. She seemed incredibly embarrassed about taking a nap during work hours.
"Let's go, quickly."
Finding our banter tedious, Shine grabbed both my and Rain's arms and pulled us out of the office. I wondered what Rain would think of the photo of her feet saved on my phone. It was so cute that it felt like a waste to delete it. Maybe I could use it as my wallpaper later? I toyed with my phone as we headed to the cafeteria.
For lunch today, I chose pork cutlet again, just like last time. While we were enjoying our delicious meal, Shine and I received text messages from the shopping site.
"They say the items will arrive soon."
"I saw it too."
Perhaps because the headquarters was located in a high-tier district, the delivery speed was out of this world. Clutching my phone, I stood up from my seat.
"Where are you going?"
"Yes, they said the things we ordered are about to arrive."
"Really? Want me to go with you?"
"No, it's fine. I can just call Shumain down from upstairs."
As Shine and I stood up to head out, Rain naturally trotted over to our side. Since we always went everywhere together, Rain assumed she was coming along this time too. But not today. The gift for Rain had to be kept a secret, so she couldn't follow us right now.
"Wait here, Rain. Just the two of us are going."
"Huh?"
Rain's eyes went wide with surprise. I wondered if my words were really that shocking, but then again, if someone I was always with suddenly told me not to follow them, I'd probably be a bit taken aback too.
"W-well, Shine and I are preparing something in secret. We want to keep it a surprise from you."
Saying this out loud kind of defeated the purpose of a surprise gift, but it was a necessary compromise to prevent Rain from misunderstanding.
"Okay? You can stay here with Amy, right?"
"Uh... yeah..."
Rain nodded, looking a little dejected. I waved toward Amy.
"We'll be back!"