Ring-a-ling~ Ring-a-ling~~ "Mngh~" Click.
"Mwhoa~~~ AAAAAH!!!"
At Random Play, Wise—who had stayed up late the night before watching videotapes and ended up passing out right there on the couch—had just shut off his alarm clock, yawned, and was getting ready to drift back to sleep.
Only to be scared half to death by the jerk looming right in front of him.
"Geno! What the heck are you doing barging into my place first thing in the morning?! And being this creepy about it!"
Wise patted his own chest to calm down. Be reasonable—who could possibly open their eyes at the crack of dawn to find a grown man's face pressed right up against theirs and not lose it? Anyone would.
"Sorry, Wise. I've got my reasons."
Geno wore the look of a man with some unspeakable difficulty, which instantly settled Wise down enough to ask.
"What is it? Did something happen?" "Actually, it's about Belle—"
"Something happened to Belle?!" "Belle's the one who told me to come wake you up."
The handsome fellow was speechless. Wise glared at the innocent-faced Geno before him with dead-fish eyes, then thought of his own sister and that troublesome side of her, until at last all his resentment tipped out in a single sigh.
"So then—why exactly would she send you to come wake me?"
Wise got up off the couch to go freshen up, while Geno relayed Belle's words to him exactly as they'd been given, word for word.
"The thing is, Belle went out shopping with Twiggy, and I just happened to swing by Godfinger to confirm some new-game stuff with Asha, so she asked me to come get you out of bed."
As he spoke, Geno even dangled the key Belle had handed him right in front of Wise's eyes.
"So that's how it is. Sorry to put you through the trouble, Geno—it'd just be even better if you could be a little less terrifying about it next time..."
Honestly, Geno's way of waking someone up really did leave quite the impression. At the very least, Wise had no intention of living through it a second time.
"No worries. She also said you should treat me to breakfast while you're at it."
Brat! Just wait till you get back—I'll deal with you then!
Watching Geno's mischievous grin, the corner of Wise's mouth twitched.
Wise was so angry his teeth ached, but since his own sister had said so, he couldn't very well refuse. So after he'd washed up, he took Geno along toward the Cascade Soup Valley ramen shop run by Master Chop.
"Uncle Chop, one black bowl of seafood, and one white bowl of chicken broth." "Coming right up!"
Sluuurp~~~~
Plopping down in front of the stall, a wonderful day began with this bowl of energizing ramen.
And after the ramen, Geno wiped his mouth, planning to head back to the video store together with Wise afterward, find a room, switch off the lights, and then...
Fire up a thrilling, nerve-racking brand-new video game!
Geno was extremely confident in his latest masterpiece, and during the testing phase it had earned unanimous praise from the entire Silver Squad, plus Belle, that seasoned veteran.
Only Wise, that closet softie, had missed that test session because he'd been busy scrambling for concert tickets.
This was the perfect chance to make it up to him.
"Let's go—I'm definitely going to make you see just how amazing my new work is." "...So that's the real reason you came to bother me at the crack of dawn."
But before the two could even rise from their seats, they saw Master Chop come dashing out from behind the counter and rush outside. The two exchanged a glance, sensing something was off.
You have to understand, Master Chop, as a professional ramen chef, paid close attention to every single customer. Normally, while they were eating, he'd even frequently ask them about the flavor and for suggestions on how to improve it.
A situation like today's—where he just took off in a hurry without saying a word—was the first they'd ever seen.
"Did something happen? Let's go take a look too."
Realizing something was up, Geno grabbed Wise and chased after the direction Master Chop had gone.
"Hey, hey, hey! We haven't paid yet!"
In a fluster, Wise slapped his money down on the table, and only then did he give in and let himself be dragged along by Geno.
Soon enough, the two found a dense, packed crowd jamming the street up ahead, and at the same time they spotted Master Chop, unable to squeeze his way in on account of his short stature.
"Master Chop, what happened here?" Geno stepped up to ask, and Chop turned his head to find it was Geno and Wise, so he explained.
"Oh, it's you two. I'm really sorry for ditching you like that. I heard a vicious incident broke out here, and some residents got caught up in it, so I came rushing over in a panic."
Through Master Chop's explanation, the two of them came to understand how things had unfolded. As it turned out, an employee of Pegasus Express had had an accident while transporting ducks—the rear door of his vehicle had somehow been opened by someone, and all the ducks inside had run loose.
As for the prime suspect, it was Change, the Bangboo shop clerk from 141 General Store.
But Change, being a Bangboo and also one of the old-timers of this street, had absolutely no reason to do something so thankless and unrewarding.
So much so that the residents got into a flat-out argument with that Pegasus Express employee.
"As luck would have it, two officer ladies from Public Security have shown up on the street. They're investigating the scene of the incident right now, and they'll surely be able to clear Change of suspicion."
After learning the situation from Master Chop, Geno and Wise squeezed their way out of the crowd, and saw the driver who'd lost his ducks pouring out his grievances, face full of anxiety, before two women dressed in Public Security officer uniforms.
"Officers, you absolutely have to help me catch this culprit! Business has been bad lately—a whole bunch of my orders got snatched away by that Meow-Fang Express that popped up out of nowhere. If I can't get this shipment back, I'm definitely going to be 'optimized' right out of a job!"
Watching the Pegasus Express driver's panic-stricken state, Geno secretly applauded Nekomata's progress, though on the surface he didn't let any of it show. He was afraid of getting beaten up by the driver.
Beside him, Wise was staring at those two investigating officers with a strange expression on his face. "Hey! Wise, in broad daylight, how dare you carry on with such filthy intentions here!"
Seeing how Wise's eyes didn't even blink, Geno assumed he'd taken a fancy to the officers over there—yet Wise found this rather exasperating. "What on earth are you going on about? I just think those two look familiar from behind, like they're people I know."
"People you know? Every lecher chatting up a stranger says exactly that beforehand." Geno curled his lip; he didn't buy it for a second.
But then, thinking it over—based on what he knew of Wise, the guy was the type with lecherous intentions but no thief's nerve. Looks like he'd need a little push. With that thought, he clapped Wise on the shoulder and said, "If you really like 'em, let's go for it—your bro here will be your wingman." Sure, doing this might earn him a lecture from Twiggy, but for his buddy's happiness, making a few small sacrifices was nothing at all.
"What wingman?"
A familiar voice came from behind him. Geno instantly stood bolt upright and declared with a perfectly straight face, "Wingman? You must've misheard. There's no such thing as a wingman."
Geno turned around—and who else could it be but Twiggy and Belle?
____
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