The classroom was buzzing with excitement as preparations for the school festival got underway.
Takuma's class had decided to run a café, and a group was formed to go shopping for supplies.
"All right, Kunimi! You're coming with us!"
"We definitely need someone to carry the heavy stuff."
"Shopping together with Kunimi-kun! ♡"
And so— surrounded by the girls, Takuma headed to Olympic, a large supermarket next to Sanwa in Machida.
(...Does it really matter who goes shopping?)
(We just need sugar, milk, paper cups, and whatever else is on the list. Then we're done.)
The girls happily browsed decorations and aprons.
"Kunimi, which one looks better on me?"
"This one's so cute!"
"Hey, come help me with this!"
Takuma, however, moved from shelf to shelf with a completely blank expression, his eyes fixed on the checklist.
"...Fifty more paper plates."
He glanced toward the refrigerated section.
"And the milk's on sale."
Mikiko snapped.
"Hey! Read the room!"
"We need to get the supplies first, don't we?"
Then— voices came from the supplies section nearby.
"I'm telling you, the display base has to be acrylic!"
"But if it's too heavy, carrying it in will be a pain. Wood would be lighter."
"Your sense of style is completely off! Gold-plated paint is obviously the ultimate choice!"
The newcomers were— the members of the Machida Gunpla Club, Mokejo.
Rina Shinonome.
Makoto Hiiragi.
Yayoi Ayuhara.
And Yui Gohara.
Mikiko stared at them.
"Huh? What's with those people...? They're adults and they're still into Gunpla?"
Rina spun around.
"Hey! Don't look down on us just because we're adults!"
Yayoi placed a hand dramatically against her chest.
"Gunpla is life itself!"
Yui's eyebrow twitched.
"Did you just call us old ladies? You did, didn't you?! Keep it up and I'll unleash my tsundere mode on you!"
And just like that— high school girls versus adult Gunpla modelers.
A battle of pride that transcended the generation gap had begun.
Meanwhile—
Takuma was doing something far more important.
"...Oh."
He picked up a carton from the refrigerated shelf and checked the label.
"This milk's on sale."
"And it keeps for a while. We should grab three."
"............"
The girls fell silent.
So did the Mokejo members.
Mikiko finally exploded.
"KUNIMI!! Could you pay attention to the war happening right next to you for FIVE SECONDS?!"
Takuma looked at her.
"But we'd be in trouble if we ran out of milk."
"............"
The high school girls stared at him.
The Mokejo members stared at him.
Takuma put three cartons of milk into the cart.
Hina watched the whole thing unfold.
"...A man capable of wiping out an entire generational war between high school girls and office ladies with nothing but discount milk."
Momiji nodded solemnly.
"The King of Obliviousness among Kings of Obliviousness. He can even turn school festival preparations into pure economic activity."
"At this point, he's basically a supernatural phenomenon of Machida."
"...And somehow, every woman here is still paying attention to him."
"That's the real mystery."
Mr. Oblivious himself.
Even while shopping for the school festival—
Takuma Kunimi completely ignored the battlefield raging between the girls and the Mokejo members.
And in the end, the only truly important information he brought back was— the milk was on sale.