Chapter 4: Sunshanai Plaza. The birth of a new love?

Scene 1: Hidden Tastes

After the first week of class, the Shimizus decided to go to the Sunshanai City mall on Saturday, each bringing some of their savings. They entered the shopping center, and before they split up, Asuka pointed to the watch she was wearing: —See you back here in 4 hours to grab some food! —It was 10 am; they had gone shopping early because they had homework to do.

Natsuki, after saving up for a long time, wanted to buy a new pair of headphones. She loves listening to music; however, her current headphones were draining batteries too fast [Natsuki thinks that listening to music is important for meeting new people and expressing feelings]. On the other hand, Asuka wanted to get a novel to read, and Suki wanted to look for a new outfit for special occasions.

Himari decided to go with her sisters, but she didn’t really know what to look for. Even though she accompanied them, she started walking around the mall and found an ad for the Komica Minolta Planetarium that read: "Viaje por las galaxias y el universo hoy mismo, entrada gratis en la primera función de las 11 am." Himari loves admiring the stars and the universe—she likes stargazing at night, which is why she also bought a telescope. She loved the idea and went to the show.

Half an hour later, the Yoshidas arrived in a Marsedes. They had no idea the Shimizus were at the mall. They went inside and split up. Ren, always attentive, told them: —See you at the food court at 2, whoever gets there first line up!

The three of them replied while saluting: —Aye, aye, captain!

Daichi really likes technology—once, like in his school video, he had hacked Sora's phone without him noticing—so he started exploring the electronics stores. Since Ren wanted to improve his chess games to make it to the internationals, he decided to look for the best moves in bookstores. Sora wanted to browse through various stores, but with the intention of looking for new friendships, and Kouta had found out about the Galaxies show, so without telling his brothers, he headed straight to the planetarium.

Himari was already in line, so she was among the first to enter the dome, where the lights had already been turned off and they were only guided by a blue line of light on the floor, and then Kouta entered the planetarium.

Scene 2: The Beauty of Discovering Secrets

Himari sat in one of the cushioned seats shaped like a cloud and thought to herself: "I think I'm going to have an amazing time." It was her first time attending a planetarium. Just then, Kouta arrived and, without knowing it, sat right next to Himari. After a five-minute wait, the show began.

Meanwhile, Natsuki was checking out headphones in an electronics store. She wondered in her thoughts: "Which one would sound better?", "There are so many models, though some are really expensive. Would it be worth the price, though?"

Daichi walked into the store and saw Natsuki. He was surprised because he didn't expect to see one of the quadruplets inside; however, he didn't approach her and just stayed back, watching what she was looking for while thinking: "What is she doing here?", "Do these girls like technology?", "Are they streamers?"

Daichi observed her closely and saw that she was picking out headphones, and the ones she had in her hand were known for being poor quality. He got frustrated and was screaming inside his head: "No, don't make that bad decision."

At that moment, Natsuki started walking to another part of the store. He couldn't take it anymore, so he approached her and asked: —Hi, what were you looking for? —She jumped when she saw it was one of the Yoshidas and said in her head: "No way! He works here and I didn't even notice."

She felt embarrassed because she thought he would make fun of her, so she replied: —Hi, which of the four of you are you, and how is it that you work here? —He thought carefully about how to respond: "If I tell her I don't work here but say I watched her looking at headphones, she'll call me a creep," "What do I do now?", "I know, I have an idea."

He proceeded to speak calmly: —I'm Daichi. I don't work here; I just came to see if there was anything new, but I just noticed you were here in the store. Which of the four are you? I don't want to mistake you like Kouta did.

Natsuki was glad to know he wanted to find out who she was. She told him in a sweet voice: —Which of us would you expect me to be? —He stood there thinking: "I don't think Himari is the type to like music, even though she came up with the Karaoke idea," "Asuka looks serious, like she likes to study; she might want to listen to music, but it could distract her," "Suki most likely bought a punching bag or something to work out, so the only one left is Natsuki because she tried her hardest to find a way to go to Karaoke, plus she's the one Kouta mistook and she just reacted now that I mentioned it." Then, he answered hesitantly but confidently: —You must be Natsuki.

A smile formed on her face and she said: —Yes! You recognized me. —He was happy to have guessed right and, celebrating, said: —I did it! —Then, holding the headphones, she told him: —By the way... what do you think of these headphones? —as she handed him the headphones and he took them.

Daichi, concerned, told her, hiding it but with a sad voice: —To be honest, they aren't good quality. —Sad, she exclaimed while covering her face with her hands: —I'm terrible at picking out headphones! The last ones I bought didn't even last me six months.

He took her hands while setting the headphones down: —Don't worry, don't be sad, I'll help you pick them out. I know about electronics, let me help you.

She became happy and said, thanking him for helping her: —Thank you so much! —Daichi and Natsuki went to pick out other headphones.

Scene 3: Unexpected Encounters

Himari and Kouta were watching the show, traveling toward galaxies and constellations. During one of the beautiful views that sporadically lit up the place, Kouta turned to look and saw Himari right next to him. He was completely shocked and frozen to find her, despite all the people who attended the event.