All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

Pfft—

Kotomi Izumi was in the middle of drinking her mint green milk tea when she suddenly heard the little girl’s voice. Caught completely off guard, she spat out a mouthful of mint milk tea. Fortunately, no one happened to be walking in front of her, or that would have been hard to explain.

Even though it was late at night and there were still quite a few pedestrians along the street, by all rights children should have been tucked into bed at this hour. Yet at a moment like this, a little girl had suddenly appeared beside her without warning and immediately asked if she wanted to buy a ring?

What was this? First there was the little match girl, and now we have the little girl selling rings?

Kotomi Izumi could not help but joke to herself as she lowered her head and looked at the little girl who had somehow appeared at her side, carrying a small basket in her hand.

The girl wore a padded winter jacket, gloves on both hands, and a scarf wrapped snugly around her neck that looked very warm. She did not look like a child forced to sell things on the street because her family was struggling financially.

”Little sister, it’s so late. Why are you out here alone? Where are your parents?” Kotomi Izumi crouched down and asked with a gentle smile.

The height difference between them was impossible to ignore. Even crouching, Kotomi Izumi still had to look slightly up at the girl, who tilted her little head back and said,

”Mom and Dad are at the supermarket nearby buying groceries. They said when we get home tonight, they’ll make me spaghetti!”

As she spoke, the little girl shook the small basket in her hand.

”When school ended today, the teacher reminded us that starting today we have to do our social practice assignment. I chose selling small accessories, so I asked my parents to bring me here tonight. I thought maybe someone here would buy a ring.”

”Wow, that’s impressive~”

Kotomi Izumi smiled as she looked into the basket. It was full of rings, just as the girl had said. She really was here to sell rings. But none of them came in elegant or luxurious ring boxes. They were all placed inside small resealable plastic bags, and the rings themselves looked cheap at a glance.

Only then did Kotomi Izumi understand. When the little girl said ”rings,” she meant these toy rings.

”Little sister, are all the rings in your basket real?”

”Mm-hmm!” The little girl nodded vigorously and said seriously, ”They’re all real! Big sister, do you want to buy one? They’re very expensive, but you’re the first person willing to talk to me, so I’ll give you a discount!”

”You’re so generous~ Then let me ask you, what was the original price of these rings? And how much are you planning to sell one to me for?”

Kotomi Izumi asked with a smile. Talking to children always lifted her mood unconsciously.

Of course, that excluded naughty brats.

”The original price is 200 yen. If you want to buy one, you can give me 100 yen,” the little girl said earnestly.

Kotomi Izumi was a bit stunned when she heard the price. Even if the rings in the basket were not real diamond rings, they were still fine as props for children playing house. She had seen similar toy rings at convenience stores and toy shops before. They were usually priced around 500 yen.

At 100 yen with the discount, even for a toy ring, that was more than cheap enough.

”Little sister, if you sell it to me for 100 yen, won’t you lose money? I’ve heard real rings are very, very expensive~”

Kotomi Izumi reached out and gently patted the girl’s hair. The girl’s hair felt a bit dry to the touch, but at her age, she was at that stage of being mischievous and energetic. After a whole day of running around and playing wildly with friends, her long hair was bound to end up messy.

Not to mention, she was at the age when washing her hair might still be a little scary. Whenever she closed her eyes to rinse her hair, she might secretly wonder whether a monster would suddenly appear and swallow her whole.

After hearing Kotomi Izumi’s words, a look of shock appeared on the little girl’s face. As if, in her understanding, 200 yen was already considered a very high price. Or perhaps she was stunned that a real ring could actually be so expensive.

Seeing the astonished expression on her face, Kotomi Izumi could not help but smile and continued,

”How much do you think would be appropriate? If big sister buys a real ring at a very cheap price, wouldn’t you be losing out?”