We saw pumpkin-shaped plastic containers filled with sweets. Their orange color was so bright it stung my eyes, and seeing giant piles of them everywhere was hard on me.
“The event hall at the department store I went to was also like this,” said Ayase.
“Oh, when you went to buy Narasaka’s present.”
“There are also a bunch of decorations up in the city.”
Now that she mentioned it, I recalled Halloween decorations hanging from the trees by the road downtown. It almost looked like Tanabata.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I said.
“But once it’s over, these types of seasonal decorations disappear before you know it.”
I nodded. Some stores stopped selling seasonal items the very next day. Once Halloween was over, I bet these shelves would be full of Christmas items. That was always the sign the year was almost over.
“Well, at least Christmas items have some green,” I said, “so they’re a little easier on the eyes.”
“You sure have an interesting way of thinking about holidays, Asamura.”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t often hear people judging them based on store display colors.”
It must have been pretty obvious how little I cared about the events themselves.
Ayase and I walked past the seasonal items near the entrance and began shopping.
The arrangement of merchandise in supermarkets is much the same everywhere, but everyone has their own unique way of traversing them. It’s the same with bookstores. Even if a store creates a standard route for customers, there will always be people who go their own way.
“Are we running short on anything?” Ayase asked as I pushed a shopping cart along the aisle.
After accompanying her a few times, I’d noticed that Ayase liked to decide how to go around a store in advance. She must have wanted to use her time efficiently. Her personality was such that once she’d decided on her goal, she wanted to achieve it as quickly as possible.
It was the same when we went shopping for clothes. She had a predetermined route around the store and went from one area to the next without ever getting lost.
“Let’s see…” I racked my brain, trying to think of anything we needed.
I started with daily use items. We still had plenty of toilet paper and tissue boxes, as well as garbage bags, soap, detergents, and fabric softeners.
“I guess there’s nothing to stock up on,” Ayase concluded.
“I don’t think there is.”
I couldn’t remember being short on anything over the last few days. I guess I should start making notes when I notice something running low, just in case we wind up at the supermarket. It would be annoying to have to carry around a notepad, but in this day and age, all I had to do was talk into my smartphone.
“We should have enough seasonings,” she said, then, “Oh, I think we’re running low on mirin. We have pepper, but it might be smart to pick up some whole black pepper, too.”
“Then let’s get those while we’re here.”
“Okay.”
Ayase started walking briskly ahead, and I pushed our cart and followed her.
As we passed the vegetable section, Ayase checked the prices, mumbling things like, “Oh, that’s cheap” and “That’s a bit pricey” as she looked over the radishes, cabbages, and so on.
“Overall, I’d say the greens are a little expensive,” she said.
“Really?”
She was talking about items with green leaves, like spinach and green onions. I knew that much, but I couldn’t tell if they were expensive. You’d probably have to be checking the prices on a regular basis to notice.
“These are about twenty yen more expensive than they were yesterday,” she said.
“You have a good memory.”
“You think? I’m pretty sure this is normal.”
I was genuinely impressed. I certainly didn’t remember prices from the day before. Then again, I didn’t have a habit of looking at them, either.
After that, we left the vegetable section. Up ahead was the meat—first chicken, then pork, then beef. Beyond that was the fish. Ayase looked at the prices but didn’t pick up any of the items.
“Aren’t you going to buy anything?” I asked.
“I haven’t decided on the menu yet. If I were alone, I’d just buy the ingredients for tomorrow, but there are two of us, so I’d like to shop ahead since we can carry more.”
So an extra body means more choices, huh?
“Sorry,” she said. “I might make you do some heavy lifting.”
“No problem. It’s the least I can do since you’re always handling the cooking.”
Ayase mumbled a small “thank you,” sounding a little embarrassed. As I watched her, I thought, I really would help you anytime. It was nice to shop with her, discussing things as we went.
“Okay, I’ve decided. I want to pick up some chicken and vegetables. But before that, we need to get those spices.”
“Got it.”
Mirin and black pepper, right? But where’s the mirin?
Ayase pointed. “It should be over there. See those signs listing a bunch of sauces?”
We headed in that direction.
Ayase picked up a bottle of mirin, then had second thoughts and returned it to the shelf. As I wondered what she was thinking, she took a bigger bottle from the shelf beneath it and put it in our shopping cart.
“You want that one?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ve been thinking lately that we’re running out pretty quickly. Then I realized that with more people in our family, we’re using double the amount we were before. That’s why I wanted the bigger one.”
“Oh, I see… You and Akiko were only using half as much a few months ago.”
“It’s about time I got used to shopping for four.”
“Okay, now for the black pepper.”
Salt, sugar, and pepper were on the other side of the aisle. I found the black pepper I was looking for on the top shelf, checked with Ayase, and then put the package in our shopping cart.