Editing Internet Shrine Maiden Tsugumi-chan:Volume1 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 5===

“Good, good.”

It was early morning at a cafe near her home. The shrine maiden in a short-sleeved sailor uniform stretched her back while still seated and massaged her shoulders as if to signal a job well done. …Apparently it was true that large ones gave you stiff shoulders. Then she folded her notebook-sized tablet back into a phone.

A snort escaped her small nose.

“Another perfect job. …It feels good to eliminate people’s worries and bring them happiness.”

Tsumugi must have let her guard down thanks to the wireless earphones she was wearing because she said this out loud. This must have coincided with the quarter hour because she was given a list of the latest news articles based on her interests. As someone neck deep in the underground internet (against her own wishes), she found the articles from the open search engines to be so peaceful and adorable.

“New for Gourmets – Be Fooled No More! How to Make the Ultimate Curry Rice”

“Hmm.”

The daily morning special at the cafe today had been a small curry. Along with the standard vegetables and chicken, it had included cheese, chopped-up fish sausage, and croutons (which she mostly knew from corn potage). This was known as New Sea City style. She appreciated a recipe for the ultimate curry rice, but she would have preferred not to be shown it while already eating curry.

(But I guess I am interested.)

“Online Shrine Maiden> You don’t have to do anything for dinner. I’ll make it.”

“Detective> Where did this come from? …Wait, did you break something? Like an antique vase?”

“Online Shrine Maiden> What are you so afraid of, you poor detective? Your office is full of 100-yen items. I just want to try out a new recipe.”

At any rate, it was time. Tsumugi stuck her trifold phone in her skirt pocket. Her school uniform had a breast pocket, but she didn’t use it. Her excessive chest stretched the pocket so tight she had trouble getting anything inside. … And when she had only just started going to her school, she had forced her phone in the breast pocket and then nearly jumped out of her skin when it suddenly started vibrating. He hadn’t known what he was doing, but that detective had been sending her a bunch of unimportant rapid-fire social media messages! And thanks to that, she had gathered all the attention in the middle of a quiet class at the start of the school year before everyone’s friendships were fully set!!

“Ahem.”

She had better things to do than blush about that memory.

Tsumugi left the cafe and walked to a roadside charging station. She released the thick lock on the ground and pulled out something like a skateboard with T-shaped handlebars. She wanted her hands free, so she hung her bag from the metal hook below the handlebars and locked it in place. …This was partially because using her flat school bag’s shoulder strap would accentuate her chest size. She also made sure to equip the hairpin helmet. Then she switched her phone on and off to make sure the battery and wireless had connected properly.

These rental electric scooters were maneuverable and convenient, but the extremely small wheels meant even slight bumps were frightening and they tended to slip on wet manholes or the white lines. Also, they were generally ridden standing up. A girl who paid insufficient attention to her skirt could end up shining a little too brightly and spread happiness around the city, so you had to be careful.

While riding along the street lined with palm trees and solar panels, she heard the sound of skidding shoe soles from behind her. That was a trick to make your presence known with a model that lacked a horn.

“Morning.”

Betsuzaki Yuhi pulled up alongside her. She apparently used a square backpack.

This was their first time meeting without the gyaru sister around. This girl was a friend’s middle school sister. …That made it a little bit awkward. If she weren’t driving, Tsumugi’s eyes might have been drawn to her phone. But also…

“Eh? A seat?”

“They added this accessory as an option recently. I thought this would make it easier.”

“It looks more like an electric bike with that.”

That certainly seemed convenient to Tsumugi who had no greater defense with her miniskirt than someone riding a bike while standing up on the pedals. She decided to try out that option if she saw one around.

After going their separate ways to their respective schools, Tsumugi tossed her rental electric scooter in the large charging station installed near the school and walked the rest of the way.

In her classroom, someone gave a sleepy wave while resting her head on her desk.

“Mornin’.”

“Oh, you’re here early.”

“Of course I am, Shortstack-chan. Big Bro Detective Kouga-san told me to look after you. So now it’s up to me to help you with the Shrine Restoration Project!!”

She was being a little much.

Their homeroom teacher entered the classroom a bit late. Saitou Aiso was a timid puppy girl(?) known for being even more nervous than your average student teacher. The beautiful woman with long wavy hair and a suit was acting weird this morning.

“O-okay, everyone, please take your seats. Today’s first announcement is…gym class today is at the pool, so please make sure your valuables are safe. And apparently some of you have been changing in the bathroom or an unused classroom lately, but you need to use the locker room. Um, and also…”

“Gyaru Sister> Man, talk about ‘this meeting could’ve been an email’.”

They secretly chatted on their phones while listening to their teacher.

“Online Shrine Maiden> I feel bad for the teachers since they have to do everything in a standardized way.”

“Chatty> Okay, you bored girl, pay attention to the civil servant trying to do her job. And what’s with that crazy ‘Online Shrine Maiden’ name? Yahirodono-san, do you play phone games when you’re bored in class?”

“<span style="font-size:125%">Nyuwahh!!??</span>”

“Y-Yahirodono-san?”

Their homeroom teacher’s confused voice and every eye in the class were bearing down on her.

The pressure from all sides was so great she wanted to die.

She had made the classic mistake of joining the friend group chat with her secondary ''work'' account. This was the first she had heard of being able to join with a different account as long as the phone ID matched. She hid her face and phone behind a raised textbook like a growing child eating an early lunch and she tried to secretly recover from her mistake, but her fingers felt so awkward on her phone’s screen as it rested on her desk. Excuses spiraled through her mind, but…

“Gyaru Sister> Whoa, Mugikko. They’re resting on your desk. lol”

“Chatty> Wow, that’s crazy. Now that’s some overflowing resources.”

“Rie> I can almost feel their weight.”

She briefly wondered what they were talking about before arriving at the answer: her chest. This had distracted Chatty and the rest from the secondary account, but heat still filled her face. She looked over a little nervously as the fluffy teacher said something.

“And while I’m sure you know this, you shouldn’t be wandering around the city at night without a very good reason. I-I will be out patrolling, okay? If our eyes happen to meet out there, you could be suspended!”

The students saying things like “So she’ll be out ‘inspecting’ a night pool on the taxpayer’s yen?” or “I go to a cram school, so I have a good reason” apparently couldn’t be bothered to use their phones and keep their chatting a secret. Saitou Aiso clearly didn’t know how to respond.