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It's Friday, and Sora's candy stash is already mostly empty. Watching the competition between You Show Duel School and LDS, fighting all those other duelists, and helping Yuzu learn to fusion summon must have put a massive dent in his supply.
Well, it can't be helped. He'll just have to go on a candy run to the store early this week.
He always goes to the same place. It's not like it's the best or only candy store in town; after all, the convenience store inside the LDS building was pretty well stocked when he had gone there before, and the best candy store in town was just a little too expensive for a middle school student like him. But this particular candy store that he regularly goes to is nice. The owner is nice, it's usually quiet, and most importantly, they stock his favorite lollipops.
So, Sora walks to the shop alone - later in the evening, so it's not as crowded on the streets. He's heard that people from LDS keep getting attacked by someone using XYZ summoning, and that purple haired guy that he and Yuzu had run into before was still on the loose, but he's not that worried. He doesn't go to LDS, and he's pretty sure that the purple haired guy or whoever is attacking LDS students and faculty is exclusively targeting LDS students and faculty, so he's not at risk. Besides, even without all of that, while Reiji Akaba interests him, the rest of LDS doesn't, and he likes teasing Yuya, so he's fine with staying at You Show Duel School for now.
Sora does wonder a little why the purple haired guy is targeting LDS, but then he shakes his head. It's not like it's his problem to deal with, and he's sure he'll find out eventually if he sticks with Yuya and the others, since Yuya's the one who originally got accused of attacking that one guy.
Finally, he's at the candy store, a solid two hours before it closes. He goes in, and the smell of sweets immediately hits him.
"Welcome in. ...You're here a bit early. Normally you come in on Sunday."
"I was running low a bit early this week. What lollipops do you have in stock?" Sora asks.
"Cotton Candy, Strawberry, Blue Raspberry, Green Apple, Grape, Cherry, Orange, Watermelon, Mystery, Mixed Berry, Blueberry, Pineapple, Peach, and Mango. We also got Lychee and Honey ones in this week."
"Nice!" Sora says, examining the different chocolate bars and grabbing four of each of his favorites. "I'll take three of each!"
The owner sighs. "I'll go grab them for you."
While the owner goes to the back, Sora grabs a couple more of his favorites - a bag of chocolate covered pretzels and popcorn (not great for when you're in a duel, but a good snack for when you're watching a long duel), a bag each of hard and soft caramels (maybe a bland choice, but Sora likes them), two bags of gummi bears (he had always had an affinity for bear related things), and three bags of fruit chews (he preferred the fruit, tropical, and dessert flavors over the soda flavors) - as well as something new (peach flavored mints). He set the candy down on the counter and takes his wallet out as the store owner comes back with a bag of lollipops.
The owner sighs again, smiling. "One of these days, you're going to get a cavity, kid."
"You always say that! Besides, I've been taking care of my teeth outside of eating all this candy. See?" Sora says. He smiles at the owner with his teeth showing.
"Alright, alright, that's enough of that. Let me ring you up. ...You're trying the peach mints, huh?"
"Yeah. They seemed interesting, and I like trying something interesting and fun every time I come in," Sora says. Really, he just likes anything that seems fun or interesting (hence why he likes Yuya and why he's interested in Reiji), but there's no need for more than small talk.
"How did you like what you tried last week?"
"It was just okay. I'm probably not going to get those matcha candies again."
"Yeah, those are definitely less sweet than the stuff you normally get. ...5768 yen."
"Geez. Well, I did get more than usual this time, I guess, but I have the money for it." He pulls out the coins and cash from his wallet. "Here. And you can keep the change, as usual."
"Thank you. ...Actually. Hold on. Before you leave, I have something for you." The owner pulls out a lollipop with lots of colors mixed together. "When I was stocking the lollipops, two were marked as coming from a messed up batch. I guess some of the stuff they were making the candy with spilled, so this one is mixed flavors. I figured I'd have one myself, but I saved this one just for you, since I know you like those lollipops. Let me know how you like it, alright?" She hands it over to Sora.
"Really? Thanks!"
"Well, it's not like you're a stranger around here. You come here once every week or two. I just figured I'd save it for one of my best customers."
Sora bows a little, and then he heads for the door. "Have a good night, ma'am!"
"You too, kid."
Sora leaves the shop, carrying his bags of candy and the lollipop the owner gave him. Now he'd have plenty of candy for tomorrow's duels.
He opened the mixed flavor lollipop on his way home and gave it a lick. He smiles.