118 5.7 Shopping Around Kitakata. (1/2)

After the meal, I cleared away the bento boxes and set it aside. ”What do you think Himura-kun, if we just order food for these 2 weeks, lunch and dinner and we just could just make ourselves breakfast and supper in the evening if you wished to.”

Hiko-sama sama raised a question at me regarding the meals. It seems it would rather be convenient for him to order take out rather than to cook, which I think the price would be slightly comparable than to toil over the kitchen to cook.

”As you wish Hiko-sama since I would not know much about what to cook for lunch and dinner in the next couple of days. Furthermore, it would be a daily thing if we were to go to the market almost every day to get our supply of fresh vegetables, meat and fish as well as grains. Your kitchenette is meant for cooking light meals such as gruel or noodles.

”Hmm, that's right. It's quite a hassle to cook in the small kitchen. How about this, we can have bread or noodles for breakfast, then we order for lunch and for dinner, we can cook something light again. If we have bread for breakfast we can have noodles for Dinner. If we have noodles for breakfast, we could have bread or mochi for dinner.”

I was pondering how to whip up meals in the kitchenette when Hiko-sama proposed just ordering take out for lunch.” Phew...! Just thinking about our daily meals really worked up a headache” I thought to myself as I rubbed my forehead to get rid of the non-existent headache.

”Stand up and let me take a look at you. Turn around a bit... Hmm, well since we are done with our lunch, how about we go out towards the trading district and look for some clothes for you.”

I stood up in front of him and smoothed down my clothes that had been worn for some days already and already had sweaty stains and smells in it.

”You've only got the only clothes on your back, so let me reward you some for your hard work today. I really appreciate what you had done to the house. Keep it up!”

”But Hiko-sama, would the clothes be expensive? If repay you back once I had started to find some work here, ok?”

”For a child's clothes, I don't think it's as expensive as an adult. You are wearing a plain teenager's blue kimono of cheap, worn cloth with a white umanori hakama, white tabi and blue obi. It doesn't cost so much so come, let's go then! Don't forget the bento boxes, we bring it back to the Inn that I had bought from.”

I took the washed bento boxes and placed them back in the cloth carrier and walked out of the house. Since I do not own a pair of zori yet, I put on my leather sandal and wound the straps around my ankles. I closed the sliding door and walked alongside Hiko-sama towards the trading district.

We made small chat as we walked and discovered that Hiko-sama was just 24 years old but he seemed to have matured well beyond his age.

He doesn't actually know his birthday and told me that his birthday was every day in October. ”Haa...! Haa...! Haa...! So every day is your birthday in October so you could receive presents every day for 30 days!”

I laughed at his revelation because he was just like me, an orphan that was brought in as a character in affiliation with mine. He smiled at me and tapped my forehead slightly.

When we had reached the trading district, I was told that this was where all the trading for local produce takes place and true indeed, there were rows of double-storey shophouses that lined the street and each was painted vibrantly and of different bright colours.

Mini triangular flags of different colours were strung across their shopfront and huge banners as well as signs we hung on above their main entrances. For fresh produce, there was no need to hung that they were selling as they hung their names instead.

Each of the banners and signs was colourful and eye-catching, and not only were they vibrant, but the human traffic milling around the shops added to the atmosphere. There were a lot of chatters of bargaining as well as paying for their purchases.

Even though it was high in the midday, but there were still people making purchases such as loaves of bread and cakes while some shops were starting to close for the day such as those selling fish and meat and poultry. It was a sight to behold at this moment.

Hiko-sama and I approached the confectionery and he began to pick 2 loaves of bread and some cakes. The shopkeeper wrapped the bread and cakes with banana leaves and held it with twine for easy carrying. He paid for it and I carried it for him. He then moved to a shop that sells eggs and chose a dozen.

”These bread and eggs we can cook for breakfast tomorrow, the eggs should be enough to last a few days. Just wash them with a bit of salt water and place them in a cool place in the kitchenette.”

I nodded my head and carried the eggs that he had bought. The eggs were placed in a kind of straw woven basket with a small folding handle and lined with abit of hay. This way it prevents accidental breakages if the basket was knocked into something else.

I looked around for any sign of 'help wanted' on their shopfronts but had seen none so far. From the marketplace, we walked to another cluster where the shopfronts displayed pottery, farming tools, Weapons, kitchenware and clothes.

There were some signs indicating that the shops were having a sort of clearance sales and Hiko-sama entered one. An elderly lady was behind the counter while a young man, presumably her Grandson was helping observe the customers. The moment Hiko-sama open the door to enter, a small tinkle sounded alerting the duo that a customer had entered.

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”Irasshaimase! Good afternoon, Samurai-San. How may I help you? Are you looking for something for yourself, or for your brother here?”

”Eh... Brother? No... No... He's just my apprentice and I wanted to get 2 pairs of plain cloth red and burgundy coloured kimonos, 2 pairs of white Umanori Hakama and 1 pair of zori of his size. The sizes should be 1 or 2 sizes bigger except for his Zori. 1 piece of black yakata if you do have one. That would be all, thank you.”

”Give us some time to look for the right sizes, so please take a seat and we will get back to you in a short while.”

The young man disappeared into the store and we both sat down on a long bench that was meant for waiting customers. The young man was a bit taller than I am so most probably he would be measuring the clothes with his own body. After a short while, he emerged with a pile of clothes.

”Samurai-San, would your apprentice like to try the clothes? They are 1 size bigger so it would be like the clothes I am wearing right now.”

”It is alright, young man. I'd pay for all these since we have another place to go.”