The walk back into town took the trio nearly 15 minutes, but as they stepped on the paved walkway, Daiki turned around, threw his arms up wide and spoke up in the most dramatic fashion he could manage "Welcome to Hiyokuna. Well I mean technically you were already through here on your way form the train station." Daiki trailed off slightly embarrassed.
"True, but now we'll actually look at it, not just walk through." Laura offered, to which Gabe gave a firm nod.
"Yeah, I mean I only really saw the trainstation and a couple of the buildings along this street."
"True true." Daiki commented, perking up slightly, before he lead them further into the small town. Two blocks further down the road, he turned into a small side alley, where the only thing standing out was the wooden sign mounted above the entrance to the bar it advertised.
"As said earlier, it won't be open for quite a bit yet, but here we are, Mr Tanaka's bar. It's not the biggest in town, but he has good prices and is closer to campus than any other." The local informed the other two as he pointed at the closed door.
As the group was turning around to return to the main street, a middle aged man carrying a crate filled with bottles came their way and nodded to Daiki.
"A bit early today, aren't you Daiki?" The man asked as he stopped next to them, a hint of a smile on his lips as he put down the crate he had carried.
"Yes, I am showing these two around today." Daiki replied, waving a hand towards the two exchange students. "These are Rosenthal Laura and Chumpson Gabe."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Tanaka Akeno, owner of this fine bar back there." the bar owner introduced himself with a friendly smile.
"It is indeed, I am looking forward to seeing what beer you have tonight." Laura responded, returning the man's smile, while Gabe simply offered a simple "Hello".
"Is that so? Well then I'll keep a table free for you and your new friends Daiki." Akeno said as he wrote into a small notebook he took from his back pocket.
"Thank you very much." Daiki said as he gave the passing man a short bow. "Now come on you two, there is more to this town than Mr Tanaka's bar."
As they left the alley, they could hear their newest acquaintance shooing some animal, probably a stray cat, away.
Continuing on at a reasonable pace, stopping here and there to look over a building or two that stood out from those around it, the three students soon arrived at the train station.
"So this area is more or less the center of the town, on this side of the station we have a decent enough restaurant serving local cuisine, as well as small cafe, although it caters more to people wanting a quick cup of coffee before their train leaves. I know a better one for if you just want to relax and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee that's just a bit further into town." Daiki once again explained to the two foreigners as he indicated the two buildings sitting on either side of the hotel Laura had noticed on her arrival.
"I personally wouldn't recommend eating out while you are here to often, as the Cafeteria does have great food and is significantly cheaper than anything but the premade meals from the supermarket that you can get in town."
Leading the group through the station to go past the tracks underground, they quickly reached the other side, where a couple of shops could be seen on the opposite side of the street.
"Here we got the local supermarket, which is open 24/7, next to it we have jsu what you were looking for Laura, a small store for hiking supplies." The local explained with a smug grin, not bothering to point out that the shop was mostly there for people that forgot something for a weekend trip.
"Can we go check it out for a bit? I could use an actual backpack for going hiking in the mountains nearby." Laura inquired as she points to the hiking store.
"I don't mind." Gabe replied with a shrug.
"Then why not, we have enough time after all." Daiki said as the group crossed the road and entered the store.
Inside they were greeted by a young man behind the counter to the right. But before he could even inquire if the group needed any assistance, Laura already spotted the selection of backpacks at the back of the shop and made a beeline for them. Once standing before the decent enough selection of bags hanging from the wall she let her gaze wander across them all. It took a moment to find backpacks approximately the size the German was looking for, but once she found them, she took them down one after the other and tried them on.
For each one Laura first gauged how much stuff she could fit in it by checking all side pockets as well as the main compartment. Some she put back right away after this, others she actually tried on, adjusting just about every strap on them.
"Why are you playing around with all those straps?" Gabe inquired, a hint of both confusion and curiosity on his face, after Laura had finished with another backpack, putting it down next to the only other one she had not put back yet.
"To see how good I can make them fit. It wouldn't matter much, or at all, if I were to just carry them around for a short while." She begins to explain as she checks over the next backpack. "But as I will be carrying it for at least most of a day, I want to make sure it won't chaff or be so loose the bag slides around on my back. Not to mention the way they distribute the weight across more than just my shoulders"
"Ah I see." Gabe replied as he watched Laura test the next backpack.
A few minutes later, the young woman had narrowed it down to just four backpacks by then, she gave all of them a final lookover, before putting all but one back where they had been on display. The one she ended up picking was made from a watertight, bottle green fabric, and had only a small side pocket sized for water bottles on each of its sides.
"Yeah, I'll take this one." She confirmed as she began walking back to the front of the store where the young salesclerk was waiting.
"Why that one, if you don't mind me asking" Daiki inquired, his curiosity demanding to be sated, as he followed after her.
"Nah I don't mind. And it is quite a mundane reason, it was the cheapest one of those I liked." Laura replied as she stepped up to the counter and paid for her purchase, before slipping it on as the group stepped outside again.
"Now let's hurry it up a bit so Mr. Tanaka doesn't have to keep a table free for us to long." Daiki said as he lead the other two towards the other edge of town.
This time they walked for nearly half an hour, and just as Laura and Gabe were beginning to wonder where they were headed, as most buildings they passed seemed to be private homes, Daiki stopped before a bakery just a few houses away from the literal edge of town.
"So this is the last stop, well second to last seeing as we'll get a few beers at Mr Tanaka's on the way back." Daiki explained with a chuckle as he walked up to the door. "This is the best bakery I have ever been to." As he opened the door, a small bell chimed, causing a heavy set woman standing behind the counter to turn her attention to the door.
"Is it time to show the foreigners around again already?" She asked as she looked down and grabbed a trio of what looked like small rolls. "Here you three go, an anpan for each of you, first one is free." She said with a smile as she handed over the baked goods she had grabbed.
"Thank you Mrs Kotami, Rosenthal Laura and Chumpson Gabe will be staying here for the semester." Daiki replied, pointing to his companions in turn before he took one of the rolls.
"Thank you very much" Laura said as she grabbed another of the rolls, noticing the hint of warmth still radiating from it.
"Thank you" Gabe agreed as he took the last one.
"Ah no need to thank me, my Husband always insists we give new students a free Anpan to get them to come again. And please just call me Akiko." the woman said with a friendly smile that seemed wholly genuine.
Turning to leave again, the three students bit into the food they had been given, the red bean paste in the center of it surprising both Laura and Gabe.
"Mhm, this is great, could be a bit sweeter but otherwise it's really great." Gabe praised it between bites.
"This paste in it is quite nice, but the bread around it is just okay." Laura commented as she enjoyed her own.
"That paste is called Anko and made from Akatsuki beans" Daiki explained as he slowly ate his own piece of bread. "It's one of the oldest Sweets we have in Japan as far as I know."
After this short explanation, all three of them focused on enjoying their free food as they made their way towards their final destination of the day.