Finally arrived on the island, the girls hurried from the dock to the Main Gate¹. Sophie and Aya look around and notice some changes, as if there had been some work done during their absence.
**¹The "Main Gate" is the name of the first building when you arrive in Kumiai by boat, it is a building that serves as a tourist, administrative and commercial hub.**
"Tell me Rina, is it just me or have some things changed since the last time?"
"Ahah, no it's not you, they added a lot more stuff in the main hall and all around the Main Gate."
"Wasn't that already there before you left for Hawaii Aya-chan?"
"No… does that mean they added all this in less than two weeks?!"
"They did this last week by doing the work at night. It was so quick and unobtrusive that you could see things pop up overnight, like this new indoor fountain in the middle of the Main Gate hall, renamed the "Fountain Plaza.""
"It doesn't make sense…"
"I seem to have heard something about this very thing in a lecture by Professor Melon. Apparently they plan to continually upgrade the island over the next ten years."
"Over ten years?! There's already so much to do on the island and they want more?"
"Yes, and they don't just want to make it better, they want to make it bigger by creating extensions to the main island and potentially new special islands like the Universal Science Research Center or the Karnival World Island might be."
"I didn't know they had already talked about it last year, I saw the official announcement of the project last week on the big screen in the Main Gate. After class, I'll give you a tour of the new stuff they've added in the last two weeks."
After entering the Main Gate and admiring the new fountain, they head for the tram station to reach the campus more quickly.
A sudden noise interrupts their walk.
*gurgling noise*
Aya stops suddenly and her face turns red. Her friends turn around, and Rina with her mocking smile and her mischievous look hastens to make a remark.
"Oya oya? Did Aya-san forget to eat breakfast this morning? It seems that our young athlete is more forgetful than expected!"
Poor Aya's incessant gurgling causes a real awkward lull and her face red as a beet shows an embarrassment that it is rare to see in the girl usually.
"I had to skip breakfast because I was late this morning, the waves were so good I didn't even see the time. I didn't think I was that weak…"
"I would have given you a cookie but I ate them all earlier."
"Thank you for the attention."
*gurgling noise*
Sophie notices from the corner of her eye a food stall with a good smell, she taps Aya on the shoulder to warn her.
"Look Aya-chan, there's an amazing smell coming from that food stall. Let's go see if there's anything interesting."
A mysterious mobile street food stall called Kochi Yakitori, run by an even more mysterious cook, stands out in the Fountain Plaza because of the absolutely divine smell it gives off. Usually mobile stands are not allowed in closed areas like this plaza.
The girls approach to see what he is offering.
"Welcome, welcome! Come and see my delicious Yakitori skewers! This is high quality chicken straight from a prestigious farm in Nagoya!"
"Yakitori skewers first thing in the morning? Why not after all, do you want some Aya?"
"Um… either that or it's onigiri from the konbini. Go for the yakitori!"
Aya takes out her wallet and starts to hold out her 500 yen coin. The shopkeeper looks at her with a rather surprised look and says.
"Oh oh, I don't accept money in my shop young lady. At my place, you pay with your Kumiai student card, 480 Ai Coins please."
"Wait what !?"
The stupor seizes the girls who do not understand what the cook is talking about. Rina starts to question him.
"What do you mean you don't accept Yen? And what's this about "Ai Coins?" "
"Haven't you heard the news? It's a new feature of the Kumiai student card. You receive a fixed amount of points, Ai Coins, each month that you can use at certain stores on the island."
"I've never heard of this before…does it ring a bell? Aya? Sophie?"
"No"
"Neither do I, yet I assiduously follow the island's news."
The cook sees the girls confused and then asks for Aya's card to check if she already has points.
"If you'll allow me, I'll check if you've already got Ai Coins on your student card. So… Yeah… Well I'm happy to tell you that you currently have 1000 Ai Coins on your student card. This is the base balance for all new cards."
"Well, if I have enough to pay in Ai Coins then you can use my card."
"Thank you for your purchase, here you go."
The cook hands Aya a tray of six tasty skewers, he even does her a favor by offering her two more skewers for her friends under the pretext that they are the first customers of Kochi Yakitori.
"It's probably your first day of school today, that's why you haven't learned about the new features of the student card yet. You will learn more today, I'm sure. Goodbye and enjoy your meal."
"Thank you mysterious and kind shopkeeper, from this day forward, I, Rina and my two sidekicks will become your most loyal customers."
With these words, Rina, Aya and Sophie set off again in the direction of the tram station. On the way, they find a bench in a nice place near the sea to eat quietly.
They sit down and start to think about what the owner of the Kochi Yakitori told them.
Sophie thinks she has an idea about this story.
"Now that I think about it, this whole thing about new features related to the student card, I wonder if it might be this famous project to boost student life within the island."
"Project to boost student life ? What do you mean ?"
"Before the summer holidays I saw an announcement on the island's big screens that they were planning to set up new services dedicated to Kumiai students. The goal would be to give more opportunities for extracurricular activities to students all over the island. But I didn't think it would also involve stalls like this one."
"He said we would know more today, maybe during the opening ceremony."
She tries to keep a straight face, but Rina looks at Aya's tray of skewers, the smell of the chicken awakens in her a deep desire to bite into one of those skewers.
"Aya? Do you have an extra skewer in your tray by any chance?"
"Hmm? I thought you had a good breakfast this morning. Homemade cookies to boot, are you sure you're hungry or is that just greed?"
"You… you've got me figured out… I did eat well this morning. But how do you expect me not to ask for a piece of your food when such a tempting smell tingles my nose? Come on, just one bite."
"It'll always amaze me how much your vocabulary expands when we talk about food. You should get your priorities straight if you want to be more like your mother. Since I'm magnanimous I'll leave you a skewer. And one for you too Sophie."
Barely enough time to hold out the skewer that Rina rushes to bite into it.
"Magna- what?"
"Thank you Aya-chan."