Episode Three
Leaving the route entirely to Selene, we found ourselves on the small-goods street not far from the main road.
Variety shops stocked with all manner of trinkets, and clothing stores with a high-threshold, hard-to-enter feel. I didn’t come down this way much ordinarily, and I kept finding my eyes drifting to things on every side.
“Do you not usually come to this street, Sion?”
“Not really. I’m curious about it, but it always feels a little hard to walk into.”
She probably came here regularly. I realised I didn’t even know how she spent her days off — how little I knew of her.
“Is that right. Then let’s look around together today.”
The confidence in her voice — she clearly knew this street well. Her birthday, and somehow I was the one being escorted. For now I kept quiet and followed along.
In the variety shop we laughed at stuffed animals that moved on their own when mana was channelled into them; at the clothing store she dressed me up like a paper doll, putting me in outfit after outfit. A stretch of time unlike anything Selene and I had shared before — the kind of time you spend with a friend.
In the glimpses I stole of her expression, her smile was the open, unguarded kind I remembered from childhood. Every time that face turned toward mine, something deep in my chest took on a slow, spreading warmth, and I couldn’t quite settle.
“Last stop — this shop. This was the one I really wanted to come to today.”
She tightened her grip on my hand and looked at me.
“Are you nervous?”
“…A little.”
The place we’d arrived at was an accessory shop, its atmosphere clearly a step apart from everything around it.
“It’s all right. It looks a little forbidding from the outside, but inside it’s perfectly approachable. And not so expensive, either.”
I let her lead me inside and looked over the items on display. Simple rings sat alongside pendants with softly glowing magic stones set into them — all manner of accessories arranged to greet us.
“My, if it isn’t the White Witch and the Black Witch. Welcome.”
A well-mannered shop assistant noticed us and came over. Her eyes dropped, for just a moment, to our joined hands.
“Is this a date today?”
She asked it with a smile, pitched for only us to hear.
“N-no, it’s not quite like — “
“It is — a birthday date.”
Selene cut across me, holding our joined hands up for the shop assistant to see.
A date… it wasn’t supposed to be a date. Or — was it? From any angle you looked at it, this was clearly a date. I’d known, and somehow spent the whole day pretending not to notice. The moment I let myself think it plainly, my face went hot.
“Oh, how lovely! Happy birthday to you. What a wonderful pair — I’m quite envious. Please do let me know if I can help you find anything.”
Before I could get any words out, the shop assistant smiled and moved gracefully away. I felt wretched for being so tongue-tied.
“Don’t just say things like that…!”
I tried to cool the heat in my cheeks by directing a reproachful look at Selene.
“Hm? But isn’t what we’re doing today clearly a date, from anyone’s perspective?”
She tilted her chin in one hand and said it without the slightest hint of embarrassment, and I let my shoulders drop.
“…Fine. I give up.”
Selene seemed to be in unusually good spirits today — I’d let her be. The White-Black Bulletin was probably having a field day somewhere right now.
“So then—” I took a breath and asked her.
“You wanted to come here — is there something you’re looking for? I’ll buy it for you. A present.”
A place like this might be exactly right as a return gift for last year’s bracelet.
“There is something I want.”
She took my hand again and moved quietly through the shop, and I followed.
She stopped here and there, thought for a moment, and moved to the next display. She seemed to have a general idea of what she was after.
After making her way around the shop, Selene let out a small breath.
“I’ll take these. The black one for me, the white one for Sion.”
I looked where she was pointing — two pendants side by side, each with a small stone set into it. The same shape, but with different stones.
“Wait — me too?”
Both were pretty, white and black alike. Either would suit Selene. But today was her birthday — I hadn’t thought I needed to be buying anything.
“Yes. We don’t have anything matching, do we? That’s what I wanted. Something we could have together.”
She said it with a small, bashful look toward the display case, and I couldn’t look away.
All day she has seemed so naturally herself. That expression held me, and I couldn’t pull my eyes from it.
“Sion? Is something the matter?”
“…Sorry. I went somewhere for a moment.”
Her voice pulled me back.
“I see the appeal. But shouldn’t I be the one getting the black one?”
“Yes. But then it would just look like an ordinary purchase. I’ll give you the white one as a gift, so you give me the black one as mine.”
The hand holding mine pressed closer. Some particular attachment, perhaps.
“I don’t mind buying it for you, but — if you’re buying yours yourself, doesn’t that rather defeat the point of a birthday present?”
“That’s all right. I’ll take the white one, and I’ll leave the black one in your hands.”
She said it, let go of my hand, lifted the white-stoned pendant from the display, and went to find the shop assistant.
“Well — if she’s happy with it, I suppose.”
Pendant with the black stone in hand, I followed after her on slightly unsteady feet.
◇
“Wait — did you know about this place?”
Selene had led me by the hand to the café at the edge of the city — the same one I’d visited with Rizett. I hadn’t told her I’d been here before.
“Rizett told me about it. I’d wanted to come and see for myself.”
“Really. It’s a perfectly ordinary place, I thought — were you that curious about it?”
It was a nice café, but I hadn’t formed any particularly strong impression of it.
“To me it is. Come on.”
I couldn’t quite shake the sense of something off — but there was no point dwelling on it. I quickened my pace to keep up with the hand pulling me forward, and followed her inside.
It was lunchtime, and there were more people than last time. Glances from various directions; a faint stir running through the room.
“What did you order last time, Sion?”
Selene asked, eyes on the menu.
“Let me think. The herbal tea, I think. It was lovely.”
“Hm. Then I’ll have the same. Is that all right for you too?”
“Yes.”
I’d have liked to try something different, but today I was leaving everything to her. Same hairstyle, same pendant, same tea now too. Today’s Selene had a decided fixation on matching.
After a little while, herbal tea and sandwiches arrived. The sharp, clear fragrance of the herbs seemed to loosen something in me.
“It smells wonderful. The sandwiches look good too.”
The sandwiches were stuffed generously with roasted chicken and fresh vegetables — they looked substantial. Whether my small appetite could manage them was another question.
“If you can’t finish, just say so. Don’t push yourself.”
“…I know. Thank you.”
After that we talked for a while about nothing in particular. At home she rarely opened her mouth; out in the world, with eyes on her, she talked properly. Recent magical tools, food, Becky — the topics didn’t run dry as quickly as I’d expected. We might actually be closer than I’d realised. When fans came over to us partway through, Selene handled each one so smoothly that I found myself thinking: she’s dependable. That one surprised me.
“What’s next?”
I drained the last of my herbal tea and asked. Selene looked down at her cup, left a brief pause, and answered.
“There’s one more place I want to go — just that, and then home. It’s a little far, but bear with me.”
“Understood. Should I not ask where?”
“Mm. You’ll probably work it out on the way, but it’s a secret. After that I think we’ll head home.”
No right of refusal — I’d been following where she led all day. That was how it was supposed to go, and yet now that the end of the day was drawing close, something in me felt reluctant to let it finish.