”I get to relax now, right? Oh, who am I kidding?”
"I'm always relaxed." Hibusa High, when divorced from its dark magical girl club, wasn’t that different from any other high school. Things were comparable to Haruna’s experience in the City of Light. Maybe there was a bit more worry in some of the students, but that could easily be chalked up to the quake. In the end nobody had been hurt, and the damage had been minimal.
Rei continued to be a bit of a puzzle. She couldn’t get a good read on her from their brief interaction, but at least she hadn’t done what the light girl had been expecting (i.e., thrown her out or killed her on sight.)
I wonder what she does when she isn’t killing entire cities’ worth of miseria. I certainly haven’t seen her around school much.Haruna had yet to reveal herself to the entire club. She hadn’t been invited to any club activities, and Rei hadn’t sought her out since her recruitment. Shortly she would have to decide if Hizuki was going to help the town out or if she was going to take some time for herself. She happened to be walking past a bush while she considered her options. Immediately, she could feel the bush’s desire to destroy. Its black heart yearned for a great calamity, and rustled its branches. The bush had so much spite, it was able to fling a small pebble at Haruna’s backpack. As terrifying as this might be to most people, the eyes peering out of the bush at her made things feel a lot less paranormal. Her desires were starting to feel familiar.
She blinked, then tilted her head.
"Ms. Black?” she asked, after a moment, thoroughly baffled by this choice of approach. They had exchanged cell phone numbers, after all. Haruna supposed this might be a way to confirm her identity, but it wouldn’t exactly be hard to figure that out if Black Gate could actually somehow perceive things through her plushies as Haruna suspected.
"What are you doing here?”Initially, the eyes looked startled. But they hardened just before a black sleeve reached out of the bush and pulled Haruna closer. The bush was just a bit too small for two people to convincingly hide inside.
”How did you know it was me?” Rather than wait for an answer, her eyes scanned her surroundings.
”I thought that might be you. Mr Banana told me he is enjoying his new arrangements. You spoil him.” She started to speak more quietly.
”I was going to call you, but my battery died. The eyeballs are relentless, which is why I look like this. But you can never be too careful.” At this distance, it was easy to see that Black Gate’s human form more clearly. She had pale skin and was wearing an all black dress with some christian jewelry. Crosses hung from her ears and neck, but they had a macabre motif. The pendant cross was adorned with a skull. The only thing that might have tipped off a normal magical girl to her identity was that
tired stare she had.
”For a moment I thought you had died. How were you able to survive an encounter with them?”"Couldn’t you just recharge it. . . ?” Haruna asked in confusion, before shaking it off and continuing, just sort of accepting that she was in the bush now.
"The club was actually a lot nicer than I expected. Only one of them tried to kill me, and even then she apologized after.” She scratched at her head, where a bit of bush was poking at her.
"Rei even saved my life from some really strong miseria.” ”But that’s only because they want your purity, isn’t it?” She sighed.
”I don’t mean to suggest your life has been easy, but this is the Detention Club we’re talking about. They’re depraved and corrupt, and they get immense joy out of spreading that corruption to the pure. So when they see a paladin shining with optimism-” She lifted a hand to her mouth. She rose out of the bush, standing over the kneeling Haruna. There were a few leaves sticking to her hair.
”Has someone ever…touched you in a way you didn’t like?”"Wh- N-no!” She stepped back in startlement, blushing at the insinuation.
"Nothing like that happened.” Evil Eye had insisted she was doomed to fall, of course, but hadn’t exactly seemed invested in hastening that process. Quite the opposite, in fact.
"Why. . . why would you think that would happen? We just fought against a huge swarm of miseria until Rei killed them all. Nobody did anything weird. Or, well, Shaddoll did try to strangle me, but like I said she apologized.” Evidently, her hopes of actually understanding what was up with Maliss - Black Gate, she reminded herself - were fainter than she’d believed.
”Oh.” Black Gate blinked a few times before raising her hands.
”So she didn’t… Alright then.” She lowered her hands.
”I’m surprised they reacted positively. I hear they are often quick to turn light girls away. Most flee and the stubborn ones take up residence nearby, like the frog priestess of the forest.” She brushed herself off and stepped out of the bush.
”Did you need any more of my servants? I have plenty more you could help distribute.”Haruna shook her head.
"I still have plenty from before. I’m new at school, so I haven’t really had a chance to give any of them away.” She still wasn’t sure whether Black Gate had some sort of power that worked through them, or if she was just. . . a little off. Signs pointed to the latter, really, but Haruna wasn’t the judgmental type.
During the discussion between the two, a certain apathetic girl had progressed through part of her process of leaving the school. Once more the Light Girl would be able to sense the desire to kill Tsubomi coming from her, though this time there was a smaller desire to go home as well. She still seemed to be without access to her own magic, and despite trying to think of why all day, she hadn’t come to any conclusions.
All this is to say, she didn’t notice the two in the bush until she caught sight of them in her peripheral vision as she slowly walked past. She came to a stop as her pitiful momentum died out, and she lifted a hand in greeting.
”Namaste.”Haruna turned to wave hello back, having waited for the lethargic girl to reach the greeting of her own accord.
"Hi, Tsubomi. I was just talking to a friend of mine.” She glanced at Black Gate. If Tsubomi were going to question her presence, it would probably take her a while to come to the thought, and a while longer to express it to anyone.
"I don’t suppose you want another stuffed animal?”It was a good thing Tsubomi’s reaction times were so slow. Black Gate looked like a deer caught in the headlights. There was a look of betrayal on her face, but then, as if suddenly understanding the situation, she forced a smile.
”I’m Michi. Pleased to meet you.” She gave a small bow.
A few seconds after the two greeted her, Tsubomi matched Michi’s bow and gave an introduction again.
”Hello.” she said in English. A few seconds later she stood back up to her usual slumped height.
”Are you who gave her the animals? The lion is nice. I think it’s friends with my cat.”"Yeah, she wanted other people to have them.” Tsubomi had a cat? It was hard to imagine her keeping a pet. Unless it was a mascot?
”I’ve been trying to give them out, like I was saying, but being new in school makes it a little hard. I’ve already got a little bit of a weird reputation,” she said with a small shrug.
"Not that there’s anything wrong with weird, but you know how people are.””Well...” Black Gate rubbed the back of her head.
”Maybe it would be less weird if others helped you distribute them?” "That’s a good point. . .” She waited for a moment, considering whether the slow girl would be overburdened by the request. Haruna supposed it probably couldn’t hurt.
"Tsubomi, did you want to take a few more and hand them out?”A singular nod was her response.
”Who to?”Haruna shrugged.
"Pretty much whoever, I guess? Other kids at school, people you know, that kind of thing.” She looked to Michi for confirmation.
”Yes, just pass them around to who you can. You could also use them to decorate a space if you have permission.” Michi continued to look nervous.
”B-but it would be good to make sure they get distributed broadly, and don’t wind up in the hands of people who would destroy them for fun. I think it goes without saying that some people are clumsier than others, but you know. Everyone deserves a chance, right?” Another nod.
”Okay.” Tsubomi’s head turned from side to side before landing back where it started.
”Why are you in a bush?””It’s actually a very interesting story.” Though Michi’s face didn’t look like she was interested.
”So! I don’t actually go to school here, but I thought it would be a good idea to check up on-” She hesitated.
”H-Haruna! Because she has so many of my little plush creations, and I wanted to see how she had been doing. But then when I walked past this bush, I thought I saw a silhouette that looked like Mr Binky. I leaned into the branch, it snapped, and I fell into it. I’m awfully clumsy sometimes. Fortunately, Haruna managed to see me fall in and helped pull me out. The reason why she’s still inside is because she was helping me find my ring, unless-” She patted down her pockets before drawing the aforementioned ring.
”Oh! Silly me! I had it in my pocket the entire time!” Her smile held for a fraction of a second before her worry returned.
”Please don’t spread any rumors. That’s exactly what happened.”Haruna awkwardly stepped out of the bush, wondering what kind of rumors, exactly, that Michi thought Tsubomi would be spreading. She elected not to speculate too much in light of earlier assumptions made.
”Anyway, um, you said you had some more stuffed animals, right?” Best to move past the subject as fast as possible. The light girl didn't want to add any more lies to the situation.
"You could hand those over to Tsubomi,” she suggested.
”I’ll have to get them later. I have too many to carry them all with me.” Michi adjusted her collar.
”Mm. So they can move…” Tsubomi’s head had been tilted during the explanation, but once she thought that she understood, she nodded.
”Can they talk too?”It was, instead, Haruna's turn to tilt her head quizzically.
”I don't think they do either of those things?” Black Gate’s apparent conversation with them notwithstanding, of course.
”One could have ended up in the bushes because I gave it to the wrong person, or something.””Yes, it is as she says, they do not like to move on their own.” She nodded.
”They can talk, but it’s quiet. Here, let me show you.” She pulled a tiny plush angel out of her pocket. It would have been small enough to act as a phone charm.
”Come on Elroy, don’t be shy. Say hi to everyone.” She held the plush out. After a moment of silence, she pulled the angel into an embrace.
”He’s very shy, but did you hear him?” She tucked him into her pocket.
”If you plan on distributing them, you’ll eventually learn to hear their voices. Um, Haruna.“ She turned her head.
”Why don’t the two of you share what you have left, and I’ll just restock you when needed?“”Sure, that works for me.” She deliberately didn’t mention that she heard nothing. It seemed pretty harmless to let her go on.
It’s probably a coping mechanism or something. Dark girls became that way for a reason, after all; that much she knew, at least.
”I’ll bring an extra box to school tomorrow, how’s that sound?” she asked, turning to Tsubomi.
”Mm.” While she didn’t hear the plush speak, Tsubomi figured it was the distance between them. After all, if it was speaking quietly, then that would make sense.
”Okay.””Sounds good.“ Michi began to scuff her feet backwards.
”Anyway, I’ll be off now. It was nice to meet you, Tsubomi. Haruna? I’ll have my phone charged up by tomorrow and will call you then.“ She continued to shuffle backwards into the darkness, at which point she disappeared from sight. But not without knocking over a trash can, as evident by the sound coming from the alley.
Haruna watched the odd girl disappear from sight with some remaining bemusement, giving her a small wave as a sendoff.
I wonder what’s really going on inside that head. Her newfound gifts were of great help in understanding what made people tick, but they were proving surprisingly unhelpful with Black Gate. A question to ponder later, she supposed, as someone else needed her attention.
”Did you need anything, Tsubomi? Doing okay?”Giving a similar wave goodbye, Tsubomi was no more learned of anything than before she showed up, but that was fine with her. When Haruna turned her attention to her, Tsubomi shrugged a moment later.
”I was heading home when I saw you two.” ”Want me to walk home with you? I don’t have anything too urgent to do.” Not strictly a lie; she had homework and studying to get to, as well as feeding herself at some point, but looking after the Detention Club was a higher priority.
Tsubomi gave a shrug so slow that it didn’t seem like her shoulders were moving at all.
”I’ll be fine. If you want to.”Haruna elected to take that as a yes, and gestured for Tsubomi to lead the way. She figured she was in for the long haul here; even if she was starting to suspect Tsubomi was sharper than she seemed on the outside, it didn’t mean she was suddenly going to begin walking at normal speeds.
”I guess I thought it might be nice to get to know each other, since we’ll be in the same club and stuff.”With the addition of Haruna to the party, Tsubomi did as was suggested and began her long walk home.
”Okay.” After about three meters she stopped.
”Do you live this way?” If she was going to keep up her attempts to be more aware of people’s feelings, even without being able to feel them, then it would be bad to make Haruna walk all the way to her house and then have to go back the other way for herself.
”More or less,” she said with a shrug. Realistically, the distance didn’t matter at all, given how fast she could cross the landscape as Hizuki, but she hadn’t quite decided to let that bit of information slip yet.
”I’ve got time, though, so don’t worry about it.””Okay.” Again Tsubomi turned to walk towards her Aunt and Uncle’s home. Given her pace, it usually took about an hour to get there from school, despite the distance being walkable in twenty minutes for a normal person. Even if she was trying to act considerate, Tsubomi wasn’t planning to walk faster than was comfortable for her. Besides, this gave Haruna plenty of time to talk if she wanted. Unless someone were to spontaneously show up out of the blue.
"Hold on!“A new, yet familiar voice called out from behind both girls as someone who smelled like tobacco leaves rushed towards their position. Rushed might have been a strong word for it. While definitely faster than Tsubomi, this girl had to work on her cardio.
Or stop smoking.
"Everyone’s favorite third wheel!“— Suki OyamaSuki leaned forward and grabbed her own knees. Once she had caught her breath, she stood up.
"Wew! I thought I was going to be late. The janitor gets awfully mad when you throw away trash.“ Suki had tossed a lit cigarette into a waste paper basket. But she didn’t feel the need to share the specifics.
"And uh...“ She turned to look at Haruna.
"...Haruna! Yes, you’re uh, you’re both walking home together. Of course. I should think of a nickname for you.“ She scratched the back of her head.
"You guys are doing good I trust?“ As if urging everyone to start walking, Suki took the first step and looked over her shoulder at the others.
”Oh, hey Suki. Yeah, we’re doing alright, I think.” She couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose at the odor. Was she really smoking enough to smell like that on her own? Not to mention she probably did something else to make the janitor mad. . . Still, she was here to help. Haruna wasn’t exactly expecting the dark girls to be perfect angels.
”Are you doing okay?”"Yea! I just need to take a shower.“ She brushed some soot off of her shirt before turning around. She was walking backwards now.
"And how’s… Sunshine here? Hmm?“ She locked eyes with Tsubomi.
"Same as usual, I take it?“Tsubomi obliviously lifted her chin, looking into the sky as she began walking towards her partner. But unfortunately, it was cloudy today.
”Too overcast.” A several seconds and three steps later, she realized what Suki had meant.
”Same as last night. Usual, now, I think.” Another few seconds passed before she remembered that she was still looking at the sky and lowered her head to look at Suki’s face. Without being able to feel what she felt, all Tsubomi could do is guess. Just like everyone else.
"Hmmm.“ Suki looked to the sky.
"Too cloudy for my ray of sunshine. And not enough rain for my little rainbow...“ With a sigh, she turned ahead.
"Do you guys wanna do something fun? You’re not that eager to get home, right?“”Fun?” Haruna asked, sounding almost as if the idea was a foreign one to her.
”I guess I’d be up for something fun.” Her shoulders bobbed in noncommittal fashion.
”What did you have in mind?”Suki giggled.
"It’ll be a surprise, okay? We’re just going to take a short detour.“ Suki wasn’t able to take more than five steps before speaking again.
"Any word about joining the club? We just had someone else join us last night, so I do think Boss Baby is feeling charitable! What do you think, Tsubomi?“”It’s rare to get new people. Wanting to join or being accepted. Maybe Boss is trying to expand. Maybe she only wants one new person?” Haruna scratched her head.
”Well, Roche hasn't said anything to me yet about it. I hope I get accepted, though. Not really sure what I'll be doing with myself otherwise.” Technically that was true. . . She failed to suppress a jaw-cracking yawn at the thought of last night. She'd been out basically until dawn, and while her mortal body was fine, the experience of getting that banged up made it hard to take what little opportunity to rest she’d allowed herself.
By the time Haruna got done with her yawn, she could see that Suki had not only stopped walking, but again, turned around to look at her. But there was a look of abject horror on her face, like a masked murderer was standing right behind Haruna.
"You met Roach already?“ She began to roll her thumbs over each other. Quickly.
"I uh, I thought Aneki was going to be your go between for that. She didn’t like, try to do anything weird, did she?“The response was abject confusion.
”Uh. . . no?” Seriously, is that all you think about!? “Like I said, I haven’t heard from her. Or Kiyo.” She paused.
”Who also hasn’t like, tried to drag me into a bathroom or whatever you think Roche might have done.”Suki’s pale skin suddenly became even more pale. If she wasn’t moving, one might suspect that her soul had left her body.
"E-excuse me? Why would I think Roach did something like that!?“ She turned her body and held up her arm, as if to deflect the accusation.
"She’s just kind of gruff and a bit of a showoff. I was surprised to hear you mention her, I uh...“ As Suki spoke, she started to calm down.
"I mean, not all of our members are the friendliest, you know? Tsubomi keeps to herself but not everyone is so easy going.“ It was clear that Suki was still agitated, but she turned away and folded her arms behind her back before walking again.
"Dragged into a bathroom.“ She repeated.
" I don’t think you have to worry about anyone doing that to you. At least if they did they’d get your consent first.“ Suki chuckled.
"I didn’t realize you were that open about that sort of stuff.“ Haruna’s skin did the opposite of Suki’s, her cheeks flushing bright pink.
”Wh-I’m not! You were the one making weird implications!” She waved her arms frantically.
”What else was I supposed to think when you got all shocked and asked if someone tried anything weird!?” Suki’s entire body shuttered before she came to a stop. She stood there for a moment before a slow, tired sigh left her body.
"Huh.“ The words were spoken as if she just had an epiphany. She turned around, yet again, to look at Haruna.
"I uh, I just kind of talk like that. I didn’t mean to imply anything, and, uh, I’m sorry. I guess I’m the weird one.“ She bowed her head slightly. Then she flipped out her phone.
"Oh, wow, I am late today.“ She brushed her hair out of her face before looking at both of the girls.
"They’re expecting me home, so I should really get going. I don’t even think I have time to walk with Tsubomi, so, uh, um, uh, I guess I’ll be heading off.“ She flapped her hand at them.
"Bye-bye.“ She spun on her heel and walked off, but it was a pace Tsubomi wouldn’t be able to keep up with.
”O-oh, um, I didn’t mean to chase you off. . . !” Haruna called after her, briefly leaving Tsubomi behind as she moved to follow.
”I just didn’t know how to react, I’m sorry.” The light girl in hiding sounded genuinely pained by how bothered Suki seemed, weirdness or no.
”I wanna see whatever surprise you had in mind, if that’s still okay.”"Ah, I dunno, it’s pretty late...“ Tsubomi blinked, then again. When she finally snapped out of her futile attempts to access her magic, Suki was
walking running away. It was also about that time that the conversation caught up with her. Suki definitely
[seemed to be having some pretty strong emotions, but was she really? Tsubomi never knew her to pretend to feel things she didn’t, but lots of things she’d consider strange had been happening lately.
Turning to where Haruna had just been standing only to find her missing, her head moved to the right and then left before she caught sight of her again. She was chasing after Suki, which was probably a good thing since not doing so would be worse for the girl everyone called a pervert. She tried to follow, but even at her best speed she was only almost as fast as a normal walk, so she chose to just keep her focus on Suki as she trailed further and further behind.
While trying to dissuade Haruna from following her, she caught a glimpse of Tsubomi looking back at her. With a sigh, the delinquent stepped past Haruna.
"Okay, we can go look.“ She arrived before Tsubomi.
"But we do need to move a little faster.“ Suki might have been a skinny, tar lunged highschooler, but Tsubomi was relatively fun sized. It wasn’t too hard to get the girl up on her back. She could carry her a little while like this.
"I’m probably not going to be able to talk very much, but uh, how about you tell us why you’re hanging out in Hibusa town?“Haruna looked down at the ground.
”I moved in here with my uncle a few weeks ago. My, uh. . .” She trailed off, not really sure how much she wanted to say here.
”I live here now. That’s all.” The drop in mood was palpable.
From her new vantage point, Tsubomi watched Haruna avoid the question, but didn’t feel any real desire to dig. Instead, she treated it like a normal conversation and tried to act the way that was probably expected of someone.
”I live with my uncle too. Is your aunt here too?” ”I do have other family in town, but my uncle lives alone. It’s usually just me in the apartment, since he’s pretty busy.” Haruna didn’t mention that she’d more or less deliberately slipped through the cracks, trying to be left to her own devices with a minimum of supervision.
”That would be convenient. Do you get an allowance, or have a job?” Tsubomi wondered if it would be worth living mostly alone, when that would mean having to do housework and cooking for herself. She’d probably starve to death, if she were honest with herself.
”An allowance. I think I’d die if I had to work a job on top of the rest of my schedule,” Haruna said, somewhat ruefully.
”Especially if I get into the club properly. I’m lucky, though, my family’s pretty well off overall, so my allowance is really nice.””The club isn’t a lot of work.” Sure, they were “officially” there to help people with random things, and they did so, but at least in Tsubomi’s experience most of it was during the school day.
”Do you have a lot of time set for studying?”Haruna nodded.
”Studying, and I’m thinking of trying out for one of the sports teams at school. I was on a few back home, and in the meantime I’ve been trying to stay in shape.” She still felt a bit bad about lying, but it was probably still good to keep what was actually taking up so much time under wraps. The club had been pretty welcoming, but that didn’t necessarily mean she wanted every dark girl in town to know where Hizuki the Daybreak slept. Or their light counterparts, for that matter, given how . . . enthusiastic. . . the GEMs could be.
”Mm.” Haruna didn’t really
look like the sporty type to Tsubomi, but she didn’t realize that she even had that thought. Instead, the thought she noticed was…
”What sport do you want to play?” Her wording accidently implied what her subconscious was wondering, not that she was aware of it. Was Haruna going to join the Track Team with Roche? Or was she going to join multiple?
”I hadn’t really decided yet. I can’t be in as many as I was before. . . maybe I could join some with someone else in the club?” She glanced over Suki and Tsubomi. They, similarly, did not look like the sporty type. Haruna might’ve looked more like the type if she wasn’t perpetually exhausted, at least.
”What were you in before?””Kendo, tennis, and baseball. I mostly started kendo to get out of piano lessons for it. It always annoyed Mom a little.” She sounded happy to talk about her sports, but the mention of her parents made her expression fall a bit, despite her efforts to hide it.
”I just don’t like sitting still for that stuff, even if the alternative was ‘too boyish.’””Kendo… Maybe you’ll be club bodyguard.” A pause for a moment.
”Why don’t you like piano? Music is good.”Haruna shrugged.
”Like I said, I’m just bad at sitting still. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with piano or something like that, it’s just, I dunno, not really my thing.” She thought for a moment.
”Also my tutor was some old guy that smelled funny. We didn’t get along very well.” Suki’s face had been getting reader and reader as they walked along. Finally she stopped and kneeled so that Tsubomi could climb off of her back. Slowly. At her own pace. Once Tsubomi was off, Suki sighed and ran a hand across her forehead.
"That, was, a work out“ she managed between breaths. Once she stood up, she faced Haruna.
"One of the club members is really into music and is trying to start her own band. Willow plays the violin, Tsubomi sings, and I play drums. If you don’t like sitting down, maybe a keytar would be more your style. You could hop around like a lead guitarist while playing the piano, essentially.“ As if to demonstrate, Suki grabbed an air keytar and started hopping around. Though she started coughing shortly afterwards and stopped her prancing.
"Um, or you could always put on some taps and dance around. Kendo requires good footwork, right?“Haruna couldn’t help but cringe slightly at the thought of spending more time than necessary with Willow, despite the fact that only Hizuki was supposed to know Willow.
”It does, but I don’t think there’s that much similarity between kendo and tap dancing.” She debated internally for a moment, weighing her various goals against the potential rudeness of insinuating further that Suki’s fitness might be lacking.
”I dunno about joining a band, but did you maybe want to join me on my afternoon run sometime? I actually wanted to ask you about something in private, so that’d be a good chance.”"Oh!“ Suki’s eyes shifted side to side.
"Oh...“ She looked directly at Haruna. The corners of her lips twitched into a nervous smile. After spending far too much time staring at her, Suki finally sighed.
"I-I’d love to go for a run with you, and if you want to talk to me about something then that’s fine with me! Heh! But um, you know, Tsubomi wouldn’t be able to join us…“ Haruna gave her a reassuring smile back.
”Great. It gets a little lonely sometimes.” She glanced at the rather languid girl before returning to Suki.
”That’s probably fine. Like I said, I wanted to talk about something kinda privately.” That something being Tsubomi herself, of course. Suki seemed to be her best friend in the group, so mentioning it to her was probably the most benefit for potential risk. The thought prompted another, more anxious look in Tsubomi’s direction.
Honestly, I don’t want to leave her alone at all, but at least she doesn’t seem motivated enough to act on it. . . "Okay!“ Suki agreed a little bit too quickly.
"I don’t really keep secrets from Tsubomi, buuuuuuut I can probably swing by your running spot some day soon.“ Suki had no important plans. They could have gone running now if she hadn’t lied about needing to go home.
"I probably don’t look like it, but I used to run all the time. Then uh, something happened with my last running partner. But! Where do you typically run? Is it in town or do you go to the mountain to run in the forest?“”Huh, I hadn’t really thought of going up to the mountain. I’ll have to see how close the roads are to my apartment. Thanks for the idea, Suki.” She smiled again, looking a bit happier now.
”I usually just run to the outskirts of town and back unless I have groceries to pick up. There’s a bus stop over in that general direction, the one with the pasta place across the street? We could meet up there.”"And then we could have some pasta once we’re done.“ Suki thought out loud.
"Yea, we could make that work. I’ve never tried eating at the Pit Stop, but it looks cool!“ She peaked over her shoulder, only to realize that they were slightly out pacing Tsubomi. Suki stopped in her tracks.
"We’re actually already there!“ The excitement in her voice caused Suki’s voice to squeak.
"Where the fun is, not the Pit Stop.“ she corrected after the fact.
After turning the corner, the trio of girls were greeted by a small park area. Like everything else in Hibusa town, it lacked the majesty and upkeep of the parks Haruna had visited in the City of Light. The trees were overgrown, the hedge plants were too, and the lawn had overtaken the stone walkway. Though someone must have been thinking of cleaning up the place. There was a brand new galvanized garbage can sitting in the middle of the park. Additionally, there were four swings. Two sets of rusted arches held a pair of swings each. They had been strung up with fresh chains, and the seats looked to be new as well.
”A playground?” Haruna sounded slightly confused. She hadn’t really been sure what to expect from the local blood witch.
”I guess it’s been a while since I visited one of these.”Having had the conversation that the other two girls had been having finally processed in her mind, Tsubomi would, nowadays, normally have apologized to Suki for being so hard to carry. The only thing stopping her was the much quicker realization that the conversation where that would be appropriate had already passed. So instead she walked over to a swing and began to move back and forth, but without raising or moving her feet from their singular position. Even with the motion being fed by her own actions, the demands of gravity meant that her body was moving at a speed beyond what she could normally muster.
It
was fun. As much as it could be when it couldn’t spark happiness.
”This was a good idea. Thanks, Suki."Not a problem!“ Suki might have been blushing, or maybe her face was still red from carrying Tsubomi. Either way, it seemed like she was genuinely pleased with this outcome. This was one of the few things that seemed to work out, and hopefully there would be many more in her future.
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