“Hng… Ngh, haaah.”
Her arms grew sluggish, and Miyo exhaled all the air she had built up in her lungs. She had only rowed for a few seconds, but her fingertips had already started trembling.
“I told you it would be hard for you.” Kiyoka sighed with exasperation. “Our arm strengths are totally different.”
“I know… I’m sorry.”
Miyo had just wanted to give Kiyoka an easy time, but it looked like she had overestimated herself.
“I’m, so frustrated…”
“Don’t get so down. Miyo.”
Hearing her name, Miyo timidly cast her eyes back.
When she did, Kiyoka took something from his pants pocket and presented it to her. When Miyo put out both her hands, he dropped it lightly in her palms.
It was very light. Light, and soft. It was…
“Wow, it’s so cute. Is it a doll…?”
An animal doll, made out of organza silk crepe that featured a small flower pattern.
It was a strange animal with triangular ears, a bit like a dog, a bit like a cat, and a bit fox-like as well, but the black embroidered eyes were round and cute. It was quite adorable overall.
The doll was small enough to fit in the palms of Miyo’s hands. Its round, puffy body appeared to be stuffed with cotton, and a red ribbon tied in a bow adorned its neck.
“Not a doll, really. It’s a protective charm.”
“A charm? But you’ve already given me so many…”
Kiyoka shook his head as Miyo cocked her own.
“While testing a variety of different charms, I got interested in this new variety. This is a test run.”
Miyo looked hard at the doll in her hands.
The threading was clean and uniform, and the quality was on par with something you could find at a general store. He said it was a test run, but that couldn’t possibly mean…
“Are you saying that you made this yourself?”
“No, no, the doll was something I bought… Um, I just thought you’d be happier to receive that sort of thing.”
Miyo felt like she had been shot through the heart as she watched Kiyoka turn aside and answer awkwardly in embarrassment.
Unlike accessories or other ornaments, it would take a lot of courage for a man to buy a doll like this, even as a present for a woman.
Yet despite that, Kiyoka had bought this with only her in mind.
“I am. It’s cute, and it makes me so…so very happy.”
In her childhood, Miyo had always yearned for dolls and stuffed animals. She would get jealous hearing elementary school friends talk about carrying their beloved toys around the house, reading and sleeping with them.
While she was no longer at an age to be playing with dolls, she loved cute things.
“It’s a protective charm, you said? I’ll be sure to take good care of it.”
“Right. Given its size, you don’t need to carry it around with you… I just tried to make something that could serve both as protection and as a furnishing for your room; don’t overthink it too much. Displaying it in your room somewhere is enough. The house has the barrier around it, so I doubt it’ll serve much use anyway.”
“It’s cute, so that’s fine with me. I’ll find somewhere in my room to display it as soon as we get home.”
When she looked at the adorable object, a wide smile came to her face.
She couldn’t help it; she was so happy.
“It’s getting windy. Let’s head back.”
“Okay.”
Smiling, Kiyoka took the oars again and began rowing the boat.
The two of them moved to the garden gazebo and ate the homemade lunches they’d brought.
These lunch boxes had been prepared by the Kudou family chef, and Hazuki had thoughtfully insisted Miyo and Kiyoka take them.
The beautifully stacked lunch boxes, gold lacquered with a floral pattern, included one tier of all Japanese-style dishes, one tier of all Western-style dishes, and another tier full of rice balls. Each level offered a diverse and colorful array of foods, including everything from tiny bits of simmered dishes and vegetables and fish in a miso dressing to fried foods and other impressive items.
Even the rice balls were varied in flavor—from salmon to kelp and katsuobushi—and arguing over who would eat what was enjoyable in and of itself.
“That was very tasty. I’ll have to thank Sis when we get back.”
“Right… The weather’s nice today, so I was thinking we’d take a bit of stroll before we head back. How’s that sound?”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
The two walked side by side along the garden promenade, without any real destination in mind.
The sunlight filtering through the trees would sparkle every now and then, and the leaves glowed green with the sun shining through them. Walking along the wooded promenade, they eventually spotted a small building up ahead.
“What’s that?”
“Looks like a tiny shrine.”
The somber brown, wooden shrine was so small that even a child wouldn’t be able to fit inside. Despite its age and size, however, it appeared to be kept up, with sake and flower offerings before it.
“I don’t sense anything to worry about. The god enshrined here probably protects the land and people of this area.”
“Does that mean you sometimes sense…bad things at shrines, too?” Miyo asked, curious, and Kiyoka nodded.
“Regular shrines, roadside shrines, and statues aren’t all inherently good. There’s no telling who could be worshipping at ruined shrines, so they’re particularly dangerous, along with abandoned roadside shrines and idols. You should keep your distance from them.”
“Um, what about the jizo statue we prayed to when we visited the villa…?”
“That one is harmless. It’s doing a good job protecting the area, so if anything, it’d be best not to show it any discourtesy.”
“I see.”
Miyo didn’t have Spirit-Sight, so even if there was some inhuman malevolent presence around, she wouldn’t have noticed. She needed to take care not to pray at any old shrine she came across.
“Of course, there’s no guarantee that ordinary evildoers aren’t hiding in such places, either… These places are usually in out-of-the-way areas that are seldom frequented, so they occasionally turn into hideouts for outlaws. I’ve seen it plenty of times in my line of work.”
“That makes sense…”