They’d passed over the border into France. As he took in the sweeping pastoral landscapes of Europe, Ichika turned the conversation to Charlotte.
“So, Charl, where were you born?”
“A small village in Occitània. It’s a bit of a way from here.”
“Don’t you want to visit? You haven’t been home in a while, it’s probably good timing for a side trip.” Ichika meant, but didn’t want to say to her out loud, that it might be a good chance to visit her mother’s grave.
Charl, though, shook her head and said, “Mm, it’s fine. I’m happy just breathing French air again.”
—She didn’t seem to want to. Charl was the type to make do with the small pleasures she’d found. Always had been, as long as he’d known her.
“I see.” Ichika let it go. Knowing when to do so was one of his virtues.
“Oh, by the way,” Ichika spoke up again, seemingly changing the subject. “There’s a station named Charles, isn’t there? Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles? Reminds me of when we met.”
He hadn’t called her by that name in a while.
“Stop bringing that up!” Charlotte yelped. “It’s embarrassing.”
Laura and Kanzashi had been watching jealously from across the aisle, too fixated on the pair to pay any attention to Chifuyu.
Chifuyu sighed.
“You two,” she called across the aisle. “Move, I want to see out of that side.”
The seating on the train was three-wide, with an aisle separating single seats from double. Chifuyu faced Laura and Kanzashi across a clump of four, while Ichika and Charl were alone facing each other on the other side. Chifuyu had decided to throw a bone to Laura and Kanzashi by taking a single seat for herself, forcing Ichika and Charlotte back into the group.
“C’mon, move it,” Chifuyu repeated.
Ichika complained at the forced sudden move, “What’s gotten into you, Chifuyu?”
His impertinence was answered with a quick spank on the butt. Something really had gotten into her.
“And?”
Ichika sat across from Laura, and crossed his arms.
“Did you say something to Chifuyu?”
“Nothing, nothing at all! You’re such a rude bride.” Laura hmphed, her arms crossed. It was up to Charlotte to smooth things over.
“You don’t have to be so angry, Laura. What would happen if your face got stuck like that?”
“What do you mean, ‘stuck like this’? This is how I normally am.”
“Wouldn’t it be a waste of a cute face like that if it got stuck with a scowl, Kanzashi?”
Kanzashi decided to play along. “Sure would.”
“See? See, Laura? Everyone thinks you’re cute.”
Laura blushed all the way up to her ears. Unable to contain herself, she blurted out, “C-Cute? Cute?! What does that have to do with anything?!”
Ichika moved his feet swiftly to dodge Laura’s embarrassed stomps. He’d been learning to turn the tables on the girls around him.
“You’re different lately, Ichika...” Kanzashi said.
“Really?”
“Yeah. You’re doing intentionally what you used to do unintentionally.”
“Huh, maybe I am,” Ichika replied, almost monotone. The flatness of his voice made the others question his intentions, but none spoke up.
The train rolled on.
“You know, I always thought of France as like something out of the old paintings, but this station is huge,” Ichika spoke up again.
“Japanese stations are small, and they feel even more packed because of all the people.”
“Oh, huh.” As if something had just come to him, Ichika turned to Laura. “German cooking really impressed me. I wish I’d gotten the chance to learn some of those potato recipes.”
The dishes made by the Schwarzer Hasen had been excellent, and it seemed like something she was proud of.
“It’s a soldier’s duty to learn to make good food from whatever’s available. Especially for my squad.” Laura, the leader of an all-female IS squad, must have been nearly as good a cook as Charlotte. Was her lack of pride in it just because she hadn’t awakened to the idea of embracing her own feminine wiles? Or was it because she simply considered it a basic life skill?
“Kanzashi,” Ichika said, turning his head toward her. “Is this the first time you’ve been out of the country? It is for me.”
“I haven’t really traveled much... so it’s been a lot of fun.”
“I see. Heard anything from Tatenashi?” Ichika was fishing for a response like ‘Yeah, she wrecked that Russkie!’
“Ah, well... I don’t think things turned out as well as they could have.” Kanzashi was embarrassed by her sister’s failure. Still, though, Tatenashi was on her way to England.
“Seems like she’s having a bit of trouble too, huh.”
“Yeah, a bit...”
Just as their exchange began to blossom into a conversation, a peddler approached them.
“Bonjour. Could I interest you in a sandwich?”
“A sandwich on French bread? I’ve never had one of those.” As Ichika leaned in to examine the goods, the peddler recognized him.
“You... You’re Orimura Ichika, from Japan!”
“Er, uh, yeah... But how did you recognize me?”
“Why, you’re famous even here! Orimura Ichika, the only man in the world who can pilot an IS! The last ray of hope we men have left!” He thrust out his hand, and Ichika awkwardly shook it. “Ah, merveilleuse! Can I have your autograph?”
“Ah, sure. Ahaha...”
Ten minutes of intense questioning later, the man left behind sandwiches for everyone with a final ‘it’s my treat!’ At least he had good intentions.
“I... guess I’m famous?” Ichika said, still stunned by the interaction.
“Of course you are! Didn’t you do an interview with that foreign reporter?”
“Well, a bunch of the Schwarzer Hasen wanted my autograph, so I guess it went pretty well,” Ichika replied, recalling their meeting not too long ago. “I still don’t want to let it go to my head, though.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’ve inspired me to work on my own technique.”
Ichika blushed at the prodding and said, “Laura! I said I didn’t want to let it go to my head.”
“Mm? Oh, right,” Laura half-apologized, in revenge for her previous torment. She smirked.
“Wow, it’s beautiful outside.” Kanzashi gazed out the window while biting into her sandwich. “This is good, too. Ichika, you should have some.”
“Oh, right. Wouldn’t be right to waste a gift like that.”
It was winter, and being north of pretty much all of Japan just made it even more obvious. As he looked out over the frost-touched landscape, Ichika bit into his sandwich.