“... It’s cool out, isn’t it?” I asked, turning my head towards Shirayuki who was pitter-pattering slightly behind me to the right. She seemed to have been watching me absent-mindedly from behind.
“Y-Yeah,” she replied, hastily lowering her eyes. It was as if she were trying to say that she hadn’t been looking at me, and our eyes had just met by mere chance.
“I like to go for a walk at night every now and then, but how about you?”
“No. I wouldn’t go walking around at this hour unless you were with me.”
“I see.”
...
…
Somehow, our conversation wasn’t holding up. It shouldn’t be a surprise; I had always avoided talking with a girl alone unless there was a very good reason to do so. It might be because I had developed a habit of dismissing most of whatever Aria said whenever she started droning on about the U.S. army’s flash grenades or Germany’s latest model knives. But in this case, I was having a difficult time chatting. The vending machines on the roadside seemed to be ridiculing us with their flashing fluorescent lights.
“U-Um.”
Thankfully, Shirayuki spoke up.
“Yeah?”
“T-This ... is kind of l-l-like a ... date ... sort of ... in a way ... or not ... but maybe it is ...”
“What?” Her speech was grammatically impaired, and I wasn’t sure what she was saying. “It’s ... like we’re on a date ... isn’t it.”
“A date?”
Just when I thought she finally articulated herself, what she said was rather odd.
I’ve got to be firm in my denial of this.
It would be problematic if she were to have any misunderstandings and did anything that would set off my hysteria mode later.
“This isn’t a date. Your bodyguard is escorting you as you travel about. That’s all there is to it.”
Butei Charter, Article Five: Act with expedition. Buteis should make it a principle to strike first and secure victory.
“Bodyguard ...” Shirayuki said to herself as she somewhat sadly lowered the ends of her eyebrows, “Y-You’re right. You’re here to protect me, aren’t you? Sorry for ... saying something so weird,” she apologized with what was most probably a feigned smile.
Later on—and it was partially my fault for being late—by the time we arrived at Butei High’s monorail station, we could already hear the fireworks that had started off in the distance.
I wonder if we’ll make it in time.
Shirayuki went to buy her monorail ticket, but I sensed she was still hesitant about leaving school grounds.
“I’ll buy both of our tickets then,” was the solution I offered.
“I couldn’t ask you to do that. I’ll buy my own ticket,” said Shirayuki, finally making her purchase.
I asked her about what type of transportation she usually used, and Shirayuki told me she’d only left Butei High by means of the car in which Hotogi’s chauffeur came to pick her up. In fact, she said that as far she could recall, she’d never even ridden a train. ... Just how sheltered can a person be?
Well, in any case, I’d succeeded in releasing the bird from its cage. I was still gently cradling it in my hands though.
We took the monorail to Odaiba, and from there went to Ariake using the Yurikamome line. Next, we went to Shinkiba via the Rinkai Line and lastly, transferred to the Keiyou Line. We finally reached Kasai Sea-side Park after repeatedly transferring from one train to the next, and that alone had Shirayuki looking at me with eyes full of respect. I couldn’t say I felt all that great about being respected for navigating through Tokyo’s train system. Scratching the back of my head, I began leading Shirayuki from the station to the ocean. We entered Kasai Sea-side Park, which was arranged like a small forest, and there were electric light poles forming a spotted trail to the ocean. Indeed, it had the elegant appearance of a park at nighttime. Being a bodyguard, I did my job of inspecting our surroundings, but even though it was night, there were kiosks open for business and people scattered about here and there. There wasn’t likely to be much danger. If there was anything to be concerned about, it would be the delinquents on the prowl for couples to harass, but they weren’t dumb enough to attack an armed butei. “... The moon is pretty, isn’t it?” said Shirayuki.
“Yeah.”
The two of us walked along the path to the ocean amidst the sound of fireworks we couldn't yet see. Once we reached the end of this trail, we came out on an artificial beach that had a splendid view.
“... It really is pretty.”
“Yeah.”
“Kin-chan ... um ... is this boring for you at all?”
I shook my head in response to her round eyes that looked at me apprehensively.
“It’s not boring.”
“Um, I ... don’t really talk to guys that often, so I don’t know what kind of topics they would be interested in talking about. ... Sorry.”
“It’s nothing to worry about. And stop being so quick to apologize about everything. It’s a bad habit of yours.”
“S-Sorry.”
“That’s what I’m talking about.”
“Ah ... Sor ...”
Shirayuki’s reflexive apologies were so comical, I let out a small laugh. She cast her eyes downward, but finding it funny herself, smiled cheerily. As before, there was nothing to talk about in particular, but the mood was quite different from what it was when we left the apartment. We continued down the path, and as was her usual habit, Shirayuki tilted her head downward and sounded very happy as she whispered in a small voice.
“It’s like a dream ...”
We made our way out onto to the artificial beach. As I expected, no one was to be seen. It was in every way an artificial beach, but sea bathing, fishing, and even barbequing was prohibited, so there were no people around. I thought that this would be an excellent, little-known place to watch Walt Land’s fireworks, but... “... It looks like it’s over,” I said.
Cloud-like smoke from the fireworks was all that could be seen in the sky above the coast of Tokyo Bay where Walt Land was situated. I brought her all the way out here, and the end result was awkward to say the least.
“... Sorry. It’s my fault for being late.”
“N-No, it’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have been walking so slowly.
Shirayuki was using her own unique logic again, which prevented me from doing any wrong ... but her eyes had a tint of sadness to them.
“And ... while we were walking, I had the chance to reminisce about the past, so I’m satisfied. Just hearing the fireworks was enough. I was able to imagine what they were like.” Shirayuki smiled resolutely as if she were trying to console me.
“About ... the past?”
“You know. The fireworks festival in Aomori.”
“Oh. Right. I took you to see it ... and we got in trouble afterwards.”
I think I must have been five years old. I practically forced her to leave the shrine and come with me. Now that she mentioned it, fireworks brought about the opportunity for us to go somewhere that time as well. Was I subconsciously trying to do the same thing?
“... You ... showed me the world outside Hotogi shrine back then too,” said Shirauki, making crunching noises on the sand beneath her feet as she turned towards the ocean.
The sandy beach wasn’t easy to walk on, but her posture remained as beautiful as always. Her dressed-up black hair swayed modestly in the night wind.
“I still remember those fireworks. That’s good enough for me. To be honest ... I was looking forward to seeing them today as well ... just a little. But it doesn’t matter if there were fireworks or not. I would have been happy going to a moonlit ocean or even being at home,” said Shirayuki, turning around so that the starry sky was now behind her, “since you would be there with me ...”