Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Invitation

- Rihona -

I left the faculty office and found someone waiting for me.

"S'up."
"Akaishi-kun, were you waiting for me?"
"Yeah, since we live in the same direction, I thought 'why not?'."
"I see..."

He was probably doing this out of consideration for our fathers' friendship, but I was happy nonetheless.

"Can we stop somewhere on the way? I got a craving for ice cream thanks to a certain someone."
"Uh-huh."
"Let's go, then."

We left school. According to Akaishi, we wouldn't need to take any detours to see the ice cream parlor, and sure enough, we reached it. The place had big windows with posters plastered all over them, each of them depicting one of their products.
Near the entrance, a person in a popsicle costume was handing out fliers.

"I think they are running a campaign," Akaishi said.

Even though it's Spring, it must be tough wearing one of those stuffy costumes.

Back when I was in elementary school, I read the mind of a man in a mascot costume. Had I not begged Mom to talk to his boss, he could have suffered a heatstroke.

That's right, I could use this power for good. It was a double-edged weapon, though, so I couldn't use it willy-nilly.
But, if this is like that time...

For the first time in a while, I used my gift. The target was the costumed employee waving at us.
I didn't need to see their face to activate my gift, just knowing that there was someone inside that costume was enough.

"(They look so good together. Teen love is something else...)"

Just as I thought, this power is pure evil!

I turned away from the 'friendly' popsicle person and urged my classmate to go inside.

We got in line and, after a couple of minutes, reached the counter.

"I'll have one of those 'surprise berry explosion" things, please," Akaishi said.
"An ice cream cone for me. Um, pistachio, please."
"Here, let me treat you," he reached for his wallet and paid for both of us.

Calm down, this is just basic courtesy. Right?

We sat down at a nearby table. Akaishi removed the wrapping from the popsicle he bought and took a bite.

"Whoa, this really lives up to its name."
"Really?"
He held out his popsicle, "Want a bite?"
"I'm f-fine."
"You sure? They will only sell this for a limited time."
"J-Just a little bite, then."

I bit off a small chunk of his popsicle as fast as I could.

"Not bad, but I think I prefer pistachio ice cream after all."

I ate my ice cream while Akaishi took another bite off his berry something-or-other popsicle.

"You won't lick it?" I asked him.
"I don't have a preferred way of eating, but I heard these have a fortune written on the stick, so I want to see it soon. Ah, there it is."

Akaishi brought his popsicle closer and read the words on it.

"E-Eternal love?"

This place is pure evil!

"Didn't they reveal a card named like that for the next Alter Fortuna set? M-Maybe I will pull an Ultra rare," he said.
"Yes, that must be it!" I shook my head in agreement.
"That reminds me, we said we would play a match someday, didn't we?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"Are you free after this?"
"Eh? You want to play today?"

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I thought he was just being polite back then, but he truly wanted to have a match with me.

"Is today no good?"
"Ahh, no, I'm free. Where should we-?"

Dad had to go to the office today, and Mom would be out shopping, so there would be no one at home.

"N-Now that I think about it, you already saw my home, but I haven't seen yours."
"You are right," Akaishi-kun took out his phone and called someone, "Mom? Yeah, I'll be there soon. Actually, can Aoyagi-san come? Really?"
He looked at me and gave me a thumbs up, "We are heading there. See you."

Once we were done eating, we resumed our journey.

"About Miyazawa and Nakajima, can they...?"
"Use their gift on me? I asked them once, but they wouldn't give me a straight answer. One said it was 'a secret' and the other told me that it wouldn't make a difference if I knew."
"I see." I didn't know what else to say about that, so I asked a related question, "Do you, um, know a lot of gifted people?"
"As in, know personally? Well, there is you, Miyazawa, Nakajima, and there was this guy back in middle school who could light up his fingertips. Oh, right, I heard some people from the theater club have gifts and use them for their plays."
Akaishi looked at the clouds drifting above us, "People with gifts are kinda rare, especially in this country, so..."
"I see."
"What about you?"
"I don't really remember."

All of sudden, Akaishi flinched but regained his composure just as fast.

"Now you know at least three gifted, then."
"Yeah..."

There was silence between us. As we kept walking, I felt a tingling sensation in my chest.
I looked at the boy walking beside me, then he looked back at me.

"..."
"..."
"S-So, where did you say your home was?" I asked, breaking that awkward mood.
"We can stop by your place first if you want."
"Ok."

Silence again. Ugh, I suck at making small talk. Think, what else can I ask about?

"Friends! I-I mean, your friends, have you known them for long?"
"I met Daisuke in middle school. As for Miyazawa and Nakajima, I met them last year through Nicole."
"A-And what about her? Niko Harland, I mean."
"We don't look like it, but we are cousins. Her mom's maiden name is Akaishi."

So they are cousins... Wait, cousin marriage is permitted in this country, so I can't lower my guard.
What guard? Just what am I thinking?

"You have known her for a while, then."
"Yeah, she is like a sister to me. I hope you can get along with her, too. She could use more female friends."

Since her friends are dating each other, that must have left her feeling like the third wheel.

Akaishi continued, "She plays Alter Fortuna, too. She is good, but for some reason, she loves building weird decks filled with gimmicky cards."
"Does Sugihara-san play?"
"If you can call that "playing". He just looks up decks online and completely fails at piloting them. He does have a sizable collection, though."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he is already eyeing some cards from the next booster, like that fox miko with headphones."
"Beat Exorcist, Kamina-LiNK," I said on reflex.
"Yeah, that one. I called him out for it, 'cause she seems kind of OP, and then he-"
"But 'Arisa' should be able to keep her in check, though. You won't even need her Boost Charm to use that effect."
"That's what he said, more or less. You really know your stuff. Uh, your place is just ahead, right?"

At some point, we arrived at a familiar neighborhood. I was enjoying my chat with Akaishi, so I didn't notice until he pointed it out.

"I'll get my things quickly, so please wait here."

I unlocked the door, took off my shoes at the entrance, and hurried to my room. I grabbed a box from my desk and retraced my steps to where Akaishi waited.
From there, we walked a bit more and reached the Akaishi residence. As we approached the door, we heard some noise from the backyard.

"Please wait here," Akaishi said before taking a look.

The noise stopped and a young man popped up from the hallway next to the house. He looked to be in his early 20s.

"Welcome home, Ryu."
"Hi. What are you doing here?" My classmate asked.
"Auntie said this table was a bit shaky, so I offered to fix it since I had some free time. Now tell me, how was your first day as a 2nd-year?"
"About that, I brought a friend home. You heard that Dad's old friend moved nearby, right?"
"Yeah, Uncle mentioned it. You had dinner with his family the other day, didn't you?"
"Yeah, their daughter is in my class, and we talked about playing Alter Fortuna, so..."
The young man smirked, "You are going along with Uncle's schemes? Heh..."
"W-What scheme?"
"Never mind that, won't you introduce me?"

Akaishi and the young man headed to the entrance. Then, the latter bowed.

"Thanks for taking care of my lil' cousin. I'm Ohnuki Daigo."
"I'm Aoyagi Rihona. Nice to meet you. Um, Akaishi-kun is the one who has been taking care of me."
"He hasn't done anything naughty, I hope."
"Don't you have a table to fix, Daigo-san?"
Akaishi grabbed my hand and brought me inside.
"Sorry about that," he said, then he looked at his hand and let go of me, "and sorry for that, too."
"Fine, okay, um, i-it's fine, yes."

Once I finished blabbering, we took off our shoes and went in.

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