“A ring…?”
“Yes.”
Rubia, who had gotten up from her seat, reached out her hand.
“Let’s hurry.”
“…Um… uh, stealing is a bad thing on Earth, you know.”
She paused, then narrowed her eyes as she approached me.
Shuffle- shuffle-
“Hey, I know! It was the same in the Empire, you know? What do you think I am?”
Step- step-
I took two steps back to avoid Rubia, who was now two steps closer.
“Ugh… then where are we going to match the ring?”
“You’ll find out when we get there. So hurry up!”
Her hand stretched out again.
“But… you said you’d refrain from physical contact—”
“Holding hands is a common action between friends, so it’s fine. You’ve seen it a lot, right?”
“Is that so…?”
“Of course.”
Watching her gently swaying hand made me gulp- down my spit.
It must be soft.
Warm… and comforting too.
It’ll feel nice…
But it feels like grabbing it would be a huge mistake…
Though I’ve already made enough mistakes, this… um…
If I don’t hold it, wouldn’t ‘Rubia’ be disappointed?
What if she pouts and… doesn’t talk to me?
“Are you not going to hold it?”
“Yikes…”
This is exactly like a ‘Which do you like better, mom or dad?’ scenario!!!
How do I decide this!!
Let’s think from her perspective…
There’s a chance Rubia might be watching me…
Then, um… definitely…
“Uh… um… Ru, Rubia.”
“Yes?”
“I… made you soybean paste stew… and I made you coffee, so… I think I can’t hold your hand…”
I vigorously shook my head and moved closer to Rubia.
“Let’s just go.”
“…Hehe. Okay, I understand.”
Then, I casually opened my eyes to check Rubia’s expression.
Instead of disappointment, she had a bright smile on her face.
“Are you… not disappointed?”
“Honestly, I thought I’d be disappointed if you didn’t hold my hand, but now that it’s like this, I feel happy. Hehe.”
“R-really?”
Rubia nodded slightly, gently supporting my back as she led me to the entrance.
“Come on, let’s go out.”
“Uh, ugh…”
Shuffle- shuffle-
Step- step-
“But… can I change my clothes first…? This is pajamas…”
“You don’t need to change.”
“Yikes…”
Finally arriving at the entrance, Rubia and I put on our shoes.
“Well… first, just matching the ring is boring.”
Then with a click– Rubia swung the front door open wide.
“Ehh…?”
“Let’s have fun first, then we can match the ring?”
There was an amusement park I had visited with mom and dad.
“Ru, Rubia…? What is this?”
“What do you think? Isn’t it amazing?”
“Uh, no… this is… uh…? Huh?”
As I followed Rubia outside, the outfits had dramatically changed.
“…School uniform?”
Could it be.
Could it could it.
No way.
Rubia too…
Slowly, I turned my head to see Rubia quietly smiling at me.
“Whoa…”
As expected, Rubia was dressed in the same school uniform as me.
But… even though it was the same, why does it feel so different?
I look just very ordinary. Actually, the uniform is so big, my fingers are just poking out of the sleeves.
Rubia looks… um…
In every possible way, quite extraordinary.
“How do I look…? Um, is it weird?”
“Y-yeah… it’s pretty… really…”
“Hehe… is that so? Then… I’m glad.”
Rubia smiled bashfully and looked down, her expression was truly… truly incredible.
For a while,
I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
I even forgot how to breathe, just staring at her.
“…Noah?”
“Hah… y-yes!”
“You’re staring. Hehe.”
“I-I’m sorry…”
Swish- swish- As Rubia walked closer, her skirt fluttered around.
It’s so short, I’m worried it might accidentally show…
There’s no one around, but still… uneasy.
“You look great too, Noah. So cute.”
“Ugh… but the skirt is too short.”
“What does it matter when there’s no one around?”
Spinning around while checking her reflection, Rubia smiled brightly.
“By the way, Noah, you’ve never seen my underwear, right?”
“…Uh, no?”
“Do you want to see?”
The sudden close breath from Rubia tickled my ear.
“Ah, n-no?! I-I don’t at all…”
I jumped back in surprise.
Then Rubia made a sly smile and suddenly pulled me closer.
“I want to show you, but you know, it’s better when it’s accidentally shown than blatantly.”
Two lumps boldly flaunted their presence between the buttons about to pop off, pushing against my face.
“Hope you catch it well. I’m wearing something pretty today.”
“Ugh?! What?!”
“What should we do first… um, how about we have some snacks first?”
As Rubia spun around, her dazzling silver hair danced in the air.
Her skirt followed suit, twirling playfully.
“Alright! Let’s go already!”
“…Y-yes.”
I reluctantly lifted my gaze and walked along with Rubia.
Good thoughts.
Good thoughts.
Good thoughts.
*
“Ughh- phew… that was fun.”
Stretching her long limbs up and down, Rubia looked up at the sky after fixing her messy hair.
“Time really flies…”
Before I noticed, the sky had turned a deep indigo, creating a lonely atmosphere.
“Did you have fun, Noah?”
“Y-yes.”
I nodded while taking a small bite of the cotton candy in my right hand.
“I was curious how it would turn out, since it was a replication of Noah’s memories, but I was surprised that most of it worked well. Now, aah-”
Chomp- chomp- Rubia poked my left arm and opened her mouth toward me.
“Aah-”
I naturally followed suit and opened my mouth.
Then, a very ugly rabbit-shaped jelly popped right in.
“And we can eat stuff like this too. Thank goodness, right?”
After chewing and swallowing the jelly, I nodded.
“True, but rather than eating… stealing-”
“Hey, we left all the money behind. So, it counts as buying it.”
“That’s… empire currency. Money’s different from Earth…”
“Oh my? This is actually made of real gold, so it’s even more expensive?”
“…Is that so?”
“Of course.”
Rubia looked confidently at me as if she were proud of herself and then glanced at the cotton candy in my hand.
“Do you want to try some…?”
“It looks too cute to eat, though…”
“Hmm… is it cute?”
She lifted her hand to observe the shape of the cotton candy.
It was a rabbit that was the mascot character of the amusement park.
Both the jelly and the cotton candy.
And the candy I had eaten earlier…
It’s all just ugly.
That face is begging for a slap.
I found that face so annoying that I took a big bite of the cotton candy.
“Hehe, can I have some too? Can you tear off a little bit for me?”
“Y-yes.”
With my other hand, I tore off a piece from the rabbit’s ear and gently offered it to Rubia’s mouth.
“Hyuck?! Ru, Rubia!”
“Hmm?”
“Y-Your fingers! Why are you—AHH… s-stop!”
Rubia had popped my finger into her mouth along with the cotton candy and started moving her tongue around it with a blank expression.
It felt so bizarre that even if I tried to pull my finger away, she was lightly biting it and holding it there…
“Ugh… please stop…”
Slurp-
As Rubia slowly wiped away the thin thread of sugar, she giggled.
“Haah… it’s delicious.”
“Um… what…”
She wiped her shiny, sticky fingers on her clothes.
“…Rubia won’t give it to you anymore.”
“Then I’ll just take it!”
“…I’ll shove it all in my mouth.”
As I finished saying that and turned my back, FLUMP- Rubia hopped onto my lap.
Her falling silver hair brushed my face.
Her breath tickled my collarbone.
“Then I’ll just take what’s in your mouth.”
“…Hic-”
Watching me hiccup, Rubia leaned her forehead against mine.
“Are you going to eat it all?”
“…N-no…”
“Then?”
“I… I’ll share it.”
“That’s a good thought.”
Rubia nodded in satisfaction but still didn’t get off me.
“Ru… Rubia?”
“Yes?”
“Um… how long are we going to stay like this…?”
“Until Noah feeds me.”
“…I can feed you if you sit next to me.”
SWISH- SWISH- Her hair moved side to side.
“Right now, I want to eat right away.”
“Whoa…”
In the end, I shakily tore off some cotton candy and gently put it into Rubia’s mouth.
Slowly, but quickly.
So she couldn’t bite my finger.
I recalled those childhood memories of feeding her barley rice.
Pop- Wooosh-!
Success!
Startled, Rubia’s eyes widened as she chewed the cotton candy.
“D-did it work?!”
For a while, she stared at me in silence, then a mysterious smile appeared on her face as she got off me.
I finally exhaled the breath I had been holding and adjusted my clothes.
I pulled down my lifted skirt and buttoned the loosened buttons…
As I was doing that for a while,
I took another big bite from the ugly rabbit cotton candy and opened my mouth.
“Still… Rubia is still Rubia…”
“Yes?”
“Hmm… once, Rubia did the same kind of prank. She fed me cotton candy and then mercilessly tortured my fingers… Hmm…”
I trailed off.
Stopping the memories, I took another big bite of the cotton candy.
Then I took out a jelly from the bag that Rubia was holding and popped it in my mouth.
Another bite of cotton candy.
Another jelly.
I stuffed all the sweets I was holding into my mouth and chewed them.
The overwhelming sweetness even made me grimace…
“Well, the sky is dark enough now… shall we ride the Ferris wheel?”
Rubia, who had been quietly smiling while watching me, stood up.
“We need to cap off our date today with a flourish.”
Her smile, just like the ones she had shown so far,
Was just slightly different in some mysterious way, as Rubia reached out her hand to me.
I.
Got up from my seat and firmly took that hand.
