Compared to the journey before getting off the train, the atmosphere between the two became noticeably quieter on the way to the shrine.
It wasn't the comfortable kind of quiet where one could zone out, but a silence tinged with a subtle sense of distance, like an invisible membrane separating them.
Reina walked beside her, her gaze occasionally flickering towards the white figure at her side, her lips parting and closing.
She wanted to apologize.
But every time she mustered the courage, just as the words reached her lips, Rin would happen to turn her head, her calm, azure eyes sweeping over Reina's face before looking away as if nothing had happened.
No expression, no words.
Just that single, light glance was enough to block all the words she had prepared.
...She really must be angry.
Reina lowered her head, staring at the paving tiles just ahead of her toes.
Gray, square, they slid backward one after another. She remembered her own furtive appearance on the train, and the more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt.
Damn it...
Originally, she hadn't felt anything at all.
But Rin happened to be chatting with someone else at the time.
Chatting so intently, the words on the screen jumping rapidly, her thumb swiping back and forth.
Watching the two of them chat so happily, for some reason, she suddenly felt a little...
A little...
...Wait.
Reina's footsteps faltered.
Could I be... jealous?
She blinked dazedly, a flicker of confusion passing through her glass-like eyes.
No, that can't be, right? I'm straight...
It should just be... just possessiveness between good friends.
Probably?
Reina thought this, trying to convince herself.
After all, she had never had a truly good friend in the meaningful sense.
She used to be a solitary oddball, and now, those who surrounded her all had some ulterior motives, more or less.
An experience like this, simply going out with someone, taking the train together, going to a shrine together, was something she had never had before.
So, this strange feeling should... be fine.
[Straight? Straight where, I'd like to ask. Straight enough to make other women stare with wide eyes?]
[Always liking girls, abbreviated as'straight' girl]
[Right, right, you're just good friends. Hurry up and make your relationship even better.]
['Kissed her, senior's lips were soft, senior smelled nice.' — Excerpt from 'But I'm Not a Lesbian']
[Ah, straight girls, ah.]
[The ones who laugh the most foolishly before their hand goes in.]
"...Huh?"
Without realizing it, she had been lost in thought for a long time. When she looked up again, Reina found she had already passed through the bustling crowd and arrived at the subway's fourth exit.
It was noticeably quieter all around.
This exit led to an area without any popular tourist spots. The crowd had been filtered away like through a sieve, leaving only a few scattered locals carrying shopping bags.
But Reina did not feel happy about this quiet.
Because what had vanished along with the crowded throng was also that conspicuous white figure.
"...Rin?"
Gone.
She stood in place, her gaze sweeping back and forth around her.
Nothing.
Passersby coming and going, a middle-aged man smoking in the distance, a young mother pushing a stroller.
No sign of that familiar figure.
Phone.
She frantically felt her pocket. The screen lit up—no new messages.
Should she send a message? But what should she say?
"Where are you?" "How did you disappear?"
Clearly, she was the one who did something wrong first, and now she didn't even know where the other person was.
Clutching her phone, standing there, she felt a kind of strange, hollow panic for the first time.
————————
It must be said, the oden was quite delicious.
Skewering a piece of fish cake from the disposable paper cup, Rin blew on it lightly before putting it in her mouth.
The steaming broth spread on her tongue, the fish cake's elasticity was just right, with a hint of sweetness.
Satisfied, she narrowed her eyes, her cheeks puffing out slightly like a white cat secretly indulging in laziness.