The park was really filling up now. More and more people met the eye everywhere they went. Lines stretched past their queues. Erina and Yuuta had to squeeze through the crowd on the way past some of the larger attractions just to get where they were going.

  "There's the shooting game again," said Yuuta.

  "No, thank you."

  "No, wait. I want to give it one more try." He approached the employee running the game. "Excuse me."

  "Oh, welcome back," said the worker.

  "Mind demonstrating the game for us?"

  The employee took the leftmost gun and started firing. While he did, Erina glanced around and took a half step closer, out of the way of the small group walking past. The park was really filling up past noon. The morning hours were as good as deserted by comparison.

  She returned her attention to the shooting gallery as the employee moved aside and Yuuta stepped up to the line. The first thing she noticed: there was a laser sight. Looking again, all of the guns had one, but the one they tried this morning didn't work. Did they only have bad luck or was that the only functional laser sight out of the set?

  In either case, it seemed accurate enough. Yuuta wasn't firing at the star anymore. Instead, he fired around it—carefully lining up the sights and then pulling the trigger for one salvo at a time. A few bullets still sprayed with each pull, but it was precise enough to land where he aimed. As he made his way from one point of the star to the next, Erina realized what he was doing.

  If the objective was to remove the star, it wasn't about shooting the star. Once there were only small pieces left, there wasn't enough tension in any point for it to resist the bullet long enough to be ripped by it. They would only bend out of the way. So instead, Yuuta cut around the star, moving from point to point in a pentagon, carefully lining up each shot to save ammo. There was no time limit, after all.

  He neared the end of the pentagon. Yuuta went around one more time, taking a few more shots to clear out the last few strands until there was just one tiny thread holding up the star.

  And then with one final pull of the trigger, the cutout dropped free.

  "Yes!!" Yuuta slammed down the pistol, triumphant.

  Erina started as a burst of noise came from all sides. He'd attracted a crowd by the time he finished, all invested in whether he'd stick the landing.

  "Congratulations," she said. She wondered how much of the physics he understood and how much he simply copied the worker… no, she'd give him the benefit of the doubt. "That was impressive."

  "Which one do you want?" he asked her.

  "Which…?"

  Yuuta looked up at the top of the stand. All sorts of large stuffed animals hung from the ceiling.

  "For me?" said Erina. "But you—"

  "It's okay." He offered her a smile, cheeks tinged with red. "So long as I can take a picture of you with it after?"

  "That's…" She trailed off. Erina spent a moment contemplating it in silence. Then, a slight nod of her head, and she turned to the worker. "…This one, please."

  "That's an interesting pick," said Yuuta as she received the plushie.

  "Why is that?"

  "I thought you'd be more into… I don't know. Butterflies?"

  "Yes. But…" Erina lightly squeezed the big stuffed snake a few times. It had small beady eyes and its tiny forked tongue sticking out. It was so round and chubby it almost didn't look like a reptile at all. "Isn't this just cute?" And it happened to remind her of someone too.

  Yuuta shrugged and got out his phone. "Okay, ready? Stay there… maybe a little more to the right…"

  "Excuse me," said the worker. "How about I take your picture together?"

  "Really? Then, please!" Yuuta handed it over and ran to Erina's side.

  "Oh. Um…" Erina didn't have much else to say as he brushed up against her, returning her focus to the camera.

  "Then, on three!" said the worker. "One, two…"

  Click!

  "See that? Those two students did it like it was nothing!" the worker called to the crowd as they walked away. "Surely you could outshoot a high school kid, right? Step on up and give it your best shot!"

  That's one reason to demonstrate, thought Erina, looking back over her shoulder.

  "Emisane-san, what do you think?" Yuuta showed the picture to her again.

  "It's not bad," she said. She wasn't all that happy with her expression. She thought she was smiling pretty wide, but the hard truth was her face barely moved at all…

  "Anything else you want to see?"

  "To be honest—" Erina hastily pulled the prize snake out of the way as a child ran by, ice cream all over his arms and front as an overworked mother chased after her kid. "I'm starting to feel tired." Or more accurately, suffocated. "There's a lot more people around now."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Let me look around," he said. "A place to sit down… without a lot of people around… oh, this way!"

  Yuuta took her to the Ferris wheel—the other fixture of the park's skyline besides the roller coasters. Before long, it moved. Erina found the crowd getting smaller and further as they headed into the sky, away from the bustle and noise. She let out a small breath of relief. A chance to clear her head after what felt like hours of mayhem to her.

  "…How is it?" A soft voice brought her back to attention. She'd been zoning out for a few minutes now. "Feeling better?"

  "Yes," she said. "Was it that obvious?"

  "I-I feel like I should apologize." He sat back, slumping in the seat. "I was thinking I wanted to surprise you with something fun—something big enough to take your mind off things for a while. I know it was must've been boring for you, it wasn't the best—"

  "I'm happy with it."

  He sat up. "You what?"

  "I want to learn more," said Erina. "Not just about magi… I mean, about my studies, but about life as well. I want to see more of what the world has to offer. Today was new to me. I've never experienced any of this before. I don't know whether I would've done anything like this on my own either."

  Yuuta settled in, quietly listening along.

  "Going to the park… trying new things even though I don't know how I'll feel about them… being scared, being excited on simple rides… Today was like receiving a small taste of what a normal life is like. Everything was…" Erina squeezed the toy snake tighter. Bright green eyes flicked aside. "So much more colorful than I imagined. That's why…"

  Then, she consciously brought her focus back onto him. She took a small breath, pulled herself up, and then broke into the first proper smile he'd seen her make.

  "Thank you," said Erina. "I had fun. I'll cherish these memories of today."

  His shoulders loosened. For a moment, they held each other's gaze.

  "Erina…" he murmured.

  She blinked. That wasn't how he normally called her.

  He blinked. All of a sudden, they both became acutely aware of their position next to each other in this small car with nowhere to go.

  Yuuta hastily averted his gaze, adjusting himself in his seat while Erina promptly turned to stare out the window. Her stuffed snake's eyes bulged as she squeezed it much too tight. Their car reached the summit and passed by uneventfully, marking the beginning of its slow descent back to earth.

  "Um!" he said, a little too loudly. "F-For what it's worth, I…" He gathered up the last scraps of courage to at least look at her. "I had fun too. I saw a new side of you today… Emisane-san."

  "…I see." Erina didn't have anything else to say to him. She wouldn't turn around. He could only see the back of her head and her smooth black hair spilling down.

  His eyes moved to the glass. For the briefest instant, their eyes met through the reflection in the window.

  And then Erina was staring out over the city without another word, her face kept carefully neutral as always. Her ears were tinged pink.

  The Ferris wheel touched down and they stepped off. It was still only the afternoon, but they had both had their fill of the amusement park. Wordlessly, they made their way for the exit, walking beside each other but not necessarily together.

  Yuuta looked around awkwardly. They stood at the park entrance, passersby walking around them on their way into and out of the park. Erina's attention was firmly on the pavement between them.

  "So, um… today was nice," he said lamely. "M-Maybe, sometime—only if you're up for it, of course—maybe we could—"

  "That's enough," said Erina quietly. "Thank you."

  "Oh. Then, er…" He shifted on the spot uncomfortably. "I suppose, I'll just be on my w—"

  "Takeuchi-san."

  His chest tightened up. "Yes?"

  Erina raised her head. Those green eyes were a touch brighter than he remembered before today, but otherwise as they always were—calm, collected, unclouded. "Thank you for today. It was fun. We'll keep in touch."

  "R-Right." Yuuta rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. Eventually, he settled down, and repeated more calmly, "Right."

  "Shall we take the train toge…ther…?" Erina's voice trailed off as she turned. Yuuta followed her line of sight.

  , bringing with it the sharp tang of smoke. One boot up on the wall she was leaning against, Akira took one more long drag of her cigarette, the end burning bright orange, and then snuffed it out in the palm of her gloved hand.

  She pocketed the leftovers and exhaled a cloud of dark gray. "I'm taking it you two are done now?"

  Erina watched Yuuta take one step without thinking, subtly placing himself closer to the path between the young girl and her patriarch.

  Akira folded her arms and jerked her head up, grinning. "Great to see you two getting along. Hate to break up the party, but unfortunately, the boss is knocking and business is calling. You'll be polite and generously let me have her back, won't you?"

  "Takeuchi-san," said Erina. "It's okay. She's my friend too."

  Yuuta hesitated before turning to Akira again. The curve in her lips didn't change, but the look that passed between them was cold enough to freeze ice out of thin air.

  "Keep in touch, okay?" he muttered to the girl behind her.

  "I will," she said.

  Akira stuck her tongue out at his retreating back. She waited for him to leave before kicking off the wall. "You should be careful around those sorts," she said, leading Erina a short distance away from the park entrance.

  "You should be nicer to him," said Erina. The quick look Akira shot her gave her pause, but she pressed on, "I don't understand why you're so aggressive. He's been nothing but nice."

  "Bullshit." Akira flicked her used cigarette into a nearby bin, disgust written all over her face. "I know his kind. They'll put on a nice simpering mask to get what they want and toss you out the second you're dry."

  "No." Erina's voice was quiet but firm. "He isn't."

  "He wants something from you and you know what it is. Nobody does anything out of the pure good of their heart."

  "He's just a civilian."

  Akira's head snapped around. She clawed the frustration back down, but couldn't stop the sharp breath that escaped her. "Look, you can't trust men like him," she warned, running a hand through her hair. "Vipers and beasts, down to the last of 'em."

  "Our world and his are apart," said Erina. "He doesn't operate the way we do."

  Akira's expression darkened.

  "I know," said Erina. "I understand. You have every reason to see the worst in others first. But please trust me—as you said you would."

  Akira clicked her tongue and looked away.

  "Just be careful about who you tangle with," she muttered. "'S all I wanted to say." She put her hands in her pockets and let it go. Bringing her attention back to Erina, she shot her a quick grin. "Now for what I'm really here for."

  Erina nodded. "What is it?"

  "Going on a trip you might be interested in." Akira nodded to the side of the road. Her stolen red and black motorcycle waited for them. "You told me the Association's been digging around the lab, right? I know you went over security again, but I ain't feelin' it. Can't keep holing up our prize from Hakusan there. If we can't keep it there, what's the next best place? One we know the Association hasn't found for all their effort in years?"

  "Lazarus." Erina didn't miss a beat.

  Akira grinned. "Bingo. Hop on."

  Within the hour, they were headed out of the city. Erina rode behind Akira, her stuffed snake exchanged for a backpack with the bound dragon hidden inside. The engine revved louder as Akira weaved between cars on the highway, speeding off to their destination.

  Perched on a streetlight, a falcon turned its head as the motorcycle roared past. It tilted its head, watching them race towards the horizon with ethereal white eyes. Spreading its wings, a faint trail of white echoed in its wake as it took flight for the Binding Association Headquarters.