“Phew, that was delicious.”
After having a light meal at the cafe, we left the shop and headed toward the station.
“Ak-kun, I’m really sorry.”
Kanade had been like this ever since that incident this morning.
“Seriously, it’s fine.”
“……I’m sorry.”
I gave a wry smile.
Kanade would probably…… stay in this state for a while longer.
“I-I know. Since we’re here, why don’t we stop by somewhere else before we go buy Takagaki-san’s present?”
It was a bit awkward to go on a gift-buying journey with Kanade in this condition. Thinking that, I made the suggestion, hoping it would serve as a distraction for her.
“……Somewhere, like where?”
“Eh?”
“……Where are we going?”
……Now then, where should we go?
Unfortunately, in all my life…… I had never done anything that could be called a date with a member of the opposite sex. At a time like this, I had absolutely no idea where I should take a partner.
In times like these, it might be good to take a partner to a place I often visit myself.
The place I go most often would be…… the airport.
No, that’s no good.
I already went there with Kanade the other day.
“……Ak-kun?”
“For now, let’s just get on the train.”
It couldn’t be helped.
If it came to this, I’d just think about where to go while we were on the train.
We boarded the train and began our date with no destination in mind.
“By the way, Kanade, what were you planning to give Takagaki-san as a present?”
Hoping it might provide some hint, I asked her while we were inside the train car.
“Hm? Hmmm. I hadn’t really decided properly.”
“Eh……?”
“I thought I’d go somewhere with Ak-kun, and if I found something that looked good there, I’d buy it.”
……I see.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one acting on impulse.
“So, where should we go?”
“Hmm.”
I crossed my arms and groaned. While I was worrying, the train passed one station, then two…….
『Next is—』
When I heard the name of the next station from the in-train announcement, I had a flash of inspiration.
“Kanade, let’s get off at the next station.”
And then, I stood up.
After getting off the train, we stepped onto the subway platform. Then we headed above ground and walked for a few minutes.
“This place is……”
“It’s a shrine.”
The place we arrived at was a shrine famous even within Tokyo.
“I’ve wanted to try coming here once.”
In front of the lanterns based in vermilion, Kanade spoke with a hint of excitement.
“Do you come here often, Ak-kun?”
“……”
“Ak-kun?”
“Eh? Ah. ……Occasionally.”
I gave a wry smile and proceeded into the shrine grounds while avoiding the crowds. Passing the lanterns, there were many shops lined up in front of the main hall. Looking at the tourists curiously peering at the shop merchandise, I felt a little fed up.
“I-It’s quite narrow.”
“Yeah. Don’t get separated, okay?”
“Okay.”
On this street, there were customers buying things from the shops, customers looking at the products, and customers just browsing, so the line moved slowly, and it was a place that was perpetually congested. Kanade and I were desperate just to make sure we didn’t get separated before reaching the main hall.
……However.
“Kanade, are you okay? Are you following?”
When there was no response from Kanade behind me, I hurriedly looked back.
“She’s not here……”
It seemed we had successfully gotten separated.
『Sorry. Do you know roughly where you are right now?』
I sent a message to Kanade on my smartphone.
『I don’t know……』
The message that came back from Kanade was accompanied by a stamp of someone half-crying.
『Can you see the main hall?』
『Yes.』
『It’ll be a pain to find each other in this crowd, so let’s meet up at the main hall.』
『Understood.』
……Will she be okay? I was a little worried, but Kanade had also attached a stamp of a forceful thumbs-up, so she should be fine.
……That said, I did think it would be nice to buy something together at the shops. Well, we can do that on the way back.
Avoiding the crowd, I aimed for the main hall.
“Whoa, the area around the main hall is full of people too.”
This…… merging back with Kanade is going to be a pain.
“Ak-kun.”
“Wah!”
Just as I thought that, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind me, making me jump. When I turned around, Kanade was there.
“……Kanade, you sure knew I was here.”
“Ah. That’s because……”
Kanade started to say something with her smartphone in one hand…… then shut her mouth.
“It’s destiny!”
There it was. Ever since our reunion, ‘destiny’ was the word Kanade tended to use as an all-purpose push.
Every time she used the word destiny for every little thing, I wanted to say it’s more of an inevitable result than destiny…… but well, considering we reunited in this crowd this time, could it be called destiny? Or was it just my imagination that I felt some ulterior motive behind it?
“T-That’s right. Ak-kun, let’s buy an amulet.”
As if trying to cover something up, Kanade made a proposal.
“L-Look, there’s warding off evil, fulfillment of wishes, and even traffic safety.”
“True.”
“They sell so many kinds of amulets here.”
“You’re right. There’s even a prayer for health.”
Well, a shrine without health prayer amulets would be the rare one.
“Heeh. Since that was the first one you mentioned, Ak-kun…… do you perhaps buy health prayer amulets at this shrine often?”
I widened my eyes and fell silent.
“……Ah, was I right?”
I didn’t answer.
“Hmm. ……Is it for yourself?”
“……No.”
“……Hmm.”
I felt the tone of Kanade’s voice drop.
“Then, who were you buying it for?”
Kanade’s cold voice and gaze…… hurt a little.
“It was for you.”
“Eh?”
“……I hoped you were doing well in France. I hoped I could reunite with you someday. I bought them while thinking things like that.”
“……You bought them?”
“Yeah. Every year.”
……In fact, I had experience buying health prayer amulets from most of the famous places at least once. Among them, this shrine was famous and was a single train ride away, so it was easy to buy from.
That was exactly why the option to go to this shrine together came up right before reaching the nearest station.
“……I just never expected them to actually have an effect.”
“Was it unexpected?”
“I’m the type who…… basically doesn’t rely on spiritual things.”
“I see. ……Basically, huh.”
Kanade headed toward the amulet office. It looked like she bought something.
“Ak-kun.”
“What?”
“Me too. I’m the type who doesn’t believe in spiritual things.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. ……There was a period where my parents, because my condition wasn’t improving at all, started saying they couldn’t rely on modern medicine. They almost leaned into that direction, like making offerings to new religions……”
“Eh……”
Was that how it was?
“I only found out right before I returned to Japan, though. Both of my parents were laughing, saying that if your life could be saved, hundreds of thousands of yen was cheap…… it was complicated.”
“……I see.”
“Well, in the end, it didn’t have any effect, so they seem to have stopped.”
“……In other words, you proved it yourself through your own body.”
“I’m impressive, aren’t I?”
“……”
“That’s why I don’t believe in spiritual things either. But, if you say you believe in the power of this shrine…… then I thought I’d try believing in it too.”
Kanade smiled, and then she handed an amulet to me.
“Please take it, Ak-kun.”
“……Is it okay?”
“Yes!”
The amulet Kanade gave me was…….
『Academic Success Amulet』
I felt my eyes get a little hot.
“Ah. But Ak-kun, don’t misunderstand, okay?”
“Eh?”
“I still…… haven’t given up on making you lower your goals.”
I gave a wry smile at Kanade’s declaration of war.