The street after leaving Flower Shop seemed a bit quieter than when it came.
The carnival of Christmas Eve is gradually coming to an end, and the originally noisy Keyaki Mall is beginning to show signs of closing down.
Although the bright neon sign is still flashing, it feels a bit more lonely at the end of the day.
The two of them walked side by side on the way back to Dormitory.
Kazehara Tetsu put his hands in his coat pockets and walked casually.
Sakayanagi Arisu beside her, although she was still leaning on the cane as a support, her other hand held the bouquet wrapped in blue Wrapping Paper with special care.
Along the way, Sakayanagi Arisu hardly spoke.
She lowered her head slightly, and her eyes, half covered by the brim of her hat, never left the bouquet in her arms.
This silence lasted for a long time, so long that even Kazehara Tetsu noticed something was wrong.
"So..."
Kazehara Tetsu turned his head and his eyes fell on the bouquet of blue flowers in her arms, finally breaking the silence.
"What exactly is this flower?"
He still couldn't help but ask.
After all, as a complete "flower blind", he really chose based on his intuition.
But looking at Sakayanagi Arisu as if he was holding some rare treasure, he couldn't help but wonder if he had chosen something extraordinary by mistake.
Hearing his voice, Sakayanagi Arisu slowly raised his head.
"Oh, Tetsu-kun is actually obsessed with this?"
She blinked, her tone brisk but obviously perfunctory.
"Actually... I'm not sure. After all, the field of botany is very broad, and this is the first time I've seen this species. Maybe it's some kind of rare foreign hybrid?"
"..."
Kazehara Tetsu stopped and looked at her with an expression of "Do you think I'm a fool?"
"What about lying to children?"
He rolled his eyes speechlessly.
"The look in your eyes when you saw this bouquet of flowers at the door of Flower Shop just now, and the expression that made you stare at the flowers all the way... If you say you don't know him, then it's unless there is no such person as 'Sakayanagi Arisu' in the world."
"Stop pretending, Arisu."
He took a step closer and looked down at her.
"With your knowledge base, would you not recognize this kind of flower? Or..."
Kazehara Tetsu paused for a moment, frowning slightly, as if he thought of some possibility that even he found a bit tricky.
"It's not a flower with a very bad meaning, right? Like 'curse', 'breakup' or 'misfortune' or something like that?"
"If that's the case, you'd better tell me earlier so I can throw it into the trash can now to avoid bringing it back with me."
Looking at his serious appearance as a straight man worried about "giving the wrong gift and causing a curse", Sakayanagi Arisu finally couldn't help it and burst out laughing.
She shook her head gently in the cold wind, and her silver hair swayed accordingly.
"No, Tetsu-kun."
She lowered her head again, took a deep look at Forget-Me-Not in her arms, and spoke softly.
"It's not as scary as you think. On the contrary..."
"It has a very good, even... extremely beautiful Flower Language."
"Beautiful?"
Kazehara Tetsu raised his eyebrows.
"What is that?"
"Secret."
"Since Tetsu-kun selected it based on 'intuition', let this intuition maintain its sense of mystery. If the answer to the mystery is revealed, the 'unknown' beauty will be completely destroyed."
"..."
Kazehara Tetsu looked at her bad look that said "I knew it but I won't tell you", and the corner of her mouth twitched.
This woman definitely did it on purpose.
Deliberately titillating people's appetites, deliberately maintaining this high status of information asymmetry.
"Okay."
He sighed and gave up asking further questions.
"Since you don't want to say it, forget it. After I get back to Dormitory, I will take a photo and search for pictures. I will know the answer in minutes."
"Haha, then I'll wait and see."
Sakayanagi Arisu is not worried about him checking it out.
On the contrary, she even had some expectations.
Looking forward to what kind of expression this man will have on his face when he returns to the room alone and finds out that Flower Language is "Please Do Not Forget My Sincere Love" and "Eternal Love".
That was the last Easter Egg she left for this night.
The two continued to walk forward.
At this time, Dormitory has been entered.
"Speaking of..."
When approaching the door of the Dormitory building, Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly stopped and turned around to face Kazehara Tetsu.
Her eyes were looking straight at Kazehara Tetsu.
"I don't have a gift."
She suddenly said this without thinking.
"Huh?"
"Although I invited you over tonight, went shopping with you, and even played the game 'Mutual Flower Selection'. But..."
She glanced at Kazehara Tetsu's pocket, which although empty, clearly contained various things.
"As part of the gift exchange, I have not prepared a physical 'box' that you can take back and keep."
"Tetsu-kun, don't you feel... a little bit at a loss?"
"It doesn't matter."
Kazehara Tetsu shrugged.
Warmth poured out from the crack in the door and enveloped the two of them instantly.
"I didn't prepare anything special."
"And, as I said before, allowing Arisu to accompany me... the value of this in itself far exceeds any gift."
"This kind of 'spiritual satisfaction' can't be bought with any amount of Points."
"Haha...Tetsu-kun is really good at talking."
"Since both parties have reached an agreement, the bill will be settled tonight."
"Yeah, two clear things."
The two walked through the empty Lobby and came to the elevator room.
"Ding."
The elevator door opens.
As the elevator rises steadily, the numbers pulse on the display.
No one spoke.
The two of them just stood quietly, looking at the two slightly blurry figures reflected in the metal door.
"Ding."
The elevator stopped at the floor where Kazehara Tetsu was located.
The metal door slowly slid open to both sides.
The corridor outside still looked deserted, and the white lights seemed a bit dazzling.
Kazehara Tetsu did not go out immediately.
He pressed the door-open button, turned around, and looked at Sakayanagi Arisu, who was still standing deep in the elevator.
"So..."
His voice echoed in the quiet corridor.
"This day has just passed."
This long, chaotic but fulfilling Christmas has finally come to an end.
"Yes."
"What a... unforgettable Christmas."
"Good night, Arisu."
Kazehara Tetsu released his hand pressing the door door button and walked out of the elevator.
He turned around and waved to the girl in the elevator.
"Good night, Tetsu-kun."
Sakayanagi Arisu also nodded slightly. Although she did not have a hand to say goodbye, her eyes followed his figure.
The elevator doors began to close slowly.
The gap gradually narrowed, slowly cutting off the line of sight between the two.
At the last moment.
Kazehara Tetsu saw Sakayanagi Arisu lowered his head and buried his face in the bunch of Blue Forget-Me-Not.
Later.
The metal door is completely closed.
The arrow on the indicator light changes to upward.
Deathly silence returned to the corridor.
Kazehara Tetsu stood there, looking at the constantly beating number.
"Huh..."
He breathed a long sigh of relief and reached out to rub the stiff back of his neck.
"It's over..."