As dusk crept into the sweet soup shop at the town entrance, Uchiha Hikari was poking at the Red Bean Soup in her bowl with a bamboo skewer.
"Slurp, slurp~"
A thin crust of sugar had crystallized around the rim, looking just like the Sugar Painting Qingwu had made for her yesterday—the foxes he shaped always had crooked tails, but they tasted sweeter than anything from the town's long-established shops.
"We should pick some fresh fruit tomorrow." Qingwu pushed a chilled bowl of Sour Plum Drink toward her, beads of water clinging to the white porcelain. "The peaches on the hill behind town should be ripe."
When Uchiha Hikari looked up, she noticed the sugar stains on his cuff—she had been learning to make Wagashi that morning,
and had smeared batter all over his hands.
Suddenly, she smiled and brushed her fingertips over his wrist. "Qingwu, it feels like you're always accommodating me."
"Heh~ Not really. Sometimes I just want to live like an ordinary person."
Qingwu didn't pull away. He tapped the back of her hand gently with his fingertips. "Every day we spend here is one less day we have left."
He said it plainly,
as though he were talking about the weather.
"Those silver coins from before... and my bloodline, my family, and my friends won't let us stay here forever."
"It's time I went back, too."
Uchiha Hikari paused with her spoon in the Red Bean Soup, then resumed stirring. "I know. I've always known."
"You don't really belong here."
"And you don't belong to me alone, either."
"I know."
Xiaoguang's voice grew fainter with every word. She was afraid that in the next moment, he would tell her—he was leaving, and he didn't want her anymore.
That really would drive her mad.
And yet.
She