sagittariusly | (no subject)

"Well... Manami-san doesn't forbid me to go to the other store. I suppose business is business, after all." Although maybe Manami still cared for Kyohei somewhat, which was why she often advised her customers to check his store should hers be lacking. "She wasn't the one who told me about their history, though - Ritsuko-san was the one who did." Ritsuko certainly knew a lot about the occult - more so than Tomoko could ever dream of. She wondered briefly where Ritsuko had gone after she graduated.

She grew a bit quiet after the second question. "She's... no longer with us," Tomoko replied, after long moments of silence. "She died three years ago." She paused. "Here, Ryusei-san - we'll turn here."

"I'm sorry," he said as they turned. Nice going, Ryusei you idiot! He stuffed his hands back in his pockets.

...

To return to an earlier topic.... "That book—History book? Did you find out why someone scribbled in it?" There were other books more suited to that, wasn't there? The book Tomoko was holding didn't look like her spells were in there secretly. Though, really, Ryusei wasn't so much curious as he wanted to not linger over the prior speed bump in the conversation.

She quickly shook her head. "It's all right. You didn't know." Tomoko didn't think she shared anything about her family to anyone in the club, and appreciated him asking about them. People rarely did, after all.

"I didn't. When I tried to borrow the book, the librarian said they didn't have a record of it and she didn't remember having acquired it. And, well--" Here she could feel her cheeks redden. "--I haven't returned it yet."

If the library didn't have any record of it, Tomoko probably couldn't return it in any case. Even so, that...was a bit of a coincidence. Should Ryusei be nervous now, or was the time for that long past? The goth talk wasn't exactly new.

"Why not copy down all the spells? You don't need the history book, right?"

"I-- don't. Not really." She shrugged. "There were too many of them and, besides, it just felt as though what happened in the library was meant to be. Like... maybe I was meant to see that book, and maybe I was meant to keep it."

Tomoko glanced at him. "Have you ever felt like that?"

Not even a little. "I can't say that I have." It had still ultimately been Tomoko's decision whether to keep the book or follow up on it, right? Ryusei couldn't imagine what it must be like to see the world that way.

Maybe he was looking at the question the wrong way. The book must have nostalgic value; it had led to this goth thing that Tomoko was still into. If anyone had asked him why he'd gone into martial arts.... "Well, maybe. It's... It feels right for you. Like that kind of feeling?"

She nodded vigorously as she watched him think about it. "Mm." It was another way of thinking, certainly, one that wasn't at all wrong. "What feels right for you, Ryusei-san?"

"A...lot of things." They were going to college soon, and after that.... Ryusei wasn't sure about it, but there were only a few career paths he was considering. Not to mention.... But he...shouldn't think about that right now.

"Seeing the Club again, for instance." He'd make it happened one way or another, even if he couldn't do it right now. "It'd feel like something's missing if it didn't happen."

Speaking of, he'd left something incomplete before, hadn't he? "Tomoko-chan," he started hesitantly. "... When's your birthday?"

"My birthday?" Tomoko repeated, surprised at the question. "It's on November 3." It's one of the minor gripes she had - why couldn't her birthday be during the first or second of November? All Saint's Day or All Soul's Day would have been more appropriate for someone like her.

"Why?"

"Just...wondering." He could make a quip about what they'd been talking about and horoscopes, but he didn't know anything about horoscopes. Would she buy it? Probably not; Ryusei was experienced enough with lying that he knew 'just wondering' was the most suspicious answer, and one that left the most to be desired. But he hadn't quite planned for his follow-up, like he hadn't planned on buying a present at all; he'd just done it impulsively and he couldn't exactly give someone a present without an occasion to go with it.

"About the Club reunion," he said after a pause. "We could meet up on someone's birthday. What day does yours fall on this year? Mine's on a Tuesday." That was detailed enough to seem truthful, right? It had the added bonus of plotting for one of his other goals, as well.

She thought about that for several moments. November 3rd would be next month, so-- "Friday, I think." Tomoko hadn't thought about the significance of her birthday other than what it was, but now that she thought about it-- "Mine's the next birthday in the club calendar, after Kengo-san's." She glanced up at him again. "I think a club reunion will be wonderful, but I have to check with Miu-sempai and Shun-sempai if they can attend it. Ohsugi-sensei too." Pause. "Will you be available by then, Ryusei-san? I was thinking of cooking for the club then, and it will be-- it will be very nice if you can be there to join us."

It would be more than very nice, actually, since she hadn't celebrated her birthday with friends. It'd be nice if she could start doing that this year.

"That'd be great." If it was this much in advance, Ryusei could just reject other plans as they came up.

... But they should probably prepare ancillary food in case Tomoko's food got too bizarre. Ryusei didn't want to be eating centipedes. "What...kind of food are you good at?"

Actually, he didn't want to be eating space stew, either. Maybe Ryusei could get a really big cake to compensate....

"Rice balls," she replied. "Although I'm thinking of preparing bento boxes for everyone, and each bento will be... different from all the others." Just thinking about making it made Tomoko grin in unbridled anticipation. Each box would be prepared based on what Tomoko thought the recipient would like to eat, or maybe how Tomoko thought of them - or even a mixture of both.

...of course, all boxes would have natto in them, because she loved natto.

"How...different...?" He'd discuss this later with the others, he supposed. But it wouldn't do to exclude one member from the conversation, and several disparate conversations wasn't good, either. At the very least, he had to discuss this with Kengo; Kengo would know what to do.

But Tomoko looked so happy. "I'm— I'm looking forward to it." Help.

"It would be a surprise," she said, with a decided skip on her step. Tomoko would have to think thoroughly about each one, because she wanted the recipients to be happy even though they'd be celebrating her birthday. Shouldn't all birthdays be celebrated like that, anyhow? Anyway, she still had enough time to prepare, and thoroughly prepare she would.

"...don't worry, Ryusei-san, you won't find any centipedes in yours. Although I hope you like natto?"

I-is that a threat? That sounded too cheerful to be sincere. He'd known about Tomoko picking up on what people were thinking, but he didn't think he'd given himself away this time. Well, he hadn't been broadcasting himself that last time with Kyknos, either. As far as he remembered, he'd actually been looking away from her that time.... Or maybe she just really did do that to food and it was a natural thing for her to bring up. That was a scary thought.

"I-I can't confess that I do." At least, not the way Tomoko used natto. He really needed to consult Kengo now. "Not to...get in the way, but maybe...make some without it...?"

It was one of the things she didn't get about some people, though. Tomoko frowned and looked away. It was really unfortunate how they seem to dislike natto just because of how it looked like, how it smelled... "Yuuki-san... didn't think she'd like natto until I placed some on her food," Tomoko said lightly. "And, well, I placed some on the space soup she prepared for the club, and no one seemed to complain about it..." Or maybe they did, she just didn't know about it since that was also the day their trip was cut short, when Tomoko ran after Ryusei. Although no one ever brought it up to her after that...

"Have you tried putting some on fried fish?"

"... No." It wasn't like there was a dearth of ingredients to put on rice balls, though. Or...all the other things Tomoko put natto on. It was like putting soy sauce on everything just because it was there. Well, he'd...deal with that when it came to it. After all, it wasn't like natto was inedible.

"—Where should we celebrate? Amanogawa again?" Kengo's had been at school; Ryusei (and Miu, and Daimonji) could travel there. If Miu and Daimonji were allowed inside, then Ryusei probably was.

"You should, Ryusei-san - it's really good. It's also good on anything deep fried." Then again, this was coming from her - the one who put natto in everything, even in soups. That pretty much required an almost unhealthy fondness of the stuff.

Tomoko thought about his question. It was on the tip of her tongue to say the Rabbit Hatch but-- "We could do it in my house," she said tentatively. "It's not as big as Miu-sempai's but it's spacious enough. I don't think Mama would mind if I invite friends over." Actually, her mother would be ecstatic, since for the past year only Gentarou and Yuuki had ever visited her house.

"I don't think we need to worry about space." Gentarou's had been pretty small, for example. "If we can all fit, I'm sure it'd be fine."

Not that he thought Tomoko's place was as small as Gentarou's. Actually, Gentarou's place might be too small for the Club now, if they counted Ran and Haru. Or whether Tomoko's other friends were coming, but Tomoko would know best about that. "... Are you inviting the shopkeeper?"

"I... haven't thought about doing that," Tomoko admitted. It might be too presumptuous of her if she did that, she thought. "I was thinking I would share my birthday with the club, although... maybe I could bring Manami-san a bento box. Kyohei-san, too."

Speaking of Kyohei-san... "We'll turn here." She pointed at a corner lot at the end of the block. "That's his store."

That's right; people didn't normally invite shopkeepers to their birthdays. But Tomoko had spoken of...Manami? favorably, and apparently had known her since she was a child. It wasn't a long shot. "I think they'd appreciate it."

Hopefully the store wasn't outrageous. (Fresh toes.) Well, there was no backing out now. "Shall we?"

She nodded. It was certainly a nice gesture to extend to the shopkeepers, especially Manami. "I hope they do."

It wasn't long before they were standing in front of the store itself. Tomoko clasped her hands together, then looked at Ryusei. "Would you... like to come inside with me?" It's certainly not one's normal-looking store, she knew, and she didn't want him to get uncomfortable when he'd already done so much for her today. She wouldn't take it against him if he refused.

"Sure." Wasn't like standing out here would be any interesting. "Are you looking for anything else?"

Tomoko shook her head. "Just the fresh newt toes," she said. "I have the rest of the necessary ingredients with me back home." And with that, she pushed open the door to the store.

Much like Manami's store, this one was very dark inside, with only a number candles illuminating the corners and tables where the merchandise were sold. Unlike Manami's store, most of the things sold were inside large jars with water inside of them. Eyes, limbs, feet...

Tomoko... would just be looking at each jar with barely-concealed interest.