Part I - Summer (Middle) - "We dressed up and went shopping."

The first thing they did, when they got to the shoutengai—the four of them sopping wet—was head straight for the clothier, the same store they were supposed to visit later anyway to pick up Heinrich and Cameron's formal attire.

There they were received by the middle-aged proprietress, who crossed her arms and shook her head at the group of college-aged adults who had shamelessly spent the past hour getting into a water fight with a bunch of elflings.

"… Especially you," sighed the store owner. "Aren't you supposed to be the avatar priestess? Do you really consider this appropriate behavior for someone in your position?"

Miyu bowed deeply, and said, "I'm truly, deeply sorry for the disturbance."

Directly across from the clothier, another middle-aged store owner—this one slightly older, his face lined with wrinkles—called out from his fruit stand, in a hoarse but jovial smoker's rasp: "Oh, come off it, Tsugumi! Give the kids a break! When they get to our age, they'll be wishing they did more horsing around when they were young."

Tsumugi waved him off. "Ahh, mind your own business, old man!"

"Old man!?" The fruit seller laughed. Or coughed. (Cameron couldn't tell which.) "Look who's talking, hag!"

Miyu smiled. "You two sure are friendly."

Tsumugi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well … Thirty-nine years of marriage'll get you there." She looked at the crew standing outside her store. "… Well? Are you all just going to stand around all day? Or are ya coming in!?"

Once inside—each of them bowing politely as they entered ("Pardon us for the intrusion." "Yeah, yeah. Just … try not to track any water on the wooden—hey, you! Human boy! What did I just say!" Heinrich: "… Sorry, ma'am.")—they were given towels to dry off with, and Cameron and Heinrich were led to the back of the store to try on their new clothes ("Ladies first," snickered Yuka. C, H: "Yeah, yeah …" T, surlily: "In the meantime, you girls can wear these old shirts …" M: "I … don't think this is our size." T: "Then go naked! See if I care!"); and when they finally came back out again, they did so to Miyu and Yuka's delighted oohs and quiet applause—which elicited in Cameron a sharp pang of embarrassment; and in Heinrich an immediate tendency to start posing like a shop window mannequin—as they were now garbed in a pair of traditional elfen robes—Cameron's indigo, Heinrich's a light shade of grey—both outfits embroidered similarly with all sorts of golden elfen motifs that seemed to shimmer and dance in the sunlight streaming in through the shop windows.

"Not half-bad, fellas," said Miyu, clad in an oversized t-shirt, giving them a final thumbs-up of approval.

"You know, Miyu-Miyu," said Yuka, in a similar plain shirt, crossing her arms. "It'd be kind of a shame to be outdone, fashion-wise, by a couple of boys."

Miyu, grinning knowingly: "… So? What are you suggesting, Yuka-tan …?"

*

What Yuka-tan suggested, was for the two girls to rent their own pair of elfenwear for the rest of the day, and then for the four of them to spend the rest of the afternoon walking around in the shoutengai in their formal robes.

At first Cameron had been somewhat self-conscious about walking around like this (… even if the other three next to him were dressed the same …), but the more Miyu enjoyed herself, squeezing his hand and laughing and pointing excitedly at every little thing that caught her eye ("Look, look, Cameron! They have shaved ice here, too!"), the more relaxed he became, until at last he found himself having fun as well, his earlier anxiety all but forgotten.

They made up for their missed lunch by going from stand to stand, gorging themselves on taiyaki, and grilled meat, and crepes, and cream-filled buns, and yes, shaved ice, too.

They stopped in to browse at antique shops, and second-hand stores selling various trinkets and miscellaneous odds and ends.

They even passed by a strange store, from whose bleak facade they could see a row of miserable-looking patrons, each launching metal balls upwards into glass cases and then watching hypnotized as the balls clinked their way through a maze of pins, hoping to land them in the winning pocket below.

"Oh! They have a lot of these types of gambling dens in Crystal City, too!" said Miyu, casually. "In the Underground district. … Bit of an ironic name, 'Underground', given that it's one of the inner, middle platforms of Crystal City."

Yuka, jaw dropping: "… You've been there?! That's no place for a priestess!"

Cameron: "I'm surprised you've even heard about the Underground, Yuka."

Yuka, stammering: "E-Everyone knows it's a place where … l-lewd things happen! Scantily clad bunny girls calling out to you! Men with sunglasses pressuring you to drink in their bars! … Crystalline glowing signs advertising various services! … Inns with hourly rates! Miyu-Miyu! What compelled you to go to such a seedy area!?"

Miyu giggled, "Why, Cameron took me, of course!"

Yuka, forehead vein popping: "You took the priestess of Lazumere to … where!?"

"… It's not like that!" protested Cameron. "S-she asked me to take her, just to see it! Out of curiosity! Really! … Hey, Miyu, come on, back me up here, tell her—"

Miyu simply whistled, looking in the other direction, eyes smiling mischievously.

Cameron, two seconds away from being pummeled into a fine paste: "It, uh—i-it … it was Heinrich's idea! Blame Heinrich!"

Heinrich, mid-taiyaki bite, guilelessly: "—Huh? Did somebody say my—"

… And despite Cameron's throwing of Heinrich under the bus not even making all that much logistical sense, Heinrich nevertheless went zooming across the length of the shopping arcade anyway, his limp ragdoll body flying past … oh look at that, it's Dalton again.

The boy came running up to the remaining trio, all smiles.

Miyu waved. "Hello again, Dalton!"

"Um … My mom says I can stay out until suppertime … So … Can I join you guys?"

"Of course!"

"Yay! …" Then, shyly, eyes downcast: "… You look really pretty in your dress, Miyu-nee."

"Thank you! You're so sweet. Do you want to hold my hand, Dalton?"

Face red, smiling: "… Uh-huh."

And as Cameron watched his girlfriend walk hand-in-hand with the boy, the two of them slightly ahead of him—the child looking up at her, explaining excitedly about how he was saving his allowance up for the latest hydro-repeater model, and Miyu looking down at him, nodding her head and smiling, reacting to each of the child's enthusiastic comments with the occasional "Wow! … Is that so? … That's so cool!"—Cameron couldn't help but feel like he was being granted a glimpse into his own future … their future, rather, as husband and wife, maybe a few years from now, a lazy weekend afternoon, ambling down a row of stores like this in Crystal City, Miyu holding their son's hand, Cameron following behind watching them, cradling their daughter in his arms, her head against his chest, the little thing all tuckered out from the fun day they'd all spent together, the Callihan family, each one wishing the day didn't have to end, that they didn't have to go to work, to school the next day, wishing things could stay like this … forever …

… A common enough daydream for Cameron, but one he had never felt so tangibly as he did now.

Because the fantasy was within reach, wasn't it? … All he had to do, when they got back to Lazumere, was what he intended to do all this time … His original intent … The crystal ring … Miyu's father's blessing …

That was all he had to do, and the daydream would become a reality.

… Right?