Anything for You V / A Modest Wish

“Come on, Shina. Hurry up.”

“Why do we have to leave so early? The magic show won’t start for like an hour,” she complained, dragging her feet both literally and figuratively as I gently tugged on her wrist to keep us moving.

“We both know you’ll have to take a break or two on the way there. And besides, there’s no set time for it. We don’t want to be late and miss it.”

“Are you really sure they’re okay with us going onto the ramparts? I’m pretty sure students aren’t allowed to do that.”

“For the billionth time, yes; I got permission. Now come on.” I was trying to be as patient as possible, but her ceaseless griping was beginning to annoy me.

“Do we really have to?” she whined. “I don’t… want to be reminded of what I’m missing out on.”

“I know. But it’s better than sitting around depressed all day,” I said, taking a page out of Akio’s playbook. “We’ll have fun. Trust me.”

“… Fine,” she pouted, “but only because you’ve never seen a magic show before.”

The Trivune “magic show” was this world’s version of a fireworks display, albeit powered by mana instead of gunpowder. Even if we couldn’t leave the academy, we’d be able to see the show in the skies above Fordin if we scaled the curtain walls surrounding campus, and I’d been pestering her over the past couple of days to do just that.

Of course, this viewing was merely a pretense for my real plan, but she wouldn’t have agreed to go on this stroll tonight if I didn’t have some kind of excuse.

Everyone’s waiting on us. I gotta speed this up.

Hesitating for a moment, I slid my hand from her wrist to her palm, hoping to make it easier to lead her along. I worried the shift would make her uncomfortable, but she didn’t seem to react in the slightest. Securing my grip, I carried on toward our destination.

Campus was eerily empty, a symptom of the bustling festival going on just a mile or two away. If I didn’t already know what was waiting for us around the next corner, I would’ve found this atmosphere to be quite lonely.

“You’re not even heading the right way,” Shina said. “We should’ve kept going straight earlier instead of turning. This’ll take even long—”

“Trust me. It’s this way.”

As I rounded the corner and stepped into the grass of the academy’s central courtyard, I tugged on Shina’s hand to bring her into the opening with me.

“H-hey, I almost tripped! And I’m telling you, we’re definitely going the wrong w—”

In an instant, a dozen lanterns blazed to life around us, bathing the entire square in bright, orange firelight.

Shina looked dazed, staring wide-eyed at the scene before her. Akio, Mara, and Kerne stood nearby to greet us, and a number of close friends of theirs populated the gaps between the tables we’d arranged. Counting the three professors standing in the back, there were around 20 people in attendance.

The smells of fresh-baked cakes and roasted meats drifted toward us on the gentle night wind, as did the floral scent wafting from the baskets packed with weaving materials.

“Happy Trivune, Shina,” I whispered to her with a smile.

And thanks for your help, everyone. I couldn’t have done any of this alone.

Shina remained silent and stiff, as if she’d been petrified and would never move again. I couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad sign.

“Sorry; I’ve been lying to you over the past few days. After what you told me though, I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing,” I explained. “So, I know it’s not much, but I wanted to do what I could to—”

I nearly toppled over as she leapt into me, wrapping her arms around my torso and squeezing it tight.

“Sh-Shina!?” I was caught so off-guard that I froze completely. My back tingled where her arms touched, and, for a moment, I thought I might pass out from how overwhelming it all was.

I once again came to my senses when I felt a wetness seep into my shirt around the sternum, and I realized she’d started crying.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said, panicking. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Of course not…” she mumbled into my chest. Her mouth was pressed so close that the resulting sound was barely audible.

Bewildered, I looked to my friends for help. Mara rolled her eyes when she saw my expression. “She’s crying ‘cause she’s happy, idiot.”

Argh! Why would someone do that!? It’s confusing!

“D-don’t cry, Shina.” I patted her back as a half-reciprocation of her embrace. “I did this specifically because I didn’t want you to cry anymore.”

Her head twitched against my chest, which I guessed was supposed to be a nod. After a second, she took a step backward and wiped her face with her hands to clear the tears.

And then, she looked up at me and smiled. It was a wonderful, radiant smile that could melt the hearts of even the most callous of men.

And that smile…

“Thank you, Everett. I’m so happy right now, I can’t even figure out what to say.”

… was for me.

“Hey, Everett, catch.”

Mara’s voice cruelly pulled my attention away from that beautiful sight, and I barely made out the object she was twirling around her finger before she flung it at me.

Be careful with that! I screamed internally as I gently caught the projectile in my palms. It might have taken forever to get there, but flower crown #22 remained as magnificent as I’d left it last night, despite the reckless actions taken by the woman I’d foolishly entrusted it to.

Deciding this was a good opportunity, I presented my floral masterwork to Shina. “This is for you,” I said, placing it onto her head.

A longstanding tradition of Trivune was for men to prepare flower crowns for the important women in their lives. Then, the recipients would craft corresponding bracelets during the festival itself, which would be given as return gifts by the end of the night.

It had sounded like a romantic gesture to me, but Mara assured me it wasn’t that deep, so I decided to trust her. It was an obvious blunder, in retrospect.

Shina blinked several times in surprise, once again frozen in shock by something I’d done. “E-Everett… did anyone… explain this to you?”

“… Yeah, but I’m getting the feeling I was lied to.”

She giggled. “Boys often make flower crowns for friends and family during Trivune, but usually only when they’re kids or older adults. When you’re a teenager, giving one to a girl your age usually means…” She trailed off, but I got the gist.

My only solace from the mounting embarrassment was that Shina didn’t seem completely offended by the offering. I shot a nasty look at Mara, who smirked in turn.

I even made some for you, Fleur, and Anita thinking it was platonic! What am I supposed to do with #1 through #21 now!?

“Sorry, I’m an idiot,” I apologized. “I misunderstood how it worked. You don’t have to—”

Shina shook her head. “No, I love it. I’ve only ever gotten them from my dad before, so… it makes me really happy. Thank you.” She beamed again.

Mrgh, fine. You win, Mara. I’ll admit getting duped was worth it.

Shina suddenly grasped my right hand with both of hers.

“I’ll make your bracelet in a bit, but we should eat first. This is my first Trivune away from home, and my dad’s holiday dishes always sucked, so I want to try everything!” She pulled me excitedly toward the food table, and the others followed close behind.

For some reason, my heart rate had grown unsteady the moment she grabbed my hand, despite it not having that effect earlier. I tried to take deep breaths to calm my fight-or-flight instinct as we reached the buffet.

“Anita? You’re here? But what about the festival in town?” Shina greeted another guest, who had begun serving herself after our show up front concluded.

“Of course I’m here. I’m not gonna let a friend suffer alone on a holiday when I could be celebrating it with her,” Anita replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Shina looked shocked, even though it sounded like something she might say to me. For as alone as she’d been feeling over the past few days, she was finally realizing just how many people cared about her.

“Happy Trivune, everyone,” Professor Seris said, approaching our group. “Despite the circumstances, I am glad to see you making the best of it.”

“Yeah, it was a great idea. If I’m gonna be a resident of this world, I want to experience everything it has to offer,” Akio added.

Kerne nodded. “Holidays are an important cultural touchstone, so familiarizing yourself with them is wise.”

“What a boring way to put it,” Mara complained. “Someone say something interesting before Kerne drives people away.”

“Oh, Everett have you tried this before?” Shina, ignoring them, let go of me with one hand and pointed to a pastry I’d helped Kerne bake earlier today.

“I haven’t tried any of the food here before, except small tastings here or there when I was helping out in the kitchen. We should probably leave desserts for last, though.”

“Borrrrring. Our parents aren’t here to force us, so we can do whatever we want.”

I looked between Professor Seris and Kerne. “I’m not sure that’s exactly true…”

“Ah, I guess you’re right…” she huffed. “Okay fine, how about this—”

A loud boom resounded around the courtyard. For a split second, I scanned our surroundings for any signs of a threat, preparing to conjure my blade, before it finally hit me.

“Oh. The fireworks.” I let out a sigh of relief as another explosion sounded in the distance.

Unfortunately, as we were at the center of the enormous campus, it wouldn’t be possible to see over the walls to the skies above Fordin. In my initial plans, I’d tried to find a workaround, but it fell through.

“Everett! Look!”

I followed Shina’s gaze upward just in time to see a streak of red light burst overhead with a thunderous sound.

But… Fleur said she wasn’t interested…

I once again examined the environment, and, this time, I spotted her: a certain illusion mage looking into the sky and twirling her hands as if she were conducting a concert, all to create this show for us. When she noticed my gaze, she gave me a short wink before continuing her work.

I can never tell what she’s thinking… or if she’s joking… or if she knows whether she’s joking or not.

Regardless, I’d have to thank her later. With that, everything had gone perfectly. The setup, the food, the guests, the firework show; everything went according to plan, and I wanted nothing less for Shina.

She was so mesmerized by the lights, she’d begun to lean on me without realizing, her left hand still clutching my right.

I’m so glad. I think I actually do understand why someone would want to cry when they’re happy.

The smile from earlier had yet to leave Shina’s face, and I prayed it never would.

I’m so happy I could make your dream come true.

For that one night, we forgot all about being Inheritors. We forgot about the future and the trials ahead of us, and we lived as ourselves, free to do as we pleased and laugh as we liked. I wanted the serenity of that moment to last forever.

But, of course, it was not to be. That was not our fate.

And it would not take long for that childish dream of mine to be shattered.