Epilogue

“Thank you.”

Granny Miyako looked softly at her. “Do not even mention it, dear: Narai-juku has always been my home and always will be, I could never leave it to its fate.” She glanced at her oldest friend. “Is that not right, Hiro?”

Nagai seemed even gloomier than usual in the afternoon light, but nodded all the same. “I simply wish I could do more.”

“More than watching the shop and helping with the consequences of the fire?” Reisen light-heartedly shook her head. Even all the magic in the world wouldn’t have given him the gift of ubiquity he would’ve needed to solve all the problems he felt responsible for. She loosely hugged herself, gripping her arms. “Just for the shop, I can’t thank you enough.” She hadn’t managed to convince her parents to keep watching over it, but she had succeeded in persuading them not to close it up forever, since Nagai had volunteered to work there for a bit. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would’ve done the trick for the time being.

Nagai waved her thanks away, careful not to leave the safety of the shadow created by his sun umbrella. “It’s fine. I have nothing but time to spend, after all.”

“Still, thank you.”

The vampire mutely tilted his head to the side.

“By the way, I have not seen Yukiya for quite some time” commented granny Miyako, looking around.

Reisen made an amused sound. “Yeah, the kid has been tailing Kazari like a duckling while she put up barriers and the like around the town.” She glanced at her watch. “They should be done by now, though, so I’ll return home.”

“Sure, Reisen, see you later.”

“See you later.”

She waved at the two of them, and in a few minutes reached the front of the magic shop. Yukiya was already inside, staring fascinated at some trinket or another, but as soon as they noticed her they put it back in its place and ran to her.

“Reisen!” they exclaimed, bouncing up and down on the spot with excitement in their eyes. “You should’ve seen those barriers, the incantations were so precise!”

“Maybe next time” she said without that much conviction, hoping that a next time wouldn’t have come that soon. “By the way, have you already finished packing?”

As if a switch had been flicked, the kid deflated and glanced away. “… no.”

“You should, then. You don’t want to do it at the last minute, and you don’t have that many days left.” She felt a tiny bit hypocritical, but spoke from experience: she still remembered all those hours of sleep lost just because she had preferred spending more time fencing rather than studying.

“I know, I know, I will” Yukiya pouted, crossing their arms over their chest. “You sound just like my parents.”

Oh, how the tables had turned. “Maybe I simply got used to have a troublemaking little sibling” she replied, grinning and ruffling their hair.

They squeaked in indignation. “Hey-!”

“Anyway, don’t forget to take the magic tome.”

At her words, their eyes widened. “What? I can’t, I was just borrowing it!”

Reisen rolled her eyes. “I’m not gifting it to you, silly, it’s still my parents’ book after all. However, it’ll be way more useful to you than to us.” Not to mention that, as they were now, her mother and father wouldn’t have even asked about it. “We’ll see each other again, so…” She shrugged. “Hold onto it until we do, okay?”

The kid seemed speechless for a few moments, but then smiled. “Okay.” They stepped closer, and hugged her. “Thank you, Reisen” they mumbled with their face squished against the crook of her neck. For once, it wasn’t because they were distressed and searching for comfort, which was good.

Reisen put her arms around their figure and her cheek on their head. “Of course, you’re welcome.”

They stayed like that for maybe a minute, until Yukiya spoke again. “Hey, Reisen.” They pulled away and smiled happily. “Do you want to see the newest magic trick I learnt?”

“Unless it risks making my house explode, sure.”

“It’s perfectly safe, I promise!” They grabbed her wrist and started dragging her toward the ancient tome.

She smirked. “If you say so.”

Before showing her their spell, the kid launched into an excited explanation that Reisen tried and ultimately failed to understand, but during that time, seeing their unburdened smile, a single thought occupied her mind: come what may, she would make sure that the spark of magic in their eyes would never fade.

Even if she had to fight, she resolved to protect that life.