Invitation

The symbol on the side of her uncle and aunt's house stuck in Miyori's head the next day. 

It was hard to go back to school as though nothing had happened, but it almost felt like she was getting used to it. At home, there was Noa and her family and weird, unexplained magical phenomena. At school, there were classes, student council, hunger shadowing her throughout the day, and her friends. 

Only the last of those things was still holding her interest lately, and even that was a little difficult to focus on. Luckily, though, Shizuka was at least in the same class as Miyori was, and she always had something to talk about. 

Today, it was a little gossip about the boys she liked, a report on the latest fads in the tennis club, and…and Miyori realized she'd missed the third thing when Shizuka poked her in the cheek. "Miyo-chan, are you listening?" 

"Sorry," Miyori said immediately. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. What were you saying?" 

Shizuka made herself difficult to ignore, but that didn't mean she was self-centered. "You really do look tired," she said. "Is everything okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Miyori said. Honestly, she'd like to talk about her uncle, or about Noa. But ever since entering the school, she'd been in the habit of not saying much about herself. Even if she wasn't keeping some things secret for good reasons, it was a hard habit to break. "You were saying something about…a part-time job?" 

"An internship," Shizuka said. "And it's a maybe. It sounded, like, really exclusive, so I'm surprised they wanted to talk to me at all." 

"You're brilliant," Miyori said. "Of course they'd want you." 

Shizuka grinned. "Flatterer. You don't even know what it's about." 

Miyori chuckled. "Guilty." 

But she'd also meant it. Shizuka seemingly had everything—an only child of rich parents, talented in every subject, beautiful and sporty and an accomplished artist—but she was also kind. She'd set her sights on Miyori in their first year—Miyori, who was small and quiet despite her best efforts—and become one of her closest friends. 

Miyori almost felt like she could tell her anything. Almost…but none of her misgivings had anything to do with Shizuka's personality, at least. Those were all Miyori. 

"No, it's this whole weird thing," Shizuka said. "Like, it could be legitimate—probably it's legitimate—they've got these gorgeous business cards! Let me see if I still have the one they gave me, I'll show you…" 

She started digging in her bag, still talking. "But it won't be a paid thing, at least at first, and I think that's why they're okay with high school students instead of, like, college kids or graduates." 

"But what's the program for?" Miyori asked. 

"Some sort of artist thing," Shizuka said. "Installations—that's the word they used. Designing installations, community artwork. I've got a brochure too, I can show you—" 

The warning bell rang, and Shizuka sat up, frustrated. "Oh, well, remind me later," she murmured, pulling her textbooks out of her desk. "Here's the business card, anyway." 

Miyori took the card that Shizuka slipped to her, examining it curiously. There was the name of a "junior representative" in bold lettering, and above that, in a purple, stylized font, were the words Project Wisteria. 

There were a lot of fancy words like visions for the future and synergy and solutions, but they didn't say much about whatever this program was. 

At the top was a logo for the Iseki Conglomerate. Iseki…that rang a bell, albeit a faint one. They seemed like they were a pretty big deal, but Miyori couldn't remember what they actually did. 

But then Miyori's eye traveled to the bottom of the card. She leaned forward, squinting, wondering if she was seeing things. 

But no. Stylized but recognizable, on the bottom corners, were oddly sinuous, geometric shapes, starting small and then expanding outwards. 

It was two symmetrical copies of that symbol. 

Miyori stared as the teacher began the lesson, completely distracted. What were the odds? 

*** 

She tried asking Shizuka about it at lunchtime. 

"I don't know. It's probably just a random design, right?" she answered. "But I'll show you that brochure I was talking about. It might explain something."

"I'd like that," Miyori said. "And this recruiter just…walked up to you?" 

"It was at the opening of my calligraphy school show," Shizuka said. "Usually calligraphy events are pretty boring, but then this guy showed up and gave me all this stuff." She finished digging around in her backpack. "Here's the brochure." 

Miyori examined it. Like the business card, it looked bright and professional, and gave nothing away. 

"He said they wanted people to join, like, a design team or something? He mentioned it looking good on college applications, but I'm not really sure what they want us to do." 

It looked like the sort of fancy program that rich kids did—smiling faces, fancy outfits, not a pixie to be seen anywhere. The subjects also looked a little older than Miyori and Shizuka, though you never knew with these things. 

At the bottom of the brochure, though, was a section reading Event Information.

"He recommended going to that," Shizuka said, leaning over Miyori's shoulder to look. "Tennis practice runs late on Fridays, though, so I'm not sure I can." 

It was being held right at the beginning of Golden Week—so very soon. It was a little bit of a trek, but with the trains, it wouldn't take long to get there. Admission was…Miyori double-checked, but no, she'd read it right—admission was very reasonably priced, even for her. 

It still wasn't completely clear what the focus of the event was. Maybe some sort of arts fair? 

But there at the bottom of the brochure were those symbols again. 

Miyori pulled out her day planner and flipped it open to the day of the event. "Thanks," she told Shizuka. "If you can't make it, I can go and ask some questions for you." 

"Oh, would you?" Shizuka looked excited. "But if you're going, I want to go with you! Let me see if I can beg off practice.." 

Miyori hesitated, but couldn't quite bring herself to disagree. "Sure." 

If she got to go with Shizuka, maybe her friend's outgoing personality could score some answers Miyori couldn't get on her own. If Shizuka couldn't make it, though, Miyori knew who she wanted to bring.