Trick of Light.

The ride was much quieter than Takurō had anticipated. His mom sat in front of him, while Iyogi drove and Ashiya took the other backseat. She had casually crossed her legs, while playing with the electric window. It was a very expensive car, a black sedan with toned windows. Their way led southwards, towards downtown Ōsaka.

“Hey, sweetie. By the way! Is it okay if I call you by your first name?” Takurō’s mom suddenly said.

Ashiya looked up, exchanged a gaze with Takurō to figure out if she was meant. “Uh.” She took a while to notice, that not many alternatives were left in the car.

“You may also call me just Reina if you like,” she added and turned around as much as the seatbelt allowed her to. A beaming smile was painted all over her face.

She took her leg down to sit properly. “Yeah, I’d really like to … Reina-san.” She noticed a side glint from Takurō, who quickly looked away when she noticed.

“I’m so happy to finally get to know you, f’sure. Taku showed me your artworks a few days ago, y’know. He loves such creative things. Hope he told you how amazing they are, now!”

Ashiya seemed to remember. She could not hide a smile. “Yeah, he did pretty much. Thanks for your kind words.”

“Did you two maybe consider cooperating on something? I’m certain that’d be lovely.”

The two teenagers on the backseat exchanged another weird look.

“Taku? You did show Akimi-chan your screenplays, didn’t you?”

He cleared his throat. “I didn’t come around to do so yet.”

“So … you’re writing screenplays?” Ashiya evaded his gaze. “Kinda fitting for a movie nerd like you.”

“You should read them,” Reina urged. “He even wrote the script for the Momotarō play the theatre club performed at the cultural festival last year.” But lately Takurō was more struggling to find the right words. He clenched his hands into the fabric of his summer shorts.

“I’m reading quite a lot,” Ashiya said. “Not screenplays, but there’s always a first time, y’know. So, if you’re brave enough to let a scathing review wash upon you, I’m all in, f’sure.”

He replied with a wry grin. “I’ll send you something. But please be merciful with me.”

“Nice try, but I won’t spare you, f’sure.” Ashiya laughed. “Although I doubt our two mediums can be combined that well. Maybe … it’s best to leave it with just an exchange, a’ight?”

Takurō nodded. “A’ight.”

They slightly giggled and the animated conversation inside the car had died down. Only the humming motor and traffic around them could be heard. The silence had a certain pleasantness to it, while Iyogi routinely maneuvered the car through the traffic jam.

For several minutes, nobody said a word. It was Reina, who suddenly leaned forward in her seat. “Does this thing have a radio?” she played on a few of the knobs and a sound chimed through the speakers. “Where exactly we headed?”

“The Ashiya residence is located in Nakanoshima. We will be there in just a few minutes,” Iyogi explained. Before heading for the event location, Ashiya would quickly hop into her home and change into something more appropriate than her school uniform.

“Oh, Nakanoshima! That’s a nice area.”

The Nakanoshima district was probably as high society as one could get in Ōsaka. Framed by two big rivers, the elongated island was home to countless shiny skyscrapers and high-rise apartment buildings.

Luxury boutiques, upscale restaurants and chic cafés offered one too many opportunities to rid oneself of indecent amounts of money. The stores were lined up with famous museums, banks, and hotels. Lush parks and beautiful gardens littered the cityscape near serene riversides.

When they came into the district, Reina was lost deep in a chat with Iyogi. Takurō used the opportunity to gauge at the otherworldly scenery outside the car windows.

“Hey …” Ashiya said. Her gaze pierced through him again. “You should know I also invited Rakuko. But that doesn’t change what I said about her.”

“Yeah … don’t worry.” Takurō nodded with a warm smile. “Are we also making a stop to take her with us?”

She blinked, furrowed her brows slightly, but ultimately turned her gaze back outside her window. “She … lives about five minutes from company grounds. She’ll come there directly after changing at home as well.” Ashiya smiled to herself. “From experience she’ll probably be there a bit later.”

“Are you badmouthing about your best friend there?”

“No badmouthing, yah. Raku knows she’s slow as a turtle.”

Takurō smiled. That was a funny notion. “How come you were able to invite her? I mean you’re not working at YūKa yourself, ‘ight?”

She exhaled gently and began undoing her ponytail. “Both my parents work at YūKa Entertainment, y’know. They won’t have much time for me during the event, so they said I could bring someone else along. Didn’t know you’d be there as well.”

“They have to be pretty high ups, if you can live here in Nakanoshima, ‘ight?”

She shook her head to make the shoulder-length hair fall evenly and put the remaining scrunchy around her wrist. “My family owns the company.” She looked out at the passing landscape. “I personally wouldn’t need such celebrations, but it’s also important to show presence, y’know? When I’ll take lead over one day, it’s best when the employees are already somewhat acquainted with me.”

Takurō perked up. “Your family owns … you’ll take over … YūKa?”

Her gaze remained on the outside. “Should I start worrying to have finally broken you or do you just need a moment to restart the language center of your brain?”

“No, I just … didn’t suspect your family to be that high up in the food chain. I mean you even have a butler, yeah … But people like that usually visit prestigious schools where everyone is just as rich as them.”

She gave him a side eye.

Takurō frantically waved his hands. “… which doesn’t imply that wealth’s a bad thing, now. I mean there are surely many wealthy people like your parents, who don’t care about education.”

Now she turned her gaze entirely towards him. “I don’t know exactly what you’re aiming to tell me, but if part of it includes insulting me, you’re doing a great job.”

“N-no …!”

“Hey …” She tapped her hand on the seat between them to get his attention. “I think you’re making things too easy for yourself again. Just because money has never been a barrier in our life doesn’t mean I was born with a stick up my ass. Life ’s messy.”

He looked up into her eyes again and for a moment Takurō stood at his clubroom window again, exchanging gazes with her across the sports field. As he tried to interpret the feelings swirling in her look, he noticed that he would probably never fully understand them. He could only empathize with the captivating bubblegum magenta or the melancholic glint hovering above.

“Can you show me?” he asked.

“Show you … what?”

“How messy life is … and how you’re still able to capture it in your artworks, now?”

She shifted her legs around. “You … want me to show you how I take my photographs?”

Takurō nodded. “And how you draw on top of them. I want to understand it. All of it.”

She gently shook her head. “There’s not much to it. I just—”

“Please show me!” Takurō edged closer.

She scanned his face for a few seconds, then her gaze gradually sagged off. “It’s really not fair if you look at me like that.” She sighed. “A’ight, I’ll do it … but I expect the best list of movie recommendations from you in return!”

The car turned left into a long driveway that led into an underground parking garage. The building above was way too high to see it’s top from the car. Countless glassy balconies on the front reflected the bright sun. The minimalist front yard looked neat and well-kept; the bushes trimmed. A photograph of this could have been straight out of a Real Estate Magazine.

Once inside the garage, Iyogi stopped in front of the brightly illuminated entrance to the elevators. It seemed like he wanted to step out to open the car door for Ashiya, but she was faster. “I’ll send you a message when I’m on the way down.”

“Ojō-sama, please wear the dress your parents selected. I especially put it out on the—”

“Yeah, yeah!” Without another glance, she disappeared through the sliding door.