Clink Among Clacks

After a long walk to the street market, I found myself standing alone in a crowd. Like always, I kept my headphones on to keep the loud noises out. It's not so bad whenever I have music playing. The issue is that I have the volume turned up so much that nothing else could reach my ears. One of these days, I'm gonna go deaf, but that's a problem for future me.

My phone vibrated in my hand. Since I wouldn't be able to hear it, I turned it to vibrate mode. I lifted it and saw a text from Suguha.

Suguha: "Where are you?"

Me: "At the front. There's a big gate here."

Suguha: "Eh? I'm there too, but I can't see you."

I looked out around, but I couldn't catch a glimpse of her cyan hair anywhere. Is my eyesight really that bad? I do expose it to blue light pretty often. I took off my headphones, and finally, the loud noises of the market bombarded my ears.

As I pulled out my phone for another text, I felt someone forcefully yanking on my arm. My head twisted immediately, and I was fully ready to pull back. At least, until I noticed those strands of cyan dangling. It was Suguha, and she was... smiling.

"Hehe, surprise, Yozora! I saw you the whole time. Thought I'd hide myself and scare you."

I couldn't help but pause for a moment to stare at her. Beneath a thin light-pink sweater with cotton edges, she was wearing a white, knitted halter top and a pair of skinny jeans.

I've seen Suguha wear casual clothes before. I've seen her make those faces where she seems to throw away everything in the world for the sake of fun. I've seen her many times before, so I don't know why I'm suddenly thinking... She looks pretty today.

"Yozora? Are you okay?" Suguha asked.

"Eh? O-oh... Yeah..."

"You don't seem okay. Is it because I called you so suddenly?"

"Eh? No, of course not. Well... Yes, actually, it was, but trust me. If I really didn't wanna come, I wouldn't have come, so don't worry."

She didn't seem satisfied with that answer, instead keeping her head low with a subtle frown. I hate when this happens. Nae has done it way too many times. She feels bad because she thinks that she made me feel bad, but I don't actually feel bad. In turn, it's making me feel bad that she's feeling bad, even though she didn't make me feel bad. My head hurts all of a sudden...

"Suguha," I said. "I told you, I'm fine. Since I'm here now, I'm gonna find something to eat. You're more than welcome to tag along."

"Eh?! W-wait! Yozora!"

"Oh. Did you finally decide to join me?"

She lightly smacked my shoulder. "For the record, it's 'you' who is joining 'me.' Got it?"

"Sorry, but wasn't it you who was literally begging me over the phone to come with you?"

"B-begging?! Who begged who?!"

"And I quote, ack... the loneliness... said a bored Suguha mere hours ago."

"Okay, okay, I got it! Can we just go now?!"

"Haha, sure.

I watched as she pouted heavily, biting down on her lower lips while shooting me an annoyed glare. I know shouldn't find it amusing, but I do. For someone of her status, it's surprisingly easy to tease her.

"Well? Are you ready to experience the boring normal side of life?" I asked.

"Hmph... Since you're so graciously offering..." she said dramatically, before wearing another smile. "Yeah. Let's go."

As we wandered through the bustling street market, the air was a tantalizing mix of spices and sizzling street food. I could barely keep up with the vibrant chaos around me—vendors shouted out their specials, and the overwhelming aroma of grilled meats and sweet pastries sent me into sensory overload.

The energy around here... It's both deafening and blinding, but that doesn't seem to be the case for Suguha.

"Whoa~!" she exclaimed. "Look, look! How about that one over there? O-or that one! Ah~ There are too many options!"

"Just pick the first one that catches your eyes. Once you're done with that, move on to the next. Have you never been to a street market before?"

"Nope. Never. Manager Na never let me, and none of the girls ever wanted to. They don't even know I'm here right now."

"Wait, what?"

"Yep! I snuck out without a chaperone, so that's why I have to try everything today. If they find out, I'll be grounded until my contract is over. Hurry up!"

"What..."

Suguha's eyes darted from one colorful stall to the next, each offering a new delight: skewers of smoky barbecue, glistening fruits, and heaping bowls of steaming noodles. Meanwhile, I was keeping my eyes on her, careful to not look away for any more than a second. As much as I hate to say it, I'm her chaperone for today.

"Oh~!" Suguha exclaimed. "Yozora, check it out."

I looked over her shoulder to see a stall, where a woman behind the counter was blending a matcha latte for everyone to see.

"I've seen this one before," I said. "My little sister made me buy a drink from here. I'm not the biggest fan of matcha, but I still thought it tasted pretty good."

"Let's get one then," she suggested. "Matcha is a well-known palate cleanser, so we can start with this. And then... We get to try every single goodie we see!"

"Um... I don't think my stomach will be able to handle all that."

"Consider this a diet training, then. You need to eat more anyway."

"What the...? Where did that even come from?"

"Ehe."

"...I knew I'd regret coming here today."

"Aw, don't say that, Yozora! We're just getting started. If you're wearing that attitude this early, I don't even wanna imagine how it's gonna be as the day goes on. Come!"

Suguha stepped up to the stall and placed an order for two matcha lattes. She watched like a child as the woman mixed the greenish fluid in a small mortar. Even among all the noise behind us, the clinking of the pestle could be heard.

Suguha leaned closer to me, and when she began whispering, I moved down just a little so I could listen in.

"Look, Yozora... I thought they would've used prepackaged matcha powder, but they're grinding it up themselves. Isn't that neat?"

"Yeah," I replied. "To be honest, even I didn't know that they grinded their own powder, and I had been here before. I guess I never really paid attention to how my drink was made."

"Here we are," the woman said. "That'll be twelve thousand yen."

"Got it!" Suguha grinned, clearly excited to have a taste.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out... nothing. She then reached into her sweater pockets. Still nothing. Back pocket wasn't any different.

Slowly yet extremely noticeably, her face began to morph. That smile lowered, her eyes widened, and the brows lifted.

"Y-Yozora..." she squeaked. "I think... I think I forgot... my wallet..."

"Pft... Aha..."

I quickly turned around to keep myself from bursting out in laughter.

"W-what?!" Suguha exclaimed. "Why are you laughing?!"

"I'm not," I coughed.

"Yes, you are!"

She threw a subtle jab at my hip, causing me to jolt.

"Okay, okay! I'll stop," I chuckled.

"You'd better..." she grumbled. "But what do I do now? They already made it, and I don't have my wallet."

"Relax. I'll take it."

I handed the woman my credit card, to which she took it and swiped.

"Thank you, sir," she said. "You two enjoy."

"Thank you," I replied.

I picked up the two cups, but right as I was about to hand one to Suguha, I noticed her hypnotic state. It seemed like everything around her disappeared, and all she could see was the matcha latte.

I don't know how, and I don't know why... but my intrusive thoughts won.

"Hm... Two lattes," I said. "This should last me for the rest of the trip, don't you think?"

"Eh? W-wait, what?!" Suguha exclaimed. "I thought one of them was supposed to be for me!"

"Hm? Where did you get that idea? I paid for the both of them, so naturally, they belong to me, no?"

"Wha~t?! Yozora!"

"Haha!"

I couldn't help but let out a wholehearted laugh, while Suguha stood there, shoulders locked and the most dramatic pout I'd ever seen.

"Sorry," I said as I handed her the cup. "I just had to. Here."

"Hmph!" she crossed her arms and jerked her head away.

"Suguha?"

She wouldn't reply. Instead, she maintained her posture.

"Hm... I guess you don't want it anymore," I said. "Oh, well. More for me."

"N-no! Wait!"

Just like that, the silent treatment was over. I handed her the cup, and she literally clawed it from my hand.

"That wasn't funny..." she mumbled.

"It was kind of funny," I scoffed. "I won't do it again, so don't worry."

Keeping that frown on her face, she took a sip. Immediately, her eyes widened and seemingly sparkled.

"Whoa..." she said in awe.

"It's good, isn't it?" I asked.

"It's more than good. I've never had anything that tasted so... natural."

"Yeah, well, you'll probably find a lot of that around here."

"Speaking of which, let's keep going!"