Errant Star Sundries, Radz-at-Han ~ A Nervous Winter Afternoon
Perspective: Noémie Clement
"W-wait what?! S-since when?!"
Normally, I would be far more composed. Due to growing up with the Fuyo family, I had gotten used to much of the shenanigans that the sisters were capable of. But I was not prepared for the sudden revelation that, despite all odds, my childhood friend Fuyuki who seemed too busy with work had somehow managed to find herself a girlfriend. The shock of it was such that I had almost dropped the crate I had in my hands, so I had channeled it all into my voice, which in turn reverberated in the storeroom of the Errant Star.
"Nngh...Noemi-chi...please..." Fuyuki replied, gripping her horns and grimacing in pain with a soft pant. "J-just...no need to shout...?"
I nodded and apologized weakly. Fuyuki was always weak to sudden loud noises when she had her guard down, and the echoing of the storeroom didn't help one bit. Calming down slowly, I was able to set the crate down in the corner, turning around to sit down to face my friend, smiling nervously.
"S-sorry...I just thought...of all people...you'd be the last, if at all..." I said. "I mean, with your nose constantly in a book or...teaching your students. But you ended up being the first among your sisters."
Fuyuki chuckled as she walked over to a nearby crate, picking one a little higher than mine and jumping up to sit down on it. Despite the difference in the crate's height, my own height as an Elezen still overpowered the Raen's stature, and I found myself still looking downwards awkwardly as Fuyuki grinned at me. "And you, can make Chiaki-nee the next one."
"F-f-fuyu-chi..." I stammered, pulling my legs up onto the crate and hugging them, giving my the opportunity to curl up and bury my head into my knees. "Don't say it so glibly like that...!"
I took a deep breath to try to keep myself calm. Like Fuyuki, Chiaki was a childhood friend, though by virtue of being Fuyuki's older sister. Not that it was obvious Chiaki was older than the very calm and composed woman next to me. While I could say all the Fuyo sisters incredibly near and dear to me, Chiaki was the one I had clicked with the most easily. She was an unending font of energy, ceaselessly optimistic, ready to power through even the more dire of circumstances with that unbreakable smile.
And yet...
"I...I can't..." I sighed breaking the silence, looking into my hands. "I'm...afraid..."
Fuyuki shuffled closer, placing a scaled hand on my shoulder and saying with a smile, "And that's normal, you know?"
I shook my head in response as I looked too my side. "I'm no...brave soldier or fighter, like you and your sisters and..." I trailed off as I started to chuckle, but then cut myself off as I noticed the hand on my shoulder lifting and the fingers curling, threatening to flick my forehead. Fuyuki grinned at me and I started to lean away; she rarely made threats, and what threats she made she always followed through. I braced myself for the inevitable impact and closed my eyes.
The storeroom echoed with the sounds of the shop filtering in, yet I had no idea how long I had closed my eyes. It wasn't like Fuyuki to rescind a threat, but curiosity got the better of me and I opened my eyes. Of course, as soon as I processed that the pale fingers were still hovering near my nose, I felt a sudden but light tap between my eyes. Reflexively, closed my eyes again and flinched. As always, Fuyuki followed through, even if it was obvious she held back.
"Ufufu...that's what I told myself too," Fuyuki replied, as she chuckled. "I would sooner throw myself into mortal peril for someone else's sake rather than confess my feelings."
Gingerly I rubbed my forehead, daring to open one of my eyes at first. Fuyuki had already withdrawn her hands and was seated cross-legged on the crate next to me, trying to be me as encouraging a smile as possible. I got the point she was trying to make, yet...I still didn't feel convinced. But it was my fault, and I fumbled over my words trying to explain it as I rubbed my barely smarting forehead.
"...I don't...if it goes wrong...I'll...I still see her, every day, when she comes to pick up whatever ingredients the Four Seasons needs to today, and it'll just...eat at me..."
"It's already eating at you, Noemi-chi."
Such a swift and immediate delivery, as if Fuyuki had prepared such a retort before hand. Honestly, it felt good to be rebutted so fast, as if Fuyuki knew me well enough that she had to counter that. But the joy passed quickly and I found myself curling up again, holding my hands over my pointed ears as I groaned.
"I just...I do want to know if..." I blinked, a sudden realization striking me. I turned to the younger sister of Chiaki, looking at her hopefully as I asked, "What do you think, Fuyu-chi? Do you think Chiaki has f-feelings for me?"
"Chiaki loves everyone."
"...ehe. Ahaha...Hahaha~!" At first I chuckled, then laughed wholeheartedly and Fuyuki joined me, our mirthful laughs echoing off the walls, resonating loud enough that Fuyuki had to cover her orns again. Should I have expected any other answer? No, I understood what Fuyuki said with that and smiled, relaxing a little.
"Well, you're not wrong! But you know what I mean." I said, fully uncurling myself.
"I do. And I stand by what I said earlier. In other words, right now, I don't think she has any specific feelings towards you."
I blinked, and sighed in disappointment, then whispered in a muted tone. "...Is that so."
"Right now, she doesn't have those kinds of feelings towards anyone."
"...that's what I figured." I nodded and leaned back against the wall. "And I wouldn't be the first person she's turned down."
"Sure, but that's if she turns you down."
I gave Fuyuki a quizzical look as she hopped off her create and started to stretch her arms into the air.
"Why wouldn't she?" I asked. "You said she doesn't have any feelings towards me."
"Did I not say _right now_...?" Fuyuki replied, sharply turning her head to me while the rest of her body remained still. Her eyes had narrowed a little, and I could sense a little impatience in her voice. A faint chill seemed to reach my back, though it had only taken a moment to realize I had pressed myself against the back of the storeroom wall.
The tops of my teeth lightly grit against each other, and with a sense of terrible tranquility I had managed to gather enough courage to look into the faintly glowing white eyes of my best friend, asking with a barely-audible whisper, "...so...how do I change that?"
Fuyuki's slight and narrow glare immediately softened, then slowly turned into a worried smile. "Simple. You tell her how you feel."
"Isn't that doing things in the wrong order?" I retorted. I couldn't help but smile in return.
"There's a right order?"
Once again, my best friend had a snappy retort. "No. I suppose not," I conceeded.
Feeling a bit stiff from sitting down on the crate, I joined Fuyuki in standing up, raising my arms in a stretch. Fuyuki on the other hand started to dig for something beneath her poncho. For how long she had the poncho, I never asked, but ever since she had left for Eorzea, she was always wearing it when she visited Radz-at-Han. What was beneath it, I dared not ask, as the sound of metal, crystal, and what I believe was bits of magic activation, all echoed from beneath her cover.
After digging around, Fuyuki produced an Ice Aether Cluster. Confused, I tilted my head and opened my mouth to ask what it was for, but I had my answer as the cluster started to glow and lift into the air, spinning slightly as turned into a light blue orb that Fuyuki appeared to be manipulating and shaping.
"When I first started dating Minisaki...I didn't know as much of her as I did now," Fuyuki said as both her hands moved around the light blue orb. "I was I enamoured at her to begin with, yes, but the more we were together, the more I learned about her, the more I came to love her."
"But you started out with at least some attraction before."
I crossed my arms in confusion and Fuyuki paused...whatever she was doing with the blue orb, pushing it aside and looking at me with a comical narrow glare to fire off a blunt, "And Noemi-chi missed the point."
Once more, I blinked in silence and Fuyuki returned to shaping whatever she was trying to shape. Besides the soft hum of Fuyuki's magic, the storeroom was silent. Without distractions, I could think and eventually, I made a guess.
"The point was...that your feelings still grew after you confessed and got together."
I tried looked over to Fuyuki to gauge if my answer was correct, but the blue orb that she was manipulating had grown to about twice the size of her head and had started to a glow a faint white, blocking out my view of the Raen's face. Thankfully, the disruption was momentary as Fuyuki shifted the orb way from her front and letting it float in the palm of her left hand. Though she still seemed to be focused on whatever she was making, she still glanced over to give me and warm smile and an eager nod before the hum of magic reigned again.
"Call me a fool," I said, wanting to break the awkward silence. "But I wish there was a way to...for lack of a better word, peek into the future. Maybe that would save myself the heartbreak."
"Well...there is."
Fuyuki's smile had warped and turned into a wry grin. She held out the blue orb towards me, though, it wasn't just a blue orb anymore. There was a frame around it, though jagged like it was hewn from a giant block of ice. Metallic rings seemed to dance around that central orb, and what looked like embossed cards orbited the entire frame. The form was familiar, the name of it on the tip of my tongue, but I wasn't given a chance to think further.
Suddenly, the orb and cards spun around rapidly, the clatter of machina loudly echoing off the storeroom walls. Fuyuki's other hand reached out and grabbed onto one of the cards, pulling it out as if she was tearing it out. The orb and cards halted their movement as suddenly as they started spinning.
"So...do you really want to know...?" Fuyuki asked, holding the orb away from herself and the singular card in front of her. I started at her, dumbfounded at what had just happened.
"W-wait...is that...Sharlayan Astromancy?!" I shouted, then covered my mouth.
"Indeed..." Fuyuki confirmed. "So I say again...do you really want to know...?"
I knew Fuyuki was an accomplished mage, dipping into all sorts of fields of magic. But Astromancy? As far as I knew, the Sharlayans were murderously protective of the art. Given that Fuyuki held a rather antipathetic view of Sharlayan, it was difficult for me to fathom how she could have learned such magic.
Yet...here she was, apparently in full mastery of the art. She took a step forward and held the card out to me, trying to emphasize her offer. Slowly, my hand reached out, but mere ilms away I stopped, starting at the embroidered silver backing. At the other side of the card was my fate. Or rather, some sort of symbol that would represent my fate. And that symbol...would also be visible to Fuyuki right now. The meant...she now knew...
Gritting my teeth, I snatched the card of her hand. Fuyuki was smiling and I found myself panting hard as if I had run a malm in ten minutes, and a sudden feeling of weight in my hand started to pull on me. With a shakey hand I slowly lifted the card into my view and agonizingly turned it around.
"W-what?!" I exclaimed, shouting out loud again. It clearly was a card from an Astromancy deck, but placed over whatever actual divination markings that were supposed to be there were two other seals. One at the top was a stylized version of Fuyuki's face, sticking her tongue out mockingly at me, and in the center, covering what looked like some letting as well as some sort of portrait was another stylized image of Fuyuki, shrugging at me.
I lowered the card a little and looked to Fuyuki, bewildered. The wry grin on my best friend's face was gone, and back was that calm and comforting smile. She set down her Astromancy tool on a nearby crate, letting it collapse into a compact form, the walked towards me.
"I mean sure, Noemi-chi, I could go and see the future," she said. "But even if you knew through that method that would you be rejected, wouldn't you be heartbroken regardless? Besides. If my experience has told me anything..."
Fuyuki trailed off, reaching out the card I gripped tightly in my hand and lifted it, my hand along with it. Her hand rotated, suggesting that I turn it over, and though I was confused, I still complied. With my fingers, I flipped the card over, expecting to see the embroidered silver backing from last time, but instead, it had turned into another card. This time, the seal at the top was of Fuyuki's face winking at me, and the seal at the center was her giving me a thumbs up.
"Fate can be fickle, and in some cases, malleable," Fuyuki explained with a bright smile. I nodded and chuckled sofly, handing back her card. "And by the way. I learned that trick from my beloved Minisaki."
This Minisaki girl really did have a profound effect on Fuyuki, it seems. I suppose that's what love can do to you, and I found myself a little jealous.
"Alright...I get it...just...dive in and be up front..." I muttered. I sighed, half in defeat, half in...strange relief.
"Easier said than done, yes," Fuyuki replied, walking up and reaching up to put a hand on my shoulder. I was admittedly a short Elezen and her a tall Au Ra, so it made the height difference less awkward. "But...if it means anything...I'll be here help."
I nodded in understanding. "Help clean up...like you always have."
Fuyuki groaned, then laughed heartily, nodding in agreement. "Like I always have...speaking of. It's soon time isn't it."
I looked out to the entrance of the storeroom to see if I could see the clock in the main part of the shop. Though it was out of view, the orange light filtering through the windows was enough to gauge the passage of time. Soon Chiaki would arrive in order to pick up today's order for the Four Seasons Apothecary. A small order today, some herbs and oils. Not much to really move around...which should give me a bit of time to...confess.
"Yeah... Thank you, Fuyu-chi..." I muttered, looking down and smiling. I was nervous, yes, but I still felt as if a weight had been lifted from my chest.
"Of course," Fuyuki replied. She took her hand off my should and held it up in the air, her fingers spread out. Then she curled her pinky, then ring finger, then her middle finger. A countdown. Of course. The sisters knew each other so well.
And as Fuyuki's thumb curled up, her hand forming a fist, a loud bang could be heard from the front door, followed by Chiaki's ever-gleeful, singsong voice.
"Noemi-chi~! Where are you~? I miss you~!"
I could only sigh and shake my head. The second-eldest daughter was oblivious to all that had just transpired in the storeroom. I look to Fuyuki, smiling as I asked, "Are you going to lurk in the shadows?"
Fuyuki burst into soft laughed and shook her head. "Oh please. That rarely works against my sisters. The best way for me to go unnoticed is to be in place sight. I'll just be around one of the shelves."
That's right. Trying to pull that trick against a family of shinobi was a bad idea at best. I groaned and lifted my arms in one final stretch, letting out the last bits of doubt and nervousness that lingered in me. Outside the storeroom I could hear Chiaki patiently humming, waiting for me. By now she figured I was in the storeroom, perhaps busy. Step by step I apprached the doorway back to the shop, pausing just short to take in one last breath.
"Alright...here I go."
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