The cool, crisp air tickled against her skin as she made her way through the town. Autumn was well on its way. Every breath she took stung a bit, as though she wasn't used to the biting love the air gave humanity.
Yellow street lights cast shadows along the road of the people walking by. She paid special attention to these shadows, walking forward with her head tilted slightly down. It would ruin the mood if someone recognized her at this point. Being called out as the Shikemura Shrine shrine maiden would surely set the plans for the night back a fair bit.
She eventually grabbed onto the hem of her red plaid skirt, keeping her arms down to avoid any possible wind lifting it up. It was embarrassing, wearing something other than her miko outfit or a yukata. Especially when this outfit was so… cute.
She checked her phone. 6:57. Good. She still wasn't late. A single text message was on her screen that she'd seen a while before.
6:46 Sui-chan: I'm here early, Mikochi~
'Leave it to Sui-chan to turn this into a game, alright,’ Miko thought with a smile on her face. Of course, she was the one who told Suisei to be there early, but Suisei always had this edge to her that Miko couldn’t get enough of. It pushed her forward, wanting to usher her to do better. She found herself skipping slightly.
Suisei stood out, much like her name would imply. She was wearing her dark blue outfit with those startlingly bright orange leggings. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail tonight, only a few scraggly strands falling down in front of her ears. She was looking at her phone, scrolling on it leisurely as she kept a leg propped behind her against a lamppost. That air of confidence was back, as though she held herself higher than she usually did. Her eyes slowly drifted away from her phone, catching sight of Miko. A smile erupted on her face as she stood upright and began waving.
“Mikochi! You’re not late!” Suisei’s words pushed her to run the last few meters to the comet.
“Of course! I wouldn’t be late to this for the world.” After realizing how incriminating that sounded, she quickly added on: “I haven’t been to an arcade in almost a decade, after all.”
It didn’t curtail Suisei’s smile any. If anything, she seemed to smile even brighter. “Then let’s go in, yeah?” She held her hand out for Miko to accept.
Miko took Suisei’s hand in hers, almost sighing at how wonderfully perfect the sensation felt. Their fingers threaded together and Suisei squeezed slightly. Miko looked up at the bluenette. Her eyes were shining, starry accents bathed in gold from the streetlights. The darkness was still behind them, stopping her from reading deeper, but she felt ecstatic seeing Suisei's eyes as bright as they were.
They walked in and were assaulted by loud music, ringing noises, and a multi-colored tiled floor. The ambience hadn't changed since she'd last been here, Miko observed. A gasp from Suisei dragged Miko's vision away fro the floor design.
"Mikochi, look! A shooting game! Ooh, it's co-op too!"
With child-like glee they ran over to the game. They each put in a 100-yen coin each and aimed the guns at the screen.
The plot was nothing special, of course. It was an imported game from America that had been given subtitles. A jungle treasure hunt had gone awry when the main characters had taken a special glowing green orb. Now mutant spiders were chasing their jeep caravan. They were able to clear the main part of the stage, but now the boss segment began.
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In Those Deep, Starry Eyes, I See Cherry Petals Depressed but breathing
FanfictionShrine maiden Sakura Miko can read the eyes of those she helps. They come to her seeking advice, and she happily assists. When a blue-haired woman appears with eyes she can't read, how will she be able to help? What lies in store for both of them in...
