'Finally made it.'
Somehow, I finally made it.
I pulled my phone out.
[Dylan: I'm here.]
[Marie is typing…]
[Marie: (photo) I'm waiting here.]
I stared at the photo.
Who does she think I am, a tour guide?
The photo had a tree in the shot followed by a lot of people and some buildings.
'I already struggled with public transport, so might as well continue.'
At least with this, I could spread my senses around.
'Marie… Marie…'
She stood exactly like the photo. A tree. A crowd and buildings. So helpful.
'Sup, Marie.'
She slowly looked up from the phone, like she'd been waiting for that exact moment.
'Took you long enough, darling.' She slipped it into her pocket.
'Sorry. I lost a fight with the train system.'
She walked over, smiling, soft and measured.
'You really are hopeless, darling…'
'But don't worry,' she added, pleased with herself. 'You have me.'
'Sure.' I ruffled her hair. 'My daughter can show this old man around.'
'D-daughter?!'
People walked past us. Someone bumped her shoulder. She didn't react.
Then…
She inhaled. Slowly.
She put on a perfect smile.
'Calling me your daughter is a little… outdated, don't you think?'
'Then what is new?'
'Maybe…' She tapped her chin. 'A girlfriend?'
'Girlfriend?'
'Hey, Marie.'
'Yes, darling?'
'What do girlfriends and boyfriends do? They just sound like rebranded friends.'
Her smile widened, dangerously.
'It is better to show you rather than tell you.'
She glanced at my hand.
'Give me your hand, darling.'
'Sure.'
She took it, intertwining our fingers, her grip tightening slightly for a moment.
'One of the differences is that they hold hands.'
Her eyes flicked to my face, watching.
Is this what they do?
I swear, don't parents hold their child's hand?
I remember that old geezer held his granddaughter's hand wherever he went.
'Is this it?' I tilted my head.
'No.' She shook her head. 'They go on dates.'
'And what's a date?'
She didn't miss a beat.
'How about we do one right now? Much easier to demonstrate.'
'Might as well.'
We walked off, hands clasped.
Around us, others were doing the same.
One even had a boy holding another boy's hand.
Friendship.
How pure.
'Darling.' She glanced at me. 'Do you want to walk around for a bit before grabbing dinner?'
'Sure.'
We wandered through shops. Or rather, Marie dragged me through them.
Mostly clothing stores.
'Does this look good on me, darling?'
She adjusted the dress as she looked at me.
'No.' I shook my head. 'It looks weird on you.'
'…'
Her hands stopped moving.
Then her eyes lowered.
Strange. I thought honesty is the best policy.
Better for her to know now than walk around like a clown.
She walked over to me with her shoulders slumped.
'Are you upset?'
'Yes.' She nodded. 'Because darling didn't say I look pretty.'
'Such a spoiled little brat.' I ruffled her hair. 'Of course you're pretty, but that dress just didn't match you.'
Her frown melted away a little too quickly.
'Then can you help me pick one…? I trust you.'
'Okay.'
'Victory,' she whispered under her breath.
It seemed like a strange thing to say for something so small.
Still… she sounded satisfied.
Must be sad.
I wonder if she had many friends.
Although Kasumi and Saki have met her, maybe I can help Marie make more friends.
That doesn't sound like a bad idea.
After several outfit attempts with my input, the clerk decided to step in.
'How about I help you find one that will impress your boyfriend?'
Marie wore a wide smile.
'My boyfriend doesn't know much about fashion.'
'Most don't.' The clerk laughed. 'Shirt, shorts, done.'
I looked down.
I wore a shirt.
And I wore short pants.
'So this is men's fashion.'
They tilted their heads.
'So this is what being fashionable feels like.'
They both had their mouths hung open.
'Your boyfriend… does he live under a rock?' The clerk asked.
'No.' Marie shook her head. 'Unfortunately, he is the rock.'
——————————————————
Later, outside…
'So where to next? More shopping?'
'Let's go to an arcade.'
'Sure. Never been to one.'
We walked through the crowded street, moving with the crowd until we made it to the arcade.
The building was quite something.
They had these two little animatronics who kinda talked to each other in a cartoonish voice.
'So this is the place?' I pointed.
'Yep.' She still held my hand.
'Then let's go.'
The doors slid open for us.
The place was pristine white. White on white.
I guess they designed it to be boring, so that any machine looked entertaining to play.
And it worked, as Marie immediately took me to some machine.
'Darling… you take this gun and I'll take this.'
She handed me a plastic gun.
We started a zombie game.
Medium difficulty.
Was medium supposed to be difficult?
Marie struggled.
Pointing my gun to her side, I helped her out.
'Thank you, darling.' She smiled at me.
I had to do all the heavy lifting. Killing the zombies on her end too.
It went from a multiplayer game to a single player.
'Thanks, darling. I can always count on you.'
'Of course.'
She smiled for a bit before returning her focus to the game.
It went on like this until we died in the last stage.
[Insert coins to continue playing.]
The screen showed.
'What a scam.' I muttered. 'How are we supposed to kill the boss without another life?'
'Darling.' Marie gently placed her hand over my shoulder. 'How about we try another game?'
'Sure.'
Placing the gun back. We headed to another machine. Hopefully another machine that wasn't rigged.
'Let's play this.' Marie pointed.
It was a basketball machine.
'We'll share the machine. Save some money.'
Dragging me to the machine, she slotted some coins and clicked play.
Basketballs dropped down and it was our goal to score as many points as we could.
I threw the balls with impeccable precision while Marie… let's just say she wasn't physically gifted.
Scored some, but missed many.
'Huff… huff.' Marie let out. 'My arms… they are getting tired.'
Eventually, the time ran out and we…
Didn't make it on the leaderboard.
'Phew.' Marie wiped her sweat with her arm. 'Darling, do you have any tissues?'
'Yeah. You need some?'
She nodded.
Reaching into one of my many pockets, I pulled out a small tissue box from my system, but pretended it was in my pocket.
'Here.'
I shook the tissue box in front of her.
'Thanks.'
She grabbed a tissue and wiped her sweat, but then she realised.
She looked at the tissue box and then at my pockets.
'Darling, did you just fit a tissue box in your pockets?'
'Yeah. I have many things in my pockets.' I patted my pockets. 'You want to see some?'
'…'
She stood there with a shocked expression.
It was then that another guy came up to us.
'Hey, you're wearing cargo pants as well?'
'Yep.'
I looked at the man before me.
He wore cargo pants as well.
'I see. You're a man with good fashion sense.'
'Hahaha.' He laughed. 'Great to meet another man who has such great taste.'
He then looked at the tissue box Marie was holding.
'I never tried fitting a tissue box in my pockets, maybe I should give it a try once I get back home.' He then looked back at me. 'What else do you have in your pockets?'
'I have some food.' I pulled out a protein bar.
'Oh, nice. I also have food.'
He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a meat bun covered in a plastic bag.
'When I'm hungry, I can just pull it out of my pockets.' He then reached for another pocket. 'I also have these tools.'
He pulled out some screwdrivers.
'Hmm… I also have some tools.'
I pulled out a power drill.'
'Impressive. You must have quite the cargo pants to fit that' He nodded in acknowledgment.
We both were showing what we had in our pockets.
Every now and then. People would walk by and watch us.
Some were shocked at the number of things you could carry with cargo pants.
'Maybe I should start wearing them.' One of them said.
This all happened while Marie had her mouth wide open.
'Am I losing to… cargo pants?'
She was questioning reality.
'No, I can't lose.'
Snapping out of it, she tapped me on the shoulder.
'Ahh, sorry, Marie.'
Her expression softened instantly, like she flipped a switch.
'Can we go now, darling?'
'Sorry, but can I show this gentleman some more?'
She then crossed her arms.
'It's me or the cargo pants?'
She leaned closer, gripping my arms like the answer was already decided.
I turned to the guy.
'I know what you're going to say.' He said.
'You probably do.'
I faced Marie.
With a gentle look, I placed my hand on her shoulder.
Her cheeks tinted pink.
'Darling, I knew you would pick—'
'I pick the cargo pants.'
'…'
Her smile cracked.
Then shattered.
She dropped straight to the floor.
Some guy made some sound effect. 'Wasted.'
She lay on the floor, like she'd just died.
'You'll understand once you try them.' I said. 'They have a lot of storage.'