A/N: I had so much fun looking up pictures for reference... and reading about tea. And learning about Japanese malls. My beta has infected me with the fact-bug. I'm doomed.
Disclaimer: If I did own these characters, I imagine I wouldn't need to learn about Japanese malls. I would simply know. Oh well.
Going to the mall with Riku and Niwa-kun meant three things for Risa: one, it meant she would need to finish all of her homework early; two, that she would be forgotten an approximate half hour after arriving; and three, she would need to text Hiwatari-kun and demand he join her.
Truthfully, she did not mind being left behind by the two lovebirds. She enjoyed seeing her good friend and her twin get along so well as much as she delighted in having material with which to tease her perfect older sister. Beyond that, who was she to complain about being able to drag an uncomplaining Hiwatari-kun hither and thither through the mall?
"Oh, wait, Hiwatari-kun," she said, backtracking a few steps. "They've got new cups in."
Wordlessly, her companion stopped in front of the small tea shop, glancing idly over the displays. Risa bent over to examine the cups, separated by little trails of dried tea, set out on low glass shelves. A few were Western style, with elegantly sculpted handles and a soft sheen from the glaze coating them. Flowers and undulating shadows of colour bloomed over some, attractive and quaint, but the one that caught her eye held nothing but a whisper of pale blue along its rim.
"I'm going in," she stated, straightening at once.
He had barely glanced her way before she ducked into the shop, eager to examine her find.
Gingerly lifting the white tea cup from its place on the shelf, she exhaled quietly in joy. At last, the piece to her collection she had been missing.
For several years, with her own allowance, she had gathered with care an assortment of tea cups for her room. Though she had found many beautiful and appealing pieces over that time, the limiting factor of her collection was that each cup represented a person in her life. For her parents, she had chosen matching cups, one grey and brown, the other cream and blue. Much to Riku's disdain, she had a white, crimped cup with red on its rim and inside. Risa had selected some for her friends, like Ritsuko and Yuki, and more recently, Niwa-kun. Though she never told him, he had a red tea cup with a finely curved handle sitting in her room.
To date, the only person who had eluded her hobby had been Hiwatari-kun.
"This is just right," she mumbled, carefully turning the porcelain in her hands. Even in the soft light of the shop, she could see the thinness of the cup by the distinct silhouettes of her fingers through the sides. The blush of blue on the rim, though too light to match his sky blue hair, gave hint to his distinction from the white.
She glanced over her shoulder at Hiwatari-kun, who had followed her inside to peruse the selection of teas. Blue defined his features, certainly, but even so, the underlying impression of white that emanated from him never left her mind entirely. Perhaps the impression came from the purity, the calmness in his actions and words, as if there was nothing to doubt about him, no hint of deception even as he remained aloof from the world.
Looking back at the cup in her hands, she lifted it to the light. How easily the beams penetrated the veil—if only she could just see distinctly beyond it.
After a moment of luxuriating in the perfection of her discovery, she walked to the cash register. Hiwatari-kun, already in the middle of purchasing some kabusecha, glanced back at her and offered quietly, "I will buy that for you, if you want."
"No," she refused with a smile, wrapping her fingers protectively around the tea cup. "No thank you, Hiwatari-kun. This is something I have to get for myself."
He lifted his eyebrow, unused to her turning down his offer to pay, then smirked a little as he pulled out his wallet to pay for his purchase.
She watched him, smiling softly as she waited her turn.
One day, she would get a chance to see beyond the thin veil.
