Shiki waits at the finish line, which turns out to be the inside of an abandoned mill. She had managed to ask somehow how to watch the races from down at the finish line, and the group that they were standing in had kindly directed her to the website link that streamed the qualifiers.
The race starts off strong, a buff man with green hair and Langa pulling ahead almost immediately. Shiki panics when Langa quickly gets surrounded by a group of people wearing black clothes and masks, as if they were bad modern plague doctor costumes on Halloween.
They have batons, Shiki realizes as they swing at Langa, but Langa avoids one and uses the wheels on his board to block another hit using an ollie before pulling past the green-haired man who seems somewhat amused by the proceedings. As one of Langa's attackers tries to pursue, the green-haired man knocks one of them out with a lazy hit to the face, and the rest back off for the rest of the race.
By the time the two get into the mill, the green-haired man had already pulled ahead of Langa and they both cross the line.
"Here they come!"
"It's Joe and Snow!"
Shiki recognizes the name Joe as one of the friends Reki had listed. So that meant Snow was Langa. A fitting name for him, with the light blue hair and white shirt.
As Langa comes to a stop, a bright smile on his face, some of the many congratulate him on making it to the next round along with Joe. Some of the other spectators congratulate Joe as well while the rest clap lightly.
"Oh, hey Shiki," Langa greets as he approaches her, board tucked under an arm.
"Hey, Langa! Good job!" Shiki smiles.
"Nice work, kid," The green-haired man, Joe, says as he approaches them. "Thought I might have to intervene with that sabotage attempt earlier, but you got out of it okay. Kept them from pursuing you further, though."
"I saw that, thanks Joe," Langa bows slightly.
"No need for that. I know there aren't rules here at S, but sabotages like that could lead to injuries. Oh, who's your friend?"
Shiki extends a hand, "I'm Shiki. A friend of Reki and Langa."
"Joe." He shakes her hand.
"Hey, Joe!" Someone calls. "Can you get the big screens set up? It seems like Adam forgot."
"Huh? Oh, uh, sure!" Joe temporarily leaves the group to get the big screens working as the remainder of the quadrant come through.
The crowd begins to cheer as the next race begins. Shiki, Langa, and Joe all make sure to back away from the finish line to give the racers an adequate amount of space to slow down. Especially considering that Adam was in the second qualifier.
To no one's surprise, Adam finishes first with a time of four minutes, incredibly fast compared to other times. Once he finished, Adam beelines for their group. Or more specifically, to Langa and stops a few feet in front of them.
"Adam's here first!"
"Not surprised. That's the Matador of Love for ya."
"How lovely," Adam addresses Langa and ignores everyone else and any other greeting that Shiki can think of that makes a more logical conversation starter than that. "What a wonderful performance, like falling snow. Your talent shows you to be way above such a small competition, I can understand. That's why you should work with me."
"Nah, no thanks," Langa deadpans. Shiki can sense the irritation coming off Adam and Langa's refusal. Getting his attention off Langa was more than likely a priority here.
"I have to ask," Shiki cuts in, Adam glancing towards her through his mask. Joe's mouth is open, more than likely going to try to divert Adam's attention himself, but got beaten to the punch. "Based on the hearts and all the red on your costume, your central theme is love, right?"
"Yes, I thought that much is obvious," Adam says, voice a near sneer and condescending.
"Then why are you called the 'Matador of Love'?
Adam blinks. Or, Shiki figures he is, with the mask obscuring his eyes. "Beg pardon?"
"Well, wouldn't a Matador of Love be the opposite of love?" Shiki asks, before stumbling forward on her words. Too late to stop her now, she's a fashion designer with a lot of passion. "Matadors are those people in Mexican bullfights who have to kill the bull. So a matador of love would have to kill love, even though your theme seems to be something more like creating love. Or something."
There's a silence throughout the area, even as the next skater, a young boy with a green jacket who quickly joins their group, comes through. Joe tries to hide his snickering behind his hand, but fails.
"Unless, of course, your main theme to begin with was a matador, which would make sense with all the red as it relates with bullfighting, and then love as a sub-theme in which I could kinda see it working."
Adam considers her for a second, and Shiki gets the strong feeling of being scrutinized under a microscope. "My theme is love, which, as I said before, should be obvious. The title came from my fans and it stuck, mainly through the love theme. While I do see your point, it doesn't hold any merits to the reality of it." And with that, Adam leaves them, disappearing off to wherever he goes when he doesn't want to be seen.
"Oh, hey Miya," Langa says to the boy in the green jacket who's staring at Shiki, an expression on his face that could only be described as incredulous awe.
"What did I just witness?"
Joe grins. "Shiki here just publicly criticized Adam while going on a theme-related rant at the same time."
Miya looks up to Joe, eyes wide. "Can we keep her?"
Joe barks a laugh while Shiki gives a nervous giggle. She hadn't really meant to say all that, but the petty side of her counts it as revenge for being creepy towards Langa and whatever the hell he did to Reki during their race.
Miya bounds over to her, practically star-eyed. "I'm Miya. Shiki, you are my favorite person. I think you may be the first person to ever publicly roast Adam like that."
"Thank you, Shiki," Langa says beside her.
"Hm? What for?"
"For dealing with Adam."
"A-Ah, well," Shiki starts waving her hands frantically. "I just thought that I'd hate to be in your situation and I wanted to help and before I knew it I was ranting about all of that."
The conversation trails off as the third quadrant starts. Langa and Shiki stand next to each other and watch the race on the screens.
"Reki's got this," Shiki assures Langa who looks a tad bit nervous for him.
The first one to make it down is a man with light pink hair (Shiki immediately pegs the man as Cherry, based on Reki's description, meaning the last person she hasn't seen yet is Shadow). He immediately checks his time, finding it to be the same as Adam.
Cherry seems annoyed by that as he glares up at one of the destroyed structures. Shiki follows his gaze and spots Adam smoking a cigarette. Cherry's frustration at being unable to surpass Adam's time is distracted as Joe rushes up to him like a child on Christmas morning.
"Cherry! Cherry, you missed it!"
As Joe excitedly relays Adam's public humiliation, Langa and Shiki focus on Reki. He's ahead of everyone else, but there's one skater, a man with short brown hair and glasses, on his tail. The man, who Shiki hears the surrounding crowd refer to as 'Harry', manages to pull ahead of Reki at some point, but Reki manages to grind his board against a curve and pull ahead again as they enter the mill.
The sound of wheels against metal rafters echo, only telling Shiki that they were both close.
"C'mon, Reki!" Langa shouts.
Shiki smiles approvingly before joining in, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice more. "You're almost here, Reki!"
"Don't let that noob take your spot!" Miya screams.
"You're doing great, kid! Just a little more!" Joe yells out.
Some of Harry's fans follow their lead and begin to cheer for Harry. Cherry doesn't speak, only observes. A female robotic voice can be heard, offering Reki quiet monotone encouragement, but her voice is drowned out by all the yelling. A few of the crowd are cheering for Reki, too, Shiki notices.
Reki crosses first, just a half-second before Harry, and is officially declared to be going to the next round. They all crowd around him.
"You did it, Reki!" Langa laughs, relief in his voice.
"Nice job, Slime!" Miya is practically climbing up Reki's back in excitement.
"You did good, kid," Joe praises, Cherry nodding in agreement.
"Told you you could do it," Shiki grins. "All you need is a little confidence."
"Congratulations, Reki!"
"Good going, Red!"
Reki startles at the unfamiliar voices, but when he locates them, he sends them blinding grins and a wave of his hand.
The group moves back as the remaining flood of skaters come through followed by a few stragglers, something in common with every quadrant, as the final round starts.
To the group's surprise, Shadow isn't in the lead, but rather second. But the two of them have already pulled much farther ahead from everyone else.
"I don't recognize that guy," Joe frowns.
"Nor do I," Cherry agrees. "A new participant to S, maybe?"
They watch as Shadow throws mini firecrackers at the mystery skater who merely uses his board to send them back at Shadow, which explodes as soon as they get near him. But to the group's relief, Shadow is quick to recover.
Miya pulls something up on his phone, the case striking Shiki as familiar. "His registered name is… Snake."
Snake is the first one to make it past the finish line.
"Carla. Time?" Cherry asks.
"Three minutes fifty-eight seconds."
"T-That's a new record," Miya exclaims as Shadow comes into sight. Snake glares up at Adam after he comes to a stop. The crowd lets out shocked exclamations at the information.
Before anyone else can theorize on who Snake is, the results of the qualifiers come in.
Winners moving on to the next bracket:
Reki
Shadow
Miya
Snow
Adam
Cherry Blossom
Joe
Snake
Pictures of all of them are displayed briefly before the announcement abruptly turns off. Their group gathers in one spot as everyone else who came to S begin to leave. Adam disappears from sight.
"Hey, Joe, how's the rest of the tournament gonna go?" Reki asks.
"There's not gonna be S tomorrow, but the day after. They'll do four races, like we did today. Then, they'll have a two day break followed by the semi-finals. Then a three day break, then the finals," Joe explains.
"So you made it to the next round, eh Reki?" Shadow says, and oh boy did Shiki just notice makeup that man has on. It's not bad, it's actually pretty good. Just very theatrical.
"Yep!" Reki confirms, smile still on his face. "Came kinda close at the end, though."
"Don't sell yourself short," Cherry gently chides. "It takes skill to make it past the qualifiers."
"Heh, thanks, Cherry!"
"Joe said your name is Shiki?" Cherry asks.
"Yeah. And you're Cherry?"
" Yes. I heard about that, ah, interaction you had with Adam." Reki and Shadow both double-take. "While I do believe Joe was exaggerating somewhat, the next time you roast Adam like that, please make sure I'm in the area. I'd love to see someone taking him down a peg or two in person."
"W-Wait, what's this about Adam?" Reki asks nervously.
"Okay, so," Joe begins, voice easily portraying his excitement to tell the story again. "It was when the second group came down. As soon as he got down here, Adam came over and started bothering Langa. And then Shiki here started criticizing his costume and his Matador of Love title."
Shadow throws his head back in laughter while Reki gapes at Shiki.
"I-It wasn't like that! I was just pointing out how a Matador of Love would go against his love-building thing and I just got carried away!" Shiki corrects quickly, face red.
"It was nearly dead silent when I got down here," Miya snickered.
"Shiki, you're amazing," Reki says, still very stunned.
"You guys are amazing, too," Shiki says, catching their attention. "You all made it past the qualifiers!"
"Yeah, I guess we are," Joe agrees. "Hey, we should celebrate. Stop by Sia La Luce tomorrow night and I'll treat you all."
"Seriously!? Thanks, Joe!" Reki exclaims. Langa doesn't speak, but looks excited at the prospect of free food.
"Hey, are the shuttles still here?" Shiki asks suddenly.
"Did they leave already?" Langa asks quietly.
"Shoot," Reki sighs. "How are you gonna get back, Shiki?"
"I can give you all a lift," Shadow offers.
"Thank you… Shadow, right?" Shiki smiles.
"Don't worry about it," Shadow says. "I gotta go return the car soon, so we should head out now. Miya, need a ride, too?"
"If you can, that'd be great."
Shiki bows to Cherry and Joe. "It was very nice to meet the both of you."
"Our pleasure, kid," Joe says.
Reki, Langa, Shiki, and Miya follow Shadow to the parking spaces to a light pink van with a picture of a bouquet of flowers on the side.
Shiki finds that Shadow is very strict on safety precautions and instructs the oldest of them, which ends up being Shiki, to sit in the front while the other three sit in the back.
The first person they drop off is Miya who exits the van with a simple, "Later." They drop off Langa next and Reki has to walk him in as the boy is half-asleep by the time they get to Miya's house. When they get to Reki's house, Shiki pulls up the address to her hotel and bids Reki a good night.
"Where am I taking you?" Shadow asks once they wait to make sure Reki gets into his house.
Shiki hands her phone to Shadow, who glances at the address. "Oh, this is the hotel I'm staying at."
"I know where that is. You from out of town, then?" Shadow asks.
"Yeah. I'm visiting from Shibuya."
Shadow frowns, "Don't you have school?"
"Yes, but my trip out here is being counted as work related," Shiki explains.
"What kinda job do ya got?"
"I have a clothing brand back in Shibuya."
Shadow whistles. "And you're still in school? That's impressive. If you want tips, though, you'd be better off asking Cherry or Joe. Joe runs a restaurant and Cherry has a calligraphy business."
"Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, Shadow."
"What do you do for the brand? Do you manage stuff or design anything?"
"I leave all the clothing designs to Eri, she's the co-founder along with me, and I don't really design that much besides maybe a few accessories. I make as many clothes as I can and handle all tailoring requests. We occasionally get requests for clothing with specific measurements or I adjust measurements if something ends up too tight or loose in areas they shouldn't be."
"Sounds like a lot of work, though. Don't you also have to look at hiring applications?"
"Eri handles those, along with interviews. We try to split up work evenly between us to give us enough time to do other things. We generally have ample amounts of free time when we need it."
"Good. Everyone needs time to live their life."
"Yeah," Shiki can't help but agree. Everyone, every single person, no matter who they are or where they're from deserves that time. Not everyone can get that time. Not people who live busy lives, not people who have to struggle to get by every day. A lesson drilled into their heads every day by Mr. Hanekoma. Live life to the fullest. Neku never got that time. It's why her and Eri's dream is so important to her.
"Somethin' wrong?" Shadow asks. Shiki realizes she'd been staring off into space for a while.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about something Mr. Hanekoma liked to say. Oh, he's kind of like a guardian or mentors over me and my friends."
"What'd he say?"
"'Enjoy the moment with all your might, whether it's gloomy, whether it's bright.'"
"Well, he's right. Can't enjoy life, if you can't enjoy a single moment."
"Sounds like you've got some words of wisdom from experiences of your own," Shiki notes, a teasing grin overcoming her face. "You must've been around a while, then."
Shadow explodes at that. "I'm not old! I'm twenty-friggen-four!"
Shiki laughs, "I never said you were old!"
The following morning, Shiki is surprised she doesn't wake up much later than she usually does. She blames her body's internal clock for that. She slips on her glasses and checks her phone, finding only a few unread messages from one person.
Rhyme
Good morning, Shiki!
Rhyme
How's Okinawa so far?
Shiki smiles at the messages. Rhyme's cheerful energy was as contagious as always.
Shiki
It's been pretty fun!
Shiki
I was able to attend that skater thing you told me about
Rhyme
That's good!
Rhyme
Beat and I have been holding down the fort so far
Shiki
Thanks for that, btw
Shiki
It's probably really hard without me and Eri there
Shiki
Not to mention both Josh and Mr. H being out of town for whatever reason
Rhyme
Well, considering Joshua's job…
Rhyme
Mr. H likely went with him. You know how Josh can be at times
Shiki
Yeah. Only he and Neku can really keep him controlled
Shiki
How's the hacking thing going?
Rhyme
Pretty good!
Rhyme
I think I'm really getting the hang of it!
Rhyme
Oh and don't worry- I've been keeping the Gatto Nero account updated
Shiki
Thanks again for doing that for me!
Shiki
You have a good eye for that kind of stuff
Rhyme
No problem!
Rhyme
Oh
Shiki
?
Rhyme
I gotta go keep an eye on Beat
Rhyme
I don't know what he's up to, but I'm just gonna make sure he stays safe
Shiki
Okay, gotcha!
Shiki
Keep your brother safe!
Shiki
Have a great day, Rhyme!
Rhyme
You too, Shiki!
Shiki puts her phone down and lets out a tired sigh. She might as well work on her school work for the days of school she would be missing for this trip. Thankfully, the work isn't too difficult, there's just a lot of it.
"Today will be the day," Shiki tells herself before moving to get all of her work together in one spot.
Shiki sits on the hotel bed with her laptop in front of her, a playlist of work music blasting through her headphones. Summoning all her energy to focus, she begins to slowly slog her way through.
She internally thanks the merciful gods that as a third year, the number of classes she has are lessened. She had crammed as many classes as she could in her second year just so she would have a lighter load. She doesn't know what second-year-her was thinking doing that, but she's glad it paid off in the end.
She manages to complete all of her statistics homework and get mostly done with an essay for her English class (that she had to write in English) by the time it starts to get dark outside. She leans back and stretches, a yawn escaping her lips. Her phone buzzes.
Reki
hey, you gonna stop by joes place for dinner?
Shiki
Yeah. Can you send me the address?
Reki
yeah no problem
Reki
i think its in walking distance of your hotel
Shiki
You're right, it is!
Shiki
Be there in a bit
Reki
see ya there
Shiki pulls up the address of Joe's restaurant on her phone and starts to head there. It's a twenty minute walk to the restaurant. She ends up taking Mr. Mew with her, his light weight a familiar comfort in her arms.
When she arrives, she hears… arguing? Two people are yelling loudly at each other.
"-ed us to a random restaurant in LA."
"Well, what about that time at the bar in Paris?"
"I created the itinerary for our night out!"
"Would you two lovebirds quit your dick-measuring contest!? You sound like an old married couple!"
"Did I come at a bad time?" Shiki asks, stepping into the restaurant. She sees Joe behind the counter with Cherry in front of them, both glaring daggers at each other, but she can also see a hint of fondness in Joe's eyes. She would say the same for Cherry, but she can't see his face.
Shadow, the one who had yelled at the both of them, is sitting at a four-person table with Miya, Langa, and Reki. Miya is fully focused on the Nintendo Switch in his hands while Reki and Langa are enamored by a video on Reki's phone, but they both do wave as she steps in.
"Nah, you're just in time. I'm about to start on the food," Joe says.
Shiki takes a seat to Cherry's left, placing Mr. Mew in her lap.
"What's that there?" Cherry asks, turning his posture towards her.
"Oh, this is Mr. Mew," Shiki introduces, holding him up.
"Like, the mascot of Gatto Nero?" Miya asks from the table, looking up from his game.
"You've heard of it?" Shiki asks in surprise.
"Yeah. I like the stuff, even though it's mostly all dark colors. I have the Mr. Mew phone case, though." That's why his phone case looked familiar to her! She was the one who designed it!
"Gatto Nero is a popular brand in Shibuya, correct?" Cherry recalls.
"Yeah," Shiki confirms. "Though we really only became popular within the last year."
"...'we'?" Miya echoes.
"My friend Eri and I are the founders," Shiki admits.
Miya stares at her and Shiki can hear the sounds of what is possibly a Game Over screen from his game, but Miya doesn't even focus back on it.
"How old are you, if you don't mind my asking," Cherry inquires.
"Seventeen. I turn eighteen next month."
Joe whistles, amazed. "Not even outta school and you're already the head of a successful brand. That's impressive."
Cherry nods, "I have to agree with the dumb oaf-"
"What'd you just call me!?"
"-and commend you on your achievements. It took me a fair amount of time to start my calligraphy business after I attended university, and even more so for it to grow as popular as it did. Your success shows how dedicated you are to it."
"Hey Slime, how do you keep finding these people?" Miya demands as Reki gives a sheepish smile and scratches the back of his head.
"No clue," Reki shrugs.
"Maybe it's your psych?" Shiki teases then cringes slightly when she's met with blank stares.
"Hey, Reki, what does psych mean?" Langa whispers, a confused look at his face at the unfamiliar word. Shiki figures he's never heard the word in Japanese before.
"Uh, superpowers," Shiki corrects herself sharply. She forgot that they would have no idea what a psych was. Heck, she couldn't even access Groove Pawn anymore, which had allowed her to use psychomancy to bring Mr. Mew to life.
"Well, whatever the hell it is, it's lucky," Shadow points out. They all look at him curiously. "Think about it, if it weren't for him, I doubt any of us would be here right now." He pauses before sending a meaningful look to the other two adults in the building. "Except for you two."
"Thanks, Reki," Langa says, leaning into him despite sitting in a different chair.
"N-No problem?" Reki mumbles, blushing heavily.
The conversation at the table quickly transitions into a heated debate over the best superpowers while Cherry and Joe start hurling insults at each other again as he gets everyone glasses of water and moves into the kitchen.
Shiki's phone buzzes and she smiles when she sees who it's from.
Eri
hows your day going?
Shiki
Getting dinner at the moment! One of the skater people I made friends with is a chef at a restaurant apparently
Eri
ooh lucky!
Eri
what kinda food?
Shiki
Italian
Eri
fancy
Eri
what did you do before that tho?
Shiki
Homework
Shiki
Ughh why do that have to give us so muchhh
Eri
ugh i know right?
Shiki
No motivation left to do any of ittt
Eri
wellllll i think i can solve that problem ;)
Eri
[sent ]
Shiki watches the photo load for a brief moment. She feels the exact moment her face turns red and grows hot. Eri had sent a selfie of herself sitting on a beach towel facing away from the ocean behind her. She was wearing slightly revealing clothes as she cast doe eyes into the camera.
Shiki promptly drops her phone onto the counter and presses her cheek against it, letting out a high-pitched whine, garnering everyone's attention.
"Everyone all right out there?" Joe calls out.
"Um, are you okay, Shiki?" Langa asks.
"Is something the matter?" Cherry leans over to her.
Shiki wordlessly slides her phone to him as he inspects the text messages with concerned eyes. After reading through the messages, Cherry leans back in his chair, huffing a small laugh.
"It's nothing to be concerned about," Cherry reassures everyone else, though at this point, Shiki's lost touch with reality. "She's just experiencing a gay panic."
Joe gives a startled laugh from the kitchen as Shadow shakes his head in amusement. "Worst gay panic I've ever seen."
"Reki, what's a gay panic?"
"I'll, uh, tell you later, Langa."
Cherry takes out his own phone and takes a picture of Shiki's misery before checking something on Shiki's phone. A few more text messages from Eri are sent, but Shiki doesn't move to read them, not moving from her hunched over spot on the wooden counter. Cherry starts messaging someone, not that anyone notices.
Miya, Reki, and Langa send a few concerned glances her way, but decide to leave her be, returning to their debate, just a tad bit quieter.
Shiki doesn't know how long it takes for her to regain a semblance of existing, but she gets there eventually. She picks up her phone and fixes her glasses that had gone askew when she had put her head down. She turns on her phone that had long since locked after timing out after no activity. She reads the messages Eri had sent while she had been trying not to pass out.
When Shiki scrolls back up, she's very careful not to view the photo again, lest she fall back into her previous state.
Eri
shiki?
Eri
you still there?
Eri
my messages are getting marked as read
Eri
did your dinner arrive?
Eri
hold on
Eri
i think one of your friends just messaged me
Eri
omg
Eri
holy shit
Eri
shiki omg
Eri
im laugihng my ass off
Eri
youre so adorable
Eri
[sent screenshot_ ]
[sent screenshot_ ]
It's simple screenshots of a text conversation between Eri and a contact that Shiki doesn't recognize.
Sakurayashiki
Hello. My name is Kaoru Sakuyashiki. I have recently made friends with Shiki.
Sakurayashiki
After she viewed the last photo you just sent, she fell into an extreme state of gay panic.
Sakurayashiki
[sent ]
Eri
omfg
Eri
lmaoooo
Eri
thank you
Sakurayashiki
You're welcome.
Sakurayashiki
I imagine that Shiki's lack of response was concerning, so I decided to contact you in her stead to ensure that you know she is alright.
Eri
no i mean thank you for that, but mainly for the picture of shiki
Eri
its my wallpaper now
Sakurayashiki
Glad to be of service.
Shiki sends a pout towards Cherry, who merely smiles and readjusts his glasses.
Shiki
Oh my goddddd
Shiki
Why do you do this to me :(
Eri
because i love you :3
Eri
but am i right?
Eri
is that a motivator?
Shiki
I stopped functioning
Eri
so?
Shiki
How's that gonna help meee
Eri
its not
Eri
thats the point :S
Shiki
Eriiiiiiiiii
Eri
3
Shiki
Ughhhhhh
Shiki
I love you too
Eri doesn't send any more messages and Shiki doesn't have anything to say, so they end the conversation there. Shiki buries her still red face into Mr. Mew until Joe comes out with food and serves them all like a true waiter, even though technically the restaurant is closed and they're the only ones there. He takes a seat on Cherry's other side.
"This is really good, Joe," Shiki compliments. "Thank you for cooking for all of us." The rest of the group, sans Cherry, express their gratitude to Joe.
"Aw, thanks guys," Joe says. "What about you, Cherry? Do you like it?"
"It's not your best work," Cherry declares. Joe pouts at him.
"I was wondering," Joe leans back in his chair to face Shiki. "The ring on your pinky. Is that just a fashion thing, or…" he trails off.
"Oh yeah, I was wondering about that, too," Reki says.
Shiki flushes slightly, "Ah, well, it's a promise ring."
"With Eri?" Cherry guesses.
"Yeah. But, we're both still young so we wanted to wait until we were older. Hence, we got promise rings." She doesn't say that they're waiting for Neku to come back. Who knows what kind of state he would be in when he finally came back to them. She wanted Neku to be able to create memories of positive moments.
"That's really sweet, kid," Joe says. "It's nice that you've found someone like that in your life." He smiles at Cherry who gives a fond smile back.
Once everyone finishes eating, Shiki offers to help with the dishes, but he assures her that he's got it, and she walks back to the hotel.
Shiki holds her promise ring tightly in her hand and falls asleep.