By Zephyria 
After finding commoner boy’s clothes for Aska to wear, and even putting on a drab, gloomy gray robe, I was reasonably relieved. However, the occasional glimpse of his snow-white fingertips peeking out from under the robe was a slight flaw.
After some thought, I found black gloves, put them on Aska’s hands, and said, “Don’t take off your hood.”
“I know.”
“What if the wind blows?”
“I’ll hold it with my hand.”
“What if someone bumps into you?”
“I’ll hit them.”
I nodded with a satisfied look, then paused.
“Why would you hit them? You should avoid them and come to me.”
“Okay.”
I suddenly felt uneasy again, but since I would be by his side anyway, nothing to worry about would happen. Please…
“Just in case, let’s drink blood before we go. You might suddenly get hungry or something and become strange.”
It was better to block unexpected situations in advance. I took a syringe from the drawer, quickly drew blood, and handed it to Aska.
While I was thinking if I had forgotten anything, Aska, who had finished drinking the blood, put the syringe on the table, stood next to me, and took my hand.
“Let’s go quickly.”
Was it because I held his hand every time we moved, afraid he might run off? These days, Aska took my hand first whenever we went somewhere.
“We’re going secretly, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to hold me and run again?”
“No, and that’s forbidden from now on.”
Hanging on Aska’s shoulder like a sack of luggage and being shaken around was enough for once.
The secret passage we used to use was discovered by Asella and blocked, so we had to use another one. It wasn’t a familiar path, but I wasn’t worried about being caught.
“Wait a minute, someone’s coming.”
Whether it was his sixth sense or something else, Aska could read people’s presence like a ghost. Listening to Aska’s words, the first place we headed after safely escaping the castle was the downtown area.
“Wow, there are so many people.”
Aska, who was holding my hand and constantly looking around, muttered in an excited voice. It was my birthday a while ago, so the capital was in the middle of a festival.
I thought about coming out after the festival because it would be too crowded, but on the other hand, I also wanted to show him the lively streets. That’s why I decided to come out on the last day of the festival.
“I’ve never seen so many people before.”
“Don’t let go of my hand, or you might get lost.”
“It’s okay, I can find you even if I get lost.”
The problem is that I can’t find you.
Perhaps because so many people were gathered here and there, there were often people who were wearing their hoods deeply so that their faces were not visible, just like us, so it was fortunate that we weren’t conspicuous.
While leisurely walking through the noisy streets and habitually checking the faces of the merchants soliciting customers at the street stalls, Aska suddenly pulled the hand he was holding.
He pulled so hard that I had no choice but to be dragged along.
“Why?”
“Look at that.”
Aska took me to a place where there were many balloons of various shapes.
“Would you like a balloon? Just a moment!”
The merchant, who was giving change to another customer, discovered us and smiled brightly. When I turned my head, I saw a gray lump standing quietly next to me. Since I couldn’t see his face, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“Do you want it?”
At my question, Aska turned his head and looked at me. I still couldn’t be sure what he was looking at because of the hood, but he seemed to want it, so I said,
“What shape do you want to buy?”
“I want that one.”
“A dog? Just that one?”
“Yeah.”
The merchant, who had been focusing on what we were saying, handed Aska a dog-shaped balloon before we even asked.
“It’s only 3 silver. This is the most popular one, you chose well. If you buy one more, I’ll give you two for 5 silver with a discount, would you like one more? The cat goes well with the dog as a set.”
Again, the merchant put a cat-shaped balloon in Aska’s hand without even being asked. Even after paying and moving on, Aska remained silent.
Is it really good?
Eventually, I briefly stepped aside into a corner. Standing in front of Aska, I shielded him with my body so that people couldn’t see, then slightly lifted his hood to see his face.
Seeing his sparkling eyes and flushed face, I could guess how he felt without having to ask if he liked it.
“What’s that?”
I was putting the hood back on carefully when Aska reached out and pointed at something. When I turned my head, I saw a game where you could win a prize by hitting a target with a square card.
I was about to answer when Aska took my hand again and walked towards it. Then, he just stared at me silently, so I paid the participation fee and received five stiff cards.
“I guess you throw this and stick it in the wall.”
“Isn’t this paper?”
“It’s sturdy, so it’ll work if you throw it well, right?”
I thought it would be okay to give him a demonstration, so I took a card, but the owner, who was watching us quietly, said with a dumbfounded expression.
“Hey, you don’t stick it in the wall, you just pop the balloons. The back of the balloon is a wooden stall, so it won’t stick… You can choose something other than the card. The prize will be a little different, though. For your information, the card is the most difficult, and the prize is the best.”
Looking again, I saw balloons hanging all over the place next to it. Besides the cards, there were daggers, round and sharp throwing stars, and pointed twigs. Then I heard Aska laughing next to me.
“Why are you laughing?”
“You haven’t done this either, have you?”
It was the first time I had ever been out when the birthday festival was in full swing.
“You throw first.”
Why does his voice sound like he’s looking down on me? Feeling strange, I frowned and threw the card at the balloon. The card, which flew quickly through the air, popped the balloon in the center and stuck into the wall with a thud.
“Oh…”
Hearing the short exclamations bursting from the surroundings and the owner’s surprised voice, I suddenly came to my senses. I was clearly trying not to do anything conspicuous, but I had just acted too impulsively.
What am I going to do by sticking a mere card in the wall? I didn’t want to admit that I had momentarily flared up because Aska seemed to be ignoring me. Feeling embarrassed, I turned my head and looked elsewhere, and saw Aska about to throw a card.
I remembered how Aska’s apple had bent at an abnormal angle when he threw it a while ago. Wouldn’t he be good at throwing cards too? I vaguely thought so, but the card that left Aska’s hand fell to the ground in the air without even reaching the middle.
“…”
Aska, who had stopped moving for a moment as if he was flustered, immediately threw the second and third cards as well. But the results were all miserable.
Now there was only one card left. Even though the card was stiff, it was just paper. It was light, thin, and had a large area, so it wouldn’t be easy to throw without skill.
I was thinking of changing it to something easier like a dagger when Aska took a step back.
Then he sighed, slightly turned his body, and lightly raised the hand holding the card again. He seemed to be taking it seriously because it was the last remaining card.
His serious appearance made me laugh without realizing it. I was wearing a hood so my face wouldn’t be visible anyway, but I raised my hand to cover my mouth.
I was curious about what kind of expression he was making, and I wanted to take off his hood right away. Would he have a serious expression like when he was reading a book?
“Five more…”
I was about to give the owner money and get more cards because he looked so cute when he was working hard. Without warning, the card that was swung out flew forward and caused a gust of wind.
In that instant, I saw the edge of the hood fluttering and about to come off, so I reached out without realizing it. Fortunately, I was able to hug Aska’s head before it came off.
At that moment, I heard something breaking from behind with a crack. Still hugging Aska, I turned my head and saw the stall split in half and falling to the side.
“…”
Why did that suddenly happen?
“Oh, no…!”
I was blinking, unable to grasp the situation, when I heard a desperate voice from the side. The owner was screaming as he looked at his ruined business equipment.
Only then did I realize what had happened. The card that Aska threw had split the stall and was stuck in the ground. I could hear people murmuring around me, and people began to gather.
I threw the money pouch I was holding to the owner, picked up Aska in a flash, and ran away. I left the scene as quickly as possible and moved from alley to alley, and then to another alley, until I arrived at a deserted place.
“I have something to ask.”
Aska, who hadn’t said a word while running away, opened his mouth. I sighed, put Aska down on the ground, and took off his hood. He seemed to think he had gone too far too, and he had a troubled expression.
“What are you going to do if you break that?”
“Who knew that would happen?”
“From now on, when you use your strength…”
I was about to tell him to get permission when I suddenly thought that Aska’s face was too pale. He also seemed to be sweating a lot… I reached out and wiped Aska’s cheeks and neck, asking,
“Are you hot?”
“Then aren’t you hot? I’m wearing something like this. But it’s bearable. No, but I have something I’m curious about.”
“What are you curious about?”
I was so busy covering him up that I had forgotten that Aska was sensitive to heat. I felt like I should go somewhere cool and drink something cold.
I was about to put the hood back on when Aska hesitated and asked,
“If I get hurt, are you going to go home right away?”
“What? Are you hurt?”
I was clearly by his side the whole time, so what was he talking about? I was surprised and about to reach out when Aska turned his shoulder to the side to avoid my touch.
“Tell me that first.”
“Where are you hurt? When?”
“I’ll tell you if you promise not to go home.”
“Is that important right now?”
“Ah, quickly!”
Aska raised his voice as if urging me. If Aska was really hurt, this was an emergency. He would only be able to think about crying and drinking blood, but it didn’t seem like he had reached that point yet, so I lied.
“Okay. I won’t go.”
“We’re going to keep playing, right? Until late at night?”
“That’s right. Where are you hurt?”
I nodded, thinking that I would go back as soon as I checked how badly he was hurt. Then Aska looked at me with uneasy eyes and lifted his robe.
His right arm… that is, the arm he had thrown the card with a little while ago, was hanging down strangely. Aska, who had shown me his arm, muttered with an awkward expression.
“No, I didn’t even move it that hard…”
“…”
“Why does my shoulder keep dislocating?”
“…”
Aska smiled sheepishly at me, who was dumbfounded, as if he wanted to get out of the situation.