Short Story

It was another day in April.

"…Does it have to be so depressing? Do two guys like us have to go on the

hunt for a silver ring?"

Takigawa whined thusly amidst the crowd as he stood beside Toujou Basara.

The two were now at the best spot of the metropolis — Japan's highest and

most expensive land intersection.

"You heard me. It's not like I have a choice, given that there's not a woman

among those who know about what's going on between me and Mio and the

others that I could ask to come shopping for it with me."

"If Shelia-dono and Lucia-dono knew about this, I'm sure they'd be more

than happy to accompany you. Just say the word and the two of them would

come here from the Demon Realm in no time."

"I'm sure the two of them have a lot on their plate right now. I couldn't

possibly ask for their help to find a ring for me," Basara said. "Especially for

a ring like this, one that's meant to commemorate us living together after

tying the Master-Servant Vow with each other. I was worried that we might

end up silently triggering the curse by doing this, though; what with charming

or arousing or whatnot…"

"Well, you've got a point there…if one were to think carefully about things

the way they are between you and the others, Basachi, I'd say it's likely such

an effect would trigger."

"That said, I've asked you to accompany me to avoid something like that."

"So that's why you decided you'd toss the ball toward me huh…good grief."

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"Now, don't be like that…I wouldn't have been able to go shopping safely. I

owe you one, Takigawa."

"Eh, don't worry about it. Well, where are we supposed to go right now?"

"I've made us a reservation at that sushi restaurant. I told you we'd talk at

some point when we'd go shopping, remember?"

"Seriously? Wow, I didn't think you'd manage to get a hold of one. I

expected it to be impossible and for reservations to be rejected given that that

shop even rejects phone reservations and only keeps those things for close

acquaintances or regulars or whatnot."

"My dad knows the owner through his work as a photographer, you see. The

owner seemed to be incredibly pleased with his work, and my dad ended up

getting a number only regulars get as a result."

"So your dad's as good a photographer as he is a war god, huh…I don't even

know what your dad is at this point." As Takigawa muttered those words,

looking rather bored, the traffic light shone green, before he continued

walking towards his unknown destination alongside Basara.

"Either way, I'm glad you're going to be treating me for my trouble. Before

that, though, have you decided as to where you're going to buy what you

want yet? I suppose I could handle looking well, everywhere with you. Do

you even know how long it'll take before the rings will be finished?"

"They'll be done after a month. That's how long it'll usually take, assuming

that I'm opting for a simple design and all the sizes are available, that is."

In the event that Basara would be unable to purchase the rings to his

preferred specs, he would simply opt for available ones and engrave words on

them;with that, each individual ring would be still be one that had no others

like it in the world, even if it was going to be a ring bought off the shelf.

"One way or another, I'm sure we can all expect a lot of wedding ceremonies

come June, after all…and I guess there's no better time to place an order than

right now."

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"So you've thought this through, huh…" Takigawa muttered in agreement in

what Basara had just said. "Come to think of it, how many rings do you

intend to buy, anyway?" Takigawa then asked, with a wide grin on his face,

to which Basara abruptly smiled back in response.

He then gave his answer to his question.

"Indeed, how many rings exactly am I going to buy, I wonder…?"

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