When they left the shrine, the sun was hanging just overhead.
The light became even more dazzling, dyeing the entire hill in a layer of golden light.
The vermilion torii gate looked exceptionally bright in the light, like a door to another world.
On the way down the mountain, neither of them spoke.
But that silence was different from when they arrived; it wasn't a cautious, distant silence, but a comfortable quiet where they could each be lost in their own thoughts.
Footsteps rang softly on the stone steps, occasionally startling insects in the grass, which emitted tiny chirping sounds.
Rin walked half a step ahead.
Reina seemed to always follow behind, her gaze falling on that white back.
She looked at the hair tips gilded with gold, looked at the hem of the clothes swaying gently with the pace, and in her mind, she couldn't help but recall how Rin looked at those omamori in the shrine earlier.
She wanted to ask something, but didn't know where to start.
In the end, she just silently gripped the un-given omamori in her pocket a little tighter.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, her stomach was already starting to feel hungry.
"Are we going back?" Reina asked, rubbing her empty stomach.
"Mm."
"Then... still taking the subway?"
"Mm."
The two walked towards the subway station.
Passing the subway station exit, Reina's gaze subconsciously glanced over there—the place where Rin had disappeared earlier.
Rin noticed her gaze.
"What are you looking at?" She asked, knowing the answer.
"No, nothing!"
Reina hurriedly looked away, her face feeling a little hot.
They soon reached the subway platform.
The two stood on the edge.
Reina was still holding the gift box, the ribbon on it already a bit crumpled from her fidgeting.
"Um..." She suddenly spoke up.
Rin turned her head.
"Thanks for today."
Reina's voice wasn't loud, but it was very sincere.
"It was my fault this morning, peeking at your phone... and later, making you worry." She paused, "When we were at the shrine."
Rin listened quietly.
"Thank you... for not really being angry earlier."
The wind stirred by the crowd blew across the platform, lifting their hair.
Rin looked at Reina's face, which seemed a bit blurred in the crowd, and those eyes filled with apology and gratitude.
"I wasn't angry," she said, her tone as calm as before, "Not from the very beginning."
"Eh?"
"If I really didn't want you to see, I would have put the phone away directly."
Reina was stunned.
So... at that time, she was actually...
"Besides," Rin quickly interrupted Reina's thoughts, "You would have known about that contact name sooner or later."
"Sooner or later?"
"Mm, when you are ready."
The wind from the arriving train cut off their conversation. The doors opened, and the crowd surged out and then back in.
Rin stepped onto the train.
"Oh, right." She didn't look back, "I suddenly changed my mind."
"The activity ended a bit too early, and besides, since your family let me have a meal this morning, as a return favor, I should let you have a meal too."
"So."
"Do you want to come to my house and take a look?"