"!" The cashier handed over two ice cream cones. "That'll be—"

  "Thanks." Akira slapped a fistful of bills on the counter and walked away, leaving tens of thousands of yen more than she needed on the counter. "Treat yourself tonight."

  The cashier's eyes went wide. She hastily took a low bow, nearly hitting her head on the counter. "T-Thank you very much, Akanaga-san! We look forward to seeing you again!"

  "Here you go." Akira handed off one ice cream to her subordinate and then dug into her own orange sorbet.

  Erina tried the chocolate mint. The sweetness of the chocolate bits and coolness of the mint ice cream blended together wonderfully. "It's good."

  "Right? Great place."

  They ate just outside the ice cream shop. Erina took shelter in the shade under the patio umbrella. Akira leaned against the brick wall as she ate, her tongue lapping up the dripping trails of sorbet as it began to melt. It was a bright sunny day – not too warm, not too cold. The wind was refreshing, carrying scents of warm food from the restaurants lining the streets.

  "Have you been around this area?" asked Akira.

  "No. I haven't had much opportunity to do so."

  "I'll be in charge today, then. Next time is up to you." Akira nudged her lightly, grinning. "Do your homework, 'kay?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "C'mon, loosen up." Akira had a cat smile on as she gave her a quick pat on the back. "I'm just messing with you! You don't need to take things so seriously." She took another bite out of her ice cream. "You're real straight-laced, you know that?"

  "Am I?" asked Erina.

  "What do you do in your free time?"

  What free time? "I cook. I shop for groceries. I study. If I have even more time, I practice and exercise."

  "That's exactly what being wound tighter than a spring sounds like." Akira did a spin, arms out to her sides. "Loosen up!"

  "…I feel like I used to go out more," said Erina. Faint images bubbled up to the forefront of her mind. "I went to bakeries… I visited cafes and ate cake rolls. I went shopping for clothes with friends." She pulled herself out of her memories and returned to the present. "I haven't had any opportunities since I woke up." She added quietly, "Moreover, I didn't see anyone I could invite."

  "That's strange. I mean, I'm right here."

  Erina hesitated. "That seems somewhat…"

  "That hierarchy thing again, right?" Akira flapped a hand at her. "Listen, forget all about the oyabun-kobun thing. Just forget it. I have enough people kissing up to me on a regular basis."

  "Even so, it's hard. If you're not a patriarch…" Erina looked for the right word. "You seem like at least a big sister." Maybe a spot too forceful, but a big sister nonetheless.

  Akira nibbled on her ice cream and pondered the idea. "That's new," she said. "Can't remember hearing that one before. A big sister, huh…?" She dwelled on it a bit more. "I guess I don't hate it. Sure, that works too." She scarfed down the last of her ice cream and tugged Erina with her as she finished hers. "This way."

  "Eh?" Erina followed after her into a mall and up the escalators. Before she knew it, she was in a store.

  "Shopping!" Akira gave her a pointed look. "I'll bet all you've got in your wardrobe is five spare copies of that uniform."

  Erina fidgeted. Actually, she had six.

  "Let's set you up in something new! What do you say?"

  "I'm not opposed to it, but…" Erina looked around.

  The store was dimly lit, with faded brick walls. She saw belts, chokers of varying designs, leather jackets, and all sorts of boots ranging from simple to thigh-high leather. Akira crunched down the last of her ice cream cone and went to compare between a leather collar and a thin black choker.

  "This store isn't really… my style," mumbled Erina.

  "Huh." Akira checked out her reflection with the leather collar and then lowered it. "Sure you don't wanna try it even a bit? Could learn something new about yourself."

  "No, thank you." A rare hint of finality snuck into Erina's voice.

  Akira shrugged and spun the collar round her finger. "Suit yourself. I'll buy what I like."

  Erina led the way next, wandering the other floors of the high-rise mall. When she found a store she liked enough to shop around for a while, she came out of the changing room in a white one-piece dress. It was simple, with frilled layers and basic patterns.

  Stolen story; please report.

  She assessed her reflection in the mirror. "How is this?"

  "That's your preference?" Akira folded her arms, looking as if she was trying hard to reserve judgment.

  Erina reached up and adjusted the wide straw hat adorned with sunflowers she'd picked out. She frowned at herself. "No," she decided. And even if the hem reached past her knees, leaving her legs mostly bare felt so uncomfortable…

  She tried a few more outfits and clothes, but none of them seemed to click. Shorts of any kind were out of the question. The type of cropped shirts that Akira loved only mortified Erina. After a back and forth on how much skin could be shown and still be socially acceptable, Erina spent a long time in a bright pastel-colored section of the shop at Akira's suggestion.

  "Hmmm…" Erina twisted from side to side, viewing herself from every angle. "The sleeves are long."

  "That's the idea," said Akira. "Oversized hoodies that go past your hands are pretty popular. Cozy, for one thing. Doesn't show a lot either. Gets guys acting up for some reason too."

  I'm not shopping for guys, thought Erina. Her eyes settled on Akira. Erina was far from tall, and Akira was even shorter… She suddenly had a feeling she knew why Akira didn't mind oversized clothes, and it wasn't anything she just stated.

  "Hey," said Akira flatly. "I can tell you're thinking something really rude right now."

  "I'm sorry."

  When they walked out, Erina had a few properly fitted hoodies and jeans in her bags, but she wasn't sure how often she'd wear them. Even when nobody was around and she spent all day in her apartment, she preferred her uniform.

  "What do you think?" said Akira.

  "Still not quite my taste," said Erina. "I would rather… look at suits. Try on polished shoes. Compare colors of ties."

  "Slow down there, missy. Trying to become an office lady so fast? Enjoy your youth some more."

  Erina narrowly stopped herself from asking how old Akira really was. "Hey, Akira?"

  "Yeah?"

  "This was… fun. Thank you."

  Akira folded her hands behind her head without responding directly. As they left the mall and set out down the streets, she asked her, "What will you do now?"

  "Put these away. Review the groceries you bought and buy anything else I need, then—"

  "Not that. What do you want to do with yourself? All I need from you is a hand with the lab—the rest of your way is yours to figure out."

  "About the lab. You intend to profit from it?"

  "It's what we do," shrugged Akira. "Don't worry. End of the day, the lab's yours. I'll keep you in the loop on any plans we draft up around it. That sound fair to you?"

  Erina supposed it did.

  "But what about you? There's gotta be something you wanna do yourself besides study, practice, and lab work."

  Erina didn't have much she needed in order to be happy. But if she had to think about it… "There is one thing," she said. "I want to know more."

  Akira tilted her head.

  "Why did Patriarch Kirigami walk away on that day? What did Darius and Julian want from me? Who are they, really?" Erina looked over. "Can you tell me, Akira?"

  "Better not to find out," she said loftily. "Stay away from the Association. Nothing good ever comes of it. Mages and youkai are potential targets for extermination. Regulars are ripe for manipulation, disinformation, or plain old memory wiping. You'd just be raising your profile where the tall poppy gets trimmed." Venom dripped from her voice as she added, "Bunch of hypocrites about non-interference."

  "I see… So you don't know why they were interested in me?"

  "They probably had some idea you were from the lab," shrugged Akira. "Don't think too hard about it."

  Something about it didn't quite sit right with Erina, but she nodded nonetheless.

  "But I'll give you this." Akira glanced over. "Your Affinity's one hell of a question mark. Applications are all over the place. Best I can pin down is something along the lines of rewinding?"

  "Reiteration," said Erina. "A defined concept can be acted on repeatedly. The growth of a tree, the subdivision of space, recursive growth – these things follow patterns that can be defined in one reiterative step."

  Akira took a moment to mull that over. Erina could see the gears turning in her head. "...Yeah, I see it," she muttered. "Pretty out there for a kid to be throwing around."

  "What is yours, Akira?"

  "Nn?" That brought her back. "Hah. Don't worry about it. You'd never guess anyway."

  "Poison," said Erina immediately.

  "The right word is venom. Also, that's a secondary. Calling that my Affinity is like saying your Affinity is making spears, bullets, and platforms."

  "Venom… clones… Shed Skin… regenerating…?" Erina had to think before taking another stab. "Serpents."

  "Wrong again. It ain't healing, it's replacing. I throw out the old body and get a new one. Shed the skin, y'might even say."

  "Rejuvenating… rejuvenating… eternal life…? Ouroboros?"

  "Yeah, keep telling me how good I am at dressing it up." Akira had a smug grin all over her face now. "Not even close."

  They walked down the street at a leisurely pace. Various shop owners waved at them as they passed. The workers manning the stalls excitedly greeted Akira as she walked by, offering a sample of their food as politely as they could. Akira brushed past without even looking.

  "You're popular," noted Erina.

  "Keeping up appearances is an important part of the life," said Akira. She shot Erina a smirk. "They don't know what I really do. Better to keep it that way."

  "What do you do?"

  Akira hummed. "Looking after my girls," she decided. "Seeing to it they're well-cared for." She offered Erina an easy grin. "You could say my job ain't too far from our relationship."

  "I'm surprised. I wouldn't have expected that."

  "You're thinking I don't look the part."

  "…Yes," admitted Erina.

  "And you'd be right." Akira smirked. "Got in my share of trouble for it too. Toughed it out every time. Once you've stuck it out long enough, people get the hint and drop it. It turns into a statement—yeah, I can do this and get away with it. So what? That kind of thing."

  Erina nodded. "It seems very overwhelming."

  "Whatcha mean?"

  "There must be a lot of things on your mind. The politics, the etiquette… as I thought, it seems like too much for me."

  "Nothing like that," scoffed Akira. "You think that's what I had in mind when I started? Nah. I wore what I liked 'cause I liked it. I just had the guts to throw down with whoever had a problem with it. Truth is, Erina, you don't need to be a businessman or a musclehead or anything else to make it in our world. You just need the courage to put your neck on the line and do what has to be done." She grinned at her. "Like you."

  "Me?"

  "You should give yourself some more credit. C'mon!" Akira gave her a hard pat on the back that surprised her. "Head up, chest out. Look down your nose on the world, 'cause you know your place and it's well above everything around you!"

  Erina decided to walk as naturally as she ever did. "I don't think I can bring myself to do that."

  "Hm. Really? Never mind, you're hopeless. You'll be in a concrete barrel at the bottom of the ocean by this time next year." Akira burst out laughing at the mortified look Erina gave her. "I'm kidding with you!"

  "Please don't scare me like that…"

  "My bad, my bad."