Story:

By the time the afternoon lessons ended, Violet and Butterfly had acquired enough invitations to fill the rest of the month.

Shopping. Afternoon tea. A guided tour of the neighborhood. Several offers of a personal escort, all presented as entirely selfless assistance to visitors unfamiliar with Japan.

Violet declined them with smiles.

Kicho declined them with considerably more difficulty.

At the campus side exit, she looked back over her shoulder. “She said the cake shop only opened last week.”

Peach adjusted her bag. “The shrine.”

“They serve something called a softie cake.”

“The twins.”

Kicho sighed. “Yes. Of course.”

Violet raised a hand, and a taxi pulled up beside the pavement. She opened the rear door with the confidence of someone who had been using taxis for years rather than discovering them yesterday.

Peach hesitated. “Tensho Jinja gave you taxi money?”

Violet looked genuinely offended. “From Seira? That stingy woman?”

She ushered Kicho inside. “No. My own money.”