Later that evening, in Touko's room.
When she saw Shiomi arrive, she opened the door wrapped in nothing but a bath towel, having just finished her shower, and calmly let him into the room.
"You really are that impatient. Was the royal bedchamber not enough for you?"
Touko untied the towel around her hair, sat down on the bed with ease, and crossed her long, pale legs as she teased him.
"Uh…" Shiomi sat down beside her and handed over a golden box. "I came to deliver something…"
Cigarettes.
The brand Touko liked the most and had been smoking all these years.
"How did you get cigarettes?" She paused, then casually took the pack and toyed with it in her hands. "After all this time, did you finally learn to smoke?"
"Not really," Shiomi replied.
"Figures."
There was no scent of tobacco on him. Touko had known that from the start.
In fact, the moment she saw the pack, she already understood what it was.
"Magecraft can be pretty convenient sometimes," Shiomi said. "With a bit of Magecraft, some items can be preserved for ten or twenty years, just as they were."
"Yeah." Touko looked at the opened pack. One cigarette was missing.
It was the summer of 2003, after the incident at the Twin Towers. When they were parting ways, she had run out of cigarettes, and Shiomi had intended to return this pack to her.
In the end, she had only taken one, asking him to keep the rest for her, saying, "Next time we meet, I'll ask you for a cigarette."
It had been meant as a joke, yet somehow, it was still valid.
"What's wrong? Did it go bad?" Shiomi asked.
"No, it's been kept perfectly," Touko said, staring at the pack in her hand. "To be honest, I thought I'd already come to terms with everything. Money, dolls, even my family's Magecraft and my own body. None of it seemed to matter anymore."
Money could be spent freely. Dolls could be sold if someone wanted them.
She no longer cared to fight over her family's Magecraft or magic.
Her body was the same. If it died, a new one would replace it. She could calmly regard every doll as herself.
Yet as time flowed on and everything changed, there were still things she couldn't let go of.
"In the end, it seems the only thing left is you. I can't treat it as some passing whim and just toss it into the past."
Touko let out a self-mocking laugh.
"No one ever said a Magus isn't allowed to have normal human feelings," Shiomi laughed softly. "You don't pursue the Root anyway, so it doesn't really matter to you, does it?"
Touko nodded in agreement.
"At the end of the day, the problem is you. Whether as a man or as a Magus, you're too unconventional. Every time I see you, the changes in you nearly leave me dumbfounded."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Shiomi joked. "At least it means I'm still something new to you."
His hand rested on Touko's bare shoulder.
She didn't move away, instead leaning into him.
"Maybe so, but it doesn't really matter anymore. I've got nowhere else to go anyway, so I'll just stay at New Chaldea on your coattails."
Touko's attitude was carefree to the extreme, as if she were nothing more than a freeloader passing through.
Shiomi gently cupped her cheek and leaned down to kiss her.
More relaxed than last time, and gentler as well.
"See? One time was never going to be enough," Touko teased him lightly.
"You're the one who got out of the shower and didn't even change, just wrapped yourself in a towel. I had no reason to hold back," Shiomi tried to shift the blame.
Touko only smiled. Slipping free from his arms, she untied the towel around her body, then looped her arms around his neck, pressing her warm, soft chest firmly against him as the two of them fell together onto the plush, comfortable bed.
A sense of ease.
Yes. That was it. A sense of ease.
Touko suddenly realized the answer.
Even after witnessing the end of the world with her own eyes, she hadn't felt fear.
Only a faint regret that, when the world ended, she had still been alone.
But not anymore.
No matter how the road ahead turned out, at least that worry was gone.
Whether in life or in death, this man would be by her side, and she would be by his.
The man she had loved, and still loved.
By the time she came back to herself, she was already lying in Shiomi's arms, worn out yet deeply satisfied.
Cool air from the AC brushed over her slightly damp skin, bringing a comfort that was hard to put into words.
"Mm… so we ended up doing it after all."
Touko sat up halfway from his embrace and rubbed her still slightly dizzy head.
Giving in to pleasure really did drain your stamina. Even she needed a moment to recover.
She reached out, found the cigarettes on the bedside table, smoothly pulled one out, lit it, and took a drag.
In the past, after moments like this, Touko would habitually light a cigarette, and her already pleasant mood would only become better for it.
"Mm…"
She felt Shiomi sit up as well, loosely wrapping his arms around her from behind, staring absentmindedly at the cigarette in her hand.
"What, suddenly curious?" Touko asked.
"Can I try it?" Shiomi said.
So Touko handed it to him. He took it awkwardly, drew in a clumsy breath, and immediately broke into a violent cough.
"Cough, cough… What a strange taste. I can't believe you like this."
His mouth felt bitter and harsh, completely unfamiliar. He quickly handed the cigarette back to Touko.
"I don't even remember how I picked up the habit myself. If you don't like it, then don't bother," Touko said as she took another drag, smiling at him. "But seeing that look on your face makes this cigarette worth it."
"Mm…"
Shiomi rested his chin on her shoulder, his nose brushing against the side of her neck.
The mingled scent of a woman's warmth and tobacco was intoxicating.
"I was planning to rest a bit and take a shower, but thanks to you, I guess I'll have to go back into the bathroom," Touko said casually, feeling the ticklish warmth of his breath at her neck.
"Sorry about that," Shiomi laughed.
Touko held the cigarette between her lips, her gaze drifting over his body.
"But you don't look fully satisfied yet. I'm completely out of energy."
"Don't force yourself. I'll figure something out on my own," Shiomi replied lazily.
"I see," Touko said, understanding at once. "So they all sleep in your room?"
"Not exactly. Except for Morgan, they all have their own rooms," Shiomi explained frankly. "They just usually end up staying in my room. Hardly anyone goes back to theirs."
"I see," Touko repeated.
"If there's anything you want to ask, go ahead. I wasn't planning on hiding anything from you. Otherwise, when you came as a special envoy last time, I would've avoided you as much as possible," Shiomi murmured by her ear.
"There's nothing I need to ask right now. Let's just stay like this a bit longer."
And this time, it was Touko who, cigarette in hand, leaned down to kiss Shiomi.