[Evening,Village Paths]
The sun was setting by the time we left.
Colors still covered everything—the paths, the houses, the trees. But softer now. Gentler. Like the world was tired from celebrating.
Angy walked between us, humming something tuneless. She was covered head to toe in colors—pink, blue, yellow, purple, even some green in her hair. She looked like a rainbow had exploded on her and she was proud of it.
Shenhe walked on my other side. Silent as always. But her hair—usually so perfect, so controlled—was a mess of blues and purples. She hadn't bothered to fix it.
She's relaxing.
Shenhe is actually relaxing.
"Young Master." Angy's voice was sleepy. "That was fun."
"Yeah."
"We should do this every year."
"Maybe."
"Definitely." She bumped my shoulder. "You smiled today. A lot. Like, REAL smiles. Not the fake ones you do at school."
Did I?
I guess I did.
"Vjaret's family is nice," Shenhe said quietly. The most words she'd spoken all day.
"They are."
We walked in silence for a while. The village was quiet now—exhausted from celebration. Lights flickered in windows. Music still played somewhere distant, but soft now. Like the world was winding down.
"Young Master."
I looked at Shenhe.
"Today was good." A pause. "You deserve more days like this."
Deserve.
That word again.
I don't know if I deserve anything.
But walking home in the fading light, covered in colors, with two people who'd been there since I was three—
It felt like enough.
"Yeah." I said it quietly. "It was good."
Angy yawned.
Shenhe almost smiled again.
And the three of us walked home together.
The village path curved ahead. Familiar now. The houses. The trees. The stream chuckling beside the road.
We were almost home.
Then I saw it.
A figure.
Sitting on a rock by the side of the road.
White clothes—except they weren't white anymore.
Covered in colors.
Arcueid.
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