It had been a month since Team Kitahara arrived in Okinawa, and Oguri Cap had a critical mission she needed to fulfil at all costs.
She was out to purchase gifts.
A truly herculean task, and one she unfortunately couldn't solve by simply buying snacks for everyone. She was certain they'd like it—no one was ever upset whenever they were given food—but she knew that it had to be different this time. She needed to find something that would last for a long time. Something that could remain even if months or years had gone by.
After all, this might be the last chance she'd get to do this before she left Japan, and she didn't want to leave without giving presents to those she cared about.
And it'd been going well so far! She'd already filled out three different bags, and she wasn't even halfway done. She didn't realize Okinawa was so different despite being so close to Tokyo, so it wasn't difficult to find all sorts of unique items she couldn't find back home.
Except now she'd come upon the mountain she'd feared from the very start,
"How's this?" Belno asked, holding up a colorful bracelet, knitted together to make it look like the scales of a snake—a surprisingly common animal here in Okinawa. "How does this look?"
Oguri narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized the object, picturing the way it'd look if STar would wear it around her wrist. She could almost picture it—the way she'd carefully slip it around Star's hand, how Star's cheeks would light up like fireworks, her usually idle tail wagging with embarrassment.
Oguri quickly shook her head. She'd gotten lost in her thoughts again—this gift was no good. "I don't think it fits her." She said instead, repeating the same excuse she'd used nearly a dozen times over.
Belno hummed as she spun the bracelet around her finger. "I guess it doesn't, huh?" She smiled wryly. "A snake-like bracelet looks a little too 'evil' for someone like her." She sighed softly as she returned the bracelet to the basket she'd taken it from. "Sorry, obaa-san. We'll look around more."
"Sorry, owner." Oguri also said.
"No, no, take y'er time, kids!" The old lady standing behind the cashier said.. "Though, maybe ah'can be a little help?" Oguri went quiet for a moment, before she nodded. The owner smiled kindly. "Now, who'rya buying a gift for?"
"Ah, it's for–"
"I'll go look next door, Oguri-chan!" Belno abruptly said, before she promptly ran out of the store, leaving the two of them alone.
Oguri blinked before she repeated her answer. "It's for my partner."
The owner's eyes shined. "Ooh, a lover?" Her smile grew. "Your trainer? Or a rival you run with?"
"Friend, teammate, rival." She said, her eyes fond. "She was with me from the very start."
"How romantic!' The owner hummed as she gazed at all the gifts she'd put on display. And her smile shrunk slightly as she realized that none of her wares really fit the Heroic lady her two customers were describing. "Hmm, how difficult." She sighed softly. "I'm just an old lady—I have nothing so impressive."
"It doesn't have to be impressive." Oguri argued, knowing that Star wouldn't really care what she got as long as it was a gift from her. Still, Oguri wanted to find something that would be a perfect match—a little bit of her own indulgence.
"Perhaps, but–" Suddenly, the old woman paused.
"Owner?"
Suddenly, the owner recalled something she'd found a few days ago, and her eyes lit up. "Ah, I might have something just right!" She said, and before Oguri could ask what it was, the old woman walked into the back of the store.
Oguri patiently waited for the owner to return. And as she did so, she found her eyes wandering across the store, occasionally stopping whenever something caught her eyes.
There were two in particular that caught her eyes: A rustic-looking dream catcher, and a painting depicting a man playing a guitar beneath twilight skies. She wasn't quite sure why they caught her attention so much, but she couldn't help but feel a strange sort of…familiarity?
How strange.
Her ears perked up when she heard the owner's hurried steps, and she looked back just in time to see the owner return. "Sorry for the wait!" She smiled slightly as she held up the item she'd just retrieved; a flat object wrapped under a thin piece of cloth.
But such flimsy covering was far from enough to stop the kaleidoscopic glow that originated from whatever was beneath that wrapping.
Oguri's eyes widened. "What…is that?"
The owner carefully placed the item onto the counter, and she squinted to protect her eyes as she then pulled the cloth away.
And the item turned out to be…a rainbow cleat?
The owner smiled as she gently pushed the cleat towards her. "I was quite surprised when I first found it." She said. "I helped a foreigner a few days ago. Quite the noble lady, she was. And she gave me this in return for helping her." Her smile turned troubled. "Only when I returned to ma' shop did it turn into a disco ball."
"A-Ah…" Oguri winced as she narrowed her eyes. She'd tried looking at the glowing rainbow cleat for even a moment, but even that hurt. "It's…bright."
The old woman chuckled as she held a hand over her eyes. "It is, isn't it?" She smiled. "What do you think? Isn't this the perfect 'relic' for your partner?"
Oguri blinked, and then tilted her head. She…supposed so? The whole Hero thing was mostly a show-persona Star used whenever she raced, but giving her a literal mystical relic as a gift seemed a little too outlandish even for her. Still, a closer look wouldn't hurt. The owner had kindly brought it out for her, after all.
So she carefully reached for the glowing cleat, careful not to blind herself from how bright the cleat was.
But the moment her fingertip touched the cleat, her thoughts staggered to a halt.
…and Blossom Star surges ahead! Even as the vessel shatters, she…
…the divine might of the Emperor. Can she still…
…body composition is strange. There's something we're…
…refuse to listen, then we will bring heaven down…
…comes! The solar storm crashes down the tracks! She goes…
"Girl?"
Oguri unconsciously stepped back, wincing as she was abruptly pulled back into reality. "That was…" She whispered, still caught in the strange sights she'd glimpsed at.
The owner's eyes softened with worry, but before she could ask, she blinked as the glowing cleat suddenly began to dim. The overwhelming glow began fading by the second, and suddenly the cleat no longer looked like the mystical relic it'd been just moments before. It simply looked like a cleat that'd been painted a glossy rainbow.
"Are you alright-?"
"It's perfect." Oguri suddenly said, her eyes shining with undeniable intensity as she finally took hold of the rainbow cleat.
The owner frowned. "Are ya' sure, girl? The glow's gone fo' now, but I can't guarantee that it won't start shining again."
"It's okay." Oguri glanced at the cleat in her hands. "It won't do that again." After all, this cleat was now 'inert'—as long as it wasn't charged, it would be nothing more than a beautifully painted cleat. She wasn't quite sure how she knew that, but she had absolute confidence in that fact. "How much?"
The old lady huffed. "Come now. Ain't no way I'm chargin' for that." She smiled kindly. "Take it home to y'er partner, girl. It's clear that cleat was meant for ya'."
Oguri nodded. "Thank you, owner." She carefully wrapped the cleat and placed it in one of the three paper bags she'd placed just next to her feet.
"Nah, thank you. Ah' honestly didn't know what I was gonna' do with that lil' thing." She waved at her. "Alright, have fun now! There's many other places to go here in Naha."
Oguri nodded, and hefting the three paper bags up, she finally headed out of the store with a new gift to give to Star.