"Kagami, highlighter."
"Oh, oh, here."
"This is eyeshadow!"
"Kagami, lip glaze."
"Oh, oh, here."
"This is lipstick!"
"Kagami."
"What do you need now?"
"Idiot!"
Tsushima Kagami was currently in Yukinoshita Shizuku's room, which didn't have any particularly feminine decorations.
At this moment, he was holding some cosmetics in his hands, watching Yukinoshita Shizuku carefully apply her makeup at a vanity table already cluttered with various beauty products.
The cause of all this was the manuscript fee of 60,000 yen they had just received.
Tsushima Kagami asked Yukinoshita Shizuku to deposit it into the bankbook, but she felt that since Kagami had earned it himself, he should keep it.
In the end, realizing that this amount wouldn't solve any major problems—a sum too small to be life-changing but too large to simply discard—Tsushima Kagami proposed they simply use the money to go out and have fun for a day.
Unexpectedly, Yukinoshita Shizuku agreed quite readily.
"Why do you keep looking at me?"
Yukinoshita Shizuku pursed her lips, now full and moist after applying the lip glaze, and looked at Tsushima Kagami, who had been staring at her, through the vanity mirror.
"Just curious."
"Curious about what?"
"Curious that you actually wear makeup when going out."
"Didn't you say we were going out to play today?"
"It's just that I haven't seen you put on makeup specifically for something before."
"Usually is usually; now is now."
"You really aren't like a rich young miss (ojou-sama), are you?"
"What do you think an ojou-sama should look like?"
"Hmm... For example, insulting commoners fiercely upon seeing them, greeting peers with 'Gokigen'you,' ending sentences with 'desu wa,' covering your mouth while laughing 'Ohohoho,' never lifting a finger for housework, leaving everything to servants, and not even knowing what instant noodles are..."
"You should watch less late-night anime."
Having heard Tsushima Kagami's stereotypical impression of rich young ladies from anime, Yukinoshita Shizuku rolled her eyes at him through the mirror.
"That actually reminds me, there are some anime I want to watch. So, let's make sure to come back before the late-night anime blocks start."
Yukinoshita Shizuku nodded.
"So, have you decided where to go?"
While organizing her makeup, Yukinoshita Shizuku said, "To Ueno Zoo. I want to see the pandas."
Tsushima Kagami was a bit speechless.
"What's wrong with that expression? If you have somewhere you want to go, just say it. I'm fine with anything. After all, it's your treat today."
"It's nothing. Ueno Zoo is great. But since you've been in Tokyo before, haven't you been there?"
Tsushima Kagami took the blush brush Yukinoshita Shizuku handed over, indicating she was done with it, and continued to ask.
"Mother was very strict. Aside from studying and cram school, it was just various forms of training. There was absolutely no time to play."
After saying this, Yukinoshita Shizuku turned back to look at Tsushima Kagami, who was sitting by her bed. "I really envy your amnesia. You don't know how terrifying Mother is."
"Don't say that. Mother would be sad if she heard you."
"I actually think Mother is the woman among women, the mother among mothers."
"You should say that to her face; she would probably be very happy inside."
"I think you are very happy today, too."
"Am I?"
"From the time I woke up in the hospital until just now, this is the first time I've seen you with so many expressions."
Upon hearing this, Yukinoshita Shizuku instantly reverted to her usual calm countenance.
*
Taito Ward, Ueno Zoo.
At this moment, Yukinoshita Shizuku was wearing a water-blue long dress with a milky-white sleeveless sweater vest over it. Her small feet were clad in a pair of light brown leather loafers, and her ankles were wrapped in short white socks with lace trim.
Her hair was gathered at the back of her head into a large "bun," and the long sidelocks by her ears had been curled with a curling iron to create a light, slightly spiraled texture.
Today's Yukinoshita Shizuku possessed a bit more of the liveliness a young girl should have, and a bit less of her usual gloom.
Right now, she was balancing on one foot, leaning her body forward, struggling to maintain her balance while posing as if she were holding the giant panda in the background with one hand.
"Is it done yet? I can't hold on much longer."
Illuminated by the gradually setting evening sun.
Click.
"Guaranteed to win a Pulitzer Prize!"
The Polaroid camera in Tsushima Kagami's hand slowly spat out a photo.
"Let me see."
Yukinoshita Shizuku trotted over, unable to resist wanting to see the result immediately.
However, Tsushima Kagami gently covered the photo paper with his hand.
"Don't rush, or the effect won't be good."
After waiting for two minutes, Tsushima Kagami uncovered his hand, and Yukinoshita Shizuku curiously leaned her head in.
A pretty girl, a dopey-looking panda, the shy setting sun, intoxicating halos of light, and perfect composition slowly emerged on the photo paper.
The girl picked up the photo and examined it carefully. The corner of her mouth hooked up in an inadvertent arc before she returned to calmness, carefully tucking the photo into her small bag.
"The film is used up too. Let's go."
Silence meant satisfaction.
After the two left Ueno Zoo, they walked to the nearby Ueno Park.
They strolled side-by-side along the edge of Shinobazu Pond, then found an empty bench on the shore to sit down.
"I forgot to say it earlier, but congratulations on your novel successfully being published in Shincho."
"It won't be too late to congratulate me when I win the Newcomer Award and become a real writer."
Yukinoshita Shizuku looked at the golden lake surface reflecting the setting sun and nodded.
"I'll prepare a gift for you then."
"If you say it in advance, there won't be any surprise."
"True."
"By the way, have you thought of the pen name Kobayashi-san asked for?"
Tsushima Kagami lay half-reclined on the back of the bench, paying no mind to his image. He watched a pelican swimming leisurely on the lake surface as it slowly approached a school of fish, suddenly snapped a fish from the water with its beak, and swallowed it in one gulp.
He answered without thinking, "Tassaiya."
"The Master of Tassaiya!"
Tassai (Otter Festival), also known as Tassai Uo (Otter Sacrificing Fish), first appeared in the Book of Rites · Monthly Commands. It refers to the behavior of otters arranging their catch on the riverbank after fishing, named for its resemblance to a sacrificial offering.
It later evolved into a literary metaphor for piling up allusions and classic references in writing. The Yang Wengong Tan Yuan records that the Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin would spread out books for reference when writing, displaying them like the otter's fish, hence the name. Later, it gradually evolved into a playful, self-deprecating term for scholars who overused complex allusions.
Furthermore, the famous Meiji period poet and writer Masaoka Shiki was deeply influenced by Sinology from a young age. Even his name, Shiki, was chosen because he coughed up blood due to tuberculosis at the age of twenty-three, taking the meaning from "the cuckoo (shiki) cries blood." He also borrowed the allusion to name his study the "Tassai Shooku" (Otter Festival Study) and called himself the "Master of the Tassai Shooku," which was also one of the pen names he used.
Now, in this world, there is no Masaoka Shiki. Since I am here, and I have already plagiarized, I might as well plagiarize to the very end.
"Is it that 'Otter Sacrificing Fish' from Li Shangyin?"
Yukinoshita Shizuku thought for a moment before asking.
"Correct."
"But you don't even have your own study (Shooku) yet."
"I will in the future."
Tsushima Kagami said with a smile.
"Then, Master of Tassaiya, let's go eat dinner first."
Yukinoshita Shizuku stood up and straightened her long dress.
"Accompany me to one more place after dinner."
____
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