Chizuru takes the box, looking from it to Hijikata as if wondering how he even came to have it. It's not as if he knew she was graduating today; he'd come here to see her father, not her... why would he have brought a gift? It confuses her so much that all she can do is stammer out an "Um, thank you..."
...and then there's the sound of the door unlocking, and her father arriving home.
In the ensuing shuffle, Chizuru has no chance to politely demur or give the box back. Hijikata gets what he needs to from her father, and then goes on his way - Chizuru is left with the box. She doesn't open it until much later that night, after her father has gone to sleep and the memory of the day's events is just that - a memory.
The beautiful amethyst necklace it contains isn't a memory, though. It's more than that, and she isn't sure she deserves to wear such an expensive piece of jewelry, but she has no way of returning it and it would be so ungrateful not to wear it at all... She'll just wear it for special occasions, she decides.
It's a few weeks later when just such an occasion presents itself. As chance would have it - Hijikata, it seems, has gotten engaged, and her father has been invited to his engagement party. Chizuru, being an adult, has the opportunity to attend (mostly, she's there so her father won't feel so lonely).
She can't help but feel incredibly out of place, though. She's only just barely an adult, but here she is among so many other adults. Her dress is pretty enough, but it feels almost too pretty to suit her, and she's mostly keeping to her father's side and glancing around while fiddling with the necklace around her neck to see if there's anyone at all that she recognizes.
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Chizuru takes the box, looking from it to Hijikata as if wondering how he even came to have it. It's not as if he knew she was graduating today; he'd come here to see her father, not her... why would he have brought a gift? It confuses her so much that all she can do is stammer out an "Um, thank you..."
...and then there's the sound of the door unlocking, and her father arriving home.
In the ensuing shuffle, Chizuru has no chance to politely demur or give the box back. Hijikata gets what he needs to from her father, and then goes on his way - Chizuru is left with the box. She doesn't open it until much later that night, after her father has gone to sleep and the memory of the day's events is just that - a memory.
The beautiful amethyst necklace it contains isn't a memory, though. It's more than that, and she isn't sure she deserves to wear such an expensive piece of jewelry, but she has no way of returning it and it would be so ungrateful not to wear it at all... She'll just wear it for special occasions, she decides.
It's a few weeks later when just such an occasion presents itself. As chance would have it - Hijikata, it seems, has gotten engaged, and her father has been invited to his engagement party. Chizuru, being an adult, has the opportunity to attend (mostly, she's there so her father won't feel so lonely).
She can't help but feel incredibly out of place, though. She's only just barely an adult, but here she is among so many other adults. Her dress is pretty enough, but it feels almost too pretty to suit her, and she's mostly keeping to her father's side and glancing around while fiddling with the necklace around her neck to see if there's anyone at all that she recognizes.
(Chances are, Hijikata will be the only one.)