Gilbert groaned as he lifted his body up. For better or for worse, being an early riser was ingrained into him. Even if today was Christmas, his eyes naturally opened at the crack of dawn. Knowing it was pointless to try and go back to sleep, he pushed past his exhaustion and got up from the couch. He had discovered last night that the guest room had long become dusty from his neglect, which only left his room and the couch for sleeping purposes. Making Cardinal sleep on the couch seemed a little cruel considering she hadn’t slept in a bed for three days. Besides, it was the least he could do to repay her.
He opened the curtains, letting a soft yellow hue into the room. The vivid colors of the dawning sky contrasted with the pure white that covered the streets below. He admired the view, before turning and walking into the kitchen.
A sizzling sound soon began to fill the room.
“Food…”
Gilbert flinched at the sudden voice behind him. He turned to see Cardinal, clearly half-asleep, staring at him with her arms reaching out as if she was some kind of zombie. He pushed her outstretched arms away and pointed to the hall. “Go wash up, breakfast will be done soon.” He lowered the fire on the pan before turning it off completely. Eggs and bacon sizzled as they slid onto two plates. He took them and walked out, only to see Cardinal sitting at the table, already holding her fork and knife. “You… Didn’t I tell you to wash up?”
“But the food…” She looked at him with pleading eyes, as if she thought the meal he brought would run away if she wasn’t here.
“It’s not going anywhere.” Gilbert sighed, but still placed both plates down before taking a seat himself. “Dig in, then.”
“Yay!” Her earlier sleepiness completely blown away, Cardinal began eating with enthusiasm. After a few bites she stopped and stared at him, “Gil… your cooking skills. They’re so… average.”
Gilbert silently reached out to take away her plate when Cardinal continued, flustered, “I meant that in a good way! It’s like a vanilla sundae without the sundae! Or a roll with nothing in it!”
“Do those even exist?”
“What I mean is, uh, it’s got a sort of refreshing plainness to it!” She gestured frantically, trying to come up with more “compliments”.
Gilbert shook his head at her panic. He wasn't actually going to take away her food. Having only cooked for himself, hearing any type of feedback was a new experience for him. Despite her calling it "average", watching Cardinal wolf down the breakfast didn't feel too bad. As for the quality of the food, well, all he knew was how to make simple meals so Cardinal would have to deal with it one way or another.
“Alright, let’s head out.”
“Wait, I’m not finished yet!”
…
Gilbert shivered as the cold breeze swept past him again. The temperature was the type of cold that pierced through to your very bones and made him seriously consider going back inside. He looked ahead to see Cardinal frolicking around in the snow. She was obviously having the time of her life and fit right in with the neighborhood kids around her. The seriousness she showed last night seemed like an illusion more than anything.
Splat!
“Hehe. Caught you zoning out, Gil!”
“This isn’t really the time for this, you know.”
“Don’t be such a Grinch! Come on and play with us!”
Gilbert wiped the snow off his chest and started walking away. Cardinal and the kids around her began booing him.
“Chicken! Gil’s such a cowar—ack!” A snowball hit Cardinal directly in the face as the kids around her dispersed, screaming and giggling. “Hey! A sneak attack isn’t fair!”
“The moment you threw that snowball you were my enemy.” Gilbert shrugged, “And you shouldn’t show any sympathy to your enemies—Woah!?” He ducked as a snowball whizzed past him.
“Get him!” Completely disregarding his words, Cardinal began chucking snowballs at him as fast as she could. The kids around her were doing the same.
“Wait! Hey, a 5v1 isn’t fair!”
Gilbert quickly crouched down and started slinging his own snowballs back.
It heralded the beginning of a truly terrible war...
“Ha… Ha… Well, do you surrender, Gil?”
“Huff… Huff… I could say the same to you.”
The sun had long since passed midday and was now on its way to the edge of the horizon. Gilbert tried to remember the last time he had mindlessly played around like this. Most of the time, he would stop instantly because of his boredom, but for some reason he had been completely absorbed in this snowball fight with Cardinal to the point that their early start to the day was pretty much invalidated.
The neighborhood kids had left some time ago, having had their fill of snow and fun. He walked over to Cardinal, who was sprawled out in the snow. She was breathing hard with a wide grin on her face. He offered his hand out to her, “Are you done wasting time now?”
“Aw, don’t say that, Gil. You had fun, didn’t you?” She grasped his hand and he pulled her up. “I mean, what were we even doing again?”
“We were going to the beach to see if we could find any clues related to that monster, remember?” He sighed, “You’re not gonna tell me you forgot about your mission as well, right?”
“Of course not! Completing my mission is the most important thing to me and I’m grateful you’re helping me with it, Gil.” She turned and smiled at him. “Still, it would be such a shame if we didn’t have a snowball fight on a day like this, don’t you think?”
“Whatever you say. Now, let’s quickly head on over.” Gilbert brushed the remaining snow off of himself and started walking towards the park exit. He had only taken a couple of steps when he heard a monstrous growling sound behind him. He whirled around, only to see Cardinal holding her stomach sheepishly.
“Hehe. How about we get lunch first?”
…
“You know, I’m starting to doubt your words about how important regaining your memories is to you.”
“Mmph, mwat loo yoo mwean?"
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, that’s disgusting.” He handed over a napkin to Cardinal who was currently gobbling down on two sandwiches at once. She accepted it before gulping down a cup of water.
“Puhaa! A delicious meal after a battle is absolutely needed, Gil! Oh, are you not going to eat that?” Feeling a sense of deja vu, Gilbert passed his plate over to Cardinal. They had gone to a nearby café filled with Christmas decorations and promotions, but with a visible lack of customers. Clearly, everybody was celebrating Christmas elsewhere.
As a result, there was nobody inside of the café other than a single barista wiping a table on the other side. He stared at her out of the corner of his eye as there was something about her that did catch his attention. Her green hair was tied into a ponytail that went down the front of her, drawing his eyes to the tacky Christmas themed apron that she was wearing. Although it wasn’t her appearance that interested him, but the total lack of black patches that were on her. Other than Cardinal, every single person that he had seen recently had some amount of fuzziness on them. Even the neighborhood children that he had played with earlier had little black dots on their faces and skin. Yet, as far as he could tell, this girl looked perfectly fine. Just then, the barista turned around and their eyes met briefly. She gave him a little wink and Gilbert turned away, feeling embarrassed at having been caught staring.
“I feel like someone’s threatening my position.”
“Stop talking nonsense and finish your food so we can get out of here.”
“Was my service not to your liking, dear customers?”
Gilbert widened his eyes at the barista’s words. He didn’t realize when, but the girl had begun standing besides them at some point. She frowned, “Was there perhaps a mistake in the coffee? It’s my first day on the job, so I’m deeply sorry if there was.”
He waved his hand, “No, there wasn’t. We just need to go before it gets too late.”
The girl nodded understandingly, before giving him a curious look. “I see. However, dear customer, weren't you staring quite intensely at me before? Was there some kind of mistake in my conduct?” She looked at him slyly, “Or perhaps, were you interested in me?”
“Hmfgh!” Cardinal began choking on her sandwich. Gilbert quickly slid her a cup of water that she accepted gratefully.
“I’m flattered~ But, I’m afraid we don't even know each other's names…”
“Is that what you were doing, Gil?? Licking her all over with your perverted gaz—ouch!”
Gilbert felt no sympathy as Cardinal rubbed her forehead with rueful eyes. “Of course not. I was just interested in the design of her apron.” He looked over at the girl who had been grinning at both of them, “Are you done joking around, now? Can we get the check then?”
“My~ So you were just interested in this Christmas apron? I must apologize to both of you, then. It was all my misunderstanding~” The tone of her voice suggested to Gilbert that she knew he had lied just then. She gave him an amused smile before returning to the counter.
He sighed, was he going to be mistaken for a pervert every time he went out to eat with Cardinal? He noticed a lack of chewing noises and looked up to see Cardinal pouting at him.
“So girls like that are your type, Gil? Even though you’ve got a cute girl like me right next to you.”
“Always calling yourself a ‘cute girl’ aren’t you embarrassed? Besides, if anything, my type would be a mature older sister.”
“Urk! You mean… I’ve already lost?”
“My maidenly heart~”
“You’re not even a part of this!”
Gilbert rubbed his temples. The barista had gotten beside them again before he realized it. Cardinal’s teasing was already bad, but combine her with this barista girl and he was going to pop a vein. He snatched up the check that had been placed down and signed it quickly, wanting to leave as soon as possible before he got an even bigger headache. He got up and pulled up a protesting Cardinal, before pushing her out the door. He was about to leave as well when he felt the barista tap him on the shoulder.
“What is it? If it’s about the tip, I think I left you a generous amount considering how terrible the service was.”
“That really hurts to hear, dear customer. However, I actually wanted to give a last bit of customer service.” Gilbert wanted to leave even faster after hearing this, but the girl quickly leaned into his ear, her tone becoming ever so slightly serious.
“A word of advice. Don’t let her step on your shadow.”
Before he could ask her what she meant, the girl gently pushed him out the door.
