TBATE: Your Name

Chapter 6

Arthur makes a few adjustments before going out to leave, like pulling up a hood to help cover his head and hide his face. Surprisingly, the woman does the same, only with a scarf to help cover her instead. Arthur chooses not to ask why.

The woman was a little worried about Arthur's bodyguards, but Arthur assured her that his men wouldn't leave the locker area. They had agreed to return in an hour or two since Arthur's bodyguards would probably be suspicious if the Prince was missing for too long.

Arthur had raised an eyebrow when the woman seemingly waltzed through employee-only areas without a single care in the world. The mystery woman notices Arthur as he is wondering to himself if she's an unknown criminal or something, and she just smiles sheepishly.

"I come here so often, it's like I live here. So the staff lets me go and enter wherever I please, whenever I please." And she busts open an employee-only exit to prove her point. Arthur sighs a little as he's greeted with the soft dim of the evening sky, the cool air of the night. He steps out into the small lot behind the rink, feeling so free and unburdened he can't help but close his eyes and just bask in the feeling.

"Wow." He hears a voice behind him, and he smiles but still keeps his eyes closed. "How many times have you gone out alone before?"

"Mm, practically never," Arthur murmurs, opening his eyes. He turns back and sees the woman with her emerald eyes softly gazing upon him as if she's observing Arthur's momentary bliss.

Arthur smiles and reaches out to grab her hand, chuckling at the small squeak the girl emits. "C'mon, I'm hungry."

The woman barely managed to get out a few words, mouth moving behind the scarf she wore. "A-And, who'll be paying?"

"You, of course!"

_-_

She does, indeed, pay.

Arthur insists that he was only joking, willing to pay (because the mounds of gold in his dimensional ring were more than enough for them to go on a two-way trip practically anywhere they could want to go) but the woman refused, already leading the both of them to a quiet area of the city near the rink. The place wasn't really that crowded with only just a few people strolling around, which was perfect.

To be honest, Arthur has never had this much fun in his life. Nothing could ever compete with this, not even that one time when Arthur and Sylvie poured soda all over Nico just before his bachelor party by pure accident (it was not an accident). Arthur couldn't risk buying something, since trying to smuggle home that cute dog beanie that he thought Ellie would like would be very hard, so he took solace in window shopping. Beside him, the woman kept guiding him through the streets, giving little amusing comments here and there.

Finally, they reach a small quaint shop, and Arthur drools at the smells the small little restaurant emits. Arthur flips through the menu and finds Kheer on the list, which he excitedly orders.

"Oh, I'll have what he's having." The mystery woman says to the waiter, who seemed to somehow recognize her. The waiter bowed deeply in respect to the woman, which seemed odd to Arthur. Arthur watches as he quickly darts back to where the kitchen was. Soon, he and two people are peeking at them before the workers get ushered inside the kitchen doors by an older gentleman, likely the owner of the place.

"Kheer is my favorite." She remarks, seemingly unaware or unbothered by what is happening behind her.

Arthur raises an eyebrow. "Really? That's... Quite the coincidence." Arthur says, folding his hands in front of him. "My future wife-to-be apparently likes Kheer too."

The woman unnoticeably fidgets a little, eyes suddenly set downcast. "Yes... Quite the coincidence."

They fall into some sort of easy silence, the woman suddenly goes silent as she stares at anything but Arthur. Arthur's eyes trace the whole interior of the restaurant, seeing the little banners and flags and hearing the normal everyday chatter of customers.