After hearing everything Yugiri had been through, Andy began seeing her in a new light. At first he thought she was just a very shy and well-mannered child, but after Senzo's revelation about her tragic past, he felt sorry looking at her.
"Hah... And I thought I'd had it rough," he muttered, clenching his fist with a determined expression on his face.
He slapped his cheeks to firm his resolve to make sure nothing bad would ever happen again to her. But with Hyoubu and Senzo here, he couldn't really see anything going wrong.
Unless, of course his superiors began taking drastic measures to acquire that stupid device they wanted.
"Something wrong?" Senzo asked, seeing Andy's grim expression.
"Nah, just felt like I was self-pitying a little too much. I thought my childhood was bad, but compared to hers, it was child's play."
"Don't underestimate what you yourself have been through. Everyone experiences tragedies differently. To you, your childhood could have been traumatic, while for others it might seem normal. Don't worry too much, and just do your best." Senzo reassured him with a smack on Andy's shoulder.
"Thanks..."
Guilt kept building inside Andy as he observed how well the crew always treated him. But he couldn't stop now; he had sacrificed too much for this mission.
"Let's go; the others are waiting."
After Senzo said that, he and Andy made their way to where the others were enjoying themselves.
Momiji and Yugiri were buying all kinds of souvenirs, and Magi's eyebrows were twitching violently looking at the price tags of all the things they had already bought.
Yo, on the other hand, was standing by casually enjoying the festivities and looking at all the other people walking around with smiles on their faces.
"This is quite nice for a change of pace." You stated.
"That's right, unless a certain someone spends way too much money on useless junk." Magi added, glaring at Momiji but making sure Yugiri couldn't hear him.
"Teehee."
Momiji had a teasing grin plastered on her face as she looked Magi straight in the eye, clearly taunting him.
She knew that with Yugiri by her side, he couldn't do anything, so she could go wild in buying all kinds of things.
The clueless little girl just stood next to her nibbling on her ice cream, her expression one of pure joy.
That's when she suddenly saw Senzo appear in her field of vision, and without thinking, she let go of the hand that was holding Momiji's and ran straight toward him without hesitation.
"Senzo! Look at this!" she shouted, pointing at the large ice cream cone she was holding.
"Hoh, that looks delicious," he replied, a massive smile on his face upon seeing Yugiri without her usual reserved attitude.
He caught her with his arms and, in one fluid motion, put her straight on his shoulder.
"Hehe." She was happily kicking her legs back and forth while enjoying the ice cream and was now seated on the shoulder of the person she trusted most, together with the major.
This day could hardly get any better for her.
"Looks like your shield just ran off." Magi said, glaring straight at Momiji.
Who stood frozen in place, her eyes wide open, staring at the little girl that had just run off without warning.
"Fine," she muttered, rolling her eyes, and then she threw the card back to Magi while grumbling.
"You know, Asakusa is a really nice place!" Yo suddenly interrupted, trying to smooth the tension over.
"There's a lot of delicious food, too!" Yugiri added without missing a beat, her cheek smeared with strawberry ice cream.
Magi and Momiji could only chuckle when they saw Yugiri smile like that and forget about their petty argument.
"Oi, newbie, go and fill the backpack with everything Momiji bought." Yo suddenly ordered, pointing at a pile of bags filled with all kinds of souvenirs.
"..."
Silence followed as Andy stared at the massive pile of bags stationed between Magi and Momiji; his eyes twitched slightly, but he complied and filled his massive backpack with everything they had bought.
"But um, this is not just looking at cherry blossoms; you're basically sightseeing all of Tokyo!" he grumbled.
Yo just shrugged, while Magi and Momiji decided to ignore his ranting.
"Also isn't this too many souvenirs?" he muttered, but when he saw what most of these bags contained, he felt his face flush red with anger.
"What the hell's with all these doujinshi and protein shakes!?" he shouted, glaring straight at Momiji.
But she just stuck out her tongue and hid behind Senzo.
"..."
"You're being too loud, newbie. Just shut up and carry it."
"Damn..." was the only thing Andy could muster; he was just too exhausted from dealing with all their shenanigans.
Then the group made their way through all kinds of stalls when they finally arrived at a stall that sold all kinds of lucky charms.
When Yugiri saw them, she jumped off Senzo's shoulder and bolted inside.
"Oi, newbie, you stay outside with Magi." Yo ordered, and without waiting for a reply, he, Senzo, and Momiji entered the store to keep an eye on Yugiri.
"Are you kidding me! First I have to be your donkey carrying all this junk, and now I have to wait outside as well..."
But Andy's complaints fell on deaf ears as Momiji, Yo, and Senzo had already entered the store, and Magi couldn't care less about his complaints.
"Just shut up and do it; this is a special day for her." After he said that, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
"Fine."
Inside the store, Senzo and Yo were keeping their distance from Yugiri and Momiji, who is helping her choose one.
"Are you having a hard time choosing, Yugiri?" she asks.
Then she grabs a couple articles from the shelves and, with a smile, starts recommending them to Yugiri.
"Then how about this one?"
"Oh, this one is adorable as well. See, see?"
But instead of getting a reply like she expected, Yugiri clenched her fists and glared at her.
"I can decide by myself!" She screams before running off into the distance.
"Oh my." Momiji had an apologetic expression on her face, but Yugiri had already run off too far for her to be able to apologize.
When Magi and Andy saw her run past them, Magi immediately turned to look at Andy with a serious expression.
And a moment later, Momiji, Senzo, and Yo were also out of the store.
"Go follow Yugiri, you two," Magi ordered the two newbies.
"That's right! Go Hinomiya! And you as well, Senzo."
"Why—why me!?" Andy demanded, glaring at Yo.
Senzo just shrugged and turned around without hesitation and started walking after her.
"You know, if something happens, your ability might be useful if even Senzo can't handle it." Yo explained with a grin on his face.
"Now, hurry up before you lose them!"
"Tch! I'm going. Oi, Senzo, wait for me!"