She designed all of his outfits around the gloves.
They’re the reason why she started dressing him in the first place. The traditional clothing their grandmother had raised him – both of them, really – to wear looked ridiculous with the gloves. That her grandmother allowed it was proof enough that the gloves were important. The fact that he wore them even in bed and the shower was just confirmation. Grandmother was the Law of Nature that defined their universe. She might argue with her grandmother over small things, but she knew as well as her brother did how the universe worked.
She didn’t know what they were for, of course. That was “serious onmyouji stuff”, far more complicated than her limited training could handle.
She never asked about the serious business, just like she never asked serious questions about his relationship with Seishirou.
It wasn’t her place.
Her place, it seemed, was behind Subaru and slightly to the left. Or perhaps her place was somewhere else entirely – in the kitchen of their shared apartment, making sure he ate, or in his closet, making sure he matched.
It was all she could do, really, to take care of him and keep him from being so serious all the time. After all, he was the serious onmyouji, the head of the Sumeragi clan. She was just his sister. Even her efforts to learn a bit of magic were nothing more than dabbling, the way she tried everything and settled for nothing in life. The only place she went all out was with her brother, and even then, all she could do was accessorize.
After all, it wasn’t her place to stand between him and danger.
She could only fight for him from the sidelines, it seemed, until the day her path cleared as though a fog lifted, and she stood in front of the Sakurazukamori.
She was out of her depth, in a foreign place.
She knew she didn’t belong there, knew it even as he killed her. She didn’t care. Protecting Subaru was worth it, especially because she blamed herself for encouraging him. No, not encouraging him. He needed to be encouraged. She blamed herself for not having better taste in men, perhaps. She chastised girls for not seeing their boyfriends’ real natures all the time. But she’d overlooked it in Seishirou, because he put on a nice face, and because Subaru really did need to get out more. And maybe because she enjoyed encouraging him to rebel too.
She had finally been able to really rebel against her grandmother and her upbringing, and everyone knows what happens when you argue with Laws of Nature. And as she fell, she couldn’t help wondering who would make sure his outfits matched his gloves.
