Emotional Howl

by Shūsuke Amagi

  The students around them were all watching them.

  "Hey! ......What're you doing?" Leerin quickly lowered her voice.

  "Aah......I waited a long time. Me? Though I was about to lose to shame......" Synola's face was red.

  "Please hurry and get off!"

  Unable to stand the atmosphere of you're-an-interference, Leerin escaped from the library to return the computer.

  "Ah, you're so mean. Wait up," Synola called and chased after her.

  "I'm worried because you were spacing out."

  "Then worry in a way that is appropriate!" she protested with a red face.

  "Aah, don't praise me."

  ".........Tell me just how did I praise you?"

  "Ehh, don't be so boring. I'll treat you to a meal," Synola insisted as she followed her.

  "I refuse. Senpai, you always take me to someplace expensive. I feel like I'm in danger." She was used to a life of thriftiness. She couldn't understand Synola's perspective in the use of money.

  "Ah, then it's ok if it's some cheaper place? Good. There's this place I want to go."

  "Uh? Wait......"

  Ignoring what Leerin had to say, Synola took her hand and dragged her away.

  Synola took Leerin to a park close to the bus station.

  "This?"

  She could feel the heat through the paper bag. Many small shops stood before the bus station at the school, ranging from convenience stores to grocery stores. A student who lived alone would be very grateful for this shopping street.

  In one of the shops here.........The two of them held something that they bought from one of the shops.

  "Yes. I wanted to try this," Synola took out the food from the bag with a happy expression. Sugar stuck to the surface of the fried bread.

  "......How should I put this. Senpai is really rich."

  She hasn't had fried bread.........Shocked at that fact, Leerin also started eating. The softness and sweetness of the bread dispersed in her mouth. It didn't taste like the bread was fried in oil used for a long time, and the bread hadn't been over-fried either.

  "Mm, yum. This is great."

  Synola finished one swiftly and took out another piece of bread. Finding herself getting hungry after having one, Leerin also took out another bread to eat. Synola kept repeating "yum, yum" beside her as they finished eating the bread.

  "Mm, haven't had enough," Synola said softly, licking the sugar on her hands.

  "No. We ate too much."

  Synola had ordered twice the amount as Leerin. She finished all that in the time it took Leerin to just finish her own bag of bread. Leerin sighed, looking at Synola's body.

  "Then how can you keep so fit?"

  "With an adequate amount of exercise."

  That was all she said. Leerin groaned and caressed her stomach.

  "Isn't it about time to tell me of your worries?" Synola sipped from the cup of hot tea she bought and looked at her.

  "Huh?"

  "Your worry is still there, right? How is it?"

  "I didn't........."

  "Or was there progress? Did it give you new worries?"

  "No. I......" she denied desperately, but Synola continued.

  "Well, you were like someone climbing up from a dark chasm before, and now you have this confused, reddened face that suddenly sinks in shadows. Like a flea."

  "Ah........." she didn't realize this was what Synola felt about her.........Thinking of how she appeared in others' eyes made her feel embarrassed.

  "So what're you worrying about? Let me solve it for you."

  "No, uh........." Though she denied it, Leerin changed the topic. ".........There's someone I want to see."

  The day of camp had arrived. They alighted from the tram and walked through a field of fruit trees. A light breeze carried the aroma of the field to them. The horizon widened when they reached the end of the field.

  "Wow......" Layfon called out at the vast plain before them. He was carrying a bag stuffed with his clothes and some other luggage. He held bulging bags with his two hands. The bags contained the food that he and Meishen and the others bought at the shops. Naruki was loaded down too.

  "So huge......"

  Meishen was speechless.

  Opposite the field of fruit trees that they just went past was the lake they saw when Layfon and the three girls went for lunch. They were in an agricultural area. Sunlight reflected off a huge greenhouse. Nina had explained that this was a period of no-planting, so there wasn't any produce here. It was all right even if the team caused huge damage during training.

  A lone house stood in the middle of the plain. That was their dormitory. The dormitory became bigger as the team stepped closer on the path.

  They only saw how huge the dormitory actually was when they got close.

  "We're here."

  Nina was waiting for them at the dormitory. She took the bags of food ingredients from Layfon. She thanked Meishen for coming to cook, and Meishen replied in a very small voice. Following behind Meishen, Layfon lifted his head to study the building.

  "So big."

  Nina also lifted her gaze. "Aah. The students doing agriculture use this building when they work outside, so it can fit around 20 people."

  "Amazing."

  "This area provides food for Zuellni, so it's pretty huge. You can find this facility in other production areas too.........Here." Nina led them to the kitchen and put the ingredients in the fridge. She told them their room locations, and they dispersed to put down their luggage.

  "We've spent today getting here and putting everything in place. Be prepared for training tomorrow," Nina said and took Naruki and Meishen to their rooms.

  Left alone, Layfon went for his room to put down his luggage. He pulled aside the window screen and saw that it was almost dusk.

  "We're at the edge of the city."

  Standing on the second level, he could see the city's outskirts. The dormitory he was in now and the dormitory of the first years...... The different scenery he looked at now gave him the feeling of being in another city.

  In another city......That kind of lament came to him. The thought of studying at an Academy City was nonexistent to him when he was still a Heaven's Blade successor in Grendan.

  There was a reason behind his naive desire. No, the Layfon in Grendan thought his way of doing things was correct. What Nina said was reasonable. Wasn't there another way? Probably. If he had picked another way, Leerin wouldn't be in so much trouble now. Regret and loneliness plagued him.

  Leerin, is she still full of energy?

  His room at the dormitory being too big might explain his feeling of loneliness. A room big enough to fit three beds. The dormitory was usually for students of the Agricultural course who needed to work very late and had to stay outside. And now only Layfon was using this room. When he was in the orphanage, he had always dreamed of having a room to himself. He was in a large room at the orphanage, but he slept there with everyone else. The current room back at Layfon's usual dormitory was for two people. He did not have a roommate. The feelings of being alone in there and being alone in here shouldn't be different. It only felt different because the size of this room was similar to the room back in the orphanage.

  "Aaaah......"

  He shook his head and swallowed the nostalgia. He knew well the feeling of loneliness of being unable to return to that place so long ago. What would happen if a Heaven's Blade went on a rampage......He was the one who answered that question for the public. How could he return to Grendan with that past?

  Sharnid and Felli arrived while Layfon mulled over that thought. He was also called over.

  The training on that day was simple. Since there wasn't a training room, they did training outside, much the same as they did training in the war field. Training ended when darkness came. Sparse light from the building acted as the only source of light after the sun had set. The team spent some time after training in the large living room. Nina and Sharnid played a paper ga
me in the Military Arts course that was designed to nurture a mind in terms of tactics. Meishen and Naruki chatted in a corner, Felli read a book she had brought with her. Layfon sat beside Nina and Sharnid, and watched them play the game.

  The game was played on two boards with pieces lined up on either side of the boards. Each player was to move his own pieces in accordance to the movement of his opponent. The boards were positioned in a way so the opponent couldn't see the pieces. It was a game of command.

  "I got flakes around B6."

  "A shame, got nothing there."

  "What? Damn......Finished."

  "My turn. Flakes around E3."

  "......There's a guard at E2."

  "Ah, I'm sniping him......so."

  Nina and Sharnid tossed the dice that had 6 faces, and spoke the result.

  "Good. Let's swap."

  "So naive. One more sniping."

  "Wh............Damn."

  Nina tossed the dice again, and removed her own piece with a painful expression.

  "Uh......Finished."

  "It's my turn now. Then......"

  The two moved their pieces in front of Layfon, using psychokinetic flakes to find the position of other pieces and attack them. Sharnid kept winning the game, all the way to victory.

  "Geez......"

  "That's why, I said not just platoons with a normal structure can make the best of movements, didn't I? With 2-3 psychokinesists, the remaining sniper can move around freely."

  Staring at the board and pondering on her next move, Nina fiddled with the dice as Sharnid talked.

  "You're so noisy. Be quiet."

  "Decide on a better structure next time."

  "No, I'm using the same structure."

  "Then you can only rely on the luck of the dice."

  Knowing Nina wouldn't take his suggestion, he sighed and placed his pieces with the same structure as before. Nina didn't win the following three games either.

  "Just a bit more......"

  "Let's stop here," Sharnid put down his piece and put up his arms.

  "Um......I guess. It's already that late. Getting ready for the bath?"

  "Ah, there is a bath?" Naruki asked.

  "Ah, a very big bath......Oh no, forgot to let the hot water run," Nina looked at the clock.

  "Sorry, let's just take a shower. I'll put in the hot water tomorrow."

  The bath was for both male and female. The girls went on ahead on Nina's direction, as Layfon and Sharnid watched them leave.

  "Oh......There's a big bath, really?......" Sharnid said to himself. Layfon pretended he didn't hear him.

  Layfon opened his eyes at the tiny noise reaching his ears. He had slept enough. He slipped off the bed to pull open the blinds on the window. The morning air was a bit cold. He stretched his arms, went to wash his face and automatically headed for the source of the noise. A figure was in the kitchen where a wonderful breakfast had already been prepared.

  "Meishen, you're up early."

  "Wa...... Layton?" Meishen turned around in surprise. She was holding the wok. "Sorry, I haven't finished making breakfast."

  "It's ok. Let me help."

  "Huh? But......"

  "I woke up without knowing," he said and started washing the vegetables. "That's a lot."

  "Ah, yeah...... I want to prepare for dinner too." She had prepared two pans of food.

  "Ah, I'll handle the vegetables. You can work on something else," he said and peeled off the skin of the vegetables.

  "......But the other dishes will get cold if I finish them first."

  "Ah, true." He had bought the ingredients with Meishen, so he had a general idea on what dishes she'd make. They stood side by side, peeling green vegetables.

  "Layton......You're good at this," she said with wide eyes.

  "I've been helping since I was little. I have confidence in my food-preparing speed."

  "I see."

  He memorized the shape of the bean with his finger, then quickly sliced it out with the knife without having to look at it. The color of Meishen's face changed at that, and Layfon noticed her change of color.

  "What is it?"

  "Huh? No, nothing," she shook her head with a smile, knowing the change in her face. Voicing an "Ah!"......Layfon guessed the reason.

  (Perhaps......)

  "But I'm not good at considering what dishes to make. I didn't think of balancing the nutrients. I just made dishes, and that always made her angry."

  "......Is that so?"

  "Uh, I made Leerin angry."

  "Huh?"

  "Ah, Leerin is my childhood friend......" And like that, Layfon told her about Leerin, how he cooked with her and what laughable moments he was involved in. He took care of explaining it so that she wouldn't mistake him as a good cook and think it was redundant to make him lunches.

  Meishen listened to him with a smile. But he didn't notice how her expression hadn't changed when he finished talking.

  And during this time outside the kitchen...

  "......I can't hear," Felli said as she peered into the kitchen with her body pressed against the wall. It seemed Layfon and Meishen were chatting. A good relationship. Felli couldn't hear anything as the kitchen was big. But she could see Meishen smiling.

  "Just a bit more."

  She wanted to get closer, but that would mean stepping into the kitchen and being discovered by Layfon. And if she stepped even closer, Meishen would see her.

  "I have to use psychokinesis." As she considered this with a half serious attitude, footsteps neared her. Felli jumped back from the wall immediately and composed her face as if she had just arrived.

  It was Nina.

  "Good morning."

  "Ah, morning," Nina greeted her. Her gaze flashed towards the kitchen. "Are they making breakfast?" Her nose twitched.

  Steam rose from the two pans. The smell of food drifted over to the girls. In one pan were the vegetables Meishen had peeled and cut into small pieces. The other pan contained soup. On the other side was Layfon, busy peeling a huge amount of vegetables.

  "Do they need help......" Nina scratched her head.

  "Ye......Yeah."

  Good to use "help" as an excuse to check the inside of the kitchen. But......

  "Not good. I'm not good at this at all," Nina smiled bitterly. She was the same as Felli.

  "Captain......Have you cooked before?" Felli asked.

  "Yes, but......I was forced to cook. My mother believes the kitchen is a woman's fortress, so she always made me help out and do simple things......I did them, but not very well. I thought it was more meaningful to spend time practicing with dad, so I always escaped from the kitchen."

  Felli was different. She grew up in a family unrelated to Military Arts. Every generation made its living off buying and selling information on cities. Karian came to the Academy City for two reasons, to know more of other cities, and to also memorize how information flowed between cities. That was Felli's family. A family that hired many, many servants. Of course, specialized people were hired to be responsible for meals. A kitchen was a place where Felli would be given sweets. She had never touched a kitchen knife before coming to Zuellni. And she didn't have any interest in cooking after coming to Zuellni, so her cooking skill hadn't improved either.

  Felli and Nina stood motionless at the door when Naruki finally arrived.

  "Morning......What're you doing?"

  "Ah......" Nina mumbled.

  Naruki looked inside the kitchen, called out that she'd help, and stepped inside.

  "Does she know how to cook?"

  "Probably."

  Naruki joined in the peeling of vegetables.

  "She does."

  "Yeah."

  The voices of those two, mixed with complicated feelings, spread out in the corridor. Someone laughed behind them and they turned around to see Sharnid, a towel hanging down his neck.

  "Ah, you seem to be doing something interesting."

  "Shut up," Nina curle
d her lips. Felli glared at him.

  "Humph......I'll tell you the greatest tool just for you two."

  "Huh?"

  "......What?"

  They watched him with suspicion and anticipation. Sharnid took out a small tool from somewhere.

  "This is a peeler. An easy tool to use for peeling the skin of vegetables."

  "What......!?"

  "Just move the blade back and forth on the surface of vegetables, then you can easily peel off the skin."

  "What a convenient tool," Nina sighed honestly. Felli's expression remained unchanged, but she stared at the tool as if she wanted to eat it. The small blade was set securely between two pieces of thin metal plates. It seemed the tool really could easily peel off the skin by moving it along the vegetables.

  "Here. Just use this and peel all you want."

  Felli reached out without thinking......and caught Nina's hand. Both of them took hold of the peeler at the same time.

  "......Can you let go?" Felli said calmly.

  "No, just leave this to me." Nina held tightly to the peeler.

  "Is it all right for the Captain not to think of today's training?"

  "Why don't you think of your individual training for today? I can't do much for psychokinesis training."

  "You don't have to worry. I've always been doing that."

  "I did my preparation already."

  Tension rose quietly between the two of them, revolving around the peeler. And......

  "......What're you doing?" Layfon stood at the door of the kitchen.

  An opening.

  "Ah!"

  Nina snatched the peeler from Felli's hold. "Ah, you guys seem busy, so I came to help."

  "Oh, we already finished," Layfon smiled. Felli saw Nina tremble slightly. Looking at her, Felli stood as if frozen.

  "Breakfast's almost done. Please help finish the rest," he said and went back to his room.

  The sound of oil cooking in the pan and the smell of soup drifted from the kitchen.

  Training started after breakfast. The team didn't do much training in the first day of the three day, two night camp. They probably couldn't do much tomorrow either, so today was important. Nina called everyone over after they all did some warm-up exercises.