by Takehaya
“At this rate, she’s literally never going to wake up.”
After keeping it up for half a minute or so...
“Hmmmh?!”
Yurika’s eyes shot open wide and her arms and legs began swinging wildly.
“Mmmmmmmm, mmmmmph! Mmmhhmhhmmm!”
“Whoa, don’t flail around like that. Just hurry and wake up, Yurika! You’re gonna be late again!”
“Mmmmm!”
“Koutarou, don’t you think she’s already awake?”
“You think? Are you sure? If she was awake, she’d have said something by now.”
“Then let’s keep it up a while longer just in case.”
“Mmmmm! Mhmmm-mmmmm!”
After that morning, preventing Yurika from breathing was also added to the list of forbidden techniques for waking her up.
“Satomi-san, you have no sympathy!”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you couldn’t speak because your mouth was covered.”
“How could you not realize that?!”
Yurika slammed her fists down on her desk. Normally she was timid and gentle, but with her life at stake, she couldn’t help getting worked up. She was being loud enough that her angry voice echoed through the classroom. Wondering what was going on, several of their classmates stared at Koutarou and Yurika.
“You should just wake up easier.”
“Couldn’t you just find some other way to wake me?!”
“No. That’s why I did what I did. Or would you rather be late next time?”
“Ugh...”
That put an end to Yurika’s protesting. She honestly wasn’t sure if she’d rather be suffocated or be late to school.
“If you miss any more classes, you might have to repeat a year, right?”
“Ughhh....”
Th-That’s unfair! Satomi-san is unfair!
Yurika understood that Koutarou was seriously worried about her. He didn’t remember it, but not too long ago, he’d sincerely told Yurika that he wanted to graduate with her. That’s how she knew now that Koutarou’s intentions were good. Yurika was convinced of that. She had no problem with his motive or goal. Just how he was going about achieving it.
“Satomi-san, no matter how worried about me you are, there are some things you just can’t do! That was just too much!”
Recently, the feelings that Yurika projected around Koutarou had started to change. In the past she had no problem voicing complaints and being selfish, but now all of that was tempered by something else.
Satomi-san, even though you’re kinder than anyone I know, you’re just not being honest!
She was unhappy with Koutarou always hiding his true feelings.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“I’m not saying you should apologize! I just want you to be more honest!”
Koutarou and Yurika’s loud argument continued. Watching the two of them from afar, Kenji leaned over and asked Shizuka about it.
“Kasagi-san, what’d Kou do this time?”
“Well, you see, Satomi-kun and the others were worried about Yurika’s tardiness, so Satomi-kun tried to get her up for school by covering her mouth and pinching her nose...”
Shizuka neglected some of the finer details, including that Koutarou and Yurika lived in the same apartment.
Now that I think about it, it’s a little strange that nothing indecent has happened... Well, I guess that’s Satomi-kun for you.
Shizuka looked at the two of them arguing and smiled.
“He never changes, does he?”
After Shizuka’s explanation, Kenji recalled a school excursion back in middle school where Koutarou had gotten up in the middle of the night to play pranks on his classmates. In addition to pinching people’s noses, he would draw on their faces or strip them. And when Koutarou finally went to bed, he rolled around the room in his sleep. It led to full-blown pandemonium.
“Then how am I supposed to wake you up?”
“Ugh...”
“If I can’t hit you and I can’t plug your nose, then all that’s left is to pour a bucket of ice water on you.”
“Wouldn’t boiling water work? Kiriha and Ruth boil water when they’re making breakfast anyways, so we could just use that,” Sanae volunteered.
“I’ll take the ice water! Anything but boiling water!”
“You sure are picky, jeez...”
Koutarou looked at Yurika with an exasperated expression. She’d started crying.
“Satomi-kun, Nijino-san.”
Kiriha approached the two of them with a small smile on her lips as she tucked her phone back into her pocket.
“There’s something I’d like to ask you to do,” Kiriha said in a tone of voice conducive to the model student act she put up at school.
“I don’t mind.”
“Wh-What is it?”
Koutarou jumped at the chance, but Yurika had to rub her eyes to hide her tears from Kiriha.
“Actually, on Sunday—two days from now—I was wondering if you could help me with a part-time job.”
“A part-time job?”
It was a most unusual request.
The youth department of the neighborhood association was planning a hero show starring the local heroes Harukaze Man and Kisshou Lady. It was taking place as part of a series of events for the anniversary of Harukaze Kindergarten. Pulling it off, however, would require a lot of volunteers. There was plenty of work to be done: everything from creating the stage, outfits, and props, all the way down to managing the staff and the event itself. Because of the manpower required, the youth department alone wasn’t enough, and they were looking for volunteers.
That led them to Kiriha, who had been actively helping out the community as of late. After hearing she’d participated in a play during a school cultural festival, she sounded like a godsend. They turned to her for help, and since Kiriha was eager to ingratiate herself with the locals, she happily accepted. The only hitch was the timing. It was such short notice that Kiriha couldn’t gather enough of the underground dwellers stationed on the surface to help out, so she ended up having to ask Koutarou and the others.
“So you want us to appear in a hero show?”
“Yes. I’ve asked my acquaintances, but most of them have no stage experience... In that respect, you all have the play from the cultural festival going for you.”
Kiriha had an apologetic look on her face. She felt badly for springing something so sudden on them.
“I see. Yurika-chan in particular acts like she lives in a hero show, so she’s perfect for the job,” Shizuka said while nodding emphatically.
Before Koutarou even realized it, the usual group had gathered around him and Yurika. The master and servant from Forthorthe as well as Shizuka and Kenji had come over, and Sanae had been clinging to Koutarou’s back from the start. That made for everyone, and they all listened in on what Kiriha had to say.
“All right! Mission accepted! You just leave it to us, Kiriha!” Theia loudly announced.
Her eyes lit up and she proudly pounded her chest. Although it might only have been a hero show for kids, a play was a play. It was the perfect chance for her to train Koutarou some more.
“Koutarou and I will leave those children speechless with our magnificent acting!”
“J-Just wait a moment, Theia! You’re helping too?”
“Rejoice, Koutarou! We’ll begin more special training starting tonight!”
Theia’s eyes sparkled as she stared down Koutarou. Seeing that, Koutarou remembered his hardships preparing for the cultural festival.
“Special training?! I have relive that nightmare again?!”
With the first round of “special training,” he woke up to Theia’s face every morning, and she dominated his life. The bathroom was his only sanctuary. Not allowed to rest for even a moment, he spent his days being hounded by Theia until he passed out from exhaustion. Theia, however, was unrelenting and would stay with him from the moment he woke up to the moment
he passed out. Her special training was so harsh, it made even the athletic, energetic Koutarou feel like his life was a living hell.
“There’s no need to worry, Koutarou.”
Theia had an angelic smile on her face as she spoke—one that was sweet enough to enchant the frightened Koutarou and give him hope. But it was short-lived. It soon faded into the twisted grin of a demon.
“Whether you’re a gentle soul or evil incarnate, I will personally train you! You’ll blow away everyone on that stage two days from now!”
“I don’t want to! I’ll be blown away before then!”
“There’s no need to be scared, Koutarou.”
Theia approached Koutarou with a glint in her eye. She grew closer and closer, her fingers wiggling as she plotted how best to grab Koutarou.
“I won’t appear in the show!”
“I won’t let you refuse!”
Koutarou shook his head vigorously, but Theia wasn’t going to back down. And she certainly wasn’t about to let him.
“I don’t want to! I’ll be knitting instead!”
“I just said I won’t let you refuse!”
Theia’s willful insistence overwhelmed Koutarou and silenced his protests. When she got close enough, her twitching fingers finally snatched ahold of him.
“Everything—down to your smallest bone and your last drop of blood—belongs to me! I won’t accept any argument! You won’t have a single day of rest until you step onto the stage as the Blue Knight once more!”
“Noooooooo!”
The Forthorthe Galactic Empire’s seventh princess, Theiamillis Gre Forthorthe, was again smiling in a graceful manner befitting of interstellar royalty. Almost everyone present was in awe at her majesty.
“...If she could just be honest with herself normally, it would be much easier...”
Only Ruth, who had grown up alongside Theia, was watching over them with a cheerful grin.
As Koutarou pushed the button a second and then third time, a red flame appeared inside the old kerosene heater. The aged machine had been used by the knitting society for several years. It was vastly inferior to newer models, but it was more than enough for a club currently only consisting of two memebers. And with winter in full swing, it was a necessity for their club activities these days.
Koutarou turned a dial on the heater and adjusted the output. As he did, the flame changed from red to blue, and the amount of smoke reduced drastically. After making sure everything was in working order, he returned to his seat.
“Thank you, Satomi-kun.”
“It sure is cold today.”
“It really is. The mornings have been especially cold recently.”
Koutarou and Harumi smiled at each other. They were sitting close together in front of the heater. Knitting got much harder when it was cold enough to make your fingers stiff, so the two of them naturally inched closer to stay warm by the heater.
“You sound like an old lady when you say that, Senpai.”
“Satomi-kun, jeez...”
Harumi’s knitting needles clicked away as she worked, and she smiled happily. Although she was normally uncomfortable around men, she had no problem being close with Koutarou. And it wasn’t just being physically close. She also felt like they had gotten closer relationship-wise.
“We are knitting, you know.”
“That’s true. This makes us both look like old ladies, heh heh...”
They laughed together as they showed each other their work. In the winter cold of December, most of the other clubs had lightened their activity schedules for the season, so their laughter echoed throughout the mostly empty club building. When she regained her composure, Harumi stared at Koutarou’s hands.
“Now that I think about it, that muffler certainly has gotten a lot longer.”
Koutarou was hard at work knitting a muffler. At first he’d only been working on it to practice, but once it reached a certain length, Harumi suggested he turn it into a wearable piece.
“It’s all thanks to you.”
“Would you mind letting me see it?”
“Not at all.”
Koutarou set down his needles and presented her with a plastic bag containing most of the muffler.
“It might be a bit too long to use practically.”
Harumi pulled the muffler out from the bag and spread it out on a desk. Just as Harumi said, it had gotten quite long. Koutarou had been working on it since spring, and it was now almost ten meters from end to end.
“Not too much of it useable though.”
However, the quality of the muffler varied. Since Koutarou had started it for practice, the first part of it was made from all kinds of knitting techniques. His skills left a lot to be desired back then, so that end of the muffler stood out in a bad way.
“Only the last part of it could actually pass as a muffler.”
That said, after knitting for eight months, even clumsy Koutarou had managed to improve. The last meter or so of the muffler was quite beautifully made.
“Oh, that’s not true.”
Koutarou didn’t think highly of his craftsmanship, but Harumi saw it differently.
“I love this first part.”
Harumi smiled as she gently patted the beginning of the muffler.
“It shows, more than anything, just how hard you’ve worked.”
When Koutarou first began knitting, he moved his needles in an awkward fashion, but he was desperate to do his best. The beginning of this muffler was the result of that determination. Harumi, who had been watching him from the start, couldn’t imagine it being worthless. Rather, she felt quite the opposite. To her, it was the most precious part.
“You’re the only one who would say that, Sakuraba-senpai.”
“Heehee... I know you did your best, Satomi-kun.”
That’s right. I’m the only one who understands the true value of this muffler. It holds my and Satomi-kun’s memories...
The real reason Harumi prized the muffler so highly was all the memories that had been knitted into it over the months.
Just looking at a specific part of the muffler reminded Harumi of the days it had been made. The very first part called to mind meeting Koutarou and him joining the knitting society. She remembered how happy she was to have found a companion. When she touched the next part, she remembered the sports festival. She and Koutarou had entered together and actually won. The next part brought to mind summer vacation when she’d run into Koutarou at the beach by chance. At that point, Harumi had started to develop feelings for Koutarou.
Starting with the next part of the muffler, Koutarou’s skills had improved and he started trying out various techniques. By then, the cultural festival was upon them and they were practicing on stage together. That was about the time Harumi became certain of how much Koutarou meant to her, and things had only gotten better since then. With Yurika’s help, she’d even gotten to go out and play with Koutarou the other day. To Harumi, the muffler was a symbol of the time she’d spent with him.
“Mackenzie keeps telling me I should be ashamed of myself as a man for this,” Koutarou said as he looked at his knitting.
“Well, it’s true that most normal men wouldn’t understand it.”
Seeing Koutarou’s shoulders droop despondently, Harumi began giggling.
“...Are you saying I’m not a normal man?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Really...”
But I understand, Satomi-kun.
While Harumi was amused at the potential misunderstanding with Koutarou’s best friend, she also took pride in that fact that only she knew the true value of his work.
“I guess I’ll have to pull a fast one on Mackenzie and give him this first part of the muffler as a Christmas present.”
“Y-You can’t, Satomi-kun! That would be such a waste!”
Koutarou and Harumi’s laughter again echoed from the knitting society’s club room. The distance between them had shortened by the length of the muffler.<
br />
After a good laugh together, Koutarou began knitting once more. Harumi took up her needles again too, but they continued to talk as they worked.
“And then Yurika started crying.”
“Nijino-san wanted a different role during the school play too.”
When he had first started in the spring, Koutarou couldn’t even knit and talk at the same time. But after a few months of hard work and practice, he managed to get better at multitasking. Harumi had used that time to get used to being alone with Koutarou and get better at striking up conversation.
“That said, she made a pretty good horse.”
“Teehee... Oh, poor Nijino-san. It’s a shame that her desires and her talents don’t match up better.”
Currently, Koutarou and Harumi were talking about the part-time job offer that Kiriha had presented. Yurika was a mutual friend, so talking about her naturally led to the hero show since she was going to be involved too.
In the end, Kenji, Koutarou, and the rest of the Corona House crew were all recruited for the hero show. Since the youth department was obsessed over the star of the show, Harukaze Man, they hired a professional actor for his part. That left the remaining roles to Koutarou and the others.
Kiriha, who had brokered the arrangement, would be playing the lead female villain, Black Rose. Her tall stature and good looks made her perfect for the part. Koutarou would be playing her subordinate, Baron Demon. He was a charismatic but cruel man who committed all kinds of nefarious deeds alongside his horse, Jet Black King. Since the only two boys they had were Koutarou and Kenji, Koutarou had gotten the part because of his larger build.
And as for his loyal steed and partner in crime, Jet Black King, that job fell on Yurika. She’d already mastered the part of a horse’s rear during the school play, so they were sure she would be great to try playing a whole horse. She pleaded for a different role, but since there was no one else to take up the horse, she ended up stuck with it. She was praised for a job well done during the cultural festival, but she was still in tears at this development.
Theia landed the role of Princess Devil. She was the evil mastermind plotting world domination behind Black Rose and Baron Demon. Since Baron Demon had to swear his loyalty to her, Koutarou vehemently protested against her casting. He wanted Shizuka and Theia to trade roles, but since it would be hard to replace Shizuka, his request was denied. Shizuka was set to be Harukaze Man’s partner, Kisshou Lady. It was a choreographed role, and Shizuka had the most experience with martial arts. There wasn’t really another option, and so Theia ended up playing Devil Princess. Koutarou cried.
