by Takehaya
As expected of Satomi-sama. He always keeps his promises.
Ruth silently thanked Koutarou in her thoughts over and over again. Ruth was quite sure Koutarou would agree to come aboard once she put it the way she did, but she was still thrilled that things had worked out. Ruth was from a famous family of knights, the Pardomshihas, and was raised to value an oath upheld over all other things. She was elated as it was, but getting to see the radiant smile of her princess was the most joyous reward of all.
If he stays by Her Highness’s side, I’m sure he’ll be able to protect her...
Looking at Koutarou as a knight, he still had a long way to go. He hadn’t learned manners or etiquette yet. However, when it came to his behavior, Koutarou was a man of his word. More so than any knight Ruth had ever met.
To break a sword is nothing compared to breaking the oath sworn upon it. It was a well known knight’s proverb from Forthorthe, but Ruth believed it applied to far more than just swords. Even a low-born, common man could be knightly in his honesty and sincerity. Anyone could be trained to become a knight, but honor was another matter altogether.
Satomi-sama, please accept Her Highness...
Ruth’s wish wasn’t just for Theia’s sake, but also for her own.
“In that case, I’m going to go on back now.”
“You really do love games, don’t you, Theia?”
“That’s Princess Theiamillis to you!”
“Yeah, yeah, my dear Princess Theiamillis.”
The image of Koutarou and Theia sitting next to each other playing games popped into Ruth’s mind. At times they would swear at one another, and sometimes they would try and cheat by messing with each other’s controllers. Ruth only wished that she had a place next to them.
Kiriha and Harumi walked over to Koutarou a few minutes after Theia and Ruth had returned to Blue Knight.
“Oh? Where’s Landlord-san?”
Since Koutarou was planning on going home together with Kiriha and Shizuka, he was curious where she might be if Kiriha had shown up without her.
“Satomi-kun, it seems Kasagi-san was offered another part-time job,” explained Harumi.
“A part-time job?”
Koutarou finally spotted Shizuka in the kindergarten’s main office. She was talking with a person from the youth department and a man he hadn’t seen before. He was apparently the one that had offered Shizuka the job.
“It seems that a pro was watching today’s show,” Kiriha said, and from there took over for Harumi and explained in more detail.
Today’s show was enjoyable, even in the eyes of a professional. What impressed him the most was Shizuka’s work as Kisshou Lady. Knowing martial arts, Shizuka was able to pull off some pretty intense fighting choreography, despite her girly looks. Because of that, she was offered a part in another show that would serve as an audition of sorts.
“Wow, that’s amazing, Landlord-san.”
“If everything goes well, she’ll be an action star.”
After hearing what had happened, Koutarou was impressed. Harumi threw a few shadow-boxing punches and smiled at him.
“Fighting probably isn’t up your alley, Senpai.”
“I have a knight to defend me, so I don’t need to fight.”
“Leave it to me, Princess Alaia.”
“Teehee...”
“Anyway, that’s why Kasagi-san told us to go on without her.”
“I guess we don’t have a choice then.”
Koutarou giggled a little more with Harumi and then turned to look back towards the office. It didn’t take a whole lot of brainpower to imagine what they were discussing might take a while. Since he needed to stop by the shopping street on the way home, he also knew he couldn’t wait around for her to finish up.
“All right, let’s go home, Senpai, Kiriha-san.”
“Okay.”
“Yes.”
And so the three of them left the kindergarten.
“Well, Satomi-kun, Kurano-san, I live over there, so this is where we part ways.”
Just before the shopping street, Harumi bid farewell to Koutarou and Kiriha. She lived in a different neighborhood, so this was as far as they could go together.
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
“Goodbye, Sakuraba-senpai.”
“Goodbye, you two!”
Harumi smiled at them and turned to walk down a different street. Koutarou and Kiriha stopped to see her off. After she waved at them one last time and turned the corner, they began walking again.
“Kiriha-san, what were we going to buy today?”
“Eggs, natto that’s on sale, transparent garbage bags, and vegetables.”
Once it was just the two of them, Kiriha began acting like her usual self. Seeing that, Koutarou felt slightly relieved. Kiriha’s honor student act didn’t quite sit well with him.
Kiriha was normally formal and strict, but she went out of her way to be friendly at school and around other people. Even so, Koutarou preferred the usual Kiriha. He felt more warmth from her that way. He didn’t realize it, but Koutarou had an easier time talking to Kiriha when she was just being herself. And so at times like this when they were alone, he inadvertently became a lot more talkative.
“That’s right, vegetables. Yurika’s skin has been getting rough lately, so let’s feed her lots of vegetables.”
“It’s because she eats all those instant noodles.”
“I know. But when there’s meat on the table, that’s all she eats.”
“Heehee, then let’s try to change things up to make sure she gets her vegetables.”
The same was actually true for Kiriha too. Once Harumi was gone, her face became much more expressive. There were only a few people on the surface she could talk to without hiding her true self, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was limited to the residents of room 106. She couldn’t show any weakness to her subordinates, and she couldn’t express her true feelings to the surface dwellers. In a strange way, she might only have been able to reveal her true self to Koutarou and the others exactly because they were her rivals.
“Onee-chan!”
But there was an exception. Kiriha had no problem revealing herself to the children. Perhaps because of their youth and innocence, she felt no need to hide anything from them. She was honestly herself with them too.
“Today’s Harukaze Man show was amazing!”
“Thank you. I’m glad you liked it.”
“Yeah!”
Kiriha squatted down and patted the head of the young girl that had run up to her. She was the only child of the man and woman that ran the produce stand at the shopping street. Her father was part of the youth department, and she had met Kiriha through her volunteer work. She was also one of the kindergarteners at the school where they performed today.
“I kept it a secret from everybody! That Kiriha-oneechan is part of the evil secret society!”
“Heehee, if you tell anyone the truth, I’ll eat you up!”
“Ahaha, you’re so funny!”
The young girl and Kiriha cheerfully chatted together. Watching her like that, Koutarou’s doubts about Kiriha grew.
Did she really come here to invade the surface?
But Koutarou suddenly found his eyes locked with the young girl’s.
“Hey, Onee-chan, who is he?”
At the young girl’s question, Koutarou abandoned his train of thought, squatted down next to Kiriha, and smiled at the girl.
“Now who might I be?”
“Onee-chan’s boyfriend?”
“Do I look like it?”
“You don’t!” the girl declared with a smile before bursting into laughter.
Meanwhile, Kiriha glanced over at Koutarou and flashed a mischievous grin.
“He really is my boyfriend though.”
Kiriha grabbed Koutarou’s arm and rested her head on his shoulder. As she did, the smell of fresh flowers tickled Koutarou’s nose. It was the distinct arom
a of the scented oil Kiriha used on her hair.
“Really?!”
The young girl, however, was indeed both young and a girl. The mere mention of the word “boyfriend” made her eyes sparkle. Koutarou, who had caught on from Kiriha’s smile, winked at the girl.
“It’s true. Lucky me, huh?”
“Yeah! Onee-chan’s compromising skills are amazing!”
“Compromising?!”
The girl nodded emphatically at the stunned Koutarou.
“Onee-chan is so beautiful, why should she settle for such an uncool guy? Is this volunteer work too?”
“Sharp kid...”
Koutarou smiled bitterly at the girl’s harsh appraisal and patted her on the head again. Kiriha, looking quite pleased, cleared her throat.
“Heehee. You see, it’s neither compromising, settling, nor volunteering. Once you become an adult, you’ll understand.”
“You’re so grown up, Onee-chan!”
“Just a little bit more than you.”
Kiriha patted the girl’s head with a smile as she stood up. Still holding on to Koutarou’s arm, she pulled him up with her.
“Now then...”
“Are you shopping, Onee-chan?”
The young girl scratched her head. Kiriha nodded at her and pointed towards the shopping street with her free hand.
“Yes. We need to buy some ingredients for dinner.”
“Hey, then come buy something from us! We’ll give you a deal!”
“I was planning on doing just that.”
“All right! Then hurry up, you two! It’s almost time for the evening sale to start!”
“Really sharp kid...”
The young girl pulled on Koutarou and Kiriha’s hands, leading them into the shopping street.
As of late, it had been Kiriha and Ruth’s job to do the shopping, so it had been a while since Koutarou last went shopping with Kiriha.
“Oh, Kiriha-chan! Brought your boyfriend with you this time, I see!”
“Kiriha-san, we just stocked some nice tea. If you don’t mind samples, take some with you.”
“Today’s hero show was great!”
“Don’t look at her like that, dear! Sorry about that, Kiriha-san.”
“That’s right! Let those young ones that came with you to volunteer know that I’m looking forward to working with them again!”
As Koutarou walked along with Kiriha, various shop owners and patrons were greeting her. The last time he went shopping with her, he didn’t remember it being like that.
“Thank you very much,” she said and bowed politely to each one of them.
It looked to Koutarou like Kiriha had welcomed this change.
Hmm...
Koutarou watched over her with a mysterious feeling brewing inside of him. These people being happy to see her was proof that she was blending in well on the surface. Thanks to her volunteer work around the city, she was becoming something of a regular fixture in people’s lives. If things continued as they seemed to, Kiriha might someday reveal her true intentions to them as well.
Kiriha called this her preferred method of invasion. At first, Koutarou was stumped about how to go about stopping an invasion like this, but now he truly wondered if it counted as an invasion at all.
Does she really intend to invade the surface?
Koutarou’s doubts resurfaced. It only looked to him like Kiriha was peacefully emigrating to the surface. She’d legally obtained a dwelling, bonded with the locals, and formed genuine relationships. Yet when they’d first met, Kiriha was pretty specific about hinting at a hostile takeover by the People of the Earth. She said she wanted to secure their shrine to mass-produce spiritual weapons like her haniwas. That was the whole reason Koutarou objected in the first place. If she’d told him this was what she was planning from the start, he might have cooperated with her.
I’m not even sure if she actually wants that shrine or not...
Koutarou’s biggest doubt concerned why Kiriha hadn’t seized room 106 yet. Kiriha was smart enough to easily outwit Koutarou. There weren’t many girls her age that clever, if there were any at all. If she put her mind to it, she would probably be able to wrap up the fight for room 106 in an instant. It would be easy for her to steamroll Koutarou, Sanae, and Yurika. And when it came to Theia, her approach to everything was so simplistic that there were plenty of ways to take advantage of her. Whether she was scheming or fighting fair and square, Koutarou thought it was odd that she hadn’t already come out victorious.
Yet for some reason, Kiriha wasn’t getting serious about it. In fact, she even helped Koutarou and the others from time to time. She was there to lend a hand when Sanae was captured by ghost hunters and when Theia was attacked by Clan. Kiriha claimed that she knew the pain of losing something important, but she was more than just sympathetic with her enemies. She straight up went out of her way to help them.
“I was just about to throw away the unsold stuff. Feel free to take it with you.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Rather than throwing it away, I’d be happy if a beautiful girl like yourself ate it! See you later, miss!”
“Koutarou, I got some takoyaki. But we still haven’t had dinner, so could you eat half of it?”
“Yeah, thank you, Kiriha-san.”
Kiriha smiled and presented the styrofoam plate full of takoyaki she’d just gotten to Koutarou. He accepted it from her, but he kept turning the same thought over in his head.
She really doesn’t have any intentions of invading the surface, does she?
What shook Koutarou more than anything was Kiriha’s smile. He just couldn’t believe the smile on her face when she was talking to the children or the people at the shopping street was anything other than genuine. And he certainly couldn’t imagine Kiriha raising a weapon against any of them.
“Hey, Kiriha-san...”
“Yes, Koutarou?”
Koutarou finally decided to talk to her about it. If he asked her seriously, she would definitely answer. Over the past eight months, Koutarou had grown to trust Kiriha enough to believe that.
“Do you mind if I ask you about something that’s been bothering me?”
Kiriha, who was walking next to Koutarou, was stuffing her mouth with takoyaki. When she looked up at Koutarou, her smile suddenly seemed to vanish.
“That depends on what it is, but I’ll answer as best I can.”
As sensitive as she was to other people’s feelings, Kiriha already realized that Koutarou had something important on his mind.
“All right,” Koutarou said with a serious expression on his face. “You never really intended to invade the surface, did you?”
“Kou—”
Kiriha was so surprised that she couldn’t even finish saying his name out loud. Her eyes shot wide open and remained that way for some time before she slowly began smiling again.
“That’s quite something to ask all of a sudden, Koutarou. To say that I don’t wish to invade the surface...”
As Kiriha spoke, she reached into her pocket with her pale, supple hand.
“Well, you don’t, do you?”
“What makes you think that?”
When Kiriha pulled her hand back out of her pocket, she was holding a small card. It was faded with age, but there was still a hint of a metallic sheen to it that made it look like the kind of promo that would come with a package of candy.
That’s the card I saw her with at the beach, isn’t it?
“You’re far too gentle to do something like invade,” he answered as he stared at what she was holding in her hand.
Kiriha was gentle. She was gentle with everyone. She would try to deny it, but in the end, she just wasn’t the type to hurt others.
“...?!”
Kiriha was speechless for a moment. And after glancing at the card in her hand, she stared at Koutarou.
“What makes you think that I’m not just acting that way to earn your trust?”
Kiriha smi
led, but Koutarou could see emotion in her eyes that he never had before. He couldn’t imagine what feelings she might be hiding behind those eyes, but he answered her question without hesitation.
“I feel like I get fooled by words like that all this time. You say things like that from time to time to scare me. And because I’m an idiot, I kept falling for it.” Koutarou smiled wryly. “...Could it be that it would be bad for you if I really started to trust you?”
Koutarou didn’t have any particular reason to believe that was the reason. He wasn’t clever enough to hash it out for himself. It was more of a gut feeling. Something of a hunch from having gotten to know Kiriha over the past eight months. But Koutarou had faith in his intuition.
“...”
Kiriha looked at him blankly and didn’t answer right away. She stayed silent and looked down her card. Koutarou wasn’t going to try forcing an answer out of her, so the two of them continued walking silently along like that for some time.
“Koutarou.”
Only after they passed the arcade and the sun went down did Kiriha finally open her mouth again.
“Yeah?”
“Can I have some of your time next weekend?”
Countless stars twinkled in the beautiful winter sky.
“There’s somewhere I’d like to show you.”
Lit up by the stars above, Kiriha’s smile shone too.
Reminiscence (Part 1)
Saturday, December 19th
The following Saturday was a beautiful day with clear skies and no wind. Thanks to that, it felt surprisingly warm despite being the dead of winter.
“Koutarou, what about your coat?”
“I don’t need it. It’s hard to move around in, and besides, it’s plenty warm today.”
Koutarou shook his head at Kiriha, who was reaching for his coat. Instead, he picked up a nearby jacket. He was planning on going out in something comfortable.
“I see. Then I’ll do the same.”
As she helped Koutarou put on his jacket, Kiriha smiled gently.
It was now officially the weekend, and because of their promise from last Sunday, Koutarou and Kiriha would be going out together today.
