“Oh my, she had someone with her.”
“Hmm...”
“Well, he suits her, at least.”
The voices of the women could be heard throughout the store.
Awkward... Rio felt an extreme sense of discomfort.
The gazes never really left them, so he focused on watching Aishia’s back silently as he moved his feet. They climbed the stairs until they arrived at the fourth floor.
“We’re here.”
Hearing Aishia’s voice, Rio finally looked around at his surroundings again. He was met with the sight of:
“...Huh? Ah...”
A lingerie shop.
There were no men chaperoning this time, as was to be expected, and the women present were all selecting underwear that suited them as they pleased. Miharu was among them. She stood right in front of Rio and stared at undergarments with a serious expression. In her hand was a cute and stylish bra with a modest amount of lace on it.
“Miharu,” Aishia called out.
“Oh, Ai-chan. Where were you? Ah, Haruto’s back too... now...” Miharu looked away from the underwear and toward the direction of Aishia’s voice. Rio was also there, holding Aishia’s hand. He made eye contact with Miharu.
Miharu attempted to greet Rio with a smile when she realized there was something crucially wrong with the situation. She froze on the spot.
The underwear in Miharu’s hands entered Rio’s vision, causing him to apologize while looking away. “S-Sorry.”
“Eh, ah...?!” Miharu finally understood the situation and hid the underwear in her hands in a panic. Her cheeks turned bright red.
“Umm, I’m sorry. Really,” Rio said, apologizing once more. He immediately tried to let go of Aishia’s hand and turn on his heel, but she had a surprisingly strong grip on him, so he couldn’t move. All he could do was bow his head and stare at the floor instead.
“Ah, umm, m-me too!” Miharu lowered her head at Rio in return.
As they were exchanging bows, a female store attendant must have become suspicious, as she called out to them. “Is something the matter?”
“The three of us came here to shop,” Aishia summarized in a flat voice, then looked at Rio’s face and linked hands with him. That was enough to convince the store attendant.
“Oh, I see. That’s fine, then; accompanying gentlemen aren’t forbidden from entering or anything. There are many customers who wish to bring them along and ask for their opinions, too,” she said, shaking her head with an understanding smile.
At some point, they had caught the attention of the other women in the lingerie shop. They had caught wind of the situation and were giggling to themselves.
“I-I’ll come back in another hour. A-Aishia, let go of my hand...” Rio said, quickly retreating from the lingerie shop after he got Aishia to unlink their hands.
I think I’ll write a letter to Professor Celia... I need to tell her that I’ll be late. I’ll definitely go see her, though...
Once he stepped outside the store, he walked to the Ricca Guild branch that handled deliveries.
◇◇◇
Roughly one hour later, Rio once again returned to the building where Miharu was shopping. They either must have just finished their shopping, or Aishia had sensed his approach, as the two of them came outside to meet him.
When Miharu’s eyes met Rio’s, she blushed with embarrassment. Rio grimaced uncomfortably.
“I’m sorry for the lack of consideration I showed earlier,” Rio apologized.
“N-No, I’m the one who should have been more careful. You were brought along by Ai-chan, after all. Ahaha... I’d appreciate it if you could forget everything.” Miharu laughed embarrassedly and shook her head; it was a commendable effort on her part to put the encounter behind them.
“Y-Yes. That aside, it doesn’t look like you have any bags. Did you finish your shopping?”
“Ah, the shop said they’d hold onto the bags. We can pick them up on our way home.”
“I see... That’s a useful service. Let’s go shopping for Masato’s clothes, then.”
Miharu nodded at Rio’s suggestion. “Yes, please.” They had somehow managed to clear the awkward air between them.
Suddenly, Aishia reached for Rio’s left hand and held it. Rio smiled at how natural the movement was for them now.
“Umm, may... may I take your right hand?” Miharu asked Rio shyly.
“...Yes. We wouldn’t want to get separated,” Rio agreed bashfully.
Thus, the three headed for the next store, holding hands. They found a decent shop for men’s clothing in a matter of minutes and went inside to pick out clothes for Masato. Miharu examined all the clothes carefully to select something good for Masato, when she suddenly found clothing that looked good for Haruto.
“This one looks like it’d suit you, Haruto.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. Could you try holding it up to yourself? ...Ah, see, it really does suit you.”
She handed the clothes over for Rio to hold, then stepped back to look at him from a distance with a beaming smile. Rio smiled in return, appearing somewhat bashful.
“Thank you very much. I am lacking in everyday clothes, so I think I’ll get this.”
Since Rio usually wore combat clothing or semi-combat clothing that could also act as casual attire, he didn’t have many articles that served as solely for everyday wear. This was the perfect opportunity to amend that.
“Umm, then would it be better to buy a few more pieces?”
“Sure. Since you’re here, could I ask you to help me pick them? I’m not very good at choosing clothes...” Rio requested with a wry smile.
“If you’re okay with that, then...” Miharu nodded hesitantly, then began to select clothes not only for Masato, but Rio as well. She had a good sense of style, and made sure to coordinate Rio’s clothes to suit each other.
Time passed by in a flash. “Thank you very much, Miharu. We’ve gotten some good shopping done, thanks to you,” Rio said after he finished buying their items.
“No, I should be thanking you. I had a lot of fun today.”
“I’m happy to hear that. Once your language studies have progressed a bit, we should come here again with Aki and Masato as a breather... Since the plan is to stay where we are for another month, at least.”
After they learned a fair amount of the language, he might bring them to the spirit folk village. Nonetheless, it would probably require further discussion first.
“Yes, please!” Miharu said, smiling happily.
◇◇◇
Rio and the girls were able to return to the rock house in the field before the sun had set. They ate dinner and then settled down to enjoy tea together, when Rio suddenly spoke up.
“Actually, I may have gained some plausible information today about the two people you were with just before you were brought to this world. It’s not bad news, either.”
“R-Really?!” Aki stammered, immediately drawn to Rio’s words.
“More or less, yes. It wouldn’t be very trustworthy information under normal circumstances, and it doesn’t help us with their location, unfortunately.” Rio shrugged his shoulders and nodded.
“So, what did you find out about the two of them?” Aki pressed impatiently.
Rio smiled faintly. “The two of them... may have become heroes, I guess,” he explained in a frank manner. Aki couldn’t help but doubt what she had heard.
“...Huh?” she asked.
Not only did Aki doubt what she was hearing, but Miharu and Masato also had expressions of astonishment. Their reactions were understandable; heroes weren’t a common career path for a modern day Japanese person, after all.
“Well, I guess that’s the normal reaction to have.” Rio watched the reaction of the three Earthlings with his usual wry smile. Meanwhile, Aishia breathed a small and sleepy yawn from where she sat beside him.
“Hey, Haruto. By hero, do you mean something like the main character of a
video game?” Masato asked hesitantly.
“It’s probably exactly like that, I believe.”
“Huh... Seriously? Bro as a hero, you say... I guess I kind of get it, but it doesn’t suit him at all!” Masato said with a somewhat amused grimace.
“This world has religious beliefs, too, and the sacred texts speak of a prophecy where the heroes are summoned. The phenomenon in that prophecy came true at nearly the same time you three were dragged into this world. That’s why a rumor is circulating that heroes have appeared in the Strahl region.”
“And those heroes are Satsuki and Takahisa?” Miharu asked.
“Yes. The prophecy claims there are six heroes, so I believe they must be two of them. The event that occurred was on a large enough scale for it to be just that.”
Though Rio had been too distracted by the feminine voice in his head to look at them directly, the six pillars of light that had appeared in that moment had scattered a tremendous amount of ode and mana — enough for him to believe that heroes could indeed be summoned from another world.
“Then... would we be able to meet the two of them if we find out where all the heroes are?!” Aki asked expectantly.
“If my hypothesis is right, then yes. The prophecy said the heroes would appear by the Sacred Stones, but who knows where those Sacred Stones are,” Rio replied with a troubled look. There was a lot of information readily available about the location of the Sacred Stones, but it was normal to assume all of it was misleading or false.
“That can’t be...” Aki’s face darkened in frustration.
“It’s okay. They have to be somewhere in Strahl, so as long as we keep waiting, more rumors of the heroes will circulate eventually. It’s best if we just wait patiently. Of course, I’ll do what I can to find out more about the Sacred Stones and heroes, but I’d like the three of you to focus on learning the language for now. Is that all right with you, Miharu?” Rio looked at her for a response.
“Yes. We’ll be placing all the burden on you, Haruto, but please take care of us,” Miharu agreed apologetically.
“Then, that’s decided — you’ll start learning the language from tomorrow. It may get a bit rigorous at times, but the harder you work, the faster you’ll learn. You’ll eventually be able to put more time into other things. Let’s all do our best!” Rio said to the others to motivate them.
“Yes, please teach us well!” Aki said energetically, fired up by his words.
“Studying, huh... Even though we’ve come to another world, the things we have to do haven’t changed...” Masato sighed and grumbled to himself.
“Masato, I’m warning you now. If you don’t do this properly, I’ll be angry.”
“I know!” Masato nodded bitterly at Aki’s warning. He was aware that this was a necessary task, at the very least.
Miharu watched the two of them with a pleasant smile.
◇◇◇
After that, Rio worked together with Miharu and Aishia to clean everything up. They would begin their language studies in the morning, so Aki and Masato were sent off to bed early.
“Good work, Miharu... And you, too, Aishia. We should go to sleep soon too,” Rio said to the two girls at the dining table.
Miharu bowed. “Okay. Thank you for everything today, Haruto. You too, Ai-chan,” she said, looking at Aishia.
“Good work, Miharu,” Aishia replied sleepily.
“Ahaha. You look sleepy, Aishia — let’s go to bed right away. Good night!”
Rio figured that if he stuck around any longer he’d just be keeping Miharu and Aishia awake with him, so he started to walk toward his room.
“Good night,” Aishia said, before following after Rio. Miharu bid them good night, before walking off to her own room.
“Wait, huh? A-Ai-chan, isn’t your room next to mine? It’s just Haruto’s room in that direction. Aren’t you going to bed?” Miharu found something odd about the direction Aishia was heading and called out to stop her.
“Aishia?” Rio said with wide eyes, wondering what was the matter.
“I’m going to sleep.” Aishia cocked her head blankly.
“Umm... Where?” Rio asked nervously.
“In Haruto’s room.”
“E-Eeh?!” Miharu exclaimed in shock at Aishia’s reply.
“Umm... You have your own room, though. You’re supposed to sleep there,” Rio said carefully to Aishia, holding his head in his right hand.
“I sleep with Haruto,” Aishia declared in a pure and innocent manner.
“N-No, you can’t do that,” Rio declined in a panic, but Aishia only seemed to be curious as to why that was.
“Why not?”
“Well, that’s because...”
It seemed as though she was unfamiliar with the subtleties of personal boundaries between a man and a woman. Rio was left at a loss for words as he looked at Miharu for assistance.
“Ah, umm. You know, Ai-chan... It’s a little problematic — rather, unfavorable — for a man and a woman to sleep together in the same room if they’re not in an intimate relationship,” Miharu explained tactfully, trying to save Rio from his dilemma.
“Why?”
“U-Umm...” Aishia’s childlike question left Miharu the one at a loss for words this time. It was surprisingly difficult to explain the common sense rules and morals that applied to human society using words. Simply saying that it wasn’t allowed wasn’t enough for a spirit like Aishia to understand.
Aishia looked at Miharu with innocent eyes. “Aren’t Haruto and I intimately related?”
“Ah, erm, that’s not what I mean.”
Intimate? What was intimate? Why were the right words so hard to choose? Despite trying her best, Miharu was at an utter loss.
“If we can’t sleep as just the two of us, then do you want to join in, too?” Aishia suggested.
“T-That’s even more impossible!” Miharu turned red and shook her head.
“Why?”
“Huh? Ah, because... I-I have someone I love already. Ah — no, wait, t-that doesn’t mean I hate Haruto by any means, though!” Miharu was babbling incoherently and replying to everything with foolish honesty.
“...Yes, I know. Haha.”
Hearing that Miharu had someone she loved had been a mild shock to Rio, but he somehow managed to keep a smile on his face. He had marginally suspected such a thing already.
“I don’t get it,” Aishia murmured quietly to herself. Rio sighed and smiled wryly. “...Why do you want to sleep with me anyway, Aishia?”
“I can replenish ode more efficiently by Haruto’s side. It’s also more comfortable,” Aishia answered. The second part aside, it was a surprisingly logical reason.
“Oh, replenishing essence. That’s true... But if you’re a spirit, you should be able to take on an astral form as well, right? Wouldn’t you be able to suppress the depletion of your essence more in that state...?”
Since Aishia had a humanoid form, it felt so natural for her to be physically materialized that Rio had forgotten that spirits normally preferred to exist in their astral form. Materializing and maintaining a physical form expended a certain amount of magic essence, so it was an extremely inefficient use of their energy.
“Astral... form?” Miharu asked, unable to keep up with the conversation.
“She has a physical body right now, but at their core, spirits are actually embodiments of mana. So, like their name suggests, they have a spiritual form. Normally, they are unperceivable to humans — that form is called the astral form.”
“...I-I see. Then Ai-chan can take on that astral form, too?” Miharu seemed slightly dubious as she looked at Aishia.
“I can.” Aishia nodded. Her body suddenly turned to fine particles of light and dispersed in the blink of an eye.
“S-She disappeared? Ai-chan?” Miharu’s eyes widened in shock as she hesitantly called Aishia’s name.
“I’m here,” Aishia replied; the particles of light gathered together to take on her form on
ce more.
Miharu made a noise of wonder and turned to Rio for confirmation. “Wah... T-That was the astral form just now?”
“Yes. You won’t be able to see her or physically interact with her, but she still exists there in her astral form. Spirits expend essence by simply existing, so they use much less energy when in their astral form.”
Miharu looked at Aishia. “I understand... Ah, then if you stayed in your astral form on a regular basis, you wouldn’t need to sleep together with Haruto anymore... is that right?”
“Essence recovery isn’t that big of a deal. I will replenish essence more efficiently the closer I am to Haruto, but if I don’t use any spirit arts, then it isn’t that difficult for me to stay in physical form even without Haruto nearby,” Aishia explained logically with a shake of her head.
“Umm, then, do you still need to sleep together with Haruto...?”
“Yes. I want to be with Haruto.”
“A-Ahaha. Really... Ah, then, how about... you sleep with Haruto in your astral form? How about that instead?” Miharu suggested, looking at Rio with a strained smile.
“Umm... I guess, yeah. That should be, well... all right, I suppose?” Rio nodded with uncertainty, though he wasn’t quite sure if doing that actually solved the moral issue of a man and woman sleeping together in the same room. At least no physical mishaps could occur while she was invisible in her astral form.
Aishia seemed pretty stubborn over the whole thing herself, making it nearly impossible to convince her otherwise. It was only a makeshift solution at best, but it was a safe line to draw as a compromise.
“Are you okay with that, Ai-chan?” Miharu asked.
“Sure.” Aishia nodded quietly.
Thus, it was decided that Aishia would sleep in Rio’s room in her astral form. And if Rio woke up to her sleeping in her physical form the next morning — well, that was a story for another day.
Interlude: Summoning A Hero?! Sakata Hiroaki On The Scene!
Meanwhile, just before Miharu and the others found themselves in another world...
His name was Sakata Hiroaki; he was a 19-year-old Japanese young man with an average appearance. While he was in a highly-ranked group at his prep school, he failed his university entrance examinations and became even more of a shut-in, then immersed himself in all sorts of indoor hobbies instead — just like any normal young man would.
Eternal You (Premium) Page 13
