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“Hey, Ai Fa,” I called out, but naturally I got no response.
We were on our way back to the Fa house, having picked up our blades and Ai Fa’s cloak. As we continued along the yellow trodden path through the forest, we passed by other folks from the settlement every now and again. We were still over an hour away from the Fa home, so it was my first time seeing any of the people who lived around here. And as a result, all of them couldn’t help but turn around and stare in shock when they saw me. Apparently a foreigner wearing the clothing of the forest’s edge really did draw attention no matter where you went.
I didn’t care at all about that, though. Right now my attention was on Ai Fa, who was stomping along in long strides and exuding an angry aura.
I had something important to discuss with her, but I couldn’t exactly broach the topic like this.
Still, I’ll never get anywhere by keeping my mouth shut, I thought to myself, working up the nerve to call out to the back of my enraged benefactor.
“Hey! I was at fault back there! I’m seriously sorry about that. But still, I don’t want the trust between us to get ruined over something like this. Will you listen to me, at least for the sake of all the time we’ve spent together up till now?”
Ai Fa remained silent.
“And I mean, there was no helping it, you know? Ludo Ruu told me you were washing stuff off there. I never imagined the Ruu house would have a stupidly big enough river there to take a bath in it. I only looked in because I figured you were all happily cleaning up after last night’s dinner together.”
Still nothing.
“And it was my first time hearing about that marriage stuff and all that. Um... That was the second time I’ve seen you in such an unthinkable state, so do you need me to take responsibility for that?”
I felt embarrassed even saying that.
Figuring this just wouldn’t do, I went ahead and used the most laid-back voice I could manage and said, “Still, I’d sure be lucky if that meant I got a beauty like you as a wife! I mean, I’m not exactly in a position where I’m worthy of such an honor! But if that isn’t enough to stop you, then I wouldn’t mind taking you as my—”
With that, my fate was sealed.
Ai Fa turned around with just as much explosive force as she had used when she took down that giba in a single blow seven days ago, and came flying at me. She forced me easily to the ground, planted her knees in my chest, unshakably grabbed me by the collar, and then strangled me so fiercely it felt hard to breath.
“U-Um, Ai Fa...”
“Shut up! You... you big idiot!”
Apparently I had seriously gone and stepped right on a landmine.
Ai Fa’s eyes were like burning flames, she was biting her lip so hard it looked like it was about to start bleeding, and her face was bright red.
“Do... do you know how much resolve I needed to decide to live as a giba hunter? For you to ask me so lightly to marry you...” she said, her voice shaking so hard it felt like her heart was going to break, as she kept on grasping me by the collar. When I saw a certain something start to well up in her eyes, I regretted it so completely and utterly that I felt like I could die.
“Sorry! I shouldn’t have teased you! I just wanted to clear away the awkwardness! I didn’t mean any harm!”
I seriously screwed up there. 200%, for sure. As sure as fire is bright and stones are hard.
This was the most guilty I had felt in my 17 years of life, having made a girl cry not because of a serious argument or a difference in opinions, but because I was joking around.
“I’m sorry! I seriously mean it! I feel like I could literally die from guilt, making someone as tough as you cry! For mercy’s sake, please stop your tears!”
“Don’t mess around! Who are you saying’s crying?!” Ai Fa yelled out as something warm dripped down onto my cheek. The glint in her eyes was like hellfire, burning so intensely that it was like those tears would straight up evaporate. But unfortunately, that miracle didn’t occur, and a bombing raid of drip, drip, drip kept on shattering my heart.
I really did feel like I was going to die. If she ever started straight up sobbing like Rimee Ruu did last night, I may just end up dying in agony from regret at my own foolishness.
But as a proud huntress, Ai Fa didn’t want me to see her like that, so she soon thrust me away and pulled back, faced the other way, and wiped her tears.
I sat up too, then called out to Ai Fa, who was sitting with her back facing me.
“Um, Ai Fa...?”
“I wasn’t crying.”
“You weren’t! I was just seeing things! My vision must have just gone fuzzy due to the lack of oxygen!”
Ai Fa silently stood up, wiped her face one more time, and started stomping along again. I gave a deep sigh, and then followed after her.
The one silver lining was that no one happened to pass by during all that.
Right... She’s not just cool and composed.
Ai Fa walked onwards in a very deliberate way, seemingly fixated on nothing more than the path ahead. Naturally, there weren’t any more tears shining in her eyes, but her cheeks were still slightly red, and her expression seemed to look a bit more childish than usual. Until that boldness that she always wore on her face had returned, I needed to watch my mouth. That was what I decided as I faced back straight ahead.
And then, as if she had been waiting for me to feel that way, Ai Fa’s frowning lips finally opened.
“...So, why have you been making a face like you’re deep in thought for the last while?”
“Huh? I’ve been worrying about how I can make up with you, naturally...”
“That’s not it. I’m asking whether or not you have something else troubling you. Otherwise, you would never think so hard.”
I was seriously surprised. I figured she was just fuming this whole time, but she picked up on something like that.
“Yeah, well, I really do have something I want to discuss with you, but still... It’s a bit of a complicated matter, so I’d prefer to wait till you’ve calmed down a bit more...”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m always calm!”
I got the feeling that her vocabulary was getting a bit childish, too...
I was still pretty worried about if it would really be alright, but I decided to respect her opinion and broach the subject.
“Um, then I guess we can talk about it. It’s pretty ridiculous, so please don’t get angry with me. And if you tell me to just drop it, I’ll give up on it right away.”
“My mood has already been damaged enough for several years in these last few hours, and now you intend to make me listen to some nonsense, too?”
“If it’s just nonsense, then feel free to shoot it down right away... I want to have Donda Ruu eat my cooking one more time.”
Ai Fa’s eyes narrowed a bit, and she shot me a chilly gaze.
I went ahead and sincerely spilled my guts.
“If I don’t satisfy Donda Ruu, then the Ruu clan will never take up bloodletting, and in that case, they and Granny Jiba will have to keep on eating pungent meat from tomorrow onwards, right? And even aside from that, I... I’m frustrated, having him call my cooking disgusting and poison.”
Ai Fa didn’t say anything in response. She just looked at me with a disquieting gaze, her eyes narrowed.
“I know full well that we shouldn’t get any more deeply involved with the Ruu house now that we’ve somehow made it through this mess amicably. After all, it would be safer not to get closer to any members of the clan aside from Granny Jiba and Rimee Ruu. But even so, I’m just incredibly, overwhelmingly frustrated.”
“So that’s what it was, huh...?”
“Hmm?”
“It would be abnormal to not feel frustrated after facing such abuse. There’s no need to be so roundabout in discussing it at this point.”
“Yeah. But it’s true that we shouldn’t get involved with the Ruu clan again so lightly, right? That’s what I was worrying about.”
“There’s no need to concern yourself over that,” Ai Fa casually stated. “Just do as you please.”
“Huh? Then you mean you don’t mind if I just go and challenge that obstinate old man to a fight?”
“If that’s what you want to do, then do it. I won’t stop you.”
“Why are you treating it like someone else’s problem?! If I screw up, it’ll cause problems for you too, right?!”
Was she intending to tell me again that if I don’t want to cause her problems, I should cut my ties with her? If she did, I was ready to fight her to the bitter end on it, even if I ended up sobbing and wailing in the process.
That wasn’t what happened at all, though.
“Donda Ruu no longer appears to have even the slightest intention of having me marry into his house. A ‘mere’ woman hunting giba doesn’t seem to sit well with him, after all. I feel nothing but animosity and scorn from that man now.”
“Hmm... But isn’t it bad to get involved with someone who has animosity towards you?”
“Why? You simply need to make your enemies yield to you,” Ai Fa stated like it was nothing. As she looked at my most likely greatly troubled face, Ai Fa gave a “Hmph,” and then continued on, “It’s not as if you’re hoping to take up a blade and strike Donda Ruu down, is it? You wish to make that man’s heart yield through delicious cooking... right?”
“I guess I want to more satisfy him than make him yield? I won’t deny that I’m picking a fight, though.”
“In that case, do as you please. I’d like it if Granny Jiba could continue to eat delicious food, too...”
That last bit was so quiet that I wouldn’t have even heard it if she hadn’t been right next to me.
“Before we discuss such matters, though, there’s something I need to ask you,” Ai Fa said, the disquieting sparkle in her eyes only growing greater. “Do you stand a chance?”
“A chance?” I repeated, thought for two seconds, then replied, “Yeah, I’ve got a chance.”
“You do, huh?”
“Yup. Well, I’ll need to do a bit of experimenting first, but we’ve got plenty of excess meat, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“So you can win?”
“Hmm? No, you know, it’ll be down to luck when the time comes...”
“Win. I won’t accept failure,” Ai Fa stated, turning away. “I cannot endure your creations being soiled by such boorish insults any more. Even if you forgive Donda Ruu acting so disrespectfully again... I may fly into a frenzy and do something.”
As my eyes went wide, Ai Fa’s face blushed red once again.
“Do you know how much humiliation I endured hearing that man speak last night? It was enough that I wanted to throw the contents of a heated pot right in his stupid face.”
But Ai Fa’s face last night was expressionless the whole time, wasn’t it? But thinking on it again, even if Ai Fa’s emotions have some serious amplitude to them, when she’s dealing with people who don’t know of her temper, she always seems cool-headed and emotionless. But under that cool, composed exterior, her emotions were still violently raging, huh?
“Still, if something so improper were to occur at another family’s dinner, and the Ruu clan’s at that, then the Fa clan would be done for within the day. So be prepared to take on this challenge with the Fa name on the line.”
“Understood,” I replied with a firm nod.
A heated, antsy feeling started to wriggle about in my chest.
“Thank you, Ai Fa. I didn’t know that you were feeling so frustrated, too.”
“Hmph! Even if it’s only technically, you’re a member of the Fa house! It’s only natural for a clan head to feel angry when one of her people is unjustly treated with contempt!” she angrily stated, and then broke out in a childish pout. “And besides, no matter what anyone says, that food was absolutely delicious.”
What the heck? Was she trying to make me cry with that last line, there? I ended up smiling rather than sobbing, though.
“You always give me that last push I need, Ai Fa. I can seriously feel my fighting spirit igniting.”
“Hmph...”
“Man, I sure am glad that whole stupid commotion didn’t ruin our relationship, Ai Fa! Looking forward to still working with you!”
“What a ridiculous remark, after having broken the taboo twice already...” she said, wrinkles forming at the top of her nose and making her look like an angry wildcat. She was totally back to her usual self. Seeing that frightening face only made me feel all the more glad.
“No, no, I wasn’t calling your naked body ridiculous or anything, Ai Fa! I really mean that!”
Having gotten carried away like that, I naturally ended up on the receiving end of a rather serious full swing to the back of the head.
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