Epilogue
The excitement could be heard floating on the wind. The grounds of First High School were full of joyful voices. If he strained his ears, it was possible to hear crying voices mingled in with them as well, but those were not necessarily unhappy ones.
In contrast, the cafeteria was barren. There were scattered figures whose number was less than the fingers on both hands. By the way, this did not mean that the students here were playing hooky from classes in session.
Today was the graduation ceremony.
Tatsuya was not using a paper cup; he sipped his coffee from a proper ceramic cup and placed the cup down directly on the table without a saucer (it hadn't had a saucer from the start).
And, he looked down on the multipurpose watch that most magicians did not use.
The time indicated that the ceremony itself was already over.
Those voices were probably the graduates leaving the site of the graduation ceremony, Tatsuya surmised.
Afterward, parties would be held in two small gyms. It gave off an unpleasant feeling that even at a time like this the first and second course students were segregated, but it might be that the people themselves felt more relaxed this way.
To be correct, normally this was not the most suitable thing. But second course students might be somewhat tentative when they were with first course students and first course students might not celebrate as much (primarily, about their entering Magic University) in the presence of the second course students. Because there was no difference between the food, drinks and other stuff, it was probably unnecessary to quibble about the different locations, Tatsuya thought.
However, due to the separated locations, it certainly took more people to do the labor than it should have. Because the contractors assigned to make the facilities and the cafeteria staff that prepared the food for the two sites received an extra bonus, they probably wouldn’t complain about the ‘superfluous work,’ but on the other hand, the Student Council hosting the graduation parties was on the top of the list of people complaining loudly about the superfluous work.
It was probably understandable.
Tatsuya was waiting for Miyuki, who was extremely busy with the management of today’s graduation parties.
It should be added — so that there are no misunderstandings — that he had offered to help with the preparations and management.
And had been repeatedly refused.
Azusa and the rest had clearly wanted the help.
However, Miyuki had determinedly refused Tatsuya’s assistance.
"There is no reason to bother Onii-sama with this matter!"
With this emphatic objection to even asking him for the slightest bit of help, Azusa could do nothing but refuse him.
Well, even without his sister’s excessive consideration(?), for many of the first course students and not too few second course students, Tatsuya’s presence would be slightly awkward.
He was the owner of abilities and achievements that cast doubts on the distinction between the first and second course.
For the third years, he was the rock that threw their final year into confusion. Not taking part was probably the correct move.
Naturally, when it was finally decided that he would not help out with today’s parties, there were people who indirectly said things similar to "this is all for the better" and sometimes(?) Mayumi was there when it happened and for some reason she blatantly steamed.
Mayumi had safely been accepted by Magic University. With her proven abilities and achievements, this could be thought of as inevitable; however, even with the damages from ‘vampires’ abruptly ceasing since that night, she unmistakably had to work harder because she couldn’t give the entrance examination her undivided attention.
She would, from April on, study at Magic University with Suzune and Katsuto, who had also been accepted — as was only proper.
Mari had not taken the exam for Magic University. She would be going to the Defense College. She did not give a reason. However, it seemed that she did not inform Mayumi beforehand and he had seen Mayumi make some harsh jibes to Mari about that — perhaps, she was hiding her loneliness.
The Magic University and the Defense College were not really that far apart; if they wanted to meet, they would be able to do so at any time; still, to have the friend — the pair might not like to call each other friends, but everyone else had been labeling them that for some time — you thought was going to attend the same school with you go to a different school instead was probably not something that can be accepted easily.
Speaking of going to the Defense College—
"Shiba."
As Tatsuya was thinking that, a voice called out to him.
"Kobayakawa-senpai, hasn’t the party started already?"
This was the very person he had been thinking of.
"Ah, well it has, but I heard from Mari that you were here."
The magic abilities of Kobayakawa had never recovered from the incident at the Nine Schools Competition, even with therapy that risked her life. There was no loss to her sensitivity to magic, but she could not use magic as long as the suspicion ‘that she couldn’t use magic’ was not eradicated.
It seemed that Kobayakawa had resolved to quit school in October.
However, with only half a year left, even if she transferred to a liberal arts or science high school, she clearly would not have enough time to prepare to graduate and prepare for college. It seemed that after transferring, she intended to spend a year as a Ronin and search for a new career path.
"Do you need me for something?"
"Ah, that is, what…naturally, it is difficult to speak of it face to face... But, it’s necessary. I want...to say thank you to you."
Tatsuya was comparatively earnest when he looked inquiringly at the red-faced, obviously embarrassed, Kobayakawa.
"I haven’t done anything that I deserve Kobayakawa-senpai’s thanks for."
"That’s not true!"
In the highly unpopulated cafeteria, Kobayakawa’s raised voice echoed pretty well. She was not expecting that, and from her downcast head, Tatsuya could see her face becoming slightly redder.
"The suggestion about a path that could make the best use of magic sensitivity and my knowledge about magic even if I couldn’t use it was yours, right?"
Tatsuya instantly started to scowl but didn’t out of consideration for Kobayakawa’s feelings.
"Did Watanabe-senpai let it slip..."
Even so, he could not hide the disgust in his voice.
"Don't say it like that. I forced Mari to spit it out."
"I asked Watanabe-senpai to pretend it was her own idea, yet she told you anyway."
All the third year female representatives to the Nine Schools competition, including Mari and Mayumi, had worried about Kobayakawa. Mari, who had narrowly escaped a similar incident, could not help taking it personally. Kobayakawa’s accident had led to the incident involving Hirakawa Chiaki in October, which only increased Mari’s worries.
After that incident, Mari had grumbled idle complaints at Tatsuya. She understood it was not his responsibility, but although she prefaced her complaints with that, the gist of her grumbling was ‘was there really no way to prevent Kobayakawa’s accident.’
Tatsuya had an answer for those doubts.
The answer was ‘he couldn’t.’
He was not all knowing and all powerful. And even if the ‘all powerful’ was omitted, he was far from ‘all knowing’. It was all he could do to use his observation power to cover the area around himself and Miyuki and take care of the duties he was responsible for, therefore he did not have the freedom to look after others. It was the same for the other members; because neither Kobayakawa herself nor Hirakawa Koharu (the elder of the Hirakawa sisters) who was responsible for her CAD had been aware of the trick, nobody else had caught it either.
However, it would be awkward to just coldly cut her off like that. So Tatsuya had sent their theoretical discussion down another route.
Tatsuya had heard from Fujibayashi a number of times that there was a dearth of tactical staff that understood how to take magic into consideration for tactical planning. Because there were so few people with a talent for magic, they were normally sent to the frontlines, so inevitably in an actual battle, the staff managing the tactical planning from the rear were all non-magicians who had only a theoretical understanding of magic.
If someone who was a superb magician but could not use magic for some reason was added to the tactical staff, then it would be much easier for the magicians on the frontlines to do their work than it was now. That was the idle complaint from Fujibayashi, who had seen the problems from both the front lines and in the rear, to Tatsuya. He had relayed that to Mari without naming who he had heard it from.
"Well, she tried to keep it from me. But, it didn’t seem like Mari was all that interested in hiding it."
"Geez, that girl..."
"I am glad she told me."
Kobayakawa’s sincere words interrupted Tatsuya’s statement expressing his annoyance.
"I wasn’t aware of it myself, but until I heard those words I was in a state of despair. I said ‘do you think this will defeat me,’ but it was a bluff, thinking that way was only to fool myself into not admitting that I already felt defeated."
Kobayakawa’s eyes watered; she was probably remembering how she was back then.
"But, when I heard that news from Mari, I felt like my eyes were truly opened. I thought 'this is the road I must follow.' This way I would not be left behind alone; it gave me hope that I would not be cut off from my fellow students that I had walked the road to become a magician with. In the eleventh hour, my life path suddenly changed; I thought that if I tried hard for just half a year, I could pass."
Kobayakawa’s face was once again red, undoubtedly she was embarrassed by the statements coming from her mouth.
Tatsuya did not feel the statements he heard were particularly embarrassing, but,
"So, Shiba, no, Shiba-kun, thank you."
Kobayakawa’s tone changed to a polite one as she bowed deeply.
Tatsuya was not so impudent as to sit while he was bowed to.
He got up from his chair and clicked his heels together.
Kobayakawa was not the only one who lifted her head up at the sudden sound of the clicked shoes; he accumulated the gazes of all of the small number of students in the cafeteria, but Tatsuya ignored that as something not worth paying attention to as he delivered the salute of the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion.
"Shiba-kun..."
"Kobayakawa-senpai. It is trite, but good luck."
As he answered her with a salute, Tatsuya said that without embarrassment or laughter.
Tears swelled in Kobayakawa’s eyes once more however, and she nodded with a smile without crying.
"Senpai, the party has started."
"Yes, it has. Well then, goodbye. Good luck to you too!"
As she said goodbye and trotted off, Tatsuya sat down.
Mysteriously, the lukewarm coffee did not taste inferior.
"Onii-sama, sorry for making you wait."
When the lively voice called out to him, Tatsuya took his eyes off the portable information terminal he was in the midst of writing a paper on and looked up.
"Tatsuya-kun, what are you writing?"
The one who had called out to him and made him look up was not Miyuki; it was a broadly grinning Mayumi with the roll of her diploma — as expected, the school used paper — clasped to her breast.
"I’m just writing some notes related to lengthening the time of continuous magic by systematic assistance."
"...Um, I didn’t think it was a fruitless topic like that."
Tatsuya stopped before replying to Mari, who looked at him with a stunned look, and simply lightly shrugged his shoulders. He thought about complaining to her about the Kobayakawa incident, but today was their day. With that thought in mind, he restrained himself from trivial sniping.
"More importantly, why are all of you together? I didn’t think either Saegusa-senpai or Watanabe-senpai wouldn’t have been invited to the after party."
From behind the backs of the female students, who were looking at each other, Katsuto’s face abruptly appeared.
"We thought we would say goodbye to you before that."
"...That’s thoughtful of you. If you hadn’t purposely come to see me, I was going to come and say my goodbyes afterwards."
"Oh, really? Because Tatsuya is hiding away from the parties here, I thought you would pretend not to know us and just leave."
Even though he knew that Mayumi’s sullen face and outpouring of complaints were an act, Tatsuya still felt like he had to give her an explanation.
"I am not even a member of the student council, so I shouldn’t show up at the graduation party right? Especially the first course party."
"What!"
Suddenly an intense exclamation interrupted the explanation Tatsuya was framing.
A shiny blonde head of hair pushed through the graduates to appear in front of Tatsuya.
"Why was I, who am not even a proper member of the Student Council, made to help with the party, when it’s all right for Tatsuya, a member of the Public Morals Committee, to do nothing!?"
The one who flared up at Tatsuya and insolently spelled out her workload was Lina.
"...Public Morals Committee members are not Student Council members. Besides, although it is only temporary, aren't you a member of the Student Council?"
"I just don't get it!"
Lina was probably not all that bothered by the graduates' stares. In front of the bewildered Mayumi and the others, Lina was her usual self.
"Hey Lina, don’t say rude things to Onii-sama."
And, she was faced(?) with the usual speech of Miyuki's love for her brother.
No, perhaps it should be said that it was Miyuki's usual love for her brother speech.
"You are a temporary member of the Student Council and Onii-sama is a member of the Public Morals Committee, this was all settled before the preparations for the party started. In the first place, why are you grumbling about it now — weren't you all fired up?"
Tatsuya did not know what she meant by ‘fired up,’ but unquestionably, Lina turned red before the gazes she had accumulated.
"Miyuki, what do you mean by fired up?"
Tatsuya did not have the option of ‘not daring to ask what happened’ at this place.
"Tatsuya, it’s nothing!"
"Well, as you know it would be deplorable to give a temporary officer of the Student Council, Lina, the type of work that would take a lot of time so we put her in charge of today’s entertainment, but…"
"Miyuki!"
"Even if we said entertainment, we didn’t say she had to do some kind of performance — it would have been alright if all she did was get volunteers from the graduates and the other students, but,"
"Miyuki, stop talking!"
"Lina apparently misunderstood."
"Miyuki, please! Don’t say it!"
Lina desperately tried to interrupt Miyuki's discourse, but the amused Mayumi and Mari cleverly blocked her movements.
"So?"
Miyuki was looking at Lina, distracted by the desperation in her voice; however, at Tatsuya’s prompting, she readily switched her gaze back to her brother.
"She took the stage as the lead singer of a band. She stood up there and sang about ten songs, she was very enthusiastic."
"Yes, it was an extremely fine performance. Not inferior to a professional talent."
Mari added to Miyuki’s explanation, and,
"It’s true. Shields-san is a very good singer. She has an incredible voice."
In a not-all-that-complimentary tone, Mayumi praised Lina’s singing.
"Urk..."
Lina looked down, red-faced in shame.
It was not an angry face, it was clearly an embarrassed face.
Looking at that made Tatsuya feel like smiling.
"I see...you’ve made some good memories, Lina."
"...I don’t care."
Aside from Lina, the people let out genial laughter at her speaking rudely and turning away.
(That was the last I saw of Lina.)
After graduation was over, Lina didn’t come to school.
When he asked Miyuki, she had given class A the explanation of ‘she was busy with preparations to return home.’
Nonetheless, he thought a withdrawal order had probably come in since that incident. Even so, until that day, Lina had continued attending school and she probably hadn't done it to fulfill her assigned role as a high school student or prepare for the graduation party.
It could be that she did it so she could enjoy the life of a high school student a little.
—As he looked at the arrival and departure delay announcement, Tatsuya mused over that.
The day before yesterday, the third quarter had ended.
In short, the first year of his high school life had ended.
Tatsuya's grades were predictable.
His marks in theory were extremely good.
His marks in technical were pretty bad.
His combined marks was in the lower middle.
However, he wasn’t bothered by that.
In that year he had continued to get entangled in various troubles, but he had steadily approached his goal.
Contrary to his expectations, he was able to build good friendships.
Even taking into account the negative aspect of getting involved in a string of incidents, it could be said to be an excellent first year.
Today, he had come to the Tokyo Bay floating international airport to welcome one of those friends back.
Of course, he was not alone.
Miyuki and Honoka were to his left and right; Leo, Erika, Mikihiko and Mizuki sat across from him.
The plane Shizuku was on was supposed to arrive in a little less than an hour.
"As I thought, it takes time to get here from the American mainland."
From Tatsuya’s left, Miyuki spoke to him, and,
"It seems like it takes a military plane less than four minutes to cross the Pacific Ocean, so why does it take this long for a civilian plane?"
on his right side, Honoka asked him.
Thereupon,
"The engines are different. Because military planes can go above the stratosphere. Safety and economy are a priority for civilian planes."
Leo interjected from directly across from him,
"Oh my, you’re well informed. Despite being a barbarian a horse could kick."
Erika teased.
"Why you!"
"Leo, restrain yourself."
"Erika-chan, you too, stop constantly teasing him."
And Mikihiko and Mizuki interceded into their strife, well, as they usually did.
Just then, Tatsuya spotted a familiar gleam of gold among the crowd of people in the lobby.
His friends looked up at Tatsuya who quickly stood, wondering what was up.
Miyuki promptly stood up too.
Although a little slower, she had also spotted the same thing as Tatsuya.
Miyuki followed Tatsuya, who had walked away with a short announcement of "I won’t be long."
A flustered Honoka also stood up, but for some reason Erika, who was seating directly in front of her, grabbed the sleeve of her spring coat.
"Honoka, don’t interfere. Because it is a farewell to a rival."
Before the gaze of Erika, who was impolitely twisting around in her seat,
Lina, who of course hadn’t fled after being spotted by Tatsuya, walked towards the siblings herself.
"Tatsuya, Miyuki, have you come to see me off?"
When they had approached close enough to speak to each other normally, Lina spoke first.
"Well. Meeting you here was a coincidence."
Lina’s momentary brooding completely disappeared as she let out a genuine laugh.
However, she did not feel completely the same as she had been. A shadow of doubt could be seen in her eyes that hadn't been there when she had just barely arrived in Japan. That showed that in this brief period she had become more mature.
"Oh my? Did I not say I was departing today?"
"We didn’t hear you say it."
Miyuki finished off Lina's exaggeratedly mild befuddled banter in one blow.
Even so, Miyuki wasn’t in a bad mood, and she was smiling in a wry way.
"Well, joking aside. I am obliged for the aid of you two."
Lina’s smile became brazen as she said it,
"Don‘t you mean, we've caused you trouble?"
and Tatsuya smoothly denied it.
"I’m the one who is in trouble. ...You’re an unbending person to the end, Tatsuya."
"You wouldn’t be happy if I went easy on you Lina... Besides, this isn’t the end, right?"
Lina shrugged her shoulders at Tatsuya's question.
"I think it might be. I don’t think I am able to easily leave my own country."
Lina’s voice showed tinges of acknowledging a painful truth.
However, to erase that,
"But, this is not the last time."
Miyuki interjected with emphatic words.
"Miyuki."
"So I shall not say goodbye, Lina."
"...Miyuki, what was that — it sounded like a confession?"
Lina widened her eyes as she stared at Miyuki with a face that had grown mischievous.
"Hmm, I suppose it might be a type of confession. You are my rival, Lina."
Miyuki was undisturbed by the remark and made that declaration in an unwavering voice.
"You will surely reach out to take Onii-sama’s hand someday. You will surely become Onii-sama's ally. And that will begin our true competition. And so, I will not say goodbye. Until we meet again, Lina."
Lina’s eyes widened again. And this time her gentle smile was like the sun matching the color of her eyes and hair.
"I can’t understand what you said very well, but... Miyuki, surely it will be as you said. Now, I have that premonition as well. Until we meet again Miyuki, Tatsuya."
"I’m back."
One hour after Lina disappeared into the gate, these were Shizuku’s first words.
"Welcome back, Shizuku!"
Over the back of the moist-eyed Honoka embracing her, which she was patting to soothe her, Shizuku directed her eyes to Tatsuya.
"Welcome back, Shizuku. I’m glad you came back safely."
"Yes."
Her curt replies hadn’t changed from before her study abroad, but,
"Shizuku, your aura has changed."
"That’s true. It has become more grown-uppish."
As Miyuki and Erika said, the aura coating her body had become fairly mature.
"Did you undergo some kind of sinful experiences?"
"Erika-chan!?"
The one who responded to the broadly grinning Erika’s jibes was Mizuki; Shizuku, the one under attack, only tilted her head slightly.
It was unchanged from what had been the normal commotion; however, a stronger sense of composure could be felt.
"Tatsuya-san."
"Hmm?"
After Honoka finally released Shizuku from her embrace and allowed her to step away from her, Shizuku walked in front of Tatsuya and looked up at his face.
"I have many things I want to talk about. I also have been given many messages from Ray. Will you listen?"
"Good. I will certainly listen."
Perhaps, her souvenirs from America were a lot of insights.
That was what Tatsuya thought.
Their talk with Shizuku took a pretty long time.
Even so, they weren’t able to finish discussing everything.
They could not discuss Raymond Clark’s message in front of their other friends.
(It might be necessary to take her up on her invitation to her house…)
In order to relate the remaining message, Shizuku had invited Tatsuya and Miyuki to her own house. To go to the great industrialist, Kitayama Ushio's, private residence without their other friends.
Even for the Yotsuba, this was not a minor thing to have.
However, they could not choose to not accept the invitation. The information she had returned with was necessary to decide their future course of action.
Tatsuya was reexamining the predetermined conclusion once again in the living room of his own home.
At that time, the buzzer rang.
A shocked cry from Miyuki, who had answered the door's intercom, reached Tatsuya’s ears.
Miyuki’s face displayed surprise and impatience when she came to Tatsuya.
"Um, Onii-sama, there’s a guest..."
"Should I meet the guest?"
Tatsuya had gotten up because he thought it was some kind of uninitiated guest, however—
"No, I didn’t invite her, but... the guest is Sakurai Minami-chan who I met at the Yotsuba main house."
"What...?"
Tatsuya also remembered that maid girl.
Sakurai Honami. The former Metropolitan Police SP who was his late mother’s Guardian. The woman who had poured love out to the two siblings as easily as if she was an elder sister or a relative. Three years before in the summer in that battle in Okinawa, the augmented magician had lost her life protecting Tatsuya. The girl's features were completely like the person the siblings could never forget.
She was a visitor completely unexpected to even Tatsuya.
In front of Tatsuya, with Miyuki at his side, was a girl in a spring-like pastel one piece dress.
After Sakurai Minami politely bowed, she passed a single envelope to Tatsuya.
Tatsuya invited Minami to sit and sat down on the sofa himself. As she watched, he cut the seal and sent his eyes to the letter inside prompted by her gaze.
As he continued to read, Tatsuya felt as though an illusionary pain was spreading in his mouth.
The sender was Yotsuba Maya.
After the perfunctory seasonal greeting, the letter read thus:
"This Spring, Minami-chan will be enrolled in First High school.
In regards to this, please give Minami-chan accommodations in your home.
She has become a good housekeeper; she already possesses enough skill.
You must need help around the house; after all you purchased a maid robot, right? In any case, you and Miyuki-san both are going to be busy with various things now that you two are becoming second year high school students.
She has been informed that she will work as a live-in maid so please do not have any scruples about ordering her about.
Also, I intend to have Minami-chan learn the work of a Guardian.
As her senpai, please teach her many things."
He felt as though he could hear his Aunt's high-pitched laugh from the face of the page.
Tatsuya folded up the letter and returned it to the envelope, then placed it on the table; perhaps she could tell something from his behaviour, thus Miyuki said "Onii-sama?" to him in an anxious voice.
Tatsuya took one deep breath and passed the letter to Miyuki.
After a small wait, the sound of air being gulped emitted from Miyuki’s throat.
Minami stood next to the wall facing her as if she was waiting for Miyuki’s eyes to leave the letter.
"I am a novice, but please accept me. As Oku-sama stated, please use me to the fullest."
Minami deeply lowered her head.
Even though they understood she was the linchpin of an invasion from Maya, neither Tatsuya nor Miyuki could reject a girl who had the same face as Honami.
Armored behind his poker face, Tatsuya could do nothing more than nod at his Aunt’s bitterly ironic ‘present.’
—In April, the new school year would begin and it would be even richer in mayhem than the previous one—
That unwelcome premonition would not disappear from its resting place in Tatsuya’s chest.
[The end of the first year volumes]
The Ojou-sama's Magnificent(?) Day Off
Common Era 2095, November 2. Throughout the nation, a triumphant mood was felt.
The evening of the day before yesterday, the news had reported that the defense force had eliminated the Great Asian Alliance's forward base and armada with their secret weapon. The latest news flowing through the living room late yesterday evening was that North Tokyo had asked Washington to put out feelers as an intermediary of peace. This development had occurred way too quickly, so there were those who did not consider the report to be all that reliable, but only a small percentage of the population maintained the ability to make unruffled judgement.
Much of the population had abruptly become commentators on military affairs — boys who would normally have no interest in politics talked about diplomacy and pragmatic power politics in loud voices at schools.
To the girls' apparent shock, disapproving glares at a time like this had no power to restrain them.
This was not limited to school. Sighing at the high spirited, irresponsible celebrity on the screen, Saegusa Mayumi switched the television off.
The current time was 10am. Since today was a weekday, she would usually be at school at this time. However, students of every magic high school involved in the Yokohama incident had continued to be given a break from school since yesterday, and First High School was no exception.
As someone preparing to take her exams at the beginning of the new year, taking a break from being drilled on the subjects she was studying certainly caused complicated feelings in her heart, but she wasn't someone who had been involved just because she was at the scene. Mayumi had been actually involved, so it was good for her to take a break. "Unfortunately, she could not relax.
<Ojou-sama, please forgive this interruption of your rest> [11]
She realized that she had turned off the TV, right?
The extremely good timing of the housekeeper's voice that could be heard from the intercom was mere coincidence — Mayumi was fully aware of that even as she mused over the possibility.
"I’ll open the door right now."
She replied as she stood up from her chair. Actually, she could have unlocked it by giving a command to the voice recognition interface of the Home Automation Robot, but for no particular reason, Mayumi opened the door herself.
In front of the door was the housekeeper in charge of looking after Mayumi. Even now, there is an extensively supported subculture of people who wear a uniform and are called a word starting with M and ending in D. ...Well, the skirt was calf length, the collar concealed the region below the neck, and there were no large uncovered parts in the back, so this was a functional uniform.
Besides, in this house, the existence of a housekeeper wearing this kind of uniform is not strange in the least. After all this time, there was no way it should feel unusual at all.
"What is it?"
Mayumi asked the housekeeper, who was about halfway into her twenties.
"Danna-sama [12] has summoned you."
When she heard this, Mayumi grimaced slightly. 'Again?' she thought.
Despite being questioned on what happened over and over just yesterday... while Mayumi grumbled in her mind, the next words made her tilt her head.
"He is waiting in the reception room."
Even though it was described as a head tilt, this was a private gesture made only in her mind.
—The reception room? Not the study?
That was a question that Mayumi had.
"Is there a guest?"
"It seems so."
It could not be said that they had been together for a long time, but roughly speaking, it was her companion’s job to be extremely helpful to Mayumi. From the short exchange, Mayumi understood that the woman did not know the guest's name.
"Please inform him that I will come after I change my clothes."
"Shall I help you change your clothes?"
After considering it for a moment, Mayumi immediately made an intuitive decision. Modern fashion did not present many opportunities to wear dresses that could not be put on by oneself.
"It will be all right. I will present myself in properly formal attire."
In short, the housekeeper had probably been ordered to make sure of that. As usual, the housekeeper respectfully bowed and withdrew when Mayumi gave her answer.
The tailored one piece dress she wore was in a light color, with an ankle length skirt that protruded slightly near the vicinity of the thigh. After she adjusted the lace on the hem, Mayumi knocked on the door of the reception room.
"Enter."
The voice that seemed to come from the room was her father’s recorded voice from a speaker installed within the decorated wood door. The recorded voice was almost indistinguishable from his living voice and told family members that they needed to be formal.
Apparently, today’s guests were people they couldn't be very open with.
"Pardon me."
Wearing her usual two layer thick mask of a lady, Mayumi uttered the cliché phrase in a low tone and slowly entered the room.
With her eyes cast down, she peeked at the guests' faces.
The man and woman seated in front of her father both had faces she knew. Even so, they were not the type of acquaintances she particularly welcomed. Nonetheless, she did not particularly hate them either.
However, she did not show any of her true feelings as she stood beside her father with a smiling face and made a graceful bow to their guests.
"Welcome, Hirofumi-san. Mio-san, it has been a while since I last saw you."
Before the girl replied, the young man stood up.
Nevertheless, the woman with the appearance of a young girl remained seated. And no one raised their eyebrows at this.
They were not maintaining poker faces; neither Mayumi nor her father, Koichi, considered this disrespectful.
As for why the woman, Itsuwa Mio, wasn’t sitting on a sofa: she was sitting in a wheelchair.
However her brother, Itsuwa Hirofumi, seemed to feel guilty about it; even though they didn’t consider it rude, his return greeting was slightly inarticulate.
"I hope we haven’t called at a bad time, Mayumi-san."
"Please have a seat. After all, Mio-san is already seated."
"Thank you very much, Mayumi-san. I am sorry for waiting so long between visits."
It felt like the person being discussed, Mio, had become defiant instead, when she answered Mayumi’s words with a laugh and a cherubic smile.
While Hirofumi seated himself lightly on the sofa, as she asked him to, Mayumi was gripped with the same doubt, "Is this person really older than me?" that she always felt when she was face to face with Mio.
It was an indisputable fact that Itsuwa Mio had turned twenty-six this year. However, whenever the actual person was in her field of vision, she couldn’t help wanting to doubt that truth.
Her height was only an inch or two shorter than Mayumi’s own; however, their figures were completely different. Her body could be described in one word — undeveloped. There wasn’t much about her body that could be called ‘womanly.’
To be truthful, she could still move her legs. But because of her extremely weak constitution, her body could not endure walking for a long period.
She started using a wheelchair around the time she turned twenty, however, because her body had been too weak to exercise for a long enough period of time. Her appetite was small, which meant that she didn’t get enough nourishment, which made her body weak in a vicious circle. Her undeveloped figure was a result of that.
There was very little bulge in her chest area that could be seen while she was clothed. Calling her completely flat wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration. Her hip area was also as thin as a young girl’s. Mio’s body looked like it belonged to someone around the age of thirteen.
Her facial features matched the youthful appearance of her body. Her style of clothing completely fit her physical features, and somehow gave off no hint of ‘womanliness.’
However her childish looks didn’t matter; Mio hadn’t made any outings after she had graduated from college and had made special arrangements to take most of her college classes online, so why on earth had she come here today? Secretly, in her mind, Mayumi was scratching her head in puzzlement with the thought of ‘I don’t think she is merely accompanying Hirofumi by any means, though.’
"We came to say goodbye to you, today."
When Mio broke that news, Mayumi’s gaze clouded with disbelief — or to be correct, she was mystified by the preceding statement.
"Are you returning to your family’s main estate?"
To conceal any obvious turmoil — but she had no need to feel upset — Mayumi replied with a question.
The Itsuwa clan’s main seat was in the Ehime prefecture, but because Mio needed to commute to university, she had left and come to Tokyo to live her life in one of their other residences. Because her younger brother, Hirofumi, started college just after she graduated, the two lived together.
"I will return to the main house; however, before that—"
Mio cut off her words in a formal manner to hide her inner laughter; Hirofumi was purposely changing his expression, bringing his brows together sullenly.
"We will be going to the front."
"The front... you’re going into battle!?"
When the meaning of the words 'the front' sank into her brain, Mayumi raised her voice without thinking.
"—Please excuse my rudeness. But why..."
Mayumi promptly apologized for her impropriety and looked at Mio and her father with confused eyes.
"The public announcement will be made next week, but the official decision has been made."
The answer came from her father.
"Mio and her brother are going to stay for a while at the Sasebo Naval base; from there they will go west with the navy by sea. Their destination is something we don’t know; however, their purpose is to urge the Great Asian Alliance to conclude a peace treaty by making a show of force. ...It probably doesn’t need to be said, but until the official announcement is made, not a word to anyone."
"Yes, I understand that."
Mayumi readily agreed with her father’s admonishment. Naturally, she was only agreeing to the ‘not a word to anyone’ part.
She understood the reason why the military would deploy Mio. The woman was one of only thirteen publicly acknowledged Strategic Magicians in the world, of which there were said to be probably fewer than fifty in total, the rest of whom were hidden. The Japanese government publicly admitted to having only one user of Strategic Class Magic.
The woman’s Strategic Class Magic ‘Abyss’ was a specialized naval attack, but it could also be used effectively on land. Just by having her accompany them, they should be able to apply tremendous pressure on the enemy.
However, even so, she felt that it wasn't a very rational move at this time. The forefront of the invasion had been launched against the Yokohama coastal region and the military's actions at the time had wreaked havoc on the Korean peninsula, which had actually brought an end to the October 31st stage of the conflict. As long as they weren't going to pursue territorial concessions, a counter invasion was already strategically unnecessary. There was no need to say that she felt the demerits of going as far as sending Mio out for several weeks in her condition, even with all the thorough preparation, were greater than the merits.
It was not clear enough to put into words in her mind, but Mayumi felt a general uneasiness.
"I will also be going with my elder sister."
He was probably gripped with similar feelings of dissatisfaction. However, this was a government decision which the head of the Itsuwa clan accepted, and could not be overturned by Hirofumi. He was someone who could be chosen as the next head of the Itsuwa clan, but he was not yet the ‘next head’; at this stage, the situation could not be changed by any objections he raised. His decision to at least accompany his elder sister in order to help her showed in Hirofumi’s face.
"The truth is..."
Perhaps desiring to change the ambience brought about by her brother’s mood, Mio’s tone switched to a joking one.
"I did want to see Mayumi-san become my brother’s bride however."
This certainly resulted in a change in the mood. —Nonetheless, it was in the opposite direction of what she intended.
This remark, unfortunately, continued the previous topic and no one laughed at what was commonly called a ‘death omen’ type of joke.
"Nee-san."
"...I'm sorry."
Within the increasingly serious atmosphere, Mio gave a mournful cry and become completely crestfallen.
"Ah, well, we'll take up that conversation once again when Hirofumi-kun returns."
Due to his feelings of responsibility as a host, Koichi promptly covered up the gaffe and returned the weak smile to Mio's face; as a result of the paucity of choices for their expressions, Mayumi and Hirofumi went expressionless.
There was a reason Mayumi did not give a ‘it’s been a while’ to Hirofumi. This was the reason Mayumi's thoughts scattered when it turned out that Mio was not simply accompanying Hirofumi.
Hirofumi was one of the candidates to become Mayumi’s betrothed. However, since Hirofumi was the eldest son of the Itsuwa Clan, it might be better to say Mayumi was one of the candidates to become Hirofumi’s betrothed. They were both direct descendants of the Ten Master Clans and close in age; one was an heir and one was the eldest daughter of the main family with an elder brother who was the principal heir — the conditions could be called quite favorable.
To tell the truth, the conditions were the same with the Juumonji clan’s Katsuto, and Koichi was thinking about which one he wanted to marry Mayumi off to. (The Ichijou clan’s Masaki was excluded because he was younger than Mayumi.)
Of course, the people in question had their own opinions on the matter and there were other arranged marriage talks that hadn't quite become engagements; however, Mayumi and Hirofumi often dined together and went to the theater together in a family setting with both the Saegusa and Itsuwa clans. —Despite the expectations of the adults, the pair themselves weren’t interested, hence the mutual poker faces.
However, always ‘silently going along’ only made their moods worsen, which was something Mayumi knew quite well.
"By the way, when do you leave?"
With the redirected flow of conversation, a relieved atmosphere that could not quite be concealed arose — Mayumi was dissatisfied with this weakness — and Hirofumi answered.
"We go to Sasebo at the end of this week; I heard that the ship departs Friday of next week."
As for Mayumi, while she was preoccupied with her unhappiness, she did not forget to learn the details.
"Those are certainly quick arrangements... Well, please take care. We will await your safe return."
Impeccably disguised behind her cat’s mask, Mayumi leaned forward in her seat.
"Thank you."
Mayumi turned her gaze to her own toes and considered that they were probably done with her.
"Before we leave to go to the front, could we have Mayumi-san’s assistance…"
Hence when she heard Hirofumi say this, it was a little difficult for her to control the speed with which she looked up.
"My assistance?"
While implicitly expressing the opinion that ‘there is nothing I can do for you’, she deliberately tilted her head in a childish manner. Her rock-like classmate would probably pay it no mind and her mature — she would call him ‘impertinent’ — underclassman would see through it and look at her with pretended boredom, but Hirofumi quit trying to conceal his unrest and let his eyes water.
"No, rather than assistance, we want you to lend us your insight."
However, it didn’t work on Mio. Was it because her effect was predictably weaker on her own sex, or maybe because Mio looked so young herself, that she saw her as an ‘older woman’.
"Mayumi-san has already been informed, which will make this a quick conversation. We don’t have enough time for a preliminary investigation."
"That’s true. I understand."
Mio appeared distressed to her core, with her hand on her cheek. Certainly, her speech and manner invoked some feeling that she was an older woman. Nevertheless, the impression that she was a child overreaching herself was strong — she roused amusement rather than interest. However, that did not make Mayumi relax; she concealed her wariness as she agreed with Mio.
"Magic is resisted by magic. Magicians by magicians. That, I think, is surely what we have in common."
Hirofumi continued; receiving his sister’s support(?), his calm had returned. By ‘in common’, he unquestionably meant between Japan and the Great Asian Alliance. With that interpretation, Mayumi waited for his next words.
"I will be accompanying my sister; the other side has undoubtedly realized this."
Mayumi concurred with Hirofumi’s statement and displayed her agreement. In the first place, the Japanese side had no intention of concealing Mio’s deployment; besides Mio and Hirofumi’s full identities, their membership as officers deployed in war and capabilities were well known. So under the circumstances they were expected.
In order for a checkmate to be effective, you had to let your opponent know about it. In other words, a secret weapon is not good material to get your adversary to negotiate a compromise.
"The other side understands it is at a disadvantage in naval combat with Nee-san’s Abyss. Therefore, we anticipate a counter attack combining aerial combat power with magic."
The Movement type-Strategic Class Magic ‘Abyss’ was a magic capable of creating a spherical depression capable of extending from a few tens of meters to several kilometers. Vessels caught within the magical zone at sea slide down the steep walls of water, tumbling about; then, upon cancellation of the magic, are swallowed up by massive waves as the sea returns to a horizontal plane. The hemisphere can be created up to a kilometer in depth, easily catching submerged submarines as well.
If the distance between the two adversaries was too close, the water movements could cause damage to one’s own side as well. The Strategic Magic Mio possessed, with its great range, could be called the natural enemy of naval power.
However, at the same time, Mio’s ‘Abyss’ was completely powerless against an air force. She couldn’t invoke it without a continuous water surface, and to use it on land, she had to know beforehand that there was a subterranean source of water she could use — there were various conditions for its use.
With the enemy’s battle formation that Hirofumi spoke of, she had no other option.
"The air forces will be left to the JDSF; we must think of how to deal with the magicians."
This was also a fact she could not dispute.
In form and substance, the magician community headed by the Ten Master Clans within Japan — whether they were magicians attached to the government, attached to the military, or attached to a civilian institution, modern magicians or sorcerers of ancient magic — were self reliant. The magicians who would probably be accompanying the military were included in that ‘we.’
"Mayumi-san, did you see our magician allies repulse the enemy and enemy magic at Yokohama? I would like you to tell us about the aspects of the enemy magic you saw and the effective magic that was used against it."
Actually, this was a difficult, dangerous question. She did not doubt the necessity of providing information and she would not refuse to do things she could not refuse to do. —That was how it was.
"...Even though I saw enemy magic, I was always in the rear, and the only time I actually crossed swords with them was when I was attacking from a helicopter."
Actually she had directly contributed to the destruction of a tank twice, but Mayumi was not intentionally lying. It simply had not left an impression.
He did not doubt Mayumi’s words; however, Hirofumi was not satisfied with her answer.
"Then you were assisting with the civilian evacuation until the end."
By ‘civilian,‘ he meant the non-magicians. Magicians were recognized as a special existence; usually Mayumi felt sorry for both sides of the narrow view that people that weren’t magicians were powerless. However, this was not the time to point that out.
"Til the end would be wrong, but... while I was waiting for the copter, students from my year and below held them off."
"Then can’t you introduce us to these people? The First High School students who actually fought against the Great Asian Alliance's magicians."
When Hirofumi said it, right away he came to mind. The mature, impudent, yet reliable underclassman. The first year who changed a gigantic truck into dust, was encased by glittering psions, and used a miraculous healing method.
Nonetheless, immediately afterward, nearly simultaneously, the recalled words ‘National Secret’ paralyzed her tongue.
"Mayumi-san?"
The faltering Mayumi was being examined by Mio’s suspicious eyes. Mio was not the only one looking at her suspiciously. Hirofumi — and anyway her father — were looking at her with doubt, and Mayumi recognized their impatience.
"Ah, no… that’s right. If you visit the Juumonji family, I think you will hear a thorough report."
"Do you mean Katsuto-kun..."
Hirofumi was by no means an unpleasant person; naturally he was a nice boy, but Mayumi had felt for some time that actually meant a little too agreeable.
She knew Hirofumi felt inferior and competitive with the boy two years younger than him and understood it to be natural. However, at this point in time, she didn’t feel displaying jealousy was all that praiseworthy.
—Not only that, but letting a younger female discern it.
The ‘passable’ grades she had put for him on one sheet of the report card in her heart were all insincere.
"The others, who should be useful... would probably be the Hundred Families’ Watanabe Mari, Isori Kei, and Chiyoda Kanon. I will contact them all for you."
"Please do."
Well, if all you do is find fault with your associate, you will not feel good either.
Mayumi gave them the names and promised to set up the meetings in a businesslike fashion.
Afterward, she called Mari, Kei, and Kanon right then and there (Katsuto wasn’t home), she set up appointments with all of them and, along with her father, saw the Itsuwa siblings off.
Mayumi really wanted to sigh when they left, but peeping at her father’s face told her it would be a little while before she was set free.
"Mayumi, I want to talk a little; you don’t mind do you?"
As she had expected, just as she returned from the hotel sized porch to the entrance hall you could probably dance in, Koichi called out to Mayumi to stop.
"Let’s talk in the study."
He quickly walked away without waiting for an answer.
Koichi presented an outward appearance of an elite businessman of the middle of the last century. Anyone would say his health was fragile — his face was more sociable than dignified and the tone of his voice was gentle to match that, but like all the other heads of the Ten Master Clans, no member of his family would disagree with Saegusa Koichi.
And it was not Mayumi’s style to take a meaningless rebellious attitude. While wearing a long-sleeved stiff one-piece that she normally wouldn’t wear, Mayumi trailed after her father’s back.
The study had a classic bookcase, a massive desk, and a single leather chair. Koichi promptly sat down, forcing Mayumi to listen to her father’s words while standing. Since this is what he always did, Mayumi was not bothered by it.
"There were no first year students in the list of names you gave, Mayumi."
Koichi broached the subject with his daughter who was standing about two meters away from him without preliminaries.
"Didn’t I hear that the daughter of the Chiba Clan and the second son of the Yoshida Clan played an active role?"
Mayumi murmured ‘Raccoon [13] Dad’ in her head. Koichi’s physique was more fox than raccoon and more wolf than fox, however, Mayumi was confident that her father couldn’t tell what she was thinking from her outer appearance.
"Despite that, they are still first years, so I didn’t think they could explain things well to Hirofumi-san and Mio-san."
(Nevertheless, he probably got the details from Nakura-san.)
While watching her father murmur 'I see,' Mayumi thought that. In general, this is the same as the harsh ‘cross-examination’ she received just yesterday; his persistence was more hunting dog than raccoon, she cursed in her head.
"However, didn’t they make unthinkable great strides for first years? Especially that girl who also played a very active role in the Nine Schools Competition—"
"You mean Miyuki-san?"
"That’s right, Shiba Miyuki-kun."
She felt as though the frames of the lightly tinted glasses he wore for show were emitting a sparkling light. These spectacles were supposedly to conceal the fact that his right eye was a false eye; however, because they didn’t contain any special gimmick for doing so, Mayumi had her doubts about that.
"She seemed like a very excellent girl. A vice president in the newly seated student council and, if all goes properly, she will become student council president like you, Mayumi."
"Yes, she’s a very excellent child. In addition to being a very beautiful child."
"Oh, that’s what she looks like in Mayumi’s eyes?"
"Do you mean even from a female’s perspective? Yea, I think Miyuki-san’s beauty is obvious to either sex."
Koichi’s lips twitched a little.
No trace of lust could be seen in the left eye inside the glasses.
Such a thing especially sparked Mayumi’s wariness.
"Be that as it may… managing to use magic of such high degree of difficulty as ‘Inferno’ and ‘Niflheim’... I’d like to meet her once. Can’t you introduce her to our family?"
"Aaah... I’ll have to ask about that."
"That’s right, couldn’t you ask about that for me? Come to think of it, I’m fairly certain that Miyuki has an elder brother? Didn’t you say that he helped you out Mayumi, at the Nine Schools Competition? This is a good chance; I will give him my thanks at the same time — it would be good if you invited both of them."
The polite smile would not let her read what was going on in his head. The tinted lenses would not let her catch the anticipation in his pupils. —However, she had known him since she was born. She was already eighteen years old — their relationship was no longer one where only one side found the other transparent.
(This was what he was aiming at...!)
Certainly, Mayumi had made Nakura promise to keep the secret in the helicopter. The episode concerning Tatsuya’s special magic hadn’t reached her father’s ears.
However, she didn’t think he had not told him anything.
She was not that optimistic.
Nakura was a sly old fox — he had probably given his employer hints without breaching his agreement to keep it secret, and her father, who was a veteran of countless battles, would be able to acquire much information from that.
Her father was suspicious of him — Shiba Tatsuya.
Additionally, it seemed to be about ‘something’ unknown even to herself.
Within Mayumi, the desire to find out also smouldered, but even now, the feeling that she should avoid touching this mystery was still stronger.
She unconsciously feared touching this mystery would destroy their current relationship.
"I’ll try asking..."
It took everything she had to make that answer.
The head of the Saegusa Clan secluded himself for a while in the study, looking at the desk, when the small sound of a knock on the door caused him to look up.
"Enter."
The door to the study was different from the door to the reception room; it didn’t have a speaker built into it. According to common sense, a quiet sound like a whisper shouldn’t pass through the massive door and walls from the hallway.
However, the knock didn’t repeat and the door opened without a sound.
The one who entered was an elderly man with carefully brushed white hair, Nakura the butler.
"Your report?"
The question was a little too fragmentary, but Nakura walked closer as his master indicated and respectfully offered a memory card.
Koichi set the paper card with the data printed in a detailed pattern on the micrometer level into the scanner and called up the decoded document to the wide display on the desk.
"The 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion... bothersome. Certainly, this is the unit the Yotsuba are zealously approaching?"
"It seems they are in frequent contact, but their goal is unknown."
"I think there is only one reason we would have for contacting the military?"
When Koichi said ‘we,’ he wasn’t limiting himself to the Saegusa Clan or the Ten Master Clans — he meant all the magicians in the country in general.
The magicians of this nation did not want status. The Ten Master Clans endorsed by the nation were prohibited from acquiring ’formal’ political power.
Instead, there was administration, the military, the police and the financial world; in various aspects, the ones who held political power needed the sponsorship of magical skills to continue their personal power base. To not be treated as disposable tools, to be tools that continued to be used, they had made themselves indispensable tools and had risen to the position of servants who manipulated their masters. For this purpose, ‘to be able to continually be used’ by them, it was necessary ‘to become necessary’ and temporary alliances were needed.
In order to gain that, ability was not enough.
A sharp sword produced a fear in the wielder that its blade would be turned against him. The temporary alliances were relationships of mutual trust that they would not be betrayed.
If a magician had contact with the military, then it was to acquire and maintain that trust; less with the aim of constructing that relationship than to solidify it. Such thinking was, for someone who understood the position of magicians, common sense.
However, Nakura did not nod agreement with his master’s words.
"The commander in chief, Major General Saeki, established the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion with the aim of having a magic-equipped military force independent from the Ten Master Clans. The commanding officer, Major Kazama, was known as a person who disapproved of the Ten Master Clans when commander-in-chief Kudou retired from military service. However heretical the Yotsuba Clan is, I think that it would be difficult to win over his battalion."
Koichi raised his brows at Nakura’s words.
"...That’s the first I’ve heard of this."
"That’s because the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion did not touch the Saegusa Clan’s interests."
The question of 'so why do you know about this' was not drawn out of Koichi’s mouth.
'For the sake of this investigation' was the only excuse he would receive. Besides, even though the man had served him for a long time, Koichi did not think of Nakura as a member of the Saegusa. And that was surely the same for that man as well.
"...So then, why do the Yotsuba remain in contact with the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion?"
His question was on a different matter. And immediately after he asked it, Koichi had an answer from himself.
"Perhaps it is as Danna-sama thinks."
Nakura did not have any mind reading skills. Koichi didn’t have any such skill either. Nevertheless, without making certain, Nakura was confident that Koichi had made the same conjecture he himself had.
Koichi took the card released from the scanner between his index and middle fingers and lightly flicked his hand. The paper card he let fly flared with light before instantly burning up.
Before he disposed of the ashes in the wastebasket, Nakura bowed and turned his back.
At the edge of the Saegusa mansion’s extensive grounds, there was a long, narrow, rectangular, cube-shaped building. This simple but not rustic building was the Saegusa family’s private shooting range.
Even if it’s called the Saegusa family’s, the range was actually built for Mayumi. Five years before, when Mayumi took her first trophy in a national level tournament, it had been built in commemoration of that.
Mayumi, who had been piled with mentally draining things from the morning onward, immediately after lunch came to this shooting range and had already been at it for three hours. Determinedly, she shot targets with a long, narrow, cane-shaped specialized CAD with a handle.
Pierce.
Destroy.
Unlike using an actual gun, firing with magic did not cause a recoil that would hurt her hands, but the mental fatigue was naturally harsh.
Nevertheless, to the extremely gloomy Mayumi, this fatigue warmed her heart.
Without worrying about the pace, she earnestly fired, and before she knew it, she had depleted the stock of targets. She cast her eye at her watch and was surprised by how much time had passed; she placed her CAD on the rack and started to put everything else away. —After she started.
"Onee-chan, I'm back!"
However, when she took off her information blocking goggles, she received an embrace from behind that she was unprepared for — a change of plans was unavoidable.
"Kasumi-chan, don’t cause problems for Onee-sama by jumping at her suddenly."
"Geez, Izumi, you are such a nag."
"That’s because Kasumi-chan is so ill-mannered."
The problem was only a simple stumble and she was immediately released (Kasumi was torn off of Mayumi) for which she was, to be frank, grateful for.
"Kasumi-chan, Izumi-chan, welcome home."
During the twins' usual spat — that is to say playful bickering — Mayumi restored her posture and came to them.
"I'm back, Onee-sama."
The girl who politely bowed with her hands together was the younger twin, Saegusa Izumi. A feminine girl with hair in a straight bob that went to her shoulders.
The one who had embraced Mayumi was the elder of the twins, Mayumi’s younger sister and Izumi’s elder sister, Saegusa Kasumi. She was the opposite of Izumi, a tomboyish girl with short hair.
They were monozygotic [14] twins, but because their tastes and manners were completely opposite, ordinarily you wouldn’t mistake one for the other.
"What are you practicing? It’s not an actual physical bullet Movement magic. Virtual Field magic?"
"Virtual Area Expansion Penetration magic, right? Onee-sama has been practicing this magic often, lately."
However, they shared a similar sharp sensitivity toward magic. Anyone would say that Mayumi's sensitivity towards the practical was superior to her ability with theory, but the twins were the type of magician that had the same orientation as her. Their ability to discern the identity of invoked sequences might be even greater than Mayumi’s own. Just now, they had perceived the magic she had used correctly from the ‘bullet hole’ that remained on the target.
Mayumi spoiled the twins too much because they were adorable, and the pair adored Mayumi in return. However, lately — perhaps due to their ages — she had noticed them being a little insolent.
"Nevertheless, Onee-sama has certainly been pounding away a lot."
Izumi’s sharp eyes perceived the lack of remains of the targets, causing her to speak out in a slightly astonished tone.
"Then, Hirofumi-san came?"
Kasumi answered in a smirking voice.
"Onee-chan, you definitely get in a bad mood when Hirofumi-san comes."
Her unwavering expression disappeared; Mayumi had not thought anyone could see what she was trying to hide.
At any rate, these two were quite perceptive.
Or perhaps I am more easy to read than I believed, thought Mayumi, becoming a little depressed.
"I don’t think Hirofumi is all that bad a person."
"He isn’t a bad person, but that’s all he is. Such an unreliable person is not suitable for Onee-sama."
"Izumi, your scoring is too harsh. Okay, what kind of person would be all right, how about Katsuto-kun?"
"Hey, Kasumi-chan, Juumonji-kun and I aren’t particularly—"
"That’s right, he’s not deficient in good looks but the unfortunate point about him is that he wouldn't exactly try to understand a maiden's heart."
Why did — Mayumi sincerely thought this — Katsuto’s name come up; Mayumi hurriedly tried to fix her younger sister’s ‘misunderstanding,’ but neither Izumi nor Kasumi was listening.
"Let’s see, how would I go about making the right guy for her… Anyway, I thinks it's only natural that a guy wouldn’t understand a maiden’s heart since we don’t understand what guys are thinking."
"Kind! You’re being too kind, Kasumi-chan! It’s enough that a maiden understands a man’s heart after they become lovers! In order to make a maiden’s heart his, first the man must understand the maiden’s heart."
"A maiden’s heart... fine. So, what would be necessary other than good looks?"
"Love, absolutely... If there’s a sudden hurdle that’s too high, a fierce true love should awaken, right."
"We’ve been together since birth, but I didn’t know you were this much of a romanticist (spelled as person with the mindset of a little girl), Izumi. I thought you were only being rigid."
"I feel like you meant something else when you said ‘romanticist’... well, enough about that. Besides, I am not a romanticist, Kasumi-chan; you just don’t care enough about this stuff."
"Whatever, I'm not very girlish anyway. So, after all, who is allowed to be loved by Onee-chan? Someone like Hattori-san?"
"Kasumi-chan! How do you know Hanzou-kun’s name!?"
Appearing out of nowhere (actually she’d been there from the start), Mayumi was between them because she couldn’t just silently listen to these words. Mayumi had absolutely no recollection of introducing Hattori to her younger sisters.
"Of course, we would know about any annoying bugs buzzing around Onee-sama"
"Izumi-chan, I don’t believe it, you two haven’t been spying on me, have you!? It doesn’t... it’s none of your business who I date or anything else!"
"Wrong, Onee-chan. Izumi and I have school, so there’s no way we can go around spying on you, so there!"
(You’ve been using other people to do it!?)
She was only screaming in her mind, so of course it could not be heard by other people. However, perhaps the twins could hear it somehow, but Mayumi couldn’t see them acting like they did from their behavior.
"Besides, Kasumi-chan and I worry about Onee-sama? In spite of Onee-sama being so beautiful, you’ve never had a boyfriend and you’re already eighteen... You’re even about to graduate high school."
"It’s not that I can’t, my social standing..."
She was aware that saying she just hadn’t made one sounded very much like an excuse. Even worse, a fairly ‘wretched’ excuse or perhaps a ‘pathetic’ kind of excuse.
"Hey, aren’t you two in the same boat; after all, you two haven’t dated anyone either."
So she tried to rapidly change the subject; however, Mayumi was not aware that this was also a pretty pitiful comment. —Until her sisters’ counterattack.
"So what, Izumi and I are still fifteen."
"As for love confessions, I received two today. They were politely refused. ‘This experience’ is not all that uncommon."
"You’re rigid, Izumi. Wouldn’t it be all right to try dating them for a little while."
"Kasumi-chan is too cruel. Undoubtedly, all of Kasumi-chan’s boy friends don’t think of Kasumi-chan as ‘a mere friend’... If you keep up with that lax behavior, sooner or later something bad will happen."
Well aware of her own patheticness, Mayumi fell into a depression to the BGM of her sisters' conversation.
November 4th.
At last, it was the noon break of the first day of restarted classes.
"President — I mean, Mayumi-san. You seem a little tired."
Worried looks were being directed at Mayumi, who was visiting the student council room to help deal with the follow-ups, by Azusa.
"Hmm, a bit. But I’m fine."
"Wouldn’t it be better if you waited till next week..."
Today was Friday. There was lessons on Saturday as well, but third years didn’t actually have to attend school, and the number of them doing self-study at home today and tomorrow was not small.
"I thought I could not endure becoming even more worn out."
"I see. So you left and came to school?"
Azusa tilted her head, staring in puzzlement at Mayumi's reply.
Well, coming to school because staying home was even more exhausting was probably something other people could not understand.
She felt explaining would be somewhat embarrassing.
Thus, Mayumi did not answer Azusa’s question and yawned a small ‘aah’ with one hand covering her mouth.
She folded both arms on the table.
Then, rested her cheek on them.
She felt that Azusa’s eyes widened when she suddenly laid down and began to doze, but Mayumi paid her no mind and began breathing as though she was soundly asleep.
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