Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 1 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – April 2nd

Thursday, the 2nd of April 2099, 10am. Juumonji Alisa got out of a car on the parking lot of the Haneda Airport. Following the lead of her second oldest brother who got off from the driver’s seat, she headed towards the airport terminal.

She is the half-sister of the current Head of the Juumonji Family, Juumonji Katsuto, who took her in two years ago. Her mother was a defected Russian woman by the name Darya Andreevna Ivanova. Alisa is half Japanese and half Russian, with an appearance considerably closer to Russian.

Light blond hair, close to light silver, green eyes, slender limbs, and high waistline. Even in Tokyo where the number of people of different races has increased, her appearance stood out.

Though it was not her ethnic traits that attracted the attention of the public. It was her good looks and proportions. The symmetrical appearance common to magicians along with the combined attractive factors of women of both ethnicities drew in even the eyes of those who shared her gender, who typically would only look at the opposite sex in the airport lobby.

But for Alisa herself, who doesn’t like being the center of attentions, this is a real inconvenience. After arriving at the airport lobby, she hid behind her escort and cast her face downwards.

“Alisa, it looks like she’s arrived.”

The young man she was using as a shield from the glances called out to Alisa. His name is Juumonji Yuuto. The second son of the Juumonji Family, who became her brother two years ago and is one year older than her. Starting this April, he too will attend the National Magic University-affiliated First High School, which Alisa will also go to, as a second-year student.

Yuuto is without a doubt the second son of the Juumonji Family, but he gives off a very different image from his older brother, Katsuto, who succeeded as Head of the family. He is 177 centimeters tall, but he looks slim. Actually, he is quite muscular, but he looks slimmer in clothes. Using a different expression, he could be called ‘fit’.[6]

Yuuto was originally Katsuto’s cousin. His father was the younger brother of Juumonji Kazuki, the former Head of the Juumonji Family. When his parents died one after the other, Kazuki adopted him.

He is here to serve as an escort for both Alisa and the person she’s waiting for. It was also him who brought Alisa to the airport by car. Even now, at the end of the 21st century, one needs to be 18 or older to obtain a license to drive four-wheeled vehicles, but there is a loophole. In the case that it is necessary for work and there is a written document from the business, it is possible to acquire the license at the end of compulsory education. Yuuto used this special condition to get his driver’s license when he graduated middle school.

In response to his call, Alisa raised her head and looked at the arrival announcements. As he said, the information board indicated that the domestic flight from New Chitose Airport arrived ten minutes later than scheduled. Alisa, who had become downcast from the annoying glances, quickly regained her spirits.

Alisa restlessly watched the arrival gate. From there, the girl she was waiting for appeared, carrying a wheeled suitcase with her.

“Asha!“

The girl who just got off the airplane was the first to raise her voice. A beautiful girl, with short, straight black hair. Her big, round acorn eyes naturally made everyone who saw them smile. Contrasting with her cute looks, her body has a glamorous figure with eye-catching bust and hips.

Asha is Alisa’s nickname. This girl is the only person other than her late mother who calls her this way.

“Mina!”

Alisa shouted back with the other girl’s nickname.

The nickname of Tookami Marika, her closest friend who she was raised with like they were sisters.

The two rushed to each other, and held each other tight, as if entrusting themselves to one another.

“Asha, I’m here!”

“Welcome, Mina.”

“We’ll be always together now, right?”

“Yeah, that makes me so happy. We’ll be together again.”

This is the Haneda Airport’s arrival lobby. There are many people around them. But neither Alisa nor Marika cared about other people’s eyes and ears at all. They stayed hugging like that, enthusiastically exchanging misleading lines.[7]

“Ah, Alisa, Tookami-san? It’s starting to get crowded, so shouldn’t we get out of here?”

Yuuto called out to the two, immersed in their own world, with an awkward expression on his face.

As a side note, the reason for the crowd was the increase in the number of arriving passengers who stopped as their attention was stolen by the two beautiful girls holding each other.

Alisa and Marika separated upon Yuuto’s remark.

Alisa, who now noticed the attention she was getting, avoided looking at his eyes in embarrassment, but Marika turned to face Yuuto and looked straight into his eyes.

“Just Marika is fine.”

Not ‘Tookami-san’, just Marika. It could be seen as friendly, or that she’s opening herself to him, if only the contents of what she said are analyzed. But the tone that can only be described as aggressive, or rather, thorny, can’t be called friendly at all.

“Ah, and no need to add ‘san’ or ‘chan’.”

“O-okay?”

Yuuto bent back, not because he was overwhelmed, he just didn’t know a good way to handle her. 

“...Well then, let’s not stay around here. Marika, Alisa and I will be going by car. Want us to take you to your apartment?”

“Sure, Juumonji-san.”

Yuuto, at hearing Marika’s stiff reply, almost let a frown appear on his face.

“Both Alisa and I are Juumonji...”

“I call Alisa ‘Asha’, so I don’t think it’ll be confusing.”

“That’s true.”

She spoke so clearly that he couldn’t say that she can also call him by his name. Yuuto swallowed his sigh and began walking, leading the way for Alisa and Marika.

◇ ◇ ◇

Marika, who was admitted to the National Magic University-affiliated First High School, plans to live by herself in Tokyo until she graduates. The apartment she will use for that effect is, using the ward delimitations prior to the introduction of the new administration reforms, located in Kuramae, Taito City, (former) Tokyo. The one who arranged for this rented apartment was Yuuto.

As to why Yuuto, a mere high schooler, could do this, is because that apartment building is managed by a real estate company which Uwaki Company, a company managed by the Juumonji, has a close relationship with. Put simply, parent’s connections. But still, it’s true that Yuuto was the one who took the initiative to look for an apartment. It wasn’t his father Juumonji Kazuki, nor his elder brother and current Head of family Juumonji Katsuto, who went through the effort for Marika, which he did because Alisa cares for Marika.

Yuuto is the member of the family who loves Alisa, who joined the family two years ago, the most. No, it may be more appropriate to say he cares for her, rather than loves her.

Yuuto himself had both parents die and was adopted by the Juumonji. He can’t think of Alisa, whose mother died and was taken care of in someone else’s house, as none of his business. His older brother Katsuto brought Alisa, and he got himself involved by helping her get used to the Juumonji Family and Tokyo. It might be because of this that Alisa trusts Yuuto the most out of anyone in the family.

To Yuuto, Marika is no more than Alisa’s special best friend.

Yuuto himself had no feelings in particular towards Marika.

They arrived at Marika’s apartment at 11am. After dropping them off in front of the apartment, Yuuto left his car behind and went home.

Alisa is the one who was holding on to the key. The two entered the apartment right away.

Electricity and water had already been taken care of (since it’s all-electric, gas is not used). Next is just waiting for the movers to arrive at the designated time.

For now, they opened a window for ventilation and sat directly on the carpet to relax. They chatted about inconsequential things like: “The plane was a bit late, huh” “There was a lot of turbulence on the way”, and like “Did anything happen to uncle and aunt?” “No, everyone’s doing well”, until the door intercom chimed.

“That’s probably Yuuto, so I’ll go get it.”

Alisa slowly got up and stood in front of the intercom. On the monitor appeared who she expected, Yuuto.

From the Juumonji residence to this apartment is a bit less than a ten-minute walk. A neighborhood within walking distance was also a request Alisa made for Marika.

Yuuto went up to the room, carrying with him a bag from an unmanned convenience store.

“I brought some tea. With this temperature, it’s better to have it cold, right?”

“Yuuto-san, thank you very much.”

“Thank you very much. Let’s drink it.”

After hearing Alisa’s words of gratitude, Marika couldn’t give a cold response. She quietly accepted the bottled tea from Yuuto.

Yuuto bought more than just drinks. The bag, made of biodegradable plastic, also contained some light meals. Though it isn’t lunchtime yet, it’s slowly reaching the time to feel hungry. However, the tableware and furniture haven’t arrived yet. The induction stove and microwave equipped with automatic cooking capabilities were brought to the room in advance, but the fridge is to be brought in by the movers, so there’s nothing to eat in the room. Marika was forced to recognize that the light meals were a smart buy. In fact, she was reaching out for the sandwich Yuuto bought.

Juumonji Yuuto, a man with diligence that doesn’t match his age.

The intercom rang once again, right after they finished eating.

“Helloo, who is it?”

Before, Alisa moved to the front of the intercom and pressed the button to answer, but the model in this apartment can work with voice commands. Also, with apartments of this size, the caller’s voice can be heard even if standing near the window.

Beyond the intercom was the mover. Marika stood up, checked their ID papers through the monitor, and unlocked the entrance door.

This apartment is on the top floor of a twelve-story building. They had to wait some time before the intercom rang again. Marika, who was waiting for a chime with a different tone to come from the intercom, responded, and Yuuto went to the entrance.

When Yuuto opened the door, on the other side were two movers and a cart carrying the luggage.

Though she’s going to live alone, there was a considerable amount of stuff, like a chair, a table, a fridge, an air conditioner, a dresser, and much more. Expecting that some male help would be required for the physical work, Yuuto came to help out. 

But when he saw the mover using a power-assist exoskeleton, he realized that he’s probably not needed.

It’s a girl moving to a new house. There are many things they don’t want guys of the same age to see, so by being there he’s just disturbing her. — Yuuto thought like that.

“Marika, I’ll be taking my leave here.”

Yuuto said to Marika before going home.

“Okay, thank you.”

Marika replied, neither unwillingly nor coldly but normally, returning the farewell.

“Alisa, if it gets late, call me and I’ll come pick you up.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Alisa’s reply was friendlier than Marika’s. But whether she was treating him with too much formality was the question left unanswered.

◇ ◇ ◇

All by themselves after the furniture and electrical appliances were set up, Alisa and Marika went on to have some fun while finishing up the tableware and clothing.

They started just after noon, and everything was in its place before 5pm. Considering that it took two people to arrange a one room apartment meant for living alone, the result may not look the best.

Even though they were conversing, the tableware was promptly put in order. Most study materials are digital in this era, so it didn’t take long to deal with that. Despite living alone, Marika chose a small table for four people — that said, it’s really just for two — instead of a work or writing desk.

Storing the clothes took some time. This should be something quick to finish, but comments about size and design and the ensuing silence caused them to stop moving their hands. This freezing phenomenon happened a lot, particularly while putting away the underwear. When it comes to storing clothes, it was probably better if only one of them had handled the job.

Either way, the moving work was complete and everything including the bed was ready to use. Carboard boxes are used for transporting good even nowadays, but cardboard can be dumped into the general garbage collection at the end of the hall without even needing to tie it up. With the place cleaned up, Alisa called home as she said she would. It’s still evening, but if she goes home by herself, Yuuto will be quite annoying. He won’t yell at her, but that doesn’t make the lecture any less irritating.

‘I want you to stop treating me like a child’ is what Alisa truly thinks. But she understands that Yuuto is showing his genuine concern, so there’s nothing she can do.

“Hello, this is Juumonji speaking.”

Answering the called was a calm voice belonging to a girl younger than Alisa.

“Kazumi-san? This is Alisa.”

“Yes, this is Kazumi.”

On the other side of the call was Juumonji Kazumi, her half-sister who will soon begin her second year of middle school.

Despite being two years younger, Alisa doesn’t call her ‘Kazumi-chan’ and Kazumi also doesn’t treat her as an older sister. This wasn’t because she didn’t accept Alisa as family. Even when they saw each other in the house, Kazumi didn’t treat Alisa harshly. From the outset, she reacted to Alisa’s presence as just business, to the point that one could wonder if she really is the younger one.

“Should I get Yuuto-san?”

Before Alisa made her request, Kazumi preemptively asked, but not because Alisa talks to Yuuto regularly. It was simply Kazumi’s good guess.

“Yes, please do.”

And as usual, Alisa didn’t mind that she was being preempted.

“Please wait a moment.”

Though Alisa is making the call from her portable terminal, she’s using only the voice. These terminals also have a video call feature, but whether to use the camera during mobile calls or not is a matter of preference. And Alisa belonged to the sound-only faction.

Instead of using a sound communication unit, music on hold can be heard from the terminal that is directly placed on the ear as if it were an old smartphone. It’s a matter of Katsuto’s tastes that the Juumonji’s Family’s music on hold is not pop, but classical.

“I’ve taken over the phone. This is Yuuto.”

The eight-bar melody was stopped playing when Yuuto answered the call.

“This is Alisa. We’re done, so I will be going home.”

“Got it. I’ll be there right away, so wait a little bit.”

Alisa was going to calmly insist ‘I’ll go alone’, but she was given a quick reminder of who’s on the other side.

“Understood.”

“Well, see you in ten minutes.”

Since it’s ten minutes, he’s probably coming on foot. Looks like he’s still not overprotective enough to bring a car for a distance this short.

That doesn’t make her any less dissatisfied. What lurks in her heart unconsciously shows up on her face. Seeing the look on Alisa’s face, Marika accurately guessed the contents of the phone call she could not hear.

“You really are loved, Asha.”

“...It’s not like that. It’s true that Yuuto-san is kind to me, but he’s just concerned. I’m fine with that, but it’s not something like love.”

“Eeeh...”

Marika looked at Alisa, who gave a short rebuttal, looking like she has something to say. With her gaze, she was also criticizing Alisa.

“Is there something you want to say?”

Having no idea that Marika is criticizing her, Alisa asked straightforwardly.

“Nothiing.”

Marika coldly denied Alisa’s question. But Alisa, who was with her since they were small children up until two years ago, understands that Marika wasn’t pleased with her.

Also, it’s about something dumb.

“That’s not the face of someone who has nothing to say.”

Alisa looked at Marika, who was clearly avoiding the subject, with her eyes half-closed — the so-called scornful eyes.

“You got it wrong. I just thought it was like that.”

Marika’s tone had an obvious sulk to it. Alisa understood the essence of what her childhood friend was thinking.

“Even if it was true that Yuuto-san has feelings more intense for me than concern... I don’t have the kind of feelings you think I do, Mina.”

“But he seemed like a really nice guy. And he’s more handsome than your older brother.”

Marika talked back with an irritated tone.

The one she called ‘older brother’ is Katsuto, the current Head of the Juumonji Family. She last saw Katsuto two years ago, but Alisa didn’t contradict her comment.

Katsuto’s appearance is nearly identical to what it was two years before, and many women would agree than Yuuto is more handsome. Alisa didn’t say it, but she thinks so too.

“I’ve never looked at Yuuto that way.”

But that is a different matter. Alisa made that clear.

Yuuto was adopted into the Juumonji Family’s main branch, so in terms of blood relations, he’s a cousin. There would be basically no issue even if he was a target of her affection.

But truthfully, Alisa has problems with her other relationships within the family, and bringing a love affair into the house would surely make a relationship that is already spotty even worse. Alisa has no interest in stepping on such an easy to spot landmine.

It was probably transmitted to Marika that Alisa really dislikes this subject. Marika retracted her jealousy toward Yuuto, who had been by Alisa’s side for two years.

◇ ◇ ◇

It took eight minutes for Yuuto to ring the intercom in Marika’s room again. After saying ‘in ten minutes’, he arrived a bit ahead of schedule. But well, it’s within the margin of error.

“Excuse me.”

After Yuuto greeted them, he asked “You haven’t gone shopping yet?”

“Not yet.”

Alisa replied to the question with an obvious answer, a bit confused.

“You can’t cook either, right? Marika, would you like to come eat at our house?”

It’s possible that the question about shopping was the lead up to this proposal.

Yuuto was clearly saying it with good intentions. She just moved in, so it’s naturally difficult to go out to shop and cook at this time.

Marika also didn’t suspect he had another motive.

“Nah, I’ll get it delivered here.”

But she refused Yuuto’s invitation. Marika doesn’t have feelings one way or the other for Yuuto himself, but ill feelings still remained for the Juumonji Family, who took Alisa away from her.

Neither Alisa nor Yuuto could sense that, but they didn’t make her reconsider.

“Well, see you tomorrow, Mina.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

When Alisa announced in front of the door that she’ll come again tomorrow, Marika happily nodded.

◇ ◇ ◇

By nature, Alisa isn’t very talkative. She’s not silent, but she has a quiet personality.

Yuuto is also good at being considerate of others, but he doesn’t have a gentle character. He’s the kind who shows it through his behavior and actions rather than words. He doesn’t have any skill in making conversation with a girl.

The two of them spent the roughly ten minutes of the walk in near silence.

Finally, they could see the gate to the Juumonji residence.

The Juumonji residence itself is not very big. But given the location, it is so spacious that it’s hard to believe that this is Tokyo, even though this is the downtown area.

Which isn’t very surprising, given that the Juumonji residence inherited the entire site of the Former Tenth Research Institute, which closed down. At a glance, they look separated by a wall, but the land on which the undemolished facilities of the Former Tenth Research Institute stand is also owned by the Juumonji Family.

The Juumonji Family took over the real estate of the government-owned Former Tenth Research Institute because they were given the duty to manage it and prevent information leaks.

The Tenth Research Institute was closed in 2066. More than thirty years have passed since it was closed down, but even now many of its results are considered top of the line military secrets.

The Juumonji Family is the capital’s last defensive barrier, and the Tooyama Family is a secret weapon for the protection of important people. If the magic secrets of both families were to leak, it could create a hole in the wall protecting the center of the country. It was for that reason that the government appointed the Juumonji Family as the Former Tenth Research Institute’s gatekeeper.

Accordingly, despite the gate to Juumonji residence not being directly connected with the rest of the facilities of the Former Tenth Research Institute, it is more secure than it looks. From that gate, just one boy came out.

“Tatsuki, are you going out?”

The name of the boy Yuuto called out to is Juumonji Tatsuki. Yuuto’s brother-in-law, and Alisa’s half-brother who is younger than her by about six months.

Tatsuki didn’t ignore Yuuto.

“I’m going to walk around for a bit.”

He gave a very short answer with an annoyed face and tried to pass by Yuuto.

“At this hour? Are you done getting ready for tomorrow?”

Hearing the first part of Yuuto’s line, Alisa thought ‘I’m not the only one...’, and the gray mist weighing on her mind cleared up a little. But the second part of the line, made her once again aware of the thorns pricking her heart.

“I finished ages ago. If you’d like, I can leave right now.”

Tatsuki’s answer made Yuuto look abashed.

“Tatsuki-san, please return soon.”

Alisa appealed to Tatsuki, injecting herself into the conversation as Yuuto seemed to be at a loss for words. As Tatsuki is leaving tomorrow, a dinner with the whole family is planned for tonight. Tatsuki’s mother, Keiko, should also be putting her all for tonight, instead of leaving it to the automatic cooker.

Alisa thinks that it wasn’t possible for Tatsuki to forget that. But since Tatsuki’s departure was decided, Alisa has seen her stepmother with a lonely expression, and she couldn’t help but say something.

But Tatsuki didn’t reply back, he merely looked at her for a moment and quickly walked away.