Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 11 - Chapter 2

That Day’s Room 106

Tuesday, March 16th

Trying to preserve the beautiful flowers that they’d gotten from Koutarou, Theia and Ruth passed right through the apartment and headed straight for Blue Knight when they got back to room 106. Koutarou had intentionally taken the scenic route home, so by the time he got back himself, they were long gone.

“What are you doing, Satomi-kun?” Shizuka asked.

“N-Nothing much...” Koutarou replied as he stood there peering in the front door.

The two of them had bumped into each other on the way home and walked back together the rest of the way. As of late, Shizuka had been spending more time in room 106 than in her own apartment. It wasn’t unusual for her to stop by like this before going home after school.

“You’ve been acting strange today. Did you get into a fight with someone?” Shizuka, who loved gossip, leaned in intently.

“No, it’s not like that, but...” Koutarou smiled wryly and politely pushed Shizuka out of his personal space.

“Oh? That’s too bad.”

“What did you think it was?”

“A lover’s quarrel.”

“Landlord-san...”

“Welcome home, Koutarou, Shizuka.”

Kiriha welcomed the disappointed Shizuka and the amazed Koutarou with a smile. Wearing an apron and with chopsticks in hand, she appeared to be in the middle of preparing dinner.

“Thanks, Kiriha-san.”

“Yeah.”

Shizuka entered first, with Koutarou following after her. Kiriha had welcomed her home the same as she had Koutarou, and no one thought the slightest thing of it. She was already part of the family in room 106.

“Let me help, Kiriha-san.”

After removing her shoes by the entrance, Shizuka walked into the kitchen and took one of the aprons hanging on the wall. There were three in total: one each for Shizuka, Kiriha, and Ruth. After putting hers on, Shizuka walked over and stood next to Kiriha at the sink.

“Very well, but all that’s left is cutting up some vegetables.”

“Then I’ll do that. Will you prepare the tea, Kiriha-san?”

“Gladly.”

Shizuka washed her hands and began chopping vegetables for Kiriha. With her hands free thanks to Shizuka’s help, Kiriha got out the tray and tea set. Kiriha was better at preparing tea than Shizuka, and she knew it. Shizuka hadn’t just switched places with Kiriha because she wanted to help, but also because she wanted to drink some delicious tea.

“Oh, so we’re having hot pot tonight?”

After putting the groceries he’d brought home in the fridge, Koutarou walked past the two girls. Seeing the big pot on the stove, he could tell immediately what was for dinner.

“It’s still cold, but it’s almost April, so I figured we should have hot pot one last time before spring.”

Kiriha stopped what she was doing and smiled. She then lifted the lid of the pot and showed its contents to Koutarou. The miso and cooking stock created a fragrant smell that wafted throughout the kitchen. Dinner tonight would be mushroom hot pot.

“Nice. That looks great.”

“Heehee, I’m happy to hear it.”

Kiriha returned the lid to the pot and smiled again. There was nothing special in the gesture, but the look on her face conveyed deep love and gentleness to Koutarou.

“Koutarou, could you take the bag on the upper right shelf into the inner room?”

“Sure.”

Koutarou did as Kiriha asked and pulled a bag from the shelf. Inside it were rice crackers that Kiriha was planning on serving with the tea.

“I’ll bring this too.”

“Thank you, Koutarou.”

Koutarou took the tray out of Kiriha’s hands and carried it to the inner room. Kiriha followed after him, a few steps behind.

“Look out, Love Love Heart!”

“Run away! Hurry!”

In the inner room, Sanae and Yurika were glued to the TV. They were so focused on their favorite show that they hadn’t even realized Koutarou had come home. Koutarou thought it was rather cute, so he said nothing to interrupt them and set the tea tray down on the table without a word.

“I’ll leave the rest to you, Kiriha-san.”

“Certainly.”

Actually making the tea was Kiriha’s job, so Koutarou got out of the way in order to let her work her magic. He pulled a magazine he’d bought while shopping with Harumi out of his bag and sat down next to Kiriha as she began preparing the tea.

“Here it comes! The combination friendship attack!”

“Special Attack: Love Killer Heart Punisher!”

Koutarou started casually reading his magazine, but he gradually began paying attention to Kiriha. Nothing was wrong, however. In fact, that was practically the problem.

“Say, Kiriha-san...”

“Hmm?”

As Koutarou closed his magazine and started talking to her, Kiriha put down what she was doing and looked at him. Since she was in the middle of letting the tea leaves steep in the pot, she had a few minutes to spare anyway. Once he had Kiriha’s attention, Koutarou continued.

“Why are you still the same?”

Koutarou couldn’t help being a bit puzzled. On Valentine’s Day, Kiriha had learned that her first love was actually Koutarou. But it hadn’t really changed anything between them. Kiriha simply acted the same as she always had. She didn’t want to be doted on like Kii, and she hadn’t asked him to become her lover. It was almost as if the events of Valentine’s Day had never happened.

And that confused Koutarou. She had been searching so desperately for her first love, but now that she’d found him, she wasn’t acting on it. Koutarou had had enough trouble accepting that Kii and Kiriha were the same person, but she didn’t seem to have any such trouble with him.

“Heehee...”

Realizing what Koutarou was really asking after thinking about it for a moment, Kiriha smiled as she held her hand up next to her mouth. She then leaned in and whispered into Koutarou’s ear.

“But if Kii showed herself now, wouldn’t that just be trouble for you, Onii-chan? That goes for everyone.”

As Kiriha whispered that, she flashed a childishly Kii-like smile. But when she was done and sat back up straight, her normal mature expression returned.

“The surface invasion is proceeding smoothly. While things are going well, I still have to keep the opposition in check. That means I have other things to worry about, and Kii can’t get what she wants just yet.”

“I see...”

From that short explanation, Koutarou understood what Kiriha really meant.

Kiriha-san is prioritizing the situation with the People of the Earth over her own feelings...

Really, Kiriha was in a similar situation to Theia.

“Besides, Koutarou, judging from your personality, even if I did act on my own feelings, that would only make you push me away, wouldn’t it?”

“That might be true.”

Kiriha understood Koutarou’s position as well as he did hers. There was no way he could settle into a serious relationship with any of the invaders until all of their personal troubles had been resolved. Otherwise, the balance of power would shift unfairly, and that was something Koutarou wanted to avoid.

“So if I continue to behave as I have, you have no reason to try and push me away.”

And since Koutarou couldn’t choose, trying to force his hand in the matter would only mean getting rejected. So conversely, if she kept with the status quo, Kiriha knew that she would at least get to stay by Koutarou’s side. That’s all she wanted for now. It would make her personally happy, and it would put her in the best possible position for facilitating the surface invasion.

“We can worry about things like that in the future once everything else is taken care of.”

On top of it all, Kiriha knew that she wasn’t the only one who had feelings for Koutarou. Ignoring that and putting her feelings first would go against her way of doing things. She wanted to wait until everyone was fairly lined up at the starting line.

“Besides, you know how I feel for you. As things are, I can see your happy smile and feel your warmth nearby every day. What more could I ask of you than that?”

For these past ten years, all Kiriha had been able to do was project her feelings from a distance. But now, the boy she loved was right in front of her. They could laugh together and support each other this way, and that was enough for Kiriha for now.

“Even after everything has been resolved... I still might not choose you, you know?”

“It’s true. I know there’s a chance that might happen, but I won’t be pessimistic.”

Kiriha also had another reason not to rush her relationship with Koutarou.

Koutarou most likely won’t be able to choose even when all of our problems are resolved. A definitive piece is still missing...

Based on their relationship up until now, Kiriha felt like something about Koutarou’s approach towards women was lacking. Although she had no proof, after spending a year together with him, Kiriha felt like Koutarou had built a wall around his heart. Without understanding why, pushing her feelings on him would only end poorly for both of them. So before that, she needed to find a way to get over that wall.

And Kiriha knew she wasn’t the only one. No one else currently had the means to get through to Koutarou’s heart right now, and that put her at ease in a way. There was no hurry to try and make her move on him.

“But that’s—”

Kiriha’s decision was convenient for Koutarou. Too convenient, really. And the same could be said for Theia and Ruth as well. Regardless of how complicated the matters of room 106 were, even someone as ignorant in love as Koutarou knew that making these girls wait until he could make up his mind was bad.

That’s why he tried to object.

“Stop.”

But before he could, he was interrupted by Kiriha.

“You might not understand, but regardless of how low the chances of us ending up together might be, I have a good reason for waiting to hear your decision. That’s just how worthy of a man you are.”

Kiriha had no intention of backing off. Even if the odds were remote that Koutarou would pick her in the end, she still loved him dearly. And that sincere love—made ten times stronger by the past they shared—was the reason for her patience. Perhaps it was because she felt fate at work, but Kiriha couldn’t imagine herself together with anyone but Koutarou. And she believed that Theia and Ruth felt the same way.

Kiriha told Koutarou she would wait even knowing he couldn’t choose anyone. Koutarou was happy that she was so caring and understanding, but making her wait for nothing felt cruel. Those complex feelings intertwined and escaped his lips in the form of some particularly blunt words.

“That’s just stupid.”

“I know. But I am confident.”

In contrast to the worried Koutarou, Kiriha was full of confidence. She lightly patted her chest and smiled at Koutarou.

“Let me remind you of what I said in this room nearly a year ago.”

Tucked into her shirt underneath her hand was an old trading card. That card was the source of her willpower.

“Kii has waited underground for over ten years.”

“Ah...”

A particular memory popped into Koutarou’s head. About a year ago, they’d met here in room 106 for the first time—or, at least, what they thought was the first time. Back then, Kiriha had threatened Koutarou with very similar words.

“Heh, really, Kii and I have waited for ten years. But how long can you endure? Half a year? Maybe a year? We’ll do anything to make you nod your head.”

Kiriha was confident. After everything else had been resolved and Koutarou was able to see the invaders as love interests, she would use any means necessary to make Koutarou look at her. Between the bonds they shared now and everything that would deepen their relationship in the future, she was sure that Koutarou wouldn’t be able to say no to her—Kiriha or Kii.

“Wahahaha! How foolish, Love Love Heart! There’s no use resisting!”

Overflowing with more confidence than the villain in the TV show the other girls were watching, Kiriha was convinced that that warm feeling connecting her and Koutarou would bind them for all eternity.

As Kiriha finished preparing the tea, Shizuka finished preparing dinner, and Sanae and Yurika finished watching their anime, everyone gathered around the tea table.

“Ah, it’s rice crackers today.”

“Let’s eat!”

Sanae’s eyes sparkled. But Yurika grabbed some crackers and went into the package before her tea was even served.

“Don’t be so greedy, jeez...”

“Hey, Yurika, wait!”

Yurika’s mouth was wide open and she was just about to pop some crackers into it when she heard Koutarou sternly tell her to wait. She looked up at him with dissatisfaction in her eyes.

“Whaaat, really?”

“Are you sure you want to go with such a defiant attitude, Yurika? Don’t mind me, of course.”

“Woof...”

Yurika started to tremble at those words, and she timidly returned the crackers to the tray on the table. She knew she’d blown a good deal of her food budget for the week on shoujo manga, so she was depending on him to stay fed. She was at his mercy, and he was practically lording over her.

“Good girl. Just sit still for a while.”

“Woof!”

Yurika straightened her posture and stared longingly at the rice crackers. Meanwhile, Kiriha was placing tea cups out on the table. She set two down in front of Koutarou: one for him and the other for Sanae, who was currently clinging to his back.

“Paw.”

“Woof!”

“You may eat now.”

“Woof! Woof!”

Once everyone had their tea, Koutarou gave Yurika permission to eat her rice crackers. Once she got the signal, she swiftly snatched them up, opened her mouth wide, and began gobbling them down. Watching her, Koutarou’s shoulders slumped.

“...Can’t you be at least a little bit more proper, Yurika?”

As of late, Koutarou had taken it upon himself to try and improve Yurika’s manners. He couldn’t boast that he had the best table manners himself, but he just couldn’t stay quiet when he saw Yurika behaving this way.

“You’ll be a second-year high schooler soon, you know that?”

“Haff fooo hee?”

“Swallow you food before you talk.”

“Hokhay.”

Yurika picked up her cup and took a swig of tea to wash down the rice crackers.

“Hwoa!”

However, when she did, her expression changed.

“Fhaaah! Hoht, hoht, hoht!”

Since the tea had just been poured, it was still quite hot. It burned all the way down when she swallowed it, which took her by surprise, so she ended up spitting out the rest and flailing about in a panic.

“H-Hey, it’s tight quarters in here as it is, Yurika! Enough of that!”

“B-Buh iz hoht!”

“Ah jeez...”

Intervening, Koutarou grabbed Yurika with both arms, picked her up, and carried her into the kitchen. He poured her some cool water and made her drink it to soothe the burning sensation from the hot tea.

“Haaahh... I thought I was going to die...”

After drinking the water, Yurika seemed to be back to her usual carefree self.

“Yurika... why are you always like that?”

Koutarou, however, sounded utterly disheartened. Yurika could keep it together in an emergency, but when it came to everyday life, she fell short at almost every turn. Koutarou was seriously worried about her future. Scolding her was simply the result of that worry.

“B-But this was your fault, Satomi-san.”

“How, exactly?”

“It’s because you rushed me to swallow. It wasn’t my fault!”

“No, it definitely was your fault!”

“Oh? Are you going to carry me back like this too? Let’s gooo!”

“Walk there yourself!”

“Kyaaah!”

Crash!

Koutarou stomped back into the inner room in a sour mood. Yurika followed behind him, with both of her hands on her forehead and tears in her eyes.

“Satomi-kun.”

“Yes?”

Waiting for Koutarou to sit back down at the table, Shizuka turned to him with a grin.

“Please continue to look after Yurika-chan forever.”

“Me?!”

“Yes. I don’t think anyone else could manage her.”

“Forever?!”

“Yes. If you give up on her, she’ll probably drift down the wrong path.”

Shizuka was serious. She had been observing Yurika all this time, and her conclusion on the matter was that Yurika was nothing short of a total mess. It was bad enough that Koutarou sometimes ended up brushing her hair because he couldn’t stand it anymore. She only got by as it was because she had the responsible and dependable Koutarou taking care of her. The moment he gave up on her, her life would surely spiral out of control. But at the same time, Yurika was way too gullible and lax, especially around members of the opposite sex. If it weren’t for Koutarou, Shizuka was worried that Yurika would be taken in by some man with bad intentions.

“She’s right. I have a right to live too.”

Yurika sat next to Koutarou and nodded repeatedly. Even she knew that she would be in serious trouble without him.

“I don’t want to hear that from you!”

“Come on, Satomi-saaan! You know you love meee! Don’t be like thaaat!”

“You airhead! Do you want me to seriously hit you?”

“No way, Satomi-san. A gentleman like you would never—”

The distinct sound of fist meeting forehead rang out in room 106.

“...I-I will take some time to seriously reflect on my lifestyle. I’m so very sorry...”

“As long as you understand.”

“Yes, sir. May I eat a rice cracker?”

“I will allow it, private.”

“Thank you, sir. It’s an honor.”

“Satomi-kun...”

Seeing Koutarou easily whip Yurika into line, Shizuka was even more convinced.

I definitely couldn’t do that... Satomi-kun is the only one I can entrust Yurika-chan to after all...

Shizuka knew that Yurika needed to stick with Koutarou, regardless of who became his lover in the future, or something terrible would happen to her. So for Yurika’s sake and the sake of everyone who worried about her, Shizuka vowed that she would convince Koutarou’s future girlfriend to let Yurika stick around.

After that, there was some time to kill until dinner. The girls all sat around sipping tea, chatting, reading shoujo manga, and watching the news on TV.

“Koutarou, what is that you’re reading? Are you studying?”

Sanae didn’t have anything better to do, so she was clinging to Koutarou’s back as per her usual. But that alone was boring, so she took to peeking at what Koutarou was doing.

“Nah, it’s a magazine. Check it out.”

“‘Professional Wrestling Monthly’? So it’s about professional wrestling?”

“Yup.”

Sanae used her psychic powers to control Koutarou’s hand and flip through the pages. After skimming the magazine, she stopped on a particular page.

“Koutarou, I wanna try this move.”

“The scorpion deathlock, huh?”

Sanae wanted to try out one of the professional wrestling joint locks, the scorpion deathlock. It was performed by grabbing the legs of an opponent who was lying face down, and then bending their body backwards like a bow in order to strain several joints at the same time. Since it was a relatively easy technique to pull off even for an amateur, it seemed like a good start for Sanae, who knew nothing about wrestling.

Putting too much strength into the hold could make it hard for the opponent to breathe, so it was important to be careful to not overdo it. But that wouldn’t be a problem for Sanae. If her opponent was in pain, she would be able to tell right away thanks to the change in their aura. All around, it seemed like a good first technique for Sanae to learn, so Koutarou readily agreed to it.

“Sounds fun. Let’s try it.”

“Yeah!”

When Koutarou agreed, Sanae nodded excitedly.

“Okay, Koutarou, lie down.”

“Okay, okay.”

Sanae smiled as she pointed at the tatami mats. Koutarou followed her instructions and got down on the floor.

“Eeheehee!”

Sanae straddled Koutarou’s waist and eyeballed the wrestling magazine sitting on the tea table. She thought carefully about how the move was pulled off, and then decided to give it a try.

“Sanae-chan, if Satomi-kun has a hard time breathing, you have to stop right away, okay?”

Shizuka, who was well versed in martial arts, decided to offer a friendly word of warning. She knew of the risks involved with the technique, and that people got hurt from time to time trying to perform it.

“Ah, it’ll be fine. I won’t do it to the point Koutarou’s in pain.”

Sanae had no intention of hurting Koutarou. She was happy just to be playing around with him, and didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.

As of late, there had been some developments in Koutarou’s relationships with the people around him. Nothing was really different on the surface, but looking at their auras, Sanae could see the changes in Theia, Ruth, and Kiriha’s feelings. The auras they emitted were always gently enveloping Koutarou now. Sanae didn’t know what had caused it, but she imagined that Theia and the others had strengthened their bonds with Koutarou.

Sanae was envious, but it wasn’t outright jealousy. She felt like she was being left out, and that made her lonely. She wanted to get along with Koutarou just as much as the others did. That’s why she treasured these playful moments with him, even while wrestling.

“Here I go, Koutarou!”

“Yeah, give it all you’ve got.”

“Take this!”

Sanae held Koutarou’s legs and pulled, imitating the pictures in the magazine. As she tugged and lifted up Koutarou’s legs, they did somewhat resemble the tail of a scorpion. But all the while, Sanae took great care not to hurt Koutarou.

“How is it?”

“I can feel it stretching my lower back. It feels great, honestly, which... probably means something’s a little off.”

Sanae did her best, but she was still an amateur. She didn’t have a good grasp on the technique and her hold was weak. She was using her spiritual energy to try and pull it off, but her control of it wasn’t great unless it was an action or gesture she was familiar with, so she had a hard time replicating a wresting move she’d never used before.

“You have to interlock the legs.”

“Like this?”

“No, not like that. Like this.”

“How about this?”

“Hmm... You’re almost there, but...”

Koutarou tried to give Sanae pointers, but it was a bit difficult while she was practicing on him.

“Sanae, let’s stop for a minute.”

“Okay.”

Koutarou had her let him go temporarily so he could demonstrate the move. He figured that would be faster.

“Hey, Yurika,” Koutarou called, beckoning to her.

“Yesh?” she answered with a mouth full of rice crackers as she looked up from her shoujo manga.

“Could you lend me a hand for a moment?”

“Wha ish iht?”

Yurika had been so absorbed in her shoujo manga that she didn’t know what Sanae and Koutarou were up to. She approached, her mouth still stuffed with crackers.

“Could you lie down on your stomach here?”

“Ish iht somehing pervehed?! An in fron ohf Sanae-fhan?!”

“Of course not.”

“Then thas fhine... lihe thif?”

“Yeah, just like that. Thanks.”

“Hokay...”

Yurika didn’t understand, but she followed Koutarou’s directions. She stretched out and laid flat on her stomach on the tatami floor. Since there wasn’t much else she could do like this, she simply kept munching away on her crackers.

“Fuah?!”

Suddenly struck with an acute sense of pain, however, most of her mouthful of crackers ended up spewed onto the floor as she cried out.

“Wh-What is...?!”

Yurika was rendered completely immobile. The joints in her legs were locked and wouldn’t move. And with her legs raised up into the air, her upper body was being pushed into the floor, which made it hard to move. Her arms were free, but despite her best efforts to swing them in protest, she couldn’t escape.

“Ow, owowow! Satomi-san, help, it hurts!”

“Like this, Sanae.”

“Oh, I see.”

Not understanding her predicament, Yurika instinctively called out to Koutarou for help. But alas, he was the source of her pain right now, so calling for him didn’t do her any good. She was being used as a guinea pig for Koutarou and Sanae to try their technique on.

“Koutarou, I want to try too.”

“Before you do, you should hang on to me and get a feel for the technique.”

“Good idea! Okay... Here goes!”

“Gyaaaaaaaah!”

“Sanae, hold back a little.”

“Right. Sorry, Yurika.”

“S-Satomi-shan... i-isn’t this a little much... j-just for skipping on cleaning up the bathroom?”

“Actually, never mind, Sanae. You don’t have to hold back.”

“Got it.”

“Gyaaaaaaaah!”

Sanae was a diligent student, and thanks to that, it would be a while yet before Yurika was released from her punishment.

After Sanae had properly mastered the scorpion deathlock, she gave Koutarou a massage as thanks. She recalled him saying that stretching his back felt good while they were practicing the move.

“Koutarou, you can’t just sit on this kind of thing. Your circulation has gotten really bad.”

“I got it. I’ll let you know the next time I notice.”

“Good. Now just leave this to Sanae-chan!”

Sanae rubbed Koutarou’s back and shoulders like she always did. She roughly massaged his muscles with her Poltergeist powers while using her psychic powers to improve the flow of his spiritual energy. While Koutarou was receiving a nice massage, however, there was someone lying on the floor next to him and groaning.

“This... is just too cruel...”

It was none other than Yurika, their wrestling test dummy. She looked up at Koutarou with tears in her eyes, continuing to whine as she had been for a while now.

“If I had known this was gonna happen, I would have preferred something perverted...”

After being held in a joint lock for so long, Yurika was unable to move anything below her shoulders. All she could do was complain to Koutarou.

“I’m sorry, Yurika. We overdid it a little.”

Koutarou did feel a little bad. He’d gotten riled up and had gone too far. He hadn’t actually intended to hurt Yurika, so he honestly apologized.

“If you have to apologize for it, then please don’t do it to begin with!”

But that alone wasn’t enough to satisfy Yurika, and she continued to gripe about it. In stark contrast to earlier, she was now the one lording over him.

“But you’re the only one I can ask for things like this.”

The moment she heard Koutarou say the words “you’re the only one,” Sanae’s hands unconsciously twitched. No one seemed to notice it. Not Koutarou, not Yurika, and not even Sanae herself.

“You didn’t ask! You just did it all of a sudden!”

“Did I?”

“Yes, you did! And why me?! There are plenty of other people you could have asked!”

Yurika flailed her arms in a wild gesture indicating the other girls in the room. Kiriha and Shizuka were there, as well as Theia and Ruth who had just returned. They weren’t there when the incident had started, but either Theia, who Koutarou often got into fistfights with, or Ruth, who frequently had combat training with him, would have been a good fit for the job. Including Yurika, Koutarou had had five choices to pick from, yet he’d singled her out. She wanted to know why.

“That’s because they’re all girls, you know?”

After glancing at each of the other girls in turn, that was his answer. They were all teenage girls, and Koutarou was reluctant to ask them to do that kind of thing. It would have been especially hard to ask Theia, Ruth, or Kiriha since they’d all recently shared their feelings with him. Using wrestling moves on them was practically the last thing he wanted to do with them. It would just be too awkward. But Yurika didn’t like that answer.

“I’m a girl too!”

She was rightfully displeased. It was like Koutarou was saying he didn’t consider her a girl. Hearing Yurika’s outburst, however, the other girls began intervening.

“Well... if it’s Satomi-kun, I wouldn’t mind. He wouldn’t touch me inappropriately on purpose.”

“We wouldn’t really mind, right, Ruth?”

“That’s right. Her Highness and I are always doing similar things with Satomi-sama.”

“I wouldn’t mind myself. I’d just make him return the favor later on.”

Shizuka trusted Koutarou pretty implicitly, and she loved martial arts. None of the other girls had a reason to turn him down either. If anything, they would have been happy to help. But it was exactly because of that goodwill that Koutarou couldn’t ask them. That didn’t apply to Yurika.

“See?! Even they’re saying so! So why did you pick me?!”

“That’s because you’re... How do I put it?”

Koutarou had asked her because he felt like he couldn’t ask any of the others. But like she’d said herself, she was a girl too, so there had to be some other reason he’d specifically asked her.

“I demand a proper explanation!”

“It’s because you’re... uh...”

But whatever the reason, Koutarou couldn’t think of it.

Yurika looked like any other airhead, but Koutarou knew that she could be trusted in an emergency. He’d learned that firsthand when Maki had gone missing in the snowy mountains. Koutarou knew Yurika treasured her friends and worked hard for them.

And from what Koutarou could tell, Yurika was getting better at using Encyclopedia’s magic. Since she was so obsessed with magic, she’d seriously put her mind to learning it and was making great progress. As a result, in terms of ability, she was starting to catch up to Theia and Kiriha. She was no longer completely defenseless on her own.

On top of that, Yurika was a good friend to Harumi. They would give each other advice and go out to play from time to time. Harumi would always smile when she talked about Yurika, and there was no doubt in Koutarou’s mind about how much they meant to each other.

Adding it all up, Koutarou definitely cared about Yurika. He wouldn’t bother looking after her otherwise. So in that sense, Koutarou did think of Yurika as a girl too, and he wouldn’t ordinarily ask a girl to let him practice wrestling moves on her. Despite that, he’d had no problem asking her. Thinking about it after the fact, he realized that not even he understood why.

“...Why did I pick you?”

“Please don’t ask meee!”

Koutarou couldn’t come to a solid conclusion on the matter. It was quite a conundrum, but it slowly led to the realization that Yurika was indeed very special to him.

I wonder what this means...

Koutarou tilted his head in confusion. But since not even he understood his own feelings, the answer to the question he was pondering would evade him for a while yet.

“Satomi-san hates meee!”

“That’s not true. In fact, I was thinking of feeding you for free today.”

“Really?! I knew you were a good person the day we met! All riiight! Satomi-san really does love me after all!”

“So help me out with some more wrestling techniques.”

“Sure! W-Wait, no! I absolutely refuse!”

Listening to Koutarou apologize to an unhappy Yurika, Theia mumbled to herself as she opened the box for the day’s board game.

“In the end, Koutarou might be the most open with Yurika...”

She was only talking to herself, but Kiriha who was sitting next to her heard every word. After taking a sip of her tea that was starting to cool, she offered her own insight on the matter.

“That might be true. Compared to us, his guard around Yurika is surprisingly lax.”

Ruth, who was sitting on the other side of Theia, spoke up too.

“Satomi-sama only ever asks anything of Yurika-sama, after all.”

Kiriha and Ruth had noticed the same thing Theia had. Koutarou was incredibly kind to the people he got along with, but it was a one-sided affair in that he never asked for anything in return apart from simple favors like taking out the trash and the like. As far as the girls could tell, Yurika was the only exception to that. She was the only one that Koutarou had no problem asking for things, big or small.

Asking her to be a guinea pig for today’s wrestling lesson was just one such example. During their school trip, he’d made her go skiing with him. And before that, the two had stayed up all night writing manuscripts for their plays together. The list went on and on, but whenever Koutarou made a request like that, it was always Yurika he would ask.

“I’d like to know why...”

Kiriha revealed a small smile as she watched Koutarou and Yurika, who were lying on the floor and arguing. Though she wasn’t aware of it, Yurika was breaking through the wall that Kiriha had sensed around Koutarou’s heart. That’s why she was the only one in such a special position. Though she still had a ways to go before she broke through the wall completely, Kiriha wanted to know her secret. She’d have to break through that wall herself one day.

It was about that time that Sanae, who was massaging Koutarou, stopped.

“Now that I think about it...”

Sanae could hear what Kiriha and the others were whispering about too. Perhaps it was more accurate to say that she felt it, since it was spiritual waves she was picking up rather than sound waves. As long as a voice had strong feelings behind it, she could hear it even if it was just a whisper.

Koutarou has never asked me for anything either...

It wasn’t until she heard Kiriha and the others whispering about it that Sanae realized her relationship with Koutarou was also one-sided. She only ever relied on him. Even the massage she was giving him was something that she’d insisted on doing. When she thought back, he’d never asked her for one since they’d met. Or anything else, for that matter. Koutarou hadn’t asked her for a single important thing since they became friends. Even if Koutarou accepted Sanae’s reliance on him, it wasn’t like he needed her.

But Yurika is different... Why...?

Koutarou didn’t hesitate with Yurika—not even when it came to wresting moves. That told Sanae something. Koutarou needed Yurika.

I...

Sanae’s spiritual energy unconsciously flared up because of her desire to build a stronger bond with Koutarou. If someone with the ability to see spiritual energy had been around, they would have seen Sanae’s energy flooding not just room 106, but the entirety of Corona House. That was just how deep, strong, and pure her feelings were for Koutarou.

“Koutarou just respects me the most.”

“You sound quite confident, alien princess.”

In contrast to Sanae who was getting anxious, Theia remained confident. While she pulled the game board out from the box, she smiled as though she were completely unconcerned.

“But of course. I am a proud princess of the Holy Forthorthe Galactic Empire. As long as I am the noblest royal, the strongest knight will obey me.”

Theia no longer felt envious of what the other girls had going for them. She was determined to win Koutarou over with her own strengths. She would break through the wall around Koutarou’s heart in a different way than Yurika.

“That makes sense.”

Kiriha honestly admired Theia’s attitude, and she began thinking that she should do the same thing. She shouldn’t be mimicking what Yurika and Theia were doing; she should win Koutarou over the way Kii would.

I might have fallen behind from the start...

Kiriha flashed a bitter smile. While Yurika wasn’t aware of it, she was gradually slipping past Koutarou’s wall. And Theia was planning on breaking down that wall with sheer will. They’d both made more progress than she had. Kiriha was confident she could get over the wall herself, but it seemed she’d gotten a late start. That irritated her a little.

“What is everyone talking about?” Shizuka asked as she returned to the room with a tray in hand. She had gone into the kitchen to fetch more tea.

“We were just talking about how Koutarou and Yurika get along so well.”

“It really does look like it, doesn’t it? Just the other day, Mackenzie-kun was asking me if the two of them are going out.”

Shizuka loved that kind of gossiping, so Theia and Kiriha were willing to drop the conversation there.

“Koutarou, Sanae, Yurika, since we’ve got more tea, why don’t we play one game before dinner?”

Theia called for the others to gather as she spread out the game board on the table, but she couldn’t help laughing at herself for doing so.

Does this game even have any meaning apart from entertainment anymore?

In the past, Theia had planned to seize control of room 106 through games. But now the games they played were just games. If she were being honest, Theia no longer cared if she lost all of her points. It was important for her to be a good sport as a princess of Forthorthe, but she was no longer obsessed with winning. With that kind of attitude, she believed Koutarou would one day follow her.

In that sense, Theia’s victory was no longer required to clear her trial. In fact, she started to think that the ideal outcome would be if Koutarou won the battle for room 106 for her. That said, Theia couldn’t back down from a fight. And considering Kiriha’s circumstances, throwing the game now wouldn’t be good for anyone. That’s why Theia continued to play—to uphold her honor as a princess.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s go, Sanae, Yurika.”

“Okay...”

“Satomi-san, please help me up. I can’t move yet.”

“What am I going to do with you...?”

“This is your fault, you know, Satomi-san.”

“I know, I know.”

Oblivious to the other girls’ complex feelings, Koutarou casually carried Yurika over to the tea table.

“Can you sit up?”

“I want to lean against the wall.”

“Can you reach from there?”

“You move the pieces for me, Satomi-san.”

“Fine...”

Koutarou sat Yurika down in front of the wall and started to crawl over to the closest spot at the table so he would still be near her.

“All right—”

Just as Koutarou was about to say “let’s get started,” his view went dark and he lost his sense of balance.

What...?

He was overcome with a sudden case of vertigo as he was crawling across the floor. It was bad enough that he couldn’t keep himself upright and collapsed onto the tatami mat.

“Koutarou?!”

“What’s wrong?!”

“Satomi-san?!”

The girls all shouted out in surprise when Koutarou suddenly went down, but fortunately, he was quick to recover.

“Mast— Ah... Satomi-sama, are you okay?”

Ruth reached out to Koutarou, who had collapsed in front of her. He took her hand and picked himself up.

“Thank you, Ruth-san. I think it was just a little dizzy spell. Not a big deal.”

Koutarou smiled at the girls who worried for him. In truth, his head was still spinning a little, but he felt like it would pass soon. He was sure the girls were all concerned over nothing.

“Koutarou, do you get these kinds of dizzy spells a lot?”

Kiriha was especially worried, and she gave him a very serious look.

“It’s been a long time since I last got dizzy. I think it’s just because I was lying down for so long.”

Koutarou himself wasn’t particularly worried. He had been lying on the floor so Sanae could massage his back, and he suspected the dizziness was just a result of getting up too quickly.

“It’s nothing to worry about.”

“All right... If you say so...”

Despite Koutarou’s reassuring smile, Kiriha still had a grave look on her face. That puzzled Koutarou, but he took it as a sign of her concern for him and chose not to press the issue.

“Don’t scare us like that, Satomi-kun.”

“It seems like you haven’t trained well enough. I’ll have to reforge you.”

“You might have an iron deficiency. Let’s have liver or something similar tomorrow.”

“I don’t really like liver. But since it would be a waste not to, I’d still eat it.”

“Koutarou, I’ll give you a massage again later.”

Seeing Koutarou acting fine, everyone seemed to ease up. Sanae was even relieved enough that her complex expression softened into a smile.

“I’m sorry for startling you guys. Now let’s start the game. Dinner’s waiting, after all.”

And so Koutarou and the others began playing games like normal. They no longer looked like invaders fighting for territory, but like children that had gathered in the family room to play.