Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 12 - Chapter 7

A Day of Beginnings

Saturday, April 24th

Later that night, eleven people gathered at room 106. With that many people in such a tiny apartment, it was hard to even move.

Next to Koutarou at the tea table were Maki and Clan, who both seemed to be a little uncomfortable. Across from them were Theia, Ruth and Kiriha, who were all drinking tea. And on either side of them were Harumi and Yurika, and Shizuka, Sanae and Kanae respectively.

“Koutarou, should I really be here?”

“Yeah, Satomi-kun. Just a while ago, I was everyone’s enemy...”

“Just shut up and sit down, you two.”

Koutarou wanted to properly introduce Maki and Clan to the group. They’d both allied themselves with Koutarou, but because of their histories, they kept their distance from the other girls in room 106. Koutarou wasn’t pleased with that arrangement, so he thought he’d take this chance to try and set things right.

“So... I’ll start by introducing them. This is Clan...”

Koutarou patted Clan on the head a few times with his right hand when he said her name. Uncomfortable in this situation, she had her head hung low. She was extremely self-conscious of the fact that she was actively trying to kill Theia and Koutarou just a few months ago. And so she just sat there, staring down at the tea table like she was frozen in place.

“And this is Aika Maki-san.”

Next, Koutarou patted Maki on the head with his left hand. Maki was practically in the same boat as Clan. She was all tensed up and had a stiff expression on her face. She knew good and well what had happened between Maya and the Higashihongan family, so she didn’t dare look at either Sanae or Kanae. She was uneasy just sitting at the table with them, and clung to Koutarou’s sleeve for comfort.

“Clan and I went missing during the play, if you all remember. We reluctantly had to work together to get home, and we gradually stopped feeling any hostility toward each other. Ever since then, she’s secretly been helping me. Like the incident with Sanae, for example... Hey, don’t just sit there and clam up. Say something too, Clan.”

“Say something? L-Like what?”

Clan couldn’t come up with anything to say. She knew that she couldn’t get friendly with everyone after what she’d tried to do to them.

“Like your name or something.”

“Clariossa Daora Forthorthe...”

“I can’t believe you literally just said your name.”

“Y-You’re the one who told me to say it!”

Clan was so nervous that it was all she could do to give her name to everyone, but her interactions with Koutarou told them plenty about her personality and the kind of relationship they had.

“Well, anyways, as for Aika-san... You all know about Aika-san, right? She’s our classmate, after all. But as it turns out, up until today, she was actually an evil magical girl.”

“...”

When Koutarou revealed her identity, Maki held her breath and grabbed on to Koutarou’s sleeve even tighter. She knew it was bad.

“Aika-san became an evil magical girl because the woman who saved her was one too, but in the end, being evil just didn’t suit her. Aika-san saved me. And at heart, she’s a good, honest girl. She was only with the evil magical girls in the first place because she had nowhere else to go and she felt like she was paying her master back for saving her.”

“...Satomi-kun, I’m going home. I don’t belong here...”

Unable to endure the tension, Maki tugged on Koutarou’s sleeve and offered to leave. Koutarou in return put his hand on Maki’s shoulder and shook his head.

“Just sit down right there. If you run away now, where will you go?”

“Th-That’s...”

“You have to start your new life. You get that, right?”

“Yes...”

Koutarou persuaded her to sit back down and not leave. She had chosen her life as Aika Maki over her life as Dark Navy. That’s why she no longer had a place in Darkness Rainbow. But in order for her to live as herself, she had to face her past.

“We’re pretending that Aika-san has been captured, and we’ll keep her as our ‘hostage’ until things calm down. If we don’t, they’ll come after her and finish her off as a traitor. But in reality, she’ll just be continuing as our classmate.”

After saying that much, Koutarou looked around at everyone in the room before continuing.

“For my sake... I know this might be a difficult thing to ask of you considering the circumstances, but I want you to get along with these two. Please.”

Koutarou put his hands on the tea table and lowered his head. Maki and Clan followed suit and bowed their heads as well. They were both as stiff as could be. Their time of reckoning had come.

“There’s something I want to say.”

Theia raised her hand. Seeing that, Clan’s face turned pale.

“Me too!”

“I have something to say too...”

Sanae and Yurika raised their hands as well. Maki’s face went as pale as Clan’s.

These girls were going to ask them to pay for their crimes. Though they were fearful, they braced themselves for what was to come. They both knew they deserved this, and it was a necessary part of moving on.

“Go ahead.”

After raising his head, Koutarou urged the three who had raised their hands to speak. They all put their hands down on the tea table and leaned forward as they spoke.

“Does that mean that Clan will be included in the cleaning duty rotation schedule for the apartment?!”

“Hey, Maki! You’re a magical girl too, right?! Let’s make a new outfit for you to match ours!”

“Satomi-san, living in the wardrobe any longer is impossible! Now that Maki-chan is joining, I want to live outside the wardrobe!”

“...Huh?”

“...What?”

However, what the three girls had to say left Clan and Maki absolutely stunned. They both raised their heads in shock and stared at the other girls.

“Well, I guess she would be.”

“All right! Now I only have to clean once a week!”

“Isn’t that great, Your Highness?”

“Satomi-san, this is the perfect time to let me move out of the wardrobe and into the apartment!”

“That’s a no.”

“Why?!”

“I can’t let Aika-san stay in the wardrobe.”

“Mama! I need drawing paper!”

“Of course, dear. Maki-chan, that’s what’s happening, so are you free next weekend?”

Not one of them had an unkind thing to say to Clan or Maki. Not Theia, Yurika, Sanae, Kanae, or any of the other girls. If anything, they were welcoming.

“Aika-san, if you have nowhere to stay, why don’t you live with me? It’s convenient since it’s just upstairs.”

“Isn’t this wonderful, Clan-sama? Now I don’t have to sneak around when I come to see you.”

“Wh... Why...?”

“Why isn’t anyone saying anything...?”

This turn of events confused both Maki and Clan. Despite being their former enemies, everyone seemed ready and willing to accept them. Not understanding why or what was going on, the two confused girls sat there with blank looks on their faces.

“It’s because most of us were enemies at one point.”

Kiriha was the one to give them their answer. She then tilted her head a little to the side and gave Clan and Maki a warm, friendly smile. She was especially glad to see Clan after eleven long years.

“If we were to blame you for that, we’d have to treat ourselves the same way. And we can’t have that.”

At first, everyone in room 106 had attacked each other. They’d overcome that to get where they were now. They had no room to criticize Clan and Maki, nor did they want to. As long as they’d both had a change of heart, everything was and would be find. What was important to the girls and Koutarou was the here and now, not what had happened in the past.

“But Kii, even then—”

“Of course, that’s not the only reason.”

When Clan called her “Kii,” Kiriha’s expression became even gentler.

“Satomi Koutarou vouched for you, and we all believe in him. We trust him implicitly... Isn’t that the same for you two?”

“That’s...”

“Yes, it is.”

Maki was still dubious, but Clan’s expression softened. Having an old friend there helped a lot.

“Theiamillis-san, I formally apologize for my actions up until today.”

Clan properly bowed towards Theia, and in return, Theia nodded with a smile.

“I accept that apology. Don’t worry about it anymore. We may be rivals, but we can reach further heights by competing with respect for each other rather than hate.”

“Theiamillis-san... You’re right! And I won’t lose!”

“Heh, that’s the spirit. I won’t lose either!”

Clan and Theia had a laugh together. Seeing that, Maki glanced at Yurika and the Higashihongan mother and daughter.

“Satomi-kun.”

“Yes.”

Noticing that, Koutarou and Harumi tried to get Yurika and Maki to face each other. Yurika only seemed confused, but Maki suddenly tried to make a run for it. Koutarou had to stop her by grabbing her with both hands. After that, Maki finally gave in and quietly began apologizing.

“I’m sorry, Nijino Yurika. I’ve done a lot of terrible things to you.”

“It’s fine, Maki-chan. After all, if our saviors were reversed, I might be the one apologizing to you...”

Yurika accepted Maki’s apology. Nana had been the one to save Yurika, but that had just been luck. After seeing how Maki had changed for herself, Yurika felt almost no hostility towards her. The only thing bothering her was that Maki was still an official member of Darkness Rainbow. But she knew the circumstances were complicated and she couldn’t give up her title right away, so she decided not to bring it up right now.

“As for Kanae-san and her daughter, it seems my master did some horrible things to you...”

“That’s not your fault, Maki-chan.”

“Mama, did something happen in the past?”

“It did, but that’s all been resolved and has nothing to do with Maki-chan.”

“Hmm... Okay.”

“Thank you...”

Maki bowed her head to Kanae again.

And like that, Clan and Maki were accepted by the girls of room 106, and took their first steps into their new lives.

Though his worries about Clan and Maki had been resolved, there was still one more problem bothering Koutarou. And that was the matter of what to do with Sakuraba Harumi, who had been dragged into the middle of all this.

Harumi had suddenly learned how to control magic and Signaltin’s power. But not even she knew how or why. To her, it seemed like a side effect of fusing with Yurika. And without any other explanation, Koutarou and the others figured that was probably the case too. Yurika admitted that something strange had happened during the fusion, and the space-time quakes that Blue Knight had detected in the area at the time corroborated at least that much.

That meant that Harumi was now the third magician after Yurika and Maki. She was also capable of controlling Signaltin, though Koutarou asked that part be kept secret from the girls who didn’t already know. But with those powers, Harumi had become a somewhat unique assistant to Koutarou and the others. She wanted to use her newfound powers to help everyone, but one person in particular objected.

“I’m against this. Sakuraba-senpai has a weak constitution, and she’s not very athletic. It’s far too dangerous for her to always be with us.”

Koutarou was worried about Harumi’s wellbeing. It was clear that magic would put a strain on her body, and he didn’t like the idea of Harumi doing any fighting.

“I think it’d be better if we only let her help on occasion.”

For Koutarou, the ideal scenario was continuing to leave Harumi out of any trouble that came up.

“But Satomi-kun... I can’t just do nothing after learning about this!”

But just the same as Koutarou was worried for her wellbeing, she was worried about his safety. And that extended to Yurika and the other invaders. They were special to her. They’d all played a big part in the plays and helped her come out of her shell. She didn’t feel like she’d be who she was now without them, and she wanted to repay that favor by doing whatever she could to help them out.

“You’re all my precious friends! Please don’t leave me out! Please!”

That was the real reason she wanted to stand by Koutarou and the others. She wanted to help the people who’d helped her. She wanted to be with her friends. She wanted to be with the boy she loved. She knew better than anyone else just how lonely a life of just watching from a distance was.

“Sakuraba-senpai...”

Harumi’s earnest appeal was enough to make Koutarou waver. He wanted to keep her out of things for the sake of her health, but at the same time, he was worried that he might just be trying to keep her at a distance. He was torn. He didn’t know what the right answer was.

“...Satomi-kun, can I say something?”

As Koutarou was deep in thought, Maki raised her hand and asked for permission to speak.

“What is it, Aika-san?”

“Based on what happened today, chances are that Sakuraba-san will be a target for Darkness Rainbow. And in that case, keeping her close might be the best way to keep her safe.”

“That’s...”

Maki’s opinion was perfectly logical. Keeping Harumi at a distance would make it much harder to protect her. And with a clear threat like Darkness Rainbow around, they’d need to keep a close eye on her.

“But even then...”

Koutarou still couldn’t make up his mind. Like Yurika, fighting didn’t suit Harumi. If possible, he wanted her to live a normal, peaceful life.

“Koutarou, do you hate Harumi?” Sanae asked.

Koutarou shook his head.

“Of course not. I just want her to be safe.”

With an uncharacteristically serious expression, Sanae pointed her right index finger at Koutarou and spoke her mind.

“You know what, Koutarou? Protecting things that are precious to you is something you should do yourself. Keeping your precious things at a distance is one of your bad habits.”

“She’s right, Satomi-san! Let’s just make Sakuraba-senpai promise not to force herself, and then all of us can protect her together!”

Yurika agreed with Sanae. And it wasn’t just her, either. Everyone in the room was in agreement. They all shared the same feelings Harumi did. That’s why they felt she shouldn’t be kept out of things just because of her weak constitution.

“Satomi-kun, please!”

Harumi looked Koutarou right in the eye and pleaded with him.

“Hahh...”

And with that, Koutarou finally changed his mind.

“I understand. Sakuraba-senpai, please try to stay with us whenever possible.”

“Thank you, Satomi-kun!”

“However! You have to promise not to force yourself to fight if a battle erupts.”

“I understand! I promise!”

Tears of joy started welling in Harumi’s eyes as she smiled brightly.

Like that, another three invaders were welcome into room 106, which reached a previously unprecedented population density that evening. With everyone and Kanae in the apartment, they were all grateful it wasn’t summer yet.

However, the room stayed crowded until after dinner. Once everyone had eaten, the invaders each took their leave one after another. They all had their own business to attend to, whether it was starting work on their new lives or more personal matters, so the apartment slowly cleared out. Only Koutarou and Yurika remained now.

“This room feels so much bigger now that everyone’s left...”

Koutarou muttered as he looked at the front door and sat down at the tea table. Since it was just the two of them, his quiet muttering reached Yurika’s ears.

“Even though I don’t think like that at all when everyone is here...”

“Satomi-san...”

Koutarou’s figure looked awfully lonely to Yurika. She felt like she had to do something to cheer him up, so she decided to follow her heart and slowly approached him from behind.

“Take that.”

After positioning herself right behind Koutarou, Yurika got down on her knees and used her hands to cover his eyes. It looked just like she was hugging him.

“Yurika?”

“Heehee... Say, Satomi-san...”

Yurika whispered into Koutarou’s ear. Her voice was calm and gentle. It was just the two of them, and there was practically no distance between them.

“...Did I leave too?”

“Of course not. I just can’t see you.”

Koutarou could hear Yurika’s quiet voice in his ear. Her hands were pressed against his face, and her body against his back. Though he couldn’t see her, he knew for certain she was there.

“I think that’s true for everyone else too. Even if you can’t see them, their feelings are still around.”

“...Yurika...”

When Yurika pointed it out, Koutarou realized she was right. Though he couldn’t see them, he wasn’t alone. It was comforting.

“Heehee.”

But even then, all he could hear was Yurika laughing and all he could feel was her warmth. Her voice was so gentle and calm that he wanted to see her face right now. But at the same time, he just wanted to stay like he was. It was a strange feeling. Something he hadn’t felt before.

I see... So this is the real Yurika...

This was Yurika’s true nature, which was normally hidden by all kinds of things. It wasn’t until the two of them had spent time alone together that Koutarou could see it. It made it easier to accept certain things about her that had been difficult before.

“Yurika.”

“Yes?”

“You... really have been a magical girl all this time, haven’t you?”

And that included the fact that Yurika was a magical girl. It wasn’t until now that he was finally able to come to terms with it.

“Yes... I’m sorry for hiding it...”

“Don’t worry. I understand why.”

“Satomi-san...”

Koutarou wanted to protect his everyday life with Yurika as a normal girl, and she had gone along with that. That’s why he had no intention of being upset with her for keeping her identity a secret. In fact he felt quite the opposite.

“Thank you, Yurika.”

“Yeah...”

As Yurika responded to Koutarou, she gently pressed her hands up against his face. Just doing that was enough to convey how she felt. She then pulled her hands away and wiped away her tears. She wanted to keep her hands on his face a little longer, but crying made that difficult. After she dried her tears, she put her hands on Koutarou’s shoulders. And as if waiting for that, Koutarou started speaking.

“But... even if that’s the truth, I won’t admit it. To me, you’re just my classmate and a stupid, cosplay-loving freeloader.”

That was Koutarou’s wish. He wanted to think of her as a normal friend and not a magical girl. That was something he could only say when the mood was like this and when they weren’t looking at each other.

“Satomi-san...”

With her hands still on Koutarou’s shoulders, Yurika started crying again. But she didn’t move to wipe her eyes. No, these were warm tears of joy. She felt like it would be a waste not to treasure them.

“I... I would prefer it that way too...”

Yurika wanted to succeed Nana and become a splendid magical girl. But at the same time, she wanted to be a normal girl when she was with Koutarou. She wanted to spend her everyday life with him. She felt like that would give her the courage to overcome anything. And in that sense, Yurika and Koutarou’s wishes were the same.

“That’s why... I’ll work my hardest to make sure you don’t have to be a magical girl.”

If an enemy appeared, they would work together to drive them away. If there was a mission that had to be accomplished, he would help her finish it as soon as possible. He wanted to limit the amount of time that Yurika had to spend being a magical girl.

“Yeah...”

Overwhelmed with emotion, Yurika wrapped her arms around Koutarou and tightly embraced him. Right now she could understand how Sanae felt. As close as they were, Yurika still wanted to be closer to him, so much so that she would enter his body if she could. But because she wasn’t a ghost, she just hugged him tightly instead. She didn’t know any other way to convey her feelings.

“So you just take it easy and cosplay to your heart’s content...”

“I’ll believe in you... Satomi-san...”

In the end, Yurika was a cosplayer. She put her life as a magical girl behind her, and continued to cosplay, go to school, and live with Koutarou as a normal girl. That’s what both Koutarou and Yurika wanted. It was the future they both wished for.

And the two of them stayed just the way they were for a while. Having come to such a deep understanding about their feelings, they felt like they didn’t need anything else.

Wait... at this rate, Satomi-san and I...

But at some point, Yurika’s heart started beating faster. She felt like her heart was telling her it was time to advance their relationship past just supporting each other and become lovers.

We might... be able to kiss... If I get a little closer...

Yurika loved Koutarou, and she was convinced that Koutarou treasured her in return. That’s why she felt like they would be able to move to the next stage if she did this. Her heart was screaming for her to take the next step.

“Yurika, it’s about time...”

“Y-Yeah...”

Yurika thought her heart might stop altogether when Koutarou whispered those words. She thought it meant that he felt the same way. She was over the moon.

If I died right now, I’d die happy...

Koutarou removed Yurika’s arms from around him and forcibly pulled her closer. Yurika didn’t resist. She simply entrusted herself to Koutarou. Her heart was racing as she imagined what was to come. She was at the very peak of happiness.

“Grab your pen. We’re starting.”

“...Huh?”

But sadly for Yurika, things didn’t play out the way she’d hoped.

Koutarou forced her to sit down next to him and put a pen in her hand. Surprised by this, Yurika looked up at him in confusion. When she did, she saw him holding a large stack of books.

“W-Wait, Satomi-san, isn’t it a little early for that?!”

Yurika started panicking. Unable to process the growing gap between her dreams and reality, she desperately tried to stop Koutarou.

“If anything, it’s too late! We’re going to go over how to calculate volume tonight! You don’t have any time to spare!”

However, Koutarou was ruthless. He’d already killed the mood from just a moment ago. To Yurika, it looked like the demon tutor from this morning had returned.

“That’s not what I meant! Why can’t we just take a little more time to confirm our bond and love?! Physical contact is important, you know?!”

Yurika thought she was only being reasonable. There was a proper order to these things.

“We can do that all we want later! But now’s the only time you can study! We’re already behind schedule, Yurika! Don’t you understand?!”

Koutarou immediately and thoroughly rejected her proposal. He wasn’t a man who knew how to hold back.

“You’re the one doesn’t understand!”

Yurika knew how the rest of the night would go now, but she refused to accept it. She slammed her fists into the table and tearfully objected.

“Normally this is where things get more romantic! Where we gaze into each others eyes! Hug and kiss! This is wrong, this is completely wrong!”

“Shut it and get to work! You don’t have any rights until your grades go up!”

“Noooooooo, I don’t want thiiiiiss!”

She was heartbroken now, but Yurika would later look back on this and remember it fondly as the day her wonderful everyday life began.

While Yurika was spending another miserable study night with Koutarou, Kiriha and Theia were staring at each other inside the maintenance area of Blue Knight’s hangar. They were in the middle of some kind of work.

“There’s no mistaking it. This is without a doubt spiritual energy technology.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. What’s more, this is even more advanced than the currently produced models. It’s not just a cheap knockoff someone was able to produce.”

The two of them were analyzing Maya’s severed machine arm, and they’d just now gotten their results.

“Which means that it’s a prototype developed by the People of the Earth?”

“It must be. All of the parts are high quality, even where it’s not necessary. This is the hallmark of a test model.”

Maya’s artificial arm had been made using the People of the Earth’s technology. On top of that, it was a cutting-edge design, far surpassing that of Karama and Korama. It seemed to suggest only one thing.

“So the magicians are close enough with the radicals that they were given such an expensive prototype... This sure is problematic...”

“Since Maya was behind the incident eleven years ago, it seems evident they’ve been working together since then.”

Kiriha had never seen spiritual energy technology in the shape of a human limb. That meant it was developed in secret, likely by the faction that opposed her. In other words, the People of the Earth’s radical faction and Darkness Rainbow were working together.

When Kiriha was kidnapped as a child by Maya, she supposedly had some kind of spiritual energy technology then as well. Kiriha had only recently learned that from Kanae and Yurika, but it meant that the radical faction and Darkness Rainbow had been working together for at least eleven years now.

“What do you make of the situation, Kiriha?”

“Considering the fact that they’ve given this prototype to the magicians, they must already have the data they need for mass production. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re being manufactured already. And if they gave this to the magicians, they probably received something equally valuable in return.”

“If that’s the case, your people will have to rethink your strategy.”

“Indeed. I need to report this to the chief right away.”

Mortified, Kiriha gritted her teeth.

I just hope I’ll make it in time.

If the radical faction was supplying Darkness Rainbow with their technology, it was safe to assume that Darkness Rainbow was reciprocating. It seemed highly likely then that radical faction had obtained the power of magic without Kiriha and the others finding out about it. Worse yet, it was likely powerful magic. And if the radicals used that newfound power against the conservatives who had no knowledge of magic whatsoever, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Kiriha and her allies would have to come up with countermeasures before the radical faction took action.

Their conversation on the matter, however, was interrupted when Theia’s bracelet started vibrating. Theia raised her arm slightly and opened a holographic window. She was getting a report that she’d received communications from Forthorthe.

“What is it?”

“I’ve received a message from my home planet.”

Theia walked up to a nearby terminal and called up the long-distance communications system.

A concealed line using gravitational waves? That’s top-tier encryption... What’s going on?

Getting a bad feeling about the level of security used on the incoming message, Theia opened it warily. A mere moment later, her eyes shot wide open.

“Wh-What?!”

“What’s wrong?”

Worried after seeing Theia’s reaction, Kiriha ran up to her. Theia started to explain the contents of the message in a fluster.

“My mother... It seems my mother has fallen ill!”

“Oh dear!”

That was why so many security precautions had been taken with the message. After all, it was delivering the news that the current leader of the Holy Forthorthe Galactic Empire, Empress Elfaria, had fallen ill.