Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 33 - Chapter 3

Episode 3: A Nostalgic Place

It was a lovely morning in Kisshouharukaze City. As Koutarou and Shizuka were out behind Corona House coaching Ruth and Clan, Kiriha and Maki exited room 106. They looked as cute as always, but they were clearly dressed up to go out. Noticing this, Shizuka called out to them.

“Oh, and where are you two going?”

They weren’t dressed formally, but they certainly weren’t in their everyday wear. They’d both found a great median, neither too overstated nor too plain. Shizuka’s female intuition told her they were dressed to go out somewhere special.

“We are going out, but we’re not going out together,” Kiriha answered with a smile.

“We just happened to be leaving at the same time, but we have different business to attend,” Maki replied in kind.

Today was Sunday, and both girls had been invited out by their circle of friends. They ran in different circles, however; they’d simply bumped into each other on the way out for the day.

“Well, goodbye for now.”

“See you later, everyone.”

With their respective rendezvous coming up, both girls were pressed for time and took their leave without dallying. Neither Kiriha nor Maki were the type to be late.

“Later.”

“Bye-bye!”

“See you.”

“Have fun.”

Koutarou, Shizuka, Clan, and Ruth momentarily paused their training to wave goodbye. As they stepped out onto the street, Kiriha and Maki turned to wave back before going their separate ways. Kiriha turned right and Maki turned left.

“By the way, Landlord-san...”

“Hmm?”

“How did you know they were going out?”

“Oh, Satomi-kun... You’ve been with us for so long, I think it’s high time we work on that with you.”

“Easier said than done, Landlord-san...”

“Honestly. Isn’t it cruel to expect that much from Veltlion?”

“I rather think this part of him is cute...”

“Nuh-uh! Park your keister right here, Satomi-kun!”

“Okay...”

“We’ll start with the very basics! First off, small changes in hairstyle mean—”

Once Kiriha and Maki were out of sight, the Corona House crew got back to their training... albeit a very different kind of training now.

Today, Kiriha had gone out with classmates. Since she played the part of the sociable transfer student at school, her peers made sure to include her in all of their group activities. Her classmates—both girls and boys alike—also frequently came to her for advice, and she had a reputation for giving clear, sage guidance. Partially as thanks for that, and partially because of it, everyone was always very welcoming of her on their outings.

“So you see, Kurano-san, that wasn’t really what I meant. It just looked like that to everyone else.”

“The question is whether or not you can talk to your crush without your childhood friend present. If you can’t even talk, a relationship would never work either way. Moreover, your relationship might seem like a slight to your childhood friend.”

“...So I need to choose who I really need?”

“Yes. I think you’ll find that you care about your childhood friend just as much.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll think it over. Thank you, Kurano-san!”

Fortunately, Kiriha was able to put the heart of the girl asking for advice today at ease in no time. Seeing her smile, Kiriha let out a sigh of relief before smiling back. She’d carried her own love for over ten years, so she was especially sympathetic when it came to other people’s feelings.

“Oh yeah! What about you, Kurano-san?”

“What about me?”

“Don’t be coy. I’m talking about boyfriends. I bet you have one or two!”

“I don’t.”

“No way! Really? Then what about Blue Knight-sama?”

“You mean Satomi-kun?”

“Yeah, him. You’re always looking at him.”

“It’s a shame he’s not looking at me.”

“Ahaha, I guess not even Kurano-san’s above unrequited love!”

Kiriha had originally come to Harukaze High on a mission. She was already well beyond a high school education and certainly more mentally and socially mature than even most university students. But right now, she couldn’t be happier to be a high school student. Not only was she able to learn about the lives of surface dwellers, she was actually making friends with them. She was getting to learn and experience all kinds of things for the first time—things she never would have cooped up underground.

Today, Maki was out with people she’d gotten to know through the cosclub. Normally the cosplay society went out with a couple of people from other clubs, including the fashion and manga societies they’d gotten to know through mutual club activities. And today was similarly being considered a club activity: costume research. By observing the professionally costumed characters at the amusement park, they might learn something about how to better bring their own costumes to life. Or so they said. It was really just an excuse to come to the amusement park, and they veered away from their alleged goal almost as soon as they arrived.

“I see... So they concentrated all the flaws of a 2D-costume made 3D and hid them behind the shield. As long as that shield stays up, no one will ever see them...”

“Maki-chan, you’re so serious!”

“But we came all this way—”

“Yeah, we came all this way, so let’s play! Come on!”

Since she’d been invited for a research outing, Maki was trying to do some research in earnest. But the other girls, who’d long forgotten their objective, were fully ready to have some fun. Maki looked troubled for a moment but soon broke out into a smile as well. As of late, she’d gradually been learning how to youthfully throw her cares to the wind, which softened the icy air she once had around her and warmed up her relationships with others.

“Now that that’s settled, let me ask you something, Maki-chan... Are you going out with Satomi-kun? The boys in my class keep bugging me to ask you.”

“No, we’re not going out.”

“It sure doesn’t look that way.”

“Really?”

“You two act like you’ve been dating forever, or like you’re childhood friends or something. It’s almost like you can understand what the other is thinking without saying anything... you know?”

“But honestly, we really did just meet last year and we’re really not going out.”

“Then would you consider going out with another boy if he asked you?”

“That’s...”

“So you do love Satomi-kun?”

“Um... yes.”

Maki’s cuteness and her earnestness played off of each other well, giving her a special sort of charm. Thanks to that, she was secretly quite popular with the boys—but only secretly, as the boys found it quite hard to talk to her for some reason. Lately, however, her change in attitude had made her more approachable, and as such, Maki’s popularity was skyrocketing. The boys were more interested in her than ever, and the girls found it easier to invite her out than before. Maki, of course, was unaware of all this, but she knew deep down in her heart that she was changing for the better.

Kiriha and Maki had been invited out by different circles of friends today, so bumping into one another came as quite a pleasant surprise.

“Oh, Kiriha-san?”

“Hello, Maki. Fancy meeting you here.”

Despite parting ways earlier, Maki and Kiriha ran into each other again at the amusement park. It was an unplanned, serendipitous reunion. They were out with different groups of friends, but just so happened to be at the same place. While there weren’t all that many places for teenagers to gather and have fun in Kisshouharukaze City, it was still a remarkable coincidence.

“What’s the matter, Kurano-san? Are you... Oh, if it isn’t Aika-san,” one of Kiriha’s friends called out.

“Hello there,” Maki said with a small wave.

“Maki-chan, do you know these people?” one of her cosplay society clubmates asked.

“These are my classmates,” she replied.

“Well, what a coincidence... Since we’re all here, why don’t we go around the park together? I bet it’ll be more fun that way!” the cosclub member suggested.

And so the two circles of friends merged into one large group. Honoring the old adage “the more the merrier,” they all decided it would be more fun to walk the park together.

“Things are getting interesting, don’t you think?” Maki asked Kiriha as they walked along.

“Indeed. I never expected this when we left the house this morning,” Kiriha replied.

“Heh, me neither. But it seems like fun.”

“I agree. So why don’t we enjoy ourselves?”

Maki and Kiriha had no objections to combining groups, of course. They both knew it was a rare coincidence that would make for a fun day.

A new Kabutonga series was produced last year for the first time in a decade. It received high praise upon its debut and a sequel had already been announced. The theme park was taking full advantage of the hype and had staged a special exhibition as a promotion, and it was here that Maki tagged along with Kiriha for some shopping.

“I didn’t think you’d be interested in this kind of stuff, Kiriha-san.”

“I was a child once too. And when I look at such things, I recall those days with great fondness... It’s quite nostalgic.”

To everyone’s surprise, it was Kiriha that had insisted they drop by the Kabutonga exhibit. Maki in particular—knowing how mature Kiriha was—was especially surprised to see how invested she was in it.

“But you’re a girl... I can’t really imagine you being so interested in an anime aimed at boys.”

“I can’t blame you. But if it were just about the anime, I wouldn’t have been so invested in it for ten years.”

There, Kiriha smiled and pulled an old trading card from her bosom. It was a commemorative Kabutonga card that had lost all of its foil sheen over the years. The face of it was also scribbled on with magic marker. Kiriha herself had written her name on it ten years ago... No, eleven years now.

“Whenever something serious happens, I always see you staring at that card.”

“Indeed. This is proof that I’ve held on to my feelings for ten years, so whenever I look at it, I can feel courage well up from within. You could say... it’s something like a good luck charm.”

“Would you tell me more about it?”

Maki was interested in Kiriha’s good luck charm. She always saw her staring at it pensively before major battles and similarly serious events, and she was curious to know what could give Kiriha such courage.

“Hmm... Only if you promise to share with me something of equal value.”

Of course, the story of that card was special to Kiriha. She wouldn’t share it with just anyone, so Maki would have to repay her in kind. Really, Kiriha knew that Maki had a similar story to tell, which was why she proposed the exchange.

“I will. I promise,” Maki agreed with a nod and a smile.

It wasn’t her intention to get Kiriha to divulge her secrets for free. She was willing to buy her lunch if that’s what it took, or even something else. Sharing special memories of her own seemed like a paltry price.

There was only one problem with the two circles of friends joining up for the day, and said problem presented itself at lunchtime. With over a dozen people, they couldn’t all get a table together in any of the restaurants. So for practical reasons, they decided to temporarily split up to eat. That way, everyone could get what they wanted and they wouldn’t have to worry about finding tables for larger groups. They all agreed on a time and place to regroup, then set out in twos and threes to find their meals. It was an ideal solution for the situation.

“Now then, where should I start...?”

“What kind of kid were you, Kiriha-san?”

Taking advantage of their lunch break, Kiriha and Maki took a seat on the sunny lawn, crepes and milkshakes in hand. They had over an hour before they were scheduled to reconvene with the group, and the warm afternoon sun shining down on them made the perfect atmosphere for their chat.

“I was a very active child.”

“That’s really hard to imagine.”

“That’s what everyone says... I was a bit boyish. I even kept my hair short to keep it from getting in my way.”

“So you were a regular tomboy?”

“That’s why I had an interest in Kabutonga too.”

“Ahaha, I get it now.”

As promised, Kiriha started telling Maki about when she was a child, which was the start of the story of her fixation on Kabutonga and the origin of her good luck charm.

“But my boyishness might have been for the worse. When I lost my mother, I got into a fight with my father over something serious and ran away from home—all the way up to the surface.”

“I suppose if you’d been more ladylike, that never would’ve happened, huh?”

“Certainly not, but that was the start of everything. I ended up meeting him because of my boyishness... and that’s where this card came from.”

Kiriha pulled her card out again and gazed upon it fondly, nostalgia and deep love cohabitating in her eyes. Maki could feel the strong emotion coming from Kiriha, making even her own heart throb.

“Before she passed away, my mother told me that she would become a blue star and watch over me when she left this world. So when I saw a blue shooting star that night, I was convinced it was my mother coming back to earth.”

“A blue shooting star...? Ten years ago? You mean...”

Maki was already picking up on key elements of Kiriha’s story. Maya had told her about the night a blue shooting star streaked across the sky and about the boy who wielded a sword that could dispel mana. And not too long ago, Clan had told her that she and Koutarou had made a brief stop ten years in the past on their way back to the present. Maki was smart enough to connect the dots from there.

“So you met Satomi-kun chasing after that blue star?”

Ten years ago, Koutarou had returned to Earth on the Cradle. Before freezing time on the ship for the last jaunt to the present, he ended up meeting a young Kiriha.

“Indeed. Back then I was a real tomboy and only caused trouble for Onii-chan...”

“Knowing Satomi-kun, there’s no way he would’ve left you be, Kiriha-san.”

“Yes, though it’s embarrassing to think about it now.”

There, Kiriha blushed. But not out of shame. Though the foil sheen on her card had long faded, her feelings never would.

“Onii-chan made me promise to go back to my father after seeing the Kabutonga movie.”

“I think I see where this is going.”

Maki smiled. After hearing Kiriha’s story, Maki had a much better understanding of why she treasured Kabutonga and the card she carried. Maki knew she’d feel much the same way in her position.

“We came to this park, saw the movie, got this card... We rode all of the rides at the time... except that one.”

“The rollercoaster?”

“I wasn’t tall enough at the time, and it was oh-so frustrating.”

“Heehee... How heartwarming.”

“I was just a child back then.”

Kiriha had been telling her story with a smile so far, but here her expression clouded over and her voice got low.

“But on the way back home, I was attacked by the underground’s radical faction.”

“Ah...”

This sounded familiar to Maki too. Ten years ago, Maya initiated contact with the underground. She essentially acted as a covert operative for the radical faction, and if they made a move, there was a high chance that Maya had been involved. But Kiriha had specifically avoided mentioning her name. She had no wish to inflict guilt on Maki; the emphasis here was on something much more important.

“Because of that, he was faced with a grave dilemma. It was the same day he would lose his mother, you see, so he was forced to choose.”

“That’s...”

Koutarou knew exactly when and where his mother would meet her mortal end. But young Kii’s life was simultaneously in danger, and he couldn’t be in two places at once. That meant he had to choose between letting a little girl or his own mother die.

“...In the end he came for me, claiming it was the right choice.”

“That’s... just like him.”

“And because of that, he was unable to save his mother. He had to lose her all over again.”

Kiriha cast her eyes downward. That day was the most powerless she’d ever felt in her entire life. It was her greatest regret.

So that’s what happened...

Kiriha wasn’t actually shedding any tears, but Maki felt like she was crying on the inside.

“Seeing him wailing... It was that day I swore to myself that I’d grow stronger. Strong enough to protect him.”

“And that’s when you fell in love...”

“I think I fell in love before then, but it was then that I decided I needed him and he needed me. That we needed each other.”

“So you came to love him as a woman.”

“It wasn’t that clear of a feeling. I was just desperate to save him and make him happy.”

There, a smile returned to Kiriha’s face. Her feelings from back then had supported her for over a decade, and they continued to do so now. Her smile revealed that deep, trusting love.

“Because I was a child, I stupidly believed that our meeting was fate. And that something wonderful would happen as long as I didn’t give up and continued to feel for him.”

“...It’s a good thing you didn’t give up, then.”

“To be honest, when I came back to the surface again ten years later, I had almost given up. For better or worse, I had grown up.”

“But you could never completely give up, could you?”

If she had been in Kiriha’s position, Maki knew she probably wouldn’t have been able to give up either. And she was sure Kiriha never would. It was love for the same boy that sustained them both, after all.

“That’s right. I loved him for ten years, those feelings firmly engraved in my heart. I could logically understand that he was probably living a happy life already, but my heart couldn’t accept it. That’s why I had to confirm it for myself.”

Ten years was a long time, and people changed. Kiriha certainly had. So she resigned herself to being satisfied as long as her first love was safe and happy. She didn’t need him to accept her.

“Fortunately, we were able to reunite... and now I can stay by his side. There’s nothing more wonderful.”

Kiriha held her hands against her voluptuous chest with a truly happy smile on her face. Now that everything had been resolved underground, she was free to pursue her love to her heart’s content. She could love Koutarou in earnest, just as she’d done ever since she was a child.

“I think I understand the significance of that card to you now. It’s something like a reminder of your love, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Heehee, then I wish you and Satomi-kun the best. I hope you’re both happy.”

“That’s the plan. And I’m willing to do what it takes to get there.”

“I get that. I feel the same way.”

Maki smiled back at Kiriha, carrying a similar love in her heart. She was as hopeful and determined about the future as Kiriha was.

“Now then, it’s your turn, Maki.”

“But my story isn’t as grand as yours, Kiriha-san...”

“It’s not a matter of how grand it is. It’s about the feelings that came out of it.”

“Okay... It’s a little embarrassing, but...”

It was now Maki’s turn to tell the story of a girl who longed for love but was only treated to isolation and distrust. The sad story of a girl who could only find a way to live by hurting others. The humble story of how the evil magical girl Dark Navy became the girl known as Aika Maki.

Maki had initially believed Koutarou to be a formidable enemy, both in terms of strength and strategy. But, really, it was all a misunderstanding.

“As you know... I thought that Satomi-kun was a mastermind who’d given Yurika a cover story as a cosplayer.”

Just admitting that was embarrassing now. Maki munched away on her crepe with red cheeks in an attempt to hide it.

“Of course. Magical girls always try to hide their identity, so it was perfectly reasonable to think so.”

“I never could have imagined that she was being treated as a cosplayer because of a misunderstanding. And Satomi-kun was so strong when we fought that I couldn’t help thinking he was powerful.”

Out of kindness, Kiriha didn’t tease Maki for her previous misapprehensions. She simply smiled and listened as Maki told her story.

Maki took a sip of milkshake to collect herself before continuing.

“That’s why all I could think about at first was how to defeat him. I still considered him a formidable foe and mistook whatever he did as part of some grand plan... I only ended up confounding myself that way. I feel rather stupid looking back on it.”

Maki smiled as well, but her smile was far more self-deprecating. She’d wasted so much time fighting an imaginary foe. Even Koutarou had realized Maki wasn’t an enemy before she came to see the truth.

“So what was it that reconciled the misunderstanding? Considering the situation you were in, it must have been something rather serious.”

The more she confounded herself, the more serious things seemed... and the more certain Maki became that Koutarou was a terrible enemy. With things at a head, Kiriha was right. It would have taken something very serious indeed to turn it all around.

“Heh, you see right through me, Kiriha-san... You’re exactly right. It was the night I was attacked by a rampaging demon and nearly died. It was then I finally realized what kind of person Satomi-kun truly is.”

She could remember it clearly even now. As she lay dying, she had a dream of a small boy. It was a young Koutarou, covered in his late mother’s blood. At the same time, Koutarou dreamed of a young Maki all alone, freezing and starving to death. And when they saw visions of each other like this, they’d both reached out to try to help one another.

“It was like a sudden reversal. He was always on my mind after that. My eyes were always chasing after him. How could I get him to like me? How could I protect him? Such thoughts were constantly racing through my mind. But because I was a member of Darkness Rainbow, I desperately made excuses and kept myself in check... And looking back on it, even that’s embarrassing.”

Maki began to place her trust in Koutarou after that night on the mountain, and that was no mean feat. It was the first time she’d ever trusted someone since becoming a magical girl. That led to her harboring special feelings for him, feelings any normal girl might have. She wanted Koutarou to like her. She wanted to protect him. Maki continued to deny those feelings in the name of Darkness Rainbow... though she wasn’t fooling anyone.

“So you understood that he wasn’t an enemy, but you couldn’t admit that you loved him... Changing your way of life is hard, after all.”

“It would take some time yet before I accepted that. Stepping out into the sun slowly warmed my heart, but it wasn’t enough for me to leave Darkness Rainbow...”

Playing at the normal life of a high school girl changed Maki. Never trusting anyone before then, she’d always seen the world cynically. But as she got closer to Koutarou—even under the pretense of a mission—her worldview began to change. She learned to love, and that helped her see the world in a rosier light. Yet even so, she didn’t walk away from Darkness Rainbow. She couldn’t. She knew no other way to live.

“But one day, a major incident happened that forced my hand.”

“What was that?”

“Satomi-kun and I, as well as other friends from our class, came here to play the day Darkness Rainbow attacked room 106.”

“Ah, yes, I remember...”

Kiriha knew exactly what day Maki was talking about. Darkness Rainbow had attacked the apartment while Koutarou and Maki were out. They could talk about it with nostalgia now, but it was a deadly serious encounter at the time. Kiriha would never forget it.

“That day, my job was to keep Satomi-kun busy. Since—strictly speaking—he wasn’t cooperating with Yurika, Darkness Rainbow thought that it would be better to keep him out of things.”

“And what did you think?”

“No matter how strong he is, battle just doesn’t suit him. I also thought it would be best to keep him out of the fighting. Moreover... because I was weak, I was scared to go back to being all alone.”

Maki’s expression clouded over somewhat. She hadn’t held Koutarou back to protect him; she’d simply feared that the magical connection between them might be severed. Even if their bond was just an illusory byproduct of magic, she dreaded the thought of losing it. She dreaded the idea of being alone again.

“But Satomi-kun showed me that I didn’t have to be alone. That if I thought of my classmates as friends, I could do the same for him.”

“Is that why you let him go?”

Kiriha knew how the rest of the story went. Koutarou had shown up together with Maki that day, and in the end, Maki decided to trust him and take his side.

“Yes. His words that day transformed me from Dark Navy into Aika Maki. I might still possess strange magical powers, but I’m just a normal high school girl these days...”

Before she’d realized it, Maki had come to like her classmates and enjoy their company—all without a magical bond. That meant that she should also be able to love Koutarou, even without magic. Things might be different, but her friends gave her the courage to believe that it would be okay... the courage to change her life. And so she quit being Dark Navy to live as Aika Maki.

“Right now... I can treasure this world and the people who live here. They’re far from perfect, but that’s why they’re so precious. Because people need to come together to support each other,” said Maki.

“For you to think that way, you need to be able to love yourself,” Kiriha pointed out with a smile.

Maki had a tendency to be hard on herself, but if what she was saying was true, it also meant she had to be kind to herself. She had others that were counting on her now, after all.

“Kiriha-san...”

Maki’s eyes widened at Kiriha’s words. But she quickly pulled herself together and smiled. Like Kiriha’s, her smile was sweet and gentle.

“...It’s hard, but I would like to be able to feel that way someday. If not, I’ll only be clinging on to someone else...”

Suddenly turning one’s life around was indeed difficult. Beliefs ingrained in the heart and soul aren’t changed so easily. But if that’s what it took to truly live as Aika Maki, no matter how arduous the road to get there might be, Maki would stay the course.

After hearing Maki’s story, Kiriha gave a satisfied nod as her lips curled into a somewhat mischievous grin.

“I think it’d be hard for you not to fall in love with Koutarou after that, teehee. But now I finally understand your devotion.”

“Satomi-kun turned my small world into something much bigger. That’s why I’ll...”

That was the reason why Maki appeared so overly dedicated to him. He’d opened up her tiny world and changed her life for the better. Koutarou was no longer her only connection, but he was still an important one that she never wanted to lose. That was why she was prepared to sacrifice herself for him should the need ever arise.

“But the same goes for Koutarou.”

“Yes. I understand that now too.”

As she was now, Maki knew that her way of thinking was still wrong. She would eventually come to accept that she had to treasure herself as well if she truly wanted to love someone. She wanted to help expand his world too.

“However... I can understand how you feel. I would think the same if I’d been through what you have.”

Kiriha narrowed her gaze, prompting Maki to look down with a slight blush. She couldn’t look Kiriha directly in the eye when she saw through her like this.

“M-Me too... If I’d grown up like you had, I would treasure that card too.”

Maki similarly understood Kiriha’s position—another reason for her bashfulness. She felt Kiriha’s love almost as if it were her own.

“It seems we’ve undergone similar experiences, really.”

Kiriha happily looked over at Maki. Hearing a former dark magical girl talk like this, she was certain things had happened exactly as they should have. And in that sense, she enjoyed seeing Maki so nervous and uncomfortable.

“Indeed, they just appear dissimilar on the surface...”

“In the end, we’re not so different.”

Ultimately, the girls came to the conclusion that Koutarou had changed both of their lives. Kiriha had grown up a little, her relationship with her father improved, and she eventually worked her way to the surface again. Maki had escaped her closed-off world and come to live as a normal girl. Thanks to meeting Koutarou, they both began to see the world in a more positive light.

“Hey, Kiriha-san!”

“Maki-chan! Everyone’s already gathered!”

Two voices suddenly came from a distance, and Kiriha and Maki waved in acknowledgment. They concluded their chat there, prepared to head back to their other friends.

“Let’s go,” said Maki.

“Indeed. That was the conclusion we reached, wasn’t it?” replied Kiriha.

“Heehee, yes, it was.”

Returning to their friends was yet another way of affirming their new lives. This was what they’d chosen for themselves, after all. So when their friends came calling, they happily ran over to them.

Kiriha and Maki didn’t return to room 106 until that night. They’d played with their friends up until the sun went down, and they were going home fully satisfied and exhausted from such a fun day. They were still basking in all the wonderful memories they’d made, their smiles as bright as could be when they walked in the door. Koutarou, however, was looking rather dour.

“What have you been up to, Satomi Koutarou?”

“And why are you looking to the left like that, Satomi-kun?”

“Oh, I just hurt my neck during some martial arts practice.”

“But you had everyone help heal it, right?”

“Yeah, it’s only as bad as a sprain now.”

“Ah, I see.”

Koutarou had hurt his neck during the martial arts training that morning. He’d taken one of Shizuka’s attacks the wrong way during a sparring match, and this was the price. The girls had immediately come together to help heal him, but it still hurt badly enough that he couldn’t comfortably look straight forward. Seeing him in this condition, Kiriha came up with a mischievous plot.

“Maki, why don’t you sit down over there?” Kiriha said, pointing to Koutarou’s left side. He was presently seated at the tea table, and the cushion to his left was vacant.

“Okay...”

Maki wasn’t sure what Kiriha was up to, but she had no reason to refuse and took the cushion for herself. The moment she sat down, however, she understood why Kiriha had urged her to do so.

“Um, Satomi-kun, it’s embarrassing to have you stare at me like that...”

“I’m sorry, Aika-san, but it hurts to look forward right now.”

Sitting at Koutarou’s left side with his head turned like this meant they were practically sitting face to face. Maki could have looked away, but it wouldn’t change the fact that Koutarou was looking right at her. After her trip down memory lane with Kiriha today, she was even more conscious of him than usual. Her heart was practically racing, and Koutarou’s started pounding too when he saw Maki blush. Just sitting still was hard.

“That’s no fair. You’ve never given me such a passionate look, Satomi Koutarou,” Kiriha said teasingly. Things had gone just as she’d planned, so she was in a rather good mood.

“You’re the one who made Aika-san sit here in the first place!”

“If you don’t like it, Maki, you can always move.”

“I-It’s not like I don’t like it... I just can’t keep calm.”

“Then there’s no problem, is there?”

“Jeez, Kiriha-san...”

The troubled Maki knitted her brows while Kiriha sat across from her pouring tea like nothing was amiss. She was in high spirits, making her profile even more charming than usual. Her gleeful expression was from more than just teasing them; she was in love. Really, she felt like she’d fallen in love with Koutarou all over again after hearing Maki’s story. But alas, Koutarou couldn’t see Kiriha’s lovely face right now since he was turned the other way.

“Say, Aika-san, Kiriha-san... did something happen on the way home?”

Koutarou, however, did seem to notice that the atmosphere between the two girls was slightly different from usual. Kiriha was being more direct with Maki, and Maki was more readily trusting. They’d said they were going out separately this morning, so he didn’t think they’d spent the whole day together. The situation was a complete mystery to him.

“Oh, it’s not like we met up on the way back or anything,” answered Maki.

“We went out for different reasons, but we ended up bumping into each other at our destination by sheer coincidence,” explained Kiriha.

“I see... That was lucky.”

“So we spent the day sharing secrets.”

“I told Maki about the origin of my card, and she told me about how her life changed at the amusement park.”

“You don’t mean...”

Koutarou realized the significance of their encounter when Kiriha revealed where they’d gone. In short, they’d shared embarrassing stories about him—in his mind, anyway. But in doing so, they’d gotten much closer to one another. The danger now was that they could put Koutarou in an even more embarrassing situation.

“I don’t suppose I could ask you not to go into any more detail...”

“That depends on how nicely you ask. I wouldn’t mind taking another trip down memory lane.”

“Ugh.”

“We don’t have to, Kiriha-san...”

“I wouldn’t mind getting something from Koutarou in exchange for our cooperation, however.”

“...I want something like a card too, Satomi-kun!”

“All right, I’ll accept your terms.”

With both Maki and Kiriha on the attack, Koutarou didn’t stand a chance. Without the slightest hint of ill will in their actions, he couldn’t even reprimand them. He’d spend even longer in this awkward position if he resisted, so it was easier just to give in.

“So Aika-san wants something for her silence... What about you, Kiriha-san?”

“Well, why don’t you just sit like that for a while?”

“Huh?”

“I would like you to remain seated right where you are no matter what I do.”

There, Kiriha leaned in and pressed herself against Koutarou’s right arm. His head fixed to the left, Koutarou still couldn’t see her... but he could feel the tickle of her long hair and knew that she was right against him.

“K-Kiriha-san, are you really going to do something so extreme?!”

Seeing Maki’s astonishment, however, Koutarou started to feel like he’d gotten the wrong idea.

“W-Wait a minute, Kiriha-san! What are you doing?!”

“You just need to sit still and not move... Don’t worry, Satomi Koutarou. It won’t hurt.”

“I can’t not worry!”

Koutarou’s neck hurt badly enough that he couldn’t turn to look at her even if he’d wanted to. He’d have to rotate his whole body to do it, but seeing how Maki was covering her blushing face with her hands and peeking through the gaps in her fingers... Koutarou started to think it might be best if he didn’t look. He was too scared to. He was powerless to do anything at all.

“Ane-san is such a genius, ho!”

“Maki-chan is a good actress too, ho! She’s completely fooled Koutarou, ho!”

In truth, Kiriha wasn’t really doing anything. She’d merely laid her head on Koutarou’s shoulder. She’d just given Maki a nod and a wink ahead of time, and the two of them were having a little fun with him.

“Satomi Koutarou, which would you prefer? Soft or hard?”

“No, Kiriha-san! We can’t!”

“Ahhh! What on earth is happening?!”

Spending the day apart from Koutarou, Kiriha and Maki had realized something important. Their most cherished memories shouldn’t be only of Koutarou. Their time with him was most precious when they deepened their bonds with each other as friends... which was what they were doing right now. So in order to enjoy their time with Koutarou to the fullest, they also made sure to enjoy their own newfound bond.