“Hey, Ozu. I’d really appreciate it if you could help me out a bit?”
“Eh, don’t wanna? A buddy character like me shouldn’t be acting here, or I’ll get killed off for convenience of plot progression.”
“What kind of odd yet also accurate conjecture is that.”
“Not to mention I’m the heroine’s older brother, so I actually shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
This happened after we used the lift to make it down to the entrance of the village. Giving Ozu, who just shook his head in disbelief for some reason, a resentful glare, I shifted my balance yet again to get a better grip on Iroha, who I was still carrying on my own.
Why do I have to do this alone? If you got two functioning, open hands, then help me out a bit, you older brother. Why did you come pick us up in the middle of the mountain forest anyway then. You’re supposed to be the support character here to stop something inefficient like me having to carry a JK in her prime, with her soft body mind you, down the mountain alone, so do your job properly, will you, and don’t grin at me like that.
“Aren’t you perfectly fine on your own. I just came there to watch the future of the two of you.”
“Don’t read my thoughts with an invigorating face like that. You’re just putting on your cupid’s mask, making fun of me, you male succubus.”
“Aha~ Now now, having you carry her all alone made up for an even more interesting development, didn’t it~”
“You’re the only one enjoying yourself…Hey, Iroha, don’t wiggle around like that!”
“Leeeet meeeeeee dooooooowwwwwwwn!”
I directed my conscience towards Iroha on my back, who was starting to get on my nerves for a while. I’d call it my special skill to consciously ignore her annoying wriggling, but it’s getting past the point of me being able to cut it off my mind.
“Why? You were so calm up in the mountains.”
“This is a village! With people! And Onii-chan is right next to us!!”
“What’s so bad about having Ozu see you being carried?”
“He’s watching us like he’s watching insects copulate, do you really not care about that, Senpai?!”
“Ahaha, we’re siblings, but there’s no trust at all. Even I wouldn’t think of you as an insect, you know?”
“Right, even Ozu wouldn’t—”
“More like a rare mammal. But don’t worry, I’m not looking down on you at all just because you’re barely able to go through new categorization stages as you gain a conscience.”
“See, that’s what I mean! It doesn’t make any sense, it’s scary!”
“Is it that weird? It just sounds like a normal thought process of Ozu though?”
“Senpai is just as weird for simply accepting everything Onii-chan says!”
Well, I’m aware of it. Having accompanied Ozu’s irregular thinking and actions over the years, it seems like I’ve acquired a sort of numbness towards that, so I keep thinking that other people retorting on it are the weird ones.
Iroha pressed her body even further on my back.
“Enough about Onii-chan now…Ugh…this is so embarrassing…!”
“Are you that conscious of the gazes of the villagers?”
“Well, yeah.”
“It’s fine. In this village at the corner of the world, day time is already over, and it’s in the middle of the night.”
“If we get spotted, it’ll be bad in a different sense though.”
“Ahhh…”
Together with the tickling breath at my neck, I listened to Iroha’s words, reminiscing about the particulars of those two layers.
“The embarrassment incident and the failure of the operation?”
“Yup. Being embarrassed would be horrible, but messing up the mission would only be making matters worse.”
“I told you not to worry about that. Even if they saw us now, the result wouldn’t change.”
“…You said it before, didn’t you. [By being caught by the head of the family, Sumire-sensei will take her first step towards the future]. What exactly did you mean by that?”
“Yesterday, you said that you went to meet the head of the family, right?” Ozu chimed in.
“Yeah, a first meeting. Please give me your daughter! kind of thing.” Iroha commented.
“Well, the main outline is mostly on point. But, at that time, I made sure of something.”
“Made sure of something?”
I always wanted to see how strong the actual pressure in her family was to become a teacher. Now that human rights have been incorporated with Japanese laws, not being legally allowed to walk the way one wants is unthinkable. All the problem basically boiled down to was how many risks it personally had for Sumire.
By meeting the head of the family, Kageishi Kou, I had the chains binding Sumire’s heart in front of my eyes, and a visual representation. By doing so, there was one simple answer that arrived inside of my head.
“He says that traditions are the core of the family, but he’s actually pretty soft.”
“So that’s why you bet on the [Is actually a Lolicon] chance?”
“No, that doesn’t matter at all.”
“Ehh, then what was the meaning of this entire operation?!”
I just blurted it out with barely any interest, which left Iroha in shock. I mean, expecting him to possess child pornography without any definite proof was already the part where she should have been sceptical. I wouldn’t do something inefficient such as bet on a slim possibility.
“Do you people believe in curses?”
“Huh…Well, normally, I wouldn’t, but this midnight darkness is pretty scary…”
“Yeah, agreed. That’s probably the normal sensibility.”
“If they happen to prove it scientifically, I would believe in them, and if not, I won’t. Currently, any supernatural phenomena are just misunderstood physical phenomena.”
“Exactly, that.”
In the midst of what Ozu had just argued about lied the main essence that I wanted to point out. Supernatural spells and curses do not exist. There are only those in the daily lives of us, lurking calmly. Take these Japanese dolls, who have amassed the grudges of an evil spirit residing in them, and just imitate them into normal anecdotes, turning them into normal enchanted dolls, so to speak.
What would happen with a human who is constantly being met with kotodama1?
“Insults and verbal abuse hold enough spiritual strength to negatively influence the life of the person on the receiving end. Keep calling them ugly pig or four-eyes, they will start to see themselves in such light, approaching that form. With words of praise, it’s the exact same. If you keep getting spoiled and told how good of a kid you are, you will fall under the conceit that you actually are someone amazing. If there are things like curses and charms, they would be words we use in our daily lives.”
“So even something like ‘Don’t touch anything related to amusement and pleasure’?”
“………”
Ozu’s voice was calm and collected, but I could feel Iroha twitch slightly on my back.
“Yeah, just like that.”
“That makes sense. They sound like normal curses and charms.”
After I gave Iroha a quick glance, Ozu continued.
“Then, what about Murasaki Shikibu-sensei?”
“About that.”
Forgetting about Iroha’s reaction for now, I focussed on the conversation at hand. This has utmost priority after all.
“‘Be a good kid’ —A conventional phrase used in practically every household, but what if her family continued to say that over and over and over again. It would end up as exactly a curse like that, and she ends up restricted with hand and foot, creating the chains and shackles that bind Murasaki Shikibu-sensei.”
Even before the [5th Floor Alliance] was founded. The only place where she could drink alcohol in peace—was her own room only she lived in. She didn’t have to worry about someone else’s eyes, an atmosphere where she could be herself. A boss stage where she didn’t have to be a good kid. That was the room two further down from mine, branching off from her usual life.
“Hearing from your guys’ family circumstances, I wasn’t sure what it was until the very end though.”
“I see…so unlike our parents, he seems to have more sympathy, is what you’re saying.”
“Yeah. At the very least, I could see him wanting to push Sumire-sensei forwards. I don’t really get where his weird JK slang comes from, but I guess it was just some trace of his efforts.”
Iroha’s and Ozu’s mother—Kohinata Otoha hates the entertainment biz, half of this hate probably resentment. Comparing her to Kageishi Kou, he is more of an amusing old gramps. That being said, I don’t want to make it sound like what Sumire is carrying is a light package at all. Nobody can really tell what the people in that very position see around them. For something that I, an outsider, would laugh about because it seemed too simple, could mean something similar like life and death to the person themselves.
In the end, all I can do for someone who can’t find the answer amidst darkness, is to become their eyes, their nose, and set the table. If that enables her to take a step towards the best life there is for her, then I, as her producer, can hold my chest high at my achievement.
“Then, the next time we meet Murasaki Shikibu-sensei—”
“Everything should have settled, and she should have become free.” I answered with confidence towards Ozu’s question.
Though I was a bit worried about Iroha, who had gotten all quiet in the middle of the conversation, sticking into something private was one of our most basic rules anyway.
And, once we made it to the inn, our feet stopped. Two girls, about to enter through the door step, caught on to our presence and turned around. One of those was Sumire, who had returned a bit faster than I had anticipated, and next to her, mysteriously enough, was Mashiro.
“Mashiro-senpai?! Why is she…”
Iroha gave an awkward murmur at my ears. For a second, I was confused as to why she would panic like that, but I immediately caught up. Mashiro is under the impression that ‘All the others think that Mashiro and I are lovers’. In order to invite Mashiro onto our gatherings on the fifth floor of the flat, I told everyone about the promise with president Tsukinomori, and how we have to act as fake lovers for the time being, but…Now that I think about it, I never told Mashiro that they all already know…
Basically, Iroha still thinks that Mashiro is under the impression that Iroha and the others assume we’re actual lovers, and not fake, and now this whole thing of me carrying her got her worried that Mashiro might catch onto it that Iroha and the others might have caught on to it, which is why Iroha reacted this awkwardly to Mashiro seeing us this close, which would ruin her entire appeal of acting like she didn’t know, so I can’t blame her that she’s a bit flustered—Wait, what kind of complicated triangle is this?! So annoying!2
I mean, I guess I’m the one at fault because I didn’t gather everybody to properly explain it, but…How do I say it, they’re doing perfectly fine even without that, so I just kinda forgot about it…
But, leaving that aside, said Mashiro quickly ran towards us with small steps, as her face turned pale.
“Iroha-chan…what happened with you…that wound…?!”
Not even caring about the fact that I was carrying Iroha, she instead directed her gaze down at the towel around Iroha’s leg…What, so she doesn’t even realize?
Either way, I quickly explained the situation with only the most needed information (leaving out anything that could complicate things of course).
“Is that so…Should Mashiro help?”
“That’d be great, Mashiro. I leave the rest to you.”
Having carried Iroha all this way down, I was at my physical limit now. I let Iroha down on the ground, who was greeted by Mashiro with open arms.
“…Unexpectedly…heavy…”
“Awa, are you okay?”
“Don’t make light of Mashiro. She might not have much physical strength, but this bit is perfectly fine.”
Still with unsteady feet, Mashiro supported Iroha’s body with both her arms.
“Also, Mashiro-senpai, you smell so nice! Is that the soap of the inn?”
“Wah…don’t sniff Mashiro like that.”
“Maybe I should use the one of the inn as well? Almost smells a bit seductive! Sniff sniff.”
“T-The worst. Annoying.”
“Ahhh, come on. Don’t shake and tangle like that, you have an injured person with you~”
“Ugh…”
Iroha with her annoying acting, while Mashiro was getting more and more irritated. They were both showing each other their uncovered identities, because they had opened their hearts to each other. Thinking that they might have just become friends with this, I felt my cheeks relax a bit.
“…………”
Watching the two girls enjoy themselves, a certain scenery flashed up inside my head.
Spring—In midst the dancing sakura petals, Ozu and I were walking towards the school gate of our middle school, graduation certificates in hand. Iroha was with us, laughing her heart out at us becoming high school students, when I turned my back to her for one second.
Her teasing laugh disappeared, and really only for a second, I felt like I saw a lonely expression shining through. Back then, we didn’t know the heaviness of a one year gap, and since we lived next to each other, we thought we could meet whenever.
That being said, this gap between first-years and second-years definitely exists. One day, Ozu, Mashiro, and I will eventually vanish from the school, and we might never know if we can stay neighbours forever. Same goes for the [5th Floor Alliance]. If it’s importance would one day cease to exist, this ark made of bubble foam could disappear without a trace.
It’d be great if Iroha had someone in her first-year classmates she’d be on good terms with…Wait, am I her parent or something? Really, sometimes my meddling goes a tick too far, so that I even take the position of an adult.
“You just had the eyes of a father right there.”
“Can’t help it, I’m a workaholic.”
The teasing smile of an actual adult came over from the side. So she’s toying with people, but is actually forgetting just who did all of this for her.
“They’re both good kids, aren’t they. Makes me want to hug them.”
“Yeah…Also, this [Yeah] referred to the first part.”
“You’re a boy the same age as them, so the latter part would be fine you know?”
“A boy of my age actually hides all these perverted thoughts. Not everybody can be as open about it as you.”
Sumire came at me to poke me in my sides. All this annoying talk had me forgetting to keep my formal way of speaking with her.
“Even I only have the 5th, you know.”
“You can be a bit more serious if you want.”
“Ehhh?”
“Well, not like I care much.”
“Hmmm…then for one time, maybe I should show how serious I am?”
Sumire narrowed her almond eyes, gazing at the entrance her students had disappeared through. I tend to forget it because of her Murasaki Shikibu-sensei face she often shows, but she’s actually a rather popular teacher at school. Especially with the boys. Just gazing at her profile like this showed me yet again that she is quite the beauty.
“Hey, you have time for me later?”
Being met with a flirtatious glance like that, even I gulped. But, no matter how much of a charming woman she might be, I’m not the type of man to fall for that. Hence, I responded as calmly as possible.
“If you’re fine after we’ve taken care of Iroha.”
“Of course. You see, the roof of this inn actually has a balcony.”
Pointing at the upper part of the building, Sumire smiled.
“Together with the beautiful morning glow—I can show you the scene where the mask of the village of fear is being pulled off.”
*
After that, Iroha had her wound disinfected, and quickly fell asleep, whereas Mashiro returned back to the battle with her manuscript, so I alone made my way up to the rooftop. It was equipped with simple decorative plants, a bench, but mostly just a place to stand. Nothing else that deserved a special mention, but the summer breeze at the end of the night felt really good on my skin.
“Ahhh, feels so good! Wanna try too, Aki?”
Having changed into her nightwear with her hair untied, she had the bottom part of her yukata lifted up just a bit, revealing her bare feet. Seeing small fish like out of a piranha movie swarming at her feet, I checked the board close to her.
“Nibble fish?”
“Exactly. It’s tickling a bit, but it makes you feel all clean.”
“I feel like directly taking out all the horny substances currently in your life would make you feel even more clean?”
“Don’t go logic me now! I’m talking about a sensation!”
When Sumire flapped her legs in the water, the surprised nibble fish scattered like a spider’s nest being poked. But, after the water calmed down a bit, they gathered again. They can’t even feel danger like that, poor beings.
“Come on, just this once you can put up with me…On this important day where I finally decided on my way.”
“…I guess you’re right.”
There’s no alcohol around, so it can’t be too bad. Deciding on that, I took off my sandals, and sat down on the wooden bench, following the actions of Sumire, and put my feet in the water.
“Ouh?!”
The tingling feeling on my feet had let out a weird voice. Panicking a bit, I closed my mouth with my hands, only to look at my side to find Sumire grinning at me.
“That was your sensitivity time 3000 voice, right? Is this how you sound like when you feel good, I wonder? Fufu~”
“D-Don’t get any weird fantasies! I’ll leave, alright?!”
“Ahh, come on. You don’t have to get angry at me at least for today.”
“For crying out loud…I’m getting sleepy here, so keep it short.”
“Sorry, sorry. ‘Start from the conclusion!’ is Aki’s motto after all. Then, to be frank—”
Sumire picked up the smartphone next to her, and showed me the screen. It was the history of notifications from her LIME account, and the second I read the newest one, several question marks appeared on top of my head.
[Sumire-san was removed from the ‘Kageishi Family’ group chat]
“—I was disowned~” Tehe, she showed the face of a clumsy girl as she stuck out her tongue.
Hold on hold on how did this even happen? Her grandfather didn’t seem like the type of person to revert to such extreme measures. But, what if that was just me misreading him, which led to Sumire’s relationship with her family getting ruined?
“Because the operation ended up in failure…?”
“Ah, no no no. That one was really just my own problem. Rather, I kinda disowned myself.”
“…Excuse me?”
Seeing that I still couldn’t swallow the situation, Sumire burst out laughing. I mean, it doesn’t make sense. You were disowned, you know. Are you even aware of your own situation?
“The thing is~”
Sumire broke the suspense, and started telling me about what happened in the residence. About how they couldn’t find any child pornography, and how Kageishi Kou pinned them down. With some turns and twists, she didn’t stop being a teacher, rather declared war, and left the residence. Having heard all the details, I felt all the strength vanish from my body, as I just sighed in relief. And naturally that wasn’t the result of the nibble fish.
“Why would you take that choice…”
I was honestly just at loss.
“I wonder why.”
“You did understand Kou-san’s true intention, right?”
“Yes. If I really said I wanted to tread the path of an illustrator, he probably would have accepted it. He went out of his way to understand my hobby after all.”
“I thought that he was the type of person to do that. He might look scary, so that’s why—”
“You set us up to be found, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Ahh, to be able to read my grandfather more than me. How many times did you get reincarnated now, Aki?”
“Don’t just change the genre like that. It’s just that, from an outsider’s perspective it might be easy to see, but the person themselves often have trouble.”
“Ahh, that makes sense! I can see things that you’re totally oblivious to, Aki! In the romcom sense~”
“Seriously? I don’t think there’s anything going on though?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
Being met with contempt by Sumire of all people did feel pretty uncomfortable, but that’s just how difficult it is to be in a third-person view.
“But, why did you lie to such an extent that you started a fight like that? If you had just talked it out with your grandfather, the both of you would have been happier in the end.”
“Again, I don’t possess such rationalism~”
“Huh?”
It’s true that Sumire is more of a good-for-nothing, but as a teacher, she’s responsible for maths, so she’s a science-type in that sense. There’s no way she shouldn’t be able to stay rational…
“The thing is. Before I became a teacher, I hated the idea of becoming a teacher so much it almost tore me apart, when a Senpai of mine helped me in finding my way.”
“Are you talking about before you graduated from university? That’s the first time I’ve heard of that.”
“You see, he just got assigned to a high school as a new teacher, but he came from a family with a lot of confidence, was pretty arrogant, the type of handsome guy who actually wore a fitting necktie and glasses.”
“A man? I thought you never much got into contact with the opposite sex.”
“He had a trained body, with high athletic skill, and had the fitting knowledge to work with his words, whilst being a maths teacher.”
“Some super human or something…?”
He sounds like a prince coming from a fairytale, I thought, when Sumire continued with slightly flushed cheeks.
“He had one big flaw though. He was an insane seducer and sex maniac, completely ignoring age and position of the person he has taken a liking to, hitting on them, completely ignoring any boundaries, pretty rough, right?”
“I don’t think [pretty] is the fitting word here…”
“When he suddenly whispered ‘Let me do you’, I thought I was going to die from the agony…Of course I did give an immediate ‘Yes’ as a response though.”
“What are you forcing me to listen to?”
“This is where the main deal comes.”
Unable to listen to any more of my homeroom teacher’s personal history, I asked her indirectly to hurry up, and so she did.
“He really was the worst kind of fiend, but he taught me something very important.”
I have stripped countless people’s bodies and hearts. And through that, I found out.
Unmasked, every human is nothing more than a wild beast. They have obscene desires slumbering in their chests. Wearing the concept of common sense together with their clothes, they are afraid of being removed from the circles, showing their own true selves.
They get used to living by deceiving others, gathering small yet very much present amounts of stress every day, every day.
What a hard way to live. How oppressing it must be. Everybody should just get butt-naked, showing their nasty and obscene parts to everyone. I will ravish you right here, inside the school during broad daylight, to show you that exact idea.
To tell you that you can stay the way you are. Obscene, yet able to love yourself, proudly walk through life. By showing you this way of living that I chose, I want to free you from this world’s shackles, and save you—Keita.
“Hold on a dang second, what was that final male name about?”
“Eh? It’s Kazami Keita-kun? He’s famous for his coupling with Kichikuin Ryuuga-sama, right?”
“Don’t tell me…all this talk so far wasn’t from a Senpai at your university, and your ex-boyfriend, but rather…”
I gulped audibly at the horrible premonition I had, and asked the question on my mind.
“It was all just out of a BL game?”
“Of course, what else did you think it was?”
Ah, well, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions…Well, I guess it makes sense, it’s Shikibu we’re talking about after all…”
“[Kichikuin Ryuuga’s After Class Guidance] was the masterpiece that helped me in finding my way in life. Two of the best VAs ever appeared in it, let me tell you. My ears were swollen so many times did I listen to them.”
“Huh…”
“Ah, do you think I’m joking again? The fact that this helped me in mentally accepting the fact that I would become a teacher is the truth.” Pouting like a sulking child, Sumire emphasized with a loud voice.
“Even if you say it like I’m supposed to know where that advice came from…it just sounded like some gay gigolo was blurting nonsense.”
“Basically, it’s about telling the students, who are lost about their future, and the path they should take, to just stay the way they are, and that they aren’t wrong with what they think. I thought that becoming a teacher like that would have been wonderful. I always did. Though I myself ended up like a teacher who won’t show even an inch of her true personality though.” Sumire showed a self-deprecating laugh.
She softly moved her feet, inducing the sound of water splashing up.
“But, I still found it. Even a clumsy and awkward teacher, who can only lie and run away from pressure, has someone she saved, even if it was done by showing her fake self.”
“Saved with lies…who?”
“A secret. I won’t sell out my comrades.”
“Well, I won’t pry any further…But, I didn’t expect that. To think you wouldn’t stop being a teacher, while still cutting ties with your family.”
I hadn’t anticipated a third path like that. Stop being a teacher, and become an illustrator, or become an illustrator and stop being a teacher. Two choices that basically boiled down to the same.
“My grandfather would have surely pushed my back if I decided to quit, but he wouldn’t allow me to continue being a teacher with half-baked feelings. If I wanted to continue with the both of them, I had to choose this way.”
“Still, you continuing as a teacher, huh. That’s not what I expected.”
“What are you talking about? It’s all you kids’ fault.”
“Eh?”
“You gathered kids who’d probably break down if left alone. My maternal instincts are running wild with you.”
“You mean Mashiro? Or are you adding Ozu and Iroha as well?”
“Who knows. But, it’s clear that you’re working hard for their sake, Aki. At the point in time where all these geniuses have to rely on you, something was clearly off.”
Absolutely correct. Normally she’s just messing around, but I tend to forget that she actually has the brains to follow through.
“Like a godsend. Having someone to look after Iroha until she graduates is very relieving to know.” I muttered.
“You’re worried about her?”
“Well, I guess. She’s Ozu’s little sister. Once I go to university to find a job, there might be a chance that I can’t live in that flat anymore. I might move somewhere else, or even go overseas. If that happens, she can’t tease me anymore to let out some stress. She would be forced to continue her honor student act.”
“You’re saying that I should take the role of the one being made fun of?”
“Just someone where she can show her true annoying personality should be enough.”
“I see. I’ll take the duty of the black ships!”
“You’re a teacher still, so don’t mistake any idioms….You’re not planning to (sexually) open the borders, right?” I gave Sumire a slight warning as she acted unnecessarily arrogant.
“I won’t~ Really, you have no trust in me.”
“I wouldn’t even if you told me to.”
If I show an opening, you immediately put in some dirty jokes or whatever…But, wasn’t I the one this time? Nah, no way.
“But, really, Aki. You’re just like that!”
“…Excuse me?”
Sumire suddenly narrowed her gaze, approaching her [Poisonous Queen] persona. She suddenly felt so grown-up, so much like a teacher.
“You just naturally took yourself out of the equation, right?”
“…What about it?”
“Because from my point of view, you look just as much like a [Kid about to break].”
“Being surrounded by strong people that my stomach and intestines will end up in pieces?”
“No, I got enough confidence in that, you seem like a ridiculously strong warrior. Also, you have a 600-fold resistance to stress.”
“You sure picked your example carefully. What kind of monster is that.”
Though, I am aware of it. If I wasn’t this strong in both body and heart, I probably wouldn’t have made it this far.
“You’re working hard for Ozuma-kun and me, and you’re looking after Iroha-chan and Mashiro-chan, don’t you. Without asking for something.”
“I am asking for quite a lot actually. Thanks to the [5th Floor Alliance], I basically get a direct ticket to a workplace. And it was just my egoism that wanted none of your talents to end up wasted.”
“You really don’t get it.”
“…?”
“Just by being able to judge that, you’re greatly different from the normal high school student you would find nowadays. Possessing such tenacious mental strength at your age, just how much could you achieve in your life.”
“Not really…Unlike everyone else, I don’t have any special talent to me.”
Everybody can work hard. Everybody can use their brains. Be it the physique you are born with that enables you to become a professional athlete, born with the genius allowing you greatly influence the current time with your achievements, or a pianist who can control the instrument like he can see the notes as colors…For those other people who don’t have anything, we have to at least work hard and think how to catch up with them. If not, there would be no meaning in me being here.
“Well, that’s fine then.” Sumire muttered. “Just don’t die on me, alright.”
“I’d rather not, so you get your illustrations ready.”
“No can do~”
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry.”
She got on a high horse, so I had to shut her down. I’m probably the fastest to make her reflect on her actions. Not like I need a medal for that.
“…Anyway, for now, I decided to stay as a teacher. The [5th Floor Alliance] won’t have a problem with that either.”
Two, or three years later. She might grow tired of the job of teaching people, and starts to walk down the path of an illustrator. She might take that first step herself. But, even so, it is a step in the right direction from her past environment. Technically speaking, I can already see how Murasaki Shikibu-sensei’s illustrations will probably only grow more in value in the future.
And that’s fine. I don’t know if she will decide to stay with the [5th Floor Alliance] then, but knowing that I protected one genius like hers makes me rest easy.
“The only thing to regret is that you cut your ties with your family. It would have been fine if this was solved comfortably, but I guess no use crying over spilt milk.”
“Yup. I was kicked out of the family’s LIME group chat. I never really talked to anyone besides my parents or Midori-chan, so I don’t think it’ll have much influence anyway.”
“I wonder about that. There’s someone out there who’d probably be—”
“Oh? At a time like this…”
The smartphone of Sumire vibrated on the bench, to what she tilted her head, slightly confused. The second she picked up the call—
「Don’t leave me Oneeeeee-chaaaaaaaan!!!」
Even I could hear the childish weeping coming from the phone Sumire had put on speaker.
“Midori-chan? It’s barely 5am, you know.”
「Hicc, hicc…If I don’t wake up this early for days with club practice, I won’t be able to study…」
“Phew, so diligent~…Ah, I mean, that’s Midori-chan for you.”
Sumire realized she was letting her real self slip, so she quickly turned to her queen persona, praising her little sister in a moderate level. Normally, seeing the siscon she is, Midori would probably melt with just that, but…
「Hey, what is this about? When I woke up, it said that you were removed from the family’s LIME chat. Not to mention that it came from Gramps, saying that you were disowned…」
“………”
「Will I not be able to meet you anymore? Because you don’t belong to the family anymore?」
“…Don’t be ridiculous. A sisters’ bond cannot be erased that easily.”
「But, ever since you grew up, and started living alone, we only saw each other at school, right? All we had left were the family meetings」
“You can always just come visit me at home…Though let me know beforehand, at least 24 hours before it.”
I guess you need that much time to clean and hide all your otaku stuff. If Midori came unannounced, she would run right into half-naked handsome shota posters with soft-seductive male voice actors recording CDs in the background. She’d probably just collapse from the shock if that happened.
—Then again, I can’t blame her.
Her close relationship with Sumire, coming from their family, has been cut completely. The only ones who’d react differently are probably me with a ‘Meeting relatives is highly inefficient’, or guys like Ozu, who’d ask ‘Why not just text over LIME if you can’t meet in person’ with all seriousness.
Ah, that makes it sound like the male group from the [5th Floor Alliance] is actually a lost cause…
「It doesn’t make any sense…How did it end up like this…?」
“Midori-chan…”
「Because you’re going out with Ooboshi-kun? Or because you happened to anger Gramps?」
“Neither of those. Explaining it would take a long time, but he and I aren’t actually like that.”
「Why? How? Explain it to me. Why—」
“I’m sorry, it’s because I—”
「Why was there suddenly a [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] added in our LIME group?!」
…………
………Huh?
“………Huh?”
My thoughts perfectly overlapped with the voice Sumire let out.
Ahaha, I know that Midori is a hardcore siscon who can’t live without her older sister. But still, you can’t just run away from reality. If you only avert your eyes from harsh events and memories, you can’t grow as a person, or so some business Ytuber told me—
“She’s right…I was added under my Murasaki Shikibu-sensei account now.”
“Seriously~?”
Having switched the screen from the LIME call to her other LIME account, Sumire muttered at a loss, and I didn’t believe her until I saw it with my own two eyes.
“Also, why does he know of that account anyway? Scary.”
“Maybe he looked up the LIME ID. Did you put it as an easy one?”
“It’s murasakishikibusensei.”
“Well that makes things easy…”
“Not to mention that I have a setting where I automatically add them back when they add me.”
“So basically, you have both doors and windows on [Welcome] mode.”
“I never had any passionate online stalkers before, you know?!”
Well, they are relatives after all.
「This [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] has the same family and surname as the person who was at Ooboshi-kun’s house before…」
How would Murasaki Shikibu be a name used nowadays…
「This is the real person, right? I thought she might have been someone else because of the weird name she has」
Club president Midori, are you not aware of the existence of so-called pen names?
「Why did this [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] join our family group chat? I don’t get it…」
Neither do I. I’m sure probably nobody gets it.
「Gramps said that he’ll adopt this [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] as well…」
Why are things only getting more confusing?
「Why would they kick the wonderful, cool, and ideal adult like Onee-chan, only to add such a drunkard and failure of an adult like [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei]?! I don’t understand…?!」
Hey, stop it. The blade you’re swinging will definitely hit someone special to you if you keep going.
“Sumire-sensei, what is Kou-san saying?”
“ 「This [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] will be adopted by me. It’s someone I happened to run into, and their interesting art has enticed me. I heard they didn’t have any relative, so I decided to give them a chance」 “
“Seems like that gramps is doing just fine. Also, he’s using JK slang in LIME messages as well?”
“ 「They were a grown person from the beginning, holding a proper occupation, going down the path they have chosen. Hence, I will allow them to live without becoming a teacher. Please, treat our new family member nicely, everyone」 “
“Ahhh, so that’s what this is about.”
This is probably that gramps’ show of affection, as well as his punishment for Sumire. A message that they would prepare to always accept her whenever she was ready. However, the coming-out now turned into a ridiculously high hurdle. He really took the first point. Telling the user, aka Sumire, that there would have been a better chance and choice for the coming-out, he created the final boss right there.
“Haaaaaa…” Sumire curled up her back with a sigh long enough to let her soul escape.
Although her muscles were relaxing, I could see her frozen and utterly terrified expression.
“Even though you tried to act cool.”
“Sorry for not being a firm teacher~” grinned Murasaki Shikibu-sensei.
That’s what happens once her teacher mode melts. She probably was seriously scared of cutting ties with her family. Being a coward like that, acting all tough.
“I know that very much. But, congrats on making it back in the family, Murasaki Shikibu-sensei.”
“Ehehehe, thank you. Though, I’m seriously scared of the time to settle it all.”
She showed the same smile who was afraid of finally revealing her true identity. However, her smile was different from before, more accepting of the future to come.
About one year ago—
In the classroom at school, the hallway, the staff’s office, and on the way home. What would the girl back then, who always showed a wry and troubled smile whenever I approached her, think if I taught her about the results of today?
I don’t know how she’ll use the freedom she has just achieved. I don’t have the right to force her to only use her time for the [5th Floor Alliance]. But, whether it was the me back then, or the me now, I still feel that either way would be fine.
Filled with emotions of different origin, Sumire and I exchanged glances, and let out a faint laugh. Feeling like we were forgetting something, we decided to take out our feet from the nibble fish bath, when—
「Hey, who have you been talking to for a while now?」
…Ah, I remembered. We were still on a phone call with Midori.
“Eh?! A-Ah…nobody! Nobody at all.”
「Who’s there? Don’t tell me, is it Ooboshi—」
“A-Ah, bzzzt, weird, your voice is cutting out! Bzzzt, krrrrk, maybe because we’re so far away from civilization? Krrrrrkkk zzzzzzzzt!!!”
「Ah, wait! I know what this situation is called! It’s neto—」
…Peep.
Still mid-sentence, Midori’s voice was cut, as Sumire hung up. I feel like Midori was just about to use a word very much unfitting for the vocabulary of an honor student…but I’ll not touch on that for now. That being said…just where did she even pick up such vocabulary?
“Was that really okay to just cut the call like that?”
“What else was I supposed to do! I doubt I would have been able to get this under control.”
“Your phone is ringing again.”
“See, that’s what I meant!”
“Anyway, I say it’s time that we hit the hay, it’s way too late.”
Wiping my wet feet with the towel I found inside a nearby cage, I narrowed my eyes at the rising sun. Hearing a rustling sound behind me, I turned around to see Sumire do the same as I did. From the yukata, her dazzling thighs were shining through, so I averted my gaze. Seriously, what an obscene teacher she is.
Either way, now that our talk is over, it’s time to really get some more sleep, or so I thought…
“Ah, that reminds me Aki. There is one thing I wanted to ask.”
A simple question was flung towards my back.
“How did the Ceremony of Marriage go?”
“…Ugh?!”
Hey hey hey. This damned witch, asking me with such a timing. What kind of critical hit question is that.
“How far did you two’s relationship progress?”
“…N-Nowhere. Don’t get curious like that out of nowhere, read the mood a bit.”
“Ah, well, if I had to say, it was probably more of a teacher-like move to show me worrying…”
“Excuse me?”
“Wha, ah, nothing at all! R-Right! You two are here exactly because you didn’t spend the night at that shrine! So no waking up in each other’s arms, right?!”
“O-Of course not. Seriously, nothing happened, so please stop asking.” I was talking ridiculously fast during that.
Forced to remember what happened inside the shrine thanks to Sumire’s words, I could feel the temperature of my body rising yet again. Why? I tried my best not to think about it, and did a good job at that, but now she had to come at me again.
Iroha’s flustered expression, her softness hitting my back, I could still sharply remember it all, which led to my heartbeat accelerating once more.
“I’m going to sleep now…! See you!”
In order to run away from this suddenly uprising emotion inside of me, I quickly left the rooftop after me.
*
「On top of finding out about Mashiro-chan’s secret, that reaction of Aki…What should I do from now on? Holding a neutral position seems to be difficult…」
「I still am in the Iroha X Aki fraction, so if you are Tsukinomori-san X Aki, then shouldn’t that be enough balance?」
「Hmm…I mean, this seriously is some meta interspace, so I guess it sounds plausible, but…」
「Hehe. Well, go ahead and rack your head about it. Thanks to that exquisite misunderstanding, things seem to get interesting soon」
1 words with mysterious power to alter reality
2 That thing was one big sentence in the raws. You suffer with me
“Hey, Ozu. I’d really appreciate it if you could help me out a bit?”
“Eh, don’t wanna? A buddy character like me shouldn’t be acting here, or I’ll get killed off for convenience of plot progression.”
“What kind of odd yet also accurate conjecture is that.”
“Not to mention I’m the heroine’s older brother, so I actually shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
This happened after we used the lift to make it down to the entrance of the village. Giving Ozu, who just shook his head in disbelief for some reason, a resentful glare, I shifted my balance yet again to get a better grip on Iroha, who I was still carrying on my own.
Why do I have to do this alone? If you got two functioning, open hands, then help me out a bit, you older brother. Why did you come pick us up in the middle of the mountain forest anyway then. You’re supposed to be the support character here to stop something inefficient like me having to carry a JK in her prime, with her soft body mind you, down the mountain alone, so do your job properly, will you, and don’t grin at me like that.
“Aren’t you perfectly fine on your own. I just came there to watch the future of the two of you.”
“Don’t read my thoughts with an invigorating face like that. You’re just putting on your cupid’s mask, making fun of me, you male succubus.”
“Aha~ Now now, having you carry her all alone made up for an even more interesting development, didn’t it~”
“You’re the only one enjoying yourself…Hey, Iroha, don’t wiggle around like that!”
“Leeeet meeeeeee dooooooowwwwwwwn!”
I directed my conscience towards Iroha on my back, who was starting to get on my nerves for a while. I’d call it my special skill to consciously ignore her annoying wriggling, but it’s getting past the point of me being able to cut it off my mind.
“Why? You were so calm up in the mountains.”
“This is a village! With people! And Onii-chan is right next to us!!”
“What’s so bad about having Ozu see you being carried?”
“He’s watching us like he’s watching insects copulate, do you really not care about that, Senpai?!”
“Ahaha, we’re siblings, but there’s no trust at all. Even I wouldn’t think of you as an insect, you know?”
“Right, even Ozu wouldn’t—”
“More like a rare mammal. But don’t worry, I’m not looking down on you at all just because you’re barely able to go through new categorization stages as you gain a conscience.”
“See, that’s what I mean! It doesn’t make any sense, it’s scary!”
“Is it that weird? It just sounds like a normal thought process of Ozu though?”
“Senpai is just as weird for simply accepting everything Onii-chan says!”
Well, I’m aware of it. Having accompanied Ozu’s irregular thinking and actions over the years, it seems like I’ve acquired a sort of numbness towards that, so I keep thinking that other people retorting on it are the weird ones.
Iroha pressed her body even further on my back.
“Enough about Onii-chan now…Ugh…this is so embarrassing…!”
“Are you that conscious of the gazes of the villagers?”
“Well, yeah.”
“It’s fine. In this village at the corner of the world, day time is already over, and it’s in the middle of the night.”
“If we get spotted, it’ll be bad in a different sense though.”
“Ahhh…”
Together with the tickling breath at my neck, I listened to Iroha’s words, reminiscing about the particulars of those two layers.
“The embarrassment incident and the failure of the operation?”
“Yup. Being embarrassed would be horrible, but messing up the mission would only be making matters worse.”
“I told you not to worry about that. Even if they saw us now, the result wouldn’t change.”
“…You said it before, didn’t you. [By being caught by the head of the family, Sumire-sensei will take her first step towards the future]. What exactly did you mean by that?”
“Yesterday, you said that you went to meet the head of the family, right?” Ozu chimed in.
“Yeah, a first meeting. Please give me your daughter! kind of thing.” Iroha commented.
“Well, the main outline is mostly on point. But, at that time, I made sure of something.”
“Made sure of something?”
I always wanted to see how strong the actual pressure in her family was to become a teacher. Now that human rights have been incorporated with Japanese laws, not being legally allowed to walk the way one wants is unthinkable. All the problem basically boiled down to was how many risks it personally had for Sumire.
By meeting the head of the family, Kageishi Kou, I had the chains binding Sumire’s heart in front of my eyes, and a visual representation. By doing so, there was one simple answer that arrived inside of my head.
“He says that traditions are the core of the family, but he’s actually pretty soft.”
“So that’s why you bet on the [Is actually a Lolicon] chance?”
“No, that doesn’t matter at all.”
“Ehh, then what was the meaning of this entire operation?!”
I just blurted it out with barely any interest, which left Iroha in shock. I mean, expecting him to possess child pornography without any definite proof was already the part where she should have been sceptical. I wouldn’t do something inefficient such as bet on a slim possibility.
“Do you people believe in curses?”
“Huh…Well, normally, I wouldn’t, but this midnight darkness is pretty scary…”
“Yeah, agreed. That’s probably the normal sensibility.”
“If they happen to prove it scientifically, I would believe in them, and if not, I won’t. Currently, any supernatural phenomena are just misunderstood physical phenomena.”
“Exactly, that.”
In the midst of what Ozu had just argued about lied the main essence that I wanted to point out. Supernatural spells and curses do not exist. There are only those in the daily lives of us, lurking calmly. Take these Japanese dolls, who have amassed the grudges of an evil spirit residing in them, and just imitate them into normal anecdotes, turning them into normal enchanted dolls, so to speak.
What would happen with a human who is constantly being met with kotodama1?
“Insults and verbal abuse hold enough spiritual strength to negatively influence the life of the person on the receiving end. Keep calling them ugly pig or four-eyes, they will start to see themselves in such light, approaching that form. With words of praise, it’s the exact same. If you keep getting spoiled and told how good of a kid you are, you will fall under the conceit that you actually are someone amazing. If there are things like curses and charms, they would be words we use in our daily lives.”
“So even something like ‘Don’t touch anything related to amusement and pleasure’?”
“………”
Ozu’s voice was calm and collected, but I could feel Iroha twitch slightly on my back.
“Yeah, just like that.”
“That makes sense. They sound like normal curses and charms.”
After I gave Iroha a quick glance, Ozu continued.
“Then, what about Murasaki Shikibu-sensei?”
“About that.”
Forgetting about Iroha’s reaction for now, I focussed on the conversation at hand. This has utmost priority after all.
“‘Be a good kid’ —A conventional phrase used in practically every household, but what if her family continued to say that over and over and over again. It would end up as exactly a curse like that, and she ends up restricted with hand and foot, creating the chains and shackles that bind Murasaki Shikibu-sensei.”
Even before the [5th Floor Alliance] was founded. The only place where she could drink alcohol in peace—was her own room only she lived in. She didn’t have to worry about someone else’s eyes, an atmosphere where she could be herself. A boss stage where she didn’t have to be a good kid. That was the room two further down from mine, branching off from her usual life.
“Hearing from your guys’ family circumstances, I wasn’t sure what it was until the very end though.”
“I see…so unlike our parents, he seems to have more sympathy, is what you’re saying.”
“Yeah. At the very least, I could see him wanting to push Sumire-sensei forwards. I don’t really get where his weird JK slang comes from, but I guess it was just some trace of his efforts.”
Iroha’s and Ozu’s mother—Kohinata Otoha hates the entertainment biz, half of this hate probably resentment. Comparing her to Kageishi Kou, he is more of an amusing old gramps. That being said, I don’t want to make it sound like what Sumire is carrying is a light package at all. Nobody can really tell what the people in that very position see around them. For something that I, an outsider, would laugh about because it seemed too simple, could mean something similar like life and death to the person themselves.
In the end, all I can do for someone who can’t find the answer amidst darkness, is to become their eyes, their nose, and set the table. If that enables her to take a step towards the best life there is for her, then I, as her producer, can hold my chest high at my achievement.
“Then, the next time we meet Murasaki Shikibu-sensei—”
“Everything should have settled, and she should have become free.” I answered with confidence towards Ozu’s question.
Though I was a bit worried about Iroha, who had gotten all quiet in the middle of the conversation, sticking into something private was one of our most basic rules anyway.
And, once we made it to the inn, our feet stopped. Two girls, about to enter through the door step, caught on to our presence and turned around. One of those was Sumire, who had returned a bit faster than I had anticipated, and next to her, mysteriously enough, was Mashiro.
“Mashiro-senpai?! Why is she…”
Iroha gave an awkward murmur at my ears. For a second, I was confused as to why she would panic like that, but I immediately caught up. Mashiro is under the impression that ‘All the others think that Mashiro and I are lovers’. In order to invite Mashiro onto our gatherings on the fifth floor of the flat, I told everyone about the promise with president Tsukinomori, and how we have to act as fake lovers for the time being, but…Now that I think about it, I never told Mashiro that they all already know…
Basically, Iroha still thinks that Mashiro is under the impression that Iroha and the others assume we’re actual lovers, and not fake, and now this whole thing of me carrying her got her worried that Mashiro might catch onto it that Iroha and the others might have caught on to it, which is why Iroha reacted this awkwardly to Mashiro seeing us this close, which would ruin her entire appeal of acting like she didn’t know, so I can’t blame her that she’s a bit flustered—Wait, what kind of complicated triangle is this?! So annoying!2
I mean, I guess I’m the one at fault because I didn’t gather everybody to properly explain it, but…How do I say it, they’re doing perfectly fine even without that, so I just kinda forgot about it…
But, leaving that aside, said Mashiro quickly ran towards us with small steps, as her face turned pale.
“Iroha-chan…what happened with you…that wound…?!”
Not even caring about the fact that I was carrying Iroha, she instead directed her gaze down at the towel around Iroha’s leg…What, so she doesn’t even realize?
Either way, I quickly explained the situation with only the most needed information (leaving out anything that could complicate things of course).
“Is that so…Should Mashiro help?”
“That’d be great, Mashiro. I leave the rest to you.”
Having carried Iroha all this way down, I was at my physical limit now. I let Iroha down on the ground, who was greeted by Mashiro with open arms.
“…Unexpectedly…heavy…”
“Awa, are you okay?”
“Don’t make light of Mashiro. She might not have much physical strength, but this bit is perfectly fine.”
Still with unsteady feet, Mashiro supported Iroha’s body with both her arms.
“Also, Mashiro-senpai, you smell so nice! Is that the soap of the inn?”
“Wah…don’t sniff Mashiro like that.”
“Maybe I should use the one of the inn as well? Almost smells a bit seductive! Sniff sniff.”
“T-The worst. Annoying.”
“Ahhh, come on. Don’t shake and tangle like that, you have an injured person with you~”
“Ugh…”
Iroha with her annoying acting, while Mashiro was getting more and more irritated. They were both showing each other their uncovered identities, because they had opened their hearts to each other. Thinking that they might have just become friends with this, I felt my cheeks relax a bit.
“…………”
Watching the two girls enjoy themselves, a certain scenery flashed up inside my head.
Spring—In midst the dancing sakura petals, Ozu and I were walking towards the school gate of our middle school, graduation certificates in hand. Iroha was with us, laughing her heart out at us becoming high school students, when I turned my back to her for one second.
Her teasing laugh disappeared, and really only for a second, I felt like I saw a lonely expression shining through. Back then, we didn’t know the heaviness of a one year gap, and since we lived next to each other, we thought we could meet whenever.
That being said, this gap between first-years and second-years definitely exists. One day, Ozu, Mashiro, and I will eventually vanish from the school, and we might never know if we can stay neighbours forever. Same goes for the [5th Floor Alliance]. If it’s importance would one day cease to exist, this ark made of bubble foam could disappear without a trace.
It’d be great if Iroha had someone in her first-year classmates she’d be on good terms with…Wait, am I her parent or something? Really, sometimes my meddling goes a tick too far, so that I even take the position of an adult.
“You just had the eyes of a father right there.”
“Can’t help it, I’m a workaholic.”
The teasing smile of an actual adult came over from the side. So she’s toying with people, but is actually forgetting just who did all of this for her.
“They’re both good kids, aren’t they. Makes me want to hug them.”
“Yeah…Also, this [Yeah] referred to the first part.”
“You’re a boy the same age as them, so the latter part would be fine you know?”
“A boy of my age actually hides all these perverted thoughts. Not everybody can be as open about it as you.”
Sumire came at me to poke me in my sides. All this annoying talk had me forgetting to keep my formal way of speaking with her.
“Even I only have the 5th, you know.”
“You can be a bit more serious if you want.”
“Ehhh?”
“Well, not like I care much.”
“Hmmm…then for one time, maybe I should show how serious I am?”
Sumire narrowed her almond eyes, gazing at the entrance her students had disappeared through. I tend to forget it because of her Murasaki Shikibu-sensei face she often shows, but she’s actually a rather popular teacher at school. Especially with the boys. Just gazing at her profile like this showed me yet again that she is quite the beauty.
“Hey, you have time for me later?”
Being met with a flirtatious glance like that, even I gulped. But, no matter how much of a charming woman she might be, I’m not the type of man to fall for that. Hence, I responded as calmly as possible.
“If you’re fine after we’ve taken care of Iroha.”
“Of course. You see, the roof of this inn actually has a balcony.”
Pointing at the upper part of the building, Sumire smiled.
“Together with the beautiful morning glow—I can show you the scene where the mask of the village of fear is being pulled off.”
*
After that, Iroha had her wound disinfected, and quickly fell asleep, whereas Mashiro returned back to the battle with her manuscript, so I alone made my way up to the rooftop. It was equipped with simple decorative plants, a bench, but mostly just a place to stand. Nothing else that deserved a special mention, but the summer breeze at the end of the night felt really good on my skin.
“Ahhh, feels so good! Wanna try too, Aki?”
Having changed into her nightwear with her hair untied, she had the bottom part of her yukata lifted up just a bit, revealing her bare feet. Seeing small fish like out of a piranha movie swarming at her feet, I checked the board close to her.
“Nibble fish?”
“Exactly. It’s tickling a bit, but it makes you feel all clean.”
“I feel like directly taking out all the horny substances currently in your life would make you feel even more clean?”
“Don’t go logic me now! I’m talking about a sensation!”
When Sumire flapped her legs in the water, the surprised nibble fish scattered like a spider’s nest being poked. But, after the water calmed down a bit, they gathered again. They can’t even feel danger like that, poor beings.
“Come on, just this once you can put up with me…On this important day where I finally decided on my way.”
“…I guess you’re right.”
There’s no alcohol around, so it can’t be too bad. Deciding on that, I took off my sandals, and sat down on the wooden bench, following the actions of Sumire, and put my feet in the water.
“Ouh?!”
The tingling feeling on my feet had let out a weird voice. Panicking a bit, I closed my mouth with my hands, only to look at my side to find Sumire grinning at me.
“That was your sensitivity time 3000 voice, right? Is this how you sound like when you feel good, I wonder? Fufu~”
“D-Don’t get any weird fantasies! I’ll leave, alright?!”
“Ahh, come on. You don’t have to get angry at me at least for today.”
“For crying out loud…I’m getting sleepy here, so keep it short.”
“Sorry, sorry. ‘Start from the conclusion!’ is Aki’s motto after all. Then, to be frank—”
Sumire picked up the smartphone next to her, and showed me the screen. It was the history of notifications from her LIME account, and the second I read the newest one, several question marks appeared on top of my head.
[Sumire-san was removed from the ‘Kageishi Family’ group chat]
“—I was disowned~” Tehe, she showed the face of a clumsy girl as she stuck out her tongue.
Hold on hold on how did this even happen? Her grandfather didn’t seem like the type of person to revert to such extreme measures. But, what if that was just me misreading him, which led to Sumire’s relationship with her family getting ruined?
“Because the operation ended up in failure…?”
“Ah, no no no. That one was really just my own problem. Rather, I kinda disowned myself.”
“…Excuse me?”
Seeing that I still couldn’t swallow the situation, Sumire burst out laughing. I mean, it doesn’t make sense. You were disowned, you know. Are you even aware of your own situation?
“The thing is~”
Sumire broke the suspense, and started telling me about what happened in the residence. About how they couldn’t find any child pornography, and how Kageishi Kou pinned them down. With some turns and twists, she didn’t stop being a teacher, rather declared war, and left the residence. Having heard all the details, I felt all the strength vanish from my body, as I just sighed in relief. And naturally that wasn’t the result of the nibble fish.
“Why would you take that choice…”
I was honestly just at loss.
“I wonder why.”
“You did understand Kou-san’s true intention, right?”
“Yes. If I really said I wanted to tread the path of an illustrator, he probably would have accepted it. He went out of his way to understand my hobby after all.”
“I thought that he was the type of person to do that. He might look scary, so that’s why—”
“You set us up to be found, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Ahh, to be able to read my grandfather more than me. How many times did you get reincarnated now, Aki?”
“Don’t just change the genre like that. It’s just that, from an outsider’s perspective it might be easy to see, but the person themselves often have trouble.”
“Ahh, that makes sense! I can see things that you’re totally oblivious to, Aki! In the romcom sense~”
“Seriously? I don’t think there’s anything going on though?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
Being met with contempt by Sumire of all people did feel pretty uncomfortable, but that’s just how difficult it is to be in a third-person view.
“But, why did you lie to such an extent that you started a fight like that? If you had just talked it out with your grandfather, the both of you would have been happier in the end.”
“Again, I don’t possess such rationalism~”
“Huh?”
It’s true that Sumire is more of a good-for-nothing, but as a teacher, she’s responsible for maths, so she’s a science-type in that sense. There’s no way she shouldn’t be able to stay rational…
“The thing is. Before I became a teacher, I hated the idea of becoming a teacher so much it almost tore me apart, when a Senpai of mine helped me in finding my way.”
“Are you talking about before you graduated from university? That’s the first time I’ve heard of that.”
“You see, he just got assigned to a high school as a new teacher, but he came from a family with a lot of confidence, was pretty arrogant, the type of handsome guy who actually wore a fitting necktie and glasses.”
“A man? I thought you never much got into contact with the opposite sex.”
“He had a trained body, with high athletic skill, and had the fitting knowledge to work with his words, whilst being a maths teacher.”
“Some super human or something…?”
He sounds like a prince coming from a fairytale, I thought, when Sumire continued with slightly flushed cheeks.
“He had one big flaw though. He was an insane seducer and sex maniac, completely ignoring age and position of the person he has taken a liking to, hitting on them, completely ignoring any boundaries, pretty rough, right?”
“I don’t think [pretty] is the fitting word here…”
“When he suddenly whispered ‘Let me do you’, I thought I was going to die from the agony…Of course I did give an immediate ‘Yes’ as a response though.”
“What are you forcing me to listen to?”
“This is where the main deal comes.”
Unable to listen to any more of my homeroom teacher’s personal history, I asked her indirectly to hurry up, and so she did.
“He really was the worst kind of fiend, but he taught me something very important.”
I have stripped countless people’s bodies and hearts. And through that, I found out.
Unmasked, every human is nothing more than a wild beast. They have obscene desires slumbering in their chests. Wearing the concept of common sense together with their clothes, they are afraid of being removed from the circles, showing their own true selves.
They get used to living by deceiving others, gathering small yet very much present amounts of stress every day, every day.
What a hard way to live. How oppressing it must be. Everybody should just get butt-naked, showing their nasty and obscene parts to everyone. I will ravish you right here, inside the school during broad daylight, to show you that exact idea.
To tell you that you can stay the way you are. Obscene, yet able to love yourself, proudly walk through life. By showing you this way of living that I chose, I want to free you from this world’s shackles, and save you—Keita.
“Hold on a dang second, what was that final male name about?”
“Eh? It’s Kazami Keita-kun? He’s famous for his coupling with Kichikuin Ryuuga-sama, right?”
“Don’t tell me…all this talk so far wasn’t from a Senpai at your university, and your ex-boyfriend, but rather…”
I gulped audibly at the horrible premonition I had, and asked the question on my mind.
“It was all just out of a BL game?”
“Of course, what else did you think it was?”
Ah, well, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions…Well, I guess it makes sense, it’s Shikibu we’re talking about after all…”
“[Kichikuin Ryuuga’s After Class Guidance] was the masterpiece that helped me in finding my way in life. Two of the best VAs ever appeared in it, let me tell you. My ears were swollen so many times did I listen to them.”
“Huh…”
“Ah, do you think I’m joking again? The fact that this helped me in mentally accepting the fact that I would become a teacher is the truth.” Pouting like a sulking child, Sumire emphasized with a loud voice.
“Even if you say it like I’m supposed to know where that advice came from…it just sounded like some gay gigolo was blurting nonsense.”
“Basically, it’s about telling the students, who are lost about their future, and the path they should take, to just stay the way they are, and that they aren’t wrong with what they think. I thought that becoming a teacher like that would have been wonderful. I always did. Though I myself ended up like a teacher who won’t show even an inch of her true personality though.” Sumire showed a self-deprecating laugh.
She softly moved her feet, inducing the sound of water splashing up.
“But, I still found it. Even a clumsy and awkward teacher, who can only lie and run away from pressure, has someone she saved, even if it was done by showing her fake self.”
“Saved with lies…who?”
“A secret. I won’t sell out my comrades.”
“Well, I won’t pry any further…But, I didn’t expect that. To think you wouldn’t stop being a teacher, while still cutting ties with your family.”
I hadn’t anticipated a third path like that. Stop being a teacher, and become an illustrator, or become an illustrator and stop being a teacher. Two choices that basically boiled down to the same.
“My grandfather would have surely pushed my back if I decided to quit, but he wouldn’t allow me to continue being a teacher with half-baked feelings. If I wanted to continue with the both of them, I had to choose this way.”
“Still, you continuing as a teacher, huh. That’s not what I expected.”
“What are you talking about? It’s all you kids’ fault.”
“Eh?”
“You gathered kids who’d probably break down if left alone. My maternal instincts are running wild with you.”
“You mean Mashiro? Or are you adding Ozu and Iroha as well?”
“Who knows. But, it’s clear that you’re working hard for their sake, Aki. At the point in time where all these geniuses have to rely on you, something was clearly off.”
Absolutely correct. Normally she’s just messing around, but I tend to forget that she actually has the brains to follow through.
“Like a godsend. Having someone to look after Iroha until she graduates is very relieving to know.” I muttered.
“You’re worried about her?”
“Well, I guess. She’s Ozu’s little sister. Once I go to university to find a job, there might be a chance that I can’t live in that flat anymore. I might move somewhere else, or even go overseas. If that happens, she can’t tease me anymore to let out some stress. She would be forced to continue her honor student act.”
“You’re saying that I should take the role of the one being made fun of?”
“Just someone where she can show her true annoying personality should be enough.”
“I see. I’ll take the duty of the black ships!”
“You’re a teacher still, so don’t mistake any idioms….You’re not planning to (sexually) open the borders, right?” I gave Sumire a slight warning as she acted unnecessarily arrogant.
“I won’t~ Really, you have no trust in me.”
“I wouldn’t even if you told me to.”
If I show an opening, you immediately put in some dirty jokes or whatever…But, wasn’t I the one this time? Nah, no way.
“But, really, Aki. You’re just like that!”
“…Excuse me?”
Sumire suddenly narrowed her gaze, approaching her [Poisonous Queen] persona. She suddenly felt so grown-up, so much like a teacher.
“You just naturally took yourself out of the equation, right?”
“…What about it?”
“Because from my point of view, you look just as much like a [Kid about to break].”
“Being surrounded by strong people that my stomach and intestines will end up in pieces?”
“No, I got enough confidence in that, you seem like a ridiculously strong warrior. Also, you have a 600-fold resistance to stress.”
“You sure picked your example carefully. What kind of monster is that.”
Though, I am aware of it. If I wasn’t this strong in both body and heart, I probably wouldn’t have made it this far.
“You’re working hard for Ozuma-kun and me, and you’re looking after Iroha-chan and Mashiro-chan, don’t you. Without asking for something.”
“I am asking for quite a lot actually. Thanks to the [5th Floor Alliance], I basically get a direct ticket to a workplace. And it was just my egoism that wanted none of your talents to end up wasted.”
“You really don’t get it.”
“…?”
“Just by being able to judge that, you’re greatly different from the normal high school student you would find nowadays. Possessing such tenacious mental strength at your age, just how much could you achieve in your life.”
“Not really…Unlike everyone else, I don’t have any special talent to me.”
Everybody can work hard. Everybody can use their brains. Be it the physique you are born with that enables you to become a professional athlete, born with the genius allowing you greatly influence the current time with your achievements, or a pianist who can control the instrument like he can see the notes as colors…For those other people who don’t have anything, we have to at least work hard and think how to catch up with them. If not, there would be no meaning in me being here.
“Well, that’s fine then.” Sumire muttered. “Just don’t die on me, alright.”
“I’d rather not, so you get your illustrations ready.”
“No can do~”
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry.”
She got on a high horse, so I had to shut her down. I’m probably the fastest to make her reflect on her actions. Not like I need a medal for that.
“…Anyway, for now, I decided to stay as a teacher. The [5th Floor Alliance] won’t have a problem with that either.”
Two, or three years later. She might grow tired of the job of teaching people, and starts to walk down the path of an illustrator. She might take that first step herself. But, even so, it is a step in the right direction from her past environment. Technically speaking, I can already see how Murasaki Shikibu-sensei’s illustrations will probably only grow more in value in the future.
And that’s fine. I don’t know if she will decide to stay with the [5th Floor Alliance] then, but knowing that I protected one genius like hers makes me rest easy.
“The only thing to regret is that you cut your ties with your family. It would have been fine if this was solved comfortably, but I guess no use crying over spilt milk.”
“Yup. I was kicked out of the family’s LIME group chat. I never really talked to anyone besides my parents or Midori-chan, so I don’t think it’ll have much influence anyway.”
“I wonder about that. There’s someone out there who’d probably be—”
“Oh? At a time like this…”
The smartphone of Sumire vibrated on the bench, to what she tilted her head, slightly confused. The second she picked up the call—
「Don’t leave me Oneeeeee-chaaaaaaaan!!!」
Even I could hear the childish weeping coming from the phone Sumire had put on speaker.
“Midori-chan? It’s barely 5am, you know.”
「Hicc, hicc…If I don’t wake up this early for days with club practice, I won’t be able to study…」
“Phew, so diligent~…Ah, I mean, that’s Midori-chan for you.”
Sumire realized she was letting her real self slip, so she quickly turned to her queen persona, praising her little sister in a moderate level. Normally, seeing the siscon she is, Midori would probably melt with just that, but…
「Hey, what is this about? When I woke up, it said that you were removed from the family’s LIME chat. Not to mention that it came from Gramps, saying that you were disowned…」
“………”
「Will I not be able to meet you anymore? Because you don’t belong to the family anymore?」
“…Don’t be ridiculous. A sisters’ bond cannot be erased that easily.”
「But, ever since you grew up, and started living alone, we only saw each other at school, right? All we had left were the family meetings」
“You can always just come visit me at home…Though let me know beforehand, at least 24 hours before it.”
I guess you need that much time to clean and hide all your otaku stuff. If Midori came unannounced, she would run right into half-naked handsome shota posters with soft-seductive male voice actors recording CDs in the background. She’d probably just collapse from the shock if that happened.
—Then again, I can’t blame her.
Her close relationship with Sumire, coming from their family, has been cut completely. The only ones who’d react differently are probably me with a ‘Meeting relatives is highly inefficient’, or guys like Ozu, who’d ask ‘Why not just text over LIME if you can’t meet in person’ with all seriousness.
Ah, that makes it sound like the male group from the [5th Floor Alliance] is actually a lost cause…
「It doesn’t make any sense…How did it end up like this…?」
“Midori-chan…”
「Because you’re going out with Ooboshi-kun? Or because you happened to anger Gramps?」
“Neither of those. Explaining it would take a long time, but he and I aren’t actually like that.”
「Why? How? Explain it to me. Why—」
“I’m sorry, it’s because I—”
「Why was there suddenly a [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] added in our LIME group?!」
…………
………Huh?
“………Huh?”
My thoughts perfectly overlapped with the voice Sumire let out.
Ahaha, I know that Midori is a hardcore siscon who can’t live without her older sister. But still, you can’t just run away from reality. If you only avert your eyes from harsh events and memories, you can’t grow as a person, or so some business Ytuber told me—
“She’s right…I was added under my Murasaki Shikibu-sensei account now.”
“Seriously~?”
Having switched the screen from the LIME call to her other LIME account, Sumire muttered at a loss, and I didn’t believe her until I saw it with my own two eyes.
“Also, why does he know of that account anyway? Scary.”
“Maybe he looked up the LIME ID. Did you put it as an easy one?”
“It’s murasakishikibusensei.”
“Well that makes things easy…”
“Not to mention that I have a setting where I automatically add them back when they add me.”
“So basically, you have both doors and windows on [Welcome] mode.”
“I never had any passionate online stalkers before, you know?!”
Well, they are relatives after all.
「This [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] has the same family and surname as the person who was at Ooboshi-kun’s house before…」
How would Murasaki Shikibu be a name used nowadays…
「This is the real person, right? I thought she might have been someone else because of the weird name she has」
Club president Midori, are you not aware of the existence of so-called pen names?
「Why did this [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] join our family group chat? I don’t get it…」
Neither do I. I’m sure probably nobody gets it.
「Gramps said that he’ll adopt this [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] as well…」
Why are things only getting more confusing?
「Why would they kick the wonderful, cool, and ideal adult like Onee-chan, only to add such a drunkard and failure of an adult like [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei]?! I don’t understand…?!」
Hey, stop it. The blade you’re swinging will definitely hit someone special to you if you keep going.
“Sumire-sensei, what is Kou-san saying?”
“ 「This [Murasaki Shikibu-sensei] will be adopted by me. It’s someone I happened to run into, and their interesting art has enticed me. I heard they didn’t have any relative, so I decided to give them a chance」 “
“Seems like that gramps is doing just fine. Also, he’s using JK slang in LIME messages as well?”
“ 「They were a grown person from the beginning, holding a proper occupation, going down the path they have chosen. Hence, I will allow them to live without becoming a teacher. Please, treat our new family member nicely, everyone」 “
“Ahhh, so that’s what this is about.”
This is probably that gramps’ show of affection, as well as his punishment for Sumire. A message that they would prepare to always accept her whenever she was ready. However, the coming-out now turned into a ridiculously high hurdle. He really took the first point. Telling the user, aka Sumire, that there would have been a better chance and choice for the coming-out, he created the final boss right there.
“Haaaaaa…” Sumire curled up her back with a sigh long enough to let her soul escape.
Although her muscles were relaxing, I could see her frozen and utterly terrified expression.
“Even though you tried to act cool.”
“Sorry for not being a firm teacher~” grinned Murasaki Shikibu-sensei.
That’s what happens once her teacher mode melts. She probably was seriously scared of cutting ties with her family. Being a coward like that, acting all tough.
“I know that very much. But, congrats on making it back in the family, Murasaki Shikibu-sensei.”
“Ehehehe, thank you. Though, I’m seriously scared of the time to settle it all.”
She showed the same smile who was afraid of finally revealing her true identity. However, her smile was different from before, more accepting of the future to come.
About one year ago—
In the classroom at school, the hallway, the staff’s office, and on the way home. What would the girl back then, who always showed a wry and troubled smile whenever I approached her, think if I taught her about the results of today?
I don’t know how she’ll use the freedom she has just achieved. I don’t have the right to force her to only use her time for the [5th Floor Alliance]. But, whether it was the me back then, or the me now, I still feel that either way would be fine.
Filled with emotions of different origin, Sumire and I exchanged glances, and let out a faint laugh. Feeling like we were forgetting something, we decided to take out our feet from the nibble fish bath, when—
「Hey, who have you been talking to for a while now?」
…Ah, I remembered. We were still on a phone call with Midori.
“Eh?! A-Ah…nobody! Nobody at all.”
「Who’s there? Don’t tell me, is it Ooboshi—」
“A-Ah, bzzzt, weird, your voice is cutting out! Bzzzt, krrrrk, maybe because we’re so far away from civilization? Krrrrrkkk zzzzzzzzt!!!”
「Ah, wait! I know what this situation is called! It’s neto—」
…Peep.
Still mid-sentence, Midori’s voice was cut, as Sumire hung up. I feel like Midori was just about to use a word very much unfitting for the vocabulary of an honor student…but I’ll not touch on that for now. That being said…just where did she even pick up such vocabulary?
“Was that really okay to just cut the call like that?”
“What else was I supposed to do! I doubt I would have been able to get this under control.”
“Your phone is ringing again.”
“See, that’s what I meant!”
“Anyway, I say it’s time that we hit the hay, it’s way too late.”
Wiping my wet feet with the towel I found inside a nearby cage, I narrowed my eyes at the rising sun. Hearing a rustling sound behind me, I turned around to see Sumire do the same as I did. From the yukata, her dazzling thighs were shining through, so I averted my gaze. Seriously, what an obscene teacher she is.
Either way, now that our talk is over, it’s time to really get some more sleep, or so I thought…
“Ah, that reminds me Aki. There is one thing I wanted to ask.”
A simple question was flung towards my back.
“How did the Ceremony of Marriage go?”
“…Ugh?!”
Hey hey hey. This damned witch, asking me with such a timing. What kind of critical hit question is that.
“How far did you two’s relationship progress?”
“…N-Nowhere. Don’t get curious like that out of nowhere, read the mood a bit.”
“Ah, well, if I had to say, it was probably more of a teacher-like move to show me worrying…”
“Excuse me?”
“Wha, ah, nothing at all! R-Right! You two are here exactly because you didn’t spend the night at that shrine! So no waking up in each other’s arms, right?!”
“O-Of course not. Seriously, nothing happened, so please stop asking.” I was talking ridiculously fast during that.
Forced to remember what happened inside the shrine thanks to Sumire’s words, I could feel the temperature of my body rising yet again. Why? I tried my best not to think about it, and did a good job at that, but now she had to come at me again.
Iroha’s flustered expression, her softness hitting my back, I could still sharply remember it all, which led to my heartbeat accelerating once more.
“I’m going to sleep now…! See you!”
In order to run away from this suddenly uprising emotion inside of me, I quickly left the rooftop after me.
*
「On top of finding out about Mashiro-chan’s secret, that reaction of Aki…What should I do from now on? Holding a neutral position seems to be difficult…」
「I still am in the Iroha X Aki fraction, so if you are Tsukinomori-san X Aki, then shouldn’t that be enough balance?」
「Hmm…I mean, this seriously is some meta interspace, so I guess it sounds plausible, but…」
「Hehe. Well, go ahead and rack your head about it. Thanks to that exquisite misunderstanding, things seem to get interesting soon」
1 words with mysterious power to alter reality
2 That thing was one big sentence in the raws. You suffer with me
