novelWhat has to be seen through to the end (2)
| ← Ch.32 | Ch.34 → |
"......So, what is it?"
Even before she called out to him, it was readily apparent that Yasuo was very tense.
"H-How about we leave this place first."
A slightly shrill voice, and a red face.
Looking at him made even Shouko feel embarrassed. Yasuo was just that agitated when looking at Shouko's face... or so it seemed.
"Take care on your way back."
Kobayashi, the tutor in charge of them, had stayed back until the last time slot of the lectures to make sure all the students had left, and he saw them off. The two of them headed out into the night air that gave off a slight, but discernible, presence of approaching summer.
"So, where do you want to go?"
"Eh, ah, umm..... It's pretty late, and I don't want to take up too much of your time, so how about that Weloce over there?"
Cafe Weloce, located just off Prope Street, was an ordinary outlet of a cafe chain that was not particularly unusual in any way, but unlike the other cafes that closed at nine in the evening, Cafe Weloce was the only shop that stayed open until eleven at night.
At the prep school that Shouko and Yasuo attended for their university exams, 『Senshuu Academy』 in Tokorozawa, students could not stay beyond nine-thirty at night.
Even if they stopped at the shop on their way home at that time, about a quarter of the seats would usually be taken.
During the five minutes it took them to walk to Weloce, Shouko looked at Yasuo's back as he walked slightly unsteadily, and once again started to imagine what he wanted to talk to her about.
Considering how much Yasuo was wavering as he told her that he wanted to take her somewhere, it didn't take much imagination to deduce that their destination would be Ante Lande.
However, if that was the case, she couldn't understand why they had to talk alone.
Shouko, Yasuo, and Yasuo's younger sister, Kenzaki Nodoka, had guards accompanying them to protect them against threats from Ante Lande, including the Shii.
The guards were Diana, Yasuo's mother, Kenzaki Madoka, and Khalija, who had sworn absolute obedience to the Kenzaki family and Diana after the recent battle.
Diana had been guarding Shouko today, and judging by the way she had spoken, Shouko felt that Diana didn't plan on attending the meeting. However, even that was strange.
As she was thinking about that, she realized that they had already arrived in front of Weloce.
After they took up their positions in seats where the other customers would not be able to overhear them, Yasuo pulled out his wallet and turned to Shouko.
"What would you like, Tatewaki-san? Since I called you out here for my own reasons, I'll pay."
"......"
"Hmm?"
Shouko suddenly felt that her current expression was completely deadpan.
"......I'll have a medium ice tea. I don't need syrup."
"Ah, o-ok, got it."
Yasuo showed a look of relief for just a second after Shouko told him her order, and walked towards the register in high spirits.
On the other hand, Shouko sat down in the aisle seat and leaned back heavily after letting out a sigh.
"『My own reasons』, huh?"
From the way he put it, Shouko was certain that Yasuo's business with her today was not something that would make her jump with joy.
No matter the circumstances, the place that he wanted her to go to was most likely the other world, Ante Lande. The destination would be the Resteria Kingdom, the country that Diana and Khalija were from.
The reason was probably to look into the matter of the 『Shii』 that was hiding inside her body.
"......"
When she once again looked blankly towards Yasuo, she saw that he was walking slowly towards her while holding a tray with glasses of ice coffee and ice tea on it.
Shouko, who occasionally helped out at the pub that her parents ran, 『Restaurant Saburou』, thought about something pointless like he wouldn't last a second waiting tables with that kind of skill at holding trays.
Yasuo, who somehow managed to reach the table safely, let out his breath and put a glass down in front of Shouko.
"Thank you."
With this, they were finally ready to start talking, but for some reason Yasuo had beads of sweat on his forehead.
"Just go ahead and drink up. We can talk after we relax a little."
"Ah, o-okay."
Yasuo meekly nodded and drank half of the ice coffee in one gulp, without even adding milk or syrup.
Was he just that nervous?
Shouko already had a fair idea of what Yasuo wanted to say to her, and she knew that telling her would be quite stressful for him considering his position, so she did not tell him to hurry up.
If she was in his place and had to tell a friend that got caught up in her own family's affairs that they had to now go to some incomprehensible place, she would definitely be tense and find it hard to say.
"Umm, sorry for calling you out all of a sudden."
"Forget about that. Let's just get it done with. What is it?"
"Ah, okay. Well, you already guessed about half of it already, but basically, my father has decided to go to Ante Lande for a few days for reconnaissance, and he wants you to go with him."
"A few days? Oji-san was Hero, right? Is he going to settle everything in just a few days?"
"That might be asking for a little too much, but he was saying that he wanted to get some firsthand information, as well as seriously negotiate with Diana's mother and the Resteria Kingdom. To put it frankly, he wants to tell them not to be stingy with the guard detail."
"That's true. If you think about it, Khalija-san is the person who tried to kidnap me, and yet she's now guarding me, you, and Nodoka-chan. I guess that's pretty strange."
"Right. And then there's the matter of yourself, Tatewaki-san. Although we as a family feel very sorry about it, in a way you are the first victim caused by Ante Lande's actions in Japan. Dad said that another reason why he wanted to go was to make sure that they take responsibility for that. Of course, he wants you to accompany him for that as well."
"I see. I'll be going to Ante Lande so that they can research more about that 『Shii』, right?"
"Yes, that's right. Of course, Diana will go along as well, or maybe I should say that she will be returning home along with you."
Up to this point, the discussion made sense.
Of course Shouko didn't want that ominous existence hanging around her, and if they could research it and remove it from her, that would be great.
However, in the conversation so far, the name of the person who was important to Shouko didn't come up even once.
"What about you, Yasu-kun? Aren't you going too?"
"......For now, I am not included in the plan."
"Why not!?"
Yasuo, surprised by Shouko's unexpected outburst, spoke hurriedly.
"I'd love to go as well, but it looks like it costs a lot of money to go to Ante Lande."
The pathway that connects the other world, Ante Lande, to Japan was called a 『Gate Tower』.
It appeared to be an extraordinarily large-scale sorcery system, as it would take three percent of the national budget to move a mass equivalent to that of an average adult male.
"But it's not like your family is going to pay for that, right Yasu-kun?"
"Even I'm not sure how large a sum it is or who exactly will bear the burden on Resteria's side, but they will be paying for the entire expense of the trip this time. Diana's share is a given, but just the amount required for my Dad and you will apparently take a large chunk out of their budget."
"If that's the explanation from their side, that's pretty awful of them, don't you think? In the first place, they are the ones who allowed the Shii to come over here, and they are the ones looking to your father for help. Moreover, they even made you start training. They should at least pay the travel fee without grumbling."
Yasuo smiled wryly after hearing Shouko speak.
"Well, nobody came over to arrest Khalija-san, even though she ignored the king's orders and committed a crime here. Besides, between you and me, Tatewaki-san, it should be obvious who needs to go to Ante Lande more, right?"
"So you're saying I'm an ultra-rare sample for experimentation who is more important than the Son of a Hero who is known in every corner of the world?"
"That's a pretty harsh way to put it."
"I mean, that's how the people on that side will see me, after all."
"Well, that may be true... Still, you seem pretty calm about this, Tatewaki-san."
"That's because I don't have any hard facts. Although I would be scared if I found out after going there that they were going to cut my body open without using anesthesia."
"Dad and Diana are going to accompany you, so they'll make sure you don't come to any harm."
"Well, I suppose they won't do anything that might upset the Hero of Salvation."
Even Shouko was aware of something like that.
"I've heard that once you get there, Diana's mother will be taking care of everything you need. It looks like the incident with Khalija-san has made them very sensitive, so they will be guarding you quite rigorously."
"And what about Khalija-san?"
"Of course, she'll be staying behind to take care of things here. Like I said earlier, if she goes over to the other side, she'll be arrested. It might be fine if it was just that, but in the worst case there is also a danger of her being assasinated, so Diana's mother has decided that it would be better for her not to return."
"......Okay, now I'm feeling a little scared."
To begin with, Khalija had come to guard the Kenzaki Family on the orders of the King of Resteria, just like Diana. However, she had also come to an understanding with a certain person who appeared to be capable of freely controlling the Shii, and betrayed the Kenzaki family once already in order to help further that person's goals.
Beatrice Heller, the leader of an organization called 『Carnelian of the Coal Mine』 that took care of refugees.
That was the name of the person who could control the Shii, according to Khalija.
The Carnelian of the Coal Mine was an organization that mainly concerned itself with taking care of the citizens of the Grand Duchy of Torjesso, who were chased out of their homeland thirty years ago by the armies of the Demon King Kaul.
The plan to move them back to their country that was destroyed by Demon King Kaul was still not complete, and that organization apparently used its influence not only in Resteria, but all over the world in order to help the refugees.
No matter how one looked at it, it appeared to be a splendid charitable organization, so why were they controlling Shii which have the appearance of dead creatures? Moreover, just how much influence does that person called Beatrice Heller have over the organization? There was no way to answer these questions.
However, judging by the fact that Khalija, who was one of Resteria's central military officers, fell under her evil influence, it was obvious that the power of the person who could control the Shii was far more widespread in their world than initially apparent.
Khalija had said that Beatrice Heller was looking for a 『Latch』.
Even Khalija did not know what kind of powers the 『Latch』 possessed, or perhaps would be given, but it appeared that requirement to become one was to be 『A living person who harbors the undead within their body』.
And so, Shouko, who harbored a Shii — an undead creature — within her body was the only 『Latch』 candidate discovered so far.
"Everything about this is so incomprehensible. I suppose this means that in the end, we don't know anything about the matter."
"I'm really sorry. Even though I was the one who explained it to you, I don't understand most of it myself. However, that makes it all the more important that we make a move while we are still able to, which brings us to this discussion today."
"Well, I guess you're right. With things as they are, I can't concentrate on my exams either."
"B-By the way, Tatewaki-san."
"Hmm?"
Yasuo appeared to have finished his ice coffee in the middle of the conversation.
He once again started sweating strangely.
"The discussion about you going to Ante Lande was of course important, but there's something more important that I need to tell you, Tatewaki-san."
"Ah, I see... Eh?"
Shouko, who was about to go along with the conversation as if it was normal, suddenly did a double take.
"Something... that you have to tell me?"
"Yes... This is something we need to discuss before you go to Ande Lande, no matter what."
"Eh, w-what is..."
Looking at Yasuo's eyes that seemed to tell her that he had resolved himself, Shouko unconsciously corrected her lax posture.
She straightened her back, put her knees together.
"Well, about what happened earlier, I thought that we should make it official."
"O-Official......? Uh, h-hang on a second..."
Although they had been having a completely unromantic conversation about the other world until a moment ago, Yasuo's behaviour suddenly changed which caused Shouko's heartbeat to gradually speed up.
"If it's not too much of a bother... Yeah, as I thought this is a protocol that has to be followed. Tatewaki-san."
"Y-Yes."
Even though she was supposed to be tired out from the classes at prep school, her blood ran quickly through her entire body, and even her eyes were widened as we waited to hear what Yasuo would say.
"Tatewaki-san... Would it be okay if I went to greet your parents some time?"
The moment those words fell upon her ears, Shouko's brain overheated.
"...........................................................................Wha—!?"
What came her her mouth was not a word, but merely a sound.
It could be said that Yasuo's request came so far out of left field that the language processing center of her brain refused to work properly.
It was just a reflex action.
"I guess... that it's not okay, after all?"
Yasuo himself had a bright red face, as if he had been thinking too hard about this.
"..................It's........... It's not like it's n-not okay, but............"
It was such a sudden attack.
Shouko, who felt like she had received a bodily blow to her blindspot from ultra-long range, could only wait while her thought process began to spin around in circles uselessly.
"........... About what happened earlier.... You're talking about that, right?"
"T-That's right. What else is there?"
"T-That's right, but...... I'm sorry, I didn't imagine that something like this would happen, I mean, Yasu-kun, don't you think it's a little too early?"
"I don't think it's too early. If anything, this is the proper procedure to see things through."
"I-Is that so? Is that how it works!?"
"That's how it works. This is something that will affect the rest of your life, but we are both still students right now, so we can't really go ahead without your parents' permission....."
"A-Ah, but... Eh, the rest of my life? Y-Yasu-kun, what's up with you? This isn't like you at all."
"Eh? What isn't?"
"I-I mean......"
Although he had seemed so hesitant in the beginning, once the words had left his mouth, his strong will and sincerity strongly shone through.
Shouko's face had turned so red that there was no way to hide it.
Was this a dream?
Had she perhaps dozed off in the middle of her lecture, and started dreaming about Yasuo because she was frustrated about not getting an answer from him about 『what happened earlier』?
"Yasu-kun, about that, where were you planning on meeting...?"
"If possible, I would like to visit them at your house... but since it's an important conversation, it might be better to go on a day when your parents are not working."
"Y-You're... That serious..."
"Yes. I think it'll take time to get them to understand. Still, I'll explain it to them properly."
"I-I understand. Umm, t-thank you..."
Hearing Shouko talk as if she was delirious from a high fever, Yasuo shook his head.
"You don't need to thank me. If anything, I should be thanking you for agreeing."
"O-Of course I would agree! I-I mean... I didn't think that you would take this so seriously, Yasu-kun..."
"Of course. I don't know if your parents will believe me, but my Dad, my Mom, and Diana will come along as well and we will try our best to convince them."
"I............ Huh?"
Shouko felt like a crack had developed in her vision, and the north and south poles of the planet had suddenly been reversed.
".........Your Dad, your Mom, and Diana-san too? They're coming? To my house?"
"Eh? Well, that's obvious."
"............Why?"
"What do you mean, why... If they don't, there's no way your parents will believe me."
"........... Believe what?"
"T-Tatewaki-san, what's wrong? Are you okay? I mean, it's obvious......"
Yasuo started to panic when he saw that Shouko was acting strangely, but Shouko just felt like the world was rapidly losing color and the temperature was dropping.
"If you go to Ante Lande, you won't be able to return on the same day. Due to limitations of the Gate Tower, I've heard that it is better to keep about five full days open for the trip. However Golden Week is already over and there are no more consecutive holidays coming up soon, so if you have to go to Ante Lande there's no choice but to take time off from school. Moreover you have exams this year so we can't really take you away for one week without explaining the reason to your parents. So we all sat down and thought about it, but in the end we decided that we would need to tell your parents about the circumstances in Ante Lande as well."
"................. Oh, I see."
"I know that the whole thing is pretty incomprehensible, and I don't know if your parents will believe me, but trust me when I say that I don't have any intention of deceiving your parents. I will sincerely explain everything to them."
Now it all made sense.
In that case, they would have to come on a day when her parents were not working, Yasuo would also 『seriously』 talk about 『what happened earlier』, namely the incident that Shouko was involved in, and if the Kenzaki couple and Diana were not present, the discussion could not even start.
Now it all made sense.
Shouko felt like all the strength was leaving her body, and unable to recover, she felt like she might slide and fall out of her chair.
"Tatewaki-san!?"
"............. It must be nice to be an adult!"
"Eh?"
"I guess this is the kind of situation where they would drown their sorrows in alcohol!"
"What are you talking about!?"
Yasuo panicked as Shouko's voice got progressively more hoarse, but of course Yasuo didn't stop to think for a second that he had something to do with it.
"Yasu-kun."
"Yes?"
"Come here for a bit."
While still looking like she was about to fall off her chair, she beckoned towards Yasuo with her hand.
After Yasuo obediently stood up and came to stand next to her, Shouko looked at him with a feeble glare and then, "Sei!" She drove her fist into his side with a fair amount of power.
"Guaaah!? What the heck!?"
Yasuo groaned at Shouko's sudden violence, but Shouko just gazed blankly ahead.
"......That's my line... I feel like I'm going to turn in a Shii any minute......"
"E-Eh!? Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm not..."
"Hey!!"
As Shouko moaned indistinctly, faint black flames started to rise up from her eyes and Yasuo started to panic for real.
If Shouko were to turn into a Shii in the middle of the city like this, there was no way for Yasuo to handle it.
"Ah."
However, Shouko seemed to realize something all of a sudden, as she straightened her body and started looking around restlessly.
And then, when she found what she was looking for, her expression relaxed slightly, and then she glared at Yasuo once more.
"I suppose our discussion is done for now?"
"Eh? Y-Yeah."
"For now, this is my answer."
"Answer?"
"Yeah. I didn't say anything about agreeing to go to Ante Lande yet, after all."
"Aah... Eh? N-No, that won't do at all, deciding not to go will make things more difficult for you as well, Tatewaki-san...."
"Yes, I know. But deciding to agree to everything unilaterally doesn't sit right with me."
"Well, I can see where you're coming from..."
Seeing Yasuo look confused, Shouko smiled at him cynically, as if she had regained some of her energy.
The flames in her eyes had disappeared at some point, and her teasing gaze now looked straight at Yasuo.
"So let me just put one condition forward."
Shouko made a clear declaration.
"Yasu-kun, you have to come along as well. As long as that condition is accepted, I will go to Ante Lande."
"Eh!?"
Yasuo was just a messenger, and he had no authority to decide anything regarding the trip to Ante Lande.
However, Shouko spoke in a tone that precluded his answer and cut off his confusion.
"I told you the condition for my Shii's activation along with 『that other thing』, right? If I'm separated from you for a long time and placed in an unfamiliar environment, who knows what might happen~"
"Ah..."
When Shouko's feelings of love for Yasuo grew beyond her control, the Shii would show itself and take over her body.
Yasuo had certainly heard about that already.
When she brought that up, Yasuo, who could not even call Shouko by her first name, turned bright red and became unable to speak.
"Well then, convey my regards to your father and Diana-san. I'm going home. Ah, you don't need to walk me back."
"Ah, ok, I understand. Umm..."
"I'll contact you again later. See you. Ei."
"Ouch! Eh? Ehh!?"
Shouko, who quickly got ready to leave and stood up, hit the top of Yasuo's head with a karate chop as a parting gift and left the cafe right away.
Yasuo, who was just blankly gazing as she left, suddenly noticed the presence of someone beside him and turned towards them.
"Oh, Diana?"
Diana was sitting in the chair that Shouko had occupied until recently, with an expression that was equal parts embarrassment and exasperation.
"Wait, were you in the shop the whole time?"
"Well, yes. I switched with the Colonel for Shouko's guard duty."
Since it was a public store, it was not that strange that she had decided to come inside to carry out her duty as a guard.
"So you heard what we talked about right... tell me honestly, what do you think? She said she won't go to Ante Lande unless I go along, but I think that's pretty impossible... Diana?"
Yasuo had wanted to discuss the condition that Shouko had brought up, but he suddenly realized that Diana was actually giving him a reproachful glare for once and he stopped talking in the middle of his sentence.
"Yasuo. I am aware that it is not my place to interfere and say something like this, but what you did earlier was bad. It was horrible."
"Eh."
"I think that you should look for an opportunity and properly apologize to Shouko."
"E-Ehh!?"
"I understand that you didn't do it out of malice, but there are cases when something is bad precisely because there was no malicious intent. Especially when you are dealing with Shouko. If Nodoka had been here, I'm sure that she would have barged into your conversation at least three times."
This might be the first time that Diana had reproached him so frankly.
Yasuo, who realized that, finally started to think that he might have done something unforgivable.
"D-Did I really say something that would upset Tatewaki-san to that extent!?"
"Yasuo. Sit down."
Diana, while frowning and appearing reluctant, made Yasuo sit down in his seat.
Yasuo also felt some sort of disquieting pressure from Diana, and straightened his back unconsciously.
"I don't particularly think anything about it. But the Colonel probably found it amusing. Just so you know, she heard everything as well."
"Ugh."
Seeing Diana's reluctant face and hearing Khalija's name come up, Yasuo started to realize that he might have made a fairly large mistake.
"As for the condition Shouko brought up, we will consider that from our side so you needn't worry about it, Yasuo. More importantly, let me explain to you how cruelly you acted towards Shouko so that you will be able to somewhat withstand the attacks from the Colonel after you go back home."
"What do you mean, acted cruelly...."
For Diana who usually saw everything he did in a positive light to say something like that, just how big a mistake had he made?
For the next few minutes, Diana explained in detail just what Yasuo had done, and after that Yasuo put his head down on the table and was not able to get up for a while.
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| ← Ch. 32 | Ch. 34 → |