Chapter 4: Fairy × BBQ

When Sunday finally rolled around, there wasn’t a single cloud in the clear blue sky. It was perfect weather for a barbeque!

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Yet for some reason, rather than there being any celebration about the weather, there was a silent staredown going on in front of my house.

First there was the home team. Or rather, Satsuki and Harissa, who’d just come out of my house. I was with them, of course. Satsuki had actually just come by to get us since it was just about time to leave for the barbeque.

Then there was the visiting team. Or rather, Iris and Rosalind, who’d been lying in wait for us outside. Suzuran, Corona, and Ulaula were there too, but had taken a clear backseat in the standoff.

Wait, did this mean they’d showed up because they wanted to come along, too? Why was the air so tense...?

“What are you doing here?” asked Satsuki.

“I just knew you guys would be sooo lonely without us on a fun trip like this! Right, Rosalind?” chirped Iris.

“Mind how you address me, mortal. But she’s right! It was foolish of you to think that you could host a meat banquet with Rekka without inviting me,” lashed Rosalind.

“Mistress, this is a barbeque, not a meat banquet. It sounds a little indecent when you put it that way.”

“Ugh, silence! You stay quiet, Suzuran.”

“Ugggh, this barbeque set is heavy...” griped Ulaula.

“Don’t drop it,” instructed Corona. “Hey, just because it’s in a bag doesn’t mean you can just leave it on the ground.”

It seemed like Iris and Rosalind had masterminded this alliance, while the maid squad behind them was just there for support. They were still taking a backseat in the ongoing dispute.

“We even went to the trouble of bringing along some tasty treats to share with everyone. So it won’t be a problem if we come too, right? You said the barbeque would be by the river, so there should be plenty of space for all of us,” Iris said, indicating everything Suzuran and the other girls were carrying.

This must have been what she and Rosalind ran off to take care of after school the other day...

“There is too a problem! There’s no way this many people will fit into my dad’s car!”

Iris was totally trying to bowl Satsuki over, but she did her best to hold her ground. And she had a point. It was totally true that all of us wouldn’t fit into her dad’s car, which would hold eight people at most. We had eight people standing here alone, and Satsuki’s parents would make ten of us. And then there was the matter of the coolers and other equipment that needed to be packed...

“That’s not a problem at all. Just tell me where we’re going, and I’ll take my spaceship.”

Iris offered a simple solution, leaving Satsuki grinding her teeth.

“Hey, Satsukins, we’ll be leaving soon! Oh? Who might these young ladies be?”

Uncle Itsuki—Satsuki’s father—was in for a bit of a shock when he came out of the Otomo house next door, and he stood there wide-eyed for a moment before inquiring about the small crowd that had gathered.

“Dad, um, these people are...”

“It’s nice to meet you, sir! I’m Iris. This here is Rosalind and Suzuran and Corona and Ulaula. We’re friends of Rekka and Satsuki’s.”

“You don’t say! Well, any friend of my daughter’s is a friend of mine. It’s nice to meet you all.”

“You’re too kind. I know it’s short notice, but the truth is we were actually planning on having a barbeque today and just so happened to hear that you guys were having one, too. We thought it would be lots of fun to all go together, so we thought we’d stop by and ask if you’d be interested.”

“Is that so? Hmm, we’d honestly love to have you, but I don’t think we’ll be able to fit all of us in the car this way.”

“Oh, don’t worry! I wouldn’t dream of imposing. We were planning on going anyway, so we’ve already arranged a ride.”

“My, what a considerate young lady you are.”

It was easy to forget, but Iris was a princess. It was kind of something to watch her work her magic... She’d won Uncle Itsuki over in the blink of an eye, and with his approval, Satsuki couldn’t argue anymore.

“All right, Satsukins. Let’s make it a special barbeque this year and have some fun with your friends.”

“Y-You bet, Dad...” Satsuki replied with a strained smile on her face.

She was holding her hand behind her back, balled so tightly into a fist that I swear I could hear her fingers creaking... but I just pretended I didn’t notice.

“Wow, thank you sooo much, Mr. Otomo!”

Iris gleefully thanked Uncle Itsuki and got the address from him. She then said that her driver was waiting around the corner, and walked off with the rest of the visiting team. I was guessing it was just a white lie to keep Satsuki’s parents from seeing her spaceship, but the whole “my driver is waiting” line was pretty convincing considering she had a gaggle of maids in tow.

“Well, uh, que sera sera, right? The more the merrier, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, you would think so, wouldn’t you, Rekka?”

Satsuki’s slumped shoulders told me how much the disappointment was weighing on her. I tried consoling her, but that only seemed to make it worse. Even Harissa gave a small sigh.

“All right, time for us to get a move on, too!” Uncle Itsuki waved to us at he put the last of the bags in the car.

“Uncle Itsuki’s right. At this rate, Iris and the others will get there first.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, Harissa. Let’s go.”

Satsuki nodded her head repeatedly like she was trying to snap herself out of her bad mood before taking Harissa’s hand and dragging her off to the car.

“Huh? Come to think of it, where’s Auntie Sanae?”

“Mom? Oh, she’s probably taking her time getting that girl ready.”

“That girl?”

Satsuki was an only child, so who the heck was she talking about? I cocked my head quizzically to the side, and just as I was about to ask for more details, the front door of the Otomo residence opened once again. Auntie Sanae stepped out with a girl who had long, auburn hair tied partially up on the left side of her head—someone I, much less R, certainly hadn’t expected to see.

“Wha—L?!” My confusion made my voice squeak at a higher pitch than intended.

“L...” Even R was staring at her with round eyes, unable to hide her surprise.

“...” Meanwhile, L took one glance at us before abruptly turning away with a huff, refusing to make any further eye contact.

Just what was L doing at Satsuki’s house? And where the heck was this day going? We’d already had two unexpected developments before we’d even left for the barbeque...

▽

“Under a bridge...?”

“Yeah.”

In the car on the way there, Satsuki gave me the short version of how L had ended up in the Otomo family’s care. Apparently, on a particularly rainy day earlier in the week, Satsuki had spotted her under a bridge. She’d tried to run away at first, but Satsuki caught up to her when she slipped and fell in a puddle. It took some convincing, but she eventually agreed to follow Satsuki back to her place. L had been stubbornly silent about her circumstances, but Satsuki’s kind parents had agreed to take care of her for a while, which brings us to the strange situation we found ourselves in today.

Out of consideration for L, Satsuki whispered all this to me, but I’m quite sure L could still hear every word of it with her superhuman ears. Satsuki just had no idea that L was actually a super advanced life-form from the future. And as for the Kiklim in question...

R was taking advantage (?) of the fact that no one but me and L could see her. She was right in L’s face, relentlessly staring her down and making her sweat profusely. They were practically so close that it looked like they might kiss. L tried to avoid making eye contact with her, but...

Whip... Whoosh!

Whip... Whoosh!

Whip... Whoosh!

Every time she turned away, R would immediately follow and just keep staring at her. It was actually pretty amusing to watch. Perhaps it was a matter of pride, but L stubbornly continued to turn away just as stubbornly as R followed her.

“Hm? Is something the matter, L?”

“What? No, nothing!”

Satsuki noticed her strange behavior, but L panicked a little when she asked about it. Since other people could see her, she didn’t have the luxury of behaving oddly like R, who seemed to have a tremendous advantage in this situation.

But in spite of that, R still hadn’t said a word to L. Was it possible she was trying to be considerate of the older sister she’d been separated from? No one could see or hear R, so if she tried having a conversation with L, it would just seem like she was talking to herself... Not that R ever showed that kind of consideration for me. Well, anyway, I figured I could leave the siblings from the future be for now. Since I was L’s target, I probably wouldn’t make a very good mediator. The most I could do would be to get a conversation going about something else...

“Come to think of it, have you ever had a barbeque before, Harissa?”

“Um, that means we’re going to be eating food outside, right? We do that quite often in Aburaamu, like when you came to visit. The whole village gathers around for a feast, usually of grilled bowpig freshly caught from the forest.”

“What’s a bowpig?”

“An animal, rather like a boar with five legs.”

“Five legs is kind of hard to picture...”

Just how did that work anatomically? Anyway, Satsuki, Harissa, and I continued to chat as R continued to silently mess with L until we eventually pulled over at our destination.

“Rekka, could you grab what’s in the trunk there?”

“Yes, sir.”

I helped Uncle Itsuki carry the barbeque supplies from the parking lot to our favorite riverside spot. It was a bit of a hike down a mountain path to get there, so it wasn’t like we could drive all the way to it.

“Hm? Are those bikes?” I asked Satsuki, who was walking with me.

There were several bicycles parked alongside the stairs that led from the path down to the riverside.

“They look kinda small. Maybe some kids have come to play?”

“Maybe,” I said with a shrug as we made our way down the stairs.

While it wasn’t really something we did anymore, Satsuki and I used to play over by the abandoned factories a bunch when we were kids. Actually, that was right next to where Rosalind lives now. We were in the mountains here, but it wasn’t like we were in remote territory. It was totally possible that some neighborhood kids had come up here to goof off. And sure enough, once we reached the bottom of the stairs, we spotted a group of them playing at the water’s edge.

“Hey, it went that way!”

“Quick, gimme the net!”

“Corner it, corner it!”

“Don’t trip over yourself!”

“You can do it!”

There were three boys and two girls, a pair of which seemed to be brother and sister. They all looked to be elementary school age or thereabouts. The boys were trying to catch fish or something, splashing water into the air as they ran through the river—although they had a bug net and not a fishing net—while the two girls cheered them on from the shore.

“Ah!”

One of the boys suddenly noticed our arrival and the other kids all looked up in turn. But they quickly lost interest in us and got back to chasing fish.

“Oooh, Rekka! Over here, over here!” I heard Iris call.

“Hey, Iris. Guess you got here first after all,” I said as I turned to see her waving.

If she and the others were already here, that was probably why the kids were so unfazed to see more people show up. Anyhoo, we started to make our way over to where Iris and the other girls were camped out. The river shore was mostly sand and pebbles, making it a little tricky to walk on.

“Ooh... Aah... Eep!”

Harissa seemed to be in danger of tripping any minute, so I loaned her a hand as we made it the rest of the way to the barbeque site.

“All right, Satsuki darling, your dad and I will finish setting up things here, so go play with your friends for a little while.”

“Huh? But I can help, too.”

“It’s fine, dear. Now run along, and make sure you take L with you.”

Auntie Sanae opened a pack of meat for grilling as she smiled and nodded her head towards L, who seemed somewhat bored.

“O-Okay... All right, then. Come on, L.”

“R-Right...”

Persuaded by her mother’s words, Satsuki dragged a fidgeting L towards the river. Harissa and I followed close behind.

“It’s wet over here, so you have to be careful.”

“Okay...”

Huh... If you ignored how dissimilar they looked, Satsuki and L seemed a lot like siblings. Satsuki’s always been good at looking after people and just sort of naturally gives off that older sister vibe. And L, standing next to Satsuki in her hand-me-downs rather than the red kimono she usually wore, only contributed to that impression... even though she was supposed to be a big sister, too.

“...”

Meanwhile, the real little sister here was floating next to me, cheeks puffed out in a pout. This might be the first time I’d ever seen R so demonstrably unhappy.

“Rekka! If you’re going to play, let me join you!”

“Playing in the water...? Well, as long as there are no waves, I suppose it’ll be tolerable.”

After leaving the barbeque prep to Suzuran and the other maids, Iris and Rosalind joined up with us, and the six of us (seven including R) went off to play until things were ready. The sun was already pretty high overhead, and it was gradually getting hotter, so I took my shoes off to wade in the shallows barefoot.

“Eek, it’s cold!”

“It feels so nice! Take that!”

“Wah! How dare you splash water at me, Iris?!”

Iris kicked up a splash, and a complaining Rosalind defended herself with her parasol. Harissa was contentedly listening to the babbling of the river as she waded through it with her skirt hem carefully lifted so it wouldn’t get wet. I was enjoying it too as watched Satsuki and L.

“Here, leave your shoes and socks here so they don’t get wet. Just watch where you’re going and take your time so you don’t trip.”

“I can handle this much. Don’t treat me like a child.”

With that utterly childish reply, L defiantly stood up... and immediately stepped on a round pebble in the riverbed. She nearly fell face-first into the water first thing.

“...!”

R reflexively reacted nearly instantaneously, but Satsuki was much closer and caught L first.

“See? That’s why I told you not to rush.”

“O-Okay...”

“All right, try holding on to my shirt.”

L must have been as light as she looked, because not even the feeble Satsuki had any trouble supporting her as she got back on her feet. The genuine and tender display between the two of them was honestly kind of touching, but...

“Grrrrr...”

There was a two-year-old next to me who was grinding her teeth over the very sight of it.

“Urk!”

L, when she noticed the look R was giving her, flinched and froze up.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” asked Satsuki.

“Um, er... A bug! There was a bug!”

“A bug?!”

Of course, Satsuki couldn’t see R, so she had no idea what had freaked L out. Luckily for L, she’d given just the right answer to throw Satsuki off.

It was an interesting position to be in, really. Satsuki meant well, but if she continued to spend time with L, it would be harder for R to ever talk to her. She’d probably just continue to get more and more frustrated... I scratched my head, somewhat lost as to how to handle this.

“What’s up, Rekka? Why the long face?”

“Er, it’s nothing... Actually, Iris, what did you bring for the barbeque? We have chicken wings and beef.”

“Some purple morrowmorrow horn meat and swillsalmon fillets and stuff.”

“...Space animals, huh?”

To be fair, I didn’t know the name of every animal on Earth, but those did not sound like anything from this planet. I mean... they were animals, right?

“Wait, can you even eat horn meat?”

“There’s a tiny bit in the horns of the purple morrowmorrow. It’s considered a delicacy.”

“Then I guess this swillsalmon something or other is really out of this world, too, huh?”

“Heehee, just wait until you try it,” Iris said with a teasing smile.

I couldn’t help wondering what kind of meat it actually was... But while I was curious about what it tasted like, I was hoping it didn’t look too strange so it wouldn’t freak out Uncle Itsuki and Auntie Sanae too much.

“So, Rosalind... Did you, like, just shove all the work onto Suzuran and the others?”

“That’s an ugly way of putting it. They’re maids, meaning it is their duty to serve me. I didn’t ‘shove’ anything onto anyone. Suzuran and Corona are helping of their own accord, though I’m sure Ulaula is trying to slack off as we speak...”

“Is that how it works?”

I mean, I guess it technically was their job, so that kind of made sense. As I was pondering that, Rosalind’s parasol caught my eye.

“This is a rare sight, too. I don’t recall seeing you with a parasol before. Aren’t you fine in the sun, Rosalind?”

“It’s not like I’m worried about turning into dust or some such. Even you humans use these on days the sun is strong. They’re also quite fashionable.”

I couldn’t deny that sun was shining like it was summer out today. I could understand why she might want a parasol. As for the fashionable part, hers had a delicate floral pattern embroidered on it. It looked like she’d chosen an outfit to match, too. She was in a frilly jacket and a pair of culottes that hung down like flower petals.

“What’s this? Why are you scrutinizing me so closely, Rekka? Could it be that my charms have captivated you?”

“Oh, sorry for staring...”

“Never mind that. In fact, you should pay more attention to me on a regular basis. If it’s you, I don’t mind the staring, Rekka.”

“R-Really?”

“That said, I wouldn’t mind hearing what you’re thinking when you do. So go ahead. What have you got to say?” Rosalind urged me on, her eyes full of expectation.

“Er, um, I was... I was just thinking you kind of look like a flower. It’s really c—”

“Cute” is what I was going to say, but someone’s hand reached around from behind Rosalind. I hadn’t seen whoever it was walk up behind her because her parasol was blocking my view, but it was one of the little boys that I’d seen playing in the river earlier. He grabbed the hem of her culottes and threw it upward, but...

“Ha!”

“Eek!”

“Ahaha—wait, huh? Isn’t this a skirt? I can’t see anything!”

While her culottes looked like a skirt at first glance, they were more like a pair of shorts underneath. And thank god for that... If that kid had actually flipped her skirt while she was standing right in front of me, I would’ve had a front-row seat.

“Why, you... What do you think you’re doing, you petulant bug of a brat?!”

“Oh, crap! Run away!”

“Ahaha!”

“Hurry! Hide in the woods!”

Rosalind hurled her parasol at them in anger, but the kid and his friends took of into the forest giggling and screaming.

“Whoa there! Calm down, Rosalind!”

“Unhand me! I need to teach those whelps a lesson!”

“It’s all right! I didn’t see anything!”

“Silence, mortal! That’s not the problem! He yanked on it so hard it hurt! As recompense, I shall show those miserable little maggots why vampires have been feared for centuries!”

I could understand how she felt, but going all out on children was taking things a little too far.

“Iris! Help me hold Rosalind back for a moment!”

“Ahaha! Sucks for you, Rosalind!”

Iris was holding her stomach and wheezing with laughter, but managed to contain herself enough to help me keep Rosalind from going into full-on rampaging vampire mode. This would ordinarily be where the peanut gallery had some snide comment for me, but today R wasn’t paying any attention to me.

“...”

She was just floating there silently... L must be really, really bothering her.

Hmm, I’d like to give them the chance to talk alone. Well, since R couldn’t leave my side, it would inevitably end up being the three of us. But still, how was I going to manage that today? I’d have to calm Rosalind down before I even had the chance to think seriously about it.

“There, there... Everything’s okay, right? Those boys were probably just picking on you because they thought you were so cute.”

“Um... D-Do you also find me cute, Rekka?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do. So don’t stay too mad at them, okay? It’s a shame for that cute face of yours to be scowling.”

“H-Hmph... I suppose I’ll try,” Rosalind said in a strangely girly voice for her, her cheeks blooming the slightest bit of rosy red.

She was probably getting hot without her parasol, so I went to fetch it and returned it to her.

“Grrr... Hey, Rekka! What about me? What do you think about me? Am I cute, too?”

“Y-Yes, and me! What about me, Sir Rekka?!”

“Wh-What?”

Iris and Harissa, who had been watching our exchange, started to shout at the same time like they were trying to out-compete each other with their questions. What was happening? I just finished consoling one person, and now I had to deal with two more?

“Um, yeah... The both of you are cute.”

“How? What do you think is cute about me?”

“I did something different today. Have you noticed what it is?”

I desperately tried to think of a way to answer their excited questions, but Uncle Itsuki saved me.

“Hey, Rekka,” he called as he came walking over. “Do you have a moment?”

“Oh, sure. What’s up?”

“Well, it seems like the mai—er, your friends over there didn’t bring enough coal for their fire.”

I heard him stop himself in the middle of that sentence. Was he embarrassed to say “maid” or something?

“Well, it’s the first time they’re having a barbeque, so mistakes like that are easy to make. It’s just that we didn’t bring any spare coal, so we’re a little short on fuel now. I’m sorry to ask, but would you mind going and gathering some sticks to use as firewood?”

“Oh, sure. No problem.”

“We can use what coal we do have, so you don’t need to gather a ton, but any bit will help.”

After explaining the situation, Uncle Itsuki went back to the barbeque preparations.

“Okay, guys, I guess I’m off to gather some wood.”

“Oh, I’ll go, too!” piped up Satsuki.

“If Rekka’s going, then I’m going!” shouted Iris.

“I-I can help, too!” volunteered Harissa.

“Well, I suppose I shall go along as well,” added Rosalind.

As soon as I said I was going, everyone offered to go with me. The help was much appreciated, honestly. L was the only one that held back.

“I’ll just wait here...”

She let go of Satsuki’s sleeve, which she’d been clinging to all this time, and got out of the river first. I was hoping I could facilitate an opportunity for R and L to talk while we were in the woods, but there goes that idea... Oh, well.

“All right, let’s get going.”

I got out of the river too, dried off my feet, and put my shoes and socks back on before heading into the forest.

▽

“Okay, let’s split up to look for wood.”

“Whaaat? But I wanted to be with you, Rekka!”

“But splitting up would be more efficient, right? Everyone’s waiting for us to eat, so we should get back as quickly as possible.”

“Hmph...”

After I convinced a somewhat pouting Iris, we all agreed to head off in different directions and gather an armful of firewood each. I set off by myself, except that I was never really alone. R was floating by my side as always as I picked up snapped twigs and branches.

“Hey, R.”

Once we’d gotten some distance from everyone else, I was brave enough to try talking to her.

“What is it, Rekka?”

“What are you gonna do about L?”

“That’s a good question.” R seemed to have predicted exactly what I was going to ask, as she closed her eyes in thought and replied perfectly calmly. “I had predicted we would make contact again someday, but I wasn’t quite expecting it to be like this. Although it was only for a few days, she was living in the house right next door.”

“Yeah, that was a surprise, wasn’t it? So... what do we do? I could give you two a chance to talk alone if I pull her aside. If I said I wanted to talk to her alone, I’m sure...”

“The issue is whether or not L would actually agree to that. There’s also the matter of how Satsuki will react when you say that...”

“Ugh...”

True, Satsuki wasn’t aware of the relationship between me, R, and L. She’d probably think it was strange if I suddenly asked to talk to L privately... In the worst-case scenario, I’d be accused of being a lolicon. I kept gathering suitable-looking firewood at my feet as I pondered what I should do, when all of a sudden I felt something fly past my head.

“Wha?!”

When I looked up in a fluster to see what it was, I found a kunai stabbed into the trunk of a tree I was standing next to... A kunai of very familiar design, in fact. L had called it an electromagnetic voltspear, which meant...

“Tch! The devil’s luck...”

Clicking her tongue hatefully, L emerged from the shadows looking perturbed. She’d apparently lied about wanting to hang back so she could wait for her chance to come after me while I was separated from Satsuki and the others.

“Heya, R... Wouldn’t you say that was a little too close for comfort just now?”

“Rest assured you were properly defended from its direct trajectory,” R answered nonchalantly before turning to L.

Now that an opportunity for the two of them to talk had popped up unexpectedly, I wasn’t actually sure how R was planning on handling this.

“I’m glad you seem well, L. Not that I really needed to worry about a fellow Kiklim.”

“Hmph! I never asked for your concern in the first place!” L stamped a foot in irritation.

R’s brow furrowed ever so slightly at those words. Honestly, it looked like she was sad.

“Judging by this little incident, it seems like you still haven’t given up on assassinating Rekka.”

“Obviously! I don’t give up so easily.”

“So I guess that means you won’t reconsider...” R adjusted her hat with a small sigh. “If you’re worried about the consequences of betraying the agency, then don’t be. The doctor isn’t angry, so as long as you give us information on the people who manipulated you, you’ll simply be given a slap on the wrist, and you can go back to your normal life.”

“Shut up! I don’t want my ‘normal’ life! I only want one thing, and that’s to prove I’m not useless!” L shouted, continuing to stamp her feet as she glared at me and R.

Hmm... R was trying to hold a calm and collected conversation, but L clearly wasn’t willing to even listen. At this rate, we were just going to end up with a repeat of last time...

“Hey, can I say something?”

I spoke up to try and diffuse the increasingly tense atmosphere, but...

“Silence, you! You’re the root of the problem!”

Those vicious words cut me down to size and put me in my place tout de suite. Now I was really feeling the tension, too... Talk about unapproachable.

“Arrrgh!”

L was blowing steam out of her ears and looked like she was ready to pounce any second now, but R stood in her way. Without any plan to get around her defenses, L just stood there nearly growling in frustration.

“Rrrgh...”

I’d been through situations in the past where I had to fight a heroine in order to resolve her story, but I was never really sure what to do in situations like this where my life was clearly in danger. Thanks to the Namidare bloodline, I knew that if I got caught up in a story, I had a fair chance of resolving things peacefully... But it sure didn’t feel like it right now.

And so our little stalemate continued for some time... right up until Satsuki showed up, carrying an armful of firewood.

“?!”

L and I both flinched in surprise at her unexpected entrance. L tried to hide her kunai and accidentally dropped it in the bushes in a panicked fluster.

“Huh? Rekka... and L? What are you two doing?” Satsuki asked in a concerned voice.

It seemed she’d picked up on the static in the air between us.

“Oh, nothing. We were, um... Th-That’s right! L secretly followed me to play a little prank on me!”

“Huh? Were you trying to scare him, L? You had a rather scary look on your face just now...”

“I... er, um...”

L glared at me for lying about her playing a prank, but it was the only thing I could think of to explain the obvious tension. It wasn’t like I meant anything by it! That made it okay, right? Right?!

“I-It’s because... It’s Rekka’s fault! He’s always flirting with all these different girls like some womanizer! So I wanted to teach him a lesson for your sake, Big Sis Satsuki, and, and...”

A w-womanizer? Surely she just said that to go along with my lie and diffuse the situation, but it felt like an awfully brutal counterattack. L really hated my guts, so I guess it figures she wouldn’t pull any punches, but still... That hurt my feelings.

“For my sake...? Wh-What are you saying, L?!”

Anyway, hearing L’s explanation seemed to put Satsuki in a strange panic.

“Huh? I just—”

“No, never mind! You don’t have to say it!”

I didn’t really get it, but Satsuki’s fit was escalating into a bona fide freak-out party. At least it seemed like it had put any further questions out of her mind?

“L, you sat through the lectures about how we, as people from the future, mustn’t say anything unnecessary to the people of past too, no?”

“Sh-Shut up...”

Even R felt prompted to give L a warning. L didn’t seem too pleased about it, and she spat back at her quietly so Satsuki couldn’t hear. As for Satsuki... Now that she was here, any further conversation between the sisters would have to wait.

After that, we—me and R, now with Satsuki and L—continued to gather firewood and eventually ran into Iris. Harissa and Rosalind weren’t too far off, either.

“We’ve managed to gather quite a bit of firewood between the six of us. Surely this should be enough.”

“Okay, then let’s head on back.”

The girls all nodded, and we began the trek back towards the riverside where Uncle Itsuki and Suzuran were setting things up. Along the way, Harissa suddenly came to a stop, her gaze fixed somewhere in the distance.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Harissa?”

“Nothing... I just felt a mysterious presence over there.”

“Mysterious?”

“Yes, but it’s kind of weak... It’s somewhere over there.” Harissa indicated, pointing deeper into the forest.

I was curious what she meant by “weak,” and I agreed to go investigate with her.

“You guys can go on back ahead of us,” I said to the other girls.

“What? But I wanna go, too!” Iris demanded.

“But someone has to deliver the firewood.”

“Then let’s decide by rock, paper, scissors who goes and who stays,” volunteered the diplomatic Satsuki.

“Fine by me,” agreed Rosalind.

Everyone else seemed okay with Satsuki’s suggestion too, and thus began a big round of rock, paper, scissors. When it was all said and done, Iris was the one who got stuck with the job of carrying the firewood back.

“Whaaat?!”

“Sorry, Iris. Can you carry all that by yourself?”

“That part’s not the problem! Grr, how annoying...”

She seemed to be particularly vexed about getting the short end of the stick. I could hear a flapping noise coming from under her skirt, probably her normally-hidden tail swishing about in frustration.

“Why don’t you go back with Iris, L?”

“I’m going, too!”

Huh? L wanted to follow us, too? Even though she acted like a child, she was still an advanced life-form from the future. Maybe she had something up her sleeve...

It wasn’t like I was at liberty to ask her about it in front of everyone, so I quietly accepted her company as we headed deeper into the forest with Harissa as our guide. Then, after walking for a while, we found it. Or rather, her.

“Huh? Don’t tell me... Is that a fairy?”

She was about the size of a doll, and she looked like one, too. She also had a set of transparent butterfly-like wings sprouting from her back, making her look exactly like the fairies I’d seen in picture books as a kid. I was pretty surprised to find out she was the source of the mysterious presence Harissa had felt. I actually doubted what I was seeing was even real for a minute. I thought it was just a doll at first, but she was very clearly breathing... So, yeah, this was definitely the real deal.

“Why is there a fairy outside of the spirit world?”

“Fairies exist out of the spirit world too, although their numbers have decreased dramatically in recent years... This one seems to be injured,” said Satsuki as she helped Harissa examine her.

“How is she?” I asked.

“This looks easy enough to patch up with either my or Satsuki’s healing magic, but...” Harissa answered, nervously glancing over at L.

As far as Harissa knew, L was just a normal girl. She was probably worried about using magic in front of her.

“W-Wow, it’s a fairy...” L suddenly said in a completely deadpan voice.

After noticing repeated glances in her direction, she walked over to us and the unconscious fairy.

“A-Amazing. Fairies really exist. Oh, no, but this one’s hurt... Big Sis Harissa, can you heal her?”

“Huh? Y-Yes, I can.”

Harissa nodded reflexively at such an innocent question, then looked to me.

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be fine. L is just a child, so she won’t make a big fuss about it or anything,” I said, trying to let her know it would be okay.

She and Satsuki then both readied their spells.

“Then... Cure Curiona!”

“Winds of healing...”

The tip of Harissa’s staff began glowing, and a warm breeze stirred around Satsuki.

“W-Wow, both of you are amazing...!”

Continuing her unconvincing wonder-struck child act, L kicked me in the shin when no one else was looking. Was she mad that I’d said she was just a little girl? Whatever. I didn’t have much time to pay her any attention, because it was only a few moments before the fairy awoke thanks to Satsuki and Harissa’s magic.

“Ow... H-Humans?! Eek!”

“Hey, wait! It’s all right! There’s nothing to be scared of, so please don’t cry!”

“Hyaaah! Please don’t eat me!”

“No, no way. We would never do that.”

The poor little fairy was trembling just at the sight of us, so I tried to calm her down. I explained what had happened and how we’d found her.

“So you’re the ones who healed me?”

She sounded a little suspicious, but after she looked at herself and realized that her wounds had indeed been healed, she seemed convinced.

“Thank you very much. My name is Poppy. “

“Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s no big deal.”

Harissa and Satsuki both smiled at Poppy’s words of gratitude.

“So, Poppy, how did you get hurt in the first place?” I asked.

Considering her size, she might’ve just been attacked by a bird or something. But nevertheless, I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help.

“The truth is...”

Though hesitant, Poppy told us her story. This forest where she lived with the other fairies was quiet and peaceful. They mostly lived without human interference, but apparently children would wander into the woods every now and then and chase them around for fun. That was how Poppy had been discovered, and she’d accidentally flown into a tree while trying to escape.

“There were children in the forest?”

“Maybe it was those little kids from before?”

“Those damned brats, huh?”

They’d run off into the woods after messing with Rosalind, so all signs pointed to them. If they weren’t familiar with they area, they probably would’ve gotten on their bikes and fled the other way. They probably played up here in the mountains often.

So Poppy had gotten hurt because of some kids... It was probably idle curiosity, and they probably didn’t mean any harm, but Poppy couldn’t afford to be caught, and now she was hurt thanks to them. It was bad enough as it was, but what if they’d found her first and taken her into town? We had to do something to make sure that didn’t happen.

“All right, everyone, lend me your ears.”

I collected my thoughts and immediately shared my plan with everyone.

▽

“Hey, did you find it?”

“It’s not over here!”

“We’re gonna catch it for sure today!”

“Oh, yeah? You think you can?”

We arrived at our target location, careful to stay out of view, and spotted the five kids that had been playing at the river earlier.

“Think? Ha! I know I can!”

“You always say that...”

The leader of their little squad appeared to be a boy with spiky hair. He raised his arm triumphantly into the air and another boy with a scornful look in his eyes—the older brother of the sibling pair—shook his head with a sigh.

“Big Brother, can you really catch the fairy?” his little sister—who had scornful eyes just like him—asked as she tugged on his hand.

“Hmm, let’s see... Hey, maybe we should go back for the bug net after all?” he answered.

“What are you saying?! What if we break its wings! That’d be horrible!” a precocious-looking girl with brown hair argued.

“That’s right! It’d be cheating if we used tools, anyway! We should fight fair and square!” Apparently, the leader of the group considered their chase with Poppy some kind of battle.

“Hahh...”

And just as the scornful-eyed brother sighed, the third boy—who was chubbier than the rest—consoled him with a laugh.

“Hahaha! Don’t give up now!”

The chubby boy had an insect cage slung over his shoulder. It was probably something they’d prepared to put Poppy in once they caught her, but it was already occupied with butterflies and other bugs. Perhaps they weren’t too picky about what they caught?

After getting a better sense of these children and their personalities, I could tell that they weren’t bad kids. Really, they were all just goofing around on the weekend and having fun.

However, even if they didn’t mean any harm, they’d still ended up hurting Poppy, albeit indirectly. They had no idea how much they were scaring and disturbing the fairies. They didn’t feel safe in their own forest now... I felt a little bad for the kids, but we had to proceed as planned for the fairies’ sake.

“Satsuki,” I covered my mouth and whispered into the phone.

“I’m on it,” she whispered from the other end.

A short moment later, a gust of wind suddenly blew through the forest, eerily rustling the trees. It was Satsuki’s magic at work.

“Hm?”

The spiky-haired boy froze mid-step at the sudden movement of the forest. And once their leader stopped, so did the rest of the group as they observed the mysterious phenomenon. The little sister fearfully clung to her brother.

“What is that?” the chubby boy asked.

“Nothing. It’s just the wind! My dad told me the weather changes easily in the mountains, so it’s no big deal! Let’s keep going!”

It seemed the spiky-haired boy was either reckless or just plain difficult to faze. He ignored the others’ concern and marched ahead, but then...

“Kyaaah!” The brown-haired girl suddenly let out a high-pitched scream.

“What’s wrong?!” the spiky-haired boy asked, turning around in a hurry.

“My hand! Someone grabbed my hand just now!”

“I-It wasn’t me.”

“Me, neither!”

The brown-haired girl waved her hand around, half in tears, but both the boys behind her denied any wrongdoing. The little sister holding her brother’s hand with both of hers also shook her head furiously from side to side.

“Nice one, Harissa.”

For the record, Harissa had used her invisibility magic just now to sneak up on the girl and grab her hand. The plan I’d come up with was to scare the children badly enough that they never wanted to go too deep into the woods again. I wasn’t winning any points for originality here, but that wasn’t my main concern. I just needed a simple, effective tactic to use on elementary schoolers.

“Skree, skree, skree!”

“U-Uwaaah! Bats!”

Next, Rosalind transformed into a teeming swarm of bats and descended on the children like a black cloud. Of course, she was scaring them rather than hurting them.

“Kyaaah!”

“Big Brother!”

Even if they played up here in the mountain woods frequently, they never would’ve experienced anything like this. (I even checked with Poppy to make sure that bats didn’t live around here.) I figured it would be a good way to scare the pants off of them. The girls had already burst into tears, and I could see the boys shaking in their boots, too.

“Ugh... Come on, let’s run! They won’t follow us forever!”

But as expected of their leader, the spiky-haired boy rallied his friends. He rebuked them for being scared and gave them the courage to keep going. It would have been easiest for everyone if they’d run home here... but it looked like we’d have to take things to the next step.

“Your turn, Poppy.”

“Okay... here I go.”

She sounded nervous, but set out to do her job. She slowly approached the children... dressed as a ghost.

“Yikes!”

The frightful little sister noticed her first, and she yelped at the sight. That got the attention of the other kids, who all flinched when they saw a ghost floating through the air towards them. For the record, Poppy’s ghost costume was really just Harissa’s scarf, the “something different” about her outfit today. It was small, sure, but it made a perfect sheet ghost when we draped it over Poppy. It was kind of obvious, actually, but it was working just fine against the already frightened children. And the real moment of truth was almost upon us...

“Oooh... Leave this place at ooonce...”

Poppy tried as hard as she could to hold back her high-pitched fairy voice and sound as hair-raisingly spooky as possible. It wasn’t exactly convincing on its own, but with the help of Satsuki’s magic making the trees rustle as she spoke, it was plenty terrifying.

“Wh-Who are you?!”

“Yooou children... have angered the spirits of the fooorest...”

“S-Spirits of the forest...?”

Uh-oh, was that beyond their reading comprehension level? I figured if they knew what fairies were, then they had to know what spirits were... Should I have asked her to use something simpler?

“The spirits serve... the king of the fooorest!”

Fortunately, Poppy was able to fill in the gaps. Surely they would understand making a king angry.

“The king will nooot fooorgive thooose whooo seek to expooose the secrets of the fooorest!”

“The secrets of the forest...? You mean the fairies?” the brown-haired girl asked, trembling.

Poppy responded by shaking the white cloth of Harissa’s scarf up and down affirmatively.

“What should we do?” the little sister asked worriedly.

The next moment, an even stronger wind blew through the forest, rustling the trees more violently than before. The bats let out a high-pitched screech and an invisible Harissa snuck up on each of the children in turn to scare them. Their fright had just about hit a fever pitch.

“Never cooome into the fooorest again... If you break this prooomise...”

“Wh-What happens if we break it?”

Ghost Poppy didn’t waste any time replying, “THE BATS OF THE FOREST WILL COME SUCK YOUR BLOOD DRY!”

“SKREEEEE!”

The bats all screeched loudly as she raised her voice, and the children all took off at a dead sprint, convinced they were running for their lives.

We watched them flee from our position in the bushes, and once they were long gone, we all came out from hiding—magical or otherwise.

“I guess threatening to suck their blood is pretty effective on kids. I remember being scared of vampires when I was little, too.”

“What? In that case, I should have just confronted them myself instead of using the bats.”

“No, I don’t think you would have scared them as much, Rosalind.”

At first glance, she just looked like an ordinary girl. It would have been a different story if she’d put her full vampire powers on display, but we couldn’t risk actually hurting the children. We were only trying to scare them, after all.

“Oooh, Rekkaaa...”

“Poppy? Why are you still talking like a ghost? Also, you can take off the scarf now.”

“Huh? Ah!”

Poppy squealed in embarrassment and hurriedly removed the scarf from her head.

“Thank you very much for your help, Miss Harissa.”

“No, it was my pleasure.” Harissa grinned happily as she accepted the scarf back.

Poppy then turned back to the rest of us and bowed.

“Thank you as well, Rekka. It looks like we’ll be able to get some peace and quiet around here again.”

“Nah, I’m just glad I could help.”

“I’m truly, truly grateful.” Poppy bowed again. “I’d like to thank you properly someday, so please come by again. We fairies would happily welcome you all.”

“Sure. We’ll come visit sometime.”

Poppy waved as she saw us off. We then headed back to the riverside, collecting some more firewood along the way.

▽

“You’re late! What were you kids doing?” Auntie Sanae asked, clearly worried.

“Erm, we had to take a little detour because of... stuff,” I fumbled.

“It wasn’t very gentlemanly to make a girl carry the firewood back all by herself,” scolded Uncle Itsuki.

“I’m sorry...”

I apologized to Iris and brought over the rest of the wood we’d picked up. We’d been gone long enough that the barbeque had been ready for a while now.

“Well, now that everyone’s back, shall we get grilling?”

“Yay!”

“Yes, let’s!”

“Woo-hoo!”

Several people cheered at Uncle Itsuki’s suggestion, which was quickly followed by the magical sound of sizzling meat on the grill. Ooh, I could smell it already... Every second waiting for it was tantalizing.

“Come to think of it, Rekka...” Satsuki’s mother called out to me.

“What is it, Auntie Sanae?” I asked, turning around.

“Some children came running out of the forest crying earlier. Do you know if anything happened? Look, those kids over there.”

“Huh?”

I was startled for a moment there, but I turned to look in the direction she was pointing. And sure enough, there were five children sitting on the rocks by the river. It seemed they’d hit their limit somewhere between pure terror and the exhaustion of running, and they had simply collapsed once they thought they’d made it to safety. They all looked like they were crying, and a couple of them were still trembling in fear.

“Waah, waah!” The little sister was bawling the loudest. She had her face buried in her brother’s shirt as her knocking knees gave out underneath her.

“There, there. They won’t chase us anymore. It’s all right now...” Her brother was desperately trying to console her, but he didn’t seem too convinced himself.

“I... I wasn’t scared at all! I’ll protect you guys and fight them if they come after us!” The only one still standing on their trembling legs was the spiky-haired leader of the group, who was trying his best to cheer his friends up by putting on a brave face.

“H-Huh...”

Although we’d done it for Poppy’s sake, maybe we had gone a little too far... I couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. And so I approached Uncle Itsuki and Auntie Sanae hesitantly with a suggestion.

“Um, maybe we could invite them to join us for our barbeque?”

▽

That night.

After the barbeque, we all promised to see each other at school the next day—as well as stop by Rosalind’s mansion sometime to see Suzuran and the others—before going our separate ways.

For the record, that purple morrowmorrow Iris brought was indeed delicious. The meat was soft and fatty, very clearly the rare delicacy she had said it was. The children had all stopped crying when they got a taste of it, and their moods only improved from there. The spiky-haired and chubby boys ate a lot more than the others, enough that the food the Otomos brought probably wouldn’t have been enough on its own. So really, it turned out to be a good thing that Iris and the others had invited themselves along. All’s well that ends well, and even the kids were smiling when we waved and parted ways.

“You look pretty full, Rekka.”

“Yeah... This must be true happiness,” I answered R sluggishly from where I lay on my bed. “Too bad you can’t eat, R.”

“I’m fine, thanks,” R answered curtly before something suddenly seemed to come to mind. “However... we can call it even if you accompany me on a binge marathon of that foreign soap I’ve been wanting to watch for a while now.”

Oh, that was underhanded. For the record, the soap opera she was talking about was twelve DVDs long, each with three episodes on it. We were easily talking over 24 hours of content. To marathon that all at once was physically, sleep-deprivedly, and wallet-bustingly impossible.

“H-How about we compromise? Let’s say... three movies of your choosing?

“Really? Is that all your sympathy for me adds up to? Boo-hoo.”

“Ugh...”

She kinda had me there... I felt bad, at least until that comically fake crying stunt at the end.

“All right, five movies then.”

“So you’re willing to negotiate, huh?” Nonchalantly returning to her typical deadpan expression, R flipped in the air out of what I was guessing was boredom.

“I’ve been wondering for a while now, but why do you sometimes somersault in the air like that?”

“There’s no meaning to it.”

“If you say so.”

I’d figured as much. Anyway, I decided it was about time to get ready for bed, when...

“Hmph. How carefree of you,” said L, who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

“Wha—L?!”

I looked over at the door in surprise. It was still closed, and there was no sign of her having coming in.

“Calm down, Rekka. Did you forget L had a particle relocator on her?”

“Oh, yeah, you’re right...”

Come to think of it, R had explained this before. L apparently had some device from the future that could disintegrate her and transport the particles of her body elsewhere before reforming her. And yes, I had completely forgotten about it.

“So, what do you want? And how long have you been there?”

“I’ve been here for a while.”

“Yeah, she’s been here for a while.”

“Wait, so you knew she was here, R?”

“Of course.”

L clicked her tongue upon hearing that. “How aggravating... I listened to a fair bit of your conversation, but all of it was pointless blabber. Are you really the man who’s going to bring about the war to end all worlds?”

“Um, the fate of the future aside, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t read so much into my everyday conversations...”

Somewhat exasperated, I scratched my cheek. As always, opinions of me in the future were extremely polarized.

“Oh, and you, R...”

“Yes, L?”

L suddenly turned to R, pointing an emphatic finger at her little sister floating in the air.

“That purple morrowmorrow was FREAKING DELICIOUS! Too bad you couldn’t have any, huh? HAHAHA!” she proclaimed, placing her hands against her hips and letting out a loud laugh.

Thinking back on it, L had gobbled down meat this afternoon as fast as any of the other kids. She kept taking what was in front of me, so I thought she was trying to give me a hard time, but I guess she just really thought it was good.

“...”

As for R, she was as expressionless as always... Or so it seemed, but when I took a closer look, her lip was quivering faintly. Complex emotions were probably swirling in that tiny body of hers. That’s what it looked like from the outside. Meanwhile, L smirked in self-satisfied celebration before turning to me.

“More importantly, Rekka Namidare, what was the meaning of that today?”

“Of what today?”

What was she talking about?

“Did I do something to you, L?”

“Not me. You saved that fairy.”

“Uh, yeah?” I still didn’t follow, so I reflexively cocked my head to the side. “Was there a problem with me saving Poppy?”

“You don’t even get it...?” The look in L’s eyes turned stern. “If you continue to save heroines willy-nilly like that, you’re going to cause the War of All! How could you save her when you know that’s the cost?!”

“Oh, do you have a function that allows you to tell who’s a heroine, too, L? Wait, no, hold on a second—Poppy was a heroine?!”

Didn’t the Namidare bloodline only kick in when a heroine was in absolute peril? Poppy may have been in trouble, but I had no idea it was that serious...

“Rekka, what L is really talking about is my story.”

“Huh?”

I cocked my head to the other side when I heard R say that. But, come to think of it, I’d been involved in her story—her mission was to help me settle on one of the heroines to prevent the War of All and save the future—from the very beginning.

“Omitting the finer details as to why, my story has a special feature. The girls who appear in it have a high chance of becoming heroines.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of this...”

“That’s because there’s never been a need to explain it to you. The heroines of my story appear in my story as potential brides for you, Rekka, but don’t have their own stories like Satsuki or Iris did, for example. At most, they’ll be troubled by something or have some special circumstances surrounding them, nothing more.”

Then... had I come across Tokiwa and President Momone as part of R’s story?

“But it’s not like anyone’s being forced into my story just to find a bride for you. It merely means that you’ll have a higher chance of running into girls who fit the bill. That’s all.” R paused there for a moment as if to suggest there was more to it than that. “On a technicality, however, they’re still heroines. That’s why L is so mad about it.”

“I see now...”

It finally made sense. R and L were both here to try and prevent the War of All; they’d just taken two different angles on it. R wanted me to save heroines until I found one I could settle down with, thus eliminating the cause of the war. L, on the other hand, wanted to eliminate me to keep the war from ever coming about. That meant every heroine I saved was a step forward in R’s book, but one step closer to destruction in L’s.

So, yeah, from her perspective, I could understand why she was mad about me saving a heroine that didn’t really need saving. The reason why L had chosen to stick with us in the forest when Harissa noticed Poppy’s presence was probably because she wanted to observe how I would act in front of a real heroine. And I chose to save Poppy without hesitation, buying L’s displeasure as a result.

“How could you do such a thing?”

“Honestly...”

I knew why she was angry. She had more than enough reason to be. But that didn’t change my answer.

“If there’s someone in front of me who needs help, I refuse to stand idly by and simply let them suffer.”

“...!”

L’s expression stiffened for a moment, her eyes shooting wide open. But that had been my answer all along, and it would continue to be my answer in the future. Even knowing that saving people was potentially pushing the world closer to a little apocalypse, I couldn’t just do nothing. I couldn’t just watch tragedy unfold before me. If I could do something, I would. I knew it wasn’t logical or rational considering what the cost might be one day, but that was my answer. And I looked at L unflinchingly when I said it.

“Because you...” After several moments of silence, L’s expression relaxed by a fraction as she spat her next words: “Because you’re like this, Big Sis Satsuki is...”

“Huh...?”

What about Satsuki? I was confused as to what my childhood friend had to do with any of this, but before I could ask L anything, her body began to vanish from her feet up.

“Hmph! I have nothing more to say to you!”

L sniffled one last time before disappearing from my room altogether via her particle relocator.

“What happened with Satsuki..?”

“Who knows?” R shrugged her shoulders in feigned ignorance.

I had a sneaking suspicion she actually knew, but I knew better. She wouldn’t tell me even if I asked. Anyway, with L gone, I stretched out my arms as I felt the pent-up tension in my body melt away.

“Still, it doesn’t seem like L has any intention of giving up on the whole assassination thing... What should we do?

“Right...” R replied to my mumbles with a sigh. “Well, I do think what happened today was a step towards solving the problem.”

“Huh? Really?”

It felt like all I had done was further incite L’s rage...

“Yes. The answer you gave L just now was exactly what the doctor would have said. Did you see how surprised she was when those words came out of her mouth?”

Yeah, she did look pretty surprised, actually. I had no idea how my answer had resounded in L’s heart, but if it was a step in the right direction like R said, then good.

—Fin—