Episode 2: LET’S WORK AT THE AUTUMN FESTIVAL! (PART 1: AM)
EPISODE 2
LET’S WORK AT THE AUTUMN FESTIVAL! (PART 1: AM)
The day of the festival, 5:30 AM.
Ryouta stopped the ringing of his alarm clock and got out of bed.
Shiren was, naturally, still sleeping at this hour. Ryouta would feel bad waking her this early, so he decided to leave quietly. Her breakfast was already prepared and waiting in the fridge.
There was also the possibility that Shiren might already be out and buying food at the festival. But the stalls at the festival were expensive, and Ryouta didn’t really want her to spend too much of their savings in one day. Well, he’d trust Shiren’s self-restraint to take care of that. Not that it was a lot of trust, though.
“I knew this was going to start early, but I’m so sleepy…,” Ryouta mumbled as he made his way through town.
He didn’t have the chain attached to his neck today—Shiren wasn’t here. He did have his collar on, however.
It would be a tad dangerous if he were attacked by a Sacred Blooded that wanted a minion, but Alfoncina told Ryouta that no one would be out walking around at this hour, so he didn’t need to worry about it.
He certainly didn’t see anyone in town.
“I wonder what we’re doing, though…”
In truth, Ryouta hadn’t heard a peep about what the job entailed, but he had a feeling it was going to get dicey in the afternoon.
“What is she going to make us do…? Alfoncina’s the one that hired us, after all…”
With a twinge of unease, Ryouta arrived at Nine-to-Eleven. He was supposed to meet with Tamaki here before heading to the festival.
“Oh, Ryouta.” Tamaki was standing in front of the store. She held a small bag in her hands.
“Morning. Hey, you’re wearing jeans today.”
“Yes. I’m not sure what sort of work we’ll be doing, so I decided to wear something I can move around in comfortably.”
Tamaki wore an unremarkable outfit today, just jeans and a T-shirt.
But the denim pants made her already-long legs look even longer.
Ryouta unconsciously gulped. “You look great…”
“No, I don’t… Please don’t lie just to flatter me…”
Ryouta knew Tamaki had a great figure, but her outfit made it even more apparent. She looked like a model on a day off. Even though Ryouta knew her clothes couldn’t be all that expensive, she made them look like they came from a top-rate brand.
“Let’s get going, then…”
“Okay…”
The two of them headed over to the First Cathedral. The atmosphere between them resembled that of a couple on their first date.
When they were alone like this, Ryouta couldn’t help but think of the past.
Right after he’d come to the Empire, there was a little incident where Tamaki had pushed him over in the library.
Tamaki had bitten into him a little bit.
In the end, Shiren had arrived, so things hadn’t progressed much further than that. But if Tamaki had completely bitten into Ryouta and he’d been made her minion, he wondered how his life would have changed.
This was Tamaki we were talking about, so she probably wouldn’t have been able to assume her masterly duties and control Ryouta. Perhaps they would’ve wound up as equals.
They might have even started dating.
Maybe, for example, she would have asked him every day, “Ryouta, I am sorry, but may I please drink your blood?”
And then after that…
Stop, how can I be a good person if I fantasize about her when she’s walking right next to me?
And so, caught up in such thoughts, Ryouta became nervous as he kept pace with Tamaki. But of course, Tamaki was just as anxious herself.
“Huff…huff…huff…”
“Er, Shijou, are you okay? You kind of sound like you’re hyperventilating.”
“I’m sorry. All sorts of feelings are getting entangled inside me, and it’s very confusing. I’m very happy, but I feel bad about Shiren.”
Ryouta didn’t want her getting too confused, though.
“Wait, what happened with Shiren?”
“Oh…you see…it’s a terribly complicated situation, ha-ha-ha…much too intricate for someone like me to explain…”
It seemed like Tamaki was somehow trying to divert the conversation away from that topic.
“Okay, then let’s work hard for that yukata.”
“Yes, I’ll work myself to the bone.”
“I can’t wait to see what you look like in it.”
“………………………………………………………………………”
“Hey, Shijou?”
“……………………………Gasp! I’m sorry! I was so happy that I forgot myself!”
Tamaki shook her head like she was refusing to admit something. Her face was practically scarlet. It seemed like she had to deny whatever it was at all costs.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was thinking of things that are much beyond someone like me! A girl such as I should just miss the last train and spend the night in a karaoke room! I have no right to make it to the station of happiness!”
“I don’t really understand what’s happening, but please calm down!”
There was no need to guess that Tamaki wasn’t exactly the type of person suited for work.
As the pair talked about this and that, the First Cathedral came into view.
“Oh, stalls are already out on both sides of the path leading to the shrine.”
“Yes, they are. Takoyaki, yoyos, goldfish-scooping games, shaved ice, griddled tomatoes, grilled tomatoes…all the popular food stalls are here.”
“Yeah, I guess the festival scene doesn’t change much between the Empire and Ja— Wait, those last two sound fishy!”
“You mean griddled tomatoes and grilled tomatoes? Those are bog-standard.”
“And how are they any different anyway? It sounds like they’d be more or less the same, like curry rice and rice curry.”
“Griddled tomatoes is a traditional Sacred Blood dish going back hundreds of years—it’s like okonomiyaki with tomato in it. Grilled tomatoes is a dish prepared with tomatoes over an open flame. We often use tomatoes with higher sugar content for that.”
Ryouta didn’t think that okonomiyaki went back hundreds of years, but it was a pain to argue the point, so he dropped it.
“Oh, there’s a tomato candy stall under the torii gate.”
“I’m not surprised… It’s just all tomato.”
“What do you put on your shaved ice, Ryouta? I always get the usual tomato syrup.”
“I’m now firmly aware of how not in Japan I am.”
In all honesty, using flavorless tomato sounded like it would be terrible.
Tamaki and Ryouta went straight into the temple grounds, and there stood Alfoncina in front of the hall of worship.
And of course, she was wearing her altered priestess outfit.
“Good morning~. I’m so glad you made it here early~.”
“And yourself, Alfoncina.”
“I’m used to waking up early~. But I can also handle staying up late, for various reasons~. That’s why some people call me ‘the Archbishop of the Night’—”
“Okay, no indecent topics at this hour. It’s time for work.”
Alfoncina was wicked; she made suggestive remarks like that because she knew exactly how good she looked.
“Now then, I’ll have you start right away. The festival gets very lively at night, too, so you’ll just be working during the day. We have to start the job now. Otherwise, we won’t be ready in time.”
“Yes, you’re right. There must be rites during the morning and the afternoon.”
“So we’ll get straight to your morning chores. Ryouta, you’ll be carrying things with me. Tamaki, head to the antechamber over there. You’ll know what to do right away.”
It was strange that Tamaki and Ryouta were being split up almost immediately, but it was probably for the best.
“No taking me into private rooms and biting me, okay…?”
Alfoncina had a history of such underhanded tactics.
On the day that Shiren introduced her as the archbishop, she had tricked Ryouta and almost made him her minion.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.”
“Don’t laugh! Agree!”
“I wouldn’t do anything so uncouth. Isn’t that right, Tamaki?” Alfoncina asked, glancing toward her.
“Oh, um…I’m sorry…”
Tamaki, for some reason, shrank down. She clasped her hands together in front of her stomach, timidly.
“Why are you asking her?”
“Who knows? Perhaps my answer is that since today is a holiday, I have to take my archbishop job seriously.”
Alfoncina wasn’t known to be very dutiful, though.
“Okay then, see you later, Tamaki!”
“Yes! I am useless, but I will work hard!”
Tamaki vanished into the shrine.
Alfoncina started walking down the corridor in the opposite direction. Ryouta hurried after her.
People were working all around them; it certainly wouldn’t be easy for Alfoncina to try anything funny.
“Here we are~.”
The room she brought Ryouta to was for merchandise storage.
There were all sorts of goods. Things like charms, decorative arrows, and bells were piled up here and there.
“Take all this to the designated spot. Easy, right?”
“All this stuff is just so…Japanese.”
“It’s in the traditional style of the Holy Church of the Sacred Blood.”
“I’m not going to say anything more about it, okay? Huh, I wondered what kind of design you’d be using, and there’s the symbol from the Empire’s flag. And the mark of the Goddess of Blood, too.”
“The Goddess of Blood is the deity of greatest standing in the church, after all~. Of course she’s one of our main characters~.”
“The stuff over there is really colorful. Wait, what’s that cute girl character…?”
Charms were sitting in the corner that clearly had anime characters on them.
“That’s a Rouko charm from You’re Rouko, I’m Kouko! Remember? The First Cathedral shows up in the manga plenty of times.”
“Your strategy is all about the merch!”
Since Ouka had become the emperor, Ryouta got the impression that the church would sell anything people were willing to purchase.
“Hey, it says ‘Copyright Kin Hayashimori’ on it. You got the author’s permission…”
“We made sure the author formally recognizes them. We have no diplomatic ties with Japan, so we can do whatever we like with their properties.”
In reality, Japanese anime was being broadcast throughout the Empire without permission.
“Doesn’t that mean you can make products out of any series? You don’t need the creator’s permission if it’s from Japan. Why not sell merch from an even more famous anime?”
“Sigh… You really don’t understand, Ryouta…”
Alfoncina’s face all but said, Oh boy, this is why amateurs cause me trouble.
Her hands were raised in an expression of exasperation.
“Listen. The First Cathedral serves as the setting for You’re Rouko, I’m Kouko!. That means that this is a pilgrimage site. That’s why it makes sense for us to make merchandise out of that manga. It’s like places in Hiroshima selling buns in the shape of maple leaves. Hiroshima is known for this; it would be strange if places in Hokkaido started selling them, right? Do you get it? You won’t succeed in merchandising if you simply do it for money. What you first need is a love for the original work. Without that affection, it is shocking how easily the fans will see through you. They might all suddenly swarm the product in the beginning, but they will soon tire of your goods and buy from someone else. That is why you need to create an item that people who like the work will purchase with pride. The First Cathedral is a pilgrimage place for worship as well as for a manga setting. Such a place will never lose popularity. This cathedral will become a structure that many will return to five or ten years down the line. I created this merchandise with all that in mind.”
Ryouta had to agree. Merely offering whatever was popular was shortsighted.
“I didn’t think you felt so passionately about this. I’m sorry…”
“Yes, the love the First Cathedral pours into YouRou IKou is just as deep as that of a mother watching over her child.”
“That’s how you abbreviate the title…?”
“Yes, we put so much love into every charm, pencil board, file folder, phone strap, mug, T-shirt, and original drama CD we distribute.”
“You’re making too much stuff!”
How much was Alfoncina planning on milking the fans? This was a formidable industry.
“And what’s back there? That cloth-looking thing?”
“A Rouko body pillow.”
“This religious organization needs to get a grip!”
Actually, Ryouta wasn’t entirely sure if religious organizations legally existed in this country.
“It’s not pornographic, so anyone can buy it. She’s wearing underwear.”
“That’s not the problem.”
When Ryouta checked, he saw a salacious illustration printed on the pillow. There was a lot of skin. This wasn’t in the manga.
“It’s fifteen thousand sacred yen.”
“Not buying it.”
Oddly, it irritated Ryouta that it cost more than a day’s worth of work.
“But I wonder why a title like You’re Rouko, I’m Kouko! uses the First Cathedral. I mean, it’s probably because the author lives in the Empire…”
“It’s easiest to draw on things familiar to one~.”
“I’m the one drawing it, after all.”
“You’re the author?!”
Ryouta had interjected with an exclamation so noisy that it attracted some attention.
To think that the author had been right in front of him all this time.
“Oh yeah, now that I think about it, your real name is Matsuko Kimura.”
“Don’t say my real name! Not out loud!”
“I thought the characters for your name had a lot of tree references, but Kin Hayashimori has even more…”
That was an unexpected similarity.
“Are you trying to get rich off merch from your own work…? Your inspired words from earlier ring somewhat empty now…”
It went without saying that Alfoncina should love her work like a mother loved a child. After all, she was its creator.
“Well then, let’s get to carrying.”
Ryouta lifted a cardboard box full of good luck amulets.
Alfoncina also picked up a container. “We’ll be taking these to the merchandise stand. It’s a little far, though.”
“By the way, is this a holy day for the Empire?”
It was enough to call for a festival, so it must be an important date.
“Today would have been the festival day for Akinomiya Shrine, so we made it the same day.”
They were obviously cutting corners.
“So it’s that arbitrary… I suppose it was my fault for thinking there was some deep reason for the celebration.”
“It’s not as though we’re without our own reasons. We’re paying the shrine a lot of respect by inheriting their festival days and whatnot~.”
“Right, it’s not like you just randomly decided to pick this place for your cathedral.”
The Holy Church of the Sacred Blood First Cathedral was an ancient and honorable shrine called Akinomiya Shrine back when it was a part of Japan. The structure was a national treasure, with the front and inner shrines having been built back in the Muromachi period, and it existed nationally among the top shrines way back before the modern prefectures had even formed, when the country was divided into Echigo and Tosa and Musashi and such.
The vampires must have made the shrine their first cathedral in order to use the high status it once had.
“We can talk about all the complicated things later. Let’s carry this stuff~.”
The box was heavy, but not so much so that Ryouta couldn’t carry it. Good thing they had helpers for this.
They went back outside and took their loads to a separate building where the shop was.
When they came outside, they saw people standing in a long line.
It was still only about six AM; they’d gotten up super early.
“What are they lining up for?”
“Those people are in line to buy YouRou IKou goods.”
“They’re more faithful to manga than their religion!”
“Oh, please keep the fact that I’m the author off the record, okay? I don’t want people swarming me and asking for sketches.”
“I think it’d be more of a problem if the truth got out that the archbishop was drawing manga.”
“Whaaat? A good portion of four-panel manga artists are actually wives who draw comics as a side job when they aren’t doing housework, you know~…”
“Is telling me industry insider information supposed to make it okay?!”
After about ten trips back and forth, the storage room was finally empty.
Ryouta was surprisingly physically exhausted.
“You seem rather worn out~. This is still only the beginning of your job, you know~…”
“I actually haven’t had any food yet, probably because I woke up so early… I just don’t have any strength…”
“I had a feeling that was the case~… I’ve got the perfect thing to perk you up. All right, come in, Tamaki~.”
Then the paper-screened door slid slowly open.
After hearing her name, Ryouta was suddenly wondering what Tamaki had been up to all morning.
“O-okay…” Tamaki entered, wearing priestess clothes.
The white part of the outfit symbolized purity; this contrasted with the red in it, which represented the defeat of evil.
Even though Tamaki was wearing a basic priestess getup, there was a dignified beauty about her.
There stood a woman with long black hair, wearing a vermilion hakama—she was captivating. She was the very idea of beauty that a modest Japanese culture had created.
On top of that, when a good-looking girl wore something, the actual clothes were a trivial matter.
“Oh…uh…” Ryouta sighed.
“To think an inadequate creature such as myself would be wearing something like this… I feel as though I’ll receive divine punishment. I’m scared…”
“That won’t happen. You look terrific! You look so good, I’m kinda floored!”
Ryouta felt like a deity had appeared before him. Black hair and traditional Japanese clothes really did go well together. He understood why Tamaki had wanted to wear a yukata.
“This is our uniform for the cathedral prie— I mean, sisters. Nice design, isn’t it?”
“You were about to call it a priestess outfit, weren’t you?”
“No, we have sisters here in our church. Legend has it that a thousand years ago, the younger sister of the head of the Sarano household wore this, and it spread from there. That’s why we call them sisters.”
“That’s the definition of sister you’re using?!”
The Sacred Blooded probably didn’t even know about the Christian definition of sister a thousand years ago.
“That’s why there are so many theories flying about, like the ‘people back then had the ability to travel to the future’ theory, or the ‘they had prophetic powers’ theory, or the ‘someone from the future visited them’ theory. The history is still inconclusive among Sacred Blooded scholars.”
“Most of those just show that the expression came later!”
“And a lot of priestesses aren’t formal employees at shrines. A good portion of them at larger shrines work on a temporary basis, and they go by a lot of names. They’re called dancers out at Ise Shrine, for example. Just a fun fact.”
“I get that, but it’s fine if I just say priestess, right?”
After living in the Empire for a little while, Ryouta had learned that many things here were groundless and random. Concepts he would have thought unacceptable now slipped by him without so much as a second glance.
Maybe this ideology meant that the Sacred Blooded were open-minded. However, it could also mean that everyone was lazy and careless. Then again, perhaps they knew it was a joke and were enjoying it.
Regardless, even if the history of the whole thing was fishy, it didn’t change how beautiful Tamaki was.
Ryouta couldn’t stop his gaze from drifting back to her.
“Um… Please don’t look at me so much, I’m wretched…”
Tamaki brought her hands to chest as though hiding it.
“Sorry, I can’t help it…”
“I’m a little scared you’ll be able to see through it…”
“See through it? Why would I?”
That expression implied a somewhat more erotic situation. But of course, he didn’t have X-ray vision. The curse that made him attractive to human women aside, he was an average guy. His older sister wasn’t normal, though; she had a real aggressive streak.
“So when one wears a prieste—sister uniform, we must wear it in accordance with tradition. That’s why I’m not wearing underwear.”
“Whoa…no underwear?”
Now Ryouta knew why Tamaki had put her hands to her chest.
In a worst-case scenario, he’d catch a glimpse of much more than just a bra. Still, that didn’t mean that her breasts were totally bare. Tamaki was probably going to keep her outfit on the whole time; there was nothing immoral about it.
But when Tamaki had added that she wasn’t wearing underwear, it had created an odd sense of impropriety anyway. Even though she was only wearing clothes meant to serve a god according to tradition, it almost seemed like she was doing something she ought not to be. Or rather, the holy aura of the priestess garb was making it seem that way.
“I can’t see anything, Shijou. You’re fine…” Ryouta looked away as he spoke. Even though he saw nothing indecent, it was still rude to stare at a classmate who wasn’t wearing any underwear. This whole situation was abnormal, but Ryouta still understood that much.
“Oh… Yes, it’s bad for your eyes to look at something so foul as me… There is no better option than to ignore me…”
Oh no. If he was deliberately trying not to look at her, it was going to hurt poor Tamaki’s feelings.
Ryouta sheepishly turned his gaze back to Tamaki (and her lack of underwear).
“Please stop… I-it’s embarrassing me…”
He looked away.
“Ryouta has rejected my existence. Ha-ha…”
He turned back to face her.
“L-looking at me won’t bring you any sort of e-excitement…”
What was he supposed to do?!
For the time being, Ryouta changed the subject.
“What were you up to back there, Shijou?”
“Reading prayers.”
Yep, shrine stuff.
“And…um…”
Tamaki curiously stumbled over her words.
“It’s for serving the divine, and…um, it’s… I’m sorry, you could pry my mouth open, and I would never say it!”
In a bold move, Ryouta turned to Alfoncina to get his answer.
“What on Earth was she doing?”
“It’s all right. Males are forbidden from it. If a man saw, then he would have to endure severe punishment. If you saw, then, see…”
“Your Excellency! Please don’t say it!”
Behind Alfoncina and Ryouta, Tamaki’s eyes welled up with tears.
“You’re right, it’d be a problem if he saw…”
“Yes, if he saw me like that, then…”
“But since you are a sister now, you have to do it. It’s part of your duty.”
“I know. Thinking about it that way helped me bear it all.”
Ryouta was starting to get somewhat agitated.
“What is it?! I really need to know!”
Alfoncina’s expression turned serious.
“Ryouta, if you say you’re ready to lose everything, then I won’t stop you. But are you?”
“…I’m not, so I think I’ll stay out of it.”
Something about the gravity in her tone told Ryouta he wouldn’t come back alive if he learned this terrible secret. Naturally, he backed down.
Groooowwwlll.
And that was when Ryouta’s stomach groaned, shattering the tense atmosphere.
“I need to eat soon… I don’t think I can keep doing any heavy lifting like this.”
“Then you can go grab some breakfast. If you tell any of the people at the shops that you’re staff, they’ll make something for you right away. You can have takoyaki, okonomiyaki, ikayaki, hashimaki, or anything else you’d like!”
“Why is everything flour-based? And I didn’t know you had hashimaki here.”
Hashimaki was a food that took something like a mini okonomiyaki and then wrapped it around a pair of chopsticks instead of cutting it up. It was cheaper and had more volume to it than okonomiyaki, so it was popular with kids. They’d had them in the city of Oshiro, where Ryouta used to live, but he wasn’t sure if you could find them all over the country.
“But you don’t usually eat shaved ice first thing in the morning, right? It’s not like we have any toast or rice ball stands.”
“I guess that’s true. I suppose there aren’t a lot of foods at a festival that’ll fill you up, huh.”
“That’s right. And you have a long day ahead of you, so eat up!”
Alfoncina pushed both Ryouta and Tamaki out, and the two exited onto the shrine grounds.
Though it was still early, all sorts of delicious smells wafted their way from every direction.
“Well, now that we’re out, guess we’d better go…”
“Okay…”
For a moment, Ryouta wasn’t sure about making Tamaki walk around the grounds without any underwear on, but he concluded it was even worse to pay so much attention to it.
In the center of the various food vendors sat a tent and some metal chairs. This would be a spot where people could sit and eat.
“What should we get, Shijou…?”
“I doubt someone like me has the right to make a decision, but…flour-based foods would be safe…”
Ryouta was relieved; he was about to steel himself for her to say griddled tomatoes.
“And you don’t want anything with blood in it, right?”
Even if Sacred Blooded food was exactly the same as Japanese food, there was still a possibility there was blood in it.
“They would never put such an expensive ingredient in the food for a festival. Hmm. Perhaps I’ll have takoyaki first.”
There was a takoyaki stall right in front of Tamaki and Ryouta. It was five hundred sacred yen for ten of them.
Yeah. Eating at a festival could get kind of pricey.
“I’ll go order them. Could you wait here for a moment?”
Tamaki, not wanting to trouble Ryouta, went to queue up in front of the stand alone.
“Um…I am truly sorry for bothering you while you’re busy, but could you perhaps spare me a moment of your time? I am most painfully aware that someone like me has absolutely no right to be taking others’ time, but I please beg you to forgive me if you can. I must tell you that today we are working under Her Excellency for part-time work and completely forgot to have any breakfast… And I understand if it is too much trouble for you, but—”
“One takoyaki, coming up!”
The man running the stall brought out a tray of takoyaki before Tamaki had even ordered.
“Oh, but I haven’t even ordered yet… I’m sorry…”
“You’re the temp kids working here today, right? Keep it up. You two dating?”
“Oh, no. Us, dating? That is absurd! I would never cause that sort of trouble for Ryouta…”
“If you’d like more, I’ll give you another tray, but I’d say it’d be more fun to sample a lot of different things. Come back if you get hungry. See ya!”
“Oh, yes, thank you. My deepest gratitude for doing so much for an imbecile like me…”
Tamaki, having successfully obtained the takoyaki, turned back to Ryouta.
Their eyes met, and Ryouta unconsciously smiled.
“D-did I do something wrong…?”
“No. You and the guy at the stall were just having different conversations, and I thought it was funny.”
Tamaki didn’t need to be so humble about the whole thing; just a simple, “We’re working here for the day; could we have some takoyaki?” would have been enough. But she was terrible at things like that.
Thinking calmly about it, Ryouta wondered how she could actually pull off working at a convenience store, but as long as the shop was still in business, it was fine.
“Oooh…you’re laughing at me. I am indeed a buffoon…”
“I’m not making fun of you. Come on, let’s eat over there.”
The two of them sat down on the metal chairs in the empty tent. It would only be a few hours before this spot would be full of people.
Flour-based food didn’t change much, no matter how it was cooked, but the takoyaki was pretty good.
“It’s delicious.”
Tamaki took a toothpick and cut one of the takoyaki balls in half, then ate the pieces one at a time, like a prim young lady from an upstanding lineage. But in reality, she was still the daughter of a family that owned a struggling convenience store.
Ryouta ate at a much faster pace than she did and finished his five pieces before Tamaki was even close. He waited as she slowly finished eating.
“Oh, I’m causing you trouble because I am a sluggish eater… I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Food’s the one thing we should take our time with.”
Tamaki finished her fourth ball; she still had one left.
She stared hard at the last one, as if it were a large pearl.
“Uh, is something wrong?”
Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.
Tamaki took several deep breaths, then stabbed the toothpick into the last takoyaki ball.
“Um, Ryouta, I’m going to tell you something important, so do you think you could listen to what I have to say?”
“Oh, sure, I’ll listen.”
It wasn’t unusual for Tamaki to get worked up like this, but it was even worse than normal this time.
“I have much smaller stature compared to you, and you were doing physical labor while I was getting dressed in this priestess outfit, so I figure you must be hungry.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I got pretty tired.”
Tamaki was still staring at the final takoyaki. It was almost as though she was talking to it instead of him.
“That’s why I think I’ll probably be okay with just four of them. I think you should eat the sixth. So I want you…to have this last one.”
“Huh?”
Tamaki finally looked up at Ryouta. She extended the takoyaki on the toothpick toward him. Her hand was shaking.
“H-he…here…say ‘aaah,’ Ryouta…”
Ryouta couldn’t believe what Tamaki was asking of him. She was trying to feed him like they were dating—it was something only completely twitterpated couples would do.
To be honest, this wasn’t Ryouta’s first experience with this. His older sister, Rei, had done this plenty of times when they lived in Japan, and she had even done it once since coming here.
Ryouta’s only experience was with his blood-related sister, and it had never happened with Shiren, even though they lived together. He could never do such an embarrassing thing while in his right mind.
He had no idea that Tamaki, of all people, would try to pull such a stunt.
Just in case, Ryouta glanced around them to make sure no one was looking. Tamaki’s life could be in danger if Kiyomizu saw this. It was still early morning, so the coast seemed all clear.
Shiren wasn’t around. Neither was Rei. It didn’t seem like it would be possible for anyone to take this the wrong way.
“H-he…here…say ‘aaah…’”
Tamaki also couldn’t take much more embarrassment, so Ryouta had to give her an answer fast.
And he couldn’t think of any reason to say no.
“Go ahead, Shijou…”
Ryouta opened his mouth to accept the takoyaki.
“O-okay…”
There were no accidents, like the takoyaki slipping off the toothpick, and it went into his mouth.
The flavorful taste of bonito flakes spread across Ryouta’s tongue. Hesitantly, he removed the toothpick and bit down. He didn’t know the sound of his own chewing could be this loud in his head. Slowly, he swallowed.
There was a distinct relief when the experience was over. Ryouta was oddly tired.
“Th-thanks…,” he said to Tamaki, looking at her bright-red cheeks.
“Y-y-y-y-y-you’re welcome.” Tamaki nodded painfully.
Did we just do something we weren’t supposed to…?
A sense of guilt enveloped Ryouta. He couldn’t let anyone know about this, especially not Shiren.
“Th-then why don’t we have okonomiyaki next? Or how about ikayaki? Oh, there’s Volga rice too.”
“I can’t imagine what that last one is like, so let’s have okonomiyaki. I know this isn’t important, but I’m surprised there’s any ikayaki at all. Even some places in Japan don’t have it.”
Ikayaki was just okonomiyaki, but it used squid instead of the regular meat options.
Since Tamaki had picked up their takoyaki, Ryouta went and got the okonomiyaki.
The Styrofoam platter was longer than it was wide, despite the food’s circular shape, so it hung over the edges a little.
And there was only one plate.
“This is going to be hard to eat…”
“Yeah, so let’s cut it in half with our chopsticks.”
Unfortunately, it was hard to divide the meat part of the dish cleanly in two, so it wasn’t in equal portions.
This always happened with okonomiyaki, which was frustrating.
In the end, Tamaki got more meat in her piece.
“Oh, is this okay?”
“Yeah. You gave me one of your takoyaki last time.”
They both reached for the okonomiyaki with their chopsticks and nearly collided. As Ryouta tried to cut his food into bite-size pieces, the Styrofoam plate moved. This was the problem with smooth, synthetic material like this.
He finally managed to get a piece off and brought it toward his mouth. As his chopsticks lifted, so did his gaze.
Tamaki’s face was right in front of him.
““Gaaah!””
They both leaned back at the same time.
That was close—their lips had almost touched.
A strand of Tamaki’s hair had almost touched his face.
Of course things turned out like this; the two were trying to eat from the same small plate.
“I-I-I’m sorry! I was so close to k-k-k-kissing…”
“We’re safe! We’re safe! We didn’t make contact!”
What on Earth was Ryouta doing? He’d been way too conscious of Tamaki.
Sure, she’d bitten him once, but that was in the past. They should have been acting like it had never happened. If they didn’t, there was no way Ryouta would be able to stay lucid for the rest of his work…
Ryouta’s phone buzzed.
It was Alfoncina. Maybe she was summoning him to work.
“Hello, what is it?”
“Did you know the okonomi in okonomiyaki has the same kanji as love?”
“What about it…?”
“Aren’t festival days fun? A day of festivities and perhaps fate~? I hope this day brings you all sorts of good things~.”
“Wh-wh-what do you mean?”
“With all that circumstantial evidence piling up, if fate is giving you the go-ahead, then I think you should do it~. You could just cut down the signs, though~.”
“I—I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say…”
“Then I’ll just leave it at that~.”
She hung up.
“Man, she says such weird stuff. Now, back to— Huh?”
The moment Ryouta looked back at the okonomiyaki, it vanished.
Nyoooom!
He saw some kind of cat-looking thing snatch it in its mouth and run off.
“It took it! I’m so sorry! I’m such a negligent overseer…”
“Sure is odd for a cat to steal okonomiyaki. They usually take fish, right?”
“I think the shape of the ears wasn’t quite a cat’s…”
Ryouta had a bad feeling about this, but he’d gotten the food for free, so he brushed it off.
“Well, now that we’re talking about fish, why don’t we get some taiyaki next? Or perhaps some Volga rice?”
“Let’s get whatever this Volga rice is! You’ve said it so many times that I just have to know what it is!”
Volga rice was rice covered in an omelet and topped with pork cutlet and demi-glace sauce; it was a plentiful meal, so it filled Ryouta right up.
And so for their dessert, they decided to get taiyaki.
“Hey, Shijou, you’re way more forward than I expected…,” Ryouta murmured as he ate his taiyaki. He was thinking of when she had bitten him, and the “say ‘aaah’” that had just happened.
Feeding him was small potatoes, though; what had happened in the library was way worse.
If he remembered correctly, she’d even said something like, “I will give you everything I have, so please take it.” Yikes, he should’ve let that memory stay buried.
“I’m sorry… I’m usually restrained, so when I try to act on my own accord sometimes, I lose sight of the distance between me and others…”
That might be right. There were people out there who insisted they never fought and then ended up picking fights with other people or otherwise getting wrapped up in trouble; Tamaki was like that.
But did he actually mind…? He glanced at Tamaki.
Her black hair spilled over her shoulders, and her cheeks were pale, like a doll’s. She was still unbelievably attractive. It was a little different from a healthy kind of beauty, however; hers was something more sinful. That made it no less charming, though.
If a healthy beauty was akin to the sun, then Tamaki was the moon. If Tamaki had been the first person Ryouta had met when he came to this country, then he probably would have gone straight to being her minion. He just couldn’t think of anything else.
But that was why it troubled him. He felt like he was going to make a mistake.
If Tamaki did anything else suggestive to Ryouta, then he would forget all about Shiren and Ouka and fall in love with her.
He almost felt a desire to cast aside everything he’d gained so far.
I’d be ruining myself if that happened… Resist, resist…
“This taiyaki is delicious.” Tamaki bit into her food with a smile.
“Yeah, it’s crispier than I thought it would be.”
That’s right, Ryouta just had to enjoy himself like this. Chastely.
He could relax and stop thinking about her so much.
“Oh, Ryouta, you have some bean paste stuck to your upper lip.”
He was a bit of a clumsy eater. Well, it happens. He just needed to lick it off.
But—
“I’ll get it.”
Tamaki reached out to Ryouta’s lips.
Their sense of propriety was slipping again. Casual friends wouldn’t do something like this.
Then Ryouta stuck out his tongue.
To start from the conclusion, it went like this → Finger Tongue.
Ryouta licked Tamaki’s index finger. Whoops.
“Eep! That tickles!”
“Sorry! I didn’t mean it! I’m serious!”
Ryouta rubbed his stomach, calming his heart as it gradually started to take on strange feelings.
Calm, calm…
“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to, either… You would never purposefully lick my finger, of course… I’ll bring some mouthwash over right away, so please disinfect yourself with that…”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to…”
The emotional distance between them was going haywire.
“Sooo how was your breakfast~? Did you give thanks for your food? Never forget how grateful you are~!”
As usual, Alfoncina was excited despite the early hours.
“Now then! We still have work to do for the morning. I’m going to have both of you carry some things and do some cleaning!”
“Oh, I can do that. I honestly thought you’d give us some improbable task again.”
“Heh-heh. You’ll soon see that it’s surprisingly harsh~.”
The task sounded simple, but it would be a lot of work. That was because the First Cathedral (or rather, Akinomiya Shrine) was huge.
Akinomiya Shrine was once called Ichinomiya. In modern terms, that meant it was recognized as the most significant shrine in the entire prefecture. Naturally, only a large shrine could hold such an honor. Behind the building itself was an ancient kofun tomb and a small hill that must have once enshrined a god.
It was a real sanctuary that had been a place of faith for two thousand years.
All of this was contained within the First Cathedral’s premises, but the name was usually used to refer to the hall of worship, the inner shrine, and the expansions attached to them. The rest was treated as the cathedral gardens.
On those grounds were a cluster of all sorts of smaller shrines, such as a Benzaiten shrine, Inari shrine, and Kasuga shrine, among others. In stricter terms, the domain extended to the mountain behind it.
The festival was only being held in the area with the building, but it was still a large enough space to accommodate everything.
“Huff, puff… Next, a thousand paper cups at the spring! We have to go back down to the grounds…?”
Ryouta and Tamaki had cardboard boxes on a large cart, and they were running back and forth all over the place.
Shrines typically have stone pavement and small steps everywhere, which aren’t very kind to things with wheels.
While there still weren’t many people walking about yet, the stairs had started to get more and more crowded.
“Are you okay, Ryouta? Shouldn’t you take a break soon?” Tamaki asked with concern.
Surprisingly, Tamaki had a lot of endurance for how weak she looked, so she wasn’t tired at all yet.
“No, I can do this! Your yukata is on the line here. And if I quit halfway through, then I’d be betraying Shiren, too.”
If he hadn’t said that he’d do this job, he knew Shiren would be the one working now.
Shiren had stared at Tamaki the entire time back then. She must have been wondering what she could do for her friend. But when an option had been suddenly thrust before her, she had been a little slow to give an answer.
Well, there wasn’t much Shiren could do about that. She had bought and readied a yukata for this festival. Anyone would’ve hesitated, at least a little.
Since he hadn’t wanted to worry his master with that kind of conflict, Ryouta had raised his hand. That was why he couldn’t just excuse himself and leave.
“Oh, you’re right… This is for Fuyukura…” For a brief moment, Tamaki seemed sad, but she then shook her head. “No, I was about to think of the worst thing… I am truly trash…”
With a tired expression, Tamaki looked down.
“O God, I am the worst person. A friend finally offered their help to me, and I was about to betray that friend. Do I even have the right to be happy? Perhaps it’s time I just throw everything away and run away from home. I’ll never be able to look my friends in the eyes if I don’t.”
“What on Earth happened? Why are you lamenting as if Osamu Dazai wrote you…?”
“I’m sorry, I got a little upset there… Please don’t mind me…”
“I mean, I am going to mind you, but okay…”
Alfoncina was standing at the spring.
“Good work~. Take a bit of a break and get rehydrated~.”
“Just a bit of a break? That means you have more for us to do…”
Ryouta took out one of the paper cups he and Tamaki had brought up themselves, and he filled it with spring water.
It was cold and refreshing.
“Ahh, this pure water passes through my muddied body…”
It was hard to decipher what she was saying, but Tamaki was also having some water and was taking a breather.
“Yes. This is the last of the things to carry. You’ll be cleaning until the afternoon. Here.”
Alfoncina had garbage bags and cotton work gloves ready for the two.
Ryouta looked at the clock and saw it was just before eleven. Their lunch break was fast approaching.
“There will be a lot for you to do in the afternoon, so be ready~…”
“I’ll do it, no matter how much work it is,” declared Ryouta. He couldn’t back out now.
And so they started working on picking up trash off the ground.
It wasn’t that bad, ignoring how hot it was. The heat was grueling…
“So hot…”
Ryouta felt his head spinning, probably because he was in direct sunlight. The presence of so many other people certainly didn’t help, either. The area around the cathedral had gotten crowded with festival goers.
Thankfully, Ryouta was wearing a T-shirt, so he was okay. Tamaki, in her priestess outfit, looked like she was burning up.
“You shouldn’t have to wear that getup if all we’re doing is picking up trash and carrying stuff around.”
The T-shirt and jeans Tamaki had come in should have been no problem at all.
“Her Excellency said that I would appeal more to guests dressed like this.”
“I see, that was her idea…”
Ryouta had noticed a lot of passersby were looking at Tamaki. In particular, around 89 percent of guys.
If Ryouta were in their shoes, he probably would have ogled, too, but instead, he was selfishly annoyed by it.
Tamaki isn’t for show. Stop staring at her. She’s not my girlfriend, though…
Suddenly, the atmosphere around them shifted. They didn’t all go quiet or anything, but it seemed that everyone was now concentrating on something else.
“Oh, it seems you’re actually working.”
It was Ouka Sarano, the emperor.
Beside her were Sasara Tatsunami and Rei Asagiri. All three of them wore yukata.
Ouka wore one with prominent notes of red to emphasize her sovereign status. Sasara wore one that was mostly blue. She still had her sword sitting on her waist, though she looked less like a knight and more like a samurai now.
“I came for an official inspection. Well? Are you putting your blood, sweat, and tears into your work?”
“Are you ever not condescending?”
“It seems like you’re not having any trouble right now.”
“Yeah, for the time being. Listen, I know why Sasara is here, but what about you, Rei?”
“I’m Her Majesty’s ninja~. My job is to be alert for any danger. Ooh, it’s so dusty here, ehem, ehem.”
“Sheesh, you don’t have to keep insisting that you’re a ninja!”
Rei was hard to miss when she was next to the emperor. That big ribbon on her head drew so many eyes…
“No need to worry. I’m keeping my age a secret~.”
“That’s what you’re hiding?!”
Rei was twenty-three—assuming she hadn’t duped Ryouta anyway.
“I do make sure to say in the Imperial court, ‘It’s me, Ryou’s big sissy. I’m fifteen.’ Ehem, ehem.”
“It’s weird that my big sister is younger than me!”
Sasara then interjected, but her annoyed expression quickly changed into a smile. That was even scarier. “It’s all right. Rei is small and childish, so she passes as fifteen.”
“Yaaay, see? She says I pass! What a happy story.”
“If only you realized she was making fun of you, Rei…”
Ryouta’s older sister wasn’t known for her razor-like wit.
“You sure are quick to act when a woman is in trouble, Ryouta Asagiri.” Sasara’s remark came swift and sharp. Something was bothering her.
“Hey, c’mon, that’s not what I was going to do! It’s normal to help a classmate, right?! And Shiren set this whole thing off this time…”
“I am certain your master is in an emotionally difficult state right now.”
“What? Why?”
Sasara and Ouka looked at each other—
““Pfft…””
—and they both gave condescending smiles.
The two girls sneered at Ryouta fairly regularly, but he felt like they were ranking him even lower than usual.
“Lady Ouka, this boy is much too dense.”
“There’s nothing we can do about him, Sasara. Ryouta has never been the most well-informed. The reason he wandered in here is apparently because he had no idea that the city of Akinomiya had been turned into the Sacred Blood Empire.”
“Poor thing. Not only has he been cursed to be attractive to women, but also to be ignorant of current events.”
“Exactly. That is why I am sorry to say we must keep a close watch on him.”
“Indeed. As arduous as the task might be, Ryouta Fuyukura did nothing wrong. He is simply unnaturally thickheaded, and it would be a pity to blame him for it.”
“Hey! Why are you insulting me? What did I do?”
Ouka maintained an exasperated expression. “If that isn’t enough for you to realize, then nothing I say will help.”
“Lady Ouka, it would be best if you soon forgot about this simpleton.”
“You don’t need to mind him either, Sasara.” There was a slight glare in Ouka’s eyes.
Sasara frowned in response.
Strange, she usually gave a response along the lines of, Lady Ouka, please cheer up! But how wonderful you are when you’re angry, pant, pant…
“Lady Ouka, I recommend you keep your conversations with commoners to a minimum.”
“Likewise. Should a member of the noble Tatsunami family be speaking so casually with someone like Ryouta?”
“That’s because…Ryouta Fuyukura made me drink his blood…” Sasara’s eyes darted around uncomfortably before she finally uttered those words. There was no energy in her voice. “W-what?! That ‘drink a partner’s blood to know everything about one another’ way of thinking is outdated! You’ve known each other for a long time! I could never win against such an advantage!”
Ryouta wasn’t sure why, but Sasara’s rant had clearly unsettled Ouka. He had a feeling that as of late, Ouka’s emotional ups and downs were getting more extreme, bit by bit.
“With all due respect, that is an overstatement. If that logic holds true, then that would mean all childhood friends would be wedded. There are plenty of cases where that is not the case… Actually, I believe instances of that not happening are the majority…”
“Certainly, but…people who’ve known each other for a long time can get over any crisis together… See, with love at first sight, you don’t see the downside of your partner’s personality…”
Ryouta wasn’t really sure what Ouka and Sasara were talking about, but he could tell that their viewpoints were clashing.
“…A-anyway, Ryouta Fuyukura is at fault here.”
“…Yeah, no doubt about that.”
“Hey! When did I become the bad guy?!”
Almost immediately, he’d been made into a scapegoat.
“Oh, that doesn’t matter. What’s important is the festival. This country’s prestige rides on whether this celebration is a success.”
“From your perspective, that’s probably true.”
“As of right now, I’m glad that nothing has happened at the festival so far—not yet anyway.”
“That sounded really ominous. What happened…?”
“I’ve heard of a strange creature appearing near the First Cathedral. It is some sort of animal, but I’ve been told it has strange, humanlike movements.”
““That’s the robber…””
Ryouta and Tamaki spoke in harmony.
“That has to be the culprit! The okonomiyaki we were sharing earlier got stolen, too!”
“Tell me more about that, Ryouta.” Ouka’s expression was filled with the kind of dignity that befits an emperor.
“It would do you no good to hide it,” Sasara added.
“Tell your big sister everything, okay, Ryou?”
For some reason, the looks in both Sasara’s and Rei’s eyes were terrifying.
“I mean, I just glanced away for a second, and then it was gone. I don’t really know the details about it…”
“No! What did you mean by sharing?!”
“Er, Shijou and I just cut an okonomiyaki in half, and each had our own portion.”
“Oooh! You drive me positively mad! You’re so thickheaded! Sasara, Rei, time for stress eating! I’m going to have ankake spaghetti, Morioka cold noodles, Himeji oden, Fujinomiya yakisoba, and udon gyoza!”
Despite the Empire’s lack of diplomatic ties to Japan, Ouka listed many regional foods.
“What is this, the B-1 Grand Prix?!”
The B-1 Grand Prix was an event that selected the greatest of the lesser-known, provincial dishes.
“I was thinking about all the money we could make if we held that here in the Empire.”
“It’s always money with you!”
Around that same time, back in the Fuyukura household, Shiren had finally gotten up.
“Hey, it’s already eleven! Wake me up, Ryouta! Even if you wake up earlier than me, I’ll still bite you if you don’t properly rouse your master! …Oh, right, the festival.”
The moment Shiren awoke, her head drooped in disappointment.
The festivities only lasted a day, but it was sure to be a long one.
Despite having bought a yukata for this, Shiren would be attending the celebration alone.
“That thing cost 150,000 sacred yen! I got out all my savings to buy it just for this day! If I had known this would happen, I would’ve gone to the most expensive tomato restaurant ten tiiimes!”
Shiren didn’t feel like doing anything anymore. She didn’t even have the energy to put her hair up into her pigtails.
“Maybe I should just lay around at home. I’ll go back to bed, like the day off that this is! And then I’ll stay up until Ryouta comes home… When is he coming back?”
Shiren wondered what Ryouta and Tamaki were doing. What if things went beyond the point of no return while she was unaware?
“The festival’s main event is the fireworks at night. They probably go pretty late, so there’d be nothing technically wrong if he came back at eleven or midnight… Maybe I should go see them…? I do not doubt Tamaki o-or anything, but people imagine things…”
It would be humiliating for Shiren if she went alone, however.
“I guess I’ll have some breakfast first. And then I’ll think about it…”
Shiren walked into the living room, thoughts churning wildly in her head. Suddenly, she came to a halt. Sitting before her was Kiyomizu, watching TV. She was even wearing a yukata.
“Why do you always invite yourself in?!”
“You’re finally awake! You sleep too much! I would have just woken you up if I’d known this would happen!”
The anger of the two girls exploded into a fight.
“Huh? I sleep too much? Why did you have to wait for me to get up?”
“Because we have a common enemy. We will get our revenge.”
“Revenge…? Don’t drag me into this…”
Shiren’s tone grew somewhat apologetic. To be honest, part of her wanted to say that Tamaki would never interfere with her.
But Tamaki wasn’t at fault here. It was Ryouta… No, it wasn’t even Ryouta’s fault. Shiren herself had been the one who hadn’t jumped to help Tamaki straight away.
“Listen, it isn’t Tamaki’s fault…”
“Of course it isn’t. After being burgled and the subject of many unhappy incidents, Tamaki Shijou has simply found her god-sent happiness. What makes me angry is the thief!”
“What? The thief?”
“Yes! If that robber hadn’t robbed, dearest Ryouta and I would be at the smoochy smoochy, humpy humpy stage of our relationship right about now!”
“I know I’m the only one here, but please try not to break any obscenity laws.”
“The love between us is sacred and inviolable, so public decency is irrelevant!”
“I really don’t get your rules. But there’s no doubt that the burglar is the cause of all of this. I’m going to pummel them.”
Indeed—if there had been no robbery, then Shiren wouldn’t have been as unhappy as she was now.
The hue in Kiyomizu’s eyes changed slightly—to the color of hatred.
“I actually want to beat that thing to a pulp with all the weapons I brought from Japan…”
“But we have no idea where the criminal is…”
“I’ve been looking into that ever since I was nearly pinned for the act. There seems to be a strange entity appearing in the area surrounding the First Cathedral. According to rumor, it steals a lot of food.”
“You’re saying we might run into it if we go to the festival.”
“That’s exactly it.”
“All right, let’s bag ’em.”
“We’ll catch them red-handed!”
“We’ll make that robber experience such terrible pain that they’ll regret their mistakes for the rest of their life!”
“I will subject them to a suffering three times worse than that.”
Shiren and Kiyomizu both looked to the other as comrades in arms.
“As the emperor’s younger sister, I will punish this villainous thief.”
“Scoundrels that get in between dearest Ryouta and I will be decapitated.”
Shiren and Kiyomizu made a solid team.
