EPISODE 2

LET’S TRAIN FOR THE FORMAL MATCHMAKING SESSION!

“Ughhhh…”

Ryouta spent the whole night sighing. How did he end up in a predicament like this…?

He would start training with Sasara right away tomorrow. He needed to get stronger within the week, or this week would be his last.

But will that be enough…? Without some serious training, this will be impossible…

Even after Ryouta said he was up for the challenge, Sasara had worriedly asked, “Are you sure you’re all right with this…? If you’re scared, you may honestly say so.” But after all that, he couldn’t back out just because he was scared.

As he sat despondent in a chair in the living room, a voice called out to him.

“What’s wrong? You seem down.” Ryouta’s older sister, Rei, peered at him.

She was originally a combat specialist belonging to Oshiro’s Special Measures Division, but she was now working as a ninja for Ouka here in the Empire. She came to their house at night to act as Shiren’s tutor.

“Be sure not to force yourself, ehem, ehem…”

“I’m more worried about you. When am I not?”

“I’m fi— Ahem, ahem, ehem, ehem.”

Rei was haunted by enraged spirits, which meant she’d always been sickly and unlucky. But on the flip side, her curse also served a protective role. She was rather difficult to get rid of.

“My coughing’s been getting a lot worse recently. I haven’t been able to breathe well, and my consciousness sometimes escapes me. Ehem, ehem.”

“Maybe don’t sound so blasé about that!”

Rei was constantly on the verge of dying, but she hadn’t crossed over yet. “Last time, I was right in front of a pretty field of flowers. As I started walking toward it, I woke up.”

“That was close! You’re not allowed to go to the flower field!”

She would have crossed into the afterlife, otherwise.

“Oh, yeah,” said Ryouta. “You know a lot about the Empire, Rei. Do you know about the Toraha family?”

“Yes. They’re rather famous. They’ve been around for hundreds of years—I believe they’re a warrior family. Nowadays, they’re a well-established family of master swordsmen.”

“I knew this would be risky… Okay, so, just throwing this out there, but say the son from the Toraha family was supposed to have an arranged marriage meeting with a girl from another family, but another boy came with her and announced that he was her boyfriend. What would happen?”

“That’s a strangely specific question~. Ehem.”

It didn’t seem like Rei knew already, so it was probably best not to tell her. Didn’t want her to pass out from the shock.

“Let’s see~. Toraha may see it as an insult. The other boy would certainly be ehemed.”

“Sorry. I think you coughed over the most important part. I mean, I can guess, but tell me again?”

“To use another word, he would be ehemed, bruehemed. I am certain he would ehem his last. The challenger would essentially be picking a fight with the Toraha family, and they will not let a challenge go unmet.”

“Am I supposed to fill in the blanks?! That’s kill, slaughter, -taliz-, and breathe, right?!”

What he was about to do was unthinkable.

I’ve fought with Sasara, Rei, and the boulder god I met with Shijou, and now I have to fight again…

“Aww, so sad. Your head’s almost touching your knees.” Rei peered at Ryouta’s face. “Listen… If there’s anything that’s bothering you, you let me know. I’ll make you feel better.”

“Rei…”

She was Ryouta’s only blood relative in this nonsensical empire, and he definitely wished he could confide in her sometimes.

But this wasn’t something he could rely on her for. His only choice was to take responsibility for his own choices.

“I appreciate it. And—Rei, could you scooch back a little?”

It was almost like she was trying to give him a kiss.

What? No, she’d never do that.

“You can tell me anything, Ryo. I’ll accept anything from your mouth. Even your breath.”

“You’re way too close, Rei! Your nose is about to hit mine…”

“If you’re upset, this is the best way to get rid of that stress. It’s much easier to calm down with body-to-body contact than by talking alone.” Rei looked serious.

“You’re joking, right…? I said no. Even if you are joking, brothers and sisters can’t, y’know…”

Klack.

The living room door opened.

“Phew, that was a nice bath. It’s your turn, Ryouta!”

Shiren was back from her bath with a waft of steam rising from her head.

Ryouta had a terrible feeling about this. Would she misunderstand again and assume they had been about to kiss…? It would definitely be a misunderstanding. They hadn’t almost kissed, right…?

“Hmm? Why are you up there, Rei?” Ryouta had spotted his sister clinging to a corner in the ceiling. She had sensed the danger.

“Well, when you work as a ninja, you start finding comfort in these sorts of places~.”

“You’re really burying yourself in that corner. You’re practically in the wall. Are you okay?”

“Oh, it’s just the Ninja Through-Wall Technique… Just kidding! Gosh, I jumped up here in such a panic that I got stuck. I wonder if I broke a bone, ehem, ehem.”

“Breaking a bone isn’t exactly a little whoopsie, but if my tutor is injured, then I guess that means no studying for today.”

“Indeed, that’s fine.”

If Shiren had chosen to interrogate Ryouta, this could have gone south very quickly, but the conversation turned to the cancellation of their studies.

“By the way, Ryouta, be careful in your training with Sasara tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I know…”

Shiren was being mindful of him in her own way, and the idea that she cared for her minion lifted his spirits.

“But Sasara’s softened up a little, and I doubt she’ll try and hurt me. That Toraha guy, on the other hand…”

“No, that doesn’t matter.”

“What?”

Then what had she actually meant?

“Just make sure that in the heat of training, you don’t push Sasara down, or let her push you down, or try and kiss each other—nothing like that. This stuff seems to happen to you a lot…”

“N-no, it doesn’t!”

Shiren’s face was bright red—even redder than it should be for someone fresh out of the bath.

“Come on, you’re supposed to be worried about my safety. I’m still your minion, you know…”

“Minion…” Shiren blushed harder.

It almost shocked Ryouta how red her face could get. “I—I didn’t say anything embarrassing… I’m just telling you the truth…”

“I’m not embarrassed! I’m not embarrassed at all! Don’t mention these thing to your master!”

Whap, whap!

Shiren smacked him, though not with enough force to hurt.

“You just need to be careful… I’ve been anxious lately, watching you get close with so many other girls… You’re not forbidden to have a relationship, obviously. I just don’t want you to forget that you’re still my minion…”

“I—I know that…”

“You must serve me, okay…?”

An awkward silence settled in the room. Now Ryouta was blushing scarlet, too.

“Mm~. What an interesting development to watch from up here~. Ehem! Ehem!” Rei coughed loudly and reproachfully.

Shiren doesn’t need to worry, Ryouta thought. Sasara can’t stand me; I doubt she’d ever actually like me.

The next day, Tuesday, after classes were done, Ryouta stood waiting in front of what apparently used to be a middle school.

In fact, it was an old middle school.

When Akinomiya had become the Sacred Blood Empire, the school districts were rearranged and some of the buildings had been repurposed for other uses. Including this one.

It was far outside the city center, which made it a bit of a pain to get to. The bike ride here had taken a long time.

“I think I got here too early… I don’t think she’ll be here for a while…”

All he could see from where he stood in front of the gates was a field. The Empire was situated in a basin surrounded by mountains, so many places were pastoral like this.

He’d be able to see Sasara arrive, and there was no sign of her anywhere.

“Well, I still have another fifteen minutes, so I guess I can just wa—”

“There you are,” he heard someone say behind him.

He turned to see Sasara in her school uniform.

“Whoa! Where did you come from?!”

She had apparently been on the other side of the school gate.

“Had I been waiting out front, people might assume you and I were having some sort of tryst. So I came in the back way.”

“No one would think that.”

Everyone at school knew Sasara was obsessed with Ouka. No one would believe a rumor that she liked a boy, not even as a joke.

“S-silence, you… You could at least try not to wholly reject me!”

“Why are you angry?!”

What did he say that was so upsetting?

He still wasn’t entirely sure how to treat her. If anything, it was getting more difficult as time went on. Before, she’d only ever paid any mind to Ouka, but something was a little different now.

He wasn’t exactly sure what was different, though…

Sasara blinked, as though she’d suddenly come to her senses.

“I—I—I—I mean…we must both be mentally prepared… You are my provisional boyfriend in this stratagem. How will anyone believe we are a couple if even you don’t believe it? Th-th-th-th-that’s what I mean!”

“Oh yeah, you’re probably right…”

Though it was only a temporary ploy for a very small audience, they still had to fool the people around them.

“By the way, how are we supposed to be training in a creepy abandoned school?”

The place was quiet and not terribly exciting.

“Follow me.” Sasara walked off briskly, and Ryouta followed her.

They entered the grounds from a side entrance.

“Are you sure we can break in?” Ryouta asked.

“We are not breaking in. No one from the Tatsunami family would ever stoop to burglary.”

They came to a building that was similar to a gym.

The floor was covered in tatami mats, the kind Ryouta would have seen at a judo match or something similar.

“This is the martial arts training gym run by the Empire. You can use it as much as you like, so long as you submit a notice ahead of time. It is essentially unheard of for an outsider to come in without a reservation, of course.”

“I see. If someone found out we suddenly started training, they’d wonder what was up.”

It was the perfect spot for secret training.

“Here is where I will do what I can to develop your skills to a level where you will be able to defeat Masatsuna. It will be a lot of work.”

“So this Masatsuna guy is really tough, huh?”

“Rumor has it that he has saved Earth from danger a number of times.”

“Who the hell is he?!”

“His achievements thus far are typically summarized through the Dark Martial Arts Tournament arc, the Door to the Samurai World arc, and the Samurai World Unification Tournament arc.”

“What is this, an action manga?”

“Personally, I found his battle against Musashi-Kosugi Miyamoto at the very beginning to be the most interesting.”

“An action manga that plagiarizes the names from other manga.”

“I hear he was the strongest swordsman in the Musashi-Kosugi Station in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture.”

“Just the station?”

Ryouta tried to form a vague picture of Masatsuna Toraha in his head, and he saw a man with bulging muscles, like a super Saiyan. He couldn’t beat that.

“At the very least, he is more powerful than I am. There is no uncertainty in his blade. W-well…there are other options if we give up when it proves to be too difficult… I do not wish to use that, though…”

“There’s another way?”

“For a last-ditch emergency situation. But we should assume you will be fighting against Masatsuna.”

“Yeah, I’ve already committed… I’m scared…”

As gloom settled over Ryouta, Sasara disappeared into what looked like a storeroom.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said when she returned, wearing her kendo gi. She looked like a coach.

“Whoa…”

“Is something the matter?”

“No, the look just really works for you.”

Her Western-style knight armor was probably her official manner of dress, but the more samurai-esque getup fit her perfectly, too.

“You can keep such thoughts to yourself…” Her face was slightly flushed, as though embarrassed by the compliment.

“Oh, and you have your chest wrapped…”

Her chest was bound firmly in place, although he could just scarcely see it through her gi.

Sasara’s face flushed even redder. “All you do is point out irrelevant and trivial details! I do this so my chest does not get in the way!” Her chest was on the larger side, so she needed to take measures like that.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that… Forget it…”

“Now pick whatever sword you like.” Sasara held out several wooden training swords.

“Now, take it in hand.”

Ryouta grabbed one and found it was a lot heavier than he thought.

“Let’s get started.”

They stood opposite each other.

“We’ll perform all the training we need. I will not hear any complaints from you!”

“It’s been a while since we did it.”

“D-did it? Eep—!” Sasara was in a state of panic before they even began; she was as out of breath as if they’d just finished a match. “Y-you cannot just say that!”

“Huh? But I didn’t say anything…”

“Anyway, let’s begin! First we’ll begin with a freestyle sparring match with no time limit. I will see just how skilled you are!”

Their match began, and Sasara rushed right in for the first strike.

“All right, let’s go!” Ryouta knew a bit about kendo.

Due to the curse his grandfather cast on him, the one that made him super-attractive to human women, he had often been attacked by girls in the kendo and judo clubs. In order to protect himself, he’d practiced the basics. He wasn’t a total amateur, at least.

But Sasara’s blows were heavy, and his moves were inefficient. She was slowly pushing him back.

“What’s the matter?!” she called. “You were much stronger last time we fought!”

“You really are the emperor’s personal guard… I can’t even get close. I guess that’d be the first thing to practice. I need to get right up in you.”

“Eep! In me?!” Sasara immediately let down her guard, so—

Thwap.

Ryouta hit her lightly on the torso. “Your torso was wide open. A newbie would be more alert than that…”

“I only let down my guard because you keep saying things… What a coward you are!”

“Why are you calling me a coward…?”

This conversation made no sense at all to Ryouta.

Sasara turned slightly and started murmuring. “Don’t think about it, don’t think about it. Great sun, everyone but Lady Ouka is an insect… Simply ignore it, like the dust on the wind. Yes, Ryouta Fuyukura is dust. Dirt. Trash. Garbage.”

“It sounds like you’re being really rude to me!”

Or ignoring his status as a human anyway.

“All right, I will collect myself and go again!” Sasara cried.

“This time, I’ll thrust right into your defenses!”

“Th-th-th… Into my— Thru-thru—” Sasara panicked. It was like someone in Dragon Quest had cast Fuddle on her.

“Men!” Ryouta called, claiming the point for a surprisingly easy head strike. “Hey, you’re making this way too easy, Sasara. Could you take this more seriously?”

“This is because you insist on being lewd! Coward!”

She struck him in the side.

It was a brilliant hit, and Ryouta crumpled on the spot.

“Buh—! And a surprise attack isn’t cowardly…? Or are you teaching me to never let my guard down…?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I did not intend to… My hands just…” Sasara brought both hands together in a genuine gesture of apology.

“Oh, just a coincidence, then. Wow, I’m still impressed, Sasara. You move fast.”

“I do not move fast! I am willing to wait!” She jabbed him in the side again.

“G-buh! Is this a Tatsunami family technique…? This training is so strict…”

He was getting beaten to a pulp without even getting any practice in.

“No! It simply happened… An unfortunate event, like fastening a button through the wrong hole…”

She didn’t seem to actively intend any harm, but Ryouta was suffering greatly anyway.

“I’m totally lost now, so let’s just keep going…”

“Indeed. We should officially reset.”

They once again came to stand opposite one another.

Oh, Sasara’s for real this time. She’s got a warrior’s eyes.

He could tell from her expression that she wasn’t playing around.

After all was said and done, their bond had been forged in a battle of life and death before. In a way, their relationship was already deeper than any lovers’.

“Now come at me. Show me what you are made of, Ryouta Fuyukura!”

“Yeah. With all your experience, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of chestnuts to share; I’m glad to have a hand in it.”

“A-a hand on my chest? No!” Again, Sasara was wide open. “What would you do in such a situation, then…? I cannot imagine what you would…”

“You’re all stiff again… You think you need a massage or something?”

“You would massage them! I cannot have this!”

“I’m just gonna ignore you… Focus, focus…” Ryouta slowly licked his lips. “Mm…”

“You would lick them?! Massage and lick them?! Is this a baby role-play fetish?! You may beg all you like, but I will only ignore you… I am too embarrassed to live right now…”

“Hey, you’re making this too easy.” He had a feeling that she was getting weaker every time he spoke. “What is going on?! I’m not ranked in kendo or anything. I never really sank my teeth into practice.”

“Your teeth…?! You would bite them, too?! You are going to nibble on me?! Cover me in love bites?! Are you aiming to be world champion in perversion?!” Sasara’s hand whipped toward her chest, as though she was trying to protect herself.

“Wait, I’m not gonna do anything… What did I say to make you so on edge…?”

“Please, do not look so innocent… This is all you ever think about, isn’t it…? I cannot forgive this…”

“You know I’m just trying to concentrate on practice, right?”

“But if you insist and you will only be touching them, then… You are, in a way, the one who saved my life… If that is all, then I might perhaps allow it…”

“Hey, you know you’re barely holding on to your sword anymore because you’ve got your hand on your chest…” Even an amateur like Ryouta was starting to doubt that this would improve his swordsmanship in any way. “You’re not playing around, are you?”

“I am not! But I—I—I can hardly even imagine someone grabbing my chest! I cannot stand this disgrace!” Sasara complained, her face burning red.

“What are you talking about…? I’m so lost… I don’t even know where to start…”

“Ah, so I see you’re still calculating your first move… Please, just get this over with and come!”

“Men.” Ryouta lightly tapped his sword onto her head again. “Sasara, you’re not okay.”

“This is all your fault…”

“How is it my fault? This makes no sense at all…”

Sasara could scarcely look Ryouta in the eye anymore.

“Am I so bad at this that you can’t give me a real fight?” he asked sadly. He’d rather she just beat him to a pulp; at least that wouldn’t be so embarrassing.

“I’m sorry… I cannot seem to bring myself up to form… I do not mean to pull my punches…” Sasara sank to the floor.

“Well, I’m not here to fool around,” Ryouta said with the most powerful voice he could muster, and he glared at Sasara.

“I… I am not sure how to respond to that…” Despite the lack of exercise, her face was scarlet again.

“I want to do it with you,” Ryouta said. “I want to give it everything we’ve got.”

“P-please, stop… I am entirely uncertain of what to do… I know I took your blood, but… I doubt I can take the next step…”

Ryouta wasn’t sure what was going on inside her head, but he could tell she was refusing to go all-out. She sounded unsure about fighting at all now.

“Why? Come at me with all you got.”

“All I have? Th-th-th-this is my first time…”

Why would she tell such an obvious lie? Her skill’s good enough for her to be a personal guard of the emperor. She’s obviously practiced with a sword before.

Ryouta was slowly starting to get irritated. They had no time, and definitely not enough to be playing around. They needed to get some solid practice in.

“You want to do this! I know you do!”

Plus, Sasara was the one who’d summoned Ryouta for training in the first place. Why was she suddenly reneging on their deal?

“A—a—a—a—a—a girl like me could never answer that question!”

Maybe it was unladylike for a girl to declare the start of a fight…?

Her eyes were darting every which way, looking anywhere but at Ryouta. What was she saying? This would greatly impact her life, too.

Ryouta held out his hand to her. “C’mon, stand up.”

“W-we’ll do it standing?”

“I mean, you’re supposed to, right? Do some people do it sitting?”

“I always thought you did it lying down…”

“How unmotivated are you right now? How are we supposed to practice lying down?”

Regardless, Sasara timidly took Ryouta’s hand and pulled to her feet in a somewhat resolute manner.

“Please, take the lead… I have no idea what to do. I’m certain you…you’ve done it many times with Shiren Fuyukura at home, have you not?”

“What? She bites me sometimes, but we’ve never done this at home.”

“Ah, I see, so you do it with biting…”

“It hurts, so I sometimes put on wasabi to fight back.”

“What an eccentric approach…”

“Hmm… I guess wasabi is a little unusual… But I can’t say biting is normal, either…” The word eccentric stung a bit, even though he knew she was probably right.

“Come, I am ready… But please know that it is Lady Ouka that I love! There will be no love in this!”

“Obviously. There doesn’t have to be any love at all in this.” Love was a major undertaking, and this was just a practice round.

“No love…? You truly are a player, aren’t you…? All you need are the pleasures of the body, I see…”

“No, I’m not playing around. I’m being serious… That’s why I want you to take it seriously, too…”

“O-of course… Love and sincerity are entirely different things…”

Finally, she seemed ready, and Ryouta wondered if she would give him a real fight now.

“All right, here I come!”

“Okay!” Sasara replied with vigor.

But it was difficult to imagine that she was truly prepared when she had her eyes closed.

Don’t tell me she’s using some special master technique—“looking with her heart” or something.

Should he even take the step forward? He couldn’t ignore the possibility that this was a very thoroughly prepared trap.

Well, there was nothing for it now. Sasara had clearly announced she was ready, so he couldn’t pull back now.

“Aaaaaargh!” He dashed forward. “Men!”

The head strike was wide open.

“That hurt…”

Ff-thunk. Sasara collapsed to the floor.

“Hey, are you okay…? You don’t look so good… Wh-when you said you were ready, what did you mean? Ready to get hit?”

Ryouta stood over Sasara. His question echoed through the gym without an answer.

Sasara was incredibly weak afterward, too.

The session hadn’t served as good practice at all.

“Why are you so weak now…? I can’t figure it out.”

“It is because of your inappropriate remarks… How cowardly must you be…? Even in Japan, you must have left scores of girls in tears…”

“Sorry, but I don’t remember ever doing anything like that…”

She really was the daughter of a noble family, although it was hard to tell when she was being her violent self around Ouka. She wasn’t used to more crude expressions, so even common, innocuous phrases came across as suggestive to her.

That was why she overreacted to phrases that were common during a workout, like “panting for breath” and “soaked with sweat,” which left her wide open to attack each time.

“We may have no choice but to use our final option…” Sasara’s eyes were dark.

Ryouta wasn’t sure what this “final option” might be, but he could tell it would be extreme.

Fleeing the country? At least the security here is all over the place, so we could pull it off if we wanted to.

Japan lay beyond the borders of the Sacred Blood Empire, in all directions.

Escaping would probably be a lot easier than you might think. Coming into the country was possible with a little effort. Kiyomizu, Rei, and Ryouta himself had all managed it, anyhow.

No, that’s no good. I can’t throw Sasara’s life off track.

He had no choice but to get stronger.

Even if Sasara wasn’t well, he still needed her to train him.

“Oh, yeah, I was talking the whole time, wasn’t I? Maybe I wasn’t really putting my heart into it. This time I’ll concentrate and keep quiet.”

“Very well…”

They started practice again.

Ryouta was beaten to a pulp in a minute.

“Wait! Wait! Waaait!”

“No talking. You are much too vulnerable.”

Whack.

The moment they restarted practice in silence, Sasara’s real abilities shone through.

Maybe she’d forgotten this was supposed to be practice, and she was airing out all of her pent-up rage.

Ryouta couldn’t do anything. Whenever he tried to make a move, she had already struck him. The fight was already decided; it was simply a matter of time.

Has she gotten stronger since we last fought…? If we were fighting with real swords, she would’ve killed me five times over…

“Let each hit be your teacher!”

But Ryouta was slowly getting used to Sasara’s technique. His body was remembering.

His sword moved to block a strike before he could even think the move through consciously.

Yes! If I can keep practicing like this, I might be able to get at least a little better.

“Haaaah!” Sasara drew back for a thrust.

Earlier, he would have recoiled in fear—but then he’d only be giving full control of the battle to her. He would never win that way.

This is when I go on the attack!

Ryouta rushed toward Sasara. Here was when he’d take her down with a counter.

But in that moment, there was disturbance in the air.

“Huh?!” Sasara’s gaze was elsewhere entirely.

The broken tension caused Ryouta’s steps to falter, and he tripped. “Oh no…”

He fell forward, and the tip of his sword drove toward Sasara’s chest.

Worst case, he’d end up stabbing her in the stomach.

Sorry! Please dodge!

“I could step— Ah, but…”

Sasara stepped back to somehow dodge the blow, but she didn’t totally make it.

The wooden sword caught on Sasara’s gi.

“I’m so bored…”

Tuesday, after school, Shiren lay alone in her room with nothing to do.

She considered reading through a manga all in one sitting, but she didn’t have the energy.

“Hrrrm… I wonder why it’s so much more exciting to read manga during busy times, like before a test. I can’t get into it today…”

In the end, she abandoned her full three-volume read-through of You’re Rouko, I’m Kouko!

“It doesn’t really feel new or fresh. I mean, the new characters like Youko are great—it’s really fun to see a new take on the emotionally dishonest archetype. She says she only ever does things for herself, but she always ends up helping others. But the serialization itself is plateauing, so nothing really feels new anymore. I suppose that was inevitable, though…” Shiren sighed, playing with her pigtails. “The spin-off series Burning? Burying? The First Emperor! is going on sale soon, so I guess I just have to wait for that one…”

Burning? Burying? The First Emperor! was a manga by Kin Hayashimori. Its popularity was mainly due to the bizarre running joke about the main character executing someone in every chapter.

“Ryouta, find any obscure, but still interesting manga that both of us might enjoy? Even larger-copy prints, the more expensive ones are fine. It feels like I’ve read all the famous series. I miss that feeling of discovering a good new story all on my own. Everything I’ve read recently has been good—nothing has been a huge miss or anything—but I haven’t been blown away, either. No new talent. Don’t you think so, Ryouta? —Oh, that’s right. He’s not here today.”

Ryouta would usually offer a quip whenever she started getting annoying or snobby (“You sound like such a know-it-all” or “You’re just bad at picking out good stuff. If you’ve read all the stuff that’s out now, find some good older classics”), but today, he was gone. He’d come home from school, then immediately left to go train with Sasara.

“And of course Kiyomizu’s disappeared, too. She’s always gone when it counts…”

There was nothing for her to do. A high schooler should probably study, but she would never do that without outside pressure.

“Hrrrm… Maybe I’ll call Tamaki and go out with her. That sounds like a good idea.”

Shiren dialed the number on her cell, and Tamaki answered right away.

“Hey, Tamaki, if you’re free today, why don’t we—?”

“Sigh… For some reason, the university student we hired to start shifts today at the store hasn’t arrived… I called, but no answer… Father has been cross all day, complaining that we should’ve at least received some notice… But now I have no choice but to cover the shift… How can someone inconvenience others with no shame at all…? Would I be able to live a powerful life if I had that courage? Oh, how impertinent of me to imagine I could ever purposefully trouble someone else.”

“A-ah, that sounds rough…”

“But I decided I wanted to be stronger, more rebellious, so I started listening to hip-hop. That’s the image I associate with it. But the random song I chose turned out to be about being forced to work for low wages, so it only made me more depressed… And the next thing I knew, I had written a rap for myself.”

“Okay, enough! I get it! Please, just stop!”

“Oh! Kokoko, please don’t eat the boxed lunches on sale! At least pick ones that are expired! Oh, a customer came in to use the bathroom and left without buying anything… Please at least buy a drink… Oh! A customer that was reading Jump just left… Please buy it. Now it’s all bent… Oh! Oh! Kokoko, please don’t eat just one of a two rice ball set! What, you just want the kombu rice balls? How awful…”

“……”

“I’m sorry. That’s why I don’t think I can go anywhere.”

“It’s okay. Good luck with work.”

She couldn’t do anything about the situation, so Shiren hung up.

Nothing to do again.

She lay sprawled out on the couch.

Ryouta always scolded her for doing that because her pigtails would reach the floor, but he wasn’t around.

“I wonder what he’s doing now…?” she murmured quietly to herself, the words bubbling up from deep inside her. “Sigh…… I just realized—”

Just in case, she looked around, making sure Kiyomizu wasn’t here.

“—I’m useless without Ryouta.”

As the daughter of Sairi Fuyukura—rumored to be the murderer of the previous emperor—she had been treated with great caution in the past, but that was not the case anymore.

She had fun going to school, and she and Ouka were now close enough to have casual conversation as sisters.

But what made her genuinely enjoy her new life now was the fact that Ryouta was in it. Without him, her life would go back to the emotionally dull one it was before.

And she couldn’t let that stand.

“I—I need to bond more deeply with Ryouta… We need to solidify our relationship as master and minion even more…”

She needed to get moving.

She changed out of her pajamas, put her shoes on, and went out without taking anything else with her.

She was going to Ryouta.

Watching his practice wasn’t a crazy thing to do, and she needed something to calm herself down.

“And I just know he’s going to jinx himself in some ridiculous way again… That’s how he is, after all…”

She’d asked where they’d be practicing. It was a little far, but not too far for her to walk. And her mood would improve with the exercise more than waiting for one of the few buses that went that way.

“Monitoring… No, observing a minion’s hard work is the job of a master.”

She didn’t have to wait for many lights walking at a brisk pace, so it wasn’t long before she had arrived at the old, essentially abandoned middle school where Sasara and Ryouta should be practicing.

But I don’t want to embarrass myself by barging in… Maybe I’ll just take a peek…

She tiptoed into the building, hearing the dry thunks of wood hitting wood.

When she peeked in, she could see both Ryouta and Sasara, their eyes brimming with fierce energy.

They’re actually practicing quite seriously. Very good, very good.

Shiren could feel her nerves unwinding.

This is Ryouta we’re talking about—I thought he would have fallen over with Sasara beneath him or something. I’m glad I was wrong.

There was precedent for incidents like that, so she was genuinely worried about it.

Ah, this won’t be a problem at all. I should head home before they notice me.

But before she could do that, her and Sasara’s eyes met briefly.

Sasara’s lips parted slightly; she was apparently as shocked as Shiren.

Oh no! She saw me!

The atmosphere changed in a fraction of a second, inviting trouble again.

Ryouta fell over.

His wooden sword plunged into Sasara.

Had she been in top form, Sasara would have easily been able to dodge it. But her concentration was interrupted when she saw Shiren, so she couldn’t move out of the way in time.

The tip of Ryouta’s sword caught on her gi.

Vrrrrrt!

And Sasara’s gi promptly ripped.

Instinctively, she pulled back and fell on her rear.

“That hurt… Oh, my chest feels so cold…”

“Sasara, are you okay? Oh…” Ryouta couldn’t find anything else to say.

Sasara’s gi had been pulled off the top half of her body…

“Wait, my gi… What?! Where is my gi?!”

Ryouta couldn’t actually see her chest, thanks to her bindings. But those were fairly ripped up, too, and the sweat made them somewhat translucent. He couldn’t see anything, but it was close.

In fact, the just-barely-there covering was even more salacious…

His eyes drifted toward her soft, pale shoulder.

I bet it’d melt if I touched it…, he thought before he could stop himself.

“D-don’t look at me like that… This was just an accident…” Embarrassed, Sasara used her left hand to cover her chest.

“You’re right, I’m sorry… The tension evaporated all of a sudden, so I just…fell over…”

“I know. You worked really hard to build your concentration, but then it vanished so suddenly. Did you not know what was going on behind you?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Can you not feel the malice?”

Ominous, Ryouta thought as he turned around.

There he saw a very angry-looking Shiren—and then two fingers in his eyes.

“Owwwwww! Why are you here, Shiren?! No, that doesn’t matter—ow!!” Ryouta flailed wildly. It was a critical hit.

“You tore Sasara’s clothes right off. I thought this might happen, but then it actually did… That certainly was close.”

“This whole thing was an accident… Wait, Sasara started acting that way because you came in, didn’t she?”

“What?! Are you blaming your own mistakes on your master?! Ugh, you are despicable!” Shiren immediately protested. But she knew he wasn’t totally off base, so her protests were mild at most.

“I’m not saying the whole thing is your fault, but…why did you come all the way here anyway?”

“Because I’m worried about you, Ryouta. Obviously.”

The atmosphere was getting a little weird again—although Shiren didn’t notice it herself until she saw that Ryouta and Sasara were staring blankly at her.

“Oh, uh… Don’t read too deeply into it! It’s perfectly normal for a master to think about how her minion is doing! This is an inspection! An inspection! I’m not here because I miss him terribly or anything! I am not lying!”

“Okay, I get it… Just calm down…”

Shiren’s face was red, which only made Ryouta blush, too. Now Sasara could see the how embarrassing they were together at home.

“Sorry, Sasara. You’re probably so tired of all this…”

“Heh-heh… Hee-hee-hee.” Sasara gave a quiet, delicate chuckle.

“Huh? Did it warm your heart that much?”

“You two truly go well together. Master and minion, completely in sync.”

“You think so? Well, I suppose that means Ryouta’s grown thanks to my discipline.” Shiren arrogantly puffed out her chest.

“You should be the one growing. Both emotionally and phys—”

“Silence!” Her fingers went right into his eyes.

“Ow! Again… This is happening a lot today…”

A smile spread across Sasara’s face—free of doubt, but a little sad, too.

“Well, the final option does seem viable, then.”

“The final option? I don’t like the sound of that…” Shiren’s face clouded over. She didn’t know what was going on, but she could tell it wouldn’t be fun.

“No need to worry. After watching you two interact, I know it will not be a problem at all. If a problem were to arise, I can take responsibility,” Sasara said, relieved.

But the way she phrased her reassurance only made Ryouta worry even more.

With an uneasy look, he swallowed.

“Now then, Ryouta Fuyukura, let us continue our training.”

But Sasara was the only one whose eyes were clear.