The Yamato party was on their third day in Kyokoku. Local time: noon on April 6.
Just as Kikka Azami had expected, the group received a call from Kashu’s Church of the Living Gods.
They were asked to visit the Church’s branch in Angel Town the next day.
According to the Church, the marriage proposal was an arbitrary decision that Liam had made out of concern for the future of the Agents, but the Church still felt the need to apologize for making them uncomfortable.
The one to apologize should normally be the one to pay a visit, so their request that the wronged party visit the Church was a reflection of the standing of the gods incarnate in Kyokoku. Although the request was rather objectionable, the gods accepted, since it was an opportunity to arm themselves with more information.
Ruri and Rosei informed Itecho and Rindo of Raicho’s absence. Rindo, as the leader during this trip, called Raicho and told him to come back, but Raicho only gave evasive answers and eventually ended the call by saying he had a bad signal.
Among all the goings-on, the quietest member of the group was Nadeshiko Iwaizuki.
The marriage proposal come as a heavy shock, and she’d suddenly fallen ill and was staying in bed.
As for Rindo, it was hard to tell whether he’d slept at all the previous night.
“…Azami, are you planning to visit every single room?”
Itecho asked the question with a furrowed brow as Rindo visited his room.
The Guard of Autumn looked at his checklist.
“I’m only missing Summer and Captain Aragami. Would you mind telling your escorts? I asked National Security and the Agency staff to memorize our route for tomorrow. I only need you to look at the evacuation route in this document. The problem will be inside the Church of the Living Gods; we’ll have to see the actual place first. They obviously won’t give us the blueprints.”
Autumn’s blade was trying to speak fluently, but his voice lacked tone and clarity.
“This could’ve been an email,” Rosei said, and Rindo shook his head.
“…Nadeshiko is in bed. I had to check in on all of you. Looks like Winter is fine.”
“And you aren’t. If I may.” Itecho reached for Rindo’s cheek.
Rindo’s eyes grew wide as the eldest and most reliable Guard, Itecho Kangetsu, touched him.
“Lord Kangetsu…”
He would have slapped the hand away off if it were anybody else, but he could not do that to Itecho. Itecho pulled back after a few seconds and frowned.
“You have a fever.”
Rindo was too confused to realize what Itecho had been doing until the other Guard spoke.
Rosei sighed. “Don’t do that, man.”
“Why?” asked Itecho.
“Mr. Azami, I’m sorry. This guy’s got a weird sense of personal space with people younger than him, since he basically raised me. He doesn’t mean any harm, but watch out. Your personal space will get smaller and smaller, and he’ll treat you more and more like a kid the closer you get. Doesn’t matter if you’re a grown man already.”
Itecho’s caretaking nature had taken over. For him, even Rindo was a boy who needed to be taken care of.
Rosei was nonplussed. As for Rindo…
I wouldn’t want my father to do that, but…
He was overcome by a wave of bashfulness. Given his position, no one ever treated him like this.
Itecho’s treatment was so kind that it was uncomfortable.
“…Sorry. I treated you like I do Rosei. But it’s true you have a fever. You’re fatigued. I’ll take care of the rest. You go to your room and lie down.”
Itecho was nonchalant. Rindo was his junior, and he had gotten very close to him over this past year. He wanted to protect him.
“Oh, no, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, Lord Kangetsu,” Rindo said, but Itecho shook his head.
“Azami, you’re going to get sick. I’ll help Autumn save face; just please get some rest. Rosei, you go to the escorts’ room. I’ll be in the hotel, so call me if anything happens.”
“Gotcha.”
Rindo hadn’t agreed, but Winter was already taking action, which made the Guard even more flustered.
“I’m aware I’m a bit feverish, so I already took some medicine. I’m the leader here; please let me do this. I’ve delegated some work to my subordinates, but I should at least do this…”
“I know you’re the leader, so make good use of me, too.”
His junior was too abashed to do that, but Itecho insisted.
“I know you want to check in on everyone, but do you not trust my judgment?”
“No, that’s not the case at all…”
“You’ve worked too hard already. Today’s the worst it’s been, isn’t it? You should be feeling better once we’re past tomorrow.”
“…”
Itecho was right; Rindo was feverish due to the buildup of fatigue and nerves.
He was already exhausted from everything that led up to their arrival in Kyokoku, and yesterday’s ordeal had made his blood boil.
Rindo’s body was resilient, but his mental woes reflected clearly on his face. His nerves had only gotten worse as the next fight approached. The attentive man of Winter couldn’t help but feel worried.
“And besides, you should be putting Lady Nadeshiko first over all of us. Have you checked in on her?”
“…Not since I left her in the care of the head maid. She was still asleep this morning.”
Rindo’d had a meeting alone with the Four Seasons Tower in the morning.
Winter was realizing he hadn’t slept or eaten well.
“Go to sleep, now,” said Rosei. “At least take a nap. Let Itecho handle the chores and get something to eat.”
“You need to get decent rest for Lady Nadeshiko’s sake, too. I couldn’t help much with preparations for the trip. Consider this my way of making up for it. Let me do something, please.”
Rindo couldn’t turn down his senior like this.
“If you insist, I’d be very grateful…”
Indeed, he was. And he had nothing to worry about with Itecho taking over.
He left Winter’s room and went back to his own feeling useless, but the fact that it was Winter who’d showed him this kindness helped a lot.
Not only was Winter respected as the head of the Four Seasons, the pair was the one with most experience out of the current generation. Rindo was still a rookie.
Refusing their kindness would be a show of disrespect, in fact. Better to accept it gracefully. Besides, Itecho would never go around telling everyone that Rindo was feeling unwell, either.
It’s embarrassing to admit, but they know me well.
Itecho had explicitly mentioned he would save face for Autumn because he understood Rindo’s prideful nature.
“…”
Rindo stopped at the door to the room next to his—Nadeshiko’s room. He wanted to see her before he went to lie down.
“Ms. Sanekazura, are you there?”
He knocked, and she opened the door right away.
“How’s Nadeshiko?”
“Still asleep. She must have been so tired. How are you feeling, Lord Azami?”
Rindo realized how awful he must look if that was the first thing she chose to say.
“…Winter was also worried about me.”
Sanekazura smiled awkwardly. “You do look worse than usual. You’re pale… By the way, I asked the hotel, and they can make us some risotto. Get some rest, please.”
“I see. That’s good to hear. I’ll take a nap until dinner, then. Just…let me see Nadeshiko’s face for a moment.”
Rindo entered the room and saw little Nadeshiko with her eyes closed in a big bed.
Hanakiri was in bed with her, lying by her feet.
He walked up to her, and she opened her eyes for a moment before yawning. The curtains were closed out of consideration for her. He got closer and finally got a good look at her lovely sleeping face.
She’s having such a nice nap.
She made a noise in her sleep, and he chuckled.