“THIS is just a hypothesis, all right?”
A few days later, all of the Crow Rangers, the chief, and Mia sat together around a grill. Which, by the way, was not being paid for by Misaki. The Rangers had put their foot forward and insisted that it was a celebration, and as such the chief should pay. The chief had nodded, deeming it to be a fair argument. Several days after treating them, he’d end up cocking his head to the side and asking himself, “What were we actually celebrating back there?” But that was a later problem.
Be that as it may, Misaki inclined his head curiously towards Shou, who held his finger up while chewing on some grilled ribs. “Is that a hypothesis about the Mia incident?”
“Yep, it’s about why Mia woke up at Ren’s declaration of undying love and subsequent kiss,” Shou confirmed, upon which Ren, who was sitting next to Mia drinking beer, spat out his entire drink in surprise.
In a coughing fit, he huffed angrily, “Aren’t there other ways to put it? ‘Declaration of undying love’?! How can you say these things with a straight face? How can I trust you anymore?!”
“Yeah, yeah, but that doesn’t make it any less true. So, about my hypothesis, right?” Blithely ignoring Ren’s protests, Shou went on to expound upon his theory. Everyone present listened to him in silence interrupted only by the clatter of their chopsticks as they helped themselves to the grilled meat. “I’m pretty sure that was it. I believe it’s because Ren and Mia’s hearts are one.”
“Eh, what do you mean their hearts are one?”
“I mean that their feelings are mutual. I’m fairly certain that if they were unrequited from any one side, it wouldn’t work. Hey, Mia, you like Ren, right?”
At the blunt question, Mia cast her eyes down and turned beet red. She looked irresistibly lovely, the very picture of a young girl in love. Flipping over a few slices of meat sizzling on the grill to try and hide her embarrassment, she nodded her head. “Yes. I, um, do like him.”
Happiness burst forth like colorful fireworks inside Ren’s chest at hearing her say the words confirming her feelings, even though they had been barely more than a whisper. He also felt very self-conscious all of a sudden and started scratching at his nose.
“Ooh, is it here that this spring breeze of young love is emanating from?” Aya grinned, circling her chopsticks between Mia and Ren.
“Shut up!” Ren snapped at her through his teeth.
Skillfully avoiding getting sucked into the exchange between them, Shou continued speaking, “And that’s precisely why, just as I had thought, it must’ve been Mia’s magic at play. Mia, a sorceress, likes Ren. Ren also likes Mia. The words of love resonated with their shared feelings. With that as a medium, when Ren wished with all his heart for Mia to start breathing, to open her eyes again, he established a link with Mia, and activated the magic sleeping within her.”
“Or maybe, when their hearts are one, it replenishes the magic reserves within her? Mia’s heart stopped once because her magical powers were depleted, right? I don’t presume to know how exactly it works, but in Mia’s case, when Ren said he loved her and kissed her, it made magic spark back to life within her,” Subaru countered Shou’s hypothesis with utter seriousness, chewing on a piece of pork jowl.
Ren’s face turned red and he let out a resigned sigh. “So, to sum it all up, what do we think happened?”
“Well, to sum it all up…” Shou gulped down the meat, fixed Ren with a solemn stare, and cleared his throat with a cough. Then he clenched a fist tightly and pumped it. “Moral of this story is—the kiss of Prince Charming is the solution to all problems!”
“Ugh, that is such a load of bull!”
“Love and peace overcome any adversity! Love is all you need!”
“What kind of crazy reasoning is that?!” Ren shouted in irritation.
Shou, slurping on his beer, muttered to the side, “Even if I do say so myself, that was a pretty solid argument I made there, thank you very much.”
“Well, Shou’s hypothesis is just pure speculation. There’s no way we can validate it. Subaru’s theory was interesting though, huh? A union of hearts and souls creates a wellspring of magic. That would imply free limitless magic, right? I wonder if the sorcerers of the past exploited this lifehack,” Misaki mused, putting some more meat on the grill, and directed his gaze at the chief who was, of course, puffing on a cigarette.
The chief crossed his arms, mulling it over. “There’s no account of any such theory in the documents we have in our possession. After all, he… Ah, I mean Mia’s father. Up until his generation, there are remarkably few mentions of female names. Probably, the women were treated as nothing more than human incubators, to bear children so that the sorcerers’ bloodline wouldn’t get extinguished. Akin to a baby conveyor belt.”
In the records, there was no trace of mothers ever being in the picture. That is, when they had their babies, those women… Were they bound by some contract? Or were they regarded to have become “unnecessary” after they had fulfilled their roles by bearing an heir? He didn’t know that much, nor did he want to. There was, however, one thing he could say with certainty.
“I don’t know about the past generations, but Mia’s dad loved his wife. He was head over heels for her, completely, irrevocably smitten with her. That’s why while she was alive, he always glowed with happiness. Sometimes, he would get this haunted look in his eyes, but even then, he was actually happy. Truly, the man was a walking contradiction!” The chief laughed, and Mia beamed back at him.
She had known her father loved her mother but hearing it from another person made it more real somehow. The two of them had loved each other. That simple truth made her almost squirm in elation.
“So, maybe, if Mia’s mom was still alive, her father might not have died in the way that he did. I guess we’ll never know for sure, but I want to believe that.” Misaki crossed his arms, humming in understanding.
Subaru opened his mouth after putting another piece of grilled meat on Mia’s plate, “All the more reason to verify our theory, then. I can’t help but be curious about it. Mia, back then, when you were being kissed by Ren, did you feel anything? Like, sensing some changes in your magical power?”
Mia hummed, sinking into thought. She had heard the account of what had happened to her. She had already been told how she had used up all of her magic, which resulted in her death, and how Ren’s kiss had brought her back to life.
“In all honesty, I do not really remember much at all. But when I opened my eyes, I think I felt something warm and fuzzy…spreading around in my chest.”
She couldn’t find the right words to describe that sensation and furrowed her brow as she dipped the cow tongue Subaru had put on her plate into lemon juice and kept eating.
“I see,” Shou grinned, seeming intrigued. “This might be fun! Confirming the theory seems worthwhile. Wouldn’t it be great to know for sure? We can’t predict when or where she’ll get close to depleting her magic again. If Mia had some kind of magic power gauge, that’d go a long way to help us. I’m not up for a repeat of the last time, so I’d like to have some sort of insurance in place.”
“Hm, that’s true. I’d like to avoid having Mia expend that much magical power at all if possible. But still, I’d feel a lot better if we’d know for sure that Ren can always supply Mia with additional magic in an emergency,” Subaru nodded vigorously in approval.
Ren felt like he was about to be turned into a lab rat against his will and piped up gruffly, “Well, let’s say we try to prove the theory. What do you suggest we do? I am not going to say ‘I love you’ or kiss Mia in front of you guys ever again and have you get off on my embarrassment.”
“Ha-ha-ha! That sounds like it’d be a ton of fun to watch, but we’ve already verified the hypothesis with that, haven’t we? You can, of course, try that a few times in private and make absolutely sure it works. What I’d like to know is whether saying something other than ‘I love you’ works as well, or if holding hands, or even just touching her would suffice too. If you can restore her magical powers with just a kiss, would getting to the next base restore them even more? Stuff like that.”
…The next base? Everyone froze at Shou’s words, except for Mia, who didn’t catch Shou’s meaning.
“What is this ‘next base’ you speak of?” she asked out of curiosity.
“Hm? Well, I can only think of one place where you’re touching deeper than when you’re touching with your lips. I mean, that would involve Ren putting it inside your body. I can’t imagine any way in which you could be in more physical contact with each other—”
“Ga-a-ah—Shut your trap right now!” Acting on pure instinct, Ren threw his lighter, which hit Shou square in the head with a thud.
“Ouch!” Shou called out and made a display of rubbing his head although it was plain to see he didn’t actually sustain much damage. “Ren, you’re surprisingly self-conscious, considering the amount of inappropriate touching you’ve been doing with Mia since the day you met her. Is that what you’ve been making all those girls swoon with, your secret soft side?”
“Ack, please, I’m begging you, just be quiet!” Ren moaned, sliding down in his seat, dropping his elbows on the table and covering his face.
Mia still didn’t understand what was going on and looked at Ren, her head inclined quizzically, “Um, I must admit, I failed to comprehend what Shou said earlier. What is this one place we would be touching the most in? And what would Ren put inside my body, and where?”
“You shut it too! I’ll tell you all about it one of these days, but definitely not right now!”
“Ah, so it’s settled that you’re ‘telling’ her soon?” Misaki shot playfully at the casual air with which Ren had announced this.
Aya, sitting next to him, muttered exasperatedly, “Ugh, that settles it, all men are animals and deserve to be thrown in jail!”
“Don’t forget to give us the full report!” Shou quipped, grinning. Shou would never learn his lesson, it seemed.