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I had gone to watch Haruto’s kendo matches numerous times, but never had I felt so nervous as I had this time.
After all, he was going up against Lady Chouko, and the way his sword moved belied his nervousness.
My fists tightened, watching the two of them while clutching the lattice.
You can do this!
Those words suddenly appeared in my mind.
Who had I intended those words for? As soon as I tried to answer my own question, I heard a crash.
When I looked up, it seemed the match had been decided, though I personally couldn’t tell who had won.
However, I could see quite clearly that Lady Chouko was doubled over on the floor.
“Chouko!”
I panicked and charged toward the entrance, where I found Shinmyou standing guard in front of the door with a bitter grin on his face. He was fast. He had been refereeing inside just a moment ago. Perhaps he had realized I was watching from outside.
But I didn’t care. I needed to get to Lady Chouko. I took my shoes off in the entrance as he called out to me.
“I wouldn’t go in there right now if I were you.”
“And why not? Chouko might be hurt, you know?”
“It’s nothing serious. Go home before they see you.”
They had both been wearing armor during the match, but the way she hit the ground wasn’t “nothing serious.” I couldn’t go home without at least making sure she wasn’t hurt.
“I will not. I can’t just go home if there’s a chance my brother or Chouko was hurt.”
As soon as I said this, I spotted a bathroom off the entrance hall. I pulled out my handkerchief and ran it under some warm water.
“So you want to go in, no matter what?”
“Of course.”
I had no idea what he was going on about. I just wanted him to move, so my words had become terser.
I suppose he realized I wasn’t going to change my mind, so he gave a little sigh and took a step away from the door.
“I personally don’t want you getting further involved with us. I hope you’ll remember that.”
I ignored his seemingly ominous words and opened the door to the dojo, calling out to the two of them.
“Chouko! Haruto!”
Their eyes widened in surprise at my appearance.
Haruto had only just removed his helmet, but Lady Chouko had stripped all her armor off and was sitting in just her gi.
“...Sis, why are you here?”
“Don’t ‘why’ me! That’s what I would like to know.”
My first question was why he and Lady Chouko were having a kendo match in the first place.
But more importantly, ensuring Lady Chouko hadn’t been hurt took precedence. I approached her and gazed down, noticing her gi had been undone and was open, exposing her chest and a glaring red mark at the base of her throat.
Oh no, she really had been injured, hadn’t she?
Worried, I sat down in front of her and pressed the damp cloth to the red spot on her neck.
“Ow...”
“Does it hurt? Or is it just the cold? Please try and bear it. You need to cool it before it swells.”
“U-Urara? Um...,” Lady Chouko said timidly, in a voice more hoarse than usual.
“Yes?” I replied, then peered into her face and noticed she was avoiding my eyes and acting strange.
It was odd. Even odder when a timid voice called out from behind me.
“U-Um, Sis...?”
“What is it, Haruto?”
“Well, it’s just, today, we’re...uh...”
His vague words trailed off. I was getting frustrated trying to figure out what he wanted. But I realized getting angry would solve nothing and resolved myself to restrain my temper.
“Haruto...”
“Yes?”
“You know I’m angry with you, don’t you?”
“Ah, well...yeah.”
I wanted to lay into him about starting trouble and holding this match and injuring Lady Chouko, but what I was most upset about was—
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew Chouko?”
“Huh?”
“I introduced her to you as my friend. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Um...I’m sorry. But...”
He was likely apologizing out of shock over seeing me angry in public like this. I rarely ever showed my ire in front of others.
His attitude only stoked the flames further, and I snapped at him. “Don’t ‘I’m sorry’ me! How could you...how could you hurt a girl like this? What were you thinking?!”
Everyone in the room froze. It was as if the air itself had iced over.
And then I realized something was off.
I had noticed it when I pressed the damp cloth to the spot just below Lady Chouko’s neck. She had been hiding many things from me, but had there been a bulge there before?
And then I noticed that, beneath her open gi, there weren’t even the tiniest of lumps.
“Ch-Chouko...? Sh-Shouldn’t you be wearing a T-shirt under your gi...?”
I was still facing Haruto, even though I was speaking to Lady Chouko, and I could feel something move at the base of her throat where I was still holding the damp cloth.
“Sis, um, well...you see...”
Haruto’s voice echoed in my ears as if from a distance.
My neck moved in a clunky fashion, like an old toy, as I turned to look at Lady Chouko.
“Urara.”
“Chouko...?”
That was the face of the Lady Chouko I knew, and yet it seemed to be twisted in much pain.
No, please don’t make that face, I wanted to tell her, but the words would not come.
The few thoughts that rose in my mind swelled and contorted, finally spilling over my lips.
“...A boy?”
The person before me definitely had an Adam’s apple, small as it might have been. Not to mention the fact that their chest was definitely not that of a girl’s.
Why? How? How could Lady Chouko be a boy? She was so beautiful, so gentle, the picture of a lady. This had to be a misunderstanding. She wouldn’t deceive me, would she? After all, not one person at school would believe for a second she was a boy. ...Of course not. Was I wrong? Then, what about the others? I looked around at them.
Mikazuki looked as if he were ready to curse. Haruto just seemed worried about me. And Shinmyou had tried to stop me from coming in. I finally understood why he had said what he said.
That was the first time I truly understood that Chouko really was a boy.
“Urara...I’m sorry.”
The second Chouko reached for my hair, I instinctively knocked his hand away.
“...No!”
Having the truth thrust upon me like this, I was so flustered, I could only utter that one word before fleeing the dojo.
I could hear them calling my name and someone shouting behind me, but I ignored them, focused only on running away.
By the time I returned to my senses, I was standing in front of my house. I couldn’t even remember walking there.
I was surprised to see I had arrived just at the same time as Kirara and the lady from Mr. Agatsuru’s boutique.
The sun hadn’t even set yet, even though it felt as if so much time had passed since I left the dojo.
Without lifting my head, I managed to eke out a thank you.
“Thank you very much for today.”
“It was our pleasure. We had a lot of fun, right, Kirara?”
They both smiled at each other. Normally the sight would make me happy, but today, I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything.
“We’ll see you at the store tomorrow,” the lady said in parting, and it took everything I had to give her a fake smile in return.
“Urara?” Kirara looked worried.
“I’m sorry, Kirara. My head really hurts. Could you please let me be?” I responded and headed for my room.
I cocooned myself within my futon, asking myself over and over: Why? How?
I remained in my room without dinner. My family was worried, but I insisted I just had a headache.
“Um...Sis? I wasn’t keeping it from you,” Haruto said at my door, but I didn’t want to hear anymore. I pulled the quilt tighter around me and let my consciousness slip away.