“Aah ... now that you mention it, there was a time like that, wasn’t there.”
When I was about four or five years old, there was a period in which I lived in Aomori because of my brother’s job. Hotogi Shrine was located in the city’s suburbs, and that’s where I first met Shirayuki. At that time, Shirayuki was told that she mustn’t leave the shrine, and she rigidly obeyed. Having an exceptionally shy personality, Shirayuki was afraid of me at first, but she soon opened up and invited me to play with her and the other young Hotogi shrine maidens.
“I remember when the two of us went to watch the fireworks,” Shirayuki said, “I was so happy then ...” It finally came to point where Shirayuki rested her head on my shoulder as she started to talk about the past. “You were so excited about the fireworks festival they were having in the city and took me out of the shrine to go see it. It was the first time I had ever left the shrine since as long as I can remember.”
“Oh ... that. I’m surprise you remember.”
If I recall, when we got back, all the adults got really upset with me, and Shirayuki wasn’t allowed outside the storehouse for a while.
“We got in so much trouble, but afterwards, you still came by to play all the time.”
“I was there because my brother’s job forced us to relocate. Plus, there were no other kids my age in the neighborhood.
What was it that we played? I wanted to play soccer, but I was outnumbered by young shrine maidens who rejected the idea, so I always wound up having to play house or origami or bird-in-the-cage.2
Little birdy, little birdy, the bird in the cage is—
I still remember that song. I also remember how my brother would sympathetically call Shirayuki and the others “caged birds.”
Sitting in the corner while the Adsiard preparatory committee was having a meeting, I found myself thinking of Aria. Lately, she was hard a worker running all over the place gathering information on Durandal. Aria was being so cautious that the slightest sound in the middle of the night would cause her to jump up with pistols at the ready. But the fact that our enemy couldn’t be seen, along with the stress of living with a mother-in-law like Shirayuki, had clearly put her in a bad mood.
“... I think it would be great if Hotogi at least participated in the Ar-kata for the opening ceremony.”
“I agree. There is one opening that needs to be filled.
For what it’s worth, Butei High is a high school so there’s a student council. But due to school regulations, all the members of the student council are girls. This is because previously when the student council consisted of boys, a gunfight broke out over how to allocate the budget for club activities. This school really is the pits. And so, this Adsiard preparatory committee is mostly made up of the members of the student council. As for why I’m present at this boring and dangerous (with girls everywhere) meeting, I’m here acting as Shirayuki’s bodyguard. Rather, I’m here because Aria ordered me to be here.
“Hotogi does have the look. I think she’ll leave a good impression on the reporters.”
“I think so too. She’ll probably improve the image of Butei High—buteis in general, really.”
“After all, Hotogi is the one who developed the choreography we’re using this year … Hotogi, you can do the Ar-kata cheer routine, can’t you?”
I tilted my eyes in the direction of our student body president to see how she was reacting to all of these opinions.
“Y-Yes. But ... I would really prefer to make my contributions from behind the scenes.”
Shirayuki quickly glanced up at me with pleading eyes, and my response to her, which I kept to myself, was to hurry up and put an end to this meeting. All of the main topics for discussion had already been dealt with, and the meeting was just sloppily dragging along at this point. Those thoughts must have been telepathically transmitted to Shirayuki though.
“Well, it’s already gotten this late. I’d like to call an end to the meeting,” Shirayuki declared in a clear and well-projected voice. When Shirayuki got like this, her pronunciation was so clean, and it made her seem very reliable. If Aria were a voice actress, then Shirayuki was a TV announcer. Those were the thoughts vaguely floating in my head as I got out my seat yawning loudly. Not long after the meeting came to an end, the girls started making a racket.
“Hey, you wanna go to Odaiba after this?”
“Oh, great idea!”
“I’m there! Did you know that Marui was remodeled?”
“I want a summer miniskirt!”
“That reminds me! Estella’s limited edition Sugar Leaf Pies are going on sale today!”
“There she goes! Food over fashion! You’re a shining example of an unpopular female butei!”
“Hahaha, that was hilarious!”
Here we go. Everyone and their charming little smile ... I hate this sort of thing. The reason you girls aren’t popular is because you’re all toting pistols. Get a clue.
“How about you, Hotogi? Wanna get ready for summer and check out their selection?” asked a freshman. Shirayuki looked liked she didn’t understand the meaning of the question.
“Ah, I have to go home and do my SSR assignments and create guide booklets for the Adsiard ...” said Shirayuki, lowering her head.
“That’s Hotogi for you. She’s so diligent ...”
“You never get tired, do you Hotogi?”
“You’re a real superwoman ...”
They weren’t being sarcastic; they were sincerely showing the respect they had for Shirayuki. But ... at the same time, it also felt as if they found Shirayuki to be a little bizzare. That’s the sense I had.
The sun was setting, and I was walking home with Shirayuki at my side. The clubhouse where the committee meeting took place was nearby the boy’s dormitory, so we could get back on foot. Going back home with a girl was the last thing I wanted to do, but being her bodyguard, it couldn’t be helped. If I had her go back by herself and Aria found out about it later, who knows how many holes she would open in me.
“I-I was pretty nervous today since you were watching. How ... was I?”
Shirayuki was acting bashful as she held her school bag in front of her legs with both hands, but her face showed how happy she was to be leaving school with me.
“It looked like everyone had the utmost faith in you. Pretty good, wouldn’t you say?” I said candidly. Shirayuki lowered her face, which had become as red as a scarlet hakama.
“... K-Kin-chan complimented me ...” Shirayuki said under her breath.
Hey, keep your eyes ahead of you while you walk. Ah. See? Right into a utility pole.
“Oh yeah. You’re not going participate in the Ar-kata? Everyone wanted you to.”
“I-I couldn’t possibly. I can’t participate in the Ar-kata. It’s better to have a ... more cheerful and cuter girl doing cheers. If a boring girl like me were to participate, it would ruin the image of Butei High.”
“Shirayuki ... the way you demean yourself like that is a bad habit of yours. All you have to do is pretend to be really enthusiastic when you’re actually doing the cheer routines. You’d start off pretending, but before you know it, you might genuinely get enthusiastic about it. Then when the time comes for the actual performance and you show off that enthusiasm in front of a crowd of spectators, you’re likely to build some confidence.”
“But ...”
“Don’t tell me you’re scared about the whole Durandal thing the education affairs department is all riled up about. Durandal doesn’t exist. Nobody’s going to be sniping at you or anything.”
“Yeah ... I know. There is no Durandal ... but I can’t do it.”
“Why not?”
“My family would be upset with me.”
The Hotogis. Shirayuki’s relatives at the Hotogi Shrine.”
“Why would they get upset with you for something like that?”
In the past, Shirayuki had made similar remarks on more than one occasion, so I had a vague sense of the reason why. The people at Hotogi Shrine put a lot of restrictions on Shirayuki when she left to go to high school in Tokyo. They placed a great deal of importance on formalities and forbade her to do all sorts of things.
“I’m … not allowed to attract too much attention to myself in front of large groups of people,” Shirayuki said obstinately. She didn’t explain the reason, but simply gave another negative statement. I guess it’s just absolutely out of the question.
“... When the other girls invited you to go to Odaiba, you turned them down too. Was that also because of your family?”
I asked thinking that couldn’t possibly be the reason, but...
“Yeah.”
“You serious?”
“I ... can't leave the shrine or school without permission.”
You are serious. Even among family, forbidding someone to ever go out is a bit harsh, isn't it? It’s an infringement of human rights, I dare say.
As if she knew I was going to object, Shirayuki spoke up before I could get a word in.