He watched the bus drive off with Hanabi on board, feeling like it was taking her right into the battlefield. He’d wanted to talk with her longer and spend more time together. He wished to go into battle with her tomorrow, fight by her side till the bitter end.
Feeling empty inside, not even realizing why he was suddenly so depressed, Kuon began slowly walking away toward the training grounds.
He looked around the darkened streets. Then…
I might never see her again.
That thought struck him. It was possible. She might never…
“Kuon-sama,” En said, coming out of Sleep Mode.
“Yeah?” he said, trying not to let the panic show.
“I know it’s bad manners, but I did hear your last conversation.”
“Oh.” Weirdly, he couldn’t bring himself to be mad.
En bowed, then spoke in an unusually subdued tone. “Kuon-sama, this is really something Hanabi-sama should tell you herself, so I’ve kept quiet about it until now. But she’ll be gone tomorrow, and possibly won’t be coming back, so I feel like there isn’t time for that. So, while I hesitate to do so, I think I’d better be the one to tell you.”
“What? Get to the point.”
“That was Hanabi trying to tell you she loves you.”
His brain short-circuited. “Huh? Seriously?!”
“Seriously, Kuon-sama.”
“You’re kidding!”
“I am not, Kuon-sama.”
“But…she said I’d be a great Cavalleria!”
“She couldn’t bring herself to say the word ‘love.’”
“Seriously?”
“I am extremely serious, Kuon-sama. She sees you as childlike.”
This was just stupid. “But I’m a mature, thirty-five-year-old man inside!”
“No, no, Kuon-sama. You are childlike in a good way, although that time when you almost got in a serious fight with Rin-sama over fried chicken…that perhaps couldn’t be categorized as mature.”
“I suppose it couldn’t…”
“But you are a cocky little brat, in a good way.”
“A cocky little brat,” he repeated.
“I suspect your surroundings and your physical age have an effect.”
“They do…but… En, that’s how you see me?!”
“How do you intend on responding to Hanabi-sama’s feelings?”
“How…? I don’t…”
“Oh, now you’re all flustered. I thought for sure you liked her, too.”
“No, I mean, sure, maybe I’m a bit of a kid, but I’m seventeen years older than senpai. I feel like I shouldn’t be messing around with anyone that young.”
“You look like a total shota and you’re saying that?” En demanded. “And you’re still calling her ‘senpai.’ With respect.”
“I do respect her.”
“Do you think of her as a younger, beautiful high school girl or an older, beautiful lady? Which comes to mind first?”
Kuon thought about it. He supposed it was both at once. This was tricky.
“You don’t love her?” En said, getting right at the heart of it. He hesitated. She didn’t let up. “This is a time of war. Both of you are Cavalleria. She might die tomorrow.”
“I know that.”
“It’s better to give your answer soon.”
His answer…to the confession she’d almost managed.
“Show her your grown-up confidence, Kuon-sama. A proper man says what he means with no shame, no embarrassment, and with confidence and clarity. That’s what makes women weak in the knees.”
Kuon closed his eyes, raising his face to the sky. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking thinking thinking…
Thinking he didn’t need to think.
He’d only said half of what he wanted to say.
He opened his eyes. There was a crescent moon in the sky, the type of moon Jogen was named after.
“En.”
“Yes.”
“I’m only thirteen. I don’t have any grown-up confidence. But…”
Kuon began running in the direction the bus had gone, to where Hanabi was. As he did, Rin called him. She’d heard the whole thing from En, but Kuon was unaware of this, so, as he ran, he just listened to what she had to say.
Take care of Hanabi.
He was suddenly very glad for all the training his master had put him through. All that endurance running hadn’t been for nothing.
When he reached the dorm, Hanabi was just getting off the bus.
He looked up and saw her gazing up at the moon, looking far, far lonelier than she had when they were at the bottom of the ocean together.
“Senpai.”
The Jogen Academy dorm was huge, surrounded by a tall fence that seemed to go on forever. Hanabi was standing by the gate, clutching a tiny purse in both hands.
When Kuon spoke, she spun around, surprised. But her expression soon faded, her eyes narrowing.
“What? You came running after me?” Her voice had turned cold, like ice.
“Um, there was something I wanted to talk about. Are you up for a walk?”
“It’s almost curfew. If you want to talk, do it here.”
The Warrior Princess was acting very stiff. He almost felt like she hated him now. Even with his lack of romantic experience, Kuon was getting a harsh lesson in how blown timing could change things.
But he had to wring out every ounce of courage he had. Fighting the Jave wasn’t nearly as scary as this.
“Th-there’s something I forgot to tell you. Will you hear me out?”
“Don’t worry about not being able to join the Operation. None of us blame you for that.”
“Th-th-that’s not it! Um, I…”
Some things were so obvious once they were pointed out, Kuon thought. Now that En had told him, it all made sense.
All this time, she’d been stuck in this weird “younger senpai” place for him, so he’d never picked up on it, but “Hanabi” was someone he couldn’t let go of and wanted to protect, while “Hanabi-senpai” was someone he wanted to have pay attention to him and protect him.
On the one hand, he always wanted to be with her. On the other, he wanted her to be happy. Perhaps it was wrong to feel that way about either a young, attractive kid or an older, out-of-his-league beauty.
But maybe it didn’t matter whether she was older or younger. “Senpai, I…”
He looked at Hanabi, at her tall, elegant, dramatically curved body. Her strong-willed eyes couldn’t hide how anxious she felt. She had a grace to her that belied her status as the best Cavalleria the school had ever produced, but sometimes she clearly showed her age. Then he looked at her soft hands. She refused to let her talent carry her and was putting in all the work; the Fencing Kuon had taught her was slowly turning her hands into those of a swordsman.