Let’s talk about what happened next.
To cut a long story short, I, Kyouichirou Shimizu, wound up in the hospital. Whoo!
…Not exactly a surprise, considering I pushed myself to the brink of death.
Apparently, I passed out the moment the fight against Keraunos ended, so Szilard and the others carried me to the hospital. Being rushed out of a dungeon and taken to a city hospital would usually draw a lot of attention, but with the help of Szilard and Rosso and Blu, we were able to avoid causing a major incident.
Even better, Szilard helped me get a private room at a super pricey hospital! The place was done up like a first-class hotel.
I swear, that guy is a saint! To think he’d hook me up with such high-quality medical care when I was only suffering from overexertion (well, that and the blowback from using Fourth Field for too long and pushing my body well past its limit).
It really paid off being pals with the leader of one of the Five Major Clans! Wah-ha-ha!
✦ ✦ ✦
“That’s right! I saw it with my own two eyes during that battle. That boy, Kyouichirou Shimizu, shows much promise. I think he has what it takes to lead the adventuring industry in a bright, new direction!”
I could see Szilard on TV, saying some truly insane stuff about me.
Huh? What’s going on?
Is this…a dream? Please, I’m begging you. Let this be a dream.
“Oh, that?” Haruka sat beside me, carefully peeling an apple as she explained what was happening on the TV. “Mr. Szilard invited a bunch of media outlets to hold a press conference so he could tell them all about what happened. I totally forgot it was today.”
The radiant star happily munched away on the apple. (For some reason, she’d carved it into the shape of a Japanese castle.)
Why are you in my hospital room creating refined pieces of apple art and then chowing down all by yourself? None for me, huh?
“All right, fine. As an extra special treat, I’ll give you this other apple I’ve carved into the shape of a Klein bottle. Here.”
“…anks…mmph. Yum… W-wait, forget the apples! Tell me about the press conference!”
According to Haruka, Szilard was informing the media about Keraunos’s cleansing. And yet…
“When things were looking grim, Kyouichirou turned to me and said, ‘You go on ahead and leave this to me. I’ll take this spirit out by myself !’
“Our adversary was a truly terrifying beast. Nonetheless, young Kyouichirou was unfazed by the danger. And in the end, he endured its electrifying assault with little more than his fierce spirit and iron will!
“And then he boldly declared, ‘The people of the world are all my brothers and sisters. And helping my family is only natural!’ I was moved to tears. People of Sakurabana, should you ever find yourselves in need, I hope you will seek him out. That kind fellow, with his strong sense of duty and endless compassion, will doubtlessly solve your troubles in no time at all!”
Who is this “Kyouichirou” guy he’s talking about?! I don’t remember seeing anyone that cool and suave fighting with us against Keraunos!
“Really?” said Haruka. “I dunno. I mean, Szilard did exaggerate a bit, but that’s pretty much how you act.”
“I’m not like that at all!”
I highly doubted this “Kyouichirou” guy they were talking about would shove a drill up a monster’s ass. And he certainly wouldn’t say “Nyeh-heh-heh!” when he laughed.
“It’s not just me, either,” I pointed out. “He’s hyping up everything else, too.”
The way he described Jupiter, she sounded like someone else entirely. For whatever reason, he told people Keraunos was a violent spirit that targeted Jupiter alone for endless abuse (not that the real Keraunos wasn’t an abusive asshole, mind you), and that Jupiter left Rosso and Blu only because she was moved by the chivalrous Kyouichirou’s dutiful heart. It sounded like something straight out of a manga.
This whole thing reeks of…
“…Hold up. Was the whole reason for this press conference…?”
“Oh, you finally noticed, huh?” A mischievous grin appeared on the radiant star’s face, and she chuckled.
“So this was all just to publicize the fact that that Jupiter left his clan on good terms and joined our party?”
“Yep. Apparently, everyone in Rosso and Blu agreed to the decision.”
It seemed the members of Jupiter’s old clan still held her in high regard.
“I had a chance to talk to some of the others from Rosso and Blu while you were passed out. All of them were super nice. They all bowed and asked us to take good care of Jupi. I was really surprised.” The radiant star had such a softness in her eyes that I thought they could put her face next to the word gentle in the dictionary. “I’m sure they had their share of problems, but everyone seemed to really care about Jupi.”
“Huh. How about that.” Learning that warmed my heart.
See, Jupiter? There are plenty of people out there who care about you.
“So we’d better try our best, too! Can’t let Jupi’s old clan show us up. We’re gonna have to shower her with love.”
“Totally. But one thing’s still bothering me. Mind if I ask about it?”
“What is it?” Haruka’s sapphire-blue eyes gleamed as she leaned closer to the bed.
She was wearing a stylish blue camisole that showed off her shoulders. The material was so high-quality that it almost seemed to sparkle. That was all well and good, but…
“Have you left my side even once?”
Several moments of silence passed before she answered.
“Uh. Sure. Of course I have.” Her voice sounded forced.
“Plenty of people have come by to see me over the last three days, but I feel like you’ve been here literally the whole time.”
“‘Literally the whole time’…is a bit of an exaggeration. I mean, c’mon. I have to leave when they turn out the lights, y’know.”
“That’s not what the nurse told me,” I replied. “It sounds like you’ve been staying here all night.”
“Well, it’s not every day you get to spend the night in a hospital room as nice as a hotel. I gotta take advantage of it!”
“Why not just stay at a real hotel?”
“Oh, Kyou, Kyou, Kyou. You just don’t get it.” The radiant star dismissed me dramatically with a wave of her finger. “There’s a huge difference between ‘staying in a fancy hotel’ and ‘staying in a hospital room made to resemble a fancy hotel.’ The two are about as different as crab is from imitation crab sticks.”
“Right. So what I’m saying is, ‘why not just eat the crab?’”
Not that there’s anything wrong with imitation crab sticks. But if given the choice, I’d pick real crab any day of the week. And I assumed most people would say the same.
“Hey, I happen to like crab sticks.” Apparently, Haruka was not one of those people. “Think about it. The companies that make crab sticks have to try all kinds of things to make ground fish taste as close to the real deal as possible, right? So crab sticks are chock-full of the manufacturer’s hopes and desires. Doesn’t thinking about that excite you?”
It did not. But I could see where Haruka was coming from.
“So you’re saying the extra effort put into imitation crab is what makes it better?”
“Yeah, exactly! I’ve always loved stuff like that, ever since I was little. I remember when I was a kid, I used to be into those whatchamacallit imitation diamond things—”
“Cubic zirconia?”
“Yeah, that stuff! So anyway, I liked those cubey whatevers so much that I used to save up my money and collect them.” Haruka showed me the star-shaped pendant on her necklace. “This one’s pretty small, but check it out.”
A refreshing citrus aroma was wafting off her hair and, the moment it hit my nostrils, I thought I might lose it. Somehow, I managed to maintain my composure and looked down at the necklace.
“It doesn’t look cheap at all,” I commented. “If anything, the more I stare, the more it draws me in.”
“Right?! It’s pretty big for a pendant, too. And it’s blue!”
Everything Haruka owned had to be blue, after all.
“I kind of get what you see in these things… Well, okay. If that’s the reason—or rather, the kind of thing you’re into, I guess?—then feel free to stay here as long as you like.”
Besides, it’s nice to have someone to talk to.
“Heh-heh. Thanks. But that’s not the only reason I’m here, y’know.”
“Really? What other reason could you possibly have?”
Haruka brought her well-manicured index finger up to her lip and said, “It’s a secret.”