“If you get into a fight and make them mad, sometimes they won’t let you in.”
“What…?”
“But they usually break down and talk to you when they get lonely.” “Heh… I get it. I can totally see that. Ha ha ha!!” Airi remembered how Funaho acted like a puppy in the Hall of Royal Trees and laughed out loud, Yosho smiling with her. Funaho got jealous and started talking to them, of course, so their laughter grew even louder.
Later, Kasen fled to Jurai after only three months of study. The minions who were left behind merged into Kanemitsu’s group and finally got to focus on their studies. Yosho grew to be able to talk to them normally, but he could never understand Kasen’s intent. Harassment of Airi and Yosho ceased, and peaceful days continued; even Kanemitsu, who had given them so many warnings, never brought her up again.
Did I handle this well…? Yosho questioned himself over the homework that Seto had manipulated data to give him. It was too simple. He thought there may have been something he had overlooked and reached for the terminal, but there was no clue or even a sign of trouble. It did not take long for the question to become buried in a corner of his memories because campus life with Airi was fun. Before he knew it, six months had passed.
“Good morning, Airi-senpai.”
“Good morning, Yosho-kun.” It was their usual morning greeting, but it was very different from that of six months ago. Whether as the result of Airi’s persistent education, or the relatively free vibe of the Academy, Yosho had become more boyish, and the difference from before was clear. It had taken him weeks to grow accustomed to addressing her this way. Of course, whenever he called her senpai, she was afraid that a part of her deep inside was awakening to something… She realized that he seemed different from usual. “What’s wrong?”
Yosho scratched his head, hesitant, but he knew he had to come out and say it, so he opened his tightly pursed lips.
It was about the communication he had received from Jurai last night, from Seto.
“You look well, Yosho-dono.”
“We haven’t talked in a while. I’m glad you’re well, too, Seto-sama.” “Thank you. I’ve heard that you’ve been very busy. We’ve heard the rumors all the way in Jurai.” Seto stared at Yosho with her usual elegant countenance. She was not angry, but Yosho felt her gaze to be terrifying, and she had subtly placed an emphasis on the “busy” part. It was clear she knew everything.
Yosho knew he needed to come clean first and quickly spoke, “Seto- sama, I carefully considered how to handle the matter of Airi-dono in my own way…” He desperately tried not to let her notice that his voice was shaking. He did not feel guilty, and he regretted nothing. But when faced with Seto, the relaxation of six months here blew away like a feather. “I’m well prepared for a lecture, but…” He had summoned up the courage to say this much when the pressure of her eyes melted away. Yosho looked at Seto anew as if a spell were broken.
“Oh, nobody is mad about that. The Emperor of Jurai is extremely pleased that your efforts as a goodwill exchange student have been better than expected. All the visiting ambassadors have been talking about you.”
Yosho knew, looking at her satisfied smile, that she had been teasing him. It was a bad habit of hers to shave years off someone’s life like this. Yosho sulked, pouting his lips, and looked away.
Seto chuckled with her sleeve against her mouth, more than satisfied. She teased him because this was the expression she wanted to see. According to Seto, this sulky expression was the thing about him that resembled Azusa, the Emperor of Jurai, the most.
What a nuisance… He was well within his rights to think so. “Seto- sama, was that all?”
“I called you today to bring you word of the order from Azusa-sama, Emperor or Jurai.”
“From Father?”
It was…
“What? An order to go home?!” Airi could not help but raise her voice. “You’re not coming back?”
“I will. My father ordered me to fulfill my duties as Crown Prince on Jurai for six months out of the year.”
“Then you’ll be back in six months?” “Yes, I will.”
“I see…” Airi let out a sigh of relief. Nobody noticed that her expression grew slightly firmer as the day of his departure approached. It was a subtle difference she did not even realize herself.
The day before he left, Yosho looked for Airi to say goodbye, but he could not find her anywhere. Her friends had also been looking for her, and they went to all the places they knew, to no avail. He reluctantly went to pay his respects to others, and it was night by the time he went to see Kanemitsu last of all. He walked down the dorm hallway and almost bumped into a man as he rounded a corner.
“Excuse me, Masaki-kun…” The man nodded lightly and left. Yosho did not know him, but he was a lecturer for the students a grade above him, and remembered that he had seen him with Kanemitsu a number of times.
This was a student dorm, but teachers often came and went, so Yosho paid no heed and continued to Kanemitsu’s room. Before, he would have noticed the slight change in his attitude, his hostility and scorn. But the six months of living here had cast a fog over his instincts.
“Kanemitsu-dono, it’s Yosho.” The intercom by the door gave him permission to enter, and the door opened.
“Masaki-dono, it’s you. What’s the matter? Don’t you leave tomorrow?”
“Well, I wanted to pay my respects.”
“You didn’t have to come all the way here. You’re serious to a fault. If the Crown Prince of Jurai is leaving, you can be sure everyone will see you off tomorrow.”
“I’ll be back in six months, so that’s really not necessary.”
“The others are fond of you. Well, there’s nothing wrong with seeing off a friend. Is that why you’re here?”
“I came to ask you a favor.” He did not have much time, so he went straight to the point.
“Guard Airi…? Is that what you want me to do?”
“Not really guard, but can you watch out for her?” Yosho bowed deeply.
“Wh-why are you asking me…? I told you before to stay away from her.” Kanemitsu argued, confounded. Even if they had become friends, Yosho was the son of his country’s sovereign.
“You’re the one who held people back from harassing her.”
“It wasn’t a personal grudge. And Juraian warriors don’t harass non- combatant women.”
“I’m counting on you.”
“No. I can’t. I’m returning to Jurai in a few days.”
It did not escape Yosho’s notice that Kanemitsu’s expression darkened. “Why? The study abroad is for a minimum of two years, and I heard you were staying to get your master’s degree.”
“Hmph…! I can see why you got the order to go home,” Kanemitsu said sarcastically.
“What do you mean?”
“I feared you the way you were before.” “Feared?”
“Yeah. You were just a kid, but also like a sharpened blade, with eyes that saw everything. Not a sham like Kasen. Small, but a wolf befitting the Imperial Family… Airi Magma sure is something. I guess she tamed that wolf. In that sense, she was no delicate flower herself, befitting the daughter of a head of state. It was just supposed to scare her a little back then, but I got too fired up…” Kanemitsu was not acting like his usual self.
“Kanemitsu-dono?!” Just as Yosho began to ask, Kanemitsu’s figure blurred. Leaving afterimages behind, he slashed at Yosho.
Yosho instinctively blocked with the button on the sleeve of his uniform. The swordsmanship was not at all like Kanemitsu’s previous feats but more like an adult warrior.