As Washu yelled, Mikamo’s body fell into the abyss… Or rather, tumbled into the room.
“Oww…” Mikamo propped himself up, rubbing his head.
Washu kept staring at him, dumbfounded, then started trembling. “You idiot!!” Once she realized he was safe, anger welled up inside her.
“Ow! Huh…? Ow ow ow!!”
Washu slapped both his cheeks repeatedly. “Idiot!” With the last slap, she caught her breath, and then her expression transitioned from anger to a relieved smile. “You’re such an idiot…” She pressed her tear-stained face into his chest.
Feeling her warmth against him, he softly drew her into an embrace and whispered, “I’m sorry…”
Washu lifted her face and looked into Mikamo’s eyes. If he were any other man, there would be no need to think further. But he had to let Washu make a choice. “Washu-san, I was born on Seniwa.”
Washu’s expression wavered. His words revealed everything. Now, she understood what Mikamo and Naja were trying to tell her before.
Seniwa was a superpower with 943 alliances, large and small. It was affiliated with the Galactic Federation, which was currently embroiled in a cold war with Jurai. Furthermore, Seniwa was especially strict on immigration; it had practically closed its borders. Why was someone from there here, at their biggest enemy’s greatest think tank? It was clear he was not a spy. He might have been savvy, but Jurai would not be ignorant of something even Naja knew. Mikamo’s occasional coldness was the result of training to suppress his emotions.
“I’m from Seniwa,” Mikamo said again, looking into Washu’s eyes.
“And…”
“Huh?”
“And…so what…?” Washu mumbled. No matter what the truth was, Mikamo was right here in front of her. That was the most important thing to Washu.
Their faces drew closer together. They kissed, deeply, over and over. Their warm breath tickled each other’s cheeks. They needed no words. They only needed to give themselves wholly to each other.
The next day, Naja saw them together and sighed. “Everyone’s on your side. Don’t ever forget that.”
On the day of the party, Mikamo secretly proposed to Washu in the garden. He had received permission to marry from his grandfather, the family patriarch. However, at this stage, she was only considered a “prospective marriage candidate.” A formal union needed to wait until after Seniwa officially opened its borders.
However, the students did not give a damn about international affairs. Once Naja—ever the astute observer—discovered the engagement, a party was not only inevitable, but necessary. The boisterous merrymaking continued until the next morning. The day after that, everyone in the Academy knew about Washu and Mikamo.
When Washu and Naja returned to the farm, both nursing their hungover heads, a Jurai intelligence operative was there with Professor Ikuma to greet them. They told Washu and Naja the gist of the story. It came with a strict gag order, of course. Seniwa might have been in a semi-isolated state, but cultural exchanges at the private civilian level still occurred. To Seniwa’s aristocracy, studying abroad at the Jurai Imperial Academy was a status symbol. Other countries wanted to maintain some sort of contact, too.
There were some parties in both worlds who were not amenable to such contact. However, there was a system in place to get around that. It used names and records assigned by Jurai to enroll special Seniwa exchange students in the school. As a result of that steady, painstaking process, the faction pushing to open up the country was gaining strength. Under the guidance of Kuramitsu, the current leader in power, efforts were underway to open Seniwa’s borders, and there had even been secret talks with Jurai about the possibility of Seniwa joining the Federation.
“I see. So you thought the couple could be used for propaganda at the civilian level to encourage opening the country?” Naja, understanding, glared sidelong at Ikuma.
“Now, don’t reproach us so openly. We were all affected by this whole incident.”
“Hakubi Washu-dono…please, this would be for Seniwa and Jurai.” The intelligence operative next to Ikuma bowed his head.
“Well, I mean, as long as we can stay together, it’s no problem…” Washu said hesitantly.
“But the Jurai intelligence bureau sure sounds like a third-rate tabloid,” Naja interjected.
“If it comes with information, no matter what kind, it’s all under our jurisdiction,” the operative answered with a wry smile.
“Aren’t you glad, Washu-chan?” Naja smirked. “Jurai might pay for all your expenses from now on.”
“Just so we’re clear, there won’t be any for you, Naja-san.” Washu retorted.
“Feh. You’re such a cheapskate.”
Laughing at Naja’s pout, Ikuma gave her the news. “Don’t get so mad. As of today, Naja-kun is a special scholarship student.”
“What?! Is that true, Professor?!”
Disregarding Naja’s dance of joy, the operative turned to face Washu. “You will be placed under surveillance, starting today, but we will try to remain discreet. Please forgive us in advance.”
She did not even have to ask to know that she had been a person of interest before and was already under surveillance. However, it was true that they had been discreet, so she did not care. Still, Washu did not notice the real reason why the intelligence bureau was there and why Naja was in attendance…
The faction in favor of opening Seniwa’s borders may have seemed strong, but that was solely because of Kuramitsu. In fact, things were very uncertain. Kuramitsu’s son, the next head of state, was reluctant to open the country. If anything happened to Kuramitsu, the situation would be turned upside down.
None of that mattered to Washu. Only a sense of happiness predominated. The one unfortunate thing was that, because of the regulation of information, she could not tell her mother on Kanamitsu about Mikamo.
A month later, Washu’s pregnancy was confirmed.
“We’ll have to make this legitimate, Washu-chan!” Naja was ecstatic. It was obvious what she planned to do.
“No!!” Washu opposed her friend vehemently, and the wedding was performed on the farm, among a small inner circle of friends. There was no telling what would have happened if it had been left to Naja.
“I would never do something so tactless,” Naja smiled.
Washu did not fail to notice Naja’s trembling clenched fists.
“Why are you leaving?” Washu asked Naja, who was packing her belongings after the wedding.
“What are you talking about? I can’t be a third wheel.”
“You do know how many people live here?” At the farm, there were over a hundred maids and a butler. It did not matter whether Naja left or not.
“Hmph.”
Watching Naja, Washu realized she was pouting partly because Washu had robbed her of a party. Still, it was mostly true that Naja also did not want to intrude on Washu and Mikamo’s newlywed life. Washu hugged Naja from behind and whispered into her ear as she kissed her cheek. “Naja, I want to show off my happiness to you. Please stay. ♥”
“F-fine! I’ll interfere, you know!!”
“Okay. ♥”
And so Naja chose to remain at the farm, just as before.
Unfortunately, Washu and Mikamo still did not have permission to visit Seniwa or Kanamitsu due to the unstable situation.
Nine months later, Washu gave birth to a boy. His name was Mikumo.
That was the happiest time in Washu’s life—when they were a family of three.