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Chapter Two
When Tatsuya and Katsuto returned to Chofu, it was still only 8 o’clock in the evening. Tatsuya had regained enough strength to be able to fight while flying, but he rode back with the Juumonji family (with Katsuto’s permission, of course) in order to not irritate law enforcement agencies.
Miyuki was waiting for him in the hospital. As soon as the car pulled into and parked in the parking lot, Miyuki, Tsukuba Yuuka, and Yuuka’s guard, Ozaki Chiho, all left the hospital through the main entrance.
Miyuki looked with hope towards Tatsuya as he left the car, but she almost immediately dropped her eyes in sorrow. Once she saw Tatsuya’s tense face, she was able to guess the result: the operation trying to rescue Minami and apprehend Minoru had failed.
Still, she recovered quickly from her depressed state in order to speak to Tatsuya.
“Thanks for the effort, Tatsuya-sama.”
She said this with a mostly straight face, but a slight smile showed on her face as she spoke words of gratitude to Tatsuya.
“Sorry. I failed.”
Tatsuya apologized despite Miyuki’s words of thanks, but his apology seemed rude and different – as if he had no desire to correct his mistake. However, this perception was anything but correct. He regretted with all his heart that he had failed to live up to Miyuki’s expectations.
“You don’t need to apologize.”
Miyuki didn’t reproach Tatsuya for his failure.
She didn’t even show disappointment.
After all, she still felt guilty herself.
“It was my mistake from the beginning.”
With a voice filled with self-incrimination, Miyuki accepted responsibility for the events that had occurred.
After giving their goodbyes to Katsuto and his subordinates, Miyuki and Tatsuya got into the aircar parked in the hospitals parking lot and returned home.
The trip only took five minutes, even when using it as an ordinary car, so there was very little in the way of conversation between Tatsuya, who was driving the car, and Miyuki, who was sitting as a passenger. They soon arrived at the apartment and entered.
“I will cook dinner quickly. Please wait a bit.”
As soon as Miyuki said this, she left for the kitchen. However, to Tatsuya, it seemed like Miyuki was avoiding him.
“There’s nothing you can do,” he thought.
He had failed to keep his promise to return Minami.
Miyuki still had her humanity, and though she was usually able to control her emotions, she still felt them. Even if she didn’t blame Tatsuya, she would unconsciously accuse him, and she would feel slightly angry around him – at least for a little while.
***
Miyuki understood her feelings of disappointment towards Tatsuya were irrational, so she suppressed them by blaming herself.
However, she knew that Tatsuya would notice her feelings anyway.
“Onii-sama is not to blame, because it’s my fault that Minoru-kun ran away.”
Miyuki used thoughts like these so she wouldn’t hurt her image of Tatsuya, but in turn these thoughts haunted her constantly.
This problem wasn’t one that could be easily solved, either. If Tatsuya simply told her she wasn’t guilty, she wouldn’t have any way to shift the blame from Tatsuya, which would only make her feel worse. She couldn’t accept that nobody really held the blame, so she made herself into the problem.
***
Understanding Miyuki’s thoughts, Tatsuya let her be.
However, he couldn’t find the right words to say to her.
He sat on the sofa in the living room feelings helpless.
Minoru ate dinner a little before Tatsuya did.
Like Tatsuya, he was made a meal by the girl he liked. Minoru was going to leave the cooking to the automated kitchen, but Minami insisted on making the meal despite having said practically nothing before.
She started cooking around 7 PM once they were convinced that Tatsuya and Katsuto had left, but when she finished, it was already past 8. For Minami, who was used to cooking, this was an inordinately large amount of time to cook a meal, but this was partly due to the variety of exotic spices that were available to her. In addition, the kitchen was full of specialized items used in Chinese restaurants.
Needless to say, this shelter had been prepared by Zhou Gongjin, with the knowledge of it inherited by Minoru.
He had created it by manipulating the reconciliation faction in the Great Asian Alliance Self-defense Forces. By instal ing magic amulets at key points and luring 16
magicians expelled from the Great Asian Alliance, he was able to use a type of outer-systematic magic fueled by human lives to create something like a parallel world in a limited space.
The house Minoru and Minami were currently in was built on a plot of land created with this method, and to protect the secrecy of the house, the workers who had built the house also became “materials” to strengthen the barrier.
As a result of all these sacrifices, the spirits protecting this place became so strong that Zhou Gongjin only needed to appear here to replace the stock of perishable goods.
The spirits were more than strong enough to protect the area on their own. The only reason they didn’t harm Minoru and Minami was because Minoru had enslaved the ghost of Zhou Gongjin, whom the spirits recognized as their master. Thanks to this, Minoru was able to use an extremely well concealed shelter that he wouldn’t have been able to organize on his own.
Minami placed dishes of Chinese-style cuisine at the dinner table of the house. The dishes weren’t particularly sophisticated, but Minami was mainly experienced in cooking Japanese and European style cuisine – she didn’t have much experience cooking Chinese cuisine, so this was to be expected.
The level of sophistication didn’t matter to Minoru anyway. He generally preferred ordinary dishes to exquisite dishes. This was mainly due to the fact that he used to often fall ill, spending much of his time in bed, so he was generally served ordinary dishes despite being brought up in a well-off family, but regardless, he liked Minami’s dishes.
He probably would have liked any dish if Minami had made it.
Minami sat opposite Minoru at the table. She wasn’t stubborn enough to refuse dinner with him, but her behavior also couldn’t be called frank.
Minami gave off an antisocial impression, only answering with the minimum number of words and never taking the initiative in the conversation. Even though they were sitting opposite each other, she didn’t even look Minoru in the eyes, save for when he spoke to her. She shyly looked away, only quietly moving her chopsticks.
For a boy of his age, Minoru didn’t eat much, and he ate slowly, but this was a habit from his childhood. He didn’t need to eat as much when he spent most of his time in bed, so he generally ate the minimum he needed.
On the other hand, Minami ate very quickly – especially for females. Her style of eating could be called manly, but this wouldn’t be appropriate considering she was female. She had been raised to be a maid from early childhood, so she was never taught to spend much time on eating, and even after living for over a year with Tatsuya and Miyuki, this habit hadn’t changed.
As a result, they finished at nearly the same time – Minami ate more, but faster, while Minoru ate less, slower.
“Thanks for the food.”
“Sorry it was modest,” Minami responded.
“Don’t say that! It was delicious.”
“…thanks.”
Minami’s cheeks reddened at Minoru’s beaming smile.
“Would you like something to drink after the meal?”
At first, Minoru was going to refuse Minami’s question, but changed his mind after thinking it would be impolite.
“I think black tea would be nice.”
“As you wish,” Minami said as she got up to make it.
As she left the table, she put the dishes from dinner on the cart. The cart was a non-humanoid household-assistant robot that was used in home automation, so Minami didn’t have to push it and instead followed the self-propelled cart into the kitchen.
Sighing a little, Minoru released his tension that had accumulated. He still felt awkward around Minami, so being around her stressed him slightly fearing that he might make a mistake.
Shortly after, Minami returned with a cup of black tea. She didn’t use the cart this time, and instead carried the tray with her hands.
It didn’t take much time for Minami to prepare the tea, but the pause was enough for Minoru to relax himself.
“Here it is.”
“Thanks. Minami-san, you should sit down too.”
“Okay.”
Minami obediently followed Minoru’s instructions and sat.
A tense atmosphere arose between them as Minoru’s tension came back. He was still nervous being around Minami, and in turn his tension was transmitted to Minami.
There was silence for a while before Minoru finally spoke.
“…Minami-san.”
His voice was slightly hoarse, but he called her own.
“Yas? What is it?”
Her voice trembled slightly and she misspoke, but Minoru wasn’t paying attention to that. He wasn’t currently in a state for him to notice subtle emotions from the other side in the conversation.
If Minami had been paying attention, she could have seen he was holding his breath.
“Minami-san, I want you to tell me about your true feelings.”
“…”
Minami looked at Minoru with a serious, but noticeably pale face.
“I…”
Minoru started to speak, but his throat felt dry. He hastily raised his cup to his lips to sip it and moisten his parched throat, but the hot tea burned him and he choked slightly.
“…I want Minami-san to become a Parasite.
To cure your body, Minami-san, without losing your magic, I want you to become like me.”
“…”
Minami’s face was still pale, and she didn’t know what to say.
“Minami-san, I’m not going to force you to accept my idea. It’s probably too late to say this after I kidnapped you, but I don’t want to force you to do this. I promise that I will listen to your decision.”
“…I believe you.”
After a pause, Minami accepted Minoru’s promise.
Minoru eyes shot open – he hadn’t expected her to believe him so readily.
“…thanks.”
Minami’s response calmed Minoru down, and he drank the rest of his tea. This time without choking.
“Minami-san. What do you want?
Do you want to abandon your humanity to be a magician, or lose your magic to life your life as a human?”
Minami looked down.
Minoru couldn’t see her face because of her hanging bangs, and he hurried to clarify his statement.
“Becoming a Parasite doesn’t erase your personality – I guarantee it. I found a way to become a Parasite while maintaining my own self.”
“…”
Minami remained silent and continued looking down. Minoru slowly grew impatient, eager for an answer.
“It’s worth noting that Tatsuya-san was most likely correct when he said that nothing would threaten your life if you gave up on magic. You can stop being a magician and continue to live as an ordinary person as well.”
Minoru looked at Minami’s hanging head with both hope and anxiety.
“…Please give me some time.”
Minami the obvious answer – or rather, the obvious lack of an answer – without raising her eyes and in such a quiet voice that Minoru had to strain his ears to hear her.
“Pl-really?”
Minoru was taken aback by her answer, and he looked sorry.
“S-sorry! This is too important a question to decide quickly!”
Misunderstanding Minoru’s surprise, Minami apologized. Minoru quickly rose from his chair and answered her.
“I’m glad you decided to think it over! I’m ready to hear your answer at any time.”
He took his cup of tea and disappeared into the kitchen, as if he was running away.
Unlike Minoru, Minami continued to sit frozen with her head down, not about to stop him.
Tatsuya was finally able to listen to Miyuki’s detailed account of the events that happened in the hospital. He didn’t have to ask; Miyuki understood that he needed to know the context of what happened.
After she finished catching him up, he still had to do several things.
First, he had to send the current family head – Yotsuba Maya – a detailed report on today’s events.
After that, he had to read the report sent from the main house detailing the results of the defense of Miyako-jima and the Stellar Furnace.
Tatsuya decided to leave what he still had to finish for tomorrow. He left his room and went to the dining room to quench his thirst while wearing his nightwear – a short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts.
It was already almost midnight, so it was too late to start writing a report, but nothing could have been done about that. Miyuki’s feelings had a higher priority to Tatsuya than a report to the main house.
Miyuki seemed to have returned to a more or less normal state, but Tatsuya could clearly see it was only superficial. Other people could probably see that Miyuki’s smile was out of willpower, as well, but they would have to try. Miyuki’s current state was intuitive to Tatsuya.
In addition, it might be inappropriate to call the current state of affairs fortunate, given that Minoru had escaped with Minami, but there at least was some good news. The invasion of the New Soviet Union had been temporarily stopped, and there was no notification that this closure had been canceled.
Because of this, Tatsuya had the whole day open tomorrow without any urgent pressing concerns.
“Should I spend tomorrow with Miyuki…?”
While reflecting on how he should best comfort Miyuki, he heard the door open quietly. Since only two people lived in this apartment – Tatsuya and Miyuki – Tatsuya instantly knew who it was.
“Onii-sama…”
“Miyuki, you’re still awake?”
Tatsuya tried to keep his words from seeming condemning, but he asked a pointless question that seemed almost accusatory.
“I beg your pardon… I can’t fall asleep right now…”
Miyuki came into Tatsuya’s room wearing a nightgown over her negligee and spoke with a vaguely depressed and tired tone of voice. Her mind and body were clearly tired, but Tatsuya understood that her feelings wouldn’t allow her to fall asleep.
“Want to talk a little?”
Tatsuya approached Miyuki and stopped at the entrance to the dining room. Miyuki was standing next to the table, and she spoke when Tatsuya entered the room.
“…Yeah.”
Tatsuya pushed Miyuki’s shoulders slightly and she dutifully allowed herself to be guided into the living room.
Tatsuya ordered the Home Automation Robot to bring herbal tea and gestured for Miyuki to stay sitting – she had tried to get up from the couch to get the tea herself.
The self-propelled trolley brought two cups of tea made from a mixture of orange peel and chamomile.
Tatsuya quickly got up, took a cup in each hand, and put one of them in front of Miyuki.
“Thanks.”
Miyuki thanked Tatsuya in a confused tone, but Tatsuya ignored it.
“It’s my pleasure.”
Tatsuya shook his head with a smile on his face in response.
Once Tatsuya took a sip from the cup in his hand, Miyuki also took hers and drank a sip. Usually, Miyuki would use the correct manners to praise the tea, but this time she didn’t express her impression in words. Perhaps she was tired – or perhaps she was dissatisfied by the tea brewed by the HAR.
Whatever it was from, her discontent was not strong enough to show on her face, so she had to at least find the taste tolerable. Miyuki’s feelings calmed down a bit as she focused on drinking her tea.
Tatsuya’s intent in giving Miyuki tea was not to distract her, but it created an atmosphere suitable for conversation regardless.
“You can’t sleep because you’re worried about Minami.”
Tatsuya didn’t phrase this as a question, or as an attempt to clarify the situation – he knew the situation and stated it like a fact.
“Yes.”
Miyuki answered the statement anyway, not trying to deny it. She didn’t want to bluff her feelings to Tatsuya, so she answered honestly without trying to pretend she was alright.
“It’s… my fault… right?”
Miyuki stated the feelings tormenting her aloud.
“But Minami-chan was treated well. I believe that… I thought of her as a real family member.”
“Right. You aren’t the only one who thinks that.”
Rather than make an assumption about Miyuki’s feelings, Tatsuya made a statement about his own this time.
Miyuki made a barely-noticeable smile after hearing his words.
“However, I think I also understand her feelings for Minoru-kun. He caught her attention, and even if it wasn’t in a way that made her realized her love, his feelings for her were not one sided.”
Miyuki paused, hanging her head, but she quickly raised it back up and looked at Tatsuya with hope in her eyes.
“Then was I wrong in this?”
Miyuki quickly continued before Tatsuya could answer.
“Should I have ordered Minami-chan not to fall in love with Minoru-kun? Should I have made her think that Minoru-kun was an enemy who had ceased to be human, who didn’t take into account other people’s opinions?”
“Miyuki, you didn’t make a mistake.”
Tatsuya didn’t reprimand Miyuki for not doing what she had just suggested.
“Feelings come from the heart. Even though there are exception where values rise over time, this is mostly done without influence from others. There’s a saying that ‘the more there are obstacles, the stronger the love will inflame.’ When feelings grow into love, rational talk won’t help any more.”
“‘The more there are obstacles, the stronger the love will inflame’… indeed.”
Miyuki slightly giggled at this. Her smile was already becoming more genuine.
“Perhaps she remembered something from her past which convinced her?”
Tatsuya’s thought was accurate.
When Miyuki’s love for Tatsuya first developed, there was the tremendous obstacle of their blood relation, but Miyuki couldn’t give up her love.
The current situation, in which they lied about their blood relationship and became bride and groom, it was a miracle that Miyuki no longer had to hider her feelings. But even if this hadn’t happened, if she had been forced to marry another man, Miyuki
would never give up her feelings for Tatsuya. She would always hold onto them in her heart.
“But… does this mean that Minami-chan fell in love with Minoru-kun and prefers him instead of us…?”
Miyuki believed that Minami’s feelings for Minoru hadn’t developed this far yet. She didn’t notice when it happened, but it was too late. Should she have banned Minami from this earlier? Miyuki thought about her actions with sincere and deep regret.
“Am I too soft and indulgent?”
Miyuki asked Tatsuya how he felt about her treatment towards Miyuki.
“Do you think that because you didn’t order Minami to give up her feelings towards Minoru?”
Miyuki shook her head.
“Do I have to… target Minoru-kun with Cocytus?”
Miyuki’s question basically asked if she should have killed Minoru.
Though Miyuki’s Cocytus doesn’t necessarily kill someone, it permanently stops the mind’s activity – anyone hit by this magic will never become active again. So though Cocytus doesn’t technically kill people, it essentially does the same.
In other words, even if Cocytus does not cause death, it certainly stops life.
“If I had been in a similar situation with a technique to kill the Parasite…”
Miyuki’s eyes were glued to Tatsuya as he spoke. She seemed to approach him.
Her pose had not changed, and she hadn’t gotten up, but Tatsuya felt as if her gaze was getting closer.
“…I would kill Minoru.”
Tatsuya wouldn’t let himself falter in that situation.
“But before that, I would have warned him. Unlike you, who offered him a chance to escape, I would suggest he surrender.”
Miyuki’s unfaltering gaze shook for a moment. After hearing what Tatsuya would have done, she might have felt guilty that instead of capturing Minoru, she offered to let him run away instead.
“So in the end, I would have faced the exact same situation you did, Miyuki.”
“…I understand.”
Miyuki’s gaze lost its intensity, and she lowered her head.
Perhaps she was comforted by the fact that even Tatsuya would have ended in the same dilemma in her situation.
“Besides.”
Tatsuya wasn’t finished speaking even though Miyuki’s guilt had somewhat been sated.
Miyuki looked up energetically, anxiety visible in her eyes.
She was afraid of what Tatsuya would say next, but she couldn’t escape what he would say.
“If I were there at that moment, I would stop you. Just like Minami did.”
“Just like Minami-chan?”
Miyuki opened her eyes in surprise.
She understood his words, but she couldn’t understand why he said them.
“Miyuki. I can’t let you kill someone.”
Tatsuya said this in a soft voice.
Her eyes still wide, Miyuki slowly covered her mouth with her hands.
“Minami defended Minoru, covering his back. Like her, I would stop you with my back. My feelings for Minoru and Minami’s feelings for him are different, but I think that our reasons to stop you are the same: to not let you become a murderer. I don’t want you to suffer from the fact that you had to raise you hand towards a person with whom you were well acquainted.”
In other words, the life of an enemy or a random person is not equal to the life of a friend.
When thinking in terms of justice and humanism, where everyone is equal, this is an outrageous statement.
“But it’s true,” Miyuki thought.
Miyuki knew that it was true as she felt it herself.
“You may have made a mistake when looking at your decision as the next head of the Yotsuba family. But Miyuki…”
Tatsuya looked into Miyuki’s eyes before finishing his statement.
“Yes…?”
Miyuki lowered her hands and responded to Tatsuya’s appeal.
“To me, your decision was not a mistake. You were not mistaken. That’s how I feel.”
“...!”
Miyuki covered her mouth with her hands again, this time in a sharp movement.
Tears ran from her eyes.
Tatsuya got up and walked to Miyuki.
Miyuki hugged Tatsuya, and Tatsuya wrapped his arms around Miyuki, pressing her to his chest.
Miyuki buried her face in Tatsuya’s chest and began to cry, occasionally sobbing softly.