by Sato Tsutomu
Naturally, Izumi herself felt having doubts was more natural, so she had not expected to be easily accepted. There was no way an upperclassman who had been chosen as an engineer for the Nine Schools Competition and as a representative to the Thesis Competition would not know what it meant for two people to be in charge of one sequence. Furthermore, he had not shown any surprise. There could be no other reason than that he knew of the scope of their power.
“Let’s go into that topic at another opportunity. Such an opportunity might never come though.”
Tatsuya easily sloughed off Izumi’s searching stare to look at the model of the experiment reflected on the screen in the surface of the wall.
“Tsuzura-sensei, Mitsui-san, and Saegusa-san do not know the particulars of the experiment. So I thought going through the explanation would also confirm the details.”
With Tsuzura’s agreement, Tatsuya went over the details of the experiment with the student council members. Azusa, Isori, and Miyuki already knew the contents but no one looked bored.
“…..The stellar furnace system from a technical point of view is still underdeveloped. However, if we cooperate and function as a team, then without a doubt we can succeed in this experiment concerning what is one of the so-called three great problems.”
At last he summed it all up and Tatsuya’s ‘stellar furnace’ was turned into a small stunt.
◊ ◊ ◊
The stellar furnace experiment’s actual preparation period was from April 21st to April 24th, a four day period. If the time spent crafting the experimental devices for the Thesis Competition is considered then it was a hopelessly insufficient period. However, this time there was not going to be a full school mobilization. In the first place, Tatsuya and the others were not supposed to know of Congressman Kanda’s forthcoming inspection. This experiment must appear unrelated to the visit of Congressman Kanda and the media. It wasn’t necessary to conceal the Stellar Furnace experiment itself, but it was temporarily confined to volunteer accomplices and the student council officers.
However, from the start Tatsuya and Miyuki hadn’t been pessimistic about the situation. As he had said to Isori, this time they were not going to build the structure of an energy reactor. They were only going to display the structure. This experiment was fundamentally a performance: they were not constructing actually functioning experimental devices like they did for the thesis competition. Tatsuya was very conscious of the difference. On the other hand, Miyuki could not look on anything Tatsuya attempted pessimistically.
The preparations steadily advanced to the goal and begun to look like the real thing, and the faces of the other participants in the experiment began to look less impatient. From the face of Kasumi, who seriously worked on the experiment determined not to do less with her efforts than that darn Miyuki with a frowning expression that all but said she was unwilling as well; from the face of Hirakawa Chiaki, whose attitude displayed the question, ‘how did this happen?’, but never let her hands rest for a second either; and from the face of Tomitsuka, who had innocently dragged in Chiaki with good intentions and whose face went back and forth from letting his unease disappear to looking resistant. —Among them was a silver haired first year who had intended to only gaze at his hero, Tatsuya, but whose whole body spoke of his delight at helping; Sumisu Kento had managed to slip in despite being an outsider.
And April 24th, Tuesday. After school the day before the main event, in the radiation experiment room, the final rehearsal was being held. A 50% heavy water and 50% light water mixture had been poured into the globe shaped water tank made from a highly transparent, pressure resistant resin. The large quantity of heavy water had been provided by Tsuzura. It was possible to industrially manufacture heavy water from ordinary sea water, but securing a large quantity of heavy water was of course difficult for a simple high school student. The abundance of heavy water that they were able to get was the result of Tsuzura exercising his connections to the fullest.
“Okay, let's start. Miyuki.”
“Yes.”
First, Gravity Control magic was invoked.
“Kasumi, Izumi.”
“Four Phase Shift, go.”
The twin sisters spoke as one and executed the Four Phase Shift magic.
“Honoka, Minami.”
“Gamma Ray Filter in effect.”
“Neutron Barrier, in place.”
He did not rely on the girls’ reports; Tatsuya used his own ‘eye’ to confirm that the steps of the experiment had been cleared.
“Miyuki.”
“Focus point established.”
Tatsuya called out Miyuki's name once again, informing Miyuki that all the preparations were made.
“Isori-senpai.”
“Electromagnetic repulsion force neutralization, start.”
And when the last safety valve was released, the voices of the members in position in front of the gauge fluttered about doing the checklist.
“Degree of Gravitational field Stability, no issues.” “Gamma rays, measurement within safety limits.” “Neutron rays, measurement within safety limits.” “.......”
Tatsuya serenely gazed at the first step of his dream while listening to those voices.
The last rehearsal ended well. If this was a simple experiment then they would have been satisfied with the conclusive results they received today. However, this experiment was being held as a demonstration against anti-magician advocates. Tomorrow was the crucial moment. The participants were keeping their expectations quiet as they departed from the experiment room.
Due to Azusa and Isori taking on the cleaning up and closing up, the other participants moved to the student council room. It was nearly time for the gate to close, but maybe they felt they had entered some kind of state of continuous emergency. Tatsuya pondered that. Still, the other participants, Miyuki and Honoka who followed Tatsuya, Izumi, and Minami who followed Miyuki, and Kasumi who followed Izumi, formed a kind of chain. Kasumi and Minami were not members of the student council; however, no one here right now was bothered by that.
“Welcome back.”
Shizuku greeted Tatsuya and the rest. She wasn’t a member of the student council either, but, like the boss (?) of the public morals committee, she frequently used the stairway that connected the student council room and the public morals committee room. From her taciturn exterior, it was hard to imagine that Shizuku actually had a pretty laid back personality. Even so, her sense of responsibility was above average, so, since she was asked to look after things in their absence, she diligently did the duty like this.
“Sorry for making you wait, Shizuku. You really helped us out.”
“Nothing special happened.”
Miyuki’s words of thanks were met by a ‘don’t worry about it’ headshake, and after informing them that nothing unusual happened, Shizuku turned to face her best friend.
“Honoka, about that?”
Instantly, Honoka’s face displayed an ‘urk…..’ flinch. Perhaps discerning the answer to her question from merely that, Shizuku just showed an ‘oh, well’ look.
Rising up and moving behind Honoka’s back, Shizuku grabbed both of her friend’s shoulders. Honoka was taller by half a head; however, paying that no mind, Shizuku forcibly changed the direction Honoka’s body was facing, so Honoka was directly opposite Tatsuya facing him head on. Taking her hands off, leaving Honoka there, she looked here and there in the vicinity until she found Honoka’s bag and reached in to get a small box wrapped in pretty paper. Pressing that box into Honoka’s hands, she went behind her friend’s back again to give her a strong shove in the back.
Honoka stopped herself after one step and looked up at Tatsuya’s face that was closer than before. There was still too much space between their positions to enact a love scene. Of course, with this many onlookers, no matter how easy it was for Honoka to constrict her vision, it would be difficult for her to act boldly. The attempt she was going to make was going to be a very innocent occu
rrence.
“Umm, Tatsuya-san!”
After that statement, Honoka squeezed her eyes shut and offered the box with both hands.
“Today is your birthday, Tatsuya-san!”
Leaving no room for Tatsuya to answer, Honoka continued speaking. She was talking so fast it was doubtful that she was taking the time to breath, but it definitely wasn’t hard to understand what she was saying.
“It’s not much, but I worked hard at picking it out! Please accept it!”
Kasumi’s voice saying something like ‘Do Mitsui-senpai and Shiba-senpai have that kind of relationship’ reached Tatsuya’s ears from a corner of the room, but Honoka undoubtedly didn’t hear her.
“Of course, I will accept it.”
The moment Tatsuya’s hand touched Honoka’s present, he felt not a piercing but a penetrating gaze. However, when he took fleeting sidelong glances behind him, all traces of that sword-like stare had disappeared.
“Thank you.”
“N-No, it’s nothing. Umm, please unwrap it when you’re alone.”
“Hm? Ah, got it.”
Tatsuya nodded with a slightly mystified look and Honoka let out a big sigh. She seemed like she was just about ready to collapse having used up so much of her strength, but fortunately all she did was stumble. Shizuku decided by the ‘I adore Tatsuya’ look on Honoka’s face that she was not up to anything else and took charge from next to Honoka.
“Tatsuya-san, are you free next Sunday?”
As usual, Shizuku suddenly started speaking. Tatsuya was quite used to it, but he couldn’t keep from being instantly confused.
“What time?”
Of course, he was only confused for a moment. And he continued the conversation without missing a beat.
“The evening. Around six o’clock.”
“……That’s fine.”
He had a meeting on developing a completely thought controlled model of CAD on Sunday with FLT’s R&D section three, but six pm in the evening left him plenty of time to return. Neither the main office or R&D section three were in the habit of letting their meetings run over.
“It would be a little late, but I want to hold a birthday party for Tatsuya at my house. Is that okay?”
This ‘Is that okay?’ was packed with three different meanings: ‘Is it okay to count on your participation?’, ‘Is it okay to have it at my house?’ and ‘Is it all right that I just went and planned a birthday party for you?’.
“It’s completely fine. Thank you for inviting me.”
There were no ulterior motives beneath Shizuku’s proposal to give Tatsuya a birthday party out of her own good will, he knew that without even checking. Tatsuya nodded without even pretending to think about it and Shizuku answered with a slight nod. While she looked expressionless, there was a slight hint of smugness in the shape of her mouth.
“Miyuki and Minami-chan too.”
Without a moment’s delay she spoke to Miyuki and Minami, needlessly hiding her embarrassment.
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“Thank you for your invitation.”
Unrelated to Miyuki’s smiling answer and Minami’s more diffident answer, Kasumi was looking at Tatsuya with an appraising eye. Kasumi hadn’t thought Tatsuya was the type to be popular with girls, but that mental evaluation was shaken.
Chapter 12
On the way back from school, as the three of them parted from their friends and boarded the Cabinet, Miyuki seemed strangely agitated.
There was nothing noticeable on the surface. Even close friends would probably only wonder 'is she considering something?'. But in Tatsuya's eyes, his sister was fretting considerably. Getting off at the station closest to home, her condition only worsened as they approached the ticket gate.
"Mi-"
"Uhm, Onii-sama."
At the same time Tatsuya tried to call her name, Miyuki timidly raised her head.
"Ah, what is it?"
Miyuki didn't reply immediately at Tatsuya's inquiry, but instead moved aside so as not to block the other passengers and stood still.
"That......well, could, you please accompany me shopping for a little while?"
"I don't mind at all, but......"
Just what in the world is the matter, Tatsuya swallowed without saying. Miyuki wasn't the type who enjoyed going out shopping as entertainment on weekdays. If there was something they really needed to buy she'd order it online and it'd arrive the very same day. Besides, she wasn't asking straightforwardly.
"Minami-chan, sorry but could you go back and prepare dinner yourself?"
"Certainly, Miyuki-neesama. Tatsuya-niisama, I will be going on ahead."
Without showing any concern towards Miyuki, Minami briskly headed towards the commuter hall. This also invited suspicion. Although not as astute as Tatsuya, Minami should have also perceived Miyuki's state. If the reason was because Minami was confident in Tatsuya's abilities as an escort, this would be somewhat understandable. But Tatsuya could not help but feel something was off.
Separated from Minami, Tatsuya led Miyuki towards the nearest cafe. He thought it'd be best to hear her out first.
Entering the store, Miyuki seemed relieved. This further increased Tatsuya's suspicions. Miyuki had said she wished to shop, but now that they were in the cafe she was for some reason making what seemed like a 'mission accomplished' expression.
When the waitress came for their order, Tatsuya had a hot coffee, and Miyuki, under some stress, ordered not a cup, but a pot of tea. It appeared they wouldn't be leaving the cafe anytime soon. Could it be that Miyuki had simply wanted time alone to talk, Tatsuya wondered.
"Miyuki."
Increasingly worried, Tatsuya spoke up to Miyuki before their drinks had arrived.
"Yes, Onii-sama."
Miyuki, as she replied, was her usual self. She smiled happily as she spoke his name. Her distress earlier seemed like a dream. However, just because of that he couldn't leave matters unsettled.
"Is there something up?"
Tatsuya decided to try the straightforward route.
"Eh, oh no. It's fine now."
It seemed Miyuki herself was also aware of her previous state. She shook her head quickly, but Tatsuya perceived there was yet something unmentioned in her heart.
They broke off the conversation when the waitress came with their drinks. Miyuki checked the tea leaves by opening the pot lid, then after closing the lid and waiting a while poured into a small cup. Her careful movements, more polite than necessary, could only be described as gradual.
Miyuki took a small sip of the tea, then wordlessly added half a spoonful of sugar. Twice, three times, four......upon the 20th Tatsuya could keep quiet no longer, and spoke to Miyuki in a coy tone.
"As unlikely as it is, could it be that you took Honoka's present......"
The spoon clanged as it bounced off the cup.
"Not at all! I would never!"
"Sorry, of course not. I never considered it for an instant. Forgive me."
As Miyuki desperately denied it with a flushed expression, Tatsuya awkwardly apologized.
"Oh no......I'm not unhappy or mad at all, it's just I've been preoccupied, and......it's just a complete misunderstanding. So um, Onii-sama, there's no need to bow your head."
Now upset, Miyuki appealed to Tatsuya to raise his head. Pushed by her vigor Tatsuya looked up, but the question lingered in his mind. As he said, he had not seriously thought that Miyuki's consternation was due to jealousy. The reason for her suspicious behavior remained unaccounted for. He decided, however, that pursuing it any further would be awkward and gave up.
Seeing Tatsuya's unsure expression, Miyuki tilted her head anxiously. As their confused eyes met, they both began to laugh.
After that, they did a bit of window shopping for an hour before heading back. Tatsuya also put Miyuki's 'worries' out of his mind. It wasn't that he didn't remember them anymore, but rather he simply didn't bring it up since she seemed alright again.
&nb
sp; Just what had she been suffering. The moment he finished changing and stepped into the dining room, having been called via the communication unit, he found out.
The sound of crackers welcomed him in. A shower of colorful streamers blocked his sight, before falling at his feet.
"Onii-sama, happy birthday!"
Having taken off her uniform jacket leaving only the necktie, Miyuki stood in her one-piece. The dress was sleeveless and pure white, complimenting Miyuki's slender figure. It was the familiar uniform she wore everyday, yet the impression after removing the jacket was significant. It was like it had been designed for her alone.
Behind Miyuki was Minami in her usual highneck one-piece and apron. Upon the table were the vivid masterful results of her cooking.
"So, you were stalling me for the preparations......"
Tatsuya raised an eye as he looked towards Miyuki. She shrugged nonchalantly as she glanced away.
"Well......I'm really happy. Thank you."
In short, they had wanted to surprise him. Certainly, this would not have been possible when it had been just the two of them before. It may have seemed slightly childish, but Tatsuya was deeply aware that it had all been for him.
"Onii-sama, please take a seat. We're waiting on the cake right now."
As Tatsuya smiled, Miyuki's face shone as she fired up and busied herself. With a slight look of resignation, Minami approached carrying a cake, inserted candles, placed a knife and fork in front of Tatsuya, and lit the candles before turning the lights off and sitting down.
"Onii-sama, please."
As he watched Miyuki bustling around, without saying a word, Tatsuya as requested blew out the 17 candles in one breath.
Unexpectedly treated even to Miyuki and Minami's singing voices, the birthday party ended vibrantly despite only three people being present. He had been dragged along from beginning to end by his sister's exuberance and even made some noise of his own such as clapping, but now he was relaxing in his room by himself.