by Yuu Miyazaki
At that moment—
“K-Kirin…?”
“Huh…?”
She glanced up at the sound of the voice, only to see Ayato sitting wide-eyed ahead of her.
There was very little lighting in the open-air bath to begin with, but on top of that, he was sitting in the shadow of the boulder in the center of the pool, so it was little wonder she hadn’t seen him until now.
“…”
They both remained motionless and silent for a long moment, seemingly experiencing a mental blank.
Ayato was staring at her naked body, while she was staring at his well-toned figure, when finally—
“Hyeeeeeeeee!” Kirin began to shriek, before quickly covering her mouth and squatting down in a panic as she tried to conceal herself.
“S-sorry!” Ayato blurted out at the exact same moment, quickly turning his back to her. “U-um… I’m really, truly sorry, Kirin! I didn’t mean to…!”
“N-no…!” Kirin began, before sinking so deep into the water that it came up to her eyes.
Fortunately, Kirin had managed to stifle her voice before she could bring further attention to them both.
If someone had heard her and come running to investigate, the ensuing commotion would affect not only her but Ayato as well.
This is… She paused there, realizing what had happened.
“A-anyway, um, Ayato, did my mom say something to you?”
“A-ah, well… She said that only the family would be using it around now and that it was fine if I wanted to try it out, too…”
So she had been right.
Kirin slumped down, sapped of all strength, as she mentally cursed her mother. This situation was clearly her doing.
Perhaps she had been thinking of her daughter when she planned it, but no matter how you looked at it, this was going too far.
“I—I’m sorry, Ayato. This is probably…my mom’s fault.”
“What…?”
As she had expected, this revelation left Ayato lost for words.
Kirin, on the other hand, felt completely ashamed.
“I see… Anyway, I had better get out.” Ayato’s voice sounded somehow restless, but his tone had nonetheless returned to normal.
“R-right…,” Kirin murmured, still not glancing up.
Of course. They couldn’t afford to both stay here like this.
There was an audible gush of water and a rush of steam as Ayato stood up in front of her.
No doubt trying to avoid looking at her, Ayato went around to the other side of the boulder before stepping out of the bath, when—
“U-um, Ayato!” Rising to her feet so fast that she surprised even herself, Kirin reached out to grab his arm and stop him from leaving.
“Huh…?” Ayato stared back at her in astonishment, before once again quickly averting his gaze and covering his face with his free hand. “Wh-what are you doing, Kirin…?!”
“Argh…! I—I—I mean…!” Half-stunned by her own actions, she wasn’t able to make her hand let go of his arm. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to do nothing more than run away and hide. And yet, she understood, vaguely, why she had done it.
Those were her true feelings shining through.
“…Um, Ayato.” Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it might burst. Still unable to look at him directly, she felt her grip tightening. “W-won’t you stay…just a little longer?”
“But what if—,” Ayato began, before realization swept over him. He let out a deep breath, before stepping back from the edge and returning to the pool. “Ah… All right,” he said softly.
Kirin felt a warm, gentle touch brush up against her back—the same touch that she had felt when they had both fallen in the ballast area beneath Asterisk.
“…Just so you know, I’m pretty embarrassed about this…”
“Th-thank you…,” Kirin whispered in a weak voice, even more self-conscious than she had been back then.
But Ayato had responded to her request.
In that case, it was her turn now.
Or so she thought, but no suitable words or phrases came to mind.
So she remained silent, her mind all but going around in circles as she wracked her brain, trying to think of what she was supposed to do. What was she supposed to say? How was she supposed to say it? In the end, only one thing came to mind.
“I… I want to be your strength, Ayato.”
Beneath the starry sky, in that world of white steam rising up from the water, Kirin’s voice echoed softly.
“Huh…?”
Ayato had probably been expecting her to say something else.
It took him a short while before he could answer. “You’ve already helped me enough, Kirin.”
That, on the other hand, was exactly as Kirin had anticipated.
It was a direct, calm, easygoing answer, the kind of gentle heartedness that Ayato had always showed her.
“…No I haven’t.”
It was true that Ayato had relied on Kirin in the past. Not only her, but Julis, Saya, and Claudia too—probably from as early as the Phoenix, when he had faced the twins from Jie Long (although, if it had been her at his side back then, she wasn’t quite sure they would have won).
In any event, she was his friend, and he hers. It was only natural that friends helped one another and relied on each other’s strength. There was something precious about that, something that went beyond words.
And now, she wanted what came next.
She wanted to support him—even the Ayato whom she had seen the previous day, clashing with his father, sulking like a child, letting himself be overcome by sentimentalism in that clearing from his childhood.
That was what family did. It was what her family had done for her.
And Ayato occupied a special place for her.
He was special, because he was him.
“…Ayato,” Kirin began to slowly turn around, placing her arms around his in a soft embrace.
“K-Kirin?!”
As she had expected, her actions had left the young man overwhelmed. She could feel his heart racing through his skin and was overcome with an indescribable sense of joy.
Of course, this had all left Kirin so embarrassed that she felt as if her own heart was about to melt. Skin touching skin, sweat mixing with sweat. Savoring this feeling, savoring Ayato’s scent, she tightened her grip on his arms.
For her to be able to be support him in the way that she wanted, Ayato would have to occupy that special place for her.
At times like this, she always ended up comparing herself to others.
She didn’t have the same kind of deep connection with him that came from being his fighting partner, as Julis did.
She didn’t understand him to the same level as Saya, with whom he had spent his childhood, nor did she possess the kind of clarity or determination that Claudia had developed through her long suffering.
She was just his junior at school and hadn’t even known him for two years.
And yet, still she felt this way.
No matter where she was headed, she wanted Ayato to be there by her side.
“…I’d like to be family with you.” The words came out smoothly and without delay, her innermost feelings shining through.
“Family…,” Ayato repeated in apparent confusion.
Right, family. Having come home, having spoken with her father and great-aunt, her mother and uncle, her feelings had finally taken form.
She placed her cheek against Ayato’s back, closing her eyes.
“If we were family… I would be able to help you with your dad, we would be able to worry about Haruka together…”
Even if she couldn’t intrude on his life as they were now, if they were family, surely she would be able to give him what he needed.
“We can support each other when we’re lost… When you feel like crying, I’ll brush away your tears…”
“Kirin…” He said no more than her name, but his voice was tre
mbling.
In that case…if her words had managed to reach his heart, then there could be no greater happiness than what she felt right now.
“So… Ayato… Please…” As she spoke the words, she could feel her head growing hotter, her vision more blurred and distant. Her arms had lost all strength, her face leaning against his back drooping forward. “Please… Won’t you… Marry me…?”
Even though her eyes were shut, she could feel her surroundings spinning around her.
“K-Kirin! Kirin!”
Then, Ayato’s voice reaching her as if through a thick film, Kirin slipped into darkness.
“Happy New Year!”
The next morning, the Toudou family gathered around the breakfast table dressed in their finest Japanese-style clothing.
Kouichirou, Seijirou, Yoshino, and Kotoha each wore formal kimonos, the men’s ones decorated with the family crest and complete with divided hakama, and the women’s embroidered with floral patterns around the dress. Ayato, being a guest, wore a plain tsumugi kimono with divided hakama.
And in front of him was Kirin, sitting behind dish upon dish of luxurious New Year’s set meals, wearing a beautiful long-sleeved kimono.
However, her cheeks had turned scarlet the moment he had first greeted her this morning, and she still refused to meet his gaze.
Well, I guess that’s understandable…
After all, after she had collapsed last night, he had wrapped her in a towel and took her to the only person he could be sure wouldn’t misunderstand the situation—her mother—making sure to use his shiki technique along the way so that no one else could bump into them unawares.
Fortunately, Kotoha had agreed to keep it all a secret, but it had still no doubt left Kirin feeling incredibly awkward.
For Ayato, who hadn’t known quite what to say in response to her confession, it was, in a way, good timing.
“Help yourself, Ayato Amagiri,” Yoshino said, inviting him to begin.
“Thank you,” he replied as he picked up a pair of chopsticks.
From what he had heard, it was Yoshino who had prepared the majority of the food. Every single dish smelled delicious, with the vinegar-soaked vegetables and fish looking especially superb.
“By the way, do you have any plans for today?” Yoshino asked him suddenly.
“Plans? Not in particular.”
Yoshino broke into a wide grin. “I see, I see, that’s good. In that case, I have a favor to ask of you.”
“…Yes?”
Naturally, the dojo of the head branch of the Toudou family was much larger than that of the Amagiri Shinmei style’s.
In the center of it, Ayato and Yoshino stood facing one another, wooden practice swords in hand. They were both still wearing their formal kimonos.
Dozens of students of the Toudou school sat alongside the walls, each of them wearing their martial arts uniforms. Among them, still in their formal garb, were Seijirou, Kouichirou, and, of course, Kirin.
“Um… What’s going on?” Ayato asked uncertainly.
“What now? This little event is a kind of New Year’s custom of ours. To put it simply, we have some representatives face each other so that the students can watch and learn.”
“It’s for the students…? I don’t mind, I guess, but dressed like this?”
“This custom has a long history. It began when a former lord whom our family served was invited to a banquet on New Year’s Day, and the head of the school at the time was murdered alongside him in all his finery. Since then, we’ve always done it like this.”
“I see…”
It would, of course, be difficult for him to move dressed like this, Ayato thought, but at least he, with his divided hakama, would have the advantage. And yet—
“You don’t need to worry about me. My clothes are custom-made to allow maximum mobility. Like this!”
“Wha—?!”
At that moment, she delivered a sharp thrust targeted right at his throat.
Ayato spun backward to dodge it, but Yoshino quickly followed through with a second, then a third attack.
If she could move this fast, he might have a problem.
“…I might not…know the Toudou style…but I can keep up with this, at least!”
Yoshino’s swordsmanship was swift and direct, without even the slightest hesitation.
There were naturally similarities with Kirin’s own particular technique, but whereas Kirin flowed gracefully from one move into the next, Yoshino’s strikes were more austere and immediate.
“Don’t hold back! Think of it as an exhibition match! I’m sure our students are dying to see the full potential of the famed Ayato Amagiri, champion of the Phoenix and the Gryps!”
“…In that case…”
There would be no need to hold back.
Yoshino was strong. The only other opponent he had faced around her age with that kind of skill and power was Bujinsai Yabuki.
She struck first from overhead, moving immediately into two consecutive sideways sweeps before stepping closer and—
The Conjoined Cranes!
If this had been Ayato’s first time on the receiving end of the technique, he may very well have fallen victim to it then and there.
Thanks to the long hours he had spent training with Kirin over the past year, however, he knew how to react.
Moreover, Yoshino’s technique wasn’t quite as polished as Kirin’s, leaving brief openings between each individual strike.
“Amagiri Shinmei Style, Middle Technique—Twin Demon Hornets!”
Ayato took advantage of one of those openings to launch a two-pronged counter, first thrusting forward to knock Yoshino’s blade back, then pushing ahead once more toward her chest—stopping, of course, mere inches before he could make contact.
At that moment, a hushed whisper ran through the assembled crowd.
“He won so easily…”
“So that’s the Amagiri Shinmei style…”
“No, it’s not a question of style…”
At least half of the gathered students seemed completely struck with shock and wonder.
The majority of them were older than he was, and if they were living on the grounds, then they were undoubtedly serious about their swordsmanship. Ayato could all but feel their envy wafting across the large room.
They also seemed to be rather more disciplined, mentally and physically, than the students who had used to frequent Ayato’s family dojo.
“Well now, it looks like I lost. That was quite something,” Yoshino said, holding out her hand as she flashed him an unfeigned smile.
“I just got lucky,” Ayato responded.
“There’s no need to be so modest. We could do this a hundred times over, and I probably wouldn’t even win once. Well, I might put up a harder fight if we changed the rules, but still, you’re a tough one.”
“The rules…?” Ayato repeated in confusion.
“Great-aunt usually wields a naginata, you see,” Kirin answered for her as she rose to her feet.
“Oh, do you want a turn?” Yoshino asked.
“Yes.” Kirin nodded, before changing places with the older woman. Her decorative long-sleeved kimono was nothing if not dazzling to the eye. “…A-Ayato…” Though first unable to meet his gaze, she glanced up to stare at him with determination. “If I win…will you give me your answer from last night?” Her face was as red as a fully ripened apple.
“…Ah, all right, Kirin.” Ayato nodded firmly.
He wasn’t so weak as to turn down her challenge.
“Then…let’s go!”
Kirin was the first to make a move.
She stepped forward nimbly, tracing a flowing arc through the air with her blade as she began her assault.
Ayato braced himself, lowering his own blade to dodge the attack, but while he had expected her attack to fall downward into the now-empty space, she instead changed her sword’s trajectory to direct it sideward in pursuit.
“Woah…!”
Ayato dodged it by no more than a hair’s breadth before leaping backward to put some distance between the two of them.
At that moment, he saw a flash of purple light run through her eyes.
“So that’s your clairvoyance, then…”
Kirin’s newfound ability, first awakened during the Gryps, allowed her to gauge a person’s intended actions through the flow of their prana. It did, however, have its weaknesses. It wasn’t as farseeing as Claudia’s precognition, for instance; an opponent’s intentions didn’t always correspond to their actions; and even with knowledge of one’s opponent’s next moves, it was normally impossible to react immediately in the heat of battle.
Normally, that was.
The problem was that it was Kirin Toudou who had acquired that ability.
Already an extraordinary swordswoman, endowed with the fruits of years of unceasing work and effort, Kirin, with her earnest passions and determination, was, frankly speaking, anything but normal.
Indeed, out of all of Asterisk, probably only the Fairclough siblings were more proficient than her in the way of the sword.
However, they were both several years her senior. That advantage in years, in other words, amounted to an advantage in experience. Ayato couldn’t even imagine what she would be like when she reached their age.
“But…are you okay, using that power?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been practicing, and I’ve asked Director Korbel to monitor it regularly. I’ll be fine, so long as I don’t overuse it.”
Ayato breathed a sigh of relief. At least he didn’t have to worry about that, then.
“…You shouldn’t let down your guard!”
“That goes for you, too!”
The two of them lunged toward each other at the exact same moment.
Ayato thrust forward with his full strength, while Kirin, having adopted a similar posture, moved likewise. Their blades met head-on with a loud clap, before rebounding backward.
Kirin seemed to be ever so slightly taken aback.
She was also, however, the first to regain her posture.
Ayato’s advantage lay in his raw power and speed, but Kirin was a step above when it came to movements and finesse. That alone was proof of the time and effort that she had devoted to her technique.