c4 (1/2)
Final full part of Rokujouain, there was a coloured illustration for this part that I’ here This one was redrawn by ain, so thanks to them
New Year’s Eve had arrived, bringing a stillness to the area around Corona House The people walking the streets had thinned out and the number of cars on the road had dropped steeply The same was most likely true of other areas, there were few people who spent New Year’s Eve as any other day Most people spent it with their fa in the house
The resident of room 106 would also normally spend it with his fa his bachelor father, were far away so he couldn’t They had plans to meet after the New Year, but to say he wasn’t lonely would be a lie Koutarou’s reat importance to him
But fortunately, Koutarou wasn’t alone Instead of his family, in the room there were invaders Thanks to them, his loneliness was packed away and his attention was drawn from it It wasn’t erased, but the invaders covered it, happily for Koutarou and he didn’t intend to deny these feelings now
“That’s right, I haven’t seen Yurika or Kiriha since thishappen?”
“Yurika’s at an event with the Cosplay society”
“An event?”
“Yeah, it’s the biggest ania event in the country I went there too, the day before yesterday but there were too ot there”
“Oh…”
From the 29th, Yurika had been with the Cosplay Society for the past three days It was an event that encouraged cosplay and they had traditionally gone and cosplayed there Sanae had heard about it froone on the first day, but the maelstrom of spiritual impressions from around a hundred thousand people had made her leave early The amount of people was comparable to a battlefield
“Kiriha-saious event she had to participate in on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day However, it shouldn’t take too long and she’ll be back this evening”
“Kiriha-san is the leader’s daughter or so, so you’d know a lot about that, wouldn’t you, Theia?”
“Yes, Forthorthe’s New Year is a little later, but it’s troublesome every year…”
Kiriha participated in the People of the Earth’s religious cerehter of their leader They were established cere si brought up as a princess, Theia participated inup
“By the way, the landlady is at an end of year party with the Landlord’s association She can’t drink so she’s co”
“So it’s only us for a while”
“It looks that way”
There were four who still remained in room 106, Koutarou, Sanae, Theia and Ruth The others were out and would all return that evening
“I thought we could do soood Koutarou, we’re doing special training for the play”
The play that Theia had written the script for, ‘The Silver Princess and the Blue Knight’ was a month away, and she wanted to use as much time as she could for practice So today, with no one here was perfect for that
“Eeeh!? It’s New Year’s Eve thooouuugh!?”
“I don’t care, at all Forthorthe’s New Year is still to come”
“Haven’t you heard ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’!?”
“I know at least that much So, if you really don’t want to, on’t I think you need so, what do you think?”
Theia gazed earnestly into Koutarou’s eyes There was a strong will in her eyes, but it didn’t give an oppressive impression like the day they met If Koutarou actually said no, she honestly intended to back down She no that a true ruler wouldn’t needlessly force matters
“… L-let’s do it…”
It was the opposite response from before, but Theia hadn’t forced hiht he needed special trainingKoutarou knew that he was inexperienced at acting so his refusal vanished and he agreed with Theia
“I see, I’lad you said that, Koutarou, thank you”
Theia knew she was taking his holiday, so earnestly thanked hireat irateful to him than those words and a smile
“Koutarou, you’re just a sucker in the end You could at least take New Year’s Eve off”
Even whilst laughing at Koutarou, Sanae took out the script fro and held it to her chest Contrary to her words, Sanae was fired up
“There’s no other choice If I’m useless, it’ll be trouble for everyone else, it’s not like it’s just for Theia”
Theia and Sanae’s smiles made Koutarou shy, and he looked the other way, but he definitely meant the words he said Koutarou was inexperienced and playing a lead role so could sour the whole play In particular, it would cause issues for Harumi, as his partner in this To Koutarou, who’d sworn to his friends tohe wanted to avoid above all else
“I don’t mind that, this play isn’t just fordeeply
She seeht’s chivalry Rather, Koutarou’swith Theia’s selfishness made her happy
Today’s special training was focussed on combat There were many co his swordplay would vastly i New Year’s Eve, Theia thought it better to do so physical rather than mental
Their special training often took place in the space shi+p, ‘The Blue Knight’ That was the case today too, and they were inside a large room on the shi+p The cale and correct his form
The part of his training partner was being played by Ruth, she was equipped with a sword and armour as she faced him Theia needed to watch over and direct, so she was a little distance aith Sanae floating at her side holding the script, watching the the overall floas Sanae’s job
“The sword’s long, so it’s hard to draw cleanly”
“I can only say to get used to it, the traditional Forthorthean knight sword is that size”
Theia’s direction had started fro the sword and Ruth watched over them in silence
“By the way, your arht?”
“Shut up, be quiet and do it!”
“Don’t get angry, it’s just a bit of playfulness”
“That’s too mean, don’t do that about what people find the most important!”
“Huh? The most important isn’t your chest?”
“Why youuuuu!”
Theia was exceedingly picky, whilst they clashed occasionally, little by little, his acting solidified
“I really do need to get Satoht…”
Ruth watched their interactions and her desire to see Koutarou becothened all the more To Ruth, his personality, and his relationshi+p with Theia fulfilled all of the conditions for the perfect lord and retainer relationshi+p So she continued thinking of how to persuade hi for her turn
“Here, like this”
“Wait a minute… here, sort of like this?”
“That’s right, don’t rush too much at the end”
“About this fast?”
“Yes, that’s fine It’s about time we moved on to actual combat Ruth”
“Yes Your Highness Good luck, Satomi-sama”
“Good look to you too, Ruth-san”
Her turn ca and lifted her weapon and faced Koutarou She was still developing her sword skills, but the movements were exceptionally clean, one could say it was characteristic of the Pardoenerations
“…Ruth could have been the Blue Knight”
“Ruth can’t wear that armour”
“Theatre is complicated”
“That’s part of the interest It’s different from film that you can touch up with all kinds of techniques”
“Thanks to that, I have work too”
“That’s true, I’ on you, Sanae”
“Aye aye sir!”
Saluting to Theia, Sanae held the script and flew over to Koutarou, and whilst looking over the script, she began pointing out the starting locations and such for their first scene She had the part of assistant director and audio direction type things
“Ruth, you’re part of the coup d’état army, so look meaner”
“Mean… I understand, I’ll try”
“Koutarou, you attack her quickly, but everyone’s in the middle of battle, so s”
“Roger that”
“We’re ready, Theia”
“Alright, let’s try once first! Begin!”
After Sanae finished her directing, Koutarou and Ruth’s battle began They started practising with a scene from the start of the play, it was a simple scene where Ruth, from the coup d’état army attacked with her sword, and Koutarou turned the blow aside and took her down A perfect scene to start practice with Theia silently watched their fight They continued according to the script to the end of the fight and she nodded deeply, saying
“Okay, that’s enough”
“It looked good, didn’t it?”
“Yes, there aren’t any probleeneral It looks like the movements from the first time are still there”
The play next month was the second half, the first half at the cultural festival had fight scenes too so Koutarou re his movements cleaner than Theia had expected
“So, shall we do the next scene?”
“No, we’re here already, so we’ll try and make this one even better”
Seeing Koutarou’s movements had fulfilled Theia’s desire Last time, the time limit had meant many cut corners, like how to deal with the hem of the cloak and how to hold the sword to show off the crest
“If we keep focussing on this and that, on’t make it in time”
“Today was originally a holiday, so it’s fine to use some of it like this”
“That’s fine then”
“Fufu, you’re finally being honest”
Theia laughed She thought Koutarou would be opposed to it because it was troublesome
“I said earlier, it’d cause everyone issues if I was useless”
“That’s proof of your knighthood, just hearing you say those words shows there’s worth in continuing”
“…”
Theia’s words, and her smile as she said them were as beautiful as a princess should be and Koutarou found hiaze and finding it strange, she blinked several times
“What’s wrong?”
“A-ah, it’s nothing So, where do we start?”
“Well, first…”
Fortunately, Theia’s attention was taken up with acting, so they finished without her noticing Koutarou’s fascination with her
They finished their training as the stars were beginning to shi+ne over Corona House It being theTo Theia, the supre, it was a little early, but she decided that it being New Year’s, she’d let Koutarou take it easy
“We’re back”
Koutarou entered the rooate on the wall farthest inside, only to be greeted by the spread eagled form of Yurika on the floor
“…Welcome back~~”
Yurika was utterly exhausted fro Koutarou, she faced up at the ceiling Thanks to her exhaustion, her bags with cosplay materials were discarded close to her
“Koutarou, don’t stop! You’re blocking the way!”
“Uwah!?”
In the next instant, Theia had followed hiate and pushed his back Off balance, he reflexively took a step forward Were Yurika’s face was
“Kyaaaaa!?”
Suddenly seeing the sole of Koutarou’s foot appear in front of her eyes, she quickly rolled to the side
Yurika avoided her fate and Koutarou’s foot caer, but the heavy thu on the tata down her spine
“Sato has a limit doesn’t it!?”
Yurika whipped her tired body up and co to be stepped on and wanted to cry
“What would you have done if you stepped on my face!? Would you have taken responsibility and made me your wife!?”
“C-calm down, Yurika! I’m sorry, but I didn’t do it on purpose, it was an accident!”
In response to Yurika’s angry look, he frantically apologised
“…Really?”
However, even in the face of an apology, she turned a doubtful gaze on him She’d had many bad experiences so she couldn’t simply believe it
“What’s wrong?”
“Because you pushed me, I nearly stepped on Yurika’s face!”
“I see, I’m sorry”
Theia caised, she hadn’t thought that Yurika would be back
“…Sato me?”
“That’s right, trust me”
“It’s my fault, I’m sorry”
“…Then, then, would you still make me your wife?”
“No In that case I’d pick someone I’d actually trodden on”
“Whhhyyy!?”
Thanks to Theia’s apology, her doubt towards Koutarou was taken care of, but her anger would remain for a while
When Kiriha returned, Yurika was sitting away fro at the wall
“…S-someday, I’ll look back on today… I’ll be super beautiful and be able to cook then, even if Satomi-san asks me to be his wife, I’ll tell him he’s too late…”
Half crying, and occasionally hitting the ith her fist, Yurika was e for amany times before, so left her to the Haniwa and headed for the dining table
“I’m back”
“Welcome back, Kiriha”
“Sanae, what’s wrong with Yurika?”
“Uhh, putting it siirl and she’s depressed”
“She said he’s the enemy of women, ho-!”
“She’s dey and better treatment, ho-!”
“I see, I understand now”
“Go ahead and drink, Kiriha”
Theia placed a tea cup in front of her once she understood what had happened and Kiriha’s interest shi+fted from Yurika to the tea
“Did you brew this, Theia-dono?”
“Yes, Ruth’s cooking”
Said Theia, whilst looking towards the entrance, there, past the curtain was Ruth, preparing dinner So Theia had brewed the tea
“It tastes pretty good”
“I’ood as Ruth, but I at least kno”
“It’s always the same”
“Hahaha, you’re not wrong”
Kiriha brewed the best tea in rooround japan, it was due to being raised as a high class girl It was the same for Theia, she knew very well how to brew Forthorthean black tea, so there weren’t any major problems for her to brew japanese tea either
For a while, she enjoyed her tea with Theia, but when she was about halfway through her cup, she noticed so
“Incidentally, where’s Koutarou? I can’t see hi?”
“No, he’s in the kitchen”
“Why’s he there?”
“Since you weren’t here, he’s helping Ruth Ruth still has sos and such”
Koutarou had grown up with only his father, so could , but she was still leaning about japanese cooking, so Koutarou’s advice was very helpful
“Oh… isn’t that interesting I think I’ll go and have a look”
When Kiriha heard that Koutarou was helping with cooking, interest filled her, and with a smile on her face, stood and headed for the kitchen
“I’ too!”
Sanae aiting i to be finished and went to where Koutarou was She intended to share his senses when he tested the food and test it together with him
“Ruth, Koutarou, how’s it…”
Passing through the curtain, Kiriha cheerfully called out to the pair of theh, the scene that greeted her taking her eyes
“What is this feeling…”
What took Kiriha’s eyes was the sight of Koutarou holding a kitchen knife It wasn’t anything particularly special, just cutting vegetables for a hot pot with a kitchen knife He was fairly aard, but still skilled for a h school student
“Why is this ic…?”
Kiriha felt a strong sense of deja vu, like she’d seen Koutarou cooking before A long tio
“What’s wrong, why’d you suddenly stop?”
“Ah, it’s nothing”
But seeing this scene long ago was impossible, so Kiriha put it aside as her own mistake, and then called out to them
“Koutarou, Ruth”
“Ah, you’re back, Kiriha-san”
“Welcome back, Kiriha-sama”
“I heard you were both cooking and came to see”
“I wouldn’t quite call what I’”
“You’re being reat help”
“I’ forward to it, it’s hot pot?”
“Yeah, I figured it’d be hard to fail with hot pot, we could prepare the vegetables and stock and start once you got back”
“A logical plan”
Kiriha s at the stea off of it It smelled of tuna, konbu, sake, mirin and soy sauce A success for hot pot stock by her reckoning
“What’s it like?”
“No need to worry, it looks like dinner will be tasty”
“Koutarou, Koutarou, let me try too!”
“The only things to try is vegetables, are you alright with raw chrysanthemums?”
“Feh, I don’t want that”
“What a selfish girl”
“Give a little service to the lovable Sanae-chan, don’t you have any compassion, Satomi Koutarou-kun?”
“That’s why I asked if you wanted vegetables”
“That can’t be called service!”
Sanae unhappily puffed out her cheeks and pouted Just as that happened, without a knock or ring of the bell, the door opened and shi+zuka walked in co come back from the end of year party
“I’ether!”
“Good job, shi+zuka!”
shi+zuka had brought things that Sanae could try The , but an end of year party was beyond shi+zuka with her being aparty with older men, so she’d taken part of the food and left early The food was things like fries and kebabs, with s served with drinks, all foods that Sanae liked
“Please, shi+zuka!”
“Sure, here”
shi+zuka handed over the plastic box of food with a sh the air to Koutarou
“Koutarou, Koutarou, let me try, let me try!”
“Sure, sure, I get it”
Sanae had co to his back The lid opened by itself in front of Koutarou No matter how someone looked at it, it was spiritual influence, but it just brought a smile to the inhabitants of room 106
“What do you want?”
“A fry that isn’t soggy”
“You really like fried foods”
“Nufufufu, I’m a kid after all!”
While putting fries in his mouth, he carried the box into theonto his back The flavour was exactly as she hoped
“…You know, soood”
shi+zuka watched thereeted by Ruth’s smile
“I think so too so relationshi+p”
“I know, right!?”
“Yes, it makes me envious”
shi+zuka and Ruth both had lifestyles where it was hard to feel the bonds of fa for a relationshi+p like Koutarou and Sanae’s That was a coirls in room 106
“There’s no need to be jealous from afar You can actively join in”
Kiriha put out the hob and picked up the hot pot and entered the s However, Kiriha had already arrived at an answer, so she wasn’t jealous
“Fufu… that’s true”
“That’s right, let’s do that”
shi+zuka and Ruth thought that Kiriha’s thinking was appropriate and folloith cutlery
Placing the hot pot on a portable stove on the table and lighting it, Kiriha was in charge of it She was the one as originally in charge of cooking and her skill was undoubted Following the heat and flavour, ingredients were added to the pot in order
“Kiriha-san, Kiriha-san, the meat, is the meat done yet!?”
“Wait Yurika, it needs to boil first”
“Then, then, ill the fish be done!?”
“I know you want to eat, but that’s later too The ”
“Eeeehhhhhhhh”
“Sato”
It felt like Yurika was drooling over the , shi+zuka asked Koutarou for help
“Alright… Yurika, sit there”
“R-right”
Yurika instinctively followed Koutarou’s abrupt order, and quickly re-seated herself on a cushi+on
“Your hand”
“Right”
Yurika put her hand in Koutarou’s extended hand Yurika had followed the less orders but finally beca look at Koutarou
“What’s this for?”