Volume 1 Chapter 3 Part1 (1/2)

Chapter 3 – The World of Children

Diana waved at the car that began to move away from the house, and after it was no longer visible, she turned to Nodoka who was standing by her side.

”Nodoka, at what time do you usually leave?”

”Hmm, after about twenty minutes, I guess.”

”Understood. I am ready to leave at any time, so I'll keep watch near the front door.”

”Okay, but I can't relax with you standing around out here, so please come and wait in the living room instead. I'll let you know when I'm ready to leave.”

”Really?”

”Yeah, unlike my brother, I don’t really hate you or anything. Also, I have pretty much believed you from the start, so I won't do anything like sneaking out without telling you. Come inside, and have a cup of coffee while you're waiting.”

”Eh?”

”Hmm? What, did I say something weird?”

Nodoka thought she was just saying what was natural, but it looked like Diana was shocked, as her eyes were wide open.

”Umm, does Ya-, no, Onii-sama…”

”Don't call him that, Diana-san. 'Onii-sama'? That's hilarious. So, what were you saying about him?”

”Ah, well, does Yasuo…”

Diana appeared fl.u.s.tered, and asked as if she was preparing herself for the worst.

”Does he hate me?”

”Huh?”

Now it was Nodoka's turn to be shocked.

”Well, he's not exactly fond of you, to say the least.”

”…………”

It looked like Diana was shocked for real this time, and looking at her, Nodoka was worried.

”Eh? I had a slight suspicion about it from the beginning, but don’t tell me, are you actually interested in my brother, Diana-san? Seriously? Pfft.”

”…………”

Nodoka actually laughed after being worried, but Diana just kept staring with a blank face, so Nodoka's smile gradually turned into a grimace.

”You know…”

”……Yes?”

”For now, let's set aside the fact that my brother is not what a typical young man should be like.”

”……Yes.”

”During these past three days, has my brother shown even the slightest inclination towards liking you?”

At Nodoka's cold question, Diana had only one reply.

”……No, he hasn't.”

”Well, it's okay as long as you understand that.”

Nodoka nodded, looked at the clock, and climbed the stairs to the second floor.

”Huh, you actually stood here waiting?”

Nodoka came back downstairs after about fifteen minutes after confirming that she hadn't forgotten anything, only to find Diana still standing in the same spot with a crestfallen expression on her face.

”Was it that big a shock?”

”No, after thinking about it, it's only natural. I'm like… an unwanted pest who is trying to take away Hideo, who is like the supporting pillar for all of you. On top of that… despite my a.s.surances that I would protect you, I failed to notice the approach of the enemy, which led to your house being damaged… And what's more, I also acted very rudely towards Yasuo's friend, so…”

”c.r.a.p. This looks like it's too serious for me to handle.”

Looking at it that way, Diana's actions since coming to the Kenzaki house weren't exactly praiseworthy.

”No wonder people say that I'm just riding on my parents' coat-tails….Haaaah.”

Diana let out a large sigh and sat down on the ground.

”I'm pretty sure that I'm wrong, but for you to be depressed to such an extent… Diana-san.”

”Yes.”

”Are you perhaps… seriously in love with my brother?”

No matter how much she tried to raise her brother up on a pedestal as his younger sister, Nodoka couldn't see any manly charms in Yasuo at all.

He's not particularly tall or handsome. He's not good at sports, and his personality is vague. He's not fat, but he doesn't have a stunning physique or anything. He's already eighteen years old, but forget about having a girlfriend, he doesn't appear to even talk much with people of the opposite s.e.x.

Besides, Diana had only met him three days ago. In spite of that, this beautiful young lady with stunning proportions and superpowers was seriously being depressed because a guy like that hated her.

Rather than the thing with the other world and such, Nodoka found this much harder to believe. Just what did Diana see in that brother of hers, a type of guy who seemed like you could easily find around a hundred of them in the same school?

”Umm, rather than love, this might be something closer to pure admiration.”

”Pure admiration?”

Even though she was a student on the verge of taking exams, Nodoka was unable to immediately process the meaning of those words.

”Don't tell me, it's not just my father, is my brother a legendary existence in Ante Lande as well? What kind of disgusting and embarra.s.sing legend could that be!?”

”It's not like that. It's… haaah. At this rate, I won't be able to face Hideo when he gets back.”

Diana hugged her knees and continued to be depressed.

”All the Magitech Knights from my generation grew up listening to bedtime stories of Hideo and Madoka's travels. All the boys wanted to be like the hero who saved the world, and played around with wooden sticks that were a subst.i.tute for the holy sword.”

Although Diana talked about the travels of Hideo and Madoka, Nodoka could only think of the time when her parents had gone to the hot springs at Hakone, or the time when they had gone skiing at Niigata, or when they had gone to the zoo at Hokkaido. In any case, Nodoka was sure that Diana was not talking about things like that.

”And all the girls wanted to be like Madoka. They wanted to meet a wonderful hero like Hideo, and go on travels with him.”

”No, they should really reconsider that last bit. When my dad goes to an inn, his yukata is always completely open in the front when he wakes up, you know? Also, he snores like a freight train.”

”Huh? Yukata? Snoring?”

”Ah, sorry, never mind.”

Nodoka unconsciously pa.s.sed a comment, but of course, Diana wouldn’t know about that side of her father.

”Of course, Hideo's travels ended thirty years ago. I had heard from my mother that Hideo and Madoka had returned to the world that they had come from, but elsewhere in our world, people were saying that the two of them had gone to a different world to fight against another Demon King, or that they were still somewhere in Ante Lande, continuing their adventures. That's just how much the two of them are respected and envied in our world.”

”Huh… I see.”

Apparently, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that her father was almost seen as a G.o.d in that world. In that case, now that her father had become a regular old man, was it okay to send him back there? Nodoka began to think about such things in her heart.

”Because of his fame, our world is filled with paintings and sculptures of the Hero, Hideo. Among them, there is a famous painting that everyone knows about, called 'The Hero, Hideo, gazes upon the sunrise at the Sacred Mountain'. It was painted by a travelling painter whom Hideo met during the course of his travels.”

There was a time when Nodoka was in elementary school, when her whole family had climbed a hill to see the first sunrise of the year, but this was probably something different. While she was thinking about this, Diana said something shocking that made her doubt her hearing, as the daughter of Hideo and the younger sister of Yasuo.

”Hideo looks so gallant and inspiring in that painting… and Yasuo looks exactly like him.”

”What? No way, that's creepy!”

”Eh? Why is that? The word 'creepy' means something bad, right?”

”Sorry! My bad, I said that without thinking.”

Her relatives often said that Yasuo resembled Hideo when he was young, and she had also seen pictures of her father in an alb.u.m at her grandmother's house. However, after hearing that Yasuo resembled Hideo who was being seen almost as a G.o.d, she felt it was creepy and blurted it out without thinking.

”When I saw Yasuo for the first time, I was really shocked. He looked like a living incarnation of Hideo whom I had seen in my dreams. Any young girl in Resteria would have fantasized about him at some point, and here he was, in front of me. Truly, my heart was fluttering with excitement.”

”Ah… I see…”

Even though Nodoka understood the logic behind it, having a girl talk to her regarding 'fantasizing' about her father and brother made Nodoka unsure how to react.

”That's why… I might have been too excited. I thought that Yasuo had inherited Hideo's spirit, and so he would definitely understand our plight. In a way, I was looking down on Yasuo in some corner of my heart. I wasn’t looking at Yasuo as himself, but as a replacement for Hideo… the Hero that I had dreamed about.”

”Ah, yeah, that's probably not good.”

Although Nodoka could understand where Diana was coming from, it was probably not good to think that way.

”Of course, you're right. Even though I said it myself, I feel like cursing myself for being so shallow.”

At that moment, Diana suddenly lifted her head.

”N-Nodoka, do you hate me too!? Do you dislike having someone like me for a guard!?”

”Seeing as you can ask me that right to my face in this kind of circ.u.mstance, you're pretty tough, Diana-san.”

”Ah, I'm sorry!! I didn’t mean to…”

”In any case, you'll continue to guard me if I don’t mind having you around, right? Come on, it's time. I'd rather not be late, so let's go.”

”Y-Yes! Umm, but the front door…”

Diana stood up and made to follow Nodoka, but suddenly remembered that the Kenzaki house's doorway was in a state where the door could not be closed.

”There's nothing we can do about that. Mom said it's fine to leave it be. Apparently, policemen will be patrolling near here once every hour during the day.”

”Really? Well, if Madoka said so… umm, we're leaving now.”

After being urged by Nodoka, Diana said that towards the house even though there was no one there to see them off, and hurried to catch up to the Hero's daughter who was walking ahead.

”Umm, Nodoka, is your school far away from here?”

”It's just a fifteen minute walk. My brother has to take the train to school, and it is several stations away, but my middle school is a munic.i.p.al inst.i.tution that I can walk to.”

”So it's pretty close by.”

”Yeah. It's in the middle of the residential area though, so there aren't any places where you can pa.s.s the time. Diana-san, there aren't many beauties like you around there so if you just wander around, you're going to stand out. You should probably just return to the house once you've learned the way to my school.”

”I-I can't do that! I'm not a b-beauty or anything, and besides, my job is to protect you…”

”You know, even if one of those s.h.i.+ creatures you told us about yesterday comes to attack me, with your speed, you can reach me in time even from the house. There are no tall buildings around here, and if you don’t want to be seen by anyone, you can just fly over their heads or something.”

Saying so, Nodoka pointed backwards at the sky over their house. Diana looked a little taken aback as she looked at Nodoka, who was a head shorter than she was.

”There are JSDF and American military bases around here, so there's all sorts of stuff flying through the sky, but as long as you don’t fly too high, you probably won't be discovered.”

As soon as Nodoka said that, they heard the sound of the engines of a large aeroplane in the distance.

Diana didn't have any knowledge of the things known as 'aeroplanes', but looking up, she could see a large object that was making the noise as it flew through the sky. However, it appeared that everyone was used to the noise, as no one paid any attention to it.

”Nodoka, you said that… you believed me from the start, right?”

”Yeah.”

There wasn't the slightest bit of hesitation in Nodoka's answer, which prompted Diana to enquire further.

”Why is that?”

”Even if you ask me the reason… I don’t really know.”

”You don’t know?”

”I mean, you weren't lying, right, Diana-san?”

”Of course not. I swear that everything I told you is the truth!”

Diana looked like she was going to say something else while being heated up, but Nodoka stopped her.

”Then that's fine, isn't it? Of course, at first I was surprised, and didn’t know what to do, you know? Dad said that he was going to quit his job and go off somewhere, after all. It would be weird to not be scared.”

”…Yes, that's true.”

”But it seems that Mom, Dad, and you can really use magic, and I can tell when my parents are being serious. So I believe that Ante Lande exists. I also understand that you want to take our father there, Diana-san. Of course, I was really scared at first and I didn’t know what to do, but it makes no sense for me to doubt your words when my parents are saying that it's true, and doubt won't resolve the issue. Saying that there is nothing which does not exist may sound like the Devil's Proof, but I saw for myself that what you said is true.”

”I-I see.”

Yasuo's behaviour towards her was so stiff, that Diana actually felt a little let down.

The only j.a.panese people that Diana knew were the members of the Kenzaki family. The person whom she had seen yesterday, who appeared to be Yasuo's friend, could not really be called an acquaintance.

However, after these past three days experiencing life with the Kenzaki family in this country called 'j.a.pan', Diana felt that she understood just how much of an absurd existence she was in this world, and just how absurd her request must seem to the people that lived here.

It was because she understood that that Nodoka's easy acceptance of her made her feel worried.

”Do you want me explain why I feel that way?”

Nodoka foresaw Diana's question and said that before Diana could ask.

”Yes, if you don’t mind.”

”Well, it's fine. I don’t have any club practice this morning so I'm not in a hurry. It would be awkward to explain who you are if I happened to meet any of my friends on the way, though, so let's walk slowly.”

After saying that, Nodoka reduced her walking speed.

”In the past, Dad had to leave home for a couple of years because of work. Of course, he went to Sapporo in Hokkaido, not some other world or anything like that.”

”Ah, Sapporo. I've heard that Madoka is from a place called Sapporo.”

”Yeah. My grandparents' house is pretty far away from the center of the city, though, and the apartment my dad was living in was right in the middle of the city, but in any case, do you remember? The day when we first met you, my brother was making a fuss about it being an important time because we both had exams coming up soon.”

”Yes, I remember that very well.”

Diana had not at all expected that Yasuo, who was the son of the legendary Hero and a Great Mage, would have been raised without hearing about Ante Lande. Hideo and Madoka immediately recognized her as a messenger from Ante Lande when she showed up, and when they realized that she was Erijina's daughter, they happily welcomed her with broad smiles.

That's why she had not expected Yasuo's fierce denial, and she couldn't forget it even if she wanted to.

”Well, I'm not sure if I should be saying this, or rather, please don’t tell him that I told you. Anyways, in the two years when my father was away from home, my brother became pretty wayward.”

”Wayward? You mean he was disobedient?”

Judging by his current behaviour, Diana couldn't tell that he had a past like that at all.

”Yeah. it was just a case of him becoming nervous because of the upcoming exams. When my brother was in the third-year of middle school, he apparently had grades that placed him somewhere between average and the top of his cla.s.s, but he also had some subjects in which he could drop below average if he let his guard down. Ah, now that I think about it, he's still the same. In any case, a student taking exams for high school needs to have a good foundation in English, Math, Social Studies, j.a.panese, and Science, are you with me so far?”

”Yes. They have to pa.s.s exams in a number of difficult subjects, correct?”

”Yeah. If I remember correctly, my brother was pretty bad at English and Math. And then, in some kind of mock exam or a regular test, he got a really bad score, and Mom told Dad about it over the phone while they were having a conversation.”

”I have had a similar experience. I felt like wasn't going to make it out alive when I had to tell my parents about my grades in Officer Training.”

”Yeah, it's not even a matter of grades, Diana-san, you seem pretty careless after all.”

”Uuu…”

Nodoka lightheartedly poked fun at Diana while grinning, and Diana turned a little red. The two of them turned right at the crossing near Tokorozawa Station and gradually came closer to Nodoka's school, which was called Kitahira Middle School.

”I'm not really sure, but at that time, Dad said something to my brother over the phone or through a message, something like he wasn't working hard enough, while my brother was already feeling depressed. And that started a big fight between them. My brother said stuff like, ”You're living in Hokkaido, what would you know about me?” and ”How dare you say that so arrogantly even though you haven't seen me working for yourself,” while he was in tears. I was still in elementary school at that time, so I was a little scared, looking at my him while he even vented his spleen at my mother.”

”It seems everyone has a past like that.”

”What? Diana-san, you've done something like that as well?”

Nodoka looked at Diana who said that seriously, and Diana smiled while having an expression that looked a little uncomfortable, yet nostalgic.

”I think my brother still hasn't forgotten about that time. He must be worried that Dad might say something similar to me, or that his absence might make me unstable.”

Nodoka said that, and lowered her shoulders.

”Basically, what my brother and I were actually worried about, was the fact that our father who we thought was a normal person was being taken away by someone we didn't know. The thing about him being a hero, and the thing about another world was surprising, but that was of secondary importance. Once I understood that Dad was planning to go to some place I had never heard about, whether I was going to agree or disagree, I realized that I had to listen to the circ.u.mstances while staying calm. Well, that's how it was for me. My brother wasn't able to stay calm, though.”

”…Such a wonderful brother and sister.”

”Huh?”

”Ah, it's nothing. I was just thinking how wonderful the two of you are, since Yasuo is always thinking about you, and you are trying to cheer him up.”

Nodoka looked at Diana who said that with a serious look on her face, and shook her head frantically.

”No, don’t misunderstand. I'm different from my brother. I'm not trying to put up a brave front or anything, but I don't have a problem with Dad deciding to go somewhere else.”

”Eh!?”

Even though they were finally having a proper conversation, Nodoka suddenly said something like that while looking indifferent, so Diana didn’t know how to react.

”I mean, he's pretty annoying. He keeps asking me about my studies, or about the exams, and tries to give me advice which is out of date. That just builds up my stress.”

”I-Is that so?”

”Yeah. When my Dad was transferred for work before, my brother was probably thinking things like, ”I'm a boy, so I have to protect the house and support Mom!” or something like that. But I don’t feel that way. Despite all his talk, my brother didn’t really protect the house or help out with the ch.o.r.es that much anyways.”

Nodoka delivered some more sharp comments, and so Diana really didn’t know what to say.

”Besides, it's not strange for Dad to be away from home a lot because of work, just like he is now. When he's busy with work, there are times when he works from dawn until late into the night, and I don’t get see him at all. So whether he's around or not, it doesn't really make a big difference to me. If anything, having one less person around means that I have more leeway while using the bath, so that's actually better.”

Even Diana began to furrow her eyebrows after listening to Nodoka talk about the supporting pillar of their family in such a manner. Nodoka ignored that and continued to speak.

”I'm pretty sure everyone feels the same way. When they're around our age, at least.”

At the very least, all people of her age group acted that way. Of course, it might differ from family to family, and Nodoka didn’t know exactly how the others behaved at home. However, Nodoka had never come across any girl her age who would still say stuff like 'I love my daddy' during a conversation with friends.

”Ah, that's my school over there. That window on the left on the third floor is my cla.s.sroom. By the way, my brother also graduated from here.”

Standing beside Diana who was still shocked, Nodoka pointed a finger at her school.

It was the type of school that you could find anywhere, with a cream-coloured school building and a large playground, right in the middle of the residential district.

”Diana-san, this place is close enough for you to protect me even if you're at home when something happens, right? I'll give you a call on our landline at home once school is over, so please stay there. Bye, then.”

”Ah, Nodoka!”

Nodoka waved so nonchalantly and began to walk away that Diana unconsciously attempted to grab her hand. However, Nodoka abruptly turned around to look at her and spoke with such a sad expression that it was hard to believe that this was the same girl who had been cheerfully talking until now.

”You know, I'm not as hard-headed as my brother, so I truly believe everything you say, and in these past three days, I've honestly felt that you're earnest and cute, and I'd much rather have you for an older sibling. However…”

Nodoka continued to speak.

”That's also the reason why I don’t want you to take my father away from us.”

”…Eh?”