Volume 6 - CH 3

[Hikaru V6] Chapter 3

(Someone, just drag this wild dog to the veterinarian.)

Koremitsu mentioned about going to catch Tsuchinokos in front of the Gonomiya residence, and after a few days of laughable attempts to invite her, Asai’s irritation reached its limit.

(All those things about a Tsuchinoko theme park, fishing for kappa, exchanging messages with UFOs are all things of the past, and I don’t believe in any of them now. You should know about that without me saying that. Or are you so much of an imbecile lacking in common sense?)

At this point, Asai should be pulling back the people of the Wisteria faction who have casted their supported for Kazuaki, and continued to visit Orime, trying her best to convince the latter.

And right beside the extremely tense Asai was that wild dog, who would slouch his back and sit cross-legged, just relaxing and spending his time there. Whenever they talked about Orime, he would call her ‘granny’. A little while later, he would say ‘this pickled turnip is really nice’, putting the pickles that came with the tea as he chewed on them hard, making a noise. Furthermore, he unabashedly asked for another bowl, irritating Asai’s nerves to no end.

And more infuriating for her was that while Koremitsu remained like this, Orime simply smiled at him.

“Mr. Hikaru really likes the pickles back then. When I asked him ‘Is it not boring to leave your sweets at home to come here?’, he would say ‘I can eat sweets when I am outside, but you do have such beautiful flowers here’. If I were not so old then, I would have fallen for him.”

She recalled with a reminiscing look.

“That Hikaru already could say such things when he was a brat.”

“Yes. It should be said that all the girls would be captivated by Mr. Hikaru. Even at parties, the atmosphere would gradually buzz whenever he appeared.”

“That guy only has his looks and mouth as his selling points.”

“Oh dear, that is harsh coming from Mr. Hikaru’s friend.”

Even when Koremitsu was gruff and coarse in his speech, it was a refreshing sight to Orime.

And the most unbearable thing for Asai was that Orime called him ‘Mr. Hikaru’s friend.’.

“There is nothing more delightful than Mr. Hikaru’s friend coming here to play, to recall bits and pieces about him, and talk about him together.”

After hearing such an earnest mutter, Asai nearly ceased to breathe in her anger.

(Lady Orime has actually recognized that wild dog as Hikaru’s friend?)

It was truly unbelievable to her.

How could such a wretched, unkempt, simple-minded, shameless man be Hikaru’s friend?

It was not Aoi alone who felt this way; even Orime too!

(This is unforgivable!)

The cold killing intent and hatred lingered in her heart from the first moment they met. What of Hikaru’s representative? What about looking for the Tsuchinoko with her in Hikaru’s place? She really wanted to kill him.

It was true that she did make such a promise with Hikaru a long time ago.

It was during the winter of her 3rd grade that she learned that Santa Claus was really her parents. It was a humiliation she gnashed her teeth over, but Asai, unwilling to lose, had a strong desire to personally witness whether the unknown creatures truly existed on this world, and fueled by it, came up with a summer adventure plan with Hikaru, then a 4th grader.

(We really were children back then. Whether it was me, or Hikaru…)

Right, that was merely some immature words. The most important promise she made with Hikaru definitely was not something so dreamy, so idealistic.

(My promise with Hikaru is more sacred, stronger than that. This is not something a wild dog acting as a representative can do, and I do not wish for that dog to fulfill it.)

Whenever Koremitsu appeared in front of her unabashedly as Hikaru’s friend, Asai would think that it was a sacrilege to Hikaru. Even so, she could not reproach Koremitsu so openly in front of Orime. She recalled the era names and the periodic element in her mind over and over again as she straightened her waist, her eyes icy as she forced herself to endure. Once she stepped outside, she growled,

“Do not come here, and do not get in my way. Do not enter my sights. You should simply die, wild dog.”

The abusive words akin to an ice pillar came out of her frozen lips in such a manner.

Any other man who was given an icy look from Asai and insulted as a lowlife would have vanished without a trace. At this moment, Koremitsu took a step forward, following up on Asai’s words,

“Yeah, I’ll vanish. That’ll be once your promise with Hikaru is done! So then, let’s hurry and start looking for the Tsuchinoko.”

“The Tsuchinoko is simply a creature that was imagined. It does not exist anywhere on this world.”

“This isn’t something someone wishing to breed Tsuchinokos and create a Tsuchinoko theme park should say, Asa.”

“If you call me Asa again, I shall call the police.”

“I’ll come by again tomorrow, Asa!”

“Hello there, is that the police? I have spotted a suspicious being, and I wish for you to arrest him. Yes. He is approximately 16 years ago, a man with savage looking eyes, resembling a wild dog with red fur.”

But no matter how she obstructed him and reported him, he would simply appear nonchalantly in front of Asai the next day, asking Asai out to look for the Tsuchinoko, to exchange messages with UFOs.

“If you keep hesitating now, summer vacation’s going to end!”

That truly was the case.

If she could not convince the Asagao Princess while the Morning Glories were in bloom, she would be in much trouble.

She was holding onto a trump card—

At this point, only a few people knew of it. However, when it came to Autumn, the situation would change drastically, and she would not be able to hide it anymore.

At that moment, what sort of action would Kazuaki and his mother Hiroka take? Whenever she contemplated about this, her temples will ache. If she could not erect a defense against them,

And when it came to winter—

The pale face of the now deceased Hikaru, overwhelmed with despair, would appear in front of her eyes, and her body would shiver from the cold. Hikaru’s eyes were like a dark, bottomless abyss—

—Asa…like what everyone else had said, I might be a person who should not be born on this world after all…

That parched voice—

Perhaps she would not be able to protect it after all.

Regarding Hikaru’s secret.

The evidence of Hikaru’s guilt.

(No, I have to protect it.)

Because I am the only one who had seen Hikaru giving such a tragic look—

She had no time to waste with this wretched, pretentious wild dog.

And after sorting her emotions, she stood in front of the Gonomiya residence.

To avoid Koremitsu on this day, she specifically chose to visit in the afternoon.

As she expected, Koremitsu did come by in the morning, and left thereafter. It was a lowly tactic of hers she had to take, to allow that wild dog to be alone with Orime.

(I have to get the promise of the word while that man is not here…)

Just as she contemplated in her mind.

The chatter could be heard.

The servants could be heard whispering.

And she nonchalantly moved to the Japanese sliding screen, her ears eavesdropping.

“I heard that the Lady had an argument with the Young Lord. The Young Lord wishes to finance his investments, but the Lady denied him and was unwilling to talk about it.”

“How many times has it been? The Young Lord should just stop already. The Lady herself is very strict even on her relatives, and he should learn that.”

“But it seems that the Lady really likes that red-haired delinquent boy who has been coming by recently. I do not know her interests at all.”

Of course, it was because she led such a wild dog to Orime that her interests and dignity was being questioned, no? There was a need to pull Koremitsu away from Orime after all—

“But that boy with scary looking eyes is Miss Asai’s lover, no?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by this sudden, unexpected line.

Lover…?

Who?

“I heard that he declared himself to be her fiance. They both were arguing all day long, but they definitely love each other within their hearts, right?”

“Yeah. It is hard for us ordinary people to understand why such a gruff—no, it will be nearly impossible to be Miss Asai’s husband if it is not someone who dares to challenge her head on.”

By the time she realized it, her shoulders and hands were quivering. Her body was cold, her stomach churning, feeling nauseous—

She just experienced an amazing amount of humiliation. It would be great if it was just a hallucination on her part, but it was not; She heard every single word clearly, and the proof was the chill on her body that would not cease.

A groan filled with humiliation came out of her lips,

“Calling me and that wild dog lovers.”

♢ ♢ ♢

Koremitsu suddenly shivered.

“What’s with the cold.”

He was standing in front of the cooler; perhaps it was due to the seat below him.

It was the afternoon. After his visit at the Gonomiya residence, he decided to visit the cafe Aoi worked at on his way back. On this day, she again was dressed in a navy blue one-piece uniform with a white frilly apron over it, holding a silver tray as she served tea.

Whenever a customer came in, she would raise her voice, saying ‘welcome’ with a smile, though she would give a forlorn, gloomy look at times

Whenever she received a message, Aoi would immediately open it to affirm.

—Sorry. I mishandled the phone.

She would softly reply, and then say that she was busy before hanging up.

Feeling a little concerned, Koremitsu went to visit her at her workplace. When she saw him however, she looked somewhat perturbed, stiffening with a pale look,

“E-erm…I am still busy here.”

Even when Koremitsu went to talk to her, Aoi would fidget and avert her eyes, scampering away.

“Did something happen between you and Saiga?”

When he asked this,

“No, that is not the case…”

Her voice gradually softened, before becoming silent.

Hikaru too was exceptionally concerned by Aoi’s disparate behavior, and inadvertently frowned,

“Hey, what do you think?”

Koremitsu secretly glance aside, asking Hikaru,

“I can be sure that Miss Aoi is frustrated by something…but she is quite the stubborn person herself…it will be difficult trying to extract information from her under such a situation.”

“Not even you can help?”

“If it is me, I would say that instead of my senses sharpening when it comes to her, I have been infuriating her all this while.”

He showed an unhindered grimace. Though this person could make people fall heads over heels for him, he was totally of no use here.

In that case, he had to look for Miss Sueko, who was arranged by Tōjō to work with Aoi and act as her bodyguard, and try to ask something from her.

“Hyag! Wh-what?”

She stammered.

“I-i-i-it’s nothing. Miss Aoi doesn’t know that I’m hired by Young Master Tōjō here, and if it’s me, I’m working hard here, you know? Just tell this to Young Master Tōjō himself. This beautiful and capable Miss Sueko is still undertaking such a difficult duty, so please give me a pay raise.”

She whispered,

“If I continue to talk with you like this, Miss Aoi will get suspicious and not talk with me. My identity now is a rich princess from a noble girls school after all.”

And after saying that, she left.

What rich princess of a noble girls school? Can’t you just look at how old you are now? Even if you don’t talk with me, you’re being rather suspicious yourself. As he wondered about this, he wanted to vent somewhat.

Speaking of which, he had yet to see Tōjō over the past few days.

That person doted so much on Aoi that he hired a bodyguard to watch over her, and yet was a useless person who could not do anything at the crucial moment. Unwilling to vent out at this point, Koremitsu kept his frustration within.

“Koremitsu, your appearance is a little…”

Hikaru sounded a little concerned.

“The other customers are all terrified of you. I know that you are worried about Miss Aoi, and I do have the same feeling…”

“Ugh, brooding tentatively alone doesn’t match my personality at all. Damn it, I better ask Aoi again.”

Just when Koremitsu was about to get up,

“I suppose that should be enough.”

There was an icy voice behind him.

He turned around, and found a girl with refreshing clear eyes. This girl was a customer who often visited this shop, always reading a Western language book at the wall, the girl Hikaru called Miss Mint.

“Girls do have moments when they wish to be left alone. She will not be moved even if a boy shows concern for her.”

She spoke in a calm, serene tone, and vanished behind the door leading to the toilets.

(Did she say that because she knew my situation…?)

Till this point, Koremitsu had yet to figure out the true identity of this girl who said such meaningful things. Hikaru however seemed to have picked up on something.

“Perhaps it is as Miss Mint said. Let us simply look at Miss Aoi for a little while.”

Though Hikaru had said so, Koremitsu still felt disgruntled within, and wanted to set aside the cafe issue first.

—Girls do have moments when they wish to be left alone.

The words were said with an icy tone, and it overlapped not only with Aoi’s situation, but also with Honoka, who had been acting strangely recently, throbbing his heart.

—I think it’s better for us to see each other less often.

He never met her ever since they went their separate ways at the library, and when he called her, she never picked up her phone.

(How’s…she doing recently?)

♢ ♢ ♢

(Mr. Akagi may not be feeling happy at the moment…)

Aoi watched Koremitsu leave the shop as the latter scowled, her heart felt ripped apart.

(It is rare that Mr. Akagi came all the way here to visit me because he is worried about me.)

However, she still could not tell Koremitsu.

If he were to show concern to her, she would spill out everything regarding Asa.

(I do not want to let Mr. Akagi know that Asa has been looking down on me.)

She recalled the event that transpired a few days ago, when she brought the muffins to school to meet Asai, and when she heard the conversation in front of the student council office, her body inadvertently shivered.

Asai was not alone; she was with Tsuyako.

—She probably is observing that Miss Aoi who continues to rely on you, Miss Asai, and even said that if something happens to Miss Aoi, she will inform you first.

Tsuyako did mention that Asai did arrange for someone to watch over Aoi at the cafe, and Asai did not deny that.

She merely replied coolly It will be too late if something happens to Aoi.

And also,

The chilling thing was the words Tsuyako said thereafter,

—Miss Asai, you are always pretending to protect Miss Aoi. In fact, you are looking down on Miss Aoi, am I correct?

The muffin Aoi made specially for Asai, the bag of muffins tied with the cute ribbon for Asai, fell at her feet.

Her mind was a complete blank as to how she could pick up the muffins, how she could leave without Asai detecting her.

By the time she realized it, she was already moving outside the school, spacing out.

(Asa has been looking down on me?)

(Has Asa always been like that.)

Tsuyako’s words continued to repeat in her mind.

Ever since she was born, Asai had always taken care of Aoi no matter how difficult it may be, and the former always had this thought.

The most shocking was that even Aoi could not deny such a thought.

She even felt that it was to be expected that Asai would have such a thought.

(I am useless by myself after all. I cannot do anything well without Asai around; I always rely on her.)

Asai’s spy surely must be in the shop at this point. She had originally suspected Sueko, who had always helped her out whenever she had issues, and Sueko in turn widened her eyes, flailing her hand as she concluded,

—I-I-I do not know anything about that. I dare swear to God that I was not hired by your friend Miss Asai to spy on you. Anyway, I do not have any relation with that lady called Asai. This is really the truth; if I dare lie here, I shall swallow a thousand needles

Aoi felt ashamed for suspecting Sueko in the first place, and immediately apologized.

—It-it is alright. I was not hired by Miss Asai to spy on you anyway. We are still friends.

Though Sueko did say this, she seemed a little perturbed by this, and had been somewhat distant from Aoi recently.

Her paternal cousin Shungo, who had been kind to her, seemed to be in some trouble, and did not appear recently.

Also, Aoi had no one to talk with regarding Asai.

In fact, she really wanted to rely on Koremitsu.

(Mr. Akagi is really kind, always willing to listen to my troubles, and would even console me.)

But if she were to do so, the more Asai would look down upon her, and even Koremitsu might think like Asai, that Aoi was a troublesome person.

It was the beginning of summer vacation when she coincidentally met Koremitsu’s classmate, Honoka Shikibu, and they ended up having tea together.

Aoi was a person every other person knew of, but this was the first time she had tea alone with a stranger.

However, this person was always with Koremitsu. She had such beautiful legs and a feisty look; Aoi was concerned by this girl all this while.

At the cafe, Aoi ordered a milk tea filled with honey, while Honoka ordered an expresso. Thinking that she was being childish, and embarrassed about it, Aoi hastily corrected herself, saying, “Please give me a cup of coffee instead, without sugar and milk’.

Once their orders were taken, both of them stammered somewhat.

—Your Highness Aoi, I want to know what do you think about Akagi?

—I think Akagi doesn’t suit you, Your Highness Aoi~ Akagi’s crude and poor at talking. I don’t think he fits you as a Princess.

She continued to say bad things about Koremitsu, giving a pretentious tone of understanding him better than anyone else. Aoi’s felt hazy within, somewhat anxious.

—Mr. Akagi is a kind person, a marvellous person. It is simply that everyone else does not know about it.

She argued back.

And after expressing some shock, Honoka raised her eyebrows, her eyes affirmed as she said,

—I-I know that Akagi’s a good person too.

Honoka wanted to convey to Aoi that the latter was not the only one who realized Koremitsu’s charm.

To Aoi, Honoka herself was filled with charm unlike Aoi, was definitely a person who could think on her own, and was a strong, amazing person.

That she was someone of equal footing to Koremitsu.

Koremitsu too probably loved Honoka for how she was. Whenever he talked to Honoka, he seemed to be calm and at ease.

(I cannot talk to Mr. Akagi about Asa after all.)

She did not want Koremitsu to think of her as being different from Honoka, a girl who always has to rely on others.

She did not want Koremitsu to look down on her.

She endured the emotions that were about to collapse as she slowly left the cafe—

“It has been a while, little Aoi.”

The voice as sweet as Hikaru’s rang at her ears.

And she felt her mind freeze.

The slender bespectacled youth stood in front of Aoi, brazenly smiling away.

It was Hikaru’s half-brother, Kazuaki—!

Aoi recalled what Kazuaki did at the countryside villa, and felt her disgust and fear throbbing her throat, her body cringing.

Kazuaki was pretending to be kind, apparently forgetting what happened back then.

“Asa will know if I look for you in the shop. It looks that I will have to get past Asa if I wish to talk to you, Aoi.”

He said.

After hearing these words, Aoi’s movements stopped.

She should be running away as fast as she could at this point, but her feet could not move.

Even if she was not aware of the ways of the world, Aoi could understand that Asai sent someone to watch over her so as to ward the latter from Kazuaki.

(But I started working part-time to protect myself using my own strength.)

She tried her best to stand up straight, lifting her head at Kazuaki.

It seemed her resistance was amusing to Kazuaki, as if it was expected, as the eyes beneath the latter’s spectacles narrowed.

And then, he bared his true nature as the spider, speaking with viscous tone,

“Do you know, little Aoi? The Mr. Akagi you so love right now is flirting with Asa~”

♢ ♢ ♢

“To the Purple Princess.

My close friend and I fell in love with the same guy! (。>0<。)

That person is the playful kid from the next class, G. The way he shoots the soccer ball into the net when we have PE class together is so amazing, I thought.

And then, I started observing him for quite some time. I think I may have fallen in love with him.

But I’m so shy that I lied to my best friend, saying that I don’t have anyone I like.

After that, right before the summer vacation, my close friend M said that she fell in love with G, and hopes to have me patch them up together! ∑(–ロ–|||)

I just answered with ‘Eh~’, and she said to me ‘please, I can only request this from you’, repeating it over and over again. I had no choice, so I could only agree.

Purple Princess, what do I do now?

Please help me here.(; ^