Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 11 - Chapter 6

Distant Days

Monday, April 12th

A week had passed since Sanae had joined class 2-A. By now, Sanae had started to blend in with the rest of the class.

“Sanae-chan, what do your parents do?”

“Um, we run an old shrine... so papa is the chief priest.”

“So you’re like the only daughter of some distinguished family?!”

“I wouldn’t say that... It’s not that famous of a shrine...”

When she had first joined the class, Sanae had only really spoken to Koutarou and Maki. But as the days went on, she opened up a little and got to know the rest of her classmates. Because of that, they began flocking to her during breaks. Her youthful appearance and pure personality tickled a lot of people’s protective instincts.

“In the end, Sanae-chan didn’t regain her memories...”

Yurika mumbled to herself as she looked at Sanae, who was surrounded by a large group of their classmates. Not far from them sat Yurika and the other residents of room 106. They had gathered to chat about nothing in particular during their break, but since it was just them and everyone else in class was distracted, they naturally began talking about Sanae.

“I’m sorry. Our power wasn’t enough.”

Kiriha looked at Sanae from afar with a furrowed brow and melancholy expression. She had put in a lot of effort trying to help Sanae, and in the end, she’d been able to save her, but not her memories. Looking at it objectively, there was nothing else she could have done, but Kiriha still felt responsible. That was why she was probably the one who wanted Sanae to regain her memories the most.

“There’s no need for you to blame yourself, Kiriha-san. If it wasn’t for you, Sanae-chan wouldn’t have survived.”

Shizuka tried to comfort Kiriha, who was clearly feeling down. After all, it was Kiriha who’d actually saved Sanae’s life. It was because she’d extracted information from the ghost hunters and developed a way to treat Sanae while keeping everything a secret that they’d been able to help her. If she hadn’t done all that, Sanae probably would have died. Or Sanae might have ended up killing Koutarou. Everyone was happy they’d been able to avoid those terrible outcomes, so no one was upset with Kiriha for what she had or hadn’t done.

“We still don’t know for sure that she won’t get her memories back. It’s still too early to lose hope.”

“I think so too. It’s only been three weeks.”

Compared to the others, Theia and Ruth remained optimistic. They would feel bad too if Sanae didn’t regain her memories, but they firmly believed that she would eventually. It was the kind of optimism they’d learned to foster through hardship.

“Do you really think Sanae-chan’s memories will return?”

“If we don’t believe in it, who will? If we don’t do anything to help her, the Sanae who cried when she said goodbye to us won’t be able to rest in peace.”

“You’re right. I was feeling a little timid, but you’ve opened my eyes, Theia-dono.”

“Very good.”

“That’s right! We have to get Sanae-chan’s memories back at any cost!”

“Yurika-sama, please lend us your power too.”

“I understand! I, humble Nijino Yurika, will do my best!”

Theia’s optimism spread to her friends, and smiles returned to the group. Her leadership skills were really starting to blossom.

“But, but... what do we do specifically?”

Yurika cocked her head to the side. She understood that what they wanted was to get Sanae’s memories from being a ghost to resurface, but she had no idea how to go about doing that.

“Would it work if we hit her with electricity or made her take some kind of special medicine?”

“Yurika-chan, you’ve been reading too much manga.”

Shizuka smiled wryly at Yurika’s somewhat extreme ideas.

“Then what should we do?”

“Um... well...”

Not even Shizuka knew.

“There’s not any particular thing that we have to do.”

The one to answer Yurika’s question was Koutarou, who had been quiet until now otherwise.

“What do you mean, Koutarou?” Theia asked.

Koutarou responded by smiling at the girls.

“We can just keep doing what we’re doing. Talking to Sanae and fooling around. Stuff like that will probably awaken her memories sooner or later.”

If they really wanted Sanae to remember things how they were, they would just have to act like they always did. Eventually, Koutarou hoped, that feeling of familiarity would trigger something within her.

“That said, it would be a little difficult right now. We should try and get closer to her when the attention around her dies down a little.”

Koutarou pointed towards Sanae as he spoke. She was surrounded by classmates even now. Even if they wanted to talk to her, there didn’t appear to be an opening for Koutarou and the others. That would probably change once the initial excitement of having a new student in class wore off.

“Besides, that was how she wanted to live. With us and having fun. Whether or not she remembers isn’t really the important part.”

Sanae’s wish had been to continue to spend her days with Koutarou and the others. In that sense, as long as she got to be with them, her wish would come true. What was important was that Koutarou and the others kept that promise to her.

“Satomi-kun, could you come over here?”

Just as Koutarou finished his explanation, Maki called him over to where she and Sanae were sitting with their other classmates.

“What is it now?”

Thinking that she must have some business with him, Koutarou got up and walked over to her.

“What a magnificent man...”

Watching him walk away, Theia praised Koutarou. Entering the circle around Sanae, Koutarou began talking with his classmates about something. Shortly thereafter, smiles appeared on his and Maki’s faces, and seeing them smile made Sanae smile too. Hers was a bright, wonderful smile.

“He understands the path he must take, and he walks it without hesitation. His life with us may have trained him to be that way, but—”

Theia understood Sanae’s wish and she understood that Koutarou was determined to fulfill it, yet her expression was dark. She stared at Koutarou’s back as he walked away as if she was witnessing something sad.

“But even then, he doesn’t need Sanae, huh?”

Kiriha finished Theia’s sentence for her. She was watching Koutarou with a somber expression, just like Theia.

“That’s right...”

Kiriha knew exactly how Theia felt.

“He’s gentle to everyone. His love is distributed equally to all, even more so than the Blue Knight of legend.”

“Your Highness...”

Reacting to Theia’s words, Ruth showed a faint smile. “More so than the Blue Knight of legend.”

To Ruth, the feelings put into those words meant more than Theia could possibly know.

“And he never asks for anything in return. I suppose that’s fine for most people. That is the selfless way of the knight, after all.”

Theia’s words were supposed to be words of praise, but her tone and expression made them quite bittersweet, like a bard singing a sorrowful story.

“But... not even asking anything of the people closest to him—like us—is rather a sad thing...”

Theia stopped speaking there, but there was actually more to it. While fiddling with her golden hair, she continued the thought in her mind.

Especially as women...

She wanted the person she loved to need her. To desire her. That would be true no matter what planet she lived on. And Theia believed that it was how the girls around Koutarou felt too. But that wasn’t important for now, so she put her feelings aside before she started speaking again.

“The girl over there is supposed to be our Sanae, so why isn’t Koutarou concerned about that? It’s like he doesn’t care whether or not it’s her so long as he keeps his promise.”

That was what was important to him. But from Theia’s viewpoint, it was quite strange. Koutarou was upholding his end of the bargain in trying to fulfill Sanae’s wish, but he didn’t seem at all invested if Sanae fulfilled her own promise. In other words, regaining her memory. It made their relationship seem wildly one-sided. Like Koutarou didn’t need Sanae at all. Theia couldn’t accept that because she couldn’t imagine Koutarou being so cold to her.

“Why is he so accepting of losing Sanae? Why doesn’t he need anyone? Why doesn’t he just say ‘come back’? Just what is he so scared of?!”

There had to be some reason, but Theia couldn’t figure it out. Theia struggled to contain her frustration that had nowhere to go. She couldn’t get angry with, forgive him, or sympathize with him. And that indecisiveness only made her more frustrated.

“There is one thing that I can think of.”

Kiriha was the one to eventually offer an answer.

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s a rough guess based on what I know about Koutarou’s past and the way he’d acted until now.”

It wasn’t something that she normally liked to share, but Kiriha believed that the girls of room 106 felt similarly to how she did, so she decided to tell them.

“I understand where you’re coming from, Theia-dono. I was wondering the same thing myself for a long time, including why the only exception seems to be Yurika.”

“Huh? Me?”

Yurika was taken back by surprise to her hear name brought up in such a context. She hadn’t even expected to be involved in such a serious conversation.

“Koutarou doesn’t ask anything from anyone, except for you. Like write manuscripts together, doing homework together, trying out wrestling moves, and so on. Do you see what I mean?”

“Now you mention it... I do always end up having to do all the crappy stuff...”

When Yurika placed a finger on her lip and thought about it, it did ring true. Whenever Koutarou needed someone to help him, he would always single out Yurika. Practicing wrestling moves a few weeks ago was one such example.

“But isn’t that just because, you know, Satomi-san is bullying me? It’s not like I’m special to him. Oh, and he also extorts me using food!”

Yurika could only think of the way Koutarou treated her as a punishment. She could always come up with a few reasons for him to be mad at her at any given moment, after all.

“That’s what I thought at first as well. But... when I think back on Koutarou’s past, I feel like I can understand why only Yurika is special.”

Combining what Kiriha knew of Koutarou’s past and what Kii knew of her Onii-chan’s behavior, the situation appeared a little differently. That’s what it had taken for Kiriha to realize it.

“Satomi-kun’s past? Now that I think about it, Satomi-kun doesn’t really talk much about himself.”

Shizuka loved gossip, but she knew when she shouldn’t be playing around. And when it came to Sanae and Koutarou, she always took things with them seriously. That was true even now. She wanted to help come up with a solution for the problem at hand.

“It’s not that he won’t talk about it. It’s that he doesn’t want to. After all... his mother was involved in a traffic accident and died right in front of him. It ruined his family life for a time.”

“Wh... What...?”

Ruth held her breath. Koutarou’s past was far more horrific than she had imagined.

“His mother died when he was six years old. Koutarou accidentally stepped out into the road, and just as he was about to get hit by a car, his mother pushed him out of the way... Koutarou had to watch his mother die right in front of him because of his own carelessness.”

The detailed information about the accident was a result of Kiriha’s prior investigations. When she first came to room 106, she had gathered as much information on Koutarou as she could in order to draw things out, and that had included information on his family. In the end, she’d decided it would be best not to bring it up. And since they were the same age, she had thought it was merely a coincidence that the same thing had happened to her first love. But now that she knew her first love was really Koutarou, she had a much better idea of what he’d been through and how it had affected him.

“After the loss of his mother, his relationship with his father turned sour. It seems that Koutarou spent most of his childhood alone, and Kenji and baseball are what helped him get back on his feet.”

“So that’s why Satomi-kun loves Mackenzie-kun and baseball so much...”

Hearing about Koutarou’s past, Shizuka suddenly understood the strange relationship between Koutarou and Kenji a little better. Regardless of what cruel tricks they would play on each other, they would always completely forgive each other by the next day. Deep down, they really trusted each other. Though it was slightly different from with Yurika, Kenji was another exceptional friend to Koutarou, and that was because of his connection to his past.

“That’s probably why he’s good at fighting too...”

These days, children rarely fought one another, so it wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of tough childhood Koutarou must have had in order to be as good with his fists as he was. Yurika felt her chest tighten when she thought about it.

“This is just my assumption, but... Koutarou is probably afraid that the people he loves will be taken from him just like his mother was. That’s why he doesn’t need anyone. Why he won’t take that step.”

Theia’s eyes went wide.

“What... No, if that’s the case, then...”

“It’s also why he’s so careful with the people around him. He doesn’t want to be responsible for making a mistake he can’t undo.”

Kiriha’s assumption sounded convincing to Theia. Losing his mother had had a profound effect on him. Scared that he would lose people who were truly precious to him, he tried to avoid getting too close with anyone. And because he blamed himself for his mother’s death, he was adamant about keeping his promises so he would never regret anything again. He wanted to make everyone around him happy. But Koutarou’s actions weren’t so much out of love as they were loss. When thinking of it like that, everything began making sense.

“That’s why Yurika is special?!”

“That’s right. I’m from the underground, you two are aliens, and Sanae was a ghost. It was clear that we would all eventually part ways, so Koutarou was keeping his distance in his own way.”

Theia and Ruth would eventually return to Forthorthe. Kiriha would also return underground one day. And Sanae would pass into the afterlife. Shizuka wouldn’t be his landlord forever, and Harumi would be graduating at the end of the school year. It seemed like he would eventually part ways with everyone around him.

“But Yurika is different. To him, Yurika is just a normal person. They could spend their high school career together, graduate, and have their relationship continue naturally after that. To Koutarou, Yurika is the only one he thinks might stay with him.”

“Now that I think about it, Satomi-san—”

Hearing what Kiriha was saying, Yurika recalled something Koutarou had once said to her in the past.

“It’s selfish, right? I guess I just wanted you to stay a normal classmate. Y’know, a normal classmate with an odd hobby.”

That was several months ago when Yurika and Maki had fought. It was how he’d reacted to finding out she was a magical girl, but it was only now that Kiriha had explained it that Yurika truly understood what he’d meant. She’d only taken it at face value before, but now she knew there was much more to it than that.

It’s not that Satomi-san doesn’t believe that I’m a magical girl! He just wants to believe that I’m a cosplayer because he can stay friends with me that way!

Of course, Koutarou hadn’t consciously put that much thought into it. But as he started to get along with Yurika more and more, it was true that he was happy she was just a cosplayer.

Koutarou’s mother had been snatched away from him without warning, but he knew in advance the invaders would all go their separate ways one day. Yurika, on the other hand, was just a freeloader with a strange hobby. She might be lazy and sloppy, but Koutarou’s carefree everyday life with her had no foreseeable end, just like his friendship with Kenji. And that’s what he secretly wished for—things to continue just as they were between them.

Thinking about it, Yurika recalled something else Koutarou had said to her.

“Sunshine and rainbows suit you better.”

Yurika had always interpreted those words to mean that Koutarou thought fighting didn’t suit her, but after listening to Kiriha’s explanation, they took on a different meaning.

Th-Then Satomi-san is always bullying me and playing rough with me because he really does treasure me and... he thinks of me as sunshine and rainbows...

To Koutarou, who suffered greatly over losing his mother, a friend like a troublesome little sister was priceless. If what Kiriha was saying was true, then even while Koutarou was taking care of Yurika, he was relying on her in his own way too. He was only rough and blunt with her because he was treating her like real family.

“Then, uh, that’s, erm, could he...?!”

That was when Yurika’s thoughts ground to a halt. Her blood started steaming and her face turned bright red. She blanked out completely and couldn’t think of a single word to say. No one had ever really needed her before. There was an argument that her mentor Nana had, but even Nana had never intended to keep Yurika by her side forever. She was always warning Yurika of the dangers of being together and trying to push her away.

But now Yurika had learned that Koutarou needed her. And it wasn’t just in a superficial way. They truly had a deep connection. Thinking back on it, that must have been the reason he trusted her to take care of Sanae with her magic a few weeks ago when she was in real trouble.

In other words, though Yurika had been none the wiser, Koutarou had come to trust in her as a magical girl and as a friend. He counted on her as both. If Koutarou had known Yurika was a magical girl from the start, things most likely never would have developed that way. Coincidence and inevitability had crossed paths in such a way that Yurika had become truly special to Koutarou. And when she realized that, Yurika could think of nothing else. Realizing how blessed of a situation she was in, she lost control of her emotions.

“So Satomi-sama doesn’t think he will always be with us...”

Putting aside the matter of Yurika, whose brain had overheated and was unable to speak, Ruth mumbled to herself with a depressed expression. Koutarou’s relationship with Yurika was a good thing, certainly, but if what Kiriha was saying was true, that meant that Koutarou was expecting all of the other invaders to leave him someday. It was a horribly lonely realization.

“That’s right. That’s why Koutarou was so ready to accept Sanae losing her memories. After all, he was always prepared for her to leave.”

“Sanae-chan is important to him, but he was prepared to lose her. That’s why he’s not shaken up even though she doesn’t remember him. And why he doesn’t want to force her to remember. That’s kinda... sad, Satomi-kun...”

Shizuka could understand how Koutarou felt since she’d lost both of her parents. She knew better than anyone what being truly alone was like. To her, Koutarou and the invaders had saved her from that solitude. That’s why she was especially sad to hear that Koutarou had been ready to part ways with them from the beginning.

“But knowing that, there’s a way to handle this.”

The whole group of girls began growing gloomy, but Theia’s eyes kept their gleam. Now that she’d decided the path she wanted to walk for herself, she wasn’t going to let an obstacle like this stop her.

“We only need to make sure that Koutarou understands that we’re not going to leave him.”

“How?”

If possible, Shizuka wanted to do what Theia was suggesting. She wanted Koutarou to be able to enjoy his everyday life without worry, just the same way she did hers. But she didn’t know how to make that happen. Shizuka followed Koutarou with her eyes as she racked her brain, but if Theia had an answer, she wanted to hear it.

“Kiriha, I’ll let you explain the details. I’m sure that you would know.”

But in reality, Theia didn’t know how to manage it either. But she trusted that Kiriha would.

“But of course.”

Kiriha flashed a small smile and nodded.

“There’s not any particular thing that we have to do.”

Kiriha simply repeated Koutarou’s words from earlier. She believed that Koutarou’s solution regarding Sanae would work for him as well.

“We can just keep doing what we’re doing. Talking to Koutarou and fooling around. Stuff like that will eventually lead him to believe that we’ll always be with him.”

They would continue with their everyday life together until Koutarou believed it was real. That it was here to stay, and so were the girls that were part of it. A year might not have been enough to do that, but there was still time. They would show him that they could stay together. And if for some reason someone was ever about to leave, they could simply join hands and prevent it. They would show him that together they could protect their bonds.

“Like Yurika-sama?”

Ruth smiled as she looked at Yurika, who still seemed to be in another world. Ruth found the thought of everyone troubling Koutarou like Yurika did unbearably amusing.

“No... it doesn’t necessarily have to be the same way Yurika does. In fact, we’re all using our own ways to invade Koutarou’s heart.”

There were as many answers as there were people. Yurika’s method wasn’t the only correct one.

“I’m not trying to invade though.”

Shizuka understood what Kiriha was trying to say. She thought it was strange that she was being treated like one of the invaders, but she didn’t particularly mind. She would be happy to help them convey these feelings to Koutarou.

“Sanae-san does it for free, but Aika-san makes you pay...”

“Hey, Satomi-kun, that’s a rude way to put it!”

“That makes it sound like I’m a cheap girl...”

Unaware of the invading girls’ plans, Koutarou continued chatting with Sanae and the others. Looking at Koutarou, the edges of Theia’s lips curled up into a smile.

“Heh heh... You just continue to laugh carefreely like that, Satomi Koutarou.”

Arms crossed, Theia threw her head back with a sinister smile on her face as she looked down and laughed at Koutarou. It was a smile much like how Theia looked at him when she first came to Earth.

“You’re sadly mistaken if you think our invasion will eventually end. Just you wait. By the time you notice, it will already be too late... heh heh heh...”

But since her feelings were obvious to everyone watching her now, unlike one year ago, nobody tried to stop her.

Koutarou and the girls weren’t the only ones paying attention to Sanae’s condition.

“It looks like her memories really aren’t returning... Ahahaha, this is my chance! The moment I’ve been waiting for has finally come!”

The evil spirit that had been following Sanae, Koutarou, and the others was also quite interested in this turn of events. She’d been waiting for the opportune time to try and get her revenge on them.

“If I had a body that could produce that much spiritual energy, I could surely return to the world of the living! This time I will absorb that girl for sure! Both her body and her spiritual energy will be mine!”

The evil spirit was after Sanae’s vast amounts of spiritual energy and her body that seemed to produce it without end, but there had been no meaning in going after either one while they were separated. Sanae as a ghost was nearly untouchable because of the spiritual protection surrounding room 106. And since she almost never left the apartment alone, there was nothing the evil spirit could do. As for Sanae’s body, because the majority of her spiritual energy had been separated from her, she had grown horribly weak. She was practically useless for producing energy in that state, and if she’d tried to possess her, she would have risked dying with her if things went wrong.

But now that the Sanaes were united, those problems were all resolved. Sanae left room 106 and was no longer under its protection. Moreover, Sanae’s body was once again producing massive amounts of spiritual energy. Now was the perfect time for the evil spirit to attack. If Sanae regained her memory, she might grow more wary and increase her spiritual protection. And although the Sanaes had been united, her spiritual form hadn’t yet stabilized inside her physical form. If she attacked now, it would be easy enough to take over her body like that. At last, the time had come to strike, and the evil spirit had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by.

“Just you wait, little kitten! This time we will become one!”

The evil spirit’s hatred and envy flared up, burning her little remaining spiritual energy.

She wasn’t thinking about the future at all. But since she was growing weak, she knew she wouldn’t get another chance like this. That’s why she was willing to use up the very last of her power to get what she wanted.