Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Volume 8 Page 3

  “It’s finally getting warmer...”

  Once he was sure the heater was working, Koutarou sat down in his usual chair. Koutarou and Harumi would always sit down by the heater to knit. Since it was just the two of them in the club, it was easier to go knit by the heater rather than to wait for the entire room to heat up.

  Not long after, the second member of the club knocked on the door before entering the room.

  “I’m sorry I’m a bit late, Satomi-kun.”

  It was Sakuraba Harumi, a girl with porcelain skin and long, black hair. She was the current president of the knitting society.

  “No worries. The heater’s just started to heat the room up.”

  “Thank you, Satomi-kun.”

  Harumi smiled and thanked Koutarou before sitting down in the chair next to him. Since they scooted as close to the heater as possible, they would naturally end up shoulder to shoulder. It was an arrangement that made her somewhat happy.

  “By the way, Sakuraba-senpai, did something happen today?”

  While preparing his knitting tools, Koutarou struck up a conversation with Harumi. Rather than being upset that she was late, he was mostly curious as to what had kept her.

  “Uh...”

  Harumi’s expression suddenly froze and her face gradually turned red. It was obvious even to Koutarou that the reason for it wasn’t the heater.

  “Hahaha, from the looks of it, it must have been something fun.”

  “Oh you, Satomi-kun!”

  Harumi puffed up her cheeks in a pout. It was a special expression she only made around Koutarou. Since Harumi was always so calm and mature, Koutarou thought her pouting made her look even cuter than normal.

  “It’s rude of you to laugh. This is quite serious.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “Uh...”

  Harumi’s cheeks slowly deflated. At the same time, her shoulders slumped and she turned her face down.

  “A-Actually...”

  Harumi shoved her hand into her bag and pulled out an envelope. “Sakuraba Harumi-sama” was neatly written on the front.

  “Actually, I was given a love letter...”

  Harumi presented the envelope to Koutarou and turned her face away as if to escape his glance.

  “A love letter, huh? That’s pretty old-fashioned these days.”

  The envelope was made of a high-quality Japanese paper. The writer had used a pen, and though the handwriting wasn’t the best, it was obvious the sender had written with great care. Just from how it looked, it seemed pretty clear that it was a serious love letter.

  I see. So that’s why she was unhappy when I laughed.

  Koutarou received the envelope from Harumi and carefully took out the letter within. If it was a genuine love letter as Harumi had said, he should treat it with respect.

  “Let’s see here...”

  Koutarou unfolded the letter and skimmed its content. The carefully written words expressed the earnest feelings of the sender.

  “I see.”

  After reading halfway through the letter, Koutarou folded it back up. The letter was intended for Harumi, so Koutarou hesitated to read any further once he realized it was indeed serious.

  “You’re right. I can’t really laugh at someone’s honest feelings.”

  Koutarou returned the letter to the envelope and handed it back to Harumi.

  “Yes... That’s why I’m somewhat troubled.”

  With the envelope back in her hands, Harumi blushed and looked up at Koutarou. She was overwhelmed with embarrassment, but she was interested in Koutarou’s reaction.

  “Troubled? Why?”

  “I’ve received such a serious and thoughtful letter, but I can’t think of any way to turn it down without hurting the writer’s feelings...”

  Harumi stared at Koutarou as if asking for help. She wanted him to tell her what she should do. On top of that, she was hoping he might be a little jealous. All kinds of emotions were swirling in Harumi’s pleading eyes.

  “So you’re going to turn them down?”

  Koutarou put his hand over his mouth and laughed a little. This actually wasn’t the first time this had happened. After her performances in the school plays, Harumi regularly received confessions from the boys at school.

  “That’s because... I don’t really know the person... and it was so sudden...”

  However, Harumi would always turn them down. Though she had grown a little more confident after being on stage, she still lost her nerve around people, so sudden confessions scared her.

  “But this time I’ve gotten such a polite letter... and I can understand how this person must feel, so I’m not sure if I can turn them down without giving a reason like I usually do...”

  As an avid reader and a shy girl, Harumi had an easier time understanding a person’s feelings through a letter rather than being told to her face. Because of that, she wasn’t sure how to turn down the sender of the letter.

  “In that case... it might be a bit expected, but what if you say you already have someone you like?”

  That was all Koutarou could come up with on the spot. It seemed like the easiest way to turn someone down without hurting their feelings.

  “Even you must have one or two people you’ve liked, right? So this wouldn’t be a complete lie, and that kind of answer shouldn’t hurt their feelings.”

  “Th-That’s true, but...”

  Koutarou thought it was a brilliant idea, but Harumi’s face turned even redder than before when he suggested it. That’s because the person Harumi liked was Koutarou.

  “But what if... What if they ask who that person is?”

  “Then you could just tell them.”

  Just tell them. That was Koutarou’s simple idea that would put an end to it all.

  “I-I couldn’t!” Harumi shook her hands and head. “I would feel badly if what I said caused that person trouble!”

  “It’s okay, Sakuraba-senpai. I don’t think anyone would be troubled to find out you like them.”

  Koutarou smiled. It only looked like Harumi was overthinking things to him.

  “D-Do you really think so?”

  “It would be one thing if it was someone you didn’t know, but there’s no way anyone who knows you would be upset about it.”

  Koutarou couldn’t think of a single boy that would be unhappy to hear that Harumi liked them. If anything, if there was such a guy, he probably wouldn’t be a good match for Harumi anyway. So either way, there was no need for Harumi to worry. Or at least, that was how Koutarou saw it.

  “Besides, this is a good opportunity.”

  All else aside, that was the part Koutarou really wanted to stress.

  “An opportunity?”

  Harumi’s eyes opened wide.

  “Yeah, to tell the person you like how you really feel.”

  “Th-That’s way, way too soon! There’s no way!”

  After Koutarou explained what he meant, Harumi shook her head even more vigorously than before.

  “I think it’s a good time for it though.”

  Koutarou desperately suppressed his urge to laugh. He thought it was adorable how worked up Harumi was getting over this.

  “But I would be troubled if it didn’t work out! I don’t want to face that reality right now! And I’m still not mentally prepared!”

  “Pfft... Th-That is troubling, hahaha!”

  Koutarou eventually couldn’t keep it in. Seeing Harumi panic like a baby chicken, Koutarou couldn’t help laughing.

  “Oh you, Satomi-kun! Please don’t laugh! I’m serious!”

  Harumi clenched her hands into small fists. She looked so determined, but Koutarou knew she couldn’t hurt anybody like that even if she wanted to. It only made the whole thing funnier to him.

  “S-Sorry, b-but it was... just so funny! Ahahahaha! Ack!”

  “You don’t have to laugh so hard you choke! Jeez!”

  Koutarou coughed repeatedly and finally managed to get ahold of hi
mself. But he knew if he let his guard down even a little, he would just burst out laughing again. He looked away from Harumi to try and keep his cool. Her brow knitted in frustration, she was currently staring him down.

  “...E-Excuse me.”

  “Jeez... Stupid Satomi-kun.”

  Harumi hurled her adorable insults at the back of Koutarou’s head.

  What kind of face would Satomi-kun make if he knew that he’s the one I like?

  Harumi, with her cheeks still puffed out, lost herself in thought for a moment. All sorts of feelings were bubbling up inside her, but those feelings gave way to a certain doubt.

  Does Satomi-kun not care about who I like...?

  Despite giving her intimate advice on how to handle her problem, Koutarou hadn’t really shown any interest in who it was that she liked. That made her worry about whether or not Koutarou even saw her as a woman.

  Maybe... I should try asking...?

  Harumi made up her mind and decided to ask him. After taking a deep breath and preparing herself, she called out to Koutarou in a low voice.

  “Um, Satomi-kun...”

  “Yes?”

  Koutarou turned back towards Harumi. By now he was no longer laughing. He’d had a chance to recollect himself, but he could also tell that Harumi’s voice and expression had gotten serious.

  “This is just a hypothetical question, but... if you fell in love with a girl, Satomi-kun, and that girl loved a different boy instead of you, what would you do?”

  Harumi didn’t have the courage to ask Koutarou directly if he was interested in her, so she was careful about how she worded her question. Even though it seemed like Koutarou had no interest in Harumi, she still wanted to confirm whether or not he liked her. It was vague, but that was all she could muster right now.

  That’s the situation you’re in, right, Sakuraba-senpai?

  Someone liked Harumi and had given her a love letter, but Harumi liked another boy. How would that make the person who sent her the letter feel? That was how Koutarou interpreted Harumi’s question.

  “Hmm, if it was me...”

  Koutarou began imagining himself in that situation. As he did, images of Harumi and Alaia overlapped in his mind.

  Your Majesty...

  At that moment, Koutarou realized exactly what he would do in that situation.

  “If it was me, I think I would cheer for her. I would cheer her on so that her love would come true, no matter who it was.”

  “Really? Would you be fine with that?”

  Harumi’s eyes opened wide in surprise once more. It was a most unexpected answer. She’d anticipated him saying he would give up or steal her away or something along those lines.

  “We’re talking about the woman you love, you know?”

  “Yeah. So I’d want her to be together with the person she truly loved.”

  Koutarou answered without hesitation, and the reason he could answer that way was Alaia. Despite loving the Blue Knight, she devoted herself to the well-being of her citizens. After meeting her, and after getting in the way of her meeting the real Blue Knight, Koutarou knew he wanted the woman he loved to be together with the person she truly loved.

  “Of course, if her love goes unrequited, I’d take my chance and confess.”

  If he happened to be the one she loved too, that would be ideal, but that kind of coincidence rarely happened. He would only confess when her heart didn’t already belong to someone else. That was how Koutarou felt.

  “I see...”

  Hearing Koutarou’s answer, Harumi felt a sense of relief.

  Good... I have a chance... But based on what he just said, he’s just going to cheer for me while I ask him for advice like this...

  While she was relieved for now, Harumi also knew that she couldn’t allow things to stay the way they were.

  “Thank you, Satomi-kun.”

  “I don’t know if my answer will be of any help though.”

  Koutarou understood that his answer was a special case. There weren’t that many people who’d met real princesses and gotten in the way of true love.

  “No, it’s very helpful.”

  However, that was enough for Harumi. What she’d really wanted to know was how Koutarou felt.

  I should properly turn down the writer of this letter. And I’ll make sure to resolve anything like this on my own from now on. I’ll show Satomi-kun that he’s the only one for me. I’ll confess after he’s understood that...

  Having found her path forward, Harumi went back to smiling in her typical fashion as she began moving her knitting needles once more.

  “By the way, the school trip is right around the corner, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. It’s been a long time since I last went skiing.”

  Koutarou quickly followed suit, and the two of them took to knitting side by side.

  “Are you good at skiing? You look like you would be.”

  “I don’t have a lot of experience skiing, so I’m just average. How about you, Sakuraba-senpai? Can you ski?”

  “Heehee, actually, I’m quite confident in my skiing.”

  This was a completely average afternoon of normal club activities for the two of them. They spent their time at leisure, cheerfully talking to one another.

  “That’s surprising.”

  “I hate that mean part of you. As punishment, I demand that you bring me back a souvenir.”

  “As you wish, my princess.”

  With winter at its worst, the temperature had dropped even further outside. However, the cheerful, warm atmosphere heated up the club room more than the antique heater.

  The Birth of a Magical Girl?!

  Monday, February 1st

  “I’m back... Oh, there’s no one here.”

  When Koutarou returned to room 106, he found that it was empty. The other girls were all out for various reasons, such as shopping for dinner, and no one had returned yet, so Koutarou’s greeting went unanswered. Koutarou took off his shoes by the entrance, passed by the kitchen, and entered the inner room. With the lights off, the room was dark and quiet.

  “That’s pretty unusual.”

  Koutarou put his backpack in a corner of the room and turned on the lights. While that made it brighter, the room was still silent. It made Koutarou feel surprisingly lonely.

  “Oh, that’s right. This is a good chance.”

  However, there were things he could only do with no one else around. When that thought occurred to him, Koutarou brought the bracelet Clan had given him closer to his mouth.

  “Cradle, can you bring out my belongings?”

  “As you wish, my lord.”

  Following his order, a black hole appeared in front of Koutarou. It was the same kind of space-time hole that Theia and Clan used when they summoned their weapons. However, what came out of this hole wasn’t a weapon, but instead a plastic container several dozen centimeters long.

  “All right, let’s do some organizing.”

  Inside the container were Koutarou’s private belongings. They were items he’d collected during his travels with Clan, which included several things he couldn’t show the invaders. That’s why times like this, when he was all alone, were the only chance he’d get to organize them.

  “I need this... I don’t need this...”

  Inside the container were necessities like clothes and things he’d used, but there were also knives and whetstones mixed in. Though they were all his belongings, it was a collection of all sorts of items.

  Koutarou flipped the container upside down and emptied it. Then he returned only what he didn’t need to the container, leaving the things he actually wanted on the tatami mat.

  After he was done, Koutarou was planning on storing the container back on Clan’s spaceship. He had considered throwing away the things he’d determined he no longer needed, but the truth was that each and every one of these items—however mundane or useless—was irreplaceable. And since he was quite attached to a great deal of it, he decided h
e couldn’t throw any of it away.

  “Hmm? This is...”

  After working his way through the pile for a while, Koutarou’s hand unexpectedly stopped. He had come across something interesting among his belongings.

  “I guess... I’ll keep this close by.”

  It was a necklace with an odd design. It consisted of gems and beautifully polished animal teeth, strung together by threads of several colors. Since it was something he rarely saw in the city, Koutarou had taken a liking to it.

  “If I lose this, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Deciding to hold on to the necklace, Koutarou set it back down on the tatami mat. He recalled the face of the person who had given it him.

  Now that I think about it...

  There, Koutarou stopped moving once more. There was something in particular he’d remembered about the person who’d given him the necklace.

  “...No, that can’t be right. It’s not possible.”

  However, Koutarou shook his head at the thought and began organizing his belongings once more.

  Since the container wasn’t very large, going through it didn’t take all that long.

  “Cradle, return the container to its original position.”

  “As you wish, my lord.”

  At Koutarou’s behest, the plastic container passed through a black hole and was returned to Clan’s spaceship, leaving several items behind in the room. It wasn’t just the necklace. Each of the things he’d picked out was special to him in some precious way. That included items like Charl’s handmade badge. It had absolutely no use, but it was something he wanted to keep close. In fact, there were very few things he’d chosen to hold on to for any practical reason.

  “All right, I guess this is good enough.”

  After stuffing the items into a paper bag, Koutarou put them away in the wardrobe with his half-knit sweater.

  “I’m baaack!”

  “Me too!”

  Just then, he heard Sanae and Yurika’s energetic voices from the front door.

  “To the TV! Love Love Heart is about to start!”

  “W-Wait up, Sanae-chan! If you pull on me that hard―”