Volume 6, Chapter 3: Turned into a mob character, Part 1
On a quiet piece of land in Kamakura, an old man lived away from his family.
The house wasn"t as big as the ones surrounding it, but for a single person, it was extensive, and could even be called a mansion.
Originally, this house was prepared for the sake of spending the rest of his live together with his wife after he relinquished his company to his son.
But his wife had left him and the world a few years ago and risen to heaven.
Written on the nameplate of the house was [Toukaki].
When he was younger, he"d started his business together with his wife, and by luck, they had gotten acquainted with the heir to a large corporation, and the company grew immensely in one generation. But that was also because his wife was beside him and supporting him.
He"d met his wife around the age of 20. And the moment he saw her for the first time, he knew that she was "the one".
At that time, she had just lost her fiancé, and after healing her heart for three years, he was able to marry her.
He"d founded his company, and had children, and it was a smooth life, though busy. Hence, he"d always wanted to live with his wife together quietly when they grew older.
But after giving up the company, and beginning to live in the world of their own, he"d lost his wife to illness.
Unable to fill up the sense of loss, he lived alone in this house that he"d set aside to live with his wife, away from his children and grandchildren.
He gazed at the garden idly.
Every day, the housekeeper would come by to prepare the meals, but he despised interacting with people, and never ever had a conversation.
"(…… who was the last person I talked to?)"
To him, though, that wasn"t a big problem. He didn"t want to disturb the memories of his wife in his mind, and forget the time when he was happy.
However, he recently found something strange in his memory.
He had met his wife when he had become an adult. But, when he plumbed his memories, he would remember the look of his wife as a child.
The eyes of his wife when they were young, staring at him……
When he had noticed, there were a pair of "eyes" that were the same as his wife"s staring at him from the garden.
Eyes that closely resembled his wife"s…… but it wasn"t the phantom of his wife as a child. And, dredging up his memories, he remembered his granddaughter, who greatly resembled his wife.
“……Yuzu…… is it?”
“That"s right. Grandfather…”
Yuzu said, as she smiled.
After not meeting his granddaughter for many years, she had grown much larger than she had been previously. Why was Yuzu here?
Yuzu smiled, and held out one hand towards him.
She grabbed a little black chain that shone in her hand, a chain was linked to his chest.
“……aah……”
In that instant, he remembered.
What had happened before he"d met his wife… what had happened in his past life. And of his life before that.
And when he saw the light in Yuzu"s eyes, in the same light, the shape of a beautiful [Golden Demon] appeared before him.
“You remember everything…?”
“……No, I remembered the reason why I am here”
With a gentle smile, he bowed deeply towards his granddaughter.
“Thank you… Yuzu. Grandfather was able to be happy.”
When he raised his head, his granddaughter was nowhere to be seen.
No way, another one of the chains was connected to my grandfather……
I wonder what "I" did before my memories was messed up…? But the new one seems like a long term contract… Un~.
Well, whatever. I noticed something recently.
What was with me taking math for sixth-graders?
Even though I thought it was strange, but the ordinary cla.s.ses learned mathematics for third-graders. The curriculum is different only in this cla.s.s with Kouki-kun and Kako.
Apparently there was one cla.s.s in the entire grade, a cla.s.s for special children, which has been adjusted to be of the same difficulty as a special cla.s.s for those who were trying to skip grades.
Right now, it"s a lesson of a junior high standard, but thanks to having a tutor, I managed to still get into the fourth grade safely.
I am already quite a woman. A young lady, if you will. I refuse to be called a little girl. I"ve started to swell a little.
“Yuzu-chan, would you like to study with me?”
It was Ouji-kun that spoke to me.
He had already become completely slim, and even if you looked at it from any angle, he was already getting flocked by the all the Onee-samas who were in love with him.
Amazing. It was no longer stomach-pain-inducing like when the prince-like Kouki-kun called Ouji-kun [Prince] that time. I really am a Demon.
“Really? I would be happy if Ouji-kun would help me, but where……”
“Would you like to come over? My parents aren"t home on the weekdays.”
“……eh?”
Of course, it"s not like I"m nervous that his parents won"t be there. I was just thinking about what he said, but since he spoke all of a sudden like I was his junior high or high school girlfriend, my voice leaked out unconsciously.
“D-did I say something wrong? My younger sister Minako-chan wanted to meet Yuzu-chan, so…”
Ouji-kun also noticed what he"d accidentally said, and flushed red as he shook his head hurriedly.
Minako-chan, is that one who was originally going to be Venus-chan? Ouji-kun showed her to me on his cellphone, and she was saved from the fate of a storyboard (of doujinshi and manga). She was a cute child, like she belongs at a ball.
Well, since she"ll be a first year in Takamine Elementary School this year, I"ll be able to meet her anytime.
“Ouji and Yuzu-chan are fiancées. Isn"t it alright for the two of you to be in the same room?”
From the side, Kouki-kun cut in.
“Kouki-kun, you do know our engagement hasn"t been made official, right?”
Although, the two of us didn"t have a problem about it becoming official… But… is it alright as an elementary schooler? Minako-chan is also there.
“Oh, was that so? But, I don"t care about that. After all, Kako comes over to my house often and we study together.”
“……yes.”
Standing next to Kouki-kun, Kako"s cheeks turned red, and she bashfully touched her fingers together… Are you really doing normal studying?
Right now, we are in the school cafeteria having tea. Since the opening ceremony is tomorrow, I don"t see any other students, so I can relax.
So, why are the four of us at school today? I came to help Kako feed the animals, and Ouji and Kouki-kun came to be our bodyguards.
Can the two elementary school boys really be escorting us? Unquestionably. Just by having the three of them together, some private security guards came to the school.
“That"s right, Yuzu-sama. Let"s borrow one of the conference rooms after school to study together.”
“Erhm…… can we borrow it?”
There was a conference room for professionals and others for the schools" use, such as meeting with external vendors, but I"d never heard that students could borrow it.
“Aah, there"s a conference room that"s been contracted for a year to the Kuon family and the Shijiyuuin family. Although it"s small, but I think it"s enough for four people, is Ouji alright with it?”
“Yes. If Yuzu-chan is willing, I can go anywhere.”
Before I knew it, I"d decided to study in this group of four… No, is that it? Given my grades, it seems like I"ll be the one teaching the other three. But… actually, why are you guys able to just borrow school facilities? Indeed, the daughter of the upper crust of society doesn"t hesitate.
…… But, to study at the level of a middle schooler? What was I doing before I fell sick?
However……
“What is it, Yuzu-chan?”
“Nothing.”
I wonder if Ouji-kun accepted the engagement as something normal? I looked at him with a smile now, but since his att.i.tude didn"t change from kindergarten at all, it"s become even more difficult to understand his feelings now.
Even though you"re so popular amongst girls, why did you still pick me? Even if I do say so myself, I be anything but the bottom of the relationship charts amongst those in our year.
“Ah, did you hear? It seems like there"s going to be a transfer student to our year this term.”
Kako"s cute hands clapped together as she brought up the topic.
With her adult beauty and her cute behaviors, she gives off that gap moe feel. I"d have to wear gla.s.ses and a suit when I get to middle school to do the same thing.
“Transfer student? In the elementary division of Takamine? That"s rare.”
“That"s right. I think it"s more bothersome than just entering the special cla.s.s in middle school.”
My words supplemented Ouji-kun.
If you wanted to enter the middle school, you only needed to complete the special course. If you wanted to put the [Takamine] brand on your resume it didn"t make much sense if you hadn"t already gone through the six years from the start.
So if you were to transfer in halfway, it wouldn"t be for some strange reason. On top of that, they would need to have considerable academic ability, along with good connections and a sizable donation.
I didn"t care about it at this time. Because, it wasn"t that unusual…… I didn"t think that someone strange would appear.
“Ahh, you there, could you come over for a moment?”
After taking a note to the staffroom after school, as I took a shortcut through the school and pa.s.sed by the school building, I almost did a double-take when a pig-tailed person called out to me.
Wrong. What I was calling out wasn"t the "hairstyle", but rather the "body".
A big ribbon that could be used for a fan that somewhat reminded me of a desperate rookie performer at the bottom. Oh, perhaps……
“Are you waiting for a tsukkomi……?”
“Haa? What are you saying, you. Come over here quickly.”
It seems that without hearing what I said, she began to walk over rudely.
No, no, no, I didn"t expect to actually see a twin-tail tied with a huge ribbon in the fourth grade of elementary school. Is this the main character of some girls" manga?
And so I waved her off, picked up my bags from the cla.s.sroom, and studied with Ouji-kun and the rest of them, then went home.
That was the second encounter with her, the self-proclaimed heroine, Matsuri Okazaki.
“Hey, you, where are you going!”
The next day, I was caught again by Matsuri.
Since Onzadkun had advanced to the middle school section, my range of actions after school had narrowed. The middle and high school are next to each other, but they"re bit far from the elementary school.
Ah, that"s right.
“Why are you fiddling with the phone while I"m talking to you?”
“Friend"s email.”
“Haa? A mob character has friends? But I don"t care about that, come over here. I have some questions for you.”
Matsuri started to walk again without waiting for my answer again as I replied to her.
Ah, I responded to Onzadkun"s email… Is there a sashimi set meal in the school meals? You don"t have such a thing in your school meals? Nn? It"s not normal?
Please eat deep-fried food like a normal male middle-schooler. I replied and I went home as per usual.
Ah, let"s go to dad-chan"s for ramen. Will Onzadkun come?
Author"s Notes:
Neither of them are listening to others" stories.
Next time, accidentally touching the wickedness of the world, what will happen to her?