VOLUME 4
Epilogue – My Name Is…
Epilogue: Part 1
And so, the curtain fell on our school festival.
Tomonori was crying after her ring was taken away, Haruna was in complete shock after her magical energy was stolen, Yuu was collapsed with a high fever, Sera wasn’t saying a word, and that was how our Sunday ended.
But when Monday rolled around, I caught a glimpse of a familiar sight in our living room.
The plasma television was showing a variety show Yuu had taped because she couldn’t watch it during the school festival, and Yuu was drinking tea in her usual plate armor and gauntlets.
Next to her, a ponytailed beauty was sitting on her knees with a dignified expression on her face.
If there was one thing that was different… it was that we had brought out a kotatsu. (1)
Tap tap. Yuu tapped the table twice and wrote something on her memo pad.
Good morning. = “Oniichan, good morning~! I love you~~!!”
Ahh, after her revival, the little Yuu in my head was more vivid than ever. Yuu’s singing voice the other day was just too cute and I couldn’t even sleep.
I was probably giving off a huge smile right then, because Sera chose to grip me tightly by the nose.
“Seeing you from far away, you’re already quite disgusting, but now that I see you close up you’re even more disgusting. Please go and disappear somewhere.”
She looked at me with frigid jade eyes.
“Ayumu! Look at this! I made you the strongest bento box today too!”
A little girl with chestnut hair dashed out from the kitchen, her ahoge bouncing back and forth.
It had gotten pretty cold, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to wear a camisole and short pants.
Seeing this scenery made me almost think that the events of the school festival had been nothing more than a dream.
I took the bento box from Haruna, and then realized that she was holding onto another bento box.
What was up with that other one? But before I could ask, Haruna went right into the living room.
“I made too much so go ahead and eat this.”
Haruna’s face was flushed red as she handed Yuu the bento.
… She was giving Yuu a bento? Yuu couldn’t leave the house. I had no idea why she would do that, but Sera began to chuckle.
“Haruna, what happened to my share?”
Sera said that in a teasing tone with a broad grin on her face. It really didn’t look like she wanted a bento. Ah, I see. Haruna had gotten a taste of what it was like to have Yuu’s powers. She understood how painful an experience it was. So, she wanted to do something for Yuu. And that something was probably this bento.
Thank you. = “Haruna, I loooove you~~!!”
“Hey, you all… did you enjoy the school festival?”
Chris had stolen Haruna’s magical energy, there was a huge storm, and plenty of other things had happened. Haruna also had to keep her emotions in check, so were people really able to enjoy themselves?
“Well, whether I had fun or not, it was quite interesting. Especially all the perverts.”
Seemed like she did have fun.
“It wasn’t fun at all!! Next time we’re definitely gonna do a SWAT café, okay?! I’ll set it up for all the cla.s.ses!”
It seemed that she had so much fun that she wanted to partic.i.p.ate next year too.
Tap tap. I heard two taps on the table. When I looked at Yuu…
It was the most fun I have had in my life.
The minute Haruna caught sight of what Yuu had written…
“Actually… I did have a lot of fun.”
“You spent most of the time selling CDs though.”
“Hey! Everyone has fun in their own way! So, what about Ayumu?”
“I… well, hmm. It was…… cute, I guess.”
“Disgusting! Just go and disappear please!”
Sera spat that out at me angrily. Geez, I’ve started even finding her angry side pretty cute.
“Yeah! Hurry up and go to school! And you, gloomy necromancer! Hurry up and eat!”
Yuu opened her bento. Inside was… a truly extravagant looking New Year’s banquet.
It was an amazing bento. And if those were the leftovers…
I usually waited anxiously for lunchtime before opening these boxes, but I couldn’t help but take a peek right there.
“Hey you! Idiot! Don’t open it now!”
Haruna sounded pretty frantic. Today’s bento was… a solid block of bonito. (2)
“Wait, these are the leftovers, aren’t they?!”
“Ugh!”
Haruna pushed me to the front door and kicked me outside. She threw me my shoes and even locked the door behind me. Geez. I guess I should go find a chisel to get at some of those bonito flakes…
Everyone wanted to just keep at this pace, living their days peacefully and lazily.
But, I… I wanted to chase after Chris.
No matter what I had to do, I would make her pay for what she’d done.
I would do something about this destiny of ours.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
(1) A square, heated low table, often used in winter. It’s warm and cozy underneath.
(2) A type of fish, which is usually dried and turned into flakes, and then sprinkled on top of food.