Kuze Koutarou’s point of view---I have a fiancé that was involuntarily decided for me. Meeting for the first time, I noticed that the both of us will just, never agree. After that, we only ever disagreed over each other each time we met. My relationship with Uruwashi Maria was just that bad.
Sending half-hearted presents on each other’s birthdays, we sometimes meet under the name of being fiancés. Although both of us desire to annul the engagement, as long as we’re attending to the School of Flower’s Garden, it remains to be hard.
Maria’s uncle works as the princ.i.p.al. The one who brought up this engagement is his wife, Maria’s aunt so Maria probably can’t do anything for now.
Maria’s aunt is especially formidable against Maria. She’s not the type to allow anyone stand against her. Doing so while still attending to this school will definitely carry trouble. My parents too were eager about this engagement so it’s not very likely they’ll listen to what I say. Day by day I worry and wish for annulment of this engagement to come from Maria’s side.
To marry each other when our compatibility is so off, it’ll be h.e.l.l for the both of us.
And today is the promised day with Maria. I’ve been making excuses recently to avoid meeting her one way or another but we have to meet at least once a year. To us, it was nothing more than duty. Will we have to meet more often once we enter high school I wonder…
Carrying a sense of gloom as I paid my visit to k.u.moruiwashi’s mansion, although discontent, I sat myself in facing the opposite party on the sofa like always. Under normal circ.u.mstances, Maria would be drinking black tea in a bored manner… but for some reason, she held a dumbbell in one hand as she read a book in enthusiasm while using the other. Not only that, the book she was reading was ‘5 Methods to obtain high power output’… What’s she doing.
“That… what is that?”
“…. A book”
I know that much.
“No. Why are you reading such a book?”
I asked, unable to bear the situation. However, unlike usual, Maria replied without ignoring or making a disagreeable face.
“You never know when something might happen. I’m studying to prepare myself in case danger lurks”
So ‘5 Methods to obtain high power output’? No, will that even help?
“And I’ll be troubled if I didn’t have enough strength in those cases, so I’m training to acquire”
… and that’s where the dumbbell came from.
To begin with, there’s not much chance of suggesting such dangerous things to happen. It’s a mystery that Aoi didn’t stop this. Ahh, but in his case, he rarely points out anything Maria does.
High power output and physical strength, what’s this woman aiming to be?
“You, were you such a person?”
“My… what might you mean by such a person? To begin with you only know about 10% of who I am”
10%, that may be true. I never really tried to know Maria as a person. Mutually disagreeing with each other, we only ever talked about what’s necessary.
“A me that you don’t know of, it’s nothing strange now is it?”
“Yeah”
But the Maria today was considerably, a lot weirder.
“But it’s rather off for a lady’s body to train”
“I’m nonchalantly aiming for soft macho at most. It’s fine as long as I stay away from the fat version”
To hear the word macho come from Maria’s mouth was honestly, a surprise. Really, what happened to her? Hit her head?
Although seriously reading the ‘5 Methods to obtain high power output’, the book was readily s.n.a.t.c.hed from the person behind.
“u, wah!?”
“Nee-san, didn’t I tell you to stop doing these things in front of people?”
The person who stole the book was Maria’s brother, Aoi. Even though it’s ‘brother’, he’s the same age, attending to the same the school. We do chat a little if we come across each other.
“B-Because!”
“Not because”
“But!”
“No buts”
These two, were they always like this?
Maria is usually more strong willed, her speech too, it should have been more like a n.o.ble lady’s.
“No matter how self-important, unsociable and difficult that Kuze you hate is, it’s not good to read books while carrying a dumbbell”
“No, wait. You just nonchalantly compromised an insult”
“…. Did I?”
Yes, Aoi was such a guy. He usually doesn’t concern himself much about his surroundings but when his family’s involved, it’s a different matter altogether. He doesn’t seem fond of this relationship where we’re being engaged while disagreeing with one another.
“And nee-san, I feel like the dumbbells have increased since the last time I went to the training room”
“Eh? What that so? It’s strange if that was so… how did they increase? What a mystery”
“Dumbbell purchase prohibition. There’s no point even if you have so many”
“Eeh! But there’s a weird difference in their weight!”
“There, the offender confessed”
“You plotted this!”
What’s this stupid conversation like a light-hearted play? Is this really Maria?
The previous Maria wouldn’t be using a dumbbell to begin with… but I was then reminded of our previous conversation. I really, only saw what was on the surface.
“What?”
Maria looked at me in displeasure as I burst out in laughter. As I thought, you’re the one who changed. I indeed know knowing but if it was the previous Maria, upon my laughter she would have definitely left the place after giving a glare.
“Let me say this, there’s still not enough proof to decide that I was the offender! I’m innocent! The most doubtful person might unexpectedly, not be the criminal!”
To say such a poor excuse that barely another gets is probably the proof of her change… eventually, both the dumbbell and book got confiscated.
In the evening, the pick-up car arrived in k.u.moruiwashi’s mansion. Maria and Aoi saw me off as I entered the car. That Maria is sending someone off… today is really a weird day.
Getting in the car, there sat someone. Well, the fact that there was someone wasn’t all that strange. It became normal for the Kuze household to be visited, today too, I was contacted.
“Maria-sama saw you off right! I too, should have gone and greeted her”
The one saying this absentmindedly was my childhood friend and likewise, cousin, Itsutsuji Kinoa.
“My, Koutarou, was today fun?”
She asked in curiosity as the peered into my face.
“Eh?”
“Because, even though you always return with a sour look on your face, today, it’s more gentle”
“Is that so?”
I have no clue myself.
“So you spent a good time with Maria-sama!”
Kinoa who’s fully supportive of me and Maria’s marriage happily bounced.
For some reason, she always said that if I was to marry someone, if must be Maria as she tried making the two of us get along. I don’t really know well, but Kinoa seems to respect Maria very much. Something like being happy to have such a lady marry her cousin.
Well, today was the first day I wasn’t feeling bored.