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Chapter Three

Tuesday, July 9, early morning.

As Miyuki woke up, she found that her freedom of movement was limited.

She wasn’t bound. She didn’t have experience being tied up, but she knew it wasn’t something like that.

It felt more like she was locked in a narrow cage.

Despite this, she felt no sense of danger – her position felt cozy and pleasant.

Even if she was kidnapped – which was beyond unlikely, with Tatsuya in the same house as her – she was content with her current feeling. It felt familiar; almost like being hugged tightly by her mother.

She started to fall back asleep, but when she had almost fallen back into the garden of dreams, the hold on her suddenly weakened.

“Ah, no.. don’t let me go..”

Miyuki was shocked by her inner voice, which almost seemed to enjoy the suffering of cruel treatment or entrapment.

Her shock and nervousness jolted her awake, and she sat up sharply. Whatever was holding her didn’t stop her from rising.

Miyuki hastily turned around to see what had been holding her.

“Good morning.”

Tatsuya lay next to her.

On the same bed.

In a panic, she turned her back to Tatsuya and heard him get out of bed behind her.

She realized she still hadn’t responded to his morning greeting, but she was far from a state of mind in which she would be able to give a normal answer.

Completely confused, she looked down at her body.

Her negligee was slightly wrinkled, but her belt had not been untied, and her top was still buttoned.

“Ahh..?”

Miyuki sighed, but it was not one of relief – rather, it was one of disappointment. This only served to worsen her embarrassment and her face turned red with shame.

“Sleep well?”

Tatsuya’s voice came from above and behind her. He was already standing up on the other side of the bed.

“Y-yes.. good morning.

Miyuki got her breath in order, stood up, and turned to face Tatsuya. She was ashamed of showing him her red face, but she felt more ashamed of taking so long to return his greetings, so she withheld her embarrassment long enough for her to respond to his second greeting. After her greeting, however, she hung her head in shame, not wanting to raise her head.

While her face was hidden in her hair, Miyuki started to recall the events of late last night just before she and Tatsuya went to bed.

Miyuki, crying in Tatsuya’s arms, fell on the spot, so Tatsuya took her in his arms, carried her to her room, and laid her on the bed.

After he did this, Miyuki woke up, grabbed Tatsuya by the hand, and begged him to please not leave her alone.

As a result, she and Tatsuya slept together.

She spent that night in Tatsuya’s arms.

Miyuki’s face was burning all the way to the tips of her ears. Her nerves were on fire, and she couldn’t even raise her head and show her face at this point.

“It’s still early. You can sleep a little more.”

Tatsuya said this and left Miyuki’s room without asking her about her odd behavior.

When Miyuki left her room, she met Tatsuya in the hallway. He was dressed in a workout suit and walking towards the door.

She was still in her negligee, but she had already put a robe on and brushed her hair, so she was at least somewhat dressed.

“Onii-sama, are you heading to the training room?”

The high-rise building they lived in was built to be the Yotsuba family base in Tokyo, so inside it was a full-fledged training center equipped for training combat personnel.

“Yes. I will go work up a little sweat,” Tatsuya answered without turning around.

Then, suddenly, as if thinking about something, he stopped and turned to face Miyuki.

“Want to come?”

“With you?” Miyuki asked, opening her eyes in surprise after hearing Tatsuya’s invitation.

“Now that you’re in the third year, don’t you have less time to actively move? In addition, there aren’t any training sessions to prepare for the Nine Schools Competition this year, so you have even less chance to exercise.”

Tatsuya seemed serious at first glance, but Miyuki wasn’t fooled by this. His face looked serious, but his eyes were smiling.

There’s a popular phrase describing formal, fake smiles saying that “the smile didn’t reach their eyes,” but in this case, it was the opposite. Tatsuya made a serious face to hide his smile from the joke.

“Whatever do you mean by ‘lack of exercise’?” Miyuki rhetorically asked as she untied the belt around her gown and opened it provocatively wide.

This was, of course, in jest; after all, her negligee was still under her dressing-gown, and it wasn’t made of a transparent material nor did it have a design laying large areas of the skin bare.

“I, too, take care of my beauty and my shape,” Miyuki continued in a joking tone.

In response to Miyuki’s unexpected teasing, Tatsuya smiled wryly.

“However, this is a very rare invitation. It would be rude to refuse. I need to get ready, so please give me a moment.”

After saying this, Miyuki walked to the bathroom with a light step. Her tone made it sound like she agreed reluctantly, but one could understand that she was in a good mood after seeing her walk.

Tatsuya’s slightly bitter smile turned into an ordinary one with sincerity.

Training with Tatsuya helped to distract and change Miyuki's mood such that by the time she came to breakfast, she looked much better than she had yesterday.

At least, that was what Tatsuya thought. He didn’t consider that sleeping together was much more effective than the exercise they had done. He still hadn’t grasped how intense Miyuki’s love was and for how long it had lasted.

“Miyuki, what are your plans for today?”

“My plans for today? The school is closed today, as well, so I have no special plans..”

Miyuki was surprised by the question, and her face showed her suspicion as she answered Tatsuya. She looked him in the eye, as if she was trying to figure out his plan.

Tatsuya slightly hesitated under her gaze, but suggested:

“Then, how about we take a ride?”

“Take a ride?”

Miyuki didn’t quite understand what Tatsuya meant by the question, so she asked for clarification.

“If you would rather relax at home, I’m also fine with that. If that’s the case, I’ll have some rest too.”

After hearing this, Miyuki understood Tatsuya’s intent – to spend the day with Miyuki.

“Onii-sama, I really appreciate your concern,” Miyuki answered with a serious face.

Tatsuya appeared confused after being given such a serious look from Miyuki.

“Onii-sama, please instead devote your time to saving Minami-chan. I don’t think that Minoru-kun will turn Minami-chan into a Parasite against her will, but we can’t say for sure that he won’t make a mistake due to temporary insanity after which salvation will be impossible.”

“..I agree.”

After listening to Miyuki, Tatsuya admitted his plan was na?ve and that Miyuki was right.

“Common mistakes from accidents won’t happen, but if Minami gives up her humanity, salvation will become completely impossible. I will use all my strength to help determine where Minami is hidden.”

Tatsuya still hadn’t finished his breakfast, but he put down his chopsticks and looked at Miyuki.

Miyuki did the same and straightened up to look Tatsuya in the eyes.

“Miyuki, will you help me?”

“If I can help you with something, I will do anything.”

Miyuki said this answer without hesitating.

By the time Minoru woke up, it was already 7 AM. Since in the past, he often spent time in bed, Minoru didn’t have a habit of waking up early to exercise. Other than exercise, he didn’t have any reason to get up in the morning, so he usually got up this late.

He didn’t waste any time being surprised that he woke up in a different room than he had yesterday, so he got up quickly, left his room, washed, and then headed into the dining room.

Suddenly, he froze on the spot, staring at the unexpected picture in front of his eyes.

“Good morning.”

Minami turned to him and said a morning greeting from the table.

“..g-good morning.”

Minoru quickly recovered from his petrification and managed to squeeze out a last moment response to Minami’s greeting.

Minoru hadn’t forgotten about Minami’s presence – he had already thought about her many times this morning. However, he hadn’t expected to see her preparing breakfast in an apron.

Minrou usually remained at a distance from the women surrounding him, so he had very little experience with girls. This only worsened his shock at seeing Minami preparing breakfast.

“Breakfast is ready. Will you eat now?” Minami asked.

“Y-yes, thank you,” Minoru said with a stutter, as if his tongue stung.

“I hope I don’t look inappropriate right now..”

Minoru sat down, anxious about his appearance.

However, Minami’s face showed no sign of surprise or envy at Minoru’s somewhat disheveled appearance. She was more focused on quickly putting rice and soup dishes on the table.

“..enjoy your meal.”

“Yes, thank you for the food.”

Minoru spoke this time without hesitation, seemingly having recovered from his shock. He spoke with a gracious tone and facial expression, having regained his manners.

Minami sat across from him with her arms folded together. As she took her chopsticks, she whispered in a quiet voice, “bon appetit.”

While eating, Minoru barely managed to look away from Minami. When he was younger, he often ate with his older sisters, but seeing a girl his own age eating with him at a dinner table stirred his heart for some reason.

He only managed to focus on eating his food by using his ability as a Parasite to increase his focus.

Like in their dinner the previous night, Minoru and Minami didn’t converse much despite sitting opposite each other. Minoru most often ate at the dinner table alone, so he did not have a habit of enjoying conversation while eating, and Minami generally wasn’t particularly sociable. She had only lived only as a maid just two years ago, so she was used to just grabbing a quick bite to eat in between short work breaks. Their unsociability combined with their awkwardness to almost entirely prevent conversation, and they mainly focused on eating.

The two finished eating and put down their chopsticks after a bit of the awkward atmosphere. Neither of them had brought up Minami’s choice during this breakfast -

Minami because she hadn’t yet made her decision, and Minoru because he didn’t want to seem like he was forcing Minami.

“I’ll go look around a bit,” Minoru said as he got up.

He had finished drinking the tea served to him once he finished eating and wanted to escape the atmosphere. He was still very nervous being around Minami, especially after bringing up his main reason for kidnapping her.

“Okay. Be careful,” Minami responded.”

She felt the same way about the current awkward atmosphere.

”I can’t do anything..” Minoru muttered as he stood on the landing in front of the house, looking towards the sky.

The blue sky Minoru saw covered in bright clouds might not be considered real – it was created by ancient magic of East Asian origin cast 10 meters in the air to give the appearance of sky by scattering electromagnetic waves reflected from Earth’s surface.

This created the effect of white clouds covering the sky, despite it not actually existing.

However, when considering what made the sky real in the first place, one might say that this “fake” sky was just as real as the one people normally saw by the fact that it existed and its perceived appearance was that of a real sky.

When Minoru said he would “look around”, he only meant it as an excuse. While it was important to check the barrier concealing them, he didn’t need to leave the house to do it. What he really wanted was to get “fresh air” and leave the awkward atmosphere.

“I really should have thought about what to do after capturing Minami.”

Minoru complained to himself about his lack of foresight. Minoru had only thought of abducting Minami until yesterday. He was so focused on his desire to talk to Minami in a situation where Tatsuya would not interfere that he hadn’t considered how to go about talking to her once he had the opportunity.

In general, Minoru didn’t regret his focus on the mission. Minoru though very highly of Tatsuya, and in addition to him, Minoru had to get past the Saegusa and Juumonji families as well. Minoru was probably right to devote all his efforts to actual y pulling off his mission. However, now that he had succeeded, he didn’t know what to do with the awkward atmosphere.

Minoru was convinced that Minami’s best choice was to become a Parasite, but he didn’t want to pressure her. He would treat Minami’s opinion with respect, regardless of what it was – if she decided that she wanted to be free, he would even release her back to Tatsuya.

Minoru wasn’t sure why he was willing to go so far just to give Minami an option. He still wasn’t necessarily honest with himself about his feelings, even after facing them for the entirety of the mission. Perhaps this was part of what caused the weird atmosphere in the first place.

Minoru’s opinion was that while turning into a Parasite inevitably changed one’s body, it was a worthy sacrifice to keep one’s magic. Minoru was certain that Minami’s personality would not be eroded. He was confident that even if Minami would struggle to keep her individuality alone, with him there to guide her, she would be able to keep her ego intact.

Minoru’s only course of action to hear Minami’s opinion would be to wait for her to make a decision. He knew that she would be at a loss about what she should choose.

However, he had no idea what to do until she made her decision.

It was only now that Minoru realized just how little he had planned this through.

The house Minami was in looked like it was built about 20 years ago. The kitchen equipment had quality similar to restaurants, but it was all outdated. Despite its age, however, nothing in the house was worn out, as if the entire house was being actively maintained. Perhaps it was being maintained with some sort of magic.

In any case, when she used the equipment, it worked fine. She didn’t run into any issues while cooking. The dish washer worked as well, but Minami chose to do the dishes by hand any way.

She wanted something to distract herself.

Minami sighed, unconsciously stopping. She didn’t use the automated equipment because she didn’t want to focus on the guilt she felt towards Miyuki, but unfortunately the distraction was ineffective and she thought about her actions anyway.

“What does Miyuki-sama think of me now?”

Minoru probably would have been shocked if he looked into her mind. He expected her main dilemma to be her decision, but her choice had essentially disappeared from her mind. She was entirely focused on Miyuki at the moment.

Rather than think about what she should do now – agree to become a Parasite or refuse – Minami’s mind was filled with remorse.

It hadn’t just started now. Minami had been drowning in the depths of regret since yesterday.

“..it was betrayal.

..I betrayed Miyuki-sama.”

If she had been stopped in that moment by Miyuki, Minami would not be suffering so much right now. She didn’t understand her thoughts at that time and looked back with the clarity one has after the events have passed with the knowledge of the effects of their knowledge.

“What was I thinking then?”

Now that Minami had realized the effects of her actions, she couldn’t understand why she acted as she had. This was only helped by the fact that, like Minoru, she wasn’t being honest with herself.

But regardless of her current feelings, Minami had still gone with Minoru after making a split-second decision purely based on her feelings.

In other words, Minami wasn’t thinking then, and that was exactly why Minami couldn’t understand her actions.

Minami decided to try to remember the events right after she stopped Miyuki.

While covering Minoru’s back, she stared at Miyuki as if she were an enemy.

Anyone who saw this would conclude that she had betrayed Miyuki completely.

After all, while looking at her actions, Minami thought so too.

“Forgive me.

Forgive me!

Miyuki-sama, forgive me..!”

Minami begged for forgiveness in her thoughts.

“I did something that can’t be fixed.

How can I ever apologize for that?

How can I compensate for that negligence?”

One by one, negative thoughts arose, reflecting Minami’s desire to be punished.

Unconsciously, Minami must have thought that punishment was a payment for forgiveness.

Minami was so terrified of being abandoned by Miyuki to the point that she could barely function.

The goal of preventing Minoru from abducting Minami had not been achieved, so yesterday, the plan to use Minami as bait in order to capture Minoru had ended in complete failure.

However, this only bothered the Ten Master Clans as much as any failed plan. They didn’t care about Minami – they only saw Minoru’s attempts to kidnap her as an opportunity. They were only after Minoru because his abilities after becoming a Parasite could cause significant social unrest.

Similarly, the Sword Corps of the self-defense forces were hostile to Minoru only because he was the criminal who had killed Kudou Retsu. Their anger was not at all connected to Minami – they hardly cared about that.

The Sword Corps’ anger was especially intense because Minoru was Retsu’s grandson.

Killing a relative was an unforgiveable crime, and after hearing that Minoru was the family member Retsu loved most of all, their desire to avenge him grew even more.

Still, their anger didn’t really matter to the self-defense forces as a whole, and they only gave the go-ahead to send the pursuit squad at Minoru because of his danger to the public. Their motive was the same as the motive of the Ten Master Clans. They targeted him because they judged him to be a threat to the entire state rather than out of personal interest.

Since neither the Ten Master Clans nor the self-defense forces cared about Minami, they weren’t going to stop targeting him just because one plan had failed.

***

July 9, 8 AM.

A platoon of strike infantry stood on alert at the foot of Mount Fuji, only having received a hint about Minoru’s location from the Ten Master Clans.

Chiba Naotsugu and Watanabe Mari were selected as participants in the operation to capture Kudou Minoru, despite still only being students in the Academy of Defense.

They were currently sitting in a conference room at an urgent meeting.

Jul 9, 8:30 AM. Appointed time.

The rear door of the conference room opened, and the commander of the platoon appeared. Naotsugu and Mari stood with the rest of the soldiers and saluted the commander.

The commander sat down at the back, and after a brief introduction, addressed the main topic.

“We have obtained the location of Kudou Minoru from Juumonji Katsuto-dono.”

Naotsugu and Mari heard whispers around them. The squad they were in were called the Sword Corps because the unit was made of magicians who used kenjutsu – magic

skills incorporated into close combat fighting. Since the squad was made of magicians, everyone in the squad naturally knew the names of each of the heads of the Ten Master clans.

In addition, they learned kenjutsu from the Chiba family, which was why Naotsugu and Mari were assigned to this operation despite only having a general respect for Kudou Retsu.

“Yesterday, Kudou Minoru showed up in Chofu. He was last seen on a road in the Sea of Trees.”

After hearing this, the soldiers grew even more angered and their voices grew. They were indignant because of their stained pride.

This platoon of strike infantry was not located in this territory to prevent an invasion of Tokyo, but rather to quickly mobilize after receiving a clue about Minoru’s whereabouts. In addition, the information they had last received about Minoru was that he was allegedly still hiding to the west of the Tokai district, so they didn’t need to be ashamed that Minoru had showed up east of them and slipped past them.

However, their pride was still stained from the fact that they allowed Minoru to enter the capital right under their noses. They weren’t convinced by the excuse that they had a different goal.

The alleged location of his shelter also contributed to the soldiers’ nerves.

The Sea of Trees was located right next to the East Fuji training ground. Minoru seemed to not care at all that the Sword Corps were after him. He might not have even known this unit was looking for him, but this didn’t exactly help their pride –

now they had the inevitable feeling that “he doesn’t amount us to anything.”

“Juumonji-dono didn’t give a definite conclusion that Kudou Minoru is hiding in the Sea of Trees, but based on the data we obtained, the probability that he is located there is quite high.”

At this, the soldiers completely stopped whispering.

Everyone gave the commander their attention.

“Today at 09:30, we will start the search of the Sea of Trees. By the time we start, each participant should know their area of responsibility as well as the search procedure. That’s all.”

The eyes of the soldiers lit up at this development in the search.

At almost the same time that this went on west of Tokyo, there was a major development in the sea east of Kanto.

The USNA’s Independence aircraft carrier should have left the Yokosuka port to return home, but it instead returned to Boso.

In accordance with the US-Japan military alliance, they were joining the battle against the invasion of the New Soviet Union – at least, this was the main point of the message brought to the Japanese government.

Their offer to support in order to fulfill their obligation as part of the alliance wasn’t incorrect, but their failure to express the same intent the day before was.

The government even raised doubts about the seriousness of this offer of assistance, but the most important thing to avoid during a war was isolation. The days of Japan’s isolationism were long gone, and with its current national resources, Japan would not be able to afford a policy of isolationism. In addition, the war was against a great power

– the New Soviet Union – so they couldn’t just ignore or refuse war.

The reason for these thoughts was the outrageous attack on Miyako-jima by vessels affiliated with the USNA Navy.

There were some in the self-defense forces that believe the USNA should be forced to publicly apologize for the attack on Miyako-jima, but only a small minority in the self-defense forces held the opinion that an apology was sufficient. Even the leader of the hawk faction – the main faction of the war – wasn’t seeking an apology.

Invading a foreign territory couldn’t be settled with words alone.

What most of the self-defense forces wanted was damages – rights to resources, consent to unfair and unprofitable trade, diplomatic conditions, etc. They felt it was necessary to demand useful materials and financial apologies that the winner imposes on the defeated as if they didn’t, it would be like an invitation for future invasions – and not just from the USNA.

However, with the current international situation, Japan had to avoid hostile relations with the USNA. If they wanted to demand damages for an attack, Japan had to prepare for hostilities against the USNA. They had no way to do this in the current situation.

Everyone among the higher ranks of the self-defense forces understood this, but the highest shame for any military was being forced to pretend that there was no invasion of sovereign land. Still, in order to conduct military affairs to their advantage, the high ranking officers in the self-defense forces had to restrain their emotions.

Because of this, many executives in the self-defense forces suppressed their feelings of disappointment, and many soldiers felt indignant when the Independence proposed to join the war.

Officers in the 101 Brigade were aware of the invasion of USNA agents turned into Parasites at Zama Base.

Since they were all Parasites, there was a natural connection to the attack on Miyako-jima.

This in turn connected it to the Independence Aircraft Carrier. The transport ship Midway had met the aircraft carrier at sea. They couldn’t be certain that anything other than the ships approaching close to each other had happened, but there was also a lack of evidence proving they weren’t connected.

“Well, Your Excellency Saeki, do you think that the participation of the Independence in the war was an excuse for the agent to infiltrate?”

In the commander’s room of the 101 Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Kazama stood in front of Major General Saeki’s desk with a confused look.

Kazama had phrased his comment as a question, but it was rhetorical. The answer was already known, and he only phrased it as a question because it was customary when inquiring information from a senior officer.

“They’ll act as reinforcements. Even if they don’t open fire, they’ll still pressure the New Soviet Union,” Saeki responded.

“But that isn’t all, is it?” Kazama asked. Once again, he knew the answer, but phrased it as a question.

“Precisely.”

Saeki nodded and let out of a sigh.

“An attack on our territory is never acceptable, even it if it a remote island.

However..”

Saeki hesitated after saying this.

“However..”

Kazama prodded Saeki to continue since her speech ended on a transition.

“It’s hard to deny that we have an element stimulating the USNA. Recently, his behavior is too much even from my point of view.”

“Do you mean the Special Officer – that is, Tatsuya?”

Kazama didn’t hesitate to blurt the name of the person a higher official had blurred the name of.

Saeki sent Kazama a reproachful glare, criticizing him, but she saw no signs of guilt on Kazama’s face and sighed again.

“That’s right.”

She reluctantly admitted that Kazama wasn’t wrong.

“I think Tatsuya has his own valid motives.”

“I’m having trouble following that line of thinking.”

Saeki criticized Kazama’s opinion with a slightly stunned voice.

“Of course Tatsuya has his own motives, but no matter the reason, it isn’t forgivable for an individual to hide an escaped nationally certified Strategic-Class Magician.”

“It’s like someone helping a missile submarine escape,” Kazama said without any emotion.

“Does he real y agree with him, or is he just assenting?”

Saeki tried reading Kazama’s expression, but she couldn’t see through it.

“That’s why I don’t think we can afford overlooking agents jumping about because of it.”

“Precisely, Lieutenant Colonel,” Saeki responded. “When I put forth a request, the Intelligence Department was in the process of preparing surveillance on the Independence.”

“Are you trying to be in the Intelligence Department’s debt?” Kazama asked.

“Your concern is unnecessary. They owe me far more than this.”

Kazama would have whistled if he lacked discipline.

“What do you want from me?”

Instead, Kazama’s reaction was to ask about the contents of the mission.

“If it becomes clear that the agent has landed, then you should quietly incapacitate them,” Saeki responded.

“Quietly, that is,” Kazama said, somewhat sarcastically.

He didn’t say it, but he meant that it would be difficult.

“I understand. However, I think the Intelligence Department will intervene before that.”

“If the Intelligence Department could handle this on their own, I wouldn’t be here.”

Saeki paused, staring at Kazama with a look that seemed to say, “you know what I mean.”

“..don’t let Tatsuya create more problems?”

Kazama went back to phrasing his answers as a question.

“More than that, I don’t want our relations with the USNA to worsen because of the views of private citizens.”

Saeki indicated that she wasn’t just worried about Tatsuya alone.

She didn’t want to allow the Yotsuba any selfishness.