Chapter 184 - Two Pair: The Sword Protector and the Crimson
"...So? Am I right to assume you didn't actually need anything?"
"I didn't call for you in the first place."
I shot a sidelong glance at Chibisu as she feigned ignorance, wondering which mouth had sent the messages, but her crimson eyes paid me no mind, deflecting my gaze.
First, she sends me a desperate 'pay attention to me' message, and then this. I went to all the trouble of returning to the Round Table, and she won't even get up from where she's sprawled out on the tabletop.
She's as willful and whimsical as ever… but it's been about a year and a half since I made the ranks, and I've gotten completely used to my senior pulling these kinds of pranks on me.
—And being used to it means it's not hard to guess what she's generally thinking from her expression.
"You were probably just worried we were going to get into a fistfight or something."
When I voiced my blunt guess, she twitched, unable to hide her reaction. I couldn't help but let out a wry smile at her honest display.
We've known each other for a while now, but in that respect, she hasn't changed a bit.
"We're not you guys. We'd never do something like that."
"What's that supposed to mean? Ri-na-chan and I are always the best of friends."
She says that, but I don't think I'll ever forget the time I got dragged into a ridiculously large-scale fight between them when we had only just met.
It's even been archived under the title "The Great Mi-na Ri-na Brawl." I wish she'd have a little more self-awareness as a ranker—well, I suppose there must be a demand for this kind of thing, seeing as that video has hundreds of millions of views from a certain kind of enthusiast.
"Where did Ri-na go? It's one thing for you to run off, but it's rare for her to be gone."
"She said she's making dinner. Apparently, no one else is home today."
Mi-na says it like it's someone else's problem—which, well, it is.
They have identical appearances and identical voices. Plus, they're together twenty-four-seven, which often leads to misunderstandings, but they're not twins or anything of the sort.
It's surprising enough that their avatars are almost exactly like their real selves… though I hear their appearances in the real world have changed quite a bit in the last three years.
"How was he? My big brother?"
Her voice cut through my thoughts. I looked over to see Mi-na, her cheek squashed against the table, lifting half her face to look at me.
"What do you mean 'how was he'?… It was just as he said. You don't need to worry about tomorrow."
I answered her honestly, but—what's with that irritating "this guy doesn't get it at all" look on her face?
"That's not what I mean… —Was he able to properly become Ui-chan's 'disciple'?"
Ah, so that's what this is about.
"Right… You don't need to worry about that anymore, either."
"I see."
When I nodded, Mi-na pushed herself up with both hands and—
"Were you finally able to have your heart properly broken?"
—she declared, with a playful tone.
"Hah… How many times do I have to tell you? I've never seen my teacher in that—"
"Yeah, yeah, I've heard enough of that."
It's not enough at all. I tried to argue, but her eyes were glaring at me annoyingly, as if to say, "I'm not listening to any more of your excuses."
"You fell in love at first sight, jumped into the same world on a whim, went straight to meet her, became her student, got completely absorbed, wanted to stand beside her… and because you didn't want to let her be all alone, you're willing to give her a disciple. You care about her that much, don't you?"
"I won't deny it, but that's—"
"You can say it's not love or romance all you want, but you treasure her that much, right? She's an important person to you, isn't she?"
"…I won't deny that, either."
"And I already know. That you were in love with Ui-chan, I mean."
"…"
Glaring at her a little more intensely unfortunately had no effect.
"More accurately, you were in love with her, weren't you? You probably shouldn't underestimate a girl's intuition about things like that."
…If there had been even a hint of teasing in her voice or in her eyes, it would have been easier to deal with.
But once she takes off the mask of her carefree roleplay, this girl—who can be, at times, more serious than her partner—never lets me escape in moments like these.
"…Ah… Good grief."
Resigned to the fact that there was no escape, I sank deeper into my chair and closed my eyes. I heard the sound of a light body stepping on the floor, and then felt a slight pressure against my back through the chair.
"So… are you okay?"
"Needless to say. I moved past that a long time ago."
"No jealousy? Really?"
"None. And even if there was, it would be a trivial thing, barely visible beyond everything else."
"I see."
"That's right."
It's just as I told Haru directly. It's all my true feelings; there's not a single lingering doubt.
"So you really don't feel any resentment toward him, either?"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
No matter how many times she asks, the answer I can give won't change.
"There's nothing like that. Delivering a disciple to my teacher… I was truly saved by that."
"…Is that so."
Her dissatisfied tone hinted at the words to come, and—
"Liar. A former competitor… there's no way you wouldn't feel the sting of defeat."
To the girl who had so directly stepped into his heart, Irori didn't get angry—he just let out a weary laugh.
"…What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing… just that a 'girl's intuition' isn't infallible, that's all."
She was right. He knew that if he looked, there was an endless well of unspoken regret.
But, as he had said before, it was also a fact that other, positive emotions—like expectation, gratitude, and joy—were far stronger.
Swallowing it down wasn't difficult.
And to never speak of it—
"That's what you call a man's pride."
He opened his eyes, gave a fearless smile to no one in particular, and declared it with as much swagger as he could muster…
"…So lame."
From the other side of the chair, he was met with a laugh of exasperation.