kscans

Chapter 190 - Parent and Child

The arrival of the Busujima couple seemed to freeze the air.

They must have noticed, but the couple approached without hesitation, their faces beaming with a good-natured friendliness.

"It's been a while since we've really talked like this, Aika. Are you feeling alright?"

"Your father and I have been so busy. We're sorry, sweetie. Are you getting along well at school?"

"...Yes. I'm fine."

Aika-san replied in a flat voice, her expression grim.

Undaunted, the Busujima couple turned their gaze toward the rest of us.

"And you must be our daughter's friends? It's a pleasure. Thank you for always looking after her."

"Our daughter can sometimes say the strangest, most poetic things. I hope she hasn't been a bother?"

"Not at all. In fact, we are always in Aika-san's debt. She is a calm and loyal person, and a very reliable friend."

Erina-san took a step forward, positioning herself between Shizuku-san and the Busujima couple.

In her 'proper lady' mode, the couple's smiles deepened.

But... hmm? Something feels off. It's like they're being wary...?

"Is that so! Well, as a parent, I'm relieved to hear our daughter has formed such strong friendships."

"That's wonderful to hear. Oh, I've been remiss. My name is Rinzaki Erina, and I have the pleasure of being Aika-san's friend."

"Oh, how very polite of you. I'm Aika's father, Busujima Tatsuhiko."

"And I'm her mother, Busujima Hanae."

"Tatsuhiko-san, Hanae-san. It's an honor to meet you both. However, it is a shame."

Erina-san's gentle smile suddenly shifted to a troubled expression.

At the change, the couple's shoulders twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Our class attraction just ended moments ago. It's a pity; I would have loved for you both to enjoy it."

"Ah, ahh. I see."

"We're very disappointed as well, but we can't expect special treatment just because we're her parents. We'll look forward to next year!"

—Hmm?

"I'm relieved to hear you say that. Please, do come to next year's festival as well."

"Yes! Of course, we will!"

On the surface, the three of them were having a pleasant conversation, but behind Erina-san, Shizuku-san's sharp eyes were narrowed even more than usual, and Aika-san's own eyes were clouded over.

What is this atmosphere...?

"...Father. Mother. Everyone is tired after finishing the attraction. Please, let's leave it at that for today."

"Ah, right. That might be for the best. Well then, at least take this."

With that, Aika-san's father... Tatsuhiko-san, pulled an envelope from his pocket.

"What's this?"

"Well, you see, my company has recently started handling products for adventurers."

"Father...?"

"—I see. I will take a look."

Aika-san stared at her father with disbelief, as if she'd realized something. Erina-san, on the other hand, showed no outward signs of surprise—as expected—and took out the contents of the envelope.

Peeking from behind her, I could see it was a flyer for dungeon exploration gear.

"With dungeon-related incidents on the rise these days, we at our company have been racking our brains, trying to find a way to contribute to society. And so, we thought, why not try to help all of you adventurers?"

"We've gathered opinions from various adventurers and used them to develop a range of products. What do you think? As a token of our gratitude for all you've done for our daughter, we'd like to gift you any of the items listed here."

"Of course, we know that alone isn't enough. At a later date, we will also-"

"That's enough!"

Aika-san's shout cut off the Busujima couple's rapid-fire speech.

An aura of ferocity, unimaginable from her usual calm demeanor, radiated from her. With the faint glint of tears in the corners of her eyes, Aika-san glared fiercely at her own parents.

"A-Aika?"

"...Calm down. Your father and I are just talking to your friends-"

"You mean the [Invisible Ninjas], don't you? Not my friends."

"W-Well..."

Overwhelmed by Aika-san's anger, or perhaps the mana she was unconsciously releasing, the couple took a step back.

By the way, it's really hard to react when you drop that name in the middle of a serious scene. Can we please change it?

"You always treat me like I don't exist...! But as soon as you find out my friends are the [Invisible Ninjas] who are all over the news, you show up like this? Don't... Don't be so pathetic...!"

"P-Pathetic? How dare you say that! You're still living under your parents' roof!"

"I can support myself now! I have nothing to do with either of you!"

"A-Aika, calm down. We didn't approach Rinzaki-san just because she's part of the [Invisible Ninjas], you know?"

"If not for the [Invisible Ninjas], then what!? Because Erina-san's parents run a trading company? Or because her grandmother was once British nobility? Either way, you're just using me to make more money!"

"That's enough! You have no idea how much weight the name [Invisible Ninjas] carries in the world right now to be saying such things!"

"So it is about the [Invisible Ninjas]! What do you think your daughter is to you!?"

"You just said you had 'nothing to do' with us! And besides, the [Invisible Ninjas] are—!"

Um... can we stop repeating '[Invisible Ninjas]'?

The tonal whiplash is killing me. I just can't take this seriously when such a stupid name is mixed into a serious conversation.

Oh? You're wondering how I can stay so calm while being dragged into a family fight?

...After hearing about the Arisugawa family's drama, most parent-child squabbles don't even faze me anymore.

"That's enough! We are speaking with the [Invisible Ninjas]. Aika, you will step back! We will listen to what you have to say later!"

"Oh, really! If you want to talk to the [Invisible Ninjas] so badly, then don't use my name! You people aren't my parents—!"

Oh.

"Excuse me!"

On instinct, I forcefully interrupted Aika-san's words.

My voice came out louder than I expected, and everyone present turned to look at me.

A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead. The noise of the cultural festival seemed to fade into the distance.

"W-What is it? Um, and you are...?"

"Ah, h-hello. My name is Yagawa Kyouta. I'm, uh, friends with Aika-san..."

"Yagawa... could you be the famous 'Ace of the Invisible Ninjas'!?"

What is that? I really, really want to deny it.

Sensing it would only complicate things, I just offered a vague smile to deflect. Not that they could probably see it under the face guard.

"My apologies for my appearance. I'm cross-dressing as part of our attraction."

"I-I see. My apologies."

"I thought you were just some unaffiliated model..."

Why would an unaffiliated model be here? The Busujima couple is clearly flustered.

...Yeah, they are. They're definitely flustered.

I stared at their mana with my [Spirit Eye], carefully choosing my words.

"Um, first of all, I'd like to say something."

"Y-Yes. What is it?"

Under my face guard, I took a slow, deep breath.

"If you're thinking, 'My daughter is close to a dangerous organization and I'm worried,' it would be much quicker to clear up the misunderstanding if you just said so from the start..."

"Eh?"

Aika-san looked at me, stunned, as if I had said something completely unexpected.

Next to her, the couple's cheeks twitched in a flicker of agitation, a reaction I didn't miss.

I'm over here, braced for social suicide by cross-dressing for this festival. I want to check out the other class attractions, so I'm not in the mood to drag this out.

Let's wrap this up. Quickly.

The self-proclaimed ninja, who had probably figured everything out long ago, was just smiling and holding back Shizuku-san, who was rolling up her sleeves.

Apparently, she wants me to handle this. I wonder what's going through her head.

I let out a small sigh and pushed the conversation forward.

"W-What are you talking about? We would never think that about the [Invisible Ninjas]—"

"There are a lot of conspiracy theories about us online, but first of all, they are completely baseless. Of course, I don't believe you came to that conclusion based solely on internet rumors."

I pushed on forcefully, fully aware of my rudeness.

They interrupted my first and most important high school cultural festival. I think I'm entitled to a little payback.

"The purely circumstantial evidence and... this attraction. You actually came in disguise, didn't you? I admit, twisting space and having a golem attack people is probably overkill for a high school festival. You might have thought we weren't just ordinary Awakened."

Partway through, we started guiding multiple groups at once instead of one by one, so I don't remember who came and when, aside from people I knew.

However, I sensed a 'lie' from the Busujima couple during their conversation with Erina-san. They probably wore fake beards or wigs and went through the tour in disguise.

Don't underestimate such a crude disguise. It's surprisingly easy to fool people with something that simple. As expected, their mana wavered again at my words.

Being able to tell this much... is this what it means for a skill's proficiency to increase?

"We took safety precautions, but... seeing this, you must have thought, 'Maybe those rumors are true.' So you panicked and decided to act the part of 'parents trying to use their daughter's connections'."

"Kyouta-kun...? What are you-"

"Just listen, please."

I turned to the confused Aika-san with a bright customer-service smile.

Yes, a customer-service smile. I can't talk to adults I've just met without some kind of mask. I was just dealing with customers, after all. I'll just power through in work mode.

"This is just my guess, but you were thinking, 'My daughter is hanging out with an armed group with some shady rumors,' and 'But they're also a legal group, so I should check them out first.' And after seeing our attraction, you thought, even for a moment, 'Maybe the rumors were true'."

In truth, we did go too far with this attraction.

Erina-san said, 'Let's go all out,' and the rest of us got caught up in the fun. Except for the cross-dressing. I fought that to the very end.

But as for whether it was appropriate for a high school event... we might have gotten a little too carried away.

I regret that we shouldn't have used our powers as Awakened so freely for an event like this.

"A group that overturns conventional wisdom and does things similar to the rumored 'Atlantis'. You don't believe all the rumors yet, but you'd still prefer your daughter to keep her distance from the [Invisible Ninjas]."

Aika-san's father is what you'd call 'new money,' and he's apparently very invested in his children's education.

I shouldn't judge based on that alone, but his mindset has probably shifted to being more defensive. He's likely become more cautious than he was in his youth. The type to not poke a sleeping bear.

I raised my index finger in front of my face guard.

"So, didn't you both think something like this? 'That's it. Let's act like annoying parents and make them think that continuing a relationship with our daughter is too much trouble.' Even if that fails and our daughter becomes more devoted to the [Invisible Ninjas], we can market ourselves as useful assets to investigate their shady side."

"..."

"And... I guess your minds didn't go as far as assassination. After all, this is peaceful Japan, aside from monsters and groups like [Turohorse]."

"...!?"

The moment the word 'assassination' left my lips, the couple, Aika-san, and Shizuku-san all stared at me in shock.

Hey, I wouldn't do that. The [Invisible Ninjas] isn't a secret society in the first place.

As if a real secret society would have such a moronic name.

"Anyway! I've arbitrarily deduced that you were worried about something like that. Based on that, I'll say this. We are just an adventurer party. We have no shady connections like you're worried about, and we've never been involved in any violence against people."

I have stopped a kidnapper's car, but those guys were just waving around airsoft guns.

Though they were perverts.

"That's all. That's all I have to say. The rest of you should talk it out properly as a family."

With that, I turned to go get changed.

...Ah. Wait, didn't I give my uniform to Erina-san?

I tried to ask her in a hushed voice, but she completely ignored me. Hey now.

"...Is it, is it true? What he just said."

"...It is."

As Tatsuhiko-san answered awkwardly, Aika-san let out a deep sigh.

"After all this time you've been afraid of my curse and everything."

"That... I'm sorry. We were panicking too..."

"When we calmed down, we knew you wouldn't do something like that... but by then, we didn't know what to say to you..."

"So your solution was to tear apart a friendship based on a misunderstanding? What kind of unsolicited help is that?"

"I'm sorry. But, we did it because we were thinking of you-"

"That's what's annoying. You should have talked to me about this beforehand. ...We're family, after all."

"...You're right."

The awkward atmosphere lingered, but the explosive tension from before had dissipated.

Shizuku-san had even unrolled her sleeves and was now just watching quietly. By the way, Erina-san. My clothes?

"—I... can't usually talk with my parents."

"Erina-san?"

Still in her proper lady mode, she took a step toward the Busujima family.

"I know it's because they're busy with work, but I still feel lonely. Reason and logic have nothing to do with these things. Time with family is irreplaceable."

"...Yes."

The Busujima couple nodded with solemn expressions.

This girl, she just swooped in and took the best part...! How does she think I was able to see through the couple's plan so easily?

It's because it was all stuff we covered in the Arisugawa cram school!

The Professor taught us tricks for thinking from the other person's perspective, saying it would be useful once we entered society. I'm still a novice, but even with my half-baked skills, I figured this much out.

There's no way Erina-san, who's been learning from him for years, didn't know...! She just pushed all the annoying parts onto me, didn't she!?

"Therefore,"

Erina-san slowly closed her eyes for a moment.

"Let's all go check out the festival together! Yes, let's do that!!"

"Huh?"

At her sudden switch back to her usual self, the Busujima couple let out a dumbfounded sound.

"If that's decided, then no time like the present! Time is money! Ninjas are swift! Follow me with ninja speed!!"

"Ah, umm?"

"Both of you. This is my friend. This is the real Erina-san."

"Th-This is one of the [Invisible Ninjas]...?"

No need to be surprised. What did you expect from a member of an organization with such a stupid name?

I stepped in front of Erina-san as she was about to actually start running, holding out my hands.

"Wait. Please, just wait. My clothes first. My clothes."

"There's no time for that, Kyo-chan! We won't be able to see anything else at this rate!"

"I'll change quickly. I'll be ready in forty seconds. So please, have mercy...!"

"First up, the yakisoba stand! The [Invisible Ninjas] will follow my lead!"

"Roger."

"What!?"

Why are you casually raising your hand, Shizuku-san!? You're not even in our party! Your eyes aren't smiling, you harassing dwarf!

"Alright, Kyo-chan..."

"Y-You understand...!"

"But you see, today is a festival!"

"This outfit isn't a festival happi coat or anything!"

"You know what they say, Kyouta. Shame at a festival is meant to be cast aside."

"They don't say that! That's 'shame on a journey'!"

"Well, seriously though. We're already running way behind schedule. Thanks to that flat-chested, anvil-headed chuunibyou over there."

"Who are you calling an anvil, you little short-stack...!?"

"Oh yeah? You wanna go, punk? What middle school you from!?"

"Are you a Showa-era delinquent!?"

"Alright. Let's settle this at the ring toss over there. Winner gets treated to yakisoba."

"Fine by me. I'll make it crystal clear who's on top!"

"Ring toss, huh? When do we... I'll join too-"

"You're not part of the bet."

"Erina-san, you'll compete with Kyouta-kun."

"Noooo—"

"My pants...! If not that, then at least my underwear back...!"

Ignoring my desperate cries, the three of them started to move. The Busujima couple stood there, stunned.

Aika-san turned back to them.

"...So. Are you really going to go around with us?"

"...Yeah. If your friends are okay with it."

"Of course I'm okay with it! A friend's family is a friend!"

"Me too... well, I guess it's fine. It's a little complicated, but I still think you guys, as a family, need to talk more."

"...Yeah. I agree."

Honestly, it's awkward and I'd rather not, but the atmosphere doesn't really allow me to say that.

This is democracy...!

"Alright, let's move out!"

"Hey, Aika. Is this person really always this energetic...?"

"Yes. This is pretty much how she always is."

And so, the six of us ended up touring the cultural festival together.

Perhaps because our attraction had monopolized a lot of the customers, the crowds showed no sign of thinning out even though it was already the afternoon.

In fact, over on the grounds, our homeroom teacher was standing in front of our event tent, desperately shouting, "Today's experience tour has concluded! Please look forward to next year, next year!" ...Maybe I should go thank him later.

We got excited over the ring toss. We found the mushy yakisoba to be surprisingly delicious. We went to see the magic club's performance and somehow ended up watching a comedy duo. We went to the shooting gallery only to find all the prizes were already gone.

As we spent the time playing around, I felt that the distance between the Busujima parents and their daughter had shrunk, just a little... just a tiny bit.

I'm sure it's not a problem that can be solved overnight. And Aika-san has an older brother and sister, so they'll need to talk with them too.

Still... at the end, when we all decided to take a picture together, I felt like that family was looking at it with a fond affection.

Unfortunately, these eyes can't tell anything beyond lies and truth. So I'll just assume they've taken a step forward.

That being said.

"Man, that was fun!"

"It was. By the way, Erina-san."

"Hm? Oh, time to clean up the tent, right? I know, Kyo-chan!"

"No, before that, I just wanted to tell you something."

I gripped her shoulder firmly.

Ordinarily, I might feel a flutter in my chest at her delicate, slender shoulder. But right now, I have a much stronger emotion.

"You're going to regret this later...!"

"Pye."

You will know the wrath of one who was forced to cross-dress for an entire day.

I was photographed, hit on, and given mysterious thumbs-ups by the cross-dressing boys all day long.

My mental fortitude was audibly chipped away. How could I let this grudge go unavenged...!

"I-I'm sorry, Kyo-chaaan! I just thought, you know? It's a festival, so I wanted to help you get closer to everyone and—"

"No excuses. I will be retaliating in some form later, so be prepared."

"Formal language!? Please don't use formal language!"

"What are you two doing?"

"Ahaha... Well, it's good that they're close."

You two girls over there are acting like this has nothing to do with you, but I've already marked you down as accomplices...!

To avenge the humiliation of cross-dressing, I went to clean up the event tent with a fire of rage burning in my chest. And to change clothes.

And so, the long day came to a close. A busy day, filled with fun, hardship, and resentment.

This day, with all its gains and losses, would probably become a good memory in the future.

But, however. Whenever I remember this day, I will also associate it with a certain 'record'.

—The next day. While the heat of the cultural festival had yet to cool.

"The SDF's Otherworld Dispatch Plan."

The plan announced by the Prime Minister's own mouth threw the public into an uproar, for better or for worse.

The world keeps turning, without a care for what we think. The gears never stop.