Infinite Stratos - Volume 4, page 8
(Wer-Were we seen by Ichika? At a time when I wasn't like a girl at all!)
(W-Wa-Was I seen!? When I was in that fluttery dress!?)
Ichika's words became lost to them, as both of them covered their faces because they remembered their work today. They even thought of going crazy.
"Also, when I went to that @Cruise shop, there were a bunch of police and media, so I went in thinking that it was something. Then I saw that lively female shopkeeper giving cookies to the customers involved in the incident. She probably thought that I was one of them and gave one bag to me. I wanted to clarify, but she disappeared. It seemed that she was running around, saying that the main office would come over to investigate or something like that. It's strange, isn't it?"
"Uu, yeah, that-that's right?"
"What-What incident?"
Laura's secretly praying that he may have went to another shop. It was her last hope, but it didn't happen.
"There were bank robbers, I guess. It's been really messy recently."
""...""
"Then, I heard the reporters saying that some bishoujo maid and bishounen butler dealt with it smoothly. It really felt like something that would happen in movies or serials."
"That-That's right."
"Ye-Yeah."
"But since they're so great, I really want to see them..."
Both of them jumped on hearing his words. Maybe they thought too much, but they did feel that the cat ears on their pajamas straightened as well.
(Uu...but I knew I should have put on that maid outfit...)
(But I don't have the guts to say that it's us...)
Both of them harbored such thoughts, and missed the chance to admit it.
"I'll brew tea. Want some cookies?"
Saying that, Ichika walked towards the simple kitchen in the room.
"Ah, no need! I'll prepare it, just sit down, Ichika."
"Hm? But your hands can't do it now, right?"
On hearing Ichika's words, Charlotte and Laura realized that they're still wearing cat paws.
"These are cocoa cookies. And now that we have two kittens, want some hot milk?"
"Huh, ah, yeah!"
"We-We'll leave it to you then."
Both of them blushed as they were called 'kittens', and could only blush and nod their heads.
"The-Then, Ichika, are these clothes, cute?"
Charlotte couldn't help but ask, and even after asking, she couldn't help but fiddle with her fingers nervously.
"Yeah, I find them cute. One black and one white made it cuter. It really matches you two."
"I-I see. Ehehe, it suits me, ha, ufufu."
"Since, since you say so...then, it's not a bad thing to wear this once in a while."
Both of them were embarrassed and excited. Soon, Ichika quickly served up the hot milk and cookies.
It was a summer night, but they were drinking hot milk. The trio held a secret tea party.
An inexplicable tea party with a black cat, a white cat, and a prince.
Chapter 3: A Midsummer Night's Dream
(It hasn't changed at all......)
August, it's the O-bon festival holiday. During this weekend, I —— Shinonono Houki —— have come to a certain shrine.
A certain shrine——in fact, it's......the Shinonono shrine, and it was where I lived before I transferred, and also where I was born.
(It really hasn't changed.)
The wooden planks in the kendo dojo are the same as in the past. From the information I had received, it was someone who had retired from police who opened that kendo dojo with good intentions.
That same person said to the kids 'Kendo starts with a ritual, and ends with a ritual', and so asked them to keep the equipment and the dojo in a good state, and it was a really good thought.
(Now, there are more and more people in the dojo, not like in the past, when there were only me, Chifuyu-nee and Ichika.)
Houki looked at the wooden doorplate, and began to immerse herself in her memories.
"I will definitely win today!"
"Fuun!"
"Daaaaahh!"
*Bing!* *Bang!*
"T-Tomorrow I'll definitely win!"
"Fuun! I don't know when the day you win will come!"
............
(No, wait, was I such an annoying brat? Also, do I only have memories concerning kendo? Don't I have some kind of better memories......)
Even if she thought about it over and over, she still couldn't find those kind of memories.
(It-It's impossible, after all my memories can't all concern kendo, it......is unlikely.)
Houki took out her student handbook, and took out a picture inserted in it.
In the picture Ichika and Houki were wearing a kendo uniform——it was a picture full of memories.
——In fact beside Houki, there was also Tabane, and on Ichika's side was Chifuyu, but Houki folded the two sides of the picture, leaving them covered.
In fact Rin too had folded her picture into a two-people picture. Ichika's childhood friends are alike in some weird facets.
"Houki-chan, so you're here!"
"Y-Yes?"
With her voice suddenly going an octave higher, Houki immediately hid her student handbook behind her, and turned her head.
In front of her was a woman in her 40s, near 50, who had a calm temperament conforming to her age, and her face showed a warm smile.
"Since I've been missing this place, I've returned. I'm sorry, aunt Yukiko."
"Ara, it's fine, after all you've lived here before, anyone else would like to come back to pay a visit."
Her face was showing a sincere smile——it was an expression of pure happiness.
Houki had never been scolded by her aunt. Even if she did something wrong, her aunt still wouldn't scold her.
"Then, you should know what you did wrong, don't you? Then it's fine just like that."
Whenever her aunt simply said that, Houki would feel ashamed.
After learning how to change her bad points by herself, Houki became someone who didn't need to be pampered.
"By the way, is it really OK? For you to come to prepare for this summer's festival."
"Would, would that give you trouble?"
"Of course not, I'm very happy to welcome you! But Houki-chan, you hardly get vacations, don't you have some boy you want to date?"
"Th-That......"
Houki suddenly blushed, and Ichika's silhouette naturally surged in her head.
Seeing her reaction, aunt Yukiko seemed to know the answer to that and laughed a bit.
"Then, since you've already come here, I won't go easy on you! At 6 o'clock you'll have to do the Kagura dance,[4C 1] so please go and wash yourself first."
"Yes!"
The O-Bon festival in the Shinonono shrine, if you classify the strictness, then it'd be Shinto, though it was more for the Earth god's heritage. That was why, not only in the New Year, but also during the O-Bon festival that the Kagura dance must be performed. [4C 2]
That kind of dance is to worship the spirits who return to this world as well as the gods who take them here, and at the same time it's also the reason why the 'Shinonono school' evolved into swordsmanship in the past.
Though the exact historical records had disappeared because of the wars, and the cause wasn't clear, but it seemed that there were women who could use swords in this shrine, and moreover, in the end, it was a place of 'ancient lore'.
After Houki moved, her relatives also took over the management like this.
(It hasn't changed at all.)
Houki, who was in the changing room, started yearning for the place where she lived in the past.
After that, she couldn't help but think of the reason why she left this place.
(If it wasn't that person who invented IS......)
Had it not been like that, she would have stayed here.
——And she would have stayed with Ichika forever.
".................."
She was showing a stern expression while undressing, and after her hand felt 'that' on her left wrist, she stopped.
'That' was a red ribbon, about a centimeter wide, twisted, and with golden and silver rings in the front, being a perfect pair——that was [Akatsubaki] in its standby mode.
(Though, the one who gave me this......)
After her little sister asked the first time, her elder sister pleasantly answered her.
Whenever she thought that, she could feel pleasure surging from the bottom of her heart, and forget those hateful memories.
(I......what the hell am I thinking......)
Is it to forgive her?
Is it to reject her?
(......I don't know......)
I don't know, I really don't know.
Houki felt that maybe the two were right, and the two were wrong.
(......Anyway, I'll think about her after the bath.)
Before the divine dance, to perfectly purify the body, the river water or the well water should be used, but concerning that point, it's really arbitrary——the people are more like 'So the festival can continue, we can close our eyes on this'.
And for this, the Shinonono shrine's purification, only taking a bath would be fine.
Houki entered the bathroom with only the red bracelet on her.
When Houki was young, the bathroom had been upgraded so it's all made of hinoki cypress, and it wouldn't lose to the hot springs during the seaside school last month.
Though she doesn't know how spacious is the inn's bath, but at least, four people can extend their legs in the bath.
"Huaa......"
Immersing herself in the bath she hasn't used for years, she thought that it was just as comfortable as in the past.
The bath's water was just a bit hotter than normal warm water, and it suited Houki's taste.
When she extended her body in the water, small splashing sounds were made, and she felt very comfortable.
(As I thought, a bath is really the best......)
The hot water ran over her delicate skin, with feelings of comfort and gentleness running over her body.
As she was going to happily accept these sensations, she suddenly thought of the things that happened last month.
"............"
The time that she spent with Ichika on the seashore, at night.
While thinking that their lips had almost met, her fingertips slightly touched her own.
(Had it continued like that......)
They would have kissed——for sure.
"............"
And as if she wanted to hide the fact that she was blushing, Houki plunged in the bath, with the water arriving to the level of her lips.
After that, since she couldn't bear the feelings of joy, which couldn't be expressed into words, surging from the depth of her heart, the sighs she was making, like that, became bubbles in the bath.
(Th-That, does it mean, that it's like this? I-Is it really like this? I-I-Ichika also loves me, so-so-so it means, that both of us are in love with each other......AAAHHHH!)
Even her ears and her forehead became completely red, and Houki created many bubbles around her neck.
After that, for maybe a minute or two, maybe even ten minutes after that, she was in that state. Suddenly, she surged out of the water because she didn't have oxygen remaining in her, and stood up.
"Aaaaaahhhh!"
She was happy and embarrassed, but......she really loves him.
These feelings in her heart continuously flowed, and made Houki show an unexplainable angry face. Of course, her cheeks weren't red due to the hot water, but due to other matters.
(N-No! I'll act as normal, as if nothing happened, today my job is to act as a shrine maiden, I must delete the distractions in my mind.)
And again, she got back into the water, and began making bubbles again.
"............"
After that, it had actually been fifty minutes later that Houki left the bath.
◆
"Come, it's good, now like this, the preparations are finished."
Wearing the white shirt and dress that were used for the dance, the Houki with golden ornaments looked way more mature than usual; like that, her body was emitting a mysterious aura, and she was beautiful enough to make people hold their breath.
"Can you use the rouge by yourself?"
"Yes, I can, I've already used it before."
"Ah, right, Houki-chan has danced the divine dance since she was young. Hnn~~you were cute at that time too."
"For w-what happened before......"
"Oh, haha, I'm really sorry, it's always like that when you are older."
To cover her face which had an embarrassed expression, Houki used the fingertip of her little finger to take a bit of rouge on a plate and color her lips. To not use the lipstick nowadays, but instead using the rouge like in the past, is also this shrine's habit.
(......OK.)
After checking on her mirror whether she had put the rouge well, Houki was satisfied.
She thought that back then, no matter what her mother would do, she stubbornly wanted to do the divine dance.
Though it was really embarrassing, but compared to this, she would rather concentrate herself on the image of her that the mirror was reflecting.
(Aunt Yukiko's make-up skills are really good, the one the mirror is reflecting really looks like someone else. It looks almost like——)
A princess from somewhere.
When that word came into her mind, Houki's cheeks turned red again.
(Re-Recently, it seems that I've been getting too ahead of myself...)
And she knew the reason behind it.
"..."
Houki coughed slightly for a bit to make her expression look stern again.
Seeing Houki like this, aunty took the sacred sword from the altar.
"Speaking of which, Houki-chan. You never took this alone. Just the fan, right?"
"I-I can handle it now!"
And like what Houki said, she immediately pulled the sword out from the sheath. She wielded the sword with her right hand, and the fan with the left hand.
This sword and fan combination originated from the move 'One sword one flash'[4C 3], and even till now, it's one of the signature moves of the Shinonono sword style.
Even so, this doesn't mean that a fan must be used. The weapon in the left hand must 'Receive', 'Sink' and 'Manipulate', while the right hand must 'Cut', 'Sever' and 'Penetrate'. In other words, it's more like a defensive 'nitoryuu' style. In other styles, it's also called a 'Grove nitoryuu'.[4C 4]
"Swing the fan for me, Houki-chan. Aunty only saw you swing it when you were young."
"Ah, okay. I'll treat it as a little practice then."
Houki sheathed the sword back and put it at her belt. The way she did it looked like a samurai sheathing his sword instead of a divine dance. But this would be an accurate description, since she is of the Shinonono line after all.
"I'm starting."
Houki flipped out the fan that was folded up.
The bells on each end of the fan gave a ring, *shiian*...a solemn tone.
It's now practice, but Houki, who's doing the divine dance, gave an aura that feels like she was on stage, seemingly making everyone around her calm down.
She swayed the fan left and right, squatted down halfway before drawing the sacred sword.
Then, the blade of the sword followed the fan as it slashed the air.
Right now, she looked like a real 'Sword Miko' that possessed dignity and calmness, and Houki, who got a lot more prettier than when she was young, naturally gave such a presence.
"...That's it for practice."
"Well! Well well well! Amazing, Houki-chan! You practiced often after you left here, right?"
"Huh, yeeah...sort of...well, I am a miko after all..."
Seeing her aunt smile happily like this, Houki looked embarrassed as she said that.
But she would definitely not tell Ichika about this.
Houki had some bad memories about doing childish things.
(I got laughed at by guys before...)
At that time, Ichika looked really dashing when he stepped up. Though the first impression he gave was rather poor, after that incident, Houki had a better view of Ichika's attitude.
So she didn't want Ichika to know.
In the past, Ichika was angry because 'So many boys ganged up on a girl', and not because that 'Houki got humiliated'.
If Ichika said to her 'You're not suited to do feminine things', it wouldn't just be a mental trauma.
In the worst case scenario, she may end up crying on scene—
Thinking about this, Houki felt that she must not let Ichika see her perform the divine dance, so she didn't invite him along.
(Besides, that guy's always like that. He won't come here even if he remembers that it's the summer festival today. He'll definitely feel that it's troublesome or something and stay around at home.)
Thinking about this, Houki realized that she wasn't interested now.
(Ar-Arghhh! Anyway! Ichika won't come here! So I just need to focus on the dance!)
◆
"Yo."
"..."
"You've been working hard."
Ichika, he's here.
(WAIWAIWAIWAIWAIT A MINUTE! THAT'S WEIRD! WAY TOO WEIRD! WHY DID ICHIKA APPEAR HERE AFTER I FINISHED THE DIVINE DANCE AND CHANGED INTO THE MIKO OUTFIT TO SEAL THE SHRINE'S CHARMS!?)
As her mind was in too much of a mess, Houki tried to replay what she did in the past few minutes again and again in a very dazed manner, and then checked the current situation again.
"Speaking of which, you're amazing. I was shocked to see you like that."
(Am I dreaming? Something impossible just happened. Maybe I'm just dreaming.)
"And, also...very pretty."
"WH--!?"
Houki immediately blushed, and her face was so red that it wouldn't to lose the red hakama.
(U-U-UUU!? I-I-I WAS JUST DREAMING! THA-THAT ICHIKA WOULD-WOULDN'T SAY SUCH THINGS TO ME! THAT'S RIGHT, IT MUST BE LIKE THAT! IT'S JUST A DREAM, JUST A DREAM!)
"THIS MUST BE A DREAM!"
"Wha-What's wrong?"
Shocked by the sudden raising of voice, Ichika asked back in a somewhat weak manner.
"THIS MUST BE A DREAM. I'M DEFINITELY DREAMING! HURRY UP AND WAKE UP!"
