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Table of Contents
Table of Contents ................................................................................ 2
PROLOGUE ............................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................. 10
Scars and Precaution......................................................................... 10
CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................. 41
Her First Friend ................................................................................. 41
CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................. 82
How to Spend Time with a Friend ..................................................... 82
CHAPTER 4 ........................................................................... 106
Genuine Emotions Deep Inside ....................................................... 106
CHAPTER 5 ........................................................................... 146
Without Fear ................................................................................... 146
CHAPTER 6 ........................................................................... 194
Feelings Going Forward .................................................................. 194
EPILOGUE ............................................................................. 212
AFTERWORD .............................................................................. 218
Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Yen On. ............. 220

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Page | 4
 Copyright

AKUMI AGITOGI

Translation by David Musto

Cover art by Tsukiho Tsukioka

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

WATASHI NO SHIAWASENA KEKKON Vol.4

©Akumi Agitogi 2020

First published in Japan in 2020 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.

English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo

through TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY, INC., Tokyo.

English translation © 2023 by Yen Press, LLC

Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the
creative works that enrich our culture.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use
material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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First Yen On Edition: June 2023

Edited by Yen On Editorial: Maya Deutsch

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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Agitogi, Akumi, author. | Tsukioka, Tsukiho, illustrator. | Piatkowska, Kiki, translator. | Musto, David, translator.

Title: My happy marriage / Akumi Agitogi ; illustration by Tsukiho Tsukioka ; translation by Kiki Piatkowska ; translation by David Musto.

Other titles: Watashi no shiawasena kekkon. English

Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2021.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021046163 | ISBN 9781975335007 (v. 1 ; trade paperback) | ISBN 9781975335021 (v. 2 ; trade paperback) | ISBN 9781975335045 (v. 3 ;
trade paperback) | ISBN 9781975335069 (v. 4 ; trade paperback)

Subjects: CYAC: Arranged marriage—Fiction. | Love—Fiction. | LCGFT: Light novels.

Classification: LCC PZ7.1.A3245 My 2021 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021046163

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ISBNs: 978-1-9753-3506-9 (paperback)

978-1-9753-3507-6 (ebook)

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Page | 7
 PROLOGUE

She arrived in the imperial capital as the curtain fell on autumn and
rose on winter.
When she disembarked from the carriage and stood on the station
platform, her big leather bag in hand, she almost collided with the
dense throng hastily coming and going all around her.
The capital’s always so crowded.
A few years prior, she had lived and worked in the city, but after
being gone for so long, the hustle and bustle dampened her spirits.
Sighing, she adjusted her white-gloved grip on the bag and began
to make her way through the mass of people.
A frigid wind buffeted her when she slipped out of the station.
Shivering against the cold, she adjusted the collar of her knee-length
coat.
“Brrr…”
Spontaneously voicing her reaction to the weather, she began to
head over to the bus stop—
“Miss.”
—when she thought she heard a delicate voice call out to her.
The whispered address was so faint, it was nearly drowned out by
the bustling crowd, yet it had undoubtedly reached her ears.
Still, she was in the middle of a crowd.
People were raising their voices here and there, so whoever said
that could have been talking to someone else.
I wasn’t told anyone would be coming to pick me up, either.

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 As she hesitated for a moment, thinking she might’ve been
mistaken, she heard the voice again.
“Excuse me, miss.”
Hearing the address much closer to her than expected, she whirled
around in surprise.
Greeting her was a bespectacled man in his forties wearing a gentle
smile. His strange eyes left an especially striking impression on her,
for they completely contrasted with his amicable expression.
And those eyes of his, with their uncanny sparkle, were
undoubtedly trained on her.
“What do you want with me?”
At her question, the man widened his grin, wrinkles creasing at the
edges of his eyes.
“My apologizes for hailing you so rudely, Miss Kaoruko Jinnouchi.”
“Huh?”
How did he know her name?
Right as she—Kaoruko—widened her eyes, the man continued to
speak.
“My name is Naoshi Usui. I have something that I need your
assistance with.”

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 CHAPTER 1
Scars and Precaution

At first morning’s light one winter day, Miyo Saimori stood before
the mirror in her room with a serious look on her face.
She put her arms through the sleeves of her winter kimono, which
bore a charming light green camellia pattern. Tying her obi sash tight,
she brushed her long black hair and tidied it up, before applying a
light amount of makeup to her face and double-checking that there
weren’t any parts of her outfit that seemed out of order.
…Okay.
She couldn’t let herself look undignified as the fiancée of Kiyoka
Kudou, the head of the Kudou family and commander of his own
military unit.
“Miyo, we need to go soon.”
“O-okay!”
A voice called to her from outside her room.
Hastily grabbing her haori coat and handbag, she left her room to
find Kiyoka waiting for her in his military uniform.
Both his lustrous light-brown hair and strikingly handsome features
were the same as always, yet his face looked somewhat stiff and
clouded. It had been this way ever since they had returned to the
capital following their visit to Kiyoka’s parents’ villa.
“Kiyoka.”
Miyo quietly called his name, and he let out a small sigh before
looking down at her.

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 “Are you nervous?”
“Yes, but just a little… It’s my first time going to the station for
something like this.”
The two were about to depart for Kiyoka’s workplace, the building
that housed the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit.
As for why Miyo was accompanying him, the reason laid in an
encounter they’d had a few days prior at the train station.
“My dear daughter.”
Merely recalling his voice filled her with inexplicable dread.
Feeling the blood quickly drain from her face, Miyo pushed herself
to smile.
“But I’m okay. I’ll do my best.”
“Don’t get so worked up. It’s just a simple briefing.”
She found the sight of Kiyoka bringing his lips into a smile oddly
comforting.
Kiyoka was taking what had happened to Godou—essentially his
right-hand man—the hardest of anyone.
That was why Miyo needed to give everything she could to support
him. She couldn’t afford to be scared herself.
They both moved to the entryway, where Yurie was standing ready
to see them off.
Today was a rare day when Miyo was going out and wouldn’t have
the time to handle the daily chores, so she’d had the Kudou family’s
servant, Yurie, come to take care of the house for them.
“Have a good day, Young Master, Miss Miyo.”

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 Although she must certainly have felt the stiff atmosphere, the
pair’s nerves and anxieties…their anger and sadness coalescing
together, Yurie beamed gently at them like always.
Her warm grin, like one a mother would give their child, set them
at ease.
In fact, both Miyo’s and Kiyoka’s faces naturally gave way to smiles
of their own.
“We’re off.”
Outside the house, the sun still hadn’t fully risen. There was a chill
in the air that prickled the skin, and their breath turned white as it
escaped their lips.
They both got into the automobile, and Kiyoka immediately started
up the engine and gripped the wheel.
As the car slowly departed the house, he quietly murmured.
“Sorry for dragging you along with me.”
“Not at all.”
“Allow me to apologize. I don’t know anything concrete about how
things will play out from here on. But you’ve definitely been put in
harm’s way.”
Miyo’s heart ached seeing her fiancée’s strained, upset
countenance.
If something dangerous happened, the responsibility wouldn’t lie
with Kiyoka. Who could possibly condemn him for anything?
“…Still. I couldn’t stay uninvolved from the start. So please.”
Don’t blame yourself.
She would have added that if she could, but Miyo knew very well
that no matter how much she shouted or how much she appealed to

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him, it would be all be meaningless right now. Kiyoka was so
kindhearted that it would have been impossible to convince him not
to worry about it.
Gripped with pent-up sadness and frustration, Miyo thought back
to what had happened that day.

When Miyo, Kiyoka, and Arata Usuba returned from the Kudou villa,
they were greeted by an unfamiliar middle-aged man at the station.
“My dear daughter… Ah, that sounds too theatrical, doesn’t it?”
The man gave a brazen chuckle. He appeared exceedingly normal
on the surface.
His dark brown hair, mixed with grays and whites in places, was
rather short, and though his face was long, his features were finely
chiseled, to which were affixed a pair of round, black-rimmed
glasses. He was dressed in hakama pants and a richly colored
kimono, with an Inverness coat thrown on top. While his outfit was
of decent quality, he still had an altogether average appearance.
Nevertheless, even Miyo could tell he was no ordinary man.
From behind his glasses, his eyes glimmered with an uncanny and
hawkish twinkle.
Kiyoka and Arata had already dropped their luggage and were
standing on guard with menacing looks. The air around them grew
tense, and Miyo’s breath caught in her throat.
“I take it you’re Naoshi Usui?” Kiyoka asked calmly, to which the
man responded to by putting a hand on the back of his head and
bowing forward slightly, never breaking his smile.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m Usui.”

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 “In that case, how about you drop that hollow act of yours?” Arata,
his expression grim, cut in before Usui could respond.
“That goody-goody attitude isn’t fooling anyone. Looking into your
eyes…I recall something that I was once told—that the Usuis’ eldest
son had always been a terribly cold-hearted, cruel, and out-of-
control child,” Arata continued. “Though it looks like you’ve settled
down over the years.” The tone of his voice was quiet, but strained,
and even standing behind him, Miyo keenly felt the edge in the air.
“The thing is, people don’t lose touch with their roots that easily.”
A silence enveloped the group, only for Usui to shatter it a moment
later.
“Hah, ah-hah-hah-hah! That’s fair. Leave it to the heir of the Usuba
main family to see everything clearly.”
Usui guffawed and gripped his stomach, his voice occasionally
growing tight as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Wheezing as
he continued to convulse with laughter for a few moments, he lifted
his face up to show his easy smile had transformed into a ferocious
grin, his teeth bared.
He fixed his sharp eyes on Miyo, who both Kiyoka and Arata were
shielding.
“A personality is a trivial thing. I can fabricate as many as I please.
Especially if it’s in pursuit of my goals.”
A nasty sweat welled up on Miyo’s palms and on her back. She felt
as though she were a frog being stared down by a snake.
This Usui was an enigma. The short time she’d spent with him was
all she needed to be convinced of this.
Just as he’d said himself, Usui’s mannerisms were totally
inconsistent. It was impossible to tell just what he was thinking or
predict what he would do next.

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 He was chaos and contradiction given human form.
A click sounded from the gun Arata had hidden on his person. Miyo
couldn’t be sure, but she assumed that Kiyoka was also prepared to
draw the sword that never left his side.
Yet Usui just shrugged and twisted his mouth into a smile, totally
unconcerned by the pair’s threatening posture.
“Oh, come now, what’s the ominous attitude for? I just came here
to introduce myself today. I have absolutely no intention of starting a
fight.”
“That I don’t believe. Besides, you’re already a wanted man.”
“Don’t be like that. You did rebuff my men, Commander Kudou.
Isn’t it my responsibility as their superior to come and introduce
myself? As it happens, I also have a gift for you. I’m sure it’ll make
you amenable to cooperating with us.”
“A gift?” Miyo murmured to herself. He definitely hadn’t come to
bring them a box of confections.
She felt a twinge of fear deep inside her mind; she couldn’t think
straight.
“A present?”
“That’s right. That village you recently discovered was nothing but
an expendable test site. Our bases are scattered all over the country,
yet the military identified them in one fell swoop. Did the possibility
of this being a trap not occur to you? I do hope those men of yours
are safe and sound, Commander Kudou.”
“Expendable test site,” “identified them in one fell swoop,”…“trap.”
As one ominous word begot another, Miyo couldn’t quite grasp what
Usui was implying.
Conversely, Kiyoka’s brows arched, and his lips quivered when he
heard the statement.

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 “Are you trying to threaten me?”
“Exchanging gifts is just good business. See, here it comes.”
Usui pointed with his chin toward a small silhouette flying through
the air. Upon closer inspection, it was a familiar made of white paper
someone had sent their way.
Keeping his eyes locked on Usui, Kiyoka snatched the familiar and
quickly scanned the short message written on its surface.
“What do you say? I thought it was pretty good news myself. I think
it will make you inclined to cooperate with us.”
Kiyoka crushed the familiar in his grip and quietly clicked his tongue
in response to Usui’s calm yet contentious conduct.
“None of that matters if I capture you here.”
“I’ll back you up, Major,” replied Arata to Kiyoka’s declaration.
When Miyo came back to her senses, her fiancé had already
dashed forward at Usui. On top of that, Arata was openly aiming his
pistol at his target, even though the station was filled with ordinary
civilians.
…Something isn’t right.
Just then, she at last realized what was so bizarre about the scene.
Kiyoka and Arata must have already noticed it themselves. Not a
single person passing through the station was looking at them
Despite the fact they were standing smack dab in the middle of a
surging crowd…and despite the fact Arata had even drawn his gun,
every other person here was walking past them without so much as a
glance, as though they couldn’t see Miyo and the three men at all.
Normally, a standoff like this would have caused a huge commotion.
Is this Usui’s Gift?

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 Either that, or a barrier that warded people’s attention. She
couldn’t say herself.
At that moment, Usui’s body seemed to turn transparent.
When Kiyoka attempted to grab hold of the man, his hand cut
through the air and—
“Miyo, my dear daughter. I swear I’ll come back for you later.”
—a voice whispered eerily in her ear.
Somehow, Usui had gotten right next to her, even though both
Kiyoka and Arata had been shielding her.
“……!”
“Miyo, don’t move!”
The bullet leapt from Arata’s gun with a dry bang, skimmed past
Miyo’s side, hit the ground behind her, and bounced away.
The man was nowhere to be found.

Miyo squeezed her cold fingertips and glanced out the window of the
automobile at the scenery flowing by.
I’m not really the Saimoris’ daughter…?
She was terrified by Usui’s insistence that he would “come back for
her.” Above all else, she couldn’t help but wonder what the man’s
motives for claiming her as his daughter were.
She didn’t want to believe it.
After all, if that was indeed the truth, it would’ve perfectly
explained why she’d never been treated like a daughter in that
household. That the agonizing period she’d spent unrecognized as

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part of the family, the physical and mental anguish she’d endured,
had all been justified.
And that wasn’t the only thing that frightened her about the
prospect of Naoshi Usui being her father…
Because the “present” from the man who claimed to be the
founder of the Gifted Communion had turned out to be anything but.
A number of locations that the military identified as base camps for
the Gifted Communion to be targeted in their simultaneous raid on
the organization had exploded right as the troops broke in, going up
in flames.
The casualties had been enormous. The men serving in Kiyoka’s
unit were no exception, of course.
So many were wounded, even Mr. Godou…
There was also the incident with the villagers at the Kudous’ villa.
The Gifted Communion had made them lose their minds and plunged
them into terror.
She didn’t want to even consider the possibility that the man
responsible for harming so many people could be her own father.
That was far harder for Miyo to accept than her past with the
Saimoris.
Just imagining it soured her mood; she unconsciously clenched her
fists tighter.
Their automobile proceeded smoothly through the almost deserted
morning streets and passed through the gate to the Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Unit’s base.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”

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 After parking the car, Miyo and Kiyoka stood side by side before
stepping into the station.
Despite the early morning hour, the interior was packed with
soldiers rushing here and there.
“Good morning.”
Miyo bowed to the soldiers as they greeted her.
She’d imagined they would have met her with curious stares, but
whether it was because they knew about her relationship with
Kiyoka or simply because they were too busy to care, she didn’t
sense they were uncomfortable in the slightest.
“Miyo, you’re going to join in on this meeting we’re about to have.”
“Okay.”
“But before that…”
Kiyoka passed in front of the meeting room and casually opened a
door with a more elaborate design than its counterparts.
“There’s someone I’d like to introduce to you first.”
“Introduce to me first…? Wait…”
She recalled hearing the shocking news that she would be assigned
a personal guard, hand-picked from the Special Anti-Grotesquerie
Unit, to protect her from Usui.
Miyo wanted to say that Kiyoka was overreacting, but when she
thought back to Usui’s visit the other day, she couldn’t refuse.
On the other side of the door was a spacious room.
A large office desk sat in the back, and there was a table and sofa,
too. Although the furnishings were as stunning as the ones in the
reception area—a departure from the dreary décor found in the rest

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of the station—the place was a mess, with mountains of documents
piled everywhere.
There was still no sign of the person Kiyoka had mentioned inside.
“Sorry about the clutter. This is my office, where I do most of my
work.”
“What…? Erm, should I be in here?”
Surprised, Miyo looked up at her fiancé’s face.
The military held a great deal of confidential information. There
were definitely things here that Miyo wouldn’t be allowed to lay eyes
on.
“Not a problem. You’re going to be sheltering here in this station
from today onward…or at least that’s probably what we’ll decide
during the meeting. If that’s the case, then I wouldn’t be able to hide
anything.”
“Oh…really…”
“Yes. Sorry. I’m going to have to inconvenience you a bit until this
Gifted Communion incident settles down.”
“It’s okay. I know that you’re doing this because you’re worried
about me, Kiyoka.”
Naturally, she assumed that he wasn’t assigning her a guard
attaché because of his personal feelings toward Miyo. His superior,
Ookaito, was said to be participating in the meeting as well, and it
was likely military policy to keep Miyo safe.
Nevertheless, when she looked at Kiyoka’s face, it was clear to her
just how terribly worried he was for her.
“Take a seat for now. They should be here soon.”
Going along with his suggestion, she sat down on the sofa and took
a deep breath. Enveloped in the softness of the sofa, the tension she

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was carrying in her body from the stress of the situation lessened
ever so slightly.
“Tired?”
“No, I just got here.”
She shook her head. At this, Kiyoka suddenly drew his beautiful
face close to hers.
“You’re looking a little pale.”
“P-please, you’re exaggerating.”
Her cheeks instantly heated up, and she abruptly shrank back,
nearly jumping out of her seat.
Miyo was physically fine. While her complexion could have been
better, that was the fault of nerves and anxiety.
But no matter how much she wanted to tell Kiyoka this, she
couldn’t get the words out of her mouth.
How embarrassing.
Positioned like this, her thoughts drifted to what had transpired at
the villa the other day, and composure became impossible.
Unsure where to look, Miyo darted her eyes to and fro until Kiyoka
furrowed his brows and laughed, putting some space between them.
“You’re being too self-conscious. Of course I’m not going to do
anything funny while we’re at my workplace.”
“D-does that mean you will when we’re not here…?”
“Or at home, either.”
“Y-you’re being mean.”
Kiyoka was teasing her. Miyo brought both her hands up to hide
her flushed cheeks and expressed her indignation.

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 Just as there was a lull in the conversation, someone rapped on the
office door. The person they’d been waiting for had finally arrived.
Miyo fixed her posture, trying to cool the heat in her cheeks.
“Commander, it’s Jinnouchi. May I come in?”
“Go ahead.”
“Pardon me.”
Opening the door and entering the office was someone dressed in
a shapely military uniform.
A dashing…woman?
Perhaps because she was so used to Kiyoka’s appearance, Miyo
had thought Jinnouchi was a dainty, androgynous man at first glance.
But this wasn’t the case. Gallantly striding farther into the room, her
ponytail fluttering behind her, was a woman around Miyo’s age, with
handsomely dignified features.
I thought there were only men in the military.
When Miyo cocked her head, she accidentally met eyes with
Jinnouchi, who promptly replied with a smile.
Even as a woman herself, Miyo couldn’t help being enchanted by
the gorgeous woman. She wore the boorishly masculine military
uniform without losing any of her feminine beauty, as if she was an
actor in a theater troupe.
She’d gone to all that effort to cool her cheeks, but now they were
burning for a different reason.
“Thanks for coming, Jinnouchi. Take a seat.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kiyoka motioned the woman he called Jinnouchi to the chair across
from Miyo before he coolly sat himself down beside his fiancée.

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 “Sorry for calling you here from the old capital so suddenly.”
“Think nothing of it. It’s good to see you, Mr. Kudou.”
Now that she was face-to-face, the cheerfully smiling woman
seemed surprisingly friendly, with a warm and gentle disposition.
“Miyo, this is Kaoruko Jinnouchi. Normally, she’s stationed with the
Second Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit in the old capital. I’ve asked
her to come to fill the hole Godou’s left behind. She’ll be serving as
your bodyguard going forward… Jinnouchi, this is my fiancée, Miyo
Saimori.”
The woman straightened her posture and bowed.
“Kaoruko Jinnouchi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Miyo Saimori. Likewise, the pleasure’s all mine.”
Though overpowered by her courtesy on top of her beauty, Miyo
greeted her back.
Kaoruko smiled and extended out her hand.
“Um, would it be all right if I called you just Miyo?”
“Y-yes, go right ahead.”
“A wonderful name, for sure. I was wondering what Mr. Kudou’s
fiancée would be like. It sort of makes sense to find out it’s someone
gentle like yourself, Miyo.”
Kaoruko’s speech was unexpectedly much more eloquent and
casual than her appearance suggested.
Miyo grabbed her outstretched hand and shook it. Though
femininely small, it was also hard and calloused from gripping a
sword. Nevertheless, it was warm.
…Thank goodness. She seems like a good person.

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 Miyo would have noticed if Kaoruko was trying to hide feelings of
bitterness or animosity towards her.
But fortunately, she didn’t pick up any unpleasantness in the other
woman’s tone. Kaoruko clearly wasn’t a bad person. Miyo hoped she
would be able to get along with her.
“Jinnouchi, I want you to guard Miyo.”
At Kiyoka’s words, Kaoruko’s face tightened, and she nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m sure you’re aware, but should you accept, know that any
emergency will involve going up against the Gift-users of the Gifted
Communion or Usui himself. Your life will be at risk.”
“Not a problem. I understand the danger.”
“Sorry. I had you come here to stand in for Godou, but…”
“I don’t mind at all. It’s more prudent to have her bodyguard be
another woman anyway. Besides, that’s just the sort of relationship
we have—right, Commander?”
Miyo felt somewhat discomforted by her suggestive phrasing.
Kaoruko and Kiyoka’s relationship.
Were they more than subordinate and superior, more than fellow
members of the military? Kaoruko was from the old capital, which
gave Miyo the impression that she wouldn’t have chosen her words
like that if they didn’t have some kind of special connotation.
What did she mean? Miyo was torn between inquiring about
Kaoruko’s statement or letting it go.
I—I don’t want to have this cloud hanging over me!
Miyo made up her mind and decided to ask.
“Um, and just what……sort of relationship do you two have?”

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 “Huh? Oh. The truth is, I was one of Mr. Kudou’s marriage
candidates way back when.”
“What?”
Miyo fixed her eyes on Kaoruko’s attractive, smiling face. She was
too shocked for words.
She obviously knew that many previous marriage candidates had
tried to win over Kiyoka before her. And she was well aware that not
a single one of them had ultimately remained at his side.
It was simply that she had never met one of these women in real
life before and so had mostly forgotten all about them.
“Hey, don’t dig up the past,” Kiyouka snapped.
“Oh, sorry. It must not feel great to hear that, but don’t let it worry
you.”
“Honestly, what were you thinking?” he chided.
“I’m sorry, really! I won’t bring it up again.”
“………”
Unsure of how to respond, Miyo could only sink into silence.
Kaoruko had said not to worry about it, but now that the truth was
out there, she couldn’t do anything but worry. If Kaoruko and Kiyoka
had actually gotten engaged, then Miyo’s opportunity would have
never come.
Besides, they both seemed to be on fairly good terms even now.
Maybe that meant…
Why am I getting carried away over this nonsense?
Kiyoka was engaged to Miyo. He cared for her and was faithful to
her. That’s why it was impossible to think that just having Kaoruko
around would change anything. She believed in him, didn’t she?

Page | 25
 “I might not be as good as Mr. Kudou here, but I’ll try my hardest to
protect you, Miyo.”
“R-right… Thank you.”
Though Miyo replied to Kaoruko with a smile, gray clouds still
lingered in her heart.
The briefing time drew near, and the three of them moved to the
meeting room.
Miyo was still so fixated on how Kaoruko had been one of Kiyoka’s
marriage candidates that she didn’t really remember much of the
conversation before that point.
Stop it, Miyo. You need to get your thoughts in order.
The top brass had specifically requested that she attend the
meeting, so it was possible they would want her opinion or
testimony on certain topics. She’d leave a horrible impression if they
asked for her input on something when she had her head in the
clouds.
They entered the meeting room, which was still mostly empty.
“Miyo, your seat’s here.”
She was shown to a chair in the back of the room, right next to
Kiyoka’s own.
Today would be the Anti-Grotesquerie Unit’s first true meeting
since Miyo, Kiyoka, and Arata’s chance encounter with Usui. They’d
asked Miyo to be part of the proceedings since she was a concerned
party. She’d also had direct contact with Usui, so they wanted to
make sure she understood how they would be handling him going
forward.
Normally, even if the situation at hand did concern outsiders,
someone like her wouldn’t be so deeply involved in military
proceedings.

Page | 26
 In this case, however, Usui had sworn to Miyo that they would
meet again, which led the unit to conclude that leaving her in the
dark be more dangerous than not.
“Thank you.”
Miyo quietly took her seat.
Though she had been gung ho when they left the house, she felt
unbearably out of place now that she was actually in the meeting
room.
On top of that, the shock from earlier still lingered in her mind. If
she didn’t focus, she’d find herself staring at Kaoruko, sitting a bit
farther away from her, and the terrible visions that threatened to
unfold in her mind.
I need to get myself together.
Kaoruko and Kiyoka’s past made her uneasy, but Miyo was the unit
commander’s fiancée, so she couldn’t look disgraceful at his
workplace in front of all his subordinates.
While she sat there waiting uncomfortably, the meeting attendees
filed in one after the other.
Only those who held the position of squad leader or above within
the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit were allowed to participate in the
day’s meeting. In other words, the toughest fighters in the
meritocratic unit. The people gathered included both young men
with normal physiques and men who were visibly brawny.
Nevertheless, no one stood out among the participants in the
meeting as much as Kaoruko, the only woman here dressed in a
military uniform.
“Thanks for coming, everyone.”
Last to enter the meeting room was the man who oversaw the
entire unit, Ookaito. Everyone rose to their feet and bowed.

Page | 27
 “At ease. Take your seats.”
Following his word, the participants returned to their chairs, and
the meeting solemnly began.
There was still one empty seat. Miyo had heard Arata was
summoned as a representative of the Usuba family, but there was no
sign of him even though the meeting had already begun.
I’m a little worried, but I’m not in any position to bring it up.
Things would be fine as long as he hadn’t been involved in an
accident on the way there or injured himself somehow. As these
thoughts ran through her head, someone passed her the handout for
the meeting.
Th-this is tough.
Miyo passed her eyes briefly over the documents, which were filled
with so much specialized jargon that she could barely understand
half of it. She would probably need Kiyoka to help get her up to
speed later if the briefing didn’t clarify anything.
Once the materials were distributed, and everyone had skimmed
the topics and agenda, Kiyoka began to speak.
“I’ve borrowed an individual from the Second Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Unit in the old capital for the time being to help
confront the Gifted Communion and replace missing personnel.
Allow me to introduce her—Jinnouchi.”
“Yes, sir!”
Kaoruko’s cheerful, clear voice resounded throughout the room.
Everyone turned their eyes to her as she stood up.
“This is Kaoruko Jinnouchi. As many of you know, she was stationed
here until a few years ago.”
She stood at attention and bowed.

Page | 28
 “Kaoruko Jinnouchi, reporting in. My unit commander decided it
would be best for someone familiar with the imperial capital to lend
their aid and singled me out to serve here. I’ll do my utmost to make
up for Godou’s absence. I look forward to working with you all!”
Kaoruko’s introduction convinced Miyo.
If she had served in the capital, then she and Kiyoka must have
worked together, so it was little wonder that she and Kiyoka would
be friendly with each other.
Though Miyo could understand this intellectually, it was still hard
to accept the answer. She found herself wanting to believe that the
particularly close relationship they shared was because they had
worked together, and not because she was once a marriage
candidate.
No, no, no. Kiyoka is free to be friendly with whoever he wants in the
first place.
It wouldn’t do to let herself be pointlessly suspicious of Kaoruko’s
presence in Kiyoka’s life. She heaved a sigh in an attempt to prevent
her thoughts from spiraling.
At any rate, she had heard that Godou’s absence would be keenly
felt in the unit. Miyo didn’t necessarily have an accurate grasp of his
capabilities, but given that he served as Kiyoka’s aide, he clearly had
the strength to match.
Kaoruko must have been similarly outstanding as the woman who
would be filling his shoes.
Miyo would be lying if she said she wasn’t a bit jealous.
“As for the duties Jinnouchi will be handling, we will be going over
those later on. Next…”
Kaoruko returned to her seat, and the meeting moved to the next
orders of business.

Page | 29
 The explosions at the Gifted Communion’s bases and the condition
of the wounded. Military policy and the Special Anti-Grotesquerie
Unit’s strategy going forward. There was plenty of ground to cover.
After a short while, the topic finally shifted to the matter of Usui
and his underlings. The man giving the report on the incident at the
village was a squad leader of around thirty years old named
Mukadeyama.
“We’ve investigated the individual that the commander fought
with, the results of which can be found in the documents before
you.”
“…Someone from the Houjou family? But we should know the
whereabouts of all the Gift-users in the country by now.”
Miyo’s eyes fell to the materials in front of her.
Gift-users were enormously powerful, so the government strictly
surveilled their whereabouts. If any of them got involved in criminal
activity, the country would swoop in to deal with them before it
became a major incident.
Despite this, the Gift-user Kiyoka had squared off against during
their time at his parents’ villa, this Houjou fellow, had evaded the
watchful eyes of the government. To make matters worse, he was a
member of the Gifted Communion and had participated in their
schemes. This should have been impossible.
Squad Leader Mukadeyama answered Kiyoka’s question and
continued his report.
“That element is particularly……bizarre, yes. We found no signs of
negligence in the state’s observational body. But for some reason, all
records of the Hojous stopped a while ago. No one seemed to have
found this suspicious, either.”

Page | 30
 Everyone in the room could only cock their heads in confusion at
this revelation.
How exactly had the state lost track of a Gift-user they were
supposedly keeping watch over, and how had no one found this
situation suspicious?
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any real way to answer that. This is
everything I know.”
“Hrmm…”
Ookaito furrowed his brow and let out a heavy sigh.
Kiyoka, too, frowned at the incomprehensible report, and the other
participants wore much the same expression themselves.
“It’s pertinent to consider Usui’s Gift as similar in nature to the
Usubas’ Gifts… He is clearly meddling with people’s brains and
psyches.”
Miyo abruptly lifted her head to look at her fiancé as he said this.
They still didn’t have a grasp on what sort of Gift Usui possessed.
More importantly, the person she imagined who was called there to
verify the information on the subject had yet to arrive.
“If Arata Tsuruki—er, Arata Usuba—was here, this would go a lot
faster. Where is he?”
Ookaito knitted his brows as he asked this, causing a murmur to
ripple through the meeting room.
The whispers exchanged between the participants reached Miyo’s
ears: “I get it’s an order from Prince Takaihito, but to work together
with an Usuba?” “The Usubas don’t deserve our trust.”
At that point, it was an open secret that the Usubas publicly used
the name Tsuruki. That summer, when the emperor had stepped

Page | 31
down from the political stage in accordance with Prince Takaihito’s
wishes, the family’s existence stopped being treated as a state
secret.
There were still only a few people in the entire country who knew
the truth, but among Gift-users, there were more who knew than
those who didn’t. The problem lay in the fact that the Usubas were
unlike any other family who inherited supernatural abilities.
They had been tasked with watching over and controlling the
nation’s Gift-users. As such, other supernaturally inclined families
were predisposed to distrust them.
While it was progress that the Usubas had come out in the open,
other Gift-users still kept them at arm’s length. That was simply the
reality of the current situation.
“If he’s not coming, then we’ll just have to reach out to him on our
end.”
Right as those words left Kiyoka’s mouth, the door to the meeting
room opened, and in walked Arata, as if on cue.
“My apologies for being late.”
“Took you long enough.”
“Sorry. Things are a mess on our end as well. Not enough hands to
go around.”
“I understand you’re busy, but it’s still important to be on time.
Please have a seat.”
Getting his slightly ragged breathing under control, Arata took the
only empty chair in the room, next to Kiyoka.
Arata must have heard people whispering slander about him as he
approached his place, yet his composed expression never faltered.

Page | 32
 Miyo peeked a glance at him, and her cousin responded with a
subtle smile.
“Well then, since you took your time getting here, I’m assuming
you have some results to share?”
“Yes, to some extent. I was able to confirm the nature of Usui’s
supernatural ability.”
That comment shut everyone up.
Despite the murmurs of suspicion they had been directing at the
Usubas moments ago, everyone listened carefully, making sure not
to miss a single word of Arata’s report.
He glanced around the room and shrugged.
“That being said, I don’t think just knowing about his Gift will make
anything easier. It’s an unbelievably dangerous ability, one that a
man like him definitely shouldn’t be allowed to have at his disposal.”
An invisible tension ran through the hushed meeting room.
“Naoshi Usui… His Gift distorts the senses. Sight, hearing, taste,
smell, touch… Any and all information that we pick up from our five
senses and process in our minds is fair game for him to manipulate.”
“That’s absurd!”
One of the squad leaders slammed his fist on the table and
shouted. Then others followed suit one after the other.
“I don’t believe it.”
“Impossible.”
“He’s beyond human.”
Arata looked out over the clamor with cold eyes. Meanwhile,
Kiyoka was scowling, and Ookaito wore a pensive look on his face.
He distorts the senses…?

Page | 33
 It was difficult to imagine just from the description, but having
actually experienced it firsthand, Miyo heaved a defeated sigh.
Despite how bustling and noisy the interior of the train station had
been, none of the passersby had even registered her and the others’
presence. This explained why Usui had seemed to disappear and
reappear again without the three of them noticing at the time, and
also why the Houjou Gift-user had been able to evade the watchful
eyes of the government.
In the end, the phenomenon she’d witnessed that day wasn’t the
product of a barrier, but a result of a supernatural ability.
What an absolutely terrifying power.
Arata continued to speak, maintaining his composure.
“Shouting about it won’t change anything. Usui would have no
trouble slipping into this very meeting undetected if he wanted. He
could pass himself off as a completely different person, too.”
A gasp echoed through the room.
Miyo shivered just imagining it. Fighting Usui meant that
ultimately, one would be completely unable to trust any information
gleaned from their own senses.
“Of course, that doesn’t mean he can use such a tremendous
power without restriction. In all likelihood, there’s a limit to how
many times he can use it a day, along with a limit to its range of
effect.”
“Still, how much of a weakness could those constraints really be?
I’m not Gifted, so this isn’t really something I can weigh in on, but it
sounds like there’s no way to avoid this battle with Usui—with the
Gifted Communion—from proving difficult.”
The room fell silent at Ookaito’s comment, before Kiyoka offered a
reply.

Page | 34
 “That’s a valid point, Major General. We need to uncover his
weakness and prepare to work around it. But to accomplish that, we
first need to consider what the Gifted Communion and Naoshi Usui’s
objectives are.”
“Hm, that’s right. Kiyoka, did Houjou tell you anything about these
goals of theirs when you faced off against him?”
“Yes.”
Kiyoka then proceeded to summarize the events that had
transpired during their visit to his parents’ villa.
All of this was information had already been shared within the unit,
but the participants listened with solemn faces at his fresh account,
now with additional emphasis placed on the Gifted Communion’s
end goal.
“Forcing Grotesqueries to possess people and awaken supernatural
abilities in them… We haven’t been able to confirm if this aim of
theirs is actually possible.”
Kiyoka continued his straightforward explanation.
To begin with, Grotesqueries were beings that both did and did not
take physical form. While Gift-users could generally see them and
touch them, the same wasn’t true for the average citizen.
In which case, how was the Gifted Communion capturing them?
They would need to force the Grotesqueries to possess some living
creature, human or otherwise, thereby giving them physical form.
However, there were a number of factors preventing the
government from verifying efficacy of the Gifted Communion’s
methods. Not only were the existence of Gifts a state secret, for
instance, but the tests they would need to perform to awaken
someone’s latent Gifts were also legally dubious.

Page | 35
 Therefore, ascertaining if the Gifted Communion’s claims were true
or not and getting one step ahead of them would present a major
challenge going forward.
“Permission to speak, Commander.”
“Go ahead.”
Kiyoka nodded at Squad Leader Mukadeyama’s raised hand.
“Even if it’s possible to turn regular citizens into Gift-users, what
will that accomplish? According to your report, sir, it sounds like the
founder—like Naoshi Usui wants to create a new world and rule it as
its king. If that’s the case, I think it’d be faster if he simply used his
Gift to achieve his ends without giving supernatural powers to the
common citizenry.”
Mukadeyama’s opinion was reasonable. Gift-users were human,
and while they could never become gods, they far outstripped the
average person in every respect.
Needless to say, supernatural abilities generally enhanced one’s
body, making it resistant to injuries and disease. Gift-users’ superior
physical abilities put them on a completely different level than
ordinary individuals. Going one step further, the Usubas’ Gift
managed to surpass these very same Gift-users.
Miyo had gained this knowledge under the tutelage of Arata and
Kiyoka’s older sister Hazuki.
“Usui’s plan suggests how much confidence he has in his own
power, in the Usubas’ Gift. Or maybe it’s less confidence, and more
so the pride of having an ability that dominates normal Gift-users.
Therefore…”
Kiyoka turned to Miyo. Following his lead, all eyes in the meeting
room coalesced together on her, and she went stiff with anxiety.

Page | 36
 “If this is indeed the principle behind Usui’s actions, then there’s no
doubt he wants to get his hands on the power of Dream Sight.”
“It’s fair to say that Dream Sight is everything to the Usubas. There
are even some among our relatives who revere its wielder like a god.
I imagine that’s no different for a branch family like the Usuis.”
Arata expanded on Kiyoka’s statement before the commander
continued.
“There’s no question he’ll be after the current wielder of Dream
Sight, Miyo Saimori here. We won’t even have to try setting Usui up.
Our job will be to keep her safe and to engage the enemy when they
make their move. That’s why our unit will focus both on protecting
her and confronting the Gifted Communion going forward.”
“You’re talking about ‘protecting her,’ Commander, but what are
we specifically supposed to be doing?” Mukadeyama asked.
“Hrm. Kiyoka, I get that the defenses around your house might be
flawless, but…”
Taking up the squad leader’s question, Ookaito visibly pondered
the answer as he rubbed his chin.
“We’re facing off against a powerful opponent. Even a skilled
bodyguard will just buy time for Miyo at best. If anything happens,
you’ll have to go rushing over to her side no matter what, right?”
“I’d like Miyo to come here every day starting tomorrow.”
Kiyoka had anticipated that this would be Ookaito’s opinion. He’d
laid out the exact flow of the conversation for Miyo ahead of time.
Arata shrugged and chimed in.
“I can’t think of anything that’d bring more peace of mind than
having Miyo at the major’s side all day. I intend on acting as her
guard as well, but with my family’s duties on my plate, I doubt I’ll be
able to be consistent about it.”

Page | 37
 “And you’re all right with this?”
Miyo looked up at Ookaito when he asked her this.
She had been mulling the arrangement over ever since Kiyoka had
laid things out for her in his office earlier.
If, given the circumstances, the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit
didn’t mind having a civilian like Miyo in a military facility, what she
was truly worried about was getting in the way of Kiyoka’s work.
“Just be honest about what you want to do. And you being here
won’t distract me from my duties. Besides, with how the situation’s
played out, there isn’t any other job more important than keeping
you safe,” Kiyoka reassured her, as if reading her mind.
Miyo nodded.
“Yes, if I am allowed to stay here then that……will put me at ease,
too.”
“That settles it, then,” Ookaito said, standing up from his chair.
“From today onward, Miyo Saimori, the assumed target of Naoshi
Usui, will be under the protection of the Special Anti-Grotesquerie
Unit. I’ll get approval on this from above. Are there any objections?”
No one replied to their superior’s question. After a few moments,
Miyo could hear murmurs of “no objections” from around the room.
“Then do what you need to do to prepare yourselves for the fight
against the Gifted Communion. Meeting adjourned.”

Arata left the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit station, striding through

the streets of the imperial capital.
At this rate, beating Usui will be absolutely impossible.
His expression clouded into a stern grimace.

Page | 38
 Researching Usui’s power at the Usuba estate had convinced him.
Naoshi Usui was powerful. Far, far more powerful than Arata.
The Usuis may have been a branch family, but Usui’s generation,
between himself and Sumi Usuba, had produced many more Usuba
Gift-users than there were now—and brilliant ones at that.
Only an Usuba Gift-user would be able to stop another Usuba Gift-
user. But there wasn’t anyone capable of going toe-to-toe with Usui
at the moment. Even Arata was no match for him.
On the other hand, even a non-Usuba with a Gift on par with
Kiyoka’s could face off against Usui with the right strategy, but the
people who fulfilled this criterion were few and far between. On top
of that, the Gifted Communion also had the Houjous on their side,
and Arata wasn’t sure how many other people with supernatural
abilities were at Usui’s command.
As things stood now, Arata and the company would be doomed if
they fought against the Gifted Communion.
…He’s the shame of the Usuba family.
The thought had been on his mind ever since he’d heard the name
Naoshi Usui—that the Usubas were responsible for all of this.
They were guilty of the crime of failing to cull a dangerous element
in their ranks. The crime of giving up on tailing someone who had
broken away from the family.
There was no excuse. While pretentiously bragging about being
disciplined under the rules that once governed the family, the
Usubas had pretended like Usui had never existed, doing their
hardest to forget about him. This present situation was the end
result.
In the worst-case scenario, the Usuba family will be protected as
long as Miyo remains unharmed.

Page | 39
 Just as Usui had his sights on Miyo, Arata needed to protect Miyo
through everything, no matter what. Even if that meant leaving her
side.
Buffeted by the cold wind, Arata stopped and closed his eyes.
He was sure that his grandfather, Yoshirou, would tell him he bore
no responsibility for letting Usui run loose. Arata may have been
shouldering the weight of the Usubas going forward, but he didn’t
have the power to change the past.
Despite that, as the person protecting this generation’s Dream
Sight Medium…there were things Arata had to do, even if it meant
giving something up in exchange.
Usui would die by his hands, even if he had to lay down his life in
the process.
Arata opened up his eyes and stared down at his palm.
Come what may, he would find a chink in the Gifted Communion’s
armor, a weakness of Naoshi Usui, and defeat them. He could leave
behind a brand-new Usuba family, free from any lingering danger.
Perhaps his life as an Usuba Gift-user had all been leading up to
this.
“Though it’s still a bit irritating.”
There was no danger in leaving Miyo in Kiyoka’s hands. She would
be fine without him nearby for a little while.
During that time, he needed to search for a way to bring Usui down
then crush him as fast as possible.
Letting out a white cloud of breath, Arata looked straight out in
front of him and continued on through the wintery city streets.

Page | 40
 CHAPTER 2
Her First Friend

She dreamed for the first time in a long while.

In her vision, she found herself standing before an unfamiliar
traditional wood-frame house.
“C’mon, Naoshi. I heard you got in another fight, is that right?”
A young woman’s voice echoed from the garden, bathed in warm
sunlight.
It was a voice she knew well. The voice of her mother, Sumi
Saimori.
Compared to her memory of it, however, it was a little livelier and
more cheerful. She surmised the dream was from a time before her
mother wedded into the Saimori family.
Miyo looked around and spied a young man standing in the shade
of a verdant tree, shrugging his shoulders and smiling.
“The other guy started it. I was just defending myself.”
“Liar. If that’s true, then why did your opponent end up in the
hospital while you don’t even have a scratch on you?”
Looking down on the man from the veranda, interrogating him with
a hand on her hip, was indeed Sumi as a young girl.
Despite this, she seemed different than the versions of her mother
who had shown up in her dreams before.
This Sumi appeared to be somewhere in her early teens. Her
beautiful black hair swayed behind her as she puffed out her cheeks,
brimming with sprightly vigor.

Page | 41
 She was a far cry from how her mother looked in Miyo’s dreams of
the Saimori house, where her expression was always forlorn and sad.
“I can’t pull one over on you, Sumi. But I swear, it was the other guy
who picked the fight and threw the first punch.”
“…And you responded with ‘excessive self-defense.’ Ever heard of
it?”
“Hah-hah-hah-hah. Can’t say I have.”
Miyo recognized the young man attempting to smooth things over
with his smile. It was only just recently that he had made Miyo’s
blood run cold.
Naoshi Usui.
Though he was dressed like a student, wearing a kimono over a
white shirt and hakama pants, his round glasses—and the dangerous
gleam in the eyes behind them—were the same in the past as the
present.
Or maybe not… He’s a little less scary than he is now.
Miyo superimposed Usui’s face from a few days prior onto the
young man standing a few feet away from her.
As he looked up from the garden to Sumi on the veranda, the man
narrowed his eyes with affection for her
“Don’t try worming your way out of this. How many times have I told
you that you shouldn’t use violence?”
“I just can’t help it when I lose my temper, honest. I’ll be careful next
time. I’ll try to keep the other guy out of the hospital.”
“Come on, now. I’m not telling you to go easier on people, I’m saying
to stop beating them up in the first place! Understand?”
“I get it, I get it, Your Highness.”
“Sheesh, it’s always flattery with you!”

Page | 42
 Sumi let out a sigh before she began to giggle, as if at a loss about
how to deal with the young man.
Their exchange was friendly and peaceful, just like the sort of back-
and-forth any normal girl and boy their age would have.
A short-lived memory of warm and gentle days gone by.
Before her was a run-of-the-mill scene of two young people’s daily
lives. So ordinary she could cry.
She keenly sensed Usui’s love for Sumi, and the love Sumi felt for
him in return.
Why was her power of Dream Sight showing her this memory? Her
Gift wasn’t going haywire, which meant that somewhere deep down,
Miyo herself wished to know more about the past.
Were the two of them lovers?
Without anyone to answer her question, she tried to guess the
truth herself, sending only the worst possibilities imaginable flittering
through her mind.
What if Naoshi Usui was her real father?
What if her mother and Usui had been in love with each other, only
to be ripped apart by Sumi’s politically arranged marriage?
What am I supposed to do?
As Usui’s daughter, did she need to atone for the crimes he had
committed? Or apologize in her mother’s stead to the Saimoris for
deceiving them this whole time?
Would the fact that she didn’t want to do either ultimately become
a sin of her own?
Overflowing with inconsolable feelings, Miyo covered her face with
both of her hands.

Page | 43
 “Don’t worry, Sumi. I’ll always protect you, and everything you care
about… As long as you stay by my side.”
Her dream came to an end, closing with a voice from Usui that was
so gentle, it was totally incomparable to the voice she had heard
several days prior.
The day after the meeting.
From today onward, Miyo would be spending the whole day inside
the walls of the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit with Kiyoka.
Generally speaking, she would be leaving the house in the morning
together with Kiyoka, and come evening, they would return home
together. Although Kaoruko was acting as her bodyguard, Miyo’s
safety came above all else, so her world had gotten smaller.
In other words, she would be spending day and night by her
fiancé’s side. And that was…
Unbearable.
Eating breakfast together at home like always and departing for the
station had all been fine.
But now that she had met up with Kaoruko and they were passing
the time on the couch in Kiyoka’s office, she found herself with
nothing to do.
Miyo looked over to the desk and saw Kiyoka staring sternly at the
documents in front of him.
Just sitting at her fiancé’s side as he worked diligently and waiting
until he was finished for the day like this was awkward and
uncomfortable.
But I can’t simply move around willy-nilly, either.
Though she may have wanted to help, things weren’t that simple.
On top of needing protection, Miyo was a civilian. She’d cause

Page | 44
trouble for others if she let her whims carry her throughout the
facility.
“Oh, I’ll go make some tea.”
Kaoruko smiled cheerfully as she raised her hand up and left the
room.
Miyo wanted to offer to prepare the tea herself, but she didn’t
know where anything was in the station. She was envious of how
accustomed Kaoruko was to the place.
It was depressing to sit there idly, being protected and unable to do
anything to help.
I’m so pathetic…
While Miyo fretted in anguish, Kaoruko quickly returned with a tray
in hand.
“I’m back!”
Kaoruko headed straight for Kiyoka’s desk and placed a cup down
on it.
“Commander, you preferred coffee, right?”
“…Right, thanks. I’m shocked you remember.”
Kiyoka furrowed his brow for an instant before breaking into a
smile. It slightly surprised Miyo to see him grin while working.
Kaoruko looked happy as well.
“Oh please. I remember everything about you, Commander.”
“Listen, you……”
She looked pretty as she flashed him an impish smile. While
Kaoruko wasn’t earning any praise for teasing her superior, Miyo
didn’t think Kiyoka was quite as upset as he was letting on.
Both of them really do get on well together.

Page | 45
 The more she thought about it, the more Miyo realized that she
knew almost nothing about how Kiyoka behaved at work.
She had no idea that he drank coffee at all. At home it was nothing
but green tea, and Miyo hadn’t the slightest inkling about how to
brew a fancy, stylish drink like coffee.
It hadn’t even been a year since Miyo first met Kiyoka that spring.
Having worked together with him, Kaoruko surely must have
known more about Kiyoka than Miyo did.
That was what arranged marriage essentially was in the first place.
You were introduced to a potential partner you really didn’t know
much about, then got married. As people spent time with their
spouses, they steadily learned more and more about each other.
Even though she understood this intellectually, being confronted
with this difference right before her eyes clouded her heart.
“Here you go, Miyo.”
“Th-thank you.”
Faking a smile to conceal her murky emotions, Miyo accepted the
teacup from Kaoruko.
This wasn’t going to do—this woman was being so amicable with
her, and Miyo couldn’t let her gloomy look dampen the atmosphere.
Kiyoka himself trusted Kaoruko, which was obviously why he’d
entrusted her with guarding Miyo. Above all else, he’d decided on
this arrangement with Miyo’s welfare in mind.
There wasn’t anything for her to be displeased about.
I need to search for something that I can do.
Though Miyo couldn’t handle military-related work, she ought to
be able to take care of odd jobs or chores instead—even if it was just
serving tea or giving shoulder massages. As long as she remained

Page | 46
inside the station, people would be watching her and Kiyoka could
immediately come running to her side, so she’d be totally safe… At
least she thought so.
Mentally firing herself up, Miyo drained her tea and rose to her
feet.
“U-um, excuse me, Kiyoka?”
“What is it?”
She continued speaking, undaunted by Kiyoka, who replied to her
without lifting his eyes from his desk.
“Please give me some work to do.”
Miyo stared hard into his eyes after he lifted his head up in
surprise. Then he sighed and laid down his fountain pen.
“No.”
“Wh-why not?”
“It’s dangerous.”
“But—”
“No buts. Usui might be after you at this very moment, you know.”
While Kiyoka’s tone wasn’t harsh, hearing him lay this out left Miyo
at a loss for words.
She was utterly in the dark about the current security situation,
leaving her no option but to defer to the expert in these matters.
But if she backed down now, she would wind up sitting there like a
mere decorative object.
“I-is there really nothing I can do?”
“You’re really always looking to work, aren’t you? If anything,
you’re usually too hard on yourself, so I wish you’d take this
opportunity to relax a bit.”

Page | 47
 “R-relax……”
No other word troubled her as much as this one.
Miyo found taking it easy much more difficult than continuing to
push herself.
“You even worked yourself to the bone on our trip to the villa,
didn’t you?”
“I don’t think that has anything to do with this situation…”
“You’ve stopped listening to what I say lately, you know that?”
Kiyoka pouted, and Miyo lost the power to keep up her best
protests.
It wasn’t that she wanted to work, exactly.
Until very recently, the concept of “free time” had been foreign to
her. That was why being told to do as she pleased upset her.
The way she saw it, working was exponentially more preferrable
than sitting around doing nothing. Besides—
“But I want to do something. I’ve got Usuba blood in my veins,
too.”
It wasn’t about the possibility Usui might be her real father, or
about doing something to stop the man himself.
The Usubas—her grandfather Yoshirou and Arata—had
acknowledged her as family. She couldn’t turn a blind eye to Usui,
who was also connected to the Usubas, like it didn’t concern her.
Miyo also felt she had some responsibility to bear as a blood
relative, and she actively wanted to share that responsibility.
“Still, though.”

Page | 48
 “C’mon, Commander, why not? Miyo will be safe and sound with
me around!” Kaoruko confidently declared, pounding her chest with
her fist.
“Miss Jinnouchi.”
With another member of the military on her side, Miyo was sure
Kiyoka would allow her to work. Little did she know that she’d been
too hasty to let relief wash over her.
“Jinnouchi, you’re not thinking carefully about this. This is Naoshi
Usui we’re dealing with. It doesn’t matter how skilled or capable you
are when you’re up against him. Let your guard down, and he’ll take
your life in an instant.”
Kiyoka narrowed his eyes into a pointed glare, but Kaoruko glared
right back at him, undaunted.
“I am thinking carefully about this. I just feel like forcing the person
we need to guard to sit and bear with it isn’t really ‘protecting’ her.
At the very least, that’s not really what I think ‘bodyguard duty,’ is
about.”
“…What an audacious thing to say.”
“Despite what you may think, in the old capital, I’m still a
remarkable military woman. I’ve been training myself every day,
whether I want to or not.”
“Please, Kiyoka. I won’t cause you any trouble. I’ll be sure to listen
to Jinnouchi’s orders, and I won’t leave the station. Please.”
Miyo fervently advocated for herself, prompting Kiyoka to let out
another sigh of resignation.
“Haah. Fine, if you insist. Still, I can’t let you get involved in any
military affairs. It’ll truly be nothing but odd jobs and chores. Is that
okay with you?”
“Yes, I don’t mind.”

Page | 49
 Hearing Miyo’s unequivocal response, Kiyoka brought his hand up
to his forehead in exasperation.
His reaction suggested to Miyo that she was forcing unneeded
hassle onto him. And that was probably true.
Just then, her enthusiasm withered, and the guilt pushed her
toward retracting her request.
“You’re overthinking things again, aren’t you, Miyo?”
“Huh?”
She jerked her shoulders suddenly as Kiyoka instantly picked up on
the feelings in her heart.
At this point, the way Miyo’s train of thought would continue to
spiral in the worst possible direction had become a habit of hers.
After all, if she anticipated things going badly from the start, then she
would be able to get through whatever life threw at her with the
least amount of pain.
But Kiyoka was well aware of this, so he simply smiled at his
fiancée.
“Miyo.”
“Y-yes?”
“I know I may not look it, but I believe I’m capable of granting an
indulgence or two from my fiancée. Don’t worry about it.”
The words weren’t anything special. They were surely a common
sentiment between friendly spouses-to-be.
Yet that didn’t stop Miyo from feeling like her face was going to
burst into flames.
It was a half-and-half split—partly because she was embarrassed to
hear him call her request “an indulgence,” and also because she

Page | 50
could clearly tell from Kiyoka’s smile that he found her lovely and
endearing.
Had he always been this sweet?
Whatever the case, her heart couldn’t take it. Miyo averted her
eyes as she grew dizzy.
“U-um, okay. Thank you…,” she managed to reply in between her
short breaths, to which Kiyoka nodded with a look of satisfaction.
“However, before getting to any work or the like, you’ll need to
learn the layout of the building. How about you try looking around
for today?”
“Oh, in that case, I can serve as her guide while I’m guarding her.”
Kaoruko energetically volunteered to lend a hand, and this time,
approval came immediately.
“Good point. I’ll leave it to you.”
“Thank you for your help, Miss Jinnouchi.”
“Leave it to me! I’ll give you the top-to-bottom tour.”
That was how Miyo ended up looking around the station together
with her bodyguard Kaoruko.
However, when it came time for them to leave the office, Kiyoka
left them with a nagging warning.
“I’m going to be here working, so be sure to call me if anything
happens, got it?”
“I will.”
“Make absolutely sure you don’t step outside the station
compound. Bodyguard or not, you can’t afford to let down your
guard.”
“I won’t.”

Page | 51
 “U-uhh, Commander?”
“If the men say anything to you, just ignore them. A hello’s good
enough. Got it?”
“I understand.”
“On that point, if any one of them say anything rude to you, run
away and come report it to me imm—”
“C-Commander! Enough, before we run out of time for the tour.”
Her patience for Kiyoka’s unending stream of safety precautions
finally wearing thin, Kaoruko interjected and shot him a look of
exasperation.
He looked slightly peeved at being cut off by one of his
subordinates.
“These are all points that need going over, Jinnouchi.”
“Yes, yes, believe me, you’ve made your point loud and clear. I’ll be
right by Miyo’s side making sure she’s safe, too. Right?”
Kaoruko glanced at Miyo for approval, and she nodded.
Every once and a while, Kiyoka could be a big worrywart. Miyo
clearly understood that Usui was dangerous, and while she was
happy to have her fiancé worry over her safety so much, she wasn’t a
child. She felt just the slightest bit perturbed at being told what to do
in such fine detail.
“…All right. Just make sure you’re extra careful while you’re out
and about.”
He patted Miyo’s head with the palm of his large head.
Despite the fact he was treating her like a child, Miyo felt her face
flush once again.
“I will. Thank you, Kiyoka.”

Page | 52
 “Of course.”
Too embarrassed to lift her head, Miyo departed the office
together with Kaoruko.

Kiyoka let out a tiny sigh as he watched his departing fiancée and
subordinate close the door behind them.
…What exactly is it that I want to do?
He had always held affection for Miyo—he thought.
He’d make sure to protect his fiancée, who bore deep scars, and to
treat her with care. These feelings had remained consistent from
when he’d first met her to now, when he’d spent more time with
her.
However, this didn’t necessarily mean he had a felt a romantic
sense of “love” for her from the start.
It’s shameful it took hearing that from the old man for me to realize
it, though.
Now that he had been told of love, and awakened to it himself,
Kiyoka couldn’t keep the feelings teeming in his chest out of his
mind.
Leaning deeper into his chair, he let his eyes fall on the surface of
his desk.
He would treasure Miyo for as long as he lived. His mind had been
made up from the start, yet now there was so much more he wanted
from her.
He didn’t want to ask that she’d reciprocate these same feelings.

Page | 53
 Kiyoka simply wanted to cherish her, to make sure she never cried
or got hurt again. He didn’t want to get her in harm’s way. In fact, he
wanted her to always be within his sights, never leaving his side.
“………”
A terribly dangerous thought. What in the world was he thinking?
Shame suddenly welled up inside him, and he stared into the air.
Day by day, Miyo was growing so much that she scarcely resembled
the woman she had been.
Anyone who saw her would agree that she was a splendid
noblewoman, and she could conduct herself as one in front of
anybody. Both she and Kiyoka had wanted this. And yet.
There was a part of him inside that longed for her to stay put, to
never move from his side. A part of him thought he would be at
peace if he shut her away in a place where neither Usui nor anyone
else could touch her.
Utter nonsense… I just want to make things easier for myself.
Disgraceful.
Nevertheless, every time he saw her standing firm, desperately
trying to suppress the terror she felt from Usui’s presence and
declarations, he would ponder what he could do to protect her from
any kind of fear or sadness for good.
Kiyoka shook his head, chasing the terrible thoughts from his mind.
In any event, Miyo was changing. She was deftly interacting with
Kaoruko, even though they had only just met. She may have been his
fiancée, but he had no right to dictate her every move.
That was why agreeing to her wishes had been the right call.
I need to capture Usui come springtime, no matter what.

Page | 54
 To spare Miyo any more pain, it was all the more vital that he dealt
with Usui and the Gifted Communion as soon as possible.
Kiyoka turned his eyes to the documents in his hand.
Was Usui actually Miyo’s real father? If this turned out to be true, it
would flip everything upside down.
Going off the results of his investigation, it was likeliest that Miyo’s
father was Shinichi Saimori, based on when Miyo was born and when
Sumi Usuba was officially married. However, the findings weren’t
indisputable. He couldn’t definitively rule out the possibility that
Sumi Usuba had met with Usui after she’d gotten married.
If Usui was Miyo’s real father, then he could use his parental
authority to manipulate her. On the other hand, even if he was only
claiming her as his daughter for some ulterior motive, it was
evidence of just how much he wanted her for himself.
Whatever the truth was, it was impossible to prevent her from
getting involved in the situation.
What am I supposed to do?
What method was there to confront Usui and capture him while
also preventing Miyo from being put in danger as much as possible?
Kiyoka sunk in his seat, deep in his thoughts and with no answer in
sight.

She advanced through the corridor with a spring in her step.

Kaoruko let out a laugh behind Miyo, walking as if she was fleeing
Kiyoka’s presence.
“So that’s how the commander treats his fiancée, huh. I’m
surprised.”

Page | 55
 “…He must act a lot different when he’s working. “
Coming to a halt, Miyo tried to cool the flush in her cheeks while
she turned around and mumbled.
“That’s a given. The commander’s usually very strict on both
himself and others.”
“Even with you, Miss Jinnouchi? Um, you were……you were also
one of Kiyoka’s potential marriage candidates, right?”
She hadn’t really wanted to ask the question, but her curiosity had
brought it tumbling out of her mouth.
I’m so stupid.
If Kaoruko replied saying he was strict with her, then Miyo would
end up imagining them working together, but if she replied with the
opposite, it would only agonize her to learn that she had been
special to Kiyoka.
She shouldn’t have asked something so foolish.
Miyo couldn’t tell if Kaoruko had picked up on her feelings or not.
She laughed off the question nonchalantly.
“He never pampered me like that. I was truly surprised to witness
that exchange just now. That’s the first time I’ve seen the Major
Kudou look all out of sorts, and that’s not even getting into the
excessive warnings he gave. I’m this close to chiming in to ask what
exactly happened in the few years since I last saw him.”
She looked radiant as she chuckled jovially with a hand on the back
of her head.
“Is that so?”
“Sure is. Though, I know very well that the commander is kind,
despite how strict he is.”
Kaoruko’s brief, gentle expression stung in Miyo’s chest.

Page | 56
 After hearing that Kaoruko, too, had picked up on Kiyoka’s
kindness, she couldn’t bear to look the woman straight in the eye.
The conversation trailed off, and the two silently started walking
down the hall again.
“Oh, right,” Kaoruko said, clapping her hands together. “There’s
something I’ve been wanting to say to you, Miyo.”
“What would that be?”
Walking side by side, Miyo looked up at Kaoruko, who was tall for a
woman. She looked back at Miyo with eyes full of anticipation.
“The truth is, you and I are actually pretty close in age. I’m twenty.”
“Oh…yes. We are close, then.”
Miyo would turn twenty in the new year. That would make Kaoruko
a year older than her.
She thought about it for a moment and realized she hadn’t actually
met many other women close to her in age.
No matter how deeply she searched through her memories, the
most she could come up with was the kids she’d met when she
attended elementary school, a few servants at her previous home,
and her stepsister.
Meeting Kaoruko and conversing with her like this was a nigh
unprecedented occasion.
“I think the two of us actually have a lot in common. We’re both
still unmarried at our age, we’re Gift-users. And pretty, to boot.”
Miyo chuckled quietly, infected by Kaoruko’s comedic remark.
She didn’t consider herself pretty at all, but the joking compliment
didn’t have any hint of nastiness to it. In all honesty, she was happy
and amused to hear it.

Page | 57
 “So, umm… What I actually want to say is, basically… Well, I sort of
thought that the two of us could became good friends,” Kaoruko said
“Friends?”
“Yeah. We’ll be going around together for a good chunk of the day
for the foreseeable future, for one, and it seems like we could get on
well together, so I thought an easygoing relationship would let us
both be a bit more relaxed around each other.”
“…Yes, I suppose.”
“That and, I actually don’t have many friends. It’d make me really
happy to get to know you, Miyo. You’d be helping me out a lot, so
what do you say?”
Kaoruko stopped and held out her hand with a smile, and Miyo, for
the briefest moment, hesitated to take it.
Interested or not, Miyo had never had a friend before. She didn’t
have any idea about what specifically she needed to do for the two
of them to be considered compatriots.
Nevertheless, her hesitation lasted but a few seconds.
Miyo timidly stretched out her hand and took hold of Kaoruko’s.
“If you’re really fine with someone like me, then…I look forward to
our friendship.”
“All right! Thank you, Miyo. I’m sure we’ll hit it off!”
Seeing Kaoruko’s genuine glee at her answer—she was on the
verge of jumping for joy—made Miyo feel like she had made the
right choice.
She found it charming how Kaoruko could cut a handsome and
dignified figure the one moment, only to act cheerful and friendly
the next.

Page | 58
 “In that case, I can ditch the stuffy formalities, right? You can talk
to me like you normally would, too, Miyo, I don’t mind! Also, please
call me Kaoruko instead of Jinnouchi.”
Miyo nodded, feeling overpowered by the woman as she brought
her beautiful face close to hers and took both of Miyo’s hands in her
own.
She had never really considered word choices or formality before.
From a hierarchical standpoint, despite Miyo’s betrothal to Kiyoka,
the lowly status of her family would place her far below Kaoruko.
Besides, she was a normal civilian who was uninvolved with the
military.
While Kaoruko may have been in charge of protecting Miyo, that
didn’t make Miyo anymore distinguished or important.
“Seriously?! Thanks. Phew, I’m sooo glad you didn’t turn me down.
You’re sweet, Miyo.”
“Not at all. There was never any sort of hierarchy between us to
begin with… But, um, as for using your first name…”
“Ah, is it hard to say?”
“That’s…not exactly it.”
“I’d really prefer Kaoruko. Truth is, I’m not a big fan of being called
by my last name.”
“Huh? Why, um, is that?”
Jinnouchi was a splendid family name to have. Normally not the
type of name someone would dislike.
Miyo cocked her head in confusion, and Kaoruko smiled awkwardly
and scratched her cheek.
“The last name Jinnouchi… It’s kind of stiff, or a little pompous,
don’t you think?”

Page | 59
 “Really?”
Miyo agreed that the characters in her name weren’t very
charming or cute. Kaoruko had a very gallant outward appearance,
so Miyo was a bit surprised to learn that she would have preferred
something more feminine and endearing.
Sensing that Miyo had been convinced, the uniformed beauty
continued on, appearing a bit impatient.
“A-anyway, just call me Kaoruko, okay?”
“Okay.”
Kaoruko let out a sigh of relief at Miyo’s nod before urging her
forward.
“C’mon, let’s go!”
Continuing down the loudly creaking wood corridor, the two women
came to a door labeled KITCHENETTE. This was apparently the first stop on
their tour.
“Now then, Miyo. First, we have the kitchenette here, where……”
Leaping into her role as Miyo’s guide, Kaoruko cheerily opened up
the door halfway before her voice went silent mid-sentence. She
froze, standing stock-still in a daze.
Growing worried about what happened, Miyo peered into the
kitchenette as well.
Oh my……
The room was dimly lit, and a cold dampness hung in its stagnant
air. Upon casting her eyes about the room more closely, she found it
was in a horrible state. Things were scattered all over the place, and
it was so messy there was just barely enough room on the ground to
place your feet.

Page | 60
 However, Miyo only got a glimpse of the room for the briefest of
moments.
Kaoruko violently slammed the door shut. Then she turned to face
Miyo, her lips stretched into a taut smile, and gave a shockingly
monotone reply.
“Awww! I forgot. We can’t use the kitchenette right now!”
How on earth could it be unusable?
There was a bare-bones kitchen and a small cafeteria inside the
station, so while you could theoretically brew coffee and tea over
there, Kaoruko herself had made some tea just a few minutes ago.
She couldn’t have just forgotten about the state of the kitchenette.
Miyo did have to agree that the horrible mess she’d briefly
glimpsed would make the place difficult to use, though.
“Whoopsie, not much help if I’m introducing you to facilities you
can’t use, now is there? Ah-hah-hah…”
Miyo stared hard at Kaoruko as she continued to speak in a
strained monotone, purposefully avoiding her gaze.
A few seconds passed in total silence.
Resigning herself to the situation, Kaoruko then asked, “Did you
see?”
Miyo nodded hesitantly.
“…Yes. I saw it.”
Miyo could understand that the wretched condition of the room
wasn’t exactly something to show other people.
Kaoruko feebly frowned as she opened the door once again.

Page | 61
 “If you’ll allow me to give somewhat of an explanation, the
military’s basically a boys’ club, so a lot of areas don’t end up getting
the attention they need.”
This station was filled with nothing but men.
Although they ostensibly took turns handling the cleaning and
laundry, many of them were likely unaccustomed to these chores.
Given that this was a military facility that housed confidential
information, it would also be difficult to hire someone from outside
the military to handle them.
Entrusting the cleaning to new recruits or trainees wouldn’t work,
either, as the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit was always
understaffed and wanted to utilize the fighting strength of any fresh
faces right away, which prevented them from attending to any
chores.
“I-it’s quite incredible, really.”
Miyo took another peek inside and discovered that the kitchenette
was practically in a state of ruin.
It looked like you could still boil water and prepare tea here, at
least, but the dust and the mold she saw did not speak highly of the
room’s current level of sanitation.
Kaoruko heaved a sigh and closed the door again, as if to pretend
she hadn’t seen anything.
“I get the feeling they haven’t cleaned it once since I was last
stationed here.”
“Um, and just how long ago was that…?”
“Hmmm, around four, five years ago?”
The amount of time was far more horrifying than Miyo could’ve
imagined.

Page | 62
 Over those long years, the soldiers must have cleaned the
kitchenette just barely enough to keep it usable, until it finally
reached its current state. Miyo wished she hadn’t learned the truth.
She unconsciously brought her hand to her mouth in shock, causing
Kaoruko to slump her shoulders.
“…Anyway, I definitely can’t let you see any more of that than you
have to, so let’s keep going.”
“Okay.”
As she nodded, Miyo considered volunteering to clean the place
before stopping herself.
She was still getting shown around at the moment, and ultimately,
she couldn’t do anything without going back to Kiyoka’s office and
asking him about it first.
“Now then, next we’ll goooo……this way.”
Miyo was having a lot more fun on Kaoruko’s tour than she’d
expected.
After the kitchenette came the office and records room, followed
by the courtyard, main kitchen, and the cafeteria. Looking inside the
locker room and the storehouse was a step too far, of course, but
Kaoruko took a brief peek in both places before shouting, “Filthy!” so
they had to be in a similar state as the kitchenette.
Conversely, while the cafeteria was on the small side, it was neat
and clean.
She was told that a retired former military man worked as the cook
in the station kitchen. Unfortunately, Miyo wasn’t able to meet him
when she dropped by on Kaoruko’s tour, but apparently, he was
fastidious about his craft, and this pickiness was what kept both the
cafeteria and the kitchen spick-and-span.

Page | 63
 “The food at the canteen here is really good. The catered lunches
they serve at the old capital station aren’t bad, but I mean, when you
compare them to the freshly made meals here?” Kaoruko
reminisced, a spellbound gleam in her eyes.
Miyo was startled to hear this.
W-wait, does that mean there’s a chance Kiyoka actually prefers the
food here…?
The most delicious lunch she could make would still be cold when it
came time to eat it. Surely Kiyoka would have preferred a piping hot
meal to that if he could get one here.
She would need to ask him about that when she saw him next.
Lost in her thoughts, Miyo began to grow uneasy.
I feel like I’m being stared at.
It happened when she was walking with Kaoruko through the halls,
or when they would poke their heads into each room. Wherever they
went, the soldiers met her with rude, somewhat cagey stares.
She hadn’t felt these gazes yesterday. As Kaoruko put it, this was a
boy’s club, so perhaps it was simply that the sight of two women
walking about was unusual.
However, Miyo couldn’t help but get the impression their gazes
were filled not with curiosity, but the same type of resentful
sentiments she had been subjected to when she lived in the Saimori
household.
“Last up is the dojo.”
Kaoruko’s tour was coming to an end.
In truth, Miyo had secretly worried that Kaoruko wouldn’t find her
company very enjoyable since she didn’t have anything clever to say,

Page | 64
but she was a little relieved that Kaoruko had worn a cheerful smile
on her face from start to finish.
“I looove the dojo, so I wanted to save the best for last.”
“You’re that fond of it?”
“Yeah. My family runs a dojo. I’ve spent a lot of time in them ever
since I was little, so it’s where I feel the most relaxed……and when I
tell people that, they all give me this look that says, that explains a
lot.”
“Because you’re so handsome?”
“Hah-hah-hah. Please, no one’s ever nice enough to put it like that.
Most of the time people tell me I’m really masculine.”
Though a smile spread across Kaoruko’s jocular face at Miyo’s
comment, there seemed to be a slight loneliness to it as well.
Miyo agreed that being called “masculine” despite being a woman
must have brought up some complicated feelings, though she figured
people must have said that to Kaoruko off-handedly.
She asked Kaoruko something that had been on her mind since the
day before.
“Actually, now that you bring it up, I thought that only men could
become soldiers. Are there any other female soldiers, besides
yourself?”
Typically, only men could join the army. Miyo guessed that she
wasn’t alone in thinking this, as society generally understood the
military to be an all-male institution.
Even in this very station, the washrooms and locker room were
meant for men only. It didn’t seem very suited to the needs of a
female soldier whatsoever.

Page | 65
 “Ahh, yeah good question.” Kaoruko nodded. “You’re right.
Normally women can’t join the military, so you’re not under any
misconception. The Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit, on the other
hand, is a bit unique. There are actually other female soldiers besides
me in the old capital.”
“There are?”
“Yup. I mean, there aren’t a lot of Gift-users to begin with, right?
That’s why woman can join as long as they have the necessary
combat skills. A female Gift-user is more powerful than a man who
can’t use his supernatural powers very well, and that on its own
means more military strength for the nation to freely utilize.
Incidentally, while they aren’t treated as regular soldiers, even
students can work in the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit.”
“Students, too……”
“I actually started working here as an assistant pretty early on,
from when I was about fourteen or fifteen. Though, there’s not many
student assistants or female soldiers. As you’re already aware, right
now I’m the only women in this station, for example.”
“I see,” Miyo said, satisfied with the explanation.
After meeting Kiyoka and awakening to her own supernatural
ability, Miyo had finally come to understand just how special the
Gift-users’ positions were.
The Gift-users’ main duties were defeating Grotesqueries, but
should a war ever break out, they would serve as powerful
antipersonnel weapons. That was why the Special Anti-Grotesquerie
Unit existed—to give the military the authority to order Gift-users as
they saw fit.
Kaoruko……may not have mentioned this, but…

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 While female Gift-users were allowed to join the unit to bolster
their fighting power, it was clear that the hope was they would get
married and give birth to the next generation of Gift-users. Since this
was taken as the default, there ultimately weren’t many female
soldiers after all.
Being recognized as a Gift-user came with many privileges.
However, they weren’t viewed as people.
Feeling like she had swallowed a bitter pill, Miyo followed Kaoruko
and dropped by the dojo.
“Well, we’re here.”
The dojo was spacious and housed in a separate building from the
station, which it connected to via a corridor.
Miyo estimated there were roughly ten people inside. The soldiers,
clothed in martials arts wear, were working up a sweat, exchanging
blows with wood swords or sparing in hand-to-hand combat.
“So you don’t use bamboo blades.”
“That’s because this isn’t kendo, but sword-fighting techniques
meant for actual combat.”
“Ah, Jinnouchi, you’re here.” A deep voice called out to Kaoruko
from the side as the two women conversed.
Though not especially tall, the owner of the voice was a man with a
sturdy physique. You could tell he was well-trained with a single
glance, and his features had an intellectual quality.
Miyo remembered seeing him in the meeting yesterday. If she
wasn’t mistaken, he was a squad leader by the name of
Mukadeyama.
“Greetings, Squad Leader Mukadeyama, sir.”

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 “I should be greeting you, Jinnouchi. It must be exhausting to be
back in the capital after so long.”
“Oh, no, not at all. I’ve got plenty of motivation, so I’m not tired at
all.”
Mukadeyama laughed with a grunt before he casually looked over
to Miyo.
“Well, now, if it isn’t the commander’s fiancée. Forgive me for not
greeting you sooner.”
“…Good day.”
Mukadeyama lightly bowed with her reply. It felt almost like he was
trying to see through to something inside Miyo.
“Hello, I’m Mukadeyama, one of the squad leaders. May I ask what
sort of business has brought you here?”
He narrowed his eyes, and her sense of intimidation intensified.
This feeling she had, which Mukadeyama was testing, was probably
overthinking on Miyo’s part. But the more she thought about it, the
more convinced she was that he was trying to evaluate her. Both as
Kiyoka’s fiancée, and as an Usuba.
He had no reason not to.
“Yes. I was in the middle of having Kaoruko show me around the
station.
Miyo calmed herself and clearly answered Mukadeyama, who
replied with a simple, “I see.” Then he picked up one of the wood
swords leaning up against the wall and held it out to Kaoruko.
“Jinnouchi, how about a match for old time’s sake?”
“Sure… But I’m on bodyguard duty right now.”

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 “So you planned on coming all this way without doing anything?
Skimp on your training, and you’ll get rusty. I’ll watch over Miss
Fiancée here, so go spar.”
“Hmmm, I understand, sir, but…”
Kaoruko deliberated over the offer for a moment, but in the end,
she hesitantly took the wooden sword from him.
“Well, if you insist, I’ll spar for a match.”
She doffed her coat, tossing it against the wall and rolling up her
sleeves.
Mukadeyama selected a young man who had only been in the unit
for two years to be her opponent.
“Thank you for the match.”
“…Thank you as well.”
The two bowed to each other, and the bout immediately got
underway.
Even with her untrained eyes, Miyo could tell that the young man
was strangely concerned with Kaoruko, aggressively striking at her
right from the start. Kaoruko, on the other hand, coolly parried his
attacks one after the other.
Incredible.
Kaoruko was very skilled. She seemed totally in control of the
situation.
Before long, the other soldiers in the dojo were absorbed in the
match.
“Keep it up!”
“Lose to a woman and you’ll never live it down!”
Shouts popped up here and there from the crowd of soldiers.

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 “Miss Fiancée, who do you think will win?”
Miyo was a little bit surprised when Mukadeyama abruptly threw a
question at her. She’d never expected that he would try striking up a
conversation.
Faced with his question, she found it hard to pick an answer.
The way she saw it, Kaoruko seemed like she had more vigor to
spare, but nevertheless, there was a simple gap in stamina and arm
strength between men and women. Kaoruko was still on the
defensive, and she wasn’t attempting any counterattacks of her own.
After a moment of hesitation—
“…Kaoruko, I think.”
—she replied with her honest feelings, prompting Mukadeyama to
quietly nod.
“Yeah, most likely. Jinnouchi far outclasses her opponent on a
technical level… If she wasn’t a woman, she could’ve risen right up
the ranks.”
If she wasn’t a woman.
This casual comment lodged itself in Miyo’s brain.
In other words, Kaoruko’s degree of skill ultimately didn’t count for
anything. Even with her worldly ignorance, Miyo knew this was what
Mukadeyama was implying.
“This is relevant for you, too.”
“Huh?”
She looked up to her side, locking eyes with him.
Yet she didn’t see a hint of emotion in his gaze. Though he was
technically looking at Miyo, it appeared as if he wasn’t actually
interested in her whatsoever.

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 More importantly than that, though—what did he mean by this
being relevant for her, too?
Mukadeyama continued to address her in a languid tone.
“What I’m saying is, there are quite a few soldiers who believe it’s a
nuisance to have you wandering around the station.”
“A nuisance…”
“There’s no reason to welcome you in our walls. You’re the
commander’s fiancée, so there’s no one stupid enough to do
something about it openly, but that’s how things are. As far as the
men are concerned, a civilian woman who can’t even put up a fight is
nothing but a nuisance around here, and I can empathize with the
sentiment. All of us earned our positions in the unit, and we do our
work with pride.”
Miyo dropped her eyes to her feet.
“On top of it all, you’re a blood relative of the Usubas. A Gift-user
who’s also the enemy of Gift-users everywhere, so to speak.”
“……!”
“There isn’t a single Gift-user would feel comfortable about having
someone like that hanging around.”
“An enemy……”
Miyo paled at the weight of the word.
It was her first time hearing the Usubas described this way, but she
couldn’t completely deny the veracity of the label.
The Usubas used their supernatural powers to subdue other Gift-
users when the need arose. This was true of Miyo’s own power of
Dream Sight, too. Miyo herself was still inexperienced as a Gift-user,
so she didn’t have easy access to it, but in theory, she had free rein
over the life and death of anyone who was sleeping.

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 Scary, aggravating, annoying.
It dawned on her that it wasn’t strange to be met with hostile looks
filled with such negative emotions.
Miyo was sure this situation was a consequence of the Usubas
being brought out from the shadows into the open.
“I’m not really trying to make blind assumptions here. But please
remember that there are people here who don’t take kindly to you.
And don’t go around doing anything uncalled for.”
“…I understand.”
Miyo lowered her eyes at Mukadeyama’s firm warning.
He was right.
She’d finally learned the truth about the stares she’d gotten during
her tour inside the station.
It’s because I’m an Usuba.
While their approach may have been forceful, the Usubas had
welcomed Miyo as a member of their family, and for that she owed
them a debt of gratitude. She had never once found them terrifying
or unpleasant, and that was the extent of it; nothing more, nothing
less.
However, that was only because Miyo didn’t consider herself a Gift-
user and was wholly ignorant of what it was like to be one.
Furthermore, her current desire to work and be useful somehow
undoubtedly counted as “sticking her head where it didn’t belong”
that Mukadeyama had mentioned. Whether Kiyoka gave her
permission or not, that had no influence on the other soldiers’
feelings on the matter.
Am I being selfish?

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 Right as Miyo let out a small sigh, the soldiers watching the
sparring match erupted into an uproar.
Kaoruko had seized on a momentary opening in her opponent’s
strikes to knock his sword out of his hands and claimed victory.
“Thank you for the match.”
“…Yeah, thanks.”
The young soldier glared maliciously at Kaoruko. But instead of
noticing this, she turned her back to him and stomped out of the
dojo, her face bright red.
The spectators spat foul curses at her.
In all honesty, Miyo didn’t find this a great environment.
“Good job, Kaoruko.”
“Thanks.”
Miyo handed her a handkerchief and consoled her as she returned,
and the other woman smiled brightly at her.
The only saving grace was that it seemed like Kaoruko wasn’t
letting the other soldiers’ remarks get to her.
“Whew, sparring matches really are fun. A good workout, too…
Thank you very much for the invitation, Squad Leader Mukadeyama.”
“Glad to see you haven’t gotten rusty.”
“If anything, my skills are sharper than they were the last time I
was here, wouldn’t you say?”
“Hmm, I don’t know about that.”
The two chuckled amongst themselves. There didn’t seem to be
any bad blood between them.
Mukadeyama’s assertion that he wasn’t trying to make blind
assumptions must have been genuine. At the very least, Miyo could

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tell that he was taking care not to be prejudiced about other people.
That was why he’d recognized Kaoruko for her skills.
With me though…
Unlike Kaoruko, Miyo didn’t have any combat skills to speak of. She
couldn’t use her Gift well, either.
Just as Mukadeyama said, Miyo was not only useless, but also
being targeted by Usui; she was nothing more than a burden for the
soldiers to shoulder. Taking that thought one step further, she was a
nuisance, someone who would only give them more headaches to
deal with.
Yet Miyo’s only option here was to do what was within her powers
as Kiyoka’s fiancée. As much as she wanted to push herself,
ultimately, she could only apply herself to the limited range of things
she was capable of.
But that didn’t prevent the situation from being irritating.
Confronted with the fact that she alone was out of place here, Miyo
felt unbelievably jealous of the faith Kiyoka had in Kaoruko.

Once the sun set, Miyo and Kiyoka returned home together to find
Yurie waiting for them.
“Welcome home, Young Master, Miss Miyo.”
Yurie greeted them in the entryway with a smile, bringing Miyo an
immense sense of relief. She relaxed the tension she had been
holding in her body. It felt like she could finally breathe again.
“We’re back.”
“We’re home, Yurie.”
It had grown frigid outside since sunset, but the inside of the house
was warm.

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 “Now go and get yourself changed, Young Master. Miss Miyo,
please relax in the living room.”
“Oh, um, no, I’ll lend a hand!”
Miyo quickly stood up and hurried after Yurie as she returned to
the housework.
She entered the kitchen and found that most of the preparations
for the evening’s meal were already finished.
“Aren’t you tired, Miss Miyo?” Yurie asked, concerned, while she
retrieved the dinnerware from the shelf.
“No,” Miyo briefly replied before her gaze fell to her feet. She must
have looked exhausted for Yurie to have asked her that.
But she hadn’t done much of anything that day to tire her out.
“No, I’m feeling fine.”
If anything, this had been an easy day for her, since she usually
used up her stamina on doing housework. Nevertheless, mental
fatigue had instantly surged up inside her as soon as she arrived
home.
Ever since meeting Karuko, Miyo had felt like there was something
constantly weighing on her heart. Once Mukadeyama’s words made
her understand the reality of the current situation, she had steadily
sunk deeper and deeper into melancholy.
Miyo unconsciously sighed, prompting Yurie to put her hand over
her mouth.
“Oh my… Please sit down for a moment, Miss Miyo.”
Yurie pointed to the small chair in the corner of the kitchen.
Miyo was confused by the sudden request.
“What? But…”

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 “It will still be some time before the young master finishes
changing.”
Yurie’s smiling face left no room for debate. Though the old woman
was typically gentle and kind, Miyo had already experienced how
frightening things could get when she grew angry.
Her only choice was to obediently follow her wishes.
“Wait there for a moment.”
Yurie made sure Miyo sat in the chair as she’d asked, then poured
something into a pot and put it over a flame.
Miyo stared into space for a while before she was passed a
steaming bowl.
“Here you go, Miss Miyo.”
“Thank you.”
Without thinking anything of it, Miyo took the bowl, and her eyes
widened when she gazed at its contents.
It was filled to the brim with a thick white substance that gave off a
sweet aroma.
A bowl of amazake…
She cupped the bowl with both of her hands, and warmth spread
through her body from her fingertips.
“It’s already gotten quite cold lately, so I just bought some earlier
today.”
“I’m sorry. I was supposed to help you.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Now please, drink it up before it gets cold.
Relieved by Yurie’s smiling face, Miyo brought the bowl up to her
lips.

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 The sweetness of piping hot amazake sank right through to her
bones, and the unique texture of the fermented rice grains that
lingered on her tongue was delicious. How many years had it been
since she had tasted this sweetness?
“It’s delicious.”
Miyo exhaled a hot breath of air.
It was as though the strong, sweet flavor had started to dissolve
the leaden weight in her chest. Coupled with the warmth of Yurie’s
thoughtful gesture, Miyo felt like she would break into tears on the
spot.
“Hee-hee. Looks like it was the right choice to buy some today.”
Miyo returned Yurie’s grin and slowly downed the rest of the
amazake.
By the time the bowl was emptied, Miyo’s heart was lighter than
before.
“Yurie.”
Just then, Miyo turned to face the voice coming in from the
doorway and saw Kiyoka, changed out of his uniform and peering
into kitchen.
“Oh, Young Master. Is something the matter?”
“…It’s already dark out. If you’re heading home tonight, I’ll come
with you part of the way.”
“Oh my, where did the time go?”
Hearing this reminded Miyo that it had indeed been dark when
they arrived home.
She stood up and placed the emptied bowl in the sink.
“I can finish the rest on my own, Yurie.”

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 “Ah, yes, then I’ll leave it to you.”
“You’re coming with us, Miyo.”
“What?”
She cocked her head, leading Kiyoka to narrow his eyes slightly in
exasperation.
“You haven’t forgotten that you’re being targeted right now, have
you?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten… But, um, it will just be for a short while,
won’t it?”
Yurie’s house wasn’t very far, and because it got dark so early in
the wintertime, her family would come pick her up on the route
home. It usually only took Kiyoka a few minutes to drop her off.
Miyo wasn’t underestimating Usui, but she couldn’t imagine that
he would sneak into their house like a burglar in that short span of
time.
Yet Kiyoka’s face only grew sterner with each word Miyo spoke.
“No. Do as I say.”
His tone was harsh.
Kiyoka was worried about Miyo and trying to protect her from
harm, so the best thing to do here was obey him. That was obvious,
given that she didn’t have the skills to defend herself.
Nevertheless, she couldn’t help comparing his reaction to the trust
she’d witnessed between him and Kaoruko that other day. An
indescribable feeling came over her.
“…I understand.”
Why was she so focused on Kaoruko and Kiyoka’s relationship?
Perplexed by her own emotions, Miyo quietly nodded.

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After safely delivering Yukie to her family, Miyo and Kiyoka walked
back home together along the night road, their path illuminated by
only the moon and the stars.
They’d managed to talk plenty on the way there since Yuri had
been with them, but the conversation immediately died once they
were alone together. An awkward silence hung between them.
This is my fault, isn’t it?
Miyo reflected on herself, looking down at her feet to make sure
she didn’t trip.
Since returning from the villa, she hadn’t been able to interact with
Kiyoka like she used to. Whether this stemmed from a sense of
shame or her preoccupation with Kaoruko, she couldn’t tell.
The silence continued before Miyo suddenly remembered
something and called out to her fiancé, walking a few paces in front
of her.
“Um, Kiyoka.”
“What?”
“…Should I stop making you lunch?”
It was just an offhand question.
After hearing Kaoruko say the cafeteria food at the station was
delicious, she thought to ask if he would prefer to eat that for lunch
instead of the meal she typically prepared for him.
“Huh……?” Kiyoka, however, couldn’t hold back his surprise,
stopping to turn around and face her. “Why?”
The expression he wore was dyed with shock, turmoil, and grief
unlike anything Miyo had seen up until now.
Miyo had anticipated, at most, the same terse reply he usually gave
her, and so she was perplexed by his unexpectedly intense reaction.

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 “Um, well… Kaoruko told me about the station cafeteria and…”
Kiyoka stared at her as she gave her reply, and a cold sweat formed
on her forehead.
“And?”
“She mentioned that the station cafeteria food was top-notch, so I
thought maybe you’d also—”
“Ridiculous.”
Kiyoka tersely cut her off.
What exactly had upset him so much? Baffled, Miyo could only dart
her eyes around in confusion.
“I-it’s, ridiculous……?”
“Absolutely. Miyo, I eat your lunches because I enjoy them. Much
more than any cafeteria food. If making it is too much work…or you
don’t want to make it anymore, then I’m fine with you giving it up,
but I’d ask you to keep making it for me, if you’re up for it.”
The almost earnest timbre of his entreaty sunk into Miyo’s chest.
He had simply asked her to make his lunch, yet she was so
overjoyed her lips rose into a smile.
Kiyoka actually enjoys my lunches.
Miyo had started off making meals for him of her own accord and
would’ve immediately stopped if he told her he didn’t want them.
Nevertheless, she knew it would hurt to hear him say he actually
didn’t want them. It made her ecstatic to hear Kiyoka needed her.
She responded, heedless of the lively vigor in her voice.
“I will! I’d love to continue making your lunch for you!”
“Great.”

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 Kiyoka widened his lips into a smile.
“Miyo, give me your hand.”
“Hm? Here.”
When she did as instructed, he extended his large palm to take
hold of her small one. Then he pulled her close, her hand in his.
“It’s dark out. This is a lot safer, isn’t it?”
“Y-yes, I suppose so…”
She was holding hands with him.
The second Miyo comprehended the situation, her body flushed
with heat, and her previously cold hand quickly warmed.
“……Please, don’t hate me.”
With all of her attention focused solely on their two hands joined
together, Miyo didn’t catch the small murmur Kiyoka gave in reply as
he led the way.
The two walked along the night road, enveloped in an entirely
different silence from before.

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 CHAPTER 3
How to Spend Time with a Friend

The word chores comprised a variety of different tasks. That being

said, the chores Miyo could handle were limited.
“This really is all I can do, isn’t it?” Miyo murmured to no one in
particular as she tied up the sleeves of her kimono with a cord.
Kiyoka had given her two options: Cleaning up various areas,
including that disaster of a kitchenette, or organizing documents in
the records room. She’d wavered slightly before finally settling on
cleaning.
The records room housed reports and similar documents on
incidents involving Grotesqueries. New ones arrived daily, and if they
weren’t taken care of, they would eventually turn into a huge mess.
Kiyoka had suggested that she’d learn more about the
Grotesqueries if she organized the records room, but even with
Kaoruko’s help, Miyo wasn’t confident a layperson like her would be
able to do a good job.
I’d feel so awkward doing it…
She knew that if she looked at the reports and other documents,
she’d get a peek into Kiyoka’s work activities. Yet she hesitated to
step into that part of his life.
She stole a glance at Kaoruko, who was taking off her outer coat
and rolling up her sleeves.
I know I shouldn’t be letting it get to me, but……
It was an endless cycle—she’d accidentally bring her thoughts back
to Kaoruko, then heave a sigh.

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 Ever since she’d learned Kaoruko had been a potential marriage
partner of Kiyoka’s, her desire to learn about the past had gotten
stronger and stronger.
Her fiancé’s past. Kiyoka and Kaoruko’s time together. What sort of
relationship they’d had, and what sort of feelings existed between
them. Whether or not they had maybe, just maybe, been in love with
each other.
If they were in love, what good would that knowledge do me?
Even if they had feelings for each other, what in the world was she
looking to do about it?
Criticizing someone wasn’t the answer. Whatever sort of
interpersonal relationships they’d had in the past, it didn’t directly
involve Miyo whatsoever. This was ground she should tread lightly;
accusing them of anything would be preposterous.
She didn’t want to know. Yet, she did.
“Oh dear, what should I do—”
“What is it?”
Miyo jumped when someone responded to her murmuring.
“K-Kaoruko! Please, you startled me…!”
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to scare you or anything. You looked really
serious, so I just wanted to ask what was up.”
Miyo calmed her heart, which was pounding from the shock, and
turned to face Kaoruko.
Had she really been wearing so grave an expression? Actually,
there was no question that she had serious thoughts weighing down
on her, so Kaoruko’s observations must have been right on the mark.
Miyo needed to be careful, or else she would get Kiyoka worried
over nothing.

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 For the time being, she would put all she had into the cleaning
she’d agreed to handle. Between her old home, Kiyoka’s house, the
Kudou villa, and now the station, she felt like she cleaned wherever
she went, but that was simply a reflection of how well-suited she was
for the task.
Though, you could also say that there simply isn’t anything else I can
do.
She clenched her fist to try and think past the wave of pity and
depression crashing down on her, urging Kaoruko forward.
“It’s nothing. Shall we get to it, then?”
“Sounds good.”
Kaoruko nodded once without pressing the issue before opening
the door to the kitchenette.
The inside was just as much of a disaster as she remembered. Miyo
had handled chores in a variety of different places, but she’d never
seen a room in such a ruinous state before.
“I-it’s hard to know where to start, huh?”
Enigmatic stacks of wooden boxes with aged snack wrappers
inside. Moldy bottles, buckets, bowls, and cups lying all over the
floor, plus unidentifiable spills that had solidified. Dirty dishcloths
and newspapers scattered everywhere, and an indescribable stench
choking the air.
The place was a textbook visual of ruin and decay. The best thing to
do first would be taking everything out of the kitchenette, but Miyo
was honestly frightened of digging up something even more horrible
in the process.
“Seriously, guys, you gotta be kidding…”
Kaoruko placed her palm on her forehead and gazed up at the
ceiling.

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 The worst part of it was that this was far from the only room that
needed deep cleaning.
Miyo understood how little attention the soldiers here normally
paid to matters outside their line of duty. The thing was, Gift-users
all came from notable families with storied histories, so when she
considered that the men here were from these households, she
realized that this wouldn’t have turned out any other way.
Complaining to them would be fruitless.
Nothing will get done if we stand here reeling in shock.
At any rate, they had to start somewhere, or things would never
improve.
Miyo covered up her nose and mouth with a face towel, then
valiantly strode into the kitchenette.
First, they needed to sort out everything in the room. Dinnerware,
linens, and any other washable items needed a good scrubbing. They
would have to collect all the long-expired foodstuffs and bury them.
They could reuse any paper products that hadn’t fallen prey to the
mysterious liquid, but otherwise, they were a lost cause, soaked with
an awful smell.
Just looking at the room was a slog. Once they set their minds to it
and got started, however, Miyo and Kaoruko both silently worked
their way through the cleaning.
“There’s a clean bucket over here, so I’m going to put all the linens
in it, okay?”
“Thank you… Oh, that box was open, so I put the dinnerware in
there.”
The two women quickly collected the smaller items together in any
container they had on hand, confirming the minimum amount of

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necessary information between each other as they went, before
then removing them all from the room.
Whenever Miyo went out into the corridor, the soldiers passing by
would glare at her.
Though none of the men went so far as to stop and gawk at them,
they would slacken their pace when they got near the room to check
out what Miyo and Kaoruko were doing inside.
During one of these moments, a group of soldiers rounded a corner
to find Kaoruko, who had gone out to draw water.
“A woman really looks her best when she’s doing household
chores.”
“Shouldn’t be butting in on the men’s work.”
“I’m just glad we’ve found ourselves a replacement janitor.”
The soldiers were all whispering conspicuously to each other, their
voices loud enough so Kaoruko would hear. Their unbelievably rude
comments made Miyo feel uncomfortable.
For some reason, however, the target of their snide remarks broke
out into a smile.
“If my skills are proving useful, then it was worth it to come out
here from the old capital. Hah-hah-hah.”
“Pfft, you can lose the bravado. It hurts to watch.”
“A woman’s no match for a man, no matter how much of a brave
front she puts up.”
The soldiers laughed mockingly and deliberately bumped into
Kaoruko’s shoulder as they departed.
How awful.

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 Miyo had been told the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit was a
meritocracy, but this problem had nothing to do with her abilities.
The sparring match from the previous day had been the same way.
The men all seemed intent on proving they were superior to Kaoruko
since she was a woman.
Kaoruko’s smile disappeared, and for a brief second, her face
darkened before she grinned at Miyo as if nothing had happened.
“I’ve brought the water.”
“U-um… Kaoruko, I—I um…”
The soldiers had gone too far. Despite Miyo’s frustration, when she
thought about how Kaoruko had gone out of her way to force a smile
back on her face, she couldn’t come up with anything to say.
“……Thank you, for the water.”
“You’re welcome.”
Any words of encouragement would only hurt her feelings, so Miyo
could only resign herself to accepting the bucket of water.
I’m fine with whatever they say to me, but…
Just as Mukadeyama had said, Miyo was both a complete outsider
here and a relative of the Usubas. On top of that, she lacked the skills
to silence people who would be critical of her, so she had prepared
herself to face severe criticism. She was accustomed to being treated
like a persona non grata since she had been the odd one out for as
long as she could remember.
But Kaoruko was different.
Miyo could tell that she was proud and trying to carry out her
duties to the fullest. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been
accompanying Miyo so earnestly.

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 Her male peers were rejecting her diligent work ethic just because
she was a woman. They wouldn’t acknowledge her. It was the height
of irrationality.
Once they had finished carrying most of the items out of the
kitchenette, Miyo took a duster and began wiping away the dust that
had built up on the higher places in the room. Kaoruko, meanwhile,
washed dirtied items nearby.
“Miyo.”
“Yes?”
Suddenly hearing her name, Miyo stopped what she was doing and
turned to face Kaoruko.
“Are you having any trouble? Like with people saying nasty things
to you, or with fitting in…?” Kaoruko inquired, her eyes fixed on her
hands.
Miyo couldn’t really figure out what she was trying to get out of
asking this.
If anyone was having a difficult time here, it had to be her, right?
She couldn’t possibly feel anything from being insulted like that.
“……I’m fine.”
Miyo was about to ask if Kaoruko was okay, but the words caught
in her throat moments before they could leave her mouth. She
couldn’t do anything for the woman, even if she heard her out.
If she reported the soldier’s behavior to Kiyoka, their commander,
things might improve momentarily.
But she could easily imagine that handling things this way would
breed further antipathy. The men would probably think that she was
sucking up to authority because of her lack of any true skills or
ability.

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 “As long as you’re okay. But sheesh, I am so sick of that sorta stuff.”
“I…don’t like it, either.”
Finished brushing away most of the dust, Miyo swapped her duster
for a broom, and started cleaning up the trash in the room.
“Same here. It’s times like those make me wish I hadn’t been born
a woman.”
“But you can still fight, Kaoruko.”
“I’m just stuck in the middle. I’m not feminine, but obviously I can’t
be a man, either.”
Watching Kaoruko laugh this off and go back to work, Miyo realized
something.
She was the same. Just like Miyo had been when she lived with the
Saimoris.
No matter how painful, how cruel, things felt, she never dared
show it. She pretended not to feel anything, fooling even herself to
protect her heart.
Miyo had found it impossible to always wear a smile, but the way
Kaoruko was living—stifling her feelings to get by—lined up with
Miyo’s own experiences.
Her cheerful disposition wasn’t entirely a brave front. Nevertheless,
there was no question that this environment was partly responsible
for making her turn out like that.
It depressed her to think about the state Kaoruko’s heart must
have been in.
“Aaaah, nope, enough of this. I can’t stand wallowing in misery.
Let’s talk about something else.”
“Sounds good.”

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 She was right that they would end up feeling even worse if they
continued their current topic of conversation.
“Oh, that reminds me, have you even been to the old capital,
Miyo?”
“No. In fact, I hadn’t left the imperial capital at all until recently…”
“Whaaat?!”
The two enthusiastically absorbed themselves in chit-chat, and
before they knew it, they’d stopped paying attention to the stares of
the male soldiers.
That night, Miyo was taking a breather in the living room after
washing the dishes when Kiyoka returned from his bath.
“Kiyoka, have some tea.”
“Thanks.”
Miyo poured a cup of tea and placed it before Kiyoka as he sat
down on the tatami floor, still wiping down his long hair with a
towel. She’d also set a small bowl filled with mandarins on the tea
table.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“I’m fine… More importantly, you must be exhausted from working
yourself ragged all day.”
“No, I’m okay.”
Though Miyo did feel some fatigue, of course, it wasn’t enough to
grumble about to Kiyoka.
It had taken the whole day, but she and Kaoruko were able to
largely clean up the kitchenette. Although they still had to sort
through all the items they had temporarily removed from the room,
the inside was spick-and-span. Once they put everything back in
order, their job would be done.

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 When they finished up and Miyo looked over the kitchenette, so
pristine she couldn’t believe it was the same room, she and Kaoruko
had grabbed each other’s hands and rejoiced.
Miyo thought it had been a wonderful and worthwhile task, but it
seemed that Kiyoka still wasn’t convinced.
“So you say, but the weather’s already gotten pretty cold. Push
yourself too hard, and you’ll get sick.”
“I understand. I won’t let myself get to that point.”
“…We haven’t really had a moment to catch our breath since
coming back from the villa.”
Kiyoka’s quiet murmur prompted Miyo to think back over
everything that had happened after meeting Kiyoka’s parents.
The days she’d spent at the villa now felt like a lifetime ago.
They’d traveled there in late autumn, so it hadn’t even been a
month since their trip. But winter weather had started earlier this
year, so by the time Miyo had gotten back to the house, the seasons
had completely changed. There wasn’t much time left until the new
year.
“How’s Godou doing?”
Kiyoka shook his head at Miyo’s question.
“They say it’ll still take a bit longer until he can have visitors.
They’re trying every possible treatment they have, though.”
Godou had suffered terrible burns in the explosion at the Gifted
Communion’s base.
Gift-users were much hardier than the average person, so there
was no risk of him dying, but his wounds were still in a terrible
state—not something he could show to a woman. He was holding off
from letting Miyo visit out of consideration for her.

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 “Are you also going to visit him once we get permission?”
“I am. I want to see him.”
Godou had helped her out in a variety of ways up until that point,
and he was one of the few acquaintances Miyo had. She had no
reason to turn down the invitation.
For some reason, a dubious look came over Kiyoka’s face when
Miyo replied with excitement.
“You seem awfully enthusiastic about getting to see him.”
“What? Erm, I, um, I don’t mean anything strange by it… Godou’s
helped me out a lot, and I’ve been worried about him this whole
time.”
Somehow, her reply came across as a defensive excuse. Kiyoka
glared with suspicion at her.
“You’ve been a bit standoffish lately, haven’t you?”
“What?!”
“Maybe it’s just my imagination, but it feels like you’re more
distant than usual.”
“…………”
Miyo was at a loss for words, and she slowly averted her eyes down
to the side.
She wasn’t trying to be cold and standoffish around Kiyoka, of
course. Yet, although she was trying to behave just like always, she
couldn’t object to his comment, either.
Of course I am—I don’t know how I’m supposed to face him.
She’d been averting her eyes more frequently lately, and her words
often caught in her throat. This must have given Kiyoka the feeling
like something was off.

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 Her behavior didn’t jump out to him when he was busy working or
at the station because of the Usui situation, but there was nothing to
prevent him from noticing when they were alone together.
“So when spring comes… Will you be my wife?”
“Miyo. Please don’t forget about yesterday… That was how I feel.”
“You look great. Very cute.”
The events of the villa swirled around in her head. Just
remembering them made her face go crimson.
While she had no reservations about marrying Kiyoka, what exactly
did that kiss mean? And what did Kiyoka mean by “that was how he
feels”? Had he always been the type to call someone “cute”?
On top of these embarrassing questions hounding her, there was
now Kaoruko’s presence to torment her as well.
I wonder… Did Kiyoka do the same things…say the same things to
Kaoruko, too?
She would be devastated and inconsolable if he had. Just imagining
this made her confused.
In the end, what did she really want to do?
Kiyoka had the freedom to feel however he wanted, too. While he
treasured Miyo, she hadn’t always been his lover, either. It was
perfectly reasonable that women for whom he had feelings for,
whether in the past, present, or future, would suddenly cross paths
with her.
But if one such women really did show up, Miyo was sure she
wouldn’t be able to handle it. Slowly, she looked up once again at
her fiancé’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
“S-s-s-sorry…!”

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 She couldn’t do it. Her face was so hot her eyes were practically
spinning.
His porcelain fair skin and his bluish eyes. His night-transparent
light-brown hair flowing from his shoulders down his back. Kiyoka
was just in his usual nightwear, so why was he stunning?
“I wasn’t looking for an apology, really…”
“I—I—I’m not trying to avoid you. I swear.”
“I didn’t really think you would actually do something like that on
purpose anyway.”
“Mrrrm………”
Miyo was mortified. She wanted to crawl into a hole.
“Was it something I did?”
“……That’s not it.”
He had it wrong. It was only that Miyo was unable to understand
and bear her own emotions.
If she was more worldly, if she had a large number of friends and
was accustomed to interacting with other people, then maybe she
would’ve been able to get through things without being at the mercy
of her own emotions by now. She might have learned how to
confront both her feelings and Kiyoka’s.
It seemed like it would take some more time before she’d be able
to do something about this vague, unclear sensation inside her.
Kiyoka’s face suddenly clouded over.
“Something bad happened at the station, didn’t it?”
Miyo widened her eyes in shock.
She never would have imagined him picking up on this. Though,
when she thought about it for a moment, it was obvious. He was the

Page | 94
unit commander, so it made sense he’d have a grasp on what
happened in his workplace.
“One of the men happened to see you and Jinnouchi and reported
to me about it.”
“It’s…”
“If one of the squad leaders or I tell them off, it’ll make them
resentful. But I need to do something, or—”
“It’s okay.”
Miyo impulsively interrupted Kiyoka.
“W-well, I know it’s not okay, but neither of us wants you to
address it that way, Kiyoka.”
Miyo could only guess what Kaoruko’s feelings on the subject were.
Nevertheless, she was confident they were on the same page.
“If you warn your men about it, there’s bound to be a few who will
find you unreasonable for doing so. That would be even worse,
wouldn’t it?”
Miyo wanted to avoid undermining the trust between Kiyoka and
his men.
Neither she nor Kaoruko could avoid being totally unoffended by
whatever was said to them, that much was true. Bullying was hard to
take, and it might eventually get them down.
However, there had yet to be any violence, and it’d be much
sadder if she and Kaoruko ended up sowing distrust between Kiyoka
and the men in his unit.
“We’ll do what we can to handle the situation ourselves, so you
should keep focused on your duties instead,” Miyo insisted with a
smile.

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 Kiyo began to slightly open his mouth, but the words he left unsaid
disappeared into a sigh.
“Oh, would you like more tea?”
“Yes, please.”
After refilling the teapot with the still-warm water from the kettle
and giving it a small shake, she poured green tea into Kiyoka’s
teacup.
The image of Kaoruko handing him a cup of coffee, a vaguely
cheerful look on her face, came to Miyo’s mind, and a dark cloud
again descended over her heart.
This isn’t good. I can’t let myself get like this…
She wanted things to go well with Kaoruko, and she wanted their
friendship to strengthen. If Miyo brought these insecurities into the
mix, then it would ruin any chance of things going well between
them.
The quiet clunk of the teacup hitting the surface of the tea table
brought Miyo back to reality.
“I don’t need any extra push to crush the Gifted Communion, but…
sigh.”
“Kiyoka?”
Miyo was confused to see desolation suddenly descend over
Kiyoka’s face after he took a sip of tea.
“You’re fine with leaning on Jinnouchi for help, but you won’t rely
on me? Is that how it is?”
“Umm. I’m not, erm, leaning on Kaoruko. I think it’s a bit different
than that.”
It was less that she was relying on her, and more that they were
both supporting each other……or more accurately, she wanted them

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to support each other. It certainly wasn’t because she found it hard
to depend on Kiyoka and was turning to Kaoruko instead, or anything
like that.
“Why do you say that, Kiyoka?”
“……Forget it.”
Miyo didn’t really understand, but she was sure he wanted her to
get along with Kaoruko.
Is there something that I can do?
Other than giving her words of encouragement, was there anything
else she could do to help cheer Kaoruko up?
Housework was about the only skill at Miyo’s disposal. In which
case…
That’s right. As long as I have that…
She immediately began coming up with a plan that would benefit
both her and Kaoruko.

The following day, Miyo and Kaoruko finished cleaning the

kitchenette without incident before they went on to tidy up one
place after the other.
Over the course of several days, they cleaned the storehouse
where the unit’s equipment was kept, organizing the interior,
polishing the corridor floors, and wiping down all the windows. They
washed and dried the piled-up laundry, collected and disposed of the
trash, and ousted dust from every corner of the station.
One day, after Miyo had fully settled into her daily life of coming to
the station every day…

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 Kaoruko had gone to the storehouse to grab a sponge, dustcloth,
and other cleaning supplies to clean the water well behind the
station. Meanwhile, Miyo was tidying up the watering cans and
buckets scattered around the vicinity of the well.
B-brr, it’s cold.
The well was outside. With nothing to protect her against the wind,
cold gusts blew directly on her face and the sections of her arms and
legs where she’d rolled up her kimono.
She had started the cleaning project thinking it would be better to
get out of the way before everything froze over, but it was now
dawning on her that this would go smoother when it warmed up.
With that in mind, Miyo went to head inside. Just then, she heard a
man’s deep laugh.
“Still though, women sure are convenient to have around, don’t
you think?”
“You can say that again. Look how eager they are to grovel on the
floor to clean for us.”
“Girls look much better holding a broom than a sword.”
Her attention piqued by the exceedingly unpleasant remarks, Miyo
quietly peered around the corner of the building, and her eyes fell on
three soldiers, freshly finished with their training by the looks of it,
chatting away with wooden blades still in hand.
Over the past several days, no matter what she was doing, she
would always encounter snide remarks like these. It appeared
around half of the unit’s members were displeased with her coming
and going in the station, along with Kaoruko’s presence there.
On closer inspection, she noticed that one of the three men was
the younger recruit who had previously sparred with Kaoruko.
“Women should know their place and stay out of our business.”

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 “You got a real good thrashing yourself. I mean, the whole
conversation about whether women can fight or not is ridiculous.
They’re gonna get married eventually anyway, and then it’s no more
work for them.”
A loud guffaw echoed.
Miyo learned what it felt like for her temper to finally reach its
breaking point.
Why are they saying such horrible things?
They didn’t accept Kaoruko, her strength and her hard work, simply
because she was a woman. Completely tainted by their own
prejudices right from the beginning, they disregarded reality and
derided someone giving everything she had.
There could be nothing more unreasonable, more outrageous.
The Saimori family had treated Miyo the way they had because she
possessed no supernatural ability. While it was a painful memory for
her, a frustrating and miserable memory, part of it was unavoidable.
Kaoruko, though, was different.
She was strong, and that strength came from her own hard work.
“Obviously, a woman’s never going to measure up to a man
anyway. They can swing their swords all they want, but it won’t
make difference.”
It happened without Miyo really being aware of it herself. She
slowly walked out in front of the three men.
“Ah……”
“Did you hear all of that?”
Once the men became aware of her presence, they all grimaced at
the awkwardness of the situation.

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 “Um…”
Just telling the men off here wouldn’t make prejudice suddenly
disappear from the world. But Kaoruko had done nothing wrong.
Miyo wanted to make sure these three understood that.
She locked eyes with each of the men before she finally spoke.
“I don’t think you should say stuff like that.”
“Excuse me?”
“I heard that the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit was a meritocracy.
A place where anyone with enough skill could join, even women.
Was I mistaken?”
The men kept their mouths shut at her softly spoken question,
their inability to offer any rebuttal written on their faces.
Essentially, they had realized that their claims diverged from the
unit’s policies. When it came down to it, they were upset about
losing to Kaoruko, to a woman. That and nothing more.
“You won’t be able to recruit the competent fighters you need if
you mock people like that. And if losing to a woman’s so upsetting,
wouldn’t it be more logical to first try making more of an effort
yourself instead of driving her away with gossip?”
“What would you know? You’ve got nothing to worry about since
the commander protects you from everything,” one of them
murmured bitterly.
“Kn-knock it off.” One of the three tried to warn him against it, but
the man didn’t stop. He stabbed his wooden sword into the ground
and shook with rage.
“I guess patronizingly pointing things out from safety is the one
thing even a woman can handle, huh? Meanwhile, we’re constantly
fighting with our lives on the line. I’m not going to stay here and

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listen to complaints from someone who doesn’t have any damn clue
what our jobs are like.”
“…………”
“Women lack stamina and strength. So how are they supposed to
be able to fight just like we do? They can’t, obviously. Women have
other things they’re suited for, so they can go do those. All they do is
drag us down, so how come they’re paid to shoddily imitate a man’s
work? Like hell I’m standing for that.”
There was a kernel of truth in his objection. Women were
undoubtedly physically weaker than men on average.
However.
“…You’re not the one who gets to decide that. Kaoruko was
rightfully evaluated and made into a soldier. What sort of authority
do you have to reject her like that?”
The rational part of her mind was shocked at the depth of her
anger. She could have never imagined so many words pouring out of
her like this.
“If you’re going to insist on denying Kaoruko her proper due, then I
would suggest doing so once you’ve actually sparred against her and
won.”
At this, the men all became incensed. Miyo closed her eyes,
anticipating they would strike her with their thick, well-honed arms.
A few moments passed, yet the impact never came.
“Well, well, what’s got you all so riled up?”
The mocking voice belonged to a woman.
Miyo timidly opened her eyes and saw that Kaoruko had gotten
between her and the soldiers.
“Tch……”

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 “Lay one finger on Miyo, and it’ll be the end of you.”
The men knitted their brows and glowered at Kaoruko before going
off.
“Sheesh, immediately resorting to violence like that, I swear.”
“Kaoruko.”
Perhaps she had caught their conversation?
“Ah, don’t worry. I just got here. I don’t have any clue what you all
were talking about. I’ll keep quiet about this to the commander.”
The eyebrows on her smiling face drooped for a moment, and Miyo
understood she was lying.
She took Kaoruko’s hand.
“Let’s save cleaning the well for later.”
“What?”
“Come with me.”
Pulling the perplexed Kaoruko along, Miyo went to the kitchenette
they had cleaned just a few days prior.
“What is it, Miyo?”
“I’ve got something good today. Please, take a seat.”
Miyo lined up one of the small stools that were stacked up in the
kitchenette, and once she made Kaoruko sit, she took out the bundle
in question from the cupboard. Then she undid the square cloth
wrapper to reveal a small lunchbox.
“Is that a boxed lunch?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t have lunch inside.”
Miyo held out the box in front of Kaoruko and removed the lid.
When she did, Kaoruko’s eyes grew wide.

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 “Oh, it’s manju…”
“Um, well, I thought that maybe having something sweet would
help keep your spirits up through unpleasant times.”
It was then that a very important thought crossed Miyo’s mind.
“…You don’t dislike sweets, do you?”
Now that she thought about it, she had never asked Kaoruko about
her taste in food. The sweet buns wouldn’t cheer her up at all if she
preferred, say, alcohol instead.
She had gotten the impression from her interactions with Kaoruko
that she liked sweets and never even questioned it.
G-great, now I’ve done it…
However, the other woman just burst into laughter seeing Miyo get
flustered.
“Ah-hah-hah. It’s fine. I love sweets,” she said before picking up
one of the pale brown manju and taking a bite.
“How are they……?” Miyo asked bashfully.
Kaoruko’s eyes sparkled with wonder.
“They’re delicious! Wait, did you make these yourself, Miyo?”
“I—I did, actually.”
Miyo could’ve simply bought some, but she wanted to make
something from the heart.
She’d gone with manju because right around the time she decided
to make something sweet for Kaoruko, she remembered that a
magazine had just come out with a recipe detailing how to make
them.
“Wasn’t it tough to make these by hand?”
“No, it wasn’t too difficult.”

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 It had taken her a little longer than expected to gather the
ingredients, but actually making them hadn’t been hard.
Kaoruko clearly hadn’t been lying about her fondness for sweets.
She devoured the manju in her hand right before Miyo’s eyes,
wearing a blissful smile on her face.
“That was tasty. Thank you, Miyo.”
“Of course… Would you like another?”
“Well then,” Kaoruko happily replied to her offer, reaching out to
grab her second.
“Thank you.”
Hearing a small murmur escape from Kaoruko’s mouth as she
stared at the manju in her hands, Miyo raised her head.
“…Sorry I made you worry over me.”
“Not at all.”
Miyo gently placed the freshly closed lunchbox to the side and
shook her head. Kaoruko hadn’t forced her to do anything.
However…
“In the house I grew up in, each and every day was a struggle.
Sometimes just breathing made me miserable.”
She had lived with her father being uninterested in her, her
stepmother hating her, and her stepsister deriding her.
Over and over she had asked herself the questions—why was she
alive when there wasn’t anywhere she belonged, when she felt so
unwanted?
“But…in my darkest moments, there were people who raised my
spirits, even though we couldn’t exchange words.”

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 Unlike her childhood friend Kouji Tatsuishi, who would often cheer
her up, the Saimori family servants never openly took Miyo’s side.
Still, they would show their concern in subtle ways, giving away
unused daily necessities, or splitting their food with her.
Those moments had made Miyo unbelievably happy. Simply just
from knowing there was someone who was thinking of Miyo and
acting on her behalf.
“Kaoruko. If you want to talk, and you’re okay with telling me, I’ll
listen. Whether it’s venting or anything else. I probably won’t be able
to help you beyond lending an ear, but… If you keep smiling like that,
you’ll end up forgetting what it means to truly smile.”
“……Yeah.”
There was a slight tremor to Kaoruko’s reply.
“You’re really kind, you know that, Miyo?”
“I don’t think so.”
“No, you’re nice. I may have asked about us becoming friends, but
most people could never be this caring to someone they had only
known for a few days.”
Kaoruko tearfully smiled and bit into her manju.
“Delicious… Eating something this tasty has cheered me up a whole
lot.”
Then she let an apology quietly escape her lips.
“Forgive me.”

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 CHAPTER 4
Genuine Emotions Deep Inside

Time passed as everyone remained vigilant for an attack from Usui

and the Gifted Communion. One night, when the cold weather had
begun to seep into the bones—
“I took tomorrow morning off. Do you want to come with me to
visit Godou?”
—Kiyoka abruptly put forth an offer to Miyo while they were eating
dinner.
“You got permission to visit him?”
“Yeah. Finally.”
Seeing Kiyoka nod, Miyo unconsciously broke into a smile.
The fact that he was authorized to have visitors meant that
Godou’s condition had stabilized for him to see other people; he was
on the mend.
She was deeply relieved to hear that his treatment was progressing
smoothly.
“That’s wonderful. I’m so glad.”
“Sure is.”
“…Kiyoka? Is something wrong?”
His reply was awfully curt. And the movement of his chopsticks had
slowed to a crawl, until they finally stopped.
Had she said something to hurt him? Or worse, was he under the
weather?
“Sorry. I was reflecting on what an intolerant person I am.”

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 “Huh? Intolerant?”
She tilted her head—she didn’t think there was anyone as
magnanimous as Kiyoka.
Miyo hadn’t the slightest idea why their conversation had
prompted him to make that comment in the first place.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m at fault here. I didn’t seriously think that
your concern was coming from a weird place, but… How do I put it?
My feelings got a bit ahead of myself.”
Kiyoka began offering some sort of excuse, unnaturally mixing in
coughs as he went. Completely unable to understand the point of
her fiancé’s extremely unusual behavior, Miyo only grew more and
more confused.
“Um, are you all right?”
“I’m fine, it’s fine. Nothing to worry about.”
“…Maybe I shouldn’t be out and about after all……?”
Miyo wanted to go visit Godou in the hospital, but if that seemed
like it would cause problems, she didn’t want to selfishly insist on it.
“Don’t go around doing anything uncalled for.”
Mukadeyama’s words surfaced in the back of her mind.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Kiyoka. With him at her side, even
Usui himself wouldn’t have an easy time getting his hands on her,
which was why she traveled with him to the station every day.
However, if anything happened while they were out walking
around town, it would already be too late.
At this point, the things I do won’t just affect me alone.
She tightly clenched her fist in her lap. Then a large open palm
enveloped it.

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 “Kiyoka…”
He’d moved around Miyo at some point and was now staring at her
with a serene expression.
His bluish eyes were as perfectly clear and beautiful as ever, like
gemstones. They were so arresting that they made Miyo instantly
forget about everything else.
“Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
She nodded her head meekly, and her fiancé gently pulled her in by
the shoulder.
“This is a good opportunity for me to clear things up. In all
likelihood, Usui is not your real father.”
“What…?”
“It’s clear if you compare when Sumi Usuba was married into the
Saimori family to the time you were born. If Sumi Usuba had a secret
rendezvous with Usui after being married, that would be a different
story, but…the previous head of the Saimoris seemed worried that
she’d try to escape and took great pains to make sure she didn’t
leave the estate. Additionally, the Usubas were still aware of Usui’s
movements at that time, so the chances of a secret rendezvous
happening sound exceedingly slim.
The way Kiyoka spoke, like he was reporting someone else’s words
to her, clearly signaled that he had gotten information regarding the
Usubas from Arata.
Clearly, he’d noticed Miyo’s anxieties over the question of her
parentage, so he and Arata had investigated the matter for her.
“I know very well that you feel uneasy about what to do right now.
That’s why I’ll do anything I can to clear away those anxieties for you.
You can be more open about what you’re feeling, it’s okay.”

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 “……I understand.”
“I’m thinking about what I can do for myself, too. Right now, I want
to overcome this period of uncertainty together.”
Kiyoka’s frank words stuck hard in her chest.
He wouldn’t leave Miyo to fend for herself, so she needed to stop
thinking about everything under the assumption she could somehow
manage alone.
“I…I’ve been worried about what I would do if something happened
while I was walking outside. If I came across Usui out in town…”
Talking about what was on her mind openly like this made her
chest feel a bit lighter. Kiyoka smiled faintly, shaking his head from
side to side.
“You don’t need to worry. Seeing as Usui is leading an organization
of his own, he won’t do anything to tarnish the Gifted Communion’s
reputation with the commonfolk in broad daylight. Especially if he’s
trying to coax you to his side. He’ll have plenty of other things to
target, and plenty of other methods at his disposal.”
“Other things to target…?”
“Forget it. At any rate, you’ll be safe tomorrow, so we’re going to
the hospital. Godou’s been stuck in bed for days on end, and it
sounds like he’s bored out of his mind.
Miyo got the feeling Kiyoka had sidestepped an important point.
However, there were still too many things that remained unseen to
her at the moment, and too many areas beyond her thoughts’ reach.
The nagging sensation settled briefly in the back of her mind before
exiting her thoughts, and she nodded back at Kiyoka’s smiling face.
Godou had been admitted to a military hospital. It was part of the
military headquarters’ facilities, equipped with cutting-edge

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equipment and the empire’s most skilled doctors of all different
fields in permanent residency.
Given it was a military facility, it was not readily open to anyone
except soldiers, but naturally that wasn’t an issue for members of
the armed forces. Their family members could also receive the
treatment here, and they also had permission to visit patients.
Still, I never thought there would come a day when I’d visit the
military headquarters.
That morning, as she was rocked back and forth in Kiyoka’s
automobile, Miyo thought back to the day they first went out
together.
If she remembered correctly, they had traveled via automobile
then, too.
That spring, shortly after she had met Kiyoka for the first time, she
had mistakenly assumed they would be parking his car in the
headquarters after being told they were going to his workplace.
So many things had happened since that spring day. Both she and
the environment had undergone drastic changes.
Part of her felt like that was forever ago, while another part of her
felt like it was just yesterday.
Back then…I was so unsure of myself and always scared.
Kiyoka was kind, a far cry from the type of person the rumors had
made him out to be.
That was why she’d wanted to remain at his side for as long as she
could, but she didn’t have any Gift, and she wasn’t an outstanding
noblewoman either, like her half-sister. That’s why she’d figured that
Kiyoka would eventually rescind his marriage offer.
Just how much had she changed from back then?

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 Had she gotten greedier? Had she matured and grown?
She stole a glance at Kiyoka, his hands on the steering wheel next
to her.
“What is it?”
She had only looked at him for a brief second, yet he had noticed
her gaze and she averted her eyes.
“Nothing, I was simply recalling the first time you took me out.”
“Ahh, back then, huh…”
Looking back fondly on the memory, Kiyoka squinted his eyes in a
smile.
Miyo faintly hoped that just as she looked back on the day as a
wonderful yet embarrassing moment, Kiyoka would think of it
equally as fondly.
The military headquarters—the Imperial Army base in the capital—
was slightly removed from the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit
station.
A number of large, imposing buildings lined up throughout the
spacious plot of land, surrounded by a tall metal fence. The iron gate
was shut fast, and through its lattice one could glimpse well-built
soldiers coming and going.
Since Kiyoka was an officer, he naturally wasn’t subjected to any
questioning, briefly greeting the gate guard before advancing the
automobile inside the base’s walls.
“Are you nervous?”
Something about Kiyoka’s question amused her, and Miyo couldn’t
hold back a laugh.
“Tee-hee, oh, Kiyoka.”

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 “What?”
His dejected reply only made her giggle even more.
“I mean, come now, Kiyoka. It wasn’t long ago when I went to the
Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit station that you asked the same thing.
‘Are you nervous?’ Just like that. Tee-hee-hee.”
“Don’t laugh… What else would I say?”
“I know. Thank you. You don’t need to worry about me.”
The way Miyo used to be, she would wither after, rudely assuming
that Kiyoka himself was actually worried that she would make some
big mistake because of her nerves and embarrass him.
But now she could chuckle like this, because Kiyoka and the people
in his life cared about Miyo.
“This isn’t a laughing matter… I don’t really want to say this, but
you need to be mentally prepared to be here.”
“I will.”
The military headquarters wasn’t the same as the Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Station.
Most soldiers didn’t possess any supernatural abilities, and Gift-
users within the military, in some respects, received special
treatment. Miyo had heard that there were many who had
complicated feelings regarding Gift-users because of that.
On top of this, anyone who was a bit more knowledgeable of this
situation understood that Kiyoka’s fiancée had Usuba blood, making
her a relative of the criminal at the center of it all, Naoshi Usui.
She had been shot plenty of rude looks at the Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Unit station, but apparently that wouldn’t compare to
what she’d face here.
“I’m still fine, though.”

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 She was used to stares.
Miyo wasn’t used to them because she wanted to be; she had
endured her share of painful experiences because of them, but at
this point, she had finally become able to accept that such glares
had, in fact, served to make her who she was now.
She was able to recognize that this was her forte.
Miyo got out of the automobile and followed behind Kiyoka at his
side while they made for the hospital. She did indeed sense many
curious stares, ones that could only be described as inconsiderate,
from the soldiers walking by, but they didn’t bother her as much as
she’d expected.
…After all, I get the feeling that Kiyoka stands out more than me
here.
Between the two of them, the soldiers’ interest fell on Kiyoka
boldly walking forward, carrying the flowers and desserts he had
bought as get-well gifts on the way, in his arms.
“That’s the Kudou family’s…”
“Is that him? I heard he’s quite skilled.”
“Even the top brass doesn’t have authority over some of the staff,
and—”
“…So that’s what he looks like, huh.”
The whispers she overheard were clearly about her fiancée.
Kiyoka almost never showed up around headquarters, it seemed,
so his presence piqued the other soldiers’ interest. With someone of
Kiyoka’s standing in front of her, Miyo’s lineage was trivial by
comparison.
It’s almost a bit of a letdown.

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 A few soldiers went deathly pale and fled as soon as they laid eyes
on him. Miyo wondered where exactly that reaction came from.
Miyo looked around, thinking about how she would get lost on her
own because the buildings looked so similar. Eventually, the two
arrived at the hospital.
Kiyoka had come to visit Godou once, right after he had been
admitted, so there was only a brief exchange with the receptionist
before they headed straight for Godou’s room.
When Kiyoka and Miyo arrived in front of his hospital room, they
found a male doctor in a white coat exiting.
“Oh, well if it isn’t Kiyoka!”
He looked around thirty years old. The doctor, tall and lanky with
an unkempt beard, addressed Kiyoka with an almost capricious grin.
“Been a while,” Kiyoka replied, looking truly and deeply disgusted.
“Hmmm, looks like you haven’t changed, have you? What an
arrogant way to treat an old man! Hee-hee.”
The doctor’s peculiar laugh made Miyo’s skin crawl.
Though, from the familiarity he showed toward Kiyoka, they
appeared to be acquainted. Just what sort of relationship did they
have? She was simultaneously curious and repulsed.
“…Enough with that creepy laugh of yours.”
“He-hee. Come on, who cares about the way someone laughs?
Life’s a lot more peaceful if you don’t sweat the small stuff, you
know.”
“Haaah… Well, how’s Godou doing?”
Another he-hee slipped out of the doctor at Kiyoka’s sigh.

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 “Good enough to have visitors. His wounds probably don’t stand
out as much as they used to. Though, his stamina’s dropped
remarkably, so I’d say it’ll be a prolonged stay.”
“Does it look like he’ll recover before the end of the year?”
“Hmmm, I’d say he’ll easily be able to make it back before then.”
“I see. Appreciate it.”
The doctor made to leave, and Miyo bowed slightly when their
eyes met. He flashed her a truly repulsive smirk, causing her hasty
smile to waver.
Unable to stand there any longer, Miyo asked Kiyoka about the
doctor as he put his hand on the hospital room door.
“Yes, he’s a relative from my mother’s side. He has a healing Gift—
we’re coming in.”
Although he announced their presence, Kiyoka opened the door
without waiting for a reply, and Miyo followed behind him into the
hospital room.
While the place wasn’t exactly spacious, it was still private, and
none too cramped. Godou sat in the back of the room, propped up
on a clean white bed.
“Oh, Commander!”
Ignoring Godou’s exaggerated waving at seeing them arrive, Kiyoka
picked up from where he left off.
“…His healing Gift is truly outstanding, but his personality is a bit of
a problem. He’s not necessarily evil, but…”
“I see.”
“Another drawback is, while his help will heal injuries very well, he
charges an exorbitant amount for it as a ‘special service fee.’
However, there’s no question he’s got skills, enough to make the

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fees worth it when push truly comes to shove and we’re out of
options.”
Essentially, this meant that Godou’s injuries right now were
horrible enough to warrant the doctor’s aid.
If Kiyoka ever faced injuries like that, would she be able to remain
level-headed? Miyo couldn’t imagine the possibility right now, but
perhaps she needed to prepare herself for such a situation.
“Hey now! Didn’t you come here to check on me? Don’t just ignore
me.”
Following Godou’s cry of resentment at being totally ignored, Miyo
heard a chuckle.
“Ah-hah-hah. How delightful. Godou, you truly are so
entertaining.”
“Stuff it!”
Miyo hadn’t noticed a figure concealed in the shadow of the
partition screen.
The visitor before them was dressed in a gaudy kimono and toying
with a fan in his hands, a young man with all the appearances of a
playboy—the head of the Tatsuishi family, Kazushi Tatsuishi.
Kazushi appeared to be entertaining himself by teasing Godou, as
usual.
“It’s been nonstop shouting and yelling with you, Godou. How sad
when I traveled all this way here to see you.”
“Did anyone even ask you to come?”
“Come now, Godou, we’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Since when?!”

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 After having a good laugh at Godou’s shouting, Kazushi snapped
open his fan and stood up.
“Well then, I suppose I should be heading out.”
“Please, go right ahead. Finally, what a relief.”
“I’ll swing by some other time.”
“Don’t!”
Kazushi donned his brightly colored haori overcoat and smiled as
he looked over at Miyo and Kiyoka.
She hadn’t seen him in a while, but she still couldn’t believe he was
the head of the Tatsuishi family. “Prodigal son of a noble family” was
a much more fitting description.
“Mr. Kudou, good to see you.”
“Likewise. Tatsuishi, did you ask Major General Ookaito for
permission to come here?”
“That’s right. I heard Godou had been seriously injured, so that got
me curious. It sounded amusing, too.”
“Try to rein in those tasteless jokes of yours.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Kazushi departed the hospital room with a casual wave.
Kiyoka watched him leave together with a look of exasperation on
his face, then came up beside Godou’s bed. For some reason, this
prompted the other man to burst into laughter.
“Pfft! Ah-hah-hah-hah! You, Commander? Flowers? Pffft, this just
looks wrong!”
“…………”
Miyo glanced sideways to gauge Kiyoka’s reaction; he was clearly
cloaking anger beneath his surly expression.

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 She often wondered if Godou intentionally tried to push Kiyoka’s
buttons. If that was so, then he wasn’t much better than Kazushi,
who had come here specifically to tease Godou.
The thought would likely offend him, so she kept her mouth shut.
“You certainly seem to be doing well. I guess our visit wasn’t
necessary.”
Looking down at Godou with ice cold eyes, Kiyoka passed the
bouquet to Miyo, telling her to arrange them for him, before placing
the desserts on top of a nearby shelf and turning away from both of
them.
Miyo was taken aback at seeing her fiancé grow so quick to anger.
“Kiyoka?”
A-are we going to leave already?
As Miyo lamented the fact that they had still only just arrived,
Kiyoka turned back to her for a moment.
“I’m going to step out for bit. Miyo, you can stay here and relax for
now.”
“Oh, okay……”
Why was he leaving after we had come all this way to see Godou?
Godou’s teasing couldn’t have actually angered him, she just knew
it. If this was enough to make Kiyoka so mad he didn’t want to be in
the same room as the man, Godou’s life would have ended a long
time ago considering how many jokes he cracked.
Moreover, Miyo had the vague sense that something was off about
Kiyoka as she watched him leave. She debated whether she should
follow him or not.
Why…?

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 Though she was at a loss, she did as she was told for the time
being, opening up the bouquet in her arms and arranging it in an
empty glass vase.
It appeared that Kazushi hadn’t brought any flowers of his own for
his visit, so the glass vase had been still stored away unused.
“Sorry to make you do that, Miyo.”
“Not at all.”
Tasks like this were a cinch for her.
Miyo replied with a smile at Godou as he apologized with his hand
on the back of his head.
Godou came off just as energetic and upbeat as always, but there
were more white bandages and gauzes peeking out in places from
his robes than she had expected, and they looked painful.
This was even after he had gotten permission to have visitors. Miyo
shuddered at the thought of how horrible his original injuries must
have been.
“Um, Godou. I wanted to, um, take this chance to, well. I don’t
know how I should say it, but… I am truly, truly sorry.”
Finished arranging the flowers, Miyo turned back to Godou and
bowed deeply.
His injuries were Naoshi Usui’s fault. He was the Usubas’
responsibility, and Miyo couldn’t claim to be totally uninvolved
herself.
Apologizing might have put Godou in an awkward spot, but she
couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.
“Please, there’s nothing that you need to apologize for, Miyo.”
“But—”

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 Godou slowly shook his head.
“I could say not to worry about it, but that’s probably impossible,
huh? The people at fault here are the ones who did this, and who are
planning to do even worse—Naoshi Usui and the Gifted
Communion—not you.”
“……Okay.”
“So I should really be the one thanking you for coming to visit me.”
Godou’s smiling face was the same as always, friendly and cheerful.
Miyo was glad he was okay. If he had lost his life, there would have
been a void in the lives of both her and Kiyoka.
She sat down on the small wooden chair at Godou’s bedside.
“Do your injuries hurt?”
“I mean…,” Godou evasively replied to Miyo’s question. “Up until
two, three days ago, I was honestly in a looooot of pain. My whole
body was wrapped up in bandages, and the burn wounds under
them were awful.”
Godou’s tone was light, as though he wasn’t talking about anything
serious, but his statement was heavy.
With severe burns inflicted all over his body, normally one would
be drifting between life and death—and probably beyond saving.
Fortunately, Godou not only possessed the sturdier body of a Gift-
user, but he’d also gotten help from someone with a healing Gift, so
his life had been saved.
She heard that there were other corps beyond the Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Unit who had also been caught in explosions at other
Gifted Communion hideouts, but by some miracle, there were no
fatalities.

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 “Once I’m back in action, I’ll round up all those Gifted Communion
guys, just you watch. I may not look it, but I hold on to my grudges
for a looooong time!”
“P-please give it your all, then.”
“Sure will!”
After coming to a pause in their conversation, Miyo grew worried
about Kiyoka, who still hadn’t returned.
Perhaps he was having a long talk with that strange doctor, a
relative of his mother’s.
As Miyo speculated about her fiancé’s whereabouts, Godou
murmured something.
“When I was first admitted to the hospital……even our fearless
leader was at a loss for words. He definitely feels partly responsible
for the attack.”
Miyo’s chest tightened at hearing that Godou’s injuries had truly
been quite severe.
Kiyoka wasn’t verbose to begin with, but this was coming from the
man who was always working at his side, so the sight of the wounds
must have truly shocked him.
“I’ll probably get yelled at again for telling you things I shouldn’t,
buuut…!”
“Huh?”
“The commander feels responsible as my superior officer, that’s
obvious. But beyond that……I think it brought him back to the past.”
“To the past?”
Godou nodded without any hint of silliness, a rare look of
seriousness on his face, before he cast his gaze outside the hospital
window.

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 The sky, which had been clear when Miyo left that morning, had
since been overtaken by overcast gray clouds. It looked like it would
snow at any moment.
Kiyoka and Mr. Godou’s past together……
Kiyoka’s past—Miyo couldn’t contain her curiosity, especially after
meeting Kaoruko.
Miyo tensed up slightly, wondering what exactly she might hear
from the mouth of Kiyoka’s devoted subordinate.
“See, my dad was the commander of the Special Anti-Grotesquerie
Unit before Kiyoka.”
“Your father?”
“Yes. He was an esteemed Gift-user. Strong and adored by his men,
too. Me, well… I rebelled against having a dad like that and studied
abroad.”
This was all news to Miyo. Though one part about Godou’s
statement stuck out more than anything.
He was an esteemed Gift-user.
Noticing his use of the past tense, Miyo realized there was a chance
Godou’s father had already passed on.
“My dad hounded Commander Kiyoka back in his student days to
join the military. He wanted him to become the unit’s next
commander. But the commander wasn’t interested in joining the
military, so he went on to study at the imperial university. Even after
this, my dad refused to give up and kept inviting him to join.”
Miyo couldn’t parse Godou’s expression. He continued to gaze
outside the window without once turning back to face her.
“One day, my dad was killed in the line of duty. He was up against a
fierce opponent, though he could have easily beaten him if he’d had

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Commander Kiyoka at his side. The emperor wound up ordering him
to help my dad, but he didn’t make it in time.”
“That’s horrible……”
Miyo clutched her chest, empathizing with the feelings Kiyoka felt
at the time.
“Now, obviously it’s not the commander’s fault that my dad died.
But when I returned from studying abroad, I was convinced he was
responsible for my dad’s death. Thanks to that, the commander felt
incredibly guilty, and he ultimately ended up joining the unit.”
Godou let out a brief sigh and turned to Miyo with a forlorn grin.
“The day my dad died, all of the soldiers got out unharmed. I’m
guessing that since I was in danger of being the only fatality when
the Gifted Communion attacked, the commander couldn’t help
recalling what happened back then.”
“………”
Miyo got the sense that no matter what words she offered him,
they wouldn’t be the right ones.
She didn’t regret hearing Godou’s tale. Nevertheless.
“I’m so sorry. I—I shouldn’t have heard all of this.”
“Nah, I just started blabbing on by myself. You want to know more
about the commander, right?”
“But how…?”
Miyo’s eyes widened at Godou’s all too accurate reading of her.
Kiyoka didn’t often talk about himself with Miyo. But that was
precisely why she then wanted to learn more about him, and she
ultimately thought about how inconvenient such a desire would be
to Kiyoka himself.

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 That was why she hadn’t said a peep to anyone about it, and yet…
It wasn’t good to divulge something that Kiyoka himself didn’t want
to talk about. Even Miyo had plenty of episodes in her past she
wouldn’t want to bring up voluntarily.
I’d rather not talk about painful memories, and I wouldn’t want
anyone to learn about them, either…
However, there was the moment when she’d realized that Kiyoka
already knew most of what there was to know about Miyo’s difficult
past. She remembered just how utterly relieved she had felt.
“Besides, you know how awful the commander is with words. I
figured he prooobably hasn’t properly told you any of this. And it
seems like I was right on the money. Sheesh, give me a break.”
He capped off his statement with a laugh. Miyo couldn’t see any
traces of Godou’s clouded expression from moments ago.
She unintentionally directed a nagging question at Godou.
“Is it okay for me to directly ask Kiyoka about his past?”
A past that one wanted to keep buried.
Obviously, he must have had moments like that, too. Even if Miyo
implored him to tell her, even if she insisted that she wanted to
know all about it, would he allow it? Would she end up hurting him?
These were judgments she should have made for herself, and
nothing would come from asking Godou about any of it. Still, she
wanted the opinion of someone credible for guidance.
Godou squinted with an unusually faint and serene smile.
“I’d wager the commander would be a lot happier to hear you ask
him outright. I’m sure he’ll want to confide in you about anything
and everything if you’re the one asking, Miyo. That’s just my take, of
course.”

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 “You think so…?”
“At this point, you should be able to guess how the commander
feels without having to ask me, right? Either trust in your choice and
confront him, or back down—either’s good for me.”
He was absolutely right.
Miyo had spent a much shorter length of time with Kiyoka than
Godou or Kaoruko had. Still, she felt like she had a unique insight
into her fiancé. Where would she get if she didn’t trust it?
“Thank you very much. I’ll give it a shot.”
“If by any chance you get sick of that brusque and frigid
commander of ours, you’re always welcome to come with meeee. I’d
welcome you with open arms,” Godou joked, a huge grin on his face.
Miyo smiled and nodded.
“I will.”
“All right!”
“What’s ‘all right’ now?” Kiyoka asked as he came back into the
room.
Godou stiffened at the question.
“Nothing, sir! Everything’s perfectly normal!”
Seeing his subordinate earnestly saluting him, Kiyoka fixed him with
the briefest of cold stares before sighing.
“Miyo, it’s time we get going. Satisfied?”
“Yes.”
Miyo was worried about Godou’s wounds, but for the time being,
she had confirmed for herself that he was doing well.

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 Her current situation didn’t allow for much freedom, so she didn’t
know if she would be able to come visit him again, but this was
enough to put her mind at ease. This was likely true for Kiyoka, too.
“Be sure to come by again soon, okaaaay?”
“How about you hurry up and get better so you can get back to
work, fool.”
“Noooo thanks! I still haven’t had my fill of these lazy days of eating
and sleeping yet!”
“………”
“Don’t worry. With all this free time, I’ll be sure to think about the
absolutely perfect way to get my revenge on that Naoshi Usui!”
Godou waved, and Miyo returned it with a small one of her own
before she departed the hospital room together with Kiyoka.

Watching his commanding officer and their fiancée leave his room,
Godou reclined his upper body back down into the bed.
While he was grateful that people had been coming one after
another to see him immediately following the end of his visitor
restrictions, it made him a bit tired.
“I’ve definitely lost some stamina…”
Healing Gifts mended people faster than normal treatment, and
cleanly, without any lingering complications, but in exchange, they
consumed a large amount of the patient’s stamina.
As a result, the treatment wasn’t perfect, and it required a hospital
stay as well.
However, Godou was very aware of these side effects, and his true
desire was to get back to work as fast as possible.

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 We’re lacking personnel as is, so how can I lay in bed while everyone
else is working hard?
Closing his eyes, feeling impatient and agonized at a situation
outside of his control, some time passed before another visitor
arrived to see him.
He hadn’t heard about anyone from the main house or his family
coming, so he turned his head, wondering who it could be.
Slowly opening up the hospital room door and stepping inside was
a young woman wearing a military uniform he vaguely recognized.
“It’s nice to see you again, Godou. How are your injuries?”
“……Kaoruko Jinnouchi? That you?”
“Bull’s-eye!”
Watching her comically snap her fingers with her reply, Godou was
convinced it was none other than his former comrade, who he hadn’t
seen in years, Kaoruko Jinnouchi.
While he knew that she had come from the old capital to fill in for
him, he’d never expected her to come visit.
Though they hadn’t been in touch for several years, they had been
fairly close before she was stationed in the old capital, so he wasn’t
especially surprised to see her.
Godou propped up his upper body again and sighed.
“As you can see, my wounds have gotten a lot better. Aren’t you
supposed to be on duty right now, though?”
At his suspicious questioning, Kaoruko sat down in the wooden
chair Miyo had used earlier and replied:
“No need to worry. I’ve been tasked with guarding Miyo, but today
Mr. Kudou said he’d be with her all morning, so I took some time
off.”

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 “I see.”
Though her physical strength and stamina were inferior to a man’s,
Kaoruko was skilled.
Since she and Miyo were both women, she could accompany her
on a much wider range of activities, making her an ideal bodyguard.
“Miyo and Mr. Kudou were here just little while ago, right?”
Kaoruko quietly murmured, looking at the flowers in their vase and
the desserts still in their box.
“Yup. Though the commander was as terse as ever.”
“I see you two are still thick as thieves.”
Kaoruko smiled with amusement at Godou’s exaggerated shoulder
shrug.
“You handling the work all right, Jinnouchi?”
“Reasonably well enough. I said I’m guarding Miyo, but the truth is
my days are spent doing little chores around the station with her. It’s
enough to keep me from getting bored.”
Suddenly, a memory related to Kaoruko surfaced in the back of
Godou’s mind.
Right, now I remember, wasn’t Jinnouchi—
Her family ran a long-standing and prestigious dojo. Her father was
the master there, and Godou recalled her mother had come from a
Gift-user family.
While her mother herself was Giftless, due to what was called
atavism, Kaoruko possessed a Gift of her own. In addition to her
talents with a sword she had inherited from her father, she was seen
as quite an outstanding warrior.
That was why there had been talk of her potentially becoming
Kiyoka’s wife.

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 Ah, that probably explains it.
Godou guessed the current situation and ruffled his bangs with his
hand.
Miyo had always been an anxious and timid girl, but today there
had been more doubt in her eyes than usual. The reason behind her
interest in Kiyoka’s past was likely the woman sitting in front of him.
“Jinnouchi.”
When Godou addressed her, Kaoruko turned her eyes from the
flower vase to look at him.
“What is it?”
“So, tell me. Are you still in love with the commander?”
Kaoruko’s eyes widened like saucers.
“…What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, c’mon. You’ve had a thing for the
commander for a long time now, right?”
“Not really…”
He felt a mixture of pity and annoyance as he watched her avert
her eyes and cast them down slightly.
Godou didn’t think he was outstandingly perceptive, but
nevertheless, after working together, he had naturally picked up on
Kaoruko’s feelings.
Kiyoka saw Kaoruko as just another person he worked with, no
more than any one of the many potential marriage partners he’d had
over the years. But things were different for Kaoruko.
“I’m not trying to criticize you or anything. I think anyone’s free to
have feelings for whoever they want.”
“………”

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 “Thing is, though…”
Godou trailed off.
He didn’t want to hurt Kaoruko on purpose, but if he said this, she
was probably going to cry. However, there were some things even
Godou couldn’t tolerate, so he was left with no other choice.
“You gotta stop trying to meddle with their relationship, okay?”
Kaoruko gasped and looked up.
Judging by her reaction, it was clear that she had already done
something uncalled for.
“I—”
“Don’t try to act innocent now. I think everyone can choose who
they love, but I don’t like underhanded behavior.”
It had taken years for Kiyoka to find peace of mind in Miyo.
Godou understood because he had been by Kiyoka’s side, watching
him for as long as he had. Fate had brought those two together. Each
of them soothed the other, and that was how it should be—without
someone else getting between them.
Godou felt bad that Kaoruko’s feelings had never amounted to
anything, but he wouldn’t stand for her messing with their emotions.
“……What do you know, Godou?”
He wasn’t deterred by Kaoruko’s strained, labored voice.
“If you plan on getting in between them and disrupting things,
that’s wrong. At the very least, I know for certain that sort of
behavior isn’t going to benefit anyone, including you.”
“Excuse me!”
Godou heaved a heavy sigh, without trying to stop Kaoruko from
flying out of his hospital room.

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 The rest was her own problem to face. Nevertheless, he felt a slight
twinge of regret. Maybe he had said too much.
Since when did I become such a busybody, hmmm…?
Whether Kaoruko resented him or not, he preferred that much
more than any unnecessary discord popping up in Kiyoka and Miyo’s
relationship.
Godou laid his now very exhausted body down in his bed and
drifted into a light sleep.

Right after they exited the hospital, Kiyoka suddenly turned back to
Miyo.
“Want to walk outside for a bit?”
“……Sure.”
They both fell silent and continued past the gate they had originally
entered as they left the grounds.
There was still a bit of time before they had to head back to the
station. Miyo had no reason to refuse an offer from Kiyoka, who still
seemed a bit different than usual.
Passing through a narrow path from the street in front of the gate,
absent of many normal passersby, they stepped out into the main
street.
“Sorry. Are you cold?”
Miyo shook her head at Kiyoka’s worried expression.
She was wearing her haori overcoat with a scarf around her neck,
fully protected from the cold. Of course, that didn’t make the
seasonable outside air blowing into her face any warmer, but it
wasn’t chilly enough to make her tremble and shiver.

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 “I’m fine.”
“That’s good.”
Without another word, Kiyoka once again faced forward and
continued walking. However, it was very much like her fiancé to slow
his gait down enough for Miyo to keep up behind him.
Like Kiyoka.
She felt this was “a Kiyoka thing to do,” because he had treated her
this way ever since they’d first met. That’s just the type of person her
fiancé was… But was it okay for her to then want to learn even more
about him?
They walked in silence for a little while, then they both arrived at a
sparsely populated park.
The leaves on the row of trees were almost all fallen, with their
bare branches looking forlorn. It appeared that with the seasonal
weather, the number of people in areas like this had dropped
dramatically.
“Um, Kiyoka?”
Miyo quietly spoke up, at this point feeling slightly anxious about
how far he planned on going.
At this, Kiyoka stopped, and without turning around—
“Guess we should take a bit of break.”
—mumbled, as if talking to himself.
They sat side by side on a long bench. There were about three fists
worth of open space between them.
Miyo glanced over at her unusually quiet fiancé.
Is he in a bad mood…? No, it doesn’t look like it.

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 Judging from Kiyoka’s expression, which she had gotten markedly
better at reading, he looked less upset or angry, and more precisely
like something was weighing on his mind.
However, Miyo couldn’t figure why exactly this was so.
“Kiyoka.”
“What?”
She instinctively spoke to him again, but he replied without looking
her way.
“Are you worried about something?”
She got the feeling it was the right thing to ask.
The story she had heard from Godou came to mind. The story
about Godou’s father.
Nevertheless, she didn’t have the courage to suddenly bring the
topic up, so she made a half-hearted attempt at broaching the
subject with him.
“Did Godou tell you something?”
Kiyoka folded his arms and quietly closed his eyes as he answered
Miyo with a question of his own.
There had clearly been something off about his demeanor during
their visit. Kiyoka must have been aware of it himself. Perhaps he
thought that Miyo’s curiosity about his unusual behavior would then
prompt her to ask Godou about it.
Miyo came out with a straight answer, worried that she had danced
around the subject like a coward.
“He told me a little bit.”
“……Did he now?”
“Kiyoka, I—”

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 She cut herself off, alarmed.
Miyo was letting herself get carried away and asking about
something she shouldn’t, wasn’t she?
No, I can’t let myself shrink back from this.
If she did anger him or make him sad, then she’d apologize. It was
far past the point where waiting hesitantly would solve anything.
“Would you prefer if I didn’t know more about your past?”
When she looked at him straight in the eyes and asked him this
candidly, she could tell Kiyoka was taken back in surprise.
“Miyo……”
“I want to know more about you. It doesn’t have to be everything.
It’s just that you know so much about me, so I want to learn more
about you, too.”
Meeting Kaoruko had made her realize something.
The Kiyoka who she knew, while indeed real and genuine, was only
a facet of his whole personhood. Even though she was his betrothed,
Miyo knew less about him than anyone around her.
Still, it feels a bit like something I can’t intentionally ask him about.
There wasn’t anything Miyo could do with the information, even if
she did learn more about him. Nevertheless.
Kiyoka gently laid his hand over Miyo’s, which was resting on the
space in the bench between them. His hard, yet warm palm always
soothed her.
“I’d be thrilled……though maybe that’s not the best way to put it.”
“Huh?”
“I’d like nothing more than to tell you everything there is to know
about me.”

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 At last, Kiyoka turned his beautiful blue eyes her way.
He was worried about her. Up until now, she had just been taking
advantage of his consideration. Fully wrapped up in dealing with her
own self, and constantly having Kiyoka adapting himself for her.
But things couldn’t keep going like this. She wanted them to both
support each other going forward, which was exactly why she
wanted to get a better understanding of him if she could.
“Still, there’s no fun to be had from leaning more about me, you
know.”
“I-it doesn’t have to be fun!”
Kiyoka let out a throaty laugh.
“Hah-hah-hah!”
He chuckled loudly, as if he couldn’t contain himself.
It was Miyo’s first time seeing him react like this.
“Sh-sheesh! Why’re are you laughing?”
“Right, sorry. It just appears like I had misunderstood a few things.”
“Misunderstood?”
Kiyoka calmed himself down and nodded before he cleared up
Miyo’s confusion.
“It’s pathetic, but I was much more unsettled by this latest incident
than I thought I would be. I didn’t want to let you see me looking so
shaken up.”
“What……?”
“It was silly of me to put up a front, right? But the truth is, I was
worried that you might get fed up with me or grow disgusted with
me.”

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 Miyo unconsciously fluttered her eyes at the unexpected
explanation.
Fed up? Grow disgusted? There was no way she’d feel anything of
the sort.
“Though, I did believe that there was no way you’d leave me.”
“Of course. I’ve decided for myself that even if you wanted us to go
our separate ways, or if there was some event that kept us apart, I
would pursue you no matter what.
The sincere words came together with shocking eloquence.
She would never leave his side. Saying that out loud reaffirmed her
resolve.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let go of your hand, either.”
“……Thank you.”
The two gazed at each other for a moment, before Miyo, the first
to come to her senses, remembered something very important.
Maybe it’ll be okay to ask him now.
She couldn’t let this moment end without confirming things for
herself. Nevertheless, it was something she found hard to ask about,
and she didn’t especially want to discuss it in the first place.
Steeling herself, she began to speak.
“Kiyoka.”
“What?”
“Were you and Kaoruko in love with each other?”
Kiyoka’s smile instantly froze over.
“……What makes you think that?”

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 “Because there was talk about you two getting engaged. Kaoruko is
wonderful and pretty… As far as I can see, you seem like you
wouldn’t be particularly opposed to such an idea, either.”
Kiyoka’s eyes, which had been smiling gently moments before,
quickly grew frightening. Meanwhile, Miyo’s voice grew quieter and
quieter as she continued.
Was it just her imagination, or did it feel like the already cold
outside air had chilled even further?
“I didn’t seem that opposed, huh?”
“Um, I mean—”
“Sorry. This is my fault.”
Miyo was terrified that she might have angered him. Instead,
Kiyoka bowed to her, leaving her flabbergasted.
“Kiyoka, why are you apologizing…?”
“There’s nothing between Jinnouchi and me. Not now, nor in the
past.”
“Huh? But…”
They looked like they were on such good terms together, but in
truth, there had been nothing between them?
Kaoruko was different from the noblewomen Kiyoka despised.
While beautiful herself, she was nice to others and charming. For
Kiyoka, there was nothing to particularly dislike about her, and even
now, remained friendly with her.
My chest hurts…
Miyo was shocked at how tremendously relieved she was to hear
there had been nothing between the two. Yet, the more and more
she thought about it, the more she couldn’t understand why the
marriage offer had been called off.

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 “I’m sorry if I made you uneasy. I was in the wrong for not
explaining things from the start… Actually, I’ve had the feeling like
you’ve wanted to talk to me about something lately, but was this
really what has been bothering you?”
“Yes.”
She had been too scared to ask. The anxiety about the possibility
he might answer by telling her they had been in love once was too
much for her to bear.
“Haaah, so I was overthinking things again…”
“What?”
“Nothing. Let’s head back.”
“Okay.
As they returned to the military headquarters, Kiyoka murmured
something to her.
“If there’s something you want to know about me, Miyo, I want
you to ask me right away next time. It might be impossible for me to
answer everything when it comes to my work, but I’ll be as honest as
I can.”
“I will!”
If this was how things were going to play out, Miyo wished she
hadn’t scared herself off of asking him sooner. Overjoyed, she gained
a spring in her step.

After practically fleeing the hospital, Kaoruko returned to the station.

Lunch hadn’t started yet, so she still had some time off.
She’d ended up wandering into the empty cafeteria and was now
staring down at the surface of the water in her cup.

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 “So, tell me. Are you still in love with the commander?”
She replayed Godou’s words again and again.
Kaoruko knew from the very start that these feelings of hers would
never ever come to fruition.
That was why she had given up on them back when she was a
teenager.
Everything clicked when the person she had yearned for flatly
refused her marriage proposal—she was unwanted. She cried for
days on end afterward, too depressed to eat.
However, she persuaded herself that Kiyoka had turned down all
the marriage offers that had come his way, so if she could at least
stay by his side as a comrade-in-arms, then she could remain special
to him. That was how she got back on her feet.
But despite it all.
She had been unable to watch on in silence when a woman who
was loved appeared before her.
I’m an ugly disgrace.
Kaoruko was sure that her behavior must have hurt Miyo.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to stop, because seeing Miyo in pain
brought her a sense of relief. Controlled by her envy, she found
herself so ugly and detestable that it made her sick to her stomach.
After actually meeting Miyo Saimori and spending time with her,
things truly sank in. Kaoruko could never beat Miyo.
I’ve lost.
The type of femininity and grace that Miyo had…her tranquility,
sincerity, and kindness, were all qualities Kaoruko lacked.
If Miyo was the woman Kiyoka loved, then no matter how much
effort she gave, she’d never be able to catch his attention. Right after

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she met Miyo, she said they “had a lot in common,” but as women,
they were total opposites.
The corners of her eyes grew hot. The reflection in her cup of water
grew hazy and distorted.
If only I was more ladylike. If only I could become more like Miyo…
Then, maybe, Kiyoka might even look her way, too.
She detested herself for fantasizing about such impossibilities.
“Jinnouchi.”
Right as warm droplets fell down onto her hands, Kaoruko looked
up as she heard her name.
“…Yabunaga.”
Unbeknownst to her, the master of the cafeteria, former soldier,
and current chef Yabunaga had approached her at some point. He
was standing by her side, looking down at her.
“Wh-what is it?”
Lunch was approaching, so normally he’d have his hands full in the
kitchen.
At Kaoruko’s question, Yabunaga silently held out the white
handkerchief he was holding.
“Can’t have you crying in a place like this right before the other
bastards file in here to eat.”
His actual words were vitriolic, but his poorly concealed
thoughtfulness came through to Kaoruko, considering he’d left his
kitchen during the busiest time of day to come personally hand her a
handkerchief.
“…Thank you.”

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 Verbalizing her gratitude sent more tears spilling from her eyes.
Giving in to his kindness, she accepted the handkerchief and wiped
away the falling drops.
In response, Yabunaga grunted and wordlessly pointed with his
chin toward the entrance to the cafeteria.
“Huh?”
When Kaoruko turned to look, there she saw Miyo peeking into the
room and observing the two of them.
“You’re back early,” Kaoruko began after waving the reticent Miyo
into the cafeteria and motioning her to sit down beside her.
Yabunaga had cleaned away the cup that had been in front of her,
and in its place were two teacups filled with warm green tea.
“We took a bit of a detour on the way back, so I don’t think we’re
that early…,” Miyo hesitantly replied while tilting her head.
Kaoruko imagined that they must’ve enjoyed a friendly stroll
together after their hospital visit. The wounds in her heart festered
even more.
No matter how much she despised herself for being so disgusting,
she couldn’t quell her jealousy.
“Um, Kaoruko.”
“What?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Kaoruko had braced herself for what Miyo would say next, but she
couldn’t believe her ears when an apology fell from her lips.
Why are you the one apologizing?
It was clear as day that Kaoruko was the one who needed to
apologize. Not Miyo.

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 This thought made her more and more irritated, even though she
understood her resentment was misguided and unjustified. She had
taken pains to avoid openly revealing the jealousy in her heart, but
even this was starting to feel ridiculous.
“Why?”
Her voice came out lower than expected as she asked this of Miyo.
However, Miyo didn’t seem to notice the state her bodyguard was
in, and she guiltily explained the reason behind her apology.
“I was mistaken. When I heard that you had been a potential
marriage candidate for Kiyoka, I thought maybe……um, that you had
an especially close relationship together.”
Kaoruko instinctively balled her hand into a tight fist.
Oh, how she wished she did have the sort of special relationship
Miyo spoke about. How many times had she dreamed about it?
“I was mistaken, and I think that……I was probably jealous of you,
Kaoruko.”
The moment the words reached Kaoruko’s ears, her emotions
bubbled up all at once.
“Why?!” Kaoruko shouted, shooting to her feet and knocking her
seat to the floor behind her. Miyo was taken aback.
Her pretty face annoyed Kaoruko even further. Whether it was all
irrational or not, she couldn’t keep her feelings in check.
“You weren’t mistaken at all. Don’t wave it away like that. Sure,
there was no special relationship between us, but…but, I had feelings
for him!”
“…………”
“He’s hard on both himself and other people, yet strong and deeply
caring toward his comrades. For a long time, I admired Mr. Kudou for

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all of this. I was attracted to him. From long, long before you showed
up!”
Unable to control the torrent of emotion spilling out of her,
Kaoruko slammed Miyo with all her pent-up discontent.
“The reason you were jealous is because I made you jealous. I
envied you first, and purposefully tried to show off that I understood
Mr. Kudou a lot better than you.”
She mentioned stories from the past Miyo likely didn’t know about
and tried making the gap between them evident whenever she
could.
Kaoruko had known Kiyoka for longer, so she had more memories
of him than Miyo, and she knew more about him, too.
She hadn’t been able to accept that Miyo stood in a place that she
could never reach.
“Kaoruko…”
“So why then, why are you apologizing? What am I supposed to do
if you apologize when I’m the one in the wrong?”
Kaoruko was clearly trying to come up with any fault she could levy
Miyo’s way. Even someone like Miyo would get angry and confused
by being yelled at like this.
Pent-up anger, sadness, and guilt all mixed together inside
Kaoruko. Her emotions in chaos, she sank lifelessly to the floor.
“I’m sorry…”
The words of apology came out naturally along with her tears.
Working herself into anger and tears, she couldn’t stand how
bothersome and pitiful she was being.
Miyo gradually began to speak as Kaoruko sat still, unable to lift her
head up and look at her.

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 “Kaoruko, I think that I probably know how you’re feeling right
now. Ever since I first met you, I’ve been more jealous than I could
bear.”
“………Of what? There’s nothing to envy about me.”
There wasn’t a single thing about her that Miyo should’ve been
jealous of. Nevertheless, she slowly shook her head.
“I wanted to stand as an equal with Kiyoka like you. I can’t fight at
all, and I still can’t use my Gift very well. That was why I was so
jealous of you, Kaoruko.”
A slightly rough and cracked hand, very far removed from the
average young noblewoman’s hand, reached out before Kaoruko.
“Will you become my friend one more time?”
“…………”
“The two of us might be a bit alike after all. But I’m sure we both
became so jealous and frustrated because we each have something
the other lacks.”
She stretched out her hand before Kaoruko. Miyo’s voice, as
peaceful as still water, seeped into Kaoruko’s chest, as if to slowly
begin healing her frayed heart.
Aaah, there really…wasn’t any opening for me.
From the very start.
She had realized it a long time ago. That Miyo was more suited to
stand by Kiyoka’s side and that she was a woman Kaoruko couldn’t
ever compete with.
“…It’s hard to understand other people, but we’ve already showed
plenty of ourselves to each other by now. Don’t you think that will let
us get much closer than we were before?”
Was it okay for Kaoruko to take this hand?

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 She remained silent, unable to come up with an answer.
There’s one more thing I’m hiding from her.
If this was brought to light, Kaoruko was certainly not going to get
through things unscathed. A secret much graver, and more wicked,
than the nastiness she had directed at Miyo.
If she took this hand, Miyo might become the friend of a criminal.
However, she couldn’t hold out against the temptation. Before she
knew it, she had taken Miyo’s delicate hand in her own.
“If you can forgive me, I’d like to remain friends.”
Miyo gently smiled at Kaoruko’s truly heartfelt words.
“I can. I’m looking forward to our friendship, Kaoruko.”
While she felt like she would be crushed under the happiness of
their mutual understanding and her strong sense of guilt, Kaoruko,
still on the verge of tears, smiled back.

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 CHAPTER 5
Without Fear

Arata hopped from place to place all over the capital.

After vowing to capture Naoshi Usui, he took a break from his
public job as a negotiator and concentrated on following his target’s
trail.
The imperial capital had gotten remarkedly colder; winter was in
full swing.
His breath came out in a white cloud, and his fingertips grew less
flexible and numb in the cold even from inside his gloves.
Arata had gone on his own around places that might be connected
to his quarry—whether it was land connected to the Usui family, or
the area surrounding the Gifted Communion bases previously
exposed by the military—and gathered any clues he could find.
Unfortunately, however, he had yet to gain any intel that could
point to Usui’s current location.
That said, one thing has gotten quite clear.
He mingled with the crowd, quickening his pace toward his
destination.
Usui could pretty up his ambitions all he wanted, but at the end of
the day, he wanted nothing more than to overthrow the
government. In which case, there was someone the man would
definitely put in his sights.
The emperor himself.

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 If Usui wished to control the empire as he saw fit, he would need to
deftly handle the emperor—whether that meant killing him or
keeping him alive—and take his authority for his own.
Currently, the one actually controlling the nation was the Imperial
Prince Takaihito, but even Usui would have trouble reaching him.
The Ministry of the Imperial Household had gathered their collective
power to form a barrier around the young ruler.
It repelled not only Gifts and occult arts of a similar nature, but also
repelled a specified kind of matter entirely. Only those inside the
barrier could alter these specifications, and once they established
Usui as someone to keep out, it would be impossible for him to pass
through.
Arata still didn’t think this protection was absolute, but it was
nothing to sneeze at.
In which case, something needed to be done about the emperor
first. At the very least, Arata thought so.
Though the possibility still remains that he might try to get his hands
on Miyo before going after the emperor.
In some senses, Miyo’s security was even tighter than Takaihito’s.
Not only was the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit station a den of
Gift-wielding warriors, but it currently had a barrier around it similar
to the one surrounding Takaihito. No matter how powerful Usui’s
Gift may have been, it would be almost impossible for him to get his
hands on her.
In other words, if something was going to go wrong, it would begin
with the emperor.
The emperor resided in a small residence on the outskirts of the
Imperial Palace.

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 While it was on the same grounds as Takaihito’s own residence, the
emperor had already grown frail, losing his ability to move and his
Gift of Divine Revelation. Consequently, he was less well guarded
than Takaihito.
In order to erect a barrier like the one surrounding Takaihito’s
residence or the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit station, it required at
least ten or more practitioners, along with just as many people to
maintain it. The wider the barrier became, the greater the number of
practitioners it took to maintain it, so it wasn’t realistic to place one
around both men.
With the Imperial Palace’s gate now in view from his position,
Arata casually cast his eyes around the area.
Are those…?
Unsurprisingly, he sensed several anomalies mixed in with the
regular passersby.
“The artificial Gift-users?” Arata said to himself with a frown.
The unusual presences would be quite difficult to notice without a
Gift. Indeed, the Imperial Palace gatekeepers weren’t reacting to it at
all.
Still, I can’t help but say the Ministry of the Imperial Household’s
response here is far too naïve, to have this level of defense while
supposedly being on guard against the Gifted Communion.
At the very least, multiple Gift-users or practitioners needed to be
stationed on guard.
The Ministry of the Imperial Household may not have truly
understood just how dangerous Naoshi Usui was, but to speak
bluntly, their defenses were full of holes.
That was as far as Arata’s thoughts got before they were
interrupted.

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 “What—?!”
A singular automobile stopped near the gate, and a frail man in a
kimono, propped up by a few servants, slowly emerged from the
Imperial Palace grounds.
Arata was very familiar with the man. In fact, Arata had once made
a deal with him to further his personal ambitions.
His Majesty the emperor…!
Faced with this suspicious and ridiculous scene of the emperor
flanked by just a few people as he walked out of the palace, the gate
guards seemed almost completely oblivious to it all.
Is he here? Is Naoshi Usui nearby?
Usui must have been manipulating the guards’ and pedestrians’
senses of sight.
In which case, the man must have been somewhere he could
directly watch this scene unfold.
Where?
Though he looked around, Arata didn’t spot Usui. If Usui’s Gift
made it impossible for others to detect his presence, then there was
nothing he could have done to begin with.
There are, at least, some methods of opposing Gifts from the Usuba
family…
He had successfully found them by poring over any and all of the
materials in the Usuba house and desperately researching the
subject. Since the information was gleaned from old records in the
Usuba main house, Usui was unlikely to know about them.
However, if Arata didn’t use these methods carefully, there was a
chance Usui could catch on to what Arata was doing and come up
with ways of countering them.

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 In the meantime, the emperor and the men with him got into the
parked automobile.
“Tch!”
Arata gave a rare click of his tongue, then created some familiars.
Whatever the case, having arrived on foot, Arata had no means to
pursue the car. For now, his only option was to have a familiar follow
the car while he himself followed, belatedly, from behind.
He’d created two familiars.
One utilized elaborate camouflage arts and was sent to follow the
automobile. The other was marked with the Usuba seal to make it
clear it came from Arata and was sent flying to the Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Unit station bearing an urgent letter of warning.
With this, Kiyoka ought to be spurred into action somehow.
Seeing the automobile take off without anyone stopping it for
questioning, Arata started running.

A few days had passed since Miyo and Kaoruko decided to build their
relationship back up from square one.
The season had firmly shifted into winter, but Miyo’s situation
remained totally unchanged. She commuted to the Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Unit station with Kiyoka almost every day, doing chores
while she was there.
While sweeping and cleaning up the corridors, Miyo looked over at
Kaoruko doing the same work a bit farther away from her.
Kaoruko was all smiles back then, so why…

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 She had confessed to being jealous of Miyo and doing things to
hurt her. Miyo had forgiven her and had thought with it, Kaoruko’s
troubles had been laid to rest.
However, even as she acted brave and tough, there were
occasional moments where Miyo caught a flash of melancholy in her
expression.
Miyo couldn’t claim she felt truly spirited herself, either. She had
no way of knowing when Usui could appear in front of her, and she
felt the cold stares from the soldiers directed her way. She had a
mountain of troubles on her mind.
Nevertheless, Kaoruko seemed like she was anxious and driven
back into a corner.
On this seemingly tranquil day, one just like any other, an incident
occurred just before noontime.
Finished with the cleaning and done helping out in the kitchen with
lunch prep work, Miyo was in the kitchenette with Kaoruko.
She filled the teakettle with water, and before long, its whistling
sound filled the room.
“Do you think we should skip the teacakes? It’ll be lunchtime soon
and all…”
“…………”
“Kaoruko?”
She posed the question to Kaoruko, box of sweets in hand, but she
didn’t get an answer. When Miyo turned to look at her friend beside
her, she found the woman staring off into space, looking as if her
mind was elsewhere.
“Kaoruko.”
“Huh?! O-oh, sorry…”

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 When Miyo addressed her again, Kaoruko finally realized that Miyo
was calling her name.
Kaoruko always tackled work with earnest, and Miyo knew well
enough that she never had her guard down when she served as her
bodyguard. However, at that moment, her mind had clearly been
elsewhere.
Concern swelled in Miyo’s chest as she wondered what was
bothering her.
“Kaoruko, are you feeling under the weather?”
“N-no, not at all. I’m just fine.”
“But……”
If she wasn’t feeling sick, then did she have something on her
mind? Miyo wanted to ask, but it was a hard thing for her to do.
Kaoruko loved Kiyoka. She had since long before Kiyoka and Miyo
ever met.
However, the woman Kiyoka had chosen was not her but Miyo.
Because of that, Miyo wavered about getting involved in Kaoruko’s
troubles, despite how close they were.
Though she considered Kaoruko’s troubles to be something
completely unrelated, she still wasn’t inclined to pursue the answer.
“Sorry for worrying you. I-it’s so peaceful here, I probably just let
my mind wander a bit. Ha-ha-ha.”
She laughed just like she always did, but it came off as a bit
awkward and strained.
However, if Kaoruko herself was talking like this, then she must
have something weighing on her mind that even a close friend
couldn’t get out of her.
Maybe I’m the only one who feels like we’ve become friends.

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 If so, that too would be rather sad in and of itself.
Ultimately, she placed three teacups filled with green tea on a tray
and the two of them headed for her fiancé’s office.
“Kiyoka, it’s Miyo.”
When she knocked on the door and announced herself, she
immediately heard a reply of “Come in.”
Kiyoka was processing a large stack of documents as usual.
Currently, the Gifted Communion had not made any major moves,
but the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit still had their regular duties to
attend to—handling any incidents that involved supernatural
creatures. Enough then, at that very moment, there were soldiers
out on excursions to exterminate Grotesqueries.
He must be awfully busy…
Miyo gently placed the teacup on top of his desk.
“Why don’t you have a bit of a break, Kiyoka? It’s almost time for
lunch.”
“Sure,” Kiyoka replied half-heartedly, his hands show no signs of
stopping. If Miyo pressed further, she knew she’d be getting in the
way of his work.
She exchanged glances with Kaoruko, and both women moved
away from around his desk and sat themselves down on the office
sofa.
“Nice and warm.”
The hot green tea permeated Miyo’s chilled body. Sitting next to
her, Kaoruko also slowly took sips from her teacup, the gravity Miyo
saw in her expression earlier totally gone.
That was when it came.

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 Kiyoka suddenly stood up and threw open the window.
“Kiyoka?”
When she looked up to see what was wrong, she saw something
white abruptly flutter in through the window. Even Miyo had seen
these before. It was a paper familiar often used by Gift-users to
communicate with one another.
The familiar flew once around the room, riding the wind, before it
landed in Kiyoka’s open hand.
Kiyoka immediately ran his eyes over what Miyo assumed was a
message written on the familiar.
“This can’t be…”
Almost exactly as he gazed at the familiar in shock, there came a
furious knocking on his door.
“Commander! It’s Mukadeyama!”
“Come in.”
Entering into the room, Mukadeyama looked to be in a terrible
panic, his face pale.
“……!”
Miyo heard a gasp from nearby and turned to Kaoruko.
“Kaoruko?”
“I-it’s nothing…”
Despite her insistence she was okay, both Kaoruko’s voice and
hands were trembling to a shocking degree. It was obvious to Miyo
that she was terrified.
Does Kaoruko know something that I don’t?
Perhaps there was actually some major incident going on that
didn’t concern Miyo at all, and she alone hadn’t realized the gravity

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of the situation. While it wasn’t entirely out of the question,
something definitely still felt strange.
However, her train of thought was then interrupted.
Kiyoka fiercely slammed his hand down on his desk, the loud sound
reverberating through the office.
“How dare they lay a hand on His Majesty…!”
Anger showed through in his low growl.
Something happened to His Majesty?
Currently, the emperor was basically confined away under the
orders of the Imperial Prince Takaihito. Nevertheless, the man was
closely tied to Miyo’s fate.
Had Naoshi Usui finally started to make his move?
Looking at Kiyoka and Mukadeyama’s grave faces, Miyo’s anxieties
made her heart start pounding in her chest.
“We’re currently investigating His Majesty’s whereabouts. As soon
as we find—”
“No, Usuba happened to be at the Imperial Palace when it
happened and is in pursuit. We should know where they’re headed
in due time.”
By Usuba, Miyo assumed he meant Arata.
She hadn’t personally seen him in a while, but he had supposedly
been pursuing the Gifted Communion on his own. That would mean
Usui and the Gifted Communion had made their move after all.
Miyo held her breath and listened in on their conversation.
“……Can we trust him?”
Mukadeyama’s face soured the moment Arata’s surname was
invoked.

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 “Do you think he’s suspicious?”
“I don’t know much about Usuba the individual. As such, I think it’s
only natural for me to imagine the possibility that Usui and Usuba
are conspiring together.”
Miyo got the feeling that Mukadeyama had looked her way for a
split second.
She thought she had done everything she could to prove herself to
him, but it appeared that still hadn’t been enough to earn his trust.
That was the meaning behind his glance.
Kiyoka didn’t say anything to Mukadeyama. Instead, he fell deep
into thought, a grave look on his face.
Something happened to the emperor, and Arata’s on his trail.
In that case, what about Kiyoka? What about the Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Unit?
Before she realized it, she had stepped in between Mukadeyama
and Kiyoka’s conversation.
“I’ll be right here, Kiyoka. So His Majesty needs—”
“Miyo.”
Her overprotective fiancé frowned and shook his head.
“But I think that His Majesty needs your help.”
The thought of being separated from Kiyoka while she was being
targeted herself made her extremely uneasy. However, as Gift-users,
beholden to the words of the emperor, they couldn’t stand idly by
and do nothing when their lord was in danger.
This was the answer Miyo had arrived at, but Mukadeyama
frowned in disapproval.

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 “Please know your place. This isn’t a problem an outsider like you
should be weighing in on.”
Miyo’s reflexively stiffened at his harsh reply.
“………My apologies.”
Mukadeyama was right. It was impudent of her to voice her
opinions about their military work.
When she gave it more thought, both Kiyoka and Mukadeyama
knew full well that they needed to go to the emperor’s aid. Given
that they were confronting the Gifted Communion, the Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Unit, able to oppose them with supernatural powers of
their own, were the only ones who could stop them.
It really had been a totally unnecessary outburst.
Kiyoka slowly began to speak.
“Mukadeyama.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You stay here. I’m leaving the station’s defenses in your hands.”
“Wha—!”
Mukadeyama widened his eyes at his superior’s order.
“Why, sir?! I understand that defending the station is important,
but I’ve been tracking down the Gifted Communion, too! The logical
move would be to have my unit accompany you!”
Faced with his subordinate’s shouts, Kiyoka remained exceedingly
calm.
“I’m entrusting you with it because it’s so important. Any
objections?”
“No, sir…”

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 As Kiyoka spoke, he patted Mukadeyama—face twisted with
frustration—on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear.
Miyo noticed that Mukadeyama’s startled gaze shifted to Kaoruko,
who was waiting in the wings behind her.
Kaoruko…?
Remaining silent this whole time, Miyo turned to look and was
similarly perplexed.
Kaoruko hadn’t even noticed the stares Miyo and Mukadeyama
were directing her way. Her face had turned deathly pale as she
stared at the ground, subtly trembling.
Miyo thought she had been acting a bit strange, but this was a little
too abnormal.
“Kaoruko, you look awful. Perhaps you should take some time to
rest in the first aid room?”
When Miyo spoke up, unable to stay quiet, Kaoruko sluggishly
raised her head.
“I’m fine.”
Her tone was feeble, and her lips were trembling.
Miyo remained worried, but her hands were tied if Kaoruko herself
insisted she was okay.
Perhaps Squad Leader Mukadeyama was tasked with staying behind
to look after Kaoruko, too?
As Miyo wrapped her arm around the other woman to support her,
she looked over to the other two, Mukadeyama heaving a resigned
sigh and Kiyoka lightly nodding his head.
“Double-check where the guards are deployed, Mukadeyama. I’ll
organize the squad to pursue His Majesty.”
“Understood.”

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 Mukadeyama quickly departed the office.
Kiyoka took the saber from its upright leaning position and
strapped it to his waist, wrapping himself up in his winter coat and
walking up in front of Miyo.
“Jinnouchi, you’re to follow Mukadeyama’s orders and work to
protect the station.”
“…Yes, sir.”
Kaoruko, her face still pale, departed the office with shaky,
unsteady steps. She looked so helpless, it set Miyo’s heart on edge.
“Miyo.”
“Yes?”
After watching Kaoruko depart, Miyo turned back toward her
fiancé.
“You heard it all. I’ll be leaving the station from here. The barrier’s
still up, but I can’t guarantee it’ll hold forever. Please be careful…
Forgive me for being unable to stay by your side.”
“Don’t be sorry. I understand.”
She was scared. Imagining herself coming face-to-face with Naoshi
Usui again terrified her.
However, she had made up her mind. She had to accept that some
things just weren’t possible. That’s why Miyo would do absolutely
everything she could, even though she lacked any fighting strength,
to ensure that Kiyoka could return home with peace of mind.
Miyo quelled her fear and smiled.
“I’ll be here, safely awaiting your return. So go, Kiyoka, but please
be careful.”

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 He brought out his arms, pulled her in, and wrapped them around
her.
His arms were powerful yet very gentle.
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“……Kiyoka.”
She didn’t feel bashful in the slightest. Miyo simply gave in to her
feelings and wrapped her own arms around Kiyoka’s back.
“If anything were to happen to you, I…”
Kiyoka may have been feared as a ruthless soldier, but even he had
things he was afraid of.
Terror was the same for everyone.
For a few moments, as if to confirm each other’s existence, as if in
prayer, they silently embraced each other.
Kiyoka, accompanied by two squads, set off from the Special Anti-
Grotesquerie Unit station.
Miyo, together with Kaoruko and Mukadeyama, as well as the men
in his squad, barricaded themselves in the dojo and remained on
standby.
Outside, another squad was guarding the station gate.
Kaoruko seemed to have calmed down significantly compared to
before, but the color was still drained from her face, and she
remained quiet.
“I’ll ask that you make sure not to act out of turn,” Mukadeyama
harshly warned Miyo.
While he individually felt like Miyo and the Usubas couldn’t be
trusted, she could tell that beyond that, his warning had come from

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his strong sense of responsibility toward the duty he’d been
entrusted with.
Miyo nodded without any objection.
She held a protective charm Kiyoka had given her. It was
apparently a stronger, improved version of the one he had given her
previously. Though, he hadn’t elaborated about how and where it
was strengthened, or what sort of effect it had.
Miyo sat on her legs in the center of the dojo while the squad
members encircled her in a defensive ring. There was only one
entrance into the building. Everyone had their eyes fixed on it to
ensure they wouldn’t overlook even the smallest change.
Miyo clutched the charm in her hands, praying to the gods above.
He’ll be okay. He’ll be fine.
Kiyoka was sure to be back at her side soon. As long as she waited
here like this until he did, they would be able to return back to their
old daily lives.
The dojo was silent.
Everyone present was holding their breath, and even Miyo could
feel their concentration, straining their ears to sense any potential
abnormality.
Then, her prayers in vain, the silence was shattered.
“The barrier’s been broken!”
At Mukadeyama’s shout, everyone rose to their feet and stood on
guard.
Miyo rose a bit slower than the rest, her limbs stiff with nerves.
The barrier? How?

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 Kiyoka hadn’t claimed the barrier was absolutely impenetrable. But
this was the worst possible scenario. The chance of such a rigid
barrier breaking was almost zero.
“Well, well, well, I didn’t expect you all to be here—and to give me
such a fiery welcome.”
The instant she heard the voice, Miyo’s heart pounded loudly in her
chest.

Kiyoka led his squad members and rushed to the location Arata had
given him.
The emperor wasn’t in his residence.
When Kiyoka received a note from Arata reading, “I witnessed the
emperor being led from the Imperial Palace,” and when he heard
from Mukadeyama that Takaihito had contacted them, he’d doubted
his own eyes and ears. He thought there must have been some sort
of mistake.
But the combination of a direct address from Takaihito himself and
Arata’s message confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that
something had happened to the emperor.
Once the emperor was involved, Kiyoka would have to get
involved, too, since he was a unit commander.
“Usuba, what’s the current situation?”
When he arrived at the designated location with his men in tow,
Arata was already there waiting.
“His Majesty is down this road.”
Arata pointed toward the main street that stretched out in the
direction of the sea. When Kiyoka considered that the emperor’s

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destination, or rather, the destination of those who captured him,
involved the sea, he couldn’t prevent his thoughts from going in the
worst direction possible.
If they escaped onto a boat, it would be difficult to pursue them.
“They don’t seem intent on assassinating His Majesty by the looks
of things. I get the impression they’re treating him as respectfully as
they can. Nor do they appear to be heading toward the port. This is
just a guess, but I think they’re heading toward the imperial family’s
vacation home,” Arata surmised, after sharing the sight of the
familiar that was tailing after them.
Even Kiyoka had no objections to his assessment.
As things stood now, neither Usui nor the Gifted Communion had
anything to gain by assassinating the emperor. The only motive he
could come up with was that Usui bore a grudge against the man,
since he’d created the circumstance that led to Usui being separated
from Sumi Usuba.
Are they using the vacation home as their hideout?
The imperial family’s vacation home was under the jurisdiction of
the Ministry of the Imperial Household.
Houjou’s activities proved that there were cracks in the surveillance
of Gift-users, so Kiyoka figured he should assume the Gifted
Communion’s influence was already spreading within the
government.
“Have you seen Usui?”
“At this point, no. However, when the emperor was led out from
the palace, it was clear that Usui’s Gift was at work. It’s safe to say
that he’s involved with this in some way or another.”
Hearing all of this, Kiyoka brought his hand up to his chin and began
to think.

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 Should they really keep chasing after the emperor? A demand from
Takaihito himself meant he had to obey his wishes. However, he still
couldn’t help feeling that he was walking into a trap.
Using the emperor as bait to go after Takaihito and Miyo. Definitely
a possibility.
This was why back at the station, he had left Mukadeyama in
charge, someone with excellent skills who he could trust. He was the
next best person with Godou indisposed.
Although if Usui did actually attack the station, no one would stand
a chance without Gift-users of Kiyoka’s or Arata’s skill. He’d bring the
whole station under his control almost immediately. In that regard,
Mukadeyama and Kaoruko were still not strong enough for the job.
Thus, a situation where both Kiyoka and Arata were pulled away to
chase down the emperor was less than ideal.
“Major, why don’t you head back to the station?”
Just then, Arata broached this very subject.
Kiyoka couldn’t get a read on any of the emotions behind Arata’s
inscrutable expression. Even since learning that the man who
claimed to be the founder of the Gifted Communion was Naoshi
Usui, Arata’s character had changed. Or rather, he had dropped his
facade.
“…That’s impossible. I was the person put in charge here. I can’t
leave the scene.”
Kiyoka understood that Arata was thinking along the same lines as
himself, but he was unable to go along with the proposal.
“But surely you understand yourself, Major, that there’s a chance
His Majesty’s abduction is just a feint. Actually, that way of putting it
might not actually apply to this situation, since gaining control of the

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emperor, and by extension the entire empire itself, is likely just as
beneficial for them. That said, their true objective is likely—”
“Miyo.”
Despite himself, Kiyoka’s voice came out in a low growl.
“Exactly. While Usui is estranged from the Usubas, he’s stubbornly
hung up on my family more than anyone else. That’s why Miyo is of
immeasurable value to him.”
Pausing, Arata turned toward Kiyoka.
“Your decision, Major.”
There was a strong gleam of resolve in Arata’s eyes.
When he looked at him, Kiyoka started to feel pathetic for being
bound by his duty, unable to immediately declare that he would
protect Miyo. However, Kiyoka had made the choice himself to join
the military, fully knowing it could lead to such predicaments.
“I’m—”
Not returning to the station.
It was right as the words were about to leave his lips. A sole
military vehicle, closing in on them with tremendous speed, suddenly
stopped in front of Kiyoka and the others, the brakes screeching.
“Who is it?”
He hadn’t heard of anyone else coming to their location besides
those already gathered there.
After he asked for their identity, a large man dressed in a military
uniform stepped out from the automobile.
“It’s me, Kiyoka.”
“Major General, sir…?!”

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 That big, stout physique—this was unquestionably the man who
oversaw the entire Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit, Masashi Ookaito
himself.
Ookaito stood imposingly in front of Kiyoka’s group and barked his
orders.
“This is a command from Prince Takaihito. Major Kudou, you are to
immediately return to the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit station.
Everyone else will be under my command from this moment forth.
We shall pursue the rebels who have kidnapped His Majesty.”
“But, Major General, sir.”
The order was more than Kiyoka could ever ask for, but that was all
the more reason why he found it unbelievable. He couldn’t help but
speak up.
In response to Kiyoka’s objection, which normally would have
deserved admonishment, Ookaito grinned.
“Prince Takaihito has ordered me to apologize to you on his behalf.
Telling you to pursue the emperor was a mistake. He told me he was
sorry for being late with the orders based on his Gift.”
This order had come to Kiyoka as the result of Takaihito’s Divine
Revelation. In other words, it meant that through his clairvoyance,
Takaihito had seen a future where Kiyoka’s presence was needed at
the station.
Usui’s target had been Miyo after all.
“Then I shall humbly do as Prince Takaihito wishes.”
Kiyoka bowed slightly to Ookaito, then turned around.
“Major, please keep Miyo safe.”
Replying to the major general with a small nod, Kiyoka dashed off
alone to his fiancée’s side.

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Words like startled or surprised didn’t begin to express Miyo’s shock
in that moment.
She heard the voice of someone she couldn’t see, someone who
shouldn’t have been there at all.
“I’ve come for you, Miyo.”
Her breath caught in her throat when she heard her name.
Despite the voice being audible from somewhere very close by, she
had no idea where its owner—Naoshi Usui—was. The disturbing
voice sent a chill up her spine.
Suddenly, Mukadeyama and Kaoruko both stepped in front of Miyo
to shield her; there was nothing they could do against an opponent
they couldn’t see.
“Naoshi Usui! Where are you?! Show yourself!” Mukadeyama
thundered. In an unexpected show of obedience, the owner of the
voice revealed himself.
Gradually, the outline of a man’s body came into view until it
solidified into human form against the empty background.
Short, dark brown hair and round glasses. There was no denying
it—the man was right there, wearing an inverness coat over his
hakama, with the same ferocious gleam in his eyes.
“Thank you for the warm welcome. I thought it’d be a bit easier to
slip in, but the security was lot tighter than I estimated. I suppose I
should expect nothing less of Kiyoka Kudou.”
Usui laughed as though something was amusing, making Miyo’s
skin crawl. The sound of someone gulping rang loudly in her ears.

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 Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, the door connecting the
dojo to the outside had been thrown open. Usui had used his Gift to
infiltrate the station right under their noses.
There were less than a few dozen long strides separating him from
Miyo.
Although he had stopped advancing for now, everyone in the room
was essentially at his mercy. They couldn’t afford to make even the
slightest of movements.
Just what am I supposed to do?
Usui’s target was Miyo. At this rate, all of the soldiers in the Special
Anti-Grotesquerie Unit would have to put themselves at risk for her
sake.
Since Kaoruko and Mukadeyama had been tasked with guarding
her, they would claim that the soldiers had been prepared to give
their lives. Though that was indeed true, did that mean all Miyo
could do in the face of peril was to quietly sit and watch as other
people gave their lives to protect her?
“How exactly did you get in?” Mukadeyama asked Usui, trying to
buy time.
Although Usui surely must have recognized the man’s true intent to
draw things out as long as possible, he simply squinted his eyes in
amusement.
Miyo could hardly believe the next words out of his mouth.
“It’s simple, really. Someone inside the station fiddled with the
barrier, letting me pass right on through.”
“What…? What sort of nonsense…?”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s quite true. Though, I
understand why you wouldn’t want to believe it.”

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 Miyo wrapped her arms around herself and desperately tried to
control her trembling.
She didn’t know how the barrier worked. However, it was clear
enough to her that Usui was implying there was a traitor in the
Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit.
“Are you trying to say that one of our own has secretly been
communicating with the Gifted Communion?”
“Exactly. Was that too difficult for you to get through your heads?”
“Impossible…”
“You might want to look at the reality in front of you. The simple
fact that I’m standing here must mean that someone told me how to
break your barrier.”
Mukadeyama fell silent in frustration and anger. Usui’s smile
widened at the sight.
“Shall I reveal to you just how I got inside?”
“…………”
Slowly, he turned his malice-filled eyes to the collaborator.
At first, Miyo thought he was looking at her. However, she was
mistaken.
What……?
Usui’s gaze was locked onto Kaoruko.
“Kaoruko Jinnouchi. Thank you for your cooperation.”
A stir rippled through the air.
Miyo felt her mind go totally blank.
Totally forgetting the powerful foe before them, the soldiers grew
restless, and she could hear them whispering to each other.

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 “Kaoruko, why?”
Before she knew it, Miyo verbalized her dazed confusion.
Kaoruko jolted her shoulders with surprise before she gradually
turned around to face Miyo behind her. Her gallantly beautiful face
was paler than a sheet of paper.
“I—I…”
“Is this true, Jinnouchi?”
Mukadeyama pressed her, too, finding it impossible to hide the
agitation in his voice. Her lips trembled as she responded, her entire
body wracked with despair.
“I, um…”
“Go ahead, tell them the truth. Both my instructions to you and the
situation I put you in. They might just sympathize with you, then.”
“…………”
Kaoruko stayed silent, biting down on her trembling lips and
hanging her head.
Everyone gazed at her with bated breath. They waited for her next
words, not wanting to believe whatever she would say next.
But keeping quiet in this situation was no different from
affirmation.
Mukadeyama’s roar echoed through the dojo.
“Jinnouchi! Say something for yourself!”
“I—I……I can’t say it.”
Kaoruko shook her head, trembling.
Usui delighted in watching from the sidelines as Miyo and the
others fought amongst themselves.

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 “Honestly, you’d think telling them ‘you can’t say it’ is basically an
admission of guilt. I’d tell them the whole story if I were you.”
Kaoruko grit her teeth at Usui’s sneering ridicule. The next
moment, she raised her voice.
“Yes… Yes, it’s the truth! I sabotaged the barrier, just like you told
me to!! So what about your promise?! Is my father safe?!”
Everyone else in the room was at a loss for words as they watched
Kaoruko question Usui, her face still deathly pale. Even Mukadeyama
was speechless while he stared at her.
As if to tear herself away from her bewildered comrades, Kaoruko
kept her eyes locked on Usui.
“Of course, your father and your family’s dojo are unharmed. After
all, I didn’t do anything to them in the first place.”
“Wh-what…?”
“I lied about taking your family home hostage from the very
beginning. The fact you fell for it so easily saved me a lot of trouble.”
This much of the conversation was enough for Miyo to surmise that
something had happened with Kaoruko and those she cared about.
After she arrived in the capital, Usui must have convinced her that
he was holding her family hostage, threatened her, and forced her to
obey his orders to sabotage the barrier and let him into the station.
No wonder she had looked so out of sorts ever since they’d
received word that the emperor had been abducted.
Kaoruko knew that Kiyoka would then leave the station behind and
Usui would arrive.
How awful…
She must have felt so much anguish being forced into betraying her
comrades and having her family’s lives used as shields against her.

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Miyo’s chest ached at the thought she had spent each and every day
harboring such an intense pain inside her.
Miyo was the target here. But that didn’t mean she resented
Kaoruko.
“Th-then what……? Wh-what was the point to any of this…?”
Kaoruko’s legs buckled at the knees. No one had any words that
they could give to her at that moment.
Only Mukadeyama erupted with anger, glowering at Usui.
“How dare you toy with people’s hearts…”
“Hah-hah-hah. I was just having a bit of fun. It’s certainly nothing to
get so riled up about.”
There was something off with this man. Miyo thought back to the
past she had seen in her dreams.
Had her mother really loved a man like this? No—Miyo knew that
couldn’t possibly be true. Though she may have been unable to recall
what Sumi looked like, she knew her mother had a heart of empathy
and compassion.
Otherwise, she would have never sealed away Miyo’s Gift in order
to protect her from the Saimoris.
He made Kaoruko cry.
Usui hurt people on purpose. This was the man who wanted to
stand at the top, to rule over the empire. The mere thought of this
terrible vision of the future made Miyo’s hair stand on end.
His grin of amusement remained unbroken.
“You all have put on quite an entertaining little show for me. But I
think it’s about time I get what I came here for…”
“You think I’ll let you, bastard?”

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 Even the murderous, infuriated retort Mukadeyama barked at Usui
failed to unsettle him in the slightest.
“It’ll be quite simple.”
Slowly, Usui drew a short sword out from the chest pocket of his
coat and unsheathed it. Then he began to walk forward.
Mukadeyama, a cold sweat running down his body, took out the
saber at his hip. In response, the other soldiers all drew their sabers
in unison.
“Miss Fiancée, we’ll engage him ourselves and buy time, so please
use the opening to flee.”
Miyo stared at Mukadeyama’s back in shock.
“But—”
“That is our job. We’re all here to make sure you aren’t taken away.
You need to steel yourself, too. What is your job here?”
My…job…
To run away, even if it meant fleeing on her own. It was surely the
only answer Mukadeyama had in mind.
Am I really…am I really okay with that?
If Miyo left this dojo, Usui was sure to kill everyone in his way in
order to pursue her. But what would happen after she made her
escape—what then?
She couldn’t afford to be captured. She understood that.
The power of Dream Sight was dangerous. If she was captured and
threatened like Kaoruko, she would end up using her Gift to aid the
Gifted Communion.
“I suppose I’ll have to kill you first, then.”

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 With a cheerful smile on his lips, Usui readied his short sword with
practiced movements.
“Don’t expect me to go down easily.”
“Hmm, we’ll see about that.”
Usui’s short sword and Mukadeyama’s saber slammed together,
striking a high-pitched metallic chord. However, this single crossing
of blades decided the fight all too soon.
“Wh-what……?!”
The saber in Mukadeyama’s hands shattered at the hilt, and the
blade fell to the floor. It was almost too fast for Miyo to see.
“Weak,” Usui mumbled.
With a bellicose look, he plunged his short sword toward
Mukadeyama’s throat. Evading the tremendously fast thrust, which
grazed only his shoulder, Mukadeyama launched a sharp spinning
kick in retaliation.
“It seems your Gift strengthens your physical abilities, or something
along those lines. Phew, that was a close one.”
Although he had dodged the kick, Usui retreated back several steps
and put space between them again.
At this rate…
Miyo surveyed her surroundings.
The first person to cross blades with Usui, Mukadeyama, had
already sustained a shoulder wound. While his injury didn’t look
severe, blood was streaming from it; if left unattended, he would
lose all motion in his arm before long.
Kaoruko remained drained of strength, crouching down with her
head to the floor. It was only natural. She had betrayed her

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comrades against her will. She was in no mental state to stand up
and fight.
Fear showed on the faces of the Gift-users with the sabers drawn
on all sides of her.
Even an amateur like Miyo could tell that at this rate, they were at
Usui’s mercy, and he would toy with them until he decided to end it.
And she would have no one but herself to blame for this.
What can I even do about it?
Even if she could pull something off, wouldn’t acting on her own
just get in everyone else’s way?
After spending what felt like an agonizing amount of time
wavering, she gave into the heat of the moment and moved,
essentially on impulse.
“Fool…!”
Miyo leapt out in front of Usui as he again tried to close in on
Mukadeyama. She heard him reproach her from behind, but she
brushed it off.
“Stop,” she declared, thrusting her arms out.
Miyo was far calmer than she had thought at first. Her heart was
beating almost painfully fast, and the tips of her fingers had gone ice
cold, yet her voice was direct and unwavering.
Usui curved his lips upward before he stopped his advance and
lowered the tip of his short sword.
“Miyo, have you decided to obediently join your father?”
“No. I don’t recognize you as my father. Nor will I cooperate with
someone who can stand by and hurt others with a smile.”
“…I see. Then why did you step out in front of me?”

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 Usui nodded, as though he found even Miyo’s rejection of him
amusing.
She was slightly worried about whether words would get through
to a man like him or not. Scared, too. However, out of everyone in
the dojo, she was the least likely to die here. If someone was going
to end up hurt, it was so much better for her to step out in front to
shield them instead if it meant that she wouldn’t have to see Kiyoka
lamenting over his men getting hurt again.
Will help show up if I can buy some time like Squad Leader
Mukadeyama did earlier?
While she didn’t want anyone to get hurt, she wasn’t going to let
Usui capture her, either. Nevertheless, she didn’t have time to think
up a plan, and she had no way of knowing if help was on its way or
not.
With so much still unknown to her, she carefully answered Usui’s
questions.
“Because you……you won’t kill me.”
“An astute observation. A nauseatingly splendid act of self-
sacrifice. How admirable.”
“…………”
“But your dear father hates that sort of thing.”
A chill ran down her spine.
If she displeased him, he was sure to kill everyone. Though Miyo
was safe because her power of Dream Sight was useful to Usui, along
with the fact he thought of her as his daughter, even she could lose
her life if he changed his mind.
What was she supposed to do? Should she continue to reject him,
or start pandering to him?

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 Usui continued speaking, heedless of Miyo’s distraught thoughts.
“Your mother, Sumi, was the same way. Getting herself married off
to a rubbish family like the Saimoris, claiming it was all for the
Usubas’ sake. It’s foolish. No, it’s more than stupid—it’s repugnant.”
As he held his stomach and cackled, something sinister and black
seemed to swirl in his pupils. It had a thick, swampy weight to it, like
fire rising from solid black smoke.
My mother wasn’t foolish at all.
She’d just wanted to protect others—the Usuba family, on the
brink of being turned out into the street, the lives of her family, the
life her daughter was set to live.
Miyo didn’t know very much about her mother, but she clearly
understood this much about her. Because she was the very same
herself.
I see now, so that’s what it must be.
The things Usui had been unable to do. The things he was now
after, having created an organization like the Gifted Communion to
do so.
These both must have been the same as well.
Miyo took a deep breath and glared back at the man who claimed
to be her father.
“I will never be able to be your daughter, and I will never support
your ideals.”
“So you don’t need me, either, then?
“Did my mother say that, too?”
“Shut up… It looks like you need some more education.”
Usui growled while tearing out his hair with his open hand. It
appeared Miyo could no longer buy any time.

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 Yet somewhere in her heart, she felt relief.
Usui’s reaction left Miyo certain that her father was in fact Shinichi
Saimori. Not the man in front of her.
She never imagined a day would come when she would feel
grateful to have been born in the Saimori family, which she had so
longed to escape. Yet now she was undoubtedly relieved, thankful to
know that the days she spent with the Saimori family hadn’t all been
built upon a lie.
Finding her resolve, she continued speaking.
“If you take me away from here, it still won’t save my mother. The
woman you wanted to save isn’t anywhere to be found anymore.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I’m my own person. So please, just give it up.”
It was true that Miyo bore Usuba blood. However, she was also the
Saimoris’ daughter, born and raised in their household. Miyo stood
where she was now because of the days she had spent in that house.
While she didn’t know her mother’s honest feelings on being
married into the Saimori family, at the very least, Miyo didn’t think
that she would want her daughter to be taken away by Usui.
No matter how much Naoshi Usui had wanted to save Sumi, he
couldn’t turn back time, and no one could take her place. Miyo
wouldn’t be influenced by his whims.
“You’re too small-minded, Miyo. Your world is far too narrow. My
goals aren’t confined to such shallow waters. I need you to look out
over the vast, wider ocean before you.”
Usui was grinning.
“It looks like I’ll need to take you by force after all.”

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 He brandished his sharp short sword once more. At the same time,
his form melted into the scenery, slowly fading from view.
“Tch… If he disappears, there’s nothing we can do.”
It was impossible to take on an opponent invisible to the eyes and
inaudible to the ears.
Mukadeyama’s irritation was clear to Miyo.
“Everyone, circle up around Miss Fiancée! Don’t let Usui through!”
“Squad Leader Mukadeyama, I—”
Now she could no longer prevent the squad members from
sacrificing themselves. Before Miyo could put her thought into
words, Mukadeyama shook his head.
“We’re out of time. If our sacrifice pains you, then please focus on
escaping safely instead.”
“No, how could I?” Miyo asked him.
“How long are you going to sit there, Jinnouchi?! Get up! Stand and
fight!”
Applying pressure to his shoulder wound, Mukadeyama yelled at
Kaoruko, who was still frozen.
Then Miyo saw her firmly grip the hilt of her saber, still in its
sheath. Then, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she stood
up.
“I’m sorry, Miyo. I’ll clean up the mess my misconduct’s caused.”
“But… But…”
Kaoruko, her eyes red; Mukadeyama, his uniform stained with
blood; and the rest of the squad members carefully watching the
vicinity, their sabers in hand—each and every one of them looked as
if they were about to walk straight into the gates of hell.

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 Miyo was powerless in a fight.
“Listen up, everyone! Try to avoid using your Gifts! There’s a
chance the effects of everyone’s powers will collide and cancel each
other out!”
Everyone nodded at Mukadeyama’s orders.
Despite their resolve, they were still ultimately facing off against
someone wielding Usuba Gifts.
“Hnaugh……!”
Standing on guard next to Miyo, Kaoruko suddenly went flying, her
body slamming into the floor.
“Kaoruko!”
As Miyo called out her name, Usui grabbed her by the arm.
“Aaah!”
“You’re coming with me. If you don’t want anyone here to get hurt,
that is.”
The sinister words, whispered into her ear, made her hair stand on
end.
I don’t want to go. But…
The moment Miyo wrenched her body to escape Usui’s grasp, she
felt a cold sensation on her neck. She immediately recognized it as
the blade of his short sword.
“Now, it’s time for you all to behave.”
The threat was directed to everyone in the dojo, Miyo included.
As things were now, no one could do anything to harm Usui. While
he was unlikely to kill her, he’d have no qualms about harming her.
“Miyo…”

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 Staggering to her feet, Kaoruko called out to her.
I’m… It’s too late.
As Usui forced Miyo to walk toward the dojo entrance, his blade
still pressed against her neck, the face of her beloved flashed in her
mind.
Kiyoka.
Ah, she finally understood. Just thinking of him made her terrified
of dying. She didn’t want to be separated from him. The
heartrending pain made her tears overflow. Her intense desire to
learn more about him. Her implacable anxiety about his past with
Kaoruko.
She finally understood the true meaning of the emotions in her
chest.
“Get away from my fiancée.”
It all happened in an instant.
She heard an ice-cold voice from behind her. Just then, Usui fell to
the floor, a military boot crushing into his back.
Suddenly freed from Usui’s grasp, she staggered to the floor, only
to be wrapped in a hug.
“Ah…! Kiyoka.”
“Sorry I’m late. Were you crying?”
She looked up and saw the smiling face of the man who she cared
for more than any other.
He brushed his white-gloved fingers against Miyo’s damp cheeks.
“I cried when I thought about you.” No, I couldn’t possibly…

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 She’d never be able to tell him, nor did she want him to come to
that realization. Ashamed, Miyo covered her crimson cheeks in her
hands.
“Kiyoka…Kudou…!”
Usui spat her fiancé’s name and flipped his short sword upside
down, swinging the hilt at his boot.
In the brief opening when Kiyoka suddenly shielded Miyo behind
him and moved his foot, Usui flipped himself over on the floor and
leapt to his feet.
Miyo was flabbergasted that someone of Usui’s age could move so
lithely.
“You came back after all, did you?”
“Unfortunately for you, we have someone who can see the future
working on our side. Though it was already such an obvious feint to
begin with.”
“Prince Takaihito, then… Hmm, I see. It appears my plans were a bit
too simple this time.”
Usui shrugged blankly.
While he had lost his original composure, he didn’t seem
particularly disappointed that his scheme had been thwarted.
Almost as if he didn’t believe it had failed at all.
Kiyoka arched his brow slightly, also feeling like something was
amiss with Usui’s attitude.
“There’ll be no next time for you, Naoshi Usui.”
“Oh no, things are just getting started.”
The man twisted his finely chiseled features into a sick grin of
amusement.

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 At that instant, a group of large balls of water appeared from out of
nowhere and flew toward them.
“Eeek……!”
Miyo reflexively shut her eyes. However, Kiyoka and the rest of the
soldiers scattered each and every one of the projectiles; none of
them hit their marks.
“Must be Houjou.”
When she heard Kiyoka sourly murmur this with a click of his
tongue, Miyo opened her eyes to find that Usui was already gone.
Is everything…okay?
He might have cloaked himself with his Gift and could still be
nearby. Although the thought crossed her might, she was at her
mental limit.
Kiyoka was with her.
This alone filled her with a tremendous sense of relief, and she
crumbled to the floor.
“Miyo?! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?!”
His eyes bugling wide, Kiyoka dropped to his knees in a panic and
propped Miyo up. She shook her head to put his mind at ease,
prompting him to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Sorry… I guess I felt a bit weak in the knees.”
“No, it’s my fault for not getting here sooner. It must’ve been
terrifying.”
She had indeed been frightened, and yet far beyond the fear, she
was comforted to know that they had weathered the disaster
without anyone losing their lives, and without Usui taking her away.
Miyo grabbed the sleeve of Kiyoka’s coat with her trembling
fingers.

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 “Thank you for coming to save me.”
“I’m glad you’re all right.”
Kiyoka embraced her chilled body. While the tears didn’t come, she
truly felt ready to cry.
“Forgive me for interrupting, sir.”
Miyo heard Mukadeyama’s slightly irritated voice from above her
head.
Kiyoka glanced at his scowling subordinate and snorted. Then,
reluctantly letting go of Miyo and rising to his feet, he glared at
Mukadeyama.
“What?”
“Currently, the uninjured men are scouring the area to check if Usui
or Houjou are still lurking. The wounded have already been brought
to the first aid room. Fortunately, none are seriously hurt.”
Mukadeyama had sustained the harshest injuries. As he gave his
report to Kiyoka, the cloth he was pressing to his shoulder turned
crimson.
“Gave us an awful beating, didn’t he?”
“…You have my apologies, sir. My powerlessness forced your
fiancée to stand front and center agains—hngh!”
Before Mukadeyama could finish what he was saying, Kiyoka struck
his cheek with the palm of his hand.
“K-Kiyoka!”
“It’s absolutely outrageous that the person you were tasked to
guard almost wound up being taken hostage. What exactly are you
here to do? I don’t have room in my unit for people who can’t carry
out a single task.”

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 “Yes, sir.”
“And what was that about forcing her to stand in the line of fire?
Depending on your answer, I’ll have no choice but to consider
disciplinary action.”
Standing before Miyo was the famously cold-blooded and harsh
version of Commander Kiyoka who she rarely witnessed.
Meanwhile, Mukadeyama, who had been grand and opposing as he
rallied the soldiers together a short while ago, was now shrinking
back.
Faced with his commanding officer’s cold ogre-like ire,
Mukadeyama exhaustively informed Kiyoka of everything that
happened following Usui’s arrival, without including the slightest hint
of personal feelings on the events.
“Everything is my responsibility. I am prepared for any punishment
you deem necessary.”
Mukadeyama apologized with a bow before Kiyoka made him look
up. Once again, he thrust his palm across the man’s cheek, the loud
smack echoing in the dojo.
Miyo covered her mouth with her hand as she witnessed the
painful spectacle.
“Having your sword broken in a single attack from a middle-aged
man, getting wounded, only to be shielded by an amateur and the
very person you were ordered to guard. Are you really a soldier? I
struggle to comprehend exactly how someone can possibly fail as
hard as you did today.”
“My deepest apologies, sir.”
“I don’t need apologies. It’s been made clear that you’re useless to
me. You’ll get that punishment you’re after in due time.”
“Understood, sir.”

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 “If you really understand, then get a move on. Even you should be
able to handle dealing with the aftermath.”
“Yes, sir… If you’ll excuse me.”
Mukadeyama sorrowfully turned around and jogged off.
From Miyo’s perspective, he appeared to have done a splendid job.
Usui had simply been too strong of an opponent. That wasn’t his
fault, and they had been able to weather Usui’s raid with almost no
injuries because Mukadeyama had stood his ground.
“Kiyoka, about Squad Leader Mukadeyama, um…,” she started to
say before she could stop herself. If the man himself were here to
see this, he’d likely reprimand her for sticking her nose where it
didn’t belong again.
Nevertheless, Kiyoka appeared to correctly pick up on her feelings.
“I know. It’s because of Mukadeyama’s hard work that you’re still
here right now. He’s an outstanding man. He’ll need to be
reprimanded, but don’t worry, I’ll reward him for the work he’s done
later.”
“I understand… Um, also.”
There was one other thing weighing on her mind.
Miyo glanced around the inside of the dojo, with the soldiers busily
hurrying back and forth. She was already nowhere to be found.
“Wh-what about, Kaoruko?”
Voicing her name aloud made awful images float into her head one
after another.
In the military, betrayal earned severe punishment. If someone
double-crossed their comrades on the battlefield, the consequences
would be immense. To prevent such situations, even execution could
be on the table.

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 Kaoruko hadn’t betrayed them out of her own volition. However,
that didn’t change the fact that she had ultimately invited the enemy
inside the station walls.
But she was Miyo’s good friend. No matter what feelings Kaoruko
may have held during their interactions, the time they spent
together had been irreplaceable.
She felt a stabbing and cast her eyes down. Kiyoka placed his large
hand on her head and stroked her gently.
“Don’t hold out hope.”
“…………”
Miyo exhaled, as if trying to expel a bad taste from her mouth.
She could only pray that at the very least, her long-awaited first
friend would have her life spared.

Arata, together with the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit soldiers, led

by Ookaito, trailed the kidnapped emperor and traveled to the
imperial family’s vacation home.
Of course, they couldn’t just come and go freely from there.
However, the automobile that was being tailed by Arata’s familiar
headed straight in that direction—before vanishing en route.
“The familiar disappeared…”
Ookaito reacted to Arata’s dazed murmur while they were on the
move.
“What do you mean ‘disappeared’? Have you lost sight of where
the automobile is heading?”
“Yes. Perhaps they caught on.”

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 This shoreline roadway was a straight, direct path. If they
continued forward, the only thing waiting for them was the area
under the Ministry of the Imperial Household jurisdiction where the
vacation home stood. It seemed meaningless at this point for their
target to shake off Arata’s familiar.
However, they might have gotten rid of it with a goal in mind.
Ookaito grimaced; anything that had to do with Gifts was entirely
beyond him.
“At any rate, all we can do is press on. They’re bound to run into
the Ministry of the Imperial Household’s security if they continue
down this road. Naoshi Usui’s Gift doesn’t make things pass through
walls, right? If they force their way into an area under the Ministry’s
jurisdiction, there should be traces of them left behind. If there
aren’t any, well……”
Arata could surmise where Ookaito’s evasive statement was
leading.
The possibility of the Gifted Communion infiltrating the nation’s
central apparatus.
While it wasn’t something he wanted to think about, whether it
had already happened or was still on the horizon, they needed to
consider the prospects of the situation before things reached the
point of no return.
If there is one other possibility besides that, though…
There was a chance the emperor had never come out here to begin
with.
Perhaps the kidnappers had noticed Arata on the lookout at the
Imperial Palace and, calculating everything down to the familiar sent
to tail them, manipulated what it was seeing to lead them all to a
completely different and unrelated location.

Page | 188
 Yet another undesirable option. In the worst-case scenario, not
only would they lose all traces of the emperor’s whereabouts, but it
could lead to damaged trust in both Arata himself and the Usuba
family as a whole.
Any more suspicion directed toward the Usubas would be bad
news.
Arata’s group pressed on, until they finally reached the land set
aside for the imperial family under the Interior Ministry’s
administration.
The grounds were surrounded by a thick stone wall and a dense
thicket of evergreens, making it impossible for an outside observer
to glimpse what was going on inside.
The gate was shut tight.
It looks like the guards are safe, too.
Arata watched Ookaito approach the gate with bitterness. It
seemed that one of his worst hunches had been right on the mark.
As expected, when they heard the guard’s testimony that no one
had passed through, all of the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit soldiers
grew restless.
“We’ll investigate inside for now,” Ookaito announced, but many of
the soldiers remained unconvinced.
Arata followed after him and stepped inside the imperial family
grounds, being showered with thorny looks from the rest of the
soldiers all the while.
Naturally, there was no trace that anyone had been inside the
vacation home. There weren’t even any footprints left behind on the
ground or ruts left by an automobile at the entrance. It was clear
that no one had been on the premises for the past several hours at
least.

Page | 189
 Arata could feel in his bones that the slim amount of faith people
had in him was beginning to vanish.
“Maybe it was all Usuba lies.”
“He could be coordinating with Usui.”
The whispers began to reach his ears.
“……We’re withdrawing.”
Ookaito’s decision came after they had spent around half the day
investigating every nook and cranny of the grounds.
They failed to find any traces after such an inspection, so it was
clear that the automobile carrying the emperor hadn’t come here. In
other words, Arata had been baited into following after an illusion.
Dammit……!
This would only serve to worsen the Usuba family’s position.
“Major General, sir.”
Before he knew it, Arata had called Ookaito to stop him.
He couldn’t return empty-handed. If he didn’t have any results to
show for himself, he’d lose too much face.
“Please give me permission to investigate this area. Even just until
the end of the day would be enough.”
“You’re going to continue on your own?”
“Yes.”
Arata knew he was being selfish. Nonetheless, he had a reason why
he couldn’t silently back down here.
He bowed, pleading. Ignoring the voice telling him it was useless to
beg, Arata kept his head lowered until Ookaito heaved a heavy sigh.

Page | 190
 “I’ll allow it. Go ahead and look around until you’re satisfied. I’ll
report the situation to Takaihito myself.”
“Thank you very much.”
“The rest of you all are to return back to the capital.”
Ookaito and his men withdrew, leaving Arata on his own.
Now that he was alone, he couldn’t help letting his irritation at his
own shamefulness get the better of him. Usui had made a fool out of
him. The situation was unbearable.
Why? Why don’t things go my way?
If Usui bore a grudge against the Usubas and was trying to set him
up to fail, then he had been hugely successful. At this point, it was
only a matter of time before the name Usuba would be reviled by
anyone familiar with them.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to play out.
“Dammit! Dammit!” he fervently cursed, kicking up clods of dirt.
Arata had entrusted Kiyoka to protect and save Miyo. That was
because he had thought his role was to get a lead on Usui. Yet, in
reality, he hadn’t been able to get ahold of anything at all.
Still moved by his irritation, Arata walked around the area helter-
skelter. He was single-minded in his pursuit, even as his hands and
feet numbed in the cold, and he couldn’t feel his nose anymore.
However, no matter how much he searched around, he couldn’t
find a single clue.
It was only natural—no one had come here to begin with.
Before he knew it, the sun had sunk, and without any light sources
around, the vicinity was gradually being wrapped in total darkness.
“It was all in vain……wasn’t it?

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 Arata feared returning to the capital far more than the darkness
around him.
Just what kind of reception will be waiting for me?
He was deprecating himself when suddenly he heard footsteps
behind him.
“So you did stay behind, then.”
Arata turned around and laid his eyes on a slightly fatigued Naoshi
Usui.
He immediately took his gun out from under his coat and aimed
the barrel at him.
“This is all your fault…!”
“My fault? Hah-hah-hah. That’s a funny thing to say.”
With a pull of the trigger, Arata could take Usui’s life right then and
there. Yet the man’s composure never faltered.
“What about this is funny?”
“How couldn’t it be? Who exactly is so prejudiced toward you and
the Usubas? Me?”
“That’s not…”
That wasn’t it. It wasn’t Usui who was using whatever reason
available to oppress the Usubas, without even attempting to
consider their true nature. It was the other Gift-users. The military
men.
However, the man standing before him had undoubtedly helped
create that situation.
Arata gathered his strength into his trigger finger.
“You don’t think your words will sway me, do you?”

Page | 192
 “No, I don’t. I still have a very high opinion of the Usuba family’s
Gift-users, you know. You’re not the type to fall for such an easy
ploy.”
“Well, well, it seems you do understand after all. In that case, drop
dead.”
Arata felt like he was radiating all the murderous rage he held deep
inside his heart, but even then, Usui continued to speak.
“Hold on, now. You say that, but back in the capital you feel inferior
and lesser, do you not?”
“Do you ever shut up? What does that have to do with you?”
“I might be able to tell you how to make your life just a little bit
easier, you know.”
“……You detest the Usubas, don’t you?”
“Who’s to say? I just have one thing that I want to offer you.”
A smile came to his face, dyed red and illuminated in the setting
sun, and Usui slowly extended his hand.
“Arata Usuba. Will you join the Gifted Communion?”
What an absurd question. Who in the world would possibly go
along with such a slovenly invitation?
Thus, Arata’s search for an answer lasted but a brief moment.

Page | 193
 CHAPTER 6
Feelings Going Forward

Following Usui’s raid on the station, Miyo continued accompanying

Kiyoka to the station like usual.
However, not everything had necessarily reverted to how things
were before.
Usui’s whereabouts were once again a mystery, and he still hadn’t
given up on Miyo. There was little alternative but to curtail her
freedom of movement even more.
Under orders from the military high commander, Miyo couldn’t
even walk unaccompanied inside the station, so she spent her time
mending and patching up items at Kiyoka’s side in his office.
In comparison to the relaxing time she had spent in the station up
until then, her current life was dull and constrained. She felt
dispirited thinking about it.
Day after day, she found herself looking for any sight of her very
first friend, despite knowing she couldn’t possibly be there.
On this frosty, clear-skied day, Miyo was yet again killing time
knitting inside Kiyoka’s office.
“Commander, may I have a moment?”
Mukadeyama’s question was coupled with a rap on the door.
“Come in.”
“Pardon my interruption.”
It felt like it had been ages since she’d seen Mukadeyama.

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 Taking responsibility for the unit’s disgrace, he had been fostered
with a large amount of work, treated as an errand boy while still
serving in his position as a squad leader.
Though his wound from Usui appeared to be much better,
Mukadeyama nevertheless wore an anxious, stiff look on his face as
he stood in front of Kiyoka’s desk.
“Commander, would you allow me to borrow your fiancée—Lady
Miyo Saimori—for a short while?”
Hearing her own name suddenly come flying from Mukadeyama’s
mouth, Miyo looked up.
Kiyoka glared at his subordinate after hearing his request.
“Do you think I’d allow that?”
“…No, I don’t.”
“Then this was a big waste of time, wasn’t it? Go back and get to
work.”
But in a surprising turn of events, Mukadeyama responded to
Kiyoka’s unambiguous dismissal of his request by bowing abruptly.
“Please, sir. It doesn’t have to be for long.”
“This is important enough to bear the risks of speaking out, is it?”
“………Please, sir.”
Mukadeyama remained deeply bent at the hips, without any signs
of raising his head. His pose made his intentions clear—he wasn’t
going to move from his spot until he got the approval he was after.
Kiyoka appeared to sense his resolve.
“This won’t take long, then, will it?”
“No, sir.”
“Got it… However, I’m going to be nearby listening, too.”

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 “That won’t be a problem. Thank you very much, sir.”
Mukadeyama finally returned to an upright position and quietly
approached Miyo.
Overwhelmed by the somewhat desperate look on his face, she put
down the knitting needle in her hands and sat at attention.
“May I trouble you for a bit of your time?”
“O-okay.”
She had no reason to refuse him. Supposing she did, she could
keenly sense that just like during his exchange with Kiyoka, he would
hold steadfast until she acquiesced.
Urged on by Mukadeyama, she followed behind him, moving to a
new location.
It appeared that they were heading to the dojo.
“It’ll be cold where we’re going, Miyo. Is that all right?”
“Yes, I’ll be okay.”
Kiyoka, following even farther behind Miyo, cast a worried glance
at his fiancée. Still, Mukadeyama didn’t seem like he would do
anything to her detriment, and the cold wasn’t an issue thanks to her
haori overcoat.
They entered the dojo to find it empty, without another soul in
sight.
Since the soldiers had clashed with Usui here, she expected to see
sections damaged from the fight, but it appeared to already have
been repaired, as if the battle had never happened.
“Forgive me… This was the only place I could think of right now
where we could talk without anyone else interrupting us.”

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 Mukadeyama apologized not with the dignified air he once had, but
in a vaguely insecure tone. Flustered, Miyo shook her head.
“It’s not a problem at all, please don’t apologize.”
The station grounds were extremely busy at present.
Usui’s effortless infiltration of their air-tight security, along with the
revelation that there was a collaborator in their ranks, had caused an
absolute fiasco.
Not only that, but although still unbeknownst to the citizenry, the
emperor’s whereabouts remained unknown. Since the situation
involved the Gifted Communion, there had been no choice but to
pull in the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit, capable of fighting with
their own supernatural powers, to face them.
Kiyoka’s soldiers were scrambling all around the imperial capital to
tackle the problem.
Nevertheless, since there were still a number of men working
inside the station as well, there were a limited number of places they
could calmly converse together.
“Allow me to give my deepest apologies.”
Mukadeyama energetically turned back to Miyo behind him, and
again bowed deeply to the ground.
“Huh……?”
This turn of events left her totally confused.
She never would have expected that he, of all people, would bow
to her. Finding the scene in front of her far too unbelievable, she
turned back to Kiyoka waiting in the wings behind her, but he didn’t
look particularly surprised by any of this.
“I have been domineering and arrogant when speaking with you… I
insulted you, called you our enemy and a powerless woman. Though

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I talked big about not holding any prejudices myself, the truth was
that I didn’t accept or approve of you. I was a fool.”
“You were just speaking the truth…,” Miyo stammered, casting her
eyes down.
Mukadeyama’s assertions about her had been correct, or at the
very least convincing. But since he had warned her directly to her
face about all this, she’d never felt like she was being unfairly treated
or insulted whatsoever.
The blood of the Usubas ran through her veins, and it was
reasonable that other Gift-users saw the family as their enemy. Miyo
was an inept Gift-user herself, and she couldn’t even wield a sword.
In an emergency, she was simply a burden.
All of that was true.
Mukadeyama’s remarks were different from the ones the other
soldiers had directed at Kaoruko. Those comments were made
behind her back while ignoring Kaoruko’s clear display of her own
strength, hence why Miyo had found them so strange.
“No, I was wrong. Back then… If you hadn’t stepped out in front of
us all when Naoko Usui attacked, I would have lost my life, along
with many other men.”
“But……I ended up ignoring orders to do that.”
Miyo was mortified when she recalled her actions.
She had acted entirely of her own accord while she was supposed
to be kept under protection. If anything, her behavior was more
deserving of reproach instead.
Yet Mukadeyama raised his voice.
“Not at all! Please let me apologize. I completely underestimated
you even though I didn’t know anything about you. This made me no

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better than the fools spouting biased nonsense at you. You’re
courageous, Miyo. You protected everyone from harm.”
“U-um…”
What was she supposed to say to this? She didn’t feel angry at him
to begin with.
As she wavered, Kiyoka gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Will you forgive him or not? It’s up to you.”
“I…”
There wasn’t anything for her to forgive in the first place.
Mukadeyama wasn’t to blame at all.
Miyo looked him in the eyes and began to speak.
“Squad Leader Mukadeyama, you weren’t mistaken. It was pure
luck that what I did on the day of the attack succeeded. Depending
on how things played out, I could have put all of you in danger.
That’s why…um, I suppose, that would mean I forgive you.”
“Thank you…very much.”
Mukadeyama’s voice was weak; Miyo could sense that this had
been deeply troubling him.
When she imagined the painful emotions that must have been
tearing at his heart since the incident transpired, she felt that was
more than enough.
“Mukadeyama.”
“Yes, sir,” he replied to Kiyoka, raising his head up.
“I wouldn’t say that you handled everything correctly. Your
flexibility and adaptability in the moment leaves a lot to be desired.
There must have been a better strategy available to you.”
“Yes, sir.”

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 “But ultimately, I can only say that with hindsight. Looking at your
results alone, the mere fact no one lost their lives is more than
enough to say you acted correctly.”
“Commander…”
“Earlier, you asked me if you would be disciplined for this incident.
If anything, I’m also accountable for failing to make the right call
during Usui’s assault. That’s why,” Kiyoka continued, “I’ll be
expecting good things from you here on out. Work hard.”
“Understood, sir.”
Mukadeyama bowed deeply yet again, then turned back to Miyo.
“Going forward, I’m going to try changing the other men’s way of
thinking as well. I’ll also strive to ensure this organization can be
unashamedly lauded as a proper meritocracy. For Jinnouchi’s sake,
as well.”
Miyo simply nodded, slowly.
Mukadeyama had plenty of leadership experience. If he claimed
that he would take the initiative to bring change, Miyo knew it would
work out smoothly.
Leaving Mukadeyama, who needed to attend to his next task, behind
in the dojo, Miyo returned to the office with Kiyoka.
On the way there, her mind was ultimately occupied with thoughts
of her friend.
“Kiyoka, about Kaoruko…”
Even since the attack, she hadn’t appeared at the station at all. She
was currently being held at the military headquarters, awaiting
sentencing. Given the gravity of her betrayal, there was nothing out
of line about this.

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 The sole consolation was that Ookaito was protecting her from
torture.
“Is it bothering you?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Miyo looked around as she walked.
In this corridor and in all the rooms that lined it—no matter where
she glanced, the moments she’d spent with Kaoruko vividly replayed
in her mind.
While they weren’t all pleasant, the memories she shared with her
very first friend were precious to her.
I miss her.
Without Kaoruko’s smiling face nearby, Miyo felt unbearably
lonely, like there was hole in her heart.
“Betrayal cannot be tolerated.”
Miyo’s heart went cold at Kiyoka’s quiet comment.
Logically, she understood. An outsider shouldn’t speak about things
they didn’t know about. Still, it was heartbreaking that Kaoruko’s life
from here on out would be decided based on the sole fact she had
been in communication with the enemy.
“Is there anything you can do to save her?”
Before she knew it, Miyo had stopped walking and verbalized her
hopes out loud.
Her senses tried to prevent her from putting the next words
together, but her tongue was already in motion and didn’t stop.
“Kaoruko was forced into cooperating with the Gifted Communion
to save her family.”
“This isn’t for you to decide.”

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 “I—I know. But…”
Kiyoka’s gaze was cold as he responded to Miyo’s attempts to
argue on her friend’s behalf.
“The military will decide how to deal with Jinnouchi. Nothing you
say will change that.”
“…That might be true for me. But you might be able to save her,
right?”
“I won’t be helping to bend military regulations.”
Her fiancé’s tone had a sharpness that he had never directed at
Miyo before, and she almost quivered at the reply.
But this was one thing she couldn’t afford to back down on.
“Kiyoka, are you saying that you don’t care what happens to her at
all?”
She hadn’t meant to phrase it like that.
Of course Kiyoka must have been worried about Kaoruko. As a
comrade-in-arms, and someone he had known much longer than he
had Miyo, he had to be concerned about her.
But…
It was Miyo’s fault that Usui had twisted Kaoruko into following his
whims. He’d used her in an attempt to take Miyo for himself.
It was agonizing to think that Kaoruko had been forced into this
unjust position because of her.
“If they let Jinnouchi off the hook for this, it will set a bad example.
Stop being selfish.”
“But I’m not being selfish, it’s—”

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 The moment the words left her mouth, Miyo realized just how
entitled she was being. She fell silent as it dawned on her that she
was acting like a spoiled child.
The cold gaze she was met with then stuck hard in her chest.
“Give up on trying to help her.”
Unable to fight against what was clearly Kiyoka’s ultimatum, while
also lacking any words to overrule him, Miyo bit down on her lips.

Her bustling daily life was passing by in the blink of an eye.

Before she realized it, it was the last day of the year, with a new
one just beyond the horizon.
Miyo was spending that day at the Kudou family main estate,
feeling a bit emotional.
At Hazuki’s insistence, they would be holding a get-together with
some of their trusted mutual acquaintances that afternoon. It wasn’t
a full-on party, but it was a chance to give everyone space to unwind
and share their troubles.
Of course, it was normal for people to spend the end of year
holidays with family, so attendance wasn’t mandatory.
That being said, the gathering itself appeared to be for Kiyoka in
particular, who would try to spend both New Year’s Eve and New
Year’s Day avoiding his family if left alone.
“Come on in, you two. I was waiting for you!”
Still as overwhelmed as ever by the extravagant mansion, Miyo was
given an ardent welcome together with Kiyoka as soon as they
arrived.
Hazuki wore a dark red dress, looking just as beautiful as always.

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 “Sis… Please tone it down, it’s embarrassing to see from someone
your age.”
Hazuki pouted in response to Kiyoka’s exasperated reprimanding.
“Oh shush. Your moonstruck ogling at Miyo is hardly becoming for
someone your age, too.”
“I haven’t been ogling her. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Miyo couldn’t keep from smiling as she watched the two of them
chirp back and forth.
This was how they always acted when they met up. It was a joy for
Miyo, since she got to witness expressions on Kiyoka’s face that she
never would see when it was just the two of them together.
They were both shown into the parlor, where they would wait until
it was time to eat.
Though nothing seemed to have changed between them on the
surface, both Miyo and Kiyoka had felt somewhat awkward around
each other ever since the day she’d argued with him over Kaoruko’s
treatment.
While Miyo had felt uncertain about Kaoruko at first, especially
when she’d learned about her relationship with Kiyoka, the thought
that he would be abandoning Kaoruko now caused antipathy to well
up inside her.
It is truly too late to do anything at all?
During the hustle and bustle of her daily life, the question of
Kaoruko’s fate wasn’t able to weigh on her mind. But whenever she
stopped for a moment to rest, anxiety and frustration would
suddenly burst to the forefront of her mind.
“Sorry for making you play along with my sister’s absurdity.”

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 Seeing Kiyoka heave a sigh with a hand to his forehead, Miyo
returned to her senses, shaking her head with a smile.
“It’s not absurd at all. I wanted to see Sis, too, so I’m happy to be
here.”
“But the end of the year’s hectic, right?”
It was true that Miyo had a number of things she needed to do, but
she had the time to spare for a lunch get-together.
She had already finished most of the end-of-year cleaning around
the house and had made as much of the New Year’s food as she
could.
All that being said.
I can’t believe it’s New Year’s Eve…
This past year had been a raging torrent the likes of which Miyo
had never experienced before, and likely never would again. It was a
drastic departure from what this time had been like the year before,
which she’d spent huddled up inside her cold room inside the
Saimori house.
She couldn’t even believe it had been less than a full year since she
had started living with Kiyoka. Her life had been such a blur since
leaving home that she couldn’t even reminisce about everything that
had happened.
“It’s a busy time of year, but it’s fulfilling and enjoyable… Far more
than it has been in the past.”
She picked up her cup of black tea and gazed at the steam rising
out of it.
“I see. As long as you’re fine with it, then.”
Miyo loved spending quiet time alone with Kiyoka more than
anything in the world.

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 She was still reserved, and she still had her share of worries, but
she had found some measure of happiness. If Miyo from a year ago
looked at herself now, she would surely think it was some
unbelievable fantasy.
As they waited, occasionally taking sips of their teas and conversing
about nothing in particular, they sensed the arrival of more and
more guests from beyond the parlor door.
Right as they heard loud knocking on the parlor door, it was
vigorously thrown wide open.
“Hello, hello! How do you do, Commander? Miss Miyo?”
Energetically bounding into the room was the man previously
recovering from his heavy wounds in the hospital, Godou.
“…Oh great, she invited another loud and annoying one to deal
with.”
“Oh, c’mon, Commander, listen to you. Hasn’t it been hard not
having me around? You can’t fool me!”
Smiling, Godou looked just as lively and energetic as he had been
before his injuries.
“Have your wounds healed already, Mr. Godou?”
He nodded in response to Miyo’s question.
“Absolutely. Sorry for worrying you! I’m back to a hundred percent.
It took me so much longer than expected to get discharged that I was
ready to blow!”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Arata was the next person to come into the parlor.
“I see everyone’s here.”

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 Her cousin, dressed as always in his perfectly fitted suit, didn’t
seem any different at all. But that made her anxious.
Miyo had heard about what had happened the day Usui raided the
station.
Apparently, he’d been tricked into following a decoy in pursuit of
the kidnapped emperor, and he felt responsible for coming away
from the situation without any results to show for it. Since then,
Arata had been doggedly tailing Usui and rarely found time to come
back home, which prompted Grandfather Yoshirou to come to Miyo
to discuss the situation.
It was understandable. The severe criticism levied at the Usubas by
people familiar with them had grown even harsher because of this
event.
With the pride of his family on the line, Arata couldn’t allow his
blunder to stand.
I’m sure I would do the very same thing if put in his position.
Annoyed and restless. The emotions must have been swirling inside
of him.
Thus, given such circumstances, it had truly been a fair bit of time
since she had last saw him.
At first glance, he appeared to be just the same as always on the
surface, but she couldn’t really trust her intuition. He was skilled at
concealing his own emotions, so his inner thoughts likely deviated
greatly from his outwardly cheery demeanor.
“Have you been well, Miyo?”
“Oh, um, yes. You seem well, too, Arata.”
“Fortunately. Though there’s plenty of troubles on my plate.”

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 As Miyo and Arata conversed together, Kiyoka grunted with
displeasure. Picking up on this, Arata sent vaguely provocative look
his way.
“If you act that petty, Major, you’ll also make poor Miyo feel
uncomfortable, you know.”
“Mind your own business.”
It had been quite a while since Miyo had seen this causal back-and-
forth of theirs.
Afterward, Kazushi showed up, greeting Hazuki’s other friends and
causing yet another uproar as soon as he saw Godou. As the get-
together got busier, it grew closer to lunchtime.
Finally, the lone remaining guest arrived.
Miyo couldn’t believe her eyes when she looked out the window.
“Kaoruko?”
Her voice trembled slightly.
Right after she noticed the automobile suddenly stop in front of the
mansion, stepping out of it was the friend who had been weighing on
her mind, who she had longed to see.
There was no doubt it was her friend Kaoruko Jinnouchi herself,
wearing a white shirt with military pants beneath a long coat.
Ookaito got out of the car alongside her, and they both passed
through the entryway. Kiyoka and Godou recognized the arrival of
their superior and went out into the entryway to greet him.
Miyo approached the door after them, to see what was happening.
“Welcome, Jinnouchi.”
“Th-thank you for having me.”

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 Kaoruko responded to Hazuki’s greeting in a slightly high-pitched
voice, handing over a small gift wrapped up in cloth. Hazuki thanked
her, smiled, and turned to face Ookaito next.
“Thanks for all the trouble.”
“Not really. I needed to be here to witness Jinnouchi’s release
either way. It wasn’t any extra trouble. Kiyoka, Yoshito, you both
better be sure to relax during this time off, got it?”
“Yessir.”
“You gooot it!”
Replying to them both with a nod, Ookaito turned around before
Hazuki stopped him.
“You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah. My parents wouldn’t be happy if I stayed too long in this
mansion. Asahi is waiting for me to come home, too.”
“I see. Oh, hold on a minute.”
Hazuki responded with a warm smile before she had the servants
bring her a wrapped package, which she then handed to Ookaito.
“Here. It’s a present for Asahi. Can you keep it a secret from your
mother and father?”
“Got it.”
As Ookaito took the gift, he and Miyo locked eyes for a brief
moment. She bowed to him, and he replied with a simple nod.
Watching as Ookaito departed the mansion, everyone sighed with
relief. Only Miyo ran straight over to Kaoruko instead.
“Kaoruko!”
“Oh…Miyo.”

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 Now that she was face-to-face with her friend for the first time in a
while, Miyo noticed she was a bit thinner than she remembered, and
her complexion wasn’t in great shape.
As Miyo saw her friend drop her eyes to the floor in guilt, she
grabbed her hand without hesitation.
“Kaoruko, have you been well?”
“Yeah… Um.”
Kaoruko grimaced with sadness, and after looking across the
people gathered in the entryway, she gave a vigorous bow.
“I’m truly very, very sorry! I caused you so much trouble!”
Scattered teardrops fell onto the floor and sunk into the entryway
concrete.
There was no excusing Kaoruko’s act of betrayal.
However, it had also been partly unavoidable. Convinced that her
family’s dojo and her Giftless father had been taken hostage, she had
been left with no other choice but to do as Usui told.
Miyo’s heart ached when she imagined the guilt that must have
been tormenting Kaoruko.
“Pick your head up, Jinnouchi.”
Kiyoka was the one to address her.
Slowly raising her head up, Kaoruko’s eyes were wet with tears.
“I’m sure the major general’s reprimanded you enough already, so
there’s no point in saying anything more.”
“Commander…”
“Sis, if everyone’s here, shouldn’t we hurry up and get things
started?”

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 Kiyoka turned his head and put forth a suggestion to Hazuki. His
sister answered with a cheerful smile.
“Good point. All right everyone. For today’s meal, I tried following
how the West does things, and served it buffet style. Let’s all head to
the dining hall.”
Without getting swept along with everyone else as they began to
move, Miyo pulled Kaoruko by the hand.
“We should get going, too.”
“……I’m sorry, Miyo.”
“Please, no more apologizing.”
Kaoruko hadn’t actually been acquitted of anything. Miyo had also
heard from Kiyoka that it would be impossible to absolve her of
anything.
Simply accepting one’s punishment didn’t then mean the crime
itself disappeared along with it. However, blaming and tormenting
someone forever wouldn’t make anyone happy.
“I’m truly glad, from the bottom of my heart, that you and I could
become friends. And I’m so happy that you’re able to return like this.
Do you feel any different?”
In response to Miyo’s question, Kaoruko shook her head.
“I’m happy I’m able to talk with you again, too. Are you sure it’s
okay for me to remain your friend after everything? I’m not a
nuisance, am I?”
“Not at all. So please, I hope we can keep being friends from here
on out.”
“Yeah, me too…!”
Miyo couldn’t suppress a smile at her friend, again moved to
excessive tears, before then heading off to the dining hall, together.

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 EPILOGUE

Miyo placed the soba noodles in the boiling pot.

She stirred the contents of the pot with cooking chopsticks, sending
warm steam floating into the air.
Today was so much fun.
They had returned from the luncheon gathering at the Kudou main
estate, and now the sun had almost sunk below the horizon. Miyo
was in the kitchen, preparing their dinner to ring in the new year.
There hadn’t been that many people at lunch, but she had a great
time.
The spread there had been delicious, filled with all sorts of rare
types of western cooking, and it had been exciting to freely move
around and converse with a variety of different people, so Miyo felt
it had been a very fulfilling afternoon.
“Oh no.”
She had a hunch that if she got absorbed in her thoughts, she’d
overcook the noodles. Miyo frantically took the pot off of the flame
and sighed with relief.
Scooping up one of the hot soba noodles, she cooled it off before
putting it in her mouth. If she was going to be using them for soup, it
might have been better to keep them a little firmer, but they were
still acceptable.
We need to have dinner before they get soggy.
Miyo swiftly loaded the soba noodles into two porcelain bowls and
poured hot soup over them. On top, she placed the already fried
pieces of tempura, and garnished each with a small topping of green
onions.

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 The tempura mostly consisted of cod, shrimp, and vegetables.
“A pretty good job, I would say.”
It was her first time making New Year’s Eve soba, and she was glad
that she had asked Yurie about how to make it ahead of time.
Though, it didn’t give her much trouble, as she simply boiled the
noodles, and the tempura was no different from the tempura made
countless times before. The soup flavor was Yurie’s secret recipe.
In addition to the New Year’s Eve soba that night, she had also
prepared boiled root vegetables—carrots and daikon among
others—pickled Chinese cabbage, together with an exceptional
bottle of refined sake.
The kitchen looked like a colorful cornucopia simply from all the
different dishes.
“Tee-hee.”
The mere fragrance of the soup broth wafting in the air filled Miyo
with relief.
Reality wasn’t all fun and games; it also brought plenty of anxieties,
along with mental fatigue that arose from the turmoil of daily life.
However, today was New Year’s Eve, and tomorrow was the
beginning of the New Year holidays. She wanted to at least enjoy the
short time in peace. She wanted Kiyoka to spend the time in mental
tranquility, too.
“Kiyoka, dinner’s ready.”
“Got it.”
When she popped her head into the living room, Kiyoka was
passing his eyes over some documents with a scowl.

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 Hazuki had invited them to spend the night in the main estate, but
Kiyoka didn’t wait a second before turning her down. Miyo was sure
these documents were one of the reasons why.
Though he was supposed to have a few days off from work for New
Year’s, there was still a small number of reports coming in due to all
the unresolved issues on his unit’s plate at the moment. He must
have wanted to get them out of the way before things got out of
hand again.
Miyo spoke up while she arranged the plates on the table.
“…Um, why don’t you take a bit of a break?”
“Right, right. Sorry.”
Initially giving a half-hearted response, Kiyoka noticed the dinner
lined up in front of him and began gathering together the wide
spread of documents in front of him.
Miyo turned once again to face Kiyoka as he went about and
bowed her head.
“Thank you, Kiyoka.”
She sensed that he was slightly taken aback, wondering where
Miyo’s sudden gratitude was coming from.
“For what?”
“For Kaoruko. You helped her, didn’t you?”
Miyo thought back to Kiyoka and Kaoruko’s exchange at the Kudou
main estate.
Kiyoka had seemed cold and indifferent, but Miyo could tell it
essentially meant that he had forgiven her. She wasn’t conceited
enough to dare think her appeal was what made him forgive
Kaoruko. Nevertheless, she was happy that in the end, she hadn’t
lost her first-ever friend.

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 “There’s no need to thank me.”
Kiyoka turned away, but there wasn’t the slightest tinge of anger in
his eyes.
“Our fight against the Gifted Communion is only going to get more
intense from here on out. We can’t afford to lose firepower.”
Alarmed to hear the words “Gifted Communion,” yet another new
wave of anxiety welled up in her.
“Has…has something happened?”
“No. If anything, the reports say there hasn’t been any new
developments. It’s just that there might be something inside of them
that could serve as a lead or clue.”
“……So the Gifted Communion is nowhere to be found?”
“That’s right. We don’t even have an idea where exactly the
emperor ended up, either. They’re staying quiet right now, but that’s
all the more reason to think about the possibility that they’re
hatching something big.”
Usui had raided the station and been fought off by Kiyoka.
However, at the time, the man’s demeanor hadn’t looked
particularly upset, and not at all like someone who just had their
plans foiled.
Something awful was on the horizon.
Even a layperson like Miyo could feel it in her bones.
Kiyoka sighed slightly, and gently gripped Miyo’s hand.
“It’s okay. I’ll try to do something about everything as fast as I can.
Don’t let it worry you… Though, I’m sure that’s asking the
impossible.”
“I’ll try.”

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 Encouraged by his gentle palm, Miyo managed a slight smile.
The last night of the year quietly wore on.
The two had finished eating their New Year’s Eve soba and were
relaxing for a spell when snow came fluttering around outside.
“Started coming down, did it?”
When Miyo opened the sliding door connecting to the outer
corridor, Kiyoka’s face brightened at the scene he saw peeking
through the crack.
The light from the electric lamp in the living room spilled out onto
the veranda, illuminating the white petals dancing through the air. A
thin layer had already settled over the courtyard, like a sprinkling of
sugar.
“Snow……”
Miyo hadn’t been fond of either snow or winter itself.
Without a brazier in her cramped room back in her old home, every
year the terrible cold was torturous. However, looking at the white
scenery from inside a warm home, she found it whimsical, a vibrant
yet soundless sight.
“Miyo.”
Turning at hearing her name, Miyo saw that Kiyoka was drinking
from his sake cup as he gazed outside.
“Come here.”
“Okay.”
She sat down beside him.
“This year was a good one. Because I was able to meet you.”
Beside her, she heard his soft, gentle voice.
But, in that case, it was even better of a year for me…

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 At this time last year, she never would have imagined it. That a
winter would come where she wouldn’t be wishing for herself to
freeze to death in the cold.
That she’d have the chance to meet someone so dear to her, so
inseparable.
“Yes, um, I—I……feel the same way.”
The instant she replied, her body was pulled toward his—and their
lips brushed against each other.
Her second kiss had the faint aroma of sake.
The temple bell rang.
The last vestiges of the year gave them a silent, snowy embrace
and passed on into the next.

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 AFTERWORD

Hello, everyone, I hope you’re all doing great.

This is Akumi Agitogi, the author whose difficult-to-write/difficult-
to-read/hard-to-remember pen name is finally catching on, to the
point where she’s started to mistakenly believe, “Hey, maybe it’s
actually kind of cool?”
My Happy Marriage is now up to volume four, and it feels almost
unbelievable that my debut series would make it this far.
This volume was a continuation from the last one, and I’m sure
there are some readers who are very curious to learn what exactly
ended up happening to a certain character, but I hope you enjoyed
it. I’m sorry to those who were looking forward to Miyo and Kiyoka’s
actual wedding. Not yet.
Now that the story’s gotten to volume four, there have been quite
a few more characters introduced to the story. The highlight of the
new characters in this volume is the first of Kiyoka’s subordinates to
be named, discounting a certain man who was caught in an
explosion. I centered on Miyo as the main protagonist up until now,
so the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit wasn’t touched on too
extensively, but together with the introduction of the new
characters, I hope that element of the story has gotten a bit more
defined.
Also, while I’m sure it’s obvious at this point, this is also a story
about Miyo’s personal growth. As she interacts with the new
characters, as the author, I hope that it’ll allow her to mature and
grow even more as a person. She’ll still face more trials before the
story reaches their scheduled springtime wedding, but I’m sure the
two of them will manage to overcome them somehow!

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 The manga adaptation by Rito Kousaka is being serialized in Square
Enix’s “Gangan Online” to rave reviews! Also, by the time this fourth
volume of My Happy Marriage goes on sale, the second volume of
the manga adaptation should be in stores as well, so I hope you’ll
pick it up, too.
Allow me a moment to say that this volume reached an absolutely
historical and record-breaking degree of down-to-the-wire madness,
and I ended up causing my editor an enormous amount of trouble.
I’m very sorry. Thank you so much.
Also, to Tsukiho Tsukioka, and the unimaginably beautiful cover
illustration for volume four. I truly thank you for your work.
Finally, to all the readers who have continued to accompany me on
this journey. I have you to thank for being able to continue this story.
You have my humblest gratitude.
Until next time.
Akumi Agitogi

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