ChapterThreeisdone~
IdoenjoylettingKagamiseethingsthatshe’sfamiliarwithintheparalleluniverse。IimagineherspeechlessexpressionwouldbeperfectforDiscordemotions。
Thanksforreading,andpleasetakecareofme!
YoroshikuOnegaishimasu~~ よろしくお願いします。
Hitomi 一見 より
ChapterFour
MountainofShadows(Kageyama) 影山
ArashilookedonbytheentraothePhoenixHall,whileAkishiandKagamimadetheirwayoveraswell。
“Myapologiesfortakingtoomuchtime,immenselysorrytohavecausedyoutowait。”Kagamididn’twanttoriskirritatingArashi。
ArashiglaKagami’sface,andproceededtoleadthegroupihoutsayingaword。
Kagamicouldn’thelpitbuthadtoadmireallthewoodworkandstoneworkshesawalongthewaywhiletheywerewalkingtothecellor’soffice。(Hitomihadspentfouryearsintheschoolwoodshopbackthen,takingwoodworkcoursesfromGrade9toGrade12。)
“Kageyamaisbutashadowofherflory。”Arashi’svoicewassoftandlight,withahintofsorrowandlonging。“turiesago,Kageyamawasfilledwithgallantsouls,aherestoftheworldinhershadow。Andnow,it’smostlyscholarsshutintheirstudies,tentwithresearch。IwanttniteKageyamawithmyzeal,andhavetheworldlookuptoKageyamainaweagain。”
Withsuchwords,Arashinowstoodatthedoorofthecellor。Afterthreeknocks,thedoorenedbythecellorherself。
Anoldladywithsilverhair,thecellorweledthethree。“Thankyoufortakingthetriptinaudent,dearArashiandAkishi。Youhavedonewell。WeletoKageyama,dear,mayyoufulfillyourambition。”
“Thankyou,cellor。IamcalledKagami;Iwillworkhard。Pleasetakecareofme。”
“Gladtoseeyouhere,Kagami。NoouldliketohelpKagamigetacquaintedwiththeacademyplease?”ThecellorlookedatAkishi,knowingshe’sthemoreprobabledidateforthetask。
“Pleaseallowmetheopportunity,cellor。”Toeveryone’ssurprise,Arashicameforward。
Kagamiwasdelighted。(“Maybeshelikesmealready。Possiblysomeyearslater,whenI’m14or15,IexplicitlytellArashithatIlikeher。I’mcertainthere’sagoodcethatArashiwillstayonfacultywhenshe’seighteen,soIdon’toputaharddeadlineonmyselfthatImusttellherthatIlikeherbeforeshegraduatestheacademy。WhenI’mhteen,webeinarelationship!CertainlyIputinmybestefforttohavemyhappyendinginthisworld~~”)
“ThankyouArashi。I’llentrusthertoyourcare,then。”
“Thepleasure’smine,cellor。Ifyoumayexcuseus。”
Thecellornodded,andthetwolefttheoffice。
“Akishi,isn’titpleasanttoseeagentleArashi,thoughit’smuchtoone’ssurprise?”
“cellor,Arashihasalwayshadkindnessinher,butitisrefreshing,indeed。”
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“Isthereanythingthatyouwouldliketoseefirst?Wewillhavelunchsoon,andthetouroftheacademyafterward。”
“Iwanttoseewherestudentspracticeswords,please,Oneesama。”
“Thisway,then。”
Attheendofaserperail,whatcameintoviewwasarockyarea。Kagamisawbouldersandrocksandpebblesandgravelandsand。Somerockshavemossgrowingonit。
“Oneotdictatethesituationinwhichabladeisdrawn。Wemustbereadytobatindifferentterrains。Starchywaterispouredontosomeoftherockseveryevening,soslipperymossgrowonthem。”
“MayIseeyouuseyoursword,please?ArashiOneesama?”
“WhenIgivedemonstrationswiththepracticeswords,yes。Butmypersonalswordhere,no。”
“Youmusttreasureitwithallyourheart,then,Oneesama。”
“Tolaydownrulesoflifeispartofswordsmanship。Tonotusethebladecasually,isoneoftherulesIlaiddownformyself。”
“Iwanttodedicatemylifetoswordsmanshipaswell,Oneesama。Whatadvicewouldyoupleasekindlyoffermeontherulesoflife?”
“Rulesaretoremindourselvesthattherearethingswewillnotdo。Theyaretohelpusstayfocused。Tohelpusreorientwhenwemightattimesfeellost。”
“Igratefullyreceivetheadvice。Oneesama。”
“Whenyouareasword,everythingiswaitingforyoutocuttheminhalf。Youdecidewhich,where,andwhen。”Arashistartedtowalkback,ahesewordsdriftintoKagami’sears,asalightbreezecarriedthemtoKagami。