~One Year Later, Soutarou Takashina POV~
The first time Soutarou Takashina met Irina Shidou…
It happened in the most painfully cliched manner imaginable.
He was seven years old, walking home from school with his backpack hanging from one shoulder, when the sound of an argument reached him from a narrow path between two neighborhood streets.
Soutarou slowed before glancing toward the source…
Three boys who looked a few years older had surrounded a smaller child near the wall.
The girl’s short chestnut-brown hair was disheveled…
One of her knees had been scraped…
And while her violet eyes shimmered with frustrated tears, she still glared at the boys with enough defiance to make it clear she had no intention of surrendering.
One of the boys held a wooden sword high above her head.
The girl jumped toward it and angrily shouted, “Give it back!”
The boy lifted the sword higher before mockingly questioning, “What are you going to do with a toy sword anyway?”
The girl puffed her cheeks and indignantly shouted, “It isn’t a toy!
I’m going to become a knight!”
The other boys laughed.
Soutarou stopped at the entrance to the path and blankly stared at the scene.
‘Ah…
The classic childhood heroine bullying event.
All we’re missing is some dramatic rain and a conveniently placed bandage afterward.’
He glanced around for an adult…
A teacher…
A police officer…
Anyone who might resolve the situation without forcing him to participate in one of the most overused meeting tropes in fiction.
No one appeared.
Soutarou sighed.
‘Of course not.’
He adjusted his backpack and walked toward them.
Soutarou calmly said, “Give it back.”
The three boys turned toward him.
Their apparent leader looked Soutarou up and down before scoffing and asking, “Who are you?”
Soutarou simply answered, “Soutarou.”
The boy’s eyebrow twitched before he snapped, “That’s not what I meant!”
Soutarou stared at him…
The strange reservoir inside his body churned alongside his irritation…
By now he had become much better at sensing it, and with enough concentration he could even influence the direction it flowed…
He still couldn’t release it, he couldn’t form a spell and he still couldn’t create fire, draw a magic circle, or perform anything else that would make his life noticeably easier.
But sometimes…
When he became annoyed or protective…
The pressure leaked.
There was no flash of light, no dramatic gust of wind, no visible aura and yet…
All three boys suddenly stiffened as though something much larger than a seven-year-old child had opened its eyes and looked down upon them.
Soutarou held out his hand and firmly repeated, “The sword.”
The leader swallowed…
For several seconds childish pride warred against instinctive fear…
Instinct won and the boy shoved the wooden sword into Soutarou’s hand before turning and running.
The other two followed him without a word.
Soutarou watched the three disappear around the corner.
‘Huh…
Well that worked better than expected…’
The tomboyish girl rushed toward him with sparkling eyes and excitedly exclaimed, “You scared them away!”
Soutarou handed the wooden sword back and casually replied, “They were cowards.”
The girl accepted it with both hands before brightly declaring, “You’re amazing!”
Soutarou shrugged and said, “Eh, it whatever I just asked them to return a toy.”
The girl puffed her cheeks and sharply corrected, “It’s not a toy!”
Soutarou tilted his head before conceding, “A practice sword, then.”
The girl proudly placed the wooden sword against her shoulder and introduced herself, “My name is Irina Shidou!
I’m going to become a holy sword wielder and a great knight!”
Soutarou froze.
‘Eh…?
Irina…
Shidou?’
His gaze moved across her face again…
Violet eyes…
An energetic tomboy obsessed with swords and the Church…
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake.
I met another named character.
And great I just had to have a cliche moment with her…’
Irina tilted her head and curiously asked, “What’s your name?”
Soutarou answered, “Soutarou Takashina.”
Irina carefully repeated, “Soutarou…”
Then without even a second of hesitation, Irina grinned and happily declared, “Okay!
We’re friends now!”
Soutarou blankly stared at her before commenting, “That was fast…”
Irina proudly explained, “You saved me!”
Soutarou flatly replied, “I just asked them to return your sword.”
Irina ignored the distinction and excitedly said, “And they did because you were really cool!”
She grabbed his hand without warning before cheerfully adding, “Come on!
I’ll share my snacks with you!”
Soutarou glanced down at their joined hands.
‘Well…
I suppose there are worse ways to gain a childhood friend.’
And just like that…
Irina Shidou entered his life.
~Several Weeks Later, Takashina Residence~
Over the next few weeks, Irina began appearing outside Soutarou’s school with increasing frequency.
Sometimes they practiced with wooden swords…
Although Soutarou’s strange instincts and natural body control allowed him to defeat her more often than not.
Sometimes they ate snacks in the park.
Sometimes Irina rambled about knights, Angels, God, and her father’s work with the Church while Soutarou quietly gathered every scrap of information she unknowingly offered.
And sometimes…
They did absolutely nothing beyond sitting beside each other and talking about whatever came to mind…
Mamako noticed the change almost immediately…
Soutarou had always returned home on time…
He rarely went anywhere without telling her.
And although he had classmates, he’d never shown much interest in spending his afternoons outside the house…
Then without warning…
Her precious So-kun began leaving nearly every afternoon.
At first Mamako was delighted…
Her beloved little brother was making a friend…
Then Soutarou came home smiling faintly while carrying a handmade cookie wrapped in a pink napkin…
The following afternoon…
Mamako followed him…
Lavinia was dragged along for moral support.
~Mamako Takashina POV, Kuoh Public Park~
*Stare~~~*
From behind the remarkably inadequate cover of a nearby tree, Mamako Takashina stared across the park with the unwavering intensity of a warrior observing her greatest enemy…
Her chestnut-brown hair peeked around one side of the trunk…
Her violet eyes gleamed dangerously…
And clenched tightly between her teeth was a perfectly innocent white handkerchief that had done absolutely nothing to deserve its current treatment.
*Gnnnch…!*
Standing behind Mamako was Lavinia Reni, who leaned slightly to the side in an attempt to see whatever had captured the older woman’s attention…
The blonde magician blinked…
Then blinked again.
Across the park, Soutarou sat on a bench beside a short-haired chestnut-brown-haired girl his age.
The girl spoke enthusiastically while swinging her legs beneath the bench…
Between them rested a paper bag filled with snacks, and every few moments the girl reached inside, retrieved something, and held it out toward Soutarou.
Soutarou accepted it…
The girl smiled…
And Mamako’s handkerchief suffered further damage.
Lavinia tilted her head before curiously asking, “Mako-nee…
Why are we stalking Soutarou-kun?”
Mamako’s head snapped toward her…
Her expression carried the sheer disbelief of a teacher who had just been asked why two plus two equaled four…
Mamako indignantly exclaimed, “Don’t you get it Nia?!
If I have to wait for his love… then everyone does!”
Lavinia stared at her before blankly questioning, “Huh?
Cabbage what does that mean…?”
Mamako sighed…
The handkerchief dropped from between her teeth as she considered the best way to explain the seriousness of their situation…
Mamako thoughtfully muttered, “How should I put this…
Ah yes I read this online…!”
She straightened her back…
One hand rose delicately before her mouth…
Mamako cleared her throat and solemnly said, “Ahem.”
Then with complete sincerity, Mamako recited, “Honestly, think about it rationally…
You are feeding, clothing, raising and rearing a son for at least 18 years solely so he can go and ravage another woman.
All the hard work you put into your beautiful little boy – singing him lullabies, taking him to sports practice, making sure he had a healthy diet to grow up big and strong, educating him, playing with him, giving him loving hugs.
All of it has one simple result: his body is more enjoyable for the women that will eventually be fucked in every hole by him.”
“Raised the perfect boy?
Great.
Who benefits?
If you’re lucky, a random woman who had nothing to do with the way he grew up, who marries him.
She gets to ride his thick cock every night.
She gets the benefits of his strong but sweet personality that came from the way you raised him.”
“As a woman who has a son, you are LITERALLY dedicating at least 20 years of your life simply to raise a boy for another woman to enjoy.
It is the ULTIMATE AND FINAL cuckquean.
Think about it logically.”
Silence descended beneath the tree…
A bird chirped somewhere in the distance…
Lavinia’s lips parted…
Then closed…
Then parted again.
Her face slowly became crimson.
Lavinia covered her burning face with both hands before stammering, “What the hell!
M-Mako-nee…!
Where did you even find something like that?!”
Mamako merely nodded gravely and said, “Now you understand.”
Lavinia immediately denied, “I don’t think I wanted to understand!”
Yet despite her embarrassment…
Several pieces of Mamako’s speech had already embedded themselves inside Lavinia’s mind.
<All the hard work…?>
Her fingers slowly parted…
Through the gap, Lavinia looked toward Soutarou…
Irina had leaned closer while whispering something into his ear.
Soutarou’s expression remained composed, but the corner of his lips lifted into a small smile.
Lavinia’s sapphire-blue eyes narrowed.
<Another woman gets the benefits…?>
She remembered helping Soutarou with his magical exercises…
Preparing ice so he could cool down after training…
Listening to his increasingly strange theories late into the night…
Allowing him to sleep against her whenever Mamako was busy…
And all the times he’d called her Nia-onee-chan in that sweet voice of his…
Something unpleasant twisted inside her chest…
Lavinia slowly moved beside Mamako…
Her head emerged around the other side of the tree.
‘He has to love us first…!’
*Stare~~~*
Mamako glanced toward her and Lavinia kept her sapphire eyes fixed upon Irina before suspiciously muttering, “That really is an awfully close distance between them…”
Mamako smiled proudly and agreed, “Exactly.”
Lavinia’s eyes narrowed further as she added, “And she keeps feeding him…”
Mamako emphatically agreed, “Exactly!”
Lavinia watched Irina lean even closer before quietly questioning, “Also…
Why is she sitting that close?”
Mamako placed another handkerchief between her teeth before emotionally declaring, “I knew you would understand, Nia!”
The two continued watching.
Neither noticed that half their bodies were now visibly protruding from opposite sides of the tree.
Nor did either seem to realize that several nearby parents had begun giving them deeply concerned looks.