Counseling Session (1)
Chise gazed at the packed shelves, then shut the cabinet door.
That was the last of what she'd brought from the main house. The pieces were far too luxurious for the cheap shelving, but Chise thought they suited the room well enough in their own way.
"Well... I guess this is where it really starts."
She puffed out her cheeks and let the air out in a little sigh.
They'd founded the committee, sure... but it felt like the garnish had outgrown the dish.
We've been so busy with one thing after another lately.
From Sally's Law all the way to the Black Society. Incident after incident, without a pause.
I never thought it would turn out like this...
All Chise had wanted was to commute to school with Noah from the dorms, and to put a little spark into their days by joining the Public Morals Committee. Truthfully, she'd been hoping for something more modest than a committee that grand. But no matter how she turned it over, nothing suited Noah quite like the Public Morals Committee. If it had been any other activity, she never would have done it in the first place. Noah's personality being what it was — for all her talk, she simply wouldn't do anything she truly hated.
Chise began steeping tea. Yuria would be arriving soon, so she was getting everything ready in advance. She set two teacups on the table, drew a well-worn book from her bag, and sat down to enjoy her teatime.
It wasn't long before Yuria appeared.
"Hello, Fujiwara-senpai."
Yuria glanced around the clubroom, then bowed her head.
"Welcome, Miss Ichinose."
"Ahem, ahem. Thank you for the tea. And thank you for the hospital bills."
Unused to expressing gratitude, Yuria rattled it off at high speed and sat down. The wound on her leg hadn't fully healed, but it was only enough to make her limp a little. According to the doctor, another week of treatment and she'd recover without so much as a scar.
"Don't mention it."
Chise answered with elegant composure, tucked her hair behind her ear, and returned to her book.
Silence stretched on for quite some time. Yuria stole a glance at Chise's face and ventured,
"Minamoto-senpai isn't here."
"She's been called to the faculty office for a moment on student council business."
"...And you didn't go with her, Fujiwara-senpai?"
"They only asked for the chair."
A cold sweat beaded on Yuria's forehead.
She's freezing...
This wasn't the Chise she knew. Not a hint of a smile, and her speech was stiff.
Yuria decided to gather her courage.
"Um...!"
A rustle. Chise paused mid-page and lifted her head.
"Yes?"
"W-why do you use formal speech when it's just the two of us?"
Yuria couldn't quite meet Chise's eyes. Chise blinked.
"Ah. I was speaking casually... wasn't I. Miss Ichinose."
It wasn't that Chise disliked Yuria. On the contrary, she thought of her as a cute underclassman. It was simply that, without Noah there, Chise's mind wasn't in the present. She answered like an answering machine. That was the social grace she'd been taught since she was five.
"Please don't add 'Miss.'"
"Ichinose-san, then?"
Yuria's face tightened with indignation as she corrected her.
"Ichinose."
"Hm?"
"Please just call me Ichinose!"
Chise gave an awkward little smile.
"Alright... Ichinose."
"......"
"......"
This is so awkward!
Yuria was mortified. How could it be this stiff? She almost thought it'd be easier being alone with that prickly Noah.
And yet... Yuria wanted to get closer to Chise.
If I remember what I saw online yesterday... start a conversation with a topic the other person would find interesting.
Yuria considered what Chise might like, concluded there could only be one answer, and dove right in.
"Ahem. Fujiwara-senpai, how long have you and Minamoto-senpai been close? Watching the two of you, you seem... awfully devoted to each other."
The moment Chise heard that, her fingertips stopped. Instead of turning the page, she shut the book entirely and pushed it to the corner of the table.
Devoted to each other...? Ichinose really is a good underclassman.
Chise spoke with a sunny brightness.
"We first met when we were five."
The reaction came so fast it startled Yuria, but she pressed on. She wanted to talk with Chise, yes — but she was genuinely curious, too.
"Five... so that's been ten years."
"Ten years, nine months, and twelve days."
"...Ah. Right. Yes."
Did people usually remember the day they met their best friend down to the day...? Yuria's blue eyes filled with bewilderment.
"W-what was Minamoto-senpai like as a child? Was she as prickly back then as she is now?"
Chise pictured Noah — adorable even now, and twice as precious at five.
"Noah back then was..."
She considered it briefly. There wasn't a single word that could capture the Noah of those days. You could string together every beautiful word in the world and they'd all still apply. But if she had to pick just one—
"Cool, I suppose?"
"Cool?"
"Noah was incredible even then."
Yuria thought that was laying it on a bit thick, no matter how you sliced it. Chise seemed to catch the thought, because she gave a little chuckle.
"You don't look like you believe me."
Yuria's gaze drifted sideways, noncommittal.
"Well... she was five."
She wasn't one to lie just to be polite.
A sense of duty settled over Chise — she had to make Yuria understand how amazing Noah was.
"Then I'll tell you an anecdote."
"...An anecdote?"
"Mm. Want to hear it?"
Yuria nodded twice.
"Yes. I'm curious."
"The Minamoto Clan is a rather strict household."
Chise drifted into recollection.
"The Fujiwaras are no different. At the time, though, I didn't understand any of that. I just thought I was the unhappiest five-year-old in the world."
"D-do rich people live that differently from the start?"
"Hmm... take my house, for example."
Chise hesitated a moment, then went on.
"If I didn't finish that day's study quota, I wasn't allowed to sleep. Or eat."
"That's abuse!"
Yuria was horrified.
"It's because we're Fujiwara. The current clan head went through it. The previous one, too. You can't really call it abuse."
Chise spoke slowly.
"Even so, it was hard to accept at the time."
"O-of course it was. You were only five."
Yuria seriously wondered whether she ought to offer comfort or file a police report. Chise answered with a smile.
"It's all in the past anyway. And thanks to it, I got to meet Noah. In any case, meeting her in that situation made me so happy."
"I can imagine. Was that the only time you were allowed to see a friend?"
In truth, cultivating a friendship with the Minamotos had also been part of heir training. Chise didn't mention that.
"It wasn't so much being able to play with a friend. Just meeting a peer in a similar situation was enough. I thought we'd have something to share."
Yuria's expression soured.
"The Fujiwaras and the Minamotos both putting children through that kind of absurd abuse... I'm sorry."
"It's all right. You're not entirely wrong."
Chise paused, then continued.
"I met Noah, and we were given time alone together."
It had been a test. Within a set period, how close could she get to a Minamoto? Fail to produce results, and she'd be stripped of her status as heir.
Chise smiled, precious memories blooming one after another.
"I asked her, 'What kind of studying do you do?' I asked how many hours a day she slept, too. Do you know what Noah said?"
"What...?"
Yuria pictured it in her own way. Two rich girls, raised under something close to abuse. One day they meet... They pour out their pain, cling to each other, and cry. And even though they're both girls, the first buds of love begin to sprout...
Damn it. I never should've picked up that yuri manga yesterday.
Yuria decided to just listen.
"With this look on her face."
Chise lifted her chin slightly and let her eyes go cold. It was a startlingly frightening expression — the look of someone regarding a bug. Yuria nearly blurted "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" without meaning to.
"She said, 'Go play over there, brat.'"
"?"
"Isn't that the coolest thing?"
Just recalling it made Chise's heart flutter. Yuria smiled awkwardly and thought:
Cool... where, exactly?
That's just an incredibly arrogant little kid.
Noah was, at present, extremely annoyed.
"Stop touching me."
"Just a little more."
Ever since coming back from the faculty office, she'd been wrapped in Chise's arms. More precisely, they were both lying on the sofa. The space was so tight it amounted to being held. The problem was that Chise kept poking and prodding — a cheek here, a waist there.
"Are you planning to get up? Chise. This sofa isn't big enough for two people to lie on."
"You don't like it?"
"...That's not it."
Noah couldn't even say it properly, afraid Chise might get sulky.
"But you're so soft. It feels nice."
The skinship's gotten more frequent lately.
Not that Chise hadn't always been handsy. Recently, though, it had reached a point where Noah wondered if this was even allowed.
She was fairly generous about Chise's touching. Call it compensation for doing all the laundry and cleaning, maybe. Chise prepared all the desserts, too. She handled the whole of the looking-after, really. So this was something like a reward.
And more than anything, Noah didn't particularly dislike it. After all, her gender identity was male, and Chise was pretty.
"S-senpai... p-please stop."
For the record, Yuria had gone red all the way to her neck. The two of them wriggling around was more than enough to set a third-year middle schooler's imagination on fire.
They said they share a dorm... if they're like this even here, then what on earth...
Of course, neither Chise nor Noah paid the slightest attention to other people, so they would have acted the same anywhere. Yuria had no way of knowing that.
In the end she couldn't take it and squawked,
"People will get the wrong idea if they see you!"
"Hm? This much is normal between friends."
"......"
Yuria clamped her mouth shut. How would she know? She didn't have any friends.
S-so that's what friends do. I misunderstood.
Yuria was learning something very strange.
...Then what about me?
Gulp. She swallowed.
If she just got close enough... she could touch that terrifying Minamoto-senpai however she wanted...?
"Um, Minamoto-senpai."
"What."
"...If I, hypothetically, patted your head or something, what would you do?"
Noah answered, bored.
"Your hand would get cut off."
"That's too much!"
Yuria shut her mouth, her face full of grievance. She felt like being contrary for no good reason.
"Please get up. The clubroom isn't a place to lounge around. Let's at least go on patrol!"
She was just about to stand, intending to drag them out by force if she had to, when—
"Ah, hello."
A girl with neat bobbed hair stood in the half-open doorway.
"Who?"
Noah scrambled up from the sofa. Chise looked reluctant, but she had no choice; she sat up beside her.
"M-may I come in?"
"Ah, yes."
Yuria answered, a little dazed. The girl came in with her head bowed low.
"Please, sit here."
Yuria offered a kind smile and pulled out the chair in front of the table.
"...Thank you."
This person...
Yuria was certain.
She's the savior of this Public Morals Committee that's been gathering nothing but dust and flies!
When ordinary students came to the Public Morals Committee, it was usually to report something. In other words, she was a precious informant who would boost their record!
She's definitely here to commission some dangerous case, right?
Yuria spoke with swelling confidence.
"You're a client, aren't you? You've come to the right place. I'm Ichinose Yuria, the strongest fighter at Asano Middle School. And these senpai may not look it, but they're pros among pros."
"What's she going on about."
"Let her have it, Noah-chan. She wants to show off."
Still, I didn't expect a report this soon. Is it because of Fujiwara-senpai?
Yuria smiled, pleased. There were Public Morals Committees in every year, after all. They wouldn't normally dump a case on first-years. The fact that she'd come here anyway meant she must have been drawn by the influence of the great Fujiwara family.
Brimming with anticipation, Yuria waited for an answer.
"Ah, yes. I came because of a request."
"Please speak freely. We'll resolve any commission quickly and efficiently."
"Any commission... you're sure that's all right?"
The poor client looked uneasy.
Something terrible must have happened to her.
Yuria felt a swell of sympathy and took the client's slender arm.
"Yes. Confidentiality is absolute, so don't worry — unburden yourself as frankly as you like."
"Then..."
The client took several deep breaths, then spoke a little louder.
"It's already been a month since I enrolled, and I don't have any friends...! Please give me a lecture on how to be popular!"
"Huh?"
Yuria decided she needed to go back to the hospital. There was clearly something wrong with her ears.
"I'm sorry... what did you say?"
"Th-the Public Morals Committee are all popular people...! Please pass those methods on to me too!"
A dark cloud settled over Yuria's face. With a trembling hand she pointed at the door. She was just about to say "Please leave" when—
"What."
Noah popped a candy into Chise's mouth and said,
"That's my specialty."
The truth was, Noah had been extremely bored.