What Was Bound to Come… Way Too Soon?
What was bound to come had finally arrived… but wasn’t this far too soon?
Tisha was flustered. Extremely flustered. Thoroughly, completely flustered.
It had been a little over a month since she first met Kyle, and now they were nearly two months in. Short as that might sound, it had been more than enough time to get a solid read on the kind of person Kyle was.
The man she had come to know was polite and kind, yet never timid. If anything, he was confident, overflowing with self-assurance, and thoroughly masculine in every way.
Yet the Kyle standing before her now was a complete stranger to the one she knew. He looked utterly cowed, his eyes darting about with nowhere safe to land. Sweat poured down his face; every inch of him screamed tension.
He definitely called them Big Brother and Big Sister. So why…
Had he suffered some brutal bullying at their hands? She couldn’t speak for the sister, but one look at the brother made the idea seem entirely plausible.
Kyle himself was hardly short, yet this man stood a full head taller. And that solid frame of Kyle’s? It was reduced to something like “and so on” next to the sheer bulk of muscle this newcomer carried. If those hands ever closed around a human skull, it would surely burst with a wet crunch.
But… looking at his voice and his eyes… maybe not.
His physique was ferocious, yet his face was anything but vicious. If anything, it was remarkably gentle—bordering on simple and honest. And the way he looked at Kyle was filled with nothing but worry for his little brother. No matter how she sliced it, this did not look like a man who would torment his sibling.
“Hello, Brother and Sister.”
Meanwhile the Saintess set down her spoon and quietly slid into the conversation.
“A pleasure to meet you. Just now Brother Kyle addressed you as Big Brother and Big Sister, respectively…”
“He is our youngest.”
A deeply resonant, low voice rolled out—so heavy it made a listener want to duck their head. To Lear himself, of course, this was his absolute highest register.
“Ah. Big Brother, this is the Saintess of the Holy Order. And beside her is my friend, Tisha.”
“The Saintess? You’re the Saintess?”
“I’ve heard of you as well. One of the two great symbols of the Holy Order, wasn’t it? A pleasure. I am Lear John Nassen, Saintess.”
“Nice to meet you, Saintess. I’m Leah John Nassen.”
Apparently their time at the Academy had not been entirely wasted. Both Lear and Leah regarded the Saintess with mild surprise.
“Though this Saintess does look terribly frail.”
“Are you eating properly? Look at these arms. Good heavens…”
Their astonishment, it turned out, had nothing to do with her title and everything to do with her body. Lear and Leah immediately closed in on either side of her, examining her with frank fascination. To their eyes her slender arms and thighs that looked ready to snap at a touch were impossibly tiny and precious—like a child’s. They found the sight utterly novel.
“Wait—wait a second. Big Brother, Big Sister? When did you even get to the Academy?”
“We just arrived.”
“Us? Not long ago.”
“Then how did you find me so quickly?”
“The moment we stepped onto the grounds I could feel your presence, Kyle.”
Kyle opened his mouth to demand what that was supposed to mean, but the answer came quietly from Lear instead.
“When we entered, the only aura that hit us head-on was yours, youngest. Made you even easier to find.”
In other words: they had expected a forest and found a bare plain instead, with one enormous tree standing out so blatantly that they simply walked straight to it.
“That’s not the important part, Kyle. Hand that over right now. It’s bad for you.”
Leah snatched the ice cream clean out of Kyle’s hand, gave it a couple of sniffs, and muttered, “Just as I thought—pure sugar…”
“And the young lady beside you is the youngest’s friend, I take it.”
Despite his intimidating appearance, Lear even looked after Tisha. He dipped his head slightly and introduced himself again.
“Lear John Nassen. If our youngest has imposed on you in any way…”
“N-no! Um… Lear… sir? Anyway! Thanks to Kyle I’ve been working even harder on my shamanism, and he taught me how to exercise so I’m healthier too. If anything, I’m the one who’s been imposing.”
“Oho.”
Lear let out a quiet sound of appreciation. More than the part about owing Kyle, the mention of learning exercise had clearly caught his interest. His eyes flicked once over Tisha’s figure; he gave a satisfied nod.
On the way here he had been disappointed by nearly everyone he saw. Forget consistent training—most of the students lacked even basic physical fitness. Strictly speaking they were his juniors. He held no special love for the Academy, yet a place one had once belonged to always left a small attachment. Watching the students’ sorry state had been genuinely disheartening… until he saw that this girl, a friend of Kyle’s, possessed a rather well-balanced physique. His chest actually swelled with pride.
Training oneself was good; spreading the results to others was better still. Was there anything more beautiful than every person in the world diligently forging themselves and growing stronger? If Kyle managed to create even one such person at the Academy, that was no small thing.
Lear John Nassen nodded to himself and gave Tisha’s shoulder a few solid pats.
“I’m glad to see the youngest has found a good friend.”
“Y-yes?”
“Please continue to look after him.”
The words were gentle, completely at odds with the pressure of his frame. Looking at him, Tisha felt a strange sense of relief… and then a quiet lift in her spirits. She had been acknowledged as a good friend by the man Kyle called Big Brother—even though the John Nassens were nobility and she was a commoner.
Lately Kyle’s meetings with Elga had grown more frequent, leaving her a little uneasy. Perhaps today’s encounter would have some positive effect. The thought was comforting.
“Kyle.”
Finished with Tisha, Lear turned back to his brother. His eyes fell on the ice cream still sitting in front of him and he clicked his tongue.
“You’ve eaten quite a lot.”
“I only had a little, Big Brother.”
Lear glanced at the Saintess’s and Tisha’s ice creams for comparison. What Kyle had already finished was far too much to call “a little.”
“Are you all right? Heart racing? Difficulty breathing?”
“None of that at all.”
Tisha shot Lear a look that clearly asked what on earth he was fretting about. The Saintess blinked and tilted her head as well.
“There was something I wanted to discuss, but it seems best we talk while we train.”
With that, Lear and Leah simply hauled Kyle off toward the gym. They did, of course, settle the bill for the ice cream he had eaten.
“….”
“….”
What in the world had just happened? It felt as though a storm had swept through and vanished. Tisha sat blankly; the Saintess continued to nibble at her ice cream. And then…
“One coffee, please.”
…the Minister of Education, who had been quietly observing the entire scene, calmly ordered a coffee.
“Minister?!”
Tisha had received a commendation alongside Kyle not long ago; she remembered the Minister of Education’s face with crystal clarity.
“We meet again, Miss Tisha. How is the shamanism research progressing?”
“Y-yes, it’s going well. But Minister, why…?”
“Why am I at the Academy again? I’d like to say I merely came for a cup of coffee.”
Maybe he should just submit his resignation. Lately it felt as though half his remaining lifespan had evaporated. He sipped the coffee the waiter brought and wrestled with the thought in complete seriousness. So serious, in fact, that he completely forgot to add sugar.
“…Bitter.”
Yes. Very bitter. Exactly like his life. And today that life tasted especially bitter.
A low murmur of voices rose among the students mid-workout.
“Who are those two with Kyle? Never seen them before.”
“Whoa… he’s a whole head taller than Kyle. How tall is that guy?”
“If you bumped into him on the street you’d break something.”
“…Wait. That girl. Isn’t that…? Yeah, I think it is.”
Lear had graduated years ago without causing any major incidents, so there was no reason for the current students to remember him. Leah, however, was a different story; the incident involving her was still recent enough that people who had enrolled in the same year were still on campus. A few students seemed to dimly recognize her.
Neither Leah nor Lear had any attention to spare for the whispers.
“It’s… soft, isn’t it, Brother?”
“It would appear so.”
Both Lear and Leah murmured the words in grave tones. Then they turned pitying eyes on Kyle standing before them and delivered a truly dreadful verdict.
“Your body’s gone soft, Kyle.”
“Youngest. Have you been neglecting your training?”
“Absolutely not. I’ve been working hard.”
“Your body says otherwise.”
“I-I may not have done as much as at home, but I covered the basics.”
“Be honest, Kyle. This big sister sees everything.”
Under the double assault Kyle finally cracked.
“…I never skipped training. But I… couldn’t control my diet.”
“I expected as much. You were eating that sugar bomb just now, weren’t you?”
“You haven’t been snacking at night, have you? Right, Kyle?”
“I’m sorry, Big Sister. I, uh… had a few snacks late at night…”
“A few?”
“…A lot…”
Reading had turned out to be more fun than expected, and late-night snacks even more delicious. Lately he had been nibbling cookies while he read after dark—and somehow even that had been picked up by the twin John Nassen radars.
“That’s why your body’s gone soft like this.”
Lear John Nassen clicked his tongue. Behind him the watching students muttered inwardly, Soft? What’s soft about that? Kyle’s supposedly softened physique still looked rock-solid and free of any excess fat whatsoever. Their gazes dropped to their own bodies; one by one they quietly returned to their stations and resumed training.