The Plan Has Changed

The plan had changed.

Had the faculty truly managed to bury the fact that they had taken those tied to the demonic path? The academy grounds were as peaceful as ever. But peace, in the end, was only a word for the scenery. My heart, unlike that tranquil view, was packed with nothing but turmoil—because standing right in front of me was a disciple asking me on a date.

The moment the words fell, the world seemed to stop for a breath.

"......What?"

Even Seol's voice twisted into something strange. It wasn't real surprise. It was the shape of surprise, worn to hold her anger down—but that hardly mattered.

"What did you just say...?"

"I asked Master on a date. Why shouldn't I?"

Hyeon said it without a flicker of hesitation. Her sunset-colored hair was neatly gathered, her clothes as tidy as always, her bearing composed. Everything about her was steady. Everything but one thing. Those eyes held a madness in them.

Does she want to play with her master that badly?

I couldn't help but feel utterly dumbfounded. When Cecilia had suggested a date, I hadn't been this bewildered, nor this startled.

No—had I been startled?

More precisely, it wasn't being invited by Cecilia that shocked me. It was hearing what a date actually meant. And the Saintess, her head a field of flowers, likely didn't even understand what a date between a man and a woman signified, so I hadn't paid it much mind. Even if she did understand, it wouldn't have mattered much. Cecilia was a friend, nothing more. Enjoying an outing with her was hardly unreasonable.

The gap in our mental ages?

...If I had grown younger, wouldn't it be fine? Back then my mind had held the upper hand, and looking at any other woman felt like looking at a grandchild. Now, with time passed, I recognized them properly as women.

So this is what they mean when they say youth is a frightening thing.

If my body had aged along with me, or if my mind had grown young along with my body, there would be nothing to agonize over. With only one of the two made young, it was terrifying beyond measure. If, by some chance, I were ever to fall in love with my disciples....

"If you're going to go mad, at least go mad with some grace."

A master, falling in love with his own disciple? It wouldn't be strange if they not only cast me aside, but killed me for it.

They only want to spend time with their master, and here I am thinking such things. I'm unfit to be a master.

In truth, it was the disciple who loved the master. I simply didn't know it, and lamented only myself.

"I'm the one who wants to date Master. Why are you against it?"

"You haven't known him long. It's a burden on Cheon Hwi."

"You wouldn't know, but Master and I share a very deep bond."

"That..."

Of course Seol knew as well. But under the pretense that she hadn't recovered her memories, she had no way to refute it.

"Besides, a date isn't something only lovers do. It's just spending time together, isn't it? That much should be fine."

"..."

Well now. Was Hyeon always this silver-tongued?

In our past life she had been nothing if not a gentle, docile thing.

...Hah. No matter how I turned it over, she was a kind, gentle child. Why she turned so fierce the moment she faced the other disciples, I couldn't begin to understand.

Still, it was about time I stepped in....

"I even used a wish token. Why do you keep butting in? Jealous?"

"You're the one who's scared ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'll take him from you."

Children grow by fighting. I'll leave them be a little longer.

It absolutely wasn't because I was scared. Mm. Certainly not.

So fierce was their momentum that not only I, but Cecilia, flinched and took a step back.

Just now, that look in her eyes...!

I hadn't seen it. She had. On the face of the girl who, until a moment ago, had worn only a warm smile, she caught something. Jealousy was mixed into that gaze, and a hunger to possess. Just as Cecilia began to wonder whether a lovers' quarrel like this ought to be allowed to continue—

"Master, it's just a date. One day. Only one day."

Judging, perhaps, that fighting Seol any further was pointless, Hyeon turned her words toward me. While she waited for my answer, she looked at Seol with a subtle expression.

Let's see if you dare step forward before I do.

Seol, unmistakably, trembled.

"...Ha."

She let out a quiet sigh and scratched the back of her head. Her usual blank expression held, but one brow had lifted, just barely.

If I say yes, Seol will surely ask for a date as well. But if I say no, Hyeon went so far as to spend a wish token to beg me.

Why had I ever given them wish tokens?

My head ached.

"Hyeon. Can you define for me, precisely, what this 'date' of yours is?"

I asked in earnest. If it was the sort of outing between friends that Cecilia had described, I could understand. A date between lovers, I could not accept.

Hyeon tilted her head slightly.

"We walk together, we eat together, and if you smile for me, that's enough."

"...That's all?"

"Yes. Just do what you always do—only with me. Without Cecilia. Without Seol. Just the two of us."

She said it softly, but with perfect clarity.

Whether it's longing... or obsession, I can't tell. Either way, it isn't a good thing.

I could understand why she was like this. In her past life she had witnessed her comrades' deaths with her own eyes, and learned that even her master had died. It would be stranger if longing, or obsession, had never taken root. Hadn't I myself, the moment I saw my disciples in this world, recalled the bonds of our past life and shown a touch of obsession?

I understand. I understand all of it....

So why did that obsession have to end in a date!

Did she think she would die early in this life too, and so wanted to spend time with her master?

Ah.... If that was it, I ought to grant it.

Of course I had not the slightest intention of letting my disciples die early. But Hyeon had consumed a forbidden sacred relic, and the odds that she would follow the fate of her past life were high. From her own place, she had every reason to be anxious.

"Very well. One day. A single day, and no more."

I had no choice but to accept. When I finally nodded, only then did Hyeon smile.

"You mean it?"

"I do. On one condition!"

"A condition?"

"We'll do it tomorrow. Today has grown late."

"Whaaat?!"

Hyeon flushed, her eyes going round.

She had brought it up late on purpose. Why so late? Because only then could she lead Master to his bed at night and turn it into a fait accompli. In the daytime they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would only wander around outside and play.

But we did that plenty of times in our past life, too.

They hadn't called it a date, but after martial tournaments or grueling training, Cheon Hwi would sometimes take his disciples to the market, buy them this and that, and let them play. Those had been happy, enjoyable hours, certainly.

Better than spending the night with the person you love?

Get Master to drink a little, sleep in the same bed, then cry while completely undressed and call him a beast—and he would believe they had truly done it. Then it would have been an established fact (it wasn't) plus lovers (they weren't)!

"H-how am I supposed to wait a whole day!"

"You managed years of secluded training in your past life just fine!"

"Ugh...."

Hyeon pouted and drew back. From the experience of her past life, she knew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cheon Hwi in that mood would never yield, so she had no choice but to retreat.

Watching from behind, Seol—as if she had caught on to Hyeon's intentions—glared at her openly.

"So I just have to use a wish token too?"

"No. You already used yours."

"...That's cheap."

"Then you should have saved it."

"..."

Who could have known that during that spar she would learn of her past life and come to love Cheon Hwi? Seol felt wronged, but she had used the wish token. That was a fact, so she had no choice but to shut her mouth.

Zzt.

"What are you looking at?"

Why do they keep fighting....

Leave them any longer and they really would come to blows. Cecilia forced a smile and, with some difficulty, pulled Hyeon and Seol apart.

"...Your disciples are certainly healthy."

"Yes.... Healthy is enough."

I had told my disciples many times to grow up healthy. I hadn't meant they could throw away everything except their health. I answered lightly, and lamented only in my heart.

Wish tokens are forbidden from now on. By whatever means necessary....

"More importantly, why are you following me?"

"Can't we do it together?"

"...What?"

"A date together. Me, you, and Cheon Hwi."

At Seol's words, Hyeon wore a briefly incredulous look. It didn't last.

Soon she half-closed her eyes and turned her head at an angle.

"...You're serious?"

"I want a date too."

"You had your chance. And you spent it on a spar...."

"I didn't know back then."

"..."

"Back then, I didn't know I'd come to like Cheon Hwi."

Seol's voice was low, and it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wavered. She stared into empty air and quietly went on.

"I had no memories, and my feelings were faint. But... these days, that time keeps coming back. The memories of our past life."

Hyeon's eyes wavered, just a little.

"So? Those days are vivid for me too. Maybe even more than for you."

"I'm scared."

"...Of what."

"That if the memories come back, I won't be who I am now."

Seol's confession was quiet, but it had weight. Hyeon closed her mouth. That gaze belonged to someone being crushed by a feeling she herself did not fully know.

"I don't want to become the same as who I was in my past life."

"Then... the you of now isn't the you of then?"

"I'm the same person. But I'm different at the same time. That's why."

Seol lifted her head. Eyes full of sincerity fixed on Hyeon.

"That's why I want to spend time with Master as the person I am now."

Hyeon couldn't look away from that gaze. They had grown up under the same master in their past life; she couldn't deny they were close. Becoming rivals in love didn't erase the memories they had made until now. If she hated Seol simply for being a rival, she should have hated it the very first time her hair was stroked. But she hadn't. She had accepted that caress with joy.

"...Idiot."

"You too."

"So... you want to go together?"

Seol nodded quietly. At that small motion—sincerity in place of words—Hyeon smiled bitterly and lifted her chin a little.

"Then I have a condition."

"What?"

"When I'm holding Master's hand beside him, don't butt in."

"...All right."

Their eyes met. A strange tension still hung between them, but the hair-trigger air of a coming fight had eased, if only a little. Had Cheon Hwi heard any of this, he would have clutched the back of his neck. Fortunately, he still knew nothing.

"But..."

Seol asked quietly.

"The reason you want this date. Is it what I think it is?"

Hyeon hesitated a moment, then answered in a small voice.

"Yeah. It is."

"...That's intense."

"If we don't, Master will never see us as women."

At those words, Seol fell quiet as well. It was a feeling she had been carrying too. Even sharing the same space, even spending the same hours, only the disciples were aware. Cheon Hwi wasn't conscious of it at all.

"So... even if it's only for a day, I want to make him feel that we're women."

Those words reached Seol's heart as well.

"I'll help."

"Good."

Hyeon smiled, very small.

And the next day.

"...Why have the two of you come together?"

Beneath a great tree, arms folded, I looked from one of them to the other.

"You said it was a date."

"We decided to do it together."

"We reached an agreement. No problem."

Hadn't they been fighting just yesterday over who would get the date? Fine. Not fighting was a good thing. I'd grant them that.

"But why, without my permission...."

"You already said it. One day only."

"But you said it would be just the two of us...."

"That? Canceled. The plan has changed."

"..."

Hearing that, I looked up at the sky. The sky was still clear. But my heart was growing cloudier by the moment.