Translator: Ranzan

  Editor: ryunakama

  「W…what did you say?」


  「Please…」


  She said it in a pleading voice, not a normal one. Her eyes were soft, and somehow they had lost their strong logical look to them.

  He had pushed her to this state, but now he looked at her with a furrowed brow.

  All of this, all of her「begging」had an immense strength over him.

  「Master, dear Master, my Master…」


  The same words, repeated like a broken record.

  She wasn’t trying to anger him, and in fact, he had wanted to hear her say it.

  He kissed her lips with a long kiss. She exhaled with a long breath, and seemed to lose her strength.

  He sat up and gripped her wrist and drew her up to him.

  He looked down at her, half-risen, and held her there, looking at her eyes and after a moment seeing the light come back into them.

  He let his vision wander over her, and then he pulled her close.

  Her face turned so red that he could almost hear it.

  「Nooo!」


  「Wait! Wait!」


  He grabbed the girl quickly before she could get away, and pulled her back. He could tell she was about to run, so he was able to respond quickly.

  「Stop! Let me go!」


  「Nothing’s going to happen if you run away, it’s better if you just hit me and I forgot everything that happened.」


  「Uh…」


  She stopped struggling as she understood that it was meaningless for her to run away.

  「Let’s talk it over, talk, and we’ll figure it out.」


  「Um…」


  「First, Did you really mean it? Calling me dear Master and all?」


  「…」


  「I can’t tell if you don’t say anything…but, I mean, if I think it over…」


  He put his hand on his chin, looked up, and pondered it.

  Suddenly, he realized that there was a sign to what the girl had done.

  She had said that he would become the king of Juunishima, and said that her dear friend Leticia would become a slave to him.

  She thought about that as normal.

  A king and a slave, she had that firmly planted in her mind.

  「Juunishima…and Leticia…」


  Youran jolted in surprise. He knew that she had said something that made him understand what the statement meant, to the end.

  「You’ve projected all of your hopes on me.」


  「…」


  「Youran?」


  She had turned away and was now looking down, and wouldn’t answer.

  He could see tears welling up in the corner of her eye.

  Her face looked like she would burst into tears.

  「Hey, hey, don’t cry.」


  「I…I don’t have hopes like that!」


  She lifted her face, and told him.

  That was the face of Shingetsu no Kami that he hadn’t seen in a while.

  It had actually been months since he had seen it. She hadn’t shown it to him since she had become his wife.

  It made him remember that nostalgic time before marriage.

  「..!!」


  「Whoa…」


  Youran took both hands and shoved him back.

  In the moment that he thought about how nostalgic and beautiful it all was, she had shoved him away from her.

  She got out of the bed, and ran out of the room.

  「Youran!」


  He stood up, and chased her from the nurse’s room, but since she was running with all her might, he couldn’t tell where she had run down the corridors.

  「Hey, hey, hurry up, Hera!」


  「Tah dah!」


  As soon as Taiyou summoned her, she appeared, spinning in the air.

  「What is it Taiyou-chan? You’ve got the face of a husband whose wife just ran out on him, desu!」


  「What kind of face is that? A little too specific there!」


  He shouted, and then asked Hera,

  「Do you know where Youran is?」


  「You mean Yuri-chan? Yeah, she’s below.」


  「Below?」


  「Yes, desu. Down there.」


  Hera pointed and he could see an open window. He ran up to it and could see the shape of a twin-tailed girl running at full speed from the school.

  He looked at the school below. A water pipe was bent a bit, probably where she had landed and jumped off.

  「So she bounced off of that thing?」


  「Did Yuri-chan run from you?」


  「Yeah.」


  「Hm…she looks desperate. Running downstairs and not upstairs means she’s serious, desu.」


  「…」


  Taiyou frowned. She really ran from him, and that kind of disturbed him.

  He spun on his heel and ran down the staircase.

  Hera, with her gleeful voice, asked while she followed beside him,

  「Taiyou, did something happen to Yuri-chan?」


  「Something…? I don’t think I did anything, but…」


  「So nothing?」


  「If I had to say something, I guess we were just being affectionate with each other.」


  「Just like usual, Taiyou-chan, but you’re a little too rough for Yuri-chan.」


  「Too rough for Youran?」


  「Yes, desu! I mean, Yuri-chan hides a lot of things from you…」


  「Something you know about?」


  「I do, but I can’t tell you, desu.」


  「You can’t say?」


  「Yes, desu. It would be like taking all the dirty books you hide under your bed and putting it on the bookshelf, desu.」


  「That’s an easy to understand example.」


  He went down one floor, and ran out of the school. Through Hera’s navigation, he was able to get back on the trail behind Youran.

  She had lied and fled, jumped out of the window in a hurry, and was able to get quite a bit of distance ahead of him, but Taiyou had much more than a normal person’s speed. Even if he had to pull a cart or had something loaded on his shoulders, he was much faster than Youran. So he quickly caught up to her.

  He came face to face with her at the river banks under the Hirose Ohashi bridge that connected Seikaen and Oritachi.

  「Huff….huff…」


  「I caught up to you…」


  Youran was panting heavily for air, while Taiyou wasn’t winded at all.

  Even though he knew that when she ran, he could quickly catch up and get her again, he was still cautious as he approached her.

  「Even if you run from me…you know you can’t get far.」


  「That’s not true…I…」


  「Did you run thinking you’d never see me again?」


  「!!」


  She opened her eyes and looked shocked.

  「That’s why you ran away, right? I told you that it would be better if you just hit me and cleared all my memories away. No matter how much you run, you still said that to me, and I won’t forget it now.」


  「…」


  「Let’s talk it over, instead.」


  「Nothing to talk about.」


  「Well, let me say, I’m going to keep asking until you finally tell me. You’re my wife, regardless. I’ll chase you down whenever you flee.」


  「Ugh…」


  Youran seemed to tear up, and said,

  「Why can’t you just ignore me for once, you can do that, right?」


  「I could, but somehow, it seems I’ve heard the real you finally speak.」


  「That’s not true!」


  「It is…I bullied…I mean, pushed you far enough, and now I’ve heard the real you. And everything that happened up to now…that was your true voice.」


  「…」


  「I see, well I won’t ask the reason.」


  「Wha?」


  She was shaken again, he’s going to push me this far and then back off…her face seemed to say.

  「I won’t ask why, it doesn’t matter at all. What’s important is the fact that you wanted to call me that.」


  「Really?」


  「Dear Master.」


  「!!」


  「Call me Master. If you want to call me that, then do it all you’d like.」


  「…I…can’t call you that though…」