Kenshin no Keishousha:Volume 2 Chapter1

There can Only be One Victor!

Status: Incomplete

20% completed (estimated)

   

The day after Kurou had been discharged.

Kurou was standing inside the grove of trees about a hundred metres away from his new house.

Wearing the uniform of the academy, both hands were gripped tightly onto his sword as he lifted it into a raised position.

Without giving off any fighting spirit or vigour, he suddenly brought the sword down in a flash. Returning the sword to the raised position, he repeated swinging his sword.

Obviously, he wasn’t able to practice his swordsmanship while he was in the hospital. Also he had spent the whole of yesterday moving his things around in the new house, so other than cleaning he hadn’t been able to do anything else.

Because he hadn’t been able to do rehabilitation, this training was essential. As expected, his current state was much weaker than normal.

Even so, Kurou didn’t feel like he would lose to Sefi now. Although it might seem a little rude to Sefi, he had the confidence if they were to fight a hundred battles he would win every one of them.

This is your loss, Kurou—

How many times had the Sword Saint Hyouka, who was also his master, said those words to him?

The Seven Swords were a title given to the strongest amongst the Swordies.

Within the Seven Swords, the most brilliant of them was given the title of Sword Saint.

Kurou had spent the better part of seven years crossing blades with her on a daily basis. And each time he had been beaten by her. For the strongest swordswoman amongst the Swordies, there was no way a human brat like Kurou could ever win against her, and Hyouka’s victories were all but a forgone conclusion.

However, he didn’t plan on losing to anyone else other than the Sword Saint. No matter what the circumstances.

Even if his physical ability had gone down, or his body had dulled, Kurou wasn’t going to use those as excuses to lose.

Kurou swung his blade down even harder.

Again, and again, he repeated the motion.

After reaching two hundred repetitions— Kurou stopped.

Tilting his neck slightly, he slowly sheathed his sword. As he had just been discharged from the hospital, it would be best if he didn’t exert himself any more than this. There was a fine line between training and ruining his body.

Using a towel to wipe his sweat, he returned back home.

As today was a Monday, he obviously planned on going to school, but there was still time. Taking a shower now would be a hassle, but at the very least he felt he should wash his face.

Previously home was just a small cottage with very little floor space, but now it was a two story building, so the number of rooms had increased.

The living room, kitchen, bath, toilet and Kurou’s room were located on the first floor. Sefi’s and Hinako’s rooms were on the second floor, Kurou being forbidden up there. As this moment, Kurou didn’t feel like breaking that particular restriction. If he was going to sneak up there, it would only be after he had meticulously planned and prepared beforehand.

Entering the house, he headed to the washroom.

A nice smell wafted over, which probably meant Sefi was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Cooking was one of her interests, and she was a pretty good one at that. The proof of that was the meal she had prepared yesterday, which had satisfied Kurou.

“It’s great I get to eat good food every day from now on!”

Kurou and Hinako both couldn’t cook. Especially Hinako, who couldn’t even do something as simple as preparing instant ramen. Now that Sefi was here, Kurou felt relief over his eating arrangements.

While imagining what was for breakfast, Kurou opened the door to the washroom.

“…”

“… Hm?”

Kurou tilted his head slightly.

It had totally slipped his mind, but the washroom in the new house also doubled up as the changing room for the bath.

“R-Rou…?”

And because of that, there was nothing strange about Sefi being in the washroom in a stage of undress.

On the contrary, Sefi was the one with a strange look on her face as she stared at Kurou, who had justed entered the washroom.

“Good morning, Sefi.”

“Good morning… Wait, why are you even entering in the first place!?”

Sefi looked like she was just about to take her shower, because she was wearing nothing but a pair of white panties.

As soon as Kurou had entered she had quickly covered her chest with her hands, but the rest of her skin was almost fully exposed. Sefi’s breasts were reasonably big and nicely shaped, and with them wobbling like jelly they looked soft to the touch.

“Well, I was thinking I might as well take a shower.”

“If that’s the case then do it after I’m done!”

“But if we shower together we can save on the water bill, right?”

“I’ll pay for my portion of the water bill, so let me shower alone!”

There was no real need to appeal to him like that, but Sefi was in a panic so she had just blurted out something that didn’t make sense at all.

“By the way, I can’t really see your chest very well so would you mind moving your hands away?”

“I’m keeping them there so you can’t see them!”

She had already removed her bra, so other than her chest being covered by her hands, Kurou had a clear view of everything else. Even so, his selfishness made him unsatisfied even though he was already seeing her hands bra.

“Ah, enough! Why are we talking normally like nothing’s wrong!? Hurry up and get out! If you don’t leave in three seconds, I will smash this changing room and you!”

“So you’re going to go wild again, huh…”

Kurou murmured like it was someone else’s problem.

The truth was, with Sefi’s power, she could easily destroy the whole house, to say nothing of a single room.

“Guess it can’t be helped then…”

Kurou spent two seconds burning the sight of Sefi’s chest into his eyes, before fleeing out of the washroom like a frightened hare in the last second remaining.

It was only because Kurou possessed amazing physical ability for a human that he was able to move that quickly.

“Idiot idiot idiot—!”

He could hear Sefi’s stream of abuse from behind the closed door.

Considering that he had stared at her half-naked body with all his might as well as continued to stay inside the toilet, the fact that Sefi hadn’t resorted to violence was a reflection of her kind nature.

Although, if he did go too far with his sexual harassment, who’d know what Sefi might do then.

“Still, I did get to see something nice this early in the morning…”

“Good for you…”

“Woah!”

As Kurou was having a lewd look on his face, a voice suddenly cut him off.

When he finally noticed his surroundings, Hinako was already standing next to him, staring at Kurou intently.

“As always Kuro, you’re up to your sexual harassment again…”

“Wouldn’t it be an insult to a beautiful lady if I saw her naked figure but turned and ran away? It would make it seem like I had just seen something weird.”

“Kuro, that was a fantastic excuse to give…”

From the bottom of her heart, Hinako was left dumbfounded by Kurou.

Today Hinako was wearing that nurse outfit again. Having said that though, she hadn’t nursed him yesterday. She was just a girl who liked wearing particular outfits without doing any work in particular.

“Hm? If Sefi’s in the bath, why is there such a nice smell of food? Did she already cook breakfast?”

“I made breakfast this morning. It will be ready soon, so please head to the living room.”

“Ehhhhhh, Hinako cooked!? That’s impossible!”

“There’s no reason for you to be surprised to that extent…”

No, there is, thought Kurou as he gazed as Hinako suspiciously.

Based on Kurou’s experience, Hinako could not even discern how to use a vacuum so it was certainly possible that she had never cooked before.

“What happened to this world during my stay at the hospital……”

“Please don’t mention a drastic change occurring to the world just because I mastered a skill. Even a person like me will mature.”

Hinako swiftly turned around and headed back towards the kitchen.

“Uh……”

Hinako cooking, huh————

I should probably have an antacid on hand, thought Kurou as he unexpectedly began to panic.

The living room of their new home was carpeted. Other than the TV, table, and a small cupboard, there was essentially no other pieces of furniture or appliances. It was quite a plainly adorned room.

Kurou was sitting right in front of the table at the center of the room.

“Hey Kuro, please eat while it’s still hot.”

“……”

Hinako emphatically placed a plate down on the table.

The dish consisted of rice, eggs, as well as thinly sliced pork meat. It had been cooked with onions and carrots, plus it was seasoned————in essence it was char siu rice.

Although Sefi had not returned from the shower room yet, it was probably best to eat now before it became cold.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Kurou politely pressed his hands together and proceeded to slowly scoop up some of the char siu rice with a spoon, placing it in his mouth.

“Eh? Not bad.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

Upon noticing Hinako’s teary eyes looking his way, Kurou immediately began denying that there was anything to it.

To have dabbled in the thought of an antacid seemed to be very disrespectful. Hinako performed far beyond expectations in creating an edible dish, thus he stated as such.

Even its rich flavor suited Kurou’s taste. Kurou did not utter a word as he moved the spoon around and scarfed down the char siu rice.

“……Mmm, tasty. Thank you for the meal.”

Kurou set his spoon down and pressed his hands together once again.

“That said, why were you continuously making char siu rice since morning?”

“Jeez, to be questioning me now after you’ve already eaten.”

“Hey Sefi, you done showering?”

Sefi, having exited the showers, entered the living room and sat across from Kurou.

“You live such a sloppy lifestyle Kurou. Having food prepared and served right to you really makes you look like an imbecile. Didn’t you used to say no matter what you eat, it will taste delicious?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

Kurou chuckled as he shook his head.

“Something more delicious than Sefi, such a thing cannot possibly exist in this universe……”

“Now you’re asking for it.”

Sefi tightly clenched her fists while staring him down with an austere expression.

Kurou wanting to someday eat Sefi, that was indeed the truth.

“I’m glad that you like it Kuro. Also, here’s a bento.”

“Huh?”

Kurou was handed a bento box from Hinako, his eyes flickered in surprise.

That slightly larger than usual bento box was jam-packed with char siu rice.

“By the way, for dinner we are having more nutritious char siu rice that is laden with pork.”

“Eh——, that sounds pretty good.”

“Are you serious!?”

Sefi shouted at the top of her lungs while Kurou and Hinako took a glance at each other.

“To think I thought Rou was more ridiculous! Hina, you can’t even make anything else!?”

“Well, for her to be able to make one dish, isn’t that still amazing? If it were me, this cutting, cooking, steaming and such, I could never accomplish such tasks.”

“Then again, Rou is also way too lax about this……”

From the looks of it, Sefi was also quite unpleased with Kurou’s response.

In regards to Kurou’s eating habits, he was not particularly picky when it came to taste.

“For now, Hina and I will just alternate cooking every other day. However, even that is quite unfavorable.”

“How so?”

“My taste buds are quite delicate. I could never eat something as oily as this early in the morning.”

“In that case, couldn’t you just teach Hinako how to cook?”

“Of course, did you think I was going to let her make the same thing every time!?”

Hmm, Kurou pondered as he drank a sip of tea.

He noticed it ever since yesterday. It seemed Sefi and Hinako had already gotten along quite well. With the endearing nickname, “Hina”, it probably served as a proof of friendship.

With the exception of being a bit over the top when making the char siu rice, Hinako’s cooking appeared to be learned through Sefi.

The situation had certainly become quite perplexing.

Sefi and Hinako————who would have ever known that their relations would reach the point where they would live under the same roof. For them to even be conversing was quite unfathomable.

Seventy years ago, at that time the whole world was enveloped in war.

The Great War was at a point where neither side would budge and as each nation exhausted their resources, an extraordinary change suddenly occurred——

Countless portals that were connected to another world had their gates opened up. Following that, the entire world was trampled upon by the Swordies who swarmed in————

The victor of the Great War was the Swordies.

To add to that, the portals disappeared just as instantaneously as when they first appeared. Having lost access to their homeworld, the Swordies decided to turn Japan into their new homeworld and implemented a new government system.

For the Swordies who prevailed and became the dominant ones, they governed the humans————specifically the Japanese. With the prevalence of discrimination, there clearly was a rift between the two sides.

Sefi was the daughter of the four rulers who were at the pinnacle of the Swordie government————she was the princess of the four generals.

On the flip side, Hinako was a human. The difference in status between her and Sefi was poles apart.

Normally speaking, two people like them————wait, including Kurou, having the three of them eating the same meal under the same roof was just unimaginable.

“……Even so, you’re such a good person for eating the char siu rice after all.”

“What nonsense. If it were left aside as such it’d be a huge waste!”

As Sefi was wolfing down the char siu rice, she loudly shouted at Kurou.

“More like if it were Sefi’s leftovers, it would fetch a high price from Kuro……”

“That wasn’t necessary you know!”

It appeared that their relationship had turned for the better. Kurou’s eyes filled with warmth as he gazed at the two girls.

In present day Japan, the way Swordies treated human was always filled with prejudice to some extent.

However, Sefi was a notable exception. Sefi, who was at the zenith of status, had no issues with the lower class humans. Furthermore, she had been friends with Kurou since childhood, so perhaps that contributed to it as well.

No matter how one looked at it, it was great that Sefi had no intentions of behaving in such silly discriminatory ways.

Hinako, because of the unique conditions she was raised under, was unfamiliar with the customs of modern day Japan————such as the discrimination between humans and Swordies. Kurou thought it was also nice that Hinako was not the type to be obsequiously acting inferior.

“Rou, what are you fixated on? Hurry up and finish eating, then let’s go to school————“

“Hmm? What’s the matter Sefi?”

Sefi’s gaze was honed onto one spot. Kurou turned his head and followed her line of sight.

“What a pleasant aroma wafting around this early in the morning. I truly envy your dietary lifestyle, Kurou.”

“……Deputy?”

Kurou muttered.

When did she arrive? A woman was standing at the entrance of the living room.

She was tall and had her gleaming brown hair tied behind her. She wore a black blazer over her white shirt, a tight fitting miniskirt, and a red overcoat draped on as usual. Like a samurai, she had her longsword and dagger hanging by her waist.

“What is a deputy?”

Hinako was not in the least surprised with the intruder as she nonchalantly questioned.

“The deputy is just the deputy. She’s a prestigious member of the Sabers, second only to the director.”

Kurou appropriately answered.

The so-called Sabers was the name of the public security force that Kurou was affiliated with.

The black blazer and overcoat which the deputy was wearing was the uniform of the Sabers.

Within the capital of Japan————Tokyo Swordia, the police would investigate ordinary criminals while the Sabers were responsible for terrorist activities. The cops primarily consisted of humans. In contrast to that, members of the Sabers were practically all Swordies. However, Kurou was the sole human member within the Sabers.

“It’s just as Kurou explained. Oh that’s right, Sefi-sama, this is our first time meeting each other. I’m the Sabers’ deputy, Sabina.”

“……I’m Sefi. Since I’m just a student, there’s no need to be so formal.”

“Understood.”

Despite her nodding, the deputy still had not changed her courtesies. It was a sharp contrast from her perfunctory tone towards Kurou.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter. Deputy, why are you here?”

“Things have gotten quite riled up, I’ll explain later. Just follow me, and Sefi-sama, would you please join us as well?”

“Umm, sure.”

After Sefi nodded, the deputy departed from the living room without waiting for Kurou’s response.

Of course to Kurou, since she was his superior, if she had said to “come with” then he would be obliged to follow.

Kurou and Sefi glanced at each other, and then nodded towards Hinako.

“Will you be ok by yourself Hinako?”

“I believe so.”

Hinako stoically nodded.

Due to certain circumstances, she was now guarded by Kurou. However, Kurou was also hospitalized for two weeks. During that time, there was not a chance that she would be left without a replacement bodyguard.

Although it was not visible, there was someone protecting Hinako from somewhere unbeknownst to them————

Even Kurou knew about that and Hinako probably heard about it too.

“Time to go Kurou.”

Of course, Sefi understood as well.

Right now, there would not be any problems even if Hinako was left alone. Kurou stood up from his seat and walked towards the door along with Sefi.

Back to Prologue

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 2