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Golden Butterfly – Part 02

A few days before Ms. Cecile’s encounter with the elderly gardener in a corner of the academy nestled in the hinterlands of the Kingdom of Sauville…

At a bustling port near the capital of a small island nation in the East, a civilian ship that had journeyed from the Old World finally arrived.

Having endured a sea voyage spanning two and a half months, the passengers disembarking wore uniform expressions of anxiety and fatigue. Most hailed from the East, characterized by their jet-black hair, eyes, and smaller frames. They were corporate representatives, scholars, and artists who had worked, studied, and lived in historic countries in the Old World.

Among these travelers was a youth of particularly slim build.

Seemingly in his mid-teens, with pale cheeks and lips drawn tight, he donned a European-style jacket and a bowler hat pulled low over his face, as if to hide it.

While others disembarked, the young boy remained on the deck, lost in contemplation as if carrying some lingering regret. Yet, upon spotting a weary-looking woman and her children hurrying down the ramp, he extended a helping hand, then started walking at a leisurely pace himself.

The youngest child stumbled, so the woman swiftly lifted them up. As the second youngest started grumbling, the youth draped an arm over their shoulder.

“Let’s go, yeah?”

“’Kay…”

The child appeared to have developed an attachment to the young boy during the voyage. With a shrug that seemed to say, “You’re not Mom, but it’ll do,” the child took the young boy’s hand and slowly walked across the deck, and down the ramp.

The port buzzed with families, sailors, and all sorts of individuals.

Observing the multitude of Eastern faces, the boy put on a faint, cynical smile—a twisted expression he wouldn’t have shown in the past.

Throughout his year and a half of living abroad, the boy seldom encountered Eastern faces. Surrounded by Caucasians speaking in an unfamiliar tongue, he wrestled with language barriers, cultural disparities, and endured prejudice while diligently pursuing his studies. After a long time, he had finally returned to a land populated by individuals resembling himself—short stature, yellowish skin, and black hair.

“Hmm? I feel like I’ve grown taller. Probably because everyone from that country was so tall… Oh, except for her.” He chuckled.

Kazuya Kujou displayed an oddly crooked smile once more. Then, he hung his head and bit his lip.

The woman and her kids caught up with the father. Kazuya let go of the child’s hand and raised his hat slightly, bidding them farewell.

“Thank you so much,” the woman said. She appeared exhausted. “For playing with the kids. I was too seasick to move.”

“You’re welcome. It…” Kazuya trailed off. He hung his head again and put on an odd, almost self-depreciating smile. “It helped me get my mind off of things.”

“Mister, can I have this?”

The eldest child extended their hand towards Kazuya, pulling something hidden under his clothes. Kazuya exclaimed in surprise.

It was a pendant made with a crude straw rope he found on the ship, with a glowing purple stone at its tip—a woman’s ring.

Kazuya quickly erased the odd look on his face. With a sincere and gentle smile, he peered into the child’s face. “You really like it, huh? You were playing with this ring throughout the trip.”

“Yep.”

“But I can’t give this to you. It’s from a very important friend.”

He carefully put the ring back inside his shirt, the motion tender and affectionate.

“What happened to that friend?” the child asked.

Kazuya fell silent. Slowly, his expression turned blank. “I don’t know. I left them behind across the sea,” he said, forcing the words out.

He slowly raised his head. Feeling someone’s gaze, he turned around.

Repatriated back to the small island nation in the Far East, Kazuya was bound to face them soon.

A familiar figure he hadn’t seen in a long time was right there.

---

Kazuya is coming home! He’s coming home!

On that day.

Kujou Ruri darted around the house all day as if she had grown wings.

“Pipe down!” her father scolded. “You’re a young lady getting married soon. Have some shame.”

“Oh? Who says I’m getting married?”

Her eldest brother appeared. “Come on. Don’t say that. Mushanokouji will end up a bachelor his whole life.”

“Right. Why don’t we take this opportunity to invite him?” the second brother chimed in, ambling down the hallway.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, their mother meticulously prepared Kazuya’s favorite dishes. Now and then Ruri offered to help but was shut down every time.

“You don’t have to help today.”

“Wh-Why not?!”

“Well, you see…”

The second brother poked his head in. “You’ve caused quite a few incidents in the kitchen, Rurippe. Frying pans bursting into flames, vegetables taking flight, rice getting burnt.”

Disheartened, Ruri wandered down the hallway. With not much else to do, she tucked up her sleeves and wiped down Kazuya’s room with a cloth.

Time passed, and the ship was to arrive at the harbor soon.

The parents wore formal kimonos, the brothers dressed in suits, and Ruri wore a hakama, her hair adorned with her favorite black-and-green checkered ribbon. She wore shiny boots.

They all piled into the car and set off. With Mushanokouji making it on time, Ruri’s brothers squeezed her in next to him.

It’s too cramped in here! Mushanokouji is too big! Ruri thought, enduring the car ride to the harbor.

“He’s finally home, huh?” Mushanokouji said, grinning beside her.

“Yeah…”

“When you were a child, I remember seeing you eagerly dress up and put makeup on your little sister. I thought you were quite the mischievous big sister.”

“What is this about?”

“I would’ve never guessed he was your younger brother. Hahaha!”

“Hahaha!”

“Good one! Rurippe and Kazuya have always been so close. It’s really quite amusing! Hahaha!”

While her brothers laughed, Ruri started to feel truly annoyed.

Their crude and rumbling laughter seemed to shake the car itself. Still, they never stopped laughing, irritating Ruri further.

“Why is Mushanokouji riding with us anyway?” she grumbled. “The back seat is cramped. He’s not even family.”

“Ruri!” a voice came from the front seat, and Ruri shrank back. Her father turned to look at her with a stern face. “If you let Mushanokouji go, you will end up an old maid. When you stay quiet, you’re actually quite lovely, and you’re intelligent. But once you open your mouth, every man runs away, leaving behind their hats, bags, and coats. Besides, you lack charm. Even if by some miracle you do end up getting married, you’d likely get kicked out of your husband’s house immediately. However, as your father, I won’t let that happen. I and your two brothers are determined to hold on to his odd fellow. He understands your personality, and even though you mentioned becoming a degrading career woman, he said he wouldn’t mind waiting ten years.”

“Wh-Where did this come from?!” Ruri cried out, turning red and pale. “I-I plan to work at Seian Girls’ School as a proud professional. Teaching and guiding young people is not degrading. And I will marry someone I love. S-So… Well…”

Her father growled.

“…Huh?”

Ruri glanced beside her. Amidst the pandemonium, Mushanokouji was asleep, arms folded. His large frame and square face were completely still, grand as deity Acala.

Ruri’s large, black eyes blinked. Then, she lowered her raised fist in resignation. With a sigh, she turned her gaze toward the window.

So cramped.

With the addition of one burly man, the car was suffocating and oppressive. Perhaps due to this, Ruri found herself unusually longing for her small, adorable younger brother.

He would be with her soon. He was no longer in some distant overseas land but approaching the port of their home island. Yet, for reasons she couldn’t explain, a sense of anxiety crept over her, and she just wanted to embrace her little Kazuya tightly and nuzzle his cheek.

---

The port was filled with families and government officials waiting for the ship. Ruri’s father and brothers were animatedly discussing something, reaching for their wallets as they surveyed the food stalls and souvenir stands that had sprung up in anticipation of the crowd.

Eventually, a large ship emerged on the horizon, billowing ominous black steam.

“I’m so glad they made it safely!” exclaimed someone from the crowd.

“Uh… why is that again?” another asked.

“War has already broken out in Europe. Civilian ships have been torpedoed in some straits. This ship returning safely is very fortunate.”

Ruri shuddered, biting her lip. The crowd was dense, and though she could see the approaching ship, she was unable to move an inch.

Suddenly, she felt as though her body was floating. Turning, she realized that Mushanokouji was making his way through the crowd, practically carrying her and her mother all the way up front. Before she could offer her gratitude, he had already moved away.

Ruri and her mother stood still, watching the men and families walking down the ramp. However, there were no small young boys among them, only adults.

Then, a weary-looking woman with several children descended slowly. A slender young man, either her younger brother or eldest son, followed behind her, holding the hand of a small child.

He had a fair and clean-cut features, not dazzling but still arresting attention. Something lurking inside him shimmered, radiating through his entire being. Though he appeared sincere and gentle, an unidentifiable melancholy appeared to have already taken hold of him, casting a shadow over the young man.

The child pulled something from him, and he explained himself with a smile.

Then, sensing the gaze upon him, he lifted his head, his brow furrowing slightly as he turned in their direction.

He felt somewhat familiar, yet seemed like a stranger she was meeting for the first time. Ruri’s mother was trembling beside her.

The young man squinted from the brightness. “Hello, Mother, Ruri. I’m back!” he said somewhat firmly.

This is Kazuya?

In that moment, Ruri grasped that she had lost the girlish, soft, gentle, and earnest younger brother she once knew.

She didn’t understand why, but somehow Kazuya had transformed into an entirely different person. A grown, somewhat sad yet headstrong man.

What was he thinking right now? He was staring back at her with an inscrutable smile.