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Summer Phantom – Part 05

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Translator: Kell

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It was in the middle of the following week that Mushanokouji paid a visit to the Kujou household. Not even sparing a glance at the curious Ruri, he went straight into her father’s study, where they talked for a long time about something.

What are they talking about? Ruri wondered.

Curious, she listened from the corridor. But she couldn’t hear anything at all.

Soon, the door opened and Mushanokouji came out alone. Ruri, who had been in an eavesdropping pose in the hallway, jumped. Unperturbed, Mushanokouji shot her a glance, then bowed and left.

Ruri noticed one thing odd about him.

He was wearing the same army uniform, and the same sword hung on his waist.

But for some reason, blood was dripping from his right hand’s thumb.

“You’re bleeding!” Ruri said.

“Oh, this? It’s nothing,” Mushanokouji said as he quickly left the house.

Later that night, Ruri’s father summoned her to his study. Amid the heavy atmosphere, her father told him that Mushanokouji declined the marriage proposal.

“Do what you want,” her father said.

Ruri left the study. As she walked down the dark corridor, she felt strange, somewhat sad.

I can’t believe a man himself declined.

Hanging her head, she tried to picture Mushanokouji’s bearded face.

I did tell him that I couldn’t marry him.

Her heart sank, and she sighed.

“Right. Yutaka! There’s something I want to—”

As soon as she opened the sliding door to her brother’s laboratory, there was a loud explosion. A large man in a casual kimono and dark-rimmed glasses lumbered out of the room filled with black smoke.

“You called, Rurippe?”

Ruri coughed. “I, um… It’s nothing. Be more careful,” she said, then left the laboratory.

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“And that’s it for the thick letter that was sent with the blue kimono.”

Across the ocean, in a corner of St. Marguerite Academy, nestled within the mountains of Western Europe.

Kazuya folded the letter and tucked it into his kimono, then went back into his room. He took out another letter from the drawer of his desk and returned.

Victorique was flipping through a book with a yawn. The twitching of her small white ears, visible through her long and silky, magnificent golden hair, served as the only indication that she was actually listening to Kazuya as he read the letter out loud.

Kazuya nodded to himself. “And this here is the letter I received about a month later, along with the candies. I’m reading it out.”

There was a soft grunt.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Go ahead and read it.”

Kazuya smiled, straightened up, and resumed reading.

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A month had passed since that spring day when the marriage proposal died away just as suddenly as it had come.

Ruri Kujou was taking special classes to become a teacher at the girls’ school under the guidance of Ms. Fuyou. It was much more difficult and demanding than her regular classes.

But I’m sure it’s much harder for my brother who’s studying abroad alone. I have to hang in there.

Her hard work surprised even Ms. Fuyou.

I want to prove to my father and brothers that I can do it too. Besides…

Ruri’s cheeks reddened a little from humiliation.

She felt irritated as she recalled the large man who walked away silently without even shaking the hand she offered.

Once after-school study session ended, Ruri rode her bicycle down the pavement, her long black hair flowing in the wind.

On the way, she spotted a stall with pretty candies on display. She stopped her bicycle to buy some for her younger brother.

“Oh, it’s you again.”

Someone called out to her from behind. Ruri looked over shoulder and saw a somewhat familiar face. The handsome young man, Kira, was standing there. He was still carrying the same large square package on his back, though a little different in size than the other day.

“I sure see you around a lot,” Kira said. “I know. Let me treat you to some food here.”

He pointed at the shop’s signboard. Ruri wasn’t sure whether to accept his invitation.

“Can’t stop by somewhere without your father’s permission?” the man added. He sounded panicked for some reason.

“I-I can!” Ruri snapped back, then followed Kira into the shop.

A few uniformed policemen passed by on the street outside.

“The phantom struck again!”

“They stole a painting this time. Find them! They should still be nearby.”

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When they entered the shop and took their seats, Ruri ordered anmitsu while Kira ordered ice cream. Ruri devoured her food as soon as it arrived.

“By the way, remember when we bumped into each other near the department store?” Kira asked.

Ruri gave a jerk, and looked down. “Y-Yes.”

“I saw you with a large man after that. He got this beard, and was wearing an army officer’s uniform.”

Ruri shuddered again. H-He’s talking about Mushanokouji-san…

Kira chuckled. “How do you even know that huge, filthy guy? You were scowling the whole time, while he was all smiles. I’ve never seen such an odd combination before. You must’ve been ashamed to be around him. It was like Beauty and the Beast.”

Ruri frowned. You can’t talk about people’s looks like that.

Kira went on, oblivious to the look on her face. “I bet no girl would approach a man that grimy. Times are changing. Guys gotta dress smart too.”

Ruri recalled the look on Mushanokouji’s face when he silently listened to her talk about her future. She was staring at her with those strange, familiar eyes.

Right. Then it dawned on her. His eyes look like my brother’s. What was he thinking back then?

“I don’t care if he’s an elite officer in the army,” Kira continued. “How does he get the nerve to talk to a beauty like you? Does he even own… a… mirror…? What’s wrong?”

Ruri stood up, put the payment for her food on the table, and hurried out of the store. Mounting her bicycle, she sped down the pavement.

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As Ruri got off her bicycle at the Kujou family gate, the front door opened, and her brother, Yutaka, appeared. He was wearing a shabby casual kimono and black-rimmed glasses. He was actually dressed up today—in his own way—with his unkempt hair parted on one side.

“Rurippe,” Yutaka called cheerfully when he saw her. “Come shopping with me for a bit, will you?”

“No.”

“Come on now.”

It was doubtful if he actually heard her reply. He squeezed his pretty sister’s hand and dragged her with him. His geta, faded from exposure to the elements, clattered.

“I just got home,” Ruri said. “What is this about?”

“I said shopping. We’re buying stuff.”

“Just go alone.”

“But I don’t know what women like.”

Ruri’s eyes went wide with shock.

He plans to buy something women like? Yutaka? I’ve only seen him eating bowls of rice and doing strange experiments. I wonder what’s wrong with him. Did he score himself a girlfriend? Nah, no way. Not him.

The siblings went out to a corner downtown where small stores lined the streets. While picking out hairpins, sash clips, and purses, Ruri dumped the things that had been bothering her recently to her brother.

“I hate that you guys decided to accept Mushanokouji-san‘s marriage proposal without consulting me, but I also hate that he withdrew it.”

Yutaka laughed. “Well, you’re pretty,” he said as he picked out some random hairpin. “I’d understand if you got mad if a man treated you coldly. Funny.”

Ruri, unsure if he was even paying attention, scowled. “But…”

“You really don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“Mushanokouji-san. Ten years and one month ago. When you were only seven years old, some of Yasuhiro’s school friends came to hang out, and one of them picked you up and said you were adorable. He asked if you would marry him, and you got so mad, you ran away screaming ‘I hate you!’ I was there, and I laughed so hard. The shock made him shrink. You were wearing a light-blue kimono with a pink obi at the time. We had forgotten about it, but he still remembers it ten years later. He said you were pretty.”

“What?”

Ruri didn’t know what to say.

She snatched the hairpin out of her brother’s hand. “I remember a little. So the student back then was Mushanokouji-san?”

“That’s right. After that, Mushanokouji told Yasuhiro that you were pretty and wanted you as his wife. I was more upset than he was. I told him to stop messing with a kid. And that if he was serious, then he should come back in ten years.”

“…”

“And then last month, exactly ten years after that, he showed up. I totally forgot about it, and I was the one who gave him the idea. I didn’t know he liked you that much. It’s actually quite funny.”

“…”

Ruri was at a loss for words again.

“Then why did he suddenly withdraw his proposal?” she asked, fiddling through the hairpins on display. “Is it because I’ve changed so much after ten years?”

Yutaka chuckled. “What are you talking about? You haven’t changed a bit. You said ‘I hate you’ ten years ago, and you said ‘I hate you’ now. You even had the same look on your face.”

“Then why?”

Ruri picked out stuff the ladies might like while pondering things over.

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