Master and Slaves

Because I was suppressing my presence so I would not be noticed.

I might have to go back again…

“As I said earlier, this was done to make you come here. How was it on your side? Our way of life.”

“Well, I understood that it’s different from ours.”

“That is enough for now. However we are still similar. In this world there are people living lives you cannot imagine. Please remember that.”

Auri spoke with a serious expression.

That’s right.

Even in the previous world there were worlds I only knew from television.

Still more, this is a fantasy world.

There are probably lots of things I can’t even think of.

…Nn?

…The previous world, what is that?

…Television?

…Fantasy?

What is that?

…Where did I… come from?

…Where was I born?

I don’t know… I don’t know… I don’t know…

I am… I am…

There my consciousness snapped off.

…

I was sitting in a chair.

Sitting next to me was the girl from the neighborhood.

She was desperately solving formulas.

“Aah, enough! I caaan’t dooo iiit!”

The girl held her head and collapsed onto the desk.

“That’s why if you use this formula…”

“Why does a formula like this come out here?!”

“No, that’s why in a case like this you choose this or that…”

“Aauu, my head’s going to explode!”

“Haa. Yes, yes. Let’s take a break.”

“Yay!”

The moment I said we would take a break she suddenly became energetic.

Then she looked up at me.

“Hey hey, if I get a good score on the next test, will you give me a reward?”

“Ah, that’s right… then ninety points or more.”

“Eeh! I can’t get that. If I get it it’ll be a miracle. Buu buu.”

“Then let’s work hard to get ninety or more. And with that, break’s over!”

“Eeh! Uu. Fine… ah, then a date, a date.”

“Yes, yes, I get it, I get it.”

The girl’s expression changed one after another.

I found that cute.

…

“Nnn, what should I have you buy me.”

“Hey now, wasn’t the reward just a date?”

“Eeh! I worked that hard. You can buy me something! Cheapskate! Super cheapskate!”

“Aah! I get it, I get it.”

“Yay! Ah, that one!”

The girl who had linked arms with me went into a jewelry shop.

“H-hey now, I’m still a student. I don’t have that much money.”

I hurriedly followed and whispered that from behind.

“Nnn, which one would be good~.”

Whether she couldn’t hear or was pretending not to hear, she was looking over necklaces and bracelets.

I followed after the girl and was surprised when I saw the prices of what she was choosing.

“H-hey, it’s impossible. I can’t buy it, I can’t buy it.”

“Nnn, then I’ll take this! Excuse me, please show me this.”

The girl called a clerk, and what she had shown was a ring.

“Hey, hey. How’s this?”

She put it on the ring finger of her left hand and showed it to me.

“No, um, ah… how much is that?”

More than whether it suited her I was concerned about the price, so I whispered in the girl’s ear.

“Um, fifteen thousand yen?”

The girl answered while looking at the price tag.

Then I can manage… wait, that’s wrong!

The digits are wrong.

It’s a hundred and fifty thousand.

“Thank you very much.”

“Ah, ah, what are you doing, gee!”

I pulled the ring off the girl’s finger, returned it to the clerk, and leapt out of the store taking the girl with me.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, you’re off by one digit. It’s a hundred and fifty thousand.”

“Eh? Eeeh?! It was? I’m sorry.”

Seeing the girl apologize honestly, I felt guilty.

“Well, put up with something else today.”

“Yeah! Then when I get into university…”

The girl nodded energetically, hugged my arm, and was thinking about the next thing.

While being nervous of a girl like that, looking at her happy expression I felt something warm in my heart.

…

“Once more, congratulations on getting in.”

“Thank you!”

When I said words of celebration to the girl, the girl answered happily.

We confirmed the passing numbers posted on the university bulletin board, then went into a cafe.

Perhaps her excitement still had not cooled; even though it was still chilly her face was bright red.

“Now then. So, it’s a little scary, but what reward do you want?”

“Um, well…”

The girl mumbled as if finding it hard to say and looked up at me.

I more or less knew what the girl would say, so I was prepared.

Well it had hurt quite a bit, but this was the last time.

While checking the thing in my pocket with my hand, I waited for the girl’s request.

“…Um, Sensei. No, Onii-chan, that’s not it either… um…”

Apparently she had been hesitating over what to call me.

“…Yeah! Hiroyuki-san! Please go out with me!”

The girl cried that out and bowed her head.

…Huh?

It was the instant I was about to hand over the small box in my pocket because the girl had worn a face that found it hard to say.

The small box slipped from my hand and dropped.

“No, no no, no no no no”

“Eh?! You don’t want to?”

The girl reacted to the words I had said to calm myself and made a sad face.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then it’s all right?”

When I asserted that because her face looked far too sad, this time she made a face that was truly happy.

Unable to say anything I could only open and close my mouth like a goldfish short of oxygen.

However to me as well the girl was a girl I was interested in as a woman.

I had only tried not to be conscious of it as much as possible, and now that she had confessed I became even more conscious.

Her well-ordered face, her endearing expressions, her cute personality.

I, who had been fired as a tutor because of the girl’s acceptance to university, no longer had a reason to refuse.

And if I was going to answer I wanted to do it properly.

I straightened my posture, picked up the small box that had fallen on the table, and held it out.

“I have a request too. …Please go out with me.”

“Ah… aah…”

The girl shed tears with a surprised expression.

What I handed over was the ring the girl had wanted before.

I had used up the money I had saved to buy it.

“Yes! Please. Hiroyuki… is that all right?”

She wiped her tears and wore a full smile.

“Yeah, that’s right. Please…”

There my consciousness receded.

I should have called the girl’s name after this.

If I recall…

“…Yuki…”