Chapter - 12

Stella, now somewhat abandoned, looked up at the upper bunk bed and studied the boy who defeated her.

I'm… certainly not weak.

She wasn't brash enough to think she was the strongest in the world, but she'd never lose to a person of mediocre ability. Ikki was strong, and she was curious about the source of that strength. She wanted to know how he could continue to believe in himself without all that mistreatment overcoming him.

"…Kurogane. Ikki."

As she spoke that name, a mysterious sweetness made her heart lightly throb. For Stella, this was the first time she wanted to know someone else so much. She couldn't restrain the desire to learn more about the sleeping boy, and the delay from his recovery was unbearable. That was why, after being overwhelmed by the curiosity bubbling inside of her, she climbed the bunk bed's ladder.

Ikki was still sleeping. He might've changed sides while asleep, but now he was lying on his stomach, and she could no longer see his face. She could hear light breathing that matched the gentle movements of his well-built back, so he must have improved quite a bit since a while ago, because the feeling that he might never wake again was no longer there. Stella felt a little relieved at that.

"…Ikki."

She called out his name, but as if defying her, he didn't rouse from his deep slumber. It couldn't be helped. He was sleeping soundly, so it would be rude to wake him up by force. Since her anxiety hadn't subsided yet, Stella decided she should take a stroll outside and come back later.

Yes, as Stella was thinking that―she accidentally peeked into the gap between the shirt and the nape of Ikki's neck. He had a wide back, and the sight had a profound impact that she couldn't imagine from his sheepish smile.

No, his body wasn't that muscular. If anything, it could be considered thin, but the steely strength there made his back seem far more substantial than it actually was.

…Ju-Just a little, it's okay, right? He's facing the other way too.

After conferring with some invisible person in her heart, Stella extended her hands towards Ikki's back, and she slowly started to touch.

"W-Wow…."

*Thump thump*

When Stella touched him with the palms of her hands, the sensation of Ikki's blood flowing started to enter her. It was strong, and hot enough to burn, but his body felt quite different from steel, as if she was feeling the heat of his vitality.

So this is a boy's… back.

It was her first time touching a boy, and Stella felt like she was dreaming.

"N…mn…."

"Eek…!"

Ikki suddenly turned over, and now he was facing up. Because of that, Stella's right hand got rolled in and pinned under his sleeping body.

Oh no!

If Ikki woke up now, Stella couldn't give any excuse. His body was unexpectedly heavy, so she couldn't pull her hand out and escape. She could yank it, but that might disturb him, and falling off the ladder because she pulled too hard would also be disastrous.

…What choice do I have?

Stella held her breath and climbed further up the ladder. Standing on her knees while taking care not to touch him, she used her left hand to raise Ikki's side slowly… slowly… very slowly.

"Uun…n! …Kuh."

Th-That was close!

Stella felt cold sweat forming on her back. She somehow managed to lift up that side with her free hand and… one way or another succeeded in pulling out her trapped one. Success! But… even so, Stella kept on looking at the sleeping Ikki below her.

"This guy didn't wake up at all."

Well, since he was exhausted, she could understand why he was sleeping so deeply. Seeing Ikki still not stirring, Stella gulped. Now that he had flipped over, she was looking at his slightly exposed abdomen.

A boy's belly….

Even though she might've seen a few before, she had never touched one. What kind of feeling would that bring?

"W-What in the world are you thinking, Stella!? That's no good! For me who's still unmarried, and a princess no less, to take interest in the body of a boy who isn't even my lo-lo-lover or anything… that's disgraceful!"

Wait, it wasn't that bad, was it? Not like she was really holding perverted thoughts or anything. Ikki Kurogane, the first opponent who managed to defeat her―she wanted to learn more about a knight she'd have to face in the future, out of pure curiosity.

That was all. Maybe. More or less.

"I-In any case he saw me naked first, so this makes us even, right…?"

It was sophistry, but Stella seemed to have justified herself that way. Led by her curiosity towards the first knight she lost to, she once again extended her hands towards Ikki's abdomen and put one through the crevice of his shirt. She slowly reached as low as his solar plexus and …gently pulled his shirt up.

"…This is… a boy's… body…."

When Ikki suddenly stripped that time they met, she didn't really see because of her confusion, but now that she had crawled so close, she could tell his body was unusually toned. The slight shadows of muscles across his body looked completely different from her own as a woman. Of course, feeling them should be different too.

"Haa… haa…."

Stella's brain started to boil at that intense urge to touch. Her head felt feverishly dizzy, and her breathing became heavy and irregular. She could no longer stop herself.

"…Okay."

She couldn't doubt Kurono any longer. Ikki certainly never gave up in despair. His body, as thoroughly hardened as his will, proved so.

But because Kurono hadn't been exaggerating, Stella's desire to learn more about Ikki grew even stronger. The more she knew, the more she wanted to know. This desire started to overheat, enough to suffocate her. She was becoming entranced, lost in a fever without cause or reason, yet it was pleasant, which surprised her even further.

"Haa… What am I doing, I wonder…."

While tracing his abdomen with delicate fingers, she asked that question to some invisible person in her heart, sounding like she was struggling against delirium. But then―

"Err, that's something I want to ask too. Stella-san, what are you doing?"

To Stella who was straddling his waist and touching his skin here and there, Ikki echoed the question back with a face that showed he had no idea what was going on.

"A-Aieeeeeeeeeeeee!?"

Stella instantly released a dreadful scream and recoiled from Ikki.

"Wait! If you jump that hard you'll―"

Ikki's warning was fruitless. After rising so sharply, Stella's head crashed into the ceiling with earth-shattering force and she fell from the upper bunk bed, with a yelp, down to the floor.

"S-Stella-saaaaaan!? Are you okay!? Your head just looked like it―!"

"I-I-I-I-I'm fine! I just fell down and poured some tomato juice on my head, that's all!"

"That's not fine one bit! Because that's tomato juice that came from inside you! Just sit still for now! I'll prepare first aid so just sit still!"

"That should do it."

Ikki treated Stella with the emergency kit from his drawer, to Stella's embarrassed gratitude.

"You're quite good."

"I've lived alone since middle school, so I can do at least this much."

Well, it's not like anyone helped me while I lived in that house either.

As Ikki sighed, Stella said something strange.

"…I heard about you. From the chairman."

"About me?"

"About how you were treated at school, even by your family."

"Wha… why's that person spreading the delicate matters of someone else's family? Sorry, it probably wasn't a pleasant story."

"That's not it. Rather, I want you to tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"How can you hope to become a knight when everyone treats you so badly?"

"…Why do you want to hear about that?"

"I-It's not like, it's definitely not like I want to know more about you! Don't get conceited! I was just wondering why a novice with such low magic power would still want to be a knight! Th-That's what I'm curious about!"

"Saying something so awful right to my face… it feels somehow refreshing."

Well, his story wasn't really worth hiding. Ikki was a little embarrassed about telling it, but if Stella wanted to know so badly, he couldn't reject her.

"There's a person I'm trying to reach."

"A person? Do you mean Samurai Ryouma?"

A well-known hero, who anyone of the Kurogane family would emulate―Ikki thought it natural for that name to come up.

"Yeah, exactly so. I've never had talent, so my parents and relatives have spurned me since I was young. Mine's a lineage of heroes stretching back generations, where talentless children are a burden. I wasn't allowed to participate in my family's magic lessons. Instead of a seat at New Year's parties, I was locked up out of sight every time."

「You can't do anything, so don't try.」

On his fifth birthday, those were the last words Ikki's own father ever uttered to him, and after that never spoke or turned a gaze to him again. Since the views of the family head shaped the whole household, Ikki Kurogane was treated as "one who didn't exist" by everyone else too.

It was painful enough that he honestly wanted to disappear.

"But at that time, Ryouma-san spoke to me."

Even now, Ikki Kurogane could clearly remember that snowy day. It was New Year's and the whole family was gathered, but the holiday meant nothing to Ikki. Hearing cheerful laugher despite being locked away made staying in the house painful, so he sneaked out to the mountain behind the family mansion.

And… he lost his way. The sun soon set and the air grew cold. Gentle snowfall turned into a blizzard.

No one came to find him. The reason was obvious: who'd help a child that didn't exist anyway? Even if Ikki froze to death, neither his parents nor his relatives would grieve.

In this family, only his sister would be hurt if he died… but she was just one person.

As he thought that, he couldn't help but cry. Not because he had no talent, but because no one ever believed in him.

…It was then that Ryouma Kurogane, an elderly man with large build and white imperial moustache, appeared before Ikki. He said to the crying Ikki―that Ikki should cherish those tears.

Those tears were proof that Ikki hadn't given up on himself.

「Listen boy. You're still a brat now. When you grow up, don't become a boring adult like that lot who glorify something as pointless as talent. Don't become a feeble adult who gives up without trying and calls it maturity. Become an adult who walks so far ahead they can't even trace your footsteps. A man can reach any goal if he doesn't give up. After all, mankind once flew to the moon despite not having wings.」

The old man said those words to him with a youthful smile, and brushed off the snow that had settled on Ikki's head.

"I was… overjoyed. It was the first time someone told me I didn't have to give up on myself. Though I was a child, I knew that those were simply words, and that he wouldn't guarantee anything about my future."

But still, he was happy. Even if they were just a few words, he felt truly saved.

"So I decided right then. If I have to grow up, I'll grow up to be like him. And if I ever met someone in the same situation, then unlike my parents, I'd say 'You don't have to give up', and point out that people aren't just their talents. I'll be an adult who carries that man's words to others. I'm still not good enough to do it right now, though. I have to be stronger, as strong as he was, or my words are nothing more than platitudes from the weak. That's why I can't simply yield in a place like this. If I want to be as strong as Ryouma Kurogane, then winning in the Sword-Art Festival is the least I must do."

"…I see. So that's Ikki's dream."

"You think it's hopeless?"

Bull's-eye. Stella's expression clouded awkwardly. She really thought Ikki's dream was wonderful, but… to attain it―

"You don't have to say it, or make that face either. I know it's not something I can do easily. But even so―Stella-san, if you had a dream you just can't abandon, and if someone told you 'It's impossible for you, just give up', then… would you meekly agree?"