Read Daily Updated Light Novel, Web Novel, Chinese Novel, Japanese And Korean Novel Online.
Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? (Light Novel) - Volume 10, Chapter 1: Shooting Star and Runaway Daughter
Volume 10, Chapter 1: Shooting Star and Runaway Daughter
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Part 1
A mother's death held unfathomable meaning for a young girl who was just barely six years old.
At this age, children are always with their mother, whether they're playing, eating, or sleeping. Even when they're leaving and coming back from kindergarten, they are always by their mother's side. That is as obvious as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
“Dad, you meanie! Can't you just listen a little!?”
Of course, the same was true for this young girl. Just after she had turned six, her mother passed away from a sickness. It was as if the sun had stopped rising all of a sudden. Having become mentally unstable, the girl would fight with her father over even the smallest things.
“I will definitely go watch the Kabutonga movie.”
The reason for this fight was the theatrical version of the currently airing TV-series: The King of Beetles, Kabutonga. The anime that starred heroes with beetles as motifs was incredibly popular with the kids. The same was true in her hometown, and when children spoke, it was mostly about Kabutonga. This girl was also a big fan of Kabutonga, and she eagerly awaited each week for a new episode.
“I don't care if I can't go to the surface.”
And as the series was about to end, a theatrical version was being made. After several months, it was finally released around the nation. However, the girl's hometown didn't have a movie theater. Wanting to see the movie, the girl begged her father, but in the end he had refused.
For a six year old, the girl was very smart and gentle. Her wanting to go see the Kabutonga movie was a rare display of selfishness. However, based on her situation, this might not even be called that. Having lost her mother, the girl sought for more love from her father, and what she really wanted was not to go see the Kabutonga movie, but to go with her father.
“Kii-chan is leaving and won't come back! I will live on the surface! I hate you, dad!”
The father hadn't completely recovered from the shock of losing his wife either, and as a result he hadn’t realized what his daughter really wanted, even though they both wished for the same thing.
As such the girl, Kii, ran away from home.
Kii ran away from the town she was born in and headed towards Kitsushouharukaze city. Since this was before the city merged with Kitsushou city, it was actually still called Harukaze city. In that city was a movie theater, and Kii was planning on watching Kabutonga there.
Part 2
Upon arriving at Harukaze city, Kii was left breathless by the sight in front of her.
“Wow...”
There were several routes connecting Kii's hometown and Harukaze city. The route she had used was a tunnel that exited halfway up a smaller mountain.
After jumping out from the dimly lit tunnel, Harukaze city being dyed orange appeared in front of her eyes. It was currently evening and the sun was just starting to set, throwing its orange light at the city. The city was normally lit up by all kinds of colors, but now it was all dyed in a calming orange. That profile is only natural for us, but to Kii, it was exceptionally beautiful.
“So the surface was this beautiful...”
Kii's large eyes were sparkling as she innocently looked around her. She saw the city lit up by the orange sun in front of her, around her she saw the trees of a forest and above her was a wide sky. Kii had seen these in pictures and videos, but this was the first time she saw it with her own eyes.
“Everyone should just live up here...”
Just a while ago, Kii couldn't understand the feelings of those who wanted to leave her hometown. But after taking a look for herself, she began to understand. The magnificent sight in front of her and smell of nature stimulated something deep inside her. It was a strange sensation; even though she had left her hometown, she felt like she had just returned home.
“Ah...”
As Kii looked around for a while, the sky began turning darker and a point of light appeared in the sky.
“Could that be a star!?”
Kii had found the first star of the night.
The small point of light in the sky was the twinkle of a star.
That was when she remembered something she had been told by her recently passed away mother. She opened her eyes wide and began looking for other stars. According to her mother, after the first star appeared, many more would follow.
“It's just like mom said! There are so many stars!”
Since it had just turned evening, there was only one bright star, but upon closer inspection she could see many more. There were more weak-glowing stars than she could count using her hands. And each time Kii found a new star, she would let out a pleased sound.
“Amazing! There are stars all over!”
As time passed, the sky darkened even more, and the light from the stars grew stronger. Even the weak glowing stars she had seen at first were now as bright as the first star. Like a box of jewels, the sky twinkled with the light of the stars.
“With this many, I might be able to find mom's star!”
That was the reason why Kii was counting the stars in the sky.
“Kii-chan, don't cry, even if I die. When people die, they become twinkling stars in the sky...”
“Stars?”
“That's right... so if you were to go to the surface, then look for my star. It will be a glowing blue star, so I'm sure you'll find it right away.”
“Okay! Kii will find it!”
Her late mother had become a star. That was what the young girl believed. And so she counted the stars in the sky, searching for her mother's star.
Kii hadn't run away just to go watch the Kabutonga movie. She had also done so to find her mother's star. However, either way, the reason for it all was that she had lost her mother. In the end, both her wanting to watch the movie and counting stars was a sign of deficit of love.
“Ah!? It's a blue star!!”
When the sky completely darkened a bright blue star appeared.
“It's mom! It's mom's star!”
It was the blue star that she had been looking for all this time. Upon finding it, Kii expressed her joy using her entire body. She reached out towards the star with both her hands and jumped in place several times.
“Mom! It's Kii! Kii is right here!”
Her expression turned bright and she was filled with joy at having been reunited with her mother as she called out repeatedly. Kii wanted to meet her mother once more, she wanted to hear her name called out in that nostalgic and warm voice.
“Mom! Answer me, mom!”
But no matter how many times Kii called, the star didn’t respond. The star simply twinkled in the sky, not responding to Kii.
“Mom...”
Eventually, Kii's voice faltered and her shoulders dropped.
“Is that star... not mom's star…? Or can she not hear Kii's voice...?”
The blue star showed no reaction despite Kii's calls, and that made her feel unbearably lonely. Eventually the sadness she had felt when her mother passed away revived and she began tearing up.
“Mom... mom...”
Large tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and even a slight shake would send tears running down her cheeks. With her eyes full of tears, Kii looked up into the sky once more. She couldn't give up. Kii touched the necklace around her neck and called out to the star again.
“Mom... it's Kii... I came to see you...”
But the star still didn't answer. It simply quietly twinkled in the sky.
“Uhhh...”
Kii finally began crying as the star remained silent.
The sadness of having lost her mother, the irritation of not being doted on by her father and the loneliness she felt as the star remained silent.
This reality was far too harsh for a six year old girl to accept.
“Uuuhhh... ah...?”
Kii blinked twice. Tears fell from her eyes and her sight cleared up a little.
“Mom's star is getting bigger...?”
The blue star that the girl had found was at first just a glowing point. However, it was now clearly different as it glowed even brighter. Seeing that, Kii believed the star had gotten bigger.
“Did she hear Kii's voice?”
Kii's tears stopped as she realized that something had happened. She didn't know what, but she thought that her mother had responded to her calls and her heart started racing.
“Mom! Kii is right here!”
Kii waved her hands and desperately called out to the growing star.
“It really is getting bigger... mom!!”
The star was now as big as a baseball, and it was still getting bigger. Happy, Kii called out to it even more.
That was when Kii heard an unfamiliar sound similar to a beast roaring or like the sound of a car driving through a tunnel.
“...What is that...?”
She looked up towards the sky and strained her ears. By doing that, Kii felt like the sound was coming from the star.
“The star is... growling?”
Kii reached the conclusion that the star was emitting the sound.
As the star had grown to the size of a baseball it passed by above her.
“Where!?”
Kii hurriedly turned around to look at the star. She saw the star disappearing in the shadow of the mountain.
“The star fell!”
The star had gotten bigger because it was getting closer, and the sound she heard was because it was moving so fast.
That was the conclusion the clever six year old girl had reached and she hurriedly began climbing the mountain.
“Mom! Mom noticed Kii and came to meet me!”
Kii ran with all of her might, chasing after the fallen blue star. Her heart was pounding and she had lost her breath. But even then she wouldn't slow down. She simply continued running at that speed.
“Mom! Mom! It's Kii! Kii is right here!”
No matter how painful it got, Kii wouldn't stop moving her legs.
That was because her mother that she wanted to see more than anything, was supposed to have come down from the sky.
Part 3
Having come to Earth, the first thing Koutarou and Clan did was to hide the spaceship, the Cradle. They were planning on burying it in the forest of a small mountain in the suburbs of Harukaze city.
“Bertorion, this place really won't be under any development, will it?”
“Yeah, it's fine. This mountain will remain untouched. I came here looking for beetles every year so there's no mistaking it.”
“Then that's fine.”
The Cradle slowly sank into the ground as if it was water while Koutarou and Clan watched over it.
Clan's smaller spaceship, the Cradle, had been designed with observation and research work in mind. Because of that, it had all kinds of functions to hide itself in order to not disturb the target of study or its living conditions. That's because it was best to study something secretly. And the Cradle burying itself in the ground was one of the functions for just that. Using a barrier, it created an excavator by repelling the dirt around it as it slowly sank into the ground. Once finished, the only thing that would remain on the surface would be a hatch to enter. Remains of the ground being dug up would remain, but it would eventually be covered by nature.
“So what do we do now?”
“We don't do anything. We just sleep, like we did before leaving Forthorthe.”
At first, Clan had planned to use her second super-space-time repulsion shell to return back to the present from Forthorthe 2,000 years into the past. By reversing some of the parameters, they should be able to return from where and when they came. However, the second repulsion shell had been used in their battle on Forthorthe. She had to think of another way to return.
The solution she came up with was to spend 2,000 years in a place where they would never be found. By adapting the technology used for hyperspace, they would be able to freeze time onboard the Cradle. So as long as they weren't found, they would be able to pass through 2,000 years. And once that time had passed, they would just return to Earth through normal means.
However there was a large problem with that. A part of the Cradle had been damaged and it wasn't capable of spaceflight. The parts required to repair that wouldn't be created until 20 years before present time. Because of that, Koutarou and Clan had woken up once 20 years in the past and repaired the Cradle. Once repairs were complete, they used both normal travel and hyperspace travel to return to Earth.
Without using hyperspace, the closer a ship flew to the speed of light, the slower time would pass. But by using both, it still took them ten years to reach Earth, which to them felt only like a few days.
The reason for why they didn't just use hyperspace was to reduce the amount of time spent frozen on Earth as much as possible. If they only used hyperspace, they would have to spend 20 years frozen. But since Earth didn't have any off limit areas like Forthorthe's “Bertorion's special territory”, it was better to spend as little time frozen as possible. That said, if they were too slow and reached Earth while Theia was there or was on her way, they might be detected. So it was important to find a good balance between the two.
So because of that, there was the need to sleep onboard the Cradle once while on Earth. And so they had chosen a place where Koutarou had gone to play as a child to hide the ship.
“How many years will we sleep now?”
“Please wait a little, I'm calculating that right now.”
Clan operated her bracelet and calculated how long they needed to sleep. Clan had a nonchalant look on her face, but there were a lot of parameters that had to be used to calculate how long they needed to sleep. As a result, it started to take some time, and Koutarou began fretting.
“Clan, you could just make a rough estimate.”
“...”
Clan adjusted her glasses and showed a dissatisfied expression. She was only making an accurate calculation because Koutarou had asked, so that irritated her.
“Bertorion, you like to just casually tramp on scientist's efforts and beliefs, don't you?”
“I can only imagine you wasting your time...”
“What do you mean by waste! I'm―”
“It's because you're like this that Theia calls you sly and whatnot, even though you're cute.”
“...”
“Just be more relaxed. You know, more― eh? What's with that strange face?”
“I-It's nothing! Ahem, more importantly, I've finished the calculation!”
Clan cleared her throat as her face turned red and forcibly changed the topic. She then quickly displayed her results on a hologram.
“Sorry, I'm not wearing the armor so I can't read it. I might be able to understand it if you use ancient Forthorthe.”
Koutarou was able to read some ancient Forthorthe, having spent quite a bit of time in Forthorthe of 2,000 years ago. But he couldn't understand modern Forthorthe at all.
“That's right, I forgot.”
Since Clan had begun thinking of Koutarou as someone from Forthorthe, she had naturally used modern Forthorthe as the display language. She decided to report the results using her own words.
“Well, in total we need to sleep for ten years and 323 days, or almost 11 years.”
“11 years... couldn't you just count that in your head?”
“You're being mean now, Bertorion! You know it's not that simple!”
“It's just that you're more lively and fun when you're angry.”
“I'm not having any fun at all!”
Clan's temper erupted once again. That had been Koutarou's goal all along, but having gotten emotional, Clan didn't notice that.
“Ten years... I see, ten years huh...”
Upon hearing from Clan that this was ten years in the past, Koutarou noticed something. His expression unconsciously changed from a smile to a more serious one.
“Besides, you― what is it?”
Noticing that the atmosphere around Koutarou had changed, Clan's anger vanished. They had spent so much time together that she could tell when he was serious.
“It's nothing. It's just... I was just thinking that my mom dies soon.”
Koutarou's serious expression eased up a little and he showed Clan a small smile.
Koutarou and Clan had been sent to Forthorthe on January 24, 2010. So ten years and 323 days from that would make today's date March 7, 1999. Koutarou's mother passed away on April 16, 1999. In other words, in about 40 days from now, his mother would lose her life.
“...I understand how you must feel.”
Clan looked down a little before looking at Koutarou gently.
“Thank you, Clan... You should just always be like that.”
“That's none of your business.”
Since they were in the past, they could prevent all kinds of incidents if they tried. However, the two had decided that this wasn't realistic.
They would try to prevent any incidents that just happened to occur in their presence, like the mass murder in past Forthorthe, but they wouldn't use their knowledge to actively prevent any incidents.
If they went around preventing all the tragedies present, Koutarou and Clan would never make it back to their own world. For starters, the two weren't immortal, so they didn't have that much time, and they were also hesitant over if they were in the right to choose what accidents and incidents to prevent. That said, they couldn't overlook people hurting in front of them. So they would only help those. That was the same decision as the one that they had made at the mass murder in Forthorthe.
This decision was their last resort as a result of their time slip. They weren't gods, so there was a limit to what they could do. To put it more simply, they wouldn't use this time slip for personal reasons.
With this decision in place, Koutarou couldn't save his mother.
“Bertorion, it's your own mother, isn't it? Why don't we just pretend that decision was never made for a moment and save her?”
“Clan...”
Clan's suggestion greatly moved Koutarou. It was his own mother after all, so he was dying to save her.
But... can I really let Clan keep it in while I help myself?
When they had woken up for repairs ten years ago, a similar opportunity had presented itself to Clan. However, she endured it and returned to Earth without doing anything. Koutarou felt like him saving his mother was incredibly unfair. That was true, both for Clan and the vast majority who would never get such a chance.
And if I save mom, history will definitely change...
And another cause for concern was that history would change. If Koutarou's mother was to survive, the chance for him living in Corona House on his own was very low. Instead, chances were that his dad would just work away from home, and Koutarou would never meet with the invaders. And if that were to take place, Koutarou couldn't imagine what would happen. Like in sci-fi movies, he might lose his place to return to, or he himself might even disappear.
“Since we've come this far, I'll stick with you until the end. The royal families owe an immense amount to you.”
Clan was well aware of what Koutarou was worrying about and the dangers of it all. Despite knowing all of that, she still recommended it. That was a sign of friendship from Clan. At the same time, she believed it was a sign of gratitude from the Forthorthe royal families.
“Thank you, Clan. But... can you give me some time to think? I can't decide right away.”
He was happy over Clan's offer, but Koutarou wasn't sure what he should do.
If possible, he wanted to save his mother. But at the same time he wanted to return to his own world. That was why he had worked so hard up until now. And he also didn't know what would happen to himself and Clan if history did change.
What would happen to himself after saving his mother would be what he deserved, but that wasn't true for Clan. Koutarou couldn't find a method that would satisfy everyone. Because of that, he couldn't make up his mind right away.
“We still have time. Take your time to think about it.”
“Yeah...”
Koutarou nodded vaguely and looked up into the sky. The Cradle had already finished digging and had vanished underground, so silence had returned.
What should I do...?
However, Koutarou's mind was far from silent. His emotions were horribly disordered and his heart was beating as if he was doing some heavy exercises.
No matter what he chose, he would lose something. Both were precious and they couldn't be compared. Koutarou's mind was running around in circles, and as a result, the light from the twinkling stars never reached him.
“Hey, Onii-chan.”
That was when a voice called out to the troubled Koutarou. Surprised, he stopped his thoughts and looked in the direction of the voice, where he saw a young girl standing there.
“Did you see a star falling down around here? I am looking for that.”
It was a tiny girl, just a little too young to be going to elementary school. She was wearing a white robe and a long red skirt, a so-called shrine maiden's outfit. Her hair was short and a healthy light resided in her large eyes. Coupled with her shrine maiden outfit, she gave off the impression of an energetic young girl.
“A star you say? Well, I haven't seen one...”
While answering the girl, Koutarou tried to hide his shock. His surprise wasn't just because of her sudden appearance however.
She's talking about us...
The star the girl was looking for was most likely the Cradle that Koutarou and Clan had flown in on. She must have spotted the Cradle landing in this area and came to take a look.
“...Bertorion.”
Clan whispered to Koutarou.
“...Yeah, I know.”
Clan had only called for him, but Koutarou knew what she wanted. She wanted him to get a more detailed story from the girl. Most importantly, if there were any other witnesses.
“What about you, Onee-chan?”
“I-I haven't seen one.”
Not used to talking to strangers, Clan forced a vague smile as she answered the girl's question before quietly moving to Koutarou's back. She was planning on making him deal with the girl.
“Then did you hear a really loud sound? It went like, ‘wroooom!’”
The girl lifted her hands up into the sky and made an exaggerated gesture as she swung her arms around.
“Hmm, I can't quite remember. An airplane might have passed by though.”
“Hmm, I see...”
The girl nodded a couple of times and politely bowed.
“Thank you for telling me. Bye bye, Onii-chan, Onee-chan!”
After saying goodbye, the girl quickly turned away from the two and began running. Like one could have guessed from her appearance, she was an active girl. Seeing the girl running away, Koutarou quickly called out to her to stop her.
“Wait a moment! Where are you headed?”
The girl stopped and she looked back to answer Koutarou's question.
“I'm going to look around this area a little more! I want to find the star!”
“Wait a minute!”
Koutarou approached the girl with short steps. He couldn't just let her go like this. Seeing Koutarou do that, the girl stared at him with her eyes wide open.
“What is it?”
“I'll come with you. It's dangerous for a girl to be alone at this time of the day.”
There were two reasons why Koutarou decided to come with the girl.
The first was because he was worried for her, like he had said. The sun had already set and it was now pitch black outside, not to mention they were in the middle of an unpopulated mountain forest. Their footing was dark and the trees had grown in abundance; it was very dangerous for a small girl to travel alone.
The second reason was because he wanted to talk to the girl a little more. He wanted to make sure if there were others that would be looking for the Cradle.
“Will you help?”
“Yeah.”
“Really!? Thank you, Onii-chan!!”
Seeing Koutarou nod, the girl's expression lit up. With her eyes wide open, she had a cheerful smile on her lips.
“You don't mind, do you Clan?”
Koutarou turned back to Clan to make sure, and she nodded.
“I will leave it to you. I will remain here and make preparations.”
“Yeah, please do.”
Koutarou would tag along with the girl while Clan remained here to prepare for the return to their own time. And so their jobs were naturally decided. Of course, Clan was shy to begin with so there wasn't really much of a choice.
“Oh, and Bertorion, take this with you.”
Clan tossed something towards Koutarou. Seeing that, he quickly grabbed it midair.
“This is...”
What Koutarou had grabbed was a silver bracelet, just like the one that Clan was wearing.
“You'll be troubled if you get lost, right?”
“So that's what it's for.”
Koutarou looked over the bracelet he had received.
This bracelet's original role was to serve as a remote control for the Cradle and the Hazy Moon. Because of that, it could communicate with the Cradle, display the ship's current position, observe the wearer's current condition and more. As long as he wore this, Koutarou wouldn't have to worry about getting lost. Since he wasn't wearing the Blue Knight's armor right now, he was in just as much danger in the dark forest as the girl.
While Koutarou was staring at the bracelet, Clan approached the girl and put a small badge on her chest.
“And this is for you.”
“What is this?”
The girl pulled on her own robe and gazed at the badge.
“With this, we'll be able to find you right away if you get lost.”
“I see, that's convenient.”
The girl let go of her robe and smiled at Clan. Unused to having strangers complimenting her, Clan blushed.
“I don't really get how to use it, but... thank you, Clan.”
After looking over the bracelet, Koutarou said his thanks and quickly put the bracelet around his right wrist. As a result, a small gem started glowing as a sign of the bracelet activating.
“That'll do it.”
“Then let's go!”
After putting on the bracelet, the girl grabbed his arm and started walking.
“Don't be in such a hurry, it's dangerous!”
“It'll be fine, you're such a worrywart, Onii-chan.”
“A-Anyways, Clan I'm off.”
“...Stay safe.”
Koutarou vanished into the woods, pulled by the girl. After seeing them off, Clan crossed her arms and slightly pouted.
“That Bertorion... why wouldn't he ask me to come with him? I might be uncomfortable around strangers, but still!”
Clan might be shy and have preparations to do, but she wasn't happy that Koutarou had left her behind without any hesitation.
Part 4
Though she was looking for a star, it wasn't like she had any leads. The girl was relying only on her intuition as she walked around the dark forest. Their footing was dark and unsteady, but the girl’s steps were firm. Seeing that, Koutarou sensed the strong determination of wanting to find the star from the girl.
“Uuhh~, it should have fallen around here...”
“Did you see it?”
“Yes. It came from the sky and zoomed past like that.”
“And that's why you came looking for it?”
“Yes.”
“All alone?”
“That's right! I came alone! When I left my home and came to this mountain alone the star came falling!”
Koutarou followed behind the girl as they talked.
There's no way she will find it... I should come up with a good way to get her to give up...
Looking at her back, he tried to come up with a way to dissuade her search. As they had scoured the area, Koutarou had learned all he wanted to know from the girl. She had come up to the mountains on her own, and just happened to see the Cradle. She was the one and only witness. If he could get her to give up on her star search, there wouldn't be any problems.
It was obvious that she wouldn't find her star, because what she was looking for, the Cradle, was already buried below the ground. No matter how hard she looked she would never find it. And she had already passed by the area where it had landed. But since Koutarou couldn't tell her that, he ended up letting her waste her time, which was quite painful for him.
Because of that, after learning everything he wanted, he was now trying to come up with a way to get her to give up instead.
“But it's dark. If you don't go home soon, your family will start worrying.”
“That's okay. I'm looking for my mom.”
“Your mom?”
An unexpected word left the girl’s mouth. While Koutarou was puzzled by what she had said, the girl stopped, turned around and smiled at him.
“Ehehe, it's been a while since I last met mom.”
“Weren't you looking for a star?”
“Yes I am. My mom's star.”
“Ah...”
It was at that moment that Koutarou understood what the girl meant.
Is it possible that we've disturbed this girl's injured heart...?
And the girl’s next words confirmed his fears.
“My mom said so. If she dies, she would become a blue star. And when I looked up at the sky before I saw a blue star falling! My mom must have found me and came to see me!”
The girl had lost her mother. And by chance she happened to see a blue star, the Cradle, falling down the sky and believed her mother had come to see her. That's why the girl was searching the mountain forest on her own.
If this girl notices that what she saw wasn't her mom's star...
If she doesn't find the star, the girl would surely be sad. When he thought of that, Koutarou was overcome by a feeling of guilt. If he and Clan hadn't landed down in this mountain, she wouldn't have to get so sad.
“...I'm sure you'll find her soon.”
Koutarou couldn't find it in him to tell the girl desperately searching for her mother that she wouldn't find her. He was well aware of the pain felt from losing your mother. That's why Koutarou had to say what he did, even if it was just a temporary comfort.
“Yeah! Thank you, Onii-chan!”
The girl gave him a big smile. Koutarou wanted that smile to remain unchanged.
Part 5
More than four hours had now passed since they began walking through the mountain forest. Having looked for that long, even the energetic girl began showing signs of tiredness. That was when Koutarou suggested that they take a break by a nearby brook.
“Oh yeah, I never got your name.”
“Aha! Now that you say so!”
The girl had been so focused on finding her mother that she hadn't even introduced herself. And since she called Koutarou Onii-chan, she had no trouble getting by. Being it was just the two of them, Koutarou had no problem calling her 'you'. Because of that, they hadn't gotten around to introducing themselves until now.
“I'm Kii!”
“Kii?”
“Yes!”
“I see, so you're called Kii...”
Koutarou had never heard that name before, but since there were a lot of kids with odd names nowadays he didn't think too much of it.
“What about you, Onii-chan?”
“Koutarou.”
“Hmm, Koutarou huh.... what a weird name!”
“Is it weird?”
“Yeah!”
The girl called Kii gave Koutarou a large nod and smile. Seeing her bright expression, he felt himself getting happier as well.
I guess the name Koutarou is less used nowadays...
“Can I still call you Onii-chan?”
“Yeah. Can I call you Kii?”
“Yeah, that's okay! That's what mom called me!”
Kii cheerfully smiled and nodded. It was an innocent and happy smile, and it showed how much she had grown to trust Koutarou these few hours.
“But since dad calls me Kii, I prefer Kii-chan.”
“Why is that?”
“Because dad always gets so angry. Even before when I said I wanted to go see the movie he said no!”
“Alright, then I'll call you Kii-chan.”
“Yeah.”
Kii was in a motherless family.
She's the same as me...
Even in the motherless Satomi family, there was a time where the relationship between father and son was awkward. Having recalled that, Koutarou could vaguely imagine Kii's relationship to her father. At the same time, he imagined that said father must be worried.
“Kii-chan, I'm sure your dad is worried sick about you at home. Why don't you go home for now and continue looking for the star tomorrow?”
“No.”
Kii puffed up her cheeks and shook her head.
“I won't go back home! I will live on my own!”
“What!?”
Hearing Kii's answer, Koutarou's eyes open wide in surprise.
“J-Just wait a minute!! You mean you ran away from home!?”
“Yeah!!”
Kii smiled and nodded.
“Dad won't take me to see the Kabutonga movie! So Kii came alone!”
The girl showed a smile full of pride. She was satisfied that she had been able to surprise Koutarou.
“T-This is bad! I have to take you to the police right away!”
“The police?”
“They're the people that will take you home!”
If Kii had ran away from home, her father might have filed a missing person report. And if he had, the police would be conducting a major search. If a search party looks through this mountain, they might find the Cradle.
In contrast to Kii's bright smile, Koutarou and Clan were faced with a potentially fatal danger.
“Hey, Clan―”
Koutarou activated the bracelet and was about to contact Clan.
“No!”
However, before he could, Kii reached over and pushed the button that Koutarou had used to activate the bracelet. The bracelet was returned to its standby mode.
“Kii-chan!?”
“If you take me to the police, I will tell them that you kidnapped me!”
“W-what!?”
Koutarou had an identity, but since this was ten years in the past, his age didn't match his birth year. Because of that, he would be treated like an unknown individual if the police were to arrest him. Of course the same was true for Clan. There was a high chance that they would be assumed to be illegal immigrants. And if they were made out to be kidnappers as well, that would be the least of their problems.
“Kii-chan, that's not good! You have to go home!”
Koutarou hurriedly tried persuading her. If he didn't get her to go home fast, the police might show up.
“I won't go home!”
However, Kii firmly refused and shook her head.
“I'm going to find mom and we'll go see Kabutonga!”
“Kii-chan...”
Kii had run away from home after fighting with her father because she wanted to see the movie. And after spotting the Cradle landing, she began looking for her mother's star. However, there was no way that she would find it. At this rate, she would just spend her time wandering the mountain all night.
“Kii-chan, if you do find that star and see the movie, will you go back home?”
It was a particularly difficult situation for Koutarou, but he couldn't just leave a young girl alone in the mountains. And so he began thinking of the best way that he could fulfill her wishes. He believed that letting her search for the star until she was satisfied, then taking her to the movie would be the best way to get her to go home.
“Hmm...”
Kii crossed her arms and began thinking about Koutarou's proposal. Her well-shaped eyebrows furrowed and gave off a mature impression.
Huh, this girl...?
Seeing that expression, Koutarou began feeling like he had seen her face before. But he couldn't tell who she was, and it wasn't all that important right now so he soon forgot about it.
“In that case... I might, go home...?”
That was the conclusion Kii reached as she held a finger on her chin.
She didn't really have much of a reason to run away from home to begin with, it was just a slight misunderstanding between her and her father born from the loss her mother. The only things that kept her from going home was the search for her mom's star and the Kabutonga movie. And once that was resolved, there was no reason for her not to go home.
“Then I'll help you out.”
“Really!?”
Kii's expression lit up once more from Koutarou's unexpected offer. Her mature expression vanished and her childish smile returned.
“Then promise me that you will go home once it's done.”
“Okay! I promise!”
Kii accepted Koutarou's proposal with a smile, since it was a welcome one for her as well. No matter how clever she was, she was still only six years old. There was no way she wouldn't be anxious after running away from home all alone. She had no reason to refuse Koutarou's proposal after he had reached his hand out to her and spent a few hours with her.
“Here.”
With a smile, Kii looked up at Koutarou and showed him her right hand.
“What?”
“A pinky swear. It's a promise, right?”
The girl formed a fist with her right hand and reached out with her pinky. Seeing that, Koutarou did the same as the girl and they twisted their pinkies.
“Pinky swear♪ If I lie I will swallow a thousand needles♪ Pinky sworn♪”
Thus, after exchanging their promise, they began moving together.
