Chapter 12.1. Hayami-san’s Superiority

Saturday.
Compared to the battlefield, where I was involved in a duel shortly after the entrance ceremony and entering school, it’s relatively peaceful.
And the school operates on a two-day weekend system.
For someone like me, who used to fly around battlefields and only curl up in a sleeping bag to rest whenever possible, lying on a bed and indulging in idleness according to the calendar feels like something I haven’t done since elementary school.
“Oh, Yuu-kun, you’re finally awake.”
In the living room, Mina was setting up the breakfast she had prepared on the table.
Even though it’s a holiday, she’s here at my house as if it’s natural.
“It’s early for a holiday, Mina.”
I yawned as I pulled a chair from the dining table and sat down.
“I said we’d go out together today, didn’t I?”
“Huh?! That’s news to me.”
I almost spilled the ham and eggs breakfast Mina made for me.
“You didn’t check your phone?”
“Check… you mean that?”
The message from Meena that came to my phone’s messaging app last night was:
[Meow, meow, meow, meow, purr, purr, purr~♪]
“Sorry. I didn’t take Cat Language as an elective.”
“I invited you to go shopping tomorrow at 10:00. Remember?”
“Do you understand?”
“Yuu-kun, you did respond with a ‘yes’, right?”
I thought Meena was joking around with her late-night antics, so I casually replied with ‘meow’.
That casual response backfired.
I didn’t have any plans anyway, so it’s fine.
“So let’s have breakfast, get changed, and then go… oh…”
“What’s wrong, Yuu-kun?”
“I… I don’t have casual clothes. Is the uniform okay for now?”
“Today, we have to buy you some clothes, Yuu-kun.”
Mina sighed as she put her hands on her hips, but she seemed happy saying it.
“Wow, they built a huge shopping mall in a place like this.”
Meena and I were at a shopping mall directly connected to a station five stops away.
Since it was a day off, many people were coming and going.
“It was built two years ago. But it opened a year late due to the war.”
“Even in places like this, there’s an influence from the war.”
“Japan is much better off than other countries. Japan’s mainland didn’t become a battlefield, and there were only sporadic acts of terrorism. Sorry. I shouldn’t say that to Yuu-kun, who lost his parents in a terrorist attack.”
“I don’t mind. Yeah, this is also part of the ordinary life protected by soldiers.”
As someone who was on the battlefield, it feels comforting to know that the people back home can enjoy these ordinary moments.
Because we fought, we can see the relaxed faces of these people.
“Do you think Yuu-kun, who was on the battlefield, thinks people here are getting too comfortable with peace?”
“Why?”
“Because there’s always criticism that Japanese citizens are getting too comfortable with peace even during the war.”
In reality, the war isn’t over yet.
It’s in a stalemate, or the places where lives are being exchanged are in distant foreign countries, so people may not feel like they’re in wartime.
“Being comfortable with peace is more than fine. As someone who was on the battlefield, I feel much more relieved seeing people enjoying life rather than having stern faces.”
I don’t want to expose these unknown people to the horrific scenes and experiences of the battlefield.