Heisuke, Sano, and Shinpachi's Stories from the Manyo no Shou Stellaworth Booklet
I have the feeling that Sano's use of the phrase "むさ苦しい" is not a literal remark, but I'm not sure how to translate that sense into English (especially considering Chizuru's response), so I just did a literal translation (in the "my room might be messy" line).
“P-please wait there for just a bit! I’ll clean up the place real quick!”
I stopped Chizuru, who was standing in the hallway, from entering my room before I rushed inside.
(I can’t believe it. I should have cleaned up my room regularly…)
I regretted my everyday habits as I hastily tucked my tabi socks and sword maintenance tools that had been lying around into the corner of my room.
(Not neatly done…but it would take until tomorrow morning for me to do a proper cleaning. This will do for the time being.)
I thought so as I opened the shoji door once again.
“You can come in now, Chizuru. My room’s still a bit messy, but everything happened all of a sudden, so…I hope you don’t mind.”
I said, and invited Chizuru into my room,
Chizuru looked at me nervously.
“…Heisuke-kun, are you sure? It’s totally okay for me to sleep in my own room…”
“No, I can’t let you do that. How can I let you sleep in a room that leaks after all the things that you’ve done for me?”
“So please just wait here while I lay out the futons.”
But Chizuru stepped forward and started laying out the futons by herself.
“H-hey, please let me handle this!”
“It’s okay. It’s me who’s going to trouble you for the night, so please let me do what I can to help.”
She said, and with her usual deftness, she laid out the futons.
Even though the futons are a little apart from each other, seeing them side by side makes me think of something weird.
(What’s on Chizuru’s mind?)
I sneaked a peak at her, but I only caught sight of her glossy black hair and her swan-like neck and quickly looked away.
“Well, then… let’s go to sleep…”
I tried to phrase it casually because I didn't want her to notice that I cared so much for her, but my tone ended up rising a bit.
I thought I saw Chizuru’s cheeks turn slightly red, but maybe it was just my imagination.
I turned off the light and lay down on the futon in the dark room, but I was wide awake, as if I had already slept for half a day, and I couldn’t fall asleep at all.
Chizuru was lying on the futon next to me, and before long, I heard her toss and turn.
(Could it be that she can’t fall asleep either?)
“…Thank you for today, Heisuke-kun.”
I heard her clear voice from the futon next to me, and it made me feel restless.
“It’s nothing… you don’t have to thank me for anything…”
I said, but the next instant, I secretly regretted that I didn’t say anything more considerate.
But I’m not experienced enough to give a thoughtful reply under circumstances like this.
(I wonder what Chizuru thinks? Does she feel nervous at all…?)
As I listened carefully, I heard Chizuru breathing peacefully, and all the tension in my body was gone in an instant.
(She doesn’t even seem to suspect in the slightest that something might happen since I am so nervous…)
I felt that I was wrestling with myself all the while and got a bit frustrated, but…
(…Well, maybe that means she trusts me a lot.)
I thought so as I turned over lightly to check on the futon next to me.
I saw Chizuru sleeping with an innocent and baby-like face and I felt an inexplicable sense of relief rising in my heart.
(…I’ll go to sleep, then…)
I covered myself with the futon again, and fell asleep.
"I never expected things to end up like this. Well, I can’t let her sleep in her room anyway."
I muttered to myself while observing Chizuru, who was standing beside me.
Chizuru was in her nightgown, and her face was all red. She seemed so nervous that she couldn't even blink.
Here's how things ended up like this: Chizuru's room was leaking because of the rain, so it was decided that she should spend the night in some other soldier's room. Souji found it amusing, and he suggested Hijikata's room. Heisuke also volunteered. But in the end, it turned out that she would stay in my room.
When I called out to her, Chizuru looked up at me awkwardly.
"Don't be so nervous. It's not like I'm going to eat you or anything."
However, I couldn't help but feel guilty at that response.
"I'm sorry. I do understand that. But, um..."
"I know that it's not easy to remain chill under such circumstances. My room might be a bit messy, but it's just for this one night. Please don't feel bothered."
"Messy? It's not that..."
While we were talking, I laid out two futons.
"Is it okay if I turn off the light?"
As I turned off the light, the room plunged into darkness. I closed my eyes, preparing to go to sleep, but...
I heard a light sneeze from the adjacent futon.
"Is it too cold? If you're cold, we can switch places."
"No, it's not that. Please don't worry about it."
I heard another sneeze, and couldn't ignore it any longer. Chizuru's futon was closer to the corridor, and therefore closer to the cold wind that came in from outside the room.
"Alright, let's switch places. Come on, use this futon."
Chizuru said so. But unfortunately, I'm not the type to back away from my decisions.
I half-forcefully grabbed Chizuru's wrist to pull her closer, trying to get her to use my futon, but...
At that moment, our eyes met.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and she seemed anxious. She was too embarrassed and nervous to speak.
"I'm sorry for being rude. I just couldn't help it because I feel concerned."
Eventually speaking these words, Chizuru turned bright red and buried herself under the futon.
(...Did I do something wrong?)
I thought to myself, but I didn't feel that I had done anything wrong.
(The expression on Chizuru's face just now... )
Her puppy-like, charming eyes with long eyelashes casting delicate shadows on her cheeks... I couldn't seem to calm down when I thought of them.
(I never thought she could put me in this kind of mood. I always considered her as a child, but it seems that that's not entirely the case.)
I lay down on the futon, thinking that I might not be able to fall asleep tonight after all.
“Shinpachi, don’t you dare do anything weird to Chizuru! If anything bad happens, I won’t let you get away with it!”
“Chizuru, if he does anything to you, just call aloud for help. We’ll be there in a flash.”
Sano and Heisuke babbled whatever was on their mind to Chizuru-chan, who remained stiff and tense.
“I wouldn’t do anything weird to Chizuru-chan, you idiots! Just go back to your rooms, okay?!”
I said that and pushed both of them out of my room. Then I turned back to Chizuru-chan.
"Please forget what those two just said. You are just like my little sister, and I would never do anything weird to you."
Things had come to this for a reason. Chizuru-chan’s room was leaking because of the rain, and she couldn’t sleep there, so it was decided that she should stay in someone else’s room for the night.
As there were several soldiers who volunteered to help, we drew lots by rock-paper-scissors, and it turned out that I was the one to accommodate her for the night.
And then, Sano and Heisuke helped me clean up my messy room. After that, they both left with those ramblings.
“Hm? W-what is it? Chizuru-chan?”
“Can I lay out the futons now?”
At my answer, she started laying out the futons nimbly.
(Damn it! I should have said, “Let me do it”. She helped me clean up my room too!)
I regretted my words as all the futons were laid out carefully. When I saw the two futons side by side, I couldn't help but think of something that I shouldn't have been thinking.
(What am I even thinking? Calm down, Shinpachi!)
Then I noticed that Chizuru-chan was standing in front of me, looking at me with a puzzled expression.
“I’m done laying out the futons…”
“O-oh, right! Then let’s go to sleep!”
I responded, and her shoulders shuddered slightly.
“Ah–no! I don’t mean anything weird by that! Like I said before, you’re…...”
“Y-yes, I know! I’m like your little sister, right?... I know that.”
There seemed to be something strange in her tone.
(With what she just said…she sounded a bit disappointed…or was it just my imagination?)
As I was thinking along these lines...
“…I’m going to sleep now. Would you like to stay up a bit longer, Nagakura-san?”
“N-no! We have to get up early tomorrow, so I’m going to sleep too. Can I turn off the light?”
I heard her reply and blew out the light. The room was surrounded by darkness and silence.
I lay down on the futon, but the questions from before kept spinning in my head, and I just couldn't fall asleep.
(I always say that Chizuru-chan is like my little sister, but when I think about it, I don't have any actual sister, and this is the first time I’ve slept with a girl on the futon next to me…)
At that moment, Chizuru-chan turned over on her futon.
Even this slight movement was enough to make my heart race.
As I heard the quiet breathing from her futon, I felt relieved and a bit disappointed at the same time.
(But that means she trusts me a lot. In that case, I am responsible for guarding her so as not to go against her trust.)
Listening to her peaceful breathing, I eventually fell asleep.
annaxmalina
2087
izzy806
pixelskylines
baratheonpilled
dededos
kaledo-art
romaincrisis
