30

Chapter 30 It had taken a while, but finally they were able to return home safely. Neither of them spoke very much on the way back, neither of them really knowing what to say to each other. They had both decided that talking would just increase the risk of being overheard, and besides, Akane didn't really feel like explaining to anyone just how she had managed to break into her teacher's classroom after school hours and try to steal something from him. It wasn't as if she had actually stolen something, after all. He had probably forgotten that he had locked the classroom door. All she had done was push the door closed and open it again later on, when nobody was in the room anymore. She had tried to explain everything to Maki earlier in the morning, but when she woke up that morning, she wasn't ready to talk to her yet. The truth about everything was complicated, and she didn't want Maki getting too worked up, considering how upset she had looked earlier that afternoon. Instead, the two of them had simply said goodbye. Now, sitting next to her mother who was driving back home, Akane had decided to ask her one last question. She wanted to know just what had really happened. She still didn't quite understand, although, judging by everything that had happened to them throughout the day, she suspected that the answers lay ahead. Aoi had insisted on coming back with them to the house, but their father had quickly shot that idea down, stating that it wasn't necessary. He had said something along the lines of, "If she wants to come along, she can." Their mother, meanwhile, had agreed, and the three of them had eventually made their way back home in silence, with Aoi taking the passenger seat in the car while Akane remained inside with the twins. She wasn't quite sure why she wanted to keep them all close to her, but at that moment, Akane decided to remain silent and remain calm. After what seemed like forever, the car came to a sudden halt outside the main gate. It was nearly midnight, meaning that the school was completely empty. Even though Akane had seen plenty of children go through this gate every single night, it always felt somewhat odd to see such an event occuring within such an enormous building. It was a wonder that people lived inside of such massive buildings at all. The twins seemed excited upon seeing what sort of things they would discover in the academy tomorrow; apparently they already knew that some of these students had been brought there on purpose, which meant that something was going to happen there. And Akane hoped that she wouldn't get caught in that somehow. When the car door was opened, Akane stepped out first with the twins following behind her. She paused for a second at the entrance to the house, noticing the front gate slightly open, as she had expected it would be. She sighed and stepped forward, pushing open the gate, which creaked as it swung slowly shut behind her with a faint click as a result. The girls stood still for a moment while looking around themselves before turning around to face the house behind them. From far away it was difficult to make out any details about it, but the sight seemed strangely familiar, and it only grew more apparent to Akane when her eyes fell onto the house that stood right opposite from hers and the twins'. Mitsui's house had been built on the edge of town. It had a large garden at its rear, and even though its roof was slightly tilted to one side, it seemed to be a fairly decent sized house. Akane guessed that if she had been asked whether she wanted to move closer to Mitsui's house, she wouldn't have hesitated at all. Her life had already been thrown upside down and sideways ever since she had met his sister, but now, she was starting to realize how small her world actually was compared to Mitsui's family's mansion. There was just no comparison whatsoever. The three of them continued making their way up the path until they reached the backyard. There weren't many things inside, although they did find the twins' favourite toy which they liked playing with quite easily. However, that wasn't what caught Akane's attention at all. It wasn't the fact that Mitsui's family was rich. She had seen Mitsui's house countless times before, and she had seen that his yard wasn't particularly special either. What had caught her attention, however, were the numerous wooden swords hung neatly up on the wall across from Mitsui's house, where the fence had failed to prevent them. Akane stared silently at the row of swords in curiosity for a little while, and soon she walked over to examine the weapons closer. It took a moment before her expression suddenly brightened. She could tell that each sword had their own unique character; there were quite a few that had a pattern of some sort. As she examined each one of them, she could immediately recognize different sorts of characters that they had. One sword was black, another was red, while a third sword was yellow. They all appeared to be very well-crafted, but they also didn't possess particularly powerful attacks; perhaps they could only inflict damage on someone if used correctly, but it was still obvious how skilled they must have been in combat. While it wasn't really a long list, it wasn't that surprising either. Mitsuri was obviously a master swordsman and even Akane herself would never consider herself capable of wielding one of these swords, much less using one properly. Yet there she was, examining one of those swords, feeling quite proud of herself even if she hadn't intended to do so. After a couple more minutes of examining each particular sword, she looked towards the others once more and realised they all looked exactly the same. That left her confused. Did Mitsui truly have that many swords and practice swords hanging around his place without anyone having noticed them? Why wouldn't he have bothered taking any of these weapons with him in the carriage anyway? And how could he possibly expect the four of them to use any of them properly if they didn't even know where he kept them? Before Akane could think about her questions any further, her mind drifted off into thought as she remembered that Mitsui had offered to teach her how to use some of his swords. He hadn't really said anything about the specific types of sword, but it had struck Akane as a rather strange thing to offer to a teenage girl in exchange for saving her life. Sure, maybe he hadn't really meant it as a real offer, but it definitely felt like one to Akane. For a moment it crossed her mind to decline the offer, not only because of its unusualness, but also because she didn't really have time to learn to take care of a pair of tiny swords; she certainly couldn't take on an entire class by herself. But then her eyes glanced back at one of the swords, thinking that perhaps she might have gotten herself in way more trouble than she had imagined if she'd refused, especially now that they were standing under the moonlight instead of inside somewhere warm and comfortable. So she turned her head back toward their parents to ask, "Can I, uh… can I borrow one of yours?" They all exchanged glances briefly, and in that split second Akane felt certain that her parents would refuse her request, or that they would insist that she should wait until she got older so that she could learn to properly manage a pair of simple blades. She felt as if she would start crying as soon as she saw them give her a reply. However, she was proven right just a couple of moments later. After a brief pause, she watched as her mother nodded gently in approval and her father gave the slightest of smiles. Apparently her mother understood the seriousness of the situation – not that Akane doubted that –, and it seemed to have reassured him as well. She watched quietly as her father pulled his own sword from its scabbard while her mother placed her handbag beside hers on the bench