Horizon:Volume 9A Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Evacuees in the Bath

We’re here!

We are here

That we are

Point Allocation (Prepared for a Long Battle)

●

Asama was in the bath wearing her sleepwear.

The white tub was full of water and her current job was regulating the temperature. But…

“I’m still not used to this.

The bath temperature management setting was kind of tricky, maybe because the tub was poorly insulated.

…Our bath is built better, so you can trust that what you set it to is the actual temperature.

At her family home, the Asama Shrine, the spring out back acted as the bath. It was fairly large, but it had a roof that still gave a view of the sky, which made it feel more spacious.

There was a spell to prevent anyone outside from peeping in, but that wasn’t a perfect defense because Kimi would sometimes drop in from the sky above.

Meanwhile, the Main Blue Thunder’s bath was an enclosed space, although it did have a window.

Between the open air one and the enclosed one, temperature management was easier in the former, which showed just how specialized the Asama Shrine’s facilities were.

But this was her home now. She opened a sign frame and made sure the heat in the room wasn’t leaking out anywhere.

“Let’s see…what about the window?”

The glass was made to be transparent only from within. Compared to the open air bath at her family home, this one only provided enough of a view to tell whether it was day or night, but she was surprised to find how little heat was escaping there.

…That means it must be the tub that’s poorly insulated.

If she was going to add any insulating material, it had to be to the tub itself.

But she couldn’t add that to the current tub and a new tub with more insulation would have to be bigger, which would mean remodeling the entire room.

That wouldn’t be an option. Because…

…I don’t know if it was Kimi or Toori-kun’s request, but they wanted a bath they can lie in and stretch out their legs.

She vaguely recalled a different tub in here when she spent the night in the past. She remembered it being narrower and so short that your feet would reach the side when you sat with your back against the other side.

“I bet it was Kimi who asked for a bigger one.”

Naomasa had done a near-perfect remodeling job. There were no leaks and the inclination was just enough for drainage but not enough to be noticeable.

The shower area felt so large because, as big as the tub was, it had thin sides. It seemed to be built to be used more by feel than strict management. So this bath ended up providing…

…Something other than spaciousness.

“Hmm.”

Asama felt silly talking in the bath, but she kept finding these little discoveries upon returning here after so long.

But why exactly was she adjusting the bath temperature?

Silver Wolf: “Tomo, are you still working on it?”

Asama: “Eh? Are they…already done?”

Silver Wolf: “Certainly not! He still doesn’t know what to do with himself!”

Oh, that makes sense, thought Asama with a thoughtful nod. After all…

“So Horizon and Toori-kun still haven’t entered their room.”

That was why Asama was preparing the bath.

●

Asama mentally held her head. When they were preparing to return to the Main Blue Thunder, she and Mitotsudaira had thoughtfully tried to go to the Asama Shrine or Suzu’s Bath instead. But…

“Asama-sama! Mitotsudaira-sama! If we run into any trouble, dealing with it would be a pain and a half, so can you handle it for me?”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait! What are you asking us to do!?”

Asama had tried to refuse, but the next thing she knew, the arms were tugging on her and Mitotsudaira’s skirts and he…

“Also, I won’t know what to do with myself while we’re preparing.”

So they had resigned themselves to continuing home with those two.

Asama couldn’t believe her life had come to this, but she had also been prepared for just about anything when she decided to share her life with him.

…That doesn’t mean I expected him to ask this of me, though.

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. You’re like the secretary who looks after the protagonist’s home and supports him while he’s off flirting with his love interest.”

Asama: “I don’t expect a spot by his side from dedication alone.”

Asama made sure to argue back, but Kimi said “that’s right” with a smile. Or Asama imagined she was smiling anyway. And…

Wise Sister: “Dedication isn’t enough. You need him to rely on you too.”

Asama: “I feel like this is giving me more to do, both actively and passively.”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. But if you run into trouble, you’ll rely on him too, won’t you? I feel like it only goes in that direction about 3% of the time, but that it’s an option makes all the difference. …And I’m sure you’re only here because my foolish brother told you all this already.”

Asama: “Oh…”

Kimi was right. Leave it to her to understand everything. But…

Wise Sister: “You don’t have to answer that. That’s a secret for you and him. Just like Horizon, Mitotsudaira, and I all have our own secrets with him. So…”

So…

Wise Sister: “A lukewarm bath is probably good enough.”

Asama: “Y-you just couldn’t think of a good ending line, could you!?”

Kimi never changed. But…

…What’s the temperature like now?

Asama put the cover over the tub, but she wasn’t sure how much insulation that provided. While pondering that…

Asama: “So what should we do now?”

Silver Wolf: “About what?”

Asama: “Well, Toori-kun and Horizon told us to ‘do our normal thing’ while they’re, uh, flirting and I made sure the soundproofing spell was set up right earlier, but should we take our baths first?”

She had to think about it. Because…

Asama: “If this was you and Toori-kun, there would be a lot of sniffing and licking going on, so you would want freshly purified bathwater that no one else had used, right?”

Silver Wolf: “Do you have to use me as an example!?”

Asama: “But I’m having trouble imagining how this is going to go with Horizon and Toori-kun. Well, other than that it’s going to be a disaster.”

But if she considered the current situation…

“Let’s see. They both took a shower before, didn’t they?”

After they got home, he went first and Horizon second. Afterwards, he had asked Asama to prepare the bath and…

“Just in case, I need to password-protect my PC.”

His expression had been deadly serious, but she was pretty sure he was only joking. But since he had gone into his room and tidied some things, he must have had some concerns. Asama had cast sound proofing spells on Horizon’s room and his room to ensure no sound could get out.

She was most afraid they would start giving live commentary as a bit, so she had forcibly established a spell field that prevented any divine transmissions from getting out even if they tried something.

…But I still can’t even begin to predict what they’ll do.

So just in case, she had set up a single sign frame they could use to contact the outside world in an emergency. Like a nurse call button or a mayday button. When Kimi had seen her doing all that…

“What are you, a professional?”

“Th-the Asama Shrine handles weddings and births, so we can provide all the necessary facilities.”

…That’s right.

She was curious enough to look it up and found a permanent service called the Burning Spell Field Set (“Keep your love burning strong!”). It did decent numbers, so it must have had its fans. The name reminded Asama of the story in the Kojiki where Sakuya, angry at an accusation of infidelity, set the room on fire and gave birth inside the burning room, but if you did that with both people present, it would feel a lot like the woman was telling the man there was no escape.

“Hmm.”

Asama thought some more about the bath order issue.

Asama: “Mito? Would you prefer the bath smells like Toori-kun?”

Silver Wolf: “Wh-why would you ask me that!?”

Asama: “Well, it’s just that it definitely will if you take your bath after those two do.”

Wise Sister: “Can’t you two bathe first and then refill the bath?”

Asama: “Hmm. Whenever I did that at my family home, it felt like I was wasting so much water.”

Wise Sister: “I can see why given how much water the Asama Shrine’s spring holds. Fine, can you convince yourself to do it if I tell you I want to do it that way?”

Asama: “Kimi?”

Kimi asked “what?”, so Asama sighed and answered.

Asama: “Is this you being thoughtful…or dedicated to him in your own way?”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh. I don’t need to be when he already relies on my like you wouldn’t believe.”

Never change, Kimi, was all Asama could think about that. She really was the perfect person for that. She was someone here who could act on ideas that would never even occur to Asama. That was the point of their “battle formation” and why she was here too. So…

Asama: “Then I’m going to take my bath now. Is that alright?”

Silver Wolf: “H-hold on! You’re just going to leave me out here!?”

Asama: “Just out of curiosity, what are things like out there right now?”

Silver Wolf: “We are in the dining room playing Bushido Brake, a fighting game my king brought out for us. When your Mood Gauge fills up, your character automatically tries to commit hara-kiri, so you have to apply the brakes and use one of your Raid Arts, which is a real pain.”

Asama: “Um, I get the feeling Toori-kun and Horizon will run out of time if they keep playing that, so you should probably find a chance to stop soon.”

Silver Wolf: “I-I can’t! Horizon is so good I can’t break through her defenses!”

Asama did a quick search and found a tips site. Oh, the writer uses a bucket avatar. I bet that’s Persona-kun, she noted.

Asama: “Mito! Your →+H-attack is a middle apology attack, so start with that! Oh, and H-attack is apparently pronounced ‘ecchi attack’!”

Silver Wolf: “That’s working well, but I can’t imagine this knowledge will come in handy ever again!”

15 seconds passed.

Silver Wolf: “Tomo! Tomo! I won, but Horizon said, ‘It’s Toori-sama’s turn next’ and refuses to count my win!”

Asama: “Is Toori-kun any good?”

15 seconds passed.

Silver Wolf: “Tomo! Tomo! My king just set a record for three consecutive losses and now he won’t stop glancing my way!”

Asama: “Why not teach him the middle apology attack?”

Silver Wolf: “The thing is, Kimi has taken Horizon’s side now, so they’re both teaming up on my king.”

Asama: “Kimiiiiii!!”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. A real man would keep trying until he achieved a truly victorious win! Bring it on, foolish brother!”

The redundancy of “victorious win” bothered Asama, but she knew better than to try and correct Kimi. Instead, she spent around 2 seconds in thought. And…

Asama: “Mito, you need to say you are his knight and you will fight on your king’s behalf. Oh, this Komon Master character uses a lot of kancho attacks, but I think he’s based on your inherited name, so try using him!”<ref>Komon can refer to the daimyo Mito Komon or the Japanese word for anus<ref>

Silver Wolf: “English honorifics go in front, so shouldn’t that be Master Komon?”

Asama: “No, this tips site’s character description for him says ‘this man has mastered the Komon’, so the name is correct.”

Silver Wolf: “What is that even supposed to mean?”

15 seconds passed.

Silver Wolf: “Tomo! Tomo! Komon Master is really good! My fighting style meshes well with him!”

Asama: “I don’t need regular reports.”

15 seconds passed.

Silver Wolf: “Tomo! Listen! They crowned me as the champion, but now my king wants to play Thief – Lost Youth Edition!”

Asama: “Oh, I’m good at that one, so I’ll play.”

Silver Wolf: “Tomo! This is turning into an ordinary weekend night!”

●

“Now, then,” said Kimi, hands on hips.

She spoke to the three seated in the dining room chairs and facing an enlarged sign frame.

“Heh heh. It’s time to clean all this up. You still want time to sleep, don’t you? And, Mitotsudaira, you need to take a bath. You can join Asama if you like.”

●

Asama: “Kimiiii! Why didn’t you say that sooner!?”

Silver Wolf: “Hey, how is that fair!? You mean I didn’t have to learn any of this pointless knowledge!?”

Gold Mar: “Don’t worry, Mito-tsan. Adele has been living her entire life loaded with tons of that sort of pointless knowledge.”

Flat Vassal: “V-video games are fun! So it isn’t pointless!”

Unturning: “So that’s how you end up accumulating pointless knowledge over a lifetime.”

Wise Sister: “Heh heh heh. To be honest, I’m glad Asama and Mitotsudaira were here to give them this break ahead of time.”

●

Mitotsudaira trudged toward her room, laden with unnecessary exhaustion.

On the way, the right hand appeared on the floor and pointed back behind her.

What is this about? she wondered, looking back to see Horizon with left hand raised.

“Thank you very much, Mitotsudaira-sama. I thought I should improve my kinetic vision and reflexes before such an important battle, so I used you for practice.”

“Oh, I see,” said Mitotsudaira before entering her room. Horizon said one last thing as she did.

“Now, enjoy your bath with Asama-sama. Once we are done, we will take your place in the bath.”

●

Asama saw Mitotsudaira enter the bath wearing a swimsuit.

After sitting on the round wooden stool, she opened a large sign frame and called up an acoustic spell.

“Hold on, Mito. What are you…doing here?”

The wolf turned a glare Asama’s way.

“My king and Horizon will apparently be using the bath after their ‘battle’, so I am keeping watch.”

“Eh?”

“Yes. She said they would take our place in the bath.”

“Eh!? B-but, um, we need time to refill the tub before that.”

“I know. And she assumed the two of us would be taking our bath together.”

Mitotsudaira smiled and Asama pursed her lips.

“But, um, I’m pretty sure I’m going to take a verrrrry long bath, so what if I’m still in here?”

“Heh heh heh. We will be spending our time having a bath party!!”

Someone unnecessary intruded in a swimsuit, but what were they supposed to do about her?

●

Toori thought to himself after entering Horizon’s room space, which had a futon laid out.

…Why does her room feel more manly than mine?

The Logismoi Oplo hung on the wall and there was a light bookshelf and household shrine in the back.

Also, Asama had left an emergency divine transmission sign frame by the window. Knowing Asama, she had thought through a number of scenarios where that would be necessary. It was positioned high enough that you needed to stand up to reach it.

…But what happens if we have an emergency lying down?

“So if we push this button, does it call the others?”

“What’s this, Toori-sama? Hoping to give them all a running commentary?”

He felt an urge to push it and see what happened, but he decided against it because he was pretty sure Asama and Mitotsudaira would come running. Then he took another look around the room.

“So hey. Is this all the stuff you have?”

“Most of my ‘stuff’ is shoved into the storage space behind me. What of it?”

“Oh, that’s right. And that’s a lot more accessible for you. Speaking of, does it have like a weight limit or space limit?”

“I once carelessly forgot to close it before bathing in Suzu-sama’s bathhouse and the bath’s water level dropped significantly, but I believe it could have taken quite a bit more had I let it.”

“What happened to all that water?”

Horizon got down on the futon and lay on her stomach. She then pushed herself up with her elbows.

“I went like this to tilt the storage space and dumped all the water out. That also dumped a lot of tableware and tools into the tub, so I hear it was quite difficult to clean up.”

“Huh,” said Toori. “So you actually have friends and stuff?”

Horizon beckoned him over. Excited at the thought of what this could be, he approached.

“That was rude.”

She hit him with a quick-rotating front suplex.

●

He landed on his head. So even after Horizon let go, the idiot remained balanced on his head, the rest of him extended perfectly straight, for around three seconds.

Finally, he fell toppled toward the window and bounced on the futon.

“Owwww! What did I do to deserve that!? And when did you learn that move!?”

“I happened to have some free time at the same time as Naomasa-sama,” Horizon told the idiot. “Be on your best behavior or I might just demonstrate a forbidden move on you.”

“D-dammit, did you have to jack up the difficulty for the final round!?”

●

Toori wondered what he should do now.

…Can we even do this in the time we have?

Would it be a single 60-minute round? Or what?

But Horizon sighed and sat back down.

“To answer your question, I have more friends than you do, Toori-sama.”

“Wh-why are you turning it into a competition!?”

Meanwhile, Horizon pulled a sign frame flipchart from behind her. It showed an image of Toori chasing a fleeing cat through the surface city and an image of…

“This is me giving the same cat some water when it approached me while I was watering in front of the Blue Thunder. The same incident has happened 21 times in the past two months.”

“So you’re saying the cat rejected me, huh?”

“And this…”

Now the flipchart showed Horizon carrying a Blue Thunder basket through a large underground space. The Representative Committee Head raised a hand in greeting while Horizon walked between rows of desks.

“When I make Blue Thunder deliveries or make regular sales visits to the various committees, I am generally greeted with appreciation and respect. And they know exactly who is hindering their work, so my approval rating only improves each time I hit you. My last sales visit, I sold everything I brought with me and the manager was overjoyed. And I have been working hard at developing new products and at selling water.”

“D-dammit! Just you watch! I’ll start making tons of stuff at the Main Blue Thunder and my popularity will skyrocket!”

“And when I sell it to people, my popularity will rise as well,” said Horizon. “And while I am at it, I will likely have time to discuss my life with you, Kimi-sama, Asama-sama, and Mitotsudaira-sama. By letting people know more about ‘us’, I can help them grow. I will not say what part of them will grow, but let’s just say this is all for Adele-sama. Yes. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, right. By letting people know more about ‘us’, they can help us, we can help them, and we can all take it easy and live our lives together. We can enjoy the rest of our lives like that. If it were just the two of us, it might end in violence, but with all of ‘us’, I doubt that will happen. So, Toori-sama.”

So…

“Let’s do our best to run the Main Blue Thunder. I have plenty of new projects to try out.”

“Not so fast! Those ‘projects’ are the problem here!”

Horizon stood from her seated position and hit him with a brainbuster.

●

“Huh?”

Asama noticed a sign frame pop up while she was shampooing Kimi’s hair.

It was a divine transmission frame, but who would be trying to contact her at this hour?

…Could it be from dad?

Just as she was turning her head to check, Mitotsudaira (who had been listening to a divine radio drama playing from a wrist sign frame) turned around in a hurry.

“Tomo!”

The wolf used one of her bursts of speed to turn around, so the duckboard below her feet spun around with her.

That rotated Mitotsudaira back around, so Asama couldn’t help but laugh.

“What is it, Mito? You look like a puppy chasing her tail.”

“Th-this is no laughing matter! Look!”

Mitotsudaira held out a sign frame. It was a twin of the one that had appeared next to Asama.

“Umm.”

“This is the emergency divine transmission sign frame you set up in my king and Horizon’s room!”

And why did that matter?

“I can hear their voices coming from it!”

●

Mitotsudaira spoke to the “eh?” look on Asama’s face.

“You set up an emergency divine transmission sign frame, right? I don’t know how, but I think they activated it.”

“Eh? No, wait a second. I placed the frame pretty high up and I made sure the button had to be hit really hard to activate.”

“It would still activate if Horizon hit my king with a brainbuster!”

Asama covered her face with her right hand and held her left hand out toward Mitotsudaira. That likely meant “wait”. But her king’s voice was even now coming from the sign frame.

“Owwww! What was that!? Where’d you learn such a compact attack!?”

She could tell who had the upper hand in there.

●

Toori received the notice that the divine transmission had activated.

“There is a reset button on the side of the sign frame, so press that!” instructed Asama. “But don’t screw this up, okay?”

“Out of curiosity, what happens if I screw it up? Like what if I – hypothetically speaking of course – pressed all the buttons at once?”

“That would activate the emergency mode, which locks the transmission open.”

Toori and Horizon viewed the sign frame. There were three buttons which could be described as “on the side”.

And on closer inspection, Horizon had already pressed all three. Quite firmly.

“Are you kidding me?” he said.

“She said to push the button, so I went gorilla mode and smashed them all at once. Also, I would prefer not to know if this has ‘screwed it up’, but what do you think we should do?”

“Hmm,” he thought a moment before inspiration struck. He clapped his hands and explained.

“Let’s pretend it didn’t happen! We imagined all of this! The rest of you pretend it didn’t happen too!”

He had a feeling this wasn’t much different from giving a running commentary, but maybe it would count as an offering to his entertainer god?

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