Chapter 28: Looking for a Partner

“My Queen, regarding the matter of Dark Butterfly’s infiltration mission, what are your current strategic considerations for the next phase?”

The magnificent Darkmoon Queen, scourge of heroes, sat upon her obsidian throne, saying nothing. Her gaze was distant, a strange, unfocused look in her usually sharp, predatory eyes.

“My Queen? Ahem. My Queen!”

The Darkmoon Queen snapped back to reality as if waking from a long, confusing dream. She shot an irritated, almost flustered glance at the loyal subordinate who had dared to interrupt her reverie. “Just proceed according to the meticulously crafted plan I already laid out! Do you really need to ask me how I’m considering it?! Are you, by any chance, implying that you have some sort of dissatisfaction with the brilliant, flawless plan I previously devised?!” Her voice was sharp, a defensive edge to it.

“N-no! Not at all, my Queen! Of course not! I was just… confirming…”

“That’s enough. Leave me. I am… I am contemplating complex matters concerning our primary obstacle, Strawberry Sweetheart. Do not disturb me again unless the world is ending. Or unless you’ve brought snacks.”

The fiendish underling, sensing the strange and dangerous mood of his monarch, immediately scurried away, leaving her to her "contemplations."

In reality, the all-powerful Darkmoon Queen had lied. Her magnificent, evil mind wasn’t contemplating Strawberry Sweetheart at all. No, her brain was completely, utterly, embarrassingly filled with the vivid, high-definition, and deeply unsettling image from that day in the hot spring—of Ren Akiyama’s bath towel making its sudden, dramatic and unscheduled departure. For someone like her, a being who had never once been in a romantic relationship, who had been a reclusive, socially awkward outcast since she was a child, that kind of… stimulus… was far, far too much for her inexperienced heart to handle. Her internal servers had been crashing and rebooting ever since.

And as for the kind of "adult material" that everyone else in the world probably watches to desensitize themselves to such things? When you have a subordinate in your very own evil organization who is a super-hacker capable of, at any time, peeking into any computer, any network, any private folder you might possess, would you really dare to keep that kind of… research material… on your personal computer? She was, much to the world’s complete and utter ignorance, far more innocent, far more pure-hearted, than anyone could possibly imagine.

Just as Magical Girl Black had so astutely, if rudely, guessed, her flustered, maidenly reaction had been completely unlike what one would expect from a woman with her mature, devastatingly curvaceous figure. Logically, someone like her should be a veritable femme fatale, a butterfly flitting from flower to flower, effortlessly handling such trivial, carnal matters even in her daily life, leaving a trail of broken hearts in her wake.

But that was not the case. Not at all.

This won’t do! This won’t do at all! she thought, her cheeks flushing a very un-villainous shade of pink. I should be focusing my considerable intellect on more important matters! On Strawberry Sweetheart! On world domination! On crushing the hopes and dreams of humanity! I cannot, I will not, allow myself to be so easily, so foolishly shaken by such a… such a trivial, hormonal incident! Get a grip, you magnificent Queen of Darkness!

Comparatively, Magical Girl Black, for the past two days, hadn't been working much at all. In her own words, she was "on a much-needed, and well-deserved, vacation." So now, for the first time in a while, it was just Kenji Tanaka.

At this very moment, he was driving a slightly battered, rented minivan, taking a motley group of people on a spontaneous family road trip. He and Ren’s father, Mr. Akiyama, were taking turns at the wheel. Ren’s parents had both, with surprising ease, taken a few days off from their respective jobs, and the entire group, the two families combined, planned to go on a fun, relaxing, and hopefully fiend-free camping trip.

Hana, seated in the back, looked incredibly, almost deliriously excited. In fact, Hana’s incredibly convenient "Mage" magic was extremely useful on this kind of impromptu family trip. To put it simply, everyone could bring whatever they wanted, with no regard for luggage space or weight limits. An entire house worth of camping gear, snacks, and unnecessary gadgets? No problem! They just had to stuff it all, with a bit of magical shoving, into Hana’s seemingly infinite "Mage's Space."

This Mage’s Space was a special, personalized spell of Hana’s. When she had first created it, with much trial and error, it had only been the size of a small, school-sized backpack. But Hana, with a surprising amount of diligence in this one specific area, had been gradually, painstakingly expanding the pocket dimension every single day. Now, it was so vast that you could practically use the space as a small, fully furnished house, complete with a walk-in closet and probably a home theater system. So, they had brought a truly massive, absurd amount of stuff with them on this trip, yet they still only needed the simple, unassuming minivan to transport the actual people.

It’s worth mentioning, for the record, that this particular minivan was something Ren had, with his usual quiet competence, procured from the Hero Organization’s motor pool. In a certain sense, it was technically using a company vehicle for personal, recreational use, a clear violation of corporate policy. However, Ren, being the meticulous, forward-thinking Supporter that he was, had already, with terrifying efficiency, completed all the necessary official procedures, signed all the relevant waivers, and filed all the appropriate contracts. So, legally speaking, there was no problem at all. The kid is scary good at his job.

“Okay, everyone, listen up! The mountain we’re going to, all the guides online say there’s this super awesome, crystal-clear stream where we can have a barbecue! It’s, like, a super popular, highly recommended spot that lots of famous influencers have been raving about!” Hana announced enthusiastically to the entire van, acting as their impromptu, and very loud, tour guide.

Ren, from the passenger seat, smiled and played along, as a good boyfriend should. “In that case, I’ll get to show off my legendary, world-renowned barbecue skills to everyone. You all just have to worry about eating until you explode! I’ve got this!”

Hana then, with a happy squeal, wrapped her arms around Ren’s neck from behind and planted a loud, enthusiastic muah~ on his cheek. “Yay! In that case, Ren-kun, I’ll be your lovely, and only slightly clumsy assistant!” she chirped.

Kenji Tanaka, catching this exchange in the rearview mirror, could only offer a silent, bitter, and deeply pained smile. At home, his daughter would never, not in a million years, say something as helpful or as cheerful as, “I’ll be your assistant!” to him. As expected, a father’s importance, a father’s very value as a human being, was on a completely, fundamentally different and infinitely lower level than that of a handsome, doting boyfriend. As they say, Kenji sighed internally, his heart aching with a familiar, paternal sorrow, you can’t keep a daughter who’s grown up; her elbow and her affections, always, inevitably, bend outwards. It was a good thing, a very good thing, that Ren was a genuinely good, reliable and non-delinquent kid. Otherwise, Kenji knew, this whole situation could have easily, tragically turned into one of those sordid, depressing dramas, with some punk kid stealing his daughter away while the sad, pathetic old dad could only watch from the sidelines, weeping into his cheap beer.

“Hey, Kenji-san,” Mr. Akiyama said from the driver’s seat, breaking him out of his reverie. “You seem pretty busy with work lately, my friend. Has the overtime at your company gotten even worse again? They’re not working you to death, are they?”

Kenji sighed, a sound of profound, world-weary exhaustion. “Ah! You know how it is, Akiyama-san. That’s just how it is at our fine company. As long as you’re even remotely capable, they’ll pile on an endless supply of work. The harder you work, the more of a disposable, replaceable workhorse you become! It’s the circle of corporate life.”

“Why don’t you just switch jobs, then? Find someplace better?” Ren’s father asked, his tone tentatively probing.

“Heh. Easy for you to say, Akiyama-san. Do you have any good, high-paying, low-stress jobs to recommend for a man of my… advanced… age?” Kenji lamented. “At this age, it’s really, really hard to switch careers. If I were ten years younger, maybe I’d still have a fighting chance. But back then, I was still foolishly, optimistically thinking I could actually get a promotion if I just worked hard enough. What an idiot I was.”

Ren’s father also gave a wry, sympathetic smile. “Tell me about it, my friend. I know exactly what you mean. But hey, I see you’ve been super busy lately, with all this… work. If you ever can’t manage, if things get too tough, just have Hana-chan come over to our place anytime. Why go through all the trouble of having her be at home all by herself, eating instant noodles for every meal?”

“Aha! So that was your brilliant, ulterior motive all along, Akiyama-san! You, you sly old fox!” Kenji laughed, the mood in the car lightening considerably. “But you’ll have to ask Hana-chan about that one, my friend. Asking me is completely useless.”

Hana, hearing this from the back, once again looked at her father with a surprised, almost bewildered expression. Did… did my dad really just say that? The dad of the past, the stubborn, overprotective dad she knew, would surely, almost certainly have said something stiff and formal like, “Oh no, no, that would be far too much of a bother for you, Akiyama-san! That’s not right at all! We should probably wait until after they’re officially engaged to consider such things!” But this… this was different.

“Hana-chan, you heard him! Your own wonderful father said it himself! So it’s settled!” Mrs. Akiyama chirped happily from the passenger seat.

Hana glanced at Kenji’s expression in the rearview mirror and saw that he wasn’t trying to hint at anything, wasn’t trying to send her any secret, coded messages. He was just… focused on driving. And maybe, just maybe, looking a little bit… relaxed?

“Okay! Well, when my dad’s not home, I’ll definitely come over myself then! Akiyama-ojisan! And I won’t be polite about raiding your fridge, just so you know!” Hana declared, a cheerful, mischievous lilt to her voice.

Ren’s father and mother immediately beamed with pure, unadulterated joy. “Good, good, good! That’s our girl! You just come over whenever you like, Hana-chan! We’ll let your poor Old Kenji find his own sad, lonely dinner!” Mr. Akiyama boomed.

“Hey! At least leave a small portion for me in the fridge! I can heat it up and eat it later, you know!” Kenji protested weakly.

“You’re an old man now, Kenji! You can just make yourself a sad little bowl of instant noodles and be done with it!” Mrs. Akiyama teased.

Kenji Tanaka sighed dramatically. “You people… you see how it is? Old men have no rights in this cruel, unjust world! None at all!”

And then, Mr. Akiyama suddenly dropped his cheerful, teasing smile. His expression turned surprisingly serious. “Kenji-san,” he began, his voice now quiet, almost solemn, “I’m going to say something now, and please, don’t get mad at me for meddling in your personal affairs. And Hana-chan, this concerns you too, so listen up.”

“Go on, Akiyama-san. What is it?” Kenji said, a flicker of apprehension in his heart.

“Now that our dear Hana-chan is all grown up, a fine young woman… hasn’t Kenji-san ever, not even once, thought about… ah… finding someone new for himself? A new partner?”

At these words, these unexpected, incredibly direct words, the entire minivan fell into a sudden, heavy, almost suffocating silence. An image, unbidden, flashed through Kenji Tanaka’s mind—the ethereal, smiling image of his beloved Kaoru, the one he had seen on the very verge of death just a few short weeks ago.

“Hana is going to be a powerful Esper in the future, and our Ren has also, as you know, miraculously passed the incredibly difficult Supporter exam. They’ll be fine. They’ll have each other. There’s really nothing more you need to worry about when it comes to them, Kenji,” Mr. Akiyama said, his voice now gentle, filled with a deep, sincere concern for his old friend. “You should, you deserve to, finally start thinking about your own matters, about your own happiness.” Kenji knew, with a certainty that was almost painful, that his friend had probably been holding these words in, had been wanting to say this, for a very, very long time. He had just, for whatever reason, never found the right moment to say it until now. Now that he had finally said it, Kenji knew it came from a place of genuine, heartfelt concern for him.

After a long, heavy moment of silence, Kenji managed a small, almost painful smile. “Look at you, Akiyama-san, you old meddler. You make it sound like I don’t want to find someone. A lonely, middle-aged man like myself gets empty, lonely, and bone-chillingly cold too, you know! But… but it’s not that easy! It’s really not! If I were to try and get married now, at my age, it’ll probably be to a divorcee, maybe one who already has two kids of her own from a previous marriage. And that… that would just be too difficult, too complicated. I might as well just… stay single. It’s simpler that way.”

“Hey! But what if you just… happen to find love again? Unexpectedly?”

“Sis, did you hear that? Akiyama-san here, he says he’s looking for a new, exciting love in his life!” Kenji immediately, and with great relief, teased his friend, trying to deflect the attention away from himself.

“Hey! Kenji! What are you doing, you treacherous bastard! Don’t drag me into this! Honey! My dearest, beloved wife! I’m not! I swear! He’s framing me! It’s slander!” Mr. Akiyama yelped, suddenly looking terrified.

Instantly, the silent, heavy atmosphere in the car was completely, mercifully swept away, once again filled with warm, infectious, and deeply relieved laughter.

They soon arrived at their designated destination. Just as Hana had seen in all the glowing online guides and travel blogs, this place was a beautiful, secluded valley, nestled deep in the mountains. They planned to camp nearby for the next two days, enjoying the fresh air and the sounds of nature.

To be perfectly honest, this kind of outdoor camping trip was a rather luxurious, almost extravagant form of entertainment for families like theirs; in the past, neither family, with their tight budgets and busy work schedules, would have ever even considered arranging such a frivolous, time-consuming activity. But then again, this entire trip, from start to finish, was the two kids’ heartfelt, and surprisingly well-organized idea. All the expensive, high-tech camping equipment, all the delicious-looking food, it had all been meticulously prepared and purchased by Ren and Hana themselves. Ren’s parents, bless their naive hearts, thought the money had come from Ren’s new, high-paying Supporter salary. In reality, of course, it had all been purchased with the generous "reward for courageous action" that had been so mysteriously provided to them by the enigmatic Miss Magical Girl Black.

After they had arrived and found the perfect spot by the babbling stream, Hana, with a dramatic flourish, began to pull out a seemingly endless supply of items from her incredible, physics-defying dimensional space: a large, professional-grade barbecue grill, a full set of cooking utensils, various high-tech camping gadgets, and, most importantly, mountains of pre-marinated meat, neatly pre-cut vegetables, and two massive, perfectly ripe watermelons.

Ren, ever the practical one, quickly took a large net, carefully secured the two watermelons inside it, weighed it down with a heavy, smooth river stone, and then submerged the whole contraption in the cold, clear, running water of the stream to chill. Although Hana, with a simple flick of her wrist, could have easily used an ice spell to instantly chill the watermelons to a perfect, refreshing temperature, her mana, as she often complained, was not as abundant as she would like. And besides, as Ren often pointed out, using convenient, cheat-like magic for absolutely everything would take some of the simple, rustic fun out of an authentic camping experience, wouldn’t it?

“Well then, Kenji, my friend,” Mr. Akiyama said, already holding two fishing rods, “care for a couple of casts? A little friendly competition?” He handed one of the rods to Kenji, clearly intending for the two of them to have a quiet, manly fishing session.

Ren, who was busy setting up the barbecue grill, smiled as he looked over at them. “In that case, whether we have some delicious, freshly caught fish as an extra dish for our barbecue lunch or not will depend entirely on the skill and effort of you two old-timers, won’t it?”

Kenji took the proffered rod, a confident smirk on his face. “Then I suppose you’d better prepare to be absolutely stuffed to death by noon today, because we’re going to catch a boatload!”

“Hah! In your dreams, Kenji! You definitely won’t catch as many as me!” Mr. Akiyama retorted, and the friendly rivalry began.

The two men, the two old friends, each found a spot along the riverbank that they thought looked particularly promising, cast their lines, and began to fish in a comfortable, companionable silence.

Kenji felt that this… this was good. This was nice. Since he had, in his bizarre magical girl alter ego, managed to befriend his own daughter, he was now able to observe her from a completely different, almost objective perspective. And that, in turn, allowed him to see things from her point of view, to actually, finally, understand her a little better. And as a result, their strained, awkward father-daughter relationship had, miraculously, actually improved quite a bit in recent days. It was… a strange, unexpected blessing.

When you’re just sitting there, quietly fishing, your mind inevitably tends to wander. And Kenji couldn’t help but think about what his old friend Akiyama had said in the car earlier today, about him… moving on.

Remarrying… finding a new partner… restringing a lute (a classical term for a widower remarrying). From a purely rational, logical standpoint, he knew, with a weary certainty, that he really, truly should start thinking about finding a new partner for himself. He wasn’t getting any younger.

After all, Hana was older now, practically an adult. She would, sooner or later, inevitably marry Ren. And they would, of course, buy their own new house, start their own new life together. The two young people would live happily ever after in their new home—and he, Kenji Tanaka, would be left all alone in the old, empty house, a lonely, pathetic, forgotten old man. He wasn’t looking for some grand, passionate, once-in-a-lifetime love affair, not anymore. But just having a partner, someone to share the quiet days with, to eat dinner with, to support each other through the trials and tribulations of old age… it was indeed, he had to admit, the correct, the sensible, the adult thing to do.

But… her…

He thought, with a fresh, sharp pang of familiar sorrow, of the ethereal, smiling image he had seen that day, on the very verge of death. His Kaoru.

“Am I… am I really supposed to give up on you, my love? To finally let you go, and then… find someone new? Is that… truly what you would have wanted for me?”

A sudden, gentle female voice, like the tinkling of a small bell, pulled Kenji Tanaka sharply back to reality. “Excuse me, sir? Are you fishing here as well?”

When he, startled, turned to follow the sound of the voice, when he looked over at the person who had spoken, he… he froze. His heart stopped. The world seemed to tilt on its axis.

“Kaoru…” he breathed, the name a ghost on his lips.

Yes. The woman standing before him, a shy, gentle smile on her face, looked almost exactly, almost impossibly, like the one in his most cherished, most painful memories. She had the same long, flowing hair. The same cute, straight bangs. Her face, the shape of her eyes, her nose, her lips… it was almost identical. And that smile, that kind, gentle smile… it was the same too. And her pure, simple white dress… it was just as she looked in his fondest memory, the image of her at her most beautiful, forever etched into his heart.

“Sir? What are you saying? ‘Paper’?” the woman asked, looking a little flustered, a confused but still very sweet smile on her face. “I’m… I’m sorry, but I don’t think I have any paper on me right now.” (Kaoru sounds like 'paper' in native tounge.)

Kenji Tanaka immediately, with a jolt, realized his incredible, unforgivable impoliteness. He’d been staring. And mumbling. Like a madman.

He said, in a flustered, stammering rush, “I-I’m so sorry, miss! My sincerest apologies! I… I just… I have an old friend who looks a lot like you. A very dear friend. I… mistook you for her. Please forgive my rudeness. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Oh! It’s like this, sir,” the woman said, her own smile now a little sheepish. “I saw a travel guide online and decided to come here on a solo road trip. And then I saw you all were here too, and I… well, the thing is… I’m all by myself, you see, and I was wondering if I could perhaps… join you? I happened to notice that you’ve brought all this wonderful barbecue equipment with you…” The woman smiled again, a charmingly, disarmingly embarrassed smile. “I’ll… I’ll pay for my share, of course! So, could you possibly… let me join you? That delicious smell of grilling meat… it’s making me a little bit… hungry.”

The others, by now, had noticed the situation unfolding by the riverbank and had all started to wander over, their curiosity piqued. Ren’s father, Mr. Akiyama, asked, “Hey, Kenji-san, who’s this lovely lady?”

Kenji, still feeling a little dazed, quickly explained, “Ah, this… this young lady says she’d like to join us for a meal. She’s apparently traveling all by herself.”

Hearing this, Ren’s father immediately, and with a friendly, booming voice, asked the woman, “Is that so, ma’am? You didn’t bring your husband and children with you on this trip?”

The woman’s cheeks immediately turned a delicate, fetching shade of pink. She said shyly, her eyes cast downwards, “Um, actually… I’m… I’m single.”

Ren’s father immediately, and with great enthusiasm, clapped Kenji firmly on the shoulder, a wide, knowing grin spreading across his face. “Did you hear that, Kenji! A single lady in need! Well! We are gentlemen, are we not? And when a lovely lady has a need, a request, it is our sacred, chivalrous duty to solve it for her!” he declared loudly, winking broadly at the others. “Don’t you all agree?”

Even Hana, bless her good-natured heart, nodded enthusiastically. “Akiyama-ojisan, you’re absolutely right! We’re very friendly and welcoming people! Of course, she can join us!”