Everyone's Circumstances

Friday, December 9th

Due to the nature of magic, the court magicians directly served the empress. Since magic was being kept out of the public eye for the moment, they were forced to keep its existence a secret. Even so, theirs were official positions, and the girls could freely enter the palace.

"If you are coming to see me in the middle of the day," Maki started off, "you must have brought some serious problem with you, Crimson."

"That is some greeting, Maki," Crimson replied. "I am still a government employee, so of course I'll come to you in the open."

Crimson had come to see Maki. Her coworker, Green, was with her, and they were currently in a guardroom near the palace entrance. Rather than searching for Maki all over the vast palace, Crimson had called her to the entrance.

"Well, it is certainly trouble, Navy," Green said.

"And it's something we can't talk about here?" Maki asked.

"Yes, that is how serious it is." Green nodded. She normally felt a sense of rivalry toward Maki, but not right now. Considering that Crimson was in a rush as well, Maki decided to hurry and take action.

"In that case, follow me. We can talk in my room." With that, Maki began walking, and Crimson followed right behind her.

"I'm glad you're so quick on the uptake, Maki," Crimson said.

"You always come barging in with something, so I've gotten used to it."

"And you're as sharp as always," Crimson shot back.

"By the way, Green, how is everyone doing?" Maki spun around and looked at Green, who was following slightly behind Crimson.

"They are keeping busy," she answered. "We just don't have enough people."

"Well, there's only a few of you," Maki replied.

The girls spoke while omitting the subject. Even though they were in the palace, there was no telling who was listening.

"We are getting reinforcements, but..." Green said.

"Space is vast." Maki smiled wryly. "I understand your struggle."

Since there were only a few magicians to begin with, the court magicians suffered from a constant shortage. Because of that, the girls needed to fly all over the galaxy like Koutarou and his group. As the three of them were talking about recent developments, they reached the courtyard.

"Oh, looks like they're doing something fun over there!" Crimson's eyes shone as she spotted some familiar faces in the courtyard.

"You hold the bat like this, okay?" Koutarou explained.

"Like this?" Nalfa asked nervously.

"Hold your hands the other way around," Kenji told her.

"So...like this?" Nalfa asked once more.

"You got it!" Koutarou exclaimed. He and Kenji were teaching Nalfa how to play baseball in the courtyard.

Kotori, meanwhile, was filming them. They all had their hands full with work but occasionally took breaks to move their bodies in the courtyard. That was when Crimson and the others passed by.

"All right!" Crimson gleefully ran over to the group.

This prompted Green to sigh. "Didn't we come here for a serious discussion?"

"Oh, what's the harm?" Maki asked.

The conversation was something that could wait until later in the day. It was an urgent matter but not life-threatening, so there was still time for a diversion.

"She can't be stopped when she's like this," Maki said. She didn't seem particularly upset and casually followed Crimson. If anything, she was glad to see that Crimson was the same as always. Besides, if it was something important, she would have to tell Koutarou anyway, so it wasn't a serious loss of time.

"Jeez, she's always so selfish!" Green cried.

In the end, Green relented and followed them. Although she might complain, she always ended up doing what Crimson wanted.

Nalfa wasn't the type to be proactive when it came to relationships, but she could watch the people she loved forever. Filming or streaming was an extension of that, and she found value in making records. Anything beyond that was a bonus, as with today. When she spotted Koutarou and Kenji playing catch, she simply watched them.

"Couldn't you throw some real curveballs with those psychic powers?" Kenji asked.

"I've never tried it, but I think I could," Koutarou answered.

"Why don't you try it out?"

"Okay, then watch out, Mackenzie. I've never done this before, so I don't know where the ball will go!"

"Let's see it."

Koutarou looked happy. He always had a lot of important work, so spending time with friends like this was precious. Since he was able to relax, his smile looked kinder than usual.

"Are you sure you just want to watch, Nal-chan?" Kotori asked.

"Ugh..."

Kotori's words shook Nalfa. She had the urge to go to Koutarou as well.

"But Mackenzie-sama is the only one who can bring out that expression in Koutarou-sama," Nalfa observed.

In her mind, she couldn't get Koutarou to smile like that, which was what kept her from getting closer to him. She didn't want to ruin that special smile on his face, not when he finally had a chance to relax.

But Kotori had a different opinion. "Of course not," Kotori said. "You're not my brother, Nal-chan. I'm sure Kou-niisan has a different smile that he only shows you." There should be a special smile that he only showed Nalfa. And there was no way of saying which was better or worse, so there was no need for her to compare them.

"But I like that smile..." Nalfa looked over at Koutarou and Kenji again. They really looked like they were having fun.

"Did you see the curve on that thing?! What did you do?!" Kenji exclaimed.

"I used psychic powers and imagined the ball being sucked in by my finger," Koutarou replied.

"Ah, so that increased the spin. Wouldn't you be able to throw an amazing fastball with that method?" Kenji pondered.

"I'll give it a shot," Koutarou said with a nod.

It would be impossible for Nalfa to replace Kenji and get Koutarou to smile like that. And she had a strong desire to see that smile all the time.

"Well, that kind of girly situation is something Kou-niisan would never understand," Kotori commented.

"You two came at the perfect time. Could you get in the batter's box?" Koutarou asked, having come up to the girls at some point. He put a helmet on Nalfa.

"Huh?" Nalfa exclaimed.

"Great, now it's much easier to imagine," he told her.

Pulling Nalfa by the hand, he returned to Kenji, who could guess at what Koutarou was doing and drew a line in the dirt. They were switching from playing catch to adding in a batter for a more realistic experience.

"That's Kou-niisan for you." Kotori smiled. "He won't let a girl even have the time to worry. Hahaha!" She nodded in satisfaction. Koutarou's actions had surpassed her expectations. She'd assumed that he would notice Nalfa and call her over, but he'd gotten her directly involved instead. There wasn't any time for Nalfa to worry or resist.

"Uhm?!" Somehow, Nalfa had been caught up in the scene she had been gazing at. Moreover, Koutarou's appearance was unchanged. He looked like he was enjoying himself just the same as before, giving her a serene glance from time to time.

"You hold the bat like this, okay?" he explained.

"Like this?" Nalfa asked nervously.

"Hold your hands the other way around," Kenji told her.

"So...like this?" Nalfa asked once more.

"You got it!" Koutarou exclaimed.

Nalfa stood in the makeshift batter's box, receiving a lesson from Koutarou and Kenji. She was still confused, not sure what was happening. Kotori grinned at the sight and pointed a camera at them to record the scene. She would later show the footage to Nalfa to prove that Koutarou gave her a special smile as well.

Koutarou's eighth throw flew right under the bat that Nalfa swung as hard as she could. So far, Nalfa had swung her bat three times, but as a beginner, she didn't have the skill to hit the ball. Koutarou and the others were satisfied with that, though.

"The insane backspin made the ball rise up and through the upper side of the strike zone. A normal batter would never be able to hit a ball thrown with psychic powers using the same form as a straight pitch!" Kenji said excitedly.

Koutarou's throws using his psychic powers clearly far exceeded the level of baseball pitchers.

"Well, I'm not throwing it normally either." Koutarou smiled wryly. He wasn't pitching by the rules of the sport. It was like he was doping through spiritual energy, akin to using adhesives. That said, it was a lot of fun, so it was satisfying enough.

"But maybe there're cases of ace pitchers unconsciously using psychic powers?" Kenji proposed.

"That might be possible." Koutarou nodded in agreement. He got his powers from Sanae, but there were people who had an innate talent for it, such as Sanae herself or her mother, Kanae, who was likely so...