Chapter 83

November 6th, AD 2095 / Yotsuba Main House - Drawing room

Tatsuya, who had been looking out the window until now, suddenly looked over at the doorway.

While the house seemed like a traditional Japanese house on the outside, the inside was an unscrupulous compromise between east and west. An appropriate description may be a Japanese-Western style mansion. The rooms were either purely Japanese or purely Western.

This drawing room—the 'audience hall', was Western style. The wallpaper, ceiling, floor and windows, along with the lighting and furniture were all Western.

The doorway had a wooden door.

As Tatsuya stared, a knocking noise sounded from that door.

Miyuki said 'come in' while still seated on the sofa, and a voice replied 'excuse me' as the door opened. Wearing an apron over a kimono, a 'maid' appeared. ...

According to the image of the house, perhaps 'meido' would have been more appropriate, but it was difficult to get past that anachronistic impression.

That 'maid' bowed deeply, before standing aside. A man wearing a suit stood behind her.

That man was someone Tatsuya knew very well.

Miyuki covered her mouth with a hand. It seemed to have dropped open of its own accord.

While not to the same extent as Tatsuya, Miyuki also tentatively knew this man.

As the man entered the room the maid bowed again, before leaving and closing the door without any explanation. It seems that she had only been a guide.

"It's been while, Tatsuya. Well, actually I guess it's only been a week."

"Major... why are, no, you were called by our aunt, right?"

Asking for a reason, Tatsuya swapped the 'question' for a 'statement' halfway through. There's no reason for Kazama to visit the Yotsuba, so conversely, it was obvious the reason he was here was because he had been called.

"That is correct. However, I had not heard that you'd be attending as well."

"…..I am sorry."

The one who had apologized was Miyuki, who had stood up the moment Kazama entered the room.

Kazama had simply been stating a fact. He was not small-minded enough to be upset over such a trivial matter.

Knowing that Tatsuya had simply shrugged, but Miyuki could not so easily put aside the bungling of her relatives.

"It is not something to be concerned over."

Kazama and Miyuki did not have much correspondence.

In fact, they had never met without Tatsuya also being present.

Which was why Kazama, in the presence of a third party, was not quite as frank with Miyuki as he would normally be with Tatsuya. Nevertheless, being in Tatsuya's presence all the time, he couldn't help but think of her as simply 'Tatsuya's little sister'.

Still, while the number of times they have met is not as much, she had first met him at the same time as Tatsuya.

Their acquaintance with Kazama sprung from the events of three years ago.