Reborn in Type-Moon: Starting by Adopting Sakura - Chapter 12

Misaya had finally quieted down and stopped pestering him and Manaka, and Yuu noticed that familiar warmth creeping back into Manaka's expression. It was a relief, honestly.

When he'd first arrived in Tokyo a year ago, he'd known immediately that there was something fundamentally different about Sajyou Manaka.

Most people understood the world through opposites. Beauty meant something because ugliness existed. Good had meaning because evil provided the contrast. Without those reference points, the world would just be shapeless noise that made no sense to anyone.

Manaka had been born without any of that. Beauty and ugliness, right and wrong—none of those distinctions seemed to register with her. It wasn't that she couldn't tell the difference; it was more like those concepts had never formed in her mind to begin with. From the day she was born, she'd somehow understood everything about the world without needing to learn it piece by piece like everyone else.

She was like looking at something sacred that had somehow ended up trapped in an ordinary human body. When they'd first met, Yuu could see that in Manaka's world, there were no rules, no lines you weren't supposed to cross. She existed in some kind of perfect state that should have been impossible for someone walking around in the real world.

He'd known from the start that getting mixed up with her would lead to all kinds of trouble he couldn't even begin to predict.

So he'd tried to keep his distance. But she'd followed him anyway, patient and persistent in that unsettling way of hers.

Then, last Christmas Eve, everything had changed. Even with a knife buried in his chest and blood spreading across the snow, Yuu had pulled her into his arms and told her he'd be her teacher. He'd promised to help her find a way to live like everyone else.

They'd spent that night sitting together on Tokyo Tower, watching the city lights twinkle below as the new year began.

Six months later, it was obvious she'd figured out how to move through the human world without setting off alarms everywhere she went.

As breakfast wound down, Yuu found his thoughts drifting to Sakura's education. Teaching her magecraft was important, sure, but so was letting her have a normal childhood. There was a delicate balance to strike—she needed to understand her abilities and learn to control them, but she also deserved to experience all the ordinary things that made growing up worthwhile.

This was the only time in her life she'd get to worry about things like pop quizzes and school festivals, to make friends who had no idea that magecraft existed, to feel nervous about whether someone might like her back or excited about a field trip to the zoo. All those small, seemingly insignificant moments that adults looked back on with fondness—those were the building blocks of a real childhood.

Yuu had seen too many young mages who'd been pushed into their studies so early that they'd never learned how to just be kids. They grew up feeling disconnected from the rest of the world, unable to relate to anyone who hadn't been raised in the same rarefied atmosphere of old mysteries and bloodline politics. It was a lonely way to live.

He should know. Walking through the Clock Tower these days felt like moving through a museum—all those centuries-old halls and traditions that had once seemed so important now struck him as hollow somehow. Even sitting in university lecture halls, surrounded by students who still believed their studies mattered in some grand sense, he felt like he was watching everything from behind glass.

But Sakura still had that spark of wonder that made the ordinary world seem magical all on its own. He wanted to protect that for as long as possible.

"Manaka."

"Yes, Master?" She poured green tea into a cup and placed it in front of him without making a sound.

"Ayaka, your sister—she's about the same age as Sakura, isn't she?"

"Ayaka? She's already in elementary school," Manaka replied, setting down the teapot.

That old already? Yuu did some quick math in his head. Sakura was probably still a little too young for first grade.

"I could hire a private tutor for her," Misaya offered from her spot on the sofa, straightening her posture like she was presenting a business proposal.

She was only four years younger than Manaka and would be starting middle school in a couple of years. Misaya figured she'd get along just fine with Sakura—the girl would be her future sister-in-law, after all. Since Sakura had been adopted into Yuu's household, Misaya didn't see her as any kind of competition. There was no chance of losing her fiancé to a little kid.

No need for a private tutor. And kindergarten wasn't necessary either. Yuu had decided it would be best to handle Sakura's early education himself, at least when it came to the fundamentals of magecraft. Later on, she could attend the same elementary school as Misaya. Since the Reiroukan family held positions on the school's board of directors, dealing with any magecraft-related incidents that might arise would be relatively straightforward.

After they finished breakfast and had some time to relax, Yuu made what seemed like a brilliant decision at the time: he would take all three girls to Tokyo Disneyland.

The theme park was quite a journey from their location, situated in Maihama, Urayasu, on the eastern side of central Tokyo. Unfortunately, the reality of the experience fell far short of what Yuu had imagined. The crowds were absolutely overwhelming, pressing in from all directions and making it difficult to enjoy anything. Both Misaya and Manaka seemed miserable, though they tried not to complain too much. But honestly, as long as they were spending time with Yuu, the specific location didn't matter nearly as much as simply being together.

The following day, Yuu decided to try a different approach and took them to explore Shinjuku Gyoen and Ueno Park instead. These locations proved to be much more pleasant, offering the kind of peaceful, refined atmosphere that suited their group better. The only disappointing thing was the timing—since it was early summer, there weren't any cherry blossoms to be seen. Yuu couldn't help thinking it would have been wonderfully poetic to have Sakura standing beneath the sakura trees in full bloom.

After those two days of exploring Tokyo together, Sakura had begun to settle into the rhythm of life in Yuu's household. As for the relationship between Misaya and Manaka, well, that had supposedly improved considerably. Though if Yuu was being completely honest with himself, not really.

Before they knew it, Monday had arrived, bringing with it the return to normal routines. Misaya needed to get back to attending school, and Yuu found himself accepting commission work once again. Considering Sakura's future involvement in the magical arts, it had become important to start building up their savings.

It wasn't that his workshop lacked valuable resources—quite the opposite, actually. The space was practically overflowing with priceless materials, and even the most ordinary-looking item tucked away in some corner could probably be sold for an incredible sum. But the problem was that he couldn't simply convert all of these magical treasures into the kind of everyday currency that would be useful for regular expenses.