verdantgrove | Unification by Force - Seamless Composure

Location: Hanging Garden

Kuro: ……

(...Agh, shit! What the hell am I doing?! This is just plain shameful!)

(“Taking out my anger”, huh. ‘Cause nothing you say is ever wrong, right… Hasumi.)

(I used to hate that about you, way back when… But he’s got nothin’ but sound arguments. It was like gettin’ lectured by a teacher.)

(But if anyone and everyone can start heading down the right life path through a little change of attitude, there’s no point in all that.)

(This isn’t straight out of an old Buddhist tale, though. There’s gonna be guys who just can’t get themselves to go down the right path, even if they want to.)

(My mom was like Hasumi too. Felt like she was always scolding me.)

(“You look like a mess— fix your hair.” “Put anythin’ you used back where it belongs.” “Stop hitting Icchan.” Stuff like that.)

(So it did make me kinda nostalgic. Not to mention that’s the kind of thing that drew me to Hasumi back then when I was so unstable.)

(I promised I’d keep my childhood friend safe, and when I broke that promise, my only choice back then was to turn back to the violence I swore I’d given up for good.)

(Then I saw Hasumi, how stable he was, and I clung to him like a bratty kid you can’t wean off its mom’s milk.)

(He was always tellin’ me what the right thing to do was, so I ended up relyin’ on him so much that I couldn’t even think for myself anymore.)

(It was just easier that way— huh, Mom?)

(I’m ashamed of myself… Everyone’s always talkin’ me up, callin’ me the strongest in the whole school, actin’ like I’m a tough guy… But I really haven’t grown up at all.)

(But Hasumi’s always right, so he tells me off for that too. Told me to “just give it some thought”...)

(I’m stupid, but that’s no excuse. I gotta put these brain cells my parents gave me to proper use.)

(But… I’m still bad at thinking anything through right. So I always ran back to violence— it was easy.)

(...Even takin’ all that into account, maybe it’d be easier in a way if I could fight back instead, like that idiot Mikejima.)

(If I went back to actin’ all high and mighty, I’d just make everyone who thought I was a good guy look at me with frowns on their faces— yeah, I’d just hate that.)

(Man, Mikejima… Why’d ya do it?)

Souma: Kiryuu-dono!

Kuro: ...Whoa, don’t scare me like that, Kanzaki.

...Did ya go to school today?

Souma: Fufu. Do not ask such a thing of me every time we meet, Kiryuu-dono. I am quite diligently attending my classes as of late, so do let your spirits be at ease.

Kuro: Ah, sorry for naggin’ you like this… Looks like that bad habit of lecturing that Hasumi’s got has rubbed off on me too.

Souma: Whatever do you mean? It brings me great joy to know that you are concerned for my well-being. It is because you love and care for me that you are harsh with me; simply spewing sugar-coated falsities would be no demonstration of affection at all.

Kuro: Haha. Ya really are a good kid, ya know? What have ya been eating to grow up so nice?

Souma: Hmm, I suppose I do eat plenty of fish?

Kuro: Ooh, okay. Gotta eat more fish then, don’t I?

Souma: If you would truly like to, I would be more than glad to treat you. My field of expertise in regards to cooking is seafood, after all.

—Oh my. It was not my intent to become so engrossed in small talk— I have not come here to discuss cooking with you, Kiryuu-dono.

Kuro: Really? Kind of a bummer; I wanted to keep at it. Add to my repertoire, and all that.

My sister’s startin’ to whine lately about how my old man’s not all that great at cooking.

I don’t want her usin’ that as an excuse to go out to eat and get caught up in nightlife, so I wanna share some of your tips with my dad when I head back home.

He doesn’t even know the first thing about seasonin’ food, let alone anything else.

But I guess that’s just life. My dad’s workin’ to support our family, so I swore I’d take care of the housework for him.

It’s real shitty of me to go back on a promise like that now… But well, it’s all my fault that my dad never learned how to handle housework— I was so stubborn about pickin’ it up.

Souma: Hmm. In that case, I presume your father must be struggling quite terribly at the moment, what with you being away from home.

Kuro: Yup. My sister’s been tryin’ to help him out as much as she can, but it’s a lot of work. They told me that I was supposed to move into the ES dorms really last minute, too—

When I really just wanted to stay livin’ in my parents’ home forever.

But food and utility expenses are tight, and I eat a lot. So with me bein’ in the dorms like this instead of back home, it gets a lot easier to handle money.

Souma: Hmm. You are enduring quite considerable hardships indeed, Kiryuu-dono.

Kuro: Heh. It’s in the name1. Well, you’re a rich kid, so you probably don’t understand where I’m comin’ from.

Souma: Though my family may be wealthy, I would truly like to sympathize with you if such worries and hardships plague you so.

At the very least, I would like to refrain from assuming that I will not understand from the very beginning. I would also like to avoid renouncing my attempts to understand as a result of such an assumption.

It is precisely because I have so long been content with my comfortable position that I have been so blind to even the hardships we face as Akatsuki.

Though it may be far too late for me to do so at this point, I would truly like to understand.

Kuro: Haha. Might not actually be true that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but I was just thinkin’ the same thing.

We’ve ended up forcin’ Hasumi to do all the thinkin’ here. Three heads are better than two, or however that saying goes, but there’s no point in havin’ three people if two of ‘em can’t think for themselves.

That’d be no different than doin’ it alone. At that point, there’s no need to come together as a unit.

Well, Akatsuki was originally supposed to disband after we put an end to the conflict, but we just kept on going.

But I feel like we’re startin’ to wear out— or maybe it’s that we’re just not fit for the times.

We as Akatsuki were the blades of the revolution. We were a militant faction. But now everythin’ seems so peaceful on the surface, and we just look out of place totin’ swords around on our waists.

Souma: ……

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TL Notes:

1: The word Souma uses for “hardships” is kurou, which is homonymous with Kuro’s name (Kurou when romanized alternatively.)

Proofread by allegiantheart and Amagiiz.

Unification by Force - Seamless Composure - 3