3 idiot chapter 142

 Episode 142. Kitayama

"Finally fell asleep, huh. He really meant to stay on watch until the end."

"If he passed out this easily, that means it really must've hit him pretty hard."

Nishida-sama and Azuma-sama both looked with exasperated expressions toward my Master, who was bundled up in a blanket.

His helmet was off, but he was still clad in his armor, breathing softly in his sleep.

He must have been exhausted.

My Master is always "free."

But freedom doesn’t mean just doing whatever you want.

There are always rules, and within the boundaries of what’s been decided, he finds joy.

Even within those limits, my Master always seems tense.

As if only he has to always be there for his comrades.

Like he has to push harder than anyone else.

Maybe it’s unconscious, since he doesn’t seem to show he’s even aware of it.

Even so, those around him can tell.

That he tries harder than anyone, is more considerate of us than anyone.

And protects us more than anyone else.

"Thank you for everything, Master."

Saying that, I gently pulled the blanket back over where it had slipped off.

Normally, doing something like that would make him wake instantly.

But tonight, he didn’t move at all, just continued to breathe quietly.

"Ah, well, you see... Kou-chan and the two royals are already asleep, so this might not be the best timing, but... I think we should talk about that person the 'succubus' disguised herself as earlier."

"You might think it’s wrong to bring it up while the person in question is sleeping... but I doubt he’ll ever talk about it himself. So we’ll speak instead. So that next time something similar happens, we’ll be able to protect Kita-kun ourselves."

They were smiling, but it was a sad kind of smile.

Is it really okay?

I asked the Master once.

"Please tell me someday," I said.

Is it okay to hear that answer... from these two instead?

"A 'clan' is like a family, right? That makes us family too. And that’s why I want you to know. So that we can stay who we are, together. If Kou-chan ever looks like he’s about to break again... it’d be awful trying to say something to him without knowing anything."

"The Saintess duo might not be Hearty Eaters, but we’re still comrades… So I want you to hear it. About Kita-kun’s 'precious person.' Because they were precious to us too."

The two of them, glasses in hand, wore kind and sorrowful smiles.

"But… this kind of story should really come from the person themselves..."

[Cat girl, that’s just running away. When the time comes—when it really comes down to life or death—do you want to be fumbling for words without knowing anything? Even I can tell, the 'Hearty Eater' lives constantly on the edge. If they're offering to tell you now, then you should listen while you can.]

“...!”

I gasped without meaning to.

What if one day, one of the Masters faces mortal danger?

I don’t even want to imagine it, but what if someone dies?

At that moment, am I supposed to send them off with pretty words I don’t even understand?

What if one of the three lay dying in my arms?

Would I speak some flowery nonsense, not even knowing what they carried in their hearts?

I couldn’t take that.

If I did that… I don’t think I could forgive myself.

We’ve always lived together—anywhere, everywhere.

Even if we had to get muddy, even if we reeked of blood.

We lived together.

"Please tell me. About My Master’s past. About this 'important person' to all of you."

Don’t hesitate. Move forward.

There’s no point in fearing getting closer to them now.

A painful past? Of course they have one. Everyone does.

Even if they usually speak of the past with laughter, just for today, I will listen to their pain.

Because this is the truth that we, as “family,” have to accept—and the “past” they carry.

Then I… I want to carry it with them.

"Please… Nishida-sama, Azuma-sama. Let me hear it. The ‘wound’ my Master bears."

As I bowed my head, they gently rested their hands atop it, wearing soft smiles.

"No need to be so formal. It’s a common story… yeah. Just one of those common stories you see on TV or the internet."

"But to the person who lived it, it’s not 'common' at all. It’s something incredibly special, unique. Painful enough to make you want to scream and cry… an agonizing, heartbreaking story."

With those murmured words, they began to speak.

While sipping their drinks.

Though not one bit of them looked drunk.

……………………..

……………………..

"Hey, Kou! It’s your birthday today, right? I went all out for you!"

Our grandma, laughing loud and boisterously.

We were always over at Kou-chan’s grandma’s house, practically living there.

From elementary to high school, almost every single day.

"Grandma, usually birthdays mean cake or, like, chicken, right? What’s with the simmered fish?"

"If it tastes good, that’s all that matters! What, don’t tell me you’re tired of swordfish already? This stuff’s pretty pricey, you know! Sigh… fine then, I’ll put it away—"

"STOP! I’ll eat it! We love this stuff, you know that! And this one’s huge today! No way I’m not eating that!"

"Then dig in! You boys, it’s party time!"

“"Uweeeeii!!"”

With ridiculous energy, we tore into that massive hunk of meat.

It was delicious. It was always delicious at that house.

The food Kou-chan and his grandma made was the best.

We used to feel bad always eating there, so as kids, we even tried to bring some money for food once.

But she just smiled.

"Oh my, Nishi-boy, you must be quite rich? Did your parents give you that? Then… tuck that away in your pocket. Take the three of you and go buy yourselves some sweets."

She was the kind of person who said that with a big grin.

Someone who always told us to play, to have fun—

And to eat. Always to eat.

But—

"Did you guys get into another fight again? Good grief, honestly… Come here, I’ll get the first-aid kit."

Whenever we came home injured, she'd speak in an exasperated tone, but still worry about us a lot.

And while patching us up, she'd always say:

"I’ll keep saying this, so listen up, okay?"

We heard it more times than we could count. Enough to grow calluses in our ears.

"You’re boys—fighting’s fine. Punch and get punched. If that’s what it takes to understand another person’s pain, then that’s a cheap price to pay. There are way more people out there who don’t know what pain feels like... But you must hold back, got it? If you end up seriously injuring someone—or come home with serious injuries—I’ll give you all a real scolding, alright? And above all... never kill anyone. No matter how much you hate them, no matter how angry you get, killing is never allowed. The only time people are allowed to kill anything is when they eat. Don’t forget that."

It sounded like a contradiction.

Honestly, we thought so too.

But somehow, her words always sank straight into our hearts.

And because of that, even when we fought, we always pulled our punches.

Even if we lost because of it, even if we got all beaten up.

We never killed. Not even by accident.

Sometimes we went too far, sure.

But there were three of us.

If one went too far, the other two would stop him.

That’s how we lived.

Wild and free, doing whatever we wanted, having fun.

Maybe that rubbed people the wrong way.

Back in school, we got into fights constantly. People were always picking them with us.

Maybe that was the reason...

"Kou!"

"Huh? Grandma!? Whoa, what’s with all that stuff!?"

It was the last day of high school, on our way home.

All three of us ran toward Grandma.

Then—

"It’s your graduation gift! Geez, this is heavy… Help me carry it, will ya—"

The moment she said that...

Reality turned into something unreal.

A car came crashing in from the side.

It slammed into her, pinning her against a wall.

In the end, it turned out to be an unlicensed couple of teenagers showing off.

She just happened to be there. A tragic, unlucky accident.

"A common story."

But for the people involved, it was not something you could sum up in a few lines in the paper.

"Call an ambulance! I’m calling an ambulance! Azuma, can you do something about the car!?"

"I’ll try! Grandma!? Hang on, we’ll move it now—it’s going to be okay! I promise it’s okay!"

While Azuma and I scrambled to act, only Kou-chan stood there, frozen.

His graduation certificate dropped from his hand. His bag slid from his shoulder.

Then—

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

"Kou-chan! Wait!"

"Kita-kun, no! Not now!"

Kou-chan charged straight at the driver, who was getting out of the car, shaking his head.

He threw a punch with everything he had.

It was the kind of blow that made us think, he’s really going to kill him.

Not the usual Kou-chan—we could feel it.

The moment I saw that, a chill ran down my spine.

This is bad.

He probably wouldn’t stop until the guy was dead.

Right when I thought that—

"Kou! Stop!"

Her voice rang out, strong and clear, and Kou’s fist froze in midair.

"…Didn’t I tell you? You’re only allowed to kill when it’s for food… Otherwise—ghk—only if it’s the only way to protect someone. If you wanna look cool… then at least then, go all out."

The person we were holding in our arms was raising her voice with all the strength she had left.

Coughing up blood, barely breathing, in so much pain.

"Grandma!"

Kou-chan, who had stopped his punch just in time, ran over to us and leaned over her.

It was already too late.

We could tell—her body was too damaged.

How could something like this happen?

This woman, who had always smiled so brightly and loved us, even though we were a bunch of stupid kids...

Why did she have to die in a “common accident”?

Even as our uniforms were soaked in her blood, we leaned in to listen to her last words.

"You guys... you’re not very good at it, you know… living. But the three of you together—you can live. You can enjoy it. And when you bring more people into your lives… more possibilities open up. It’s not so bad, really. Family, that is..."

None of us really had good memories of “family.”

I was treated like a screw-up. Azuma had it rough too.

And as for Kou-chan… his family had abandoned him. That’s why he lived with Grandma in the first place.

That’s how little connection we had to the idea of "family."

"Live well… you idiots. You’re my… precious—"

“Family.”

She never got to say it aloud.

But we heard it.

Not just Kou-chan.

Grandma said it to me and Azuma too.

She recognized us as her "family."

And that made us so incredibly happy—and just as overwhelmingly sad.

Because in that moment...

It felt like our world had ended.

That day, we—

We lost our family.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

"Kou-chan, stop! Grandma wouldn’t want this!"

"No, Kita-kun! You can’t kill him!"

Maybe this is Kou-chan’s “binding.”

"Don’t kill."

If you have to kill to protect someone.

Or—

If it’s to eat.

Aside from that, never kill.

That’s why our leader hates killing.

Especially when it comes to people.

Even in this new world where the rules are completely different, we once discussed it seriously.

Shouldn’t we learn to kill people if necessary?

But in the end, he couldn’t do it.

Even when others pointed weapons at him without hesitation, he’d raise his fists instead of a blade.

To avoid killing.

That’s who our leader is.

Kitayama Kouta.

He doesn’t kill anyone.

No, he can’t.

The only things he can kill are monsters—creatures of pure malice—or food.

Only if killing them means saving someone else.

Unless it comes to that, Kou-chan will never kill.

That’s why we have to support him.

The one who charges ahead so honestly.

The one who reaches out a hand to everyone.

The only ones who can truly support him...

Are us—his family.

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