Sugar Sweet
Translator: Reo
Editor: Cale
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Part 5 – Lemon Candy Magic
Chapter 16 – The Key
Sui had work the next day. Despite being completely used to the job by now, he went through the morning nervous that Azul would drop by again.
Taking Red’s health into account, Sui had him take a break from making sweets, which was why today’s snack was the rice crackers that Kasa liked and often bought. They decided to eat the crackers together.
“He came over, that man,” Sui told Kasa what happened yesterday as they ate.
“So you found out, huh? That Red’s a magician,” Kasa said, biting down on the cracker as if annoyed. “Just when we finally got our stories straight.”
“Now that I think back on it, your story had a lot of holes, didn’t it?”
“Should I block that cruel mouth of yours~?”
Sui was going to point out Kasa’s bad habit but a shrimp-flavored cracker was stuffed into his mouth. The lightly fried shrimp and salt cracker was crispy and delicious. He chewed and swallowed.
“In the end, wasn’t I trying to tell the truth without revealing too much? And you believed my story too.”
“Well… Speaking of which, how much of that was true?”
“The stuff about magic wasn’t a lie. Rather, the only lie I told you was… when I agreed that Red is a regular human? Also, it’s true that the last time a regular human came to Akebi was over twenty years ago, it just wasn’t Red. I’m pretty good at lying, no?” Kasa said with a self-satisfied look and stuffed another cracker in his mouth.
“I wonder how I could help. I think it would be nice if Red-san and his father made up, but, truthfully, he doesn’t seem like the type of person who would listen to what other people have to say.”
Kasa nodded, a meek look on his face.
“You’re right about that~ Actually, rather than getting them to reconcile, it’d be harder to get Red to leave this town and live over there. Anyway, Yizul-san will have to pull some strings as well.”
Speaking of which, the name Yizul had come up yesterday as well when Red and his father were talking.
“Yizul-san?”
“Red’s uncle. Azul-san’s younger brother governs Akebi, you see.”
“The uncle seems like an impressive person.”
“Well his dad is like that too, but Red’s aunt is involved in politics and his grandfather is one of the top professors at the magic school… well, in one way or another, it’s a family full of influential people. That’s why Red doesn’t want to get involved with them… except for his dad, mom, and uncle, I guess. It was peaceful when his mom was still alive. After she died, he and his dad became completely estranged. And with his uncle Yizul-san… they just barely seem to keep in and out of touch. Yizul-san is the black sheep of that family. Maybe, I mean, I’m sure that he’ll like you, Sui-kun.”
“He doesn’t hate regular humans?”
“The exact opposite. It’s just that if he gave them preferential treatment, it would cause yet another problem. You know, that man, he said that the reason he stays in Akebi despite having such overwhelming power is that it’s fun.”
“Fun?”
“Uh-huh. Roughly speaking, he evaluates everything by whether it’s fun or not. He’s only interested in things that are fun. That’s why if he thinks that Red leaving this town would be fun, he’ll kick him out no matter what. He’s that kind of person.”
“That’s kind of… how do I say it? A pain.”
“I know, right? He’s not a bad person, but I just can’t deal with him.”
There were no more crackers left in the bowl, so Kasa opened a new packet. It was labeled “Sugar Rice Crackers”.
“I highly recommend this one! Eat, eat.”
At Kasa’s urging, Sui brought the cracker laden with white sugar to his lips. It broke in his mouth like a regular rice cracker but the melting sweetness added to the texture and the saltiness.
“Delicious.”
“Right!?” Kasa smiled triumphantly. “Hey, Sui-kun, you said that the sunrise in Akebi is beautiful and that you like it, right?”
It was from the conversation they had when he had first met Kasa.
“You know, that sunrise is the origin of Akebi’s name. But a sunrise isn’t only made up of vermillion. The purple of the night and the yellow peeking through the cracks, all the colors come together and overlap creating a beautiful sunrise. It’s like these crackers – sugar and salt are combined, creating a delicious cracker.”
An almost addicting salty-sweet flavor spread in Sui’s mouth.
“It would be nice if this was a world where all colors and flavors could live together in harmony.”
“Yeah, I think so too.” Kasa drank from the bitter and refreshing green tea, cleansing his palate, and reached out for another cracker.
“Anyway, we should go see Yizul-san tomorrow… well, Red probably already thought about that. Even if he doesn’t give us preferential treatment, just having Sui-kun there will give us a bit of an advantage. Cause you’re fun.” Kasa grinned.
With the salty-sweet crackers almost gone, their snack break would soon be over.
Ah, Sui recalled the thing he kept forgetting to ask.
“Kasa-san, I’d like to ask you something about the picture book Hansel and Gretel.”
“About Hansel and Gretel?”
“There was a photo in-between the pages. Also, I think that one of the people in that photo is my grandmother.”
“What? Really?”
The two went down to the library and found the book.
“This here.” Sui showed Kasa the photo and took his grandmother’s pendant out of his backpack. “It’s the same, right?”
“Yeah, it’s definitely the same pendant,” Kasa confirmed with his discerning eyes.
Sui believed the person in the photo was his grandmother.
“I was wondering if the girl next to her, with the matching pendant, is the friend my grandmother mentioned in her will.”
Kasa put a finger to his chin.
“Wait. This is-”
“What’s wrong?”
“Hey… Sui-kun? Did Red tell you about how his mom died?”
“Um, just that it was an accident.”
“Yes. It was definitely an accident, but the details…” Kasa’s blue eye bore a hole through Sui. “You might be the key to solving this.”
When work was over, Sui returned to the house. Slowly but surely, Red’s health seemed to be improving. Sui was going to make dinner, but Red had beaten him to it, saying that he could at least do that much.
“Tomorrow I’m going to the Akebi town hall,” Red said after they finished their meal.
It was probably to meet with his uncle, just as Kasa had said.
“I heard about your uncle from Kasa-san.”
“Sorry… for using you like a bargaining chip.”
“No, I just hope I can be helpful in some way, but… will your uncle manage to persuade him?”
“He… probably could, but if my dad was the kind of person that backed down because of something like that, I wouldn’t be having such a hard time.”
“Right.”
As a magician, Red had lived a much longer life than Sui. And it seemed that Red’s father, Azul, had been carrying these feelings for thirty years.
“Red-san.”
“Yeah?”
“Would you accept me? No matter how many secrets I have or how many lies I’ve told?”
“Sounds like you’re insinuating something…” Red gave a bitter laugh.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know – it was a joke. Of course I’d accept you. Why are you asking all of a sudden?”
“I just felt like asking is all.”
“You might be the key to solving this.”
If that was the case. If that was true…
“Red-san, if this whole thing is resolved without a problem, I’d like you to listen to a request of mine.”
“Isn’t saying something like that the same as raising a flag?” Red sighed as if exasperated. “Well, not that I mind.” He nodded and flashed Sui a smile.
Even if it’s just a little bit, I’ll do my best to give you back all the happiness that you’ve given me.