"Wait can you repeat that?"

"There is nothing wrong internally and it seems that the person providing medical aid to you has done quite well

But you had recently had hit your head on some hard walls so there is a chance that you might develop a concussion, so we suggest you at least take a week to 2 weeks to rest yourself and not do any intense activities in case it worsens"

The doctor really repeated what she had just told Itsuki without missing a beat, which made Itsuki think

"Damn he really repeated his sentence without changing anything"

The Itsuki continued her inquiry and asked

"Is there anything else I can do during this period if I abstain from doing any battles?

Am I still allowed to train magic or do solo training with my weapons?

Because there are some really important competitions for me coming up so I don't want to waste my time recovering"

The doctor put down the clipboard they were holding and looked Itsuki dead in the eye and said

"I honestly think you should not do anything that will strain your body if you do not want to suddenly feel any negative effects  for your important battle"

Itsuki hung her head and seemed very disappointed

The doctor seeing this sighed and continued

"Well it is not that you can't do anything during your break, it is fine for you to do normal training that does not involve you fighting against someone, but I still think you should avoid anything that is too taxing on your body and head

If you want to train your magic it is also a good idea since just practising using your magic should not have any damage to your body, so I would suggest focusing on this aspect if you are someone who plans on using more magic

And most importantly this can also serve as a good downtime for your body to rest snd recover from all the wear and tear it had suffered these few days, and who knows you might even be in a peak condition and get an unexpectedly good result in the battle you are training for 

So be a good kid and don't do anything that will jeopardize your health much more

If there are no other questions then that is for me, I can write you a doctor's letter in case you need to take any breaks"

Itsuki seemed a bit more positive when the doctor said she could still do some solo practice or train with magic during her break due to the concussion, so she immediately started to brainstorm some schedule for her practice for the upcoming mock battle

She then said

"I have no other questions and thank you for your help, doctor

I will be taking more care of myself during this break"

She stood up and bowed to the doctor before leaving the room and waiting in the waiting area of the medical facilities

After a minute the nurse called her name and she went over to the counter to receive a doctor's note and some recovery medicines to help her recover better before her mock battle in the coming week

Then after thanking the nurse she left in order to go to the class and make it in time for the upcoming lesson

As our protagonist makes her way to the classroom let's move back the time a little and switch our focus to a certain black-haired samurai

The sun rises in another area in the district where Itsuki and Yuuna's dorm was located, and in an Eastern style housing a certain person is turning left and right in their bed as the sunlight enters the room

As the alarm of the person sleeping rang, the person who was sleeping soundly suddenly stood up and got out of bed while going to check her Personal Device in order to make sure that there was not anything that she missed while also turning off the alarm that was blaring loudly

She smiled a bit while looking at her screen and then went to tidy her bed after making sure to turn off the alarm

After finishing tidying her bed she gave one last look over and opened the door to get prepared for the school day ahead of her

As she left the room she smelled food being cooked in the kitchen and saw a woman with long black hair cooking in the kitchen and the table with some empty plates showing that someone had already eaten and left for their duties for the day

As she walked closer, the person cooking seemed to have heard her ad turned back to look at her

"Good morning, Nozomu and you are right on time, I was planning on waking you up after I finished this but I guess I did not have to"

"Morning mom, am I right in thinking that the person who was here and finished eating before me was mother?

But she usually does not leave for work this early and isn't today your anniversary today with her, I will be sure to stay out late if you two are planning on anything at home 

But please don't take too long, because I don't want to stay out of the house for too long"

Nozomu said jokingly

She suddenly had to catch a sheath that was thrown to her

And she turned to look at her mom who was cooking and staring at her angrily with a visage of a demon behind her

"Oops my hand slipped"

"That's a lie"

Nozomu thought as she put down the sheath that was thrown at her

"I am lucky that it was not a sword that she threw at me"

"Now go ahead and get freshened up while I get your breakfast ready"

"Roger"

Nozomu went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get freshened up

And after finishing she went out to the table and got ready to eat

Once she got settled Nozomu continued the earlier topic

"Jokes aside, she went out really early today, is it related to the recent slew of incidents where people were attacked by those weird creatures?"

Nozomu's mom nodded and said

It seems there was one near this district as well, so she went out early in order to see if there are anyone with clues regarding the incidents and also to set up the patrolling routes and teams around the district

But she forgot her lunch, so could you take it to her once you are leaving for school"

Nozomu nodded and said

"Hopefully, the ongoing incident wont take too long and affect the timing for your 10 ears anniversary"

Nozomu's mom nodded and said

"Even if it did I would not really mind since this incident is more important and we can just arrange another date to do this"

But Nozomu could the slightly sad face her mom was making and thought to herself 

"That's a lie"

After she finished and said

"It will be fine, we are talking about the stubborn childhood friend of yours who waited for you for this long and got her hand in marriage, I am sure she will do her best to make time for the important day today"

Once she finished eating her breakfast she took her dishes to the sink while looking at her mom's embarrassed face and smiling slightly

"I probably should not tell her that I saw mother spending so much time online and agonizing about where to take her for their anniversary

Since I did promise her that I would not tell mom when I stumbled upon her doing the search while I was getting up to get something to drink at night

I can't believe it has already been 10 years since they got married huh, honestly I can't believe it took this long, from what I have been hearing from the elders of the clan"

Nozomu thought to herself while she was cleaning the dishes

(Back to the past)

Nozomu was born to the Miyamoto heiress, Miyamoto Chiyo and her boyfriend of that time but once he discovered she was pregnant he left and was not seen again in the household again

Although the Miyamoto family did not abandon her and instead called her back to the main house in order to rest and made sure the birth was not affected, they were not really able to heal the mental wounds that were caused to her by her former lover's abandonment

The only source of happiness for her came in the form of her childhood friend, Shimamoto Mayumi who was from the Shimamoto family and served as the bodyguards of the Miyamoto family

She was there before the birth and took care of Chiyo to make sure there were no external factors that would affect the birth and after the birth to make sure there would be someone protecting the child and mother

Even people who were generally dense could see that these two were developing feelings for each other, although in Mayumi's case she had an unrequited feeling towards Chiyo from a young age

At first, when she heard about the incident that led to Chiyo's return to the main house, she nearly took the Shimamoto Hankyu Archers to hunt down the one who broke her heart, but the clan leader stopped her 

Since the plan of the hunt was called off, she instead chose to stay by her side and help her recover and take care of Nozomu

When Nozomu was two, they moved back to the Empire and moved into the current place where they were living and Chiyo instead declined her role in succession and named her younger cousin to take her place in the path until Nozomu was fit to take the role

Once they moved back to the Empire, Mayumi took up a post at the current Security Office where she is currently working, while Chiyo worked as a part-time kendo instructor in various schools

And it was when Nozomu was 5 that, they even thought about marriage

While Mayumi got the blessing from the Miyamoto family to go ahead and marry Chiyo, she was still thinking about the perfect timing to propose and her density also made it so that she was not sure if her feelings were reciprocated by Chiyo

But she did not have to go through that thinking process, since a few months after Nozomu's 5th birthday, Chiyo proposed to her at home and told her she wanted to spend her life together 

And they had their wedding back at the main house and have been in a loving marriage for ten years already, it could have been more if they were not that dense

And that was what most people including Nozomu thought when they really went through with their marriage and its something that she still thinks about nowadays

Mayumi is also the reason why Nozomu developed an interest in bow wielders as she usually thinks of them as heroes of justice or protectors after how Mayumi had taken care of her and her mother after the abandonment of her birth father. which also indirectly led to her not being able to see men as romantic targets or friends with an exception of few

And that was when she met a certain archer for the first time, who first gained her interest due to her sharp looks and sparkling golden hair

Once she found out she was a bow wielder, it made her interest in her grow since she was curious about what type of person she was and wanted to be closer to her without being too creepy

While she was thinking about how to get closer to her, the chance came in the form of her first friend in the school, Itsuki and her close relationship with Yuuna gave them the chance to walk home together since they are going home on the same way

The day after the appraisal ceremony all four of them went to the movie store after Itsuki seemed to have an epiphany after Nozomue scared her while she was trying something at school

And since Nozomu did not have anything special to do she went along with them in hopes of also learning more about the golden-haired archer who caught her eye

Once they entered the store Itsuki already broke off and went to look for some videos that would catch her eye, and Nozomu realized that she went into the Horror movie zone which was something Nozomu was not a fan of so instead she choose to stay behind and see where the other went

It seems the plan, in the end, was just spreading apart and looking for things they would like so they did that and planned on meeting after a while

Since Nozomu was not only not a fan of Horror movies, she did not watch movies at all so it was awkward at first for her to look around the movie store where it was full of shows she did not know or liked

And thus she just hung around and acted like she was browsing the catalogue

But that was when she found something that she was interested in at the store

While looking around the store aimlessly

She found the music section which she did not expect to be since she thought that the store only sold movies

But since she was already here she thought that she should look for the CDs of artists she liked and listen to them to pass the time

And after looking for a few seconds she found the newest album of the group she had been following for a long time, Artemis

As she was reaching for the album, another hand reached was reaching for the same CD and they both touched the CD at the same time

Both Nozomu and the other person reflexively moved back once they realized someone else was touching the same CD in order to let the other take the CD first

Nozomu also turned to see who was the one reaching for that CD, and she turned to find out that the person was none other than Mizuki who she wanted to know more about

While she was thinking in her mind about what did she want to say, Mizuki was the one who initiated the conversation first

Mizuki turned and asked

"This was a surprise but do you also listen to this band often?"

Nozomu shook off her nerves and said

"Yes yes I do, I listened to them back when they first debut back when I was in my first year of middle school, at first I just thought they looked cool and wanted to see what type of music they would be making

But once I listened to their debut song, Silver Arrow I fell in love and started to listen to their other songs as well and now years later I am still a hardcore fan

And it was by chance that I saw their new single, Aloadae and thought why not give it a listen

Is it the same for you?"

Nozomu asked curiously 

Mizuki nodded and said

"Back when I was in middle school, I was looking for a new band to follow after my favourite band broke up during my summer break, and it took me quite some time since I was not able to find any band that could match my music taste and that was when I found the band advertisement for Artemis, and I immediately found what I was looking for 

And now I am a longtime fan since then, and it seems we shared the same idea since I went and picked up the CD that was on the shelves, but I was really surprised to find someone who liked them

You know I tried to push their music to Yuuna back when we were in middle school but she did not listen to them at all and was just mainly focused on raising her battle strength since she was the Queen of the school but still it was boring to only gush about the group alone

Not that she is not a good friend, mind you, she did help me out a lot, but it's still great to have someone close by to talk about them" 

While listening to her talk, the only thing that was going on in Nozomu's mind was

"How can this girl be so cute and adorable while gushing about the band she loves

How lucky am I to find someone that is close to me and shares an interest in the same band as me?

Is this how Itsuki felt when she first saw Yuuna as well"

While she was still in a daze, Mizuki waved her in front of her eyes and made her snap out of her daze

And Nozomu came to reality to see an adorable creature staring at her

"Ah yes I got what you said, and I agree as well

Would you like to listen to it first, since I can just find another headphone to listen to the song"

As she was handing the CD to Mizuki to listen to the song first, Mizuki stopped the CD from reaching her hand and pointed to the surrounding area where they were and said

"Take a look around, it seems most of the spots have already been taken by the other people so it would take a long time for you to find another spot

So why don't we take a listen to their new single together, since this is an overhead headset and we can easily share each side of the earphones so that we can listen to the song without any problem

Nozomu looked around to affirm Mizuki's statement, and when Mizuki suggested that they could listen to the song together the only thing she thought was

"The only problem there would be is in my heart but I should probably take up that offer to not make it too awkward"

Nozomu nodded and took the CD to put it in the disc slot to play the music, once making sure the CD was in she took both of the earphones and handed on to Mizuki

As she put in the earbuds, the music came on and the warm sensation next to her also came closer due to the short length of the cords of the earphones

And for three minutes, she was assaulted by the amazing music in her ears and also the warm feeling of the person standing next to her

But thankfully, she was still able to focus on the music even with the warm body temperature of the person next to her

And as the song finished, she took off her earphones while waiting for the sensation next to her to move away much to her disappointment but instead when happened was the person next to her got even closer and even clasped her hands

"Wah what what"

Was what was being said in her head over and over

"This song was sooooo good, they even went back to their old style with some elements of the new style mixed into it, and not only did it not mess up the song it even enhance the whole feeling"

While Nozomu agreed with what was being said, she was not able to say anything since another phrase was being said in her head

"Do all girls have such soft hands"

And after that sentence, she snapped out of it and thought to herself

"Wait I am also a girl"

And after snapping out of yet another daze, she said

"I agree with that, I was always a fan of their old style but the way they enhance their old style with the new musical elements made me gain so much appreciation for their new style as well

All in all, they never disappoint as always"

Mizuki also nodded and agreed

After that, they spend some time looking for more songs to listen to while waiting for Itsuki to finish and even exchanging contacts in the process

And after that afternoon after exchanging contact information, they spent all night chatting about the band and other things they love

Although Nozomu accidentally fell asleep while chatting, the morning she woke up to see that Mizuki had said goodnight to her which made her smile 

(Back to present)

After finishing preparing for the day while reminiscing about yesterday and last night she went back out to the living room and waited for her mom to bring out the lunchbox so that she can go deliver it on her way to the academy

Her mom brought out two lunchboxes, one slightly larger than the other

"I am still surprised by the fact how much mother can eat, but she will probably make me do some hellish training if she hears me say this so I am not going to say anything"

Her mom slightly giggled as she heard the statement by Nozomu

"I will keep it a secret, stay safe on the way to school"

"Alright I will see you later at night or I will just find someplace else to stay at tonight in order to not disturb you two"

Nozomu said while smirking and she did not let her mother quip back before leaving for the academy and closing the door