| Chapter 43 | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Chapter Information | ||
| Kanji | 第43話 | |
| Rōmaji | dai 43 wa | |
| Page Count | 41 Pages | |
| Volume Number | Volume 10 | |
| Chapter Navigation | ||
Chapter 42 |
Chapter 44 | |
| List of Akagami no Shirayukihime Chapters | ||
Summary
Five years prior to the current story-arc Kiki goes to see her father, who is cleaning a sword and informs her someone has asked for her hand in marriage, and that he's turned them down on her behalf. He then goes off on a tangent talking about Hisame, how Kiki's never really gotten along with him, how he doesn't think Hisame is good enough for his daughter and how horrible it would be to have the Lugis family as in laws.
She goes to Sereg to meet Zen where Mitsuhide greets her. After she's stayed a while Mitsuhide goes on to invite her to stay the night at the garrison, having no yet realized she's a girl as he identified her as a swordsman and she's done nothing to dissuade him from the notion and inform him that she's a swordswoman. After she leaves Zen realizes he forgot to set up their next meeting and when Mitsuhide says Zen can write "him" a letter Zen tells Mitsuhide he would like to see Kiki tomorrow so Mitsuhide sets off to catch up to Kiki and pass the message along. He comes across Kiki crouched at a cliff edge along the route and she pulls him down to keep him from giving away her location to Hisame, at which point Mitsuhide finally figures out she's a girl. He also realizes she was off the trail because Hisame was trying to ambush her on her way home, but he's too embarrassed and busy apologizing for mistaking her for a young man to address that at the moment.
When Mitsuhide returns and informs Zen of what occurred Zen talks about how impressed he was to meet a swordswoman and how awed he was at her response for why she took up the sword, that she felt that once she takes over as family head there is nothing her father was able to do that she shouldn't be able to do herself. The next day Zen tells Kiki she can rely on him but she's obviously not familiar with relying on others and does not ask for any assistance, though she doesn't reject the offer either. Zen and Mitsuhide trail her anyway as they are concerned about what looked like an attempted ambush the day before. Hisame's attempt to waylay Kiki on her way home to force a conversation are more successful on this day, and he claims to just be there to ask why she rejected his proposal but it's obvious he doesn't intend to take that rejection lying down. He tells her he decided back when they were eleven that he'd rather become the son in law of the Seiran House than live in his older brother's shadow, and that he'd be upset if there was someone getting in the way of his plan as he seems to think she's interested in whomever she's been training with at Sereg. He follows this up by challenging her to a duel, calling it a gamble and saying that they're both swordsmen and it would be a more simple way to decide things than having him follow her around and try to court her; if he wins they'll get married if she wins he'll accept her rejection.
Zen acts shocked and outraged the next day, though Kiki knows he and Mitsuhide were watching the whole thing and that it is not new news to them no matter how offended and repelled they are by Hisame's proposal. Zen apologies for following her and asks who she's chosen for her partner given the style of dual Hisame challenged her to-likely so that he'd get so face whomever he suspected of getting in the way of his plans-but she says she'll go alone because "[She] ha[s] to protect [herself on her own] because until now all [she] had was [her]self."
Hisame is amused when Kiki turns up alone, and points out that it'll look like he's bullying her, somehow missing the irony when he badgered and bullied her into taking the duel in the first place. Mitsuhide jumps in as her partner when Hisame tries to attack her from behind while she's busy dealing with his partner. Hisame is quite irritated at the skill level and background of Kiki's partner, asking if Mitsuhide wasn't just a nameless knight before entering Zen's service and attempting to insult him for "clinging" to his position and title because of his more pedestrian background but Kiki turns those insults on their head saying anyone is "nameless" in comparison to the royal family and that Zen was looking for a skilled knight not a well established noble house to prop himself up with like Hisame is doing. Mitsuhide apologises for jumping and asks Kiki's permission to help protect her, she gives to by standing back-to-back with him and the two prepare to fight side by side for the first time. Zen loudly invites her to the castle after she's won her fight, saying that while he's a novice he's been learning from Mitsuhide that a sword which protects more than just oneself is stronger and more meaningful.
Appearing in Chapter 43
Characters in Order of Appearance
- Earl Seiran
- Kiki Seiran
- Earl Lugis (mentioned)
- Countess Seiran (mentioned)
- Zen Wistaria
- Mitsuhide Rouen
- Hisame Lugis
- Amakize Lugis (mentioned, unnamed)
Locations
- Clarines
- Sereg
Items
Quotes
- "So you've finally realised that Kiki is a girl...*laughs uproariously*" —Zen Wistaria
- "It was so embarrassing I thought flames were going to erupt from my face" —Mitsuhide Rouen
