Chapter 6: The Hero Ardent
Chapter 6:
The Hero Ardent
The Fuji Squad had twenty days until they were due on board the Kuou.
Hanabi was in a deep slump. In their mock battles, Kuon used a temporary frame (a dust-covered Division 1 frame found in storage) and his and Hanabi’s routine was off, screwing up their combo. Hanabi had accidentally shot Kuon three times in a row.
Because of this, the Fuji Squad were now ranked second. Kuon was pulled away from the squad for training and to help adjust his new frame. The Fuji Squad had to fight rank battles with only the three of them, so it would be hard to take back the crown. There was a very good chance they would continue sliding down the rankings.
Hanabi’s slump was clearly the cause of it.
Squad Leader Fuji just said, “Her attack the other day is clearly the cause. These things take time to heal.”
Maybe it’s the stress of this big Operation, Kuon thought.
Subleader Rin, however, knew it was neither.
Hanabi shed tears she normally never let anyone see, and apologized to the boys, who tried cheering her up.
Rin said, “Let me handle this,” sent them both home, and stayed in the meeting room with Hanabi to speak privately.
“I hope Hanabi-senpai will be okay…”
“Motegi-kun’s like a sister to her. Nothing to worry about,” Fuji said. But then he hesitated. “Have you talked to Suzuka-kun about…you-know-what, yet?”
The death wish thing, Kuon thought. “No, I haven’t had a chance… She really hasn’t been talking to me at all lately. Even when I borrowed that book, she was kinda curt about it.”
“Mm. It’ll take a lot out of you both, I’m sure. But, Okegawa-kun, the Operation isn’t going away. We’re Cavalleria. So long as we live, we must be prepared for death. You know that, right?”
“Exactly. I’m worried those orders will give her the excuse she needs to go out and…” he trailed off.
“Hmph. Suzuka-kun can be direct like that. But she has her frail side, and a good man would try supporting her. I think you should be the one to bring it up.”
“Yeah… Wait, are we talking about the same thing?”
“Mm? What…? Oh, sorry, I’ve got to go.”
Fuji was looking toward the school gate at a girl Kuon didn’t recognize, presumably from the high school. She was quite a beauty. No way, Kuon thought. But he had to ask, right? “Um, Squad Leader, is that your girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Oh, then your sister?”
“No,” Fuji said, shaking his head. “My fiancée.”
Kuon stared at him.
“What? You look like a pigeon shot by a satellite cannon.”
“I don’t know if there’d be anything left of that pigeon to look at, but…fiancée?!”
“Like I said, we don’t know when we’re going to die. So say what you want to say while you still can.”
“Still…”
“I merely suggested that if I came back alive we should get married. A fiancée won’t become a widow, after all.”
“You’re setting up your own death flag!”
“And I’ll chop it back down on my way forward. Good luck with yours,” Fuji said, slapping Kuon on his shoulder. Then an idea hit him. “Since you’re here, let me introduce you. Okegawa-kun, do you have a few minutes?”
“Uh, sure…” Kuon went with him.
Fuji’s fiancée was neither strong-willed like Hanabi or a fun tease like Rin. She was more of a soft, comforting presence.
I guess I know why Squad Leader Fuji never hooked up with either of them…
There were all kinds of love, Kuon realized, despite having no experience with love in either of his lives.
Naturally, Rin had been aware for a while.
Hanabi had been acting weird even before she began accidentally shooting Kuon. Staring at nothing, sighing for no reason, listening to love songs she’d never listened to before… Whenever she talked to Rin, she always seemed to be looking for someone and was very concerned about her text notifications. She’d even swapped out the hair tie on her ponytail for a cute ribbon.
“So, Hanabi.”
Once the boys had left, Rin locked the door to the meeting room, deployed her DM despite the rules against using them indoors, used the frame’s radar to make a thorough check for open comms or bugs, then released the DM and sat down opposite Hanabi, their knees almost touching.
“Just to be absolutely sure.”
“Mmm…”
Hanabi was in full maiden mode, acting quite demure, possibly meek, or maybe just depressed.
“Your slump isn’t caused by the attack or the pressure from the Operation.”
“No…”
Rin sighed, half relieved, half annoyed. There could only be one other reason. Rin glanced at the door over Hanabi’s shoulder and said, very deliberately, “Oh, Kyuu-kun, what is it?”
“Eeek!” Hanabi shrieked with surprise, her head snapping around like she was trying to do a full 180-degree turn.
There was nobody there.
Hanabi’s head snapped back, glaring at Rin, her face bright red. Rin sighed again, not the least bit guilty. “You are way too into Kyuu-kun.”
Hanabi groaned. Then she tried to explain. “But… But how can I not be?”
“I knew from the start you liked Kyuu-kun, but it wasn’t this bad, was it?”
“You knew?!”
“It was obvious.”
Hanabi groaned again. “When… When he joined our squad, at first I was just happy. But…”
“But?”
“But slowly I lost control of my feelings. Then the attack came. I ended up clinging to him while he said he’d be with me and never leave me, over and over, like the real Hero was comforting me and… I just can’t. I can’t even look at him. Ever. You get it, Rin? During Tensetsu we’re staring at each other the whole time! Everyone’s senses are frozen and only Kuon-kun and I are conscious, staring at each other! I can’t do that! I can’t look at him, so I can’t tell what everyone’s evasion routes are, but then I look at Kuon-kun and accidentally fire… Right now just saying ‘Kuon-kun’ out loud is enough to make my heart ready to burst.”
Rin had clearly reached her limit. She went over to the window, flung it open, and screamed, “What is this, a shoujo mangaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”
Before the echoes had died down, she spun around, pointing at Hanabi. “Tell him!”
Hanabi went even redder, tears in her eyes. “I-I can’t… I can’t do that!”
This was so cute it really got to Rin. “Then go on a date!”
“A d-d-d-date?! Never! Absolutely impossible!”
“Yeah, I knew that. Tell you what: You have Kyuu-kun teaching you Fencing, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
“And you’ve shot Kyuu-kun three times in mock battles with your rifle.”
“Aughhh….”
“Don’t start crying! You need to thank him for the lessons and apologize for shooting him! To do that, you’re gonna take a whole day off and take Kyuu-kun around wherever he likes, and treat him to some great food! You’ve got the Cavalleria reward money, right?”
“I’ve never spent any of it…”
Never? Rin thought, exasperated. “Then use it now to demonstrate your gratitude!”
“My gratitude… I do want say thank you…and sorry…”
“If you think about it that way, you can totally do it, right? It won’t be a date. Just paying back a debt.”
“Not a date, just a thank you,” Hanabi said, considering it. “Got it. I’ll do it! You’re always such a help, Rin.”
“Don’t worry about it. And I gotta apologize while I’m at it. Sorry, Hanabi. I told him about your panic attacks.”
“O-oh. No, you were right to. I should have told him myself.”
“Then you just need to make Kyuu-kun hug you. I’m not gonna let you hug me anymore.”
“O-oh no! Don’t abandon me, Rin!”
“Don’t look at me like that!” Rin told her. “Okay, okay…I can see where this is heading.”
“Oh, by the way, Rin.”
“What?”
“What does ‘www’ mean? In my diary…”
“World Wide Web.”
“I knew it!” Hanabi exclaimed.
“Yup.”
“But then underneath it, it said ‘Liar’ and some more Ws.”
“No, I deleted that part—ack!” Rin had let it slip.
“I knew it was you!” Hanabi shouted.
“Oops,” Rin apologized.
Hanabi’s well-toned biceps unleashed a powerful karate chop on Rin’s clearly guilty head. Rin bit her tongue and wound up curled up in the corner of the room, clutching her mouth. Hanabi felt ever so slightly guilty; perhaps she’d overdone it.
But a minute later she remembered that Rin had read her super embarrassing diary and gave Rin another karate chop before going to the opposite corner and dying of mortification.
***
Kuon’s training was brutal.
One art in Shichisei Kenbu was called Shimetsu. It was the art he’d used to negate Hanabi’s maximized Nova during the entrance ceremony. The art involved pinpointing the core of a light bullet and destroying it to render the shot ineffective, and the ultimate art Kuon was learning was an extension of this.
“Shimetsu shows you the core of a light bullet, but the ultimate art takes that even further, showing you the core of magic itself. Magic is the hidden power all humans have, their life essence. In other words…”
Kaede’s voice came from above. Kuon was laying like a heap of rags by the river bank near the training grounds.
“…magic is the light of life. Before anything else, you need to be able to see that in Tensetsu. So—hey, are you listening? You’re still alive, aren’t you?”
“Yes…”
“Good. Ten-minute rest. Then I’ll drop you back in that river—and, of course, that blindfold and those handcuffs and shackles are staying on. You will remain on standby down there for two hours. I will, of course, allow DM activation, but if you don’t manage your magic properly you’ll run out along the way. The DM will release, and you’ll drown, so be careful. Unless you like sleeping with the fishes.”
Since ancient times, practicing in water had been a traditional way of intensifying training. Shichisei Kenbu came from a long tradition and was no exception. Later on, Kuon would be escorted to the mountains and forced to train with less oxygen, but he had no way of knowing that, and Kaede wasn’t about to tell him. It might break his will.
There were risks involved with this intense training: hypothermia and suffocation in the water, hemorrhaging from altitude sickness, and oxygen deprivation in the mountains. Because these risks could prove fatal, Kuon slowly began grasping the first step toward learning the ultimate arts—the breathing method that would dramatically throttle his magic expenditure.
But…
It’s still not enough.
As she threw a bound and shackled thirteen-year-old in the river, Kaede’s expression grew grim.
Kuon did not surface.
***
It was the day before the Fuji Squad was due on board the Kuou. Kuon had learned all too well the mental toll of being dropped in a river while blindfolded and bound, unable to see or move. The only thing that kept him sane was En chattering away at him, but…
“Good Morning, Jogen! It’s the start of the happy hour, ready to blow all your Monday blues away! This is DJ NSR’s mega-cool, hyperactive super radio show, Repsol 999!
“Enjoy without fear of leaking water! Okay, first song coming up, Ifukube Akio’s ‘Kenjutsu Shobai’! Hmm hmmhmmm hmmm!” She then hummed the entire number.
Without En’s wackiness, he genuinely would have been in trouble. If he counted all the times in the last three weeks Kaede and this inane humming radio show had made his urge to kill rise, he’d be in the three digits. The way Kaede met his fury head on, never once ceasing her torment, and the way En happily kept the broadcast going were both impressive in their own ways.
Kuon still had enough left in him to be impressed.
The rest of the Fuji Squad (without Kuon) would board the Mobile Battleship Kuou tomorrow. After that, they would be on standby until the Operation began, so they had less than thirty hours of free time remaining.
That morning was the first day off he’d been granted since his training began, and he spent it catching up on sleep. He slept like the dead. The last ten days he’d managed only twenty hours of sleep total; even he was amazed he’d survived it.
But as he slept too deeply to even dream, the Device by his pillow rang. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced at the window, trying to focus on the name displayed:
Suzuka Hanabi-senpai.
This is a date.
No, it isn’t, it’s“thanks” and “sorry,” an expression of my gratitude.
But also a date.
No, no, it’s not. Definitely not. Thanks. Sorry. And…
These thoughts ran through Hanabi’s head on a loop. She sat alone at the largest shopping district on Jogen, waiting for Kuon.
They’d agreed to meet there. That much was definitively true, date or not.
Hanabi had made Rin triple-check her outfit but was still worried it was weird. She didn’t know how to hold her expensive-looking purse and she felt like the front of her shirt was open a little too far down and sure, it was always summer on the island but going entirely sleeveless was dubious and this skirt was definitely too short. She was getting so many glances from passersby that were fanning her anxiety. She should have just worn her uniform, although Rin would have stopped her if she’d left in a track suit.
Hanabi and Kuon had agreed to meet under a giant clock. “It’s cliché, but… No, it’s easily understood, which I think is for the best,” Rin had said when she suggested it. But that meant Rin also knew where they were meeting. That was obvious, but Hanabi was way too stressed about her first date (no, my expression of gratitude) to realize what that meant.
Ding, dong, ding.
The bell rang. It was exactly noon.
Kuon wasn’t there.
She began fretting. Maybe he wasn’t coming. Kuon said he’d been training to master the ultimate arts this whole time. When she’d called him that morning, he’d just woken up. Maybe he was so tired he fell back asleep? Or was his promise to her just not as important? After all, they were the Shichisei Kenbu ultimate arts. In a DM, he’d be humanity’s strongest swordsman. It didn’t take three seconds to know which was more important: her or those arts.
A lump formed in Hanabi’s chest. The anxious lump grew bigger and bigger until she could barely breathe. She felt so ashamed for getting all excited about this, for trying to dress up in the sort of thing she never wore. She felt so pathetic, but she couldn’t let herself cry. She should just leave. Just wait five more minutes. No, three. And if he doesn’t come…
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Hanabi-senpai!”
He’s here.
Kuon was right in front of her. She’d been staring at her hands and hadn’t noticed him coming.
He was apologizing, looking all flustered. “I’m sorry! You looked so beautiful I thought you were a model or something. I just walked right past you, not even realizing it was you. Only after looking everywhere else—”
“You came.”
She must have looked incredibly happy. “Yes. Um, senpai,” Kuon said, fidgeting. He looked embarrassed. “You look really lovely.”
Hanabi stared at her hands again.
Meanwhile, both Rin and En threw their thumbs up.
En, always by Kuon’s side, was naturally in “Sleep Mode” and not visible, yet still feeding Rin a detailed account. Actually, she’d gotten lazy halfway through and just started broadcasting a live feed directly over the link to Rin.
But…
Damn you, Hanabi… You aren’t talking to Kyuu-kun at all! What’s so fascinating about the ground?! You aren’t supposed to be staring at the sandals I loaned you, you’re supposed to be looking at the boy next to you!
Rin was watching them from the shadows through the PGM-F4 Rifle Scope she used for shooting practice, and she was furious to see Hanabi with her head down.
A few hours later, Headmaster Nanahoshi would uncover this scheme, and both Rin and En would be sent to the brig.
The first date between the Hero Reborn and the Warrior Princess was off to a rocky start.
Officially, this was to thank him for his help while they were adrift, apologize for shooting him during mock events, and express her gratitude for his help with her Fencing. Hanabi had asked Kuon where he wanted to go, but…
“Maybe an onsen?” he’d said, looking extremely serious.
The two eavesdropping had simultaneously yelled, “What are you, a grandpa?! No thirteen-year-old would say that!”
“Oh, sorry, no onsen in the shopping district!” Hanabi said. “Let’s try a sento instead!”
Not the point.
Not the problem, either.
A girl and an AI tightened their firsts, desperate to communicate their feelings. Sure, there was a sento here, but…
Meanwhile, Hanabi was quickly realizing the suggestions Rin had given her for this date were going to be of no use at all. At a loss, she blurted out, “There’s a really big bath at the Motegi house. I could wash your back there?” Then she had a mental image of herself in the bath with Kuon, both of them naked, and her about to touch his back. She hastily yelped, “No, never mind!”
They both wound up turning red. They were hopeless.
“Um… Then is there anything else you’d like?” Hanabi asked, trying to recover.
“Um…some chocolate? You know how it was back on the mainland. The shops were all closed.”
“O-okay!” Hanabi cheered up immediately. This was on Rin’s list.
Rin was too busy gloating in the shadows to notice the suspicious looks she was engendering.
“There’s a shop that imports chocolate from overseas. Let’s go there, Kuon-kun!”
“Okay!”
It went smoothly after that.
The Jave had ruined many sea lanes, making chocolate a highly sought-after and expensive commodity, but when Kuon balked at the price, Hanabi essentially forced him to let her buy him some. She was struck by how nice the shop clerk was being.
After that they really did go to a sento, soaked for a while, then sat side-by-side on the massage chairs between all the senior citizens.
“Ahhh…”
Kuon caught a whiff of that post-bath smell from Hanabi, and when her yukata parted slightly, and he caught a glimpse of cleavage, or found his eyes automatically drawn to her long legs and arms in the one-size-fits-all yukata, he forced himself not to look. But he couldn’t help stealing glances. She really did have big boobs. They were as big as his face. Remembering how he’d had his face stuck in the valley between them in the deep sea, he was forced to shake his head to rid himself of those thoughts.
After a lengthy sequence of such glances and head shakes, the old lady next to him said, “Good luck out there,” and gave him some candy. Confused, he looked from her face to the candy in his palm. “You’re Cavalleria, right?” she said, smiling. “I used to live on the mainland, you know.” Only now did he realize why the chocolatier clerk had been so nice. He was still only in his first year at the Cavalleria school, and not used to this treatment. It was a good reminder that he was fighting to protect these people.
They’d both done quite well.
Kuon helped ease Hanabi’s stress about the summons tomorrow, and Hanabi helped relieve the physical and mental exhaustion Kuon had built up.
Neither of them put what they most wanted to say into words, but the time flew by, and they had so much fun.
At the end of the “date,” they stood together at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to go home. Hanabi would be going back to the dorm, and Kuon to the training grounds.
This was goodbye.
At this time of day, not many people used the bus line leading from the shopping district to the academy. The hologram bus schedule had a forlorn glow to it as Kuon and Hanabi stared at it in silence.
Hanabi was reminded again, as she had been all day, that she really enjoyed Kuon’s company, and that his smile brought her joy. She’d already put it into words in her diary, and she’d spent the whole day thinking that same thought over and over.
Fuji had said what he had to say to his fiancée, and while Rin had no such partner, Hanabi knew she never would have hesitated to express her feelings.
Hanabi knew she was being weak, and she knew she couldn’t let herself be that way. She may never come back. She would be dropped on the capital, and there was every chance she’d never come back to Jogen.
She may never see him again.
“Kuon-kun.”
She looked at him. He was so short. So thin, yet well-built, with muscles where he needed them. He had strong-willed, confident eyes. A demeanor so calm it was hard to believe he was five years younger than her, were it not for the occasional moment of childishness. And those tough little hands that spoke of how hard he’d worked—the hands of a swordsman.
He looked back at Hanabi, staring directly into her eyes, waiting for her words.
Say it.
Say it.
Say it now.
“I’m in…in, in, iiin…”
The bus arrived with flawless timing.
“…iiinterested to see how great a Cavalleria you’ll become!”
Hanabi suddenly felt extremely tired.
Kuon smiled. “Thanks,” he said. “I know you’ll be a great Cavalleria, too.”
“Mm, thanks.” She smiled listlessly and took a step onto the bus. She wanted to die.
“Senpai!”
Kuon was looking up at her from the bus stop. There was an urgency, a grim look in his eyes.
“I’m really, really sorry I can’t join you in the Operation tomorrow. Please, please…”
The bus drove away. Hanabi was the only passenger. She sat in the very back, her face buried in her hands, remembering the words he’d said as the door closed.
“Please…fight with honor.”
He must have wanted to say that all day. The fact that he couldn’t fight with the rest of the Fuji Squad must have gnawed at him the whole time they were together—when they were eating, in the baths, when he smiled… It didn’t matter to her that he wouldn’t be joining her in battle; she understood.
She must have been the only one genuinely enjoying their time together, and that made her feel absolutely terrible. She was completely ashamed of herself. The pained look on his face wouldn’t leave her mind.
Don’t… Don’t let that be the last I see of you.
The bus drove on.
With nobody else on board, Hanabi cried softly.
“What am I even doing?!”
Watching through her scope from the next stop over, Rin thought about what Hanabi hadn’t said, and what Kuon had said to Hanabi, and what both of those things meant. She suddenly felt helpless.
What was she doing, watching her friend’s date like a nosy little sister?
When the bus arrived, Rin didn’t get on. At the back of it, Hanabi didn’t see Rin standing there.
The bus drove away.
Kuon had said less than half of what he’d wanted to say.
He watched the bus drive off with Hanabi on board, feeling like it was taking her right into the battlefield. He’d wanted to talk with her longer and spend more time together. He wished to go into battle with her tomorrow, fight by her side till the bitter end.
Feeling empty inside, not even realizing why he was suddenly so depressed, Kuon began slowly walking away toward the training grounds.
He looked around the darkened streets. Then…
I might never see her again.
That thought struck him. It was possible. She might never…
“Kuon-sama,” En said, coming out of Sleep Mode.
“Yeah?” he said, trying not to let the panic show.
“I know it’s bad manners, but I did hear your last conversation.”
“Oh.” Weirdly, he couldn’t bring himself to be mad.
En bowed, then spoke in an unusually subdued tone. “Kuon-sama, this is really something Hanabi-sama should tell you herself, so I’ve kept quiet about it until now. But she’ll be gone tomorrow, and possibly won’t be coming back, so I feel like there isn’t time for that. So, while I hesitate to do so, I think I’d better be the one to tell you.”
“What? Get to the point.”
“That was Hanabi trying to tell you she loves you.”
His brain short-circuited. “Huh? Seriously?!”
“Seriously, Kuon-sama.”
“You’re kidding!”
“I am not, Kuon-sama.”
“But…she said I’d be a great Cavalleria!”
“She couldn’t bring herself to say the word ‘love.’”
“Seriously?”
“I am extremely serious, Kuon-sama. She sees you as childlike.”
This was just stupid. “But I’m a mature, thirty-five-year-old man inside!”
“No, no, Kuon-sama. You are childlike in a good way, although that time when you almost got in a serious fight with Rin-sama over fried chicken…that perhaps couldn’t be categorized as mature.”
“I suppose it couldn’t…”
“But you are a cocky little brat, in a good way.”
“A cocky little brat,” he repeated.
“I suspect your surroundings and your physical age have an effect.”
“They do…but… En, that’s how you see me?!”
“How do you intend on responding to Hanabi-sama’s feelings?”
“How…? I don’t…”
“Oh, now you’re all flustered. I thought for sure you liked her, too.”
“No, I mean, sure, maybe I’m a bit of a kid, but I’m seventeen years older than senpai. I feel like I shouldn’t be messing around with anyone that young.”
“You look like a total shota and you’re saying that?” En demanded. “And you’re still calling her ‘senpai.’ With respect.”
“I do respect her.”
“Do you think of her as a younger, beautiful high school girl or an older, beautiful lady? Which comes to mind first?”
Kuon thought about it. He supposed it was both at once. This was tricky.
“You don’t love her?” En said, getting right at the heart of it. He hesitated. She didn’t let up. “This is a time of war. Both of you are Cavalleria. She might die tomorrow.”
“I know that.”
“It’s better to give your answer soon.”
His answer…to the confession she’d almost managed.
“Show her your grown-up confidence, Kuon-sama. A proper man says what he means with no shame, no embarrassment, and with confidence and clarity. That’s what makes women weak in the knees.”
Kuon closed his eyes, raising his face to the sky. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking thinking thinking…
Thinking he didn’t need to think.
He’d only said half of what he wanted to say.
He opened his eyes. There was a crescent moon in the sky, the type of moon Jogen was named after.
“En.”
“Yes.”
“I’m only thirteen. I don’t have any grown-up confidence. But…”
Kuon began running in the direction the bus had gone, to where Hanabi was. As he did, Rin called him. She’d heard the whole thing from En, but Kuon was unaware of this, so, as he ran, he just listened to what she had to say.
Take care of Hanabi.
He was suddenly very glad for all the training his master had put him through. All that endurance running hadn’t been for nothing.
When he reached the dorm, Hanabi was just getting off the bus.
He looked up and saw her gazing up at the moon, looking far, far lonelier than she had when they were at the bottom of the ocean together.
“Senpai.”
The Jogen Academy dorm was huge, surrounded by a tall fence that seemed to go on forever. Hanabi was standing by the gate, clutching a tiny purse in both hands.
When Kuon spoke, she spun around, surprised. But her expression soon faded, her eyes narrowing.
“What? You came running after me?” Her voice had turned cold, like ice.
“Um, there was something I wanted to talk about. Are you up for a walk?”
“It’s almost curfew. If you want to talk, do it here.”
The Warrior Princess was acting very stiff. He almost felt like she hated him now. Even with his lack of romantic experience, Kuon was getting a harsh lesson in how blown timing could change things.
But he had to wring out every ounce of courage he had. Fighting the Jave wasn’t nearly as scary as this.
“Th-there’s something I forgot to tell you. Will you hear me out?”
“Don’t worry about not being able to join the Operation. None of us blame you for that.”
“Th-th-that’s not it! Um, I…”
Some things were so obvious once they were pointed out, Kuon thought. Now that En had told him, it all made sense.
All this time, she’d been stuck in this weird “younger senpai” place for him, so he’d never picked up on it, but “Hanabi” was someone he couldn’t let go of and wanted to protect, while “Hanabi-senpai” was someone he wanted to have pay attention to him and protect him.
On the one hand, he always wanted to be with her. On the other, he wanted her to be happy. Perhaps it was wrong to feel that way about either a young, attractive kid or an older, out-of-his-league beauty.
But maybe it didn’t matter whether she was older or younger. “Senpai, I…”
He looked at Hanabi, at her tall, elegant, dramatically curved body. Her strong-willed eyes couldn’t hide how anxious she felt. She had a grace to her that belied her status as the best Cavalleria the school had ever produced, but sometimes she clearly showed her age. Then he looked at her soft hands. She refused to let her talent carry her and was putting in all the work; the Fencing Kuon had taught her was slowly turning her hands into those of a swordsman.
Her long, thin fingers clutched her purse tightly. Her hands always tried so hard that Kuon couldn’t help but think of them fondly. That helped him say it.
“I… I like you, senpai. I care about Suzuka Hanabi. So, make sure you come back alive.”
Most likely, Hanabi’s brain short-circuited.
“Y-you mean as a senpai? As a friend?”
“No…”
“Then as a Cavalleria?”
“I do like you that way, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Th-then what…?”
Hanabi’s eyes were clearly saying, Really? Can I really believe that? Can I be happy? This is true? For real? This expression was so unlike what she normally let herself show.
Yes, Kuon smiled. “I love you, Hanabi-senpai. As… As a woman.”
“Oh… Ohhh…”
Hanabi put her hands to her face, swaying. Kuon moved to catch her. Standing so close, the difference in their height was painfully obvious. With his hand on her back to support her, he had to tilt his head all the way back, looking up at her from directly below. If he got any closer, Kuon’s face would bump into her oversized boobs, so he had to be careful.
“You do…?” Hanabi said, dazed.
“Yes.”
“That’s…not fair. I was going to say that…”
“Sorry. You almost did, earlier…and that finally made up my mind.”
“Huh? You got that?”
“En had to tell me.”
“Oh, okay… That’s even more unfair, Kuon-kun.”
“I completely agree. Sorry,” he apologized.
“You aren’t sorry at all; I can tell.”
“I am!”
“You have a weirdly arrogant side, you know. You’re so cocky!”
“En said that, too.”
“She’s right.”
“Sorry.”
“Oh, you’re apologizing when you don’t mean it again.”
“I do mean it,” he said.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Really?” Hanabi asked once more, putting her arms around Kuon. His face naturally found its way between her massive breasts. He was wrapped in her sweet scent. “You really, really want me? I’m five years older than you. I’ll be an adult way faster.”
Kuon put both hands around her back. Similar questions must have been asked countless times throughout history whenever an age gap existed between two lovers, but Kuon answered in a way that only he could: “Well, I’m an old man inside.”
Hanabi laughed. “I agree!”
“And if we live that long, if we live long enough for you to get old, then what could make us happier?”
“I didn’t say ‘old.’”
“Sorry.”
“Kuon-kun,” Hanabi said, touching Kuon’s cheek. Her smile was happy, loving, and a little bittersweet. “I love you so, so much.”
Kuon just nodded.
The bus Hanabi had taken was the last one.
Kuon and Hanabi realized there was no public transportation available to take Kuon back to the training ground. Maybe if he pushed himself, he’d be in time for the last Linear Rail, and a taxi would certainly be an option if he were willing to spring for it. Kuon had received Cavalleria pay, so money was no problem.
It was curfew and the gates were closing, so they couldn’t exactly just stand around outside. Hanabi grabbed Kuon’s hand and snuck him into the room she shared with Rin. It had a plush carpet and two beds with a little table between them, cute little cushions near the table, and a zabuton that was the opposite of cute. Hanabi made some tea and they drank it, talking about nothing in particular. How stressed she’d been on the date, how Rin had picked all her clothes, how surprised she’d been when he suggested they go to an onsen, how surprised he’d been when she invited him… They ate their chocolate, asking how long they’d felt this way about each other, pretty much both from the day they met, etc. Both pretended they weren’t paying the clock any attention at all.
He could still go home. She could still let him.
But he didn’t want to go home, and she didn’t want to let him. Neither of them had ever felt like this before. They were carried away, heads in the clouds, giddily drunk on love.
Eventually, they noticed Rin hadn’t come home.
Then they got a message from the headmaster saying Rin and En would be staying with her that evening. Kuon had no idea when En had disappeared; the Device itself wouldn’t respond at all. It seemed to legitimately be in Sleep Mode for once.
There was a brief silence, then the same thought struck them both at once.
We’re alone together until morning.
There was another brief silence, then both realized the other was thinking the same thing. They were playing a terrifying game of chicken now. It felt like whoever lost their nerve first would lose.
Kuon’s mind began spinning quickly, doing the math. He felt like he’d be a failure as a man if he stood up and said it was time he got going, but also felt like if he just stayed there all night and didn’t do anything, that would make him a different kind of failure. If something did happen, that would likely also be pretty bad. Not that he had the guts, but boy was he suddenly very conscious of how much skin Hanabi’s outfit showed as she sat on her knees in that miniskirt with her hands on her thighs, fists tightly clenched, glaring at Kuon like a Bushi tensing for a fight. And so…
“It’s time I got going,” Kuon said. He stood up, failing as a man.
As he headed for the door, Hanabi grabbed his sleeve. He didn’t need to turn around.
“Kuon-kun.”
Hanabi had kept her foot on the pedal throughout the whole game of chicken, and she was the Cavalleria shipping out tomorrow.
“At ten hundred tomorrow, I’ll be boarding the Mobile Mothership Kuou. From that point on, I’ll be a Cavalleria of the Lunatic Order, serving the Imperial Air Force, Lunar Defense Force, at the back of the Capital Fall Squad. My life will belong to my companions and to all of mankind.”
Kuon couldn’t respond, couldn’t even turn around.
Hanabi held his sleeve tight. “But until then…I’m yours.”
Do what you want to do.
That got him.
Kuon turned around and took Hanabi’s hand. Their fingers tightened together. Each felt how earnest those hands were, how hard they tried. Hanabi’s palm was slowly growing harder, but her lips were unbelievably soft.
They sank into the night…