Chapter 1: The Hero Investigated

Chapter 1:
The Hero Investigated

 

Once, there was a Hero named Suzuka Hachishiki. He was a Maneuver Cavalleria, Captain of the Imperial Air Force City Defense Corps 1st Mobile Unit, Suzuka Squad…a man who’d killed, slaughtered, and massacred monsters from another world.

His parents, the nuns and his friends at the orphanage who had taken him in, and the comrades he’d made in the army after enlisting had all been killed by Jave. But Hachishiki survived one reckless assault after another, fueled both by a desire for revenge and the urge to follow his fallen friends into death. As a result, he saved countless lives and found himself celebrated as the Hero.

Thirteen years ago, he died in battle against an enemy Queen.

However, just before he died, a side effect of the Gate sent his soul into the body of a newborn. The Hero was reborn with all his memories intact. His magic, however…not so much.

Magic was required to pilot a Division Maneuver. Magic was rated on a scale of one to five. He’d been a Division 5, the strongest mankind was capable of, but now he was bumped all the way down to Division 1.

The former Hero, now reborn as Okegawa Kuon, faced this fact at the tender age of five, a fate so cruel it made him cry. It had sent him into a total meltdown.

But he didn’t give up.

Reunited with Nanahoshi Kaede, his master in his previous life, he dedicated himself anew to the study of Shichisei Kenbu Machine Fencing. He made that impressive strength his own, entered Jogen Maneuver Academy despite his division, and met the strongest student the school had ever had—a Division 5 named Suzuka Hanabi. He joined her team, they made each other better, and their hearts grew as one.

Tasked with closing the Gate over the Capital, Hanabi and the rest of the team had been in mortal danger, but Kuon arrived in time, rescued Hanabi from the enemy’s clutches, killed the Queen, and destroyed the Gate.

Suzuka Hanabi’s efforts allowed many Cavalleria to retreat from the battlefield.

Okegawa Kuon’s efforts saved Hanabi’s team and destroyed both the Queen and the Gate.

In return for their achievements, the Air Force gave the duo a new name: The Twin Star Heroes.

Additionally, Kuon discovered that the senpai he loved was a girl he’d saved in his previous life. However, Suzuka Hanabi did not yet know that the boy she loved was the reincarnation of the Hero who’d saved her, whom she’d looked up to her entire life.

 

***

 

That was a close one.

Okegawa Kuon let out a sigh of relief. Broadcasting their flirting to the entire Air Force during an operation was unprecedented. If his master hadn’t pulled some strings, even the Twin Star Heroes could both have been thrown in solitary.

Instead, they’d been let off with a three-page essay and three hundred push-ups each. They might be called heroes, but both Kuon and Hanabi were still trainees.

Right now, they were in a room at Jogen Maneuver Academy. “I’m sorry, Kuon-kun…”

“D-don’t worry about it, Senpai.”

They’d both managed to get their essays done and then started doing push-ups together in the headmaster’s office. Hanabi had made it to two hundred and then found herself unable to move, so Kuon took over her extra hundred. After all, they were a team. “My body’s lighter, so it’s less work,” Kuon said, trying to make her feel better. This backfired.

“Oh? You don’t say?” Nanahoshi Kaede said, sitting down on his back mid-push-up. She was his master and the one who’d ostensibly saved them. As Hanabi watched ruefully, cursing her unresponsive arm muscles, Kuon kept counting, “Two hundred sixteen, two hundred seventeen!” He voiced no complaints about his extra burden, but there was quite a puddle of sweat forming under him. Keeping up a good rhythm was vital in these situations. He just had 184 to go. He could do it.

“Hanabi?” Kaede asked. “You look like you want to say something.”

“I absolutely don’t!”

“Your slices got dull as that last fight went on, didn’t they? Even with a DM on, if you don’t visualize the movements clearly, your body won’t keep up. You’ve got a mental limit telling you that you can only swing a sword for so long. And you know why that is?”

“…Because that’s how long I can swing a sword without the DM.”

“Exactly. So you understand the reason for this punishment? Then why have you stopped?”

“Ungggh…”

“The reason your biceps gave out is because of your excessive chest blubber.” Kaede poked Hanabi’s boobs with her wooden sword. It was midsummer, and the school trainee uniforms were quite thin. Hanabi’s massive boobs swung all over the place. It was mesmerizing. Kaede’s behavior was verging on sexual harassment, and in another military school there might be consequences, but at Jogen Maneuver Academy, you were better off saying “yes” to whatever the headmaster came up with.

Thus Hanabi was forced to yell, “You’re completely correct, ma’am!”

Meanwhile, Kuon was entering his 218th arm extension, thinking, Pot calling the kettle black, you big-boobed loli cougar.

“Kuooon? I feel like I should be giving you can extra fifty just because…”

Dang, she always knows. She never misses a beat.

“Two hundred nineteeeeen!” he roared.

He only had 231 more. He could do it.

 

As she bullied her pupils, Kaede shook her head.

Cards on the table—she was the one who’d hacked Hanabi’s frame and opened up her comms. She’d figured if Kuon and Hanabi started talking, odds were good they’d get flirty. If they’d kept their private lives out of the mission, she’d never have been able to administer this punishment, but…well, that hadn’t happened.

She had a legitimate reason for doing this.

The military brass were hell-bent on covering Hanabi in glory, treating her like an idol, their very own Joan of Arc. But Kaede had seen what that treatment had done to her former student, Suzuka Hachishiki, and she was not about to lose anyone else the way she had him.

Thanks to Kuon’s stupidity, everyone now knew the Twin Star Heroes were partners on and off the battlefield, and that would protect Hanabi from the worst kinds of idol worship. Being the Warrior Princess was plenty.

They no longer needed a single Hero, but venerating a duo instead made little difference. The result would still be the two of them being used and getting killed.

“We don’t need a Hero who stands above us all.”

Words she’d said herself five and a half months earlier, but the reality wasn’t quite so easy.

 

***

 

“I really am sorry, Kuon-kun…”

As the headmaster’s door closed, Hanabi was in full Maiden Mode, her shoulders drooping. “It’s my fault we got punished, but you ended up taking on my share…”

“It’s fine, Senpai. I’m used to it!” Kuon tried thumping his chest but couldn’t raise his arms.

 

The number of Gates over the Imperial mainland remained in double digits. Some were no longer active, while some were still going strong. It would be bad if they didn’t close them fast, but lack of resources meant they were forced to ignore them.

Three days had passed since they’d eliminated the Gate over Aohime Island. Hanabi spent those days at weapons development organizing new weapon data and adjusting her frame, and this was the first appearance she’d put in at school. Kuon himself had been busy with his own military duties, so even though they were a couple and attended the same school, being summoned to the headmaster’s office was the first time they’d seen each other since that fight. Such were the times they lived in, but still…

Perhaps having a girlfriend for the first time in thirty years (counting both his lives together) had robbed Kuon of his mental tranquility. Suzuka Hachishiki had built armor around his heart out of hatred for the Jave and a desire for revenge, but now that armor had been pried away, exposing the weaknesses within and leaving him unstable. It came as a shock to find he was feeling lonely. Even realizing this fact came as a blow.

After the battle for the Capital, they’d returned to school, and on one occasion the two of them had gone shopping together, but that was as close to a date as they’d managed. This was also partially because they’d both become rather famous. Everywhere they went, people recognized them and caused a commotion. Their date only lasted two hours.

Kuon wanted the two of them to at least spend some time together today. With that thought in mind, he began, “Um, Hanabi-senp—”

“Okegawa-sensei! We’ve come to meet you!!” A number of burly men ran up to him, all wearing Air Force uniforms.

“Oh…thanks…” Kuon said listlessly.

The men weren’t just soldiers with the Air Force but also Kuon’s students. Okegawa Kuon had been ordered to serve as the Air Force Machine Fencing instructor. Men two or three times his age were calling him “Okegawa-sensei” or “assistant instructor”. Understandably, a group opposed to the idea of a thirteen-year-old teacher had proposed a mock battle, and as a result, he’d cut through scores of veteran Cavalleria. Since they were all close-quarter battles, he hadn’t even used Nine-Count Strike. Okegawa Kuon had proven beyond all doubt that he was the Air Force’s best swordsman.

“Oh, is that Suzuka Hanabi-dono with you?”

“The legendary Bushi Hime! Your beauty is even greater than they say. You’re the jewel of the Air Force!”

Such obvious platitudes. Coming to meet me was clearly just an excuse to see her in the flesh, Kuon thought.

Hanabi activated Warrior Mode and put her hand on her chest, saluting the Cavalleria. “Well met, Air Force Senpai. I hear you’ve been very helpful to my partner.”

“Not at all—he’s the one helping us!”

“Sorry to snatch him away from you.”

Everyone sounded perfectly polite, but they were clearly letting this get to their heads.

Kuon was just a little bit put out. He stepped in front of Hanabi, pointing to the exit. “Men! Go on ahead! I’ll be right behind.”

“Yes, sir!” They saluted, grinning. They were perhaps all too aware of their young instructor’s fit of jealousy. They’d all survived their share of rough situations and had plenty of life experience.

Kuon sighed and turned back to Hanabi. “Sorry, Hanabi-senpai. I’ve got to get back to my duties.”

“Yes… I’m still working on adjustments to the Kiryu. I suppose this is goodbye.”

“Also, sorry about my students. I told them not to come gawk at you, but…”

“I don’t mind. Getting treated like a hero with you isn’t the worst thing. Although I think only you really deserve the honor. You’re the Cavalleria who deserves to follow in Suzuka Hachishiki’s footsteps.”

“Er, no—”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up! I want to be a hero just as much as you do.”

The smile Hanabi gave him caused a sizzling pain in Kuon’s heart. She didn’t seem to be aware of it, but whenever Hanabi talked about Suzuka Hachishiki, a look of intense pride and joy swept over her. She really admired him. Her goal was to be like the man who’d saved her life.

Kuon hadn’t told Hanabi that he’d been her hero in his previous life. His master had forbidden it. But even if she hadn’t…

That look on her face… I really can’t tell her.

He’d changed so much. He wasn’t her hero anymore. He was just a cocky little kid five years younger than her, demoted from a Division 5 to a Division 1. He was scared that it would shatter her image of him if he told her. More than anything, he was scared she wouldn’t love him anymore.

So he couldn’t tell her.

He felt guilty about it, but he didn’t think he had a choice.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, a German exchange student was arriving at the Jogen Maneuver Academy. She was in the Exchange Program for Mobile Maneuver and Heavy Magic Research. There were many people surprised that Germany still existed, but it would be more accurate to say that it had returned from the dead.

Forty years ago, a Gate appeared over Nürburg Castle (as did Gates all across Europe), spewing countless Jave that ran roughshod over Western Europe. But one day, thirty years ago, they stopped completely. The Gate ceased to function.

To the naked eye, the Gate remained unchanged—a wide black hole creepily hovering over Nürburg. But for thirty years, not one Jave emerged. In those thirty years, Germany and the countries around it fought back. All of the Jave which had emerged from the Gate, as well as the Jave born on this side of it, were eliminated by the Mobile Maneuver Corps. It was a massive, fantastic victory.

Several hundred years before the invention of Division Maneuvers had been the Great Disaster of the previous era. The very same people who overcame that threat to mankind now preserved their culture via the Division Maneuvers.

However, the Gate remained.

All who looked up at the sky wondered the same thing: How can we rid ourselves of that black moon? They’d driven the monsters out, and Europe was at peace, but the people looking up at the sky also thought: Is it really?

Enemies had suddenly stopped pouring out of the Gate, and they’d polished off all the ones that remained, but did that really mean they were rid of them?

According to the account of the German Air Force’s military actions, after the Gate appeared over Nürburg Castle, the Germans repeatedly retreated, withdrawing their front lines. Eventually, they were forced to make the tough call to abandon their country altogether. The next day, the Gate abruptly ceased all activity. Putting aside the differences of the previous era, the Mobile Maneuver Corps of each Western European country banded together, and there was a period of intense fighting until the territories of man were recovered.

Weirdly, nowhere in the records were the words “massive,” “mothership,” “boss,” or “Queen” mentioned. The words “Rochen” and “Oktopus” appeared countless times, alongside words for devils or monsters, but the word “Königin”? Not once.

They didn’t know.

The tens of thousands of monsters slaughtered in Europe were all weak monsters sent by a Jave Queen as a test to see if they could survive on the other side. In other words, these monsters were more intelligent than the famous fictional aliens who came all the way from Mars only to be killed by the common cold.

The Germans had just realized this fact six months ago.

 

It was a few days after Mid-Blue had been eliminated. After school let out at the Jogen Maneuver Academy, the Fuji Squad was gathered in their meeting room. Without warning, the door opened, and a girl stepped in the room.

“Guten tag.”

She had pale skin and black hair in a bob. Her eyes were brown, and she looked very young—ten years old at most. She wore a dress with some goth-loli touches, but something about her still looked like an old Japanese doll. She was clearly Japanese, yet something about her seemed very much not.

“Guten tag,” she said again, expressionless. Her eyes were wide open but unmoving. The phrase “eyes like ice” did not quite seem to suffice. Ice melted. It moved. This girl didn’t. Her gaze locked on nothing, just stared fixedly at empty space. It was as if she’d just stopped there, unmoving, utterly without any facial expression.

Like a thing.

Like a machine.

Like a doll.

This level of expressionlessness was downright astonishing. In fact, neither the squad leader, Fuji Jindo, nor the sniper, Motegi Rin, managed to respond at all.

Only Hanabi, in Warrior Mode, managed to splutter, “U-uh, so you’re the one the headmaster managed—”

The girl’s head turned—only her head. Like a doll. “Guten tag,” she repeated a third time.

Hanabi let out a little squeak, overwhelmed, and managed nothing further. It was much too creepy.

Kuon was forced to take over just by process of elimination. “Um…you’re the exchange student from Germany… Tooka-chan, was it?” Their ages weren’t all that different, but he was going with -chan anyway.

Once again, only her head turned, her eyes staring blankly at him, but Kuon had seen it before and was ready for it. He braced himself like he was preparing to enter combat.

“Onii-chan…” Tooka went still again. Without her expression wavering one iota, she said, “Are you my brother?”

A tear rolled down her cheek without warning.

“Er? What? Sorry, huh?”

Kuon was thoroughly rattled now. Of course he was. A total stranger had just called him her brother and started to cry. But the real surprise was yet to come.

“Onii-chan…!” Tears streaming down her cheeks, Tooka threw her arms around Kuon. She might have been about three years younger than him, but their heights were very similar. Her teary face was right next to his, her little chin rested on his shoulder. Her hands were clasped behind his back, hugging him very tightly.

“Whaaaaaaat…?!” Kuon froze up, question marks pouring out of him. His eyes were locked on Fuji, who looked like a pigeon shot by a satellite cannon, and Rin, who’d recovered first and was aiming her Device camera at him.

Hanabi, on the other hand, looked like a market crash had just wiped out all her stocks. Her expression had drained so thoroughly that Kuon instantly started formulating his defense. This isn’t…!

The cause of this horror finally detached herself from him, saying, “I finally found you, onii-chan.” She didn’t seem particularly happy about this, but then she kissed him tenderly on the cheek. “Now we can be together forever,” she whispered.

Her voice seemed so very far away.

“Do you believe in past lives?” she whispered.

This seemed extremely sketchy.

“We were brother and sister in a past life.”

“P-past life…?” His heart skipped a beat. Anyone else would have laughed this off but not Kuon. After all, he had clear memories of his own previous life, when he’d been…

“Yes, in my previous life I was Akigase Tooka. And you were Suzu—”

She was cut off by a loud noise. Everyone turned, startled.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought would happen,” Kaede said, looking annoyed. She’d slammed the door open and was glaring at Tooka. “Didn’t I tell you not to bring that up yet?”

“Right. Sorry, Mother,” Tooka said, bowing her head.

Kaede sighed and turned to the Fuji Squad. “Let me introduce you. This is my other student, Tooka Nürburg. She’ll be representing the Drag Ride developers and serving as the team mechanic. Try to get along.”

There was a brief silence, and then Fuji and Rin glanced at each other, muttering…

“Drag Ride developer?”

“The headmaster’s student?”

Kaede rephrased. “She made Hanabi’s new frame, and she’s a Shichisei Kenbu student—Kuon’s ‘sister’ in that sense.”

Either of those things alone would be impressive. All eyes focused on Tooka, who was still clinging to Kuon. She finally let him go, turned towards the others, and spoke with her expression completely unchanging. “Nice to meet you,” she said, her voice clear as a bell. She bowed, a clean, robotic movement.

“You’re sunk, Hanabi,” Rin whispered.

Hanabi had yet to move a muscle.

 

***

 

Tooka Nürburg.

Estimated age: Ten.

Profession: Division Maneuver Developer/Mechanic/etc.

Division 5.

Parents: Unknown.

Actual Age: Unknown.

Birthplace: Unknown.

Memories Prior to the Age of Five: Lost.

 

She was a mystery.

Five years ago, a girl had been found lying under the Gate at Germany’s Nürburg Castle by the international alliance and German military. Situational evidence suggested she was a civilian who’d gotten caught up in the battle to recover Nürburg…except that was impossible, because that territory was controlled by Jave until the armed forces arrived. The best explanation anyone could come up with was that she was a civilian who came back through the Gate—the first person ever to do so.

When she woke up, she was found to have no memories of her first five years of life. All she remembered was the name “Tooka”, and that she was the heir to the Shichisei Kenbu arts. Kaede was summoned to Germany but had no memories of Tooka. And yet the child was so clearly fond of her that she ended up accepting her as a student. Based on how Kaede had accepted strange orphans like Hachishiki, Kuon, and Tooka as students, children were clearly her weakness.

Tooka was sent to school in Germany, where her talents blossomed. She discovered one new DM theory after another, developed them, and earned her doctorate. All the researchers in her field said the same thing: she discovered things like she knew them all along.

Where was she from?

Who was she?

She remained a mystery, but one thing was perfectly clear: this genius ten-year-old Maneuver developer loved sweets. Her favorite involved mixing flour, water, sugar, butter, and eggs, and dipping the dough in hot oil and then sprinkling more sugar on top.

“You like it?”

“Yes.”

“We have more. Eat all you like.”

“Thank you.” She was currently seated next to Fuji, inhaling a donut. A round sugar donut. Sweet, fluffy, and dangerous. On the video desk were three Mistel Donut boxes and as many coffee cups as there were people. The sweet scent filled the meeting room.

On the other side of the desk, Rin was gnawing on an Old Fashioned, giving Hanabi her honest opinion. “All that talk about past lives… Is she all right in the head?”

Hanabi took a bite out of a Pon de Ring. She was saving a Double Chocolate and a Chocolate Old Fashioned for Kuon. “Manners, Rin. She’s the headmaster’s student and the chief mechanic for the Kiryu.”

“So why’s she calling Kyuu-kun ‘onii-chan?’”

“Students of the same martial arts school are all siblings.”

“In such an emotional way? Gimme that chocolate one.”

“They’d never met before, it was a touching moment. And no! Those are for Kuon-kun.”

“Tch. Tell me, Hanabi, when you first met Kyuu-kun, did you react like that?”

“Not quite. My mind went totally blank, and there was a pain in my chest that—I mean, none of your business!”

“You were weirdly in sync during that mock battle. Reimei’s a ranged frame, and yet you went in for a close-range fight.”

“L-L-L-Leave me out of this!”

Rin finished her donut and took a sip of her iced café au lait. Reaching for a French Cruller, she said, “She calls herself a student, but it doesn’t sound like she’s learned any Machine Fencing.”

“Well, she’s a Division 5, like me. The headmaster has no intention of teaching her anything. But she insisted she had to be a student.”

“Maybe she looks up to the Hero like you do.”

“Mm.”

“Like you, she survived a war zone when she was very little.”

“Mm.”

“So you’re the same! Go talk to her. Don’t be scared!”

“I-I’m not, but…eep!”

Rin gave her a shove, and Hanabi was forced to either stand or fall off her chair. The box with the chocolate donuts survived intact.

“Hm? What is it, Suzuka-kun?” Fuji said, confused.

“E-er…well…”

Tooka was just staring at her. It was impossible for Hanabi to tell what she was thinking. The hand holding the box started sweating. She scratched it and took a deep breath. I can do this. “N-Nürburg-ku—”

Before she could even finish the name, the girl looked up at her and said, “Tooka is fine.”

Already feeling like the rug had been pulled out from under her, Hanabi managed to retain her footing. “T-Tooka-kun.”

“Yes, Hanabi-oneesama?”

“…Onee-sama?”

“Mother…Master informed me that Kiryu’s official rider is also onii-chan’s lover. Which would make you my sister.”

“I-It does…?”

“It does,” Tooka intoned flatly, her voice betraying no emotion at all.

Hanabi felt like she was talking to an alarm clock. En was an AI, and even she was way more human than Tooka.

The alarm clock bowed her head. “Thank you for taking such good care of my brother. Whatever his flaws, I hope you will continue to help him out.”

“Er, uh…sure…”

She had a sister-in-law? Why did that feel like defeat?

The alarm clock bowed her head again. “There’s a flaw when turning.”

“Huh?”

“The Kiryu.”

“O-oh, right. When I roll left, there’s just a sliiight sluggishness…like interference in the relays or Servant connectivity.” It was pure happenstance that she’d managed to catch and follow this sudden change of subject.

“Understood. I will look into it and should have adjustments made in the morning.”

“That soon? Our engineers have been looking for a week without finding the root cause.”

“Kiryu is my child.” Tooka did not smile.

“I-I see…well, you certainly are on the ball for your age…like…” Hanabi looked over at Kuon, who was deep in a serious-looking discussion with Kaede at the back of the room.

Hanabi thought Kuon and Tooka definitely had something in common. They were similar in some ways.

“What is it?” Tooka asked, head to one side.

Hanabi waved her hands to say it was nothing and then held one out. “Nice to meet you, anyway. I’m Suzuka Hanabi. Thanks for taking care of Kiryu for me.”

Her new chief mechanic, and Kuon’s sister student, shook her hand, expressionless. “Tooka Nürburg. Nice to meet you, too.”

That was how the strange relationship between the two girls closest to Kuon began.

When Kuon finished talking to Kaede, Hanabi said, “I saved the chocolate ones for you,” and he looked really happy. Her feelings of defeat lessened.

But only a little.

 

***

 

That evening, in a room in the Jogen Maneuver Academy Girls’ Dormitory…

A digital window had been opened above a pillow, the screen scrolling through Jogen Island event information. Nearly all the fields were blank.

“Hmm…”

Motegi Rin was lying face-down on her dorm bed, idly scanning this information page, when she heard footsteps outside the door. Then the noise of the electronic lock disengaging. That alone was enough to tell her who was coming in.

She glanced at the clock. 9:17 PM. Well past the dorm curfew, but she’d almost certainly cleared it with the dorm mother and had been let in through the back door, Rin thought. She closed her window. “Welcome back, Hanabi.”

“Mm, thanks.”

Rin turned her head to see Suzuka Hanabi in uniform—honestly, it never looked right on her, like she was a little too beautiful for it—as she walked to her bed, slippers shuffling, and put her bag down.

Hanabi was Rin’s childhood friend, stepsister, squad mate, classmate, and roommate. She was cute as she was gallant. Rin noticed circles under Hanabi’s eyes as she collapsed straight onto her bed with a thump. Hanabi burrowed under her covers. “They’re really wearing you out, huh?” Rin asked.

“…Mmph.”

A muffled groan was the only response. Rin took that as a yes. “You gonna take a shower?”

“Unh.”

It was rare to see Hanabi like this. Normally, no matter how tired she got, she would at least wash her hands and face, and take a shower before resting. Rin knew the answer but asked anyway. “Something happen?”

“Mrgh.”

“Not the new weapon, right?”

Hanabi didn’t answer. She was shutting her out.

Rin’s Device rang with an unfamiliar ringtone. She popped a window open and answered. “Hello? Dorm Mother? …What? A visitor at the door? Kyuu-kun?”

Hanabi bolted upright in instant panic. Her eyes darted left and right, back and forth, and then finally found the window and looked down at the entrance. She stared into the darkness, searching.

There was nobody there.

Rin sighed. “I’m kidding, Hanabi.”

Hanabi spun around, her face astonishingly red. “Y-you’re…you…!! You’re just…!!”

Rin closed the empty window, set her ringtone back to normal, and waved Hanabi to a seat. Then she stood up, opened the door, and stuck her head out to make sure no one was there. The room to the right was empty, and Nao and Sachikou from the room on the left were playing mahjong in the lobby with the Amakusa sisters. There was an analog game fad going on in the Jogen girls’ dorm, in its third year running with no signs of dying down. Manual stalking, no Devices, arinashi rules. She’d have to ask tomorrow which method of cheating had led to more wins.

“All clear,” Rin said.

“Rin…?” Hanabi asked, confused.

Rin winked at her and then joined Hanabi on her bed, lying next to her. She locked arms with her and pulled her in close. Man, she really smells good. Even though she hasn’t showered! Rin thought. All right, close quarters combat engaged, right to the Core. “What happened with Kyuu-kun?”

Hanabi made a little noise.

Yep, he was definitely behind this. Jeez. “You have a fight?”

“Not a fight…”

“Then what?”

“Just…nothing.”

“What do you mean?”

“We just haven’t…done anything. Anything at all. Nothing…!” Hanabi buried her face in her hands. “It’s been a month since we recovered the Capital, but we’ve only been on one d-d-d…shopping trip!”

Don’t give up.

“A date, you mean.”

“W-we haven’t done those and we’ve barely even seen each other and definitely not talked at all and…today I thought we were finally going to get some time together, but we were pulled apart immediately…and I could only manage two hundred push-ups and I want to have Kuon teach me Fencing, too!”

Rin thought two hundred push-ups was an impressive number for any girl.

“And then that transfer student Tooka-kun gave him a hug and…!”

Oh yeah, that was great. He looked like he’d been caught cheating. Too funny.

“And I just thought, are we not actually going out at all? Are we even together? M-maybe I just think we are, and Kuon-kun doesn’t even know it. Maybe he’d prefer someone closer to his age, like Tooka-kun. Wh-what do you think, Rin?”

With a herculean effort, Rin managed to frown. She was on the verge of laughing out loud, otherwise. It had been a long time since she’d had so much trouble suppressing a laugh. Right. So that explains it. “Ha…d-don’t worry, Hanabi,” she snorted.

“Why do you look like you’re trying not to laugh?”

“…Ahem. No, it’s nothing. Mm. Right…don’t worry, Hanabi. Kyuu-kun is crazy about you.”

“H-he is…?” Hanabi’s smile was super embarrassed but really happy.

Gosh, she’s adorable. “You heard him, didn’t you? He said he loved you with his comms wide open so the whole Air Force could hear him.”

“Aughhhhhhhhh!!” At the very mention of comms, Hanabi hid her face in her pillow and started thrashing her limbs around.

“Ask anybody. They’ll tell you Kyuu-kun is crazy for Hanabi. Although you might hear some concerns about you going for a kid that young…”

“Kmph-kmp ismph a kmph!” Hanabi exclaimed, her voice muffled by the pillow.

Rin chuckled. I think she said “Kuon-kun isn’t a kid!” Probably. “He does seem more like an old fart.”

Hanabi managed to pull her face out of the pillow to argue. “Th-that’s what’s good about him! The way he always acts so mature but occasionally does something super childish is so cute and cool, and he’s little but always comes through and…”

“I know, I know, you adore him, I get it.”

“Arghh…!” Rin was forced to restrain her. “But…” Hanabi whispered, shoulders slumping again. “…does he really?”

Wow, her mood is all over the place, Rin thought. “Forget how you get no time together, forget this new rival-slash-little sister— is anything else bothering you?”

“Well…well…Kuon-kun…he…he won’t…”

“Won’t what?”

“He never…”

“Never what?”

“Calls me by my name!”

This was too much for Rin. She threw open the window, screaming, “Maideeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!”

From somewhere in the distance, someone else yelled back, “Shut up, Motegi!” Oops.

“It’s just a naaame! I mean, he calls me ‘Rin-san!’ I don’t even rate a ‘Senpai!’

“Mm, yeah, well, you aren’t really the senpai type, Rin…”

“You wound me!” Rin flopped back down on the bed.

“On our…our date,” Hanabi continued. “We didn’t even hold hands…or…k-k-kiss…even though before we went into combat we… Oh, I’m getting embarrassed just thinking about it!”

“Wait…back up, Hanabi.” When she heard Hanabi’s wail, an image came to Rin’s mind: a door made of darkness with a sign on it, warning her not to step farther in. She hesitated a second and then kicked the sign in two. “Tell me more.”

“Like I said, before we were deployed…” The rest was whispered.

“Whaaaat?! You not only kissed, you whaaaaaaat?! Whaaaaat?!”

The window was flung open once more.

“She beat me to iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”

Multiple voices shot back. “For Christ’s sake, Motegi!”

Sorry, sorry. She shut the window and turned back around to find Hanabi surprised.

“Er, uh, wait, you haven’t yet?”

“Wow, do you even know how smug that sounds?”

“I-I mean, you didn’t come home that evening and…you’re so popular and…it was the night before we got deployed, so I thought you were with someone yourself…”

Rin couldn’t admit she’d been tailing them. Instead, she clenched a fist. “Damn you, Kyuu-kun! Violating my Hanabi…! I’m gonna stick you in the fryer!”

“V-violate…?! Oh!”

Don’t turn red now! “Hmm, well, okay, don’t worry. Motegi Rin has your back!”

“No, I’d prefer you stay out of it…”

Rin pretended not to hear that. She wasn’t letting something this fun pass unmeddled with! She instantly pulled up their squad leader on her Device.

He answered alarmingly fast, before the second ring. “What’s up, Motegi-kun? Emergency?”

“Totally. Never been anything more urgent.”

“In that case, I can assume there’s no rush at all. But I suppose I’ll hear you out…”

“Practice next week. Wednesday.”

“You have a proposal?”

“Hanabi will be with us that day, right?”

“Suzuka-kun?”

“Yes, she’s in a state. And we need to throw Tooka-chan a welcome party, so…blah blah.”

“…Hmm?”

“Blah blah.”

“…Hmm?”

“Blah-blah-blah. Blah.”

“…You’re a real piece of work. Still…sure, fine.”

“Nice, Squad Leader! You’re a man who gets it!”

“For the sake of the team. And if Suzuka-kun and Okegawa-kun are in a state like that, I’m not about to ignore it. I’ll do what I can.”

“Ha! The taken man knows what’s up! Cool!”

Fuji started to protest this, but Rin just hung up on him. She spun around. “Mwa ha ha! Hanabi…just you wait.”

“Um, Rin…what are you plotting…?”

All she had to do was wink at her, and Hanabi would relax. But instead, Rin just maintained a malicious smirk.

 

***

 

The next day, on the practice grounds…

Kuon lay flat on his back.

“You’ve got a lot to work on.” Headmaster Kaede said.

“Yeah.” Practicing with his Master for the first time in a while, he suspected he might be getting punished for using the ultimate art during the Mid-Blue battle. Punishment or no, he was getting thrashed.

He had a wooden sword. She was unarmed. Yet no matter what angle he approached from, he ended up being sent flying. It doesn’t make sense, Kuon thought. I’m better at Fencing than I was in my previous life, but…

He heard her voice from above. “You’ve been training for nineteen years, right?”

“This is my twentieth.”

She nodded. “Good a number as any. Spend the next twenty years learning to Fence without a sword.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means if you’re relying on your weapon, you’ve got a long way to go.”

But…“Fencing” implies the use of swords. “But you’ve taught me the ultimate move,” he protested.

“And something that risky shouldn’t be used willy-nilly. That’s also just the surface!”

“Surface…?”

“Shichisei Kenbu has depth! The Eight Hidden Forms you’re about to start learning include arts that can only be learned with the right type of magic.”

“So…these’ll be as hard as a Division 1?”

“Not necessarily. It isn’t the amount of magic but the characteristics of it. I’m a Division 4, but I was only the right fit for four of them. Okegawa Kuon…over the next twenty years, you should aim to surpass me.”

“Master…how old are you, rea—guh!”

She stomped on him.

 

In the car on the way home, his master broke her sullen silence to ask, “What’s up with Hanabi? You two doing well?”

Lately Kaede had started driving Kuon home after practice. Kuon liked her aircar; it was a little white round retro number. Despite its size, she’d somehow stuck a pre-electric V8 engine in the thing, and the unexpected power was so her. The lack of interior space was a small price to pay.

Kuon realized that he’d actually known Nanahoshi Kaede longer than his own mother.

That was all the more reason why this sudden personal question raised his hackles. He and his Master had never once talked about his personal life before, and she never even mentioned his relationship with Hanabi until now. He chose his words carefully. “Um…yes. We get along…”

“No problems?”

“Not none, but…”

“Oh? What’s the problem? Spit it out.”

“Well…” Watching his Master’s face carefully, Kuon admitted they hadn’t seen much of each other.

Kaede kept her eyes on the road. Safe driving was a priority. “Hmm. I see. You’ve got a team meeting Wednesday?”

“Um, where’d you hear—”

“I’ll drop you off. It’s a remote location; hard to get to without a car.”

“Uh, thanks…”

“Don’t be late.” She nodded, but there was a worried look in her eyes.

 

***

 

That Wednesday evening, as dusk began descending…

On the outskirts of town was a large mountain, upon which was perched a mansion seemingly larger than their school. It had a massive front gate. Everything about it screamed “military stronghold”…or possibly “yakuza lair.” It was the home of the Motegi family, the most powerful on the Jogen Islands.

A ridiculously beautiful girl stood outside the entrance. Wearing a pink yukata, her long black hair tied up, she kept touching the back of her head, as if this whole look was embarrassing her. Her chest had been forced into the yukata somehow, but it definitely called attention to itself, and the curve of her backside was also all too prominent.

“Nnnnghh…”

She was, of course, Suzuka Hanabi. She stared at her geta, red-faced. Imperial Summer had belatedly reached the Fuji Squad, and Hanabi was pacing nervously outside the manor, waiting for Kuon.

She hadn’t been back here in ages. When her stepmother heard the news from Rin, she went wild and turned Hanabi into her own personal dress-up doll. Cloth was bound around and around Hanabi’s chest and stomach, one yukata after another was put on and off, and her stepmother was never satisfied until Hanabi promised to wear it again next year. Ultimately, Hanabi managed to get her settled on a safe option. Even this one went for three times the average Jogen monthly income, so she wasn’t really sure it qualified as “safe.” Did it even count as a yukata anymore?

“Nnnnghh…”

But the thing she was least sure about was whether it looked good in the first place. Her stepmother and Rin approved of the outfit, and she was grateful, but since they both doted on her, she couldn’t really trust their opinions. If she was wearing an expensive yukata that didn’t even look good, Kuon-kun would think she was nuts.

That was all Hanabi could think about, so it never occurred to her to wonder what Kuon might be wearing.

“Senpai.”

“Ku…Kuon-kun??”

When had he arrived? She’d been too busy staring at her feet and hadn’t even noticed. She looked up when she heard his voice and was blown away.

“Sorry I’m late…” he said, embarrassed.

She’d just assumed he would be in normal clothes, maybe a yukata. He was not. He was in a hakama, with a haori over the top. Stunned, she managed to splutter, “D-don’t worry about it…”

Why was he wearing that?

“Master put this on me. She said I should look the part if I was visiting the Motegi manor. And well…I’m the same height as her now, so…” He turned, showing her his back. The haori had a fan and seven stars on it—a family crest. “Apparently this is the Nanahoshi crest…”

Nanahoshi…the clan that had created the Shichisei Kenbu. “That’s amazing!”

“It’s a heavy burden on so many levels, and I feel like I’m cosplaying as a rakugo performer.”

“Not at all! You look like a samurai! It’s…” Cool, she started to say but was too embarrassed to get it out.

Kuon, however, had no such problems. He gave her a bashful smile and said, “Hanabi-senpai, that yukata looks amazing. You’re beautiful.”

She stared at her feet again.

 

***

 

They were to meet up with the others at the Motegi’s secondary building.

Next to the front entrance of the main building was a steep path. Hanabi and Kuon climbed that for a while and found themselves at the gate to the second building. There were several people up there, and one saw them coming.

“Oh! Kyuu-kun!”

Motegi Rin was the first to call out. She was the eldest daughter of the manor’s owners. She’d cut her hair a little bit shorter after they’d recovered the capital, and today it was in a braid hanging over her yukata’s shoulder. When she saw Kuon’s haori/hakama combo, she grinned.

“Kyuu-kun, what are you wearing?! It’s so badass! You look like a knight or a shogi player!”

“Th-thanks, I guess…” Kuon said, sheepishly.

Rin turned to Hanabi, trying to make it look natural. “You agree, don’t you, Hanabi?”

There was a long silence. Then Kuon thought he heard a click from inside Hanabi.

“Yes, it looks very good, Kuon-kun,” she said firmly.

“Thank you, Hanabi-senpai!” He looked thrilled.

Rin shook her head. “She goes into Warrior Mode with everyone looking, and then she can totally say it just fine! Also, Kyuu-kun, you got the same compliment from both of us but sure took it differently.”

“Er, I didn’t mean to…owww!”

She gave him a noogie.

“Oh, where’s Tooka-kun?” Hanabi said, as if just remembering. “I thought she was staying at the Nanahoshi home? Didn’t the headmaster bring her?”

Rin had invited Tooka, too, naturally. But… “She’s already asleep. She is only ten…”

Oh, Hanabi thought. “What about En-kun? Is she asleep, too?”

“She’s with my Master. Something about swapping her body out for a new one.”

“Swapping?” Hanabi looked confused. Then two people came up behind Rin.

“Looks like everyone’s here,” the man said.

“Squad Leader! And Nao-san!” Kuon exclaimed.

“Okegawa-kun. Nice hakama. Good look for you,” Fuji said with a warm smile. One of the most handsome boys in the school, the breezy jinbei he wore looked all too good on him.

Next to him was a gentle, smiling girl, waving her hands. “Heyyyy! I saw Hanabi and Rin this morning, but Okegawa-kun, it’s been ages!” She was Fuji’s fiancée, Gotenba Nao. She was a third-year student and lived in the girls’ dorm, next door to Hanabi and Rin. She didn’t look the type but was excellent at mahjong…or, at least, cheating at mahjong.

They were all here. One high school boy, three high school girls, and one junior high school boy all began making small talk.

“Kyuu-kun, you’ve met Nao before?” Rin said, looking down at him.

“The squad leader introduced us once before,” Kuon said, looking up at her.

“Rin! How long are you going to cling to Kuon-kun?!” Hanabi said, yanking him away.

“I think it’s the first time we’ve all been together,” Fuji nodded, only just realizing.

“Eh heh heh! You’re all so close!” Nao said, enjoying herself.

Then came a rumble that echoed in the pits of their stomachs, and a beautiful flower exploded in the sky above.

Fwwwwwwwwwwwwww…boom!

There was a firework festival today. Rin’s proposal had been that they skip practice and watch the fireworks. Not to slack off but to welcome their new teammate and strengthen the bonds between them with a little R&R. Sadly, the new teammate had fallen asleep.

“Ah! They’re already starting!” Rin yelled. “Kyuu-kun and Hanabi were so late!”

“What? We weren’t even supposed to meet for another twenty minutes.”

“Oh, riiight… Which means…”

“Motegi-kun proposed the wrong meeting time. Honestly!”

“Jeez, Rin-san.”

“J-just hurry! Before it’s over! Come on!” Trying to cover up her mistake, Rin ran off, her geta clacking. The Fuji Squad, plus Nao, went out one of the back gates of the Motegi manor, through the gardens, and to the front of the second building. There, the servants had prepared seats for them to watch the fireworks. Hanabi had a firm grip on Kuon’s hand, pulling him after her. Once they were all seated, another firework went off. Rin showed no signs of repentance.

This mid-September fireworks display was an annual Jogen event. The fireworks were launched from a park by the seaside and helped remind Jogen citizens that they were part of the Empire, even though they were a small island far from the mainland.

Since the Motegi estate was on a mountain with a fantastic view, there was nothing obstructing the colorful flowers blooming in the night sky.

“We’ve got lots to eat and drink! We’ll keep it coming!” Rin said, playing the part of the hostess. Yakisoba and takoyaki were being carried to the tables nearby. This was Hanabi’s home, too, so she pitched in, and when Kuon tried to join them they both snapped, “Children should sit down!” Finally, a giant tray of yakitori came out, and they were ready. Hanabi filled the disposable plastic cup in Kuon’s hand with orange juice, so he filled hers with lemon-lime soda, and then he realized Rin, Fuji, and Nao were all drinking something brown and bubbly. Before he could ask if that was allowed, Rin proudly raised her cup.

“Cheeeeeeeeers!” she yelled, joyfully.

A firework exploded behind her.

Everyone tapped their cups together. Rin, Fuji, and Gotenba seemed to be competing to drain theirs fastest. Fuji had his hand on his hips, chugging like a post-bath milk, and Rin was standing on her chair letting it flow in, but Nao beat them both, sitting properly on her chair and holding her cup with both hands. They all flaunted their empty cups proudly. “Another!” At least wipe those moustaches off.

Kuon gaped at them, then his eyes met Hanabi’s, and they giggled. Is it always like this? Pretty much. These words went unsaid.

“Cheers, Kuon-kun.”

“Cheers, Hanabi-senpai.”

The two members with non-alcoholic drinks clicked their cups together.

 

The rest of the gathering was wild.

The first five minutes brought a lot of memories back for Kuon. Possibly not even from his last life but ones before that.

Rin was as an awful drunk and was quickly berating Kuon, demanding to know why he’d taken Hanabi from her and what he was going to do about it. “Sorry, Kuon-kun,” Hanabi told him. “She doesn’t mean anything by it.”

Fuji appeared to be in an excellent mood and then fell asleep after his third cup. Nao had drunk more than anyone else but wasn’t even flushed. She pried the cup from Fuji’s hand and softly kissed him on the cheek.

Ba-ba-ba-boom! The final fireworks went off.

The noise startled Rin, and she turned, falling out of her chair. This appeared to be all she had in her, and she just laid there, snoring. A butler appeared out of nowhere and carried her into the house. Fuji, too, was picked up by two burly bodyguards, and Nao followed them inside.

Which left Kuon and Hanabi all alone.

Kuon was unclear if this was Rin’s plan all along, but now that they were free of the drunks, Kuon glanced next to him and saw his girlfriend’s face lit by the fireworks she was named after. Like a waterfall, one flash after another, as dazzling as they were fleeting. Watching her watching them, Kuon forgot to breathe.

It was extraordinarily beautiful.

For some reason, he found himself thinking that at the moment of his death, he would remember how she looked tonight. “Hanabi-senpai,” he found himself saying. He regretted breaking the silence. He’d wanted to stare at her forever.

The last few pops faded, the final lights dimmed, and a quiet darkness settled over them. Hanabi turned to Kuon and smiled. “What?”

This was a smile she reserved only for him. It hit him hard.

While the others were drinking and Rin was accosting him, their fingers had never untangled, like they were afraid to let each other go. Now he pulled her hand closer, making himself as tall as he could. He cupped her cheek with his free hand and tried to steal a kiss.

Clunk. He went in a little too fast and their teeth bumped.

“Oh!!” Both of them covered their mouths with their hands. It was definitely painful.

“Argh, Kuon-kun!”

“S-sorry…”

Hanabi snorted. Kuon hastily got on his knees on top of the chair, trying to make up for his failure. They had to do this properly. Hanabi’s hands reached out, cupping his cheeks. Kuon didn’t dare move.

She kissed him gently, their lips barely touching, and then she pulled away. He couldn’t bear it. “I love you, Hanabi-senpai,” he blurted.

She froze, startled. A moment later, her expression melted before his eyes. “Mmm,” she said, a smile spreading across her face.

He just wanted to stay like this, and he believed in his heart that he was not the only one.

“I…” Hanabi said. “I want to stay like this forever, Kuon-kun.”

There was love in her eyes. Oh, he thought. That’s how I feel. He extended his knees, matching her eyeline. I think this feeling is…adoration.

Hanabi closed her eyes, and as his lips moved to hers, Kuon realized he’d found an emotion his previous life had never granted him.

 

***

 

A few days later, the Lunatic Order were in a mock battle.

It was on their usual training ground, but there was one major difference. They’d merged training grounds one through three, creating a genuinely huge space. There was also one other difference.

“Suzuka-kun, the attacker at five o’clock is bait. So is the one next to it and the one in back. The real one is—”

“No, wait, Hanabi, don’t move so fast, please, it’s making me sick…”

“Senpai, I’ll take the main attacker up above! Rin-san, take out the artillery for me!”

“Cut off the enemy retreat. Launch Servant Pods two seconds after Okegawa-kun’s attack. Motegi-kun?”

“Wait, wait, I’ll do it. Just wait… I had curry for lunch, and it’s all coming up, so wait!”

A light shot across the blue sky. At the heart of this vast virtual battlefield, three figures clung to the back of a dragon. Shots flew towards them, but the dragon dodged as if predicting the future, dragging the attached three figures along with it.

Kuon, Fuji, and Rin were all attached to Hanabi’s Kiryu.

Just as he did in the last battle, Kuon rode on the back of the Kiryu, cutting enemies as they approached. Fuji was working Control on the left wing, and Rin was on the right, trying not to puke while maintaining a one hundred percent hit rate one-handed.

“High Nova Launcher firing!”

Hanabi fired the Kiryu’s main weapon, taking down two enemy gunners as they evaded the Servant attacks. Less than half remained. It was seven against one.

Not personnel—squads. Seven Lunatic Order squads—a total of twenty-eight Cavalleria—were all gunning for the Fuji Squad.

This was the Jogen Maneuver Academy Fall Exhibition Match, a Lunatic Order battle royale where everyone ganged up on the Fuji Squad.

The match had been planned by Headmaster Nanahoshi Kaede with the stated goal of knocking the Fuji Squad down a peg. Since they weren’t satisfied by being permanently top ranked within the school, they’d gone and gotten themselves medals to boot. It all seemed familiar somehow, but she was their headmaster, so they’d lose the fight the moment they let themselves get upset.

Besides that, their real goal was checking on the adjustments to Hanabi’s Drag Ride. Their new chief mechanic, Tooka Nürburg, had made considerable improvements to it. Given the operations scheduled in their future, they needed to put it through its paces. “They’re dominating, huh? Boring,” Kaede muttered to herself, watching the battle.

Kaede’s number one student raised a Blade to the sky. “Nine-count Strike! Kishin Ryuenbu!” A guillotine tornado sprang up. Cylindrical Blades each as large as a Jave raged, storm-like, across the battlefield around Kuon.

Hanabi’s Kiryu alone had half-demolished them, and now Kuon used a Shichisei Kenbu area-of-effect attack to polish them off. He’d used the same technique in the Capital Gate Recovery battle to finish off nearly all the enemy Jave and save the Bushi Hime at the last second, so this art was particularly famous within the Air Force. The opposing Lunatic Order forces were taken down so quickly, one could almost feel sorry for them.

Only seventy-seven seconds had passed since combat began. Funds for the newspaper club—who ran the betting pool—were in great shape.

 

The Imperial Army’s final goal was to seal all the Gates on the mainland. They’d sealed the Capital Gate, so that left thirteen more: Sapporo, Sendai, Yamagata, Ashinoko, Owakudani, Mount Myoko, Matsumoto Castle, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka Castle, Seto, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka.

The Empire would crush those Gates one by one. To give themselves a foothold, they’d chosen the Fukuoka Gate in Kyushu to start with. At the center of the operation would be their two heroes.

Expectations were particularly high for Suzuka Hanabi and her Drag Ride. They’d poured a fortune into manufacturing the new weapon, and nobody wanted it turning out useless. Hanabi needed results as explosive as her name.

But while the manufacturing costs might be immense, the research and development had not been. After all, Tooka designed the whole thing herself.

Wheeling through the air, Hanabi glanced to the corner of the training ground. A small girl was looking up at her, donut in one hand. She must really like those, Hanabi thought. The taciturn genius child had nearly always had a donut on her since the day they met. They were easier to get than chocolate, but did all Shichisei Kenbu students have a sweet tooth? She had plenty of order rewards left, so maybe she’d have to bring more donuts tomorrow. It sort of felt like taming her with treats, but she wanted to do something for her cute “little sister”.

The Heavy Magic Engine her sister developed was the core of the Drag Ride. Inside was the one thing that could store high-purity magic, the Crystal II, which Tooka had also invented. The system vibrated this magic, compressing it at high purity, and let it explode to produce energy. This explosion made the magic vibrate, so once an explosion happened, the engine had an inexhaustible supply of energy. However, that initial vibration required a twelve-second kick from a Division 5, and Hanabi was the only person in the Empire capable of that.

Hanabi had a lot of magic to begin with, and this system effectively doubled that, enabling her to use powerful weapons like the Servant Pods and the High Nova Launcher. But the most insane function was definitely the Heavy Magic Field. By compressing magic and increasing its mass, deploying Heavy Magic around her unit, she could cause Jave bullets to slide off her. High-purity magic would even bend space.

This was impossible, according to everyone else working in DM development. But after calculations several hundred pages long and simulations run over a thousand times, the allies had granted permission for development of a prototype, and then Hanabi had proven its effectiveness in the last battle.

As long as they had the Heavy Magic Engine and Heavy Magic Field, mankind could finally win decisively against the Jave.

Whether the Imperial Army HQ was unanimously that optimistic was another matter. Tooka coming here was related. She’d requested it, but the allied forces’ reluctance was likely a factor.

As a side note, using this Heavy Magic under certain conditions allowed one to intentionally overdrive things, causing the phenomenon known as Magic Dispersal. That phenomenon was at the heart of the Soryu Ranbu art Suzuka Hachishiki had used to blow himself up, as well as Kuon’s ultimate move, the Mumyo Tosen.

Moves it had taken Shichisei Kenbu hundreds of years to develop had been achieved by Tooka in a mere ten. When Tooka first explained the principles of Heavy Magic, Nanahoshi Kaede’s face had been a sight to behold, and it was a real shame no one but Tooka had been there to witness it.

This genius opened a window comm to Hanabi. “Hanabi-onee-sama, how’s the Kiryu performing?”

As always, she had no expression, no emotion in her voice. Hanabi was getting used to that, though. “No problems,” Hanabi said. “Actually, it’s a little too good? Like, astonishingly so. I’ve got three riders, but the maneuverability is still better than before.”

“I’ve tuned it to you specifically, so it should be responding like that. The more we link and synchronize, the more your magic and the Kiryu’s Heavy Magic resonate.”

“It’s the strangest sensation… To me, it feels like the Kiryu itself is alive.”

“That’s an extremely healthy response. There’s autonomously intelligent growth-type—NSR-type—AI Device functionality incorporated into portions of it, so it is absolutely ‘thinking.’ Even if it weren’t, I personally believe all machines have a form of consciousness. Spiritual, electrical, or magical.”

“Huh… Mechanics sure think differently.”

“I think your perceptions are quite good, onee-sama. The test riders were not able to control Kiryu anything like you do.”

“I’m glad I can help.”

“You’re being very helpful. The data you’re providing is assisting with development of projects beyond the Kiryu.”

“There’re more?! This isn’t the only project you’re working on?”

“Right. I have three other projects supported by the Kiryu development. I suspect the international forces will brief you on them in the near future all because of the data you’ve provided. I’m grateful.”

“Th-that’s really… You’re amazing.”

“Thank you,” she said, sounding both super earnest and entirely emotionless. Then the comm cut out.

Hanabi shook her head. But Rin, recovering somewhat from the motion sickness, said, “She’s a lot like you, Hanabi.”

“She is?!”

“You were just like that when you were her age! Super flat. Almost frozen.”

“I was?”

“You don’t remember?”

“I wish I knew more about Hanabi-senpai’s childhood,” Kuon said.

“Ah ha ha, I’ll fill you in sometime. I got loads of juicy stories.”

“Please don’t, Rin. Kuon-kun, don’t you dare ask.”

Fuji jumped in. “I really didn’t expect Motegi-kun to get motion sickness. Your extra weapon, Falcon, is also a high-spec mobility unit. Same as the Kiryu.”

“Controlling it myself is totally different! Seems like I can’t handle someone else at the wheel.”

“Hmph… Interesting.”

“But Rin,” Hanabi said, “You’ve got to get over it. I can’t exactly drive safe in combat.”

“I know! I’m working on it…” Rin fluttered a hand.

“How long are you gonna jabber?” the headmaster cut in. “Wrap it up.”

“Roger that!” The entire Fuji squad responded reflexively.

Then Kaede addressed all Lunatic Order members who had participated in the mock battle. “Well done, soldiers. I’ve prepared a modest reward. Details in email.”

Everyone thought the same thing: This will definitely be hazing disguised as a reward.

 

***

 

They weren’t entirely wrong. The headmaster’s “reward” was a barbecue on the Nanahoshi training ground/private beach. If it had just been a barbecue, it totally would have been a reward, but this was Nanahoshi Kaede, their headmaster, master of the Shichisei Kenbu. It wouldn’t be that simple.

This beach was smaller than that of the Motegis—of course, the Motegi family’s was an entire island, so they weren’t even worth comparing—but the Nanahoshi beach was plenty big.

Big enough that thirty-two honed young Lunatic Order Cavalleria, the best the Empire had, were thoroughly worn out by twenty laps with the sand pulling their feet out from under them.

After a five-minute break, it also proved big enough for a beach volleyball tournament with four matches running at once, with a special prize from the headmaster to the winners, and the Shichisei Kenbu legendary punishment to whoever came in dead last. At the memory of the latter, Kuon and Rin started shaking so much they dropped their water.

The first match was Hanabi and Rin versus Fuji and Kuon. The final score was 21-2 in the girls’ favor.

“Ah…” Holding a tissue to his nose, Kuon mulled over the reason for their loss, not that there was any doubt as to that reason. Hanabi and Rin went off to their next match, their fit bodies squeezed into tube-top bikinis, doing fit jumps and fit attacks, and wow there was a lot of swaying up top. Fit swaying.

Their swimsuits were definitely very different from the last ones they’d worn—the one made of strings and the bubble nude-looking one. These were standard athletic tube-top bikinis. As such, they were highly functional, which itself really gave off the “fighter girl” vibe.

Kuon stared at Hanabi’s taut thighs, the faint lines of her abs, boobs so big you could clearly see a deep valley which tube tops would normally not display, and the large behind that the bikini could barely contain, forcing her to constantly adjust the cloth. Everything had ridiculous amounts of jiggle, like something out of a retro fighting game. Even that was but a distraction compared to the depths of that valley, the sort of abyss that appeared to be looking back at you the more you stared at it, and thinking about that during the match as Hanabi spiked the volleyball and it turned sharply, the letters MIKE on the side coming—

“Ah, my nose is bleeding!”

His thoughts were dragged back to reality. He honked into a tissue, and the contents soon turned from red back to clear.

“I suppose you are a growing boy, Okegawa-kun.” Fuji grimaced, also dabbing his nose with a tissue. He hadn’t been distracted by the girls’ bodies; he’d simply proved hopelessly terrible around balls. That must have been awful. Although he’d looked pretty happy when his fiancée Nao was tending to his injuries.

Speaking of tending to injuries…

“Onii-chan, are you okay?”

Tooka was right next to him, basically on his arm, serving as the Fuji Squad’s manager/assistant. Her face was very close. She might be ten, but she was definitely very beautiful. Kuon’s classmates might all be thinking, “Hot older girlfriend-having straight shota light novel MC, please explode!” but it still got his heart racing. He’d actually blown himself up in his previous life, so having people wish that fate on him behind his back was doubly cruel. What was a “straight shota light novel MC,” anyway?

“Uh, yeah, thanks,” he said, realizing he had to answer his sister student.

“No need to thank me. I am your little sister. I’d do anything for you.”

That phrasing really bugged him, though, and he wasn’t her brother. “Sorry, Tooka-chan…”

“Call me Tooka.”

Tug tug.

“Tooka, um…maybe not so close? This might be a bit of an emergency.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Hanabi-senpai saw us and froze on the spot.”

They heard Rin yelling, “Hey! Move, Hanabiiiiii!” as she did a flying save only to have her opponents mercilessly spike it back five millimeters from her fist.

“Ku…on…kun?”

He was, of course, seated right in front of her.

 

Last place went to Kuon and Fuji’s team.

This was Kuon’s fifth time, so he made sure to warn Fuji.

“Um, Squad Leader…do your best to keep your mind on something fun. Otherwise you will die.”

“Die?!”

“Yes, but comms are active, so have Nao-san talk to you the whole time so you don’t die.”

“W-wait, what kind of punishment is this?”

“As long as you don’t move too much, you’ll be fine. Keep your breathing even so you don’t die.”

“You sound like a doctor releasing a terminal patient to enjoy his last days at home!”

“The water is our ally. The water is not our enemy. Keep your emotions level, so you don’t die.”

“Why is Motegi-kun shaking like a leaf?! Where does the water come in at all?!”

It would be a full day before Fuji was able to face a glass of water again.

 

When Kaede’s hazing was done, the sun was setting. Having spent the entire day forcing the young to work out in the name of fun, the headmaster nodded her approval. “Glad to see everyone enjoyed their R&R. Well done. Time to roast some meat!”

Cries went up all around. Not cheers like “Yeehaw!” or “Yes!” but cries of relief like “We survived!” Like the walking dead, they shuffled to the showers, changed into normal clothes, and their young bodies soon forgot how tired they were and got hungry instead. All their bellies rumbled. Their bodies craved meat. More meat!

At last, the barbecue was ready. There were ten tables set up, grills on each, to accommodate eight full squads—a little over thirty people. Fuji would normally take charge at a time like this, but he was down for the count thanks to the punishment. At the moment, he was in bed in the lodge with Nao at his side, so Hanabi took his place. Kuon became her hands and legs, making sure meat was delivered everywhere and there were enough plates and napkins. Rin watched, yawning, showing no signs of pitching in. The Cavalleria who had lovers with them turned some of the tables into couples’ islands, and their blissful auras repelled the baleful stares from the boys and girls who were excluded. Kuon joined up with the Fuji Squad members, but Hanabi and Tooka each took a seat on either side of him and refused to budge, so Rin wound up sitting opposite him, her glare making him squirm.

Meat of all kinds was frying all around them. The party soon began and almost immediately hit a level of uproar that no one would mistake for sobriety. The Mitsuhashi squad leader was the first brave hero to slip some booze into the soda without the headmaster or teachers noticing. He was a foolish hero who pulled this trick every time, despite knowing full well the truth would come out eventually.

Those who started raising hell the moment their bellies were full were also fools. That group of fools—all men— tried to show up the couple islands by standing on their chairs and playing rock-paper-scissors at the top of their lungs, the losers forced to strip.

Kuon looked askance at this terrifying male-only strip RPS game, with its cries of “Please, Mitsuhashiiiii, let me keep my underweaaaaar!” and such. He chose to stay focused on his tongs and the meat. That did not look like a fever to get caught up in.

Jogen beef was highly rated even outside their territory. These islands were developed for grazing, Kuon remembered. There were cows just wandering everywhere. The kalbi was particularly good. He flipped a steak on the grill, and noticed Tooka sitting with her plate empty.

“Meat…” she whispered, staring blankly at the browning fillet.

“Oh, sorry, Tooka, aren’t you eating?”

“No.”

“Really? Sorry! You can have this steak.”

She shook her head. It didn’t seem like she was being polite.

“Um… Did you get much steak in Germany?”

“Other people ate it a lot. I just…wasn’t a fan.”

To Kuon’s right, Hanabi was eating scallops. She learned forward. “Not a red meat girl? We’ve got fish and shrimp, too.”

Tooka shook her head again. “Just veggies.”

Kuon and Hanabi, both interested only in beef, pork, chicken, fish, shellfish or any other meat, looked at each other. “Healthy!” they exclaimed.

“You two…” Rin said, shaking her head. She took a bite of marinated pork, chewed it well, and swallowed. “You’re totally in sync over stuff like this! Like you’re twins or something. Scarily close.”

“Uh…”

“And now you’re bashfully fidgeting in the exact same way, you happy bastards! Argh, I can’t take any more of it! I’m going back to my room!”

“Wow, that’s definitely a line that the first victim in a murder mystery would use,” Kuon said, assuming that it was only polite for him to make a joke like that.

“Actually, I just forgot I had some wine back at the lodge, so I’m just going to get that.”

“You’re gonna drink again?”

Rin just fluttered her hands dismissively at the clueless children and left.

With a beautiful girl on his right and a beautiful child on his left, Kuon went ahead and put some onions, peppers, and pumpkin on the grill. Tooka’s eyes locked on to them as if trying to fry them with her gaze alone. A shout went up from the next table. Hanabi was facing him and couldn’t see, but her face was bright red, so she must have guessed what had happened. The Mitsuhashi and Sagara Squad men had forgotten the RPS game entirely and just all gotten naked. “Booooys, put those things awaaaay! We’re trying to fry sausage over heeeere!” someone yelled. Hanabi buried her face in her hands.
“K-Kuon-kun…”

“Yes, Hanabi-senpai?”

“Th-the first one I ever saw was yours so…that night was my first time…” What the hell is burbling out of meeee?! she thought in despair.

“Hmm?” Tooka stole Hanabi’s cup and licked the brim. “Alcohol detected.”

Seriously? Kuon thought.

Hanabi rambled on. “Kuon-kun, yours was…very…um…impress—”

“Aughhhhhh, Hanabi-senpai?! Are you drunk?!”

“Um, um, Kuon-kun, listen? Listen? I think Tooka-chan is…”

“Just Tooka, Hanabi-onee-sama.”

“Since Tooka-chan got here I’ve been a little, just a little, a veeeeeery little bit ankshus but shtill, shtill…” Her speech was slurring more and more. Suddenly she grabbed him by his shoulders and gave him a huge smile. “But I love you more than anything in the world!”

So cute.

“Kuon-kun, I looooooveeeee yoouuuuu…” Her arms went all the way around his neck and held tight. She started kissing his cheek and neck. Kuon thought it was like Heaven but with an additional boozy scent. He settled for rubbing her head with one hand and wielding the tongs with the other. The veggies were about to burn.

Even in this situation Tooka was calmly saying, “Onii-chan, they’re burning.”

A breeze brushed by, feeling brisk on their cheeks. Kuon glanced up to find night banishing the last traces of orange from the sky. Too impatient to wait for the sun to set, stars began to twinkle. Nude boys were starting the world’s most dangerous game of beach flags and fire limbo dancing, while he had the most beautiful girl in school drunk and trying to make out with him.

This was Jogen Island, the last hope of mankind, and they were military trainees facing a seemingly endless war against the monsters. Yet in this moment…

It’s peaceful.

He knew better. They all did.

This evening of fun would not last. It might never come again. Fear of the battlefield was always at the corner of their minds, a black pit of despair that made them want to scream. The Mitsuhashi Squad partied like they wanted to forget because just yesterday they’d finally found pieces of the female Attacker who’d died in the Imperial Recovery battle. The headmaster and teachers knew this, which is why they weren’t stopping them. The other students knew it, too. Every one of them knew they could be the next to die.

But maybe they didn’t really get it.

No one there thought that a month from now, two-thirds of them would be gone. That they’d have lost their chance to speak to two-thirds of their number.

No one knew.

One month from that peaceful night on the beach, the Student Echelon—commonly known as the Lunatic Order—would fall.

 

***

 

“Motegi.”

A voice called Rin’s name as she left the lodge, wine in hand. “Oh, Okayama?” she asked. “What’s up?”

Okayama was an Attacker from the Sagara Squad. She’d gone up against him in several mock battles, and they’d been in the same class for three years running, so she knew him pretty well. He’d been learning Machine Fencing from Okegawa Kuon alongside the Air Force Cavalleria, too.

He was of average height and build. Neither tall nor short, neither handsome nor ugly. There was nothing particularly memorable about his appearance, but he smiled when other people didn’t and picked up on the strangest things. When they were both second-year students, the Fuji Squad and Sagara Squad had stayed up all night watching horror movies in his room, and he would break out laughing when everyone else was scared, pick up on clues no one else did, and blurt out the identity of the killer, making everyone else punch him.

It had been kinda cool, so Rin had a comparatively positive impression of him. Like a tier below Hanabi, Fuji, Kuon, and En. Just then, though, he looked pretty serious. “Can we talk a bit? Alone?” he asked.

“Huh? Sure.”

That was careless of her. Later, she felt like she should never have let him take her away.

He was a boy. She was a girl.

She didn’t even think about that until they were around the back of the lodge, out of earshot of the barbecue revelry. There was a look in Okayama’s eyes that wasn’t usually there. He looked super serious and really tense.

Stuff happened a lot in war. Especially in mixed-gender units; very especially ones filled with younger boys and girls. Girls could activate DMs too, but if their Device was stolen, what could they do? If she and Okayama started grappling, how could she fight back? She was a Sniper and he was an Attacker. She’d never stand a chance. She wasn’t one for childish ideas like saving herself for the one she loved, but she hoped to at least have mutual consent.

She bluffed as best she could. “What are you bringing me over here for? Revenge for kicking your ass in that mock combat? Or are you gonna ask me out?”

She laughed out loud, trying to hide how scared she was.

That was a mistake.

Okayama silently took a step closer. Rin couldn’t stop herself from taking a step back. Uh-oh. Super uh-oh. Alarms went off in her head, and she held her Device tight behind her.

“Yeah,” Okayama said. “That’s what this is.”

“What?” she blurted out, having forgotten the thread of the conversation.

“Like you said… Don’t make me say it. It’s embarrassing.”

“Huh?”

“I mean it, Motegi. I love you.”

“What?” She couldn’t understand him. What is this? Is he really asking me out? Calm down. Wait. No, obviously. Of course.

He was a boy, she was a girl.

And I’m a pretty hot one…so I guess asking me out was a possibility, too. Internally, she apologized profusely for doubting him.

“Motegi?”

“Um…right, okay. I get it. It’s been a while, so you caught me off guard.”

She’d actually been quite popular before high school. She was a Mote… No, never mind. But what now? She knew what he was thinking. “Um, Okayama…you…love me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Why…?”

“Not to say it myself, but I’m kind of a handful? Like, my personality?”

“I know. Three years in the same class and Lunatic Order stuff.”

“Yeah, so why me? Not like you’ve been nursing a crush this whole time.”

“Well…”

“You’re a friend, so lemme be blunt. Just cause there are couples all around us doesn’t mean you need to rush it. Half of them are just together to forget they’re scared. You want someone for that, get some other girl. I’ll hook you up.”

“Like Suzuka and Okegawa?” he said, scoffing.

Annoyed, she snapped, “Not them. Don’t be stupid.”

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!” Okayama burst out laughing.

What now? Rin thought. What made this guy laugh? “Is this a setup? Are there cameras rolling?”

“No, no. Ha ha ha, sorry. I take that back. Suzuka and Okegawa aren’t like that. We all know that. Man, you really get worked up about Suzuka, huh? Normally you’re the first to laugh.”

“Of course I do! And I dunno about first…”

“I mean when you care about someone, you’ve got their back. You’ve been with Suzuka this whole time, helping her be a better fighter. It’s because of you that she stopped being a headlong charge-in berserker and got as strong as she is, right?”

Yeah…

“You put your friends before yourself. You even warned me. So, like, I dunno… That kinda thing really caught my eye, you know? Once I picked up on it, I started seeing more, and before I knew it…I was in love.”

She had no response to that.

“I thought you and Fuji were together for a while,” Okayama continued. “Guess he’s got no taste.”

“I’d never go for someone so uptight, either. And I agree about his taste.”

“I’ve got way better taste, right?”

“I dunno. But I’ll think about it.”

“Mm, sure. Oh, but…we don’t have long till our next deployment. So…try not to take too much time, okay? If one of us died, that would really suck.”

“I…I know that…”

“Then cool. Sorry I dragged you out here. Oh, and here.”

Okayama pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to her. She scrambled to catch it. It clanked against the DM Device she was clutching in her hand. It was the key to a motorcycle. “This is the prize for…” she began, awed. The prize for the headmaster’s beach volleyball tournament were motorcycle keys. As one of the semi-finalists, Rin held the key in her palm, staring at it.

“Motegi, you like bikes, right?”

How did he know that?

“Your extra weapon, Falcon. Same thing, right? Long distance, high speed, mountable. And I ain’t got a license so…that bike’s yours. Gimme a ride sometime, okay?” With that, he turned and walked away.

Left standing behind the lodge, Rin, one of the semi-finalists, stared down at the key on her palm. “The guy’s supposed to be the one giving the girl a ride…” she muttered. Man… she thought. He really does love me.

“Oh, I forgot…”

“Yikes! You scared the hell out of me!”

“This’ll be hard to say if you gimme a no, so I figured I’d better say it now,” Okayama said sheepishly. Just his head was poking over the wall. “You got a haircut after the Capital battle, right? I think it looks great.”

“…Thanks.”

She was not confident she managed to hide how red she’d turned.

 

***

 

Later on that evening, the barbecue ended. The fools who drank so much they passed out were deposited in either the men’s or women’s lodge, respectively. Cleanup had been taken care of, and everyone had gone to sleep.

One small boy staggered along on a dark path through the woods, away from the beach, away from the lodge, a wooden sword in his hand. Between the running and volleyball and water torture, he was thoroughly exhausted.

It was Okegawa Kuon. His master had summoned him for more training, despite how sleepy he was. As he reached the training ground, Kuon looked confused. “Huh?” he said.

There was a beautiful stranger standing next to his master.

She was wearing what looked like a silk kimono altered to be more cyber-chic, with long emerald green hair falling on either side of her. It was an eccentric look, to be sure, and she stared right at Kuon with a mischievous grin.

He looked at his master. “Um, who is this?”

“Check your Life Sight,” she snapped.

“Can I?”

“Yes, go ahead.” He’d been asking his master, but the new girl answered instead.

Huh, that voice sounds familiar, he thought, trying to remember where he’d heard it before. Hmm…nope, too sleepy. Can’t remember. He just did what he was told and used his Life Sight.

Kuon raised both arms in front of him, laying the wooden sword along the horizon. He focused his mind, imagining himself wrapped in magic.

Machine Fencing referred to schools of sword techniques that were designed to make use of the magic channeled through a Division Maneuver. Shichisei Kenbu was one such school. But what Kuon was currently learning were arts that used magic without a DM: Shichisei Kenbu’s Eight Hidden Forms.

Those unnatural powers were as follows:

1st Form: Reject World.

2nd Form: Bubble Wall.

3rd Form: Crystal Cannon.

4th Form: Foresight.

5th Form: Void.

6th Form: Pleiades.

7th Form: Life Sight.

8th Form: Resonate.

These Forms weren’t necessarily learned in order. As Kaede explained before, the qualities you were born with played a major role in how many you ever acquired. You needed talents unrelated to your Division.

Kaede had ordered Kuon to use one of these, the 7th Form—Life Sight. This ability allowed him to see the light of life, something the ultimate art, Mumyo Tosen, had allowed him to do. In other words, by acquiring the primary technique, he’d already learned one of the hidden arts.

The training Kuon had done so far enabled him to use Life Sight even without a DM, and he now used this sight to check out the mysterious cyber-chic beauty and see her light of life. Each person’s magic was a different color. When Kaede first saw Kuon and said his magic was actually like her former student’s, she’d been looking at the color of his magic. Kuon had only recently worked that out. But when he looked at the cyber-chic beauty…

“Mm? Huh?”

“What?” Kaede asked.

“Maybe I’m still not good at this. But she looked exactly like someone I know only too well…”

“And who would that be?” the beauty smirked.

Kuon knew he was right. “So, uh…seriously? You’re En?!”

“That’s right, Kuon-sama!” she nodded, overjoyed. “You were being so dumb about it I was actually getting worried! But it’s me, En!”

Yeah, she’s definitely my master’s former Device, all right. “What’s with the new body?”

“It’s amazing! Look at it, Kuon-sama! The Imperial Capital R&D team were developing this artificial flesh! Since we recovered the Capital, they resumed work on it!” En spun around, happily showing off her new form. He remembered hearing in his previous life that they were researching artificial flesh exactly like real bodies using a mix of cloning and magical technologies, but…

“The Imperial Research and Development Headquarters, was it?”

“Yes! The place I was born!”

“They’ve progressed this far? You’re a full-on android now.”

“If we put one on you, you would be a cyborg!”

“Thanks, I’m good,” Kuon replied.

“If you lose an arm or a leg, just give them a call!”

“Perish the thought.”

“Enough joking around,” Kaede said with perfect comedic timing. “Kuon, continue from last time. Try Resonate.”

In his master’s opinion, the Hidden Form Kuon stood the best chance of mastering was Resonate. As the name implies, this literally resonated his magic with someone else’s, allowing them to share it. As it was, it was possible to share a Witch Bubble with another person if they held hands, but he couldn’t use it like his own magic. Resonate, however, would allow Kuon to use Shichisei Kenbu with someone else’s magic.

“Once Nine-count Strike wears out, if you can use Resonate, your chance of survival increases a little. You’ll still wind up getting saved by Hanabi, but…”

“I’ll try to avoid that as much as I can.”

“For today, En will be helping. Use her as you please.”

“Kaede-sama, did you just turn me into a guinea pig?” En gave her master a shocked look.

Kaede just glared flatly back at her. It was strange hearing the two of them call each other by name. En hadn’t even had a name before Kuon gave her one and had always called Kaede “Master” before.

“Never seen a light of life in an AI before. Seems like this one’s genuinely weird.”

“Is that a compliment? Should I take it as one, Kaede-sama?”

“Hmm, suit yourself.”

“Yay! I love you, Kaede-sama!” En threw her arms around her former master, her new body far larger than Kaede’s. Despite his master’s stern expression, Kuon could tell she was secretly happy.

They were definitely close. Kuon grinned. “Here I go,” he said. He turned the tip of his sword to the ground, holding it like he was standing upside down.

He took a breath and released it. Focus. Focus. Just as Life Sight allowed him to see people’s magic, it also allowed him to see the magic flowing in the air. He imagined his own magic dispersing through that flow, as if disrupting it, and then he tapped the sword’s tip on the ground.

Shichisei Kenbu Hidden 8th Form: Resonate.

A faint tiiiiiiiii…nng sound rang out. That was his own sound, like a submarine’s sonar or a dolphin’s echolocation. He strained his mind’s ears so as not to miss the sound of En’s magic that came bouncing back to him.

Tiii…nng…

There it was. This time he tapped twice.

Once again, he laid his own magic over the wave coming from En, keeping it even. Same speed, same angle, same depth. It was like if a ball were coming his way, and he threw a ball back with exactly the same force, aiming to make both balls fall at that exact spot. If he hit it head-on it would get knocked away. If he didn’t use enough force his ball would get knocked back, but if he used too much the other ball would, but if he hit it just right…

…tiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIng!

This time he heard it clearly. En’s and Kuon’s magic were resonating. The light of life shone before each of their chests. This was visible even without Life Sight, a fact he gleaned from the surprise on En’s face.

“Wh-wh-wha… Kuon-sama, this is amazing!”

“En…you’re…Division 4? Wait, this isn’t—”

“Well, yeah, I’m running on Kaede-sama’s magic, so….”

“No, I-I-I-I-I know that, but…”

“Huh? What’s wrong, Kuon-samamaamamama…”

“Uh-oh…ohohohoho!”

“Whaaaaaaat?”

Both stared shaking like they were being electrocuted. Grinning, Kaede said, “This is what happens when Resonance fails. You started off well but couldn’t keep it in check.”

“Heeelllllllllpppppppp!” they cried.

Kaede shook her head and then stomped her foot. Instantly, both Kuon and En gasped. Kaede’s magic wave had intervened, and the resonance broke apart. Such skill! Kuon thought. “Ugh…I’m all numb…”

“Sorry…sorry…” En said.

“You’ve been using Hanabi and Tooka to practice with, but they’re both Division 5, so they’d make Resonance even tougher to control.” Kaede told them. “But I ain’t subjecting myself to this! So En, this is your job now.”

So heartless, Kuon thought.

En merely bowed her head. “Understood! I’ll do whatever I can to make Kuon-sama into a great Cavalleria!”

“Cool.”

“It’s an honor to have my body be useful! Kuon-sama, use my body however you like!”

“Seriously, watch the phrasing,” he complained.

“I won’t let you sleep tonight!”

“Stop!” he howled. But a moment later…

“Unh…”

Both Kuon and En collapsed, completely out of energy. “Only stabilizes one out of every ten attempts…hmph…” Even with her Guide and student flat on the ground, Kaede was business as usual. She stared at them, evaluating. “Keep working on it.”

A cool breeze brushed across the grass. Wrapped by nature’s bedding, his limit long since passed, Kuon was sound asleep. En twitched a few times, showing no signs of getting to her feet. See it through, Kaede thought. Then she turned to someone else—the girl who’d arrived as the training was in progress. “I’ll take the big one, you handle Kuon.”

The little shadow bobbed her head. “Yes, Mother.”

 

“Mm?”

A pain in his jaw woke Kuon. He felt a strange sensation, like he was dangling. Like a cat being carried by the scruff of its neck.

“Oh, onii-chan, you’re awake?”

He turned towards the voice, and found Tooka on his right. She was wearing a DM for some reason. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“I’m carrying you. Mother asked me to.”

“Oh, okay.”

The DM Tooka had activated had two massive exo-arms sticking out of the back, each absolutely large enough to carry a human. With these, Tooka effectively had four hands.

She herself was wearing a dress. The DM activation was localized to her back, and the giant arm carried Kuon like a cat, hooking the neck of his T-shirt and leaving him dangling in the air. His jaw hurt because the collar of the T-shirt was digging into it. He was lucky he hadn’t suffocated. “Master didn’t specify how to carry me?” he asked.

“Huh? No.”

“Of course not.” Kuon would much rather have been laid out on the palm of one of these giant hands but didn’t argue the point. Instead… “Thanks. You can put me down now.”

“Can you walk?”

“I’ll be fine.”

She put him down. He rubbed his aching jaw nonchalantly, trying to keep her from noticing. She was staring intently at him. “Wh-what?”

“Onii-chan, do you believe in past lives?”

This was sudden. But he had an answer ready. “…Master told me about you. I suppose we should talk a bit.”

“Mm. Let’s. I have so much I want to talk to you about.”

She had no expression and didn’t seem eager to talk at all, but he took her at her word. He glanced around. They were pretty close to the lodges.

The Nanahoshi private beach had three lodges, a main one and two smaller ones. The smaller ones were divided between the students by gender. Kuon and Tooka were near the women’s lodge. He could hear whispers from the dark forest around them—couples, most likely. He decided it was best to move farther away. There was a rocky area on the way to the main lodge. Hoping there was no one already there, he suggested the location to Tooka, who nodded.

“Onii-chan…hold my hand?”

“Sure, okay.” Given what Kaede had told him of Tooka’s past, he couldn’t exactly brush her off. Besides, it was dark, so they started walking hand in hand. Her tiny hand was soft and warm.

They walked in silence for a time, away from the buildings, past the path leading down to the beach. They reached their destination. No one could see them from above. The night sea lay before them.

Tooka sat down on a large rock. Kuon sat next to her. “I guess we should pick up where we left off. You’re…” He glanced sideways. Tooka was staring up at him, no emotion visible in her eyes. His heart shrank, but he forced the words out. “You were Suzuka Hachishiki’s little sister?”

Tooka Nürburg nodded.

 

***

 

A few decades back, in Tooka Nürburg’s previous life, she had been Suzuka Hachishiki’s little sister. Her name was Akigase Tooka.

Hachishiki himself hadn’t know this, but his mother got divorced shortly after he was born. She married another man and had Tooka with him. Tooka’s mother and father were only a year apart in age, but Tooka’s father got sick and died when she was two.

When Tooka was five, her mother was struggling financially. She asked if she could return to the Suzuka home with Tooka in tow. Hachishiki’s father had agreed to this. But…

On the way home from the meeting where they’d arranged this, they were attacked by Jave. Both Tooka and their mother went missing. Hachishiki’s father had been driving them home and was believed to have died along with them.

Akigase Tooka had only lived five years.

Before her death, Tooka and Hachishiki had played together, but only once, on the day she and their mother came to ask for help. But Hachishiki had forgotten it and had never been told she was his sister. Hachishiki had no memories of his parents at all. His memories began after his arrival at the orphanage.

Meanwhile, Tooka was reborn.

At first, she didn’t know that.

Five years ago, a girl had been found lying at the gates of Nürburg Castle. She had almost no memories—all she knew was that her name was Tooka and that she was the heir to the Shichisei Kenbu.

On this last point, Kaede had but one word: “inexplicable.” The day Tooka died, Kaede hadn’t even met Hachishiki yet. Tooka and Kaede had no point of contact in this life or her last. It was possible she learned of the Shichisei Kenbu in the five years of this life that she’d lost, and these memories had been mixed with those of her previous life.

Still, Kaede was unable to ignore Tooka and had taken her in, splitting her time between the Empire and Germany. Tooka’s talents had soon become clear, and the Germans were not about to let her go. Kuon had long wondered why his master was so busy despite having no students in her private school, so this certainly cleared that up. She’d been looking after Tooka.

Then a month ago, things had changed.

Right after the Imperial Capital Recovery, the battle that had earned Kuon and Hanabi the Twin Star Heroes name, Tooka saw Kuon’s face on news coverage of the disappearance of the eastern capital Gate. “My brother!” she cried. Her memories returned.

Not memories of this life but of her past life. Memories of somewhere clearly not here, of a time clearly not now, and…of her mother and her own death.

However, Tooka was too intelligent to just accept these memories as fact. They were impossible. They didn’t make sense. But they were too vivid to dismiss as a dream. Plus, if she was from the eastern Empire, that would explain the color of her skin and hair. Using her memories, she investigated what records she could find. The more she investigated, the more real it seemed, and it frightened her.

At last she made up her mind and told Kaede everything, including her memories of being Suzuka Hachishiki’s sister. Kaede looked unusually surprised…and then confirmed those memories were real.

The truth was clear. Tooka had been reincarnated twenty years after she’d died in her previous life.

Tooka was forced to accept this as fact. She resolved to visit the Empire, using the in-progress development of the Kiryu as an excuse. She felt that the Kiryu’s rider being a Suzuka, as well as her brother’s girlfriend, showed the hand of destiny at work.

Tooka Nürburg was finally here.

 

***

 

“I was Suzuka Hachishiki’s sister in my previous life. And you were…”

Kuon nodded back. “I’m Suzuka Hachishiki’s reincarnation. And I guess that does make you my sister.”

Tooka’s eyes seemed to glisten. “Before my memories returned, I always felt like I was looking for someone. A boy about my own age. One who’d been nice to me. But I couldn’t remember who,” Tooka whispered. “I was so lonely. I had no memories, so I felt like I couldn’t even prove that I was myself. I always felt like I was watching someone else’s life go by.” She paused. “Then I remembered you, onii-chan, and I knew that wasn’t true. I finally understood. I was the sister of the Hero, Suzuka Hachishiki. That must be why I was a Division 5, why I knew so much about Division Maneuvers. That gave me the confidence. Put my feet on the ground. I was really me.” Tooka looked at Kuon. “I was so happy,” she said. He caught the faintest glimpse of a smile. “For you, I’ll do anything. That’s the reason I was reborn.”

“For me?”

“If you fight for the people of the Empire, then I’m here to help with that. If you want to make Hanabi-onee-sama happy, then I’ll help with that. I won’t get in the way. But…but if you want a child with me, just say the word.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that last bit. Uh…thanks.”

Expressionless, she leaned in close. “That last one was the most important.”

“Please don’t.”

“That was a joke. Was it funny?”

“It was hard to tell you were joking!”

“When you were reborn, did you have your memories?”

“Um…yeah, I did. I died inside the Gate and immediately after that I was a baby. My memories transferred to Okegawa Kuon’s body. Although I lost my magic…”

“That’s strange. I have the same body and magic, but you have a different body and different magic.”

“I thought I was reborn because I was inside the Gate…but you never were?”

“I really don’t remember. We were in the car, then everything went black…and that’s where my memories end,” she told him.

“Maybe you were Division 5 then, so they took you into the Gate…”

“I read that report. That’s why they took Hanabi-onee-sama through, and then you risked your life to save her. That was wonderful, onii-chan.”

“Th-thank you.”

“Hanabi-onee-sama’s wonderful, too. She’s beautiful, and strong, and really understands the Kiryu, and gives me lots of donuts.”

Like a pet, Kuon thought wryly.

“I’ll work hard. I’ll make the Kiryu stronger, make lots of other frames, and the Jave—” Tooka suddenly froze mid-sentence, as if her batteries had just run out. Her mouth and eyes were both wide open.

“Tooka…?” Kuon said cautiously.

She blinked and began to move once more. It were as if she’d just rebooted. “…Sorry, I fell asleep. I’m usually in bed by now. What was I saying?”

“Um, you’ll work hard…”

“Right. Let’s work hard together, onii-chan.”

Kuon nodded “S-sure…” What on earth was that freeze about? Something was definitely off. Their conversation ended there. They went back to the lodge and went to sleep.

Despite that bit of weirdness, Kuon’s world was still at peace.

 

***

 

That same night, Hanabi woke up with a hard pillow under her left cheek. She was lying on some mildewy sheets. There was no sign of any covers.

She realized she was in the women’s lodge. The beds were all in rows like in a field hospital. She was at one edge of the room, and everyone else was asleep. Cramming a bunch of sixteen to eighteen-year-old JK—delicate, fragile creatures—into a single big room was so Nanahoshi Kaede. Of course, these girls were neither delicate nor fragile, so it was totally not an issue. As proof, they were all sound asleep.

But Hanabi was freaking out a bit.

She didn’t remember anything.

She remembered Rin going to get some wine. Then she wanted a drink herself, and she knew Rin would get mad at her for it, but Kuon was with her, so she figured it would be fine. She slipped a little castle town Napoleon into her soda and drank that, then talked to Kuon…and then she couldn’t remember anything else. She really wanted to believe that the part where she poured out her heart to Kuon and then kissed him a lot was a dream.

There was a video message on her Device. She was almost afraid to open it. When she did, she found Kuon looking apologetic. Like a prisoner waiting for a death sentence, Hanabi set it so only she could hear. But it was just a simple “You fell asleep so I carried you here.” She looked around. Several beds were empty. Probably off flirting, the hussies. She had a boy of her own; why was she wasting time sleeping? Hanabi felt really sad.

“…I’m thirsty,” she whispered.

 

“Oh, Hanabi!”

As she chugged a sports drink from the vending machine by the main lodge, a friendly voice called out. “Nao!” Hanabi said. “What’s up?”

Nao came over, smiling and waving. She had a couple of boxed drinks in her hands, so she was probably here for the same reason. Nao glanced towards the dark forest, from which they could occasionally hear whispered conversations or…other sounds…and put her hands to her lips, giggling. “Everyone’s getting carried away, huh?”

“We all went to war and looked death in the face. Can you blame them?”

“You feeling lusty yourself, Hanabi?”

“Er…well…yeah.”

“Ah ha ha! I was kidding! Sorry, sorry. So you going to find Kuon-kun?”

“Nooo…probably not.”

“Really?”

Hanabi quickly deflected. “What about you?”

“I’m with Jin-kun, of course! We haven’t had any trysts or anything yet. He wants to wait till we’re married. Jeez… He’s got a girl like me and won’t do anything? Pfft.”

“Ha ha, that sounds like him.”

Nao stared at Hanabi’s face for a moment. “…You seem softer these days, Hanabi.”

“Huh? I’m still working out!”

“I mean personality-wise. You’re more…relaxed? Compared to last year you aren’t talking like a bushi nearly as much.”

“You think it’s…?”

“Kuon-kun’s influence? Or is that pushing it?”

“I-I dunno. I’m not really conscious of it, myself.”

“But you’re blushing!” Nao reached out and rubbed her head. “Oh, I saw Kuon-kun headed that way earlier.”

“Wh-which way?”

“There,” Nao pointed behind the main lodge. Hanabi thanked her and started walking. “Oh, but…he might not be alone… Too late, huh?”

Hanabi was already out of earshot.

 

It was the worst possible timing.

Hanabi found Kuon by the rocks. She was about to excitedly call out to him when she saw Tooka with him and realized they were holding hands. She was instantly crestfallen.

“Oh…”

She wanted to call out, but this didn’t seem like something she could interrupt. She also lacked the courage to do so. She crouched down on the rocks above them instead, hiding where they wouldn’t see her. What now? She fidgeted, listening to them talk.

“You were Suzuka Hachishiki’s little sister?” Kuon said.

Hanabi nearly froze. Tooka-chan is the Hero’s sister?! That didn’t make sense. He died thirteen years ago, and his parents long before that, and Tooka was only ten and…

Below her, Tooka nodded. “I was Suzuka Hachishiki’s sister in my previous life. And you were…”

He was…what? What was Kuon, then? Thirteen years old, Lunatic Order, Twin Star Heroes, best Fencer in the Air Force, successor to the Shichisei Kenbu…

…Wait.

Thirteen?!

Shichisei Kenbu?!

She never noticed before how strange a coincidence that was, but now it was spinning through her mind. Before she could even sort it out, Kuon spoke.

“I’m Suzuka Hachishiki’s reincarnation,” she heard him say. “And I guess that does make you my sister.”

This time Hanabi really did freeze.

What did he just say?

She was pretty sure even the blood in her veins had stopped flowing. He has to be joking, Hanabi thought. Kuon is just playing along with Tooka, who is clearly into spiritual mumbo jumbo like past lives and destiny or whatever. I mean, there’s no way…

Kuon was talking again. “Um…yeah, I did. I died inside the Gate, and immediately after that I was a baby. My memories transferred to Okegawa Kuon’s body. Although I lost my magic…”

That can’t be true…

Hanabi tried to laugh it off, but her own memories were revolting. During the Capital Recovery, after the two of them went in the Gate, what had En said?

“Your memories will be transplanted into a baby somewhere. Essentially, you’ll be reincarnated.”

That meant reincarnation was an actual possibility. Not fiction but something that really happened. People were actually reborn.

She shook her head. No. Even if that was a remote possibility, and that did happen to Tooka, that didn’t prove the same thing had happened to Kuon. He must be making this up based on what En had said, piecing it together from one fact or another. She was sure that was the case.

Hanabi staggered to her feet. She couldn’t call out to him now. It never even occurred to her to check with him what the truth was. She just wanted to get away. The longer she stayed listening to them, the more real it would seem. All her doubts would fall away, one after another. The more she thought about it, the more certain she’d become.

So she had to move. She couldn’t think about it.

She knew that instinctively. This was not something she could let herself know. Kuon’s mysteries, strange behavior, odd maturity, frightening skills, all of that…all of it pointed to him. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. She couldn’t let it be true, because if…

If he really is the Hero, I’ll never forgive him.

If Kuon had been lying to her this whole time, knowing how much she looked up to the Hero…what greater betrayal could there be? So it couldn’t be true. He was just making it up.

She told herself that over and over, all the way back to her bed in the lodge, where she didn’t sleep a wink.

 

The next day, back in her dorm, she told Rin about it, like it was a big joke. Rin looked serious for a second and then broke out laughing. She laughed so hard she was crying. “Still,” Rin said, “That’s waaaay too dumb. Better not tell anyone else.”

Her eyes weren’t smiling.

Hanabi felt like that was a warning. Oh, she thought. Even Rin thinks so.

Okegawa Kuon might really be Suzuka Hachishiki’s reincarnation.