Chapter 4: The Hero Adrift
Chapter 4:
The Hero Adrift
June gave way to July, and the gap between deep sea patrols was growing shorter.
The First Mobile Unit had begun forming and reforming squads. Official records showed their total numbers were unchanged, but the number of squads was diminishing—there had been ten, but now were only six. Yet the squads the Fuji Squad accompanied only ever had four in them. If the official total number of Cavalleria hadn’t changed, the number of people in each squad should have increased…if those official numbers were accurate.
Our senpai look exhausted, thought Kuon. They clearly hadn’t been getting any rest at all, and others were beginning to notice. Perhaps the Lunar Defense Force was engaged in some major strategy and pulling staff from patrols to shore that up.
Then there were ten squads again, but the number in each was halved. In other words, to increase the total number of patrols, they were running at half the personnel. It looked as though they were adjusting for the loss of power by using the student squad members who’d simply waited on standby before now.
The two members of the Third Squad were flying ahead of the Fuji Squad: the female Squad Leader, Tsukuba, and one other senpai Cavalleria.
This was their fourth patrol this month. They were both far too stressed to joke around. Even if they found a stray Jave, unless it was really close to Jogen, they avoided engagment.
But that backfired on them.
The Jave surrounded them before Hanabi had even noticed. Patrols following set routes were easily subverted, even by monsters with as little intelligence as the Jave. If they’d defeated the enemies as Hanabi detected them one by one, they’d never have had to face this many at once.
Too late now.
There were sixty Jave in total, outnumbering the Cavalleria ten to one. All hope faded from Tsukuba’s face, but she quickly replaced it with grim determination. Her own life may end in disgrace, but she would find a way to let the students escape.
“We’ll buy you time to get away,” she ordered, the sort of line one only heard in movies.
“Even B-movies have better dialogue these days, Squad Leader Tsukuba,” Fuji said.
“Shut up and go!”
The enemy were closing in. The Jave weren’t yet visible to the naked eye, but their DMs were projecting expanded area information onto their fields of vision, and the monsters encircling them were stretching tentacles their way. There were more monsters above. There was no time to waste arguing, or even to say any last words.
The Lunatic Order leader persevered. “In real B-movies, they say this: ‘Permission to speak freely? Requesting command.’”
“What?”
“You’re planning on dying here?” Fuji asked.
“So?”
“Let’s assume you’re already dead and let me have command.”
“Don’t you get it? I’m telling you to run while you still can!”
“And I’m saying we can win.”
“How—”
“Okegawa-kun!” Fuji yelled, interrupting Tsukuba. No point in arguing about it further. “We’re doing this. You ready?”
They were out of time. Fuji began barking his orders. “Okegawa-kun at the center with Suzuka-kun locked onto him. Motegi-kun and I will be front and rear. Squad Leader Tsukuba—”
“What are you thinking?!” Tsukuba shouted.
“It’s too late to run either way. I’d like you on the right and left. We’re ready to start.”
Their alerts sounded; the Jave were in range. Tsukuba grit her teeth and gave the order. “Suit yourself!”
“Thank you. Your combat abilities are invaluable, and I intend on bringing you back alive.”
Elbow out to the side, he put his closed fist to his chest in a Cavalleria salute. Then, Fuji flew forward.
Okegawa Kuon’s Shichisei Kenbu was about to begin.
Kuon and Hanabi merged bubbles once more, holding hands. This established a magical link between them.
Next, Hanabi deployed Reimei’s Servants, attaching them to the four Cavalleria around them. Now all the squad members had a magical link to Kuon through Hanabi.
This was the start of Kuon’s Shichisei Kenbu Link Art.
Shichisei Kenbu: Mod. Tensetsu Shigure.
When he first fought Hanabi, the two of them had resonated, and Hanabi’s vision had linked to Kuon’s time stop. When Fuji heard about this from Kuon, he jumped on it. He theorized that, by using the bubble to link their magic, Kuon would be able to share Tensetsu with everyone’s senses.
It worked.
Six Cavalleria’s visions went white.
The blackness of the deep sea reversed, turning a bright white. The thick lines running everywhere were predicted enemy attacks. Several of them pierced the six DMs, and the flat, belt-like lines were Kuon’s calculated evasion routes. Simply sharing his vision wasn’t enough to give everyone an evasion line. Even so, what felt like forty-three seconds of frozen time combined with a 98 percent accurate future prediction was enough to dramatically increase the survival and victory rates for the entire Squad.
The two senpai wasted the first thirty seconds on confusion. Fuji hadn’t had the time to explain at all. Still, they instinctively realized those thick lines should be dodged, and spent the remaining thirteen seconds calculating how to do so.
Rin’s task was simple: avoid the piercing lines, twist her frame into a space with no lines running through it, then fire at the Jave approaching from the front, shooting from right to left.
Fuji took full advantage of the forty-three seconds. Like Kuon, he calculated his own evasion routes, but he had planned them out far further than Kuon did. He calculated fourteen patterns by which all six allies could safely move before time ran out.
Hanabi didn’t share this vision. Her time never stopped. She was right in front of Kuon, with her hands held in his. She was staring right at him, but since she didn’t share the time stop, her eyes couldn’t follow him.
Kuon’s job was already done. The first step of Fuji’s proposal for using Tensetsu Shigure to attack in all directions involved Kuon doing nothing but stopping time and sharing the attack lines with all the squad members. He instead spent the entire forty-three seconds staring at Hanabi. It was almost voyeuristic, and he felt a little guilty about it. He knew he was being a real creep, but what else could he look at when someone this beautiful was in front of him? He’d have to apologize to her later. How would she respond?
Tensetsu released, and time resumed.
Instantly, the four Cavalleria around him moved without hesitation. The two senpai Cavalleria easily evaded the Jave’s light beams. Rin not only evaded them, she dove into the hail of it all, all of which missed. She took up a sniping position and fired into the paths the Jave were heading toward. Fuji saw how his team had responded and decided the third pattern was most appropriate. He stayed still so as to not get in the way and waited for the right moment.
Hanabi’s Servants moved away from the other four. Kuon breathed out. Hanabi’s eyes were following his again. She nodded. He breathed in.
Shichisei Kenbu: Mod. Tensetsu Shigure.
A second Tensetsu. This time stop was just for Kuon and Hanabi. They could both see the Jave’s attack lines, and the future lines for their allies who’d already committed to attacks.
This meant no misfires.
Kuon calculated shot routes and shared them with Hanabi. These traced the same arcs as the Shichisei Kenbu major art Shijin Reppakuzan, which Suzuka Hachishiki had once used. These lines depicted a massive attack range, and Hanabi saw them and understood.
Forty-three seconds later, the flow of time in the deep sea returned to normal. Hanabi let go of Kuon’s hands, put her Scout Nova Rifle in her right hand, and held out her left, palm open, focusing the aim of her Servants. Without a moment’s hesitation, she fired.
Two beams of light raced across the blackness as if bound for the distant horizon. The first was the massive beam fired out of Hanabi’s rifle, unaffected by the water. The second, a concentrated beam created by merging the Servants’ microbeams into one, like the focused setting on an adjustable showerhead. The twin beams swallowed up all the Jave at the four and ten o’clock directions, exterminating them.
Then her light turned. Precisely following the shot routes Kuon had showed her, Hanabi swept her beams left, right, up, and down. The Jave in the water, and the Jave floating above hoping to chomp on the Cavalleria as they ascended—none of them could react in time to avoid the sudden burst of deadly light.
By the time the lights stopped racing everywhere, the sixty Jave in the water around them had been annihilated, reduced to a fine crimson mist.
It took some time before Tsukuba understood what had just happened. Time had suddenly stopped, she’d dodged the first attack, then light flickered everywhere and, before she knew it, there were no enemies left. She had no idea what they’d done.
As she drifted in a dazed silence, Fuji saluted.
“Squad Leader Tsukuba, I’m glad to see you safe.”
There is a current known as the “Magnetic Stream.” It was discovered shortly after mankind first took a Division Maneuver to the deep sea. Also known as the Deep Sea Mud Stream, it is generated by the waxing and waning of the moon, by deep sea currents, and by DM combat actions. It races around the seas near Jogen like a storm, absorbing magic everywhere it goes.
The Cavalleria had not taken it into consideration during their battle.
The Jave were gone, and nothing was on Hanabi’s radar. They’d just decided to call off the patrol, return to the speedcraft, and head back to the Kuou when the Magnetic Stream blew through the ocean.
Kuon was caught by the wave, as was Hanabi when she tried saving him, and the two of them were swept away from the group by a current traveling faster than the speed of sound. It was over in an instant.
The Witch Bubble was made of and powered by magic. A Cavalleria could never let their magic run dry in the deep sea, as they had to keep their protective bubbles up.
The Magnetic Stream, however, washes away magic.
The Witch Bubble popped.
Senpai!
Kuon-kun! Kuon-kun, Kuon-kun!
Somehow, despite the violent current, they managed to catch each other’s hands. They then let the storm carry them. Kuon only had a little magic left, so if Hanabi hadn’t been swept away with him, he would have been dead in a matter of minutes. Hanabi had saved him from the brink of death, but, emotionally speaking, she felt the exact opposite. Their bubbles merged and she threw her arms around Kuon, shaking like a leaf. She buried her face in his chest and cried her eyes out. Kuon’s mind was a total blank, so all he could do was cradle her head and listen to her.
The bubble drifted deep into the ocean. Kuon watched helplessly as they were yanked into terrifying darkness, down to the depths of the Mariana Trench. He reached up toward the surface, but it was beyond him. The sun, the light… All of it grew further and further away.
Fortunately, a DM’s Witch Bubbles were ridiculously hardy. When they reached a depth of 10,000 meters, Kuon sat surrounded by darkness, reminded that these strange bubbles could even sustain life in the void of space.
“Senpai, are you okay?” he asked.
Hanabi was lying in his arms, like he was a knight carrying his princess. Inside the Maneuver, she weighed nothing. She nodded and quietly apologized, never letting go of his hand. She took a few deep breaths and looked up.
“Sorry, Kuon-kun. I panicked.”
She seemed like her old self—but wasn’t. She was just faking it, doing her best to keep it together. Kuon could still feel her shoulders shaking.
“We’ve been swept a long way,” she said. “This must be the bottom of a trench… Let’s rest a bit, recover some magic, then head up and get back to the ship. We’ll see if we can contact anyone.”
The way she still tried acting like a senpai was both reliable and loveable.
“Are you hurt at all, Kuon-kun?” she asked him.
“No, thanks to you. But my frame…” Was destroyed, he finished silently. Pretty much the only thing Kuon’s Soukyu (Mod) could do was put out a minimal bubble. It was a starter’s Division 1 frame and was super fragile.
“Okay. We’ll be fine as long as we stay linked.”
Hanabi nodded firmly in his arms. Her own arms were still clutching around him like a little girl. Only her words were those of a confident Bushi.
“Rations will help recover magic. Do you have any? If not, you can have half of mine.”
The Witch Bubble floated through the water. They left it to its natural buoyancy, letting it slowly rise as they pressed tightly against each other.
Like a knight and a princess.
Even in these dire straits, Hanabi smelled nice. Kuon knew she was in great shape, yet it always surprised him how soft she felt. Worst of all was that, from this angle, every time he looked down, he saw the valley of her breasts laid out before him.
Hanabi looked up, catching his eye. “Kuon-kun?”
“Yes! Sorry!”
“For what…?”
“Nothing!”
She looked confused, but soon forgot it. “I can’t get at the rations from this position. Sorry, but can you get them from my hip?”
“Um, sure?”
Rustle rustle.
“Eeep!” The Warrior Princess suddenly made a noise like a startled cat. “Oh, don’t, that tickles!”
“Augh, sorry! I didn’t mean to!”
“Ah, ah, ha hya hyaaa! Wh-where are you touching…heee hahaha!”
“S-s-s-s-sorryyy!”
The rations came in a gelatin form, in silver packs you put in your mouth and sucked the contents out of.
Only when he’d finally managed to get the pack out and hand it to her did he realize…
“Um, senpai, we don’t actually need to stay like this.”
“Should I move away?”
“No, if you did, my bubble would burst, so…” He’d just meant the princess position she was in wasn’t necessary. But…
“Can…we stay like this?” she asked.
Mode Change!
This oddly forlorn-looking maiden version of Hanabi looked up at him like a fragile, weakened, lost puppy, and it was so cute Kuon’s heart nearly burst. He immediately nodded. “Of course we can.”
When they were alone together, she got all clingy…or was that just his imagination?
“Thank you…” she whispered. She put the gelatin pouch to her lips and took a sip.
Kuon went to drink his own, but his hands were full. His right hand was on Hanabi’s back and shoulders, and his left under her knees. He wasn’t really supporting her—if he took his hands away, she’d stay right where she was—but the moment he tried moving his hand…
“Here, Kuon-kun.”
Hanabi held up her pack, the same one that had just been at her lips.
Offering him half.
That’s right, she’d said as much. Kuon was silent, his eyes locked on to the silver pouch. Should he? Could he? Adrift 10,000 meters deep with a super-hot senpai offering an indirect kiss? He was thrilled, totally delighted, but…
“Uh, s-sorry…” Hanabi said, taking his silence for refusal. “I guess that was rude.”
She looked so dejected that Kuon’s heart broke. “No, I’ll take it!” he blurted out.
“Huh? Y-you will…? You want a sip…?”
“Yes, I’m all about your kisses!”
“I…don’t think that’s what we’re doing here, but…o-okay…” Hanabi held the nozzle out to him. “H-here…”
Her face turned slightly red, and she wouldn’t meet his gaze. Adorable.
“Senpai…you’re so beautiful…”
Her fingers.
“D-don’t say weird things… Um, Kuon-kun?”
“Yes?”
“D-don’t bite…”
“I will suck so gently.”
“Um, if it stops coming out then…you can use your tongue to coax the rest out so…lick it…?”
“Got it.”
Kuon nodded, and carefully moved his lips to Hanabi’s pouch. Her entire body was trembling. He tightened his grip on her shoulders to reassure her.
“Ah…”
He placed his lips on it.
Just as she’d instructed, he ran his tongue along the nozzle, but nothing came out. This thing was playing hard to get. Kuon sucked a little harder. He must have moved his fingers a little on her back, because Hanabi made a noise like he was tickling her.
“Mmmahhh…mm…Kuon-kuuun!”
“Just a little longer, Hanabi-senpai…”
“I said…be gentle, but…”
“I can’t stop myself.”
“Don’t move…your fingers…”
No matter how regal the Warrior Princess might normally be, she was just a cute girl right now. Kuon kept sucking on her offering, not letting it get away.
“Hahhh…Kuon…kuuunnn!”
Hanabi let out a loud wail, and at last a mouthful of gelatin reached Kuon’s mouth.
He slurped it up. It was good. Lemon flavored; a little tart.
Kuon took his mouth away from the pouch and spoke to Hanabi, who was trying not to laugh.
“Senpai, this is pretty good!”
“Hah…hah…you won’t stop tickling me…”
“I’m sorry.”
Kuon now knew Hanabi’s back was her weak point. He had no idea if that information would ever be of use.
Then…
“Erm…ahem! Ahem!” En appeared, making a show of clearing her throat.
“H-how long have you been here, En-kun?” Kuon stuttered.
“Since always? The whooole time?”
“You shouldn’t surprise people like that! Honestly!”
“That’s what I want to say…where do you think we are?”
Hanabi looked around her. “The deep sea…?”
“I don’t know how you two can flirt like this 10,000 meters down.”
“Flirt? What are you talking about? I was just drinking emergency rations.”
“It sure didn’t sound like it… But moving right along.” En shook her head, muttering softly about how oblivious the two of them were.
“If you’re here, En, then are the comms connected?” Hanabi asked.
“Yes, barely,” En said, displaying a small headset and mic in one hand. There was a small box in front of her, and she was carefully adjusting its dials like it was a radio or sonar. “Connected. My master is already taking action. I’ve sent our coordinates, so a rescue should be on its way.”
“That’s gre—”
“Hanabi! Are you safe?!” Rin’s voice was very loud. “Any injuries?! Just sit tight, we’ll be right there!”
Video was impossible, but it seemed like audio signals were viable. “Oh, my friend. We’re safe, thanks. Kuon-kun is, too.”
Rin breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re with Kyuu-kun, then?”
“Yes, we managed to stay together.”
“Just the two of you?”
“En-kun’s here, too!”
“It’s going to take us at least three hours to get there. I’m sure you’re aware of this, but don’t attempt to move unless absolutely necessary.”
“We’ll try.”
“Kyuu-kun, take care of Hanabi.”
“I will, Rin-san.”
“You can hug her if you have to.”
“Er…”
“I wouldn’t object to sucking faces, either.”
“Huh?”
“H-hanging up now!”
Hanabi cut the transmission before Rin could scream anything more inappropriate, then sighed.
“You’ve already got your arms around me…but, uh, not like that!”
“D-definitely not!”
“And the only sucking we did was on that ration pouch…”
“Hm? No, senpai, by ‘sucking faces’ I think she meant…something else.”
“Huh? What does that mean, anyw—oh.”
“…”
“…”
The two of them turned bright red as En watched with evident enjoyment. “You two are so cute when you get all self-conscious!”
Neither Kuon nor Hanabi could look at each other.
“Um,” En said excitedly. “I’ll just put myself in sleep mode!”
“Huh? Why?”
“The magic link with my master is tenuous, so maintaining this form is sooo exhausting!”
“You…don’t look tired…”
“You two go ahead and be young together! Heheheheheh!” With a very loaded chuckle, the AI Device vanished.
“…”
“…”
Silences felt especially silent this far underwater.
“S-Senpai, that reminds me…”
“Reminds you of what?!”
“Um…well…uh, right! I’ve always thought it was weird, but why are there so many enemies around Jogen?”
“O-oh, is that all? That’s easy! It’s because the front lines are falling back!”
“What…?”
“Ah!” Hanabi’s face made it clear that wasn’t something she should have shared with him. Kuon dug in, driven by memories from his time as Suzuka Hachishiki and of all the family and fellow orphans and Cavalleria who’d died in his past life.
“What does that mean? ‘The front lines are falling back’? There’s a front line fighting the Jave? I was told that, thanks to the Hero, the Jave had almost entirely ceased their activities and were sleeping over the capital. Everyone in Jogen knows that. So why?”
“Um, well, you see…” Hanabi began, drooping visibly.
Kuon had no way of knowing how much Hanabi resented being dragged away from more thrilling subjects into this far more important conversation. She didn’t want to talk about this at all, but she felt like she had to.
“The Hero did manage to close the Gate temporarily. Thanks to that, the Jave invasion was temporarily suspended. That much is true. However, the seal only lasted ten years. Three years ago, the Gate reopened, and humanity launched into a full-scale war against the Jave.”
“But… But nobody knows?”
“Information suppression. We can’t tell anyone. With few exceptions, Earth is now a Jave colony. Jogen isn’t safe, either. That’s why the patrols are increasing.”
“Oh, God…”
“You realize, Kuon-kun,” Hanabi said, “we call ourselves the Imperial Air Force, but we only have squads in Jogen. We never hear anything about any forces on the mainland.”
No.
“Yes,” Hanabi nodded wearily. “The Jave control almost all of the Empire. If they’re appearing above the water, their main nest must be on the mainland capital. The Lunar Defense Force is working on a large-scale strategy to take it out. The Gate is in the capital, so they want to close it like the Hero once did.”
Just as Kuon once had.
I can’t do it myself, Kuon thought. Even in the battle in his previous life, it was unclear to him what factor had managed to seal the Gate. He’d destroyed the four flesh pillars around the Gate, hoping they were control panels of some kind, but nothing had happened. Even if they could reach the Gate, it would be no simple matter. Not without a incredibly large force or a Division 5 like Suzuka Hachishiki…
A Division 5?
“Senpai, are you…?”
“Yes. The Fuji Squad’s being called up. Don’t know when yet.”
“We are…?” Then he would be, too. Kuon was ashamed of his recent thoughts. He couldn’t do it himself? Wasn’t his whole goal to kill the Queen? Plus, sealing the Gate was just as important. If they destroyed the Gate before the Queen returned, that would be even better.
He made up his mind, power welling up within him. He had no intention of wasting his second life.
“I’ll lay my life on the line, too. The four of us will close that Gate.”
Hanabi looked at him apprehensively, as if his very face would blind her. Then she turned her eyes away and hung her head. “You’re strong, Kuon-kun,” she whispered with a self-deprecating smile. “Joining the Lunatic Order, that Tensetsu just now… Hard to believe you’re only thirteen.”
“No, I’m—”
“Fuji-kun said almost the same thing you did. Rin, too. Everyone’s made up their mind. I’m the only one in the Fuji Squad who’s still scared.”
“You are…?”
“Sorry, Kuon-kun. You must be disappointed. I always act tough, but I’m actually constantly terrified, even though I’m Division 5. Pathetic, right? The head of the Lunar Defense Force himself told me he wanted me to close the Gate the way the Hero did. But I just… I just can’t…”
Hanabi’s shoulders were shaking. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
“I just can’t find the confidence…”
Kuon knew he had to say something to comfort her, to encourage her, but his mind was drawing a blank. How? What could he say? He didn’t know. He had no idea at all.
Kuon couldn’t find the words…so he let Suzuka Hachishiki’s memories talk instead.
Remember what you used to say at times like this in your last life.
He took a breath.
“We’re adrift in the vastness of the ocean. Waiting for rescue in the dark with no idea when enemies will come, only an inexperienced kouhai with you. All of that’s enough to make anyone feel uneasy. I won’t tell anyone what happened here.”
He could tell Hanabi was listening.
“I think you’re doing great,” he went on. The words were spilling out on their own now. “Being called the strongest in school history, being a rare Division 5—that’s a lot of pressure. Pretending to be strong even though you’re really scared, working hard not to let your powerful magic go to your head… You’re always trying so hard.”
He looked up and smiled at her as he wiped away her tears.
“I believe you can do it. And I believe that because I’ve been watching you all this time.”
“That’s…” Hanabi said, tears streaming. “That’s my…”
The boy was back to being Kuon. He cupped Hanabi’s face in his hands. “You’ll be fine. I guarantee it.”
The waterworks were really flowing now. Hanabi tried wiping away her tears, but she couldn’t keep up. Rin had given him permission, so Kuon gave her a tender embrace.
In his arms, his sweet, adorable senpai was nodding to herself. She really did try hard.
He was glad they were so deep in the ocean. Here, even someone as short as him could hold Hanabi’s head to his chest.
As they floated slowly toward the surface, he noticed something nigh-miraculous overhead. He pointed up at the circular outline.
“Senpai, look.”
They’d come a long way up. The distant sphere of the sun was glowing above. Jellyfish and regular fish swam between them and that glowing orb, like the fish were tracing a circle around it.
It looked like a solar eclipse, a momentary illusion created by the sea. The light reflected by the salt water and the transparent jellyfish enlarged the shadows, creating a large black circle like an eclipse. Okegawa Kuon just thought it was beautiful.
Hanabi though…
A big black moon…
When she saw it, Hanabi’s mind suddenly flashed back to when she was five years old.
***
Everywhere was slaughter. Flesh and blood and bone and the remains of humans. The capital, Ginza, turned into a war zone, fires burning. Little Hanabi was surrounded by flames and what was left of her parents.
The smell of iron and burning flesh; the taste of blood and sand; the sound of screams and sirens and massive things dragging. Everywhere she looked, there were hideous things burning, pitch-black smoke, and swaths of red.
Monstrous red.
Coming closer…
Through the smoke, Hanabi saw something big squeezing through the piles of rubble, dragging itself across the ground on dozens of tentacles, each clutching human heads and limbs. It tossed them into its many mouths, chewing them, swallowing them.
“No…” Hanabi gasped, realizing she would share their fate. “No, no, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna! No, no, no, stop!”
She was too scared to take her eyes off it. She just screamed, tears running down her face. She screamed and screamed…
Something slithered across the back of her neck.
She turned around and there they were right in front of her, a whole pack of them. Monster after monster after monster surrounding her. Red, fleshy, people-eating monsters. A terrifying number of tentacles grabbed Hanabi’s neck, her arms, and her legs.
She screamed.
She screamed so loud nothing else existed.
Then…
Shichisei Kenbu.
She heard a voice; she thought she was imagining it. There was no one else left alive in this burning city, no one who could save her.
But then a wind blew.
A round disc of wind swirled around her. Like the kamaitachi of legend, this wind had blades. An instant later, every single one of the gross tentacles was cut down. No, not just the tentacles—all the monsters around her were gone. All that was left was a reddish mist mingling with the smoke. But Hanabi was too young to realize that was proof the monsters had been exterminated.
“Are you okay?”
It was a human, a grown man. He was wearing a large suit of armor, carrying a huge sword, and Hanabi just knew he was the one who had saved her.
She’d seen him before.
“Are you the only survivor?” He went down on one knee to little Hanabi’s eye level. She’d seen him on TV. He was a distant relative, the last hope of humanity… A very strong and bad-ass Cavalleria.
Hanabi nodded. He smiled sadly and stood up. He looked around at all the bodies then spoke, as if apologizing. “I’ll be with you all soon.”
Even at five, she knew what that meant. She knew where he was going. He would be joining her parents and friends and everybody else who had gone…leaving her behind.
She envied his words, the look in his eyes. She thought it would be so much better if she could give up like that.
“Um…”
“Hm?”
Little Hanabi couldn’t find the words to express what she was feeling. “Hero, are you gonna die?” she asked.
An oversized moon shone down upon them. They were surrounded by fires and rubble and oh so many bodies.
The Hero put his hand on her head, smiling awkwardly. “You’re going to live,” he said.
“Just me…?”
“Yes. We at least have to…”
“But… But everyone else is dead…”
Blood and guts were littered all around them. Some were the remains of people gobbled up by the tentacle monsters, and some were bits of the tentacle monsters after the Hero had arrived and torn them apart.
“That’s why you need to live,” the Hero said. “For all those who didn’t.”
“You’re not coming with me?”
“Sorry. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
The Hero looked up at the giant moon hanging overhead in broad daylight. The moon was pitch black, glowing around the edges. It was a door leading to the world on the other side, a demonic moon which spit out an endless stream of the tentacle monsters that came to eat them.
A Gate…
To their nest.
“I’ve got to go avenge everyone.”
“Take me with you!” Hanabi cried.
“I can’t do that.”
“They… They’re all dead! Please! I want to die with them! I want to go where they are!”
“I’m sorry…” he apologized, like it hurt to say. The Hero put something in her hands and said, “Division Maneuver, activate.”
Instantly, little Hanabi was surrounded by a cocoon of pale light. She began floating. He’s going to send me away, all alone, she realized. “Hero!”
“This is my gift to you. Get out of this place.”
“Wait, please! Don’t leave me alone!”
“Goodbye. Be well.”
The cocoon of light around Hanabi rose toward the sky, floating away from the imperial capital.
“Hero! Hero! Herooo!”
She yelled until her voice grew hoarse, but her cries didn’t reach him. The Hero never looked back.
Hanabi was picked up by an escape ship. One of the few ships that managed to evacuate the city had taken little Hanabi in. Even on the ship, she just stared out the window, watching the place where she’d left Hachishiki.
The massive black moon grew further and further away…
***
Okegawa Kuon was at his wits’ end.
The instant Hanabi had seen the fake eclipse, all trace of her regal Warrior Princess persona vanished. She began wailing like a little kid, screaming, “No!” and, “Stop!” She clung to Kuon’s body, begging him not to leave her alone, not to go.
“Kuon-sama!” En yelled, appearing out of nowhere.
“En, help!”
“No, you must be the one to help her, Kuon-sama. I believe Hanabi-sama is suffering from PTSD. Start by helping her calm down.”
“H-how?!”
“Talk to her. Remind her that you’re here with her. Tell her she’s safe, that you won’t leave her alone.”
Hesitantly, Kuon nodded. “S-Senpai! Hanabi-senpai! Hanabi-senpai! Don’t worry! I’m right here! I’m not going anywhere! I’m not leaving you! I would never leave you!”
He repeated those words over and over. Hanabi’s ragged breathing gradually slowed. Her sobs stopped, and her grip on him loosened. Just before she passed out into a deep sleep, she whispered into Kuon’s ear:
“Don’t leave me, Hero.”
As Kuon heard these words, he realized something, at long last.
She’s the little girl. The last one Suzuka Hachishiki… I saved.
***
Hanabi slept through the rescue team’s arrival and the boarding of the Mobile Mothership Kuou. She was then taken to the medical room.
The other three sat in heavy silence in the tiny room where the Fuji Squad had been assigned. Tsukuba and the other senpai Cavalleria had stopped by to apologize, but the squad barely registered them.
“About Hanabi…” Rin began. “She used to do that more often. It’s been a few years since her last panic attack, so I wasn’t worried about it…but adrift like that, she must have gotten frightened, and it all came flooding back. I should have warned you about it. Sorry.”
“No…it was careless of me…”
“Don’t,” Rin said, smiling. “She’s always felt better once she’s gotten some sleep.”
“Right…” Rin’s words made Kuon feel a little better. He made up his mind to ask, “Rin-san, tell me the truth about Hanabi-senpai, and what’s happened since she came to Jogen.” The girl he’d once saved, the girl he’d left behind… How had her life gone?
Rin hesitated at first, then sighed and began talking.
“Hanabi… Well, she survived the final battle for the capital, and was brought to Jogen. My family, Motegi—we’re kind of a big name. Since she had no living relatives, we took her in, and the two of us grew up together. She was supposed to become a Motegi, too, but apparently Hanabi’s folks were relatives of the Hero. My father told her, ‘If the Hero saved you, you should inherit his name,’ which is why she’s still Suzuka. Hanabi says he was a distant relative of some sort, but the Hero had no idea they were related.”
He certainly didn’t. He’d had almost nothing to do with any other Suzuka after being placed in the orphanage.
“At first we fought a lot,” Rin said, reminiscing. “We didn’t get along at all. The shock of that war was still with Hanabi, and she didn’t talk much. No matter what I said to her, it felt like she was ignoring me, and I didn’t like that.
“But Hanabi’s strong. If I was mean, she’d be mean right back. If I hit her, she’d hit me back, too. I was always the one who ended up crying. She’d just stare me down, not saying a word. Heheh, she was so scary.
“And she’s a real try-hard. My father made us learn all sorts of things, but, even when I lost interest, Hanabi kept going. As a result, she’s become way more of a proper little lady than me. You can tell, right? Even as a kid, I knew she was something special. I went back to the lessons I’d quit. But Hanabi was better at all of them, so I quit most of them again. The one I enjoyed the most and kept doing was shooting. That’s the only thing I was ever better at than her.
“Slowly, the two of us grew closer. We began doing everything together. Hanabi began talking again—in a weird way, but talking—then, one day, she had her first panic attack.”
Rin stared at her hands a moment. “It really rattled me. Out of nowhere, she burst into tears, threw her arms around me and began screaming, begging me not to go, not to leave her. My father later told me it was a symptom of PTSD, even though I didn’t know what that meant back then. But I knew one thing right away: I knew she was seeing something I couldn’t see. Something I had no way of ever seeing myself.”
One of the squad members let out a long breath.
“I thought, I’ve got to protect her. I was two whole months older than her, and the eldest child of the Motegi family. Maybe she was better than me at everything, but I could be a pillow for her to hug when she needed one. Hanabi used to be all skin and bones, but she softened up considerably and grew those humongous knockers.”
“That would have been a beautiful speech if it weren’t for that last line,” Fuji sighed, pressing his finger to his brow.
Rin carried on, unconcerned. “Hanabi chose to become a Cavalleria. She says she’s doing it because she admires the Hero, but I don’t think it’s that simple. He certainly saved her life, but he also abandoned her. He didn’t listen to her request.”
That hit Kuon where it hurt. “Did she tell you what that request was?” he asked.
Rin shook her head. “She won’t say. That’s the only part she’s never told me.”
“I see…”
Take me with you! I want to die with them!
How could she say that to anyone who cared about her this much?
What if… Kuon thought. What if part of Hanabi still wanted that? What if, like Suzuka Hachishiki in my previous life, Hanabi had a suicidal desire for a glorious death?
She didn’t seem like it; he didn’t want to believe that. But could he really say for sure?
“Hanabi was a Division 5 and got into Jogen Academy with top scores—oh, I was third, and second was this guy.”
“Don’t jerk your thumb at me,” Fuji said, brushing her hand away.
“All three of us got chosen for the Lunatic Order. We were in different squads at first. But our first year of high school, Fuji-kun formed a new squad, and we’ve all been together ever since. It was rough going at first, though.”
Fuji nodded. “They wouldn’t let us form a new squad unless we could fight and win against all seven existing squads within a set time limit. Hanabi was the key to that, but if we hadn’t done something about her tendency to charge in, we’d never have managed it.”
“And I’m the one who drilled proper strategy into her,” said Rin.
“Well…I suppose…in a matter of speaking.”
“Such enthusiasm.”
“Mm. Well, we all worked hard.”
Fuji’s evasive wrap-up earned him a karate chop, which he blocked. Then he bowed his head at Kuon. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner. Both about Suzuka-kun, and the truth about Jogen and the Imperial HQ. Let me apologize.”
“N-no, it’s…”
“It wasn’t that we didn’t trust you. We left the decision up to Suzuka-kun. We thought she understood you more than the two of us did. I hope we haven’t hurt you.”
“No, it’s okay, I’m fine. I actually kinda feel like I forced it out of you… But, Squad Leader Fuji, Rin-kun, there is one thing I want to know.”
“What is it?”
“Personally,” Rin said, “I wanna know why you never call me ‘senpai.’ But what’s your question?”
“You said Hanabi-senpai looks up to the Hero. And that she had a tendency to charge in.”
“Mm.”
“Are you at all concerned that that’s because Hanabi-senpai is living too fast?”
“Living…”
“…too fast?” Fuji finished for her.
“Maybe that’s a weird way to put it. But…acting like the Hero…could mean she has a death wish.”
“Hmm… I’ve never gotten that vibe from her. Have you, Motegi-kun?”
“Yeah…I don’t think so, no,” Rin said. “But if you’re worried about it, I think it’s best to ask her.”
“Like, directly?”
“But honestly, I think both ‘acting like the Hero’ and ‘death wish’ describe you more than they do her. You scare me sometimes.”
“Erp. B-but I’m trying not to charge in…”
“I’ve got to agree. I worried about Hanabi-kun, but, watching from the back, you scare me way more than her. Starting with how you learned to move like that as a Division 1.”
“Oof. Sorry.”
“But again, talk to Hanabi about this. You’re both Attackers. I think it’ll be more productive,” Rin said, fluttering her fingers.
Kuon thought he’d rid himself of Suzuka Hachishiki’s bad habits, but, clearly, it didn’t look that way.
While he was sulking about that, the Kuou made it home. By the time they reached Jogen, Hanabi had woken up.
They had six and a half years before the Queen would revive.
***
Everything has its limits.
The disaster had demolished Kuon’s DM, but, in truth, that was the result of it not being able to keep up with him. He’d been asking too much of it for a while.
The DM Kuon had been wearing, Soukyu (Mod), had always been a beginner frame with a dirty hack of a tune-up job on top. The core design wasn’t at all intended to survive Shichisei Kenbu movements, mock battles, deep sea combat, or being swallowed by the Magnetic Stream.
Basically, it was like a really kitted-out kid’s tricycle. No matter how much you modded it, you couldn’t climb a mountain on a tricycle.
“But you can’t ride a bicycle. So we at least need to make a tricycle built for you.”
Kuon was in the headmaster’s office, his tiny master puffing up her large chest as she spoke.
“I think that’s gonna be plenty tough…” Kuon began.
“Sword. Swi—”
“I didn’t say a word!”
He was about to be reminded as to why her standards were so high.
“Don’t worry. You’ve been riding a child’s tricycle, and now you’ll get a grown-up one.”
What’s the difference? Kuon thought.
“You try hard enough, you’ll even beat a motorcycle.”
“Of all the muscle-brained…”
“Sword—”
“Sorry!” Kuon apologized quickly.
“You can say what you like, but it’s been in development since before you even started here.”
“It has?”
“Of course, you idiot. You can’t make a DM in five weeks.”
He was genuinely impressed. “Master…thank you so much…”
“If you start fawning over me, I’ll kill you.”
“Got it!”
“Point is, Lunatic Order mock battles are temporarily suspended. You already had the next three lined up, so take a break after those. We’ll need your help developing the new frame. Also, you’re going to be training.”
“Training?”
“With no DM, classes are a waste of time. For the month after the mock battles are over, you’re camping out at my cram school training grounds.”
“Okayyy…”
“I think it’s still too soon, but we’re outta time. If that operation goes as rumored, we’ve gotta get you ready.”
For what? Kuon stopped himself from asking. His master looked unusually grim.
“I’m gonna teach you all of Shichisei Kenbu.”
Which meant…
“So don’t die.”
…Kuon was about to reach the realm Suzuka Hachishiki never had. He was about to learn Shichisei Kenbu’s ultimate arts.
“As for that, Kuon, you need to remember: In your last life, why and how did Suzuka Hachishiki die?”
“How I died…?”
“That’s where it starts,” she said meaningfully. There was a sad look in her eyes.
Thirteen years ago, before he’d been reborn…
Kuon would have to remember Suzuka Hachishiki’s final battle.
***
But the times were moving faster than Nanahoshi Kaede expected.
The military were understandably skeptical about Nanahoshi Kaede’s report that the Queen would return; the basis for it was flimsy at best. As a result, the Imperial Air Force were moving at odds with Kaede and Kuon’s plans.
The very next day, the Imperial Air Force, Lunar Defense Force High Command put Operation Capital Fall into action.
The plan involved sending the Mobile Mothership Kuou into orbit, then dropping a huge number of DMs on the capital, suppressing the enemy there. The dark mist that surrounded the capital and repelled mankind was thinner from above.
With the Operation activated, the Fuji Squad was ordered to the Kuou. Their orders were to be on board in three weeks.
Kuon’s new frame would be completed in a month.
It would be a week too late.
Kuon wouldn’t have a DM in time for the Operation.
***
Intermission:
Hanabi’s Diary 5
Imperial Era 356. July 20th. Suzuka Hanabi.
I’m in love with him. I can’t deny it any longer.
***
Unofficial Records
Imperial Air Force: Assault Reconnaissance Unit. Today’s MIA Count: 20.
Attempts to destroy the Gate control devices, the Flesh Pillars, have failed.
Necessity of deploying a Division 5 confirmed.