CHAPTER 4

REMINISCENCE AND REUNION

It was an early summer night with the scent of fresh grass rising in the air.

That day, the boy had been made to kneel in seiza, the traditional Japanese manner, back held rigid and behind resting on his heels, in a corner of the dojo. The pain showed on his childishly charming face only as a sulk, faintly illuminated in the gloom. He didn’t even know anymore how long he had been in that position. Still, he refused to move from it, out of his own pride and defiance.

Suddenly, a door opened and a gentle voice wafted in, accompanied by the moonlight. “Honestly… What did you do this time? Dad was furious.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” said the boy, pouting, and turned away.

The girl who had opened the door crouched down with her back to the moonlight and let out a curt sigh.

She pushed back her long black hair and looked down at the boy with a troubled gaze. She was five or six years older than him, brimming with energy that was complemented by her short-sleeved sailor suit uniform.

“Ayato.”

“But, sis! Those guys—”

“Ayato!” The edge in her voice made the boy flinch. “A real man doesn’t make excuses.”

He had been holding back by sheer force of will, until now. His face twisted and his eyes filled with tears.

“But if you’re really sorry, then I’ll listen to your side of the story,” she said.

“Really?” Now his expression lit up brightly.

“Are you sorry?”

“Yes, I’m sorry!”

“You won’t do it again?”

“Nope!”

“Really and truly?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Really, really truly?”

“Hey, sis, remember when Saya was saying that no one likes girls who take things too seriously?”

Bonk. The girl’s fist came down on his head.

“I’m sorry. I mean it.”

“Very well.” She nodded gravely. “Sit there.”

“But I’m already sitting.”

“S-sit down properly! Seiza!”

“I’ve been sitting in seiza.”

The girl cleared her throat, face reddening, and took a pair of glasses from the pocket of her uniform.

“I always wonder if you’d be better off just wearing your glasses all the time, instead of trying to look cool,” said the boy.

“You shut up! I’ll do what I want with my glasses!” The conservative black-framed glasses suited her face nicely, but she didn’t care for them. “So. What happened?”

Finally, he thought, they were getting to the point. The story tumbled out of him. “I didn’t do anything! They just kept bothering me for a match and wouldn’t let up!”

According to the boy, the altercation began when some students at the dojo teased him for doing nothing but swinging his sword at practice.

His father strictly forbade him from sparring or fighting with the other students. Sometimes they picked on him for it.

The dojo didn’t have many students, but most of them were Genestella, since the government had recommended martial arts as a way for Genestella to train their minds and build character.

The boy had his doubts about that. The others just wanted to show off their own strength.

There were harsh laws in place to punish any acts of violence by Genestella against civilians. And minors received no leniency, which might have been why Ayato, as a fellow Genestella boy, found himself a target of teasing.

“And they said bad things about you…!” The boy angrily chewed his lip.

The girl was also among those studying swordsmanship at the dojo. While she was not forbidden as strictly as her brother from engaging in combat, she almost never faced the other students. The students in question here had only joined the dojo recently, and they had never seen her in a match.

But the boy knew that his sister was the most skilled student at the dojo.

“That’s why I agreed to fight them!” the boy blustered. “Just for a little bit—!”

The girl didn’t need to hear the results to know what they were.

“Hmm.” She thought quietly for a few moments and chose her words carefully when she spoke. “I see. I agree that you’re not at fault, Ayato.”

“I told you!” The boy looked up at her happily.

She pinned him with a stare and added reprovingly, “At the same time, you’re not in the right, either.”

“Huh?”

“Ayato, do you know why Dad forbids you from fighting anyone?”

The boy shook his head. He had asked his father the very same question himself but never received an answer.

“You have great strength inside you. But sometimes, strength can hurt people. And you could even hurt yourself, Ayato.”

“But I’m not hurt at all, see? I don’t hurt anywhere…”

“That’s because you’re still relying on your strength.” The girl’s voice went a little harder. “As long as you’re giving yourself up to your own strength that way, you won’t feel pain. But at the same time, you won’t be able to feel the pain of others, either. Dad and I don’t want you to grow up to be that kind of person, Ayato.”

He looked at her blankly.

“Everyone has the right to fight for their dignity. That’s why you’re not at fault. But you don’t know how to take responsibility for your actions yet. And you can never be right if you’re not responsible.”

“…I don’t get it.” He knew that she was telling him something important, but he could hardly understand any of it.

“It means you’re not ready yet.”

“Then when will I be ready?”

“Hmm, I don’t know.” Thinking, the girl touched her chin and tilted her head. “If I had to say… Maybe when you find out what it is that you have to do, Ayato.”

“What I have to do…?”

“Yes. That’ll come when you’ve decided how to use the strength you have.”

The things she was saying were still a little too complicated for him, but the boy gave a small nod.

“Very good.” Satisfied, the girl nodded, too, and patted her brother’s head.

Something occurred to him, then. “What about you, sis?” he asked.

“Hmm?”

“Have you found the thing you have to do?”

For a moment, she looked surprised by the question but then gently smiled at him. “Of course. The thing I have to do…,” the girl began and leaned down to hug her brother tight. “…Is protect you, Ayato.”

“Me…?”

“That’s right. It’s the most important thing in the world to me.”

“Then I’m going to protect you, too, sis! That’s the thing I have to do!” The boy was completely serious. To him, too, it really did seem like the most precious and important thing there was.

But the girl smiled mischievously, then flicked his forehead with her finger and laughed. “What a thing to say! Don’t you know you have to be stronger than me to say that?”

For that, he had no retort. He knew that his sister was far stronger than him.

“Besides, you have to be careful with promises like that. You’re a boy, so a day will come when someone really wants to hear it from you.”

“I don’t get it.” The boy hung his head, dejected.

She squeezed him again, much more tightly than before. “I know. That’s okay for now.”

“…Sis?”

“Thanks for sticking up for me, Ayato. I love you.”

Tossing aside the light blanket, he sprang up out of bed like a jack-in-the-box.

He glanced at the clock to see that it was a little after four in the morning. Outside the window there was nothing but predawn shadows.

“There I go dreaming about memories again…”

Ayato managed to turn off the alarm almost as soon as it started beeping and then began to do his stretches. Habit was a fearsome power. After that day, he had been completely exhausted, but he now found himself wide awake at his usual hour.

“The timing saved me today, though,” he said to himself. If he’d dreamed the rest…

Ayato shook his head forcefully and began to get dressed in his workout shirt and shorts rather than his uniform.

He thought about how this morning regimen was another thing that his sister taught him. How many things had she given him—in the place of the mother he’d lost at such a young age, and as herself, his strict but kindhearted sister?

“Oh, so that’s who she reminded me of…,” Ayato realized. Julis’s gaze in that video of the fight was the same as his sister’s. Her eyes when she said she would protect him. They were the eyes of someone with an unbreakable resolve—eyes that he just didn’t have yet.

“Okay…” He took the Lux activator from where he’d left it by his pillow and put it in the holster at his hip. Now he was ready. He would have rather had the wooden practice sword he’d been using at home, but he’d decided it was too bulky to bring.

As he tried to sneak out without waking his roommate, a cheery voice piped up from behind him. “Heading out for your morning training, Mr. Scholarship Student? What a conscientious pupil!”

He turned to see Eishirou still lying in bed with one eye open, showing his white teeth in a grin.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m a light sleeper. Still half-asleep, actually.” Scratching his head, Eishirou swallowed a yawn. “Well, I thought I heard someone talking in his sleep, but it must’ve been a dream.”

The color drained from Ayato’s face.

“Uh, Yabuki? I’m sure that you dreamed it. Totally sure. But just out of curiosity—could you tell me what the person in your dream was saying in their sleep?”

“‘I really love you, too, sis!’”

Ayato shouted in protest and dashed over to clap his hands over his roommate’s mouth. “Yes, that was a dream! Definitely a dream!” he repeated, trying desperately to convince him.

“Oh, well, if you say so, I guess it was,” said Eishirou. “Huh, I really can’t tell, though… By the way, Amagiri, are you going for the Japanese or the western option today?”

Ayato slumped his shoulders. “Fine. Take whatever you want.”

“Heh-heh. I’ll take the fish, then!”

At this rate, I’m on track to lose a dish from every meal. The fear crossed his mind, but Ayato told himself not to argue the point this time.

“Well, I’m going back to sleep. Good luck with your training!”

Ayato sighed. It felt like he had been sighing a lot more since coming to this school. And he was pretty sure that wasn’t just a feeling.

“Hoo, man, am I sleepy. Morning, guys!” Yawning hugely, Eishirou opened the door to the classroom. He must have gone back to sleep, like he’d said, but apparently that was still insufficient for him.

Astonished, Ayato followed him in to find that most of the seats were already filled. Lively conversations bloomed here and there through the classroom like wildflowers, a scene no different from any other school. Whatever else one might say, the attendance rate looked respectable, so maybe the students here were serious about their studies after all.

“Good morning, Julis.”

“…Oh. Hi.”

When Ayato offered a greeting to the seat next to his, Julis threw back that curt reply, her chin still resting in her hand.

The din of the classroom paused all at once.

“Hey, did—did you just hear that?”

“Did the Princess just say hi to someone!?”

“We’re not still dreaming, are we?”

“What kind of spell did that guy put on her?”

“Hold up—are we sure that’s the real Julis?”

As her classmates erupted in a different kind of chatter, Julis slammed her hands on the desk and stood up. “Y-you’re all unbelievably rude! Why can’t I answer someone when they greet me!”

She made this statement with a look of consummate indignation, but the commotion showed no signs of quieting. Julis saying a word of greeting was beyond unexpected. That reaction revealed what kind of status she had in the class.

She could take the opportunity to break the ice with her classmates…or maybe that’s too much to hope for. As Ayato thought that, he remembered that he had only transferred in yesterday. It was all well and good to think of Julis, but he had to manage his own situation first.

Just then, Ayato noticed that the seat on his left, empty the day before, was occupied. A girl with beautiful bluish hair was sleeping soundly with her head flat on the desk.

Having two transfers in as many days seemed rather unlikely, so Ayato guessed that she had simply been absent yesterday.

He should introduce himself, he thought, but he didn’t want to wake her up for it… Just as he was fretting about what to do, the girl blearily raised her head.

Yes! Great timing, he thought. “Hey, next-seat neighbor. Um, I just transferred here yesterday. I’m Ayato— Huh?”

He couldn’t finish his introduction. As soon as he saw her face, he froze with a stunned look. “S-Saya?”

The girl stared blankly back at him, then tilted her head slightly and murmured, “Ayato…?”

“Whaaa—!? Saya, what’re you doing here!?”

There was no mistake—it was Saya Sasamiya. As Ayato jumped out of his seat in surprise, Eishirou leaned in from behind with the gleaming eyes of a boy who has just found a new toy. “What’s up? You two know each other?”

“Yeah, well… I guess you could say we’re old friends. We sort of grew up together, I guess.”

“Grew up together?” Eishirou dubiously looked back and forth between the two of them. “Then why didn’t you know you’d both be students here?”

“Well, I mean we sort of grew up together, but we haven’t seen each other since Saya moved abroad. It’s been six years, I think.”

“Huh… She doesn’t seem to have much of a reaction, for her part,” Eishirou remarked.

Saya was, in fact, staring at Ayato without the slightest change in expression.

“Um, well, that’s true, but she’s been like this for as long as I’ve known her. She is surprised. I think.”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh,” Saya mumbled. “I’m super surprised.”

“Okay, but you don’t really look it at all,” Eishirou insisted weakly to Saya, who hadn’t so much as moved an eyebrow.

“But it really has been a while. You’re doing all right?” asked Ayato.

She nodded once in reply.

“Just like always. You never change, Saya.”

This time, Saya shook her head. “…That’s not true. I’m taller.”

“Oh… Are you?” Ayato looked more closely at his childhood friend, reunited with him entirely by coincidence.

She had a childish face, with adorably big eyes and an innocent shape. She didn’t seem to have grown an inch since the day they’d last met—she could easily have passed for an elementary school student. Her expression hardly ever changed, giving her a charm best described (for better or worse) as doll-like.

“I don’t think you’ve changed at all…”

“No. You just got too tall.” Saya puffed out her cheeks in a pout. “…But that’s all right. According to my estimates, by next year I should be about as tall as you are now. And you’ll grow a little more, too, so the proportions will be just right.”

Saya nodded in agreement with herself. But it was hard to imagine that she could grow by a foot in one year.

“But man, small world, huh?” said Eishirou. “A fateful reunion, I’d say.”

“Fateful reunion… Yes. You put things nicely, Yabuki.” Saya gave him a thumbs-up. Her readiness to go with the flow of things seemed unchanged as well.

“How about your dad and everyone? How are they doing?” Saya’s father was a meteoric engineering scientist who had devoted his entire career to Lux development. Ayato recalled that her father’s work was the reason for her family’s move overseas.

“Almost too well. I wish he’d be more careful.”

“Ha-ha. Sounds like he hasn’t changed, either.” The image of Saya’s father that Ayato had in his head was the archetype of a mad scientist. He recalled that when he went over to the Sasamiyas’ house to play as a child, he could hear Dr. Sasamiya cackling, holed up in his laboratory.

By reputation, he was an excellent scientist, but one with a difficult personality—owing to which he had changed employers several times.

“I’m here because my father told me to come.”

“He did?”

Saya drew a Lux activator from the holster on her uniform. The grip-shaped activator turned on and a large automatic pistol materialized in an instant. The smooth flow of her movements hinted at her practiced hand. “He told me to advertise the gun he made.”

“Advertising? That’s why you’re here?”

Even if the students weren’t fighting to kill, Asterisk was not a safe place by any stretch of the imagination. Ayato could not have much esteem for the scientist’s decision to send his own daughter here just to use her as publicity for a weapon.

“Eh, I don’t think it’s that crazy,” Eishirou interjected. “If you make it to the big time here, that’d be better advertising than money could buy. I mean, that’s half the reason the IEFs run this place, anyway.”

“But are you okay with that, Saya?” Ayato fretted.

“I have my own reasons,” she replied nonchalantly. “So I’m fine.”

“Ah. Could you tell us more about those reasons?” Having shifted entirely into journalism mode, Eishirou had a serious look and a notepad in one hand.

“They’re secret.” Even as she said that, Saya glanced at Ayato. “But just now, one half of my reasons for coming here…”

“Ah-ha.” That was all Eishirou needed, apparently, to understand the situation. “That reminds me, Sasamiya—you applied for an excursion permit as soon as you came here. Whatever happened with that?”

Asterisk was located within the country of Japan but had complete extraterritoriality. To leave Asterisk, one needed a legitimate purpose and the permission of one’s school.

“…I haven’t gotten it yet. What about it?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if maybe you didn’t need it anym—” Grinning, Eishirou nearly finished the sentence before suddenly snapping his mouth shut. The muzzle of Saya’s gun was pressing into his throat.

“…That’s enough of your tactless conjectures.”

“All right. Understood. Sorry. My bad.” Eishirou held up both hands in surrender as Saya forced his chin upward, grinding it with the muzzle.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” said Ayato, “but Saya’s more violent than she looks, so be careful.”

“You could’ve told me sooner…”

“Yo, sit your butts down. Time for homeroom.” With that, Kyouko entered the class, looking lethargic. She didn’t even hold up her nail bat, just dragged it across the floor, but the grating sound it made was sufficiently intimidating. “Hey, you, don’t be swinging your piece around in my class… Oh, it’s you, Sasamiya.”

“Good morning, ma’am.”

“Where the hell were you yesterday? Go on, I’m all ears.” Kyouko stomped her way over to Saya, then crossed her arms and stared her down.

“…I just overslept.”

“Ha-ha. I gotcha. You overslept.” Clonk.

“…Ouch.”

“You dumbass! How many times does that make!? The next day you miss’ll land your little butt in make-up classes!”

Even after taking a fist to the head, Saya’s face remained expressionless—except for the tiny hint of tears welling up in her eyes.

“Still not a morning person, huh?” said Ayato, laughing.

“…My bed always wins.”

From her seat on the other side of Ayato, Julis watched the two of them, plainly unamused.

That same day, after school, Julis stood in front of the bathroom mirror.

“Well… Hmm. That should do it,” she murmured to her reflection.

There was not a flaw to be seen in either her hair (which she honestly didn’t care for herself, thinking it too showy) or her perfectly straightened uniform.

It’s not as if I worry too much about how I look. It’s a matter of etiquette, nothing more. Being less than circumspect with one’s clothing leads to carelessness in other matters. I just told him something like that yesterday, after all, so I can’t very well be negligent myself. Yes, that’s it, Julis told herself, then headed back to the classroom.

There weren’t many students left, but Ayato was in his seat, chatting happily with Saya.

Having overheard their conversation from this morning, Julis knew they had grown up together. And now, they’re seeing each other for the first time in years, so it’s only natural that they have a lot to talk about, she thought. But it still made her nervous for some reason.

“Um—ahem. Are you ready to go?”

“Oh. Hey, Julis. I appreciate this.”

“W-well, I have to, don’t I. A promise is a promise.” Even as she curtly turned away from him, Julis was watching Ayato from the corner of her eye.

That easygoing, lackadaisical face of his. Suddenly she recalled that earnest look in his eyes when he’d saved her, and her heart beat faster. An emotion she didn’t understand whirled in her chest, and she shook her head as if she could literally shake it off.

“…A promise?” asked Saya, mystified by their conversation.

“Julis is going to show me around campus today,” Ayato explained.

“Riessfeld is? Why?”

“That’s, um… Well, it’s a long story,” Julis replied. “Nothing to do with you, Sasamiya.”

At that, Saya made a sulky noise, frowning faintly.

“Let’s go,” said Julis.

“Right. Okay, Saya, see you tom—”

“Wait. If that’s all, Ayato, I’ll show you around.”

“Wh—!?”

“Huh?”

Julis and Ayato turned in surprise at this sudden declaration.

“I can give him a tour as well as anyone else,” Saya went on. “You were saying you have to, Riessfeld. Like you don’t want to. So, I can save you the trouble.”

Now it was Julis who scowled. “The offer’s appreciated. But I made a promise, and I don’t break my promises.”

“…But it would be better for Ayato, too, if the person showing him around actually wanted to.”

“It—it’s not that I don’t want to! Anyway, you just started here yourself, Sasamiya! And I’ve been here since middle school. I think it’s quite clear which one of us is more qualified.”

Terrific sparks flew between them.

“Um, ladies…?” Ayato tried to intervene, but they didn’t seem to hear him.

“Oh, if that’s the issue at hand, I believe I would be most suited to the task.”

Ayato let out a startled shout as Claudia poked her head in from behind him. She also had her arms around him, very deliberately pressing her ample bosom against his back.

As they took in the scene, Saya’s and Julis’s expressions respectively became even more intense.

“Julis came here for her third year of middle school,” said Claudia, “while I matriculated properly back in year one.”

“…Who are you?”

“Why are you here?”

“First of all, could you maybe give me a little space, Claudia!”

“Why, you’re all so unfriendly. Since I’m here, I thought I might join in the fun…”

“…No.”

“Request denied.”

“Please, they’re t-touching me!”

“Mm, how unfortunate. Well, then, I’ll just finish my business here and be on my way.” Claudia reluctantly let go of Ayato and held out a sheaf of papers for him. “Tomorrow, we’ll select an Orga Lux for you and conduct a compatibility test, as we discussed earlier. Please look through these documents and make sure you have no objections to anything there before you sign.”

“Oh—that.” Tomorrow was sooner than Ayato would have liked, but this was his chance to see the Orga Lux that his sister might have wielded. He could not afford to miss it. “Okay… .Wow, this is a ton of paperwork, though.” There were at least ten different documents, all crammed with fine print.

“It’s on loan to us, but it does belong to the IEF,” said Claudia. “But that’s all a formality, so please don’t worry about it too much. Just skim right through it.”

“If the president delivers paperwork like this herself, the student council must not have much to do,” Julis remarked acidly.

Claudia brushed aside the insult. “Indeed, we don’t—thanks to our students being so well-behaved.”

“I was wondering this before,” said Ayato, “but are you two friends?”

“Why, yes, we are.”

“We certainly are not!”

Ayato tilted his head in confusion at the two polar opposite answers.

“Oh, how cold of you, Julis,” Claudia mourned.

“We saw each other a few times at the Opernball in Vienna,” Julis said flatly. “We’re acquainted, no more and no less.”

The Opernball was the largest society event in Europe, well known as the affair where young men and women of the upper classes made their debuts in high society.

“Now, if you’re done here, why don’t you get going,” said Julis.

“Shoo, shoo,” Saya added.

Claudia laughed softly. “Good day, then. But I’ll have Ayato all to myself tomorrow. Don’t think too ill of me.”

With a single bow, she left, trailed by angry glares from Julis and Saya.

“That scheming vixen,” muttered Julis. “Thinks she can do whatever she wants just because she’s a little top-heavy… They’re just bags of fat.”

“…Agreed.” Saya nodded vigorously.

They were so firmly on the same level that it was hard to believe they had been butting heads only moments ago. Eager to take the opportunity, Ayato hastily submitted a proposal for compromise. “Oh, I know! Since you’re both here, maybe you can both show me around?”

“Both of us…?”

Julis and Saya looked at each other for a while, then laughed in resignation.

“…I accept.”

“Very well. Let’s not waste any more time arguing.”

“Whew.” Looking profoundly relieved, Ayato wiped a drop of sweat from his brow.

And so the three of them toured the campus together.

“This is the club complex. Most of the clubs aren’t all that active, but you might find yourself here if you have a complaint for one of the media clubs.”

“…Mm-hmm.”

“This is the Committee Center. You’ll need to go through them for requests and adjustments for fringe benefits.”

“…I see.”

“And the dining halls—well, I suppose you must have found them by now. Anyway, there are seven places to eat on campus, including the cafeteria. But the one in the basement here is usually less crowded, so it’s better to go there.”

“…I didn’t know that.”

“Sasamiya, you do understand that I’m not giving you a tour?” said Julis, as the three of them took a break on a courtyard bench.

Saya had been carefully taking in all the details of Julis’s campus tour. “…I have no sense of direction.”

“I’m amazed you would offer to show someone else around,” Julis sniffed.

Saya coughed humbly.

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” said Ayato with his usual carefree smile. “I learned a lot, too. Really, thank you.”

“W-well, all right, but…”

“I know, I’ll go get us something to drink. What’ll you have? My treat.”

“Hmm. Iced tea, then.”

“I’ll have apple juice. Not from concentrate, hopefully.”

“Got it.” Ayato took off, making his way around the sizable fountain and back toward the high school building.

Actually, the vending machines at the middle school building are closer, thought Julis. I’ll have to show him later…

As Julis smiled wryly to herself, Saya interrupted her musings. “…Riessfeld, there’s something I still want to know.”

“What?”

“Why did you promise to show Ayato around?”

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that… Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s because I owed him a debt. That’s all it is.”

“What debt was that?”

Julis hesitated for a moment but reluctantly told her the truth. “He saved me from an outside attack during a duel.”

“A duel? Riessfeld, you dueled Ayato?”

“Yes. You didn’t hear?”

Duels by Page One students were always fodder for gossip, and Julis was sure that videos of it must have made the news last night. Apparently, this particular classmate of hers wasn’t interested in the rankings.

“But I’m not going to tell you why we dueled,” said Julis. “That’s a private matter.”

“…Who won?”

“There was some interference. The duel was declared void.”

“…That’s funny.”

“What is?”

“If you really fought Ayato, you shouldn’t be in one piece.”

The unexpected remark caught Julis off guard. She wondered if Saya was joking, but her eyes were quite serious.

“You must not have a very high opinion of me.”

“You’re strong, Riessfeld. I know that,” Saya told her, calm and straightforward. “But on the same level as me, at best. And that’s no match for Ayato.”

Hearing that, laid out as if it were such an obvious truth, Julis felt her heart clench.

“Oh?” she retorted. “That’s a bold statement.”

The air tensed like a string drawn taut.

To the best of her knowledge, Saya’s name was not among the Named Chart. And Julis kept track of the other strong students in her class. Never talking to others much, she couldn’t be sure, but she didn’t think Saya had even participated in the official ranking matches.

Of course, rankings were not the sole indicator of strength. Julis herself had said as much to Ayato earlier. And there were more than a few students who disliked attention enough to keep their abilities hidden until just before the Festa.

Whatever the case, this was not an insult Julis could overlook.

“Very well. Care to try me?”

Without a word, Saya stood up and placed some distance between them.

Julis, interpreting this as assent, stood and placed her hand on her school crest.

“I, Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld, challenge thee, Saya Sasamiya, to—” Julis began but instinctively leaped back.

Not half a second later, there was a light dry sound as several arrows of light flew one after another into the bench.

It was a side attack. So, not from Saya, but—

“The fountain!?” How long the person had been there, Julis had no idea, but a sharpshooter dressed in black stood waist-deep in the water, holding a crossbow-shaped Lux. “Hmph. Another ambush?”

Most likely the same culprit as last time, she thought. With a mocking laugh, Julis focused her prana and called forth the fire from within.

“Burst into bloom—Longiflorum!” She generated the spear of fire midair and released it as she landed.

It was a perfectly timed counterattack, but the blazing spear that should have impaled her target was intercepted by a dark shadow that leaped into its path.

“Another one…! But—someone able to ward off my flames…?”

Like the sniper, the newcomer was also clad in black. The giant ax-shaped Lux he wielded with both hands must have served as a shield.

Judging from their shared lack of sartorial judgment, they had to be working together. The one that had been hiding in the fountain was rather squat, while the second one was a muscular giant of a man, well over six feet tall.

That physique and choice of weapon reminded her of someone—but this was no time to figure out whom. Considering how well they hid their presence, these were not enemies to be taken lightly. Julis could get all the answers she needed out of them after beating them down.

But just as she was about to focus her prana to attack—

“…Boom.”

And the giant went flying sideways with an earthshaking explosion. He went some forty or fifty feet before falling to the ground in a tailspin, then lay completely motionless.

“Wha…?” Bracing herself against the wind from the blast, Julis was dumbfounded to see Saya with an enormous gun, larger than her own stature. It was hard to say, actually, whether Saya was holding the gun or whether she was an attachment to it.

“What is that?”

“Type thirty-eight Lux grenade launcher, Helnekraum.”

“You mean it shoots grenades…?”

Saya nodded and casually trained the muzzle on the fountain. “…Burst.” The gun glowed faintly. Her prana rose dramatically and poured into the huge gun, and the manadite shone even more brightly. This could only be…

“Meteor Arts!?”

The stocky attacker was scrambling out of the fountain, trying to get away—too late.

“…Kaboom.” Released with a murmur rather than a shout from Saya, the projectile of light exploded at the moment of contact with its target.

A deafening roar sounded and the fountain was completely obliterated. Water gushed up from the base to rain down on the surroundings like an oversized shower.

The scale of the explosion might be comparable to her Amaryllis, Julis thought, but this was superior in pure destructive power. “You are more violent than you look.”

“…Not as much as you, Riessfeld.”

Julis had no rejoinder for that.

“I’m not going to thank you,” she said instead. “I could have handled them myself.” The attackers were skilled, yes, but she was confident in her ability to drive them off.

“No need. They were just in our way,” Saya replied in her usual blunt manner, then turned to Julis. “…Shall we continue?”

Julis was confused for a moment, then nearly burst into laughter when she realized that Saya meant their duel. “No, I’ll pass. You really are strong. I apologize for underestimating you.”

“…Okay, then.” As easily as that, Saya deactivated her Lux.

I’m probably not one to talk, Julis thought, but this girl’s an odd one, too.

“Well, then, shall we hand over these miscreants to the disciplinary committee?”

As if on cue, a black-clad figure emerged from underneath the rubble, pushing his way out of the wreckage. Julis and Saya promptly took combat stances again, but the surprisingly nimble attacker was already disappearing into the woods. Then they noticed that the giant was gone, too.

“Hardy, aren’t they?” said Julis.

“…I’m amazed.”

From the force of that impact, an ordinary opponent would have had difficulty even moving.

“Well, there’s not much we can do now that they’ve gotten away. If we chase them without being careful, we might fall into a trap. Anyway, Sasamiya, you destroyed school property. You should report it.”

“…Me?”

“Yes, you. You blew up the fountain.”

“…Too much trouble. I’ll leave it to you, Riessfeld.”

“Why me? This is serious.”

“Hey!” As the two of them went back and forth, Ayato came running from the direction of the high school buildings. “I heard this huge noise and… Wait, whoa—! What happened here!?” he exclaimed, seeing the pulverized fountain.

“Well, something came up. Right, Sasamiya?”

“…Yes. Something came up.”

This wasn’t much of an explanation. But neither of them particularly wanted to go through the trouble of explaining from the beginning. So they left it at that.

“I’m not sure what happened, but… Augh!” Ayato was looking around, puzzled, when his face suddenly went scarlet and he stared awkwardly off to the side.

Julis cocked her head at him—and immediately understood.

Everything nearby was completely soaked with the water spraying from the ruins of the fountain. Julis and Saya were no exception. This resulted in the thin fabric of their summer uniforms clinging closely to their skin and, of course, becoming entirely translucent.

In a panic, Julis looked down to see that her undergarments showed clearly through.

“Wha—? You—d-don’t you dare look! You’ll pay if you open your eyes!”

“I’m not looking! Not looking!”

“Hmm, see-through. How very erotic.”

“Ugh, Sasamiya! Cover your shame! Wait—wh-why aren’t you wearing a bra?” Julis’s eyes widened in surprise as she turned to look at Saya, whose uniform also clung tight to her body.

Both of them were equally soaked through—but there was one fatal difference.

“…It’s sad to say, but I don’t need one yet.”

At Saya’s utterly unruffled tone, Julis clutched her head in dismay. “Anyway—go get us something to cover up! Now!”

“Uh—right!”

It was only a matter of time before the commotion of a fountain getting blown up compelled all the gawking idiot students of Seidoukan Academy to gather.

As she watched Ayato run off, Julis heaved a terrific sigh.