“What?!”
“You picked the right place to focus, but you overcommitted.” Maya pulled out her chainsaw knife and hacked away the wired blades holding her down.
“Not bad!”
“Hahaha. You either!”
A blizzard of fire passed between them as they closed to melee.
Maya wielded the Japanese ‘Kukihime’ macuahuitl, while Klarissa was armed with spiked ‘Sturm und Drang’ baghnakhs. The reach advantage was night and day, but Klarissa had the Schwarzer Zwieg’s AIC to fall back on. One tuned entirely for offense, unlike Laura’s.
“Take this! Sturm Zweig!” The thorns which had previously seemed just decoration shot toward Maya. Taken aback, she tried to dodge out, but it was already too late, and her armor was peppered with holes as precise as if they’d been drilled.
“So this is an offensive AIC?!” Once those thorns had pierced her armor, the force fields at their tips were free to tear through what was inside. Like roots twisting through the earth seeking water, they dug in, searching for Maya.
“The Italians don’t have a monopoly on things called storms!” Another coat of thorns sprang up. The Schwarzer Zwieg looking more like a blowfish than anything else.
Purging her destroyed shield wings, Maya nimbly dodged back. Just what Klarissa was waiting for.
“......?!” Maya flinched back as she saw the bed of thorns awaiting her.
“It’s over!” Just as Klarissa thought she’d won, a shot got her in the gut. One from the shield wings Maya had purged. “What?! Those aren’t just shields?!”
Glancing around, Klarissa noticed that she was surrounded.
“I call them Phalanx Twelve!” All that remained was to pull the trigger. For either of them.
“AHHHHHHHH!”
A hundred thorns and a thousand bullets filled the air.
✦ ✦ ✦
“And that’s a draw... Or a double KO, really.” Maya and Klarissa had each closed their heavily-damaged IS for repair.
“That was a good fight.”
“You’re not half-bad. I apologize.” Each reached out their hand, having bonded over the new respect they’d gained for each other.
“But now we’ve got a new problem. Your IS is too damaged to lead the push.” Chifuyu sighed, cradling her jaw, as Klarissa snapped to attention.
“But don’t worry! We’ll give you an honor guard!” The four girls from earlier surrounded Klarissa. “Nena! Falke! Matilda! Io!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Precise salutes.
“The Schwarzer Hasen EOS squad will escort you to England!” Each had their own EOS with a black rabbit insignia, equipped with weapons that didn’t require an IS core.
I wonder if they’ll be effective fighters. But they were still EOS. Or even effective cannon fodder... The EOS squad’s eyes glittered as they contemplated Chifuyu, not realizing her plans for them.
“We can do it!”
“We’ll try our hardest!”
“Can I get your autograph later?”
“I want a selfie with you!”
Chifuyu quieted them with a clap. “Sure, sure. Glad to have you on board.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
And thus, the two groups set off for England.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I’ll be seeing you in England then. Farewell, Ichika.” Cecilia may have been saying goodbye to Ichika, but after their time at the amusement park, she had no worries.
“Yeah. See you there, Cecilia.”
Two trains set off from a cathedral-esque European station. From the window of the France-bound train, Ichika waved to Cecilia, and she answered with a smile, much to the displeasure of the other girls.
“Ichika, you... You!”
“Ugh, I can’t stand that idiot!”
His two childhood friends, especially, could barely hold their anger back. Or really, just couldn’t.
As the trains rolled away from the station, the scenery outside began to change. Charlotte, sitting across from Ichika, gazed out the window in a melancholic reverie; the vision of a reunion with her father she’d never asked for eating away at her. Ichika had promised her that, as long as she was at IS Academy, she’d be free. But now she’d set foot outside that sanctuary... And she wasn’t the only cadet whose past was catching up to her, either.
“Charl,” Ichika called out to her. “Don’t be so worried. I promised to protect you, and I still mean it.”
As she folded down the seat-back table, more out of habit than anything, she felt Ichika’s hand wrap around hers. As he looked directly into her eyes, she felt her cheeks warm.
“Mmm... Thanks, Ichika,” she replied, wrapping her fingers around his. It seemed like the world was just the two of them for a moment.
“Ahem!” Surprisingly, it was Chifuyu who chose to theatrically clear her throat, as her eyes shifted back and forth. “You know, being on a train really makes my throat dry.”
Laura was the first to follow up.
“Doesn’t it! We should order drinks— No, send someone to get them from the dining car!” She glanced over at Kanzashi.
“Ichika, if you’d be so kind...”
They acted in unison, as if connected by some kind of feminine telepathy.
“Sure, I’m on it,” Ichika said while getting up. “Coffee for you, right, Chifuyu?”
“Yeah. Black, please.” Ichika being Ichika, he checked for Chifuyu’s order and no one else. As he left, Chifuyu turned her gaze to Charlotte. “Don’t push yourself too hard. I know how you try to carry the world on your shoulders sometimes.”
Charlotte was grateful for the sympathy from someone who’d been in the same situation.
“Thank you so much. But this is something I’ve always known I needed to deal with someday,” Charlotte replied, clenching her fists.
“That’s kind of what she meant, Charlotte.” Her friend Laura tried to ease her down.
And then Kanzashi spoke, “None of us are alone in this.”
Buoyed by the kindness, Charlotte nodded.
“Thanks, everyone.”
And then Ichika returned.
“Here’s your coffee, Chifuyu.” His sister was first, of course. The three girls shot him disappointed glances.
“What seems to be the problem?” For some reason, Chifuyu seemed a bit smug.