Training was finished, and Ashiro, Hoshina, Kikoru, and the others had returned to the control room. The greatsword and the axe were lying side by side on a desk.
“About this axe,” said Hoshina. “Its primary material is a uniorgan from the honju neutralized the year before last in Shinagawa. By generating a powerful bioelectric potential, it was able to contract its muscle fibers extremely quickly. That would expel the air it had taken in with explosive force, causing a shock wave. That kaiju inflicted a lot of damage on civilians and city alike. This axe uses that as its gimmick.”
“And that was what happened on my last swing, right?” asked Kikoru.
“Right. When the trigger turns on the power, it generates the shock wave. What you employed this time was an acceleration caused by rearward expulsion, but you can get the maximum force out of it by sending the shock wave forward. As you can tell from this characteristic, lots of strength is also required of the weapon itself. Loading it caused it to become incredibly heavy. It’s undergone processing to make the blade narrower, but even so, it was decided that your unleashed combat power wasn’t enough to handle it. However—”
“You showed you can handle it well,” Ashiro said, picking up where Hoshina had left off. “Officer Shinomiya, I’m reissuing your custom weapon. Any objections?”
Kikoru’s hand crept toward the axe. She remembered the feel of it from just a little while ago. The overwhelming force that had slain the kaiju. Training would still be needed in order to handle it correctly, but this was without a doubt an ideal weapon.
“It works well enough. That goes without saying. But if I had one complaint about it—”
“If you did, what would it be?” Hoshina asked.
“I guess it would be that the design is too rugged and doesn’t really look good with me.”
“Oh no, I think it suits you perfectly,” Hoshina said with a wry smile. “That’s right, Shinomiya. There’s a name for the technique you displayed at the end there.”
“A name?” Kikoru asked.
“Squadron-Style Axe Technique may not have a lot of practitioners, but it’s definitely a thing. For the purposes of slaying kaiju, it’s been studied since way back. That midair downswing you exhibited—in Squadron-Style Axe Technique, that’s called ‘Falling Thunder.’ It’s the first form.”
“Falling Thunder.” Kikoru made a mental note of the name.
“As you might expect, axe wielding is also included in the eighteen martial arts,” Hoshina said. “I’ve studied the basics of it myself. You never know when the next enormous kaiju’s gonna emerge. Tomorrow or the day after, I’m gonna drill those fundamentals into you, so get ready.”
A flame flared up in Kikoru’s heart. She was going to learn everything there was to learn. She answered Ashiro and Hoshina with a salute. “Custom weapon humbly accepted!”
✦ ✦ ✦
At lunchtime, Kikoru headed to the mess hall. It was bustling with many JDF officers whose drills were already finished, and a delicious aroma was in the air, whetting appetites.
“Hey, Kikoru.” Kafka, carrying a tray loaded with food, had noticed her. “You didn’t come to morning drills. What’s up?”
“I had a little errand with Captain Ashiro and some people.”
“With Mina? What in the world did she want?” Kafka asked.
“Please stop using her first name. Well, I’ll show you soon.” Kikoru blew a privileged-sounding “Hmph!” from her nose. That was when she realized that Kafka was in high spirits about something.
“What’s with you? Did something good happen?” she asked.
“You bet! Get a load of this! Ta-da! How about it?”
What Kafka confidently produced was a record sheet from the morning drills.
“Check this out! I’m down a few more seconds since yesterday.”
“Hmmmm. Here, look at this.”
Kikoru handed her sheet to Kafka, and his eyes went wide.
“O-one minute, three seconds! Did you— Is this?”
Staring intently at Kafka, she cocked her head once more. Although he had put on some muscle lately, his appearance was that of a man in his thirties—a so-called old-timer. It was hard to believe he was in fact Kaiju No. 8 and had saved Kikoru.
With that in mind, Kikoru arrived at an answer she could accept.
Ahhh, is that why?
Why was it she was always so concerned with Kafka Hibino? It had to be because she hadn’t paid him back yet. On that fateful day, Kaiju No. 8 had saved Kikoru’s life, so she still owed Kafka a debt. And she didn’t much care for staying in debt.
That’s it. That’s gotta be it. Just you wait, Kafka Hibino.
If that was the case, next time would be the opposite, she thought. If he ever got in a tight spot, she would come running with her new weapon in hand. And then she would absolutely—
I’ll make you sorry again.
Kikoru began to giggle innocently.