Her long, thin fingers clutched her purse tightly. Her hands always tried so hard that Kuon couldn’t help but think of them fondly. That helped him say it.
“I… I like you, senpai. I care about Suzuka Hanabi. So, make sure you come back alive.”
Most likely, Hanabi’s brain short-circuited.
“Y-you mean as a senpai? As a friend?”
“No…”
“Then as a Cavalleria?”
“I do like you that way, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Th-then what…?”
Hanabi’s eyes were clearly saying, Really? Can I really believe that? Can I be happy? This is true? For real? This expression was so unlike what she normally let herself show.
Yes, Kuon smiled. “I love you, Hanabi-senpai. As… As a woman.”
“Oh… Ohhh…”
Hanabi put her hands to her face, swaying. Kuon moved to catch her. Standing so close, the difference in their height was painfully obvious. With his hand on her back to support her, he had to tilt his head all the way back, looking up at her from directly below. If he got any closer, Kuon’s face would bump into her oversized boobs, so he had to be careful.
“You do…?” Hanabi said, dazed.
“Yes.”
“That’s…not fair. I was going to say that…”
“Sorry. You almost did, earlier…and that finally made up my mind.”
“Huh? You got that?”
“En had to tell me.”
“Oh, okay… That’s even more unfair, Kuon-kun.”
“I completely agree. Sorry,” he apologized.
“You aren’t sorry at all; I can tell.”
“I am!”
“You have a weirdly arrogant side, you know. You’re so cocky!”
“En said that, too.”
“She’s right.”
“Sorry.”
“Oh, you’re apologizing when you don’t mean it again.”
“I do mean it,” he said.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Really?” Hanabi asked once more, putting her arms around Kuon. His face naturally found its way between her massive breasts. He was wrapped in her sweet scent. “You really, really want me? I’m five years older than you. I’ll be an adult way faster.”
Kuon put both hands around her back. Similar questions must have been asked countless times throughout history whenever an age gap existed between two lovers, but Kuon answered in a way that only he could: “Well, I’m an old man inside.”
Hanabi laughed. “I agree!”
“And if we live that long, if we live long enough for you to get old, then what could make us happier?”
“I didn’t say ‘old.’”
“Sorry.”
“Kuon-kun,” Hanabi said, touching Kuon’s cheek. Her smile was happy, loving, and a little bittersweet. “I love you so, so much.”
Kuon just nodded.
The bus Hanabi had taken was the last one.
Kuon and Hanabi realized there was no public transportation available to take Kuon back to the training ground. Maybe if he pushed himself, he’d be in time for the last Linear Rail, and a taxi would certainly be an option if he were willing to spring for it. Kuon had received Cavalleria pay, so money was no problem.
It was curfew and the gates were closing, so they couldn’t exactly just stand around outside. Hanabi grabbed Kuon’s hand and snuck him into the room she shared with Rin. It had a plush carpet and two beds with a little table between them, cute little cushions near the table, and a zabuton that was the opposite of cute. Hanabi made some tea and they drank it, talking about nothing in particular. How stressed she’d been on the date, how Rin had picked all her clothes, how surprised she’d been when he suggested they go to an onsen, how surprised he’d been when she invited him… They ate their chocolate, asking how long they’d felt this way about each other, pretty much both from the day they met, etc. Both pretended they weren’t paying the clock any attention at all.
He could still go home. She could still let him.
But he didn’t want to go home, and she didn’t want to let him. Neither of them had ever felt like this before. They were carried away, heads in the clouds, giddily drunk on love.
Eventually, they noticed Rin hadn’t come home.
Then they got a message from the headmaster saying Rin and En would be staying with her that evening. Kuon had no idea when En had disappeared; the Device itself wouldn’t respond at all. It seemed to legitimately be in Sleep Mode for once.
There was a brief silence, then the same thought struck them both at once.
We’re alone together until morning.
There was another brief silence, then both realized the other was thinking the same thing. They were playing a terrifying game of chicken now. It felt like whoever lost their nerve first would lose.
Kuon’s mind began spinning quickly, doing the math. He felt like he’d be a failure as a man if he stood up and said it was time he got going, but also felt like if he just stayed there all night and didn’t do anything, that would make him a different kind of failure. If something did happen, that would likely also be pretty bad. Not that he had the guts, but boy was he suddenly very conscious of how much skin Hanabi’s outfit showed as she sat on her knees in that miniskirt with her hands on her thighs, fists tightly clenched, glaring at Kuon like a Bushi tensing for a fight. And so…
“It’s time I got going,” Kuon said. He stood up, failing as a man.
As he headed for the door, Hanabi grabbed his sleeve. He didn’t need to turn around.
“Kuon-kun.”
Hanabi had kept her foot on the pedal throughout the whole game of chicken, and she was the Cavalleria shipping out tomorrow.
“At ten hundred tomorrow, I’ll be boarding the Mobile Mothership Kuou. From that point on, I’ll be a Cavalleria of the Lunatic Order, serving the Imperial Air Force, Lunar Defense Force, at the back of the Capital Fall Squad. My life will belong to my companions and to all of mankind.”
Kuon couldn’t respond, couldn’t even turn around.
Hanabi held his sleeve tight. “But until then…I’m yours.”
Do what you want to do.
That got him.
Kuon turned around and took Hanabi’s hand. Their fingers tightened together. Each felt how earnest those hands were, how hard they tried. Hanabi’s palm was slowly growing harder, but her lips were unbelievably soft.
They sank into the night…