Shichisei Kenbu Hidden 8th Form: Resonate.
A faint tiiiiiiiii…nng sound rang out. That was his own sound, like a submarine’s sonar or a dolphin’s echolocation. He strained his mind’s ears so as not to miss the sound of En’s magic that came bouncing back to him.
Tiii…nng…
There it was. This time he tapped twice.
Once again, he laid his own magic over the wave coming from En, keeping it even. Same speed, same angle, same depth. It was like if a ball were coming his way, and he threw a ball back with exactly the same force, aiming to make both balls fall at that exact spot. If he hit it head-on it would get knocked away. If he didn’t use enough force his ball would get knocked back, but if he used too much the other ball would, but if he hit it just right…
…tiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIng!
This time he heard it clearly. En’s and Kuon’s magic were resonating. The light of life shone before each of their chests. This was visible even without Life Sight, a fact he gleaned from the surprise on En’s face.
“Wh-wh-wha… Kuon-sama, this is amazing!”
“En…you’re…Division 4? Wait, this isn’t—”
“Well, yeah, I’m running on Kaede-sama’s magic, so….”
“No, I-I-I-I-I know that, but…”
“Huh? What’s wrong, Kuon-samamaamamama…”
“Uh-oh…ohohohoho!”
“Whaaaaaaat?”
Both stared shaking like they were being electrocuted. Grinning, Kaede said, “This is what happens when Resonance fails. You started off well but couldn’t keep it in check.”
“Heeelllllllllpppppppp!” they cried.
Kaede shook her head and then stomped her foot. Instantly, both Kuon and En gasped. Kaede’s magic wave had intervened, and the resonance broke apart. Such skill! Kuon thought. “Ugh…I’m all numb…”
“Sorry…sorry…” En said.
“You’ve been using Hanabi and Tooka to practice with, but they’re both Division 5, so they’d make Resonance even tougher to control.” Kaede told them. “But I ain’t subjecting myself to this! So En, this is your job now.”
So heartless, Kuon thought.
En merely bowed her head. “Understood! I’ll do whatever I can to make Kuon-sama into a great Cavalleria!”
“Cool.”
“It’s an honor to have my body be useful! Kuon-sama, use my body however you like!”
“Seriously, watch the phrasing,” he complained.
“I won’t let you sleep tonight!”
“Stop!” he howled. But a moment later…
“Unh…”
Both Kuon and En collapsed, completely out of energy. “Only stabilizes one out of every ten attempts…hmph…” Even with her Guide and student flat on the ground, Kaede was business as usual. She stared at them, evaluating. “Keep working on it.”
A cool breeze brushed across the grass. Wrapped by nature’s bedding, his limit long since passed, Kuon was sound asleep. En twitched a few times, showing no signs of getting to her feet. See it through, Kaede thought. Then she turned to someone else—the girl who’d arrived as the training was in progress. “I’ll take the big one, you handle Kuon.”
The little shadow bobbed her head. “Yes, Mother.”
“Mm?”
A pain in his jaw woke Kuon. He felt a strange sensation, like he was dangling. Like a cat being carried by the scruff of its neck.
“Oh, onii-chan, you’re awake?”
He turned towards the voice, and found Tooka on his right. She was wearing a DM for some reason. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“I’m carrying you. Mother asked me to.”
“Oh, okay.”
The DM Tooka had activated had two massive exo-arms sticking out of the back, each absolutely large enough to carry a human. With these, Tooka effectively had four hands.
She herself was wearing a dress. The DM activation was localized to her back, and the giant arm carried Kuon like a cat, hooking the neck of his T-shirt and leaving him dangling in the air. His jaw hurt because the collar of the T-shirt was digging into it. He was lucky he hadn’t suffocated. “Master didn’t specify how to carry me?” he asked.
“Huh? No.”
“Of course not.” Kuon would much rather have been laid out on the palm of one of these giant hands but didn’t argue the point. Instead… “Thanks. You can put me down now.”
“Can you walk?”
“I’ll be fine.”
She put him down. He rubbed his aching jaw nonchalantly, trying to keep her from noticing. She was staring intently at him. “Wh-what?”
“Onii-chan, do you believe in past lives?”
This was sudden. But he had an answer ready. “…Master told me about you. I suppose we should talk a bit.”
“Mm. Let’s. I have so much I want to talk to you about.”
She had no expression and didn’t seem eager to talk at all, but he took her at her word. He glanced around. They were pretty close to the lodges.
The Nanahoshi private beach had three lodges, a main one and two smaller ones. The smaller ones were divided between the students by gender. Kuon and Tooka were near the women’s lodge. He could hear whispers from the dark forest around them—couples, most likely. He decided it was best to move farther away. There was a rocky area on the way to the main lodge. Hoping there was no one already there, he suggested the location to Tooka, who nodded.
“Onii-chan…hold my hand?”
“Sure, okay.” Given what Kaede had told him of Tooka’s past, he couldn’t exactly brush her off. Besides, it was dark, so they started walking hand in hand. Her tiny hand was soft and warm.
They walked in silence for a time, away from the buildings, past the path leading down to the beach. They reached their destination. No one could see them from above. The night sea lay before them.
Tooka sat down on a large rock. Kuon sat next to her. “I guess we should pick up where we left off. You’re…” He glanced sideways. Tooka was staring up at him, no emotion visible in her eyes. His heart shrank, but he forced the words out. “You were Suzuka Hachishiki’s little sister?”
Tooka Nürburg nodded.
✦ ✦ ✦
A few decades back, in Tooka Nürburg’s previous life, she had been Suzuka Hachishiki’s little sister. Her name was Akigase Tooka.
Hachishiki himself hadn’t know this, but his mother got divorced shortly after he was born. She married another man and had Tooka with him. Tooka’s mother and father were only a year apart in age, but Tooka’s father got sick and died when she was two.
When Tooka was five, her mother was struggling financially. She asked if she could return to the Suzuka home with Tooka in tow. Hachishiki’s father had agreed to this. But…
On the way home from the meeting where they’d arranged this, they were attacked by Jave. Both Tooka and their mother went missing. Hachishiki’s father had been driving them home and was believed to have died along with them.
Akigase Tooka had only lived five years.
Before her death, Tooka and Hachishiki had played together, but only once, on the day she and their mother came to ask for help. But Hachishiki had forgotten it and had never been told she was his sister. Hachishiki had no memories of his parents at all. His memories began after his arrival at the orphanage.
Meanwhile, Tooka was reborn.
At first, she didn’t know that.
Five years ago, a girl had been found lying at the gates of Nürburg Castle. She had almost no memories—all she knew was that her name was Tooka and that she was the heir to the Shichisei Kenbu.
On this last point, Kaede had but one word: “inexplicable.” The day Tooka died, Kaede hadn’t even met Hachishiki yet. Tooka and Kaede had no point of contact in this life or her last. It was possible she learned of the Shichisei Kenbu in the five years of this life that she’d lost, and these memories had been mixed with those of her previous life.
Still, Kaede was unable to ignore Tooka and had taken her in, splitting her time between the Empire and Germany. Tooka’s talents had soon become clear, and the Germans were not about to let her go. Kuon had long wondered why his master was so busy despite having no students in her private school, so this certainly cleared that up. She’d been looking after Tooka.
Then a month ago, things had changed.
Right after the Imperial Capital Recovery, the battle that had earned Kuon and Hanabi the Twin Star Heroes name, Tooka saw Kuon’s face on news coverage of the disappearance of the eastern capital Gate. “My brother!” she cried. Her memories returned.
Not memories of this life but of her past life. Memories of somewhere clearly not here, of a time clearly not now, and…of her mother and her own death.
However, Tooka was too intelligent to just accept these memories as fact. They were impossible. They didn’t make sense. But they were too vivid to dismiss as a dream. Plus, if she was from the eastern Empire, that would explain the color of her skin and hair. Using her memories, she investigated what records she could find. The more she investigated, the more real it seemed, and it frightened her.
At last she made up her mind and told Kaede everything, including her memories of being Suzuka Hachishiki’s sister. Kaede looked unusually surprised…and then confirmed those memories were real.
The truth was clear. Tooka had been reincarnated twenty years after she’d died in her previous life.
Tooka was forced to accept this as fact. She resolved to visit the Empire, using the in-progress development of the Kiryu as an excuse. She felt that the Kiryu’s rider being a Suzuka, as well as her brother’s girlfriend, showed the hand of destiny at work.
Tooka Nürburg was finally here.