With the Heavy Magic Engines stopped, the Kiryu was running on electrical reserves. Unable to move or fly, it was simply receiving electronic maintenance, more or less just sleeping.
In the Kuou’s storage bay, a little fairy hovered in front of the dormant Kiryu, her eyes closed. “I see.”
It was En. They hadn’t made it in time for the operation, but Nanahoshi Kaede had reached the ship at the same time as Motegi Rin. “So that’s why you stopped Hanabi-sama?” En whispered, like she was talking to the Kiryu. Then she turned towards the entrance.
“En-kun, you’ve come?”
Suzuka Hanabi came into the bay, wearing her plugsuit. Hanabi looked up at the Kiryu and said, “We’re headed out. I’m going to borrow her power again.”
“Hanabi-sama, she…”
“Mm, don’t worry. I know.”
Hanabi turned and flashed En a smile. Oh, En thought. Hanabi seems different, in a good way. Like she’s finally loosened up…
Hanabi powered up her Device, donned Reimei, and stood before the Kiryu’s twin heads, rubbing them. The electric reserves gave the Kiryu enough power that this formed a magic link. “Can you hear me, Kiryu?” Hanabi said. “You know what I’m thinking, right? That’s why you didn’t approve.”
During the Fukuoka Gate Battle and Operation Jave World Annihilation, Hanabi’s connection to the Kiryu was severed. She’d been wondering why that was, but her earlier conversation with Tooka had given her a clue.
“There’s autonomously intelligent growth-type—NSR-type—AI Device functionality incorporated into portions of it, so it is absolutely ‘thinking.’ Even if it weren’t, I personally believe all machines have a form of consciousness. Spiritual, electrical, or magical.”
Like En, the Kiryu had its own will and magic. It got those from its creator, Tooka, which meant…
“I know you stopped me because that’s what Kuon-kun wanted.”
The Kiryu was Tooka. She and Tooka felt the same way about Kuon.
“At Fukuoka, I doubted Kuon-kun, so you rejected me. At Aohime, Kuon-kun wanted me to stay behind, so you made sure the Gate closed without me. Right?” Across the magic link, a tiny, tiny light flickered like a star. She was sure the Kiryu had nodded.
Such a good girl, Hanabi thought. I bet she likes donuts. She summoned her courage and asked, “Do you hate me?”
Two flickers. That was a huge relief.
“Thank you. I love you, too. I can feel such strong, sincere magic from you. That directness is just like Tooka-chan.”
This time it flickered once.
“I’ve got a favor to ask, Kiryu.”
No response. It felt like it was waiting for her to continue.
“I want to save him.” She could tell the Kiryu was listening. “I want to save Kuon-kun,” she said. “I don’t want to let my Hero die a second time. You feel the same way, don’t you?”
There was a long pause, and then it flickered once.
“I’m going to be real selfish about it. Even if Kuon-kun said not to come, I’m going to ignore that and go save him.”
Flick flick, flick. The star blinked irregularly. Hanabi smiled.
“Sure. He might…he might not choose me. But I don’t care if he just tells me not to get in his way. Once I’ve saved him, we can fight it out and forget all about it. And this time I’ll win. Gotta get him back for the entrance ceremony.” Hanabi took a deep breath. She kept her eyes on the Kiryu and leaned in close. “I want…” she said. “I want to save him. I don’t want to let him die. So please, Kiryu. Lend me your power. Let me wear you once more.”
The Kiryu did not respond. For a long time, it was silent, neither nodding nor shaking her off. Hanabi saw the link between them in her mind as just black, no stars twinkling at all. Eventually the electric reserves ran out, as if signaling an end to their conversation.
“Kiryu…” Her words hadn’t reached it. Hanabi let her hand fall, on the verge of giving up.
But then…
“…Huh?” In her peripherals, to her left, she saw a dial twitch, rising from white to yellow to green to blue to purple…and from purple to the Red Zone, indicating full revolution. Before Hanabi’s eyes, the Magic Gauge on the other side of their link switched from electric reserves to full power. The Kiryu fired its Heavy Magic Energy, waking itself up. The heads lifted up, looking down at Hanabi.
Let’s go, its mechanical eyes spoke.
“You’re sure?” she asked, stunned. “Kiryu?”
As if in response, it nuzzled Hanabi. Its twin heads rubbed against the sides of Hanabi’s face like an affectionate cat. Then it lowered its heads to her feet, like a knight swearing fealty to a master.
Hanabi knelt and put her arms around it. “Thank you, Kiryu. Let’s save Kuon-kun together.”
En had been watching in tears. Now she yelled, “Then I’ll come, too!”
“En-kun…thanks,” Hanabi said, turning around. Surprised, she said, “I didn’t know you could cry.”
“If my emotional values go over a certain threshold, yes.”
“I see. Well, glad to have you.”
“Let’s go, Hanabi-sama! Kuon-sama is waiting for us!”
“Yes, let’s go.”
Hanabi stood up. Three days had passed since Kuon and Tooka went through the Gate. They couldn’t afford to waste any more time.