“It’s great that you’re not giving up, but come on. Look at the situation rationally. During a fight, I go all out. I might even aim for the face, you know? How can you defend against that when I’m on top of you?”
I had to resort to threats—I didn’t have a choice. The truth is, you have to be a little bit rough to make an opponent surrender if they’re being stubborn. I think Filia saw I meant it by the look in my eyes. She understood.
Slowly, she closed her eyes. “I…surrender.” She shook her head side-to-side weakly.
I lowered my fist.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, offering my hand. I’d been careful not to injure her too greatly, but you could never fully avoid minor injuries like bruises and cuts.
“I’m okay. Nothing major.” Filia took my hand and stood up. Once she was on her feet, she patted her clothes, brushing off the grass and dirt. “What about you, though? Are you all right, Yuri? I hit you with all my magic at the end of our fight…”
“Ah, yeah, think I got hit a bit.” I lifted my shirt to show the damage. I’d gotten some light burns from her fire magic and some thin cuts from her wind magic.
“That’s practically nothing…” Filia muttered.
“It’s ’cause I’ve trained.”
“Ah, yes,” said Filia. “I suppose so. What else could I expect from the great Yuri?”
Filia cast her recovery magic, a look of utter resignation in her eyes. A white light enveloped me, and all my wounds were completely healed.
“Thanks, Filia. Also, that was way fun! Let’s do it again!”
“I don’t want to do it again, though,” said Filia. “The sight of you just coming at me no matter how much magic I blasted you with was, well. It was nothing short of terrifying.”
Filia didn’t want a rematch? Weird. We’d had such a great time, you know?
“Filia, are you all right?!” Ashley came running up to Filia from where she’d been watching, her twin tails swaying.
“Yes, I am…but I lost. I’m sorry,” said Filia with a weak chuckle.
“No, it’s okay. There’s no need for you to apologize, Filia. I’m the one who should be apologizing.” Ashley grabbed the sleeves of her own dress and squeezed herself. “I was just being stubborn. Next time, I’ll admit defeat and try my best. Filia, you taught me that. Thank you…so much.”
The corners of Filia’s mouth curved upward into a happy smile. “I like the sound of that. I’m sure that you’ll surpass Yuri in no time, Ashley. You are a prodigy, after all.”
Filia and Ashley smiled at one another.
“That’s exactly what I want to hear, so bring it on,” I announced, interrupting them. “If you can surpass me, then go ahead and do it. But just so you know, this muscle wall is thick and solid. I’ll be training every single muscle fiber in my entire body.”
Ashley shot me an unamused look, then turned to Filia. “Hey, Filia? I can’t understand what he’s saying. Not at all.”
“Let’s just leave him be. I’d worry more if you did understand him.”
Hey, c’mon! Were they really gonna just ignore me? I sighed. “Anyway, you guys look like you’re practically sisters now. When did you two get so close?”
“When we were training. Right, Ashley?” said Filia, smiling.
Ashley, however, didn’t share the look. For some reason, she had a stiff expression, like she was nervous about something. “Sisters… H-hey, Filia?”
“What’s the matter?”
“I-Is it okay if I call you that? Big Sis?” asked Ashley. She clutched her sleeves, looking down with her eyes closed. It was like her unyielding spirit from before had vanished in a flash.
“Um.” Filia didn’t give her an immediate answer.
Or, hmm. It was more like there was a silence, as if time itself had stopped. Ashley closed her eyes and waited for a response, but I guess she just couldn’t bear the feeling of not knowing. Then she looked up, seeming like she was about to cry.
“I-I suppose it’s really presumptuous of me to call you that, after all!” Ashley stammered. “I’m sorry, just forget what I—”
“No, Ashley, that’s not it,” I said, pointing at Filia. “She just fainted.”
Filia was still standing there, her eyes wide open, but she was totally out cold. It was really odd of her to just black out like that while standing up.
“Ah!” Filia shouted, suddenly coming back to her senses. “I’m sorry, you were just so cute that it knocked me unconscious!”
“What in the world does that even mean?” I asked. I honestly had no clue what the causal relationship was there. Please, Filia, explain to me the physiology of how that works.
Filia excitedly stretched her arms out to Ashley, took Ashley’s hands in hers, and shook them vigorously up and down. “Ashley…no, I mean, Little Sis! Yes, please! Please, please, please do call me that! Call me Big Sis!”
“D-do you mean it? Then—thank you for today. I hope we’ll get even closer, Big Sis!”
“Same here, Ashley!”
All right, so, uh. I guess all’s well that ends well. A happy ending. Filia was having fun, at least, so I guessed that was good? “Hey, Ashley,” I said. “If you want, you can call me Big Bro, ya know?”
“Just calling you Yuri is fine. Because now you and I are rivals, competing over Big Sis!” said Ashley, pointing at me emphatically.
Uhhh. When had that happened? But I got the feeling I couldn’t argue with her.
At once, Filia stepped between Ashley and me. “Please, you two,” she said. “Don’t fight over me! Heh. Eh he he! Oh, I’ve always wanted to say that! Ahhh. Dreams do come true!”
“I see,” I said. “That’s good.”
I had no idea what was good about it, mind you, but Filia seemed happy, and I wasn’t gonna take that from her.
I felt a little tug on my sleeve. I looked down and saw Ashley facing me, her eyes cast downward and her cheeks flushed, like she was feeling embarrassed. “But I am grateful to you, you know,” she said. “If I hadn’t fought you, I wouldn’t have realized that I was being held back. So, thank you.”
Huh. She was surprisingly cute—
“Though obviously I’m much more grateful to Big Sis. Yuri, you should be grateful to Big Sis too!” said Ashley, doing a complete turn, still holding onto my arm.
I knew it! She wasn’t cute after all.
“Yes, Yuri, please be grateful to me! Come on, hurry it up!” Filia cried.
And neither was she.